diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:27:22 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:27:22 -0700 |
| commit | 6182ae9496b65dbc67465283eba7725476a6e8b0 (patch) | |
| tree | 20b930f8e9d21fa1b892f02b3f3aced566bf9605 | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 6353-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 223489 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 6353-h/6353-h.htm | 14021 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 6353.txt | 11688 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 6353.zip | bin | 0 -> 213405 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/prgrk10.txt | 11930 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/prgrk10.zip | bin | 0 -> 213181 bytes |
9 files changed, 37655 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6353-h.zip b/6353-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f047861 --- /dev/null +++ b/6353-h.zip diff --git a/6353-h/6353-h.htm b/6353-h/6353-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b46147e --- /dev/null +++ b/6353-h/6353-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14021 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta content="pg2html (binary v0.17)" name="linkgenerator" /> + <title> + The Prince of Graustark, by George Barr Mccutcheon + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .75em; margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-align: justify; font-size: 80%; font-style: italic;} + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + .xx-small {font-size: 60%;} + .x-small {font-size: 75%;} + .small {font-size: 85%;} + .large {font-size: 115%;} + .x-large {font-size: 130%;} + .indent5 { margin-left: 5%;} + .indent10 { margin-left: 10%;} + .indent15 { margin-left: 15%;} + .indent20 { margin-left: 20%;} + .indent25 { margin-left: 25%;} + .indent30 { margin-left: 30%;} + .indent35 { margin-left: 35%;} + .indent40 { margin-left: 40%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; right: 1%; font-size: 0.6em; + font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; + text-align: right; background-color: #FFFACD; + border: 1px solid; padding: 0.3em;text-indent: 0em;} + .side { float: left; font-size: 75%; width: 15%; padding-left: 0.8em; + border-left: dashed thin; text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; + font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} + .head { float: left; font-size: 90%; width: 98%; padding-left: 0.8em; + border-left: dashed thin; text-align: center; + text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; + font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} + p.pfirst, p.noindent {text-indent: 0} + span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 0.8 } + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +Project Gutenberg's The Prince of Graustark, by George Barr McCutcheon + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Prince of Graustark + +Author: George Barr McCutcheon + +Illustrator: A. I. Keller + +Release Date: August, 2004 [EBook #6353] +First Posted: November 29, 2002 +Last Updated: May 11, 2019 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK *** + + + + +Etext produced by Duncan Harrod, Juliet Sutherland, Charles +Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK + </h1> + <h2> + By George Barr McCutcheon + </h2> + <h3> + 1914 + </h3> + <hr /> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I — MR. AND MRS. BLITHERS DISCUSS + MATRIMONY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II — TWO COUNTRIES DISCUSS MARRIAGE + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III — MR. BLITHERS GOES VISITING + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV — PROTECTING THE BLOOD </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V — PRINCE ROBIN IS ASKED TO STAND + UP </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI — THE PRINCE AND MR. BLITHERS + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII — A LETTER FROM MAUD </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII — ON BOARD THE "JUPITER" </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX — THE PRINCE MEETS MISS GUILE + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X — AN HOUR ON DECK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI — THE LIEUTENANT RECEIVES ORDERS + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII — THE LIEUTENANT REPORTS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII — THE RED LETTER B </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV — THE CAT IS AWAY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV — THE MICE IN A TRAP </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI — THREE MESSAGES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII — THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII — A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX — "WHAT WILL MY PEOPLE DO!" + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX — LOVE IN ABEYANCE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI — MR. BLITHERS ARRIVES IN + GRAUSTARK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXII — A VISIT TO THE CASTLE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XXIII — PINGARI'S </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER XXIV — JUST WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN + EXPECTED </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I — MR. AND MRS. BLITHERS DISCUSS MATRIMONY + </h2> + <p> + "My dear," said Mr. Blithers, with decision, "you can't tell me." + </p> + <p> + "I know I can't," said his wife, quite as positively. She knew when she + could tell him a thing and when she couldn't. + </p> + <p> + It was quite impossible to impart information to Mr. Blithers when he had + the tips of two resolute fingers embedded in his ears. That happened to be + his customary and rather unfair method of conquering her when an argument + was going against him, not for want of logic on his part, but because it + was easier to express himself with his ears closed than with them open. By + this means he effectually shut out the voice of opposition and had the + discussion all to himself. Of course, it would have been more convincing + if he had been permitted to hear the sound of his own eloquence; still, it + was effective. + </p> + <p> + She was sure to go on talking for two or three minutes and then subside in + despair. A woman will not talk to a stone wall. Nor will she wantonly + allow an argument to die while there remains the slightest chance of its + survival. Given the same situation, a man would get up and leave his wife + sitting there with her fingers in her ears; and, as he bolted from the + room in high dudgeon, he would be mean enough to call attention to her + pig-headedness. In most cases, a woman is content to listen to a silly + argument rather than to leave the room just because her husband elects to + be childish about a perfectly simple elucidation of the truth. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Blithers had lived with Mr. Blithers, more or less, for twenty-five + years and she knew him like a book. He was a forceful person who would + have his own way, even though he had to put his fingers in his ears to get + it. At one period of their joint connubial agreement, when he had + succeeded in accumulating a pitiful hoard amounting to but little more + than ten millions of dollars, she concluded to live abroad for the purpose + of educating their daughter, allowing him in the meantime to increase his + fortune to something like fifty millions without having to worry about + household affairs. But she had sojourned with him long enough, at odd + times, to realise that, so long as he lived, he would never run away from + an argument—unless, by some dreadful hook or crook, he should be so + unfortunate as to be deprived of the use of both hands. She found room to + gloat, of course, in the fact that he was obliged to stop up his ears in + order to shut out the incontrovertible. + </p> + <p> + Moreover, when he called her "my dear" instead of the customary Lou, it + was a sign of supreme obstinacy on his part and could not, by any stretch + of the imagination, be regarded as an indication of placid affection. He + always said "my dear" at the top of his voice and with a great deal of + irascibility. + </p> + <p> + Mr. William W. Blithers was a self-made man who had begun his career by + shouting lustily at a team of mules in a railway construction camp. Other + drivers had tried to improve on his vocabulary but even the mules were + able to appreciate the futility of such an ambition, and later on, when he + came to own two or three railroads, to say nothing of a few mines and a + steam yacht, his ability to drive men was even more noteworthy than his + power over the jackasses had been. But driving mules and men was one + thing, driving a wife another. What incentive has a man, said he, when + after he gets through bullying a creature that very creature turns in and + caresses him? No self-respecting mule ever did such a thing as that, and + no man would think of it except with horror. There is absolutely no + defence against a creature who will rub your head with loving, gentle + fingers after she has worked you up to the point where you could kill her + with pleasure—or at least so said Mr. Blithers with rueful + frequency. + </p> + <p> + Mr. and Mrs. Blithers had been discussing royalty. Up to the previous week + they had restricted themselves to the nobility, but as an event of + unexampled importance had transpired in the interim, they now felt that it + would be the rankest stupidity to consider any one short of a Prince Royal + in picking out a suitable husband—or, more properly speaking, + consort—for their only daughter, Maud Applegate Blithers, aged + twenty. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Blithers long ago had convinced her husband that no ordinary human + being of the male persuasion was worthy of their daughter's hand, and had + set her heart on having nothing meaner than a Duke on the family roll,—(Blithers + alluded to it for a while as the pay-roll)—, with the choice lying + between England and Italy. At first, Blithers, being an honest soul, + insisted that a good American gentleman was all that anybody could ask for + in the way of a son-in-law, and that when it came to a grandchild it would + be perfectly proper to christen him Duke—lots of people did!—and + that was about all that a title amounted to anyway. She met this with the + retort that Maud might marry a man named Jones, and how would Duke Jones + sound? He weakly suggested that they could christen him Marmaduke and—but + she reminded him of his oft-repeated boast that there was nothing in the + world too good for Maud and instituted a pictorial campaign against his + prejudices by painting in the most alluring colours the picture of a ducal + palace in which the name of Jones would never be uttered except when + employed in directing the fifth footman or the third stable-boy—or + perhaps a scullery maid—to do this, that or the other thing at the + behest of her Grace, the daughter of William W. Blithers. This eventually + worked on his imagination to such an extent that he forgot his natural + pride and admitted that perhaps she was right. + </p> + <p> + But now, just as they were on the point of accepting, in lieu of a Duke, + an exceptionally promising Count, the aforesaid event conspired to + completely upset all of their plans—or notions, so to speak. It was + nothing less than the arrival in America of an eligible Prince of the + royal blood, a ruling Prince at that. As a matter of fact he had not only + arrived in America but upon the vast estate adjoining their own in the + Catskills. + </p> + <p> + Fortunately nothing definite had been arranged with the Count. Mrs. + Blithers now advised waiting a while before giving a definite answer to + his somewhat eager proposal, especially as he was reputed to have + sufficient means of his own to defend the chateau against any immediate + peril of profligacy. She counselled Mr. Blithers to notify him that he + deemed it wise to take the matter under advisement for a couple of weeks + at least, but not to commit himself to anything positively negative. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers said that he had never heard anything so beautifully adroit + as "positively negative," and directed his secretary to submit to him + without delay the draft of a tactful letter to the anxious nobleman. They + were agreed that a Prince was more to be desired than a Count and, as long + as they were actually about it, they might as well aim high. Somewhat + hazily Mr. Blithers had Inquired if it wouldn't be worth while to consider + a King, but his wife set him straight in short order. + </p> + <p> + Peculiarly promising their hopes was the indisputable fact that the + Prince's mother had married an American, thereby establishing a precedent + behind which no constitutional obstacle could thrive, and had lived very + happily with the gentleman in spite of the critics. Moreover, she had met + him while sojourning on American soil, and that was certainly an excellent + augury for the success of the present enterprise. What could be more + fitting than that the son should follow in the footsteps of an illustrious + mother? If an American gentleman was worthy of a princess, why not the + other way about? Certainly Maud Blithers was as full of attributes as any + man in America. + </p> + <p> + It appears that the Prince, after leisurely crossing the continent on his + way around the world, had come to the Truxton Kings for a long-promised + and much-desired visit, the duration of which depended to some extent on + his own inclinations, and not a little on the outcome of the war-talk that + affected two great European nations—Russia and Austria. Ever since + the historic war between the Balkan allies and the Turks, in 1912 and + 1913, there had been mutterings, and now the situation had come to be + admittedly precarious. Mr. Blithers was in a position to know that the + little principality over which the young man reigned was bound to be drawn + into the cataclysm, not as a belligerent or an ally, but in the matter of + a loan that inconveniently expired within the year and which would hardly + be renewed by Russia with the prospect of vast expenditures of war + threatening her treasury. The loan undoubtedly would be called and + Graustark was not in a position to pay out of her own slender resources, + two years of famine having fallen upon the people at a time when + prosperity was most to be desired. + </p> + <p> + He was in touch with the great financial movements in all the world's + capitals, and he knew that retrenchment was the watchword. It would be no + easy matter for the little principality to negotiate a loan at this + particular time, nor was there even a slender chance that Russia would be + benevolently disposed toward her debtors, no matter how small their + obligations. They who owed would be called upon to pay, they who + petitioned would be turned away with scant courtesy. It was the private + opinion of Mr. Blithers that the young Prince and the trusted agents who + accompanied him on his journey, were in the United States solely for the + purpose of arranging a loan through sources that could only be reached by + personal appeal. But, naturally, Mr. Blithers couldn't breathe this to a + soul. Under the circumstances he couldn't even breathe it to his wife who, + he firmly believed, was soulless. + </p> + <p> + But all this is beside the question. The young Prince of Graustark was + enjoying American hospitality, and no matter what he owed to Russia, + America owed to him its most punctillious consideration. If Mr. Blithers + was to have anything to say about the matter, it would be for the ear of + the Prince alone and not for the busybodies. + </p> + <p> + The main point is that the Prince was now rusticating within what you + might call a stone's throw of the capacious and lordly country residence + of Mr. Blithers; moreover, he was an uncommonly attractive chap, with a + laugh that was so charged with heartiness that it didn't seem possible + that he could have a drop of royal blood in his vigorous young body. And + the perfectly ridiculous part of the whole situation was that Mr. and Mrs. + King lived in a modest, vine-covered little house that could have been + lost in the servants' quarters at Blitherwood. Especially aggravating, + too, was the attitude of the Kings. They were really nobodies, so to + speak, and yet they blithely called their royal guest "Bobby" and allowed + him to fetch and carry for their women-folk quite as if he were an + ordinary whipper-snapper up from the city to spend the week-end. + </p> + <p> + The remark with which Mr. Blithers introduces this chapter was in response + to an oft-repeated declaration made by his wife in the shade of the red, + white and blue awning of the terrace overlooking, from its despotic + heights, the modest red roof of the King villa in the valley below. Mrs. + Blithers merely had stated—but over and over again—that money + couldn't buy everything in the world, referring directly to social + eminence and indirectly to their secret ambition to capture a Prince of + the royal blood for their daughter Maud. She had prefaced this opinion, + however, with the exceedingly irritating insinuation that Mr. Blithers was + not in his right mind when he proposed inviting the Prince to spend a few + weeks at Blitherwood, provided the young man could cut short his visit in + the home of Mr. and Mrs. King, who, he had asseverated, were not in a + position to entertain royalty as royalty was in the habit of being + entertained. + </p> + <p> + Long experience had taught Mr. Blithers to read the lip and eye language + with some degree of certainty, so by watching his wife's indignant face + closely he was able to tell when she was succumbing to reason. He was a + burly, domineering person who reasoned for every one within range of his + voice, and it was only when his wife became coldly sarcastic that he + closed his ears and boomed his opinions into her very teeth, so to say, + joyfully overwhelming her with facts which it were futile for her to + attempt to deny. He was aware, quite as much so as if he had heard the + words, that she was now saying: + </p> + <p> + "Well, there is absolutely no use arguing with you, Will. Have it your way + if it pleases you." + </p> + <p> + Eying her with some uneasiness, he cautiously inserted his thumbs in the + armholes of his brocaded waistcoat, and proclaimed: + </p> + <p> + "As I said before, Lou, there isn't a foreign nobleman, from the Emperor + down, who is above grabbing a few million dollars. They're all hard up, + and what do they gain by marrying ladies of noble birth if said ladies are + the daughters of noblemen who are as hard up as all the rest of 'em? + Besides, hasn't Maud been presented at Court? Didn't you see to that? How + about that pearl necklace I gave her when she was presented? Wasn't it the + talk of the season? There wasn't a Duke in England who didn't figure the + cost of that necklace to within a guinea or two. No girl ever had better + advertising than—" + </p> + <p> + "We were speaking of Prince Robin," remarked his wife, with a slight + shudder. Mrs. Blithers came of better stock than her husband. His + gaucheries frequently set her teeth on edge. She was born in Providence + and sometimes mentioned the occurrence when particularly desirous of + squelching him, not unkindly perhaps but by way of making him realise that + their daughter had good blood in her veins. Mr. Blithers had heard, in a + round-about way, that he first saw the light of day in Jersey City, + although after he became famous Newark claimed him. He did not bother + about the matter. + </p> + <p> + "Well, he's like all the rest of them," said he, after a moment of + indecision. Something told him that he really ought to refrain from + talking about the cost of things, even in the bosom of his family. He had + heard that only vulgarians speak of their possessions. "Now, there's no + reason in the world why we shouldn't consider his offer. He—" + </p> + <p> + "Offer?" she cried, aghast. "He has made no offer, Will. He doesn't even + know that Maud is in existence. How can you say such a thing?" + </p> + <p> + "I was merely looking ahead, that's all. My motto is 'Look Ahead.' You + know it as well as I do. Where would I be to-day if I hadn't looked ahead + and seen what was going to happen before the other fellow had his eyes + open? Will you tell me that? Where, I say? What's more, where would I be + now if I hadn't looked ahead and seen what a marriage with the daughter of + Judge Morton would mean to me in the long run?" He felt that he had + uttered a very pretty and convincing compliment. "I never made a bad + bargain in my life, Lou, and it wasn't guess-work when I married you. You, + my dear old girl, you were the solid foundation on which I—" + </p> + <p> + "I know," she said wearily; "you've said it a thousand times: 'The + foundation on which I built my temple of posterity'—yes, I know, + Will. But I am still unalterably opposed to making ourselves ridiculous in + the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. King." + </p> + <p> + "Ridiculous? I don't understand you." + </p> + <p> + "Well, you will after you think it over," she said quietly, and he scowled + in positive perplexity. + </p> + <p> + "Don't you think he'd be a good match for Maud?" he asked, after many + minutes. He felt that he had thought it over. + </p> + <p> + "Are you thinking of kidnapping him, Will?" she demanded. + </p> + <p> + "Certainly not! But all you've got to do is to say that he's the man for + Maud and I'll—I'll do the rest. That's the kind of a man I am, Lou. + You say you don't want Count What's-His-Name,—that is, you don't + want him as much as you did,—and you do say that it would be the + grandest thing in the world if Maud could be the Princess of Grosstick—" + </p> + <p> + "Graustark, Will." + </p> + <p> + "That's what I said. Well, if you want her to be the Princess of <i>THAT</i>, + I'll see that she is, providing this fellow is a gentleman and worthy of + <i>her</i>. The only Prince I ever knew was a damned rascal, and I'm going + to be careful about this one. You remember that measly—" + </p> + <p> + "There is no question about Prince Robin," said she sharply. + </p> + <p> + "I suppose the only question is, how much will he want?" + </p> + <p> + "You mean—settlement?" + </p> + <p> + "Sure." + </p> + <p> + "Have you no romance in your soul, William Blithers?" + </p> + <p> + "I never believed in fairy stories," said he grimly. "And what's more, I + don't take any stock in cheap novels in which American heroes go about + marrying into royal families and all that sort of rot. It isn't done, Lou. + If you want to marry into a royal family you've got to put up the coin." + </p> + <p> + "Prince Robin's mother, the poor Princess Yetive, married an American for + love, let me remind you." + </p> + <p> + "Umph! Where is this Groostock anyway?" + </p> + <p> + "'Somewhere east of the setting sun,'" she quoted. "You <i>must</i> learn + how to pronounce it." + </p> + <p> + "I never was good at foreign languages. By the way, where is Maud this + afternoon?" + </p> + <p> + "Motoring." + </p> + <p> + He waited for additional information. It was not vouchsafed, so he + demanded somewhat fearfully: + </p> + <p> + "Who with?" + </p> + <p> + "Young Scoville." + </p> + <p> + He scowled. "He's a loafer, Lou. No good in the world. I don't like the + way you let—" + </p> + <p> + "He is of a very good family, my dear. I—" + </p> + <p> + "Is he—er—in love with her?" + </p> + <p> + "Certainly." + </p> + <p> + "Good Lord!" + </p> + <p> + "And why not? Isn't every one she meets in love with her?" + </p> + <p> + "I—I suppose so," he admitted sheepishly. His face brightened. "And + there's no reason why this Prince shouldn't fall heels over head, is + there? Well, there you are! That will make a difference in the settlement, + believe me—a difference of a couple of millions at least, if—" + </p> + <p> + She arose abruptly. "You are positively disgusting, Will. Can't you think + of anything but—" + </p> + <p> + "Say, ain't that Maudie coming up the drive now? Sure it is! By gracious, + did you ever see anything to beat her? She's got 'em all beat a mile when + it comes to looks and style and—Oh, by the way," lowering his voice + to a hoarse, confidential whisper, "—I wouldn't say anything to her + about the marriage just yet if I were you. I want to look him over first." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II — TWO COUNTRIES DISCUSS MARRIAGE + </h2> + <p> + Prince Robin of Graustark was as good-looking a chap as one would see in a + week's journey. Little would one suspect him of being the descendant of a + long and distinguished line of princes, save for the unmistakeable though + indefinable something in his eye that exacted rather than invited the + homage of his fellow man. His laugh was a free and merry one, his spirits + as effervescent as wine, his manner blithe and boyish; yet beneath all + this fair and guileless exposition of carelessness lay the sober integrity + of caste. It looked out through the steady, unswerving eyes, even when + they twinkled with mirth; it met the gaze of the world with a serene + imperiousness that gave way before no mortal influence; it told without + boastfulness a story of centuries. For he was the son of a princess royal, + and the blood of ten score rulers of men had come down to him as a + heritage of strength. + </p> + <p> + His mother, the beautiful, gracious and lamented Yetive, set all royal + circles by the ears when she married the American, Lorry, back in the + nineties. A special act of the ministry had legalised this union and the + son of the American was not deprived of his right to succeed to the throne + which his forebears had occupied for centuries. From his mother he had + inherited the right of kings, from his father the spirit of freedom; from + his mother the power of majesty, from his father the power to see beyond + that majesty. When little more than a babe in arms he was orphaned and the + affairs of state fell upon the shoulders of three loyal and devoted men + who served as regents until he became of age. + </p> + <p> + Wisely they served both him and the people through the years that + intervened between the death of the Princess and her consort and the day + when he reached his majority. That day was a glorious one in Graustark. + The people worshipped the little Prince when he was in knickerbockers and + played with toys; they saw him grow to manhood with hearts that were full + of hope and contentment; they made him their real ruler with the same + joyous spirit that had attended him in the days when he sat in the great + throne and "made believe" that he was one of the mighty, despite the fact + that his little legs barely reached to the edge of the gold and silver + seat,—and slept soundly through all the befuddling sessions of the + cabinet. He was seven when the great revolt headed by Count Marlanx came + so near to overthrowing the government, and he behaved like the Prince + that he was. It was during those perilous times that he came to know the + gallant Truxton King in whose home he was now a happy guest. But before + Truxton King he knew the lovely girl who became the wife of that devoted + adventurer, and who, to him, was always to be "Aunt Loraine." + </p> + <p> + As a very small boy he had paid two visits to the homeland of his father, + but after the death of his parents his valuable little person was guarded + so jealously by his subjects that not once had he set foot beyond the + borders of Graustark, except on two widely separated occasions of great + pomp and ceremony at the courts of Vienna and St. Petersburgh, and a + secret journey to London when he was seventeen. (It appears that he was + determined to see a great football match.) On each of these occasions he + was attended by watchful members of the cabinet and certain military units + in the now far from insignificant standing army. As a matter of fact, he + witnessed the football match from the ordinary stands, surrounded by + thousands of unsuspecting Britons, but carefully wedged in between two + generals of his own army and flanked by a minister of police, a minister + of the treasury and a minister of war, all of whom were excessively bored + by the contest and more or less appalled by his unregal enthusiasm. He had + insisted on going to the match incog, to enjoy it for all it was worth to + the real spectators—those who sit or stand where the compression is + not unlike that applied to a box of sardines. + </p> + <p> + The regency expired when he was twenty years of age, and he became ruler + in fact, of himself as well as of the half-million subjects who had waited + patiently for the great day that was to see him crowned and glorified. Not + one was there in that goodly half million who stood out against him on + that triumphant day; not one who possessed a sullen or resentful heart. He + was their Prince, and they loved him well. After that wonderful coronation + day he would never forget that he was a Prince or that the hearts of a + half million were to throb with love for him so long as he was man as well + as Prince. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers was very close to the truth when he said (to himself, if you + remember) that the financial situation in the far-off principality was not + all that could be desired. It is true that Graustark was in Russia's debt + to the extent of some twenty million gavvos,—about thirty millions + of dollars, in other words,—and that the day of reckoning was very + near at hand. The loan was for a period of twelve years, and had been + arranged contrary to the advice of John Tullis, an American financier who + long had been interested in the welfare of the principality through + friendship for the lamented Prince Consort, Lorry. He had been farsighted + enough to realise that Russia would prove a hard creditor, even though she + may have been sincere in her protestations of friendship for the modest + borrower. + </p> + <p> + A stubborn element in the cabinet overcame his opposition, however, and + the debt was contracted, taxation increased by popular vote and a period + of governmental thriftiness inaugurated. Railroads, highways, bridges and + aqueducts were built, owned and controlled by the state, and the city of + Edelweiss rebuilt after the devastation created during the revolt of Count + Marlanx and his minions. There seemed to be some prospect of vindication + for the ministry and Tullis, who lived in Edelweiss, was fair-minded + enough to admit that their action appeared to have been for the best. The + people had prospered and taxes were paid in full and without complaint. + The reserve fund grew steadily and surely and there was every prospect + that when the huge debt came due it would be paid in cash. But on the very + crest of their prosperity came adversity. For two years the crops failed + and a pestilence swept through the herds. The flood of gavvos that had + been pouring into the treasury dwindled into a pitiful rivulet; the little + that came in was applied, of necessity, to administration purposes and the + maintenance of the army, and there was not so much as a penny left over + for the so-called sinking fund. + </p> + <p> + A year of grace remained. The minister of finance had long since recovered + from the delusion that it would be easy to borrow from England or France + to pay the Russians, there being small prospect of a renewal by the Czar + even for a short period at a higher rate of interest. The great nations of + Europe made it plain to the little principality that they would not put a + finger in Russia's pie at this stage of the game. Russia was ready to go + to war with her great neighbour, Austria. Diplomacy—caution, if you + will,—made it imperative that other nations should sit tight and + look to their own knitting, so to say. Not one could afford to be charged + with befriending, even in a round-about way, either of the angry + grumblers. + </p> + <p> + It was only too well known in diplomatic circles that Russia coveted the + railroads of Graustark, as a means of throwing troops into a remote and + almost impregnable portion of Austria. If the debt were paid promptly, it + would be impossible, according to international law, for the great White + Bear to take over these roads and at least a portion of the western border + of the principality. Obviously, Austria would be benefitted by the prompt + lifting of the debt, but her own relations with Russia were so strained + that an offer to come to the rescue of Graustark would be taken at once as + an open affront and vigorously resented. Her hands were tied. + </p> + <p> + The northern and western parts of Graustark were rich with productive + mines. The government had built railroads throughout these sections so + that the yield of coal and copper might be given an outlet to the world at + large. In making the loan, Russia had demanded these prosperous sections + as security for the vast sum advanced, and Graustark in an evil hour had + submitted, little suspecting the trick that Dame Nature was to play in the + end. + </p> + <p> + Private banking institutions in Europe refused to make loans under the + rather exasperating circumstances, preferring to take no chances. Money + was not cheap in these bitter days, neither in Europe nor America. Caution + was the watchword. A vast European war was not improbable, despite the + sincere efforts on the part of the various nations to keep out of the + controversy. + </p> + <p> + Nor was Mr. Blithers far from right in his shrewd surmise that Prince + Robin and his agents were not without hope in coming to America at this + particular time. Graustark had laid by barely half the amount required to + lift the debt to Russia. It was not beyond the bounds of reason to expect + her Prince to secure the remaining fifteen millions through private + sources in New York City. + </p> + <p> + Six weeks prior to his arrival in New York, the young Prince landed in San + Francisco. He had come by way of the Orient, accompanied by the Chief of + Staff of the Graustark Army, Count Quinnox,—hereditary watch-dog to + the royal family!—and a young lieutenant of the guard, Boske Dank. + Two men were they who would have given a thousand lives in the service of + their Prince. No less loyal was the body-servant who looked after the + personal wants of the eager young traveller, an Englishman of the name of + Hobbs. A very poor valet was he, but an exceptionally capable person when + it came to the checking of luggage and the divining of railway + time-tables. He had been an agent for Cook's. It was quite impossible to + miss a train that Hobbs suspected of being the right one. + </p> + <p> + Prince Robin came unheralded and traversed the breadth of the continent + without attracting more than the attention that is bestowed upon + good-looking young men. Like his mother, nearly a quarter of a century + before, he travelled incognito. But where she had used the somewhat + emphatic name of Guggenslocker, he was known to the hotel registers as + "Mr. R. Schmidt and servant." + </p> + <p> + There was romance in the eager young soul of Prince Robin. He revelled in + the love story of his parents. The beautiful Princess Yetive first saw + Grenfell Lorry in an express train going eastward from Denver. Their + wonderful romance was born, so to speak, in a Pullman compartment car, and + it thrived so splendidly that it almost upset a dynasty, for never—in + all of nine centuries—had a ruler of Graustark stooped to marriage + with a commoner. + </p> + <p> + And so when the far-sighted ministry and House of Nobles in Graustark set + about to select a wife for their young ruler, they made overtures to the + Prince of Dawsbergen whose domain adjoined Graustark on the south. The + Crown Princess of Dawsbergen, then but fifteen, was the unanimous choice + of the amiable match-makers in secret conclave. This was when Robin was + seventeen and just over being fatuously in love with his middle-aged + instructress in French. + </p> + <p> + The Prince of Dawsbergen despatched an embassy of noblemen to assure his + neighbour that the match would be highly acceptable to him and that in + proper season the betrothal might be announced. But alack! both courts + overlooked the fact that there was independent American blood in the two + young people. Neither the Prince of Graustark nor the Crown Princess of + Dawsbergen,—whose mother was a Miss Beverly Calhoun of Virginia,—was + disposed to listen to the voice of expediency; in fact, at a safe distance + of three or four hundred miles, the youngsters figuratively turned up + their noses at each other and frankly confessed that they hated each other + and wouldn't be bullied into getting married, no matter what <i>anybody</i> + said, or something of the sort. + </p> + <p> + "S'pose I'm going to say I'll marry a girl I've never seen?" demanded + seventeen-year-old Robin, full of wrath. "Not I, my lords. I'm going to + look about a bit, if you don't mind. The world is full of girls. I'll + marry the one I happen to want or I'll not marry at all." + </p> + <p> + "But, highness," they protested, "you must listen to reason. There must be + a successor to the throne of Graustark. You would not have the name die + with you. The young Princess is—" + </p> + <p> + "Is fifteen you say," he interrupted loftily. "Come around in ten years + and we'll talk it over again. But I'm not going to pledge myself to marry + a child in short frocks, name or no name. Is she pretty?" + </p> + <p> + The lords did not know. They had not seen the young lady. + </p> + <p> + "If she is pretty you'd be sure to know it, my lords, so we'll assume she + isn't. I saw her when she was three years old, and she certainly was a + fright when she cried, and, my lords, she cried all the time. No, I'll not + marry her. Be good enough to say to the Prince of Dawsbergen that I'm very + much obliged to him, but it's quite out of the question." + </p> + <p> + And the fifteen-year-old Crown Princess, four hundred miles away, coolly + informed her doting parents that she was tired of being a Princess anyway + and very much preferred marrying some one who lived in a cottage. In fine, + she stamped her little foot and said she'd jump into the river before + she'd marry the Prince of Graustark. + </p> + <p> + "But he's a very handsome, adorable boy," began her mother. + </p> + <p> + "And half-American just as you are, my child," put in her father + encouragingly. "Nothing could be more suitable than—" + </p> + <p> + "I don't intend to marry anybody until I'm thirty at least, so that ends + it, daddy,—I mean, your poor old highness." + </p> + <p> + "Naturally we do not expect you to be married before you are out of short + frocks, my dear," said Prince Dantan stiffly. "But a betrothal is quite + another thing. It is customary to arrange these marriages years before—" + </p> + <p> + "Is Prince Robin in love with me?" + </p> + <p> + "I—ahem!—that's a very silly question. He hasn't seen you + since you were a baby. But he <i>will</i> be in love with you, never + fear." + </p> + <p> + "He may be in love with some one else, for all we know, so where do I come + in?" + </p> + <p> + "Come in?" gasped her father. + </p> + <p> + "She's part American, dear," explained the mother, with her prettiest + smile. + </p> + <p> + "Besides," said the Crown Princess, with finality, "I'm not even going to + be engaged to a man I've never seen. And if you insist, I'll run away as + sure as anything." + </p> + <p> + And so the matter rested. Five years have passed since the initial + overtures were made by the two courts, and although several sly attempts + were made to bring the young people to a proper understanding of their + case, they aroused nothing more than scornful laughter on the part of the + belligerents, as the venerable Baron Dangloss was wont to call them, not + without pride in his sharp old voice. + </p> + <p> + "It all comes from mixing the blood," said the Prime Minister gloomily. + </p> + <p> + "Or improving it," said the Baron, and was frowned upon. + </p> + <p> + And no one saw the portentous shadow cast by the slim daughter of William + W. Blithers, for the simple reason that neither Graustark nor Dawsbergen + knew that it existed. They lived in serene ignorance of the fact that God, + while he was about it, put Maud Applegate Blithers into the world on + precisely the same day that the Crown Princess of Dawsbergen first saw the + light of day. + </p> + <p> + On the twenty-second anniversary of his birth, Prince Robin fared forth in + quest of love and romance, not without hope of adventure, for he was a + valorous chap with the heritage of warriors in his veins. Said he to + himself in dreamy contemplation of the long journey ahead of him: "I will + traverse the great highways that my mother trod and I will look for the + Golden Girl sitting by the wayside. She must be there, and though it is a + wide world, I am young and my eyes are sharp. I will find her sitting at + the roadside eager for me to come, not housed in a gloomy; castle + surrounded by the spooks of a hundred ancestors. They who live in castles + wed to hate and they who wed at the roadside live to love. Fortune attend + me! If love lies at the roadside waiting, do not let me pass it by. All + the princesses are not inside the castles. Some sit outside the gates and + laugh with glee, for love is their companion. So away I go, la, la! + looking for the princess with the happy heart and the smiling lips! It is + a wide world but my eyes are sharp. I shall find my princess." + </p> + <p> + But, alas, for his fine young dream, he found no Golden Girl at the + roadside nor anything that suggested romance. There were happy hearts and + smiling lips—and all for him, it would appear—but he passed + them by, for his eyes were <i>sharp</i> and his wits awake. And so, at + last, he came to Gotham, his heart as free as the air he breathed, + confessing that his quest had been in vain. History failed to repeat + itself. His mother's romance would stand alone and shine without a flicker + to the end of time. There could be no counterpart. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I had the fun of looking," he philosophised (to himself, for no man + knew of his secret project) and grinned with a sort of amused tolerance + for the sentimental side of his nature. "I'm a silly ass to have even + dreamed of finding her as I passed along, and if I had found her what the + deuce could I have done about it anyway? This isn't the day for mediaeval + lady-snatching. I dare say I'm just as well off for not having found her. + I still have the zest for hunting farther, and there's a lot in that." + Then aloud: "Hobbs, are we on time?" + </p> + <p> + "We are, sir," said Hobbs, without even glancing at his watch. The train + was passing 125th Street. "To the minute, sir. We will be in in ten + minutes, if nothing happens. Mr. King will be at the station to meet you, + sir. Any orders, sir?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, pinch me, Hobbs." + </p> + <p> + "Pinch your Highness?" in amazement. "My word, sir, wot—" + </p> + <p> + "I just want to be sure that the dream is over, Hobbs. Never mind. You + needn't pinch me. I'm awake," and to prove it he stretched his fine young + body in the ecstasy of realisation. + </p> + <p> + That night he slept soundly in the Catskills. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III — MR. BLITHERS GOES VISITING + </h2> + <p> + I repeat: Prince Robin was as handsome a chap as you'll see in a week's + journey. He was just under six feet, slender, erect and strong in the way + that a fine blade is strong. His hair was dark and straight, his eyes + blue-black, his cheek brown and ruddy with the health of a life + well-ordered. Nose, mouth and chin were clean-cut and indicative of power, + while his brow was broad and smooth, with a surface so serene that it + might have belonged to a woman. At first glance you would have taken him + for a healthy, eager American athlete, just out of college, but that + aforementioned seriousness in his deep-set, thoughtful eyes would have + caused you to think twice before pronouncing him a fledgling. He had + enjoyed life, he had made the most of his play-days, but always there had + hung over his young head the shadow of the cross that would have to be + supported to the end of his reign, through thick and thin, through joy and + sorrow, through peace and strife. + </p> + <p> + He saw the shadow when he was little more than a baby; it was like a + figure striding beside him always; it never left him. He could not be like + other boys, for he was a prince, and it was a serious business being a + prince! A thousand times, as a lad, he had wished that he could have a few + "weeks off" from being what he was and be just a common, ordinary, harum + scarum boy, like the "kids" of Petrove, the head stableman. He would even + have put up with the thrashings they got from their father, just for the + sake of enjoying the mischief that purchased the punishment. But alas! no + one would ever dream of giving him the lovely "tannings" that other boys + got when they were naughty. Such joys were not for him; he was mildly + reproved and that was all. But his valiant spirit found release in many a + glorious though secret encounter with boys both large and small, and not + infrequently he sustained severe pummelings at the hands of plebeians who + never were quite sure that they wouldn't be beheaded for obliging him in + the matter of a "scrap," but who fought like little wild-cats while they + were about it. They were always fair fights, for he fought as a boy and + not as a prince. He took his lickings like a prince, however, and his + victories like a boy. The one thing he wanted to do above all others was + to play foot-ball. But they taught him fencing, riding, shooting and + tennis instead, for, said they, foot-ball is only to be looked-at, not + played,—fine argument, said Robin! + </p> + <p> + Be that as it may, he was physically intact and bodily perfect. He had no + broken nose, smashed ribs, stiff shoulder joints or weak ankles, nor was + he toothless. In all his ambitious young life he had never achieved + anything more enduring than a bloody nose, a cracked lip or a purple eye, + and he had been compelled to struggle pretty hard for even those + blessings. And to him the pity of it all was that he was as hard as nails + and as strong as a bullock—a sad waste, if one were to believe him + in his bitter lamentations. + </p> + <p> + Toward the end of his first week at Red Roof, the summer home of the + Truxton Kings, he might have been found on the broad lawn late one + afternoon, playing tennis with his hostess, the lovely and vivacious "Aunt + Loraine." To him, Mrs. King would always be "Aunt Loraine," even as he + would never be anything but Bobby to her. + </p> + <p> + She was several years under forty and as light and active as a young girl. + Her smooth cheek glowed with the happiness and thrill of the sport, and he + was hard put to hold his own against her, even though she insisted that he + play his level best. + </p> + <p> + Truxton King, stalwart and lazy, lounged on the turf, umpiring the game, + attended by two pretty young girls, a lieutenant in flannels and the + ceremonious Count Quinnox, iron grey and gaunt-faced battleman with the + sabre scars on his cheek and the bullet wound in his side. + </p> + <p> + "Good work, Rainie," shouted the umpire as his wife safely placed the ball + far out of her opponent's reach. + </p> + <p> + "Hi!" shouted Robin, turning on him with a scowl. "You're not supposed to + cheer anybody, d' you understand? You're only an umpire." + </p> + <p> + "Outburst of excitement, Kid," apologised the umpire complacently. + "Couldn't help it. Forty thirty. Get busy." + </p> + <p> + "He called him 'kid,'" whispered one of the young girls to the other. + </p> + <p> + "Well I heard the Prince call Mr. King 'Truck' a little while ago," + whispered the other. + </p> + <p> + "Isn't he good-looking?" sighed the first one. + </p> + <p> + They were sisters, very young, and lived in the cottage across the road + with their widowed mother. Their existence was quite unknown to Mr. and + Mrs. Blithers, although the amiable Maud was rather nice to them. She had + once picked them up in her automobile when she encountered them walking to + the station. After that she called them by their Christian names and + generously asked them to call her Maud. It might appear from this that + Maud suffered somewhat from loneliness in the great house on the hill. The + Felton girls had known Robin a scant three-quarters of an hour and were + deeply in love with him. Fannie was eighteen and Nellie but little more + than sixteen. He was their first Prince. + </p> + <p> + "Whee-ee!" shrilled Mrs. King, going madly after a return that her + opponent had lobbed over the net. She missed. + </p> + <p> + "Deuce," said her husband laconically. A servant was crossing the lawn + with a tray of iced drinks. As he neared the recumbent group he paused + irresolutely and allowed his gaze to shift toward the road below. Then he + came on and as he drew alongside the interested umpire he leaned over and + spoke in a low tone of voice. + </p> + <p> + "What?" demanded King, squinting. + </p> + <p> + "Just coming in the gate, sir," said the footman. + </p> + <p> + King shot a glance over his shoulder and then sat up in astonishment. + </p> + <p> + "Good Lord! Blithers! What the deuce can he be doing here? I say, Loraine! + Hi!" + </p> + <p> + "Vantage in," cried his pretty wife, dashing a stray lock from her eyes. + </p> + <p> + Mr. King's astonishment was genuine. It might better have been pronounced + bewilderment. Mr. Blithers was paying his first visit to Red Roof. Up to + this minute it is doubtful if he ever had accorded it so much as a glance + of interest in passing. He bowed to King occasionally at the station, but + that was all. + </p> + <p> + But now his manner was exceedingly friendly as he advanced upon the group. + One might have been pardoned for believing him to be a most intimate + friend of the family and given to constantly dropping in at any and all + hours of the day. + </p> + <p> + The game was promptly interrupted. It would not be far from wrong to say + that Mrs. King's pretty mouth was open not entirely as an aid to + breathing. She couldn't believe her eyes as she slowly abandoned her court + and came forward to meet their advancing visitor. + </p> + <p> + "Take my racket, dear," she said to one of the Peltons, It happened to be + Fannie and the poor child almost fainted with joy. + </p> + <p> + The Prince remained in the far court, idly twirling his racket. + </p> + <p> + "Afternoon, King," said Mr. Blithers, doffing his panama—to fan a + heated brow. "Been watching the game from the road for a spell. Out for a + stroll. Couldn't resist running in for a minute. You play a beautiful + game, Mrs. King. How do you do! Pretty hot work though, isn't it?" + </p> + <p> + He was shaking hands with King and smiling genially upon the trim, panting + figure of the Prince's adversary. + </p> + <p> + "Good afternoon, Mr. Blithers," said King, still staring. "You—you + know my wife?" + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers ignored what might have been regarded as an introduction, and + blandly announced that tennis wasn't a game for fat people, patting his + somewhat aggressive extension in mock dolefulness as he spoke. + </p> + <p> + "You should see my daughter play," he went on, scarcely heeding Mrs. + King's tactless remark that she affected the game because she had a horror + of getting fat. "Corking, she is, and as quick as a cat. Got a medal at + Lakewood last spring. I'll fix up a match soon, Mrs. King, between you and + Maud. Ought to be worth going miles to see, eh, King?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I am afraid, Mr. Blithers, that I am not in your daughter's class," + said Loraine King, much too innocently. + </p> + <p> + "We've got a pretty fair tennis court up at Blitherwood," said Mr. + Blithers calmly. "I have a professional instructor up every week to play + with Maud. She can trim most of the amateurs so—" + </p> + <p> + "May I offer you a drink of some kind, Mr. Blithers?" asked King, + recovering his poise to some extent. "We are having lemonades, but perhaps + you'd prefer something—" + </p> + <p> + "Lemonade will do for me, thanks," said the visitor affably. "We ought to + run in on each other a little more often than—thanks! By jove, it + looks refreshing. Your health, Mrs. King. Too bad to drink a lady's health + in lemonade but—the sentiment's the same." + </p> + <p> + He was looking over her shoulder at the bounding Prince in the far court + as he spoke, and it seemed that he held his glass a trifle too high in + proposing the toast. + </p> + <p> + "I beg your pardon, Mr. Blithers," mumbled King. "Permit me to introduce + Count Quinnox and Lieutenant Dank." Both of the foreigners had arisen and + were standing very erect and soldierly a few yards away. "You know Miss + Felton, of course." + </p> + <p> + "Delighted to meet you, Count," said Mr. Blithers, advancing with + outstretched hand. He shook the hand of the lieutenant with a shade less + energy. "Enjoying the game?" + </p> + <p> + "Immensely," said the Count. "It is rarely played so well." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers affected a most degage manner, squinting carelessly at the + Prince. + </p> + <p> + "That young chap plays a nice game. Who is he?" + </p> + <p> + The two Graustarkians stiffened perceptibly, and waited for King to make + the revelation to his visitor. + </p> + <p> + "That's Prince Robin of—" he began but Mr. Blithers cut him short + with a genial wave of the hand. + </p> + <p> + "Of course," he exclaimed, as if annoyed by his own stupidity. "I did hear + that you were entertaining a Prince. Slipped my mind, however. Well, well, + we're coming up in the world, eh?—having a real nabob among us." He + hesitated for a moment. "But don't let me interrupt the game," he went on, + as if expecting King to end the contest in order to present the Prince to + him. + </p> + <p> + "Won't you sit down, Mr. Blithers?" said Mrs. King. "Or would you prefer a + more comfortable chair on the porch? We—" + </p> + <p> + "No, thanks, I'll stay here if you don't mind," said he hastily, and + dragged up the camp chair that Lieutenant Dank had been occupying. + </p> + <p> + "Fetch another chair, Lucas," said King to the servant. "And another glass + of lemonade for Miss Felton." + </p> + <p> + "Felton?" queried Mr. Blithers, sitting down very carefully on the rather + fragile chair, and hitching up his white flannel trousers at the knees to + reveal a pair of purple socks, somewhat elementary in tone. + </p> + <p> + "We know your daughter, Mr. Blithers," said little Miss Nellie eagerly. + </p> + <p> + "I was just trying to remember—" + </p> + <p> + "We live across the road—over there in the little white house with + the ivy—" + </p> + <p> + "—where I'd heard the name," proceeded Mr. Blithers, still looking + at the Prince. "By jove, I should think my daughter and the Prince would + make a rattling good match. I mean," he added, with a boisterous laugh, "a + good match at tennis. We'll have to get 'em together some day, eh, up at + Blitherwood. How long is the Prince to be with you, Mrs. King?" + </p> + <p> + "It's rather uncertain, Mr. Blithers," said she, and no more. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers fanned himself in patience for a moment or two. Then he + looked at his watch. + </p> + <p> + "Getting along toward dinner-time up our way," he ventured. Everybody + seemed rather intent on the game, which was extremely one-sided. + </p> + <p> + "Good work!" shouted King as Fannie Felton managed to return an easy + service. + </p> + <p> + Lieutenant Dank applauded vigorously. "Splendid!" he cried out. "Capitally + placed!" + </p> + <p> + "They speak remarkably good English, don't they?" said Mr. Blithers in an + audible aside to Mrs. King. "Beats the deuce how quickly they pick it up." + </p> + <p> + She smiled. "Officers in the Graustark army are required to speak English, + French and German, Mr. Blithers." + </p> + <p> + "It's a good idea," said he. "Maud speaks French and Italian like a + native. She was educated in Paris and Rome, you know. Fact is, she's lived + abroad a great deal." + </p> + <p> + "Is she at home now, Mr. Blithers?" + </p> + <p> + "Depends on what you'd call home, Mrs. King. We've got so many I don't + know just which is the real one. If you mean Blitherwood, yes, she's + there. Course, there's our town house in Madison Avenue, the place at + Newport, one at Nice and one at Pasadena—California, you know—and + a little shack in London. By the way, my wife says you live quite near our + place in New York." + </p> + <p> + "We live in Madison Avenue, but it's a rather long street, Mr. Blithers. + Just where is your house?" she inquired, rather spitefully. + </p> + <p> + He looked astonished. "You surely must know where the Blithers house is at—" + </p> + <p> + "Game!" shrieked Fannie Felton, tossing her racket in the air, a victor. + </p> + <p> + "They're through," said Mr. Blithers in a tone of relief. He shifted his + legs and put his hands on his knees, suggesting a readiness to arise on an + instant's notice. + </p> + <p> + "Shall we try another set?" called out the Prince. + </p> + <p> + "Make it doubles," put in Lieutenant Dank, and turned to Nellie. "Shall we + take them on?" + </p> + <p> + And doubles it was, much to the disgust of Mr. Blithers. He sat through + the nine games, manifesting an interest he was far from feeling, and then—as + dusk fell across the valley—arose expectantly with the cry of "game + and set." He had discoursed freely on the relative merits of various motor + cars, stoutly maintaining that the one he drove was without question the + best in the market (in fact, there wasn't another "make" that he would + have as a gift); the clubs he belonged to in New York were the only ones + that were worth belonging to (he wouldn't be caught dead in any of the + others); his tailor was the only tailor in the country who knew how to + make a decent looking suit of clothes (the rest of them were "the limit"); + the Pomeranian that he had given his daughter was the best dog of its + breed in the world (he was looking at Mrs. King's Pomeranian as he made + the remark); the tennis court at Blitherwood was pronounced by experts to + be the finest they'd, ever seen—and so on and so on, until the + long-drawn-out set was ended. + </p> + <p> + To his utter amazement, at the conclusion of the game, the four players + made a dash for the house without even so much as a glance in his + direction. It was the Prince who shouted something that sounded like "now + for a shower!" as he raced up the terrace, followed by the other + participants. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers said something violent under his breath, but resolutely + retained his seat. It was King who glanced slyly at his watch this time, + and subsequently shot a questioning look at his wife. She was frowning in + considerable perplexity, and biting her firm red lips. Count Quinnox + coolly arose and excused himself with the remark that he was off to dress + for dinner. He also looked at his watch, which certainly was an act that + one would hardly have expected of a diplomat. + </p> + <p> + "Well, well," said Mr. Blithers profoundly. Then he looked at his own + watch—and settled back in his chair, a somewhat dogged compression + about his jaws. He was not the man to be thwarted. "You certainly have a + cosy little place here. King," he remarked after a moment or two. + </p> + <p> + "We like it," said King, twiddling his fingers behind his back. "Humble + but homelike." + </p> + <p> + "Mrs. Blithers has been planning to come over for some time, Mrs. King. I + told her she oughtn't to put it off—be neighbourly, don't you know. + That's me. I'm for being neighbourly with my neighbours. But women, they—well, + you know how it is, Mrs. King. Always something turning up to keep 'em + from doing the things they want to do most. And Mrs. Blithers has so many + sociable obli—I beg pardon?" + </p> + <p> + "I was just wondering if you would stay and have dinner with us, Mr. + Blithers," said she, utterly helpless. She wouldn't look her husband in + the eye—and it was quite fortunate that she was unable to do so, for + it would have resulted in a laughing duet that could never have been + explained. + </p> + <p> + "Why," said Mr. Blithers, arising and looking at his watch again, "bless + my soul, it is <i>past</i> dinner time, isn't it? I had no idea it was so + late. 'Pon my soul, it's good of you, Mrs. King. You see, we have dinner + at seven up at Blitherwood and—I declare it's half-past now. I don't + see where the time has gone. Thanks, I <i>will</i> stay if you really mean + to be kind to a poor old beggar. Don't do anything extra on my account, + though, just your regular dinner, you know. No frills, if you please." He + looked himself over in some uncertainty. "Will this rag of mine do?" + </p> + <p> + "We shan't notice it, Mr. Blithers," said she, and he turned the remark + over in his mind several times as he walked beside her toward the house. + Somehow it didn't sound just right to him, but for the life of him he + couldn't tell why. "We are quite simple folk, you see," she went on + desperately, making note of the fact that her husband lagged behind like + the coward he was. "Red Roof is as nothing compared to Blitherwood, with + its army of servants and—" + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers magnanimously said "Pooh!" and, continuing, remarked that he + wouldn't say exactly how many they employed but he was sure there were not + more than forty, including the gardeners. "Besides," he added gallantly, + "what is an army of servants compared to the army of Grasstock? You've got + the real article, Mrs. King, so don't you worry. But, I say, if necessary, + I can telephone up to the house and have a dress suit sent down. It won't + take fifteen minutes, Lou—er—Mrs. Blithers always has 'em laid + out for me, in case of an emergency, and—" + </p> + <p> + "Pray do not think of it," she cried. "The men change, of course, after + they've been playing tennis, but we—we—well, you see, you + haven't been playing," she concluded, quite breathlessly. + </p> + <p> + At that instant the sprightly Feltons dashed pell mell down the steps and + across the lawn homeward, shrieking something unintelligible to Mrs. King + as they passed. + </p> + <p> + "Rather skittish," observed Mr. Blithers, glaring after them + disapprovingly. + </p> + <p> + "They are dears," said Mrs. King. + </p> + <p> + "The—er—Prince attracted by either one of 'em?" he queried. + </p> + <p> + "He barely knows them, Mr. Blithers." + </p> + <p> + "I see. Shouldn't think they'd appeal to him. Rather light, I should say—I + mean up here," and he tapped his forehead so that she wouldn't think that + he referred to pounds and ounces. "I don't believe Maud knows 'em, as the + little one said. Maud is rather—" + </p> + <p> + "It is possible they have mistaken some one else for your daughter," said + she very gently. + </p> + <p> + "Impossible," said he with force. + </p> + <p> + "They are coming back here to dinner," she said, and her eyes sparkled + with mischief. "I shall put you between them, Mr. Blithers. You will find + that they are very bright, attractive girls." + </p> + <p> + "We'll see," said he succinctly. + </p> + <p> + King caught them up at the top of the steps. He seemed to be slightly out + of breath. + </p> + <p> + "Make yourself at home, Mr. Blithers. I must get into something besides + these duds I'm wearing," he said. "Would you like to—er—wash + up while we're—" + </p> + <p> + "No, thanks," interposed Mr. Blithers. "I'm as clean as a whistle. Don't + mind me, please. Run along and dress, both of you. I'll sit out here and—count + the minutes," the last with a very elaborate bow to Mrs. King. + </p> + <p> + "Dinner's at half-past eight," said she, and disappeared. Mr. Blithers + recalled his last glance at his watch, and calculated that he would have + at least fifty minutes to count, provided dinner was served promptly on + the dot. + </p> + <p> + "You will excuse me if I leave you—" + </p> + <p> + "Don't mention it, old man," said the new guest, rather more curtly than + he intended. "I'll take it easy." + </p> + <p> + "Shall I have the butler telephone to Blitherwood to say that you won't be + home to dinner?" + </p> + <p> + "It would be better if he were to say that I wasn't home to dinner," said + Mr. Blithers. "It's over by this time." + </p> + <p> + "Something to drink while you're—" + </p> + <p> + "No, thanks. I can wait," and he sat down. + </p> + <p> + "You don't mind my—" + </p> + <p> + "Not at all." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers settled himself in the big porch chair and glowered at the + shadowy hills on the opposite side of the valley. The little cottage of + the Feltons came directly in his line of vision. He scowled more deeply + than before. At the end of fifteen minutes he started up suddenly and, + after a quick uneasy glance about him, started off across the lawn, + walking more rapidly than was his wont. + </p> + <p> + He had remembered that his chauffeur was waiting for him with the car just + around a bend in the road—and had been waiting for two hours or + more. + </p> + <p> + "Go home," he said to the man. "Come back at twelve. And don't use the + cut-out going up that hill, either." + </p> + <p> + Later on, he met the Prince. Very warmly he shook the tall young man's + hand,—he even gave it a prophetic second squeeze,—and said: + </p> + <p> + "I am happy to welcome you to the Catskills, Prince." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you," said Prince Robin. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV — PROTECTING THE BLOOD + </h2> + <p> + "A most extraordinary person," said Count Quinnox to King, after Mr. + Blithers had taken his departure, close upon the heels of the Feltons who + were being escorted home by the Prince and Dank. The venerable + Graustarkian's heroic face was a study. He had just concluded a + confidential hour in a remote corner of the library with the millionaire + while the younger people were engaged in a noisy though temperate + encounter with the roulette wheel at the opposite end of the room. "I've + never met any one like him, Mr. King." He mopped his brow, and still + looked a trifle dazed. + </p> + <p> + King laughed. "There isn't any one like him, Count. He is the one and only + Blithers." + </p> + <p> + "He is very rich?" + </p> + <p> + "Millions and millions," said Mrs. King. "Didn't he tell you how many?" + </p> + <p> + "I am not quite sure. This daughter of his—is she attractive?" + </p> + <p> + "Rather. Why?" + </p> + <p> + "He informed me that her dot would be twenty millions if she married the + right man. Moreover, she is his only heir. 'Pon my soul, Mrs. King, he + quite took my breath away when he announced that he knew all about our + predicament in relation to the Russian loan. It really sounded quite—you + might say significant. Does—does he imagine that—good heaven, + it's almost stupefying!" + </p> + <p> + King smoked in silence for many seconds. There was a pucker of annoyance + on his wife's fair brow as she stared reflectively through the window at + the distant lights of Blitherwood, far up the mountain side. + </p> + <p> + "Sounds ominous to me," said King drily. "Is Bobby for sale?" + </p> + <p> + The Count favoured him with a look of horror. "My dear Mr. King!" Then as + comprehension came, he smiled. "I see. No, he isn't for sale. He is a + Prince, not a pawn. Mr. Blithers may be willing to buy but—" he + proudly shook his head. + </p> + <p> + "He was feeling you out, however," said King, ruminating. "Planting the + seed, so to speak." + </p> + <p> + "There is a rumour that she is to marry Count Lannet," said his wife. "A + horrid creature. There was talk in the newspapers last winter of an + Italian duke. Poor girl! From what I hear of her, she is rather a good + sort, sensible and more genuinely American in her tastes than might be, + expected after her bringing-up. And she <i>is</i> pretty." + </p> + <p> + "How about this young Scoville, Rainie?" + </p> + <p> + "He's a nice boy but—he'll never get her. She is marked up too high + for him. He doesn't possess so much as the title to an acre of land." + </p> + <p> + "Extraordinary, the way you Americans go after our titles," said the Count + good-naturedly. + </p> + <p> + "No more extraordinary than the way you Europeans go after our money," was + her retort. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know which is the cheaper, titles or money in these days," said + King. "I understand one can get a most acceptable duke for three or four + millions, a nice marquis or count for half as much, and a Sir on tick." He + eyed the Count speculatively. "Of course a prince of the royal blood comes + pretty high." + </p> + <p> + "Pretty high," said the Count grimly. He seemed to be turning something + over in his mind. "Your amazing Mr. Blithers further confided to me that + he might be willing to take care of the Russian obligation for us if no + one else turns up in time. As a matter of fact, without waiting for my + reply, he said that he would have his lawyers look into the matter of + security at once. I was somewhat dazed, but I think he said that it would + be no trouble at all for him to provide the money himself and he would be + glad to accommodate us if we had no other plan in mind. Amazing, amazing!" + </p> + <p> + "Of course, you told him it was not to be considered," said King sharply. + </p> + <p> + "I endeavoured to do so, but I fear he did not grasp what I was saying. + Moreover, I tried to tell him that it was a matter I was not at liberty to + discuss. He didn't hear that, either." + </p> + <p> + "He is not in the habit of hearing any one but himself, I fear," said + King. + </p> + <p> + "I am afraid poor Robin is in jeopardy," said his wife, ruefully. "The + Bogieman is after him." + </p> + <p> + "Does the incomprehensible creature imagine—" began the Count + loudly, and then found it necessary to pull his collar away from his + throat as if to save himself from immediate strangulation. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Blithers is not blessed with an imagination, Count," said she. "He + doesn't imagine anything." + </p> + <p> + "If he should presume to insult our Prince by—" grated the old + soldier, very red in the face and erect—"if he should presume to—" + Words failed him and an instant later he was laughing, but somewhat + uncertainly, with his amused host and hostess. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers reached home in high spirits. His wife was asleep, but he + awoke her without ceremony. + </p> + <p> + "I say, Lou, wake up. Got some news for you. We'll have a prince in the + family before you can say Jack Robinson." + </p> + <p> + She sat up in bed, blinking with dismay. "In heaven's name, Will, what + have you been doing? What—<i>have</i> you been—" + </p> + <p> + "Cutting bait," said he jovially. "In a day or two I'll throw the hook in, + and you'll see what I land. He's as good as caught right now, but we'll + let him nibble a while before we jerk. And say, he's a corker, Lou. Finest + young fellow I've seen in many a day. He—" + </p> + <p> + "You don't mean to say that you—you actually said anything to him + about—about—Oh, my God, Will, don't tell me that you were + crazy enough to—" cried the poor woman, almost in tears. + </p> + <p> + "Now cool down, cool down," he broke in soothingly. "I'm no fool, Lou. + Trust me to do the fine work in a case like this. Sow the right kind of + seeds and you'll get results every time. I merely dropped a few hints, + that's all,—and in the right direction, believe me. Count Equinox + will do the rest. I'll bet my head we'll have this prince running after + Maud so—" + </p> + <p> + "What <i>did</i> you say?" she demanded. There was a fine moisture on her + upper lip. He sat down on the edge of the bed and talked for half an hour + without interruption. When he came to the end of his oration, she turned + over with her face to the wall and fairly sobbed: "What will the Kings + think of us? What will they think?" + </p> + <p> + "Who the dickens cares what the Kings think?" he roared, perfectly aghast + at the way she took it. "Who are the Kings? Tell me that! who are they?" + </p> + <p> + "I—I can't bear to talk about it. Go to bed." + </p> + <p> + He wiped his brow helplessly. "You beat anything I've ever seen. What's + the matter with you? Don't you want this prince for Maud? Well, then, what + the deuce are you crying about? You said you wanted him, didn't you? Well, + I'm going to get him. If I say I'll do a thing, you can bet your last + dollar I'll do it. That's the kind of a man William W. Blithers is. You + leave it to me. There's only one way to land these foreign noblemen, and + I'm—" + </p> + <p> + She faced him once more, and angrily. "Listen to me," she said. "I've had + a talk with Maud. She has gone to bed with a splitting headache and I'm + not surprised. Don't you suppose the poor child has a particle of pride? + She guessed at once just what you had gone over there for and she cried + her eyes out. Now she declares she will never be able to look the Prince + in the face, and as for the Kings—Oh, it's sickening. Why can't you + leave these things to me? You go about like a bull in a china shop. You + might at least have waited until the poor child had an opportunity to see + the man before rushing in with your talk about money. She—" + </p> + <p> + "Confound it, Lou, don't blame me for everything. We all three agreed at + lunch that he was a better bargain than this measly count we've been + considering. Maud says she won't marry the count, anyhow, and she <i>did</i> + say that if this prince was all that he's cracked up to be, she wouldn't + mind being the Princess of Groostock. You can't deny that, Lou. You heard + her say it. You—" + </p> + <p> + "She didn't say Groostock," said his wife shortly. "And you forget that + she said she wouldn't promise anything until she'd met him and decided + whether she liked him." + </p> + <p> + "She'll like him all right," said he confidently. + </p> + <p> + "She will refuse to even meet him, if she hears of your silly blunder + to-night." + </p> + <p> + "Refuse to meet him?" gasped Mr. Blithers. + </p> + <p> + "I may be able to reason with her, Will, but—but she's stubborn, as + well you know. I'm afraid you've spoiled everything." + </p> + <p> + His face brightened. Lowering his voice to a half-whisper, he said: "We + needn't tell her what I said to that old chap, Lou. Just let her think I + sat around like a gump and never said a word to anybody. We can—" + </p> + <p> + "But she'll pin you down, Will, and you know you can't lie with a straight + face." + </p> + <p> + "Maybe—maybe I'd better run down to New York for a few days," he + muttered unhappily. "You can square it better than I can." + </p> + <p> + "In other words, I can lie with a straight face," she said ironically. + </p> + <p> + "I never thought she'd balk like this," said he, ignoring the remark. + </p> + <p> + "I fancy you'd better go to New York," she said mercilessly. + </p> + <p> + "I've got business there anyhow," muttered he. "I—I think I'll go + before she's up in the morning." + </p> + <p> + "You can save yourself a bad hour or two if you leave before breakfast," + said she levelly. + </p> + <p> + "Get around her some way, Lou," he pleaded. "Tell her I'm sorry I had to + leave so early, and—and that I love her better than anything on + earth, and that I'll be back the end of the week. If—if she wants + anything in New York, just have her wire me. You say she cried?" + </p> + <p> + "She did, and I don't blame her." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers scowled. "Well—well, you see if you can do any better + than I did. Arrange it somehow for them to meet. She'll—she'll like + him and then—by George, she'll thank us both for the interest we + take in her future. It wouldn't surprise me if she fell in love with him + right off the reel. And you may be sure he'll fall in love with her. He + can't help it. The knowledge that she'll have fifty millions some day + won't have anything to do with his feeling for her, once he—" + </p> + <p> + "Don't mention the word millions again. Will Blithers." + </p> + <p> + "All right," said he, more humbly than he knew, "But listen to this, old + girl; I'm going to get this prince for her if it's the last act of my + life. I never failed in anything and I won't fail in this." + </p> + <p> + "Well, go to bed, dear, and don't worry. I may be able to undo the + mischief. It—it isn't hopeless, of course." + </p> + <p> + "I'll trust you, Lou, to do your part. Count on me to do mine when the + time comes. And I still insist that I have sowed the right sort of seed + to-night. You'll see. Just wait." + </p> + <p> + Sure enough, Mr. Blithers was off for New York soon after daybreak the + next morning, and with him went a mighty determination to justify himself + before the week was over. His wily brain was working as it had never + worked before. + </p> + <p> + Two days later, Count Quinnox received a message from New York bearing the + distressing information that the two private banking institutions on which + he had been depending for aid in the hour of trouble had decided that it + would be impossible for them to make the loan under consideration. The + financial agents who had been operating in behalf of the Graustark + government confessed that they were unable to explain the sudden change of + heart on the part of the bankers, inasmuch as the negotiations practically + had been closed with them. The decision of the directors was utterly + incomprehensible under the circumstances. + </p> + <p> + Vastly disturbed, Count Quinnox took the first train to New York, + accompanied by Truxton King, who was confident that outside influences had + been brought to bear upon the situation, influences inimical to Graustark. + Both were of the opinion that Russia had something to do with it, although + the negotiations had been conducted with all the secrecy permissible in + such cases. + </p> + <p> + "We may be able to get to the banks through Blithers," said King. + </p> + <p> + "How could he possibly be of assistance to us?" the Count inquired. + </p> + <p> + "He happens to be a director in both concerns, besides being such a power + in the financial world that his word is almost law when it comes to the + big deals." + </p> + <p> + All the way down to the city Count Quinnox was thoughtful, even + pre-occupied. They were nearing the Terminal when he leaned over and, + laying his hand on King's knee, said, after a long interval of silence + between them: + </p> + <p> + "I suppose you know that Graustark has not given up hope that Prince Robin + may soon espouse the daughter of our neighbour, Dawsbergen." + </p> + <p> + King gave him a queer look. "By jove, that's odd. I was thinking of that + very thing when you spoke." + </p> + <p> + "The union would be of no profit to us in a pecuniary way, my friend," + explained the Count. "Still it is most desirable for other reasons. + Dawsbergen is not a rich country, nor are its people progressive. The + reigning house, however, is an old one and rich in traditions. Money, my + dear King, is not everything in this world. There are some things it + cannot buy. It is singularly ineffective when opposed to an honest + sentiment. Even though the young Princess were to come to Graustark + without a farthing, she would still be hailed with the wildest acclaim. We + are a race of blood worshippers, if I may put it in that way. She + represents a force that has dominated our instincts for a great many + centuries, and we are bound hand and foot, heart and soul, by the + so-called fetters of imperialism. We are fierce men, but we bend the knee + and we wear the yoke because the sword of destiny is in the hand that + drives us. To-day we are ruled by a prince whose sire was not of the royal + blood. I do not say that we deplore this infusion, but it behooves us to + protect the original strain. We must conserve our royal blood. Our prince + assumes an attitude of independence that we find difficult to overcome. He + is prepared to defy an old precedent in support of a new one. In other + words, he points out the unmistakably happy union of his own mother, the + late Princess Yetive, and the American Lorry, and it is something we + cannot go behind. He declares that his mother set an example that he may + emulate without prejudice to his country if he is allowed a free hand in + choosing his mate. + </p> + <p> + "But we people of Graustark cannot look with complaisance on the possible + result of his search for a sharer of the throne. Traditions must be upheld—or + we die. True, the Crown Princess of Dawsbergen has American blood in her + veins but her sire is a prince royal. Her mother, as you know, was an + American girl. She who sits on the throne with Robin must be a princess by + birth or the grip on the sword of destiny is weakened and the dynasty + falters. I know what is in your mind. You are wondering why our Prince + should not wed one of your fabulously rich American girls—" + </p> + <p> + "My dear Count," said King warmly, "I am not thinking anything of the + sort. Naturally I am opposed to your pre-arranged marriages and all that + sort of thing, but still I appreciate what it means as a safe-guard to the + crown you support. I sincerely hope that Robin may find his love-mate in + the small circle you draw for him, but I fear it isn't likely. He is + young, romantic, impressionable, and he abhors the thought of marriage + without love. He refuses to even consider the princess you have picked out + for him. Time may prove to him that his ideals are false and he may resign + himself to the—I was about to say the inevitable." + </p> + <p> + "Inevitable is the word, Mr. King," said Count Quinnox grimly. "'Pon my + word, sir, I don't know what our princes and princesses are coming to in + these days. There seems to be a perfect epidemic of independence among + them. They marry whom they please in spite of royal command, and the + courts of Europe are being shorn of half their glory. It wouldn't surprise + me to see an American woman on the throne of England one of these days. + 'Gad, sir, you know what happened in Axphain two years ago. Her crown + prince renounced the throne and married a French singer." + </p> + <p> + "And they say he is a very happy young beggar," said King drily. + </p> + <p> + "It is the prerogative of fools to be happy," said Count Quinnox. + </p> + <p> + "Not so with princes, eh?" + </p> + <p> + "It is a duty with princes, Mr. King." + </p> + <p> + They had not been in New York City an hour before they discovered that + William W. Blithers was the man to whom they would have to appeal if they + expected to gain a fresh hearing with the banks. The agents were in a + dismal state of mind. The deal had been blocked no later than the + afternoon of the day before and at a time when everything appeared to be + going along most swimmingly. Blithers was the man to see; he and he alone + could bring pressure to bear on the directorates that might result in a + reconsideration of the surprising verdict. Something had happened during + the day to alter the friendly attitude of the banks; they were now + politely reluctant, as one of the agents expressed it, which really meant + that opposition to the loan had appeared from some unexpected source, as a + sort of eleventh hour obstacle. The heads of the two banks had as much as + said that negotiations were at an end, that was the long and short of it; + it really didn't matter what was back of their sudden change of front, the + fact still remained that the transaction was as "dead as a door nail" + unless it could be revived by the magnetic touch of a man like Blithers. + </p> + <p> + "What can have happened to cause them to change their minds so abruptly?" + cried the perplexed Count. "Surely our prime minister and the cabinet have + left nothing undone to convince them of Graustark's integrity and—" + </p> + <p> + "Pardon me. Count," interrupted one of the brokers, "shall I try to make + an appointment for you with Mr. Blithers? I hear he is in town for a few + days." + </p> + <p> + Count Quinnox looked to Truxton King for inspiration and that gentleman + favoured him with a singularly dis-spiriting nod of the head. The old + Graustarkian cleared his throat and rather stiffly announced that he would + receive Mr. Blithers if he would call on him at the Ritz that afternoon. + </p> + <p> + "What!" exclaimed both agents, half-starting from their chairs in + amazement. + </p> + <p> + The Count stared hard at them. "You may say to him that I will be in at + four." + </p> + <p> + "He'll tell you to go to—ahem!" The speaker coughed just in time. + "Blithers isn't in the habit of going out of his way to—to oblige + anybody. He wouldn't do it for the Emperor of Germany." + </p> + <p> + "But," said the Count with a frosty smile, "I am not the Emperor of + Germany." + </p> + <p> + "Better let me make an appointment for you to see him at his office. It's + just around the corner." There was a pleading note in the speaker's voice. + </p> + <p> + "You might save your face, Calvert, by saying that the Count will be + pleased to have him take tea with him at the Ritz," suggested King. + </p> + <p> + "Tea!" exclaimed Calvert scornfully. "Blithers, doesn't drink the stuff." + </p> + <p> + "It's a figure of speech," said King patiently. + </p> + <p> + "All right, I'll telephone," said the other dubiously. + </p> + <p> + He came back a few minutes later with a triumphant look in his eye. + </p> + <p> + "Blithers says to tell Count Quinnox he'll see him to-morrow morning at + half-past eight at his office. Sorry he's engaged this afternoon." + </p> + <p> + "But did you say I wanted him to have tea with us!" demanded the Count, an + angry flush leaping to his cheek. + </p> + <p> + "I did. I'm merely repeating what he said in reply. Half-past eight, at + his office, Count. Those were his words." + </p> + <p> + "It is the most brazen exhibition of insolence I've ever—" began the + Count furiously, but checked himself with an effort. "I—I hope you + did not say that I would come, sir!" + </p> + <p> + "Yes. It's the only way—" + </p> + <p> + "Well, be good enough to call him up again and say to him that I'll—I'll + see him damned before I'll come to his office to-morrow at eight-thirty or + at any other hour." And with that the Count got up and stalked out of the + office, putting on his hat as he did so. + </p> + <p> + "Count," said King, as they descended in the elevator, "I've got an idea + in my head that Blithers will be at the Ritz at four." + </p> + <p> + "Do you imagine, sir, that I will receive him?" + </p> + <p> + "Certainly. Are you not a diplomat?" + </p> + <p> + "I am a Minister of War," said the Count, and his scowl was an indication + of absolute proficiency in the science. + </p> + <p> + "And what's more," went on King, reflectively, "it wouldn't in the least + surprise me if Blithers is the man behind the directors in this sudden + move of the banks." + </p> + <p> + "My dear King, he displayed the keenest interest and sympathy the other + night at your house. He—" + </p> + <p> + "Of course I may be wrong," admitted King, but his brow was clouded. + </p> + <p> + Shortly after luncheon that day, Mrs. Blithers received a telegram from + her husband. It merely stated that he was going up to have tea with the + Count at four o'clock, and not to worry as "things were shaping themselves + nicely." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V — PRINCE ROBIN IS ASKED TO STAND UP + </h2> + <p> + Late the same evening. Prince Robin, at Red Roof, received a long distance + telephone communication from New York City. The Count was on the wire. He + imparted the rather startling news that William W. Blithers had + volunteered to take care of the loan out of his own private means! Quinnox + was cabling the Prime Minister for advice and would remain in New York for + further conference with the capitalist, who, it was to be assumed, would + want time to satisfy himself as to the stability of Graustark's resources. + </p> + <p> + Robin was jubilant. The thought had not entered his mind that there could + be anything sinister in this amazing proposition of the great financier. + </p> + <p> + If Count Quinnox himself suspected Mr. Blithers of an ulterior motive, the + suspicion was rendered doubtful by the evidence of sincerity on the part + of the capitalist who professed no sentiment in the matter but insisted on + the most complete indemnification by the Graustark government. Even King + was impressed by the absolute fairness of the proposition. Mr. Blithers + demanded no more than the banks were asking for in the shape of indemnity; + a first lien mortgage for 12 years on all properties owned and controlled + by the government and the deposit of all bonds held by the people with the + understanding that the interest would be paid to them regularly, less a + small per cent as commission. His protection would be complete,—for + the people of Graustark owned fully four-fifths of the bonds issued by the + government for the construction of public service institutions; these by + consent of Mr. Blithers were to be limited to three utilities: railroads, + telegraph and canals. These properties, as Mr. Blithers was by way of + knowing, were absolutely sound and self-supporting. According to his + investigators in London and Berlin, they were as solid as Gibraltar and + not in need of one-tenth the protection required by the famous rock. + </p> + <p> + Robin inquired whether he was to come to New York at once in relation to + the matter, and was informed that it would not be necessary at present. In + fact, Mr. Blithers preferred to let the situation remain in statu quo (as + he expressed it to the Count), until it was determined whether the people + were willing to deposit their bonds, a condition which was hardly worth + while worrying about in view of the fact that they had already signified + their readiness to present them for security in the original proposition + to the banks. Mr. Blithers, however, would give himself the pleasure of + calling upon the Prince at Red Roof later in the week, when the situation + could be discussed over a dish of tea or a cup of lemonade. That is + precisely the way Mr. Blithers put it. + </p> + <p> + The next afternoon Mrs. Blithers left cards at Red Roof—or rather, + the foot-man left them—and on the day following the Kings and their + guests received invitations to a ball at Blitherwood on the ensuing + Friday, but four days off. While Mrs. King and the two young men were + discussing the invitation the former was called to the telephone. Mrs. + Blithers herself was speaking. + </p> + <p> + "I hope you will pardon me for calling you up, Mrs. King, but I wanted to + be sure that you can come on the seventeenth. We want so much to have the + Prince and his friends with us. Mr. Blithers has taken a great fancy to + Prince Robin and Count Quinnox, and he declares the whole affair will be a + fiasco if they are not to be here." + </p> + <p> + "It is good of you to ask us, Mrs. Blithers. The Prince is planning to + leave for Washington within the next few days and I fear—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, you must prevail upon him to remain over, my Dear Mrs. King. We are + to have a lot of people up from Newport and Tuxedo—you know the + crowd—it's the <i>real</i> crowd—and I'm sure he will enjoy + meeting them. Mr. Blithers has arranged for a special train to bring them + up—a train de luxe, you may be sure, both as to equipment and + occupant. Zabo's orchestra, too. A notion seized us last night to give the + ball, which accounts for the short notice. It's the way we do everything—on + a minute's notice. I think they're jollier if one doesn't go through the + agony of a month's preparation, don't you? Nearly every one has wired + acceptance, so we're sure to have a lot of nice people. Loads of girls,—you + know the ones I mean,—and Mr. Blithers is trying to arrange a + sparring match between those two great prizefighters,—you know the + ones, Mrs. King,—just to give us poor women a chance to see what a + real man looks like in—I mean to say, what marvellous specimens they + are, don't you know. Now please tell the Prince that he positively cannot + afford to miss a real sparring match. Every one is terribly excited over + it, and naturally we are keeping it very quiet. Won't it be a lark? My + daughter thinks it's terrible, but she is finicky. One of them is a negro, + isn't he?" + </p> + <p> + "I'm sure I don't know." + </p> + <p> + "You can imagine how splendid they must be when I tell you that Mr. + Blithers is afraid they won't come up for less than fifteen thousand + dollars. Isn't it ridiculous?" + </p> + <p> + "Perfectly," said Mrs. King. + </p> + <p> + "Of course, we shall insist on the Prince receiving with us. He is our <i>piece + de resistance</i>. You—" + </p> + <p> + "I'm sure it will be awfully jolly, Mrs. Blithers. What did you say?" + </p> + <p> + "I beg pardon?" + </p> + <p> + "I'm sorry. I was speaking to the Prince. He just called up stairs to me." + </p> + <p> + "What does he say?" + </p> + <p> + "It was really nothing. He was asking about Hobbs." + </p> + <p> + "Hobbs? Tell him, please, that if he has any friends he would like to have + invited we shall be only too proud to—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, thank you! I'll tell him." + </p> + <p> + "You must not let him go away before—" + </p> + <p> + "I shall try my best, Mrs. Blithers. It is awfully kind of you to ask us + to—" + </p> + <p> + "You must all come up to dinner either to-morrow night or the night after. + I shall be so glad if you will suggest anything that can help us to make + the ball a success. You see, I know how terribly clever you are, Mrs. + King." + </p> + <p> + "I am dreadfully stupid." + </p> + <p> + "Nonsense!" + </p> + <p> + "I'm sorry to say we're dining out to-morrow night and on Thursday we are + having some people here for—" + </p> + <p> + "Can't you bring them all up to Blitherwood? We'd be delighted to have + them, I'm sure." + </p> + <p> + "I'm afraid I couldn't manage it. They—well, you see, they are in + mourning." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I see. Well, perhaps Maud and I could run in and see you for a few + minutes to-morrow or next day, just to talk things over a little—what's + that, Maud? I beg your pardon, Mrs. King. Ahem! Well, I'll call you up + to-morrow, if you don't mind being bothered about a silly old ball. + Good-bye. Thank you so much." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. King confronted Robin in the lower hall a few seconds later and + roundly berated him for shouting up the steps that Hobbs ought to be + invited to the ball. Prince Robin rolled on a couch and roared with + delight. Lieutenant Dank, as became an officer of the Royal Guard, stood + at attention—in the bow window with his back to the room, very red + about the ears and rigid to the bursting point. + </p> + <p> + "I suppose, however, we'll have to keep on the good side of the Blithers + syndicate," said Robin soberly, after his mirth and subsided before her + wrath. "Good Lord, Aunt Loraine, I simply cannot go up there and stand in + line like a freak in a side show for all the ladies and girls to gape at + I'll get sick the day of the party, that's what I'll do, and you can tell + 'em how desolated I am over my misfortune." + </p> + <p> + "They've got their eyes on you, Bobby," she said flatly. "You can't escape + so easily as all that. If you're not very, very careful they'll have you + married to the charming Miss Maud before you can say Jack Rabbit." + </p> + <p> + "Think that's their idea?" + </p> + <p> + "Unquestionably." + </p> + <p> + He stretched himself lazily. "Well, it may be that she's the very one I'm + looking for, Auntie. Who knows?" + </p> + <p> + "You silly boy!" + </p> + <p> + "She may be the Golden Girl in every sense of the term," said he lightly. + "You say she's pretty?" + </p> + <p> + "My notion of beauty and yours may not agree at all." + </p> + <p> + "That's not an answer." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I consider her to be a very good-looking girl." + </p> + <p> + "Blonde?" + </p> + <p> + "Mixed. Light brown hair and very dark eyes and lashes. A little taller + than I, more graceful and a splendid horse-woman. I've seen her riding." + </p> + <p> + "Astride?" + </p> + <p> + "No. I've seen her in a ball gown, too. Most men think she's stunning." + </p> + <p> + "Well, let's have a game of billiards," said he, dismissing Maud in a way + that would have caused the proud Mr. Blithers to reel with indignation. + </p> + <p> + A little later on, at the billiard table, Mrs. King remarked, apropos of + nothing and quite out of a clear sky, so to speak: + </p> + <p> + "And she'll do anything her parents command her to do, that's the worst of + it." + </p> + <p> + "What are you talking about? It's your shot." + </p> + <p> + "If they order her to marry a title, she'll do it. That's the way she's + been brought up, I'm afraid." + </p> + <p> + "Meaning Maud?" + </p> + <p> + "Certainly. Who else? Poor thing, she hasn't a chance in the world, with + that mother of hers." + </p> + <p> + "Shoot, please. Mark up six for me, Dank." + </p> + <p> + "Wait till you see her, Bobby." + </p> + <p> + "All right. I'll wait," said he cheerfully. + </p> + <p> + The next day Count Quinnox and King returned from the city, coming up in a + private car with Mr. Blithers himself. + </p> + <p> + "I'll have Maud drive me over this afternoon," said Mr. Blithers, as they + parted at the station. + </p> + <p> + But Maud did not drive him over that afternoon. The pride, joy and hope of + the Blithers family flatly refused to be a party of any such arrangement, + and set out for a horse-back ride in a direction that took her as far away + from Red Roof as possible. + </p> + <p> + "What's come over the girl?" demanded Mr. Blithers, completely non-plused. + "She's never acted like this before, Lou." + </p> + <p> + "Some silly notion about being made a laughingstock, I gather," said his + wife. "Heaven knows I've talked to her till I'm utterly worn out. She says + she won't be bullied into even meeting the Prince, much less marrying him. + I've never known her to be so pig-headed. Usually I can make her see + things in a sensible way. She would have married the duke, I'm sure, if—if + you hadn't put a stop to it on account of his so-called habits. She—" + </p> + <p> + "Well, it's turned out for the best, hasn't it? Isn't a prince better than + a duke?" + </p> + <p> + "You've said all that before, Will. I wanted her to run down with me this + morning to talk the ball over with Mrs. King, and what do you think + happened?" + </p> + <p> + "She wouldn't go?" + </p> + <p> + "Worse than that. She wouldn't let <i>me</i> go. Now, things are coming to + a pretty pass when—" + </p> + <p> + "Never mind. I'll talk to her," said Mr. Blithers, somewhat bleakly + despite his confident front. "She loves her old dad. I can do <i>anything</i> + with her." + </p> + <p> + "She's on a frightfully high horse lately," sighed Mrs. Blithers + fretfully. "It—it can't be that young Scoville, can it?" + </p> + <p> + "If I thought it was, I'd—I'd—" There is no telling what Mr. + Blithers would have done to young Scoville, at the moment, for he couldn't + think of anything dire enough to inflict upon the suspected meddler. + </p> + <p> + "In any event, it's dreadfully upsetting to me, Will. She—she won't + listen to anything. And here's something else: She declares she won't stay + here for the ball on Friday night." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers had her repeat it, and then almost missed the chair in + sitting down, he was so precipitous about it. + </p> + <p> + "Won't stay for her own ball?" he bellowed. + </p> + <p> + "She says it isn't her ball," lamented his wife. + </p> + <p> + "If it isn't hers, in the name of God whose is it?" + </p> + <p> + "Ask her, not me," flared Mrs. Blithers. "And don't glare at me like that. + I've had nothing but glares since you went away. I thought I was doing the + very nicest thing in the world when I suggested the ball. It would bring + them together—" + </p> + <p> + "The only two it will actually bring together, it seems, are those damned + prize-fighters. They'll get together all right, but what good is it going + to do us, if Maud's going to act like this? See here, Lou, I've got things + fixed so that the Prince of Groostuck can't very well do anything but ask + Maud to—" + </p> + <p> + "That's just it!" she exclaimed. "Maud sees through the whole arrangement, + Will. She said last night that she wouldn't be at all surprised if you + offered to assume Graustark's debt to Russia in order to—" + </p> + <p> + "That's just what I've done, old girl," said he in triumph. "I'll have 'em + sewed up so tight by next week that they can't move without asking me to + loosen the strings. And you can tell Maud once more for me that I'll get + this Prince for her if—" + </p> + <p> + "But she doesn't want him!" + </p> + <p> + "She doesn't know what she wants!" he roared. "Where is she going?" + </p> + <p> + "You saw her start off on Katydid, so why—" + </p> + <p> + "I mean on the day of the ball." + </p> + <p> + "To New York." + </p> + <p> + "By gad, I'll—I'll see about <i>that</i>," he grated. "I'll see that + she doesn't leave the grounds if I have to put guards at every gate. She's + got to be reasonable. What does she think I'm putting sixteen millions + into the Grasstork treasury for? She's got to stay here for the ball. Why, + it would be a crime for her to—but what's the use talking about it? + She'll be here and she'll lead the grand march with the Prince. I've got + it all—" + </p> + <p> + "Well, you'll have to talk to her. I've done all that I can do. She swears + she won't marry a man she's never seen." + </p> + <p> + "Ain't we trying to show him to her?" he snorted. "She won't have to marry + him till she's seen him, and when she does see him she'll apologise to me + for all the nasty things she's been saying about me." For a moment it + looked as though Mr. Blithers would dissolve into tears, so suddenly was + he afflicted by self-pity. "By the way, didn't she like the necklace I + sent up to her from Tiffany's?" + </p> + <p> + "I suppose so. She said you were a dear old foozler." + </p> + <p> + "Foozler? What's that mean?" He wasn't quite sure, but somehow it sounded + like a term of opprobrium. + </p> + <p> + "I haven't the faintest idea," she said shortly. + </p> + <p> + "Well, why didn't you ask her? You've had charge of her bringing up. If + she uses a word that you don't know the meaning of, you ought to—" + </p> + <p> + "Are you actually going to lend all that money to Graustark?" she cut in. + </p> + <p> + He glared at her uncertainly for a moment and then nodded his head. The + words wouldn't come. + </p> + <p> + "Are you not a trifle premature about it?" she demanded with deep + significance in her manner. + </p> + <p> + This time he did not nod his head, nor did he shake it. He simply got up + and walked out of the room. Half way across the terrace he stopped short + and said it with a great fervour and instantly felt very much relieved. In + fact, the sensation of relief was so pleasant that he repeated it two or + three times and then had to explain to a near by gardener that he didn't + mean him at all. Then he went down to the stables. All the grooms and + stableboys came tumbling into the stable yard in response to his + thunderous shout. + </p> + <p> + "Saddle Red Rover, and be quick about it," he commanded. + </p> + <p> + "Going out, sir?" asked the head groom, touching his fore-lock. + </p> + <p> + "I am," said Mr. Blithers succinctly and with a withering glare. Red Rover + must have been surprised by the unusual celerity with which he was saddled + and bridled. If there could be such a thing as a horse looking shocked, + that beast certainly betrayed himself as he was yanked away from his full + manger and hustled out to the mounting block. + </p> + <p> + "Which way did Miss Blithers go?" demanded Mr. Blithers, in the saddle. + Two grooms were clumsily trying to insert his toes into the stirrups, at + the same time pulling down his trousers legs, which had a tendency to + hitch up in what seemed to them a most exasperating disregard for form. To + their certain knowledge, Mr. Blithers had never started out before without + boot and spur; therefore, the suddenness of his present sortie sank into + their intellects with overwhelming impressiveness. + </p> + <p> + "Down the Cutler road, sir, three quarters of an hour ago. She refused to + have a groom go along, sir." + </p> + <p> + "Get ap!" said Mr. Blithers, and almost ran down a groom in his rush for + the gate. For the information of the curious, it may be added that he did + not overtake his daughter until she had been at home for half an hour, but + he was gracious enough to admit to himself that he had been a fool to + pursue a stern chase rather than to intercept her on the back road home, + which <i>any</i> fool might have known she would take. + </p> + <p> + His wife came upon him a few minutes later while he was feverishly engaged + in getting into his white flannels. + </p> + <p> + "Tell Maud I'm going over to have tea with the Prince," he grunted, + without looking up from the shoe lace he was tying in a hard knot. "I want + her to go with me in fifteen minutes. Told 'em I would bring her over to + play tennis. Tell her to put on tennis clothes. Hurry up, Lou. Where's my + watch? What time is it? For God's sake, look at the watch, not at me! I'm + not a clock! What?" + </p> + <p> + "Mrs. King called up half an hour ago to say that they were all motoring + over to the Grandby Tavern for tea and wouldn't be back till half-past + seven—" + </p> + <p> + He managed to look up at that. For a moment he was speechless. No one had + ever treated him like this before. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I'll be—hanged! Positive engagement. But's it's all right," + he concluded resolutely. "I can motor to Grandby Tavern, too, can't I? + Tell Maud not to mind tennis clothes, but to hurry. Want to go along?" + </p> + <p> + "No, I don't," she said emphatically. "And Maud isn't going, either." + </p> + <p> + "She isn't, eh?" + </p> + <p> + "No, she isn't. Can't you leave this affair to me?" + </p> + <p> + "I'm pretty hot under the collar," he warned her, and it was easy to + believe that he was. + </p> + <p> + "Don't rush in where angels fear to tread, Will dear," she pleaded. It was + so unusual for her to adopt a pleading tone that he overlooked the + implication. Besides he had just got through calling himself a fool, so + perhaps she was more or less justified. Moreover, at that particular + moment she undertook to assist him with his necktie. Her soft, cool + fingers touched his double chin and seemed to caress it lovingly. He + lifted his head very much as a dog does when he is being tickled on that + velvety spot under the lower jaw. + </p> + <p> + "Stuff and nonsense," he murmured throatily. + </p> + <p> + "I thought you would see it that way," she said so calmly that he blinked + a couple of times in sheer perplexity and then diminished his double chin + perceptibly by a very helpful screwing up of his lower lip. He said + nothing, preferring to let her think that the most important thing in the + world just then was the proper adjustment of the wings of his necktie. + "There!" she said, and patted him on the cheek, to show that the task had + been successfully accomplished. + </p> + <p> + "Better come along for a little spin," he said, readjusting the tie with + man-like ingenuousness. "Do you good, Lou." + </p> + <p> + "Very well," she said. "Can you wait a few minutes?" + </p> + <p> + "Long as you like," said he graciously. "Ask Maud if she wants to come, + too." + </p> + <p> + "I am sure she will enjoy it," said his wife, and then Mr. Blithers + descended to the verandah to think. Somehow he felt if he did a little + more thinking perhaps matters wouldn't be so bad. Among other things, he + thought it would be a good idea not to motor in the direction of Grandby + Tavern. And he also thought it was not worth while resenting the fact that + his wife and daughter took something over an hour to prepare for the + little spin. + </p> + <p> + In the meantime, Prince Robin was racing over the mountain roads in a + high-power car, attended by a merry company of conspirators whose sole + object was to keep him out of the clutches of that far-reaching octopus, + William W. Blithers. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI — THE PRINCE AND MR. BLITHERS + </h2> + <p> + In order to get on with the narrative, I shall be as brief as possible in + the matter of the Blitherwood ball. In the first place, mere words would + prove to be not only feeble but actually out of place. Any attempt to + define the sensation of awe by recourse to a dictionary would put one in + the ridiculous position of seeking the unattainable. The word has its + meaning, of course, but the sensation itself is quite another thing. As + every one who attended the ball was filled with awe, which he tried to put + forward as admiration, the attitude of the guest was no more limp than + that of the chronicler. In the second place, I am not qualified by + experience or imagination to describe a ball that stood its promoter not a + penny short of one hundred thousand dollars. I believe I could go as high + as a fifteen or even twenty thousand dollar affair with some sort of + intelligence, but anything beyond those figures renders me void and + useless. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers not only ran a special train de luxe from New York City, but + another from Washington and still another from Newport, for it appears + that the Newporters at the last minute couldn't bear the idea of going to + the Metropolis out of season. He actually had to take them around the city + in such a way that they were not even obliged to submit to a glimpse of + the remotest outskirts of the Bronx. + </p> + <p> + From Washington came an amazing company of foreign ladies and gentlemen, + ranging from the most exalted Europeans to the lowliest of the yellow + races. They came with gold all over them; they tinkled with the clash of a + million cymbals. The President of the United States almost came. Having no + spangles of his own, he delegated a Major-General and a Rear-Admiral to + represent Old Glory, and no doubt sulked in the White House because a + parsimonious nation refuses to buy braid and buttons for its chief + executive. + </p> + <p> + Any one who has seen a gentleman in braid, buttons and spangles will + understand how impossible it is to describe him. One might enumerate the + buttons and the spangles and even locate them precisely upon his person, + but no mortal intellect can expand sufficiently to cope with an + undertaking that would try even the powers of Him who created the contents + of those wellstuffed uniforms. + </p> + <p> + A car load of orchids and gardenias came up, fairly depleting the + florists' shops on Manhattan Island, and with them came a small army of + skilled decorators. In order to deliver his guests at the doors of + Blitherwood, so to speak, the incomprehensible Mr. Blithers had a + temporary spur of track laid from the station two miles away, employing no + fewer than a thousand men to do the work in forty-eight hours. (Work on a + terminal extension in New York was delayed for a week or more in order + that he might borrow the rails, ties and worktrains!) + </p> + <p> + Two hundred and fifty precious and skillfully selected guests ate two + hundred and fifty gargantuan dinners and twice as many suppers; drank + barrels of the rarest of wines; smoked countless two dollar Perfectos and + stuffed their pockets with enough to last them for days to come; burnt up + five thousand cigarettes and ate at least two dozen eggs for breakfast, + and then flitted away with a thousand complaints in two hundred and fifty + Pullman drawing-rooms, Nothing could have been more accurately pulled-off + than the wonderful Blitherwood ball. (The sparring match on the lawn, + under the glare of a stupendous cluster of lights, resulted in favour of + Mr. Bullhead Brown, who successfully—if accidentally—landed + with considerably energy on the left lower corner of Mr. Sledge-hammer + Smith's diaphragm, completely dividing the purse with him in four + scientifically satisfactory rounds, although they came to blows over it + afterwards when Mr. Smith told Mr. Brown what he thought of him for + hitting with such fervour just after they had eaten a hearty meal.) + </p> + <p> + A great many mothers inspected Prince Robin with interest and confessed to + a really genuine enthusiasm: something they had not experienced since one + of the German princes got close enough to Newport to see it quite clearly + through his marine glasses from the bridge of a battleship. The ruler of + Graustark—(four-fifths of the guests asked where in the world it + was!)—was the lion of the day. Mr. Blithers was annoyed because he + did not wear his crown, but was somewhat mollified by the information that + he had neglected to bring it along with him in his travels. He was also + considerably put out by the discovery that the Prince had left his white + and gold uniform at home and had to appear in an ordinary dress-suit, + which, to be sure, fitted him perfectly but did not achieve distinction. + He did wear a black and silver ribbon across his shirt front, however, and + a tiny gold button in the lapel of his coat; otherwise he might have been + mistaken for a "regular guest," to borrow an expression from Mr. Blithers. + The Prince's host manoeuvred until nearly one o'clock in the morning + before he succeeded in getting a close look at the little gold button, and + then found that the inscription thereon was in some sort of hieroglyphics + that afforded no enlightenment whatsoever. + </p> + <p> + Exercising a potentate's prerogative, Prince Robin left the scene of + festivity somewhat earlier than was expected. As a matter of fact, he + departed shortly after one. Moreover, being a prince, it did not occur to + him to offer any excuse for leaving so early, but gracefully thanked his + host and hostess and took himself off without the customary assertion that + he had had a splendid time. Strange to say, he did not offer a single + comment on the sumptuousness of the affair that had been given in his + honor. Mr. Blithers couldn't get over that. He couldn't help thinking that + the fellow had not been properly brought-up, or was it possible that he + was not in the habit of going out in good society? + </p> + <p> + Except for one heart-rending incident, the Blitherwood ball was the most + satisfying event in the lives of Mr. and Mrs. William W. Blithers. That + incident, however, happened to be the hasty and well-managed flight of + Maud Applegate Blithers at an hour indefinitely placed somewhere between + four and seven o'clock on the morning of the great day. + </p> + <p> + Miss Blithers was not at the ball. She was in New York City serenely + enjoying one of the big summer shows, accompanied by young Scoville and + her onetime governess, a middle-aged gentlewoman who had seen even better + days than those spent in the employ of William W. Blithers. The resolute + young lady had done precisely what she said she would do, and for the + first time in his life Mr. Blithers realised that his daughter was a + creation and not a mere condition. He wilted like a famished water-lily + and went about the place in a state of bewilderment so bleak that even his + wife felt sorry for him and refrained from the "I told you so" that might + have been expected under the circumstances. + </p> + <p> + Maud's telegram, which came at three o'clock in the afternoon, was meant + to be reassuring but it failed of its purpose. It said: "Have a good time + and don't lose any sleep over me. I shall sleep very soundly myself at the + Ritz to-night and hope you will be doing the same when I return home + to-morrow afternoon, for I know you will be dreadfully tired after all the + excitement. Convey my congratulations to the guest of honor and believe me + to be your devoted and obedient daughter." + </p> + <p> + The co-incidental absence of young Mr. Scoville from the ball was a cause + of considerable uneasiness on the part of the agitated Mr. Blithers, who + commented upon it quite expansively in the seclusion of his own + bed-chamber after the last guest had sought repose. Some of the things + that Mr. Blithers said about Mr. Scoville will never be forgotten by the + four walls of that room, if, as commonly reported, they possess auricular + attachments. + </p> + <p> + Any one who imagines that Mr. Blithers accepted Maud's defection as a + final disposition of the cause he had set his heart upon is very much + mistaken in his man. Far from receding so much as an inch from his + position, he at once set about to strengthen it in such a way that Maud + would have to come to the conclusion that it was useless to combat the + inevitable, and ultimately would heap praises upon his devoted head for + the great blessing he was determined to bestow upon her in spite of + herself. + </p> + <p> + The last of the special coaches was barely moving on its jiggly way to the + main line, carrying the tag end of the revellers, when he set forth in his + car for a mid-day visit to Red Roof. Already the huge camp of Slavs and + Italians was beginning to jerk up the borrowed rails and ties; the work + trains were rumbling and snorting in the meadows above Blitherwood, + tottering about on the uncertain road-bed. He gave a few concise and + imperative orders to obsequious superintendents and foremen, who + subsequently repeated them with even greater freedom to the perspiring + foreigners, and left the scene of confusion without so much as a glance + behind. Wagons, carts, motortrucks and all manner of wheeled things were + scuttling about Blitherwood as he shot down the long, winding avenue + toward the lodge gates, but he paid no attention to them. They were + removing the remnants of a glory that had passed at five in the morning. + He was not interested in the well-plucked skeleton. It was a nuisance + getting rid of it, that was all, and he wanted it to be completely out of + sight when he returned from Red Roof. If a vestige of the ruins remained, + some one would hear from him! That was understood. And when Maud came home + on the five-fourteen she would not find him asleep—not by a long + shot! + </p> + <p> + Half-way to Red Roof, he espied a man walking briskly along the road ahead + of him. To be perfectly accurate, he was walking in the middle of the road + and his back was toward the swift-moving, almost noiseless Packard. + </p> + <p> + "Blow the horn for the dam' fool," said Mr. Blithers to the chauffeur. A + moment later the pedestrian leaped nimbly aside and the car shot past, the + dying wail of the siren dwindling away in the whirr of the wheels. "Look + where you're going!" shouted Mr. Blithers from the tonneau, as if the + walker had come near to running him down instead of the other way around. + "Whoa! Stop 'er, Jackson!" he called to the driver. He had recognised the + pedestrian. + </p> + <p> + The car came to a stop with grinding brakes, and at the same time the + pedestrian halted a hundred yards away. + </p> + <p> + "Back up," commanded Mr. Blithers in some haste, for the Prince seemed to + be on the point of deserting the highway for the wood that lined it. + "Morning, Prince!" he shouted, waving his hat vigorously. "Want a lift?" + </p> + <p> + The car shot backward with almost the same speed that it had gone forward, + and the Prince exercised prudence when he stepped quickly up the sloping + bank at the roadside. + </p> + <p> + "Were you addressing me," he demanded curtly, as the car came to a stop. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, your highness. Get in. I'm going your way," said Mr. Blithers + beamingly. + </p> + <p> + "I mean a moment ago, when you shouted 'Look where you are going,'" said + Robin, an angry gleam in his eye. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers looked positively dumbfounded. "Good Heavens, no!" he cried. + "I was speaking to the chauffeur." (Jackson's back seemed to stiffen a + little.) "I've told him a thousand times to be careful about running up on + people like that. Now this is the last time I'll warn you, Jackson. The + next time you go. Understand? Just because you happen to be driving for me + doesn't signify that you can run over people who—" + </p> + <p> + "It's all right, Mr. Blithers," interrupted Robin, with his fine smile. + "No harm done. I'll walk if you don't mind. Out for a bit of exercise, you + know. Thank you just the same." + </p> + <p> + "Where are you bound for?" asked Mr. Blithers. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know. I ramble where my fancy leads me." + </p> + <p> + "I guess I'll get out and stroll along with you. God knows I need more + exercise than I get. Is it agreeable?" He was on the ground by this time. + Without waiting for an answer, he directed Jackson to run on to Red Roof + and wait for him. + </p> + <p> + "I shall be charmed," said Robin, a twinkle in the tail of his eye. "An + eight or ten mile jaunt will do you a world of good, I'm sure. Shall we + explore this little road up the mountain and then drop down to Red Roof? I + don't believe it can be more than five or six miles." + </p> + <p> + "Capital," said Mr. Blithers with enthusiasm. He happened to know that it + was a "short cut" to Red Roof and less than a mile as the crow flies. + True, there was something of an ascent ahead of them, but there was also a + corresponding descent at the other end. Besides, he was confident he could + keep up with the long-legged youngster by the paradoxical process of + holding back. The Prince, having suggested the route, couldn't very well + be arbitrary in traversing it. Mr. Blithers regarded the suggestion as an + invitation. + </p> + <p> + They struck off into the narrow woodland road, not precisely side by side, + but somewhat after the fashion of a horseback rider and his groom, or, + more strictly speaking, as a Knight and his vassal. Robin started off so + briskly that Mr. Blithers fell behind a few paces and had to exert himself + considerably to keep from losing more ground as they took the first steep + rise. The road was full of ruts and cross ruts and littered with boulders + that had ambled down the mountain-side in the spring moving. To save his + life, Mr. Blithers couldn't keep to a straight course. He went from rut to + rut and from rock to rock with the fidelity of a magnetised atom, seldom + putting his foot where he meant to put it, and never by any chance + achieving a steady stride. He would take one long, purposeful step and + then a couple of short "feelers," progressing very much as a man tramps + over a newly ploughed field. + </p> + <p> + At the top of the rise, Robin considerately slackened his pace and the + chubby gentleman drew alongside, somewhat out of breath but as cheerful as + a cricket. + </p> + <p> + "Going too fast for you, Mr. Blithers?" inquired Robin. + </p> + <p> + "Not at all," said Mr. Blithers. "By the way, Prince," he went on, + cunningly seizing the young man's arm and thereby putting a check on his + speed for the time being at least, "I want to explain my daughter's + unfortunate absence last night. You must have thought it very strange. + Naturally it was unavoidable. The poor girl is really quite heart-broken. + I beg pardon!" He stepped into a rut and came perilously near to going + over on his nose. "Beastly road! Thanks. Good thing I took hold of you. + Yes, as I was saying, it was really a most unfortunate thing; missed the + train, don't you see. Went down for the day—just like a girl, you + know—and missed the train." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, I see. She missed it twice." + </p> + <p> + "Eh? Oh! Ha ha! Very good! She might just as well have missed it a dozen + times as once, eh? Well, she could have arranged for a special to bring + her up, but she's got a confounded streak of thriftiness in her. Couldn't + think of spending the money. Silly idea of—I beg your pardon, did I + hurt you? I'm pretty heavy, you know, no light weight when I come down on + a fellow's toe like that. What say to sitting down on this log for a + while? Give your foot a chance to rest a bit. Deucedly awkward of me. + Ought to look out where I'm stepping, eh?" + </p> + <p> + "It really doesn't matter, Mr. Blithers," said Robin hastily. "We'll keep + right on if it's all the same to you. I'm due at home in—in half an + hour. We lunch very punctually." + </p> + <p> + "I was particularly anxious for you and Maud to meet under the conditions + that obtained last night," went on Mr. Blithers, with a regretful look at + the log they were passing. "Nothing could have been more—er—ripping." + </p> + <p> + "I hear from every one that your daughter is most attractive," said Robin. + "Sorry not to have met her, Mr. Blithers." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, you'll meet her all right. Prince. She's coming home to-day. I + believe Mrs. Blithers is expecting you to dinner to-night. She—" + </p> + <p> + "I'm sure there must be some mistake," began Robin, but was cut short. + </p> + <p> + "I was on my way to Red Roof to ask you and Count Quiddux to give us this + evening in connection with that little affair we are arranging. It is most + imperative that it should be to-night, as my attorney is coming up for the + conference." + </p> + <p> + "I fear that Mrs. King has planned something—" + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers waved his hand deprecatingly. "I am sure Mrs. King will let + you off when she knows how important it is. As a matter of fact, it has to + be tonight or not at all." + </p> + <p> + There was a note in his voice that Robin did not like. It savoured of + arrogance. + </p> + <p> + "I daresay Count Quinnox can attend to all the details, Mr. Blithers. I + have the power of veto, of course, but I shall be guided by the counsel of + my ministers. You need have no hesitancy in dealing with—" + </p> + <p> + "That's not the point, Prince. I am a business man,—as perhaps you + know. I make it a point never to deal with any one except the head of a + concern, if you'll pardon my way of putting it. It isn't right to speak of + Growstock as a concern, but you'll understand, of course. Figure of + speech." + </p> + <p> + "I can only assure you, sir, that Graustark is in a position to indemnify + you against any possible chance of loss. You will be amply secured. I take + it that you are not coming to our assistance through any desire to be + philanthropic, but as a business proposition, pure and simple. At least, + that is how we regard the matter. Am I not right?" + </p> + <p> + "Perfectly," said Mr. Blithers. "I haven't got sixteen millions to throw + away. Still I don't see that that has anything to do with my request that + you be present at the conference to-night. To be perfectly frank with you, + I don't like working in the dark. You have the power of veto, as you say. + Well, if I am to lend Groostork a good many millions of hard-earned + dollars, I certainly don't relish the idea that you may take it into your + head to upset the whole transaction merely because you have not had the + matter presented to you by me instead of by your cabinet, competent as its + members may be. First hand information on any subject is my notion of + simplicity." + </p> + <p> + "The integrity of the cabinet is not to be questioned, Mr. Blithers. Its + members have never failed Graustark in any—" + </p> + <p> + "I beg your pardon, Prince," said Mr. Blithers firmly, "but I certainly + suspect that they failed her when they contracted this debt to Russia. You + will forgive me for saying it, but it was the most asinine bit of + short-sightedness I've ever heard of. My office boys could have seen + farther than your honourable ministers." + </p> + <p> + To his utter amazement, Robin turned a pair of beaming, excited eyes upon + him. + </p> + <p> + "Do you really mean that, Mr. Blithers?" he cried eagerly. + </p> + <p> + "I certainly do!" + </p> + <p> + "By jove, I—I can't tell you how happy I am to hear you say it. You + see it is exactly what John Tullis said from the first. He was bitterly + opposed to the loan. He tried his best to convince the prime minister that + it was inadvisable. I granted him the special privilege of addressing the + full House of Nobles on the question, an honour that no alien had known up + to that time. Of course I was a boy when all this happened, Mr. Blithers, + or I might have put a stop to the—but I'll not go into that. The + House of Nobles went against his judgment and voted in favour of accepting + Russia's loan. Now they realise that dear old John Tullis was right. + Somehow it gratifies me to hear you say that they were—ahem!—shortsighted." + </p> + <p> + "What you need in Groostock is a little more good American blood," + announced Mr. Blithers, pointedly. "If you are going to cope with the + world, you've got to tackle the job with brains and not with that idiotic + thing called faith. There's no such thing in these days as charity among + men, good will, and all that nonsense. Now, you've got a splendid start in + the right direction, Prince. You've got American blood in your veins and + that means a good deal. Take my advice and increase the proportion. In a + couple of generations you'll have something to brag about. Take Tullis as + your example. Beget sons that will think and act as he is capable of + doing. Weed out the thin blood and give the crown of Grasstick something + that is thick and red. It will be the making of your—" + </p> + <p> + "I suppose you are advising me to marry an American woman, Mr. Blithers," + said Robin drily. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers directed a calculating squint into the tree-tops. "I am + simply looking ahead for my own protection, Prince," said he. + </p> + <p> + "In what respect?" + </p> + <p> + "Well I am putting a lot of money into the hands of your people. Isn't it + natural that I should look ahead to some extent?" + </p> + <p> + "But my people are honest. They will pay." + </p> + <p> + "I understand all that, but at the same time I do not relish the idea of + some day being obliged to squeeze blood from a turnip. Now is the time for + you to think for the future. Your people are honest, I'll grant. But they + also are poor. And why? Because no one has been able to act for them as + your friend Tullis is capable of acting. The day will come when they will + have to settle with me, and will it be any easier to pay William W. + Blithers than it is to pay Russia? Not a bit of it. As you have said, I am + not a philanthropist. I shall exact full and prompt payment. I prefer to + collect from the prosperous, however, and not from the poor. It goes + against the grain. That's why I want to see you rich and powerful—as + well as honest." + </p> + <p> + "I grant you it is splendid philosophy," said Robin. "But are you not + forgetting that even the best of Americans are sometimes failures when it + comes to laying up treasure?" + </p> + <p> + "As individuals, yes; but not as a class. You will not deny that we are + the richest people in the world. On the other hand I do not pretend to say + that we are a people of one strain of blood. We represent a mixture of + many strains, but underneath them all runs the full stream that makes us + what we are: Americans. You can't get away from that. Yes, I <i>do</i> + advise you to marry an American girl." + </p> + <p> + "In other words, I am to make a business of it," said Robin, tolerantly. + </p> + <p> + "It isn't beyond the range of possibility that you should fall in love + with an American girl, is it? You wouldn't call that making a business of + it, would you?" + </p> + <p> + "You may rest assured, Mr. Blithers, that I shall marry to please myself + and no one else," said Robin, regarding him with a coldness that for an + instant affected the millionaire uncomfortably. + </p> + <p> + "Well," said Mr. Blithers, after a moment of hard thinking, "it may + interest you to know that I married for love." + </p> + <p> + "It <i>does</i> interest me," said Robin. "I am glad that you did." + </p> + <p> + "I was a comparatively poor man when I married. The girl I married was + well-off in her own right. She had brains as well. We worked together to + lay the foundation for a—well, for the fortune we now possess. A + fortune, I may add, that is to go, every dollar of it, to my daughter. It + represents nearly five hundred million dollars. The greatest king in the + world to-day is poor in comparison to that vast estate. My daughter will + one day be the richest woman in the world." + </p> + <p> + "Why are you taking the pains to enlighten me as to your daughter's + future, Mr. Blithers?" + </p> + <p> + "Because I regard you as a sensible young man, Prince." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you. And I suppose you regard your daughter as a sensible young + woman?" + </p> + <p> + "Certainly!" exploded Mr. Blithers. + </p> + <p> + "Well, it seems to me, she will be capable of taking care of her fortune a + great deal more successfully than you imagine, Mr. Blithers. She will + doubtless marry an excellent chap who has the capacity to increase her + fortune, rather than to let it stand at a figure that some day may be + surpassed by the possessions of an ambitious king." + </p> + <p> + There was fine irony in the Prince's tone but no trace of offensiveness. + Nevertheless, Mr. Blithers turned a shade more purple than before, and not + from the violence of exercise. He was having some difficulty in + controlling his temper. What manner of fool was this fellow who could + sneer at five hundred million dollars? He managed to choke back something + that rose to his lips and very politely remarked: + </p> + <p> + "I am sure you will like her, Prince. If I do say it myself, she is as + handsome as they grow." + </p> + <p> + "So I have been told." + </p> + <p> + "You will see her to-night." + </p> + <p> + "Really, Mr. Blithers, I cannot—" + </p> + <p> + "I'll fix it with Mrs. King. Don't you worry." + </p> + <p> + "May I be pardoned for observing that Mrs. King, greatly as I love her, is + not invested with the power to govern my actions?" said Robin haughtily. + </p> + <p> + "And may I be pardoned for suggesting that it is your duty to your people + to completely understand this loan of mine before you agree to accept it?" + said Mr. Blithers, compressing his lips. + </p> + <p> + "Forgive me, Mr. Blithers, but it is not altogether improbable that + Graustark may secure the money elsewhere." + </p> + <p> + "It is not only improbable but impossible," said Mr. Blithers flatly. + </p> + <p> + "Impossible?" + </p> + <p> + "Absolutely," said the millionaire so significantly that Robin would have + been a dolt not to grasp the situation. Nothing could have been clearer + than the fact that Mr. Blithers believed it to be in his power to block + any effort Graustark might make in other directions to secure the + much-needed money. + </p> + <p> + "Will you come to the point, Mr. Blithers?" said the young Prince, + stopping abruptly in the middle of the road and facing his companion. + "What are you trying to get at?" + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers was not long in getting to the point. In the first place, he + was hot and tired and his shoes were hurting; in the second place, he felt + that he knew precisely how to handle these money-seeking scions of + nobility. He planted himself squarely in front of the Prince and jammed + his hands deep into his coat pockets. + </p> + <p> + "The day my daughter is married to the man of my choice, I will hand over + to that man exactly twenty million dollars," he said slowly, impressively. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, go on." + </p> + <p> + "The sole object I have in life is to see my girl happy and at the same + time at the top of the heap. She is worthy of any man's love. She is as + good as gold. She—" + </p> + <p> + "The point is this, then: You would like to have me for a son-in-law." + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said Mr. Blithers. + </p> + <p> + Robin grinned. He was amused in spite of himself. "You take it for granted + that I can be bought?" + </p> + <p> + "I have not made any such statement." + </p> + <p> + "And how much will you hand over to the man of <i>her</i> choice when she + marries him?" enquired the young man. + </p> + <p> + "You will be her choice," said the other, without the quiver of an + eye-lash. + </p> + <p> + "How can you be sure of that? Has she no mind of her own?" + </p> + <p> + "It isn't incomprehensible that she should fall in love with you, is it?" + </p> + <p> + "It might be possible, of course, provided she is not already in love with + some one else." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers started. "Have you heard any one say that—but, that's + nonsense! She's not in love with any one, take it from me. And just to + show you how fair I am to her—and to you—I'll stake my head + you fall in love with each other before you've been together a week." + </p> + <p> + "But we're not going to be together for a week." + </p> + <p> + "I should have said before you've known each other a week. You will find—" + </p> + <p> + "Just a moment, please. We can cut all this very short, and go about our + business. I've never seen your daughter, nor, to my knowledge, has she + ever laid eyes on me. From what I've heard of her, she <i>has</i> a mind + of her own. You will not be able to force her into a marriage that doesn't + appeal to her, and you may be quite sure, Mr. Blithers, that you can't + force me into one. I do not want you to feel that I have a single + disparaging thought concerning Miss Blithers. It is possible that I could + fall in love with her inside of a week, or even sooner. But I don't intend + to, Mr. Blithers, any more than she intends to fall in love with me. You + say that twenty millions will go to the man she marries, if he is your + choice. Well, I don't give a hang, sir, if you make it fifty millions. The + chap who gets it will not be me, so what's the odds? You—" + </p> + <p> + "Wait a minute, young man," said Mr. Blithers coolly. (He was never + anything but cool when under fire.) "Why not wait until you have met my + daughter before making a statement like that? After all, am I not the one + who is taking chances? Well, I'm willing to risk my girl's happiness with + you and that's saying everything when you come right down to it. She will + make you happy in—" + </p> + <p> + "I am not for sale. Mr. Blithers," said Robin abruptly. "Good morning." He + turned into the wood and was sauntering away with his chin high in the air + when Mr. Blithers called out to him from behind. + </p> + <p> + "I shall expect you to-night, just the same." + </p> + <p> + Robin halted, amazed by the man's assurance. He retraced his steps to the + roadside. + </p> + <p> + "Will you pardon a slight feeling of curiosity on my part, Mr. Blithers, + if I ask whether your daughter consents to the arrangement you propose. + Does she approve of the scheme?" + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers was honest. "No, she doesn't," he said succinctly. "At least, + not at present. I'll be honest with you. She stayed away from the ball + last night simply because she did not want to meet you. That's the kind of + a girl <i>she</i> is." + </p> + <p> + "By jove, I take off my hat to her," cried Robin. "She is a brick, after + all. Take it from me, Mr. Blithers, you will not be able to hand over + twenty millions without her consent. I believe that I should enjoy meeting + her, now that I come to think of it. It would be a pleasure to exchange + confidences with a girl of that sort." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers betrayed agitation. "See here, Prince, I don't want her to + know that I've said anything to you about this matter," he said, + unconsciously lowering his voice as if fearing that Maud might be + somewhere within hearing distance. "This is between you and me. Don't + breathe a word of it to her. 'Gad, she'd—she'd skin me alive!" At + the very thought of it, he wiped his forehead with unusual vigour. + </p> + <p> + Robin laughed heartily. "Rest easy, Mr. Blithers. I shall not even think + of your proposition again, much less speak of it." + </p> + <p> + "Come now, Prince; wait until you've seen her. I know you'll get on + famously—" + </p> + <p> + "I should like her to know that I consider her a brick, Mr. Blithers. Is + it too much to ask of you? Just tell her that I think she's a brick." + </p> + <p> + "Tell her yourself," growled Mr. Blithers, looking very black. "You will + see her this evening," he added levelly. + </p> + <p> + "Shall I instruct your chauffeur to come for you up here or will you walk + back to—" + </p> + <p> + "I'll walk to Red Roof," said Mr. Blithers doggedly. "I'm going to ask + Mrs. King to let you off for to-night." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII — A LETTER FROM MAUD + </h2> + <p> + Mr. Blithers, triumphant, left Red Roof shortly after luncheon; Mr. + Blithers, dismayed, arrived at Blitherwood a quarter of an hour later. He + had had his way with Robin, who, after all, was coming to dinner that + evening with Count Quinnox. The Prince, after a few words in private with + the Count, changed his mind and accepted Mr. Blithers' invitation with a + liveliness that was mistaken for eagerness by that gentleman, who had made + very short work of subduing Mrs. King when she tried to tell him that her + own dinner-party would be ruined if the principal guest defaulted. He was + gloating over his victory up to the instant he reached his own lodge + gates. There dismay sat patiently waiting for him in the shape of a + messenger from the local telegraph office in the village below. He had + seen Mr. Blithers approaching in the distance, and, with an astuteness + that argued well for his future success in life, calmly sat down to wait + instead of pedaling his decrepit bicycle up the long slope to the villa. + </p> + <p> + He delivered a telegram and kindly vouchsafed the information that it was + from New York. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers experienced a queer sinking of the heart as he gazed at the + envelope. Something warned him that if he opened it in the presence of the + messenger he would say something that a young boy ought not to hear. + </p> + <p> + "It's from Maud," said the obliging boy, beaming good-nature. It cost him + a quarter, that bit of gentility, for Mr. Blithers at once said something + that a messenger boy ought to hear, and ordered Jackson to go ahead. + </p> + <p> + It was from Maud and it said: "I shall stay in town a few days longer. It + is delightfully cool here. Dear old Miranda is at the Ritz with me and we + are having a fine spree. Don't worry about money. I find I have a + staggering balance in the bank. The cashier showed me where I had made a + mistake in subtraction of an even ten thousand. I was amazed to find what + a big difference a little figure makes. Have made no definite plans but + will write Mother to-night. Please give my love to the Prince. Have you + seen to-day's <i>Town Truth</i>? Or worse, has he seen it? Your loving + daughter, Maud." + </p> + <p> + The butler was sure it was apoplexy, but the chauffeur, out of a wide + experience, announced, behind his hand, that he would be all right the + instant the words ceased to stick in his throat. And he was right. Mr. + Blithers <i>was</i> all right. Not even the chauffeur had seen him when he + was more so. + </p> + <p> + A little later on, after he had cooled off to a quite considerable extent, + Mr. Blithers lighted a cigar and sat down in the hall outside his wife's + bed-chamber door. She was having her beauty nap. Not even he possessed the + temerity to break in upon that. He sat and listened for the first sound + that would indicate the appeasement of beauty, occasionally hitching his + chair a trifle nearer to the door in the agony of impatience. By the time + Jackson returned from the village with word that a copy of <i>Town Truth</i> + was not to be had until the next day, he was so close to the door that if + any one had happened to stick a hat pin through the keyhole at precisely + the right instant it would have punctured his left ear with appalling + results. + </p> + <p> + "What are we going to do about it?" he demanded three minutes after + entering the chamber. His wife was prostrate on the luxurious couch from + which she had failed to arise when he burst in upon her with the telegram + in his hand. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, the foolish child," she moaned. "If she only knew how adorable he is + she wouldn't be acting in this perfectly absurd manner. Every girl who was + here last night is madly in love with him. Why must Maud be so obstinate?" + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers was very careful not to mention his roadside experience with + the Prince, and you may be sure that he said nothing about his proposition + to the young man. He merely declared, with a vast bitterness in his soul, + that the Prince was coming to dinner, but what the deuce was the use? + </p> + <p> + "She ought to be soundly—spoken to," said he, breaking the sentence + with a hasty gulp. "Now, Lou, there's just one thing to do. I must go to + New York on the midnight train and get her. That woman was all right as a + tutor, but hanged if I like to see a daughter of mine traipsing around New + York with a school teacher. She—" + </p> + <p> + "You forget that she has retired on a competence. She is not in active + employment. Will. You forget that she is one of the Van Valkens." + </p> + <p> + "There you go, talking about good old families again. Why is it that so + blamed many of your fine old blue stockings are hunting jobs—" + </p> + <p> + "Now don't be vulgar, Will," she cut in. "Maud is quite safe with Miranda, + and you know it perfectly well, so don't talk like that. I think it would + be a fearful mistake for you to go to New York. She would never forgive + you and, what is more to the point, she wouldn't budge a step if you tried + to bully her into coming home with you. You know it quite as well as I + do." + </p> + <p> + He groaned. "Give me a chance to think, Lou. Just half a chance, that's + all I ask. I'll work out some—" + </p> + <p> + "Wait until her letter comes. We'll see what she has to say. Perhaps she + intends coming home tomorrow, who can tell? This may be a pose on her + part. Give her free rein and she will not pull against the bit. It may + surprise her into doing the sensible thing if we calmly ignore her + altogether. I've been thinking it over, and I've come to the conclusion + that we'll be doing the wisest thing in the world if we pay absolutely no + attention to her." + </p> + <p> + "By George, I believe you've hit it, Lou! She'll be looking for a letter + or telegram from me and she'll not receive a word, eh? She'll be expecting + us to beg her to come back and all the while we just sit tight and say not + a word. We'll fool her, by thunder. By to-morrow afternoon she'll be so + curious to know what's got into us that she'll come home on a run. You're + right. It takes a thief to catch a thief,—which is another way of + saying that it takes a woman to understand a woman. We'll sit tight and + let Maud worry for a day or two. It will do her good." + </p> + <p> + Maud's continued absence was explained to Prince Robin that evening, not + by the volcanic Mr. Blithers but by his practised and adroit better-half + who had no compunction in ascribing it to the alarming condition of a very + dear friend in New York,—one of the Van Valkens, you know. + </p> + <p> + "Maud is so tender-hearted, so loyal, so really sweet about her friends, + that nothing in the world could have induced her to leave this dear + friend, don't you know." + </p> + <p> + "I am extremely sorry not to have met your daughter," said Robin very + politely. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, but she will be here in a day or two, Prince." + </p> + <p> + "Unfortunately, we are leaving to-morrow, Mrs. Blithers." + </p> + <p> + "To-morrow?" murmured Mrs. Blithers, aghast. + </p> + <p> + "I received a cablegram to-day advising me to return to Edelweiss at once. + We are obliged to cut short a very charming visit with Mr. and Mrs. King + and to give up the trip to Washington. Lieutenant Dank left for New York + this afternoon to exchange our reservations for the first ship that we can—" + </p> + <p> + "What's this?" demanded Mr. Blithers, abruptly withdrawing his attention + from Count Quinnox who was in the middle of a sentence when the + interruption came. They were on the point of going out to dinner. "What's + this?" + </p> + <p> + "The Prince says that he is leaving to-morrow—" + </p> + <p> + "Nonsense!" exploded Mr. Blithers, with no effort toward geniality. "He + doesn't mean it. Why,—why, we haven't signed a single agreement—" + </p> + <p> + "Fortunately it isn't necessary for me to sign anything, Mr. Blithers," + broke in Robin hastily. "The papers are to be signed by the Minister of + Finance, and afterwards my signature is attached in approval. Isn't that + true, Count Quinnox?" + </p> + <p> + "I daresay Mr. Blithers understands the situation perfectly," said the + Count. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers looked blank. He <i>did</i> understand the situation, that + was the worst of it. He knew that although the cabinet had sanctioned the + loan by cable, completing the transaction so far as it could be completed + at this time, it was still necessary for the Minister of Finance to sign + the agreement under the royal seal of Graustark. + </p> + <p> + "Of course I understand it," he said bluntly. "Still I had it in mind to + ask the Prince to put his signature to a sort of preliminary document + which would at least assure me that he would sign the final agreement when + the time comes. That's only fair, isn't it?" + </p> + <p> + "Quite fair, Mr. Blithers. The Prince will sign such an article to-morrow + or the next day at your office in the city. Pray have no uneasiness, sir. + It shall be as you wish. By the way, I understood that your solicitor—your + lawyer, I should say,—was to be here this evening. It had occurred + to me that he might draw up the statement,—if Mrs. Blithers will + forgive us in our haste—" + </p> + <p> + "He couldn't get here," said Mr. Blithers, and no more. He was thinking + too intently of something more important. "What's turned up?" + </p> + <p> + "Turned up, Mr. Blithers?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes—in Groostock. What's taking you off in such a hurry?" + </p> + <p> + "The Prince has been away for nearly six months," said the Count, as if + that explained everything. + </p> + <p> + "Was it necessary to cable for him to come home?" persisted the financier. + </p> + <p> + "Graustark and Dawsbergen are endeavouring to form an alliance, Mr. + Blithers, and Prince Robin's presence at the capitol is very much to be + desired in connection with the project." + </p> + <p> + "What kind of an alliance?" + </p> + <p> + The Count looked bored. "An alliance prescribed for the general + improvement of the two races, I should say, Mr. Blithers." He smiled. "It + would in no way impair the credit of Graustark, however. It is what you + might really describe as a family secret, if you will pardon my + flippancy." + </p> + <p> + The butler announced dinner. + </p> + <p> + "Wait for a couple of days. Prince, and I'll send you down to New York by + special train," said Mr. Blithers. + </p> + <p> + "Thank you. It is splendid of you. I daresay everything will depend on + Dank's success in—" + </p> + <p> + "Crawford," said Mr. Blithers to the butler, "ask Mr. Davis to look up the + sailings for next week and let me know at once, will you?" Turning to the + Prince, he went on: "We can wire down to-night and engage passage for next + week. Davis is my secretary. I'll have him attend to everything. And now + let's forget our troubles." + </p> + <p> + A great deal was said by her parents about Maud's unfortunate detention in + the city. Both of them were decidedly upset by the sudden change in the + Prince's plans. Once under pretext of whispering to Crawford about the + wine, Mr. Blithers succeeded in transmitting a question to his wife. She + shook her head in reply, and he sighed audibly. He had asked if she + thought he'd better take the midnight train. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Davis found that there were a dozen ships sailing the next week, but + nothing came of it, for the Prince resolutely declared he would be obliged + to take the first available steamer. + </p> + <p> + "We shall go down to-morrow," he said, and even Mr. Blithers subsided. He + looked to his wife in desperation. She failed him for the first time in + her life. Her eyes were absolutely messageless. + </p> + <p> + "I'll go down with you," he said, and then gave his wife a look of + defiance. + </p> + <p> + The next morning brought Maud's letter to her mother. It said: "Dearest + Mother: I enclose the cutting from <i>Town Truth</i>. You may see for + yourself what a sickening thing it is. The whole world knows by this time + that the ball was a joke—a horrible joke. Everybody knows that you + are trying to hand me over to Prince Robin neatly wrapped up in bank + notes. And everybody knows that he is laughing at us, and he isn't alone + in his mirth either. What must the Truxton Kings think of us? I can't bear + the thought of meeting that pretty, clever woman face to face. I know I + should die of mortification, for, of course, she must believe that I am + dying to marry anything on earth that has a title and a pair of legs. + Somehow I don't blame you and dad. You really love me, I know, and you + want to give me the best that the world affords. But why, oh why, can't + you let me choose for myself? I don't object to having a title, but I do + object to having a husband that I don't want and who certainly could not, + by any chance, want me. You think that I am in love with Channie Scoville. + Well, I'm not. I am very fond of him, that's all, and if it came to a + pinch I would marry him in preference to any prince on the globe. To-day I + met a couple of girls who were at the ball. They told me that the Prince + is adorable. They are really quite mad about him, and one of them had the + nerve to ask what it was going to cost dad to land him. <i>Town Truth</i> + says he is to cost ten millions! Well, you may just tell dad that I'll + help him to practice economy. He needn't pay a nickle for my husband—when + I get him. The world is small. It may be that I shall come upon this same + Prince Charming some place before it is too late, and fall in love with + him all of a heap. Loads of silly girls do fall in love with fairy + princes, and I'm just as silly as the rest of them. Ever since I was a + little kiddie I've dreamed of marrying a real, lace-and-gold Prince, the + kind Miranda used to read about in the story books. But I also dreamed + that he loved me. There's the rub, you see. How could any prince love a + girl who set out to buy him with a lot of silly millions? It's not to be + expected. I know it is done in the best society, but I should want my + prince to be happy instead of merely comfortable. I should want both of us + to live happy ever afterwards. + </p> + <p> + "So, dearest mother, I am going abroad to forget. Miranda is going with me + and we sail next Saturday on the <i>Jupiter</i> I think. We haven't got + our suite, but Mr. Bliss says he is sure he can arrange it for me. If we + can't get one on the <i>Jupiter</i>, we'll take some other boat that is + just as inconspicuous. You see, I want to go on a ship that isn't likely + to be packed with people I know, for it is my intention to travel incog, + as they say in the books. No one shall stare at me and say: 'There is that + Maud Blithers we were reading about in <i>Town Truth</i>—and all the + other papers this week. Her father is going to buy a prince for her.' + </p> + <p> + "I know dad will be perfectly furious, but I'm going or die, one or the + other. Now it won't do a bit of good to try to stop me, dearest. The best + thing for you and dad to do is to come down at once and say goodbye to me—but + you are not to go to the steamer! Never! Please, please come, for I love + you both and I do so want you to love me. Come to-morrow and kiss your + horrid, horrid, disappointing, loathsome daughter—and forgive her, + too." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers was equal to the occasion. His varying emotions manifested + themselves with peculiar vividness during the reading of the letter by his + tearful wife. At the outset he was frankly humble and contrite; he felt + bitterly aggrieved over the unhappy position in which they innocently had + placed their cherished idol. Then came the deep breath of relief over the + apparent casting away of young Scoville, followed by an angry snort when + Maud repeated the remark of her girl friend. His dismay was pathetic while + Mrs. Blithers was fairly gasping out Maud's determination to go abroad, + but before she reached the concluding sentences of the extraordinary + missive, he was himself again. As a matter of fact, he was almost + jubilant. He slapped his knee with resounding force and uttered an + ejaculation that caused his wife to stare at him as if the very worst had + happened: he was a chuckling lunatic! + </p> + <p> + "Immense!" he exclaimed. "Immense!" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Will!" she sobbed. + </p> + <p> + "Nothing could be better! Luck is with me, Lou. It always is." + </p> + <p> + "In heaven's name, what are you saying, Will?" + </p> + <p> + "Great Scott, can't you see? He goes abroad, she goes abroad. See? Same + ship. See what I mean? Nothing could be finer. They—" + </p> + <p> + "But I do not want my child to go abroad," wailed the unhappy mother. "I + cannot bear—" + </p> + <p> + "Stuff and nonsense! Brace up! Grasp the romance. Both of 'em sailing + under assumed names. They see each other on deck. Mutual attraction. Love + at first sight. Both of 'em. Money no object. There you are. Leave it to + me." + </p> + <p> + "Maud is not the kind of girl to take up with a stranger on board—" + </p> + <p> + "Don't glare at me like that! Love finds the way, it doesn't matter what + kind of a girl she is. But listen to me, Lou; we've got to be mighty + careful that Maud doesn't suspect that we're putting up a job on her. + She'd balk at the gang-plank and that would be the end of it. She must not + know that he is on board. Now, here's the idea," and he talked on in a + strangely subdued voice for fifteen minutes, his enthusiasm mounting to + such heights that she was fairly lifted to the seventh heaven he produced, + and, for once in her life, she actually submitted to his bumptious + argument without so much as a single protesting word. + </p> + <p> + The down train at two-seventeen had on board a most distinguished group of + passengers, according to the Pullman conductor whose skilful conniving + resulted in the banishment of a few unimportant creatures who had paid for + chairs in the observation coach but who had to get out, whether or no, + when Mr. Blithers loudly said it was a nuisance having everything on the + shady side of the car taken "on a hot day like this." He surreptitiously + informed the conductor that there was a prince in his party, and that + highly impressed official at once informed ten other passengers that they + had no business in a private car and would have to move up to the car + ahead—and rather quickly at that. + </p> + <p> + The Prince announced that Lieutenant Dank had secured comfortable cabins + on a steamer sailing Saturday, but he did not feel at liberty to mention + the name of the boat owing to his determination to avoid newspaper men, + who no doubt would move heaven and earth for an interview, now that he had + become a person of so much importance in the social world. Indeed, his + indentity was to be more completely obscured than at any time since he + landed on American soil. He thanked Mr. Blithers for his offer to command + the "royal suite" on the <i>Jupiter</i>, but declined, volunteering the + somewhat curt remark that it was his earnest desire to keep as far away + from royalty as possible on the voyage over. (A remark that Mr. Blithers + couldn't quite fathom, then or afterward.) + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Blithers' retort to her husband's shocked comment on the un-princely + appearance of the young man and the wofully ordinary suit of clothes worn + by the Count, was sufficiently caustic, and he was silenced—and + convinced. Neither of the distinguished foreigners looked the part of a + nobleman. + </p> + <p> + "I wouldn't talk about clothes if I were you," Mrs. Blithers had said on + the station platform. "Who would suspect you of being one of the richest + men in America?" She sent a disdainful glance at his baggy knees and + bulging coat pockets, and for the moment he shrank into the state of being + one of the poorest men in America. + </p> + <p> + They were surprised and not a little perplexed by the fact that the Prince + and his companion arrived at the station quite alone. Neither of the Kings + accompanied them. There was, Mrs. Blithers admitted, food for thought in + this peculiar omission on the part of the Prince's late host and hostess, + and she would have given a great deal to know what was back of it. The + "luggage" was attended to by the admirable Hobbs, there being no sign of a + Red Roof servant about the place. Moreover, there seemed to be + considerable uneasiness noticeable in the manner of the two foreigners. + They appeared to be unnecessarily impatient for the train to arrive, + looking at their watches now and again, and frequently sending sharp + glances down the village street in the direction of Red Roof. Blithers + afterwards remarked that they made him think of a couple of absconding + cashiers. The mystery, however, was never explained. + </p> + <p> + Arriving at the Grand Central Terminal, Prince Robin and the Count made + off in a taxi-cab, smilingly declining to reveal their hotel destination. + </p> + <p> + "But where am I to send my attorney with the agreement you are to sign, + Prince?" asked Mr. Blithers, plainly irritated by the young man's + obstinacy in declining to be "dropped" at his hotel by the Blithers motor. + </p> + <p> + "I shall come to your office at eleven to-morrow morning, Mr. Blithers," + said Robin, his hat in his hand. He had bowed very deeply to Mrs. + Blithers. + </p> + <p> + "But that's not right," blustered the financier. "A prince of royal blood + hadn't ought to visit a money-grubber's office. It's not—" + </p> + <p> + "<i>Noblesse oblige</i>," said Robin, with his hand on his heart. "It has + been a pleasure to know you, Mrs. Blithers. I trust we may meet again. If + you should ever come to Graustark, please consider that the castle is + yours—as you hospitable Americans would say." + </p> + <p> + "We surely will," said Mrs. Blithers. Both the Prince and Count Quinnox + bowed very profoundly, and did not smile. + </p> + <p> + "And it will be ours," added Mr. Blithers, more to himself than to his + wife as the two tall figures moved off with the throng. Then to his wife: + "Now to find out what ship they're sailing on. I'll fix it so they'll <i>have</i> + to take the <i>Jupiter</i>, whether they want to or not." + </p> + <p> + "Wouldn't it be wisdom to find out what ship Maud is sailing on, Will? It + seems to me that she is the real problem." + </p> + <p> + "Right you are!" said he instantly. "I must be getting dotty in my old + age, Lou." + </p> + <p> + They were nearing the Ritz when she broke a prolonged period of + abstraction by suddenly inquiring: "What did you mean when you said to him + on the train: 'Better think it over, Prince,' and what did he mean by the + insolent grin he gave you in reply?" + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers looked straight ahead. + </p> + <p> + "Business," said he, answering the first question but not the last. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII — ON BOARD THE "JUPITER" + </h2> + <p> + A grey day at sea. The <i>Jupiter</i> seemed to be slinking through the + mist and drizzle, so still was the world of waters. The ocean was as + smooth as a mill pond; the reflected sky came down bleak and drab and no + wind was stirring. The rush of the ship through the glassy, sullen sea + produced a fictitious gale across the decks; aside from that there was + dead calm ahead and behind. + </p> + <p> + A threat seemed to lurk in the smooth, oily face of the Atlantic. Far + ahead stretched the grey barricade that seemed to mark the spot where the + voyage was to end. There was no going beyond that clear-cut line. When the + ship came up to it, there would be no more water beyond; naught but a vast + space into which the vessel must topple and go on falling to the end of + time. The great sirens were silent, for the fog of the night before had + lifted, laying bare a desolate plain. The ship was sliding into oblivion, + magnificently indifferent to the catastrophe that awaited its arrival at + the edge of the universe. And she was sailing the sea alone. All other + ships had passed over that sinister line and were plunging toward a bottom + that would never be reached, so long is eternity. + </p> + <p> + The decks of the <i>Jupiter</i> were wet with the almost invisible drizzle + that filled the air, yet they were swarming with the busy pedestrians who + never lose an opportunity to let every one know that they are on board. No + ship's company is complete without its leg-stretchers. They who never walk + a block on dry land without complaining, right manfully lop off miles when + walking on the water, and get to be known—at least visually—to + the entire first cabin before they have paraded half way across the + Atlantic. (There was once a man who had the strutting disease so badly + that he literally walked from Sandy Hook to Gaunt's Rock, but, who, on + getting to London, refused to walk from the Savoy to the Cecil because of + a weak heart.) The worst feature about these inveterate water-walkers is + that they tread quite as proudly upon other people's feet as they do upon + their own, and as often as not they appear to do it from choice. Still, + that is another story. It has nothing to do with the one we are trying to + tell. + </p> + <p> + To resume, the decks of the <i>Jupiter</i> were wet and the sky was drab. + New York was twenty-four hours astern and the brief Sunday service had + come to a peaceful end. It died just in time to escape the horrors of a + popular programme by the band amidships. The echo of the last amen was a + resounding thump on the big bass drum. + </p> + <p> + Three tall, interesting looking men stood leaning against the starboard + rail of the promenade deck, unmindful of the mist, watching the scurrying + throng of exercise fiends. Two were young, the third was old, and of the + three there was one who merited the second glance that invariably was + bestowed upon him by the circling passers-by. Each succeeding revolution + increased the interest and admiration and people soon began to favour him + with frankly unabashed stares and smiles that could not have been mistaken + for anything but tribute to his extreme good looks. + </p> + <p> + He stood between the gaunt, soldierly old man with the fierce moustache, + and the trim, military young man with one that was close cropped and + smart. Each wore a blue serge suit and affected a short visored cap of the + same material, and each lazily puffed at a very commonplace briar pipe. + They in turn were watching the sprightly parade with an interest that was + calmly impersonal. They saw no one person who deserved more than a casual + glance, and yet the motley crowd passed before them, apparently without + end, as if expecting a responsive smile of recognition from the tall young + fellow to whom it paid the honest tribute of curiosity. + </p> + <p> + The customary he-gossip and perennial snooper who is always making the + voyage no matter what ship one takes or the direction one goes, nosed out + the purser and discovered that the young man was R. Schmidt of Vienna. He + was busy thereafter mixing with the throng, volunteering information that + had not been solicited but which appeared to be welcome. Especially were + the young women on board grateful to the he-gossip, when he accosted them + as a perfect stranger to tell them the name of another and even more + perfect stranger. + </p> + <p> + "Evidently an Austrian army officer," he always proclaimed, and that + seemed to settle it. + </p> + <p> + Luckily he did not overhear R. Schmidt's impassive estimate of the first + cabin parade, or he might have had something to repeat that would not have + pleased those who took part in it. + </p> + <p> + "Queer looking lot of people," said R. Schmidt, and his two companions + moodily nodded their heads. + </p> + <p> + "I am sorry we lost those rooms on the <i>Salammbo</i>," said the younger + of his two companions. "I had them positively engaged, money paid down." + </p> + <p> + "Some one else came along with more money, Dank," observed R. Schmidt. "We + ought to be thankful that we received anything at all. Has it occurred to + you that this boat isn't crowded?" + </p> + <p> + "Not more than half full," said the older man. "All of the others appeared + to be packed from hold to funnel. This must be an unpopular boat." + </p> + <p> + "I don't know where we'd be, however, if Mr. Blithers hadn't thought of + the <i>Jupiter</i> almost at the last minute," said R. Schmidt. + </p> + <p> + "Nine day boat, though," growled the old man. + </p> + <p> + "I don't mind that in the least. She's a steady old tub and that's + something." + </p> + <p> + "Hobbs tells me that it is most extraordinary to find the east bound + steamers crowded at this season of the year," said Dank. "He can't + understand it at all. The crowds go over in June and July and by this time + they should be starting for home. I thought we'd have no difficulty in + getting on any one of the big boats, but, by jove, everywhere I went they + said they were full up." + </p> + <p> + "It was uncommonly decent of Blithers not coming down to see us off," said + the elderly man, who was down on the passenger list as Totten. "I was + apprehensive, 'pon my soul. He stuck like a leech up to the last minute." + </p> + <p> + R. Schmidt was reflecting. "It struck me as queer that he had not heard of + the transfer of our securities in London." + </p> + <p> + "I cannot understand Bernstein & Sons selling out at a time when the + price of our bonds is considerably below their actual value," said Totten, + frowning. "A million pounds sterling is what their holdings really + represented; according to the despatches they must have sold at a loss of + nearly fifty thousand pounds. It is unbelievable that the house can be + hard-pressed for money. There isn't a sounder concern in Europe than + Bernstein's." + </p> + <p> + "We should have a Marconi-gram to-night or tomorrow in regard to the bid + made in Paris for the bonds held by the French syndicate," said Dank, + pulling at his short moustache. "Mr. Blithers is investigating." + </p> + <p> + "There is something sinister in all this," said R. Schmidt. "Who is buying + up all of the out-standing bonds and what is behind the movement? London + has sold all that were held there and Paris is approached on the same day. + If Paris and Berlin should sell, nearly four million pounds in Graustark + bonds will be in the hands of people whose identity and motives appear to + be shrouded in the deepest mystery." + </p> + <p> + "And four million pounds represents the entire amount of our bonds held by + outside parties," said Totten, with a significant shake of his grizzled + head. "The remainder are in the possession of our own institutions and the + people themselves. We should hear from Edelweiss, too, in response to my + cablegram. Perhaps Romano may be able to throw light on the situation. I + confess that I am troubled." + </p> + <p> + "Russia would have no object in buying up our general bonds, would she?" + inquired R. Schmidt. + </p> + <p> + "None whatever. She would have nothing to gain. Mr. Blithers assured me + that he was not in the least apprehensive. In fact, he declared that + Russia would not be buying bonds that do not mature for twelve years to + come. There must be some private—eh?" + </p> + <p> + A steward was politely accosting the trio. + </p> + <p> + "I beg pardon, is this Mr. Totten?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes." + </p> + <p> + "Message for you, sir, at the purser's." + </p> + <p> + "Bring it to my stateroom, Totten," said R. Schmidt briefly, and the old + man hurried away on the heels of the messenger. + </p> + <p> + The two young men sauntered carelessly in an opposite direction and soon + disappeared from the deck. A few minutes later, Totten entered the + luxurious parlour of R. Schmidt and laid an unopened wireless message on + the table at the young man's elbow. + </p> + <p> + "Open it, Totten." + </p> + <p> + The old man slit the envelope and glanced at the contents. He nodded his + head in answer to an unspoken question. + </p> + <p> + "Sold?" asked R. Schmidt. + </p> + <p> + "Paris and Berlin, both of them, Prince. Every bond has been gobbled up." + </p> + <p> + "Does he mention the name of the buyer?" + </p> + <p> + "Only by the use of the personal pronoun. He says—'I have taken over + the Paris and Berlin holdings. All is well.' It is signed 'B.' So! Now we + know." + </p> + <p> + "By jove!" fell from the lips of both men, and then the three + Graustarkians stared in speechless amazement at each other for the space + of a minute before another word was spoken. + </p> + <p> + "Blithers!" exclaimed Dank, sinking back into his chair. + </p> + <p> + "Blithers," repeated Totten, but with an entirely different inflection. + The word was conviction itself as he pronounced it. + </p> + <p> + R. Schmidt indulged in a wry little smile. "It amounts to nearly twenty + million dollars, Count. That's a great deal of money to spend in the + pursuit of an idle whim." + </p> + <p> + "Humph!" grunted the old Count, and then favoured the sunny-faced Prince + with a singularly sharp glance. "Of course, you understand his game?" + </p> + <p> + "Perfectly. It's as clear as day. He intends to be the crown + father-in-law. I suppose he will expect Graustark to establish an Order of + Royal Grandfathers." + </p> + <p> + "It may prove to be no jest, Robin," said the Count seriously. + </p> + <p> + "My dear Quinnox, don't look so sad," cried the Prince. "He may have money + enough to buy Graustark but he hasn't enough to buy grandchildren that + won't grow, you know. He is counting chickens before they're hatched, + which isn't a good business principle, I'd have you to know." + </p> + <p> + "What was it he said to you at Red Roof?" + </p> + <p> + "That was nothing. Pure bluster." + </p> + <p> + "He said he had never set his heart on anything that he didn't get in the + end, wasn't that it?" + </p> + <p> + "I think so. Something of the sort. I took it as a joke." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I took it as a threat." + </p> + <p> + "A threat?" + </p> + <p> + "A pleasant, agreeable threat, of course. He has set his heart on having + the crown of Graustark worn by a Blithers. That is the long and short of + it." + </p> + <p> + "I believe he did say to me in the woods that day that he could put his + daughter on any throne in Europe if he set his mind to the job," said the + Prince carelessly. "But you see, the old gentleman is not counting on two + very serious sources of opposition when it comes to this particular case. + There is Maud, you see,—and me." + </p> + <p> + "I am not so sure of the young lady," said the Count sententiously. "The + opposition may falter a bit there, and half of his battle is won." + </p> + <p> + "You seem to forget, Quinnox, that such a marriage is utterly impossible," + said the Prince coldly, "Do you imagine that I would marry—" + </p> + <p> + "Pardon me, highness, I said <i>half</i> the battle would be won. I do + contemplate a surrender on your part. You are a very pig-headed young man. + The most pig-headed I've ever known, if you will forgive me for expressing + myself so—" + </p> + <p> + "You've said it a hundred times," laughed the Prince, good-naturedly. + "Don't apologise. Not only you but the entire House of Nobles have + characterised me as pig-headed and I have never even thought of resenting + it, so it must be that I believe it to be true." + </p> + <p> + "We have never voiced the opinion, highness, except in reference to our + own great desire to bring about the union between our beloved ruler and + the Crown Princess of—" + </p> + <p> + "So," interrupted R. Schmidt, "it ought to be very clear to you that if I + will not marry to please my loyal, devoted cabinet I certainly shall not + marry to please William W. Blithers. No doubt the excellent Maud is a most + desirable person. In any event, she has a mind of her own. I confess that + I am sorry to have missed seeing her. We might have got on famously + together, seeing that our point of view is apparently unique in this day + and age of the world, No, my good friends, Mr. Blithers is making a poor + investment. He will not get the return for his money that he is expecting. + If it pleases him to buy our securities, all well and good. He shall lose + nothing in the end. But he will find that Graustark is not a toy, nor the + people puppets. More than all that, I am not a bargain sale prince with + Christmas tree aspirations, but a very unamiable devil who cultivates an + ambition to throw stones at the conventions. Not only do I intend to + choose my wife but also the court grandfather. And now let us forget the + folly of Mr. Blithers and discuss his methods of business. What does he + expect to gain by this extraordinary investment?" + </p> + <p> + Count Quinnox looked at him rather pityingly. "It appears to be his way of + pulling the strings, my boy. He has loaned us something like sixteen + millions of dollars. We have agreed to deposit our public service bonds as + security against the loan, so that practically equalises the situation. It + becomes a purely business transaction. But he sees far ahead. This loan of + his matures at practically the same time that our first series of + government bonds are due for payment. It will be extremely difficult for a + small country, such as Graustark, to raise nearly forty millions of + dollars in, say ten years. The European syndicates undoubtedly would be + willing to renew the loan under a new issue—I think it is called + refunding, or something of the sort. But Mr. Blithers will be in a + position to say no to any such arrangement. He holds the whip hand and—" + </p> + <p> + "But, my dear Count," interrupted the Prince, "what if he does hold it? + Does he expect to wait ten years before exercising his power? You forget + that marriage is his ambition. Isn't he taking a desperate risk in + assuming that I will not marry before the ten years are up? And, for that + matter, his daughter may decide to wed some other chap who—" + </p> + <p> + "That's just the point," said Quinnox. "He is arranging it so that you <i>can't</i> + marry without his consent." + </p> + <p> + "The deuce you say!" + </p> + <p> + "I am not saying that he can carry out his design, my dear boy, but it is + his secret hope, just the same. So far as Graustark is concerned, she will + stand by you no matter what betides. As you know, there is nothing so dear + to our hearts as the proposed union of Dawsbergen's Crown Princess and—" + </p> + <p> + "That's utterly out of the question, Count," said the Prince, setting his + jaws. + </p> + <p> + The count sighed patiently. "So you say, my boy, so you say. But you are + not reasonable. How can you know that the Crown Princess of Dawsbergen is + not the very mate your soul has been craving—" + </p> + <p> + "That's not the point. I am opposed to this miserable custom of giving in + marriage without the consent of the people most vitally concerned, and I + shall never recede from my position." + </p> + <p> + "You are very young, my dear Prince." + </p> + <p> + "And I intend to remain young, my dear Count. Loveless marriages make old + men and women of youths and maidens. I remember thinking that remark out + for myself after a great deal of effort, and you may remember that I + sprung it with considerable effect on the cabinet when the matter was + formally discussed a year or two ago. You heard about it, didn't you, + Dank?" + </p> + <p> + "I did, highness." + </p> + <p> + "And every newspaper in the world printed it as coming from me, didn't + they? Well, there you are. I can't go behind my publicly avowed + principles." + </p> + <p> + The young fellow stretched his long body in a sort of luxurious defiance, + and eyed his companions somewhat combatively. + </p> + <p> + "Sounds very well," growled the Count, with scant reverence for royalty, + being a privileged person. + </p> + <p> + "Now, Dank here can marry any one he likes—if she'll have him—and + he is only a lieutenant of the guard. Why should I,—prince royal and + master of all he surveys, so to speak,—why should I be denied a + privilege enjoyed by every good-looking soldier who carries a sword in my + army—<i>my</i> army, do you understand? I leave it to you, Dank, is + it fair? Who are you that you should presume to think of a happy marriage + while I, your Prince, am obliged to twiddle my thumbs and say 'all right, + bring any old thing along and I'll marry her'? Who are you, Dank, that's + what I'd like to know." + </p> + <p> + His humour was so high-handed that the two soldiers laughed and Dank + ruefully admitted that he was a lucky dog. + </p> + <p> + "You shall not marry into the Blithers family, my lad, if we can help it," + said the Count, pulling at his moustaches. + </p> + <p> + "I should say not!" said Dank, feeling for his. + </p> + <p> + "I should as soon marry a daughter of Hobbs," said R. Schmidt, getting up + from his chair with restored sprightliness. "If he had one, I mean." + </p> + <p> + "The bonds of matrimony and the bonds of government are by no means + synonymous," said Dank, and felt rather proud of himself when his + companions favoured him with a stare of amazement. The excellent + lieutenant was not given to persiflage. He felt that for a moment he had + scintillated. + </p> + <p> + "Shall we send a wireless to Blithers congratulating him on his coup?" + enquired the Prince gaily. + </p> + <p> + "No," said the Count. "Congratulating ourselves on his coup is better." + </p> + <p> + "Good! And you might add that we also are trusting to luck. It may give + him something to think about. And now where is Hobbs?" said royalty. + </p> + <p> + "Here, sir," said Hobbs, appearing in the bed-room door, but not + unexpectedly. "I heard wot you said about my daughter, sir. It may set + your mind at rest, sir, to hear that I am childless." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, Hobbs. You are always thinking of my comfort. You may order + luncheon for us in the Ritz restaurant. The head steward has been + instructed to reserve the corner table for the whole voyage." + </p> + <p> + "The 'ead waiter, sir," corrected Hobbs politely, and was gone. + </p> + <p> + In three minutes he was back with the information that two ladies had + taken the table and refused to be dislodged, although the head waiter had + vainly tried to convince them that it was reserved for the passage by R. + Schmidt and party. + </p> + <p> + "I am quite sure, sir, he put it to them very hagreeably and politely, but + the young lady gave 'im the 'aughtiest look I've ever seen on mortal fice, + sir, and he came back to me so 'umble that I could 'ardly believe he was + an 'ead waiter." + </p> + <p> + "I hope he was not unnecessarily persistent," said the Prince, annoyed. + "It really is of no consequence where we sit." + </p> + <p> + "Ladies first, world without end," said Dank. "Especially at sea." + </p> + <p> + "He was not persistent, sir. In fact he was hextraordinary subdued all the + time he was hexplaining the situation to them. I could tell by the way his + back looked, sir." + </p> + <p> + "Never mind, Hobbs. You ordered luncheon?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, your 'ighness. Chops and sweet potatoes and—" + </p> + <p> + "But that's what we had yesterday, Hobbs." + </p> + <p> + A vivid red overspread the suddenly dismayed face of Hobbs. "'Pon my soul, + sir, I—I clean forgot that it was yesterday I was thinking of. The + young lady gave me such a sharp look, sir, when the 'ead waiter pointed at + me that I clean forgot wot I was there for. I will 'urry back and—" + </p> + <p> + "Do, Hobbs, that's a good fellow. I'm as hungry as a bear. But no chops!" + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, sir. No chops. Absolutely, sir." He stopped in the doorway. "I + daresay it was 'er beauty, sir, that did it. No chops. Quite so, sir." + </p> + <p> + "If Blithers were only here," sighed Dank. "He would make short work of + the female invasion. He would have them chucked overboard." + </p> + <p> + "I beg pardon, sir," further adventured Hobbs, "but I fancy not even Mr. + Blithers could move that young woman, sir, if she didn't 'appen to want to + be moved. Never in my life, sir, have I seen—" + </p> + <p> + "Run along, Hobbs," said the Prince. "Boiled guinea hen." + </p> + <p> + "And cantaloupe, sir. Yes, sir, I quite remember everything now, sir." + </p> + <p> + Twenty minutes later, R. Schmidt, seated in the Ritz restaurant, happened + to look fairly into the eyes of the loveliest girl he had ever seen, and + on the instant forgave the extraordinary delinquency of the hitherto + infallible Hobbs. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX — THE PRINCE MEETS MISS GUILE + </h2> + <p> + Later on R. Schmidt sat alone in a sheltered corner of the promenade deck, + where chairs had been secured by the forehanded Hobbs. The thin drizzle + now aspired to something more definite in the shape of a steady downpour, + and the decks were almost deserted, save for the few who huddled in the + unexposed nooks where the sweep and swish of the rain failed to penetrate. + There was a faraway look in the young man's eyes, as of one who dreams + pleasantly, with little effort but excellent effect. His pipe had gone + out, so his dream must have been long and uninterrupted. Eight bells + sounded, but what is time to a dreamer? Then came one bell and two, and + now his eyes were closed. + </p> + <p> + Two women came and stood over him, but little did they suspect that his + dream was of one of them: the one with the lovely eyes and the soft brown + hair. They surveyed him, whispering, the one with a little perplexed frown + on her brow, the other with distinct signs of annoyance in her face. The + girl was not more than twenty, her companion quite old enough to be her + mother: a considerate if not complimentary estimate, for a girl's mother + may be either forty, fifty or even fifty-five, when you come to think of + it. + </p> + <p> + They were looking for something. That was quite clear. And it was + deplorably clear that whatever it was, R. Schmidt was sitting upon it. + They saw that he was asleep, which made the search if not the actual + recovery quite out of the question. The older woman was on the point of + poking the sleeper with the toe of her shoe, being a matter-of-fact sort + of person, when the girl imperatively shook her head and frowned upon the + lady in a way to prove that even though she was old enough to be the + mother of a girl of twenty she was by no means the mother of this one. + </p> + <p> + At that very instant, R. Schmidt opened his eyes. It must have been a + kindly poke by the god of sleep that aroused him so opportunely, but even + so, the toe of a shoe could not have created a graver catastrophe than + that which immediately befell him. He completely lost his head. If one had + suddenly asked what had become of it, he couldn't have told, not for the + life of him. For that matter, he couldn't have put his finger, so to + speak, on any part of his person and proclaimed with confidence that it + belonged to R. Schmidt of Vienna. He was looking directly up into a pair + of dark, startled eyes, in which there was a very pretty confusion and a + far from impervious blink. + </p> + <p> + "I beg your pardon," said the older woman, without the faintest trace of + embarrassment,—indeed, with some asperity,—"I think you are + occupying one of our chairs." + </p> + <p> + He scrambled out of the steamer rug and came to his feet, blushing to the + roots of his hair. + </p> + <p> + "I beg your pardon," he stammered, and found his awkwardness rewarded by + an extremely sweet smile—in the eyes of the one he addressed. + </p> + <p> + "We were looking for a letter that I am quite sure was left in my chair," + said she. + </p> + <p> + "A letter?" he murmured vaguely, and at once began to search with his + eyes. + </p> + <p> + "From her father," volunteered the elderly one, as if it were a necessary + bit of information. Then she jerked the rug away and three pairs of eyes + examined the place where R. Schmidt had been reclining. "That's odd. Did + you happen to see it when you sat down, sir?" + </p> + <p> + "I am confident that there was no letter—" began he, and then + allowed his gaze to rest on the name-card at the top of the chair. "This + happens to be <i>my</i> chair, madam," he went on, pointing to the card. + "'R. Schmidt.' I am very sorry." + </p> + <p> + "The steward must have put that card there while you were at luncheon, + dear. What right has he to sell our chairs over again? I shall report this + to the Captain—" + </p> + <p> + "I am quite positive that this is my chair, sir," said the girl, a spot of + red in each cheek. "It was engaged two days ago. I have been occupying it + since—but it really doesn't matter. It has your name on it now, so I + suppose I shall have to—" + </p> + <p> + "Not at all," he made haste to say. "It's yours. There has been some + miserable mistake. These deck stewards are always messing things up. + Still, it is rather a mystery about the letter. I assure you I saw no—" + </p> + <p> + "No doubt the steward who changed the cards had sufficient intelligence to + remove all incriminating evidence," said she coolly. "We shall find it + among the lost, strayed and stolen articles, no doubt. Pray retain the + chair, Mr.—" She peered at the name-card—"Mr. Schmidt." + </p> + <p> + Her cool insolence succeeded in nettling a nature that was usually most + gentle. He spoke with characteristic directness. + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, I shall do so. We thereby manage to strike a fair average. I + seize your deck chair, you seize my table. We are quits." + </p> + <p> + She smiled faintly. "R. Schmidt did not sound young and gentle, but old + and hateful. That is why I seized the table. I expected to find R. Schmidt + a fat, old German with very bad manners. Instead, you are neither fat, + old, nor disagreeable. You took it very nicely, Mr. Schmidt, and I am + undone. Won't you permit me to restore your table to you?" + </p> + <p> + The elderly lady was tapping the deck with a most impatient foot. "Really + my dear, we were quite within our rights in approaching the head waiter. + He—" + </p> + <p> + "He said it was engaged," interrupted the young lady. "R. Schmidt was the + name he gave and I informed him it meant nothing to me. I am very sorry, + Mr. Schmidt. I suppose it was all because I am so accustomed to having my + own way." + </p> + <p> + "In that case, it is all very easy to understand," said he, "for I have + always longed to be in a position where I could have my own way. I am sure + that if I could have it, I would be a most overbearing, selfish person." + </p> + <p> + "We must enquire at the office for the letter, my dear, before—" + </p> + <p> + "It may have dropped behind the chair," said the girl. + </p> + <p> + "Right!" cried R. Schmidt, dragging the chair away and pointing in triumph + at the missing letter. He stooped to recover the missive, but she was + quick to forestall him. With a little gasp she pounced upon it and, like a + child proceeded to hold it behind her back. He stiffened. "I remember that + you said it was from your father." + </p> + <p> + She hesitated an instant and then held it forth for his inspection, rather + adroitly concealing the postmark with her thumb. It was addressed to "Miss + B. Guile, S. S. <i>Jupiter</i>, New York City, N. Y.," and type-written. + </p> + <p> + "It is only fair that we should be quits in every particular," she said, + with a frank smile. + </p> + <p> + He bowed. "A letter of introduction," he said, "in the strictest sense of + the word. You have already had my card thrust upon you, so everything is + quite regular. And now it is only right and proper that I should see what + has become of your chairs. Permit me—" + </p> + <p> + "Really, Miss Guile," interposed her companion, "this is quite irregular. + I may say it is unusual. Pray allow me to suggest—" + </p> + <p> + "I think it is only right that Mr. Schmidt should return good for evil," + interrupted the girl gaily. "Please enquire, Mr. Schmidt. No doubt the + deck steward will know." + </p> + <p> + Again the Prince bowed, but this time there was amusement instead of + uncertainty in his eyes. It was the first time that any one had ever urged + him, even by inference, to "fetch and carry." Moreover, she was extremely + cool about it, as one who exacts much of young men in serge suits and + outing-caps. He found himself wondering what she would say if he were to + suddenly announce that he was the Prince of Graustark. The thought tickled + his fancy, accounting, no doubt, for the even deeper bow that he gave her. + </p> + <p> + "They can't be very far away," he observed quite meekly. "Oh, I say, + steward! One moment, here." A deck steward approached with alacrity. "What + has become of Miss Guile's chair?" + </p> + <p> + The man touched his cap and beamed joyously upon the fair young lady. + </p> + <p> + "Ach! See how I have forgot! It is here! The best place on the deck—on + any deck. See! Two—side by side,—above the door, away from the + draft—see, in the corner, ha, ha! Yes! Two by side. The very best. + Miss Guile complains of the draft from the door. I exchanged the chairs. + See! But I forgot to speak. Yes! See!" + </p> + <p> + And, sure enough, there were the chairs of Miss Guile and her companion + snugly stowed away in the corner, standing at right angles to the long row + that lined the deck, the foot rests pointed directly at the chair R. + Schmidt had just vacated, not more than a yard and a half away. + </p> + <p> + "How stupid!" exclaimed Miss Guile. "Thank you, steward. This is much + better. So sorry, Mr. Schmidt, to have disturbed you. I abhor drafts, + don't you?" + </p> + <p> + "Not to the extent that I shall move out of this one," he replied + gallantly, "now that I've got an undisputed claim to it. I intend to stand + up for my rights, Miss Guile, even though you find me at your feet." + </p> + <p> + "How perfectly love—" began Miss Guile, a gleam of real enthusiasm + in her eyes. A sharp, horrified look from her companion served as a check, + and she became at once the coolly indifferent creature who exacts + everything. "Thank you, Mr. Schmidt, for being so nice when we were trying + so hard to be horrid." + </p> + <p> + "But you don't know how nice you are when you are trying to be horrid," he + remarked. "Are you not going to sit down, now that we've captured the + disappearing chair?" + </p> + <p> + "No," she said, and he fancied he saw regret in her eyes. "I am going to + my room,—if I can find it. No doubt it also is lost. This seems to + be a day for misplacing things." + </p> + <p> + "At any rate, permit me to thank you for discovering me, Miss Guile." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I daresay I shall misplace you, too, Mr. Schmidt." She said it so + insolently that he flushed as he drew himself up and stepped aside to + allow her to pass. For an instant their eyes met, and the sign of the + humble was not to be found in the expression of either. + </p> + <p> + "Even <i>that</i> will be something for me to look forward to, Miss + Guile," said he. Far from being vexed, she favoured him with a faint smile + of—was it wonder or admiration? + </p> + <p> + Then she moved away, followed by the uneasy lady—who was old enough + to be her mother and wasn't. + </p> + <p> + Robin remained standing for a moment, looking after her, and somehow he + felt that his dream was not yet ended. She turned the corner of the deck + building and was lost to sight. He sat down, only to arise almost + instantly, moved by a livelier curiosity than he ever had felt before. + Conscious of a certain feeling of stealth, he scrutinised the cards in the + backs of the two chairs. The steward was collecting the discarded + steamer-rugs farther down the deck, and the few passengers who occupied + chairs, appeared to be snoozing,—all of which he took in with his + first appraising glance. "Miss Guile" and "Mrs. Gaston" were the names he + read. + </p> + <p> + "Americans," he mused. "Young lady and chaperone, that's it. A real + American beauty! And Blithers loudly boasts that his daughter is the + prettiest girl in America! Shades of Venus! Can there be such a thing on + earth as a prettier girl than this one? Can nature have performed the + impossible? Is America so full of lovely girls that this one must take + second place to a daughter of Blithers? I wonder if she knows the imperial + Maud. I'll make it a point to inquire." + </p> + <p> + Moved by a sudden restlessness, he decided that he was in need of + exercise. A walk would do him good. The same spirit of restlessness, no + doubt, urged him to walk rather rapidly in the direction opposite to that + taken by the lovely Miss Guile. After completely circling the deck once he + decided that he did not need the exercise after all. His walk had not + benefitted him in the least. She <i>had</i> gone to her room. He returned + to his chair, conscious of having been defeated but without really knowing + why or how. As he turned into the dry, snug corner, he came to an abrupt + stop and stared. Miss Guile was sitting in her chair, neatly encased in a + mummy-like sheath of grey that covered her slim body to the waist. + </p> + <p> + She was quite alone in her nook, and reading. Evidently the book + interested her, for she failed to look up when he clumsily slid into his + chair and threw the rug over his legs—dreadfully long, uninteresting + legs, he thought, as he stretched them out and found that his feet + protruded like a pair of white obelisks. + </p> + <p> + Naturally he looked seaward, but in his mind's eye he saw her as he had + seen her not more than ten minutes before: a slim, tall girl in a smart + buff coat, with a limp white hat drawn down over her hair by means of a + bright green veil; he had had a glimpse of staunch tan walking-shoes. He + found himself wondering how he had missed her in the turn about the deck, + and how she could have ensconced herself so snugly during his brief + evacuation of the spot. Suddenly it occurred to him that she had returned + to the chair only after discovering that his was vacant. It wasn't a very + gratifying conclusion. + </p> + <p> + An astonishing intrepidity induced him to speak to her after a lapse of + five or six minutes, and so surprising was the impulse that he blurted out + his question without preamble. + </p> + <p> + "How did you manage to get back so quickly?" he inquired. + </p> + <p> + She looked up, and for an instant there was something like alarm in her + lovely eyes, as of one caught in the perpetration of a guilty act. + </p> + <p> + "I beg your pardon," she said, rather indistinctly. + </p> + <p> + "I was away less than eight minutes," he declared, and she was confronted + by the wonderfully frank smile that never failed to work its charm. To his + surprise, a shy smile grew in her eyes, and her warm red lips twitched + uncertainly. He had expected a cold rebuff. "You must have dropped through + the awning." + </p> + <p> + "Your imagination is superior to that employed by the author of this + book," she said, "and that is saying a good deal, Mr.—Mr.—" + </p> + <p> + "Schmidt," he supplied cheerfully. "May I inquire what book you are + reading?" + </p> + <p> + "You would not be interested. It is by an American." + </p> + <p> + "I have read a great many American novels," said he stiffly. "My father + was an American. Awfully jolly books, most of them." + </p> + <p> + "I looked you up in the passenger list a moment ago," she said coolly. + "Your home is in Vienna. I like Vienna." + </p> + <p> + He was looking rather intently at the book, now partly lowered. "Isn't + that the passenger list you have concealed in that book?" he demanded. + </p> + <p> + "It is," she replied promptly. "You will pardon a natural curiosity? I + wanted to see whether you were from New York." + </p> + <p> + "May I look at it, please?" + </p> + <p> + She closed the book. "It isn't necessary. I <i>am</i> from New York." + </p> + <p> + "By the way, do you happen to know a Miss Blithers,—Maud Blithers?" + </p> + <p> + Miss Guile frowned reflectively. "Blithers? The name is a familiar one. + Maud Blithers? What is she like?" + </p> + <p> + "She's supposed to be very good-looking. I've never seen her." + </p> + <p> + "How queer to be asking me if I know her, then. Why <i>do</i> you ask?" + </p> + <p> + "I've heard so much about her lately. She is the daughter of William + Blithers, the great capitalist." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I know who he is," she exclaimed. "Perfect roodles of money, hasn't + he?" + </p> + <p> + "Roodles?" + </p> + <p> + "Loads, if it means more to you. I forgot that you are a foreigner. He + gave that wonderful ball last week for the Prince of—of—Oh, + some insignificant little place over in Europe. There are such a lot of + queer little duchies and principalities, don't you know; it is quite + impossible to tell one from the other. They don't even appear on the + maps." + </p> + <p> + He took it with a perfectly straight face, though secretly annoyed. "It + was the talk of the town, that ball. It must have cost roodles of money. + Is that right?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, but it doesn't sound right when you say it. Naturally one doesn't + say roodles in Vienna." + </p> + <p> + "We say noodles," said he. "I am very fond of them. But to resume; I + supposed every one in New York knew Miss Blithers. She's quite the rage, + I'm told." + </p> + <p> + "Indeed? I should think she might be, Mr. Schmidt, with all those lovely + millions behind her." + </p> + <p> + He smiled introspectively. "Yes; and I am told that, in spite of them, she + is the prettiest girl in New York." + </p> + <p> + She appeared to lose interest in the topic. "Oh, indeed?" + </p> + <p> + "But," he supplemented gracefully, "it isn't true." + </p> + <p> + "What isn't true?" + </p> + <p> + "The statement that she is the prettiest girl in New York." + </p> + <p> + "How can you say that, when you admit you've never seen her?" + </p> + <p> + "I can say it with a perfectly clear conscience, Miss Guile," said he, and + was filled with delight when she bit her lip as a sign of acknowledgment. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, here comes the tea," she cried, with a strange eagerness in her + voice. "I am so glad." She scrambled gracefully out of her rug and arose + to her feet. + </p> + <p> + "Aren't you going to have some?" he cried. + </p> + <p> + "Yes," she said, quite pointedly. "In my room, Mr. Schmidt," and before he + could get to his feet she was moving away without so much as a nod or + smile for him. Indeed, she appeared to have dismissed him from her + thoughts quite as completely as from her vision. He experienced a queer + sensation of shrivelling. + </p> + <p> + At dinner that night, she failed to look in his direction, a circumstance + that may not appear extraordinary when it is stated that she purposely or + inadvertently exchanged seats with Mrs. Gaston and sat with her back to + the table occupied by R. Schmidt and his friends. He had to be content + with a view of the most exquisite back and shoulders that good fortune had + ever allowed him to gaze upon. And then there was the way that her soft + brown hair grew above the slender neck, to say nothing of—but Mrs. + Gaston was watching him with most unfriendly eyes, so the feast was + spoiled. + </p> + <p> + The following day was as unlike its predecessor as black is like white. + During the night the smooth grey pond had been transformed into a + turbulent, storm-threshed ocean; the once gentle wind was now a howling + gale that swept the decks with a merciless lash in its grip and whipped + into submission all who vaingloriously sought to defy its chill dominion. + Not rain, but spray from huge, swashing billows, clouded the decks, biting + and cutting like countless needles, each drop with the sting of a hornet + behind it. Now the end of the world seemed far away, and the jumping off + place was a rickety wall of white and black, leaning against a cold, drear + sky. + </p> + <p> + Only the hardiest of the passengers ventured on deck; the exhilaration + they professed was but another name for bravado. They shivered and gasped + for breath as they forged their bitter way into the gale, and few were + they who took more than a single turn of the deck. Like beaten cowards + they soon slunk into the sheltered spots, or sought even less heroic means + of surrender by tumbling into bed with the considerate help of unsmiling + stewards. The great ship went up and the great ship came down: when up so + high that the sky seemed to be startlingly near and down so horribly low + that the bottom of the ocean was even nearer. And it creaked and groaned + and sighed even above the wild monody of the wind, like a thing in misery, + yet all the while holding its sides to keep from bursting with laughter + over the plight of the little creature whom God made after His own image + but not until after all of the big things of the universe had been + designed. + </p> + <p> + R. Schmidt, being a good sailor and a hardy young chap, albeit a prince of + royal blood, was abroad early, after a breakfast that staggered the few + who remained unstaggered up to that particular crisis. A genial sailor-man + and an equally ungenial deck swabber advised him, in totally different + styles of address, to stay below if he knew what was good for him, only to + be thanked with all the blitheness of a man who jolly well knows what is + good for him, or who doesn't care whether it is good for him or not so + long as he is doing the thing that he wants to do. + </p> + <p> + He took two turns about the deck, and each time as he passed the spot he + sent a covert glance into the corner where Miss Guile's chair was + standing. Of course he did not expect to find her there in weather like + this, but—well, he looked and that is the end to the argument. The + going was extremely treacherous and unpleasant he was free to confess to + the genial sailor-man after the second breathless turn, and gave that + worthy a bright silver dollar upon receiving a further bit of advice: to + sit down somewhere out of the wind, sir. + </p> + <p> + Quinnox and Dank were hopelessly bed-ridden, so to speak. They were very + disagreeable, cross and unpleasant, and somehow he felt that they hated + their cheerful, happy-faced Prince. Never before had Count Quinnox scowled + at him, no matter how mad his pranks as a child or how silly his actions + as a youth. Never before had any one told him to go to the devil. He + rather liked it. And he rather admired poor Dank for ordering him out of + his cabin, with a perfectly astounding oath as a climax to the command. + Moreover, he thought considerably better of the faithful Hobbs for an + amazing exposition of human equality in the matter of a pair of boots that + he desired to wear that morning but which happened to be stowed away in a + cabin trunk. He told Hobbs to go to the devil and Hobbs repeated the + injunction, with especial heat, to the boots, when he bumped his head in + hauling them out of the trunk. Whereupon R. Schmidt said to Hobbs: "Good + for you. Hobbs. Go on, please. Don't mind me. It was quite a thump, wasn't + it?" And Hobbs managed, between other words, to say that it was a whacking + thump, and one he would not forget to his dying day—(if he lived + through this one!). + </p> + <p> + "And you'd do well to sit in the smoke-room, sir," further advised the + sailor-man, clinging to the rail with one hand and pocketing the coin with + the other. + </p> + <p> + "No," said R. Schmidt resolutely. "I don't like the air in the + smoke-room." + </p> + <p> + "There's quite a bit of air out 'ere, sir." + </p> + <p> + "I need quite a bit." + </p> + <p> + "I should think you might, sir, being a 'ealthy, strappin' sort of a chap, + sir. 'Elp yourself. All the chairs is yours if you'll unpile 'em." + </p> + <p> + The young man battled his way down the deck and soon found himself in the + well-protected corner. A half-dozen unoccupied chairs were cluttered + about, having been abandoned by persons who over-estimated their + hardiness. One of the stewards was engaged in stacking them up and making + them fast. + </p> + <p> + Miss Guile's chair and that of Mrs. Gaston were staunchly fastened down + and their rugs were in place. R. Schmidt experienced an exquisite + sensation of pleasure. Here was a perfect exemplification of that + much-abused thing known as circumstantial evidence. She contemplated + coming on deck. So he had his chair put in place, called for his rug, + shrugged his chin down into the collar of his thick ulster, and sat down + to wait. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X — AN HOUR ON DECK + </h2> + <p> + She literally was blown into his presence. He sprang to his feet to check + her swift approach before she could be dashed against the wall or upon the + heap of chairs in the corner. The deep roll of the vessel had ended so + suddenly that she was thrown off her balance, at best precariously + maintained in the hurricane that swept her along the deck. She was + projected with considerable violence against the waiting figure of R. + Schmidt, who had hastily braced himself for the impact of the slender body + in the thick sea-ulster. She uttered an excited little shriek as she came + bang up against him and found his ready arms closing about her shoulders. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, goodness!" she gasped, with what little breath she had left, and then + began to laugh as she freed herself in confusion—a very pretty + confusion he recalled later on, after he had recovered to some extent from + the effects of an exceedingly severe bump on the back of his head. "How + awkward!" + </p> + <p> + "Not at all," he proclaimed, retaining a grip on one of her arms until the + ship showed some signs of resuming its way eastward instead of downward. + </p> + <p> + "I am sure it must have hurt dreadfully," she cried. "Nothing hurts worse + than a bump. It seemed as though you must have splintered the wall." + </p> + <p> + "I have a singularly hard head," said he, and forthwith felt of the back + of it. + </p> + <p> + "Will you please stand ready to receive boarders? My maid is following me, + poor thing, and I can't afford to have her smashed to pieces. Here she + is!" + </p> + <p> + Quite a pretty maid, with wide, horrified eyes and a pale green complexion + came hustling around the corner. R. Schmidt, albeit a prince, received her + with open arms. + </p> + <p> + "Merci, M'sieur!" she squealed and added something in muffled French that + strangely reminded him of what Hobbs had said in English. Then she + deposited an armful of rugs and magazines at Robin's feet, and clutched + wildly at a post actually some ten feet away but which appeared to be + coming toward her with obliging swiftness, so nicely was the deck rotating + for her. "Mon dieu! Mon dieu!" + </p> + <p> + "You may go back to bed, Marie," cried her mistress in some haste. + </p> + <p> + "But ze rug, I feex it—" groaned the unhappy maid, and then once + more: "Merci, M'sieur!" She clung to the arm he extended, and tried + bravely to smile her thanks. + </p> + <p> + "Here! Go in through this door," he said, bracing the door open with his + elbow. "You'll be all right in a little while. Keep your nerve." He closed + the door after her and turned to the amused Miss Guile. "Well, it's an ill + wind that blows no good," he said enigmatically, and she flushed under the + steady smile in his eyes. "Allow me to arrange your rug for you. Miss + Guile." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, no. I think I would better go inside. It is really too windy—" + </p> + <p> + "The wind can't get at you back here in this cubbyhole," he protested. "Do + sit down. I'll have you as snug as a bug in a rug before you can say Jack + Robinson. See! Now stick 'em out and I'll wrap it around them. There! + You're as neatly done up as a mummy and a good deal better off, because + you are a long way short of being two thousand years old." + </p> + <p> + "How is your head, Mr. Schmidt?" she inquired with grave concern. "You + seem to be quite crazy. I hope—" + </p> + <p> + "Every one is a little bit mad, don't you think? Especially in moments of + great excitement. I daresay my head <i>has</i> been turned quite + appreciably, and I'm glad that you've been kind enough to notice it. Where + is Mrs. Gaston?" He was vastly exhilarated. + </p> + <p> + She regarded him with eyes that sparkled and belied the unamiable nature + of her reply. + </p> + <p> + "The poor lady is where she is not at all likely to be annoyed, Mr. + Schmidt." + </p> + <p> + Then she took up a magazine and coolly began to run through the pages. He + waited for a moment, considerably dashed, and then said "Oh," in a very + unfriendly manner. She found her place in the magazine, assumed a more + comfortable position, and, with noteworthy resolution, set about reading + as if her life depended upon it. + </p> + <p> + He sat down, pulled the rug up to his chin, and stared out at the great, + heaving billows. Suddenly remembering another injury, he felt once more of + the back of his head. + </p> + <p> + "By jove!" he exclaimed. "There <i>is</i> a lump there." + </p> + <p> + "I can't hear you," she said, allowing the magazine to drop into her lap, + but keeping her place carefully marked with one of her fingers. + </p> + <p> + "I can hear you perfectly," he said. + </p> + <p> + "It's the way the wind blows," she explained. + </p> + <p> + "Easily remedied," said he. "I'll move into Mrs. Gaston's chair if you + think it will help any." + </p> + <p> + "Do!" she said promptly. "You will not disturb me in the least,—unless + you talk." She resumed her reading, half a page above the finger tip. + </p> + <p> + He moved over and arranged himself comfortably, snugly in Mrs. Gaston's + chair. Their elbows almost met. He was prepared to be very patient. For a + long time she continued to read, her warm, rosy cheek half-averted, her + eyes applied to their task with irritating constancy. He did not despair. + Some wise person once had told him that it was only necessary to give a + woman sufficient time and she would be the one to despair. + </p> + <p> + A few passengers possessed of proud sea-legs, staggered past the snug + couple on their ridiculous rounds of the ship. If they thought of Miss + Guile and R. Schmidt at all it was with the scorn that is usually devoted + to youth at its very best. There could be no doubt in the passing mind + that these two were sweethearts who managed to thrive on the smallest of + comforts. + </p> + <p> + At last his patience was rewarded. She lowered the magazine and stifled a + yawn—but not a real one. + </p> + <p> + "Have you read it?" she inquired composedly. + </p> + <p> + "A part of it," he said. "Over your shoulder." + </p> + <p> + "Is that considered polite in Vienna?" + </p> + <p> + "If you only knew what a bump I've got on the back of my head you wouldn't + be so ungracious." he said. + </p> + <p> + "I couldn't possibly know, could I?" + </p> + <p> + He leaned forward and indicated the spot on the back of his head, first + removing his cap. She laughed nervously, and then gently rubbed her + fingers over the thick hair. + </p> + <p> + "There is a dreadful lump!" she exclaimed. "Oh, how sorry I am. Do—do + you feel faint or—or—I mean, is it very painful?" + </p> + <p> + "Not now," he replied, replacing his cap and favouring her with his most + engaging smile. + </p> + <p> + She smiled in response, betraying not the slightest sign of embarrassment. + As a matter of fact, she was, if anything, somewhat too self-possessed. + </p> + <p> + "I remember falling down stairs once," she said, "and getting a stupendous + bump on my forehead. But that was a great many years ago and I cried. How + was I to know that it hurt you, Mr. Schmidt, when you neglected to cry?" + </p> + <p> + "Heroes never cry," said he. "It isn't considered first-class fiction, you + know." + </p> + <p> + "Am I to regard you as a hero?" + </p> + <p> + "If you will be so kind, please." + </p> + <p> + She laughed outright at this. "I think I rather like you, Mr. Schmidt," + she said, with unexpected candour. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I fancy I'm not at all bad," said he, after a momentary stare of + astonishment. "I am especially good in rough weather," he went on, trying + to forget that he was a prince of the royal blood, a rather difficult + matter when one stops to consider he was not in the habit of hearing + people say that they rather liked him. + </p> + <p> + "Do your friends come from Vienna?" she inquired abruptly. + </p> + <p> + "Yes," he said, and then saved his face as usual by adding under his + breath: "but they don't live there." It was not in him to lie outright, + hence the handy way of appeasing his conscience. + </p> + <p> + "They are very interesting looking men, especially the younger. I cannot + remember when I have seen a more attractive man." + </p> + <p> + "He is a splendid chap," exclaimed Robin, with genuine enthusiasm. "I am + very fond of Dank." + </p> + <p> + She was silent for a moment. Something had failed, and she was rather glad + of it. + </p> + <p> + "Do you like New York?" she asked. + </p> + <p> + "Immensely. I met a great many delightful people there. Miss Guile. You + say you do not know the Blithers family? Mr. Blithers is a rare old bird." + </p> + <p> + "Isn't there some talk of his daughter being engaged to the Prince of + Graustark?" + </p> + <p> + He felt that his ears were red. "The newspapers hinted at something of the + sort, I believe." He was suddenly possessed by the curious notion that he + was being "pumped" by his fair companion. Indeed, a certain insistent note + had crept into her voice and her eyes were searching his with an + intentness that had not appeared in them until now. + </p> + <p> + "Have you seen him?" + </p> + <p> + "The Prince?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes. What is he like?" + </p> + <p> + "I've seen pictures of him," he equivocated. "Rather nice looking, I + should say." + </p> + <p> + "Of course he is like all foreign noblemen and will leap at the Blithers + millions if he gets the chance. I sometimes feel sorry for the poor + wretches." There was more scorn than pity in the way she said it, however, + and her velvety eyes were suddenly hard and uncompromising. + </p> + <p> + He longed to defend himself, in the third person, but could not do so for + very strong and obvious reasons. He allowed himself the privilege, + however, of declaring that foreign noblemen are not always as black as + they are painted. And then, for a very excellent reason, he contrived to + change the subject by asking where she was going on the continent. + </p> + <p> + "I may go to Vienna," she said, with a smile that served to puzzle rather + than to delight him. He was more than ever convinced that she was playing + with him. "But pray do not look so gloomy, Mr. Schmidt, I shall not make + any demands upon your time while I am there. You may—" + </p> + <p> + "I am quite sure of that," he interrupted, with his ready smile. "You see, + I am a person of no consequence in Vienna, while you—Ah, well, as an + American girl you will be hobnobbing with the nobility while the humble + Schmidt sits afar off and marvels at the kindness of a fate that befell + him in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and yet curses the fate that + makes him unworthy of the slightest notice from the aforesaid American + girl. For, I daresay, Miss Guile, you, like all American girls, are ready + to leap at titles." + </p> + <p> + "That really isn't fair, Mr. Schmidt," she protested, flushing. "Why + should you and I quarrel over a condition that cannot apply to either of + us? You are not a nobleman, and I am not a title-seeking American girl. + So, why all this beautiful irony?" + </p> + <p> + "It only remains for me to humbly beg your pardon and to add that if you + come to Vienna my every waking hour shall be devoted to the pleasure of—" + </p> + <p> + "I am sorry I mentioned it, Mr. Schmidt," she interrupted coldly. "You may + rest easy, for I shall not keep you awake for a single hour. Besides, I + may not go to Vienna at all." + </p> + <p> + "I am sure you would like Vienna," he said, somewhat chilled by her + manner. + </p> + <p> + "I have been there, with my parents, but it was a long time ago. I once + saw the Emperor and often have I seen the wonderful Prince Liechtenstein." + </p> + <p> + "Have you travelled extensively in Europe?" + </p> + <p> + She was smiling once more. "I don't know what you would consider + extensively," she said. "I was educated in Paris, I have spent innumerable + winters in Rome and quite as many summers in Scotland, England, + Switzerland, Germ—" + </p> + <p> + "I know who you are!" he cried out enthusiastically. To his amazement, a + startled expression leaped into her eyes. "You are travelling under an + assumed name." She remained perfectly still, watching him with an anxious + smile on her lips. "You are no other than Miss Baedeker, the well-known + authoress." + </p> + <p> + It seemed to him that she breathed deeply. At any rate, her brow cleared + and her smile was positively enchanting. Never, in all his life, had he + gazed upon a lovelier face. His heart began to beat with a rapidity that + startled him, and a queer little sensation, as of smothering, made it + difficult for him to speak naturally in his next attempt. + </p> + <p> + "In that case, my pseudonym should be Guide, not Guile," she cried + merrily. The dimples played in her cheeks and her eyes were dancing. + </p> + <p> + "B. stands for Baedeker, I'm sure. Baedeker Guide. If the B. isn't for + Baedeker, what is it for?" + </p> + <p> + "Are you asking what the B. really stands for, Mr. Schmidt?" + </p> + <p> + "In a round-about way, Miss Guile," he admitted. + </p> + <p> + "My name is Bedelia," she said, with absolute sincerity. "Me mither is + Irish, d'ye see?" + </p> + <p> + "By jove, it's worth a lot of trouble to get you to smile like that," he + cried admiringly. "It is the first really honest smile you've displayed. + If you knew how it improves you, you'd be doing it all of the time." + </p> + <p> + "Smiles are sometimes expensive." + </p> + <p> + "It depends on the market." + </p> + <p> + "I never take them to a cheap market. They are not classed as + necessities." + </p> + <p> + "You couldn't offer them to any one who loves luxuries more than I do." + </p> + <p> + "You pay for them only with compliments, I see, and there is nothing so + cheap." + </p> + <p> + "Am I to take that as a rebuke?" + </p> + <p> + "If possible," she said sweetly. + </p> + <p> + At this juncture, the miserable Hobbs hove into sight, not figuratively + but literally. He came surging across the deck in a mad dash from one + haven to another, or, more accurately, from post to post. + </p> + <p> + "I beg pardon, sir," he gasped, finally steadying himself on wide-spread + legs within easy reach of Robin's sustaining person. "There is a wireless + for Mr. Totten, sir, but when I took it to 'im he said to fetch it to you, + being unable to hold up 'is head, wot with the wretched meal he had + yesterday and the—" + </p> + <p> + "I see, Hobbs. Well, where is it?" + </p> + <p> + Hobbs looked embarrassed. "Well, you see, sir, I 'esitated about giving it + to you when you appear to be so—" + </p> + <p> + "Never mind. You may give it to me. Miss Guile will surely pardon me if I + devote a second or two to an occupation she followed so earnestly up to a + very short time ago." + </p> + <p> + "Pray forget that I am present, Mr. Schmidt," she said, and smiled upon + the bewildered Hobbs, who after an instant delivered the message to his + master. + </p> + <p> + Robin read it through and at the end whistled softly. + </p> + <p> + "Take it to Mr. Totten, Hobbs, and see if it will not serve to make him + hold up his head a little." + </p> + <p> + "Very good, sir. I hope it will. Wouldn't it be wise for me to hannounce + who it is from, sir, to sort of prepare him for—" + </p> + <p> + "He knows who it is from, Hobbs, so you needn't worry. It is from home, if + it will interest you, Hobbs." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, sir, it does interest me. I thought it might be from Mr. + Blithers." + </p> + <p> + Robin's scowl sent him scuttling away a great deal more rigidly than when + he came. + </p> + <p> + "Idiot!" muttered the young man, still scowling. + </p> + <p> + There was silence between the two for a few seconds. Then she spoke + disinterestedly: + </p> + <p> + "Is it from the Mr. Blithers who has the millions and the daughter who + wants to marry a prince?" + </p> + <p> + "Merely a business transaction, Miss Guile," he said absently. He was + thinking of Romano's message. + </p> + <p> + "So it would appear." + </p> + <p> + "I beg pardon? I was—er—thinking—" + </p> + <p> + "It was of no consequence, Mr. Schmidt," she said airily. + </p> + <p> + He picked up the thread once more. "As a matter of fact, I've heard it + said that Miss Blithers refused to marry the Prince." + </p> + <p> + "Is it possible?" with fine irony. "Is he such a dreadful person as all + that?" + </p> + <p> + "I'm sure I don't know," murmured Robin uncomfortably. "He may be no more + dreadful than she." + </p> + <p> + "I cannot hear you, Mr. Schmidt," she persisted, with unmistakeable malice + in her lovely eyes. + </p> + <p> + "I'm rather glad that you didn't," he confessed. "Silly remark, you know." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I hope she doesn't marry him," said Miss Guile. + </p> + <p> + "So do I," said R. Schmidt, and their eyes met. After a moment, she looked + away, her first surrender to the mysterious something that lay deep in + his. + </p> + <p> + "It would prove that all American girls are not so black as they're + painted, wouldn't it?" she said, striving to regain the ground she had + lost by that momentary lapse. + </p> + <p> + "Pray do not overlook the fact that I am half American," he said. "You + must not expect me to say that they paint at all." + </p> + <p> + "Schmidt is a fine old American name," she mused, the mischief back in her + eyes. + </p> + <p> + "And so is Bedelia," said he. + </p> + <p> + "Will you pardon me, Mr. Schmidt, if I express surprise that you speak + English without the tiniest suggestion of an accent?" + </p> + <p> + "I will pardon you for everything and anything, Miss Guile," said he, + quite too distinctly. She drew back in her chair and the light of raillery + died in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + "What an imperial sound it has!" + </p> + <p> + "And why not? The R stands for Rex." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, that accounts for the King's English!" + </p> + <p> + "Certainly," he grinned. "The king can do no wrong, don't you see?" + </p> + <p> + "Your servant who was here speaks nothing but the King's English, I + perceive. Perhaps that accounts for a great deal." + </p> + <p> + "Hobbs? I mean to say,'Obbs? I confess that he has taught me many tricks + of the tongue. He is one of the crown jewels." + </p> + <p> + Suddenly, and without reason, she appeared to be bored. As a matter of + fact, she hid an incipient yawn behind her small gloved hand. + </p> + <p> + "I think I shall go to my room. Will you kindly unwrap me, Mr. Schmidt?" + </p> + <p> + He promptly obeyed, and then assisted her to her feet, steadying her + against the roll of the vessel. + </p> + <p> + "I shall pray for continuous rough weather," he announced, with as gallant + a bow as could be made under the circumstances. + </p> + <p> + "Thank you," she said, and he was pleased to take it that she was not + thanking him for a physical service. + </p> + <p> + A few minutes later he was in his own room, and she was in hers, and the + promenade deck was as barren as the desert of Sahara. + </p> + <p> + He found Count Quinnox stretched out upon his bed, attended not only by + Hobbs but also the reanimated Dank. The crumpled message lay on the floor. + </p> + <p> + "I'm glad you waited awhile," said the young lieutenant, getting up from + the trunk on which he had been sitting. "If you had come any sooner you + would have heard words fit only for a soldier to hear. It really was quite + appalling." + </p> + <p> + "He's better now," said Hobbs, more respectfully than was his wont. It was + evident that he had sustained quite a shock. + </p> + <p> + "Well, what do you think of it?" demanded the Prince, pointing to the + message. + </p> + <p> + "Of all the confounded impudence—" began the Count healthily, and + then uttered a mighty groan of impotence. It was clear that he could not + do justice to the occasion a second time. + </p> + <p> + Robin picked up the Marconigram, and calmly smoothed out the crinkles. + Then he read it aloud, very slowly and with extreme disgust in his fine + young face. It was a lengthy communication from Baron Romano, the Prime + Minister in Edelweiss. + </p> + <p> + "'Preliminary agreement signed before hearing Blithers had bought London, + Paris, Berlin. He cables his immediate visit to G. Object now appears + clear. All newspapers in Europe print despatches from America that + marriage is practically arranged between R. and M. Interviews with + Blithers corroborate reported engagement. Europe is amused. Editorials + sarcastic. Price on our securities advance two points on confirmation of + report. We are bewildered. Also vague rumour they have eloped, but denied + by B. Dawsbergen silent. What does it all mean? Wire truth to me. People + are uneasy. Gourou will meet you in Paris.'" + </p> + <p> + In the adjoining suite, Miss Guile was shaking Mrs. Gaston out of a + long-courted and much needed sleep. The poor lady sat up and blinked + feebly at the excited, starry-eyed girl. + </p> + <p> + "Wake up!" cried Bedelia impatiently. "What do you think? I have a + perfectly wonderful suspicion—perfectly wonderful." + </p> + <p> + "How can you be so unfeeling?" moaned the limp lady. + </p> + <p> + "This R. Schmidt is Prince Robin of Graustark!" cried the girl excitedly. + "I am sure of it—just as sure as can be." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Gaston's eyes were popping, not with amazement but alarm. + </p> + <p> + "Do lie down, child," she whimpered. "Marie! The sleeping powders at once! + Do—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I'm not mad," cried the girl. "Now listen to me and I'll tell you why + I believe—yes, actually believe him to be the—" + </p> + <p> + "Marie, do you hear me?" + </p> + <p> + Miss Guile shook her vigorously. "Wake up! It isn't a nightmare. Now + listen!" + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI — THE LIEUTENANT RECEIVES ORDERS + </h2> + <p> + The next day brought not only an agreeable change in the weather but a + most surprising alteration in the manner of Mrs. Gaston, whose attitude + toward R. Schmidt and his friends had been anything but amicable up to the + hour of Miss Guile's discovery. The excellent lady, recovering very + quickly from her indisposition became positively polite to the hitherto + repugnant Mr. Schmidt. She melted so abruptly and so completely that the + young man was vaguely troubled. He began to wonder if his incognito had + been pierced, so to speak. + </p> + <p> + It was not reasonable to suppose that Miss Guile was personally + responsible for this startling transition from the inimical to the + gracious on the part of her companion; the indifference of Miss Guile + herself was sufficient proof to the contrary. Therefore, when Mrs. Gaston + nosed him out shortly after breakfast and began to talk about the + beautiful day in a manner so thoroughly respectful that it savoured of + servility, he was taken-aback, flabbergasted. She seemed to be on the + point of dropping her knee every time she spoke to him, and there was an + unmistakable tremor of excitement in her voice even when she confided to + him that she adored the ocean when it was calm. He forbore asking when + Miss Guile might be expected to appear on deck for her constitutional but + she volunteered the information, which was neither vague nor yet definite. + In fact, she said that Miss Guile would be up soon, and soon is a word + that has a double meaning when applied to the movements of capricious + womanhood. It may mean ten minutes and it may mean an hour and a half. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Gaston's severely critical eyes were no longer severe, albeit they + were critical. She took him in from head to foot with the eye of an + appraiser, and the more she took him in the more she melted, until at last + in order to keep from completely dissolving, she said good-bye to him and + hurried off to find Miss Guile. + </p> + <p> + Now it is necessary to relate that Miss Guile had been particularly firm + in her commands to Mrs. Gaston. She literally had stood the excellent lady + up in a corner and lectured her for an hour on the wisdom of silence. In + the first place, Mrs. Gaston was given to understand that she was not to + breathe it to a soul that R. Schmidt was not R. Schmidt, and she was not + to betray to him by word or sign that he was suspected of being the Prince + of Graustark. Moreover, the exacting Miss Guile laid great stress upon + another command: R. Schmidt was never to know that she was <i>not</i> Miss + Guile, but some one else altogether. + </p> + <p> + "You're right, my dear," exclaimed Mrs. Gaston in an excited whisper as + she burst in upon her fair companion, who was having coffee and toast in + her parlour. The more or less resuscitated Marie was waiting to do up her + mistress's hair, and the young lady herself was alluringly charming in + spite of the fact that it was not already "done up." "He is the—er—he + is just what you think." + </p> + <p> + "Good heavens, you haven't gone and done it, have you," cried the girl, a + slim hand halting with a piece of toast half way to her lips. + </p> + <p> + "Gone and done it?" + </p> + <p> + "You haven't been blabbing, have you?" + </p> + <p> + "How can you say that to me? Am I not to be trusted? Am I so weak and—" + </p> + <p> + "Don't cry, you old dear! Forgive me. But now tell me—absolutely—just + what you've been up to. Don't mind Marie. She is French. She can always + hold her tongue." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I've been talking with him, that's all. I'm sure he is the Prince. + No ordinary male could be as sweet and agreeable and sunny as—" + </p> + <p> + "Stop!" cried Miss Guile, with a pretty moue, putting the tips of her + fingers to her ears after putting the piece of toast into her mouth. "One + would think you were a sentimental old maid instead of a cold-blooded, + experienced, man-hating married woman." + </p> + <p> + "You forget that I am a widow, my dear. Besides, it is disgusting for one + to speak with one's mouth full of buttered toast. It—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, how I used to loathe you when you kept forever ding-donging at me + about the way I ate when I was almost starving. Were you never a hungry + little kid? Did you never lick jam and honey off your fingers and—" + </p> + <p> + "Many and many a time," confessed Mrs. Gaston, beaming once more and + laying a gentle, loving hand on the girl's shoulder. Miss Guile dropped + her head over until her cheek rested on the caressing hand, and munched + toast with blissful abandon. + </p> + <p> + "Now tell me what you've been up to," she said, and Mrs. Gaston repeated + every word of the conversation she had had with R. Schmidt, proving + absolutely nothing but stoutly maintaining that her intuition was + completely to be depended upon. + </p> + <p> + "And, oh," she whispered in conclusion, "wouldn't it be perfectly + wonderful if you two should fall in love with each other—" + </p> + <p> + "Don't be silly!" + </p> + <p> + "But you have said that if he should fall in love with you for yourself + and not because—" + </p> + <p> + "I have also said that I will not marry any man, prince, duke, king, count + or anything else unless I am in love with him. Don't overlook that, + please." + </p> + <p> + "But he is really very nice. I should think you <i>could</i> fall in love + with him. Just think how it would please your father and mother. Just + think—" + </p> + <p> + "I won't be bullied!" + </p> + <p> + "Am I bullying you?" in amazement. + </p> + <p> + "No; but father tries to bully me, and you know it." + </p> + <p> + "You must admit that the—this Mr. Schmidt is handsome, charming, + bright—" + </p> + <p> + "I admit nothing," said Miss Guile resolutely, and ordered Marie to dress + her hair as carefully as possible. "Take as long as you like, Marie. I + shall not go on deck for hours." + </p> + <p> + "I—I told him you would be up soon," stammered the poor, man-hating + ex-governess. + </p> + <p> + "You did?" said Miss Guile, with what was supposed to be a deadly look in + her eyes. + </p> + <p> + "Well, he enquired," said the other. + </p> + <p> + "Anything else?" domineered the beauty. + </p> + <p> + "I forgot to mention one thing. He <i>did</i> ask me if your name was + really Bedelia." + </p> + <p> + "And what did you tell him?" cried the girl, in sudden agitation. + </p> + <p> + "I managed to tell him that it was," said Mrs. Gaston stiffly. + </p> + <p> + "Good!" cried Miss Guile, vastly relieved, and not at all troubled over + the blight that had been put upon a very worthy lady's conscience. + </p> + <p> + When she appeared on deck long afterward, she found every chair occupied. + A warm sun, a far from turbulent sea, and a refreshing breeze had brought + about a marvellous transformation. Every one was happy, every one had come + back from the grave to gloat over the grim reaper's failure to do his + worst, although in certain cases he had been importuned to do it without + hesitation. + </p> + <p> + She made several brisk rounds of the deck; then, feeling that people were + following her with their eyes,—admiringly, to be sure, but what of + that?—she abandoned the pleasant exercise and sought the seclusion + of the sunless corner where her chair was stationed. The ship's daily + newspaper was just off the press and many of the loungers were reading the + brief telegraphic news from the capitals of the world. + </p> + <p> + During her stroll she passed several groups of men and women who were + lightly, even scornfully employed in discussing an article of news which + had to do with Mr. Blithers and the Prince of Graustark. Filled with an + acute curiosity, she procured a copy of the paper from a steward, and was + glancing at the head lines as she made her way into her corner. + Double-leaded type appeared over the rumoured engagment of Miss Maud + Applegate Blithers, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of the great + capitalist, and Robin, Prince of Graustark. A queer little smile played + about her lips as she folded the paper for future perusal. Turning the + earner of the deck-building she almost collided with R. Schmidt, who stood + leaning against the wall, scanning the little newspaper with eyes that + were blind to everything else. + </p> + <p> + "Oh!" she gasped. + </p> + <p> + "I'm sorry," he exclaimed, crumpling the paper in his hand as he backed + away, flushing. "Stupid of me. Good morning." + </p> + <p> + "Good morning, Mr. Schmidt. It wasn't your fault. I should have looked + where I was going. 'Stop, look and listen,' as they say at the railway + crossing." + </p> + <p> + "'Danger' is one of the commonest signs, Miss Guile. It lurks everywhere, + especially around corners. I see you have a paper. It appears that Miss + Blithers and the Prince are to be married after all." + </p> + <p> + "Yes; it is quite apparent that the Blithers family intends to have a + title at any cost," she said, and her eyes flashed. + </p> + <p> + "Would you like to take a few turns, Miss Guile?" he inquired, a trace of + nervousness in his manner. "I think I can take you safely over the hurdles + and around the bunkers." He indicated the outstretched legs along the + promenade deck and the immovable groups of chatterers along the rail. + </p> + <p> + Before deciding, she shot an investigating glance into the corner. Mrs. + Gaston was not only there but was engaged in conversation with the + grey-moustached gentleman in a near-by chair. It required but half a + glance to show that Mr. Totten was unmistakably interested in something + the voluble lady had just said to him. + </p> + <p> + "No, thank you, Mr. Schmidt," said Miss Guile hastily, and then hurried + over to her chair, a distinct cloud on her smooth brow. Robin, considering + himself dismissed, whirled and went his way, a dark flush spreading over + his face. Never, in all his life, had he been quite so out of patience + with the world as on this bright, sunny morning. + </p> + <p> + Miss Guile's frown deepened when her abrupt appearance at Mrs. Gaston's + side caused that lady to look up with a guilty start and to break off in + the middle of a sentence that had begun with: "International marriages, as + a rule, are—Oh!" + </p> + <p> + Mr. Totten arose and bowed with courtly grace to the new arrival on the + scene. He appeared to be immensely relieved. + </p> + <p> + "A lovely morning, Miss Guile," he said as he stooped to arrange her rug. + "I hear that you were not at all disturbed by yesterday's blow." + </p> + <p> + "I was just telling Mr. Totten that you are a wonderful sailor," said Mrs. + Gaston, a note of appeal in her voice. "He says his friend, Mr. Schmidt, + is also a good sailor. Isn't it perfectly wonderful?" + </p> + <p> + "I can't see anything wonderful about it," said Miss Guile, fixing the + ex-governess with a look that seared. + </p> + <p> + "We were speaking of this rumoured engagement of the Prince of Graustark + and—er—what's the name?" He glanced at his newspaper. "Miss + Blithers, of course. I enquired of Mrs.—er—Gaston if she + happens to know the young lady. She remembers seeing her frequently as a + very small child." + </p> + <p> + "In Paris," said Mrs. Gaston. "One couldn't very well help seeing her, you + know. She was the only child of the great Mr. Blithers, whose name was on + every one's lips at the—" + </p> + <p> + Miss Guile interrupted. "It would be like the great Mr. Blithers to buy + this toy prince for his daughter—as a family plaything or human + lap-dog, or something of the sort, wouldn't it?" + </p> + <p> + Mr. Totten betrayed no emotion save amusement. Miss Guile was watching + through half-closed eyes. There was a noticeable stiffening of the prim + figure of Mrs. Gaston. + </p> + <p> + "I've no doubt Mr. Blithers can afford to buy the most expensive of toys + for his only child. You Americans go in for the luxuries of life. What + could be more extravagant than the purchase of a royal lap-dog? The only + drawback I can suggest is that the Prince might turn out to be a cur, and + then where would Mr. Blithers be?" + </p> + <p> + "It is more to the point to ask where Miss Blithers would be, Mr. Totten," + said Miss Guile, with a smile that caused the fierce old warrior to + afterwards declare to Dank that he never had seen a lovelier girl in all + his life. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, but we spoke of the Prince as a lap-dog or a cur, Miss Guile, not as + a watch-dog," said he. + </p> + <p> + "I see," said Miss Guile, after a moment. "He wouldn't sleep with one eye + open. I see." + </p> + <p> + "The lap of luxury is an enviable resting-place. I know of no prince who + would despise it." + </p> + <p> + "But a wife is sometimes a thing to be despised," said she. + </p> + <p> + "Quite true," said Mr. Totten. "I've no doubt that the Prince of Graustark + will despise his wife, and for that reason will be quite content to close + both eyes and let her go on searching for her heart's desire." + </p> + <p> + "She would be his Princess. Could he afford to allow his love of luxury to + go as far as that?" + </p> + <p> + "Quite as justifiably, I should say, as Mr. Blithers when he delivers his + only child into—into bondage." + </p> + <p> + "You were about to use another term." + </p> + <p> + "I was, but I thought in time, Miss Guile." + </p> + <p> + R. Schmidt sauntered briskly past at this juncture, looking neither to the + right nor left. They watched him until he disappeared down the deck. + </p> + <p> + "I think Mr. Schmidt is a perfectly delightful young man," said Mrs. + Gaston, simply because she couldn't help it. + </p> + <p> + "You really think he will marry Miss Blithers, Mr. Totten?" ventured Miss + Guile. + </p> + <p> + "He? Oh, I see—the Prince?" Mr. Totten came near to being no + diplomat. "How should I know, Miss Guile?" + </p> + <p> + "Of course! How <i>should</i> you know?" she cried. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Totten found something to interest him in the printed sheet and + proceeded to read it with considerable avidity. Miss Guile smiled to + herself and purposely avoided the shocked look in Mrs. Gaston's eyes. + </p> + <p> + "Bouillon at last," cried the agitated duenna, and peremptorily summoned + one of the tray-bearing stewards. "I am famished." + </p> + <p> + Evidently Mr. Totten did not care for his mid-morning refreshment, for, + with the most courtly of smiles, he arose and left them to their bouillon. + </p> + <p> + "Here comes Mr. Schmidt," whispered Mrs. Gaston excitedly, a few moments + later, and at once made a movement indicative of hasty departure. + </p> + <p> + "Sit still," said Miss Guile peremptorily. + </p> + <p> + R. Schmidt again passed them by without so much as a glance in their + direction. There was a very sweet smile on Miss Guile's lips as she closed + her eyes and lay back in her chair. Once, twice, thrice, even as many as + six times R. Schmidt strode rapidly by their corner, his head high and his + face aglow. + </p> + <p> + At last a queer little pucker appeared on the serene brow of the far from + drowsy young lady whose eyes peeped through half closed lids. Suddenly she + threw off her rug and with a brief remark to her companion arose and went + to her cabin. Mrs. Gaston followed, not from choice but because the brief + remark was in the form of a command. + </p> + <p> + Soon afterward, R. Schmidt who had been joined by Dank, threw himself into + his chair with a great sigh of fatigue and said: + </p> + <p> + "'Gad, I've walked a hundred miles since breakfast. Have you a match?" + </p> + <p> + "Hobbs has made a very curious discovery," said the young lieutenant, + producing his match-box. There was a perturbed look in his eyes. + </p> + <p> + "If Hobbs isn't careful he'll discover a new continent one of these days. + He is always discovering something," said Robin, puffing away at his pipe. + </p> + <p> + "But this is really interesting. It seems that he was in the hold when + Miss Guile's maid came down to get into one of her mistress's trunks. Now, + the first letter in Guile is G, isn't it? Well, Hobbs says there are at + least half-a-dozen trunks there belonging to the young lady and that all + of them are marked with a large red B. What do you make of it?" + </p> + <p> + The Prince had stopped puffing at his pipe. + </p> + <p> + "Hobbs may be mistaken in the maid. Dank. It is likely that they are not + Miss Guile's trunks, at all." + </p> + <p> + "He appears to be absolutely sure of his ground. He heard the maid mention + Miss Guile's name when she directed the men to get one of the trunks out + of the pile. That's what attracted his attention. He confided to me that + you are interested in the young lady, and therefore it was quite natural + for him to be similarly affected. 'Like master, like man,' d'ye see?" + </p> + <p> + "Really, you know, Dank, I ought to dismiss Hobbs," said Robin irritably. + "He is getting to be a dreadful nuisance. Always nosing around, trying to—" + </p> + <p> + "But after all, sir, you'll have to admit that he has made a puzzling + discovery. Why should her luggage be marked with a B?" + </p> + <p> + "I should say because her name begins with a B," said Robin shortly. + </p> + <p> + "In that case, it isn't Guile." + </p> + <p> + "Obviously." The young man was thinking very hard. + </p> + <p> + "And if it isn't Guile, there must be an excellent reason for her sailing + under a false name. She doesn't look like an adventuress." + </p> + <p> + R. Schmidt rewarded this remark with a cold stare. "Would you mind telling + me what she does look like, Dank?" he enquired severely. + </p> + <p> + The lieutenant flushed. "I have not had the same opportunity for + observation that you've enjoyed, sir, but I should say, off-hand, that she + looks like a very dangerous young person." + </p> + <p> + "Do you mean to imply that she is—er—not altogether what one + would call right?" + </p> + <p> + Dank grinned. "Don't you regard her as rather perilously beautiful?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I see. That's what you mean. I suppose you got <i>that</i> from + Hobbs, too." + </p> + <p> + "Not at all. I have an excellent pair of eyes." + </p> + <p> + "What are you trying to get at, Dank?" demanded Robin abruptly. + </p> + <p> + "I'm trying to get to the bottom of Miss Guile's guile, if it please your + royal highness," said the lieutenant coolly. "It is hard to connect the B + and the G, you know." + </p> + <p> + "But why should we deny her a privilege that we are enjoying, all three of + us? Are we not in the same boat?" + </p> + <p> + "Literally and figuratively. That explains nothing, however." + </p> + <p> + "Have you a theory?" + </p> + <p> + "There are many that we could advance, but, of course, only one of them + could be the right one, even if we were acute enough to include it in our + list of guesses. She may have an imperative reason for not disclosing her + identity. For instance, she may be running away to get married." + </p> + <p> + "That's possible," agreed Robin. + </p> + <p> + "But not probable. She may be a popular music-hall favourite, or one of + those peculiarly clever creatures known as the American newspaper woman, + against whom we have been warned. Don't you regard it as rather + significant that of all the people on this ship she should be one to + attach herself to the unrecognised Prince of Graustark? Put two and two + together, sir, and—" + </p> + <p> + "I find it singularly difficult to put one and one together, Dank," said + the Prince ruefully. "No; you are wrong in both of your guesses. I've + encountered music-hall favourites and I can assure you she isn't one of + them. And as for your statement that she attached herself to me, you were + never so mistaken in your life. I give you my word, she doesn't care a + hang whether I'm on the ship or clinging to a life preserver out there in + the middle of the Atlantic. I have reason to know, Dank." + </p> + <p> + "So be it," said Dank, but with doubt in his eyes. "You ought to know. + I've never spoken to her, so—" + </p> + <p> + "She thinks you are a dreadfully attractive chap, Dank," said Robin + mischievously. "She said so only yesterday." + </p> + <p> + Dank gave his prince a disgusted look, and smoked on in silence. His + dignity was ruffled. + </p> + <p> + "Her Christian name is Bedelia," ventured Robin, after a pause. + </p> + <p> + "That doesn't get us anywhere," said Dank sourly. + </p> + <p> + "And her mother is Irish." + </p> + <p> + "Which accounts for those wonderful Irish blue eyes that—" + </p> + <p> + "So you've noticed them, eh?" + </p> + <p> + "Naturally." + </p> + <p> + "I consider them a very dark grey." + </p> + <p> + "I think we'd better get back to the luggage," said Dank hastily. "Hobbs + thinks that she—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Lord, Dank, don't tell me what Hobbs thinks," growled Robin. "Let her + make use of all the letters in the alphabet if it pleases her. What is it + to us? Moreover, she may be utilising a lot of borrowed trunks, who knows? + Or B may have been her initial before she was divorced and—" + </p> + <p> + "Divorced?" + </p> + <p> + "—her maiden name restored," concluded Robin airily. "Simple + deduction, Dank. Don't bother your head about her any longer. What we know + isn't going to hurt us, and what we don't know isn't—" + </p> + <p> + "Has it occurred to you that Russia may have set spies upon you—" + </p> + <p> + "Nonsense!" + </p> + <p> + "It isn't as preposterous as you—" + </p> + <p> + "Come, old fellow, let's forget Miss Guile," cried Robin, slapping the + lieutenant on the shoulder. "Let's think of the real peril,—Maud + Applegate Blithers." He held up the ship's paper for Dank to see and then + sat back to enjoy his companion's rage. + </p> + <p> + An hour later Dank and Count Quinnox might have been seen seated side by + side on the edge of a skylight at the tip-top of the ship's structure, + engaged in the closest conversation. There was a troubled look in the old + man's eyes and the light of adventure in those of his junior. The sum and + substance of their discussion may be given in a brief sentence: Something + would have to be done to prevent Robin from falling in love with the + fascinating Miss Guile. + </p> + <p> + "He is young enough and stubborn enough to make a fool of himself over + her," the Count had said. "I wouldn't blame him, 'pon my soul I wouldn't. + She is very attractive—ahem! You must be his safeguard, Dank. Go in + and do as I suggest. You are a good looking chap and you've nothing to + lose. So far as she is concerned, you are quite as well worth while as the + fellow known as R. Schmidt. There's no reason why you shouldn't make the + remainder of the passage pleasant for her, and at the same time enjoy + yourself at nobody's expense." + </p> + <p> + "They know by instinct, confound 'em," lamented Dank; "they know the real + article, and you can't fool 'em. She knows that he is the high muck-a-muck + in this party and she won't even look at me, you take my word for it." + </p> + <p> + "At any rate, you can try, can't you?" said the Count impatiently. + </p> + <p> + "Is it a command, sir?" + </p> + <p> + "It is." + </p> + <p> + "Very well, sir. I shall do my best." + </p> + <p> + "We can't afford to have him losing his head over a pretty—er—a + nobody, perhaps an adventuress,—at this stage of the game. I much + prefer the impossible Miss Blithers, Dank, to this captivating unknown. At + least we know who and what she is, and what she represents. But we owe it + to our country and to Dawsbergen to see that he doesn't do anything—er—foolish. + We have five days left of this voyage, Dank. They may be fatal days for + him, if you do not come to the rescue." + </p> + <p> + "They may be fatal days for me," said Dank, looking out over the ocean. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII — THE LIEUTENANT REPORTS + </h2> + <p> + Five days later as the <i>Jupiter</i> was discharging passengers at + Plymouth, Count Quinnox and Lieutenant Dank stood well forward on the + promenade deck watching the operations. The younger man was moody and + distrait, an unusual condition for him but one that had been noticeably + recurrent during the past two or three days. He pulled at his smart little + moustache and looked out upon the world through singularly lack-lustre + eyes. Something had gone wrong with him, and it was something that he felt + in duty bound to lay before his superior, the grim old Minister of War and + hereditary chief of the Castle Guard. Occasionally his sombre gaze shifted + to a spot farther down the deck, where a young man and woman leaned upon + the rail and surveyed the scene of activity below. + </p> + <p> + "What is on your mind, Dank?" asked the Count abruptly. "Out with it." + </p> + <p> + Dank started. "It's true, then? I <i>do</i> look as much of a fool as I + feel, eh?" There was bitterness in his usually cheery voice. + </p> + <p> + "Feel like a fool, eh?" growled the old soldier. + </p> + <p> + "Pretty mess I've made of the business," lamented Dank surlily. "Putting + myself up as a contender against a fellow like Robin, and dreaming that I + could win out, even for a minute! Good Lord, what an ass I am! Why we've + only made it worse, Count. We've touched him with the spur of rivalry, and + what could be more calamitous than that? From being a rather + matter-of-fact, indifferent observer, he becomes a bewildering cavalier + bent on conquest at any cost. I am swept aside as if I were a parcel of + rags. For two days I stood between him and the incomparable Miss Guile. + Then he suddenly arouses himself. My cake is dough. I am nobody. My feet + get cold, as they say in America,—although I don't know why they say + it. What has the temperature of one's feet to do with it? See! There they + are. They are constantly together, walking, sitting, standing, eating, + drinking, reading—<i>Eh bien!</i> You have seen with your own eyes. + The beautiful Miss Guile has bewitched our Prince, and my labour is not + only lost but I myself am lost. <i>Mon dieu!</i>" + </p> + <p> + The Count stared at him in perplexity for a moment. Then a look of + surprise came into his eyes,—surprise not unmingled with scorn. + </p> + <p> + "You don't mean to say, Dank, that you've fallen in love with her? Oh, you + absurd fledgelings. Will you—" + </p> + <p> + "Forgive my insolence, Count, but it is forty years since you were a + fledgeling. You don't see things as you saw them forty years ago. Permit + me to remind you that you are a grandfather." + </p> + <p> + "Your point is well taken, my lad," said the Count, with a twinkle in his + eye. "You can't help being young any more than I can help being old. Youth + is perennial, old age a winding-sheet. I am to take it, then, that you've + lost your heart to the fair—" + </p> + <p> + "Why not?" broke in Dank fiercely. "Why should it appear incredible to + you? Is she not the most entrancing creature in all the world? Is she not + the most appealing, the most adorable, the most feminine of all her sex? + Is it possible that one can be so old that it is impossible for him to + feel the charm, the loveliness, the—" + </p> + <p> + "For heaven's sake, Dank," said the old man in alarm, "don't gesticulate + so wildly. People will think we are quarrelling. Calm yourself, my boy." + </p> + <p> + "You set a task for me and I obey. You urge me to do my duty by Graustark. + You tell me I am a handsome dog and irresistible. She will be overwhelmed + by my manly beauty, my valour, my soldierly bearing,—so say you! And + what is the outcome? I—I, the vain-glorious,—I am wrapped + around her little finger so tightly that all the king's horses and all the + king's men—" + </p> + <p> + "Halt!" commanded his general softly. "You are turning tail like the + veriest coward. Right about, face! Would you surrender to a slip of a girl + whose only weapons are a pair of innocent blue eyes and a roguish smile? + Be a man! Stand by your guns. Outwardly you are the equal of R. Schmidt, + whose sole—" + </p> + <p> + "That sounds very well, sir, but how can I take up arms against my Prince? + He stands by <i>his</i> guns—as you may see, sir,—and, dammit + all, I'm no traitor. I've just got to stand by 'em with him. That rot + about all being fair in love and war is the silliest—Oh, well, + there's no use whining about it. I'm mad about her, and so is he. You + can't—" + </p> + <p> + The Count stopped him with a sharp gesture. A look of real concern + appeared in his eyes. + </p> + <p> + "Do you believe that he is actually in love with this girl?" + </p> + <p> + "Heels over head," barked the unhappy lieutenant. "I've never seen a worse + case." + </p> + <p> + "This is serious—more serious than I thought." + </p> + <p> + "It's horrible," declared Dank, but not thinking of the situation from the + Count's point of view. + </p> + <p> + "We do not know who or what she is. She may be—" + </p> + <p> + "I beg your pardon, sir, but we do know what she is," said the other + firmly. "You will not pretend to say that she is not a gentlewoman. She is + cultured, refined—" + </p> + <p> + "I grant all of that," said the Count. "I am not blind, Dank, But it seems + fairly certain that her name is not Guile. We—" + </p> + <p> + "Nor is his name Schmidt. That's no argument, sir." + </p> + <p> + "Still we cannot take the chance, my lad. We must put an end to this fond + adventure. Robin is our most precious possession. We must not—Why do + you shake your head?" + </p> + <p> + "We are powerless, sir. If he makes up his mind to marry Miss Guile, he'll + do it in spite of anything we can do. That is, provided she is of the same + mind." + </p> + <p> + "God defend us, I fear you are right," groaned the old Count. "He has + declared himself a hundred times, and he is a wilful lad. I recall the + uselessness of the opposition that was set up against his lamented mother + when she decided to marry Grenfell Lorry. 'Gad, sir, it was like butting + into a stone wall. She said she <i>would</i> and she did. I fear me that + Robin has much of his mother in him." + </p> + <p> + "Behold in me the first sacrifice," declaimed Dank, lifting his eyes + heavenward. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, you will recover," was the unsympathetic rejoinder. "It is for him + that I fear, not for you." + </p> + <p> + "Recover, sir?" in despair. "I fear you misjudge my humble heart—" + </p> + <p> + "Bosh! Your heart has been through a dozen accidents of this character, + Dank, and it is good for a hundred more. I'll rejoice when this voyage is + ended and we have him safe on his way to Edelweiss." + </p> + <p> + "That will not make the slightest difference, sir. If he sets his head to + marry her he'll do it if we take him to the North Pole. All Graustark + can't stop him,—nor old man Blithers either. Besides, he says he + isn't going to Edelweiss immediately." + </p> + <p> + "That is news to me." + </p> + <p> + "I thought it would be. He came to the decision not more than two hours + ago. He is determined to spend a couple of weeks at Interlaken." + </p> + <p> + "Interlaken?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes. Miss Guile expects to stop there for a fortnight after leaving + Paris." + </p> + <p> + "I must remonstrate with Robin—at once," declared the old man. "He + is needed in Graustark. He must be made to realise the importance of—" + </p> + <p> + "And what are you going to do if he declines to realise anything but the + importance of a fortnight in the shadow of the Jungfrau?" + </p> + <p> + "God help me, I don't know, Dank." The Count's brow was moist, and he + looked anything but an unconquerable soldier. + </p> + <p> + "I told him we were expected to reach home by the end of next week, and he + said that a quiet fortnight in the Alps would make new men of all of us." + </p> + <p> + "Do you mean to say he expects me to dawdle—" + </p> + <p> + "More than that, sir. He also expects me to dawdle too. I shall probably + shoot myself before the two weeks are over." + </p> + <p> + "I have it! I shall take Mrs. Gaston into my confidence. It is the only + hope, I fear. I shall tell her that he is—" + </p> + <p> + "No hope there," said Dank mournfully. + </p> + <p> + "Haven't you noticed how keen she is to have them together all the time? + She's as wily as a fox. Never misses a chance. Hasn't it occurred to you + to wonder why she drags you off on the slightest pretext when you happen + to be in the way? She's done it a hundred times. Always leaving them alone + together. My God, how I despise that woman! Not once but twenty times a + day she finds an excuse to interfere when I am trying to get in a few + words with Miss Guile. She's forever wanting me to show her the + engine-room or the Captain's bridge or the wireless office or—why, + by Jove, sir, it was only yesterday that she asked me to come and look at + the waves. Said she'd found a splendid place to see them from, just as if + the whole damned Atlantic wasn't full of 'em. And isn't she always looking + for porpoises on the opposite side of the ship? And how many whales and + ice-bergs do you think she's been trying to find in the last five days? + No, sir! There's no hope there!" + </p> + <p> + "'Pon my soul!" was all that the poor Minister of War, an adept in + strategy, was able to exclaim. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Jupiter</i> disgorged most of her passengers at Cherbourg and the + descent upon Paris had scarcely begun when the good ship steamed away for + Antwerp, Bremen and Hamburg. She was one of the older vessels in the vast + fleet of ships controlled by the American All-Seas and All-Ports Company, + and she called wherever there was a port open to trans-Atlantic + navigation. She was a single factor in the great monopoly described as the + "Billion Dollar Boast." The United States had been slow to recognise the + profits of seas that were free, but when she did wake up she proceeded to + act as if she owned them and all that therein lay. Her people spoke of the + Gulf Stream as "ours"; of the Banks of Newfoundland as "ours"—or in + some instances as "ourn"; of Liverpool, Hamburg, London, Bremen and other + such places as "our European terminals"; and of the various oceans, seas + and navigable waters as "a part of the system." Where once the Stars and + Stripes were as rare as hummingbirds in Baffin's Bay, the flags were now + so thick that they resembled Fourth of July decorations on Fifth avenue, + and it was almost impossible to cross the Atlantic without dodging a + hundred vessels on which Dixie was being played, coming and going. A man + from New Hampshire declared, after one of his trips over and back, that he + cheered the good old tune so incessantly that his voice failed on the + third day out, both ways, and he had to voice his patriotism with a tin + horn. + </p> + <p> + Ships of the All-Seas and All-Ports Company fairly stuffed the harbours of + the world. America was awake at last—wide awake!—and the + necessity for prodding her was now limited to the task of putting her to + sleep long enough to allow other nations a chance to scrape together + enough able bodied seamen to man the ships. + </p> + <p> + William W. Blithers was one of the directors of the All-Seas and All-Ports + Company. He was the first American to awake. + </p> + <p> + For some unaccountable reason Miss Guile and her companion preferred to + travel alone to Paris. They had a private compartment, over which a + respectful but adamantine conductor exercised an authority that irritated + R. Schmidt beyond expression. The rest of the train was crowded to its + capacity, and here was desirable space going to waste in the section + occupied by the selfish Miss Guile. He couldn't understand it in her. Was + it, after all, to be put down as a simple steamer encounter? Was she + deliberately snubbing him, now that they were on land? Was he, a prince of + the royal blood, to be tossed aside by this purse-proud American as if he + were the simplest of simpletons? And what did she mean by stationing an + officious hireling before her door to order him away when he undertook to + pay her a friendly visit?—to offer his own and Hobbs' services in + case they were needed in Paris. Why should she lock her confounded door + anyway,—and draw the curtains? There were other whys too numerous to + mention, and there wasn't an answer to a single one of them. The whole + proceeding was incomprehensible. + </p> + <p> + To begin with, she certainly made no effort to conceal the fact that she + was trying to avoid him from the instant the tender drew alongside to take + off the passengers. As a matter of fact, she seemed to be making a point + of it. And yet, the evening before, she had appeared rather enchanted with + the prospect of seeing him at Interlaken. + </p> + <p> + It was not until the boat-train was nearing the environs of Paris that + Hobbs threw some light over the situation, with the result that it + instantly became darker than ever before. It appears that Miss Guile was + met at the landing by a very good-looking young man who not only escorted + her to the train but actually entered it with her, and was even now + enjoying the luxury of a private compartment as well as the contents of a + large luncheon hamper, to say nothing of an uninterrupted view of + something far more inspiring than the scenery. + </p> + <p> + "Frenchman?" inquired Dank listlessly. + </p> + <p> + "American, I should say, sir," said Hobbs, balancing himself in the + corridor outside the door and sticking his head inside with more + confidence than a traveller usually feels when travelling from Cherbourg + to Paris. "But I wouldn't swear to it, sir. I didn't 'ear a word he said, + being quite some distance away at the time. Happearances are deceptive, as + I've said a great many times. A man may look like an American and still be + almost anything else, see wot I mean? On the other hand, a man may look + like almost nothing and still be American to his toes. I remember once + saying to—" + </p> + <p> + "That's all right, Hobbs," broke in R. Schmidt sternly. "We also remember + what you said, so don't repeat it. How soon do we get in?" + </p> + <p> + Hobbs cheerfully looked at his watch. "I couldn't say positive, sir, but I + should think in about fourteen and a 'alf minutes, or maybe a shade under—between + fourteen and fourteen and a 'alf, sir. As I was saying, he was a most + intelligent looking chap, sir, and very 'andsome of face and figger. + Between twenty-four and twenty-five, I dare say. Light haired, + smooth-faced, quite tall and dressed in dark blue with a cravat, sir, that + looked like cerise but may have been—" + </p> + <p> + "For heaven's sake, Hobbs, let up!" cried Robin, throwing up his hands. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, sir; certainly, sir. Did I mention that he wears a straw 'at with a + crimson band on it? Well, if I didn't, he does. Hincidentally, they seemed + greatly pleased to see each other. He kissed her hand, and looked as + though he might have gone even farther than that if it 'adn't been for the + crowd—" + </p> + <p> + "That will do!" said Robin sharply, a sudden flush mounting to his cheek. + </p> + <p> + "Very good, sir. Shall I get the bags down for the porters, sir? I beg + pardon, sir,—" to one of the three surly gentlemen who sat facing + the travellers from Graustark,—"my fault entirely. I don't believe + it is damaged, sir. Allow me to—" + </p> + <p> + "Thank you," growled the stranger. "I can put it on myself," and he jerked + his hat out of Hobbs' hand and set it at a rather forbidding angle above a + lowering brow. "Look what you're doing after this, will you?" + </p> + <p> + "Certainly, sir," said Hobbs agreeably. "It's almost impossible to see + without eyes in the back of one's head, don't you know. I 'ope—" + </p> + <p> + "All right, <i>all</i> right!" snapped the man, glaring balefully. "And + let me tell you something else, my man. Don't go about knocking Americans + without first taking a look. Just bear that in mind, will you?" + </p> + <p> + "The surest way is to listen," began Hobbs loftily, but, catching a look + from his royal master, desisted. He proceeded to get down the hand + luggage. + </p> + <p> + At the Gare St. Lazare, Robin had a brief glimpse of Miss Guile as she + hurried with the crowd down to the cab enclosure, where her escort, the + alert young stranger, put her into a waiting limousine, bundled Mrs. + Gaston and Marie in after her, and then dashed away, obviously to see + their luggage through the <i>douane</i>. + </p> + <p> + She espied the tall figure of her fellow voyager near the steps and leaned + forward to wave a perfunctory farewell to him. The car was creeping out + toward the packed thoroughfare. It is possible that she expected him to + dash among the chortling machines, at risk of life or limb, for a word or + two at parting. If so, she was disappointed. He remained perfectly still, + with uplifted hat, a faint smile on his lips and not the slightest sign of + annoyance in his face. She smiled securely to herself as she leaned back + in the seat, and was satisfied! Curiosity set its demand upon her an + instant later, however, and she peered slyly through the little window in + the back. He lifted his hat once more and she flushed to her throat as she + quickly drew back into the corner. How in the world could he have seen her + through that abominable slit in the limousine? And why was he now grinning + so broadly? + </p> + <p> + Count Quinnox found him standing there a few minutes later, twirling his + stick and smiling with his eyes. Accompanying the old soldier was a + slight, sharp-featured man with keen black eyes and a thin, pointed + moustache of grey. + </p> + <p> + This man was Gourou, Chief of Police and Commander of the Tower in + Edelweiss, successor to the celebrated Baron Dangloss. After he had + greeted his prince, the quiet little man announced that he had reserved + for him an apartment at the Bristol. + </p> + <p> + "I am instructed by the Prime Minister, your highness, to urge your + immediate return to Edelweiss," he went on, lowering his voice. "The + people are disturbed by the reports that have reached us during the past + week or two, and Baron Romano is convinced that nothing will serve to + subdue the feeling of uneasiness that prevails except your own declaration—in + person—that these reports arc untrue." + </p> + <p> + "I shall telegraph at once to Baron Romano that it is all poppy-cock," + said Robin easily. "I refer, of course, to the reported engagement. I am + not going to marry Miss Blithers and that's all there is to be said. You + may see to it, baron, that a statement is issued to all of the Paris + newspapers to-day, and to the correspondents for all the great papers in + Europe and America. I have prepared this statement, under my own + signature, and it is to be the last word in the matter. It is in my pocket + at this instant. You shall have it when we reach the hotel—And that + reminds me of another thing. I'm sorry that I shall have to ask you to + countermand the reservation for rooms at the hotel you mention. I have + already reserved rooms at the Ritz,—by wireless. We shall stop + there. Where is Dank?" + </p> + <p> + "The Ritz is hardly the place for—" + </p> + <p> + But Robin clapped him on the back and favoured him with the good-natured, + boyish smile that mastered even the fiercest of his counsellors, and the + Minister of Police, being an astute man, heaved a deep sigh of + resignation. + </p> + <p> + "Dank is looking after the trunks, highness, and Hobbs is coming along + with the hand luggage," he said. "The Ritz, you say? Then I shall have to + instruct Lieutenant Dank to send the luggage there instead of to the + Bristol. Pardon, your highness." He was off like a flash. + </p> + <p> + Count Quinnox was gnawing his moustache. "See here, Robin," he said, + laying his hand on the young man's shoulder, "you are in Paris now and not + on board a ship at sea. Miss Guile is a beautiful, charming, highly + estimable young woman, and, I might as well say it straight out to your + face, you ought not to subject her to the notoriety that is bound to + follow if the newspapers learn that she is playing around Paris, no matter + how innocently, with a prince whom—" + </p> + <p> + "Just a moment, Count," interrupted Robin, a cold light in his now + unsmiling eyes. "You are getting a little ahead of the game. Miss Guile is + not going to the Ritz, nor do I expect her to play around Paris with me. + As a matter of fact, she refused to tell me where she is to stop while + here, and I am uncomfortably certain that I shall not see her unless by + chance. On the other hand, I may as well be perfectly frank with you and + say it straight out to <i>your</i> face that I am going to try to find her + if possible, but I am not mean enough to employ the methods common to such + enterprises. I could have followed her car in another when she left here a + few minutes ago; I could manage in a dozen ways to run her to earth, as + the detectives do in the books, but I'd be ashamed to look her in the face + if I did any of these things. I shall take a gentleman's chance, my dear + Count, and trust to luck and the generosity of fate. You may be sure that + I shall not annoy Miss Guile, and you may be equally sure that she—" + </p> + <p> + "I beg your pardon, Robin, but I did not employ the word annoy," protested + the Count. + </p> + <p> + "—that she takes me for a gentleman if not for a prince," went on + Robin, deliberately completing the sentence before he smiled his + forgiveness upon the old man. "I selected the Ritz because all rich + Americans go there, I'm told. I'm taking a chance." + </p> + <p> + Quinnox had an obstinate strain in his make-up. He continued: "There is + another side to the case, my boy. As a gentleman, you cannot allow this + lovely girl to—er—well, to fall in love with you. That would + be cruel, wantonly cruel. And it is just the thing that is bound to happen + if you go on with—" + </p> + <p> + "My dear Count, you forget that I am only R. Schmidt to her and but one of + perhaps a hundred young men who have placed her in the same perilous + position. Moreover, it's the other way 'round, sir. It is I who take the + risk, not Miss Guile. I regret to say, sir, that if there is to be any + falling in love, I am the one who is most likely to fall, and to fall + hard. You assume that Miss Guile is heart-whole and fancy free. 'Gad, I + wish that I could be sure of it!" He spoke with such fervour that the + Count was indeed dismayed. + </p> + <p> + "Robin, my lad, I beg of you to consider the consequences that—" + </p> + <p> + "There's no use discussing it, old friend. Trust to luck. There is a bully + good chance that she will send me about my business when the time comes + and then the salvation of Graustark will be assured." He said it lightly + but there was a dark look in his eyes that belied the jaunty words. + </p> + <p> + "Am I to understand that you intend to—to ask her to marry you?" + demanded the Count, profoundly troubled. "Remember, boy, that you are the + Prince of Graustark, that you—" + </p> + <p> + "But I'm not going to ask her to marry the Prince of Graustark. I'm going + to ask her to marry R. Schmidt," said Robin composedly. + </p> + <p> + "God defend us, Robin, I—I—" + </p> + <p> + "God has all he can do to defend us from William W. Blithers, Count. Don't + ask too much of him. What kind of a nation are we if we can't get along + without asking God to defend us every time we see trouble ahead? And do + you suppose he is going to defend us against a slip of a girl—" + </p> + <p> + "Enough! Enough!" cried the Count, compressing his lips and glaring + straight ahead. + </p> + <p> + "That's the way to talk," cried Robin enthusiastically. "By the way, I + hope Dank is clever enough to find out who that young fellow is while they + are clearing the luggage in there. I had a good look at him just now. He + is all that Hobbs describes and a little more. He is a hustler." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII — THE RED LETTER B + </h2> + <p> + In the Baron's room at the Ritz late that night there was held a secret + conference. Two shadowy figures stole down the corridor at midnight and + were admitted to the room, while Prince Robin slept soundly in his remote + four-poster and dreamed of something that brought a gentle smile to his + lips. + </p> + <p> + The three conspirators were of the same mind: it was clear that something + must be done. But what? That was the question. Gourou declared that the + people were very much disturbed over the trick the great capitalist had + played upon the cabinet; there were sullen threats of a revolt if the + government insisted on the deposit of bonds as required by the agreement. + More than that, there were open declarations that the daughter of Mr. + Blithers would never be permitted to occupy the throne of Graustark. + Deeply as his subjects loved the young Prince, they would force him to + abdicate rather than submit to the desecration of a throne that had never + been dishonoured. They would accept William W. Blithers' money, but they + would have none of William W. Blithers' daughter. That was more than could + be expected of any self-respecting people! According to the Minister of + Police, the name of Blithers was already a common synonym for affliction—and + frequently employed in supposing a malediction. It signified all that was + mean, treacherous, scurrilous. He was spoken of through clenched teeth as + "the blood sucker." Children were ominously reproved by the threatening + use of the word Blithers. "Blithers will get you if you don't wash your + face," and all that sort of thing. + </p> + <p> + There was talk in some circles of demanding the resignation of the + cabinet, but even the pessimistic Gourou admitted that it was idle talk + and would come to nothing if the menacing shadow of Maud Applegate + Blithers could be banished from the vicinity of the throne. Graustarkians + would abide by the compact made by their leading men and would be content + to regard Mr. Blithers as a bona fide creditor. They would pay him in full + when the loan matured, even though they were compelled to sacrifice their + houses in order to accomplish that end. But, like all the rest of the + world, they saw through the rich American's scheme. + </p> + <p> + The world knew, and Graustark knew, just what Mr. Blithers was after, and + the worst of it all was that Mr. Blithers also knew, which was more to the + point. But, said Baron Gourou, Graustark knew something that neither the + world nor Mr. Blithers knew, and that was its own mind. Never, said he, + would Maud Applegate be recognised as the Princess of Graustark, not if + she lived for a thousand years and married Robin as many times as she had + hairs on her head. At least, he amended, that was the way every one felt + about it at present. + </p> + <p> + The afternoon papers had published the brief statement prepared by Robin + in the seclusion of his stateroom on board the <i>Jupiter</i> immediately + after a most enjoyable hour with Miss Guile. It was a curt and extremely + positive denial of the rumoured engagement, with the additional + information that he never had seen Miss Blithers and was more or less + certain that she never had set eyes on him. + </p> + <p> + A rather staggering co-incidence appeared with the published report that + Miss Blithers herself was supposed to be somewhere in Europe, word having + been received that day from sources in London that she had sailed from New + York under an assumed name. The imaginative French journals put two and + two together and dwelt upon the possibility that the two young people who + had never seen each other might have crossed the Atlantic on the same + steamer, seeing each other frequently and yet remaining entirely in the + dark, so to speak. Inspired writers began to weave a romance out of the + probabilities. + </p> + <p> + On one point Robin was adamantine. He refused positively to have his + identity disclosed at this time, and Gourou had to say to the newspapers + that the Prince was even then on his way to Vienna, hurrying homeward as + fast as steel cars could carry him. He admitted that the young man had + arrived on the <i>Jupiter</i> that morning, having remained in the closest + seclusion all the way across the Atlantic. + </p> + <p> + This equivocation necessitated the most cautious rearrangement of plans on + the part of the Baron. He was required to act as though he had no + acquaintance with either of the three travellers stopping at the Ritz, + although for obvious reasons he took up a temporary abode there himself. + Moreover, he had to telegraph the Prime Minister in Edelweiss that the + Prince was not to be budged, and would in all likelihood postpone his + return to the capitol. All of which stamped the honest Baron as a most + prodigious liar, if one stops to think of what he said to the reporters. + </p> + <p> + The newspapers also printed a definite bit of news in the shape of a + despatch from New York to the effect that Mr. and Mrs. William W. Blithers + were sailing for Europe on the ensuing day, bound for Graustark! + </p> + <p> + However, the chief and present concern of the three loyal gentlemen in + midnight conclave was not centred in the trouble that Mr. Blithers had + started, but in the more desperate situation created by Miss Guile. She + was the peril that now confronted them, and she was indeed a peril. + Quinnox and Dank explained the situation to the Minister of Police, and + the Minister of Police admitted that the deuce was to pay. + </p> + <p> + "There is but one way out of it," said he, speaking officially, "and that + is the simplest one I know of." + </p> + <p> + "Assassination, I suppose," said Dank scornfully. + </p> + <p> + "It rests with me, gentlemen," said the Baron, ignoring the lieutenant's + remark, "to find Miss Guile and take her into my confidence in respect—" + </p> + <p> + "No use," said Dank, and, to his surprise, the Count repeated the words + after him. + </p> + <p> + "Miss Guile is a lady. Baron," said the latter gloomily. "You cannot go to + her with a command to clear out, keep her hands off, or any such thing. + She would be justified in having you kicked out of the house. We must not + annoy Miss Guile. That is quite out of the question." + </p> + <p> + "By jove!" exclaimed Dank, so loudly that his companions actually jumped + in their seats. They looked at him in amazement,—the Count with + something akin to apprehension in his eyes. Had the fellow lost his mind + over the girl? Before they could ask what he meant by shouting at the top + of his voice, he repeated the ejaculation, but less explosively. His eyes + were bulging and his mouth remained agape. + </p> + <p> + "What ails you, Dank?" demanded the Baron, removing his eyes from the + young man's face long enough to glance fearfully at the transom. + </p> + <p> + "I've—I've got it!" cried the soldier, and then sank back in his + chair, quite out of breath. The Baron got up and took a peep into the + hallway, and then carefully locked the door. "What are you locking the + door for?" demanded Dank, sitting up suddenly. "It's only a theory that + I've got—but it is wonderful. Absolutely staggering." + </p> + <p> + "Oh!" said Gourou, but he did not unlock the door. "A theory, eh?" He came + back and stood facing the young man. + </p> + <p> + "Count," began Dank excitedly, "you remember the big red letter B on all + of her trunks, don't you? Hobbs is positive he—" + </p> + <p> + Count Quinnox sprang to his feet and banged the table with his fist. + </p> + <p> + "By jove!" he shouted, suddenly comprehending. + </p> + <p> + "The letter B?" queried Gourou, perplexed. + </p> + <p> + "The newspapers say that she sailed from New York under an assumed name," + went on Dank, thrilled by his own amazing cleverness. "There you are! + Plain as day. The letter B explains everything. Now we know who Miss Guile + really is. She's—" + </p> + <p> + "Maud" exclaimed Quinnox, sinking back into his chair. + </p> + <p> + "Miss Blithers!" cried Gourou, divining at last. "By jove!" And thus was + the jovian circle completed. + </p> + <p> + It was two o'clock before the three gentlemen separated and retired to + rest, each fully convinced that the situation was even more complicated + than before, for in view of this new and most convincing revelation there + now could be no adequate defence against the alluring Miss Guile. + </p> + <p> + Robin was informed bright and early the next morning. In fact, he was + still in his pajamas when the news was carried to him by the exhausted + Dank, who had spent five hours in bed but none in slumber. Never in all + his ardent career had the smart lieutenant been so bitterly afflicted with + love-sickness as now. + </p> + <p> + "I don't believe a word of it," said the Prince, promptly. "You've been + dreaming, old chap." + </p> + <p> + "That letter B isn't a dream, is it?" + </p> + <p> + "No, it isn't," said Robin, and instantly sat up in bed, his face very + serious. "If she should turn out to be Miss Blithers, I've cooked my goose + to a crisp. Good Lord, when I think of some of the things I said to her + about the Blithers family! But wait! If she is Miss Blithers do you + suppose she'd sit calmly by and hear the family ridiculed? No, sir! She + would have taken my head off like a flash. She—" + </p> + <p> + "I've no doubt she regarded the situation as extremely humorous," said + Dank, "and laughed herself almost sick over the way she was fooling you." + </p> + <p> + "That might sound reasonable enough, Dank, if she had known who I was. But + where was the fun in fooling an utter outsider like R. Schmidt? It doesn't + hold together." + </p> + <p> + "Americans have an amazing notion of humour, I am reliably informed. They + appear to be able to see a joke under the most distressing circumstances. + I'll stake my head that she is Miss Blithers." + </p> + <p> + "I can't imagine anything more terrible," groaned Robin, lying down flat + again and staring at the ceiling. + </p> + <p> + "I shouldn't call her terrible," protested Dank, rather stiffly. + </p> + <p> + "I refer to the situation, Dank,—the mess, in other words. It <i>is</i> + a mess, isn't it?" + </p> + <p> + "I suppose you'll see nothing more of her, your highness," remarked Dank, + a sly hope struggling in his breast. + </p> + <p> + "You'd better put it the other way. She'll see nothing more of me," + lugubriously. + </p> + <p> + "I mean to say, sir, you can't go on with it, can you?" + </p> + <p> + "Go on with what?" + </p> + <p> + "The—er—you know," floundered Dank. + </p> + <p> + "If there is really anything to go on with, Dank, I'll go on with it, + believe me." + </p> + <p> + The lieutenant stared. "But if she <i>should</i> be Miss Blithers, what + then?" + </p> + <p> + "It might simplify matters tremendously," said Robin, but not at all + confidently. "I think I'll get up, Dank, if you don't mind. Call Hobbs, + will you? And, I say, won't you have breakfast up here with me?" + </p> + <p> + "I had quite overlooked breakfast, 'pon my soul, I had," said Dank, a look + of pain in his face. "No wonder I have a headache, going without my coffee + so long." + </p> + <p> + Later on, while they were breakfasting in Robin's sitting room, Hobbs + brought in the morning newspapers. He laid one of them before the Prince, + and jabbed his forefinger upon a glaring headline. + </p> + <p> + "I beg pardon, sir; I didn't mean to get it into the butter. Very awkward, + I'm sure. Hi, <i>garcon!</i> Fresh butter 'ere, and lively about it, too. + <i>Buerre!</i> That's the word—buttah." + </p> + <p> + Robin and Dank were staring at the headline as if fascinated. Having + successfully managed the butter, Hobbs at once restored his attention to + the headline, reading it aloud, albeit both of the young men were capable + of reading French at sight. He translated with great profundity. + </p> + <p> + "'Miss Blithers Denies Report. Signed Statement Mysteriously Received. + American Heiress not to wed Prince of Graustark.' Shall I read the + harticle, sir?" + </p> + <p> + Robin snatched up the paper and read aloud for himself. Hobbs merely wiped + a bit of butter from his finger and listened attentively. + </p> + <p> + The following card appeared at the head of the column, and was + supplemented by a complete resume of the Blithers-Graustark muddle: + </p> + <p> + "Miss Blithers desires to correct an erroneous report that has appeared in + the newspapers. She is not engaged to be married to the Prince of + Graustark, nor is there even the remotest probability that such will ever + be the case. Miss Blithers regrets that she has not the honour of Prince + Robin's acquaintance, and the Prince has specifically stated in the public + prints that he does not know her by sight. The statements of the two + persons most vitally affected by this disturbing rumour should be taken as + final. Sufficient pain and annoyance already has been caused by the + malicious and utterly groundless report." The name of Maud Applegate + Blithers was appended to the statement, and it was dated Paris, August 29. + </p> + <p> + Thereafter followed a lengthy description of the futile search for the + young lady in Paris, and an interview with the local representatives of + Mr. Blithers, all of whom declared that the signature was genuine, but + refused to commit themselves further without consulting their employer. + They could throw no light upon the situation, even going so far as to + declare that they were unaware of the presence of Miss Blithers in Paris. + </p> + <p> + It appears that the signed statement was left in the counting-rooms of the + various newspapers by a heavily veiled lady at an hour agreed upon as + "about ten o'clock." There was absolutely no clue to the identity of this + woman. + </p> + <p> + Instead of following the suggestion of Miss Blithers that "sufficient pain + and annoyance already had been caused," the journalists proceeded to + increase the agony by venturing the hope that fresh developments would + materialise before the day was done. + </p> + <p> + "Well, she appears to be here," said Robin, as he laid down the last of + the three journals and stared at Dank as if expecting hope from that most + unreliable source. + </p> + <p> + "I suppose you will now admit that I am right about the letter B," said + Dank sullenly. + </p> + <p> + "When I see Miss Guile I shall ask point blank if she is Maud Applegate, + Dank, and if she says she isn't, I'll take her word for it," said Robin. + </p> + <p> + "And if she says she is?" + </p> + <p> + "Well," said the Prince, ruefully, "I'll still take her word for it." + </p> + <p> + "And then?" + </p> + <p> + "Then I shall be equally frank and tell her that I am Robin of Graustark. + That will put us all square again, and we'll see what comes of it in the + end." + </p> + <p> + "You don't mean to say you'll—you'll continue as you were?" gasped + Dank. + </p> + <p> + "That depends entirely on Miss Guile, Boske." + </p> + <p> + "But you wouldn't dare to marry Maud Applegate Blithers, sir. You would be + driven out of Graustark and—" + </p> + <p> + "I think that would depend a good deal on Miss Guile, too, old chap," said + Robin coolly. + </p> + <p> + Dank swallowed very hard. "I want to be loyal to you, your highness," he + said as if he did not think it would be possible to remain so. + </p> + <p> + "I shall count on you, Dank," said Robin earnestly. + </p> + <p> + "But—" began the lieutenant, and then stopped short. + </p> + <p> + "Let me finish it for you. You don't feel as though you could be loyal to + Miss Blithers, is that it?" + </p> + <p> + "I think that would depend on Miss Blithers," said Dank, and then begged + to be excused. He went out of the room rather hurriedly. + </p> + <p> + "Well, Hobbs," said Robin, after his astonishment had abated, "what do <i>you</i> + think of it?" + </p> + <p> + "I think he's in love with her, sir," said Hobbs promptly. + </p> + <p> + "Good Lord! with—with Miss Guile?" + </p> + <p> + "Precisely so, sir." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I'll be <i>darned!</i>" said the American half of Prince Robin with + great fervour. + </p> + <p> + "Tut, tut, sir," reproved Hobbs, who, as has been said before, was a + privileged character by virtue of long service and his previous calling as + a Cook's interpreter. "Are you going out, sir?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes. I'm going out to search the highways and by-ways for Bedelia," said + Robin, a gay light in his eyes. "By the way, did you, by any chance, learn + the name of the 'andsome young gent as went away with 'er, 'Obbs?" + </p> + <p> + "I did not, sir. I stood at his helbow for quite some time at the Gare St. + Lazare and the only words he spoke that I could hear distinctly was 'wot + the devil do you mean, me man? Ain't there room enough for you here + without standing on my toes like that? Move hover.' Only, of course, sir, + he used the haspirates after a fashion of his own. The haitches are mine, + sir." + </p> + <p> + "Is he an American?" + </p> + <p> + "It's difficult to say, sir. He may be from Boston, but you never can + tell, sir." + </p> + <p> + "Do you know Boston, Hobbs?" inquired the Prince, adjusting his tie before + the mirror. + </p> + <p> + "Not to speak it, sir," said Hobbs. + </p> + <p> + The day was warm and clear, and Paris was gleaming. Robin stretched his + long legs in a brisk walk across the Place Vendome and up the Rue de la + Paix to the Boulevard. Here he hesitated and then retraced his steps + slowly down the street of diamonds, for he suspected Miss Guile of being + interested in things that were costly. Suddenly inspired, he made his way + to the Place de la Concorde and settled himself on one of the seats near + the entrance to the Champs Elysees. It was his shrewd argument that if she + planned a ride on that exquisite morning it naturally would be along the + great avenue, and in that event he might reasonably hope to catch her + coming or going. A man came up and took a seat beside him. + </p> + <p> + "Good morning, Mr. Schmidt," said the newcomer, and Robin somewhat gruffly + demanded what the deuce he meant by following him. "I have some + interesting news," said Baron Gourou quietly, removing his hat to wipe a + damp brow. He also took the time to recover his breath after some rather + sharp dodging of automobiles in order to attain his present position of + security. Even a Minister of Police has to step lively in Paris. + </p> + <p> + "From home?" asked Robin carelessly. + </p> + <p> + "Indirectly. It comes through Berlin. Our special agent there wires me + that the offices of Mr. Blithers in that city have received instructions + from him to send engineers to Edelweiss for the purpose of estimating the + cost of remodelling and rebuilding the castle,—in other words to + restore it to its condition prior to the Marlanx rebellion fifteen years + ago." + </p> + <p> + There was a tantalising smile on the Baron's face as he watched the + changing expressions in that of his Prince. + </p> + <p> + "Are you in earnest?" demanded Robin, a bright red spot appearing in each + cheek. The Baron nodded his head. "Well, he's got a lot of nerve!" + </p> + <p> + "I shudder when I think of what is likely to happen to those architects + when they begin snooping around the castle," said Gourou drily. "By the + way, have you seen Miss Guile this morning?" + </p> + <p> + Robin's cheeks were now completely suffused. "Certainly not." + </p> + <p> + "She was in the Rue de la Paix half an hour ago. I thought you might—" + </p> + <p> + "You saw her, Baron?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, highness, and it may interest you to know that she saw you." + </p> + <p> + "The deuce you say! But how do you know that it was Miss Guile. You've no + means of knowing." + </p> + <p> + "It is a part of my profession to recognise people from given + descriptions. In this case, however, the identification was rendered quite + simple by the actions of the young lady herself. She happened to emerge + from a shop just as you were passing and I've never seen any one, criminal + or otherwise, seek cover as quickly as she did. She darted back into the + shop like one pursued by the devil. Naturally I hung around for a few + minutes to see the rest of the play. Presently she peered forth, looked + stealthily up and down the street, and then dashed across the pavement to + a waiting taxi-metre. It affords me pleasure to inform your highness that + I took the number of the machine." He glanced at his cuff-band. + </p> + <p> + "Where did she go from the Rue de la Paix?" asked Robin impatiently. + </p> + <p> + "To the Ritz. I was there almost as soon as she. She handed an envelope—containing + a letter, I fancy—to the carriage man and drove away in the + direction of the Place de l'Opera. I have a sly notion, my Prince, that + you will find a note awaiting you on your return to the hotel. Ah, you + appear to be in haste, my young hunter." + </p> + <p> + "I am in haste. If you expect to keep alongside, Baron, you'll have to run + I'm afraid," cried the Prince, and was instantly in his seven-league + boots. + </p> + <p> + There was a note in Robin's rooms when he reached the hotel. It was not + the delicately perfumed article that usually is despatched by fictional + heroines but a rather business-like envelope bearing the well-known words + "The New York Herald" in one corner and the name "R. Schmidt, Hotel Ritz," + in firm but angular scrawl across its face. As Robin ripped it open with + his finger, Baron Gourou entered the room, but not without giving vent to + a slight cough in the way of an announcement. + </p> + <p> + "You forget, highness, that I am a short man and not possessed of legs + that travel by yards instead of feet," he panted. "Forgive me for lagging + behind. I did my best to keep up with you." + </p> + <p> + Robin stared at his visitor haughtily for a moment and then broke into a + good-humoured laugh. + </p> + <p> + "Won't you sit down, Baron? I'll be at liberty in a minute or two," he + said, and coolly proceeded to scan the brief message from Miss Guile. + </p> + <p> + "Well," said Gourou, as the young man replaced the letter in the envelope + and stuck it into his pocket. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV — THE CAT IS AWAY + </h2> + <p> + Robins's face was glowing with excitement. He put his hands in his + trousers pockets and nervously jingled the coins therein, all the while + regarding his Minister of Police with speculative eyes. Then he turned to + the window and continued to stare down into the Place Vendome for several + minutes, obviously turning something over in his mind before coming to a + decision. The Baron waited. None knew better than he how to wait. He + realised that a great deal hung upon the next few sentences to be uttered + in that room, and yet he could be patient. + </p> + <p> + At last Robin faced him, but without speaking. An instant later he + impulsively withdrew the letter from his pocket and held it out to the + Baron, who strode across the room and took it from his hand. Without a + word, he extracted the single sheet of paper and read what was written + thereon. + </p> + <p> + "I gather from the nature of the invitation that you are expected to enjoy + stolen fruit, if I may be so bold as to put it in just that way," said he + grimly. "Apparently Miss Guile finds the presence of a duenna + unnecessarily wise." + </p> + <p> + "There's no harm in a quiet little excursion such as she suggests, Baron," + said Robin, defensively. + </p> + <p> + "You forget that I have seen the beautiful Miss Guile," said Gourou drily. + "I take it, then, that you approve of the young lady's scheme." + </p> + <p> + "Scheme sounds rather sinister, doesn't it?" + </p> + <p> + "Trick, if it please you more than the other. Moreover, I cannot say that + she <i>suggests</i> the quiet little excursion. It occurs to me that she + commands, your highness." He held the missive to the light and read, a + tender irony in his voice: "'My motor will call for you at three this + afternoon, and we will run out to St. Cloud for tea; at the Pavilion Bleu. + Mrs. Gaston is spending the day with relatives at Champigny, and we may as + well be mice under the circumstances. If you have another engagement, pray + do not let it interfere with the pleasure I am seeking.' Nothing could be + more exacting, my dear Prince. She signs herself 'B. Guile,' and I am sure + she is magnificently beguiling, if you will pardon the play on words." + </p> + <p> + "You wouldn't adopt that tone of suspicion if you knew Miss Guile," said + Robin stiffly. "I am sure nothing could be more frank and above-board than + her manner of treating the—" + </p> + <p> + "And nothing so cock-sure and confident," put in the Baron. "It would + serve her right if you ignored the letter altogether." + </p> + <p> + "If I were as old as you, Baron, I haven't the least doubt that I should + do so," said Robin coolly. "And by the same token, if you were as young as + I, you'd do precisely the thing that I intend to do. I'm going to St. + Cloud with her." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I haven't been in doubt about that for an instant," said Gourou. "At + your age I greatly favoured the clandestine. You will not pretend to + assume that this is not a clandestine excursion." + </p> + <p> + "It's a jolly little adventure," was all that Robin could say, in his + youthfulness. + </p> + <p> + The Baron was thoughtful. "There is something behind this extraordinary + behaviour on the part of a lady generally accredited with sense and + refinement," said he after a moment. "I think I have it, too. She is + deliberately putting you to a rather severe test." + </p> + <p> + "Test? What do you mean?" + </p> + <p> + "She is trying you out, sir. Miss Guile,—or possibly Miss Blithers,—is + taking a genuine risk in order to determine whether you are a real + gentleman or only a make-believe. She is taking a chance with you. You may + call it a jolly little adventure, but I call it the acid test. Young women + of good breeding and refinement do not plan such adventures with casual, + ship-board acquaintances. She intends to find out <i>what</i>, not <i>who</i>, + you are. I must say she's exceedingly clever and courageous." + </p> + <p> + Robin laughed. "Thank you, Baron. Forewarned is forearmed. I shall remain + a gentleman at any cost." + </p> + <p> + "She is so shrewd and resourceful that I am almost convinced she can be no + other than the daughter of the amazing Mr. Blithers. I believe he achieved + most of his success through sheer impudence, though it is commonly + described as daring." + </p> + <p> + "In any case. Baron, I shall make it a point to find out whether she is + the lady who defies the amazing Mr. Blithers, and goes into print about + it." + </p> + <p> + "She has merely denied that she is engaged to the Prince of Graustark. + Pray do not come back to us with the news that she is engaged to R. + Schmidt," said Gourou significantly. + </p> + <p> + Robin smiled reflectively. "That <i>would</i> make a jolly adventure of + it, wouldn't it?" + </p> + <p> + At three o'clock, a big limousine swung under the porte cochere at the + Ritz and a nimble footman hopped down and entered the hotel. Robin was + waiting just inside the doors. He recognised the car as the one that had + taken Miss Guile away from the Gare St. Lazare, and stepped forward + instantly to intercept the man. + </p> + <p> + "For Mr. Schmidt?" he inquired. + </p> + <p> + "Oui, M'sieur." + </p> + <p> + Thrilled by a pleasurable sense of excitement, the Prince of Graustark + entered the car. He was quick to observe that the curtains in the side + windows were partially drawn across the glass. The fact that she elected + to journey to the country in a limousine on this hot day did not strike + him as odd, for he knew that the comfort loving French people prefer the + closed vehicle to the wind-inviting, dust-gathering touring body of the + Americans and British. He observed the single letter L in gold in the + panel of the door, and made mental note of the smart livery of the two men + on the front seat. + </p> + <p> + A delicate perfume lingered in the car, convincing proof that Miss Guile + had left it but a few minutes before its arrival at the Ritz. As a matter + of fact, she was nearer than he thought, for the car whirled into the Rue + de la Paix and stopped at the curb not more than a hundred yards from the + Place Vendome. + </p> + <p> + Once more the nimble footman hopped down and threw open the door. A + slender, swift-moving figure in a blue linen gown and a wide hat from + which sprung two gorgeous blue plumes, emerged from the door of a diamond + merchant's shop, and, before Robin could move from his corner, popped into + the car and sat down beside him with a nervous little laugh on her lips—red + lips that showed rose-like and tempting behind a thick chiffon veil, + obviously donned for an excellent reason. The exquisite features of Miss + Guile were barely distinguishable beneath the surface of this filmy + barrier. The door closed sharply and, almost before the Prince had + recovered from his surprise, the car glided off in the direction of the + Place de l'Opera. + </p> + <p> + "Isn't it just like an elopement?" cried Miss Guile, and it was quite + plain to him that she was vastly pleased with the sprightly introduction + to the adventure. Her voice trembled slightly and she sat up very straight + in the wide, comfortable seat. + </p> + <p> + "Is it really you?" cried Robin, and he was surprised to find that his own + voice trembled. + </p> + <p> + "Oh," she said, with a sudden diffidence, "how do you do? What must you + think of me, bouncing in like that and never once speaking to you?" + </p> + <p> + "If I were to tell you what I think of you, you'd bounce right out again + without speaking to me," said he, smiling. "How do you do?" He extended + his hand, but it was ignored. She sank back into the corner and looked at + him for a moment as if uncertain what to say or do next. The shadowy red + lips were smiling and the big dark eyes were eloquent, even through the + screen. + </p> + <p> + "I may as well tell you at the outset, Mr. Schmidt, that I've never—<i>never</i>—done + a thing like this before," she said, an uneasy note in her voice. + </p> + <p> + "I am quite sure of that," said he, "and therefore confess to a vast + wealth of satisfaction." + </p> + <p> + "What <i>do</i> you think of me?" + </p> + <p> + "I think that you are frightened almost out of your boots," said he + boldly. + </p> + <p> + "No, I'm not," said she resolutely. "I am only conscious of feeling + extremely foolish." + </p> + <p> + "I shouldn't feel that way about stealing off for a cup of tea," said he. + "It's all quite regular, you know, and is frequently done in the very best + circles when the cat's away." + </p> + <p> + "You see, I couldn't quite scrape up the courage to go directly to the + hotel for you," she said. "I know several people who are stopping there + and I—I—well, you won't think I'm a dreadful person, will + you?" + </p> + <p> + "Not at all," he declared promptly. Then he resolved to put one of the + questions he had made up his mind to ask at the first opportunity. "Do you + mind telling me why you abandoned me so completely, so heartlessly on the + day we landed?" + </p> + <p> + "Because there was no reason why I should act otherwise, Mr. Schmidt," she + said, the tremor gone from her voice. + </p> + <p> + "And yet you take me to St. Cloud for tea," he said pointedly. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, but no one is to know of this," she cried warmly. "This is a secret, + a very secret adventure." + </p> + <p> + He could not help staring. "And that is just why I am mystified. Why is + to-day so different from yesterday?" + </p> + <p> + "It isn't," she said. "Doesn't all this prove it?" + </p> + <p> + His face fell. "Don't you want to be seen with me, Miss Guile? Am I not—" + </p> + <p> + "Wait! Will you not be satisfied with things as they are and refrain from + asking unnecessary questions?" + </p> + <p> + "I shall have to be satisfied," said he ruefully. + </p> + <p> + "I am sorry I said that, Mr. Schmidt," she cried, contrite at once. "There + is absolutely no reason why I should not be seen with you. But won't you + be appeased when I say that I wanted to be with you alone to-day?" + </p> + <p> + He suddenly remembered the Baron's shrewd conjecture and let the + opportunity to say something banal go by without a word. Perhaps it was a + test, after all. He merely replied that she was paying him a greater + compliment than he deserved. + </p> + <p> + "There are many things I want to speak about, Mr. Schmidt, and—and + you know how impossible it is to—to get a moment to one's self when + one is being watched like a child, as I am being watched over by dear Mrs. + Gaston. She is my shield and armour, my lovely one-headed dragon. I placed + myself in her care and—well, she is a very dependable person. You <i>will</i> + understand, won't you?" + </p> + <p> + "Pray do not distress yourself, Miss Guile," he protested. "The last word + is spoken. I am too happy to spoil the day by doubting its integrity. + Besides, I believe I know you better than you think I do." + </p> + <p> + He expected her to reveal some sign of dismay, but she was suddenly on + guard. + </p> + <p> + "Then you will not mind my eccentricities," she said calmly, "and we shall + have a very nice drive, some tea and a—lark in place of the more + delectable birds prescribed by the chef at the Pavilion Bleu." + </p> + <p> + As the car turned into the Boulevard des Capucines Robin suppressed an + exclamation of annoyance on beholding Baron Gourou and Dank standing on + the curb almost within arm's length of the car as it passed. The former + was peering rather intently at the two men on the front seat, and evinced + little or no interest in the occupants of the tonneau. + </p> + <p> + "Wasn't that your friend Mr. Dank?" inquired Miss Guile with interest. He + felt that she was chiding him. + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said he, and then turned for another look at his compatriots. + Gourou was jotting something down on his cuff-band. The Prince mentally + promised him something for his pains. "But let us leave dull care behind," + he went on gaily. + </p> + <p> + "He isn't at all dull," said she. + </p> + <p> + "But he <i>is</i> a care," said he. "He is always losing his heart, Miss + Guile." + </p> + <p> + "And picking up some one else's, I fancy," said she. + </p> + <p> + "By the way, who was the good-looking chap that came to Cherbourg to meet + you?" + </p> + <p> + "A very old friend, Mr. Schmidt. I've known him since I was that high." + (That high was on a line with her knee.) + </p> + <p> + "Attractive fellow," was his comment. + </p> + <p> + "Do you think so?" she inquired innocently, and he thought she over-played + it a little. He was conscious of an odd sense of disappointment in her. + "Have you never been out to St. Cloud? No? I never go there without + feeling a terrible pity for those poor prodigals who stood beside its + funeral pyre and saw their folly stripped down to the starkest of + skeletons while they waited. The day of glory is short, Mr. Schmidt, and + the night that follows is bitterly long. They say possession is nine + points of the law, but what do nine points mean to the lawless? The rich + man of to-day may be the beggar of to-morrow, and the rich man's sons and + daughters may be serving the beggars of yesterday. I have been told that + in the lower east side of New York City there are men and women who were + once princes and princesses, counts and countesses, dukes and duchesses. + Why doesn't some one write a novel about the royalty that hides its + beggary in the slums of that great city?" + </p> + <p> + "What's this? Epigrams and philosophy, Miss Guile?" he exclaimed + wonderingly. "You amaze me. What are you trying to convey? That some day + you may be serving yesterday's beggar?" + </p> + <p> + "Who knows!" she said cryptically. "I am not a philosopher, and I'm sorry + about the epigrams. I loathe people who make use of them. They are a cheap + substitution for wisdom. Do you take sugar in your tea?" It was her way of + abandoning the topic, but he looked his perplexity. "I thought I'd ask + now, just for the sake of testing my memory later on." She was laughing. + </p> + <p> + "Two lumps and cream," he said. "Won't you be good enough to take off that + veil? It seriously obstructs the view." + </p> + <p> + She complacently shook her head. "It doesn't obstruct mine," she said. + "Have you been reading what the papers are saying about your friend Mr. + Blithers and his obstreperous Maud?" + </p> + <p> + Robin caught his breath. In a flash he suspected an excellent reason for + keeping the veil in place. It gave her a distinct advantage over him. + </p> + <p> + "Yes. I see that she positively denies the whole business." + </p> + <p> + "Likewise the prospective spouse," she added. "Isn't it sickening?" + </p> + <p> + "I wonder what Mr. Blithers is saying to-day," said he audaciously. "Poor + old cock, he must be as sore as a crab. By the way, it is reported that + she crossed on the steamer with us." + </p> + <p> + "I am quite certain that she did, Mr. Schmidt," said she. + </p> + <p> + "You really think so?" he cried, regarding her keenly. + </p> + <p> + "The man who came to meet me knows her quite well. He is confident that he + saw her at Cherbourg." + </p> + <p> + "I see," said he, and was thoroughly convinced. "I may as well confess to + you. Miss Guile, that I also know her when I see her." + </p> + <p> + "But you told me positively that you had never seen her, Mr. Schmidt," she + said quickly. + </p> + <p> + "I had not seen her up to the second day out on the <i>Jupiter</i>," he + explained, enjoying himself immensely. + </p> + <p> + "It was after that that you—" + </p> + <p> + "I know," he said, as she hesitated; "but you see I didn't know she was + Miss Blithers until sometime after I had met you." There was a challenge + in his manner amounting almost to a declaration. + </p> + <p> + She leaned forward to regard him more intently. + </p> + <p> + "Is it possible, Mr. Schmidt, that you suspect <i>me</i> of being that + horrid, vulgar creature?" + </p> + <p> + Robin was not to be trapped. There was something in the shadowy eyes that + warned him. + </p> + <p> + "At least, I may say that I do not suspect you of being a horrid, vulgar + creature," he said evasively. + </p> + <p> + "What else can this Miss Blithers be if not that?" + </p> + <p> + "Would you say that she is vulgar because she refuses to acknowledge a + condition that doesn't exist? I think she did perfectly right in denying + the engagement." + </p> + <p> + "You haven't answered my question, Mr. Schmidt." + </p> + <p> + "Well," he began slowly, "I don't suspect you of being Miss Blithers." + </p> + <p> + "But you did suspect it." + </p> + <p> + "I was pleasantly engaged in speculation, that's all. It is generally + believed that Miss Blithers sailed under an assumed name—literally, + not figuratively." + </p> + <p> + "Is there any reason why you should imagine that my name is not Guile?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes. Your luggage is resplendently marked with the second letter in the + alphabet—a gory, crimson B." + </p> + <p> + "I see," she said reflectively. "You examined my luggage, as they say in + the customs office. And you couldn't put B and G together, is that it?" + </p> + <p> + "Obviously." + </p> + <p> + "If you had taken the trouble to look, you would have found an equally + resplendent G on the opposite end of each and every trunk, Mr. Schmidt," + she said quietly. + </p> + <p> + "I did not examine your luggage, Miss Guile," said he stiffly. She hadn't + left much for him to stand upon. "Rather unique way to put one's initials + on a trunk, isn't it?" + </p> + <p> + "It possesses the virtue of originality," she admitted, "and it never + fails to excite curiosity. I am sorry you were misled. Nothing could be + more distressing than to be mistaken for the heroine of a story and then + turn out to be a mere nobody in the end. I've no doubt that if the amiable + Miss Blithers were to hear of it, she'd rush into print and belabour me + with the largest type that money could buy." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, come now, Miss Guile," he protested, "it really isn't fair to Miss + Blithers. She was justified in following an illustrious example. You + forget that the Prince of Graustark was the first to rush into print with + a flat denial. What else could the poor girl do?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I am not defending the Prince of Graustark. He behaved abominably, + rushing into print as you say. Extremely bad taste, I should call it." + </p> + <p> + Robin's ears burned. He could not defend himself. There was nothing left + for him to do but to say that it "served him jolly well right, the way + Miss Blithers came back at him." + </p> + <p> + "Still," she said, "I would be willing to make a small wager that the + well-advertised match comes off in spite of all the denials. Given a + determined father, an ambitious mother, a purse-filled daughter and an + empty-pursed nobleman, and I don't see how the inevitable can be avoided." + </p> + <p> + His face was flaming. It was with difficulty that he restrained the + impulse to put her right in the matter without further ado. + </p> + <p> + "Are you sure that the Prince is so empty of purse as all that?" he + managed to say, without betraying himself irretrievably. + </p> + <p> + "There doesn't seem to be any doubt that he borrowed extensively of Mr. + Blithers," she said scornfully. "He is under some obligations to his + would-be-father-in-law, I submit, now isn't he?" + </p> + <p> + "I suppose so, Miss Guile," he admitted uncomfortably. + </p> + <p> + "And therefore owes him something more than a card in the newspapers, + don't you think?" + </p> + <p> + "Really, Miss Guile, I—I—" + </p> + <p> + "I beg your pardon. The Prince's affairs are of no importance to you, so + why should I expect you to stand up for him?" + </p> + <p> + "I confess that I am a great deal more interested in Miss Blithers than I + am in the Prince. By the way, what would you have done had you been placed + in her position?" + </p> + <p> + "I think I should have acted quite as independently as she." + </p> + <p> + "If your father were to pick out a husband for you, whether or no, you + would refuse to obey the paternal command?" + </p> + <p> + "Most assuredly. As a matter of fact, Mr. Schmidt, my father has expressed + a wish that I should marry a man who doesn't appeal to me at all." + </p> + <p> + "And you refuse?" + </p> + <p> + "Absolutely." + </p> + <p> + "More or less as Miss Blithers has done," he said pointedly. + </p> + <p> + "Miss Blithers, I understand, has the advantage of me in one respect. I am + told that she wants to marry another man and is very much in love with + him." + </p> + <p> + "A chap named Scoville," said Robin, unguardedly. + </p> + <p> + "You know him, Mr. Schmidt?" + </p> + <p> + "No. I've merely heard of him. I take it from your remark that you don't + want to marry anybody—at present." + </p> + <p> + "Quite right. Not at present. Now let us talk of something else. <i>A bas</i> + Blithers! Down with the plutocrats! Stamp out the vulgarians! Is there + anything else you can suggest?" she cried gaily. + </p> + <p> + "Long live the Princess Maud!" said he, and doffed his hat. The satirical + note in his voice was not lost on her. She started perceptibly, and caught + her breath. Then she sank back into the corner with a nervous, strained + little laugh. + </p> + <p> + "You think she will marry him?" + </p> + <p> + "I think as you do about it, Miss Guile," said he, and she was silenced. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV — THE MICE IN A TRAP + </h2> + <p> + They had a table in a cool, shady corner of the broad porch overlooking + the Place d'Armes and the Seine and its vociferous ferries. To the right + runs the gleaming roadway that leads to the hills and glades through which + pomp and pride once strode with such fatal arrogance. Blue coated + servitors attended them on their arrival, and watched over them during + their stay. It was as if Miss Guile were the fairy princess who had but to + wish and her slightest desire was gratified. Her guest, a real prince, + marvelled not a little at the complete sway she exercised over this + somewhat autocratic army of menials. They bowed and scraped, and fetched, + and carried, and were not Swiss but slaves in Bagdad during the reign of + its most illustrious Caliph, Al-haroun Raschid the great. The magic of + Araby could have been no more potent than the spell this beautiful girl + cast over the house of Mammon. She laid her finger upon a purse of gold + and wished, and lo! the wonders of the magic carpet were repeated. + </p> + <p> + Robin remembered that Maud Applegate Blithers had spent the greater part + of her life in Paris, and it was therefore not unreasonable to suppose + that she had spent something else as well. At any rate, the Pavilion Bleu + was a place where it <i>had</i> to be spent if one wanted the attention + accorded the few. + </p> + <p> + She had removed her veil, but he was not slow to perceive that she sat + with her back to the long stretch of porch. + </p> + <p> + "Do you prefer this place to Armenonville or the Paillard at Pre Catelan, + Miss Guile?" he inquired, quite casually, but with a secret purpose. + </p> + <p> + "No, it is stupid here, as a rule, and common. Still every one goes to the + other places in the afternoon and I particularly wanted to be as naughty + as possible, so I came here to-day." + </p> + <p> + "It doesn't strike me as especially naughty," he remarked. + </p> + <p> + "But it was very, very naughty before you and I were born, Mr. Schmidt. + The atmosphere still remains, if one possesses a comprehensive + imagination." + </p> + <p> + "I daresay," said he, "but the imagination doesn't thrive on tea. Those + were the days of burgundy and a lot of other red things." + </p> + <p> + "One doesn't need to be in shackles, to expatiate on the terrors of the + Bridge of Sighs," she said. + </p> + <p> + "Are you going to take me up to the park?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes. Into the Shadows." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, that's good! I'm sure my imagination will work beautifully when it + isn't subdued by all these blue devils. I—<i>Que voulez vous?</i>" + The question was directed rather sharply to a particularly deferential + "blue devil" who stood at his elbow. + </p> + <p> + "Monsieur Schmidt?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes. What's this? A letter! 'Pon my soul, how the deuce could any one—" + He got no farther, for Miss Guile's action in pulling down her veil and + the subsequent spasmodic glance over her shoulder betrayed such an + agitated state of mind on her part that his own sensations were checked at + the outset. + </p> + <p> + "There must be some one here who knows you, Mr. Schmidt," she said + nervously. "See what it says, please,—at once. I—perhaps we + should be starting home immediately." + </p> + <p> + Robin tore open the envelope. A glance showed him that the brief note was + from Gourou. A characteristic G served as a signature. As he read, a hard + line appeared between his eyes and his expression grew serious. + </p> + <p> + "It is really nothing, Miss Guile," he said and prepared to tear the sheet + into many pieces. "A stupid, alleged joke of a fellow who happens to know + me, that's all." + </p> + <p> + "Don't tear it up!" she cried sharply. "What does it say? I have a right + to know, Mr. Schmidt, even though it is only a joke. What has this friend + of yours to say about me? What coarse, uncalled-for comment has he to make + about—" + </p> + <p> + "Let me think for a moment, Miss Guile," he interrupted, suddenly + realising that it was time for reflection. After a moment he said soberly: + "I think it would be wise if we were to leave instantly. There is nothing + to be alarmed about, I assure you, but—well, we'd better go." + </p> + <p> + "Will you allow me to see that letter?" she asked, extending her hand. + </p> + <p> + "I'd rather not, if you don't mind." + </p> + <p> + "But I insist, sir! I'll not go a step from this place until I know what + all this is about." + </p> + <p> + "As it happens to concern you even more than it does me, I suppose you'd + better see what it says." He passed the letter over to her and watched her + narrowly as she read. Again the veil served as a competent mask. + </p> + <p> + "Who wrote this letter, Mr. Schmidt?" she demanded. Even through the veil + he could see that her eyes were wide with—was it alarm or anger? + </p> + <p> + "A man named Gourou. He is a detective engaged on a piece of work for Mr. + Totten." + </p> + <p> + "Is it a part of his duty to watch your movements?" she asked, leaning + forward. + </p> + <p> + "No. He is my friend, however," said Robin steadily. "According to this + epistle, it would appear that it is a part of his duty to keep track of + you, not me. May I ask why you should be shadowed by two of his kind?" + </p> + <p> + She did not answer at once. When she spoke, it was with a determined + effort to maintain her composure. + </p> + <p> + "I am sorry to have subjected you to all this, Mr. Schmidt. We will depart + at once. I find that the cat is never away, so we can't be mice. What a + fool I've been." There was something suspiciously suggestive of tears in + her soft voice. + </p> + <p> + He laid a hand upon the small fingers that clutched the crumpled sheet of + paper. To have saved his life, he could not keep the choked, husky tremor + out of his voice. + </p> + <p> + "The day is spoiled for you. That is my only regret. As for me, Miss + Guile, I am not without sin, so I may cast no stones. Pray regard me as a + fellow culprit, and rest assured that I have no bone to pick with you. I + too am watched and yet I am no more of a criminal than you. Will you allow + me to say that I am a friend whose devotion cannot be shaken by all the + tempests in the world?" + </p> + <p> + "Thank you," she said, and turned her hand under his to give it a quick, + convulsive clasp. Her spirits seemed to revive under the responsive grip. + "You might have said all the tempests in a tea pot, for that is really + what it amounts to. My father is a very foolish man. Will you send for the + car?" + </p> + <p> + He called an attendant and ordered him to find Miss Guile's footman at + once. When he returned to the table, she was reading the note once more. + </p> + <p> + "It is really quite thrilling, isn't it?" she said, and there was still a + quaver of indignation in her voice. "Are you not mystified?" + </p> + <p> + "Not in the least," said he promptly, and drew a chair up close beside + hers. "It's as plain as day. Your father has found you out, that's all. + Let's read it again," and they read it together. + </p> + <p> + "A word to the wise," it began. "Two men from a private detective concern + have been employed since yesterday in watching the movements of your + companion, for the purpose of safe-guarding her against good-looking young + men, I suspect. I have it from the most reliable of sources that her + father engaged the services of these men almost simultaneously with the + date of our sailing from New York. It may interest you to know that they + followed you to St. Cloud in a high-power car and no doubt are watching + you as you read this message from your faithful friend, who likewise is + not far away." + </p> + <p> + "I should have anticipated this, Mr. Schmidt," she said ruefully. "It is + just the sort of thing my father would do." + </p> + <p> + "You seem to take it calmly enough." + </p> + <p> + "I am quite used to it. I would be worth a great deal to any enterprising + person who made it his business to steal me. There is no limit to the + ransom he could demand." + </p> + <p> + "You alarm me," he declared. "No doubt these worthy guardians look upon me + as a kidnapper. I am inclined to shiver." + </p> + <p> + "'All's well that ends well,'" quoth she, pulling on her gloves, "I shall + restore you safely to the bosom of the Ritz and that will be the end of + it." + </p> + <p> + "I almost wish that some one would kidnap you, Miss Guile. It would afford + me the greatest pleasure in the world to snatch you from their clutches. + Your father would be saved paying the ransom but I should have to be + adequately rewarded. I fancy, however, that he wouldn't mind paying the + reward I should hold out for." + </p> + <p> + "I am quite sure he would give you anything you were to ask for, Mr. + Schmidt," said she gaily. "You would be reasonable, of course." + </p> + <p> + "I might ask for the most precious of his possessions," said he, leaning + forward to look directly into eyes that wavered and refused to meet his. + </p> + <p> + "Curiosity almost makes me wish that I might be kidnapped. I should then + find out what you consider to be his most precious possession," she said, + and her voice was perilously low. + </p> + <p> + "I think I could tell you in advance," said he, his eyes shining. + </p> + <p> + "I—I prefer to find out in my own way, Mr. Schmidt," she stammered + hurriedly. Her confusion was immensely gratifying to him. There is no + telling what might have happened to the Prince of Graustark at that moment + if an obsequious attendant had not intervened with the earthly information + that the car was waiting. + </p> + <p> + "Good Lord," Robin was saying to himself as he followed her to the steps, + "was I about to go directly against the sage advice of old Gourou? Was I + so near to it as that? In another minute—Gee, but it was a close + shave. She is adorable, she is the most adorable creature in the world, + even though she is the daughter of old man Blithers, and I—'gad I + wonder what will come of it in the end? Keep a tight grip on yourself, + Bobby, or you're a goner, sure as fate." + </p> + <p> + They were painfully aware of the fact that their progress down the long + verandah was made under the surveillance of two, perhaps three pairs of + unwavering eyes, and because of it they looked neither to right nor left + but as those who walk tight-ropes over dangerous places. There was + something positively uncanny in the feeling that their every movement was + being watched by secret observers. Once inside the car, Miss Guile sank + back with a long sigh of relief. + </p> + <p> + "Did you feel it, too?" she asked, with a nervous little catch in her + voice. + </p> + <p> + "I did," said he, passing his hand over his brow. "It was like being alone + in the dark with eyes staring at one from all sides of the room." + </p> + <p> + The car shot across the bridge and was speeding on its way toward the Bois + when Robin ventured a glance behind. Through the little window in the back + of the car he saw a big, swift-moving automobile not more than a quarter + of a mile in their rear. + </p> + <p> + "Would you like to verify the report of my friend Gourou?" he asked, his + voice quick with exhilaration. She knelt with one knee upon the seat and + peered back along the road. + </p> + <p> + "There they are!" she cried. She threw the veil back over her hat as she + resumed her seat in the corner. Her eyes were fairly dancing with + excitement. The warm red lips were parted and she was breathing quickly. + Suddenly she laid her hand over her heart as if to check its lively + thumping. "Isn't it splendid? We are being pursued—actually chased + by the man-hunters of Paris! Oh, I was never so happy in my life. Isn't it + great?" + </p> + <p> + "It is glorious!" he cried exultantly. "Shall I tell the chauffeur to hit + it up a bit? Let's make it a real chase." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, do! We'll see if we can foil them, as they say in the books. Oh, + wouldn't it be wonderful if we were to—to—what do you call it? + Give them the slip, isn't that it?" + </p> + <p> + "I'm game," said he, with enthusiasm. For a second or two they looked + straight into each other's eyes and a message was exchanged that never + could have been put into words. No doubt it was the flush of eager + excitement that darkened their cheeks. In any case, it came swiftly and + went as quickly, leaving them paler than before and vastly self-conscious. + And after that brief, searching look they knew that they could never be as + they were before the exchange. They were no longer strangers to each + other, but shy comrades and filled with a delicious sense of wonder. + </p> + <p> + Robin gave hurried directions through the speaking tube to the attentive + footman, and so explicit were these directions that the greatest + excitement prevailed upon the decorous front seat of the car—first + the footman looked back along the road, then the chauffeur, after which a + thrill of excitement seemed to fairly race up and down their liveried + backs. The car itself took a notion to quiver with the promise of joy + unrestrained. In less than a minute they were going more than a mile a + minute over a short stretch of the Avenue de Longchamp. At the Porte de + Hippodrome they slowed down and ran into the Bois, taking the first road + to the left. In a few minutes they were scudding past Longchamp at a "fair + clip" to quote R. Schmidt. Instead of diverging into the Allee de + Longchamp, the car took a sharp turn into the Avenue de l'Hippodrome and, + at the intersection, doubled back over the Allee de la Heine Marguerite, + going almost to the Boulogne gate, where again it was sent Parisward over + the Avenue de St. Cloud. + </p> + <p> + Miss Guile was in command of the flight. She called out the instructions + to the driver and her knowledge of the intricate routes through the park + stood them well in hand. Purposely she evaded the Cascades, circling the + little pools by narrow, unfrequented roads, coming out at last to the + Porte de la Muette, where they left the park and took to the Avenue Henri + Martin. It was her design to avoid the customary routes to the heart of + the city, and all would have gone well with them had not fate in the shape + of two burly <i>sergents de ville</i> intervened at a time when success + seemed most certain. It was quite clear to the pursued that the car + containing their followers had been successfully eluded and was no doubt + in the Champs Elysees by this time. For some time there had been a worried + look in the Prince's eyes. Once he undertook to remonstrate with his fair + companion. + </p> + <p> + "My dear Miss Guile, we'll land in jail if we keep up this hair-raising + speed. There wouldn't be any fun in that, you know." + </p> + <p> + She gave him a scornful look. "Are you afraid, Mr. Schmidt?" + </p> + <p> + "Not on my own account," said he, "but yours. I've heard that the new + regulations are extremely rigid." + </p> + <p> + "Pooh! I'm not afraid of the police. They—why, what's the matter? + Oh, goodness!" + </p> + <p> + The car had come to a somewhat abrupt stop. Two policemen, dismounted from + their bicycles, formed an insurmountable obstruction. They were almost in + the shade of the Trocadero. + </p> + <p> + "Do not be alarmed," whispered Robin to the fast paling girl, into whose + eyes the most abject misery had leaped at the sight of the two officers. + "Leave it to me. I can fix them all right. There's nothing to be worried + about—well, <i>sergent</i>, what is it?" + </p> + <p> + The polite officers came up to the window with their little note-books. + </p> + <p> + "I regret, m'sieur, that we shall be obliged to conduct yourself and + mademoiselle to the office of a magistrate. Under the new regulations set + forth in the order of last May, motorists may be given a hearing at once. + I regret to add that m'sieur has been exceeding the speed limit. A + complaint came in but a few minutes ago from the Porte de la Muette and we + have been ordered to intercept the car. You may follow us to the office of + the magistrate, m'sieur. It will soon be over, mademoiselle." + </p> + <p> + "But we can explain—" she began nervously. + </p> + <p> + The <i>sergent</i> held up his hand. "It is not necessary to explain, + mademoiselle. Too many motorists have explained in the past but that does + not restore to life the people they have killed in the pursuit of + pleasure. Paris is enforcing her laws." + </p> + <p> + "But, <i>sergent</i>, I alone am to blame for any violation of the law," + said Robin suavely. "Surely it is only necessary that I should accompany + you to the magistrate. The young lady is in no way responsible—" + </p> + <p> + "Alas, m'sieur," said the man firmly but as if he were quite + broken-hearted, "it is not for me to disobey the law, even though you may + do so. It is necessary for the lady to appear before the Judge, and it is + our duty to convey her there. The new law explicitly says that all + occupants of said car shall be subject to penalty under the law without + reprieve or pardon!" + </p> + <p> + "Where are your witnesses?" demanded Robin. + </p> + <p> + The two men produced their watches and their notebooks, tapping them + significantly. + </p> + <p> + "M'sieur will not think of denying that he has been running more rapidly + than the law allows," said the second officer. "It will go harder with him + if he should do so." + </p> + <p> + "I shall insist upon having an advocate to represent me before—" + </p> + <p> + "As you like, m'sieur," said the first officer curtly. "Proceed!" he + uttered as a command to the chauffeur, and forthwith mounted his wheel. A + score of people had gathered round them by this time, and Miss Guile was + crouching back in her corner. Her veil was down. In single file, so to + speak, they started off for the office of the nearest magistrate appointed + under the new law governing automobiles. A policeman pedaled ahead of the + car and another followed. + </p> + <p> + "Isn't it dreadful?" whispered Miss Guile. "What do you think they will do + to us? Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Schmidt, to have dragged you into this + horrid—" + </p> + <p> + "I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world," said he so + earnestly that she sat up a little straighter and caught her breath. + "After all, they will do no more than assess a fine against us. A hundred + francs, perhaps. That is nothing." + </p> + <p> + "I am not so sure of that," said she gloomily. "My friends were saying + only yesterday that the new law provides for imprisonment as well. Paris + has constructed special prisons for motorists, and people are compelled to + remain in them for days and weeks at a time. Oh, I hope—" + </p> + <p> + "I'll inquire of the footman," said Robin. "He will know." The footman, + whose face was very long and serious, replied through the tube that very + few violators escaped confinement in the "little prisons." He also said + "Mon dieu" a half dozen times, and there was a movement of the driver's + pallid lips that seemed to indicate a fervent echo. + </p> + <p> + "I shall telephone at once—to my friends," said Miss Guile, a note + of anger in her voice. "They are very powerful in Paris. We shall put + those miserable wretches in their proper places. They—" + </p> + <p> + "We must not forget. Miss Guile, that we <i>were</i> breaking the law," + said Robin, who was beginning to enjoy the discomfiture of this spoiled + beauty, this girl whose word was a sort of law unto itself. + </p> + <p> + "It is perfect nonsense," she declared. "We did no harm. Goodness! What is + this?" + </p> + <p> + Four or five policemen on wheels passed by the car, each with a forbidding + glance through the windows. + </p> + <p> + "They are the boys we left behind us," paraphrased Robin soberly. "The + park policemen. They've just caught us up, and, believe me, they look + serious, too. I dare say we are in for it." + </p> + <p> + In a very few minutes the procession arrived at a low, formidable looking + building on a narrow side street. The cavalcade of policemen dismounted + and stood at attention while Mademoiselle and Monsieur got down from the + car and followed a polite person in uniform through the doors. Whereupon + the group of <i>sergents de ville</i> trooped in behind, bringing with + them the neatly liveried servants with the golden letter L on their cuffs. + </p> + <p> + "I believe there is a jail back there," whispered the slim culprit, a + quaver in her voice. She pointed down the long, narrow corridor at the end + of which loomed a rather sinister looking door with thick bolt-heads + studding its surface. + </p> + <p> + An instant later they were ushered into a fair-sized room on the left of + the hall, where they were commanded to sit down. A lot of chairs stood + about the room, filling it to the farthest corners, while at the extreme + end was the Judge's bench. + </p> + <p> + "I insist on being permitted to telephone to friends—to my legal + advisors,—" began Miss Guile, with praiseworthy firmness, only to be + silenced by the attendant, who whispered shrilly that a trial was in + progress, couldn't she see? + </p> + <p> + Two dejected young men were standing before the Judge, flanked by three <i>sergents + de ville</i>. Robin and Miss Guile stared wide-eyed at their fellow + criminals and tried to catch the low words spoken by the fat Magistrate. + Once more they were ordered to sit down, this time not quite so politely, + and they took seats in the darkest corner of the room, as far removed from + justice as possible under the circumstances. + </p> + <p> + Presently a young man approached them. He was very nice looking and + astonishingly cheerful. The hopes of the twain went up with a bound. His + expression was so benign, so bland that they at once jumped to the + conclusion that he was coming to tell them that they were free to go, that + it had all been a stupid mistake. But they were wrong. He smilingly + introduced himself as an advocate connected with the court by appointment + and that he would be eternally grateful to them if they would tell him + what he could do for them. + </p> + <p> + "I'd like to have a word in private with the Magistrate," said the Prince + of Graustark eagerly. + </p> + <p> + "Impossible!" said the advocate, lifting his eyebrows and his smart little + mustachios in an expression of extreme amazement. "It is imposs—" A + sharp rapping on the Judge's desk reduced the remainder of the sentence to + a delicate whisper—"ible. M'sieur." + </p> + <p> + "Will you conduct me to a telephone booth?" whispered Miss Guile, + tearfully. + </p> + <p> + "Pray do not weep, Mademoiselle," implored the advocate, profoundly moved, + but at the same time casting a calculating eye over the luckless pair. + </p> + <p> + "Well, what's to be done?" demanded Robin. "We insist on having our own + legal advisors here." + </p> + <p> + "The court will not delay the hearing, M'sieur," explained the young man. + "Besides, the best legal advisor in Paris could do no more than to advise + you to plead guilty. I at least can do that quite as ably as the best of + them. No one ever pretends to defend a case in the automobile courts, + M'sieur. It is a waste of time, and the court does not approve of wasting + time. Perhaps you will feel more content if I introduce the assistant + public prosecutor, who will explain the law. That is his only duty. He + does not prosecute. There is no need. The <i>sergents</i> testify and that + is all there is to the case." + </p> + <p> + "May I inquire what service you can be to us if the whole business is cut + and dried like that?" asked Robin. + </p> + <p> + "Not so loud, M'sieur. As I said before, I can advise you in respect to + your plea, and I can tell you how to present your statement to the court. + I can caution you in many ways. Sometimes a prisoner, who is + well-rehearsed, succeeds in affecting the honourable Magistrate nicely, + and the punishment is not so severe." + </p> + <p> + "So you advise us to plead guilty as delicately as possible?" + </p> + <p> + "I shall not advise you, M'sieur, unless it pleases you to retain me as + your counsellor. The fee is small. Ten francs. Inasmuch as the amount is + charged against you in the supplemental costs, it seems foolish not to + take advantage of what you are obliged to pay for in any event. You will + have to pay my fee, so you may as well permit me to be of service to you." + </p> + <p> + "My only concern is over Mademoiselle," said the Prince. "You may send me + to jail if you like, if you'll only—" + </p> + <p> + "Mon dieu! I am not the one who enjoys the distinguished honour of being + permitted to send people to jail, but the Judge, M'sieur." + </p> + <p> + "It is ridiculous to submit this innocent young lady to the humiliation of—" + </p> + <p> + "It is not only ridiculous but criminal," said the advocate, with a + magnificent bow. "But what is one to do when it is the law? Of late, the + law is peculiarly sexless. And now here is where I come in. It is I who + shall instruct you—both of you, Mademoiselle—how to conduct + yourselves before the Magistrate. Above all things, do not attempt to + contradict a single statement of the police. Admit that all they say is + true, even though they say that you have run over a child or an old woman + with mortal results. It will go much easier with you. Exercise the gravest + politeness and deference toward the honourable Magistrate and to every + officer of the court. You are Americans, no doubt. The courts are prone to + be severe with the Americans because they sometimes undertake to tell them + how easy it is to get the right kind of justice in your wonderfully + progressive United States. Be humble, contrite, submissive, for that is + only justice to the court. If you have killed some one in your diversions, + pray do not try to tell the magistrate that the idiot ought to have kept + his eyes open. Another thing: do not inform the court that you require a + lawyer. That is evidence of extreme culpability and he will consider you + to be inexcusably guilty. Are you attending? Pray do not feel sorry for + the two young men who are now being led away. See! They are weeping. It is + as I thought. They are going to prison for—But that is their affair, + not ours. I advised them as I am advising you, but they insisted on making + a statement of their case. That was fatal, for it failed in many respects + to corroborate the information supplied by the police. It-" + </p> + <p> + "What was the charge against them?" whispered Miss Guile, quaking. She had + watched the exit of the tearful young men, one of whom was sobbing + bitterly, and a great fear possessed her. + </p> + <p> + "Of that, Mademoiselle, I am entirely ignorant, but they were unmistakably + guilty of denying it, whatever it was." + </p> + <p> + "Are they going to prison?" she gasped. + </p> + <p> + "It is not that which causes them to weep so bitterly, but the knowledge + that their names are to be posted on the bulletin boards in the Place de + l'Opera, the Place de l'Concorde, the—" + </p> + <p> + "Good Lord!" gasped Robin. "Is <i>that</i> being done?" + </p> + <p> + "It is M'sieur, and the effect is marvellous. Three months ago the boards + were filled with illustrious names; to-day there are but few to be found + upon them. The people have discovered that the courts are in earnest. The + law is obeyed as it never was before. The prisons were crowded to + suffocation at one time; now they are almost empty. It is a good law. + To-day a mother can wheel her baby carriage in the thickest of the traffic + and run no risk of—Ah, but here is the assistant prosecutor coming. + Permit me to further warn you that you will be placed under oath to tell + the absolute truth. The prosecutor will ask but three questions of you: + your age, your name and your place of residence. All of them you must + answer truthfully, especially as to your names. If it is discovered that + you have falsely given a name not your own, the lowest penalty is sixty + days in prison, imposed afterwards in addition to the sentence you will + receive for violating the traffic laws. I have performed my duty as + required by the commissioner. My fee is a fixed one, so you need not put + your hand into your pocket, M'sieur. Good day. Mademoiselle—good + day, M'sieur." He bowed profoundly and gave way to the impatient + prosecutor, who had considerately held himself aloof while the final words + were being uttered, albeit he glanced at his watch a couple of times. + </p> + <p> + "Come," he said, and he did not whisper; "let us be as expeditious as + possible. Approach the court. It is—" + </p> + <p> + "See here," said Robin savagely, "this is too damned high-handed. Are we + to have no chance to defend ourselves? We—" + </p> + <p> + "Just as you please, M'sieur," interrupted the prosecutor patiently. "It + is nothing to me. I receive my fee in any event. If you care to defy the + law in addition to what you have already done, it is not for me to + object." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I insist on having—" + </p> + <p> + A thunderous pounding on the bench interrupted his hot-headed speech. + </p> + <p> + "Attend!" came in a sharp, uncompromising voice from the bench. "What is + the delay? This is no time to think. All that should have been done + before. Step forward! <i>Sergent</i>, see that the prisoners step + forward." + </p> + <p> + Robin slipped his arm through Miss Guile's, expecting her to droop heavily + upon it for support. To his surprise she drew herself up, dis-engaged + herself, and walked straight up to the bench, without fear or hesitation. + It was Robin who needed an example of courage and fortitude, not she. The + chauffeur and footman, shivering in their elegance, already stood before + the bench. + </p> + <p> + "Will you be so kind as to raise your veil, Madam?" spake the court. + </p> + <p> + She promptly obeyed. He leaned forward with sudden interest. The + prosecutor blinked and abruptly overcame the habitual inclination to + appear bored. Such ravishing beauty had never before found its way into + that little court-room. Adjacent moustaches were fingered somewhat + convulsively by several <i>sergents de ville.</i> + </p> + <p> + "Ahem!" said the court, managing with some difficulty to regain his + judicial form. "I am compelled by law, Mademoiselle, to warn you before + you are placed under oath that the lowest penalty for giving a false name + in answer to the charge to be brought against you is imprisonment for not + less than sixty days. I repeat this warning to you, young man. Be sworn, + if you please." + </p> + <p> + Robin experienced a queer sense of exultation, not at all lessened by the + knowledge that he would be forced to reveal his own identity. "Would she + call herself Bedelia Guile or would she—" + </p> + <p> + "State your name, Mademoiselle," said the prosecutor. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI — THREE MESSAGES + </h2> + <p> + Miss Guile lowered her head for an instant. Robin could see that her lip + was quivering. A vast pity for her took possession of him and he was + ashamed of what he now regarded as unexampled meanness of spirit on his + own part. She lifted her shamed, pleading eyes to search his, as if + expecting to find succour in their fearless depths. She found them + gleaming with indignation, suddenly aroused, and was instantly + apprehensive. There was a look in those eyes of his that seemed prophetic + of dire results unless she checked the words that were rising to his lips. + She shook her head quickly and, laying a hand upon his arm, turned to the + waiting magistrate. + </p> + <p> + "My name is—Oh, is there no way to avoid the publicity—" she + sighed miserably—"the publicity that—" + </p> + <p> + "I regret, Mademoiselle, that there is no alternative—" began the + Judge, to be interrupted by the banging of the court-room door. He looked + up, glaring at the offender with ominous eyes. The polite attendant from + the outer corridor was advancing in great haste. He was not only in haste + but vastly perturbed. + </p> + <p> + Despite the profound whack of the magistrate's paper weight on the hollow + top of the desk and the withering scowl that went with it, the attendant + rushed forward, forgetting his manners, his habits and his power of speech + in one complete surrender to nature. He thrust into the hand of the Judge + a slip of paper, at the same time gasping something that might have been + mistaken for an appeal for pardon but which more than likely was nothing + of the sort. + </p> + <p> + "What is this?" demanded the Judge ferociously. + </p> + <p> + "Mon dieu!" replied the attendant, rolling his eyes heavenward. + </p> + <p> + The magistrate was impressed. He took up the slip of paper and read what + was written thereon. Then he was guilty of a start. The next instant he + had the prosecutor up beside him and then the advocate. Together they read + the message from the outside and together they lifted three pairs of + incredulous eyes to stare at the culprits below. There was a hurried + consultation in excited whisperings, intermittent stares and far from + magisterial blinkings. + </p> + <p> + Robin bent close to Bedelia's ear and whispered: "We must have killed some + one, the way they are acting." + </p> + <p> + Her face was glowing with triumph. "No. Luck is with us, Mr. Schmidt. + You'll see!" + </p> + <p> + The magistrate cleared his throat and beamed upon them in a most friendly + fashion. + </p> + <p> + Robin grasped the situation in a flash. His own identity had been revealed + to the Judge. It was not likely that the daughter of William Blithers + could create such lively interest in a French court of justice, so it <i>must</i> + be that Gourou or Quinnox had come to the rescue. The court would not + think of fining a prince of the royal blood, law or no law! + </p> + <p> + "M'sieur, Mademoiselle, will you be so good as to resume your seats? An + extraordinary condition has arisen. I shall be obliged to investigate. The + trial must be interrupted for a few minutes. Pardon the delay. I shall + return as quickly as possible. <i>Sergent!</i> See that Mademoiselle and + M'sieur are made comfortable." + </p> + <p> + He descended from the bench and hurried into the corridor, followed + closely by the prosecutor and the advocate, both of whom almost trod on + his heels. This may have been due to the fact that they were slighter men + and more sprightly, but more than likely it was because they were unable + to see where they were going for the excellent reason that they were not + looking in that direction at all. + </p> + <p> + Policemen and attendants, mystified but impressed, set about to make the + culprits comfortable. They hustled at least a half dozen roomy chairs out + of an adjoining chamber; they procured palm-leaf fans and even proffered + the improbable—ice-water!—after which they betook themselves + to a remote corner and whispered excitedly at each other, all the while + regarding the two prisoners with intense interest. Even the despairing + footman and chauffeur exhibited unmistakable signs of life. + </p> + <p> + "I fancy my friends have heard of our plight, Mr. Schmidt," she said, + quite composedly. "We will be released in a very few minutes." + </p> + <p> + He smiled complacently. He could afford to let her believe that her + friends and not his were performing a miracle. + </p> + <p> + "Your friends must be very powerful," he said. + </p> + <p> + "They are," said she, with considerable directness. + </p> + <p> + "Still, we are not out of the scrape yet, Miss Guile," he remarked, + shaking his head. "It may be a flash in the pan." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, please don't say that," she cried in quick alarm. "I—I should + die if—if we were to be sent to—" + </p> + <p> + "Listen to me," he broke in eagerly, for an inspiration had come to him. + "There's no reason why you should suffer, in any event. Apparently I am a + suspected person. I may just as well be a kidnapper as not. You must allow + me to inform the Judge that I was abducting you, so that he—" + </p> + <p> + "How absurd!" + </p> + <p> + "I don't in the least mind. Besides, I too have powerful friends who will + see that I am released in a day or two. You—" + </p> + <p> + "You cannot hope to convince the Judge that you were abducting me in my + own automobile—or at least in one belonging to my friends, who are + irreproachable. I am very much obliged to you for thinking of it, Mr. + Schmidt, but it is out of the question. I couldn't allow you to do it in + the first place, and in the second I'm sure the court wouldn't believe + you." + </p> + <p> + "It was I who suggested running away from those detectives," he protested. + </p> + <p> + "But I jumped at the chance, didn't I?" she whispered triumphantly. "I am + even guiltier than thou. Can you ever forgive me for—" + </p> + <p> + "Hush!" he said, in a very low voice. His hand fell upon hers as it rested + on the arm of the chair. They were in the shadows. She looked up quickly + and their eyes met. After a moment hers fell, and she gently withdrew her + hand from its place of bondage. "We are pals, Bedelia," he went on softly. + "Pals never go back on each other. They sink or swim together, and they + never stop to inquire the reason why. When it comes to a pinch, one or the + other will sacrifice himself that his pal may be saved. I—" + </p> + <p> + "Please do not say anything more," she said, her eyes strangely serious + and her voice vibrant with emotion. "Please!" + </p> + <p> + "I have a confession to make to you," he began, leaning still closer. "You + have taken me on faith. You do not know who or what I am. I—" + </p> + <p> + She held up her hand, an engaging frown in her eyes. "Stop! This is no + place for confessions. I will not listen to you. Save your confessions for + the magistrate. Tell him the truth, Mr. Schmidt. I am content to wait." + </p> + <p> + He stared for an instant, perplexed. "See here, Miss Guile,—Bedelia,—I've + just got to tell you something that—" + </p> + <p> + "You may tell me at Interlaken," she interrupted, and she was now quite + visibly agitated. + </p> + <p> + "At Interlaken? Then you mean to carry out your plan to spend—" + </p> + <p> + "Sh! Here they come. Now we shall see." + </p> + <p> + The magistrate and his companions re-entered the room at that instant, + more noticeably excited than when they left it. The former, rubbing his + hands together and smiling as he had never smiled before, approached the + pair. It did not occur to him to resent the fact that they remained seated + in his august presence. + </p> + <p> + "A lamentable mistake has been made," he said. "I regret that M'sieur and + Mademoiselle have been subjected to so grave an indignity. Permit me to + apologise for the misguided energy of our excellent <i>sergents</i>. They—" + </p> + <p> + "But we were exceeding the speed limit," said Robin comfortably, now that + the danger was past. "The officers were acting within their rights." + </p> + <p> + "I know, I know," exclaimed the magistrate. "They are splendid fellows, + all of them, and I beg of you to overlook their unfortunate—er—zealousness. + Permit me to add that you are not guilty—I should say, that you are + honourably discharged by this humble court. But wait! The <i>sergents</i> + shall also apologise. Here! Attend. It devolves upon you—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I beg of you—" began Robin, but already the policemen, who had + been listening open-mouthed to the agitated prosecutor, were bowing and + scraping and muttering their apologies for enforcing a cruel and unjust + law. + </p> + <p> + "And we are not obliged to give our names, <i>M'sieur le judge?</i>" cried + Miss Guile gladly. + </p> + <p> + "Mademoiselle," said he, with a profound bow, "it is not necessary to + acquaint me with something I already know. Permit me to again express the + most unbounded regret that—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, thank you," she cried. "We have had a really delightful experience. + You owe us no apology, M'sieur. And now, may we depart?" + </p> + <p> + "Instantly! LaChance, conduct M'sieur and Mademoiselle into the fresh, + sweet, open air and discover their car for them without delay. <i>Sergents</i>, + remain behind. Let there be nothing to indicate that there has been + detention. Mademoiselle, you have been merely making a philanthropic visit + to our prison. There has been no arrest." + </p> + <p> + Robin and Miss Guile emerged from the low, forbidding door and stood side + by side on the pavement looking up and down the street in search of the + car. It was nowhere in sight. The chauffeur gasped with amazement—and + alarm. He had left it standing directly in front of the door, and now it + was gone. + </p> + <p> + "It is suggested, M'sieur," said the polite LaChance, "that you walk to + the corner beyond, turn to the left and there you will find the car in + plain view. It was removed by two gentlemen soon after you condescended to + honour us with a visit of inspection, and thereby you have escaped much + unnecessary attention from the curious who always infest the vicinity of + police offices." He saluted them gravely and returned at once to the + corridor. + </p> + <p> + Following leisurely in the wake of the hurrying servants, Robin and + Bedelia proceeded down the narrow street to the corner indicated. They + were silent and preoccupied. After all, <i>who</i> was to be thanked for + the timely escape, his god or hers? + </p> + <p> + And here it may be said that neither of them was ever to know who sent + that brief effective message to the magistrate, nor were they ever to know + the nature of its contents. + </p> + <p> + The men were examining the car when they came up. No one was near. There + was no one to tell how it came to be there nor whither its unknown driver + had gone. It stood close to the curb and the engine was throbbing, proof + in itself that some one had but recently deserted his post as guardian. + </p> + <p> + "The obliging man-hunters," suggested Robin in reply to a low-voiced + question. + </p> + <p> + "Or your guardian angel, the great Gourou!" she said, frowning slightly. + "By the way, Mr. Schmidt, do you expect to be under surveillance during + your stay at Interlaken?" + </p> + <p> + There was irony in her voice. "Not if I can help it," he said. "And you, + Miss Guile? Is it possible that two of the best detectives in Paris are to + continue treading on your heels all the time you are in Europe? Must we go + about with the uncomfortable feeling that some one is staring at us from + behind, no matter where we are? Are we to be perpetually attended by the + invisible? If so, I am afraid we will find it very embarrassing." + </p> + <p> + They were in the car now and proceeding at a snail's pace toward the Arc + de Triomphe. Her eyes narrowed. He was sure that she clutched her slim + fingers tightly although, for an excellent reason, he was not by way of + knowing. He was rapturously watching those expressive eyes. + </p> + <p> + "I shall put a stop to this ridiculous espionage at once, Mr. Schmidt. + These men shall be sent kiting—I mean, about their business before + this day is over. I do not intend to be spied upon an instant longer." + </p> + <p> + "Still they may have been instruments of providence to-day," he reminded + her. "Without them, we might now be languishing in jail and our spotless + names posted in the Place de l'Opera. Bedelia Guile and Rex Schmidt, + malefactors. What would your father say to that?" + </p> + <p> + She smiled—a ravishing smile, it was. His heart gave a stupendous + jump. "He would say that it served me right," said she, and then: "But + what difference can it possibly make to you, Mr. Schmidt, if the + detectives continue to watch over me?" + </p> + <p> + "None," said he promptly. "I suppose they are used to almost anything in + the way of human nature, so if they don't mind, I'm sure I sha'n't. I + haven't the slightest objection to being watched by detectives, if we can + only keep other people from seeing us." + </p> + <p> + "Don't be silly," she cried. "And let me remind you while I think of it: + You are not to call me Bedelia." + </p> + <p> + "Bedelia," he said deliberately. + </p> + <p> + She sighed. "I am afraid I have been mistaken in you," she said. He + recalled Gourou's advice. Had he failed in the test? "But don't do it + again." + </p> + <p> + "Now that I think of it," he said soberly, "you are not to call me Mr. + Schmidt. Please bear that in mind, Bedelia." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you. I don't like the name. I'll call you—" + </p> + <p> + Just then the footman turned on the seat and excitedly pointed to a car + that had swung into the boulevard from a side street. + </p> + <p> + "The man-hunters!" exclaimed Robin. "By jove, we didn't lose them after + all." + </p> + <p> + "To the Ritz, Pierre," she cried out sharply. Once more she seemed + perturbed and anxious. + </p> + <p> + "What are you going to call me?" he demanded, insistently. + </p> + <p> + "I haven't quite decided," she replied, and lapsed into moody silence. + </p> + <p> + Her nervousness increased as they sped down the Champs Elysees and across + the Place de la Concorde. He thought that he understood the cause and + presently sought to relieve her anxiety by suggesting that she set him + down somewhere along the Rue de Rivoli. She flushed painfully. + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, Mr. Schmidt, I—are you sure you will not mind?" + </p> + <p> + "May I ask what it is that you are afraid of, Miss Guile?" he inquired + seriously. + </p> + <p> + She was lowering her veil. "I am not afraid, Mr. Schmidt," she said. "I am + a very, very guilty person, that's all. I've done something I ought not to + have done, and I'm—I'm ashamed. You don't consider me a bold, silly—" + </p> + <p> + "Good Lord, no!" he cried fervently. + </p> + <p> + "Then why do you call me Bedelia?" she asked, shaking her head. + </p> + <p> + "If you feel that way about it, I—I humbly implore you to overlook + my freshness," he cried in despair. + </p> + <p> + "Will you get out here, Mr. Schmidt?" She pressed a button and the car + swung alongside the curb. + </p> + <p> + "When am I to see you again?" he asked, holding out his hand. She gave it + a firm, friendly grip and said: + </p> + <p> + "I am going to Switzerland the day after tomorrow. Good-bye." + </p> + <p> + In a sort of daze, he walked up the Rue Castiliogne to the Place Vendome. + His heart was light and his eyes were shining with a flame that could have + but one origin. He was no longer in doubt. He was in love. He had found + the Golden Girl almost at the end of his journey, and what cared he if she + did turn out to be the daughter of old man Blithers? What cared he for <i>anything</i> + but Bedelia? There would be a pretty howdy-do when he announced to his + people that their Princess had been selected for them, whether or no, and + there might be such a thing as banishment for himself. Even at that, he + would be content, for Bedelia was proof against titles. If she loved him, + it would be for himself. She would scorn the crown and mock the throne, + and they would go away together and live happily ever afterward, as + provided by the most exacting form of romance. And Blithers? What a joke + it would be on Blithers if he gave up the throne! + </p> + <p> + As he approached the Ritz, a tall young man emerged from the entrance, + stared at him for an instant, and then swung off at a rapid pace in the + direction of the Rue de la Paix. The look he gave Robin was one of + combined amazement and concern, and the tail end of it betrayed + unmistakable annoyance,—or it might have been hatred. He looked over + his shoulder once and found Robin staring after him. This time there could + be no mistake. He was furious, but whether with Robin or himself there was + no means of deciding from the standpoint of an observer. At any rate, he + quickened his pace and soon disappeared. + </p> + <p> + He was the good-looking young fellow who had met her at the steamship + landing, and it was quite obvious that he had been making investigations + on his own account. + </p> + <p> + Robin permitted himself a sly grin as he sauntered into the hotel. He had + given <i>that</i> fellow something to worry about, if he had accomplished + nothing else. Then he found himself wondering if, by any chance, it could + be the Scoville fellow. That would be a facer! + </p> + <p> + He found Quinnox and Dank awaiting him in the lobby. They were visibly + excited. + </p> + <p> + "Did you observe the fellow who just went out?" inquired Robin, assuming a + most casual manner. + </p> + <p> + "Yes," said both men in unison. + </p> + <p> + "I think we've got some interesting news concerning that very chap," added + the Count, glancing around uneasily. + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps I may be able to anticipate it, Count," ventured Robin. "I've an + idea he is young Scoville, the chap who is supposed to be in love with + Miss Blithers—and <i>vice versa</i>," he concluded, with a chuckle. + </p> + <p> + "What have you heard?" demanded the Count in astonishment. + </p> + <p> + "Let's sit down," said Robin, at once convinced that he had stumbled upon + an unwelcome truth. + </p> + <p> + They repaired to the garden and were lucky enough to find a table somewhat + removed from the crowd of tea-drinkers. Robin began fanning himself with + his broad straw-hat. He felt uncomfortably warm. Quinnox gravely extracted + two or three bits of paper from his pocket, and spread them out in order + before his sovereign. + </p> + <p> + "Read this one first," said he grimly. + </p> + <p> + It was a cablegram from their financial agents in New York City, and it + said: "Mr. B. making a hurried trip to Paris. Just learned Scoville + preceded Miss B. to Europe by fast steamer and has been seen with her in + Paris. B. fears an elopement. Make sure papers are signed at once as such + contingency might cause B. to change mind and withdraw if possible." + </p> + <p> + Robin looked up. "I think this may account for the two man-hunters," said + he. His companions stared. "You will hear all about them from Gourou. We + were followed this afternoon." + </p> + <p> + "Followed?" gasped Quinnox. + </p> + <p> + "Beautifully," said the Prince, with his brightest smile. "Detectives, you + know. It was ripping." + </p> + <p> + "My God!" groaned the Count. + </p> + <p> + "I fancy you'll now agree with me that she is Miss Blithers," said Dank + forlornly. + </p> + <p> + "Cheer up, Boske," cried Robin, slapping him on the shoulder. "You'll meet + another fate before you're a month older. The world is absolutely crowded + with girls." + </p> + <p> + "You can't crowd the world with one girl," said Dank, and it was quite + evident from his expression that he believed the world contained no more + than one. + </p> + <p> + "I had the feeling that evil would be the result of this foolish trip + to-day," groaned Quinnox. "I should not have permitted you to—" + </p> + <p> + "The result is still in doubt," said Robin enigmatically. "And now, what + comes next?" + </p> + <p> + "Read this one. It is from Mr. Blithers. I'll guarantee that you do not + take this one so complacently." + </p> + <p> + He was right in his surmise. Robin ran his eye swiftly over the cablegram + and then started up from his chair with a muttered imprecation. + </p> + <p> + "Sh!" cautioned the Count,—and just in time, for the young man was + on the point of enlarging upon his original effort. "Calm yourself, Bobby, + my lad. Try taking six or seven full, deep inhalations, and you'll find + that it helps wonderfully as a preventive. It saves many a harsh word. + I've—" + </p> + <p> + "You needn't caution me," murmured the Prince. "If I had the tongue of a + pirate I couldn't begin to do justice to <i>this</i>," and he slapped his + hand resoundingly upon the crumpled message from William W. Blithers. + </p> + <p> + The message had been sent by Mr. Blithers that morning, evidently just + before the sailing of the fast French steamer on which he and his wife + were crossing to Havre. It was directed to August Totten and read as + follows: + </p> + <p> + "Tell our young friend to qualify statement to press at once. Announce + reconsideration of hasty denial and admit engagement. This is imperative. + I am not in mood for trifling. Have wired Paris papers that engagement is + settled. Have also wired daughter. The sooner we get together on this the + better. Wait for my arrival in Paris." It was signed "W. B." + </p> + <p> + "There's Blitherskite methods for you," said Dank. "Speaking of pirates, + he's the king of them all. Did you ever hear of such confounded insolence? + The damned—" + </p> + <p> + "Wait a second, Dank," interrupted the Count. "There is still another + delectable communication for you, Robin. It was directed to R. Schmidt and + I took the liberty of opening it, as authorised. Read it." + </p> + <p> + This was one of the ordinary "<i>petits bleu</i>," dropped into the + pneumatic tube letter-box at half-past two that afternoon, shortly before + Robin ventured forth on his interesting expedition in quest of tea, and + its contents were very crisp and to the point: + </p> + <p> + "Pay no attention to any word you may have received from my father. He + cables a ridiculous command to me which I shall ignore. If you have + received a similar message I implore you to disregard it altogether. Let's + give each other a fighting chance." + </p> + <p> + It was signed "Maud Blithers." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII — THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER + </h2> + <p> + Mr. Blithers received a marconigram from the <i>Jupiter</i> when the ship + was three days out from New York. It was terse but sufficient. + </p> + <p> + "Have just had a glimpse of Prince Charming. He is very good-looking. Love + to mother. Maud." + </p> + <p> + He had barely settled into a state of complete satisfaction with himself + over the successful inauguration of a shrewd campaign to get the better of + the recalcitrant Maud and the incomprehensible Robin, when he was thrown + into a panic by the discovery that young Chandler Scoville had sailed for + Europe two days ahead of Maud and her elderly companion. The gratification + of knowing that the two young people had sailed away on the same vessel + was not in the least minimised by Maud's declaration that she intended to + remain in her cabin all the way across in order to avoid recognition, for + he knew her too well to believe it possible that she could stay out of + sight for any length of time, fair weather or foul. He even made a + definite wager with his wife that the two would become acquainted before + they were half-way across the Atlantic, and he made a bet with himself + that nature would do the rest. And now here came the staggering suspicion + that Scoville's hasty departure was the result of a pre-arranged plan + between him and Maud, and that, after all, the silly girl might spoil + everything by marrying the confounded rascal before he could do anything + to prevent the catastrophe. + </p> + <p> + He even tried to engineer a scheme whereby young Scoville might be + arrested on landing and detained on one pretext or another until he could + reach Europe and put an end to the fellow's vain-glorious conniving. + </p> + <p> + But after consulting with his lawyers he abandoned the plan because they + succeeded in proving to him that Maud certainly would marry the fellow if + she had the least ground for believing that he was being oppressed on her + account. The cables were kept very busy, however, for the next twenty-four + hours, and it is certain that Scoville was a marked man from the moment he + landed. + </p> + <p> + Newspaper reporters camped on the trail of Mr. Blithers. He very + obligingly admitted that there was something in the report that his + daughter was to marry the Prince of Graustark, although he couldn't say + anything definite at the time. It wouldn't be fair to the parties + concerned, he explained. He gave away a great many boxes of cigars, and + not a few of the more sagacious reporters succeeded in getting at least + three boxes by interviewing him on as many separate occasions without + being detected in the act of repeating. Then came the disgusting denials + in Paris by his daughter and the ungrateful Prince. This was too much. He + couldn't understand such unfilial behaviour on the part of one, and he + certainly couldn't forgive the ingratitude of the other. + </p> + <p> + Instead of waiting until Saturday to sail, he changed ships and left New + York on Friday, thereby gaining nothing by the move except relief from the + newspapers, for it appears that he gave up a five day boat for one that + could not do it under six. Still he was in active pursuit, which was a + great deal better than sitting in New York twiddling his thumbs or looking + at his watch and berating the pernicious hours that stood between him and + Saturday noon. + </p> + <p> + "There will be something doing in Europe the day I land there, Lou," he + said to his wife as they stood on deck and watched the Statue of Liberty + glide swiftly back toward Manhattan Island. "I've got all the strings + working smoothly. We've got Groostock where it can't peep any louder than + a freshly hatched chicken, and we'll soon bring Maud to her senses. I tell + you, Lou, there is nothing that makes a girl forget her lofty ideals so + quickly as the chance to go shopping for princess gowns. She's seen the + prince and I'll bet she won't be so stubborn as she was before. And if he + has had a good, square look at her,—if he's had a chance to gaze + into those eyes of hers,—why, I—well, I leave it to you. He + can't help getting off his high horse, can he?" + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Blithers favoured him with a smile. It was acknowledged that Maud was + the living image of what her mother had been at the age of twenty. + </p> + <p> + "I hope the child hasn't made any silly promise to Channie Scoville," she + sighed. + </p> + <p> + "I've been thinking of that, Lou," said he, wiping his brow, "and I've + come to one conclusion: Scoville can be bought off. He's as poor as Job + and half a million will look like the Bank of England to him. I'll—" + </p> + <p> + "You are not to attempt anything of the kind, Will," she cried + emphatically. "He would laugh in your face, poor as he is. He comes from + one of the best families in New York and—" + </p> + <p> + "And I don't know where the best families need money any more than they do + in New York," he interrupted irritably. "'Gad, if the worst families need + it as badly as they do, what must be the needs of the best? You leave it + to me. It may be possible to insult him with a half million, so if he + feels that way about it I'll apologise to him again with another half + million. You'll see that he won't be capable of resenting two insults in + succession. He'll—" + </p> + <p> + "He isn't a fool," said she significantly. + </p> + <p> + "He'd be a fool if he refused to take—" + </p> + <p> + "Are you losing your senses, Will?" she cried impatiently. "Why should he + accept a million to give up Maud, when he can be sure of fifty times that + much if he marries her?" + </p> + <p> + "But I'll cut Maud off with a dollar if she marries him, so help me + Moses!" exclaimed Mr. Blithers, but he went a little pale just the same. + "That will fix him!" + </p> + <p> + "You are talking nonsense," said she sharply. He put his fingers to his + ears somewhat earlier than usual, and she turned away with a tantalising + laugh. "I'm going inside," and inside she went. When he followed a few + minutes later he was uncommonly meek. + </p> + <p> + "At any rate," he said, seating himself on the edge of a chair in her + parlour, "I guess those cablegrams this morning will make 'em think twice + before they go on denying things in the newspapers." + </p> + <p> + "Maud will pay no attention to your cablegram, and, if I am any judge of + human nature, the Prince will laugh himself sick over the one you sent to + Count Quinnox. I told you not to send them. You are not dealing with Wall + Street. You are dealing with a girl and a boy who appear to have minds of + their own." + </p> + <p> + He ventured a superior sniff. "I guess you don't know as much about Wall + Street as you think you do." + </p> + <p> + "I only know that it puts its tail between its legs and howls every time + some one points a finger at it," she observed scornfully. + </p> + <p> + "Now let's be sensible, Lou," he said, sitting back a little further in + the chair, relieved to find that she was at least willing to tolerate his + presence,—a matter on which he was in some doubt when he entered the + room. There were times when he was not quite certain whether he or she was + the brains of the family. "We'll probably have a wireless from Maud before + long. Then we'll have something tangible to discuss. By the way, did I + tell you that I've ordered some Dutch architects from Berlin to go—" + </p> + <p> + "The Dutch are from Holland," she said wearily. + </p> + <p> + "—to go over to Growstock and give me a complete estimate on + repairing and remodelling the royal castle? I dare say we'll have to do a + good deal to the place. It's several hundred years old and must require a + lot of conveniences. Such as bath-rooms, electric lights, steam heating + appar—" + </p> + <p> + "Better make haste slowly, Will," she said, and he ought to have been + warned by the light in her eye. "You are taking a great deal for granted, + aren't you?" + </p> + <p> + "It's got to be fixed up some time, so we might just as well do it in the + beginning," said he, failing utterly to grasp her meaning. "Probably needs + refurnishing from top to bottom, too, and a new roof. I never saw a ruin + yet that didn't leak. Remember those castles on the Rhine? Will you ever + forget how wet we got the day we went through the one at—" + </p> + <p> + "They were abandoned, tumble-down castles," she reminded him. + </p> + <p> + "There isn't a castle in Europe that's any good in a rain-storm," he + proclaimed. "A mortgage can't keep out the rain and that's what every one + of 'em is covered with. Why old man Quiddox himself told me that their + castle had been shot to pieces in one of the revolutions and—" + </p> + <p> + "It is time you informed yourself about the country you are trying to + annex to the Blithers estate," she said sarcastically. "I can assist you + to some extent if you will be good enough to listen. In the first place, + the royal castle at Edelweiss is one of the most substantial in the world. + It has not been allowed to fall into decay. In fact, it is inhabitated + from top to bottom by members of the royal household and the court, and I + fancy they are not the sort of people who take kindly to a wetting. It is + not a ruin, Will, such as you have been permitted to visit, but a + magnificent building with all of the modern improvements. The only + wettings that the inmates sustain are of a daily character and due + entirely to voluntary association with porcelain bath-tubs and + nickle-plated showers, and they never get anything wet but their skins. As + for the furnishings, I can assure you that the entire Blithers fortune + could not replace them if they were to be destroyed by fire or pillage. + They are priceless and they are unique. I have read that the hangings in + the bed-chamber of the late Princess Yetive are the most wonderful in the + whole world. The throne chair in the great audience chamber is of solid + gold and weighs nearly three thousand pounds. It is studded with diamonds, + rubies—" + </p> + <p> + "Great Scott, Lou, where did you learn all this?" he gasped, his eyes + bulging. + </p> + <p> + "—emeralds and other precious stones. There is one huge carpet in + the royal drawing-room that the Czar of Russia is said to have offered one + hundred thousand pounds for and the offer was scorned. The park + surrounding the castle is said to be beautiful beyond the power of + description. The—" + </p> + <p> + "I asked you where you got all this information. Can't you answer me?" + </p> + <p> + "I obtained all this and a great deal more from a lady who spent a year or + two inside the castle walls. I refer to Mrs. Truxton King, who might have + told you as much if you had possessed the intelligence to inquire." + </p> + <p> + "Gee whiz!" exclaimed Mr. Blithers, going back to his buoyant boyhood days + for an adequate expression. "What a wonder you are, Lou. But that's the + woman of it, always getting at the inside of a thing while a man is + standing around looking at the outside. Say, but won't it make a wonderful + home for you and me to spend a peaceful old age in when we get ready to + lay aside the—" + </p> + <p> + He stopped short, for she had arisen and was standing over him with a + quivering forefinger levelled at his nose,—and not more than six + inches away from it,—her handsome eyes flashing with fury. + </p> + <p> + "You may walk in where angels fear to tread, but you will walk alone, Will + Blithers. I shall not be with you, and you may as well understand it now. + I've told you a hundred times that money isn't everything, and it is as + cheap as dirt when you put it alongside of tradition, honour, pride and + loyalty. Those Graustarkians would take you by the nape of the neck and + march you out of their castle so quick that your head would swim. You may + be able to buy their prince for Maudie to exhibit around the country, but + you can't buy the intelligence of the people. They won't have you at any + price and they won't have me, so there is the situation in a nutshell. + They will hate Maudie, of course, but they will endure her for obvious + reasons. They may even come to love and respect her in the end, for she is + worthy. But as for you and me, William,—with all our money,—we + will find every hand against us—even the hand of our daughter, I + prophesy. I am not saying that I would regret seeing Maud the Princess of + Graustark—far from it. But I do say that you and I will be expected + to know our places. If you attempt to spend your declining years in the + castle at Edelweiss you will find them reduced to days, and short ones at + that. The people of Graustark will see to it that you die before your + time." + </p> + <p> + "Bosh!" said Mr. Blithers. "Mind if I smoke?" He took out a cigar and + began searching for matches. + </p> + <p> + "No," she said, "I don't mind. It is a sign that you need something to + steady your nerves. I know you, Will Blithers. You don't want to smoke. + You want to gain a few minutes of time, that's all." + </p> + <p> + He lit a cigar. "Right you are," was his unexpected admission. "I wonder + if you really have the right idea about this business. What objection + could any one have to a poor, tired old man sitting in front of his + daughter's fireside and—and playing with her kiddies? It seems to me + that—" + </p> + <p> + "You will never be a tired old man, that's the trouble," she said, + instantly touched. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, yes, I will," said he slowly. "I'm rather looking forward to it, + too." + </p> + <p> + "It will be much nicer to have the kiddies come to your own fireside, + Will. I used to enjoy nothing better than going to spend a few days with + my grandfather." + </p> + <p> + "But what's the use of going to all this trouble and expense if we are not + to enjoy some of the fruits?" he protested, making a determined stand. "If + these people can't be grateful to the man who helps 'em out in their time + of trouble,—and who goes out of his way to present 'em with a + bright, capable posterity,—I'd like to know what in thunder + gratitude really means." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, there isn't such a thing as gratitude," she said. "Obligation, yes,—and + ingratitude most certainly, but gratitude,—no. You are in a position + to know that gratitude doesn't exist. Are you forgetting the private + advices we already have had from Graustark? Does it indicate that the + people are grateful? There are moments when I fear that we are actually + placing Maud's life in peril, and I have had some wretched dreams. They do + not want her. They speak of exile for the Prince if he marries her. And + now I repeat what I have said before:—the people of Graustark must + have an opportunity to see and become acquainted with Maud before the + marriage is definitely arranged. I will not have my daughter cast into a + den of lions. Will,—for that is what it may amount to. The people + will adore her, they will welcome her with open arms if they are given the + chance. But they will have none of her if she is forced upon them in the + way you propose." + </p> + <p> + "I'll—I'll think it over," said Mr. Blithers, and then discovered + that his cigar had gone out. "I think I'll go on deck and smoke, Lou. + Makes it stuffy in here. We'll lunch in the restaurant at half-past one, + eh?" + </p> + <p> + "Think hard, Will," she recommended, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + "I'll do that," he said, "but there's nothing on earth that can alter my + determination to make Maud the Princess of Groostork. <i>That's</i> + settled." + </p> + <p> + "Graustark, Will." + </p> + <p> + "Well, whatever it is," said he, and departed. + </p> + <p> + He did think hard, but not so much about a regal home for aged people as + about Channie Scoville who had now become a positive menace to all of his + well-ordered and costly plans. The principal subject for thought just now + was not Graustark but this conniving young gentleman who stood ready to + make a terrible mess of posterity. Mr. Blithers was sufficiently + fair-minded to concede that the fellow was good-looking, well-bred and + clever, just the sort of chap that any girl might fall in love with like a + shot. As a matter of fact, he once had admired Scoville, but that was + before he came to look upon him as a menace. He would make a capital + husband for any girl in the world, except Maud. He could say that much for + him, without reserve. + </p> + <p> + He thought hard until half-past one and then went to the wireless office, + where he wrote out a message in cipher and directed the operator to waste + no time in relaying it to his offices in Paris. His wife was right. It + would be the height of folly to offer Scoville money and it would be even + worse to inspire the temporary imprisonment of the young man. + </p> + <p> + But there was a splendid alternative. He could manage to have his own + daughter abducted,—chaperon included,—and held for ransom! + </p> + <p> + The more he thought of it the better it seemed to him, and so he sent a + cipher message that was destined to throw his Paris managers into a state + of agitation that cannot possibly be measured by words. In brief, he + instructed them to engage a few peaceable, trustworthy and positively + respectable gentlemen,—he was particularly exacting on the score of + gentility,—with orders to abduct the young lady and hold her in + restraint until he arrived and arranged for her liberation! They were to + do the deed without making any fuss about it, but at the same time they + were to do it effectually. + </p> + <p> + He had the foresight to suggest that the job should be undertaken by the + very detective agency he had employed to shadow young Scoville and also to + keep an eye on Maud. Naturally, she was never to know the truth about the + matter. She was to believe that her father came up with a huge sum in the + shape of ransom, no questions asked. He also remembered in time and added + the imperative command that she was to be confined in clean, comfortable + quarters and given the best of nourishment. But, above all else, it was to + be managed in a decidedly realistic way, for Maud was a keen-witted + creature who would see through the smallest crack in the conspiracy if + there was a single false movement on the part of the plotters. It is also + worthy of mention that Mrs. Blithers was never—<i>decidedly never</i>—to + know the truth about the matter. + </p> + <p> + He went in to luncheon in a very amiable, even docile frame of mind. + </p> + <p> + "I've thought the matter over, Lou," he said, "and I guess you are right, + after all. We will make all the repairs necessary, but we won't consider + living in it ourselves. We'll return good for evil and live in a hotel + when we go to visit the royal family. As for—" + </p> + <p> + "I meant that you were to think hard before attempting to force Maud upon + Prince Robin's subjects without preparing them for the—" + </p> + <p> + "I thought of that, too," he interrupted cheerfully. "I'm not going to + cast my only child into the den of lions, so that's the end of it. Have + you given the order, my dear?" + </p> + <p> + "No," she said; "for I knew you would change it when you came in." + </p> + <p> + Late that evening he had a reply from his Paris managers. They inquired if + he was responsible for the message they had received. It was a ticklish + job and they wanted to be sure that the message was genuine. He wired back + that he was the sender and to go ahead. The next morning they notified him + that his instructions would be carried out as expeditiously as possible. + </p> + <p> + He displayed such a beaming countenance all that day that his wife finally + demanded an explanation. It wasn't like him to beam when he was worried + about anything, and she wanted to know what had come over him. + </p> + <p> + "It's the sea-air, Lou," he exclaimed glibly. "It always makes me feel + like a fighting-cock. I—" + </p> + <p> + "Rubbish! You detest the sea-air. It makes you feel like fighting, I + grant, but not like a fighting-cock." + </p> + <p> + "There you go, trying to tell me how I feel. I've never known any one like + you, Lou. I can't say a word that—" + </p> + <p> + "Have you had any news from Maud?" she broke in suspiciously. + </p> + <p> + "Not a word," said he. + </p> + <p> + "What have you done to Channie Scoville?" she questioned, fixing him with + an accusing eye. + </p> + <p> + "Not a thing," said he. + </p> + <p> + "Then, what is it?" + </p> + <p> + "You won't believe me if I tell you," said he warily. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I will." + </p> + <p> + "No, you won't." + </p> + <p> + "Tell me this instant why you've been grinning like a Cheshire cat all + day." + </p> + <p> + "It's the sea-air," said he, and then: "I said you wouldn't believe me, + didn't I?" + </p> + <p> + "Do you think I'm a fool, Will Blithers?" she flashed, and did not wait + for an answer. He chuckled to himself as she swept imperiously out of + sight around a corner of the deck-building. + </p> + <p> + He was up bright and early the next morning, tingling with anticipation. + There ought to be word from Paris before noon, and it might come earlier. + He kept pretty close to the wireless operator's office, and was + particularly attentive to the spitting crackle of the instrument. + </p> + <p> + About eleven o'clock an incomprehensibly long message began to rattle out + of the air. He contained himself in patience for the matter of half an + hour or longer, and then, as the clatter continued without cessation, he + got up and made his way to the door of the operator's office. + </p> + <p> + "What is it? The history of England?" he demanded sarcastically. + </p> + <p> + "Message for you, Mr. Blithers. It's a long one and I'm having a hard time + picking it up. Everybody seems to be talking at once. Do you want the + baseball scores, Mr. Blithers?" + </p> + <p> + "Not unless they come in cipher," said Mr. Blithers acidly. + </p> + <p> + "Some of 'em do. Six to nothing in favor of the Giants, two to nothing—Here + we are at last. I've picked up the <i>Mauretania</i> again. She's + relaying." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers sat down on the steps and looked at his watch. It would be + five o'clock in Paris. He wondered if they were giving Maud her afternoon + tea, and then choked up with a sudden pity for the terrified captive. It + was all he could do to keep from jumping up and ordering the operator to + drop everything and take a message countermanding his inhuman instructions + to those asses in Paris. Tears gushed from his eyes. He brushed them away + angrily and tried to convince himself that it served Maud right for being + so obstinate. Still the tears came. The corners of his mouth drooped and + his chin began to quiver. It was too much! The poor child was— + </p> + <p> + But just then the operator sat back with a sigh of relief, mopped his + brow, and said: + </p> + <p> + "Good thing you're a rich man, Mr. Blithers. It came collect and—" + </p> + <p> + "Never mind," blurted Mr. Blithers. "Hand it over." + </p> + <p> + There were four sheets of writing at some outlandish price per word, but + what cared he? He wanted to get back to his stateroom and his cipher code + as quickly—but his eyes almost started from his head as he took in + the name at the bottom of the message. It was "Maud." + </p> + <p> + He did not require the cipher book. A fourth reader child could have read + the message without a halt. Maud had taken his request literally. He had + asked her to send him a nice long message, but he did not expect her to + make a four-page letter of it. She was paying him out with a vengeance! + </p> + <p> + He took the precaution to read it before handing it over to his wife, to + whom it was addressed in conjunction with himself: + </p> + <p> + "Dear father and mother," it began—(and he looked at the date line + again to make sure it was from Paris)—"in reply to your esteemed + favour of the nineteenth, or possibly the twentieth, I beg to inform you + that I arrived safely in Paris as per schedule. Regarding the voyage, it + was delightful. We had one or two rough days. The rest of the time it was + perfectly heavenly. I met two or three interesting and amusing people on + board and they made the time pass most agreeably. I think I wired you that + I had a glimpse of a certain person. On my arrival in Paris I was met at + the station by friends and taken at once to the small, exclusive hotel + where they are stopping for the summer. It is so small and exclusive that + I'm sure you have never heard of it. I may as well tell you that I have + seen Channie,—you know who I mean,—Chandler Scoville, and he + has been very nice to me. Concerning your suggestion that I reconsider the + statement issued to the press, I beg to state that I don't see any sense + in taking the world into my confidence any farther than it has been taken + already, if that is grammatically correct. I have also sent word to a + certain person that he is not to pay any attention to the report that we + are likely to change our minds in order to help out the greedy newspapers + who don't appear to know when they have had enough. I hope that the voyage + will benefit both of you as much as it did me. If I felt any better than I + do now I'd call for the police as a precaution. Let me suggest that you + try the chicken a la Bombardier in the Ritz restaurant. I found it + delicious. I daresay they serve it as nicely on your ship as they do on + the <i>Jupiter</i>. as the management is the same. Of course one never can + tell about chefs. My plans are a trifle indefinite. I may leave here at + any moment. It is very hot and muggy and nearly every one is skipping off + to the mountains or seashore. If I should happen to be away from Paris + when you arrive don't worry about me. I shall be all right and in safe + hands. I will let you know where I am just as soon as I get settled + somewhere. I must go where it is quiet and peaceful. I am so distressed + over what has occurred that I don't feel as though I could ever be seen in + public again without a thick veil and a pair of goggles. I have plenty of + money for immediate use, but you might deposit something to my credit at + the Credit Lyonnais as I haven't the least idea how long I shall stay over + here. Miranda is well and is taking good care of me. She seldom lets me + out of her sight if that is any comfort to you. I hope you will forgive + the brevity of this communication and believe me when I say that it is not + lack of love for you both that curtails its length but the abominably hot + weather. With endless love from your devoted daughter—Maud." + </p> + <p> + The tears had dried in Mr. Blithers' eyes but he wiped them time and again + as he read this amazing letter,—this staggering exhibition of + prodigality. He swore a little at first, but toward the end even that + prerogative failed him. He set out in quest of his wife. Not that he + expected her to say any more than he had said, but that he wanted her to + see at a glance what kind of a child she had brought into the world and to + forever hold her peace in future when he undertook to speak his mind. + </p> + <p> + He could not understand why his wife laughed softly to herself as she + read, and he looked on in simple amazement when she deliberately undertook + to count the words. She counted them in a whisper and he couldn't stand + it. He went down where the children were shrieking over a game of quoits + and felt singularly peaceful and undisturbed. + </p> + <p> + It was nearly bed-time before word came from his managers in Paris. + Bed-time had no meaning for him after he had worked out the message by the + code. It is true that he observed a life-long custom and went to bed, but + he did not do it for the purpose of going to sleep. + </p> + <p> + "Your daughter has disappeared from Paris. All efforts to locate her have + failed. Friends say she left ostensibly for the Pyrenees but inquiries at + stations and along line fail to reveal trace of her. Scoville still here + and apparently in the dark. He is being watched. Her companion and maid + left with her last night. Prince of Graustark and party left for Edelweiss + to-day." + </p> + <p> + So read the message from Paris. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII — A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT + </h2> + <p> + One usually has breakfast on the porch of the Hotel Schweizerhof at + Interlaken. It is not the most fashionable hostelry in the quaint little + town at the head of the Lake of Thun, but it is of an excellent character, + and the rolls and honey to be had with one's breakfast can not be + surpassed in the Bernese Oberland. Straight ahead lies one of the most + magnificent prospects in all the world: an unobstructed view of the + snow-thatched Jungfrau, miles away, gleaming white and jagged against an + azure sky, suggesting warmth instead of chill, grandeur instead of terror. + Looking up the valley one might be led to say that an hour's ramble would + take him to the crest of that shining peak, and yet some men have made a + life's journey of it. Others have turned back in time. + </p> + <p> + One has a whiff of fragrant woodlands and serene hay-cocks, a breath of + cool air from the Jungfrau's snows, a sniff of delectable bacon and toast—and + a zest for breakfast. And one sets about it with interest, with the + breakfast of the next day as a thing to look forward to. + </p> + <p> + R. Schmidt sat facing the dejected Boske Dank. His eyes were dancing with + the joy of living, and nothing better can be said of a man's character + than that he is gay and happy at breakfast-time. He who wakes up, + refreshed and buoyant, and eager for the day's adventure, is indeed a + child of nature. He will never grow old and crabbed; he will grip the hand + of death when the time comes with the unconquered zeal that makes the grim + reaper despise himself for the advantage he takes of youth. + </p> + <p> + "Well, here we are and in spite of that, where are we?" said Dank, who saw + nothing beautiful in the smile of any early morn. "I mean to say, what + have we to show for our pains? We sneak into this Godforsaken hamlet, + surrounded on all sides by abominations in the shape of tourists, and at + the end of twenty-four hours we discover that the fair Miss Guile has + played us a shabby trick. I daresay she is laughing herself sick over the + whole business." + </p> + <p> + "Which is more than you can say for yourself, Boske," said Robin blithely. + "Brace up! All is not lost. We'll wait here a day or two longer and then—well, + I don't know what we'll do then." + </p> + <p> + "She never intended to come here at all," said Dank, filled with + resentment. "It was a trick to get rid of us. She—" + </p> + <p> + "Be honest, old chap and say that it was a trick to get rid of <i>me</i>. + Us is entirely too plural. But I haven't lost heart. She'll turn up yet." + </p> + <p> + "Count Quinnox is in despair over this extraordinary whim of yours, + highness. He is really ill in bed this morning. I—" + </p> + <p> + "I'll run up and see him after breakfast," cried the Prince, genuinely + concerned. "I'm sorry he is taking it so seriously." + </p> + <p> + "He feels that we should be at home instead of dawdling about the—" + </p> + <p> + "That reminds me. Dank," broke in the Prince, fresh happiness in his + smile; "I've decided that home is the place for you and the Count—and + Gourou too. I'm perfectly able to take care of myself,—with some + assistance from Hobbs,—and I don't see any necessity for you three + to remain with me any longer. I'll tell the Count that you all may start + for Vienna tonight. You connect with the Orient express at—" + </p> + <p> + "Are you mad, highness?" cried Dank, startled out of his dejection. "What + you speak of is impossible—utterly impossible. We cannot leave you. + We were delegated to escort you—" + </p> + <p> + "I understand all of that perfectly, Dank," interrupted Robin, suddenly + embarrassed, "but don't you see how infernally awkward it will be for me + if Miss Guile does appear, according to plan? She will find me + body-guarded, so to speak, by three surly, scowling individuals whose + presence I cannot explain to save my soul, unless I tell the truth, and + I'm not yet ready to do that. Can't you see what I mean? How am I to + explain the three of you? A hawk-eyed triumvirate that camps on my trail + from morn till night and refuses to budge! She'll suspect something, old + fellow, and—well, I certainly will feel more comfortable if I'm not + watched for the next few days." + </p> + <p> + "That's the point, highness. You've just got to be watched for the next + few days. We would never dare to show our faces in Graustark again if we + allowed anything to happen to you while you are under our care. You are a + sacred charge. We must return you to Graustark as—er—inviolate + as when you departed. We—we couldn't think of subjecting you to the + peril of a—that is to say, it might prove fatal. Graustark, in that + event, would be justified in hanging two of her foremost citizens and + yours truly from gibbets designed especially for the blackest of + traitors." + </p> + <p> + "I see, Dank. If I find happiness, you are almost sure to find disgrace + and death, eh? It doesn't seem a fair division, does it? I suppose you all + feel that the worst thing that can possibly happen is for me to find + happiness." + </p> + <p> + "If I were the Prince of Graustark I should first think of the happiness + of my subjects. I would not offend." + </p> + <p> + "Well put, Boske, but fortunately you are not the Prince. I sometimes wish + that you were. It would relieve me of a tremendous responsibility. I am + not mean enough, however, to wish a crown upon you, old fellow. You are + lucky to be who and what you are. No one cares what you do, so long as you + are honourable about it. With me it is different. I have to be watched day + and night in order to be kept from doing what all the rest of the world + looks upon as honourable." + </p> + <p> + "I implore you, highness, to give up this mad enterprise and return to + your people as—" + </p> + <p> + "There is only one person in the world who can stop me now, Dank." + </p> + <p> + "And she isn't likely to do so, worse luck," was the other's complaint. + </p> + <p> + "When she tells me to go about my business, I'll go, but not until then. + Don't you like honey, Dank?" + </p> + <p> + "No," said Dank savagely. "I hate it." He leaned back in his chair and + glowered upon the innocent, placid Jungfrau. The Prince ate in silence. + "May I be permitted a question, highness?" + </p> + <p> + "All you like, Boske. You are my best friend. Go ahead." + </p> + <p> + "Did you see Miss Guile after that visit to St. Cloud—and to the + police station?" + </p> + <p> + "No. Evidently she was frightened out of her boots by the Hawkshaws. I + don't blame her, do you?" + </p> + <p> + "And you've had no word from her?" + </p> + <p> + "None. Now you are going to ask what reason I have for believing that she + will come to Interlaken. Well, I can't answer that question. I think + she'll come, that's all." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think she is in love with you?" + </p> + <p> + "Ah, my dear fellow, you are asking me to answer my own prayer," said + Robin, without a sign of resentment in his manner. "I'm praying that she + isn't altogether indifferent. By the way, it is my turn to ask questions. + Are you still in love with her?" + </p> + <p> + "I am proud to say that you are more in my prayers that she," said Dank, + with a profound sigh. "Nothing could please me more than to be the one to + save my prince from disaster, even if it meant the sacrifice of self. My + only prayer is that you may be spared, sir, and I taken in your place." + </p> + <p> + "That was a neat answer, 'pon my soul," cried the Prince admiringly. "You—Hello, + who is this approaching? It is no other than the great Gourou himself, the + king of sleuths, as they say in the books I used to read. Good morning, + Baron." + </p> + <p> + The sharp-visaged little Minister of Police came up to the table and fixed + an accusing eye upon his sovereign,—the literal truth, for he had + the other eye closed in a protracted wink. + </p> + <p> + "I regret to inform your majesty that the enemy is upon us," he said. "I + fear that our retreat is cut off. Nothing remains save—" + </p> + <p> + "She has arrived?" cried the Prince eagerly. + </p> + <p> + "She has," said the Baron. "Bag and baggage, and armed to the eyes. Each + eye is a gatling-gun, each lip a lunette behind which lies an + unconquerable legion of smiles and rows of ivory bayonets, each ear a + hardy spy, and every nut-brown strand a covetous dastard on the warpath + not for a scalp but for a crown. Napoleon was never so well prepared for + battle as she, nor Troy so firmly fortified. Yes, highness, the foe is at + our gates. We must to arms!" + </p> + <p> + "Where is she?" demanded Robin, unimpressed by this glowing panegyric. + </p> + <p> + "At this instant, sir, I fancy she is rallying her forces in the very face + of a helpless mirror. In other words, she is preparing for the fray. She + is dressing." + </p> + <p> + "The devil! How dare you pry into the secret—" + </p> + <p> + "Abhorrent thought! I deduce, nothing more. Her maid loses herself in the + halls while attempting to respond to the call for re-inforcements. She + accosts a gentleman of whom she inquires the way. The gentleman informs + her she is on the third, not the second <i>etage</i>, and she scurries + away simpering, but not before confiding to me—the aforesaid + gentleman—that her mistress will give her fits for being late with + her hair, whatever that may signify. So, you see, I do not stoop to + keyholes but put my wits to work instead." + </p> + <p> + "When did she arrive?" + </p> + <p> + "She came last night via Milan." + </p> + <p> + "From Milan?" cried Robin, astonished. + </p> + <p> + "A roundabout way, I'll admit," said the Baron, drily, "and tortuous in + these hot days, but admirably suited to a purpose. I should say that she + was bent on throwing some one off the track." + </p> + <p> + "And yet she came!" cried the Prince, in exultation. "She wanted to come, + after all, now didn't she, Dank?" He gave the lieutenant a look of + triumph. + </p> + <p> + "She is more dangerous than I thought," said the guardsman mournfully. + </p> + <p> + "Sit down, Baron," commanded the Prince. "I want to lay down the law to + all of you. You three will have to move on to Graustark and leave me to + look out for myself. I will not have Miss Guile—" + </p> + <p> + "No!" exclaimed the Baron, with unusual vehemence. "I expected you to + propose something of the kind, and I am obliged to confess to you that we + have discussed the contingency in advance. We will not leave you. That is + final. You may depose us, exile us, curse us or anything you like, but + still we shall remain true to the duty we owe to our country. We stay + here, Prince Robin, just so long as you are content to remain." + </p> + <p> + Robin's face was very red. "You shame me, Baron," he said simply. "I am + sorry that I spoke as I did. You are my friends, my loyal friends, and I + would have humbled you in the eyes of my people. I beg your pardon, and + yours, Boske. After all, I am only a prince and a prince is dependent on + the loyalty of such as you. I take back all that I said." + </p> + <p> + The Baron laid a kindly hand on the young man's shoulder. "I was rough, + highness, in my speech just now, but you will understand that I was moved + to—" + </p> + <p> + "I know, Baron. It was the only way to fetch me up sharp. No apology is + required. God bless you." + </p> + <p> + "Now I have a suggestion of my own to offer," said the Baron, taking a + seat at the end of the table. "I confess that Miss Guile may not be + favourably impressed by the constant attendance of three able-bodied + nurses, and, as she happens to be no fool, it is reasonably certain that + she will grasp the significance of our assiduity. Now I propose that the + Count, Dank and myself efface ourselves as completely as possible during + the rest of our enforced stay in Interlaken. I propose that we take + quarters in another hotel and leave you and Hobbs to the tender mercies of + the enemy. It seems to me that—" + </p> + <p> + "Good!" cried Robin. "That's the ticket! I quite agree to that, Baron." + </p> + <p> + Dank was prepared to object but a dark look from Gourou silenced him. + "I've talked it over with the Count and he acquiesces," went on the Baron. + "We recognise the futility of trying to induce you to leave at once for + Graustark, and we are now content to trust Providence to watch over and + protect you against a foe whose motives may in time become transparent, + even to the blind." + </p> + <p> + The irony in the remark was not lost on Robin. He flushed angrily but held + his tongue. + </p> + <p> + Ten o'clock found the three gentlemen,—so classified by Hobbs,—out + of the Schweizerhof and arranging for accommodations at the Regina Hotel + Jungfraublick, perched on an eminence overlooking the valley and some + distance removed from the temporary abode of the Prince. Their departure + from the hotel in the Hoheweg was accomplished without detection by Miss + Guile or her friends, and, to all intents and purposes, Robin was alone + and unattended when he sat down on the porch near the telescope to await + the first appearance of the enchanting foe. He was somewhat puzzled by the + strange submissiveness of his companions. Deep down in his mind lurked the + disquieting suspicion that they were conniving to get the better of the + lovely temptress by some sly and secret bit of strategy. What was back of + the wily Baron's motive? Why were they now content to let him take the bit + in his teeth and run wherever he would? What had become of their anxiety, + their eagerness to drag him off to Graustark by the first train? There was + food for reflection in the tranquil capitulation of the defenders. Were + they acting under fresh instructions from Edelweiss? Had the Prime + Minister directed them to put no further obstacle in front of the great + Blithers invasion? Or—and he scowled darkly at the thought—was + there a plan afoot to overcome the dangerous Miss Guile by means more + sinister than subtle? + </p> + <p> + Enlightenment came unexpectedly and with a shock to his composure. He had + observed the three spirited saddlehorses near the entrance of the hotel, + in charge of two stable-boys, but had regarded them only as splendid + specimens of equine aristocracy. It had not entered his mind to look upon + them as agents of despair. + </p> + <p> + Two people emerged from the door and, passing by without so much as a + glance in his direction, made their way to the mounting block. Robin's + heart went down to his boots. Bedelia, a graceful figure in a smart riding + habit, was laughing blithely over a soft-spoken remark that her companion + had made as they were crossing the porch. And that companion was no other + than the tall, good-looking fellow who had met her at Cherbourg! The + Prince, stunned and incredulous, watched them mount their horses and + canter away, followed by a groom who seemed to have sprung up from + nowhere. + </p> + <p> + "Good morning, Mr. Schmidt," spoke a voice, and, still bewildered, he + whirled, hat in hand, to confront Mrs. Gaston. "Did I startle you?" + </p> + <p> + He bowed stiffly over the hand she held out for him to clasp, and murmured + something about being proof against any surprise. The colour was slowly + returning to his face, and his smile was as engaging as ever despite the + bitterness that filled his soul. Here was a pretty trick to play on a + fellow! Here was a slap in the face! + </p> + <p> + "Isn't it a glorious morning? And how wonderful she is in this gorgeous + sunlight," went on Mrs. Gaston, in what may be described as a hurried, + nervous manner. + </p> + <p> + "I had the briefest glimpse of her," mumbled Robin. "When did she come?" + </p> + <p> + "Centuries and centuries ago, Mr. Schmidt," said she, with a smile. "I was + speaking of the Jungfrau." + </p> + <p> + "Oh!" he exclaimed, flushing. "I thought you—er—yes, of + course! Really quite wonderful. I have heard it said that she never + removes her night-cap, but always greets the dawn in spotless—ahem! + Of course you understand that I am speaking of the Jungfrau," he + floundered. + </p> + <p> + "Naturally, Mr. Schmidt. And so you came, after all. We were afraid you + might have concluded to alter your plans. Miss Guile will be delighted." + </p> + <p> + He appeared grateful for the promise. "I have been here for three days, + Mrs. Gaston. You were delayed in leaving Paris?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes," she said, and changed the subject. "The riding is quite good, I + understand. They are off for Lauterbrunnen." + </p> + <p> + "I see," said he. "There is a splendid inn there, I am told." + </p> + <p> + "They will return here for luncheon, of course," she said, raising her + eyebrows slightly. His heart became a trifle lighter at this. "Mr. White + is a lifelong friend and acquaintance of the family," she volunteered, + apropos of nothing. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, his name is White?" with a quiet laugh. + </p> + <p> + "If you have nothing better to do, Mr. Schmidt, why not come with me to + the Kursaal? The morning concert will begin shortly, and I—" + </p> + <p> + "I think you will find that the band plays in the square across the way, + Mrs. Gaston, and not in the Casino. At least, that has been the programme + for the last two mornings." + </p> + <p> + "Nevertheless, there is a concert at the Casino today," she informed him. + "Will you come?" + </p> + <p> + "Gladly," he replied, and they set off for the Kursaal. He found seats in + the half-empty pavillion and prepared to listen to the music, although his + real interest was following the narrow highway to Lauterbrunnen—and + the Staubbach. + </p> + <p> + "This is to be a special concert given at the request of the Grand Duke + who, I hear, is leaving this afternoon for Berne." + </p> + <p> + "The Grand Duke? I was not aware of the presence of royalty," said he in + surprise. + </p> + <p> + "No? He has been here for three days, but at another hotel. The Grand Duke + Paulus and his family, you know." + </p> + <p> + Robin shot a swift, apprehensive glance about the big enclosure, sweeping + the raised circle from end to end. On the opposite side of the pavillion + he discovered the space reserved for the distinguished party. Although he + was far removed from that section he sank deeper into his chair and found + one pretext after another to screen his face from view. He did know the + Grand Duke Paulus and the Grand Duke knew him, which was even more to the + point. + </p> + <p> + The Prince of Graustark had been a prime favourite of the great man since + his knickerbocker days. Twice as a boy he had visited in the ducal palace, + far distant from Graustark, and at the time of his own coronation the + Grand Duke and his sons had come to the castle in Edelweiss for a full + month's stay. They knew him well and they would recognise him at a glance. + At this particular time the last thing on earth that he desired was to be + hailed as a royal prince. + </p> + <p> + Never, in all his life, had he known the sun to penetrate so brightly into + shadows as it did to-day. He felt that he was sitting in a perfect glare + of light and that every feature of his face was clear to the most distant + observer. + </p> + <p> + He was on the point of making an excuse to leave the place when the ducal + party came sauntering down the aisle on their way to the reserved section. + Every one stood up, the band played, the Grand Duke bowed to the right and + to the left, and escape was cut off. Robin could only stand with averted + face and direct mild execrations at the sunlight that had seemed so + glorious at breakfast-time. + </p> + <p> + "He is a splendid-looking man, isn't he?" Mrs. Gaston was saying. She was + gazing in rapt admiration upon the royal group. + </p> + <p> + "He is, indeed," said Robin, resolutely scanning a programme, which he + continued to hold before his face. When he sat down again, it was with his + back to the band. "I don't like to watch the conductors," he explained. + "They do such foolish things, you know." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Gaston was eyeing him curiously. He was bitterly conscious of a + crimson cheek. In silence they listened to the first number. While the + applause was at its height, Mrs. Gaston leaned forward and said to him: + </p> + <p> + "I am afraid you are not enjoying the music, Mr. Schmidt. What is on your + mind?" + </p> + <p> + He started. "I—I—really, Mrs. Gaston, I am enjoying it. I—" + </p> + <p> + "Your mind has gone horse-back riding, I fear. At present it is between + here and Lauterbrunnen, jogging beside that roaring little torrent that—" + </p> + <p> + "I don't mind confessing that you are quite right," said he frankly. "And + I may add that the music makes me so blue that I'd like to jump into that + roaring torrent and—and swim out again, I suppose," he concluded, + with a sheepish grin. + </p> + <p> + "You are in love." + </p> + <p> + "I am," he confessed. + </p> + <p> + She laid her hand upon his. Her eyes were wide with eagerness. "Would it + drive away the blues if I were to tell you that you have a chance to win + her?" + </p> + <p> + He felt his head spinning. "If—if I could believe that—that-" + he began, and choked up with the rush of emotion that swept through him. + </p> + <p> + "She is a strange girl. She will marry for love alone. Her father is + determined that she shall marry a royal prince. That much I may confess to + you. She has defied her father, Mr. Schmidt. She will marry for love, and + I believe it is in your power to awaken love in that adorable heart of + hers. You—" + </p> + <p> + "For God's sake, Mrs. Gaston, tell me—tell me, has she breathed a + word to you that—" + </p> + <p> + "Not a single word. But I know her well. I have known her since she was a + baby, and I can read the soul that looks out through those lovely eyes. + Knowing her so well, I may say to you—oh, it must be in the + strictest confidence!—that you have a chance. And if you win her + love, you will <i>have</i> the greatest treasure in all the world. She—but, + look! The Grand Duke is leaving. He—" + </p> + <p> + "I don't care what becomes of the Grand Duke," he burst out. "Tell me + more. Tell me how you look into her soul, and tell me what you see—" + </p> + <p> + "Not now, sir. I have said enough. I have given you the sign of hope. It + remains with you to make the most of it." + </p> + <p> + "But you—you don't know anything about me. I may be the veriest + adventurer, the most unworthy of all—" + </p> + <p> + "I think, Mr. Schmidt, that I know you pretty well. I do not require the + aid of Diogenes' lantern to see an honest man. I am responsible for her + welfare. She has been placed under my protection. For twenty years I have + adored her. I am not likely to encourage an adventurer." + </p> + <p> + "I must be honest with you, Mrs. Gaston," he said suddenly. "I am not—" + </p> + <p> + She held up her hand. "Mr. Totten has informed me that you are a life-long + friend of Mrs. Truxton King. I cabled to her from Paris. There is no more + to be said." + </p> + <p> + His face fell. "Did she tell you—everything?" + </p> + <p> + "She said no more than that R. Schmidt is the finest boy in all the + world." Suddenly her face paled. "You are never—<i>never</i> to + breathe a word of this to—to Bedelia," she whispered. + </p> + <p> + "But her father? What will he say to—" + </p> + <p> + "Her father has said all that can be said," she broke in quietly. "He + cannot force her to marry the man he has selected. She will marry the man + she loves. Come now! Let us go. I am tired of the music." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, thank you, Mrs. Gaston," he cried, with shining eyes. "God + bless you!" + </p> + <p> + She gave him a queer look. "You must not think that your task is an easy + one," she said meaningly. "There are other men in the world, you know." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX — "WHAT WILL MY PEOPLE DO!" + </h2> + <p> + The Grand Duke and his party left Interlaken by special train early in the + afternoon, and great was Robin's relief when Hobbs returned with the word + that they were safely on their way to the capital of Switzerland. He + emerged from the seclusion of his room, where he had been in hiding since + noon, and set out for a walk through the town. His head was high and his + stride jaunty, for his heart was like a cork. People stared after him with + smiles of admiration, and never a <i>cocher'</i> passed him by without a + genial, inviting tilt of the eyebrow and a tentative pull at the reins, + only to meet with a pleasant shake of the head or the negative flourish of + a bamboo cane. + </p> + <p> + Night came and with it the silvery glow of moonlight across the hoary + headed queen of the Oberland. When Robin came out from dinner he seated + himself on the porch, expectant, eager—and vastly lonesome. An + unaccountable shyness afflicted him, rendering him quite incapable of + sending his card up to the one who could have dispelled the gathering + gloom with a single glance of the eye. Would she come stealing out + ostensibly to look at the night-capped peak, but with furtive glances into + the shadows of the porch in quest of—But no! She would not do that! + She would come attended by the exasperating Mr. White and the friendly + duenna. Her starry eyes, directed elsewhere, would only serve to increase + the depth of the shadows in which he lurked impatient. + </p> + <p> + She came at last—and alone. Stopping at the rail not more than an + arm's length from where he sat, she gazed pensively up at the solemn + mistress of the valley, one slim hand at her bosom, the other hanging limp + at her side. He could have touched that slender hand by merely stretching + forth his own. Breathless, enthralled, he sat as one deprived of the power + or even the wish to move. The spell was upon him; he was in thralldom. + </p> + <p> + She wore a rose-coloured gown, soft, slinky, seductive. A light Egyptian + scarf lay across her bare shoulders. The slim, white neck and the soft + dark hair—but she sighed! He heard that faint, quick-drawn sigh and + started to his feet. + </p> + <p> + "Bedelia!" he whispered softly. + </p> + <p> + She turned quickly, to find him standing beside her, his face aglow with + rapture. A quick catch of the breath, a sudden movement of the hand that + lay upon her breast, and then she smiled,—a wavering, uncertain + smile that went straight to his heart and shamed him for startling her. "I + beg your pardon," he began lamely. "I—I startled you." + </p> + <p> + She held out her hand to him, still smiling. "I fear I shall never become + accustomed to being pursued," she said, striving for command of her voice. + </p> + <p> + "It is dreadful to feel that some one is forever watching you from behind. + I am glad it is you, however. You at least are not 'the secret eye that + never sleeps'!" She gently withdrew her hand from his ardent clasp. "Mrs. + Gaston told me that she had seen you. I feared that you might have gone on + your way rejoicing." + </p> + <p> + "Rejoicing?" he cried. "Why do you say that?" + </p> + <p> + "After our experience in Paris, I should think that you had had enough of + me and my faithful watchdogs." + </p> + <p> + "Rubbish!" he exclaimed. "I shall never have enough of you," he went on, + with sudden boldness. "As for the watch-dogs, they are not likely to bite + us, so what is there to be afraid of?" + </p> + <p> + "Have you succeeded in evading the watchful eye of Mr. Totten's friend?" + she enquired, sending an apprehensive glance along the porch. + </p> + <p> + "Completely," he declared. "I am quite alone in this hotel and, I believe, + unsuspected. And you? Are you still being—" + </p> + <p> + "Sh! Who knows? I think we have thrown them off the track, but one cannot + be sure. I raised a dreadful rumpus about it in Paris, and—well, + they said they were sorry and advised me not to be worried, for the + surveillance would cease at once. Still, I am quite sure that they lied to + me." + </p> + <p> + "Then you <i>are</i> being followed." + </p> + <p> + She smiled again, and there was mischief in her eyes. "If so, I have led + them a merry chase. We have been travelling for two days and nights, Mr. + Schmidt, by train and motor, getting off at stations unexpectedly, hopping + into trains going in any direction but the right one, sleeping in strange + beds and doing all manner of queer things. And here we are at last. I am + sure you must look upon me as a very silly, flibberty-gibbet creature." + </p> + <p> + "I see that your retinue has been substantially augmented," he remarked, a + trace of jealousy in his voice. "The good-looking Mr. White has not been + eluded." + </p> + <p> + "Mr. White? Oh, yes, I see. But he is to be trusted, Mr. Schmidt," she + said mysteriously—and tantalisingly. "He will not betray me to my + cruel monster of a father. I have his solemn promise not to reveal my + whereabouts to any one. My father is the last person in the world to whom + he would go with reports of my misdoings." + </p> + <p> + "I saw you this morning, riding with him," said he glumly. + </p> + <p> + "Through the telescope?" she inquired softly, laying a hand upon the + stationary instrument. + </p> + <p> + He flushed hotly. "It was when you were starting out, Miss Guile. I am not + one of the spies, you should remember." + </p> + <p> + "You are my partner in guilt," she said lightly. "By the way, have you + forgiven me for leading you into temptation?" + </p> + <p> + "Certainly. I am still in the Garden of Eden, you see, and as I don't take + any stock in the book of Genesis, I hope to prove to myself at least, that + the conduct of an illustrious forebear of mine was not due to the + frailties of Eve but to his own tremendous anxiety to get out of a place + that was filled with snakes. I hope and pray that you will continue to put + temptation in my path so that I may have the frequent pleasure of + falling." + </p> + <p> + She turned her face away and for a moment was silent. "Shall we take those + chairs over there, Mr. Schmidt? They appear to be as abandoned as we." She + indicated two chairs near the broad portals. + </p> + <p> + He shook his head. "If we are looking for the most utterly abandoned, + allow me to call your attention to the two in yonder corner." + </p> + <p> + "It is quite dark over there," she said with a frown. + </p> + <p> + "Quite," he agreed. "Which accounts, no doubt, for your failure to see + them." + </p> + <p> + "Mrs. Gaston will be looking for me before—" she began hesitatingly. + </p> + <p> + "Or Mr. White, perhaps. Let me remind you that they have exceedingly sharp + eyes." + </p> + <p> + "Mr. White is no longer here," she announced. + </p> + <p> + His heart leaped. "Then I, at least, have nothing to fear," he said + quickly. + </p> + <p> + She ignored the banality. "He left this afternoon. Very well, let us take + the seats over there. I rather like the—shall I say shadows?" + </p> + <p> + "I too object to the limelight,—Bedelia," he said, offering her his + arm. + </p> + <p> + "You are not to call me Bedelia," she said, holding back. + </p> + <p> + "Then 'forgive us our transgressions' is to be applied in the usual order, + I presume." + </p> + <p> + "Are you sorry you called me Bedelia?" she insisted, frowning ominously. + </p> + <p> + "No. I'm sorry you object, that's all." + </p> + <p> + They made their way through a maze of chairs and seated themselves in the + dim corner. Their view of the Jungfrau from this vine-screened corner was + not as perfect as it might have been, but the Jungfrau had no present + power of allurement for them. + </p> + <p> + "I cannot stay very long," she said as she sank back in the comfortable + chair. + </p> + <p> + He turned his back not only upon the occupants of the porch but the + lustrous Jungfrau, drawing his chair up quite close to hers. As he leaned + forward, with his elbows on the arms of the chair, she seemed to slink + farther back in the depths of hers, as if suddenly afraid of him. + </p> + <p> + "Now, tell me everything," he said. "From beginning to end. What became of + you after that day at St. Cloud, whither have you journeyed, and wherefore + were you so bent on coming to this now blessed Interlaken?" + </p> + <p> + "Easily answered. Nothing at all became of me. I journeyed thither, and I + came because I had set my heart on seeing the Jungfrau." + </p> + <p> + "But you had seen it many times." + </p> + <p> + "And I hoped that I might find peace and quiet here," she added quite + distinctly. + </p> + <p> + "You expected to find me here, didn't you?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, but I did not regard you as a disturber of the peace." + </p> + <p> + "You knew I would come, but you didn't know why, did you, Bedelia?" He + leaned a little closer. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I knew why," she said calmly, emotionlessly. He drew back instantly, + chilled by her directness. "You came because there was promise of an + interesting adventure, which you now are on the point of making impossible + by a rather rash exhibition of haste." + </p> + <p> + He stared at her shadowy face in utter confusion. For a moment he was + speechless. Then a rush of protesting sincerity surged up within him and + he cried out in low, intense tones: "I cannot allow you to think that of + me, Miss Guile. If I have done or said anything to lead you to believe + that I am—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I beg of you, Mr. Schmidt, do not enlarge upon the matter by trying + to apologise," she cried. + </p> + <p> + "I am not trying to apologise," he protested. "I am trying to justify what + you are pleased to call an exhibition of haste. You see, it's just this + way: I am obliged to make hay while the sun shines, for soon I may be cast + into utter darkness. My days are numbered. In a fortnight I shall be where + I cannot call my soul my own. I—" + </p> + <p> + "You alarm me. Are you to be sent to prison?" + </p> + <p> + "You wouldn't look upon it as a prison, but it seems like one to me. Do + not laugh. I cannot explain to you now. Another day I shall tell you + everything, so pray take me for what I am to-day, and ask no questions. I + have asked no more of you, so do you be equally generous with me." + </p> + <p> + "True," she said, "you have asked no questions of me. You take me for what + I am to-day, and yet you know nothing of my yesterdays or my to-morrows. + It is only fair that I should be equally confiding. Let there be no more + questions. Are we, however, to take each other seriously?" + </p> + <p> + "By all means," he cried. "There will come a day when you may appreciate + the full extent of my seriousness." + </p> + <p> + "You speak in riddles." + </p> + <p> + "Is the time ripe for me to speak in sober earnest?" he questioned softly. + She drew back again in swift alarm. + </p> + <p> + "No, no! Not now—not yet. Do not say anything now, Mr. Schmidt, that + may put an end to our—to our adventure." + </p> + <p> + She was so serious, so plaintive, and yet so shyly prophetic of comfort + yet to be attained, that his heart warmed with a mighty glow of + exaltation. A sweet feeling of tenderness swept over him. + </p> + <p> + "If God is good, there can be but one end to our adventure," he said, and + then, for some mysterious reason, silence fell between them. Long + afterward—it seemed hours to him!—she spoke, and her voice was + low and troubled. + </p> + <p> + "Can you guess why I am being watched so carefully, why I am being + followed so doggedly by men who serve not me but another?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes. It is because you are the greatest jewel in the possession of a + great man, and he would preserve you against all varlets,—such as + I." + </p> + <p> + She did not reveal surprise at his shrewd conjecture. She nodded her head + and sighed. + </p> + <p> + "You are right. I am his greatest jewel, and yet he would give me into the + keeping of an utter stranger. I am being protected against that + conscienceless varlet—Love! If love lays hands upon me—ah, my + friend, you cannot possibly guess what a calamity that would be!" + </p> + <p> + "And love <i>will</i> lay hands upon you, Bedelia,—" + </p> + <p> + "I am sure of that," she said, once more serene mistress of herself after + a peculiarly dangerous lapse. "That is why I shudder. What could be more + dreadful than to fall into the clutches of that merciless foe to peace? He + rends one's heart into shreds; he stabs in the dark; he thrusts, cuts and + slashes and the wounds never heal; he blinds without pity; he is + overbearing, domineering, ruthless and his victims are powerless to + retaliate. Love is the greatest tyrant in all the world, Mr. Schmidt, and + we poor wretches can never hope to conquer him. We are his prey, and he is + rapacious. Do you not shudder also?" + </p> + <p> + "Bless you, no! I'd rather enjoy meeting him in mortal combat. My notion + of bliss would be a fight to the death with love, for then the conflict + would not be one-sided. What could be more glorious than to stand face to + face with love, hand to hand, breast to breast, lip to lip until the end + of time? Let him cut and slash and stab if you will, there would still be + recompense for the vanquished. Even those who have suffered most in the + conflict with love must admit that they have had a share in the spoils. + One can't ignore the sweet hours when counting up the bitter ones, after + love has withdrawn from the tender encounter. The cuts and slashes are + cherished and memory is a store-house for the spoils that must be shared + with vanity." + </p> + <p> + "It sounds like a book. Who is your favourite author?" she inquired + lightly. + </p> + <p> + "Baedeker," he replied, with promptness. "Without my Baedeker, I should + never have chanced upon the route travelled by love, nor the hotel where I + now lodge in close proximity to—" + </p> + <p> + "Will you please be sensible?" + </p> + <p> + "You invite something to the contrary, Bedelia," he ventured. + </p> + <p> + "Haven't I requested you to—" + </p> + <p> + "I think of you only as Bedelia," he made haste to explain. "Bedelia will + stick to you forever, you see, while Miss Guile is almost ephemeral. It + cannot live long, you know, with so many other names eager to take its + place. But Bedelia—ah, Bedelia is everlasting." + </p> + <p> + She laughed joyously, naturally. "You really are quite wonderful, Mr. + Schmidt. Still I must change the subject. I trust the change will not + affect your glibness, for it is quite exhilarating. How long do you + purpose remaining in Interlaken?" + </p> + <p> + "That isn't changing the subject," said he. "I shall be here for a week or + ten days—or perhaps longer." He put it in the form of a question, + after all. + </p> + <p> + "Indeed? How I envy you. I am sorry to say I shall have to leave in a day + or two." + </p> + <p> + His face fell. "Why?" he demanded, almost indignantly. + </p> + <p> + "Because I am enjoying myself," she replied. + </p> + <p> + "I don't quite get your meaning." + </p> + <p> + "I am having such a good time disobeying my father, Mr. Schmidt, and + eluding pursuers. It is only a matter of a day or two before I am + discovered here, so I mean to keep on dodging. It is splendid fun." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think it is quite fair to me?" + </p> + <p> + "Did I induce you to come here, good sir?" + </p> + <p> + "You did," said he, with conviction. "Heaven is my witness. I would not + have come but for you. I am due at home by this time." + </p> + <p> + "Are you under any obligations to remain in Interlaken for a week or ten + days?" + </p> + <p> + "Not now," he replied. "Do you mind telling me where you are going to, + Miss Guile?" + </p> + <p> + "First to Vienna, then—well, you cannot guess where. I have decided + to go to Edelweiss." + </p> + <p> + "Edelweiss!" he exclaimed in astonishment. He could hardly believe his + ears. + </p> + <p> + "It is the very last place in the world that my father would think of + looking for me. Besides I am curious to see the place. I understand that + the great Mr. Blithers is to be there soon, and the stupid Prince who will + not be tempted by millions, and it is even possible that the extraordinary + Miss Blithers may take it into her head to look the place over before + definitely refusing to be its Princess. I may find some amusement—or + entertainment as an on-looker when the riots begin." + </p> + <p> + He was staring at her wide-eyed and incredulous. "Do you really mean to + say you are going to Graustark?" + </p> + <p> + "I have thought of doing so. Don't you think it will be amusing to be on + the scene when the grand climax occurs? Of course, the Prince will come + off his high horse, and the girl will see the folly of her ways, and old + Mr. Blithers will run 'rough shod over everybody, and—but, goodness, + I can't even speculate on the possibilities." + </p> + <p> + He was silent. So this was the way the wind blew, eh? There was but one + construction to be put upon her decision to visit the Capital of + Graustark. She <i>had</i> taken it into her head "to look the place over + before definitely refusing to be its Princess!" His first thrill of + exultation gave way to a sickening sense of disappointment. + </p> + <p> + All this time she was regarding him through amused, half-closed eyes. She + had a distinct advantage over him. She knew that he was the Prince of + Graustark; she had known it for many days. Perhaps if she had known all + the things that were in his cunning brain, she would not have ventured so + far into the comedy she was constructing. She would have hesitated—aye, + she might have changed her methods completely. But she was in the mood to + do and say daring things. She considered her position absolutely secure, + and so she could afford to enjoy herself for the time being. There would + be an hour of reckoning, no doubt, but she was not troubled by its promise + of castigation. + </p> + <p> + "Poor Prince!" she sighed pityingly. He started. The remark was so + unexpected that he almost betrayed himself. It seemed profoundly personal. + "He will be in very hot water, I fear." + </p> + <p> + He regarded her coldly. "And you want to be on hand to see him squirm, I + suppose." + </p> + <p> + She took instant alarm. Was she going too far? His query was somewhat + disconcerting. + </p> + <p> + "To be perfectly frank with you, Mr. Schmidt, I am going to Graustark + because no one will ever think of looking for me in such an out-of-the-way + place. I am serious now, so you must not laugh at me. Circumstances are + such that I prefer to seek happiness after a fashion of my own. My parents + love me, but they will not understand me. They wish me to marry a man they + have picked out for me. I intend to pick out my own man, Mr. Schmidt. You + may suspect, from all that you have seen, that I am running away from + home, from those who are dearest in all the world to me. You knew that I + was carefully watched in Paris. You know that my father fears that I may + marry a man distasteful to him, and I suppose to my mother, although she + is not so—" + </p> + <p> + "Are his fears well-founded?" he asked, rudely interrupting her. "Is there + a man that he has cause to fear? Are—are you in love with some one, + Bedelia?" + </p> + <p> + "Do not interrupt me. I want you to know that I am not running away from + home, that I shall return to it when I see fit, and that I am not in love + with the man they suspect. I want you to be just with me. You are not to + blame my father for anything, no matter how absurd his actions may appear + to you in the light of the past few days. It is right that he should try + to safeguard me. I am wayward but I am not foolish. I shall commit no + silly blunder, you may be sure of that. Now do you understand me better?" + </p> + <p> + She was very serious, very intense. He laid his hand on hers, and she did + not withdraw it. Emboldened, his hand closed upon the dainty fingers and + an instant later they were borne to his hot lips. + </p> + <p> + "You have said that I came here in search of a light adventure," he + whispered, holding her hand close to his cheek as he bent nearer to her. + "You imply that I am a trifler, a light-o'-love. I want you to understand + me better. I came here because I—" + </p> + <p> + "Stop!" she pleaded. "You must not say it. I am serious—yes, I know + that you are serious too. But you must wait. If you were to say it to me + now I should have to send you away and—oh, believe me, I do not want + to do that. I—I—" + </p> + <p> + "You love no one else?" he cried, rapturously. + </p> + <p> + She swayed slightly, as if incapable of resisting the appeal that called + her to his heart. Her lips were parted, her eyes glowed luminously even in + the shadows, and she scarcely breathed the words: + </p> + <p> + "I love no one else." + </p> + <p> + A less noble nature than his would have seized upon the advantage offered + by her sudden weakness. Instead, he drew a long, deep breath, straightened + his figure and as he gently released the imprisoned hand, the prince in + him spoke. + </p> + <p> + "You have asked me to wait. I am sure that you know what is in my heart. + It will always be there. It will not cut and slash and stab, for it is the + most tender thing that has ever come into my life—or yours. It must + never be accused of giving pain to you, so I shall obey you—and + wait. You are right to avoid the risk of entrusting a single word of hope + to me. I am a passer-by. My sincerity, my honesty of purpose remain to be + proved. Time will serve my cause. I can only ask you to believe in me—to + trust me a little more each day—and to let your heart be my judge." + </p> + <p> + She spoke softly. "I believe in you, I trust you even now, or I would not + be here. You are kind to me. Few would have been so generous. We both are + passers-by. It is too soon for us to judge each other in the full. I must + be sure—oh, I must be sure of myself. Can you understand? I must be + sure of myself, and I am not sure now. You do not know how much there is + at stake, you can not possibly know what it would mean to me if I were to + discover that our adventure had no real significance in the end. I know it + sounds strange and mysterious, or you would not look so puzzled. But + unless I can be sure of one thing—one vital thing—our + adventure has failed in every respect. Now, I must go in. No; do not ask + me to stay—and let me go alone. I prefer it so. Good night, my + comrade." + </p> + <p> + He stood up and let her pass. "Good night, my princess," he said, clearly + and distinctly. She shot a swift glance into his eyes, smiled faintly, and + moved away. His rapt gaze followed her. She entered the door without so + much as a glance over her shoulder. + </p> + <p> + "My princess," he repeated wonderingly, to himself. "Have I kissed the + hand of my princess? God in heaven, is there on earth a princess more + perfect than she? Can there be in all this world another so deserving of + worship as she?" + </p> + <p> + Late at night she sat in her window looking up at the peaceful Jungfrau. A + dreamy, ineffably sweet smile lay in her dark eyes. The hand he kissed had + lain long against her lips. To herself she had repeated, over and over + again, the inward whisper: + </p> + <p> + "What will my dear, simple old dad say if I marry this man after all?" + </p> + <p> + In a window not ten feet away, he was staring out into the night, with + lowering eyes and troubled heart, and in his mind he was saying: + </p> + <p> + "What will my people do if I marry this woman after all?" + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX — LOVE IN ABEYANCE + </h2> + <p> + Two days went by. They were fraught with an ever-increasing joy for the + two who were learning to understand each other through the mute, though + irresistible teachings of a common tutor. Each succeeding hour had its + exquisite compensation; each presented the cup of knowledge to lips that + were parched with the fever of impotence, and each time it was returned + empty by the seekers after wisdom. There were days in which Love went + harvesting and prospered amazingly in the fields, for each moment that he + stored away against the future was ripe with promise. He was laying by the + store on which he was to subsist to the end of his days; he allowed no + moment to go to waste, for he is a miser and full of greed. Not one word + of love passed between these two who waited for the fruit to ripen. They + were never alone together. Always they were attended by the calm, + keen-eyed Mrs. Gaston, who, though she may have been in sympathy with + their secret enterprise, was nevertheless a dependable barrier to its + hasty consummation. + </p> + <p> + She had received her instructions from the one now most likely to be in + need of a deterring influence; the girl herself. After that evening on the + porch, Bedelia had gone straight to her duenna with the truth. Then she + made it clear to the good lady that she was not to be left alone for an + instant to confront the welcome besieger. And so it was that when Robin + and Bedelia walked or rode together, they were attended by prevention. In + the Casino, at the gaming tables, at the concert, or even in the street he + was never free to express a thought or emotion that, under less guarded + conditions, might have exposed her to the risk she was so carefully + avoiding. + </p> + <p> + He understood the situation perfectly and was not resentful. He + appreciated the caution with which she was carrying on her own campaign, + and he was not unmindful of the benefits that might also accrue to him + through this proscribed period of reflection. While he was sure of himself + by this time, and fully determined to risk even his crown for the girl who + so calmly held him at bay, he was also sensible of the wisdom of her + course. She was not willing to subject herself or him to the dangers of + temptation. As she had said, there was a great deal at stake; the rest of + their lives, in truth. + </p> + <p> + There was one little excursion to Grindelwald and its glacier, and later + an ascent of the Schynige Platte. Even a desperate horror of the rack and + pinion railway up and down the steep mountain did not daunt the + incomparable chaperone. (True, she closed her eyes and shrank as far away + from the edge of eternity as possible, but she stuck manfully to her + post.) He dined with them on the two evenings, and with them heard the + concerts. + </p> + <p> + There were times when he was perplexed, and uncertain of her. At no time + did she relax into what might have been considered a receptive or even an + encouraging mood. He watched eagerly for the love-light that he hoped to + surprise in her eyes, but it never appeared. She was serene, + self-contained, natural. That momentary dissolving on her part when she + sat with him in the shadows was the only circumstance he had to base his + hopes upon. She had betrayed herself then by word and manner, but now she + had her emotions well in hand. + </p> + <p> + Her lovely eyes met his frankly and without the faintest sign of + diffidence or self-consciousness. Her soft laugh was free and + unconstrained, her smile gay and remotely suggestive of mischief. At times + he thought she was playing the game too well for one who professed to be + concerned about the future. + </p> + <p> + On the third day he was convicted of duplicity. She went off for a walk + alone, leaving him safely anchored in what he afterwards came to look upon + as a pre-arranged game of auction-bridge. When she came in after an + absence of at least two hours, the game was just breaking up. He noted the + questioning look that Mrs. Gaston bestowed upon her fair charge, and also + remarked that it contained no sign of reproof. The girl went up to her + room without so much as a word with him. Her face was flushed and she + carried her head disdainfully. He was greatly puzzled. + </p> + <p> + The puzzle was soon explained. He waited for her on the stairway as she + came down alone to dinner. + </p> + <p> + "You told me that your friends were not in Interlaken, Mr. Schmidt," she + said coldly. "Why did you feel called upon to deceive me?" + </p> + <p> + He bit his lip. For an instant he reflected, and then gave an evasive + answer. "I think I told you that I was alone in this hotel. Miss Guile. My + friends are at another hotel. I am not aware that—" + </p> + <p> + "I have seen and talked with that charming old man, Mr. Totten," she + interrupted. "He has been here for days, and Mr. Dank as well. Do you + think that you have been quite fair with me?" + </p> + <p> + He lowered his eyes. "I think I have been most fair to both of us," he + replied. "Will you believe me when I say that in a way I personally + requested them to leave this hotel and seek another? And will it decrease + your respect for me if I add that I wanted to have you all to myself, so + to speak, and not to feel that these good friends of mine were—" + </p> + <p> + "Why don't you look me in the face, Mr. Schmidt?" she broke in. He looked + up at once prepared to meet a look of disdain. To his surprise, she was + smiling. "I have talked it all over with Mrs. Gaston, and she advised me + to forgive you if you were in the least penitent and—honest. Well, + you have made an honest confession, I am satisfied. Now, I have a + confession to make. I have suspected all along that Mr. Totten and Mr. + Dank and the shadowy Mr. Gourou were in the town." + </p> + <p> + "You suspected?" he cried in amazement and chagrin. + </p> + <p> + "I was morally certain that they were here. Today my suspicions were + justified. I encountered Mr. Totten in the park beyond the Jungfraublick. + He was very much upset, I can assure you, but he recovered with amazing + swiftness. We sat on one of the benches in a nice little nook and had a + long, long talk. He is a charming man. I have asked him to come to + luncheon with us to-morrow, and to bring Mr. Dank." + </p> + <p> + "Good Lord, will wonders never—" + </p> + <p> + "But I did not include the still invisible Mr. Gourou. I was afraid that + you would be too uncomfortable under the hawk-like eye of the gentleman + who so kindly warned us at the Pavilion Bleu." There was gentle raillery + in her manner. "I shall expect you to join us, Mr. Schmidt. You have no + other engagement?" + </p> + <p> + "I—I shall be delighted," he stammered. + </p> + <p> + She laid her hand gently upon his arm and a serious sweetness came into + her eyes. + </p> + <p> + "Come," she said; "let us go in ahead of Mrs. Gaston. Let us have just one + little minute to ourselves, Mr. Schmidt." + </p> + <p> + It was true that she came upon the Count in one of the paths of the Kleine + Rugen. He was walking slowly toward her, his eyes fixed thoughtfully upon + the ground. When she accosted him, he was plainly confused, as she had + said. After the first few passages in polite though stilted conversation, + his keen, grey eyes resumed their thoughtful—it was even a + calculating look. + </p> + <p> + "Will you sit here with me for a while, Miss Guile?" he asked gently. "I + have something of the gravest importance to say to you." + </p> + <p> + She sat beside him on the sequestered bench, and when she arose to leave + him an hour later, her cheek was warm with colour and her eyes were filled + with tenderness toward this grim, staunch old man who was the friend of <i>her</i> + friend. She laid her hand in his and suffered him to raise it to his lips. + </p> + <p> + "I hope, my dear young lady," said he with simple directness, "that you + will not regard me as a stupid, interfering old meddler. God is my + witness, I have your best interests at heart. You are too good and + beautiful to—" + </p> + <p> + "I shall always look upon you as the kindest of men!" she cried + impulsively, and left him. + </p> + <p> + He stood watching her slender, graceful figure as she moved down the + sloping path and turned into the broad avenue. A smallish man with a lean + face came up from the opposite direction and stopped beside him. + </p> + <p> + "Could you resist her, Quinnox, if you were twenty-two?" asked this man in + his quiet voice. + </p> + <p> + Quinnox did not look around, but shook his head slowly. "I cannot resist + her at sixty-two, my friend. She is adorable." + </p> + <p> + "I do not blame him. It is fate. <i>She</i> is fate. Our work is done, my + friend. We have served our country well, but fate has taken the matter out + of our hands. There is nothing left for us to do but to fold our arms and + wait." Gourou revealed his inscrutable smile as he pulled at his thin, + scraggly moustache. He was shaking his head, as one who resigns himself to + the inevitable. + </p> + <p> + After a long silence Quinnox spoke. + </p> + <p> + "Our people will come to love their princess, Gourou." + </p> + <p> + "Even as you and I, my friend," said the Baron. + </p> + <p> + And then they held their heads erect and walked confidently down the road + their future sovereign had traversed before them. + </p> + <p> + When Mrs. Gaston joined Robin and Bedelia at the table which had been set + for them in the <i>salle a manger</i>, she laid several letters before the + girl who picked them up instantly and glanced at the superscription on + each. + </p> + <p> + "I think that all of them are important," said Mrs. Gaston significantly. + The smile on the girl's face had given way to a clouded brow. She was + visibly perturbed. + </p> + <p> + "You will forgive me, Mr. Schmidt," she said nervously. "I must look at + them at once." + </p> + <p> + He tried not to watch her face as she read what appeared to be a brief and + yet evidently important letter, but his rapt gaze was not to be so easily + managed. An exclamation of annoyance fell from her lips. + </p> + <p> + "This is from a friend in Paris, Mr. Schmidt," she said, hesitatingly. + Then, as if coming to a quick decision: "My father has heard that I am + carrying on atrociously with a strange young man. It seems that it is a <i>new</i> + young man. He is beside himself with rage. My friends have already come in + for severe criticism. He blames them for permitting his daughter to run at + large and to pick up with every Tom, Dick and Harry. Dear me, I shudder + when I think of what he will do to you, Mrs. Gaston. He will take off your + head completely. But never fear, you old dear, I will see that it is put + on again as neatly as ever. So, you see, Mr. Schmidt, you now belong to + that frightful order of nobodies, the Toms and the Dicks and the Harrys." + </p> + <p> + "I see that there is a newspaper clipping attached," he remarked. "Perhaps + your father has been saying something to the newspapers." It was a mean + speech and he regretted it instantly. + </p> + <p> + She was not offended, however. Indeed, she may not have heard what he + said, for she was reading the little slip of printed matter. Suddenly she + tore it into tiny bits and scattered them under the table. Her cheeks were + red and her eyes glistened unmistakably with mortification. He was never + to know what was in that newspaper cutting, but he was conscious of a + sharp sensation of anger and pity combined. Whatever it was, it was + offensive to her, and his blood boiled. He noted the expression of alarm + and apprehension deepen in Mrs. Gaston's face. + </p> + <p> + Bedelia slashed open another envelope and glanced at its contents. Her + eyes flew open with surprise. For an instant she stared, a frown of + perplexity on her brow. + </p> + <p> + "We are discovered!" she cried a moment later, clapping her hands together + in an ecstasy of delight. "The pursuers are upon our heels. Even now they + may be watching me from behind some convenient post or through some handy + window pane. Isn't it fine? Don't look so horrified, you old dear. They + can't eat us, you know, even though we are in a dining-room. I love it + all! Followed by man-hunters! What could be more thrilling? The chase is + on again. Quick! We must prepare for flight!" + </p> + <p> + "Flight?" gasped Robin. Her eyes were dancing. His were filled with + dismay. + </p> + <p> + "It is as I feared," she cried. "They have found me out. Hurry! Let us + finish this wretched dinner. I must leave here to-night." + </p> + <p> + "Impossible!" cried Mrs. Gaston. "Don't be silly. To-morrow will be time + enough. Calm yourself, my dear." + </p> + <p> + "To-morrow at sunrise," cried Bedelia enthusiastically. "It is already + planned, Mr. Schmidt. I have engaged an automobile in anticipation of this + very emergency. The trains are not safe. To-morrow I fly again. This + letter is from the little stenographer in Paris. I bribed her—yes, I + bribed her with many francs. She is in the offices of the great detective + agency-'the Eye that never Sleeps!' I shall give her a great many more of + those excellent francs, my friends. She is an honest girl. She did not + fail me." + </p> + <p> + "I don't see how you can say she is honest if she accepted a bribe," said + Mrs. Gaston severely. + </p> + <p> + "Pooh!" was Miss Guile's sufficient answer to this. "We cross the Brunig + Pass by motor. That really is like flying, isn't it?" + </p> + <p> + "To Lucerne?" demanded Robin, still hazily. + </p> + <p> + "No, no! That would be madness. We shall avoid Lucerne. Miles and miles to + the north we will find a safe retreat for a day or two. Then there will be + a journey by rail to—to your own city of Vienna, Mr. Schmidt. You—" + </p> + <p> + "See here," said Robin flatly, "I don't understand the necessity for all + this rushing about by motor and—" + </p> + <p> + "Of course you don't," she cried. "You are not being sought by a cruel, + inhuman monster of a father who would consign you to a most shudderable + fate! You don't have to marry a man whose very name you have hated. You + can pick and choose for yourself. And so shall I, for that matter. You—" + </p> + <p> + "You <i>adore</i> your father," cut in Mrs. Gaston sharply. "I don't think + you should speak of him in that—" + </p> + <p> + "Of course I adore him! He is a dear old bear. But he is a monster, an + ogre, a tyrant, a—oh, well, he is everything that's dreadful! You + look dreadfully serious, Mr. Schmidt. Do you think that I should submit to + my father's demands and marry the man he has chosen for me?" + </p> + <p> + "I do," said Robin, abruptly and so emphatically that both of his hearers + jumped in their seats. He made haste to dissemble. "Of course, I'd much + rather have you do that than to break your neck rolling over a precipice + or something of the sort in a crazy automobile dash." + </p> + <p> + Miss Guile recovered her poise with admirable promptness. Her smile was a + trifle uncertain, but she had a dependable wit. "If that is all that you + are afraid of, I'll promise to save my neck at all costs," she said. "I + could have many husbands but only one poor little neck." + </p> + <p> + "You can have only one husband," said he, almost savagely. "By the way, + why don't you read the other letter?" He was regarding it with jealous + eyes, for she had slipped it, face downward, under the edge of her plate. + </p> + <p> + "It isn't important," she said, with a quick look into his eyes. She + convicted herself in that glance, and knew it on the instant. + </p> + <p> + Angry with herself, she snatched up the letter and tore it open. Her + cheeks were flushed. She read however without betraying any additional + evidence of uneasiness or embarrassment. When she had finished, she + deliberately folded the sheets and stuck them back into the envelope + without comment. One looking over her shoulder as she read, however, might + have caught snatches of sentences here and there on the heavily scrawled + page. They were such as these: "You had led me to hope," ... "for years I + have been your faithful admirer," ... "Nor have I wavered for an instant + despite your whimsical attitude," ... "therefore I felt justified in + believing that you were sincere in your determination to defy your + father." And others of an even more caustic nature: "You are going to + marry this prince after all," ... "not that you have ever by word or deed + bound yourself to me, yet I had every reason to hope," ... "Your father + will be pleased to find that you are obedient," ... "I am not mean enough + to wish you anything but happiness, although I know you will never achieve + it through this sickening surrender to vanity," ... "if I were a prince + with a crown and a debt that I couldn't pay," ... "admit that I have had + no real chance to win out against such odds," etc. + </p> + <p> + She faced Robin coolly. "It will be necessary to abandon our little + luncheon for to-morrow. I am sorry. Still Mr. Totten informs me that he + will be in Vienna shortly. The pleasure is merely postponed." + </p> + <p> + "Are you in earnest about this trip by motor to-morrow morning?" demanded + Robin darkly. "You surely cannot be—" + </p> + <p> + "I am very much in earnest," she said decisively. He looked to Mrs. Gaston + for help. That lady placidly shook her head. In fact, she appeared to be + rather in favour of the preposterous plan, if one were to judge by the + rapt expression on her countenance. "I had the supposedly honest word of + these crafty gentlemen that I was not to be interfered with again. They + gave me their promise. I shall now give them all the trouble possible." + </p> + <p> + "But it will be a simple matter for them to find out how and when you left + this hotel and to trace you perfectly." + </p> + <p> + "Don't be too sure of that," she said, exultantly. "I have a trick or two + up my sleeve that will baffle them properly, Mr. Schmidt." + </p> + <p> + "My dear," interposed Mrs. Gaston severely, "do not forget yourself. It + isn't necessary to resort to slang in order—" + </p> + <p> + "Slang is always necessary," avowed Bedelia, undisturbed. "Goodness, I + know I shall not sleep a wink to-night." + </p> + <p> + "Nor I," said Robin gloomily. Suddenly his face lightened. A wild, + reckless gleam shot into his eyes and, to their amazement, he banged the + table with his fist. "By Jove, I know what I shall do. I'll go with you!" + </p> + <p> + "No!" cried Bedelia, aghast. "I—I cannot permit it, Mr. Schmidt. + Can't you understand? You—<i>you</i> are the man with whom I am + supposed to be carrying on atrociously. What could be more convicting than + to be discovered racing over a mountain-pass—Oh, it is not to be + considered—not for an instant." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I can tell you flatly just what I intend to do," said he, setting + his jaws. "I shall hire another car and keep you in sight every foot of + the way. You may be able to elude the greatest detective agency in Europe, + but you can't get away from me. I intend to keep you now that I've got + you, Bedelia. You can't shake me off. Where you go, I go." + </p> + <p> + "Do you mean it?" she cried, a new thrill in her voice. He looked deep + into her eyes and read there a message that invited him to perform vast + though fool-hardy deeds. Her eyes were suddenly sweet with the love she + had never expected to know; her lips trembled with the longing for kisses. + "I shall travel far," she murmured. "You may find the task an arduous one—keeping + up with me, I mean." + </p> + <p> + "I am young and strong," he said, "and, if God is good to me, I shall live + for fifty years to come, or even longer. I tingle with joy, Bedelia, when + I think of being near you for fifty years or more. Have—have you + thought of it in that light? Have you looked ahead and said to yourself: + fifty years have I to live and all of them with—" + </p> + <p> + "Hush! I was speaking of a week's journey, not of a life's voyage, Mr. + Schmidt," she said, her face suffused. + </p> + <p> + "I was speaking of a honeymoon," said he, and then remembered Mrs. Gaston. + She was leaning back in her chair, smiling benignly. He had an + uncomfortable thought: was he walking into a trap set for him by this + clever woman? Had she an ulterior motive in advancing his cause? + </p> + <p> + "But it would be perfectly silly of you to follow me in a car," said + Bedelia, trying to regain her lost composure. "Perfectly silly, wouldn't + it, Mrs. Gas-ton?" + </p> + <p> + "Perfectly," said Mrs. Gaston. + </p> + <p> + "I will promise to see you in Vienna—" + </p> + <p> + "I intend to see you every day," he declared, "from now till the end of + time." + </p> + <p> + "Really, Mr. Schmidt, you—" + </p> + <p> + "If there is one thing I despise beyond all reason, Bedelia, it is the + name of 'Schmidt'! I wish you wouldn't call me by that name." + </p> + <p> + "I can't just call you 'Mister,'" she demurred. + </p> + <p> + "Call me Rex for the present," said he. "I will supply you with a better + one later on." + </p> + <p> + "May I call him Rex?" she inquired of her companion. + </p> + <p> + "In moderation," said Mrs. Gaston. + </p> + <p> + "Very well, then, Rex, I have changed my mind. I shall not cross the + Brunig by motor since you insist upon risking your neck in pursuit of me. + I shall go by train in the morning,—calmly, complacently, stupidly + by train. Instead of a thrilling dash for liberty over rocky heights and + through perilous gorges, I shall travel like any bourgeoise in a second—or + third class carriage, and the only thrill I shall have will be when we + stop for Baker's chocolate at the top of the Pass. By that time I expect + to be sufficiently hungry to be thrilled even by the sight of a cake of + chocolate. Will you travel in the carriage behind me? I fancy it will be + safe and convenient and you can't possibly be far from my heels." + </p> + <p> + "That's a sensible idea," he cried. "And we may be able to accommodate + your other pursuers on the same train. What's the sense of leaving them + behind? They'd only catch us up in the end, so we might just as well take + them along with us." + </p> + <p> + "No. We will keep well ahead of them. I insist on that. They can't get + here before to-morrow afternoon, so we will be far in the lead. We will be + in Vienna in two days. There I shall say good-bye to you, for I am going + on beyond. I am going to Graustark, the new Blithers estate. Surely you + will not follow me there." + </p> + <p> + "You are very much mistaken. I shall be there as soon as you and I shall + stay just as long, provided Mr. Blithers has no objections," said Robin, + with more calmness than he had hoped to display in the face of her sudden + thrust. + </p> + <p> + "We are forgetting our dinner," said Mrs. Gaston quietly. "I think the + waiter is annoyed." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI — MR. BLITHERS ARRIVES IN GRAUSTARK + </h2> + <p> + Mr. William W. Blithers arrived in Edelweiss, the Capital of Graustark, on + the same day that the Prince returned from his tour of the world. As a + matter of fact, he travelled by special train and beat the Prince home by + the matter of three hours. The procession of troops, headed by the Royal + Castle Guard, it was announced would pass the historic Hotel Regengetz at + five in the afternoon, so Mr. Blithers had front seats on the extension + porch facing the Platz. + </p> + <p> + He did not know it, but if he had waited for the regular train in Vienna, + he would have had the honour of travelling in the same railway carriage + with the royal young man. ("Would" is used advisedly in the place of + "might," for he <i>would</i> have travelled in it, you may be sure.) + </p> + <p> + Moreover, he erred in another particular, for arriving at the same instant + and virtually arm-in-arm with the country's sovereign, he could hardly + have been kept out of the procession itself. When you stop to think that + next to the Prince he was the most important personage in the realm on + this day of celebration, it ought not to be considered at all unreasonable + for him to have expected some notable attention, such as being placed in + the first carriage immediately behind the country's sovereign, or possibly + on the seat facing him. Missing an opportunity like this, wasn't at all + Mr. Blithers' idea of success. He was very sorry about the special train. + If it hadn't been for that train he might now be preparing to ride + castlewards behind a royal band instead of sitting with his wife in the + front row of seats on a hotel porch, just like a regular guest, waiting + for the parade to come along. It certainly was a wasted opportunity. + </p> + <p> + He had lost no time in his dash across the continent. In the first place, + his agents in Paris made it quite clear to him that there was likely to be + "ructions" in Graustark over the loan and the prospect of a plebeian + princess being seated on the throne whether the people liked it or not; + and in the second place, Maud Applegate had left a note on his desk in the + Paris offices, coolly informing him that she was likely to turn up in + Edelweiss almost as soon as he. She added an annoying postscript. She said + she was curious to see what sort of a place it was that he had been + wasting his money on! + </p> + <p> + To say that he was put out by Maud's aggravating behaviour would be + stating the case with excessive gentleness. He was furious. He sent for + the head of the detective agency and gave him a blowing up that he was + never to forget. It appears that the detectives had followed a false lead + and had been fooled by the wary Maud in a most humiliating manner. They + hadn't the remotest notion where she was, and evinced great surprise when + informed in a voice loud enough to be heard a half-block away that she was + on her way to Graustark. They said it couldn't be possible, and he said + they didn't know what they were talking about. He was done with them. They + could step out and ask the cashier to give them a check for their + services, and so on and so forth. He did not forget to notify them that + they were a gang of loafers. + </p> + <p> + Then he dragged Mrs. Blithers off to the Gare de l'Este and took the + Express to Vienna. He would see to the loan first and to Maud afterward. + </p> + <p> + He had no means of knowing that a certain Miss Guile was doing more to + shape the destiny of the principality of Graustark than all the millions + he had poured into its treasury. Nor had he the faintest suspicion that + she was even then on Graustark soil and waiting as eagerly as he for the + procession to pass a given point. + </p> + <p> + Going back a day or two, it becomes necessary to report that while in + Vienna the perverse Bedelia played a shabby trick on the infatuated Robin. + She stole away from the Bristol in the middle of the night and was + half-way to the Graustark frontier before he was aware of her flight. She + left a note for him, the contents of which sufficed to ease his mind in + the presence of what otherwise might have been looked upon as a calamity. + Instead of relapsing into despondency over her defection, he became + astonishingly exuberant. It was relief and not despair that followed the + receipt of the brief letter. She had played directly into his hand, after + all. In other words, she had removed a difficulty that had been troubling + him for days: the impossibility of entering his own domain without + betraying his identity to her. Naturally his entrance to the Capital would + be attended by the most incriminating manifestation on the part of the + populace. The character of R. Schmidt would be effaced in an instant, and, + according to his own notion, quite a bit too soon to suit his plans. He + preferred to remain Schmidt until she placed her hand in his and signified + a readiness to become plain Mrs. R. Schmidt of Vienna. That would be his + hour of triumph. + </p> + <p> + In her note she said: "Forgive me for running away like this. It is for + the best. I must have a few days to myself, dear friend,—days for + sober reflection uninfluenced by the presence of a natural enemy to + composure. And so I am leaving you in this cowardly, graceless fashion. Do + not think ill of me. I give you my solemn promise that in a few days I + shall let you know where I may be found if you choose to come to me. Even + then I may not be fully convinced in my own mind that our adventure has + reached its climax. You have said that you would accompany me to + Graustark. I am leaving to-night for that country, where I shall remain in + seclusion for a few days before acquainting you with my future plans. It + is not my intention to stop in Edelweiss at present. The newspapers + proclaim a state of unrest there over the coming visit of Mr. Blithers and + the return of the Prince, both of whom are very much in the public eye + just now. I prefer the quiet of the country to the excitement of the city, + so I shall seek some remote village and give myself up to—shall I + say prayerful meditation? Believe me, dear Rex, to be your most devoted, + though whimsical, Bedelia." + </p> + <p> + He was content with this. Deep down in his heart he thanked her for + running away at such an opportune time! The situation was immeasurably + simplified. He had laid awake nights wondering how he could steal into his + own domain with her as a companion and still put off the revelation that + he was not yet ready to make. Now the way was comparatively easy. Once the + demonstration was safely over, he could carry on his adventure with + something of the same security that made the prowlings of the Bagdad + Caliphs such happy enterprises, for he could with impunity traverse the + night in the mantle of R. Schmidt. + </p> + <p> + Immediately upon receiving her letter, he sent for Quinnox and Gourou, who + were stopping at a hotel nearby. + </p> + <p> + "I am ready to proceed to Edelweiss, my friends," said he. "Miss Guile has + departed. Will you book accommodations on the earliest train leaving for + home?" + </p> + <p> + "I have already seen to that, highness," said Gourou calmly. "We leave at + six this evening. Count Quinnox has wired the Prime Minister that you will + arrive in Edelweiss at three to-morrow afternoon, God willing." + </p> + <p> + "You knew that she had gone?" + </p> + <p> + "I happened to be in the Nordbahnhof when she boarded the train at + midnight," replied the Baron, unmoved. + </p> + <p> + "Do you never sleep?" demanded Robin hotly. + </p> + <p> + "Not while I am on duty," said Gourou. + </p> + <p> + The Prince was thoughtful, his brow clouding with a troubled frown. "I + suppose I shall now have to face my people with the confession that will + confirm their worst fears. I may as well say to you, my friends, that I + mean to make her my wife even though it costs me my kingdom. Am I asking + too much of you, gentlemen, when I solicit your support in my fight + against the prejudice that is certain to—" + </p> + <p> + Quinnox stopped him with a profound gesture of resignation and a single + word: "Kismet!" and Gourou, with his most ironic smile, added: "You may + count on us to support the crown, highness, even though we lose our + heads." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you," said Robin, flushing. "Just because I appear to have lost my + head is no reason for your doing the same, Baron Gourou." + </p> + <p> + The Baron's smile was unfaltering. "True," he said. "But we may be able to + avoid all that by inducing the people of Graustark to lose their hearts." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think they will accept her as—as their princess?" cried + Robin, hopefully. + </p> + <p> + "I submit that it will first be necessary for you to induce Miss Guile to + accept you as her prince," said Gourou mildly. "That doesn't appear to be + settled at present." + </p> + <p> + He took alarm. "What do you mean? Your remark has a sinister sound. Has + anything transpired to—" + </p> + <p> + "She has disappeared, highness, quite effectually. That is all that I can + say," said Gourou, and Robin was conscious of a sudden chill and the rush + of cold moisture to his brow. "But let us prepare to confront an even more + substantial condition. A prospective father-in-law is descending upon our + land. He is groping in the dark and he is angry. He has lost a daughter + somewhere in the wilds of Europe, and he realises that he cannot hope to + become the grandfather of princes unless he can produce a mother for them. + At present he seems to be desperate. He doesn't know where to find her, as + Little Bo-peep might have said. We may expect to catch him in a very ugly + and obstreperous mood. Have I told you that he was in this city last + night? He arrived at the Bristol a few hours prior to the significant + departure of Miss Guile. Moreover, he has chartered a special train and is + leaving to-day for Edelweiss. Count Quinnox has taken the precaution to + advise the Prime Minister of his approach and has impressed upon him the + importance of decrying any sort of popular demonstration against him on + his arrival. Romano reports that the people are in an angry mood. I would + suggest that you prepare, in a way, to placate them, now that Miss Guile + has more or less dropped out of sight. It behooves you to—" + </p> + <p> + "See here," broke in Robin harshly, "have you had the effrontery to make a + personal appeal to Miss Guile in your confounded efforts to prevent the—" + </p> + <p> + "Just a moment, Robin," exclaimed Count Quinnox, his face hardening. "I am + sorry to hear words of anger on your lips, and directed toward your most + loyal friends. You ask us to support you and in the next breath imply that + we are unworthy. It is beneath the dignity of either Baron Gourou or + myself to reply to your ungenerous charge." + </p> + <p> + "I beg your pardon," said Robin, but without lowering his head. He was not + convinced. The barb of suspicion had entered his brain. Were they, after + all, responsible for Bedelia's flight? Had they revealed his identity to + the girl and afterward created such alarm in her breast that she preferred + to slink away in the night rather than to court the humiliation that might + follow if she presumed to wed Graustark's prince in opposition to his + country's wish? "You must admit that the circumstance of her secret flight + last night is calculated to—But, no matter. We will drop the + subject. I warn you, however, that my mind is fixed. I shall not rest + until I have found her." + </p> + <p> + "I fancy that the state of unrest will be general," said Gourou, with + perfect good-nature. "It will go very hard with Graustark if we fail to + find her. And now, to return to our original sin: What are we to do about + the ambitious Mr. Blithers? He is on my conscience and I tremble." + </p> + <p> + It must not be supposed for an instant that the City of Edelweiss and the + court of Graustark was unimpressed by the swift approach and abrupt + arrival of Mr. Blithers. His coming had been heralded for days in advance. + The city was rudely expectant, the court uneasy. The man who had announced + his determination to manage the public and private affairs of the + principality was coming to town. He was coming in state, there could be no + doubt about that. More than that, he was coming to propitiate the people + whether they chose to be mollified or not. He was bringing with him a vast + store of business acumen, an unexampled confidence and the self-assurance + of one who has never encountered failure. Shylock's mantle rested on his + hated shoulders, and Judas Iscariot was spoken of with less abhorrence + than William W. Blithers by the Christian country of Graustark. He was + coming to get better acquainted with his daughter's future subjects. + </p> + <p> + Earlier in the week certain polite and competent gentlemen from Berlin had + appeared at the Castle gates, carrying authority from the dauntless + millionaire. They calmly announced that they had come to see what repairs + were needed in and about the Castle and to put the place in shape. A most + regrettable incident followed. They were chased out of town by an angry + mob and serious complications with the German Empire were likely to be the + result of the outrage. + </p> + <p> + Moreover, the citizens of Graustark were openly reluctant to deposit their + state bonds as security for the unpopular loan, and there was a lively + sentiment in favour of renouncing the agreement entered into by the + cabinet. + </p> + <p> + The Prime Minister, in the absence of the Prince, called mass meetings in + all the towns and villages and emissaries of the crown addressed the + sullen crowds. They sought to clarify the atmosphere. So eloquent were + their pleadings and so sincere their promises that no evil would befall + the state, that the more enlightened of the people began to deposit their + bonds in the crown treasury. Others, impressed by the confidence of their + more prosperous neighbours, showed signs of weakening. The situation was + made clear to them. There could be no possible chance of loss from a + financial point of view. Their bonds were safe, for the loan itself was a + perfectly legitimate transaction, a conclusion which could not be gainsaid + by the most pessimistic of the objectors. Mr. Blithers would be paid in + full when the time came for settlement, the bonds would be restored to + their owners, and all would be well with Graustark. + </p> + <p> + As for the huge transactions Mr. Blithers had made in London, Paris and + Berlin, there could be but one conclusion: he had the right to invest his + money as he pleased. That was his look-out. The bonds of Graustark were + open to purchase in any market. Any investor in the world was entitled to + buy all that he could obtain if he felt inclined to put his money to that + use. The earnest agents of the government succeeded in convincing the + people that Mr. Blithers had made a good investment because he was a good + business man. What did it matter to Graustark who owned the outstanding + bonds? It might as well be Blithers as Bernstein or any one else. + </p> + <p> + As for Miss Blithers becoming the Princess of Graustark, that was simple + poppy-cock, declared the speakers. The crown could take oath that Prince + Robin would not allow <i>that</i> to happen. Had he not declared in so + many words that he would never wed the daughter of William Blithers, and, + for that matter, hadn't the young woman also announced that she would have + none of him? There was one thing that Mr. Blithers couldn't do, and that + was to marry his daughter to the Prince of Graustark. + </p> + <p> + And so, by the time that Mr. Blithers arrived in Edelweiss, the people + were in a less antagonistic frame of mind,—though sullenly + suspicious,—and were even prepared to grin in their sleeves, for, + after all, it was quite clear that the joke was not on them but on Mr. + Blithers. + </p> + <p> + When the special train pulled into the station Mr. Blithers turned to his + wife and said: + </p> + <p> + "Cheer up, Lou. This isn't a funeral." + </p> + <p> + "But there is quite a mob out there," she said, peering through the car + window. "How can we be sure that they are friendly?" + </p> + <p> + "Don't you worry," said Mr. Blithers confidently. "They are not likely to + throw rocks at the goose that lays the golden egg." If he had paused to + think, he would not have uttered such a careless indictment. The time + would come when she was to remind him of his thoughtless admission, + omitting, however, any reference to the golden egg. + </p> + <p> + The crowd was big, immobile, surly. It lined the sidewalks in the vicinity + of the station and stared with curious, half-closed eyes at the portly + capitalist and his party, which, by the way, was rendered somewhat + imposing in size by augmentation in the shape of lawyers from Paris and + London, clerks and stenographers from the Paris office, and four plain + clothes men who were to see to it that Midas wasn't blown to smithereens + by envious anarchists; to say nothing of a lady's maid, a valet, a private + secretary and a doctor. (Mr. Blithers always went prepared for the worst.) + </p> + <p> + He was somewhat amazed and disgruntled by the absence of silk-hat + ambassadors from the Castle, with words of welcome for him on his arrival. + There was a plentiful supply of policemen but no cabinet ministers. He was + on the point of censuring his secretary for not making it clear to the + government that he was due to arrive at such and such an hour and minute, + when a dapper young man in uniform—he couldn't tell whether he was a + patrolman or a captain—came up and saluted. + </p> + <p> + "I am William W. Blithers," said he sharply. + </p> + <p> + "I am an official guide and interpreter, sir," announced the young man + suavely. "May I have the honour—" + </p> + <p> + "Not necessary—not necessary at all," exploded Mr. Blithers. "I can + get about without a guide." + </p> + <p> + "You will require an interpreter, sir," began the other, only to be waved + aside. + </p> + <p> + "Any one desiring to speak to me will have to do it in English," said Mr. + Blithers, and marched out to the carriages. + </p> + <p> + He was in some doubt at first, but as his carriage passed swiftly between + the staring ranks on the sidewalks, he began to doff his hat and bow to + the right and the left. His smiles were returned by the multitude, and so + his progress was more or less of a triumph after all. + </p> + <p> + At the Regengetz he found additional cause for irritation. The lords and + nobles who should have met him at the railway station were as + conspicuously absent in the rotunda of the hotel. No one was there to + receive him except the ingratiating manager of the establishment, who + hoped that he had had a pleasant trip and who assured him that it would + not be more than a couple of hours before his rooms would be vacated by + the people who now had them but were going away as soon as the procession + had passed. + </p> + <p> + "Get 'em out at once," stormed Mr. Blithers. "Do you think I want to hang + around this infernal lobby until—" + </p> + <p> + "Pardon me," said the manager blandly, "but your rooms will not be ready + for you before four or five o'clock. They are occupied. We can put you + temporarily in rooms at the rear if your lady desires to rest and refresh + herself after the journey." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I'll be—" began Mr. Blithers, purple in the face, and then + leaned suddenly against the counter, incapable of finishing the sentence. + </p> + <p> + The manager rubbed his hands and smiled. "This is one of our gala days, + Mr. Blithers. You could not have arrived at a time more opportune. I have + taken the precaution to reserve chairs for you on the verandah. The + procession will pass directly in front of the hotel on its way to Castle + avenue." + </p> + <p> + "What procession?" demanded Mr. Blithers. He was beginning to recall the + presence of uniformed bands and mounted troops in the side streets near + the station. + </p> + <p> + "The Prince is returning to-day from his trip around the world," said the + manager. + </p> + <p> + "He ought to have been back long ago," said Mr. Blithers wrathfully, and + mopped his brow with a hand rendered unsteady by a mental convulsion. He + was thinking of his hat-lifting experience. + </p> + <p> + True to schedule, the procession passed the hotel at five. Bands were + playing, people were shouting, banners were waving, and legions of mounted + and foot soldiers in brilliant array clogged the thoroughfare. The royal + equipage rolled slowly by, followed by less gorgeous carriages in which + were seated the men who failed to make the advent of Mr. Blithers a + conspicuous success. + </p> + <p> + Prince Robin sat in the royal coach, faced by two unbending officers of + the Royal Guard. He was alone on the rear seat, and his brown, handsome + face was aglow with smiles. Instead of a hat of silk, he lifted a gay and + far from immaculate conception in straw; instead of a glittering uniform, + he wore a suit of blue serge and a peculiarly American tie of crimson hue. + He looked more like a popular athlete returning from conquests abroad than + a prince of ancient lineage. But the crowd cheered itself hoarse over this + bright-faced youngster who rode by in a coach of gold and brandished a + singularly unregal chapeau. + </p> + <p> + His alert eyes were searching the crowd along the street, in the balconies + and windows with an eager intensity. He was looking for the sweet familiar + face of the loveliest girl on earth, and knew that he looked in vain, for + even though she were one among the many her features would be obscured by + an impenetrable veil. If she were there, he wondered what her thoughts + might be on beholding the humble R. Schmidt in the role of a royal prince + receiving the laudations of the loving multitude! + </p> + <p> + Passing the Regengetz, his eyes swept the rows of cheering people banked + upon its wide terrace and verandahs. He saw Mr. and Mrs. Blithers well + down in front, and for a second his heart seemed to stand still. Would she + be with them? It was with a distinct sensation of relief that he realised + that she was not with the smiling Americans. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers waved his hat and, instead of shouting the incomprehensible + greeting of the native spectators, called out in vociferous tones: + </p> + <p> + "Welcome home! Welcome! Hurrah!" + </p> + <p> + As the coach swerved into the circle and entered the great, tree-lined + avenue, followed by the clattering chorus of four thousand horse-shoes, + Mrs. Blithers after a final glimpse of the disappearing coach, sighed + profoundly, shook out her handkerchief from the crumpled ball she had made + of it with her nervously clenched fingers, touched her lips with it and + said: + </p> + <p> + "Oh, what a remarkably handsome, manly boy he is, Will." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers nodded his head proudly. "He certainly is. I'll bet my head + that Maud is crazy about him already. She can't help it, Lou. That trip on + the <i>Jupiter</i> was a God-send." + </p> + <p> + "I wish we could hear something from her," said Mrs. Blithers, anxiously. + </p> + <p> + "Don't you worry," said he. "She'll turn up safe and sound and + enthusiastic before she's a week older. We'll have plain sailing from now + on, Lou." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXII — A VISIT TO THE CASTLE + </h2> + <p> + Mr. Blithers indeed experienced plain sailing for the ensuing twenty + hours. It was not until just before he set forth at two the next afternoon + to attend, by special appointment, a meeting of the cabinet in the council + chamber at the Castle that he encountered the first symptom of squalls + ahead. + </p> + <p> + He had sent his secretary to the Castle with a brief note suggesting an + early conference. It naturally would be of an informal character, as there + was no present business before them. The contracts had already been signed + by the government and by his authorised agents. So far as the loan was + concerned there was nothing more to be said. Everything was settled. True, + it was still necessary to conform to a certain custom by having the Prince + affix his signature to the contract over the Great Seal of State, but as + he previously had signed an agreement in New York this brief act was of a + more or less perfunctory nature. + </p> + <p> + The deposit of bonds by the state and its people would follow in course of + time, as prescribed by contract, and Mr. Blithers was required to place in + the Bank of Graustark, on such and such a date, the sum of three million + pounds sterling. Everybody was satisfied with the terms of the contract. + Mr. Blithers was to get what really amounted to nearly nine percent on a + gilt-edged investment, and Graustark was to preserve its integrity and + retain its possessions. + </p> + <p> + There was a distant cloud on the financial horizon, however, a vague + shadow at present,—but prophetic of storm. It was perfectly clear to + the nobles that when these bonds matured, Mr. Blithers would be in a + position to exact payment, and as they matured in twelve years from date + he was likely to be pretty much alive and kicking when the hour of + reckoning arrived. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers was in the mood to be amiable. He anticipated considerable + pleasure in visiting the ancient halls of his prospective grandchildren. + During the forenoon he had taken a motor ride about the city with Mrs. + Blithers, accompanied by a guide who created history for them with + commendable glibness and some veracity, and pointed out the homes of great + personages as well as the churches, monuments and museums. He also told + them in a confidential undertone that the Prince was expected to marry a + beautiful American girl and that the people were enchanted with the + prospect! That sly bit of information realised ten dollars for him at the + end of the trip, aside from his customary fee. + </p> + <p> + The first shock to the placidity of Mr. Blithers came with the brief note + in reply to his request for an informal conference. The Lord Chamberlain + curtly informed him that the Cabinet would be in session at two and would + be pleased to grant him an audience of half an hour, depending on his + promptness in appearing. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers was not accustomed to being granted audiences. He had got + into the habit of having them thrust upon him. It irritated him + tremendously to have any one measure time for him. Why, even the President + of the United States, the Senate, or the District Attorney in New York + couldn't do <i>that</i> for him. And here was a whipper-snapper Lord + Chamberlain telling him that the Cabinet would grant him half-an-hour! He + managed to console himself, however, with the thought that matters would + not always be as they were at present. There would be a decided change of + tune later on. + </p> + <p> + It would be folly to undertake the depiction of Mr. Blithers' first + impressions of the Castle and its glories, both inside out. To begin with, + he lost no small amount of his assurance when he discovered that the great + gates in the wall surrounding the park were guarded by resplendent + dragoons who politely demanded his "pass." After the officer in charge had + inspected the Lord Chamberlain's card as if he had never seen one before, + he ceremoniously indicated to a warden that the gates were to be opened. + There was a great clanking of chains, the drawing of iron bolts, the whirl + of a windlass, and the ponderous gates swung slowly ajar. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers caught his breath—and from that instant until he found + himself crossing the great hall in the wake of an attendant delegated to + conduct him to the council chamber his sensations are not to be described. + It is only necessary to say that he was in a reverential condition, and + that is saying a great deal for Mr. Blithers. A certain bombastic + confidence in himself gave way to mellow timidity. He was in a new world. + He was cognisant of a distinct sensation of awe. His ruthless Wall Street + tread became a mincing, uncertain shuffle; he could not conquer the absurd + notion that he ought to tip-toe his way about these ancient halls with + their thick, velvety rugs and whispering shadows. + </p> + <p> + Everywhere about him was pomp, visible and invisible. It was in the great + stairway, the vaulted ceilings, the haughty pillars, over all of which was + the sheen of an age that surpassed his comprehension. Rigid servitors + watched his progress through the vast spaces—men with grim, + unsmiling faces. He knew, without seeing, that this huge pile was alive + with noble lords and ladies: The court! Gallantry and beauty to mock him + with their serene indifference! + </p> + <p> + Somewhere in this great house beautiful women were idling, or feasting, or + dreaming. He was conscious of their presence all about him, and shrank + slightly as he wondered if they were scrutinising his ungainly person. He + was suddenly ashamed of his tight-fitting cut-a-way coat and striped + trousers. Really he ought to get a new suit! These garments were much too + small for him. + </p> + <p> + Were ironic eyes taking in the fresh creases in those New York trousers? + Were they regarding his shimmering patent leather shoes with an + intelligence that told them that he was in pain? Were they wondering how + much he weighed and why he didn't unbutton his coat when he must have + known that it would look better if it didn't pinch him so tightly across + the chest? Above all things, were they smiling at the corpulent part of + him that preceded the rest of his body, clad in an immaculate waistcoat? + He never had felt so conspicuous in his life, nor so certain that he was + out of place. + </p> + <p> + Coming in due time—and with a grateful heart—to a small + ante-chamber, he was told to sit down and wait. He sat down very promptly. + In any other house he would have sauntered around, looking at the emblems, + crests and shields that hung upon the walls. But now he sat and wondered. + He wondered whether this could be William W. Blithers. Was this one of the + richest men in the world—this fellow sitting here with his hands + folded tightly across his waistcoat? He was forced to admit that it was + and at the same time it wasn't. + </p> + <p> + The attendant returned and he was ushered into a second chamber, at the + opposite end of which was a large, imposing door—closed. Beside this + door stood a slim, erect figure in the red, blue and gold uniform of an + officer of the Castle guard. As Mr. Blithers approached this rigid figure, + he recognised a friend and a warm glow pervaded his heart. There could be + no mistaking the smart moustache and supercilious eye-brows. It was + Lieutenant Dank. + </p> + <p> + "How do you do?" said Mr. Blithers. "Glad to see you again." His voice + sounded unnatural. He extended his hand. + </p> + <p> + Dank gave him a ceremonious salute, bowed slightly but without a smile, + and then threw open the door. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Blithers, my lords," he announced, and stood aside to let the + stranger in a strange land pass within. + </p> + <p> + A number of men were seated about a long table in the centre of this + imposing chamber. No one arose as Mr. Blithers entered the room and + stopped just inside the door. He heard it close gently behind him. He was + at a loss for the first time in his life. He didn't know whether he was to + stop just inside the door fingering his hat like a messenger boy, or go + forward and join the group. His gaze fell upon a huge oaken chair at the + far end of the table. It was the only unoccupied seat that came within the + scope of his rather limited vision. He could not see anything beyond the + table and the impassive group that surrounded it. Was it possible that the + big chair was intended for him? If so, how small and insignificant he + would look upon it. He had a ghastly notion that his feet would not touch + the floor, and he went so far as to venture the hope that there would be a + substantial round somewhere about midway from the bottom. + </p> + <p> + He had appeared before the inquisitorial committees in the United States + Senate, and had not been oppressed by the ponderous gravity of the + investigation. He had faced the Senators without a tremor of awe. He had + even regarded them with a confidence, equal if not superior to their own. + But now he faced a calm, impassive group of men who seemed to strip him + down to the flesh with a cool, piercing interest, and who were in no sense + impressed by what they saw. + </p> + <p> + Despite his nervousness he responded to the life long habit of + calculation. He counted the units in the group in a single, rapid glance, + and found that there were eleven. Eleven lords of the realm! Eleven stern, + dignified, unsmiling strangers to the arrogance of William W. Blithers! + Something told him at once that he could not spend an informal half-hour + with them. Grim, striking, serious visages, all of them! The last hope for + his well-fed American humour flickered and died. He knew that it would + never do to regale them in an informal off-hand way—as he had + planned—with examples of native wit. + </p> + <p> + Reverting to the precise moment of his entrance to the Castle, we find Mr. + Blithers saying to himself that there wasn't the slightest use in even + hoping that he might be invited to transfer his lodgings from the + Regengetz to the Royal bed-chambers. The chance of being invited to dine + there seemed to dwindle as well. While he sat and waited in the first + antechamber he even experienced strange misgivings in respect to parental + privileges later on. + </p> + <p> + After what appeared to him to be an interminable length of time, but in + reality no more than a few seconds, a tall man arose from his seat and + advanced with outstretched hand. Mr. Blithers recognised Count Quinnox, + the Minister of War. He shook that friendly hand with a fervour that must + have surprised the Count. Never in all his life had he been so glad to see + any one. + </p> + <p> + "How are you, my lord," said the king of finance, fairly meek with + gratefulness. + </p> + <p> + "Excellently well, Mr. Blithers," returned the Count. "And you?" + </p> + <p> + "Never better, never better," said Mr. Blithers, again pumping the Count's + hand up and down—with even greater heartiness than before. "Glad to + see you. Isn't it a pleasant day? I was telling Mrs. Blithers this morning + that I'd never seen a pleasanter day. We—" + </p> + <p> + "Let me introduce you to my colleagues, Mr. Blithers," interrupted the + Count. + </p> + <p> + "Happy, I'm sure," mumbled Mr. Blithers. To save his life, he couldn't + tell what had got into him. He had never acted like this before. + </p> + <p> + The Count was mentioning the names of dukes, counts and barons, and Mr. + Blithers was bowing profoundly to each in turn. No one offered to shake + hands with him, although each rose politely, even graciously. They even + smiled. He remembered that very well afterwards. They smiled kindly, + almost benignly. He suddenly realised what had got into him. It was + respect. + </p> + <p> + "A chair, Franz," said the white haired, gaunt man who was called Baron + Romano. "Will you sit here, Mr. Blithers? Pray forgive our delay in + admitting you. We were engaged in a rather serious discussion over—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, that's all right," said Mr. Blithers, magnanimously. "Am I + interfering with any important business, gent—my lords? If so, just—" + </p> + <p> + "Not at all, Mr. Blithers. Pray be seated." + </p> + <p> + "Sure I'm not taking any one's seat?" + </p> + <p> + "A secretary's, sir. He can readily find another." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers sat down. He was rather pleased to find that the big chair + was not meant for him. A swift intuition told him that it was reserved for + the country's ruler. + </p> + <p> + "The Prince signed the contracts just before you arrived, Mr. Blithers," + said Baron Romano. "The seal has been affixed to each of the documents, + and your copy is ready for delivery at any time." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers recovered himself slightly. "You may send it to the hotel, + Baron, at any time to-morrow. My lawyers will have a look at it." Then he + made haste to explain: "Not that it is really necessary, but just as a + matter of form. Besides, it gives the lawyers something to do." He sent an + investigating glance around the room. + </p> + <p> + "The Prince has retired," said the Baron, divining the thought. "He does + not remain for the discussions." Glancing at the huge old clock above the + door, the Prime Minister assumed a most business-like air. "It will + doubtless gratify you to know that three-fourths of the bonds have been + deposited, Mr. Blithers, and the remainder will be gathered in during the + week. Holders living in remote corners of our country have not as yet been + able to reach us with their securities. A week will give them sufficient + time, will it not, Count Lazzar?" + </p> + <p> + "I may safely say that all the bonds will be in our hands by next Tuesday + at the latest," said the Minister of the Treasury. He was a thin, ascetic + man; his keen eyes were fixed rather steadily upon Mr. Blithers. After a + moment's pause, he went on: "We are naturally interested in your extensive + purchases of our outstanding bonds, Mr. Blithers. I refer to the big + blocks you have acquired in London, Paris and Berlin." + </p> + <p> + "Want to know what I bought them for?" inquired Mr. Blithers amiably. + </p> + <p> + "We have wondered not a little at your readiness to invest such a fortune + in our securities." + </p> + <p> + "Well, there you have it. Investment, that's all. Your credit is sound, + and your resources unquestioned, your bonds gilt-edge. I am glad of the + opportunity to take a few dollars out of Wall Street uncertainties and put + 'em into something absolutely certain. Groo—Gras—er—Groostock + bonds are pretty safe things to have lying in a safety vault in these + times of financial unrest. They create a pretty solid fortune for my + family,—that is to say, for my daughter and her children. A sensible + business man,—and I claim to be one,—looks ahead, my lords. + Railroads are all right as long as you are alive and can run them + yourself. It's after you are dead that they fail to do what is expected of + them. New fingers get into the pie, and you never can tell what they'll + pull out in their greediness. I cannot imagine anything safer in the shape + of an investment than the bonds of a nation that has a debt of less than + fifty million dollars. As a citizen of a republic whose national debt is + nearly a billion, I confess that I can't see how you've managed so well." + </p> + <p> + "We are so infinitesimal, Mr. Blithers, that I daresay we could be lost in + the smallest of your states," said Baron Romano, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + "Rhode Island is pretty small," Mr. Blithers informed him, without a + smile. + </p> + <p> + "It is most gratifying to Graustark to know that you value our securities + so highly as a legacy," said Count Lazzar, suavely. "May I venture the + hope, however, that your life may be prolonged beyond the term of their + existence? They expire in a very few years—a dozen, in fact." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I think I can hang on that long," said Mr. Blithers, a little more at + ease. He was saying to himself that these fellows were not so bad, after + all. "Still one never knows. I may be dead in a year. My daughter—but, + of course, you will pardon me if I don't go into my private affairs. I + fear I have already said too much." + </p> + <p> + "On the contrary, sir, we are all only too willing to be edified. The + workings of an intelligence such as jours cannot fail to be of interest to + us who are so lacking in the power to cope with great undertakings. I + confess to a selfish motive in asking you about your methods of—er—investment," + said the Minister of Finance. Mr. Blithers failed to see that he was + shrewdly being led up to a matter that was of more importance to Graustark + just then than anything along financial lines. + </p> + <p> + "I am only too willing, my lords, to give you the benefit of my + experience. Any questions that you may care to ask, I'll be glad to answer + to the best of my ability. It is only natural that I should take a great + personal interest in Graustock from now on. I want to see the country on + the boom. I want to see it taking advantage of all the opportunities that—er—come + its way. There may be a few pointers that William W. Blithers can give you + in respect to your railways and mines—and your general policy, + perhaps. I hope you won't hesitate about asking." + </p> + <p> + The Prime Minister tapped reflectively upon the table-top with his fingers + for a moment or two. + </p> + <p> + "Thank you," he said. "We are at this very moment in something of a + quandary in respect to the renewal of a treaty with one of our neighbours. + For the past twenty years we have been in alliance with our next door + neighbours, Axphain on the north and Dawsbergen on the south and east. The + triple alliance will end this year unless renewed. Up to the present our + relations have been most amiable. Axphain stands ready to extend our + mutual protective agreement for another term of years, but Dawsbergen is + lukewarm and inclined to withdraw. When you become better acquainted with + the politics of our country you will understand how regrettable such an + action on the part of a hitherto friendly government will be." + </p> + <p> + "What's the grievance?" inquired Mr. Blithers, bluntly. He was edging into + familiar waters now. "What's the matter with Dawsbergen? Money + controversy?" + </p> + <p> + "Not at all," said Lazzar hastily. + </p> + <p> + "Why not let 'em withdraw?" said Mr. Blithers. "We can get along without + them." + </p> + <p> + There was a general uplifting of heads at the use of the pronoun, and a + more fixed concentration of gaze. + </p> + <p> + "I daresay you are already acquainted with the desire on the part of + Dawsbergen to form an alliance in which Axphain can have no part," said + Baron Romano. "In other words, it has been the desire of both Dawsbergen + and Graustark to perfect a matrimonial alliance that may cement the + fortunes of the two countries—" + </p> + <p> + "Count Quinnox mentioned something of the sort," interrupted Mr. Blithers. + "But suppose this matrimonial alliance doesn't come off, who would be the + sufferer, you or Dawsbergen? Who will it benefit the most?" + </p> + <p> + There was a moment's silence. Doubtless it had never occurred to the + Ministry to speculate on the point. + </p> + <p> + "Dawsbergen is a rich, powerful country," said Romano. "We will be the + gainers by such an alliance. Mr. Blithers." + </p> + <p> + "I don't go much on alliances," said the capitalist. "I believe in keeping + out of them if possible." + </p> + <p> + "I see," said the Baron reflectively. There was another silence. Then: "It + has come to our notice in a most direct manner that the Prince of + Dawsbergen feels that his friendly consideration of a proposal made by our + government some years ago is being disregarded in a manner that can hardly + be anything but humiliating to him, not only as a sovereign but as a + father." + </p> + <p> + "He's the one who has the marriageable daughter, eh? I had really + forgotten the name." + </p> + <p> + The Baron leaned forward, still tapping the table-top with his long, slim + fingers. + </p> + <p> + "The report that Prince Robin is to marry your daughter, Mr. Blithers, has + reached his ears. It is only natural that he should feel resentful. For + fifteen years there has been an understanding that the Crown Princess of + Dawsbergen and the Prince of Graustark were one day to be wedded to each + other. You will admit that the present reports are somewhat distressing to + him and unquestionably so to the Crown Princess." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers settled back in his chair. "It seems to me that he is making + a mountain out of a molehill." + </p> + <p> + Baron Romano shrank perceptibly. "It devolves upon me, sir, as spokesman + for the Ministry, the court and the people of Graustark, to inform you + that marriage between our Prince and any other than the Crown Princess of + Dawsbergen is not to be considered as possible." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers stared. "Hasn't the Prince any voice in the matter?" he + demanded. + </p> + <p> + "Yes. He has already denied, somewhat publicly, that he is not + contemplating marriage with your daughter. He has had a voice in that + matter at least." + </p> + <p> + A fine moisture started out on the purplish brow of Mr. Blithers. + Twenty-two eyes were upon him. He realised that he was not attending an + informal conference. He had been brought here for a deliberate purpose. + </p> + <p> + "I may be permitted the privilege of reminding you, my lords, that his + denial was no more emphatic than that expressed by my daughter," he said, + with real dignity. + </p> + <p> + "We have accepted her statement as final, but it is our earnest desire + that the minds of the people be set at rest," said the Baron gravely. "I + sincerely trust that you will appreciate our position, Mr. Blithers. It is + not our desire or intention to offend in this matter, but we believe it to + be only fair and just that we should understand each other at the outset. + The impression is afoot that—" + </p> + <p> + "My lords," said Mr. Blithers, rising, his face suddenly pale, "I beg + leave to assure you that my daughter's happiness is of far more importance + to me than all the damned principalities in the world. Just a moment, + please. I apologise for the oath—but I mean it, just the same. I do + not resent your attitude, nor do I resent your haste in conveying to me + your views on the subject. It may be diplomacy to go straight to a + question and get it over with, but it isn't always diplomatic to go off + half-cocked. I will say, with perfect candour, that I should like to see + my daughter the Princess of Graustark, but—by God! I want you to + understand that her own wishes in the matter are to govern mine in the + end. I have had this marriage in mind, there's no use denying it. I have + schemed to bring these two young people together with a single object in + view. I knew that if they saw enough of each other they would fall in + love, and they would want the happiness that love brings to all people. + Just a moment, Baron! I want to say to you now, all of you, that if my + girl should love your prince and he should love her in return, there isn't + a power below heaven that can keep them apart. If she doesn't love him, + and he should be unlucky enough to love her, I'd see him hanged before he + could have her. I'll admit that I have counted on seeing all of this come + to pass, and that I have bungled the thing pretty badly because I'm a + loving, selfish father,—but, my lords, since you have brought me + here to tell me that it is impossible for my girl to marry your prince, I + will say to you, here and now, that if they ever love each other and want + to get married, I'll see to it that it isn't impossible. You issue an + ultimatum to me, in plain words, so I'll submit one to you, in equally + plain words. I intend to leave this matter entirely to my daughter and + Prince Robin. They are to do the deciding, so far as I am concerned. And + if they decide that they love each other and want to get married, <i>they + will get married</i>. Do I make myself perfectly plain, my lords?" + </p> + <p> + The dignified Ministry of Graustark sat agape. With his concluding words, + Mr. Blithers deposited his clenched fist upon the table with a heavy thud, + and, as if fascinated, every eye shifted from his face to the white + knuckles of that resolute hand. + </p> + <p> + Baron Romano also arose. "You place us in the extremely distressing + position of being obliged to oppose the hand of a benefactor, Mr. + Blithers. You have come to our assistance in a time of need. You have—" + </p> + <p> + "If it is the loan you are talking about, Baron, that is quite beside the + question," interrupted Mr. Blithers. "I do not speculate. I may have had a + personal motive in lending you this money, but I don't believe you will + find that it enters into the contract we have signed. I don't lend money + for charity's sake. I sometimes give it to charity, but when it comes to + business, I am not charitable. I have made a satisfactory loan and I am + not complaining. You may leave out the word benefactor, Baron. It doesn't + belong in the game." + </p> + <p> + "As you please, sir," said Romano coldly. "We were only intent upon + conveying to you our desire to maintain friendly relations with you, Mr. + Blithers, despite the unpleasant conditions that have arisen. I may at + least question your right to assume that we are powerless to prevent a + marriage that is manifestly unpopular with the subjects of Prince Robin." + </p> + <p> + "I had it on excellent authority to-day that the people are not opposed to + the union of my daughter and the prince," said Mr. Blithers. + </p> + <p> + "I am compelled to say that you have been misinformed," said the Baron, + flatly. + </p> + <p> + "I think I have not been misinformed, however, concerning the personal + views of Prince Robin. If I am not mistaken, he openly declares that he + will marry to suit himself and not the people of Graustark. Isn't it + barely possible, my lords, that he may have something to say about who he + is to marry?" + </p> + <p> + "I confess that his attitude is all that you describe," said the Baron. + "He has announced his views quite plainly. We admit that he may have + something to say about it." + </p> + <p> + "Then I submit that it isn't altogether an improbability that he may + decide to marry according to the dictates of his heart and not for the + sake of appearances," said Mr. Blithers scathingly. "I have an idea that + he will marry the girl he loves, no matter who she may be." + </p> + <p> + Count Quinnox and Baron Gourou exchanged glances. These two men were + guilty of having kept from their colleagues all information concerning a + certain Miss Guile. They, as well as Dank, were bound by a promise exacted + by their sovereign prince. They alone knew that Mr. Blithers was supported + by an incontrovertible truth. For the present, their lips were sealed, and + yet they faced that anxious group with a complete understanding of the + situation. They knew that Mr. Blithers was right. Prince Robin would marry + the girl that he loved, and no other. They knew that their prince expected + to marry the daughter of the man who now faced these proud noblemen and + virtually defied them! + </p> + <p> + "Am I not right, Count Quinnox?" demanded Mr. Blithers, turning suddenly + upon the Minister of War. "You are in a position to know something about + him. Am I not right?" + </p> + <p> + Every eye was on the Count. "Prince Robin will marry for love, my lords," + he said quietly, "I am forced to agree with Mr. Blithers." + </p> + <p> + Baron Romano sank into his chair. There was silence in the room for many + seconds. + </p> + <p> + "May I enquire, Count Quinnox, if you know anything of the present state + of Prince Robin's—er—heart?" inquired the Prime Minister + finally. + </p> + <p> + A tinge of red appeared in each of Count Quinnox's swarthy cheeks. + </p> + <p> + "I can only surmise," said he briefly. + </p> + <p> + "Has—has he met some one in whom he feels a—er—an + interest?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes." + </p> + <p> + "May we have the benefit of your conclusions?" said Baron Romano, icily. + </p> + <p> + "I am not at liberty to supply information at present," said the Count, + visibly distressed. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers leaned forward, his hands upon the table. "Some one he met + after leaving New York?" he inquired eagerly. + </p> + <p> + "Time will reveal everything, Mr. Blithers," said the Count, and closed + his jaws resolutely. His colleagues looked at him in consternation. The + worst, then, had happened! + </p> + <p> + A gleam of triumph shot into the eyes of Mr. Blithers. His heart swelled. + He felt himself stepping out upon safe, solid ground after a period of + floundering. The very best, then, had happened! + </p> + <p> + "My lords, I find that my half-hour is almost up," he said, pulling out + his gold watch and comparing its time with that of the clock on the wall. + "Permit me to take my departure. I am content to let matters shape + themselves as they may. Shakespeare says 'there is a destiny that shapes + our ends, rough hew them'—er—and so forth. Allow me, however, + before leaving, to assure you of my most kindly interest in the welfare of + your State. You may be pleased to know that it is not from me that + Graustark—did I get it right that time?—will redeem her bonds + when they mature, but from my only daughter. She is nearly twenty-one + years of age. On her twenty-fifth birthday I shall present to her—as + a gift—all of my holdings in Graustark. She may do as she sees fit + with them. Permit me to wish you all good day, my lords. You may send the + contract to my hotel, Baron. I expect to remain in the city for some + time." + </p> + <p> + As he traversed the vast halls on his way to the outer world, he was again + overcome by the uneasy conviction that ironic eyes were looking out upon + him from luxurious retreats. Again he felt that his coat fitted him too + tightly and that his waistcoat was painfully in evidence. He hurried a + bit. If he could have had his way about it, he would have run. Once + outside the castle doors, he lighted a big cigar, and threw the burnt-out + match upon the polished flagstones of the terrace. He regretted the act on + the instant. He wished he had not thrown it there. If the solemn grooms + had not been watching, he would have picked it up and stuck it into his + pocket for disposal on the less hallowed stones of a city thoroughfare. + </p> + <p> + Outside the gates he felt more at ease, more at home, in fact. He smoked + in great contentment. In the broad, shady avenue he took out his watch and + pried open the case. A great pride filled his eyes as he looked upon the + dainty miniature portrait of his daughter Maud. She <i>was</i> lovely—she + was even lovelier than he had ever thought before. + </p> + <p> + At the Regengetz a telegram awaited him. It was from Maud. + </p> + <p> + "I shall be in Edelweiss this week without fail. I have something very + important to tell you." So it read. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIII — PINGARI'S + </h2> + <p> + Nine o'clock of a rainy night, on the steep, winding road that climbed the + mountain-side from the walled-in city to the crest on which stood the + famed monastery of St. Valentine,—nine o'clock of a night fraught + with pleasurable anticipation on the part of one R. Schmidt, whose eager + progress up the slope was all too slow notwithstanding the encouragement + offered by the conscienceless Jehu who frequently beat his poor steeds + into a gallop over level stretches and never allowed them to pause on the + cruel grades. + </p> + <p> + Late in the afternoon there had come to the general post-office a letter + for Mr. R. Schmidt. He had told her that any message intended for him + would reach his hands if directed to the post-office. Since his arrival in + the city, three days before, he had purposely avoided the main streets and + avenues of Edelweiss, venturing forth but seldom from the Castle grounds, + and all because he knew that he could not go abroad during the day-time + without forfeiting the privileges to be enjoyed in emulation of the good + Caliphs of Baghdad. His people would betray their prince because they + loved him: his passage through the streets could only be attended by + respectful homage on the part of every man, woman and child in the place. + If Bedelia were there, she could not help knowing who and what he was, + with every one stupidly lifting his hat and bowing to him as he passed, + and he did not want Bedelia to know the truth about him until she had + answered an all-important question, as has been mentioned before on more + than one occasion in the course of this simple tale. + </p> + <p> + Her letter was brief. She merely acquainted him with the fact that she had + arrived in Edelweiss that day from Ganlook, twenty miles away, and was + stopping at the Inn of the Stars outside the city gates and half way up + the mountain-side, preferring the quiet, ancient tavern to the stately + Regengetz for reasons of her own. + </p> + <p> + In closing she said that she would be delighted to see him when it was + convenient for him to come to her. On receipt of this singularly + matter-of-fact letter, he promptly despatched a message to Miss Guile, Inn + of the Stars, saying that she might expect him at nine that night. + </p> + <p> + Fortunately for him, the night was wet and blustering. He donned a + rain-coat, whose cape and collar served to cover the lower part of his + face fairly well, and completed his disguise by pulling far down over his + eyes the villainous broad-brimmed hat affected by the shepherds in the + hills. He had a pair of dark eye-glasses in reserve for the crucial test + that would come with his entrance to the Inn. + </p> + <p> + Stealing away from the Castle at night, he entered the ram-shackle cab + that Hobbs had engaged for the expedition, and which awaited him not far + from the private entrance to the Park. Warders at the gate looked askance + as he passed them by, but not one presumed to question him. They winked + slyly at each other, however, after he had disappeared in the shadows + beyond the rays of the feeble lanterns that they carried. It was good to + be young! + </p> + <p> + The driver of that rattling old vehicle was no other than the versatile + Hobbs, who, it appears, had rented the outfit for a fixed sum, + guaranteeing the owner against loss by theft, fire or dissolution. It is + not even remotely probable that the owner would have covered the ground so + quickly as Hobbs, and it is certain that the horses never suspected that + they had it in them. + </p> + <p> + The mud-covered vehicle was nearing the Inn of the Stars when Robin stuck + his head out of the window and directed Hobbs to drive slower. + </p> + <p> + "Very good, sir," said Hobbs. "I thought as how we might be late after + losing time at the city gates, sir, wot with that silly guard and the—" + </p> + <p> + "We are in good time, Hobbs. Take it easy." + </p> + <p> + The lights of the Inn were gleaming through the drizzle not more than a + block away. Robin's heart was thumping furiously. Little chills ran over + him, delicious chills of excitement. His blood was hot and cold, his + nerves were tingling. The adventure! + </p> + <p> + "Whoa!" said Hobbs suddenly. "'Ello, wot the 'ell is—" + </p> + <p> + A dark figure had sprung into the road-way near the horses' heads, and was + holding up a warning hand. + </p> + <p> + "Is this Mr. Schmidt's carriage?" demanded a hoarse, suppressed voice. + </p> + <p> + "It is," said Hobbs, "for the time being. Wot of it?" + </p> + <p> + Robin's head came through the window. + </p> + <p> + "What do you want?" + </p> + <p> + "Some one is coming out here to meet you, sir. Do not drive up to the + doors. Those are the orders. You are to wait here, if you please." + </p> + <p> + Then the man shot away into the darkness, leaving the wayfarers mystified + by his words and action. + </p> + <p> + "Wot am I to do, sir?" inquired Hobbs. "Most hextraordinary orders, and + who the deuce is behind them, that's wot I'd like to know." + </p> + <p> + "We'll wait here, Hobbs," said Robin, and then put his hand suddenly to + his heart. It was acting very queerly. For a moment he thought it was in + danger of pounding its way out of his body! + </p> + <p> + Below him lay the lighted city, a great yellow cloud almost at his feet. + Nearer, on the mountain-side were the misty lights in the windows of + dwellers on the slope, and at points far apart the street lamps, dim + splashes of light in the gloom. Far above were the almost obscured lights + of St. Valentine, hanging in the sky. He thought of the monks up there. + What a life! He would not be a monk, not he. + </p> + <p> + "My word!" exclaimed Hobbs, but instantly resumed his character as cabby. + </p> + <p> + A woman came swiftly out of the blackness and stopped beside the cab. She + was swathed in a long gossamer, and hooded. The carriage lamps gleamed + strong against the dripping coat. + </p> + <p> + "Is it you?" cried Robin, throwing open the door and leaping to the + ground. + </p> + <p> + "It is I, M'sieur," said the voice of Marie, Miss Guile's French maid. + </p> + <p> + Bleak disappointment filled his soul. He had hoped for—but no! He + might have known. She would not meet him in this manner. + </p> + <p> + "What has happened?" he cried, grasping the girl's arm. "Has she—" + </p> + <p> + "Sh! May we not speak in French?" said Marie, lowering her voice after a + significant look at the motionless cabman. "He may understand English, + M'sieur. My mistress has sent me to say to M'sieur that she has changed + her mind." + </p> + <p> + "Changed her mind," gasped Robin. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, M'sieur. She will not receive you at the Inn of the Stars. She bids + you drive to the end of this street, where there is a garden with a Magyar + band, and the most delicious of refreshments to be had under vine-covered—" + </p> + <p> + "A public garden?" exclaimed Robin in utter dismay. + </p> + <p> + "Pingari's, sir," said Hobbs, without thinking. "I know the place well. It + is a very quiet, orderly place—I beg pardon!" + </p> + <p> + "So he understands French, eh?" cried Marie sharply. + </p> + <p> + "It doesn't matter," cried Robin impatiently. "Why, in heaven's name, did + she select a public eating-house in which to receive me?" + </p> + <p> + "If M'sieur chooses to disregard the wishes of—" began the maid, but + he interrupted her. + </p> + <p> + "I am not accustomed to meeting people in public gardens. I—" + </p> + <p> + "Nor is my mistress, M'sieur. I assure you it is the first time she has + committed an indiscretion of this kind. May I put a flea in M'sieur's ear? + The place is quite empty to-night, and besides there is the drive back to + the Inn with Mademoiselle. Is not that something, M'sieur?' + </p> + <p> + "By jove!" exclaimed Robin. "Drive on,—you! But wait! Let me take + you to the Inn, Marie. It—" + </p> + <p> + "No! I may not accept M'sieur's thoughtful invitation. Bon soir, M'sieur." + </p> + <p> + She was off like a flash. Robin leaped nimbly into the cab. + </p> + <p> + "Pingari's, driver!" he said, his heart thumping once more. + </p> + <p> + "Very good, sir," and they were off at a lively rate, rattling quite gaily + over the cobble-stones. + </p> + <p> + Pingari's is the jumping-off place. It stands at the sharp corner of an + elbow in the mountain, with an almost sheer drop of a thousand feet into + the quarries below. A low-roofed, rambling building, once used as a + troop-house for nomadic fighting-men who came from all parts of the + principality on draft by feudal barons in the days before real law + obtained, it was something of a historic place. Parts of the structure are + said to be no less than five hundred years old, but time and avarice have + relegated history to a rather uncertain background, and unless one is + pretty well up in the traditions of the town, he may be taken in nicely by + shameless attendants who make no distinction between the old and the new + so long as it pays them to procrastinate. + </p> + <p> + As a matter of fact, the walls of the ancient troop-house surround what is + now considered the kitchen, and one never steps inside of them unless he + happens to be connected in a somewhat menial way with the green grocer, + the fish-monger, the butcher or the poultry-man. The wonderful + vine-covered porches, reeking with signs of decay and tottering with age, + are in truth very substantial affairs constructed by an ancestor of the + present Signor Pingari no longer ago than the Napoleonic era—which + is quite recent as things go in Graustark. + </p> + <p> + Hobbs drove bravely into the court yard, shouted orders to a couple of + hostlers and descended from the box. The Magyar band was playing blithely + to the scattered occupants of the porches overlooking the precipice. + </p> + <p> + "'Ere we are, sir," said he to the Prince, as he jerked open the door of + the cab. "Shall I wait, sir?" + </p> + <p> + "Certainly," said Robin, climbing out. "I am a long way from home, my good + man." + </p> + <p> + He hurried up the steps and cast an eye about the place. There were no + ladies unattached. As he was about to start on a tour of investigation, a + polite person in brass buttons came up to him. + </p> + <p> + "Alone, sir?" he inquired pityingly. + </p> + <p> + "Quite," said Robin, still peering into the recesses. + </p> + <p> + "Then come with me, if you please. I am directed to escort you to one who + is also alone. This way, sir." + </p> + <p> + Robin followed him through a door, down a narrow hallway, up a flight of + stairs and out another door upon a small portico, sheltered by a heavy + canvas awning. Two men were standing at the railing, looking down upon the + impressionistic lights of the sunken city. The Prince drew back, his face + hardening. + </p> + <p> + "What does this mean, sirrah? You said—" + </p> + <p> + At the sound of his voice the two men turned, stared at him intently for + an instant and then deliberately strode past him, entered the door and + disappeared. The person in brass buttons followed them. + </p> + <p> + A soft, gurgling laugh fell upon his ears—a laugh of pure delight. + He whirled about and faced—one who was no longer alone. + </p> + <p> + She was seated at the solitary little table in the corner; until now it + had escaped his notice for the excellent reason that it was outside the + path of light from the open doorway, and the faint glow from the adjacent + porches did not penetrate the quiet retreat. + </p> + <p> + He sprang toward her with a glad cry, expecting her to rise. She remained + seated, her hand extended. This indifference on her part may have been the + result of cool premeditation. In any event, it served to check the + impulsive ardour of the Prince, who, it is to be feared, had lost + something in the way of self-restraint. It is certain—absolutely + certain—that had she come forward to meet him, she would have found + herself imprisoned in a pair of strong, eager arms,—and a crisis + precipitated. He had to be content with a warm hand-clasp and a smile of + welcome that even the gloom could not hide from his devouring eyes. + </p> + <p> + "My dear, dear Bedelia," he murmured. "I had almost given you up. Three + long days have I waited for you. You—" + </p> + <p> + "I have never broken a promise, Rex," she said coolly. "It is you who are + to be commended, not I, for you see I was coming to Graustark anyway. I + should not have been surprised if you had failed me, sir. It is a long way + from Vienna to this out-of-the-way—" + </p> + <p> + "The most distant spot in the world would not have been too far away to + cause an instant's hesitation on my part," said he, dropping into the + chair opposite her. "I would go to the end of the world, Bedelia." + </p> + <p> + "But your personal affairs—your business," she protested. "Can you + neglect it so—" + </p> + <p> + "My business is to find happiness," said he. "I should be neglecting it + indeed if I failed to pursue the only means of attaining it. You are + happiness, Bedelia." + </p> + <p> + "What would you sacrifice for happiness?" she asked softly. + </p> + <p> + "All else in the world," he replied steadily. "If I were a king, my realm + should go if it stood between me and—you, Bedelia." + </p> + <p> + She drew back with a queer little gasp, as if suddenly breathless. + </p> + <p> + "Wait—wait just for a moment," she said, with difficulty steadying + her voice. "This night may see the end of our adventure, Rex. Let us think + well before we say that it is over. I know, if you do not, that a great + deal depends upon what we are to say to each other to-night. You will ask + me to be your wife. Are you sure that you appreciate all that it means to + you and to your future if I should say yes to that dear question?" + </p> + <p> + He looked at her intently. "What do you know, Bedelia?" + </p> + <p> + "I know that you are the Prince of Graustark and that it is ordained that + you shall wed one whose station is the equal of your own. You must think + well, dear Rex, before you ask Bedelia Guile to be your wife." + </p> + <p> + "You know that I am—" he began, dully, and then burst into a + mirthless laugh. "And knowing who I am, why do you not leap at the chance + to become the Princess of Graustark? Why not realise an ambition that—" + </p> + <p> + "Hush! You see how well I considered when I advised you to think before + speaking? You are now saying things that are unworthy of you. You are + forgetting that it is my privilege to say no to the am in search of + happiness. I too—" + </p> + <p> + He stood up, leaning far over the table, a penetrating look in his eyes. + </p> + <p> + "How long have you known, Bedelia?" + </p> + <p> + "Since the second day out on the <i>Jupiter</i>," she replied serenely. + </p> + <p> + He slowly resumed his seat, overwhelmed by the sickening realisation that + his bubble had burst. She had known from the beginning. She had played + with him. She had defied him! + </p> + <p> + "I know what you are thinking, Rex," she said, almost pleadingly. "You are + thinking ill of me, and you are unjust. It was as fair for me as it was + for you. We played a cautious game. You set about to win my love as you + saw fit, my friend, and am I to be condemned if I exercised the same + privilege? I was no more deliberate, no more reprehensible than you. Am I + more guilty of deceit than you?" + </p> + <p> + He gave a great sigh of relief. "You are right," he said. "It is my turn + to confess. I have known for many days that you are not Bedelia Guile. We + are quits." + </p> + <p> + She laughed softly. "I rather like Bedelia. I think I shall keep it as a + good-luck name. We have now arrived at the time for a profound + contemplation of the results of our experiments. In the meantime, I have + had no dinner. I trust that the Prince of Graustark has dined so lightly + that he will not decline to share my repast with me. It has already been + ordered—for two." + </p> + <p> + "By jove, you—you amaze me!" he exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + "Please remove that dreadful mackintosh and touch the bell for me. You + see, I am a very prosaic person, after all. Even in the face of disaster I + can have a craving for food and drink. That's better." + </p> + <p> + In a sort of daze, he tapped the little table bell. A waiter appeared on + the instant. + </p> + <p> + "Give us more light, waiter," was her command, "and serve dinner at once." + </p> + <p> + The lights went up, and Robin looked into her soft, smiling eyes. + </p> + <p> + "It doesn't matter," he whispered hoarsely. "I don't care what happens to + me, Bedelia, I—I shall never give you up. You are worth all the + kingdoms in the world. You are the loveliest, most adorable—" + </p> + <p> + "Hush! The eyes of your people are upon you. See! Even the waiter + recognises his prince. He is overcome. Ah! He falters with the consomme. + It is a perilous moment. There! I knew something would happen, poor + fellow. He has spilled—but, all is well; he has his wits again. See! + He replenishes from the steaming tureen. We are saved." + </p> + <p> + Her mood was so gaily satiric, so inconsequential, that he allowed a + wondering, uncertain smile to banish the trouble from his eyes as he + leaned back in the chair and studied the vivid, excited face of the girl + who had created havoc with his senses. She was dressed as he had seen her + on board the <i>Jupiter</i> during those delightful days on deck: the same + trim figure in a blue serge suit and a limp white hat, drawn well down + over her soft brown hair, with the smart red tie and the + never-to-be-forgotten scent of a perfume that would linger in his nostrils + forever and forever. + </p> + <p> + "Do you think it strange that I should have asked you to meet me here in + this unconventional way instead of at the Inn?" she inquired, suddenly + serious. Again the shy, pleading expression stole into her eyes. + </p> + <p> + "I did think so, but no longer. I am glad that we are here." + </p> + <p> + "Mrs. Gaston is inside," she informed him quickly. "I do not come alone. + An hour ago the Inn became quite impossible as a trysting place. A small + party from the Regengetz arrived for dinner. Can you guess who is giving + the dinner? The great and only William W. Blithers, sir, who comes to put + an obstinate daughter upon the throne of Graustark, whether she will or + no." + </p> + <p> + "Did he see you?" cried Robin. + </p> + <p> + "No," she answered, with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "I stole out + through the back door, and sent Marie out with one of the porters to head + you off. Then I came on here. I didn't even stop to change my gown." + </p> + <p> + "Hide and seek is a bully game," said he. "It can't last much longer, + Bedelia. I think it is only right that we should go to your father and + tell him that—everything is all right. It is his due. You've solved + your own problem and are satisfied, so why not reveal yourself. There is + nothing to be gained by further secrecy." + </p> + <p> + She was watching him closely. "Are you, after all is said and done, sure + that you want to marry the daughter of William Blithers, in the face of + all the bitter consequences that may follow such an act? Think hard, my + dear. She is being forced upon you, in a way. Mr. Blithers' money is + behind her. Your people are opposed to the bargain, for that is the way in + which they will look upon it. They may act very harshly toward you. The + name of Blithers is detested in your land. His daughter is reviled. Are + you sure that you want to marry her, Re—Robin?" + </p> + <p> + "Are you through?" he asked, transfixing her with a determined look. + "Well, then, I'll answer you. I do want to marry you, and, more than that, + I mean to marry you. I love—" + </p> + <p> + "You may tell me, Robin, as we are driving back to the Inn together—not + here, not now," she said softly, the lovelight in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + Happiness blurred his vision. He was thrilled by an enchantment so + stupefying that the power of speech, almost of thought, was denied him for + the time being. He could only sit and stare at her with prophetic love in + his eyes, love that bided its time and trembled with anticipation. + </p> + <p> + Long afterward, as they were preparing to leave Pingari's she said to him: + </p> + <p> + "My father is at the Inn, Robin. I ran away from him to-night because I + wanted to be sure that our adventure was closed before I revealed myself + to him. I wanted to be able to say to him that love will find its way, no + matter how blind it is, nor how vast the world it has to traverse in + search of its own. My father is at the Inn. Take me to him now, Robin, and + make the miracle complete." + </p> + <p> + His fingers caressed her warm cheek as he adjusted the collar of the long + seacoat about her throat and chin. Her eyes were starry bright, her red + lips were parted. + </p> + <p> + "My Princess!" he whispered tenderly. "My Princess!" + </p> + <p> + "My Prince," she said so softly that the words barely reached his ears. + "We have proved that Love is the king. He rules us all. He laughs at + locksmiths—and fathers—but he does not laugh at sweethearts. + Come, I am ready." + </p> + <p> + He handed her into the cab a moment later, and drew the long deep breath + of one who goes down into deep water. Then he followed after her. The + attendant closed the door. + </p> + <p> + "Where to, sir?" called Hobbs from the driver's seat. + </p> + <p> + He received no answer, yet cracked his whip gaily over the horses' backs + and drove out into the slanting rain. + </p> + <p> + Hobbs was a dependable fellow. He drove the full length of the street + twice, passing the Inn of the Stars both times at a lively clip, and might + have gone on forever in his shuttlecock enterprise, had not the excited + voice of a woman hailed him from the sidewalk. + </p> + <p> + "Stop! <i>Attendez</i>! You! Man!" + </p> + <p> + He pulled up with a jerk. The dripping figure of Marie ran up from behind. + </p> + <p> + "My mistress? Where is she?" panted the girl. + </p> + <p> + "In heaven," said Hobbs promptly, whereupon Marie pounded on the glass + window of the cab. + </p> + <p> + Robin quickly opened the door. + </p> + <p> + "Wha—what is it?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, Marie," came in muffled tones from the depths of the cab. + </p> + <p> + "Madame Gaston returns long ago. She is beside herself. She is like a + maniac. She has lost you; she cannot explain to—to Mademoiselle's + father. Mon dieu, when he met her unexpectedly in the hall, he shouts, + 'where is my daughter?' And poor Madame she has but to shiver and stammer + and—run away! <i>Oui</i>! She dash out into the rain! It is + terrible. She—" + </p> + <p> + Bedelia broke in upon this jumbled recitation. "Where have we been, Robin? + Where are we now?" + </p> + <p> + "Where are we, Hobbs?" + </p> + <p> + "We are just getting back to the Inn of the Stars, sir,—descending, + you might say, sir," said Hobbs. + </p> + <p> + "Drive on, confound you." + </p> + <p> + "To the Inn, sir?" + </p> + <p> + "Certainly!" + </p> + <p> + The door slammed and the final block was covered in so short a time that + Robin's final kiss was still warm on Bedelia's lips when the gallant cab + rolled up to the portals of the Inn of the Stars. + </p> + <p> + "Did you ever know such a night, sir?" inquired Hobbs, as the Prince + handed his lady out. He was referring to the weather. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIV — JUST WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN EXPECTED + </h2> + <p> + Even the most flamboyant of natures may suffer depression at times, and by + the same token arrogance may give way to humility,—or, at the very + least, conviction. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blithers had had a trying day of it. To begin with, his wife raked him + over the coals for what she was pleased to call his senseless persistence + in the face of what she regarded as unalterable opposition on the part of + the Cabinet and House of Nobles. It appears that he had experienced a + second encounter with the Ministry only the day before. After sleeping + over the results of his first visit to the Council Chamber, he awoke to + the fact that matters were in such a condition that it behooved him to + strike while the iron was hot. So he obtained a second hearing, + principally because he had not slept as well over it as he would have + liked, and secondarily because he wanted to convince himself that he could + parade their ancient halls without feeling as self-conscious as a whipped + spaniel. + </p> + <p> + He came off even worse in his second assault upon the ministry, for this + time the members openly sneered at his declarations. As for his progress + through the enchanted halls he was no end worse off than before. It so + happened that he arrived at the castle at the very hour when the ladies + and gentlemen of the royal household were preparing to fare forth to the + tennis courts. He came upon them, first on the terrace, then in the + entrance, and later on was stared at with evident curiosity by white + flanneled and duck-skirted persons in the lofty halls. He wished that he + was back at Blitherwood where simplicity was not so infernally common. + </p> + <p> + He made the mistake of his life when he gave to his wife the details of + this second conference with the Cabinet. He did it in the hope that a + sympathetic response would be forthcoming. To his surprise, she merely + pitied him, but in such a disgustingly personal way that he wondered if he + could ever forgive her. + </p> + <p> + "Can't you appreciate what I am doing for Maud?" he argued, almost + tearfully. + </p> + <p> + "I can appreciate what you are doing <i>to</i> her," said she, and swept + out of the room. + </p> + <p> + "It's bad enough to have one stubborn woman in the family," said he to + himself, glaring at the closed door—which had been slammed, by the + way,—"but two of 'em—Good Lord!" + </p> + <p> + And so it was that Mr. Blithers, feeling in need of cheer, arranged a + little dinner for that evening, at the Inn of the Stars. He first invited + his principal London lawyer and his wife—who happened to be <i>his</i> + principal—and then sent a more or less peremptory invitation to the + President of the Bank of Graustark, urging him to join the party at the + Regengetz and motor to the Inn. He was to bring his wife and any friends + that might be stopping with them at the time. The banker declined. His + wife had been dead for twenty years; the only friends he possessed were + directors in the bank, and they happened to be having a meeting that + night. So Mr. Blithers invited his secondary London lawyer, his French + lawyer and two attractive young women who it appears were related to the + latter, although at quite a distance, and then concluded that it was best + to speak to his own wife about the little affair. She said she couldn't + even think of going. Maud might arrive that very night and she certainly + was not going out of the hotel with such an event as that in prospect. + </p> + <p> + "But Simpson's wife is coming," protested Mr. Blithers, "and Pericault's + cousins. Certainly you must come. Jolly little affair to liven us up a + bit. Now Lou,—" + </p> + <p> + "I am quite positive that Lady Simpson will change her mind when she hears + that Pericault's cousins are going," said Mrs. Blithers acidly. + </p> + <p> + "Anything the matter with Pericault's cousins?" he demanded, inclined to + the bellicose. + </p> + <p> + "Ask Pericault," she replied briefly. + </p> + <p> + He thought for a moment. "If that's the case, Lou, you'll have to come, if + only to save my reputation," he said. "I didn't think it of Pericault. He + seems less like a Frenchman than any man I've ever known." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Blithers relented. She went to the dinner and so did Lady Simpson, + despite Pericault's cousins, and the only ones in the party who appeared + to be uneasy were the cousins themselves. It is safe to say that it was + not the rain that put a dampener on what otherwise might have been an + excessively jovial party. + </p> + <p> + Stupendous was the commotion at the Inn of the Stars when it became known + that one of the richest men in the world—and a possible + father-in-law apparent to the crown,—was to honour the place with + his presence that night. Every one, from the manager down to the boy who + pared potatoes, laid himself out to make the occasion a memorable one. + </p> + <p> + The millionaire's table was placed in the very centre of the dining-room, + and plates were laid for eight. At the last minute, Mr. Blithers ordered + the number increased to nine. + </p> + <p> + "My daughter may put in an appearance," he explained to Lady Simpson. "I + have left word at the hotel for her to come up if by any chance she + happens to arrive on the evening train." + </p> + <p> + "Haven't you heard from her, Mr. Blithers?" inquired the austere lady, + regarding the top of his head with an illy-directed lorgnon. + </p> + <p> + They were entering the long, low dining-room. Mr. Blithers resented the + scrutiny: It was lofty and yet stooping. She seemed to be looking down + upon him at right angles, due no doubt to her superior height and to the + fact that she had taken his arm. + </p> + <p> + "We have," said he, "but not definitely. She is likely to pop in on us at + any moment, and then again she's likely not to. My daughter is a very + uncertain person, Lady Simpson. I never seem to be able to put my finger + upon her." + </p> + <p> + "Have you ever tried putting the whole hand upon her?" inquired her + ladyship, and Mr. Blithers stared straight ahead, incapable of replying. + </p> + <p> + He waited until they were seated at the table and then remarked: "I am + sorry you got splashed, Lady Simpson. You'd think they might keep the + approach to a place like this free of mud and water." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I daresay the gown can be cleaned, Mr. Blithers," she said. "I am + quite ready to discard it, in any event, so it really doesn't matter." + </p> + <p> + "My dear," said he to his wife, raising his voice so that diners at nearby + tables could not help hearing what he said, "I forgot to tell you that we + are expected to dine with the Prince at the Castle." Then he wondered if + any one in the room understood English. + </p> + <p> + "When?" she inquired. + </p> + <p> + "Very shortly," said he, and she was puzzled for a moment by the stony + glare he gave her. + </p> + <p> + Lord Simpson took this opportunity to mention that he had taken + reservations for the return of himself and wife to Vienna on the next day + but one. + </p> + <p> + "We shall catch the Orient Express on Friday and be in London by Monday," + he said. "Our work here is completed. Everything is in ship-shape. Jenkins + will remain, of course, to attend to the minor details, such as going over + the securities and—" + </p> + <p> + "Don't you like that caviare?" asked Mr. Blithers with some asperity. + </p> + <p> + "It has a peculiar taste," said Lord Simpson. + </p> + <p> + "Best I've ever tasted," said Mr. Blithers, spreading a bun thickly. + Pericault's cousins were fingering the champagne glasses. "We've got + sherry coming first," said he. + </p> + <p> + "Everything satisfactory, M'sieur Blithers?" inquired the <i>maitre + d'hotel</i> softly, ingratiatingly, into his left ear. + </p> + <p> + "Absolutely," said Mr. Blithers with precision. "You needn't hurry things. + We've got the whole evening ahead of us." + </p> + <p> + Lady Simpson shivered slightly. The Pericault cousins brightened up. There + was still a chance that the "dowagers" would retire early from the scene + of festivity. + </p> + <p> + "By the way," said Simpson, "how long do you purpose remaining in + Edelweiss, Blithers?" + </p> + <p> + For the first time, the capitalist faltered. He was almost ready to admit + that his enterprise had failed in one vital respect. The morning's + experience in the Council Chamber had shaken his confidence considerably. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know, Simpson," said he. "It is possible that we may leave soon." + </p> + <p> + "Before the Prince's dinner?" inquired Lady Simpson, again regarding his + bald spot through the lorg-non. + </p> + <p> + "Depends on what my daughter has to say when she gets here," said he + almost gruffly. "If she wants to stay for a while, we will remain. I don't + mind saying that I have a curious longing for Wall Street. I am at home + there and—well, by George, I'm like a fish out of water here." + </p> + <p> + His wife looked up quickly, but did not speak. + </p> + <p> + "I am a business man, Lady Simpson, not a philanderer. I'd like to take + this town by the neck and shake some real enterprise into it, but what can + you do when everybody is willing to sit down and let tradition look after + 'em? I've put a lot of money into Grosstock and I'd like to see the + country prosper. Still I'm not worried over my investment. It is as good + as gold." + </p> + <p> + "Perfectly safe," said Lord Simpson. + </p> + <p> + "Absolutely," said the secondary London lawyer. + </p> + <p> + Pericault's comment was in French and not intended to be brief, but as Mr. + Blithers was no longer interested, the privilege of completing his remarks + was not accorded him. He did say <i>Mon dieu</i> under his breath, + however, in the middle of his employer's next sentence. + </p> + <p> + "As I said before, everything depends on whether my daughter wants to + remain. If she says she wants to stay, that settles the point so far as I + am concerned. If she says she doesn't want to stay, we'll—well, that + will settle it also. I say, waiter, can't you hurry the fish along?" + </p> + <p> + "Certainly, sir. I understood M'sieur to say that there was no hurry—" + </p> + <p> + "Well, pour the champagne anyway. I think we need it." + </p> + <p> + Two hours later, Mr. Blithers looked at his watch again. The party was + quite gay: at least fifty percent disorderly. + </p> + <p> + "That train has been in for an hour," said the host. "I guess Maud didn't + come. I left word for the hotel to call me up if she arrived—I say, + waiter, has there been a telephone message for me?" + </p> + <p> + "No, M'sieur. We have kept a boy near the telephone all evening, M'sieur. + No message." + </p> + <p> + "I also told 'em to send up any telegram that might come," he informed his + wife, who merely lifted her eyebrows. They had been lowered perceptibly in + consequence of the ebullience of Pericault's cousins. + </p> + <p> + The vivacious young women were attracting a great deal of attention to + their table. Smart diners in the immediate neighbourhood appeared to be a + trifle shocked. Three dignified looking gentlemen, seated near the door, + got up and left the room. + </p> + <p> + "We really must be going," said Mrs. Blithers nervously, who had been + watching the three men for some time with something akin to dismay in her + soul. She had the sickening notion that they were members of the Cabinet—lords + of the realm. + </p> + <p> + "All right," said Mr. Blithers, "Call the cars up, waiter. Still raining?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, M'sieur. At this season of the year—" + </p> + <p> + "Call the cars. Let's have your bill." + </p> + <p> + Pericault's cousins were reluctant to go. In fact, they protested shrilly + that it was silly to break up such a successful party at such an unseemly + hour. + </p> + <p> + "Never mind," whispered Pericault softly, and winked. + </p> + <p> + "I'll leave 'em in your care, Pericault," said Mr. Blithers grimly. "They + are <i>your</i> cousins, you know." + </p> + <p> + "Trust me implicitly. Monsieur," said Pericault, bowing very deeply. Then + he said good-night to Mrs. Blithers and Lady Simpson. The secondary London + lawyer did the same. + </p> + <p> + Out in the wide, brilliantly lighted foyer, a few late-stayers were + waiting for their conveyances to be announced. As the four departing + members of the Blithers party grouped themselves near the big doors, + impatient to be off, a brass-buttoned boy came up and delivered a telegram + to the host. + </p> + <p> + He was on the point of tearing open the envelope when his eyes fell upon + two people who had just entered the hall from without, a man and woman + clad in raincoats. At the same instant the former saw Mr. Blithers. + Clutching his companion's arm he directed her attention to the + millionaire. + </p> + <p> + "Now for it, Bedelia," he whispered excitedly. + </p> + <p> + Bedelia gazed calmly at Mr. Blithers and Mr. Blithers gazed blankly at the + Prince of Graustark. Then the great financier bowed very deeply and called + out: + </p> + <p> + "Good evening, Prince!" + </p> + <p> + He received no response to his polite greeting, for the Prince was staring + at Bedelia as if stupefied. The millionaire's face was very red with + mortification as he turned it away. + </p> + <p> + "He—he doesn't recognise you," gasped Robin in amazement. + </p> + <p> + "Who?" she asked, her eyes searching the room with an eager, inquiring + look. + </p> + <p> + "Your father," he said. + </p> + <p> + She gave him a ravishing, delighted smile. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, it is so wonderful, Robin. I have fooled you completely. That man + isn't my father." + </p> + <p> + "That's Mr. Blithers or I am as blind as a bat," he exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + "Is it, indeed? The one reading the telegram, with his eyes sticking out + of his head?" + </p> + <p> + Robin's head was swimming. "Good heaven, Bedelia, what are you—" + </p> + <p> + "Ah!" she cried, with a little shriek of joy. "See! There he is!" + </p> + <p> + One of the three distinguished men who had been remarked by Mrs. Blithers + now separated himself from his companions and approached the couple. He + was a tall, handsome man of fifty. Although his approach was swift and + eager, there was in his face the signs of wrath that still struggled + against joy. + </p> + <p> + She turned quickly, laid her hand upon the Prince's rigid arm, and said + softly: + </p> + <p> + "My father is the Prince of Dawsbergen, dear." + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + A crumpled telegram dropped from Mr. Blithers' palsied hand to the floor + as he turned a white, despairing face upon his wife. The brass-buttoned + boy picked it up and handed it to Mrs. Blithers. It was from Maud. + </p> + <p> + "We were married in Vienna today. After all I think I shall not care to + see Graustark. Channie is a dear. I have promised him that you will take + him into the business as a partner. We are at the Bristol. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Maud." +</pre> + <h3> + THE END + </h3> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Prince of Graustark, by George Barr McCutcheon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK *** + +***** This file should be named 6353-h.htm or 6353-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/5/6353/ + +Etext produced by Duncan Harrod, Juliet Sutherland, Charles +Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at + www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 +North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email +contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the +Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + </body> +</html> diff --git a/6353.txt b/6353.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab35d0e --- /dev/null +++ b/6353.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11688 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Prince of Graustark, by George Barr McCutcheon + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Prince of Graustark + +Author: George Barr McCutcheon + +Illustrator: A. I. Keller + +Posting Date: April 12, 2013 [EBook #6353] +Release Date: August, 2004 +First Posted: November 29, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK *** + + + + +Produced by Duncan Harrod, Juliet Sutherland, Charles +Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + +THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK + +BY + +GEORGE BARR McCUTCHEON + +Author of "Graustark", "Beverly of Graustark," etc. + + +With Illustrations by + +A.I. KELLER + + + +1914 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I MR. AND MRS. BLITHERS DISCUSS MATRIMONY + + II TWO COUNTRIES DISCUSS MARRIAGE + + III MR. BLITHERS GOES VISITING + + IV PROTECTING THE BLOOD + + V PRINCE ROBIN is ASKED TO STAND UP + + VI THE PRINCE AND MR. BLITHERS + + VII A LETTER FROM MAUD + + VIII ON BOARD THE JUPITER + + IX THE PRINCE MEETS MISS GUILE + + X AN HOUR ON DECK + + XI THE LIEUTENANT RECEIVES ORDERS + + XII THE LIEUTENANT REPORTS + + XIII THE RED LETTER B + + XIV THE CAT IS AWAY + + XV THE MICE IN A TRAP + + XVI THREE MESSAGES + + XVII THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER + +XVIII A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT + + XIX "WHAT WILL MY PEOPLE DO" + + XX LOVE IN ABEYANCE + + XXI MR. BLITHERS ARRIVES IN GRAUSTARK + + XXII A VISIT TO THE CASTLE + +XXIII PINGARI'S + + XIV JUST WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN EXPECTED + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +Her eyes were starry bright, her red lips were parted. _Frontispiece_ + +"You will be her choice," said the other, without the quiver of an +eye-lash. + +"I shall pray for continuous rough weather." + +The dignified Ministry of Graustark sat agape. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +MR. AND MRS. BLITHERS DISCUSS MATRIMONY + + +"My dear," said Mr. Blithers, with decision, "you can't tell me." + +"I know I can't," said his wife, quite as positively. She knew when she +could tell him a thing and when she couldn't. + +It was quite impossible to impart information to Mr. Blithers when he +had the tips of two resolute fingers embedded in his ears. That +happened to be his customary and rather unfair method of conquering her +when an argument was going against him, not for want of logic on his +part, but because it was easier to express himself with his ears closed +than with them open. By this means he effectually shut out the voice of +opposition and had the discussion all to himself. Of course, it would +have been more convincing if he had been permitted to hear the sound of +his own eloquence; still, it was effective. + +She was sure to go on talking for two or three minutes and then subside +in despair. A woman will not talk to a stone wall. Nor will she +wantonly allow an argument to die while there remains the slightest +chance of its survival. Given the same situation, a man would get up +and leave his wife sitting there with her fingers in her ears; and, as +he bolted from the room in high dudgeon, he would be mean enough to +call attention to her pig-headedness. In most cases, a woman is content +to listen to a silly argument rather than to leave the room just +because her husband elects to be childish about a perfectly simple +elucidation of the truth. + +Mrs. Blithers had lived with Mr. Blithers, more or less, for +twenty-five years and she knew him like a book. He was a forceful +person who would have his own way, even though he had to put his +fingers in his ears to get it. At one period of their joint connubial +agreement, when he had succeeded in accumulating a pitiful hoard +amounting to but little more than ten millions of dollars, she +concluded to live abroad for the purpose of educating their daughter, +allowing him in the meantime to increase his fortune to something like +fifty millions without having to worry about household affairs. But she +had sojourned with him long enough, at odd times, to realise that, so +long as he lived, he would never run away from an argument--unless, by +some dreadful hook or crook, he should be so unfortunate as to be +deprived of the use of both hands. She found room to gloat, of course, +in the fact that he was obliged to stop up his ears in order to shut +out the incontrovertible. + +Moreover, when he called her "my dear" instead of the customary Lou, it +was a sign of supreme obstinacy on his part and could not, by any +stretch of the imagination, be regarded as an indication of placid +affection. He always said "my dear" at the top of his voice and with a +great deal of irascibility. + +Mr. William W. Blithers was a self-made man who had begun his career by +shouting lustily at a team of mules in a railway construction camp. +Other drivers had tried to improve on his vocabulary but even the mules +were able to appreciate the futility of such an ambition, and later on, +when he came to own two or three railroads, to say nothing of a few +mines and a steam yacht, his ability to drive men was even more +noteworthy than his power over the jackasses had been. But driving +mules and men was one thing, driving a wife another. What incentive has +a man, said he, when after he gets through bullying a creature that +very creature turns in and caresses him? No self-respecting mule ever +did such a thing as that, and no man would think of it except with +horror. There is absolutely no defence against a creature who will rub +your head with loving, gentle fingers after she has worked you up to +the point where you could kill her with pleasure--or at least so said +Mr. Blithers with rueful frequency. + +Mr. and Mrs. Blithers had been discussing royalty. Up to the previous +week they had restricted themselves to the nobility, but as an event of +unexampled importance had transpired in the interim, they now felt that +it would be the rankest stupidity to consider any one short of a Prince +Royal in picking out a suitable husband--or, more properly speaking, +consort--for their only daughter, Maud Applegate Blithers, aged twenty. + +Mrs. Blithers long ago had convinced her husband that no ordinary human +being of the male persuasion was worthy of their daughter's hand, and +had set her heart on having nothing meaner than a Duke on the family +roll,--(Blithers alluded to it for a while as the pay-roll)--, with the +choice lying between England and Italy. At first, Blithers, being an +honest soul, insisted that a good American gentleman was all that +anybody could ask for in the way of a son-in-law, and that when it came +to a grandchild it would be perfectly proper to christen him Duke--lots +of people did!--and that was about all that a title amounted to anyway. +She met this with the retort that Maud might marry a man named Jones, +and how would Duke Jones sound? He weakly suggested that they could +christen him Marmaduke and--but she reminded him of his oft-repeated +boast that there was nothing in the world too good for Maud and +instituted a pictorial campaign against his prejudices by painting in +the most alluring colours the picture of a ducal palace in which the +name of Jones would never be uttered except when employed in directing +the fifth footman or the third stable-boy--or perhaps a scullery +maid--to do this, that or the other thing at the behest of her Grace, +the daughter of William W. Blithers. This eventually worked on his +imagination to such an extent that he forgot his natural pride and +admitted that perhaps she was right. + +But now, just as they were on the point of accepting, in lieu of a +Duke, an exceptionally promising Count, the aforesaid event conspired +to completely upset all of their plans--or notions, so to speak. It was +nothing less than the arrival in America of an eligible Prince of the +royal blood, a ruling Prince at that. As a matter of fact he had not +only arrived in America but upon the vast estate adjoining their own in +the Catskills. + +Fortunately nothing definite had been arranged with the Count. Mrs. +Blithers now advised waiting a while before giving a definite answer to +his somewhat eager proposal, especially as he was reputed to have +sufficient means of his own to defend the chateau against any immediate +peril of profligacy. She counselled Mr. Blithers to notify him that he +deemed it wise to take the matter under advisement for a couple of +weeks at least, but not to commit himself to anything positively +negative. + +Mr. Blithers said that he had never heard anything so beautifully +adroit as "positively negative," and directed his secretary to submit +to him without delay the draft of a tactful letter to the anxious +nobleman. They were agreed that a Prince was more to be desired than a +Count and, as long as they were actually about it, they might as well +aim high. Somewhat hazily Mr. Blithers had Inquired if it wouldn't be +worth while to consider a King, but his wife set him straight in short +order. + +Peculiarly promising their hopes was the indisputable fact that the +Prince's mother had married an American, thereby establishing a +precedent behind which no constitutional obstacle could thrive, and had +lived very happily with the gentleman in spite of the critics. +Moreover, she had met him while sojourning on American soil, and that +was certainly an excellent augury for the success of the present +enterprise. What could be more fitting than that the son should follow +in the footsteps of an illustrious mother? If an American gentleman was +worthy of a princess, why not the other way about? Certainly Maud +Blithers was as full of attributes as any man in America. + +It appears that the Prince, after leisurely crossing the continent on +his way around the world, had come to the Truxton Kings for a +long-promised and much-desired visit, the duration of which depended to +some extent on his own inclinations, and not a little on the outcome of +the war-talk that affected two great European nations--Russia and +Austria. Ever since the historic war between the Balkan allies and the +Turks, in 1912 and 1913, there had been mutterings, and now the +situation had come to be admittedly precarious. Mr. Blithers was in a +position to know that the little principality over which the young man +reigned was bound to be drawn into the cataclysm, not as a belligerent +or an ally, but in the matter of a loan that inconveniently expired +within the year and which would hardly be renewed by Russia with the +prospect of vast expenditures of war threatening her treasury. The loan +undoubtedly would be called and Graustark was not in a position to pay +out of her own slender resources, two years of famine having fallen +upon the people at a time when prosperity was most to be desired. + +He was in touch with the great financial movements in all the world's +capitals, and he knew that retrenchment was the watchword. It would be +no easy matter for the little principality to negotiate a loan at this +particular time, nor was there even a slender chance that Russia would +be benevolently disposed toward her debtors, no matter how small their +obligations. They who owed would be called upon to pay, they who +petitioned would be turned away with scant courtesy. It was the private +opinion of Mr. Blithers that the young Prince and the trusted agents +who accompanied him on his journey, were in the United States solely +for the purpose of arranging a loan through sources that could only be +reached by personal appeal. But, naturally, Mr. Blithers couldn't +breathe this to a soul. Under the circumstances he couldn't even +breathe it to his wife who, he firmly believed, was soulless. + +But all this is beside the question. The young Prince of Graustark was +enjoying American hospitality, and no matter what he owed to Russia, +America owed to him its most punctillious consideration. If Mr. +Blithers was to have anything to say about the matter, it would be for +the ear of the Prince alone and not for the busybodies. + +The main point is that the Prince was now rusticating within what you +might call a stone's throw of the capacious and lordly country +residence of Mr. Blithers; moreover, he was an uncommonly attractive +chap, with a laugh that was so charged with heartiness that it didn't +seem possible that he could have a drop of royal blood in his vigorous +young body. And the perfectly ridiculous part of the whole situation +was that Mr. and Mrs. King lived in a modest, vine-covered little house +that could have been lost in the servants' quarters at Blitherwood. +Especially aggravating, too, was the attitude of the Kings. They were +really nobodies, so to speak, and yet they blithely called their royal +guest "Bobby" and allowed him to fetch and carry for their women-folk +quite as if he were an ordinary whipper-snapper up from the city to +spend the week-end. + +The remark with which Mr. Blithers introduces this chapter was in +response to an oft-repeated declaration made by his wife in the shade +of the red, white and blue awning of the terrace overlooking, from its +despotic heights, the modest red roof of the King villa in the valley +below. Mrs. Blithers merely had stated--but over and over again--that +money couldn't buy everything in the world, referring directly to +social eminence and indirectly to their secret ambition to capture a +Prince of the royal blood for their daughter Maud. She had prefaced +this opinion, however, with the exceedingly irritating insinuation that +Mr. Blithers was not in his right mind when he proposed inviting the +Prince to spend a few weeks at Blitherwood, provided the young man +could cut short his visit in the home of Mr. and Mrs. King, who, he had +asseverated, were not in a position to entertain royalty as royalty was +in the habit of being entertained. + +Long experience had taught Mr. Blithers to read the lip and eye +language with some degree of certainty, so by watching his wife's +indignant face closely he was able to tell when she was succumbing to +reason. He was a burly, domineering person who reasoned for every one +within range of his voice, and it was only when his wife became coldly +sarcastic that he closed his ears and boomed his opinions into her very +teeth, so to say, joyfully overwhelming her with facts which it were +futile for her to attempt to deny. He was aware, quite as much so as if +he had heard the words, that she was now saying: + +"Well, there is absolutely no use arguing with you, Will. Have it your +way if it pleases you." + +Eying her with some uneasiness, he cautiously inserted his thumbs in +the armholes of his brocaded waistcoat, and proclaimed: + +"As I said before, Lou, there isn't a foreign nobleman, from the +Emperor down, who is above grabbing a few million dollars. They're all +hard up, and what do they gain by marrying ladies of noble birth if +said ladies are the daughters of noblemen who are as hard up as all the +rest of 'em? Besides, hasn't Maud been presented at Court? Didn't you +see to that? How about that pearl necklace I gave her when she was +presented? Wasn't it the talk of the season? There wasn't a Duke in +England who didn't figure the cost of that necklace to within a guinea +or two. No girl ever had better advertising than--" + +"We were speaking of Prince Robin," remarked his wife, with a slight +shudder. Mrs. Blithers came of better stock than her husband. His +gaucheries frequently set her teeth on edge. She was born in Providence +and sometimes mentioned the occurrence when particularly desirous of +squelching him, not unkindly perhaps but by way of making him realise +that their daughter had good blood in her veins. Mr. Blithers had +heard, in a round-about way, that he first saw the light of day in +Jersey City, although after he became famous Newark claimed him. He did +not bother about the matter. + +"Well, he's like all the rest of them," said he, after a moment of +indecision. Something told him that he really ought to refrain from +talking about the cost of things, even in the bosom of his family. He +had heard that only vulgarians speak of their possessions. "Now, +there's no reason in the world why we shouldn't consider his offer. +He--" + +"Offer?" she cried, aghast. "He has made no offer, Will. He doesn't +even know that Maud is in existence. How can you say such a thing?" + +"I was merely looking ahead, that's all. My motto is 'Look Ahead.' You +know it as well as I do. Where would I be to-day if I hadn't looked +ahead and seen what was going to happen before the other fellow had his +eyes open? Will you tell me that? Where, I say? What's more, where +would I be now if I hadn't looked ahead and seen what a marriage with +the daughter of Judge Morton would mean to me in the long run?" He felt +that he had uttered a very pretty and convincing compliment. "I never +made a bad bargain in my life, Lou, and it wasn't guess-work when I +married you. You, my dear old girl, you were the solid foundation on +which I--" + +"I know," she said wearily; "you've said it a thousand times: 'The +foundation on which I built my temple of posterity'--yes, I know, Will. +But I am still unalterably opposed to making ourselves ridiculous in +the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. King." + +"Ridiculous? I don't understand you." + +"Well, you will after you think it over," she said quietly, and he +scowled in positive perplexity. + +"Don't you think he'd be a good match for Maud?" he asked, after many +minutes. He felt that he had thought it over. + +"Are you thinking of kidnapping him, Will?" she demanded. + +"Certainly not! But all you've got to do is to say that he's the man +for Maud and I'll--I'll do the rest. That's the kind of a man I am, +Lou. You say you don't want Count What's-His-Name,--that is, you don't +want him as much as you did,--and you do say that it would be the +grandest thing in the world if Maud could be the Princess of +Grosstick--" + +"Graustark, Will." + +"That's what I said. Well, if you want her to be the Princess of +_THAT_, I'll see that she is, providing this fellow is a gentleman and +worthy of _her_. The only Prince I ever knew was a damned rascal, and +I'm going to be careful about this one. You remember that measly--" + +"There is no question about Prince Robin," said she sharply. + +"I suppose the only question is, how much will he want?" + +"You mean--settlement?" + +"Sure." + +"Have you no romance in your soul, William Blithers?" + +"I never believed in fairy stories," said he grimly. "And what's more, +I don't take any stock in cheap novels in which American heroes go +about marrying into royal families and all that sort of rot. It isn't +done, Lou. If you want to marry into a royal family you've got to put +up the coin." + +"Prince Robin's mother, the poor Princess Yetive, married an American +for love, let me remind you." + +"Umph! Where is this Groostock anyway?" + +"'Somewhere east of the setting sun,'" she quoted. "You _must_ learn +how to pronounce it." + +"I never was good at foreign languages. By the way, where is Maud this +afternoon?" + +"Motoring." + +He waited for additional information. It was not vouchsafed, so he +demanded somewhat fearfully: + +"Who with?" + +"Young Scoville." + +He scowled. "He's a loafer, Lou. No good in the world. I don't like the +way you let--" + +"He is of a very good family, my dear. I--" + +"Is he--er--in love with her?" + +"Certainly." + +"Good Lord!" + +"And why not? Isn't every one she meets in love with her?" + +"I--I suppose so," he admitted sheepishly. His face brightened. "And +there's no reason why this Prince shouldn't fall heels over head, is +there? Well, there you are! That will make a difference in the +settlement, believe me--a difference of a couple of millions at least, +if--" + +She arose abruptly. "You are positively disgusting, Will. Can't you +think of anything but--" + +"Say, ain't that Maudie coming up the drive now? Sure it is! By +gracious, did you ever see anything to beat her? She's got 'em all beat +a mile when it comes to looks and style and--Oh, by the way," lowering +his voice to a hoarse, confidential whisper, "--I wouldn't say anything +to her about the marriage just yet if I were you. I want to look him +over first." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +TWO COUNTRIES DISCUSS MARRIAGE + + +Prince Robin of Graustark was as good-looking a chap as one would see +in a week's journey. Little would one suspect him of being the +descendant of a long and distinguished line of princes, save for the +unmistakeable though indefinable something in his eye that exacted +rather than invited the homage of his fellow man. His laugh was a free +and merry one, his spirits as effervescent as wine, his manner blithe +and boyish; yet beneath all this fair and guileless exposition of +carelessness lay the sober integrity of caste. It looked out through +the steady, unswerving eyes, even when they twinkled with mirth; it met +the gaze of the world with a serene imperiousness that gave way before +no mortal influence; it told without boastfulness a story of centuries. +For he was the son of a princess royal, and the blood of ten score +rulers of men had come down to him as a heritage of strength. + +His mother, the beautiful, gracious and lamented Yetive, set all royal +circles by the ears when she married the American, Lorry, back in the +nineties. A special act of the ministry had legalised this union and +the son of the American was not deprived of his right to succeed to the +throne which his forebears had occupied for centuries. From his mother +he had inherited the right of kings, from his father the spirit of +freedom; from his mother the power of majesty, from his father the +power to see beyond that majesty. When little more than a babe in arms +he was orphaned and the affairs of state fell upon the shoulders of +three loyal and devoted men who served as regents until he became of +age. + +Wisely they served both him and the people through the years that +intervened between the death of the Princess and her consort and the +day when he reached his majority. That day was a glorious one in +Graustark. The people worshipped the little Prince when he was in +knickerbockers and played with toys; they saw him grow to manhood with +hearts that were full of hope and contentment; they made him their real +ruler with the same joyous spirit that had attended him in the days +when he sat in the great throne and "made believe" that he was one of +the mighty, despite the fact that his little legs barely reached to the +edge of the gold and silver seat,--and slept soundly through all the +befuddling sessions of the cabinet. He was seven when the great revolt +headed by Count Marlanx came so near to overthrowing the government, +and he behaved like the Prince that he was. It was during those +perilous times that he came to know the gallant Truxton King in whose +home he was now a happy guest. But before Truxton King he knew the +lovely girl who became the wife of that devoted adventurer, and who, to +him, was always to be "Aunt Loraine." + +As a very small boy he had paid two visits to the homeland of his +father, but after the death of his parents his valuable little person +was guarded so jealously by his subjects that not once had he set foot +beyond the borders of Graustark, except on two widely separated +occasions of great pomp and ceremony at the courts of Vienna and St. +Petersburgh, and a secret journey to London when he was seventeen. (It +appears that he was determined to see a great football match.) On each +of these occasions he was attended by watchful members of the cabinet +and certain military units in the now far from insignificant standing +army. As a matter of fact, he witnessed the football match from the +ordinary stands, surrounded by thousands of unsuspecting Britons, but +carefully wedged in between two generals of his own army and flanked by +a minister of police, a minister of the treasury and a minister of war, +all of whom were excessively bored by the contest and more or less +appalled by his unregal enthusiasm. He had insisted on going to the +match incog, to enjoy it for all it was worth to the real +spectators--those who sit or stand where the compression is not unlike +that applied to a box of sardines. + +The regency expired when he was twenty years of age, and he became +ruler in fact, of himself as well as of the half-million subjects who +had waited patiently for the great day that was to see him crowned and +glorified. Not one was there in that goodly half million who stood out +against him on that triumphant day; not one who possessed a sullen or +resentful heart. He was their Prince, and they loved him well. After +that wonderful coronation day he would never forget that he was a +Prince or that the hearts of a half million were to throb with love for +him so long as he was man as well as Prince. + +Mr. Blithers was very close to the truth when he said (to himself, if +you remember) that the financial situation in the far-off principality +was not all that could be desired. It is true that Graustark was in +Russia's debt to the extent of some twenty million gavvos,--about +thirty millions of dollars, in other words,--and that the day of +reckoning was very near at hand. The loan was for a period of twelve +years, and had been arranged contrary to the advice of John Tullis, an +American financier who long had been interested in the welfare of the +principality through friendship for the lamented Prince Consort, Lorry. +He had been farsighted enough to realise that Russia would prove a hard +creditor, even though she may have been sincere in her protestations of +friendship for the modest borrower. + +A stubborn element in the cabinet overcame his opposition, however, and +the debt was contracted, taxation increased by popular vote and a +period of governmental thriftiness inaugurated. Railroads, highways, +bridges and aqueducts were built, owned and controlled by the state, +and the city of Edelweiss rebuilt after the devastation created during +the revolt of Count Marlanx and his minions. There seemed to be some +prospect of vindication for the ministry and Tullis, who lived in +Edelweiss, was fair-minded enough to admit that their action appeared +to have been for the best. The people had prospered and taxes were paid +in full and without complaint. The reserve fund grew steadily and +surely and there was every prospect that when the huge debt came due it +would be paid in cash. But on the very crest of their prosperity came +adversity. For two years the crops failed and a pestilence swept +through the herds. The flood of gavvos that had been pouring into the +treasury dwindled into a pitiful rivulet; the little that came in was +applied, of necessity, to administration purposes and the maintenance +of the army, and there was not so much as a penny left over for the +so-called sinking fund. + +A year of grace remained. The minister of finance had long since +recovered from the delusion that it would be easy to borrow from +England or France to pay the Russians, there being small prospect of a +renewal by the Czar even for a short period at a higher rate of +interest. The great nations of Europe made it plain to the little +principality that they would not put a finger in Russia's pie at this +stage of the game. Russia was ready to go to war with her great +neighbour, Austria. Diplomacy--caution, if you will,--made it +imperative that other nations should sit tight and look to their own +knitting, so to say. Not one could afford to be charged with +befriending, even in a round-about way, either of the angry grumblers. + +It was only too well known in diplomatic circles that Russia coveted +the railroads of Graustark, as a means of throwing troops into a remote +and almost impregnable portion of Austria. If the debt were paid +promptly, it would be impossible, according to international law, for +the great White Bear to take over these roads and at least a portion of +the western border of the principality. Obviously, Austria would be +benefitted by the prompt lifting of the debt, but her own relations +with Russia were so strained that an offer to come to the rescue of +Graustark would be taken at once as an open affront and vigorously +resented. Her hands were tied. + +The northern and western parts of Graustark were rich with productive +mines. The government had built railroads throughout these sections so +that the yield of coal and copper might be given an outlet to the world +at large. In making the loan, Russia had demanded these prosperous +sections as security for the vast sum advanced, and Graustark in an +evil hour had submitted, little suspecting the trick that Dame Nature +was to play in the end. + +Private banking institutions in Europe refused to make loans under the +rather exasperating circumstances, preferring to take no chances. Money +was not cheap in these bitter days, neither in Europe nor America. +Caution was the watchword. A vast European war was not improbable, +despite the sincere efforts on the part of the various nations to keep +out of the controversy. + +Nor was Mr. Blithers far from right in his shrewd surmise that Prince +Robin and his agents were not without hope in coming to America at this +particular time. Graustark had laid by barely half the amount required +to lift the debt to Russia. It was not beyond the bounds of reason to +expect her Prince to secure the remaining fifteen millions through +private sources in New York City. + +Six weeks prior to his arrival in New York, the young Prince landed in +San Francisco. He had come by way of the Orient, accompanied by the +Chief of Staff of the Graustark Army, Count Quinnox,--hereditary +watch-dog to the royal family!--and a young lieutenant of the guard, +Boske Dank. Two men were they who would have given a thousand lives in +the service of their Prince. No less loyal was the body-servant who +looked after the personal wants of the eager young traveller, an +Englishman of the name of Hobbs. A very poor valet was he, but an +exceptionally capable person when it came to the checking of luggage +and the divining of railway time-tables. He had been an agent for +Cook's. It was quite impossible to miss a train that Hobbs suspected of +being the right one. + +Prince Robin came unheralded and traversed the breadth of the continent +without attracting more than the attention that is bestowed upon +good-looking young men. Like his mother, nearly a quarter of a century +before, he travelled incognito. But where she had used the somewhat +emphatic name of Guggenslocker, he was known to the hotel registers as +"Mr. R. Schmidt and servant." + +There was romance in the eager young soul of Prince Robin. He revelled +in the love story of his parents. The beautiful Princess Yetive first +saw Grenfell Lorry in an express train going eastward from Denver. +Their wonderful romance was born, so to speak, in a Pullman compartment +car, and it thrived so splendidly that it almost upset a dynasty, for +never--in all of nine centuries--had a ruler of Graustark stooped to +marriage with a commoner. + +And so when the far-sighted ministry and House of Nobles in Graustark +set about to select a wife for their young ruler, they made overtures +to the Prince of Dawsbergen whose domain adjoined Graustark on the +south. The Crown Princess of Dawsbergen, then but fifteen, was the +unanimous choice of the amiable match-makers in secret conclave. This +was when Robin was seventeen and just over being fatuously in love with +his middle-aged instructress in French. + +The Prince of Dawsbergen despatched an embassy of noblemen to assure +his neighbour that the match would be highly acceptable to him and that +in proper season the betrothal might be announced. But alack! both +courts overlooked the fact that there was independent American blood in +the two young people. Neither the Prince of Graustark nor the Crown +Princess of Dawsbergen,--whose mother was a Miss Beverly Calhoun of +Virginia,--was disposed to listen to the voice of expediency; in fact, +at a safe distance of three or four hundred miles, the youngsters +figuratively turned up their noses at each other and frankly confessed +that they hated each other and wouldn't be bullied into getting +married, no matter what _anybody_ said, or something of the sort. + +"S'pose I'm going to say I'll marry a girl I've never seen?" demanded +seventeen-year-old Robin, full of wrath. "Not I, my lords. I'm going to +look about a bit, if you don't mind. The world is full of girls. I'll +marry the one I happen to want or I'll not marry at all." + +"But, highness," they protested, "you must listen to reason. There must +be a successor to the throne of Graustark. You would not have the name +die with you. The young Princess is--" + +"Is fifteen you say," he interrupted loftily. "Come around in ten years +and we'll talk it over again. But I'm not going to pledge myself to +marry a child in short frocks, name or no name. Is she pretty?" + +The lords did not know. They had not seen the young lady. + +"If she is pretty you'd be sure to know it, my lords, so we'll assume +she isn't. I saw her when she was three years old, and she certainly +was a fright when she cried, and, my lords, she cried all the time. No, +I'll not marry her. Be good enough to say to the Prince of Dawsbergen +that I'm very much obliged to him, but it's quite out of the question." + +And the fifteen-year-old Crown Princess, four hundred miles away, +coolly informed her doting parents that she was tired of being a +Princess anyway and very much preferred marrying some one who lived in +a cottage. In fine, she stamped her little foot and said she'd jump +into the river before she'd marry the Prince of Graustark. + +"But he's a very handsome, adorable boy," began her mother. + +"And half-American just as you are, my child," put in her father +encouragingly. "Nothing could be more suitable than--" + +"I don't intend to marry anybody until I'm thirty at least, so that +ends it, daddy,--I mean, your poor old highness." + +"Naturally we do not expect you to be married before you are out of +short frocks, my dear," said Prince Dantan stiffly. "But a betrothal is +quite another thing. It is customary to arrange these marriages years +before--" + +"Is Prince Robin in love with me?" + +"I--ahem!--that's a very silly question. He hasn't seen you since you +were a baby. But he _will_ be in love with you, never fear." + +"He may be in love with some one else, for all we know, so where do I +come in?" + +"Come in?" gasped her father. + +"She's part American, dear," explained the mother, with her prettiest +smile. + +"Besides," said the Crown Princess, with finality, "I'm not even going +to be engaged to a man I've never seen. And if you insist, I'll run +away as sure as anything." + +And so the matter rested. Five years have passed since the initial +overtures were made by the two courts, and although several sly +attempts were made to bring the young people to a proper understanding +of their case, they aroused nothing more than scornful laughter on the +part of the belligerents, as the venerable Baron Dangloss was wont to +call them, not without pride in his sharp old voice. + +"It all comes from mixing the blood," said the Prime Minister gloomily. + +"Or improving it," said the Baron, and was frowned upon. + +And no one saw the portentous shadow cast by the slim daughter of +William W. Blithers, for the simple reason that neither Graustark nor +Dawsbergen knew that it existed. They lived in serene ignorance of the +fact that God, while he was about it, put Maud Applegate Blithers into +the world on precisely the same day that the Crown Princess of +Dawsbergen first saw the light of day. + +On the twenty-second anniversary of his birth, Prince Robin fared forth +in quest of love and romance, not without hope of adventure, for he was +a valorous chap with the heritage of warriors in his veins. Said he to +himself in dreamy contemplation of the long journey ahead of him: "I +will traverse the great highways that my mother trod and I will look +for the Golden Girl sitting by the wayside. She must be there, and +though it is a wide world, I am young and my eyes are sharp. I will +find her sitting at the roadside eager for me to come, not housed in a +gloomy; castle surrounded by the spooks of a hundred ancestors. They +who live in castles wed to hate and they who wed at the roadside live +to love. Fortune attend me! If love lies at the roadside waiting, do +not let me pass it by. All the princesses are not inside the castles. +Some sit outside the gates and laugh with glee, for love is their +companion. So away I go, la, la! looking for the princess with the +happy heart and the smiling lips! It is a wide world but my eyes are +sharp. I shall find my princess." + +But, alas, for his fine young dream, he found no Golden Girl at the +roadside nor anything that suggested romance. There were happy hearts +and smiling lips--and all for him, it would appear--but he passed them +by, for his eyes were _sharp_ and his wits awake. And so, at last, he +came to Gotham, his heart as free as the air he breathed, confessing +that his quest had been in vain. History failed to repeat itself. His +mother's romance would stand alone and shine without a flicker to the +end of time. There could be no counterpart. + +"Well, I had the fun of looking," he philosophised (to himself, for no +man knew of his secret project) and grinned with a sort of amused +tolerance for the sentimental side of his nature. "I'm a silly ass to +have even dreamed of finding her as I passed along, and if I had found +her what the deuce could I have done about it anyway? This isn't the +day for mediaeval lady-snatching. I dare say I'm just as well off for +not having found her. I still have the zest for hunting farther, and +there's a lot in that." Then aloud: "Hobbs, are we on time?" + +"We are, sir," said Hobbs, without even glancing at his watch. The +train was passing 125th Street. "To the minute, sir. We will be in in +ten minutes, if nothing happens. Mr. King will be at the station to +meet you, sir. Any orders, sir?" + +"Yes, pinch me, Hobbs." + +"Pinch your Highness?" in amazement. "My word, sir, wot--" + +"I just want to be sure that the dream is over, Hobbs. Never mind. You +needn't pinch me. I'm awake," and to prove it he stretched his fine +young body in the ecstasy of realisation. + +That night he slept soundly in the Catskills. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MR. BLITHERS GOES VISITING + + +I repeat: Prince Robin was as handsome a chap as you'll see in a week's +journey. He was just under six feet, slender, erect and strong in the +way that a fine blade is strong. His hair was dark and straight, his +eyes blue-black, his cheek brown and ruddy with the health of a life +well-ordered. Nose, mouth and chin were clean-cut and indicative of +power, while his brow was broad and smooth, with a surface so serene +that it might have belonged to a woman. At first glance you would have +taken him for a healthy, eager American athlete, just out of college, +but that aforementioned seriousness in his deep-set, thoughtful eyes +would have caused you to think twice before pronouncing him a +fledgling. He had enjoyed life, he had made the most of his play-days, +but always there had hung over his young head the shadow of the cross +that would have to be supported to the end of his reign, through thick +and thin, through joy and sorrow, through peace and strife. + +He saw the shadow when he was little more than a baby; it was like a +figure striding beside him always; it never left him. He could not be +like other boys, for he was a prince, and it was a serious business +being a prince! A thousand times, as a lad, he had wished that he could +have a few "weeks off" from being what he was and be just a common, +ordinary, harum scarum boy, like the "kids" of Petrove, the head +stableman. He would even have put up with the thrashings they got from +their father, just for the sake of enjoying the mischief that purchased +the punishment. But alas! no one would ever dream of giving him the +lovely "tannings" that other boys got when they were naughty. Such joys +were not for him; he was mildly reproved and that was all. But his +valiant spirit found release in many a glorious though secret encounter +with boys both large and small, and not infrequently he sustained +severe pummelings at the hands of plebeians who never were quite sure +that they wouldn't be beheaded for obliging him in the matter of a +"scrap," but who fought like little wild-cats while they were about it. +They were always fair fights, for he fought as a boy and not as a +prince. He took his lickings like a prince, however, and his victories +like a boy. The one thing he wanted to do above all others was to play +foot-ball. But they taught him fencing, riding, shooting and tennis +instead, for, said they, foot-ball is only to be looked-at, not +played,--fine argument, said Robin! + +Be that as it may, he was physically intact and bodily perfect. He had +no broken nose, smashed ribs, stiff shoulder joints or weak ankles, nor +was he toothless. In all his ambitious young life he had never achieved +anything more enduring than a bloody nose, a cracked lip or a purple +eye, and he had been compelled to struggle pretty hard for even those +blessings. And to him the pity of it all was that he was as hard as +nails and as strong as a bullock--a sad waste, if one were to believe +him in his bitter lamentations. + +Toward the end of his first week at Red Roof, the summer home of the +Truxton Kings, he might have been found on the broad lawn late one +afternoon, playing tennis with his hostess, the lovely and vivacious +"Aunt Loraine." To him, Mrs. King would always be "Aunt Loraine," even +as he would never be anything but Bobby to her. + +She was several years under forty and as light and active as a young +girl. Her smooth cheek glowed with the happiness and thrill of the +sport, and he was hard put to hold his own against her, even though she +insisted that he play his level best. + +Truxton King, stalwart and lazy, lounged on the turf, umpiring the +game, attended by two pretty young girls, a lieutenant in flannels and +the ceremonious Count Quinnox, iron grey and gaunt-faced battleman with +the sabre scars on his cheek and the bullet wound in his side. + +"Good work, Rainie," shouted the umpire as his wife safely placed the +ball far out of her opponent's reach. + +"Hi!" shouted Robin, turning on him with a scowl. "You're not supposed +to cheer anybody, d' you understand? You're only an umpire." + +"Outburst of excitement, Kid," apologised the umpire complacently. +"Couldn't help it. Forty thirty. Get busy." + +"He called him 'kid,'" whispered one of the young girls to the other. + +"Well I heard the Prince call Mr. King 'Truck' a little while ago," +whispered the other. + +"Isn't he good-looking?" sighed the first one. + +They were sisters, very young, and lived in the cottage across the road +with their widowed mother. Their existence was quite unknown to Mr. and +Mrs. Blithers, although the amiable Maud was rather nice to them. She +had once picked them up in her automobile when she encountered them +walking to the station. After that she called them by their Christian +names and generously asked them to call her Maud. It might appear from +this that Maud suffered somewhat from loneliness in the great house on +the hill. The Felton girls had known Robin a scant three-quarters of an +hour and were deeply in love with him. Fannie was eighteen and Nellie +but little more than sixteen. He was their first Prince. + +"Whee-ee!" shrilled Mrs. King, going madly after a return that her +opponent had lobbed over the net. She missed. + +"Deuce," said her husband laconically. A servant was crossing the lawn +with a tray of iced drinks. As he neared the recumbent group he paused +irresolutely and allowed his gaze to shift toward the road below. Then +he came on and as he drew alongside the interested umpire he leaned +over and spoke in a low tone of voice. + +"What?" demanded King, squinting. + +"Just coming in the gate, sir," said the footman. + +King shot a glance over his shoulder and then sat up in astonishment. + +"Good Lord! Blithers! What the deuce can he be doing here? I say, +Loraine! Hi!" + +"Vantage in," cried his pretty wife, dashing a stray lock from her eyes. + +Mr. King's astonishment was genuine. It might better have been +pronounced bewilderment. Mr. Blithers was paying his first visit to Red +Roof. Up to this minute it is doubtful if he ever had accorded it so +much as a glance of interest in passing. He bowed to King occasionally +at the station, but that was all. + +But now his manner was exceedingly friendly as he advanced upon the +group. One might have been pardoned for believing him to be a most +intimate friend of the family and given to constantly dropping in at +any and all hours of the day. + +The game was promptly interrupted. It would not be far from wrong to +say that Mrs. King's pretty mouth was open not entirely as an aid to +breathing. She couldn't believe her eyes as she slowly abandoned her +court and came forward to meet their advancing visitor. + +"Take my racket, dear," she said to one of the Peltons, It happened to +be Fannie and the poor child almost fainted with joy. + +The Prince remained in the far court, idly twirling his racket. + +"Afternoon, King," said Mr. Blithers, doffing his panama--to fan a +heated brow. "Been watching the game from the road for a spell. Out for +a stroll. Couldn't resist running in for a minute. You play a beautiful +game, Mrs. King. How do you do! Pretty hot work though, isn't it?" + +He was shaking hands with King and smiling genially upon the trim, +panting figure of the Prince's adversary. + +"Good afternoon, Mr. Blithers," said King, still staring. "You--you +know my wife?" + +Mr. Blithers ignored what might have been regarded as an introduction, +and blandly announced that tennis wasn't a game for fat people, patting +his somewhat aggressive extension in mock dolefulness as he spoke. + +"You should see my daughter play," he went on, scarcely heeding Mrs. +King's tactless remark that she affected the game because she had a +horror of getting fat. "Corking, she is, and as quick as a cat. Got a +medal at Lakewood last spring. I'll fix up a match soon, Mrs. King, +between you and Maud. Ought to be worth going miles to see, eh, King?" + +"Oh, I am afraid, Mr. Blithers, that I am not in your daughter's +class," said Loraine King, much too innocently. + +"We've got a pretty fair tennis court up at Blitherwood," said Mr. +Blithers calmly. "I have a professional instructor up every week to +play with Maud. She can trim most of the amateurs so--" + +"May I offer you a drink of some kind, Mr. Blithers?" asked King, +recovering his poise to some extent. "We are having lemonades, but +perhaps you'd prefer something--" + +"Lemonade will do for me, thanks," said the visitor affably. "We ought +to run in on each other a little more often than--thanks! By jove, it +looks refreshing. Your health, Mrs. King. Too bad to drink a lady's +health in lemonade but--the sentiment's the same." + +He was looking over her shoulder at the bounding Prince in the far +court as he spoke, and it seemed that he held his glass a trifle too +high in proposing the toast. + +"I beg your pardon, Mr. Blithers," mumbled King. "Permit me to +introduce Count Quinnox and Lieutenant Dank." Both of the foreigners +had arisen and were standing very erect and soldierly a few yards away. +"You know Miss Felton, of course." + +"Delighted to meet you, Count," said Mr. Blithers, advancing with +outstretched hand. He shook the hand of the lieutenant with a shade +less energy. "Enjoying the game?" + +"Immensely," said the Count. "It is rarely played so well." + +Mr. Blithers affected a most degage manner, squinting carelessly at the +Prince. + +"That young chap plays a nice game. Who is he?" + +The two Graustarkians stiffened perceptibly, and waited for King to +make the revelation to his visitor. + +"That's Prince Robin of--" he began but Mr. Blithers cut him short with +a genial wave of the hand. + +"Of course," he exclaimed, as if annoyed by his own stupidity. "I did +hear that you were entertaining a Prince. Slipped my mind, however. +Well, well, we're coming up in the world, eh?--having a real nabob +among us." He hesitated for a moment. "But don't let me interrupt the +game," he went on, as if expecting King to end the contest in order to +present the Prince to him. + +"Won't you sit down, Mr. Blithers?" said Mrs. King. "Or would you +prefer a more comfortable chair on the porch? We--" + +"No, thanks, I'll stay here if you don't mind," said he hastily, and +dragged up the camp chair that Lieutenant Dank had been occupying. + +"Fetch another chair, Lucas," said King to the servant. "And another +glass of lemonade for Miss Felton." + +"Felton?" queried Mr. Blithers, sitting down very carefully on the +rather fragile chair, and hitching up his white flannel trousers at the +knees to reveal a pair of purple socks, somewhat elementary in tone. + +"We know your daughter, Mr. Blithers," said little Miss Nellie eagerly. + +"I was just trying to remember--" + +"We live across the road--over there in the little white house with the +ivy--" + +"--where I'd heard the name," proceeded Mr. Blithers, still looking at +the Prince. "By jove, I should think my daughter and the Prince would +make a rattling good match. I mean," he added, with a boisterous laugh, +"a good match at tennis. We'll have to get 'em together some day, eh, +up at Blitherwood. How long is the Prince to be with you, Mrs. King?" + +"It's rather uncertain, Mr. Blithers," said she, and no more. + +Mr. Blithers fanned himself in patience for a moment or two. Then he +looked at his watch. + +"Getting along toward dinner-time up our way," he ventured. Everybody +seemed rather intent on the game, which was extremely one-sided. + +"Good work!" shouted King as Fannie Felton managed to return an easy +service. + +Lieutenant Dank applauded vigorously. "Splendid!" he cried out. +"Capitally placed!" + +"They speak remarkably good English, don't they?" said Mr. Blithers in +an audible aside to Mrs. King. "Beats the deuce how quickly they pick +it up." + +She smiled. "Officers in the Graustark army are required to speak +English, French and German, Mr. Blithers." + +"It's a good idea," said he. "Maud speaks French and Italian like a +native. She was educated in Paris and Rome, you know. Fact is, she's +lived abroad a great deal." + +"Is she at home now, Mr. Blithers?" + +"Depends on what you'd call home, Mrs. King. We've got so many I don't +know just which is the real one. If you mean Blitherwood, yes, she's +there. Course, there's our town house in Madison Avenue, the place at +Newport, one at Nice and one at Pasadena--California, you know--and a +little shack in London. By the way, my wife says you live quite near +our place in New York." + +"We live in Madison Avenue, but it's a rather long street, Mr. +Blithers. Just where is your house?" she inquired, rather spitefully. + +He looked astonished. "You surely must know where the Blithers house is +at--" + +"Game!" shrieked Fannie Felton, tossing her racket in the air, a victor. + +"They're through," said Mr. Blithers in a tone of relief. He shifted +his legs and put his hands on his knees, suggesting a readiness to +arise on an instant's notice. + +"Shall we try another set?" called out the Prince. + +"Make it doubles," put in Lieutenant Dank, and turned to Nellie. "Shall +we take them on?" + +And doubles it was, much to the disgust of Mr. Blithers. He sat through +the nine games, manifesting an interest he was far from feeling, and +then--as dusk fell across the valley--arose expectantly with the cry of +"game and set." He had discoursed freely on the relative merits of +various motor cars, stoutly maintaining that the one he drove was +without question the best in the market (in fact, there wasn't another +"make" that he would have as a gift); the clubs he belonged to in New +York were the only ones that were worth belonging to (he wouldn't be +caught dead in any of the others); his tailor was the only tailor in +the country who knew how to make a decent looking suit of clothes (the +rest of them were "the limit"); the Pomeranian that he had given his +daughter was the best dog of its breed in the world (he was looking at +Mrs. King's Pomeranian as he made the remark); the tennis court at +Blitherwood was pronounced by experts to be the finest they'd, ever +seen--and so on and so on, until the long-drawn-out set was ended. + +To his utter amazement, at the conclusion of the game, the four players +made a dash for the house without even so much as a glance in his +direction. It was the Prince who shouted something that sounded like +"now for a shower!" as he raced up the terrace, followed by the other +participants. + +Mr. Blithers said something violent under his breath, but resolutely +retained his seat. It was King who glanced slyly at his watch this +time, and subsequently shot a questioning look at his wife. She was +frowning in considerable perplexity, and biting her firm red lips. +Count Quinnox coolly arose and excused himself with the remark that he +was off to dress for dinner. He also looked at his watch, which +certainly was an act that one would hardly have expected of a diplomat. + +"Well, well," said Mr. Blithers profoundly. Then he looked at his own +watch--and settled back in his chair, a somewhat dogged compression +about his jaws. He was not the man to be thwarted. "You certainly have +a cosy little place here. King," he remarked after a moment or two. + +"We like it," said King, twiddling his fingers behind his back. "Humble +but homelike." + +"Mrs. Blithers has been planning to come over for some time, Mrs. King. +I told her she oughtn't to put it off--be neighbourly, don't you know. +That's me. I'm for being neighbourly with my neighbours. But women, +they--well, you know how it is, Mrs. King. Always something turning up +to keep 'em from doing the things they want to do most. And Mrs. +Blithers has so many sociable obli--I beg pardon?" + +"I was just wondering if you would stay and have dinner with us, Mr. +Blithers," said she, utterly helpless. She wouldn't look her husband in +the eye--and it was quite fortunate that she was unable to do so, for +it would have resulted in a laughing duet that could never have been +explained. + +"Why," said Mr. Blithers, arising and looking at his watch again, +"bless my soul, it is _past_ dinner time, isn't it? I had no idea it +was so late. 'Pon my soul, it's good of you, Mrs. King. You see, we +have dinner at seven up at Blitherwood and--I declare it's half-past +now. I don't see where the time has gone. Thanks, I _will_ stay if you +really mean to be kind to a poor old beggar. Don't do anything extra on +my account, though, just your regular dinner, you know. No frills, if +you please." He looked himself over in some uncertainty. "Will this rag +of mine do?" + +"We shan't notice it, Mr. Blithers," said she, and he turned the remark +over in his mind several times as he walked beside her toward the +house. Somehow it didn't sound just right to him, but for the life of +him he couldn't tell why. "We are quite simple folk, you see," she went +on desperately, making note of the fact that her husband lagged behind +like the coward he was. "Red Roof is as nothing compared to +Blitherwood, with its army of servants and--" + +Mr. Blithers magnanimously said "Pooh!" and, continuing, remarked that +he wouldn't say exactly how many they employed but he was sure there +were not more than forty, including the gardeners. "Besides," he added +gallantly, "what is an army of servants compared to the army of +Grasstock? You've got the real article, Mrs. King, so don't you worry. +But, I say, if necessary, I can telephone up to the house and have a +dress suit sent down. It won't take fifteen minutes, Lou--er--Mrs. +Blithers always has 'em laid out for me, in case of an emergency, and--" + +"Pray do not think of it," she cried. "The men change, of course, after +they've been playing tennis, but we--we--well, you see, you haven't +been playing," she concluded, quite breathlessly. + +At that instant the sprightly Feltons dashed pell mell down the steps +and across the lawn homeward, shrieking something unintelligible to +Mrs. King as they passed. + +"Rather skittish," observed Mr. Blithers, glaring after them +disapprovingly. + +"They are dears," said Mrs. King. + +"The--er--Prince attracted by either one of 'em?" he queried. + +"He barely knows them, Mr. Blithers." + +"I see. Shouldn't think they'd appeal to him. Rather light, I should +say--I mean up here," and he tapped his forehead so that she wouldn't +think that he referred to pounds and ounces. "I don't believe Maud +knows 'em, as the little one said. Maud is rather--" + +"It is possible they have mistaken some one else for your daughter," +said she very gently. + +"Impossible," said he with force. + +"They are coming back here to dinner," she said, and her eyes sparkled +with mischief. "I shall put you between them, Mr. Blithers. You will +find that they are very bright, attractive girls." + +"We'll see," said he succinctly. + +King caught them up at the top of the steps. He seemed to be slightly +out of breath. + +"Make yourself at home, Mr. Blithers. I must get into something besides +these duds I'm wearing," he said. "Would you like to--er--wash up while +we're--" + +"No, thanks," interposed Mr. Blithers. "I'm as clean as a whistle. +Don't mind me, please. Run along and dress, both of you. I'll sit out +here and--count the minutes," the last with a very elaborate bow to +Mrs. King. + +"Dinner's at half-past eight," said she, and disappeared. Mr. Blithers +recalled his last glance at his watch, and calculated that he would +have at least fifty minutes to count, provided dinner was served +promptly on the dot. + +"You will excuse me if I leave you--" + +"Don't mention it, old man," said the new guest, rather more curtly +than he intended. "I'll take it easy." + +"Shall I have the butler telephone to Blitherwood to say that you won't +be home to dinner?" + +"It would be better if he were to say that I wasn't home to dinner," +said Mr. Blithers. "It's over by this time." + +"Something to drink while you're--" + +"No, thanks. I can wait," and he sat down. + +"You don't mind my--" + +"Not at all." + +Mr. Blithers settled himself in the big porch chair and glowered at the +shadowy hills on the opposite side of the valley. The little cottage of +the Feltons came directly in his line of vision. He scowled more deeply +than before. At the end of fifteen minutes he started up suddenly and, +after a quick uneasy glance about him, started off across the lawn, +walking more rapidly than was his wont. + +He had remembered that his chauffeur was waiting for him with the car +just around a bend in the road--and had been waiting for two hours or +more. + +"Go home," he said to the man. "Come back at twelve. And don't use the +cut-out going up that hill, either." + +Later on, he met the Prince. Very warmly he shook the tall young man's +hand,--he even gave it a prophetic second squeeze,--and said: + +"I am happy to welcome you to the Catskills, Prince." + +"Thank you," said Prince Robin. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +PROTECTING THE BLOOD + + +"A most extraordinary person," said Count Quinnox to King, after Mr. +Blithers had taken his departure, close upon the heels of the Feltons +who were being escorted home by the Prince and Dank. The venerable +Graustarkian's heroic face was a study. He had just concluded a +confidential hour in a remote corner of the library with the +millionaire while the younger people were engaged in a noisy though +temperate encounter with the roulette wheel at the opposite end of the +room. "I've never met any one like him, Mr. King." He mopped his brow, +and still looked a trifle dazed. + +King laughed. "There isn't any one like him, Count. He is the one and +only Blithers." + +"He is very rich?" + +"Millions and millions," said Mrs. King. "Didn't he tell you how many?" + +"I am not quite sure. This daughter of his--is she attractive?" + +"Rather. Why?" + +"He informed me that her dot would be twenty millions if she married +the right man. Moreover, she is his only heir. 'Pon my soul, Mrs. King, +he quite took my breath away when he announced that he knew all about +our predicament in relation to the Russian loan. It really sounded +quite--you might say significant. Does--does he imagine that--good +heaven, it's almost stupefying!" + +King smoked in silence for many seconds. There was a pucker of +annoyance on his wife's fair brow as she stared reflectively through +the window at the distant lights of Blitherwood, far up the mountain +side. + +"Sounds ominous to me," said King drily. "Is Bobby for sale?" + +The Count favoured him with a look of horror. "My dear Mr. King!" Then +as comprehension came, he smiled. "I see. No, he isn't for sale. He is +a Prince, not a pawn. Mr. Blithers may be willing to buy but--" he +proudly shook his head. + +"He was feeling you out, however," said King, ruminating. "Planting the +seed, so to speak." + +"There is a rumour that she is to marry Count Lannet," said his wife. +"A horrid creature. There was talk in the newspapers last winter of an +Italian duke. Poor girl! From what I hear of her, she is rather a good +sort, sensible and more genuinely American in her tastes than might be, +expected after her bringing-up. And she _is_ pretty." + +"How about this young Scoville, Rainie?" + +"He's a nice boy but--he'll never get her. She is marked up too high +for him. He doesn't possess so much as the title to an acre of land." + +"Extraordinary, the way you Americans go after our titles," said the +Count good-naturedly. + +"No more extraordinary than the way you Europeans go after our money," +was her retort. + +"I don't know which is the cheaper, titles or money in these days," +said King. "I understand one can get a most acceptable duke for three +or four millions, a nice marquis or count for half as much, and a Sir +on tick." He eyed the Count speculatively. "Of course a prince of the +royal blood comes pretty high." + +"Pretty high," said the Count grimly. He seemed to be turning something +over in his mind. "Your amazing Mr. Blithers further confided to me +that he might be willing to take care of the Russian obligation for us +if no one else turns up in time. As a matter of fact, without waiting +for my reply, he said that he would have his lawyers look into the +matter of security at once. I was somewhat dazed, but I think he said +that it would be no trouble at all for him to provide the money himself +and he would be glad to accommodate us if we had no other plan in mind. +Amazing, amazing!" + +"Of course, you told him it was not to be considered," said King +sharply. + +"I endeavoured to do so, but I fear he did not grasp what I was saying. +Moreover, I tried to tell him that it was a matter I was not at liberty +to discuss. He didn't hear that, either." + +"He is not in the habit of hearing any one but himself, I fear," said +King. + +"I am afraid poor Robin is in jeopardy," said his wife, ruefully. "The +Bogieman is after him." + +"Does the incomprehensible creature imagine--" began the Count loudly, +and then found it necessary to pull his collar away from his throat as +if to save himself from immediate strangulation. + +"Mr. Blithers is not blessed with an imagination, Count," said she. "He +doesn't imagine anything." + +"If he should presume to insult our Prince by--" grated the old +soldier, very red in the face and erect--"if he should presume to--" +Words failed him and an instant later he was laughing, but somewhat +uncertainly, with his amused host and hostess. + +Mr. Blithers reached home in high spirits. His wife was asleep, but he +awoke her without ceremony. + +"I say, Lou, wake up. Got some news for you. We'll have a prince in the +family before you can say Jack Robinson." + +She sat up in bed, blinking with dismay. "In heaven's name, Will, what +have you been doing? What--_have_ you been--" + +"Cutting bait," said he jovially. "In a day or two I'll throw the hook +in, and you'll see what I land. He's as good as caught right now, but +we'll let him nibble a while before we jerk. And say, he's a corker, +Lou. Finest young fellow I've seen in many a day. He--" + +"You don't mean to say that you--you actually said anything to him +about--about--Oh, my God, Will, don't tell me that you were crazy +enough to--" cried the poor woman, almost in tears. + +"Now cool down, cool down," he broke in soothingly. "I'm no fool, Lou. +Trust me to do the fine work in a case like this. Sow the right kind of +seeds and you'll get results every time. I merely dropped a few hints, +that's all,--and in the right direction, believe me. Count Equinox will +do the rest. I'll bet my head we'll have this prince running after Maud +so--" + +"What _did_ you say?" she demanded. There was a fine moisture on her +upper lip. He sat down on the edge of the bed and talked for half an +hour without interruption. When he came to the end of his oration, she +turned over with her face to the wall and fairly sobbed: "What will the +Kings think of us? What will they think?" + +"Who the dickens cares what the Kings think?" he roared, perfectly +aghast at the way she took it. "Who are the Kings? Tell me that! who +are they?" + +"I--I can't bear to talk about it. Go to bed." + +He wiped his brow helplessly. "You beat anything I've ever seen. What's +the matter with you? Don't you want this prince for Maud? Well, then, +what the deuce are you crying about? You said you wanted him, didn't +you? Well, I'm going to get him. If I say I'll do a thing, you can bet +your last dollar I'll do it. That's the kind of a man William W. +Blithers is. You leave it to me. There's only one way to land these +foreign noblemen, and I'm--" + +She faced him once more, and angrily. "Listen to me," she said. "I've +had a talk with Maud. She has gone to bed with a splitting headache and +I'm not surprised. Don't you suppose the poor child has a particle of +pride? She guessed at once just what you had gone over there for and +she cried her eyes out. Now she declares she will never be able to look +the Prince in the face, and as for the Kings--Oh, it's sickening. Why +can't you leave these things to me? You go about like a bull in a china +shop. You might at least have waited until the poor child had an +opportunity to see the man before rushing in with your talk about +money. She--" + +"Confound it, Lou, don't blame me for everything. We all three agreed +at lunch that he was a better bargain than this measly count we've been +considering. Maud says she won't marry the count, anyhow, and she _did_ +say that if this prince was all that he's cracked up to be, she +wouldn't mind being the Princess of Groostock. You can't deny that, +Lou. You heard her say it. You--" + +"She didn't say Groostock," said his wife shortly. "And you forget that +she said she wouldn't promise anything until she'd met him and decided +whether she liked him." + +"She'll like him all right," said he confidently. + +"She will refuse to even meet him, if she hears of your silly blunder +to-night." + +"Refuse to meet him?" gasped Mr. Blithers. + +"I may be able to reason with her, Will, but--but she's stubborn, as +well you know. I'm afraid you've spoiled everything." + +His face brightened. Lowering his voice to a half-whisper, he said: "We +needn't tell her what I said to that old chap, Lou. Just let her think +I sat around like a gump and never said a word to anybody. We can--" + +"But she'll pin you down, Will, and you know you can't lie with a +straight face." + +"Maybe--maybe I'd better run down to New York for a few days," he +muttered unhappily. "You can square it better than I can." + +"In other words, I can lie with a straight face," she said ironically. + +"I never thought she'd balk like this," said he, ignoring the remark. + +"I fancy you'd better go to New York," she said mercilessly. + +"I've got business there anyhow," muttered he. "I--I think I'll go +before she's up in the morning." + +"You can save yourself a bad hour or two if you leave before +breakfast," said she levelly. + +"Get around her some way, Lou," he pleaded. "Tell her I'm sorry I had +to leave so early, and--and that I love her better than anything on +earth, and that I'll be back the end of the week. If--if she wants +anything in New York, just have her wire me. You say she cried?" + +"She did, and I don't blame her." + +Mr. Blithers scowled. "Well--well, you see if you can do any better +than I did. Arrange it somehow for them to meet. She'll--she'll like +him and then--by George, she'll thank us both for the interest we take +in her future. It wouldn't surprise me if she fell in love with him +right off the reel. And you may be sure he'll fall in love with her. He +can't help it. The knowledge that she'll have fifty millions some day +won't have anything to do with his feeling for her, once he--" + +"Don't mention the word millions again. Will Blithers." + +"All right," said he, more humbly than he knew, "But listen to this, +old girl; I'm going to get this prince for her if it's the last act of +my life. I never failed in anything and I won't fail in this." + +"Well, go to bed, dear, and don't worry. I may be able to undo the +mischief. It--it isn't hopeless, of course." + +"I'll trust you, Lou, to do your part. Count on me to do mine when the +time comes. And I still insist that I have sowed the right sort of seed +to-night. You'll see. Just wait." + +Sure enough, Mr. Blithers was off for New York soon after daybreak the +next morning, and with him went a mighty determination to justify +himself before the week was over. His wily brain was working as it had +never worked before. + +Two days later, Count Quinnox received a message from New York bearing +the distressing information that the two private banking institutions +on which he had been depending for aid in the hour of trouble had +decided that it would be impossible for them to make the loan under +consideration. The financial agents who had been operating in behalf of +the Graustark government confessed that they were unable to explain the +sudden change of heart on the part of the bankers, inasmuch as the +negotiations practically had been closed with them. The decision of the +directors was utterly incomprehensible under the circumstances. + +Vastly disturbed, Count Quinnox took the first train to New York, +accompanied by Truxton King, who was confident that outside influences +had been brought to bear upon the situation, influences inimical to +Graustark. Both were of the opinion that Russia had something to do +with it, although the negotiations had been conducted with all the +secrecy permissible in such cases. + +"We may be able to get to the banks through Blithers," said King. + +"How could he possibly be of assistance to us?" the Count inquired. + +"He happens to be a director in both concerns, besides being such a +power in the financial world that his word is almost law when it comes +to the big deals." + +All the way down to the city Count Quinnox was thoughtful, even +pre-occupied. They were nearing the Terminal when he leaned over and, +laying his hand on King's knee, said, after a long interval of silence +between them: + +"I suppose you know that Graustark has not given up hope that Prince +Robin may soon espouse the daughter of our neighbour, Dawsbergen." + +King gave him a queer look. "By jove, that's odd. I was thinking of +that very thing when you spoke." + +"The union would be of no profit to us in a pecuniary way, my friend," +explained the Count. "Still it is most desirable for other reasons. +Dawsbergen is not a rich country, nor are its people progressive. The +reigning house, however, is an old one and rich in traditions. Money, +my dear King, is not everything in this world. There are some things it +cannot buy. It is singularly ineffective when opposed to an honest +sentiment. Even though the young Princess were to come to Graustark +without a farthing, she would still be hailed with the wildest acclaim. +We are a race of blood worshippers, if I may put it in that way. She +represents a force that has dominated our instincts for a great many +centuries, and we are bound hand and foot, heart and soul, by the +so-called fetters of imperialism. We are fierce men, but we bend the +knee and we wear the yoke because the sword of destiny is in the hand +that drives us. To-day we are ruled by a prince whose sire was not of +the royal blood. I do not say that we deplore this infusion, but it +behooves us to protect the original strain. We must conserve our royal +blood. Our prince assumes an attitude of independence that we find +difficult to overcome. He is prepared to defy an old precedent in +support of a new one. In other words, he points out the unmistakably +happy union of his own mother, the late Princess Yetive, and the +American Lorry, and it is something we cannot go behind. He declares +that his mother set an example that he may emulate without prejudice to +his country if he is allowed a free hand in choosing his mate. + +"But we people of Graustark cannot look with complaisance on the +possible result of his search for a sharer of the throne. Traditions +must be upheld--or we die. True, the Crown Princess of Dawsbergen has +American blood in her veins but her sire is a prince royal. Her mother, +as you know, was an American girl. She who sits on the throne with +Robin must be a princess by birth or the grip on the sword of destiny +is weakened and the dynasty falters. I know what is in your mind. You +are wondering why our Prince should not wed one of your fabulously rich +American girls--" + +"My dear Count," said King warmly, "I am not thinking anything of the +sort. Naturally I am opposed to your pre-arranged marriages and all +that sort of thing, but still I appreciate what it means as a +safe-guard to the crown you support. I sincerely hope that Robin may +find his love-mate in the small circle you draw for him, but I fear it +isn't likely. He is young, romantic, impressionable, and he abhors the +thought of marriage without love. He refuses to even consider the +princess you have picked out for him. Time may prove to him that his +ideals are false and he may resign himself to the--I was about to say +the inevitable." + +"Inevitable is the word, Mr. King," said Count Quinnox grimly. "'Pon my +word, sir, I don't know what our princes and princesses are coming to +in these days. There seems to be a perfect epidemic of independence +among them. They marry whom they please in spite of royal command, and +the courts of Europe are being shorn of half their glory. It wouldn't +surprise me to see an American woman on the throne of England one of +these days. 'Gad, sir, you know what happened in Axphain two years ago. +Her crown prince renounced the throne and married a French singer." + +"And they say he is a very happy young beggar," said King drily. + +"It is the prerogative of fools to be happy," said Count Quinnox. + +"Not so with princes, eh?" + +"It is a duty with princes, Mr. King." + +They had not been in New York City an hour before they discovered that +William W. Blithers was the man to whom they would have to appeal if +they expected to gain a fresh hearing with the banks. The agents were +in a dismal state of mind. The deal had been blocked no later than the +afternoon of the day before and at a time when everything appeared to +be going along most swimmingly. Blithers was the man to see; he and he +alone could bring pressure to bear on the directorates that might +result in a reconsideration of the surprising verdict. Something had +happened during the day to alter the friendly attitude of the banks; +they were now politely reluctant, as one of the agents expressed it, +which really meant that opposition to the loan had appeared from some +unexpected source, as a sort of eleventh hour obstacle. The heads of +the two banks had as much as said that negotiations were at an end, +that was the long and short of it; it really didn't matter what was +back of their sudden change of front, the fact still remained that the +transaction was as "dead as a door nail" unless it could be revived by +the magnetic touch of a man like Blithers. + +"What can have happened to cause them to change their minds so +abruptly?" cried the perplexed Count. "Surely our prime minister and +the cabinet have left nothing undone to convince them of Graustark's +integrity and--" + +"Pardon me. Count," interrupted one of the brokers, "shall I try to +make an appointment for you with Mr. Blithers? I hear he is in town for +a few days." + +Count Quinnox looked to Truxton King for inspiration and that gentleman +favoured him with a singularly dis-spiriting nod of the head. The old +Graustarkian cleared his throat and rather stiffly announced that he +would receive Mr. Blithers if he would call on him at the Ritz that +afternoon. + +"What!" exclaimed both agents, half-starting from their chairs in +amazement. + +The Count stared hard at them. "You may say to him that I will be in at +four." + +"He'll tell you to go to--ahem!" The speaker coughed just in time. +"Blithers isn't in the habit of going out of his way to--to oblige +anybody. He wouldn't do it for the Emperor of Germany." + +"But," said the Count with a frosty smile, "I am not the Emperor of +Germany." + +"Better let me make an appointment for you to see him at his office. +It's just around the corner." There was a pleading note in the +speaker's voice. + +"You might save your face, Calvert, by saying that the Count will be +pleased to have him take tea with him at the Ritz," suggested King. + +"Tea!" exclaimed Calvert scornfully. "Blithers, doesn't drink the +stuff." + +"It's a figure of speech," said King patiently. + +"All right, I'll telephone," said the other dubiously. + +He came back a few minutes later with a triumphant look in his eye. + +"Blithers says to tell Count Quinnox he'll see him to-morrow morning at +half-past eight at his office. Sorry he's engaged this afternoon." + +"But did you say I wanted him to have tea with us!" demanded the Count, +an angry flush leaping to his cheek. + +"I did. I'm merely repeating what he said in reply. Half-past eight, at +his office, Count. Those were his words." + +"It is the most brazen exhibition of insolence I've ever--" began the +Count furiously, but checked himself with an effort. "I--I hope you did +not say that I would come, sir!" + +"Yes. It's the only way--" + +"Well, be good enough to call him up again and say to him that +I'll--I'll see him damned before I'll come to his office to-morrow at +eight-thirty or at any other hour." And with that the Count got up and +stalked out of the office, putting on his hat as he did so. + +"Count," said King, as they descended in the elevator, "I've got an +idea in my head that Blithers will be at the Ritz at four." + +"Do you imagine, sir, that I will receive him?" + +"Certainly. Are you not a diplomat?" + +"I am a Minister of War," said the Count, and his scowl was an +indication of absolute proficiency in the science. + +"And what's more," went on King, reflectively, "it wouldn't in the +least surprise me if Blithers is the man behind the directors in this +sudden move of the banks." + +"My dear King, he displayed the keenest interest and sympathy the other +night at your house. He--" + +"Of course I may be wrong," admitted King, but his brow was clouded. + +Shortly after luncheon that day, Mrs. Blithers received a telegram from +her husband. It merely stated that he was going up to have tea with the +Count at four o'clock, and not to worry as "things were shaping +themselves nicely." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +PRINCE ROBIN IS ASKED TO STAND UP + + +Late the same evening. Prince Robin, at Red Roof, received a long +distance telephone communication from New York City. The Count was on +the wire. He imparted the rather startling news that William W. +Blithers had volunteered to take care of the loan out of his own +private means! Quinnox was cabling the Prime Minister for advice and +would remain in New York for further conference with the capitalist, +who, it was to be assumed, would want time to satisfy himself as to the +stability of Graustark's resources. + +Robin was jubilant. The thought had not entered his mind that there +could be anything sinister in this amazing proposition of the great +financier. + +If Count Quinnox himself suspected Mr. Blithers of an ulterior motive, +the suspicion was rendered doubtful by the evidence of sincerity on the +part of the capitalist who professed no sentiment in the matter but +insisted on the most complete indemnification by the Graustark +government. Even King was impressed by the absolute fairness of the +proposition. Mr. Blithers demanded no more than the banks were asking +for in the shape of indemnity; a first lien mortgage for 12 years on +all properties owned and controlled by the government and the deposit +of all bonds held by the people with the understanding that the +interest would be paid to them regularly, less a small per cent as +commission. His protection would be complete,--for the people of +Graustark owned fully four-fifths of the bonds issued by the government +for the construction of public service institutions; these by consent +of Mr. Blithers were to be limited to three utilities: railroads, +telegraph and canals. These properties, as Mr. Blithers was by way of +knowing, were absolutely sound and self-supporting. According to his +investigators in London and Berlin, they were as solid as Gibraltar and +not in need of one-tenth the protection required by the famous rock. + +Robin inquired whether he was to come to New York at once in relation +to the matter, and was informed that it would not be necessary at +present. In fact, Mr. Blithers preferred to let the situation remain in +statu quo (as he expressed it to the Count), until it was determined +whether the people were willing to deposit their bonds, a condition +which was hardly worth while worrying about in view of the fact that +they had already signified their readiness to present them for security +in the original proposition to the banks. Mr. Blithers, however, would +give himself the pleasure of calling upon the Prince at Red Roof later +in the week, when the situation could be discussed over a dish of tea +or a cup of lemonade. That is precisely the way Mr. Blithers put it. + +The next afternoon Mrs. Blithers left cards at Red Roof--or rather, the +foot-man left them--and on the day following the Kings and their guests +received invitations to a ball at Blitherwood on the ensuing Friday, +but four days off. While Mrs. King and the two young men were +discussing the invitation the former was called to the telephone. Mrs. +Blithers herself was speaking. + +"I hope you will pardon me for calling you up, Mrs. King, but I wanted +to be sure that you can come on the seventeenth. We want so much to +have the Prince and his friends with us. Mr. Blithers has taken a great +fancy to Prince Robin and Count Quinnox, and he declares the whole +affair will be a fiasco if they are not to be here." + +"It is good of you to ask us, Mrs. Blithers. The Prince is planning to +leave for Washington within the next few days and I fear--" + +"Oh, you must prevail upon him to remain over, my Dear Mrs. King. We +are to have a lot of people up from Newport and Tuxedo--you know the +crowd--it's the _real_ crowd--and I'm sure he will enjoy meeting them. +Mr. Blithers has arranged for a special train to bring them up--a train +de luxe, you may be sure, both as to equipment and occupant. Zabo's +orchestra, too. A notion seized us last night to give the ball, which +accounts for the short notice. It's the way we do everything--on a +minute's notice. I think they're jollier if one doesn't go through the +agony of a month's preparation, don't you? Nearly every one has wired +acceptance, so we're sure to have a lot of nice people. Loads of +girls,--you know the ones I mean,--and Mr. Blithers is trying to +arrange a sparring match between those two great prizefighters,--you +know the ones, Mrs. King,--just to give us poor women a chance to see +what a real man looks like in--I mean to say, what marvellous specimens +they are, don't you know. Now please tell the Prince that he positively +cannot afford to miss a real sparring match. Every one is terribly +excited over it, and naturally we are keeping it very quiet. Won't it +be a lark? My daughter thinks it's terrible, but she is finicky. One of +them is a negro, isn't he?" + +"I'm sure I don't know." + +"You can imagine how splendid they must be when I tell you that Mr. +Blithers is afraid they won't come up for less than fifteen thousand +dollars. Isn't it ridiculous?" + +"Perfectly," said Mrs. King. + +"Of course, we shall insist on the Prince receiving with us. He is our +_piece de resistance_. You--" + +"I'm sure it will be awfully jolly, Mrs. Blithers. What did you say?" + +"I beg pardon?" + +"I'm sorry. I was speaking to the Prince. He just called up stairs to +me." + +"What does he say?" + +"It was really nothing. He was asking about Hobbs." + +"Hobbs? Tell him, please, that if he has any friends he would like to +have invited we shall be only too proud to--" + +"Oh, thank you! I'll tell him." + +"You must not let him go away before--" + +"I shall try my best, Mrs. Blithers. It is awfully kind of you to ask +us to--" + +"You must all come up to dinner either to-morrow night or the night +after. I shall be so glad if you will suggest anything that can help us +to make the ball a success. You see, I know how terribly clever you +are, Mrs. King." + +"I am dreadfully stupid." + +"Nonsense!" + +"I'm sorry to say we're dining out to-morrow night and on Thursday we +are having some people here for--" + +"Can't you bring them all up to Blitherwood? We'd be delighted to have +them, I'm sure." + +"I'm afraid I couldn't manage it. They--well, you see, they are in +mourning." + +"Oh, I see. Well, perhaps Maud and I could run in and see you for a few +minutes to-morrow or next day, just to talk things over a +little--what's that, Maud? I beg your pardon, Mrs. King. Ahem! Well, +I'll call you up to-morrow, if you don't mind being bothered about a +silly old ball. Good-bye. Thank you so much." + +Mrs. King confronted Robin in the lower hall a few seconds later and +roundly berated him for shouting up the steps that Hobbs ought to be +invited to the ball. Prince Robin rolled on a couch and roared with +delight. Lieutenant Dank, as became an officer of the Royal Guard, +stood at attention--in the bow window with his back to the room, very +red about the ears and rigid to the bursting point. + +"I suppose, however, we'll have to keep on the good side of the +Blithers syndicate," said Robin soberly, after his mirth and subsided +before her wrath. "Good Lord, Aunt Loraine, I simply cannot go up there +and stand in line like a freak in a side show for all the ladies and +girls to gape at I'll get sick the day of the party, that's what I'll +do, and you can tell 'em how desolated I am over my misfortune." + +"They've got their eyes on you, Bobby," she said flatly. "You can't +escape so easily as all that. If you're not very, very careful they'll +have you married to the charming Miss Maud before you can say Jack +Rabbit." + +"Think that's their idea?" + +"Unquestionably." + +He stretched himself lazily. "Well, it may be that she's the very one +I'm looking for, Auntie. Who knows?" + +"You silly boy!" + +"She may be the Golden Girl in every sense of the term," said he +lightly. "You say she's pretty?" + +"My notion of beauty and yours may not agree at all." + +"That's not an answer." + +"Well, I consider her to be a very good-looking girl." + +"Blonde?" + +"Mixed. Light brown hair and very dark eyes and lashes. A little taller +than I, more graceful and a splendid horse-woman. I've seen her riding." + +"Astride?" + +"No. I've seen her in a ball gown, too. Most men think she's stunning." + +"Well, let's have a game of billiards," said he, dismissing Maud in a +way that would have caused the proud Mr. Blithers to reel with +indignation. + +A little later on, at the billiard table, Mrs. King remarked, apropos +of nothing and quite out of a clear sky, so to speak: + +"And she'll do anything her parents command her to do, that's the worst +of it." + +"What are you talking about? It's your shot." + +"If they order her to marry a title, she'll do it. That's the way she's +been brought up, I'm afraid." + +"Meaning Maud?" + +"Certainly. Who else? Poor thing, she hasn't a chance in the world, +with that mother of hers." + +"Shoot, please. Mark up six for me, Dank." + +"Wait till you see her, Bobby." + +"All right. I'll wait," said he cheerfully. + +The next day Count Quinnox and King returned from the city, coming up +in a private car with Mr. Blithers himself. + +"I'll have Maud drive me over this afternoon," said Mr. Blithers, as +they parted at the station. + +But Maud did not drive him over that afternoon. The pride, joy and hope +of the Blithers family flatly refused to be a party of any such +arrangement, and set out for a horse-back ride in a direction that took +her as far away from Red Roof as possible. + +"What's come over the girl?" demanded Mr. Blithers, completely +non-plused. "She's never acted like this before, Lou." + +"Some silly notion about being made a laughingstock, I gather," said +his wife. "Heaven knows I've talked to her till I'm utterly worn out. +She says she won't be bullied into even meeting the Prince, much less +marrying him. I've never known her to be so pig-headed. Usually I can +make her see things in a sensible way. She would have married the duke, +I'm sure, if--if you hadn't put a stop to it on account of his +so-called habits. She--" + +"Well, it's turned out for the best, hasn't it? Isn't a prince better +than a duke?" + +"You've said all that before, Will. I wanted her to run down with me +this morning to talk the ball over with Mrs. King, and what do you +think happened?" + +"She wouldn't go?" + +"Worse than that. She wouldn't let _me_ go. Now, things are coming to a +pretty pass when--" + +"Never mind. I'll talk to her," said Mr. Blithers, somewhat bleakly +despite his confident front. "She loves her old dad. I can do +_anything_ with her." + +"She's on a frightfully high horse lately," sighed Mrs. Blithers +fretfully. "It--it can't be that young Scoville, can it?" + +"If I thought it was, I'd--I'd--" There is no telling what Mr. Blithers +would have done to young Scoville, at the moment, for he couldn't think +of anything dire enough to inflict upon the suspected meddler. + +"In any event, it's dreadfully upsetting to me, Will. She--she won't +listen to anything. And here's something else: She declares she won't +stay here for the ball on Friday night." + +Mr. Blithers had her repeat it, and then almost missed the chair in +sitting down, he was so precipitous about it. + +"Won't stay for her own ball?" he bellowed. + +"She says it isn't her ball," lamented his wife. + +"If it isn't hers, in the name of God whose is it?" + +"Ask her, not me," flared Mrs. Blithers. "And don't glare at me like +that. I've had nothing but glares since you went away. I thought I was +doing the very nicest thing in the world when I suggested the ball. It +would bring them together--" + +"The only two it will actually bring together, it seems, are those +damned prize-fighters. They'll get together all right, but what good is +it going to do us, if Maud's going to act like this? See here, Lou, +I've got things fixed so that the Prince of Groostuck can't very well +do anything but ask Maud to--" + +"That's just it!" she exclaimed. "Maud sees through the whole +arrangement, Will. She said last night that she wouldn't be at all +surprised if you offered to assume Graustark's debt to Russia in order +to--" + +"That's just what I've done, old girl," said he in triumph. "I'll have +'em sewed up so tight by next week that they can't move without asking +me to loosen the strings. And you can tell Maud once more for me that +I'll get this Prince for her if--" + +"But she doesn't want him!" + +"She doesn't know what she wants!" he roared. "Where is she going?" + +"You saw her start off on Katydid, so why--" + +"I mean on the day of the ball." + +"To New York." + +"By gad, I'll--I'll see about _that_," he grated. "I'll see that she +doesn't leave the grounds if I have to put guards at every gate. She's +got to be reasonable. What does she think I'm putting sixteen millions +into the Grasstork treasury for? She's got to stay here for the ball. +Why, it would be a crime for her to--but what's the use talking about +it? She'll be here and she'll lead the grand march with the Prince. +I've got it all--" + +"Well, you'll have to talk to her. I've done all that I can do. She +swears she won't marry a man she's never seen." + +"Ain't we trying to show him to her?" he snorted. "She won't have to +marry him till she's seen him, and when she does see him she'll +apologise to me for all the nasty things she's been saying about me." +For a moment it looked as though Mr. Blithers would dissolve into +tears, so suddenly was he afflicted by self-pity. "By the way, didn't +she like the necklace I sent up to her from Tiffany's?" + +"I suppose so. She said you were a dear old foozler." + +"Foozler? What's that mean?" He wasn't quite sure, but somehow it +sounded like a term of opprobrium. + +"I haven't the faintest idea," she said shortly. + +"Well, why didn't you ask her? You've had charge of her bringing up. If +she uses a word that you don't know the meaning of, you ought to--" + +"Are you actually going to lend all that money to Graustark?" she cut +in. + +He glared at her uncertainly for a moment and then nodded his head. The +words wouldn't come. + +"Are you not a trifle premature about it?" she demanded with deep +significance in her manner. + +This time he did not nod his head, nor did he shake it. He simply got +up and walked out of the room. Half way across the terrace he stopped +short and said it with a great fervour and instantly felt very much +relieved. In fact, the sensation of relief was so pleasant that he +repeated it two or three times and then had to explain to a near by +gardener that he didn't mean him at all. Then he went down to the +stables. All the grooms and stableboys came tumbling into the stable +yard in response to his thunderous shout. + +"Saddle Red Rover, and be quick about it," he commanded. + +"Going out, sir?" asked the head groom, touching his fore-lock. + +"I am," said Mr. Blithers succinctly and with a withering glare. Red +Rover must have been surprised by the unusual celerity with which he +was saddled and bridled. If there could be such a thing as a horse +looking shocked, that beast certainly betrayed himself as he was yanked +away from his full manger and hustled out to the mounting block. + +"Which way did Miss Blithers go?" demanded Mr. Blithers, in the saddle. +Two grooms were clumsily trying to insert his toes into the stirrups, +at the same time pulling down his trousers legs, which had a tendency +to hitch up in what seemed to them a most exasperating disregard for +form. To their certain knowledge, Mr. Blithers had never started out +before without boot and spur; therefore, the suddenness of his present +sortie sank into their intellects with overwhelming impressiveness. + +"Down the Cutler road, sir, three quarters of an hour ago. She refused +to have a groom go along, sir." + +"Get ap!" said Mr. Blithers, and almost ran down a groom in his rush +for the gate. For the information of the curious, it may be added that +he did not overtake his daughter until she had been at home for half an +hour, but he was gracious enough to admit to himself that he had been a +fool to pursue a stern chase rather than to intercept her on the back +road home, which _any_ fool might have known she would take. + +His wife came upon him a few minutes later while he was feverishly +engaged in getting into his white flannels. + +"Tell Maud I'm going over to have tea with the Prince," he grunted, +without looking up from the shoe lace he was tying in a hard knot. "I +want her to go with me in fifteen minutes. Told 'em I would bring her +over to play tennis. Tell her to put on tennis clothes. Hurry up, Lou. +Where's my watch? What time is it? For God's sake, look at the watch, +not at me! I'm not a clock! What?" + +"Mrs. King called up half an hour ago to say that they were all +motoring over to the Grandby Tavern for tea and wouldn't be back till +half-past seven--" + +He managed to look up at that. For a moment he was speechless. No one +had ever treated him like this before. + +"Well, I'll be--hanged! Positive engagement. But's it's all right," he +concluded resolutely. "I can motor to Grandby Tavern, too, can't I? +Tell Maud not to mind tennis clothes, but to hurry. Want to go along?" + +"No, I don't," she said emphatically. "And Maud isn't going, either." + +"She isn't, eh?" + +"No, she isn't. Can't you leave this affair to me?" + +"I'm pretty hot under the collar," he warned her, and it was easy to +believe that he was. + +"Don't rush in where angels fear to tread, Will dear," she pleaded. It +was so unusual for her to adopt a pleading tone that he overlooked the +implication. Besides he had just got through calling himself a fool, so +perhaps she was more or less justified. Moreover, at that particular +moment she undertook to assist him with his necktie. Her soft, cool +fingers touched his double chin and seemed to caress it lovingly. He +lifted his head very much as a dog does when he is being tickled on +that velvety spot under the lower jaw. + +"Stuff and nonsense," he murmured throatily. + +"I thought you would see it that way," she said so calmly that he +blinked a couple of times in sheer perplexity and then diminished his +double chin perceptibly by a very helpful screwing up of his lower lip. +He said nothing, preferring to let her think that the most important +thing in the world just then was the proper adjustment of the wings of +his necktie. "There!" she said, and patted him on the cheek, to show +that the task had been successfully accomplished. + +"Better come along for a little spin," he said, readjusting the tie +with man-like ingenuousness. "Do you good, Lou." + +"Very well," she said. "Can you wait a few minutes?" + +"Long as you like," said he graciously. "Ask Maud if she wants to come, +too." + +"I am sure she will enjoy it," said his wife, and then Mr. Blithers +descended to the verandah to think. Somehow he felt if he did a little +more thinking perhaps matters wouldn't be so bad. Among other things, +he thought it would be a good idea not to motor in the direction of +Grandby Tavern. And he also thought it was not worth while resenting +the fact that his wife and daughter took something over an hour to +prepare for the little spin. + +In the meantime, Prince Robin was racing over the mountain roads in a +high-power car, attended by a merry company of conspirators whose sole +object was to keep him out of the clutches of that far-reaching +octopus, William W. Blithers. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE PRINCE AND MR. BLITHERS + + +In order to get on with the narrative, I shall be as brief as possible +in the matter of the Blitherwood ball. In the first place, mere words +would prove to be not only feeble but actually out of place. Any +attempt to define the sensation of awe by recourse to a dictionary +would put one in the ridiculous position of seeking the unattainable. +The word has its meaning, of course, but the sensation itself is quite +another thing. As every one who attended the ball was filled with awe, +which he tried to put forward as admiration, the attitude of the guest +was no more limp than that of the chronicler. In the second place, I am +not qualified by experience or imagination to describe a ball that +stood its promoter not a penny short of one hundred thousand dollars. I +believe I could go as high as a fifteen or even twenty thousand dollar +affair with some sort of intelligence, but anything beyond those +figures renders me void and useless. + +Mr. Blithers not only ran a special train de luxe from New York City, +but another from Washington and still another from Newport, for it +appears that the Newporters at the last minute couldn't bear the idea +of going to the Metropolis out of season. He actually had to take them +around the city in such a way that they were not even obliged to submit +to a glimpse of the remotest outskirts of the Bronx. + +From Washington came an amazing company of foreign ladies and +gentlemen, ranging from the most exalted Europeans to the lowliest of +the yellow races. They came with gold all over them; they tinkled with +the clash of a million cymbals. The President of the United States +almost came. Having no spangles of his own, he delegated a +Major-General and a Rear-Admiral to represent Old Glory, and no doubt +sulked in the White House because a parsimonious nation refuses to buy +braid and buttons for its chief executive. + +Any one who has seen a gentleman in braid, buttons and spangles will +understand how impossible it is to describe him. One might enumerate +the buttons and the spangles and even locate them precisely upon his +person, but no mortal intellect can expand sufficiently to cope with an +undertaking that would try even the powers of Him who created the +contents of those wellstuffed uniforms. + +A car load of orchids and gardenias came up, fairly depleting the +florists' shops on Manhattan Island, and with them came a small army of +skilled decorators. In order to deliver his guests at the doors of +Blitherwood, so to speak, the incomprehensible Mr. Blithers had a +temporary spur of track laid from the station two miles away, employing +no fewer than a thousand men to do the work in forty-eight hours. (Work +on a terminal extension in New York was delayed for a week or more in +order that he might borrow the rails, ties and worktrains!) + +Two hundred and fifty precious and skillfully selected guests ate two +hundred and fifty gargantuan dinners and twice as many suppers; drank +barrels of the rarest of wines; smoked countless two dollar Perfectos +and stuffed their pockets with enough to last them for days to come; +burnt up five thousand cigarettes and ate at least two dozen eggs for +breakfast, and then flitted away with a thousand complaints in two +hundred and fifty Pullman drawing-rooms, Nothing could have been more +accurately pulled-off than the wonderful Blitherwood ball. (The +sparring match on the lawn, under the glare of a stupendous cluster of +lights, resulted in favour of Mr. Bullhead Brown, who successfully--if +accidentally--landed with considerably energy on the left lower corner +of Mr. Sledge-hammer Smith's diaphragm, completely dividing the purse +with him in four scientifically satisfactory rounds, although they came +to blows over it afterwards when Mr. Smith told Mr. Brown what he +thought of him for hitting with such fervour just after they had eaten +a hearty meal.) + +A great many mothers inspected Prince Robin with interest and confessed +to a really genuine enthusiasm: something they had not experienced +since one of the German princes got close enough to Newport to see it +quite clearly through his marine glasses from the bridge of a +battleship. The ruler of Graustark--(four-fifths of the guests asked +where in the world it was!)--was the lion of the day. Mr. Blithers was +annoyed because he did not wear his crown, but was somewhat mollified +by the information that he had neglected to bring it along with him in +his travels. He was also considerably put out by the discovery that the +Prince had left his white and gold uniform at home and had to appear in +an ordinary dress-suit, which, to be sure, fitted him perfectly but did +not achieve distinction. He did wear a black and silver ribbon across +his shirt front, however, and a tiny gold button in the lapel of his +coat; otherwise he might have been mistaken for a "regular guest," to +borrow an expression from Mr. Blithers. The Prince's host manoeuvred +until nearly one o'clock in the morning before he succeeded in getting +a close look at the little gold button, and then found that the +inscription thereon was in some sort of hieroglyphics that afforded no +enlightenment whatsoever. + +Exercising a potentate's prerogative, Prince Robin left the scene of +festivity somewhat earlier than was expected. As a matter of fact, he +departed shortly after one. Moreover, being a prince, it did not occur +to him to offer any excuse for leaving so early, but gracefully thanked +his host and hostess and took himself off without the customary +assertion that he had had a splendid time. Strange to say, he did not +offer a single comment on the sumptuousness of the affair that had been +given in his honor. Mr. Blithers couldn't get over that. He couldn't +help thinking that the fellow had not been properly brought-up, or was +it possible that he was not in the habit of going out in good society? + +Except for one heart-rending incident, the Blitherwood ball was the +most satisfying event in the lives of Mr. and Mrs. William W. Blithers. +That incident, however, happened to be the hasty and well-managed +flight of Maud Applegate Blithers at an hour indefinitely placed +somewhere between four and seven o'clock on the morning of the great +day. + +Miss Blithers was not at the ball. She was in New York City serenely +enjoying one of the big summer shows, accompanied by young Scoville and +her onetime governess, a middle-aged gentlewoman who had seen even +better days than those spent in the employ of William W. Blithers. The +resolute young lady had done precisely what she said she would do, and +for the first time in his life Mr. Blithers realised that his daughter +was a creation and not a mere condition. He wilted like a famished +water-lily and went about the place in a state of bewilderment so bleak +that even his wife felt sorry for him and refrained from the "I told +you so" that might have been expected under the circumstances. + +Maud's telegram, which came at three o'clock in the afternoon, was +meant to be reassuring but it failed of its purpose. It said: "Have a +good time and don't lose any sleep over me. I shall sleep very soundly +myself at the Ritz to-night and hope you will be doing the same when I +return home to-morrow afternoon, for I know you will be dreadfully +tired after all the excitement. Convey my congratulations to the guest +of honor and believe me to be your devoted and obedient daughter." + +The co-incidental absence of young Mr. Scoville from the ball was a +cause of considerable uneasiness on the part of the agitated Mr. +Blithers, who commented upon it quite expansively in the seclusion of +his own bed-chamber after the last guest had sought repose. Some of the +things that Mr. Blithers said about Mr. Scoville will never be +forgotten by the four walls of that room, if, as commonly reported, +they possess auricular attachments. + +Any one who imagines that Mr. Blithers accepted Maud's defection as a +final disposition of the cause he had set his heart upon is very much +mistaken in his man. Far from receding so much as an inch from his +position, he at once set about to strengthen it in such a way that Maud +would have to come to the conclusion that it was useless to combat the +inevitable, and ultimately would heap praises upon his devoted head for +the great blessing he was determined to bestow upon her in spite of +herself. + +The last of the special coaches was barely moving on its jiggly way to +the main line, carrying the tag end of the revellers, when he set forth +in his car for a mid-day visit to Red Roof. Already the huge camp of +Slavs and Italians was beginning to jerk up the borrowed rails and +ties; the work trains were rumbling and snorting in the meadows above +Blitherwood, tottering about on the uncertain road-bed. He gave a few +concise and imperative orders to obsequious superintendents and +foremen, who subsequently repeated them with even greater freedom to +the perspiring foreigners, and left the scene of confusion without so +much as a glance behind. Wagons, carts, motortrucks and all manner of +wheeled things were scuttling about Blitherwood as he shot down the +long, winding avenue toward the lodge gates, but he paid no attention +to them. They were removing the remnants of a glory that had passed at +five in the morning. He was not interested in the well-plucked +skeleton. It was a nuisance getting rid of it, that was all, and he +wanted it to be completely out of sight when he returned from Red Roof. +If a vestige of the ruins remained, some one would hear from him! That +was understood. And when Maud came home on the five-fourteen she would +not find him asleep--not by a long shot! + +Half-way to Red Roof, he espied a man walking briskly along the road +ahead of him. To be perfectly accurate, he was walking in the middle of +the road and his back was toward the swift-moving, almost noiseless +Packard. + +"Blow the horn for the dam' fool," said Mr. Blithers to the chauffeur. +A moment later the pedestrian leaped nimbly aside and the car shot +past, the dying wail of the siren dwindling away in the whirr of the +wheels. "Look where you're going!" shouted Mr. Blithers from the +tonneau, as if the walker had come near to running him down instead of +the other way around. "Whoa! Stop 'er, Jackson!" he called to the +driver. He had recognised the pedestrian. + +The car came to a stop with grinding brakes, and at the same time the +pedestrian halted a hundred yards away. + +"Back up," commanded Mr. Blithers in some haste, for the Prince seemed +to be on the point of deserting the highway for the wood that lined it. +"Morning, Prince!" he shouted, waving his hat vigorously. "Want a lift?" + +The car shot backward with almost the same speed that it had gone +forward, and the Prince exercised prudence when he stepped quickly up +the sloping bank at the roadside. + +"Were you addressing me," he demanded curtly, as the car came to a stop. + +"Yes, your highness. Get in. I'm going your way," said Mr. Blithers +beamingly. + +"I mean a moment ago, when you shouted 'Look where you are going,'" +said Robin, an angry gleam in his eye. + +Mr. Blithers looked positively dumbfounded. "Good Heavens, no!" he +cried. "I was speaking to the chauffeur." (Jackson's back seemed to +stiffen a little.) "I've told him a thousand times to be careful about +running up on people like that. Now this is the last time I'll warn +you, Jackson. The next time you go. Understand? Just because you happen +to be driving for me doesn't signify that you can run over people who--" + +"It's all right, Mr. Blithers," interrupted Robin, with his fine smile. +"No harm done. I'll walk if you don't mind. Out for a bit of exercise, +you know. Thank you just the same." + +"Where are you bound for?" asked Mr. Blithers. + +"I don't know. I ramble where my fancy leads me." + +"I guess I'll get out and stroll along with you. God knows I need more +exercise than I get. Is it agreeable?" He was on the ground by this +time. Without waiting for an answer, he directed Jackson to run on to +Red Roof and wait for him. + +"I shall be charmed," said Robin, a twinkle in the tail of his eye. "An +eight or ten mile jaunt will do you a world of good, I'm sure. Shall we +explore this little road up the mountain and then drop down to Red +Roof? I don't believe it can be more than five or six miles." + +"Capital," said Mr. Blithers with enthusiasm. He happened to know that +it was a "short cut" to Red Roof and less than a mile as the crow +flies. True, there was something of an ascent ahead of them, but there +was also a corresponding descent at the other end. Besides, he was +confident he could keep up with the long-legged youngster by the +paradoxical process of holding back. The Prince, having suggested the +route, couldn't very well be arbitrary in traversing it. Mr. Blithers +regarded the suggestion as an invitation. + +They struck off into the narrow woodland road, not precisely side by +side, but somewhat after the fashion of a horseback rider and his +groom, or, more strictly speaking, as a Knight and his vassal. Robin +started off so briskly that Mr. Blithers fell behind a few paces and +had to exert himself considerably to keep from losing more ground as +they took the first steep rise. The road was full of ruts and cross +ruts and littered with boulders that had ambled down the mountain-side +in the spring moving. To save his life, Mr. Blithers couldn't keep to a +straight course. He went from rut to rut and from rock to rock with the +fidelity of a magnetised atom, seldom putting his foot where he meant +to put it, and never by any chance achieving a steady stride. He would +take one long, purposeful step and then a couple of short "feelers," +progressing very much as a man tramps over a newly ploughed field. + +At the top of the rise, Robin considerately slackened his pace and the +chubby gentleman drew alongside, somewhat out of breath but as cheerful +as a cricket. + +"Going too fast for you, Mr. Blithers?" inquired Robin. + +"Not at all," said Mr. Blithers. "By the way, Prince," he went on, +cunningly seizing the young man's arm and thereby putting a check on +his speed for the time being at least, "I want to explain my daughter's +unfortunate absence last night. You must have thought it very strange. +Naturally it was unavoidable. The poor girl is really quite +heart-broken. I beg pardon!" He stepped into a rut and came perilously +near to going over on his nose. "Beastly road! Thanks. Good thing I +took hold of you. Yes, as I was saying, it was really a most +unfortunate thing; missed the train, don't you see. Went down for the +day--just like a girl, you know--and missed the train." + +"Ah, I see. She missed it twice." + +"Eh? Oh! Ha ha! Very good! She might just as well have missed it a +dozen times as once, eh? Well, she could have arranged for a special to +bring her up, but she's got a confounded streak of thriftiness in her. +Couldn't think of spending the money. Silly idea of--I beg your pardon, +did I hurt you? I'm pretty heavy, you know, no light weight when I come +down on a fellow's toe like that. What say to sitting down on this log +for a while? Give your foot a chance to rest a bit. Deucedly awkward of +me. Ought to look out where I'm stepping, eh?" + +"It really doesn't matter, Mr. Blithers," said Robin hastily. "We'll +keep right on if it's all the same to you. I'm due at home in--in half +an hour. We lunch very punctually." + +"I was particularly anxious for you and Maud to meet under the +conditions that obtained last night," went on Mr. Blithers, with a +regretful look at the log they were passing. "Nothing could have been +more--er--ripping." + +"I hear from every one that your daughter is most attractive," said +Robin. "Sorry not to have met her, Mr. Blithers." + +"Oh, you'll meet her all right. Prince. She's coming home to-day. I +believe Mrs. Blithers is expecting you to dinner to-night. She--" + +"I'm sure there must be some mistake," began Robin, but was cut short. + +"I was on my way to Red Roof to ask you and Count Quiddux to give us +this evening in connection with that little affair we are arranging. It +is most imperative that it should be to-night, as my attorney is coming +up for the conference." + +"I fear that Mrs. King has planned something--" + +Mr. Blithers waved his hand deprecatingly. "I am sure Mrs. King will +let you off when she knows how important it is. As a matter of fact, it +has to be tonight or not at all." + +There was a note in his voice that Robin did not like. It savoured of +arrogance. + +"I daresay Count Quinnox can attend to all the details, Mr. Blithers. I +have the power of veto, of course, but I shall be guided by the counsel +of my ministers. You need have no hesitancy in dealing with--" + +"That's not the point, Prince. I am a business man,--as perhaps you +know. I make it a point never to deal with any one except the head of a +concern, if you'll pardon my way of putting it. It isn't right to speak +of Growstock as a concern, but you'll understand, of course. Figure of +speech." + +"I can only assure you, sir, that Graustark is in a position to +indemnify you against any possible chance of loss. You will be amply +secured. I take it that you are not coming to our assistance through +any desire to be philanthropic, but as a business proposition, pure and +simple. At least, that is how we regard the matter. Am I not right?" + +"Perfectly," said Mr. Blithers. "I haven't got sixteen millions to +throw away. Still I don't see that that has anything to do with my +request that you be present at the conference to-night. To be perfectly +frank with you, I don't like working in the dark. You have the power of +veto, as you say. Well, if I am to lend Groostork a good many millions +of hard-earned dollars, I certainly don't relish the idea that you may +take it into your head to upset the whole transaction merely because +you have not had the matter presented to you by me instead of by your +cabinet, competent as its members may be. First hand information on any +subject is my notion of simplicity." + +"The integrity of the cabinet is not to be questioned, Mr. Blithers. +Its members have never failed Graustark in any--" + +"I beg your pardon, Prince," said Mr. Blithers firmly, "but I certainly +suspect that they failed her when they contracted this debt to Russia. +You will forgive me for saying it, but it was the most asinine bit of +short-sightedness I've ever heard of. My office boys could have seen +farther than your honourable ministers." + +To his utter amazement, Robin turned a pair of beaming, excited eyes +upon him. + +"Do you really mean that, Mr. Blithers?" he cried eagerly. + +"I certainly do!" + +"By jove, I--I can't tell you how happy I am to hear you say it. You +see it is exactly what John Tullis said from the first. He was bitterly +opposed to the loan. He tried his best to convince the prime minister +that it was inadvisable. I granted him the special privilege of +addressing the full House of Nobles on the question, an honour that no +alien had known up to that time. Of course I was a boy when all this +happened, Mr. Blithers, or I might have put a stop to the--but I'll not +go into that. The House of Nobles went against his judgment and voted +in favour of accepting Russia's loan. Now they realise that dear old +John Tullis was right. Somehow it gratifies me to hear you say that +they were--ahem!--shortsighted." + +"What you need in Groostock is a little more good American blood," +announced Mr. Blithers, pointedly. "If you are going to cope with the +world, you've got to tackle the job with brains and not with that +idiotic thing called faith. There's no such thing in these days as +charity among men, good will, and all that nonsense. Now, you've got a +splendid start in the right direction, Prince. You've got American +blood in your veins and that means a good deal. Take my advice and +increase the proportion. In a couple of generations you'll have +something to brag about. Take Tullis as your example. Beget sons that +will think and act as he is capable of doing. Weed out the thin blood +and give the crown of Grasstick something that is thick and red. It +will be the making of your--" + +"I suppose you are advising me to marry an American woman, Mr. +Blithers," said Robin drily. + +Mr. Blithers directed a calculating squint into the tree-tops. "I am +simply looking ahead for my own protection, Prince," said he. + +"In what respect?" + +"Well I am putting a lot of money into the hands of your people. Isn't +it natural that I should look ahead to some extent?" + +"But my people are honest. They will pay." + +"I understand all that, but at the same time I do not relish the idea +of some day being obliged to squeeze blood from a turnip. Now is the +time for you to think for the future. Your people are honest, I'll +grant. But they also are poor. And why? Because no one has been able to +act for them as your friend Tullis is capable of acting. The day will +come when they will have to settle with me, and will it be any easier +to pay William W. Blithers than it is to pay Russia? Not a bit of it. +As you have said, I am not a philanthropist. I shall exact full and +prompt payment. I prefer to collect from the prosperous, however, and +not from the poor. It goes against the grain. That's why I want to see +you rich and powerful--as well as honest." + +"I grant you it is splendid philosophy," said Robin. "But are you not +forgetting that even the best of Americans are sometimes failures when +it comes to laying up treasure?" + +"As individuals, yes; but not as a class. You will not deny that we are +the richest people in the world. On the other hand I do not pretend to +say that we are a people of one strain of blood. We represent a mixture +of many strains, but underneath them all runs the full stream that +makes us what we are: Americans. You can't get away from that. Yes, I +_do_ advise you to marry an American girl." + +"In other words, I am to make a business of it," said Robin, tolerantly. + +"It isn't beyond the range of possibility that you should fall in love +with an American girl, is it? You wouldn't call that making a business +of it, would you?" + +"You may rest assured, Mr. Blithers, that I shall marry to please +myself and no one else," said Robin, regarding him with a coldness that +for an instant affected the millionaire uncomfortably. + +"Well," said Mr. Blithers, after a moment of hard thinking, "it may +interest you to know that I married for love." + +"It _does_ interest me," said Robin. "I am glad that you did." + +"I was a comparatively poor man when I married. The girl I married was +well-off in her own right. She had brains as well. We worked together +to lay the foundation for a--well, for the fortune we now possess. A +fortune, I may add, that is to go, every dollar of it, to my daughter. +It represents nearly five hundred million dollars. The greatest king in +the world to-day is poor in comparison to that vast estate. My daughter +will one day be the richest woman in the world." + +"Why are you taking the pains to enlighten me as to your daughter's +future, Mr. Blithers?" + +"Because I regard you as a sensible young man, Prince." + +"Thank you. And I suppose you regard your daughter as a sensible young +woman?" + +"Certainly!" exploded Mr. Blithers. + +"Well, it seems to me, she will be capable of taking care of her +fortune a great deal more successfully than you imagine, Mr. Blithers. +She will doubtless marry an excellent chap who has the capacity to +increase her fortune, rather than to let it stand at a figure that some +day may be surpassed by the possessions of an ambitious king." + +There was fine irony in the Prince's tone but no trace of +offensiveness. Nevertheless, Mr. Blithers turned a shade more purple +than before, and not from the violence of exercise. He was having some +difficulty in controlling his temper. What manner of fool was this +fellow who could sneer at five hundred million dollars? He managed to +choke back something that rose to his lips and very politely remarked: + +"I am sure you will like her, Prince. If I do say it myself, she is as +handsome as they grow." + +"So I have been told." + +"You will see her to-night." + +"Really, Mr. Blithers, I cannot--" + +"I'll fix it with Mrs. King. Don't you worry." + +"May I be pardoned for observing that Mrs. King, greatly as I love her, +is not invested with the power to govern my actions?" said Robin +haughtily. + +"And may I be pardoned for suggesting that it is your duty to your +people to completely understand this loan of mine before you agree to +accept it?" said Mr. Blithers, compressing his lips. + +"Forgive me, Mr. Blithers, but it is not altogether improbable that +Graustark may secure the money elsewhere." + +"It is not only improbable but impossible," said Mr. Blithers flatly. + +"Impossible?" + +"Absolutely," said the millionaire so significantly that Robin would +have been a dolt not to grasp the situation. Nothing could have been +clearer than the fact that Mr. Blithers believed it to be in his power +to block any effort Graustark might make in other directions to secure +the much-needed money. + +"Will you come to the point, Mr. Blithers?" said the young Prince, +stopping abruptly in the middle of the road and facing his companion. +"What are you trying to get at?" + +Mr. Blithers was not long in getting to the point. In the first place, +he was hot and tired and his shoes were hurting; in the second place, +he felt that he knew precisely how to handle these money-seeking scions +of nobility. He planted himself squarely in front of the Prince and +jammed his hands deep into his coat pockets. + +"The day my daughter is married to the man of my choice, I will hand +over to that man exactly twenty million dollars," he said slowly, +impressively. + +"Yes, go on." + +"The sole object I have in life is to see my girl happy and at the same +time at the top of the heap. She is worthy of any man's love. She is as +good as gold. She--" + +"The point is this, then: You would like to have me for a son-in-law." + +"Yes," said Mr. Blithers. + +Robin grinned. He was amused in spite of himself. "You take it for +granted that I can be bought?" + +"I have not made any such statement." + +"And how much will you hand over to the man of _her_ choice when she +marries him?" enquired the young man. + +"You will be her choice," said the other, without the quiver of an +eye-lash. + +"How can you be sure of that? Has she no mind of her own?" + +"It isn't incomprehensible that she should fall in love with you, is +it?" + +"It might be possible, of course, provided she is not already in love +with some one else." + +Mr. Blithers started. "Have you heard any one say that--but, that's +nonsense! She's not in love with any one, take it from me. And just to +show you how fair I am to her--and to you--I'll stake my head you fall +in love with each other before you've been together a week." + +"But we're not going to be together for a week." + +"I should have said before you've known each other a week. You will +find--" + +"Just a moment, please. We can cut all this very short, and go about +our business. I've never seen your daughter, nor, to my knowledge, has +she ever laid eyes on me. From what I've heard of her, she _has_ a mind +of her own. You will not be able to force her into a marriage that +doesn't appeal to her, and you may be quite sure, Mr. Blithers, that +you can't force me into one. I do not want you to feel that I have a +single disparaging thought concerning Miss Blithers. It is possible +that I could fall in love with her inside of a week, or even sooner. +But I don't intend to, Mr. Blithers, any more than she intends to fall +in love with me. You say that twenty millions will go to the man she +marries, if he is your choice. Well, I don't give a hang, sir, if you +make it fifty millions. The chap who gets it will not be me, so what's +the odds? You--" + +"Wait a minute, young man," said Mr. Blithers coolly. (He was never +anything but cool when under fire.) "Why not wait until you have met my +daughter before making a statement like that? After all, am I not the +one who is taking chances? Well, I'm willing to risk my girl's +happiness with you and that's saying everything when you come right +down to it. She will make you happy in--" + +[Illustration: "You will be her choice," said the other, without the +quiver of an eye-lash ] + +"I am not for sale. Mr. Blithers," said Robin abruptly. "Good morning." +He turned into the wood and was sauntering away with his chin high in +the air when Mr. Blithers called out to him from behind. + +"I shall expect you to-night, just the same." + +Robin halted, amazed by the man's assurance. He retraced his steps to +the roadside. + +"Will you pardon a slight feeling of curiosity on my part, Mr. +Blithers, if I ask whether your daughter consents to the arrangement +you propose. Does she approve of the scheme?" + +Mr. Blithers was honest. "No, she doesn't," he said succinctly. "At +least, not at present. I'll be honest with you. She stayed away from +the ball last night simply because she did not want to meet you. That's +the kind of a girl _she_ is." + +"By jove, I take off my hat to her," cried Robin. "She is a brick, +after all. Take it from me, Mr. Blithers, you will not be able to hand +over twenty millions without her consent. I believe that I should enjoy +meeting her, now that I come to think of it. It would be a pleasure to +exchange confidences with a girl of that sort." + +Mr. Blithers betrayed agitation. "See here, Prince, I don't want her to +know that I've said anything to you about this matter," he said, +unconsciously lowering his voice as if fearing that Maud might be +somewhere within hearing distance. "This is between you and me. Don't +breathe a word of it to her. 'Gad, she'd--she'd skin me alive!" At the +very thought of it, he wiped his forehead with unusual vigour. + +Robin laughed heartily. "Rest easy, Mr. Blithers. I shall not even +think of your proposition again, much less speak of it." + +"Come now, Prince; wait until you've seen her. I know you'll get on +famously--" + +"I should like her to know that I consider her a brick, Mr. Blithers. +Is it too much to ask of you? Just tell her that I think she's a brick." + +"Tell her yourself," growled Mr. Blithers, looking very black. "You +will see her this evening," he added levelly. + +"Shall I instruct your chauffeur to come for you up here or will you +walk back to--" + +"I'll walk to Red Roof," said Mr. Blithers doggedly. "I'm going to ask +Mrs. King to let you off for to-night." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A LETTER FROM MAUD + + +Mr. Blithers, triumphant, left Red Roof shortly after luncheon; Mr. +Blithers, dismayed, arrived at Blitherwood a quarter of an hour later. +He had had his way with Robin, who, after all, was coming to dinner +that evening with Count Quinnox. The Prince, after a few words in +private with the Count, changed his mind and accepted Mr. Blithers' +invitation with a liveliness that was mistaken for eagerness by that +gentleman, who had made very short work of subduing Mrs. King when she +tried to tell him that her own dinner-party would be ruined if the +principal guest defaulted. He was gloating over his victory up to the +instant he reached his own lodge gates. There dismay sat patiently +waiting for him in the shape of a messenger from the local telegraph +office in the village below. He had seen Mr. Blithers approaching in +the distance, and, with an astuteness that argued well for his future +success in life, calmly sat down to wait instead of pedaling his +decrepit bicycle up the long slope to the villa. + +He delivered a telegram and kindly vouchsafed the information that it +was from New York. + +Mr. Blithers experienced a queer sinking of the heart as he gazed at +the envelope. Something warned him that if he opened it in the presence +of the messenger he would say something that a young boy ought not to +hear. + +"It's from Maud," said the obliging boy, beaming good-nature. It cost +him a quarter, that bit of gentility, for Mr. Blithers at once said +something that a messenger boy ought to hear, and ordered Jackson to go +ahead. + +It was from Maud and it said: "I shall stay in town a few days longer. +It is delightfully cool here. Dear old Miranda is at the Ritz with me +and we are having a fine spree. Don't worry about money. I find I have +a staggering balance in the bank. The cashier showed me where I had +made a mistake in subtraction of an even ten thousand. I was amazed to +find what a big difference a little figure makes. Have made no definite +plans but will write Mother to-night. Please give my love to the +Prince. Have you seen to-day's _Town Truth_? Or worse, has he seen it? +Your loving daughter, Maud." + +The butler was sure it was apoplexy, but the chauffeur, out of a wide +experience, announced, behind his hand, that he would be all right the +instant the words ceased to stick in his throat. And he was right. Mr. +Blithers _was_ all right. Not even the chauffeur had seen him when he +was more so. + +A little later on, after he had cooled off to a quite considerable +extent, Mr. Blithers lighted a cigar and sat down in the hall outside +his wife's bed-chamber door. She was having her beauty nap. Not even he +possessed the temerity to break in upon that. He sat and listened for +the first sound that would indicate the appeasement of beauty, +occasionally hitching his chair a trifle nearer to the door in the +agony of impatience. By the time Jackson returned from the village with +word that a copy of _Town Truth_ was not to be had until the next day, +he was so close to the door that if any one had happened to stick a hat +pin through the keyhole at precisely the right instant it would have +punctured his left ear with appalling results. + +"What are we going to do about it?" he demanded three minutes after +entering the chamber. His wife was prostrate on the luxurious couch +from which she had failed to arise when he burst in upon her with the +telegram in his hand. + +"Oh, the foolish child," she moaned. "If she only knew how adorable he +is she wouldn't be acting in this perfectly absurd manner. Every girl +who was here last night is madly in love with him. Why must Maud be so +obstinate?" + +Mr. Blithers was very careful not to mention his roadside experience +with the Prince, and you may be sure that he said nothing about his +proposition to the young man. He merely declared, with a vast +bitterness in his soul, that the Prince was coming to dinner, but what +the deuce was the use? + +"She ought to be soundly--spoken to," said he, breaking the sentence +with a hasty gulp. "Now, Lou, there's just one thing to do. I must go +to New York on the midnight train and get her. That woman was all right +as a tutor, but hanged if I like to see a daughter of mine traipsing +around New York with a school teacher. She--" + +"You forget that she has retired on a competence. She is not in active +employment. Will. You forget that she is one of the Van Valkens." + +"There you go, talking about good old families again. Why is it that so +blamed many of your fine old blue stockings are hunting jobs--" + +"Now don't be vulgar, Will," she cut in. "Maud is quite safe with +Miranda, and you know it perfectly well, so don't talk like that. I +think it would be a fearful mistake for you to go to New York. She +would never forgive you and, what is more to the point, she wouldn't +budge a step if you tried to bully her into coming home with you. You +know it quite as well as I do." + +He groaned. "Give me a chance to think, Lou. Just half a chance, that's +all I ask. I'll work out some--" + +"Wait until her letter comes. We'll see what she has to say. Perhaps +she intends coming home tomorrow, who can tell? This may be a pose on +her part. Give her free rein and she will not pull against the bit. It +may surprise her into doing the sensible thing if we calmly ignore her +altogether. I've been thinking it over, and I've come to the conclusion +that we'll be doing the wisest thing in the world if we pay absolutely +no attention to her." + +"By George, I believe you've hit it, Lou! She'll be looking for a +letter or telegram from me and she'll not receive a word, eh? She'll be +expecting us to beg her to come back and all the while we just sit +tight and say not a word. We'll fool her, by thunder. By to-morrow +afternoon she'll be so curious to know what's got into us that she'll +come home on a run. You're right. It takes a thief to catch a +thief,--which is another way of saying that it takes a woman to +understand a woman. We'll sit tight and let Maud worry for a day or +two. It will do her good." + +Maud's continued absence was explained to Prince Robin that evening, +not by the volcanic Mr. Blithers but by his practised and adroit +better-half who had no compunction in ascribing it to the alarming +condition of a very dear friend in New York,--one of the Van Valkens, +you know. + +"Maud is so tender-hearted, so loyal, so really sweet about her +friends, that nothing in the world could have induced her to leave this +dear friend, don't you know." + +"I am extremely sorry not to have met your daughter," said Robin very +politely. + +"Oh, but she will be here in a day or two, Prince." + +"Unfortunately, we are leaving to-morrow, Mrs. Blithers." + +"To-morrow?" murmured Mrs. Blithers, aghast. + +"I received a cablegram to-day advising me to return to Edelweiss at +once. We are obliged to cut short a very charming visit with Mr. and +Mrs. King and to give up the trip to Washington. Lieutenant Dank left +for New York this afternoon to exchange our reservations for the first +ship that we can--" + +"What's this?" demanded Mr. Blithers, abruptly withdrawing his +attention from Count Quinnox who was in the middle of a sentence when +the interruption came. They were on the point of going out to dinner. +"What's this?" + +"The Prince says that he is leaving to-morrow--" + +"Nonsense!" exploded Mr. Blithers, with no effort toward geniality. "He +doesn't mean it. Why,--why, we haven't signed a single agreement--" + +"Fortunately it isn't necessary for me to sign anything, Mr. Blithers," +broke in Robin hastily. "The papers are to be signed by the Minister of +Finance, and afterwards my signature is attached in approval. Isn't +that true, Count Quinnox?" + +"I daresay Mr. Blithers understands the situation perfectly," said the +Count. + +Mr. Blithers looked blank. He _did_ understand the situation, that was +the worst of it. He knew that although the cabinet had sanctioned the +loan by cable, completing the transaction so far as it could be +completed at this time, it was still necessary for the Minister of +Finance to sign the agreement under the royal seal of Graustark. + +"Of course I understand it," he said bluntly. "Still I had it in mind +to ask the Prince to put his signature to a sort of preliminary +document which would at least assure me that he would sign the final +agreement when the time comes. That's only fair, isn't it?" + +"Quite fair, Mr. Blithers. The Prince will sign such an article +to-morrow or the next day at your office in the city. Pray have no +uneasiness, sir. It shall be as you wish. By the way, I understood that +your solicitor--your lawyer, I should say,--was to be here this +evening. It had occurred to me that he might draw up the statement,--if +Mrs. Blithers will forgive us in our haste--" + +"He couldn't get here," said Mr. Blithers, and no more. He was thinking +too intently of something more important. "What's turned up?" + +"Turned up, Mr. Blithers?" + +"Yes--in Groostock. What's taking you off in such a hurry?" + +"The Prince has been away for nearly six months," said the Count, as if +that explained everything. + +"Was it necessary to cable for him to come home?" persisted the +financier. + +"Graustark and Dawsbergen are endeavouring to form an alliance, Mr. +Blithers, and Prince Robin's presence at the capitol is very much to be +desired in connection with the project." + +"What kind of an alliance?" + +The Count looked bored. "An alliance prescribed for the general +improvement of the two races, I should say, Mr. Blithers." He smiled. +"It would in no way impair the credit of Graustark, however. It is what +you might really describe as a family secret, if you will pardon my +flippancy." + +The butler announced dinner. + +"Wait for a couple of days. Prince, and I'll send you down to New York +by special train," said Mr. Blithers. + +"Thank you. It is splendid of you. I daresay everything will depend on +Dank's success in--" + +"Crawford," said Mr. Blithers to the butler, "ask Mr. Davis to look up +the sailings for next week and let me know at once, will you?" Turning +to the Prince, he went on: "We can wire down to-night and engage +passage for next week. Davis is my secretary. I'll have him attend to +everything. And now let's forget our troubles." + +A great deal was said by her parents about Maud's unfortunate detention +in the city. Both of them were decidedly upset by the sudden change in +the Prince's plans. Once under pretext of whispering to Crawford about +the wine, Mr. Blithers succeeded in transmitting a question to his +wife. She shook her head in reply, and he sighed audibly. He had asked +if she thought he'd better take the midnight train. + +Mr. Davis found that there were a dozen ships sailing the next week, +but nothing came of it, for the Prince resolutely declared he would be +obliged to take the first available steamer. + +"We shall go down to-morrow," he said, and even Mr. Blithers subsided. +He looked to his wife in desperation. She failed him for the first time +in her life. Her eyes were absolutely messageless. + +"I'll go down with you," he said, and then gave his wife a look of +defiance. + +The next morning brought Maud's letter to her mother. It said: "Dearest +Mother: I enclose the cutting from _Town Truth_. You may see for +yourself what a sickening thing it is. The whole world knows by this +time that the ball was a joke--a horrible joke. Everybody knows that +you are trying to hand me over to Prince Robin neatly wrapped up in +bank notes. And everybody knows that he is laughing at us, and he isn't +alone in his mirth either. What must the Truxton Kings think of us? I +can't bear the thought of meeting that pretty, clever woman face to +face. I know I should die of mortification, for, of course, she must +believe that I am dying to marry anything on earth that has a title and +a pair of legs. Somehow I don't blame you and dad. You really love me, +I know, and you want to give me the best that the world affords. But +why, oh why, can't you let me choose for myself? I don't object to +having a title, but I do object to having a husband that I don't want +and who certainly could not, by any chance, want me. You think that I +am in love with Channie Scoville. Well, I'm not. I am very fond of him, +that's all, and if it came to a pinch I would marry him in preference +to any prince on the globe. To-day I met a couple of girls who were at +the ball. They told me that the Prince is adorable. They are really +quite mad about him, and one of them had the nerve to ask what it was +going to cost dad to land him. _Town Truth_ says he is to cost ten +millions! Well, you may just tell dad that I'll help him to practice +economy. He needn't pay a nickle for my husband--when I get him. The +world is small. It may be that I shall come upon this same Prince +Charming some place before it is too late, and fall in love with him +all of a heap. Loads of silly girls do fall in love with fairy princes, +and I'm just as silly as the rest of them. Ever since I was a little +kiddie I've dreamed of marrying a real, lace-and-gold Prince, the kind +Miranda used to read about in the story books. But I also dreamed that +he loved me. There's the rub, you see. How could any prince love a girl +who set out to buy him with a lot of silly millions? It's not to be +expected. I know it is done in the best society, but I should want my +prince to be happy instead of merely comfortable. I should want both of +us to live happy ever afterwards. + +"So, dearest mother, I am going abroad to forget. Miranda is going with +me and we sail next Saturday on the _Jupiter_ I think. We haven't got +our suite, but Mr. Bliss says he is sure he can arrange it for me. If +we can't get one on the _Jupiter_, we'll take some other boat that is +just as inconspicuous. You see, I want to go on a ship that isn't +likely to be packed with people I know, for it is my intention to +travel incog, as they say in the books. No one shall stare at me and +say: 'There is that Maud Blithers we were reading about in _Town +Truth_--and all the other papers this week. Her father is going to buy +a prince for her.' + +"I know dad will be perfectly furious, but I'm going or die, one or the +other. Now it won't do a bit of good to try to stop me, dearest. The +best thing for you and dad to do is to come down at once and say +goodbye to me--but you are not to go to the steamer! Never! Please, +please come, for I love you both and I do so want you to love me. Come +to-morrow and kiss your horrid, horrid, disappointing, loathsome +daughter--and forgive her, too." + +Mr. Blithers was equal to the occasion. His varying emotions manifested +themselves with peculiar vividness during the reading of the letter by +his tearful wife. At the outset he was frankly humble and contrite; he +felt bitterly aggrieved over the unhappy position in which they +innocently had placed their cherished idol. Then came the deep breath +of relief over the apparent casting away of young Scoville, followed by +an angry snort when Maud repeated the remark of her girl friend. His +dismay was pathetic while Mrs. Blithers was fairly gasping out Maud's +determination to go abroad, but before she reached the concluding +sentences of the extraordinary missive, he was himself again. As a +matter of fact, he was almost jubilant. He slapped his knee with +resounding force and uttered an ejaculation that caused his wife to +stare at him as if the very worst had happened: he was a chuckling +lunatic! + +"Immense!" he exclaimed. "Immense!" + +"Oh, Will!" she sobbed. + +"Nothing could be better! Luck is with me, Lou. It always is." + +"In heaven's name, what are you saying, Will?" + +"Great Scott, can't you see? He goes abroad, she goes abroad. See? Same +ship. See what I mean? Nothing could be finer. They--" + +"But I do not want my child to go abroad," wailed the unhappy mother. +"I cannot bear--" + +"Stuff and nonsense! Brace up! Grasp the romance. Both of 'em sailing +under assumed names. They see each other on deck. Mutual attraction. +Love at first sight. Both of 'em. Money no object. There you are. Leave +it to me." + +"Maud is not the kind of girl to take up with a stranger on board--" + +"Don't glare at me like that! Love finds the way, it doesn't matter +what kind of a girl she is. But listen to me, Lou; we've got to be +mighty careful that Maud doesn't suspect that we're putting up a job on +her. She'd balk at the gang-plank and that would be the end of it. She +must not know that he is on board. Now, here's the idea," and he talked +on in a strangely subdued voice for fifteen minutes, his enthusiasm +mounting to such heights that she was fairly lifted to the seventh +heaven he produced, and, for once in her life, she actually submitted +to his bumptious argument without so much as a single protesting word. + +The down train at two-seventeen had on board a most distinguished group +of passengers, according to the Pullman conductor whose skilful +conniving resulted in the banishment of a few unimportant creatures who +had paid for chairs in the observation coach but who had to get out, +whether or no, when Mr. Blithers loudly said it was a nuisance having +everything on the shady side of the car taken "on a hot day like this." +He surreptitiously informed the conductor that there was a prince in +his party, and that highly impressed official at once informed ten +other passengers that they had no business in a private car and would +have to move up to the car ahead--and rather quickly at that. + +The Prince announced that Lieutenant Dank had secured comfortable +cabins on a steamer sailing Saturday, but he did not feel at liberty to +mention the name of the boat owing to his determination to avoid +newspaper men, who no doubt would move heaven and earth for an +interview, now that he had become a person of so much importance in the +social world. Indeed, his indentity was to be more completely obscured +than at any time since he landed on American soil. He thanked Mr. +Blithers for his offer to command the "royal suite" on the _Jupiter_, +but declined, volunteering the somewhat curt remark that it was his +earnest desire to keep as far away from royalty as possible on the +voyage over. (A remark that Mr. Blithers couldn't quite fathom, then or +afterward.) + +Mrs. Blithers' retort to her husband's shocked comment on the +un-princely appearance of the young man and the wofully ordinary suit +of clothes worn by the Count, was sufficiently caustic, and he was +silenced--and convinced. Neither of the distinguished foreigners looked +the part of a nobleman. + +"I wouldn't talk about clothes if I were you," Mrs. Blithers had said +on the station platform. "Who would suspect you of being one of the +richest men in America?" She sent a disdainful glance at his baggy +knees and bulging coat pockets, and for the moment he shrank into the +state of being one of the poorest men in America. + +They were surprised and not a little perplexed by the fact that the +Prince and his companion arrived at the station quite alone. Neither of +the Kings accompanied them. There was, Mrs. Blithers admitted, food for +thought in this peculiar omission on the part of the Prince's late host +and hostess, and she would have given a great deal to know what was +back of it. The "luggage" was attended to by the admirable Hobbs, there +being no sign of a Red Roof servant about the place. Moreover, there +seemed to be considerable uneasiness noticeable in the manner of the +two foreigners. They appeared to be unnecessarily impatient for the +train to arrive, looking at their watches now and again, and frequently +sending sharp glances down the village street in the direction of Red +Roof. Blithers afterwards remarked that they made him think of a couple +of absconding cashiers. The mystery, however, was never explained. + +Arriving at the Grand Central Terminal, Prince Robin and the Count made +off in a taxi-cab, smilingly declining to reveal their hotel +destination. + +"But where am I to send my attorney with the agreement you are to sign, +Prince?" asked Mr. Blithers, plainly irritated by the young man's +obstinacy in declining to be "dropped" at his hotel by the Blithers +motor. + +"I shall come to your office at eleven to-morrow morning, Mr. +Blithers," said Robin, his hat in his hand. He had bowed very deeply to +Mrs. Blithers. + +"But that's not right," blustered the financier. "A prince of royal +blood hadn't ought to visit a money-grubber's office. It's not--" + +"_Noblesse oblige_," said Robin, with his hand on his heart. "It has +been a pleasure to know you, Mrs. Blithers. I trust we may meet again. +If you should ever come to Graustark, please consider that the castle +is yours--as you hospitable Americans would say." + +"We surely will," said Mrs. Blithers. Both the Prince and Count Quinnox +bowed very profoundly, and did not smile. + +"And it will be ours," added Mr. Blithers, more to himself than to his +wife as the two tall figures moved off with the throng. Then to his +wife: "Now to find out what ship they're sailing on. I'll fix it so +they'll _have_ to take the _Jupiter_, whether they want to or not." + +"Wouldn't it be wisdom to find out what ship Maud is sailing on, Will? +It seems to me that she is the real problem." + +"Right you are!" said he instantly. "I must be getting dotty in my old +age, Lou." + +They were nearing the Ritz when she broke a prolonged period of +abstraction by suddenly inquiring: "What did you mean when you said to +him on the train: 'Better think it over, Prince,' and what did he mean +by the insolent grin he gave you in reply?" + +Mr. Blithers looked straight ahead. + +"Business," said he, answering the first question but not the last. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ON BOARD THE "JUPITER" + + +A grey day at sea. The _Jupiter_ seemed to be slinking through the mist +and drizzle, so still was the world of waters. The ocean was as smooth +as a mill pond; the reflected sky came down bleak and drab and no wind +was stirring. The rush of the ship through the glassy, sullen sea +produced a fictitious gale across the decks; aside from that there was +dead calm ahead and behind. + +A threat seemed to lurk in the smooth, oily face of the Atlantic. Far +ahead stretched the grey barricade that seemed to mark the spot where +the voyage was to end. There was no going beyond that clear-cut line. +When the ship came up to it, there would be no more water beyond; +naught but a vast space into which the vessel must topple and go on +falling to the end of time. The great sirens were silent, for the fog +of the night before had lifted, laying bare a desolate plain. The ship +was sliding into oblivion, magnificently indifferent to the catastrophe +that awaited its arrival at the edge of the universe. And she was +sailing the sea alone. All other ships had passed over that sinister +line and were plunging toward a bottom that would never be reached, so +long is eternity. + +The decks of the _Jupiter_ were wet with the almost invisible drizzle +that filled the air, yet they were swarming with the busy pedestrians +who never lose an opportunity to let every one know that they are on +board. No ship's company is complete without its leg-stretchers. They +who never walk a block on dry land without complaining, right manfully +lop off miles when walking on the water, and get to be known--at least +visually--to the entire first cabin before they have paraded half way +across the Atlantic. (There was once a man who had the strutting +disease so badly that he literally walked from Sandy Hook to Gaunt's +Rock, but, who, on getting to London, refused to walk from the Savoy to +the Cecil because of a weak heart.) The worst feature about these +inveterate water-walkers is that they tread quite as proudly upon other +people's feet as they do upon their own, and as often as not they +appear to do it from choice. Still, that is another story. It has +nothing to do with the one we are trying to tell. + +To resume, the decks of the _Jupiter_ were wet and the sky was drab. +New York was twenty-four hours astern and the brief Sunday service had +come to a peaceful end. It died just in time to escape the horrors of a +popular programme by the band amidships. The echo of the last amen was +a resounding thump on the big bass drum. + +Three tall, interesting looking men stood leaning against the starboard +rail of the promenade deck, unmindful of the mist, watching the +scurrying throng of exercise fiends. Two were young, the third was old, +and of the three there was one who merited the second glance that +invariably was bestowed upon him by the circling passers-by. Each +succeeding revolution increased the interest and admiration and people +soon began to favour him with frankly unabashed stares and smiles that +could not have been mistaken for anything but tribute to his extreme +good looks. + +He stood between the gaunt, soldierly old man with the fierce +moustache, and the trim, military young man with one that was close +cropped and smart. Each wore a blue serge suit and affected a short +visored cap of the same material, and each lazily puffed at a very +commonplace briar pipe. They in turn were watching the sprightly parade +with an interest that was calmly impersonal. They saw no one person who +deserved more than a casual glance, and yet the motley crowd passed +before them, apparently without end, as if expecting a responsive smile +of recognition from the tall young fellow to whom it paid the honest +tribute of curiosity. + +The customary he-gossip and perennial snooper who is always making the +voyage no matter what ship one takes or the direction one goes, nosed +out the purser and discovered that the young man was R. Schmidt of +Vienna. He was busy thereafter mixing with the throng, volunteering +information that had not been solicited but which appeared to be +welcome. Especially were the young women on board grateful to the +he-gossip, when he accosted them as a perfect stranger to tell them the +name of another and even more perfect stranger. + +"Evidently an Austrian army officer," he always proclaimed, and that +seemed to settle it. + +Luckily he did not overhear R. Schmidt's impassive estimate of the +first cabin parade, or he might have had something to repeat that would +not have pleased those who took part in it. + +"Queer looking lot of people," said R. Schmidt, and his two companions +moodily nodded their heads. + +"I am sorry we lost those rooms on the _Salammbo_," said the younger of +his two companions. "I had them positively engaged, money paid down." + +"Some one else came along with more money, Dank," observed R. Schmidt. +"We ought to be thankful that we received anything at all. Has it +occurred to you that this boat isn't crowded?" + +"Not more than half full," said the older man. "All of the others +appeared to be packed from hold to funnel. This must be an unpopular +boat." + +"I don't know where we'd be, however, if Mr. Blithers hadn't thought of +the _Jupiter_ almost at the last minute," said R. Schmidt. + +"Nine day boat, though," growled the old man. + +"I don't mind that in the least. She's a steady old tub and that's +something." + +"Hobbs tells me that it is most extraordinary to find the east bound +steamers crowded at this season of the year," said Dank. "He can't +understand it at all. The crowds go over in June and July and by this +time they should be starting for home. I thought we'd have no +difficulty in getting on any one of the big boats, but, by jove, +everywhere I went they said they were full up." + +"It was uncommonly decent of Blithers not coming down to see us off," +said the elderly man, who was down on the passenger list as Totten. "I +was apprehensive, 'pon my soul. He stuck like a leech up to the last +minute." + +R. Schmidt was reflecting. "It struck me as queer that he had not heard +of the transfer of our securities in London." + +"I cannot understand Bernstein & Sons selling out at a time when the +price of our bonds is considerably below their actual value," said +Totten, frowning. "A million pounds sterling is what their holdings +really represented; according to the despatches they must have sold at +a loss of nearly fifty thousand pounds. It is unbelievable that the +house can be hard-pressed for money. There isn't a sounder concern in +Europe than Bernstein's." + +"We should have a Marconi-gram to-night or tomorrow in regard to the +bid made in Paris for the bonds held by the French syndicate," said +Dank, pulling at his short moustache. "Mr. Blithers is investigating." + +"There is something sinister in all this," said R. Schmidt. "Who is +buying up all of the out-standing bonds and what is behind the +movement? London has sold all that were held there and Paris is +approached on the same day. If Paris and Berlin should sell, nearly +four million pounds in Graustark bonds will be in the hands of people +whose identity and motives appear to be shrouded in the deepest +mystery." + +"And four million pounds represents the entire amount of our bonds held +by outside parties," said Totten, with a significant shake of his +grizzled head. "The remainder are in the possession of our own +institutions and the people themselves. We should hear from Edelweiss, +too, in response to my cablegram. Perhaps Romano may be able to throw +light on the situation. I confess that I am troubled." + +"Russia would have no object in buying up our general bonds, would +she?" inquired R. Schmidt. + +"None whatever. She would have nothing to gain. Mr. Blithers assured me +that he was not in the least apprehensive. In fact, he declared that +Russia would not be buying bonds that do not mature for twelve years to +come. There must be some private--eh?" + +A steward was politely accosting the trio. + +"I beg pardon, is this Mr. Totten?" + +"Yes." + +"Message for you, sir, at the purser's." + +"Bring it to my stateroom, Totten," said R. Schmidt briefly, and the +old man hurried away on the heels of the messenger. + +The two young men sauntered carelessly in an opposite direction and +soon disappeared from the deck. A few minutes later, Totten entered the +luxurious parlour of R. Schmidt and laid an unopened wireless message +on the table at the young man's elbow. + +"Open it, Totten." + +The old man slit the envelope and glanced at the contents. He nodded +his head in answer to an unspoken question. + +"Sold?" asked R. Schmidt. + +"Paris and Berlin, both of them, Prince. Every bond has been gobbled +up." + +"Does he mention the name of the buyer?" + +"Only by the use of the personal pronoun. He says--'I have taken over +the Paris and Berlin holdings. All is well.' It is signed 'B.' So! Now +we know." + +"By jove!" fell from the lips of both men, and then the three +Graustarkians stared in speechless amazement at each other for the +space of a minute before another word was spoken. + +"Blithers!" exclaimed Dank, sinking back into his chair. + +"Blithers," repeated Totten, but with an entirely different inflection. +The word was conviction itself as he pronounced it. + +R. Schmidt indulged in a wry little smile. "It amounts to nearly twenty +million dollars, Count. That's a great deal of money to spend in the +pursuit of an idle whim." + +"Humph!" grunted the old Count, and then favoured the sunny-faced +Prince with a singularly sharp glance. "Of course, you understand his +game?" + +"Perfectly. It's as clear as day. He intends to be the crown +father-in-law. I suppose he will expect Graustark to establish an Order +of Royal Grandfathers." + +"It may prove to be no jest, Robin," said the Count seriously. + +"My dear Quinnox, don't look so sad," cried the Prince. "He may have +money enough to buy Graustark but he hasn't enough to buy grandchildren +that won't grow, you know. He is counting chickens before they're +hatched, which isn't a good business principle, I'd have you to know." + +"What was it he said to you at Red Roof?" + +"That was nothing. Pure bluster." + +"He said he had never set his heart on anything that he didn't get in +the end, wasn't that it?" + +"I think so. Something of the sort. I took it as a joke." + +"Well, I took it as a threat." + +"A threat?" + +"A pleasant, agreeable threat, of course. He has set his heart on +having the crown of Graustark worn by a Blithers. That is the long and +short of it." + +"I believe he did say to me in the woods that day that he could put his +daughter on any throne in Europe if he set his mind to the job," said +the Prince carelessly. "But you see, the old gentleman is not counting +on two very serious sources of opposition when it comes to this +particular case. There is Maud, you see,--and me." + +"I am not so sure of the young lady," said the Count sententiously. +"The opposition may falter a bit there, and half of his battle is won." + +"You seem to forget, Quinnox, that such a marriage is utterly +impossible," said the Prince coldly, "Do you imagine that I would +marry--" + +"Pardon me, highness, I said _half_ the battle would be won. I do +contemplate a surrender on your part. You are a very pig-headed young +man. The most pig-headed I've ever known, if you will forgive me for +expressing myself so--" + +"You've said it a hundred times," laughed the Prince, good-naturedly. +"Don't apologise. Not only you but the entire House of Nobles have +characterised me as pig-headed and I have never even thought of +resenting it, so it must be that I believe it to be true." + +"We have never voiced the opinion, highness, except in reference to our +own great desire to bring about the union between our beloved ruler and +the Crown Princess of--" + +"So," interrupted R. Schmidt, "it ought to be very clear to you that if +I will not marry to please my loyal, devoted cabinet I certainly shall +not marry to please William W. Blithers. No doubt the excellent Maud is +a most desirable person. In any event, she has a mind of her own. I +confess that I am sorry to have missed seeing her. We might have got on +famously together, seeing that our point of view is apparently unique +in this day and age of the world, No, my good friends, Mr. Blithers is +making a poor investment. He will not get the return for his money that +he is expecting. If it pleases him to buy our securities, all well and +good. He shall lose nothing in the end. But he will find that Graustark +is not a toy, nor the people puppets. More than all that, I am not a +bargain sale prince with Christmas tree aspirations, but a very +unamiable devil who cultivates an ambition to throw stones at the +conventions. Not only do I intend to choose my wife but also the court +grandfather. And now let us forget the folly of Mr. Blithers and +discuss his methods of business. What does he expect to gain by this +extraordinary investment?" + +Count Quinnox looked at him rather pityingly. "It appears to be his way +of pulling the strings, my boy. He has loaned us something like sixteen +millions of dollars. We have agreed to deposit our public service bonds +as security against the loan, so that practically equalises the +situation. It becomes a purely business transaction. But he sees far +ahead. This loan of his matures at practically the same time that our +first series of government bonds are due for payment. It will be +extremely difficult for a small country, such as Graustark, to raise +nearly forty millions of dollars in, say ten years. The European +syndicates undoubtedly would be willing to renew the loan under a new +issue--I think it is called refunding, or something of the sort. But +Mr. Blithers will be in a position to say no to any such arrangement. +He holds the whip hand and--" + +"But, my dear Count," interrupted the Prince, "what if he does hold it? +Does he expect to wait ten years before exercising his power? You +forget that marriage is his ambition. Isn't he taking a desperate risk +in assuming that I will not marry before the ten years are up? And, for +that matter, his daughter may decide to wed some other chap who--" + +"That's just the point," said Quinnox. "He is arranging it so that you +_can't_ marry without his consent." + +"The deuce you say!" + +"I am not saying that he can carry out his design, my dear boy, but it +is his secret hope, just the same. So far as Graustark is concerned, +she will stand by you no matter what betides. As you know, there is +nothing so dear to our hearts as the proposed union of Dawsbergen's +Crown Princess and--" + +"That's utterly out of the question, Count," said the Prince, setting +his jaws. + +The count sighed patiently. "So you say, my boy, so you say. But you +are not reasonable. How can you know that the Crown Princess of +Dawsbergen is not the very mate your soul has been craving--" + +"That's not the point. I am opposed to this miserable custom of giving +in marriage without the consent of the people most vitally concerned, +and I shall never recede from my position." + +"You are very young, my dear Prince." + +"And I intend to remain young, my dear Count. Loveless marriages make +old men and women of youths and maidens. I remember thinking that +remark out for myself after a great deal of effort, and you may +remember that I sprung it with considerable effect on the cabinet when +the matter was formally discussed a year or two ago. You heard about +it, didn't you, Dank?" + +"I did, highness." + +"And every newspaper in the world printed it as coming from me, didn't +they? Well, there you are. I can't go behind my publicly avowed +principles." + +The young fellow stretched his long body in a sort of luxurious +defiance, and eyed his companions somewhat combatively. + +"Sounds very well," growled the Count, with scant reverence for +royalty, being a privileged person. + +"Now, Dank here can marry any one he likes--if she'll have him--and he +is only a lieutenant of the guard. Why should I,--prince royal and +master of all he surveys, so to speak,--why should I be denied a +privilege enjoyed by every good-looking soldier who carries a sword in +my army--_my_ army, do you understand? I leave it to you, Dank, is it +fair? Who are you that you should presume to think of a happy marriage +while I, your Prince, am obliged to twiddle my thumbs and say 'all +right, bring any old thing along and I'll marry her'? Who are you, +Dank, that's what I'd like to know." + +His humour was so high-handed that the two soldiers laughed and Dank +ruefully admitted that he was a lucky dog. + +"You shall not marry into the Blithers family, my lad, if we can help +it," said the Count, pulling at his moustaches. + +"I should say not!" said Dank, feeling for his. + +"I should as soon marry a daughter of Hobbs," said R. Schmidt, getting +up from his chair with restored sprightliness. "If he had one, I mean." + +"The bonds of matrimony and the bonds of government are by no means +synonymous," said Dank, and felt rather proud of himself when his +companions favoured him with a stare of amazement. The excellent +lieutenant was not given to persiflage. He felt that for a moment he +had scintillated. + +"Shall we send a wireless to Blithers congratulating him on his coup?" +enquired the Prince gaily. + +"No," said the Count. "Congratulating ourselves on his coup is better." + +"Good! And you might add that we also are trusting to luck. It may give +him something to think about. And now where is Hobbs?" said royalty. + +"Here, sir," said Hobbs, appearing in the bed-room door, but not +unexpectedly. "I heard wot you said about my daughter, sir. It may set +your mind at rest, sir, to hear that I am childless." + +"Thank you, Hobbs. You are always thinking of my comfort. You may order +luncheon for us in the Ritz restaurant. The head steward has been +instructed to reserve the corner table for the whole voyage." + +"The 'ead waiter, sir," corrected Hobbs politely, and was gone. + +In three minutes he was back with the information that two ladies had +taken the table and refused to be dislodged, although the head waiter +had vainly tried to convince them that it was reserved for the passage +by R. Schmidt and party. + +"I am quite sure, sir, he put it to them very hagreeably and politely, +but the young lady gave 'im the 'aughtiest look I've ever seen on +mortal fice, sir, and he came back to me so 'umble that I could 'ardly +believe he was an 'ead waiter." + +"I hope he was not unnecessarily persistent," said the Prince, annoyed. +"It really is of no consequence where we sit." + +"Ladies first, world without end," said Dank. "Especially at sea." + +"He was not persistent, sir. In fact he was hextraordinary subdued all +the time he was hexplaining the situation to them. I could tell by the +way his back looked, sir." + +"Never mind, Hobbs. You ordered luncheon?" + +"Yes, your 'ighness. Chops and sweet potatoes and--" + +"But that's what we had yesterday, Hobbs." + +A vivid red overspread the suddenly dismayed face of Hobbs. "'Pon my +soul, sir, I--I clean forgot that it was yesterday I was thinking of. +The young lady gave me such a sharp look, sir, when the 'ead waiter +pointed at me that I clean forgot wot I was there for. I will 'urry +back and--" + +"Do, Hobbs, that's a good fellow. I'm as hungry as a bear. But no +chops!" + +"Thank you, sir. No chops. Absolutely, sir." He stopped in the doorway. +"I daresay it was 'er beauty, sir, that did it. No chops. Quite so, +sir." + +"If Blithers were only here," sighed Dank. "He would make short work of +the female invasion. He would have them chucked overboard." + +"I beg pardon, sir," further adventured Hobbs, "but I fancy not even +Mr. Blithers could move that young woman, sir, if she didn't 'appen to +want to be moved. Never in my life, sir, have I seen--" + +"Run along, Hobbs," said the Prince. "Boiled guinea hen." + +"And cantaloupe, sir. Yes, sir, I quite remember everything now, sir." + +Twenty minutes later, R. Schmidt, seated in the Ritz restaurant, +happened to look fairly into the eyes of the loveliest girl he had ever +seen, and on the instant forgave the extraordinary delinquency of the +hitherto infallible Hobbs. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE PRINCE MEETS MISS GUILE + + +Later on R. Schmidt sat alone in a sheltered corner of the promenade +deck, where chairs had been secured by the forehanded Hobbs. The thin +drizzle now aspired to something more definite in the shape of a steady +downpour, and the decks were almost deserted, save for the few who +huddled in the unexposed nooks where the sweep and swish of the rain +failed to penetrate. There was a faraway look in the young man's eyes, +as of one who dreams pleasantly, with little effort but excellent +effect. His pipe had gone out, so his dream must have been long and +uninterrupted. Eight bells sounded, but what is time to a dreamer? Then +came one bell and two, and now his eyes were closed. + +Two women came and stood over him, but little did they suspect that his +dream was of one of them: the one with the lovely eyes and the soft +brown hair. They surveyed him, whispering, the one with a little +perplexed frown on her brow, the other with distinct signs of annoyance +in her face. The girl was not more than twenty, her companion quite old +enough to be her mother: a considerate if not complimentary estimate, +for a girl's mother may be either forty, fifty or even fifty-five, when +you come to think of it. + +They were looking for something. That was quite clear. And it was +deplorably clear that whatever it was, R. Schmidt was sitting upon it. +They saw that he was asleep, which made the search if not the actual +recovery quite out of the question. The older woman was on the point of +poking the sleeper with the toe of her shoe, being a matter-of-fact +sort of person, when the girl imperatively shook her head and frowned +upon the lady in a way to prove that even though she was old enough to +be the mother of a girl of twenty she was by no means the mother of +this one. + +At that very instant, R. Schmidt opened his eyes. It must have been a +kindly poke by the god of sleep that aroused him so opportunely, but +even so, the toe of a shoe could not have created a graver catastrophe +than that which immediately befell him. He completely lost his head. If +one had suddenly asked what had become of it, he couldn't have told, +not for the life of him. For that matter, he couldn't have put his +finger, so to speak, on any part of his person and proclaimed with +confidence that it belonged to R. Schmidt of Vienna. He was looking +directly up into a pair of dark, startled eyes, in which there was a +very pretty confusion and a far from impervious blink. + +"I beg your pardon," said the older woman, without the faintest trace +of embarrassment,--indeed, with some asperity,--"I think you are +occupying one of our chairs." + +He scrambled out of the steamer rug and came to his feet, blushing to +the roots of his hair. + +"I beg your pardon," he stammered, and found his awkwardness rewarded +by an extremely sweet smile--in the eyes of the one he addressed. + +"We were looking for a letter that I am quite sure was left in my +chair," said she. + +"A letter?" he murmured vaguely, and at once began to search with his +eyes. + +"From her father," volunteered the elderly one, as if it were a +necessary bit of information. Then she jerked the rug away and three +pairs of eyes examined the place where R. Schmidt had been reclining. +"That's odd. Did you happen to see it when you sat down, sir?" + +"I am confident that there was no letter--" began he, and then allowed +his gaze to rest on the name-card at the top of the chair. "This +happens to be _my_ chair, madam," he went on, pointing to the card. +"'R. Schmidt.' I am very sorry." + +"The steward must have put that card there while you were at luncheon, +dear. What right has he to sell our chairs over again? I shall report +this to the Captain--" + +"I am quite positive that this is my chair, sir," said the girl, a spot +of red in each cheek. "It was engaged two days ago. I have been +occupying it since--but it really doesn't matter. It has your name on +it now, so I suppose I shall have to--" + +"Not at all," he made haste to say. "It's yours. There has been some +miserable mistake. These deck stewards are always messing things up. +Still, it is rather a mystery about the letter. I assure you I saw no--" + +"No doubt the steward who changed the cards had sufficient intelligence +to remove all incriminating evidence," said she coolly. "We shall find +it among the lost, strayed and stolen articles, no doubt. Pray retain +the chair, Mr.--" She peered at the name-card--"Mr. Schmidt." + +Her cool insolence succeeded in nettling a nature that was usually most +gentle. He spoke with characteristic directness. + +"Thank you, I shall do so. We thereby manage to strike a fair average. +I seize your deck chair, you seize my table. We are quits." + +She smiled faintly. "R. Schmidt did not sound young and gentle, but old +and hateful. That is why I seized the table. I expected to find R. +Schmidt a fat, old German with very bad manners. Instead, you are +neither fat, old, nor disagreeable. You took it very nicely, Mr. +Schmidt, and I am undone. Won't you permit me to restore your table to +you?" + +The elderly lady was tapping the deck with a most impatient foot. +"Really my dear, we were quite within our rights in approaching the +head waiter. He--" + +"He said it was engaged," interrupted the young lady. "R. Schmidt was +the name he gave and I informed him it meant nothing to me. I am very +sorry, Mr. Schmidt. I suppose it was all because I am so accustomed to +having my own way." + +"In that case, it is all very easy to understand," said he, "for I have +always longed to be in a position where I could have my own way. I am +sure that if I could have it, I would be a most overbearing, selfish +person." + +"We must enquire at the office for the letter, my dear, before--" + +"It may have dropped behind the chair," said the girl. + +"Right!" cried R. Schmidt, dragging the chair away and pointing in +triumph at the missing letter. He stooped to recover the missive, but +she was quick to forestall him. With a little gasp she pounced upon it +and, like a child proceeded to hold it behind her back. He stiffened. +"I remember that you said it was from your father." + +She hesitated an instant and then held it forth for his inspection, +rather adroitly concealing the postmark with her thumb. It was +addressed to "Miss B. Guile, S. S. _Jupiter_, New York City, N. Y.," +and type-written. + +"It is only fair that we should be quits in every particular," she +said, with a frank smile. + +He bowed. "A letter of introduction," he said, "in the strictest sense +of the word. You have already had my card thrust upon you, so +everything is quite regular. And now it is only right and proper that I +should see what has become of your chairs. Permit me--" + +"Really, Miss Guile," interposed her companion, "this is quite +irregular. I may say it is unusual. Pray allow me to suggest--" + +"I think it is only right that Mr. Schmidt should return good for +evil," interrupted the girl gaily. "Please enquire, Mr. Schmidt. No +doubt the deck steward will know." + +Again the Prince bowed, but this time there was amusement instead of +uncertainty in his eyes. It was the first time that any one had ever +urged him, even by inference, to "fetch and carry." Moreover, she was +extremely cool about it, as one who exacts much of young men in serge +suits and outing-caps. He found himself wondering what she would say if +he were to suddenly announce that he was the Prince of Graustark. The +thought tickled his fancy, accounting, no doubt, for the even deeper +bow that he gave her. + +"They can't be very far away," he observed quite meekly. "Oh, I say, +steward! One moment, here." A deck steward approached with alacrity. +"What has become of Miss Guile's chair?" + +The man touched his cap and beamed joyously upon the fair young lady. + +"Ach! See how I have forgot! It is here! The best place on the deck--on +any deck. See! Two--side by side,--above the door, away from the +draft--see, in the corner, ha, ha! Yes! Two by side. The very best. +Miss Guile complains of the draft from the door. I exchanged the +chairs. See! But I forgot to speak. Yes! See!" + +And, sure enough, there were the chairs of Miss Guile and her companion +snugly stowed away in the corner, standing at right angles to the long +row that lined the deck, the foot rests pointed directly at the chair +R. Schmidt had just vacated, not more than a yard and a half away. + +"How stupid!" exclaimed Miss Guile. "Thank you, steward. This is much +better. So sorry, Mr. Schmidt, to have disturbed you. I abhor drafts, +don't you?" + +"Not to the extent that I shall move out of this one," he replied +gallantly, "now that I've got an undisputed claim to it. I intend to +stand up for my rights, Miss Guile, even though you find me at your +feet." + +"How perfectly love--" began Miss Guile, a gleam of real enthusiasm in +her eyes. A sharp, horrified look from her companion served as a check, +and she became at once the coolly indifferent creature who exacts +everything. "Thank you, Mr. Schmidt, for being so nice when we were +trying so hard to be horrid." + +"But you don't know how nice you are when you are trying to be horrid," +he remarked. "Are you not going to sit down, now that we've captured +the disappearing chair?" + +"No," she said, and he fancied he saw regret in her eyes. "I am going +to my room,--if I can find it. No doubt it also is lost. This seems to +be a day for misplacing things." + +"At any rate, permit me to thank you for discovering me, Miss Guile." + +"Oh, I daresay I shall misplace you, too, Mr. Schmidt." She said it so +insolently that he flushed as he drew himself up and stepped aside to +allow her to pass. For an instant their eyes met, and the sign of the +humble was not to be found in the expression of either. + +"Even _that_ will be something for me to look forward to, Miss Guile," +said he. Far from being vexed, she favoured him with a faint smile +of--was it wonder or admiration? + +Then she moved away, followed by the uneasy lady--who was old enough to +be her mother and wasn't. + +Robin remained standing for a moment, looking after her, and somehow he +felt that his dream was not yet ended. She turned the corner of the +deck building and was lost to sight. He sat down, only to arise almost +instantly, moved by a livelier curiosity than he ever had felt before. +Conscious of a certain feeling of stealth, he scrutinised the cards in +the backs of the two chairs. The steward was collecting the discarded +steamer-rugs farther down the deck, and the few passengers who occupied +chairs, appeared to be snoozing,--all of which he took in with his +first appraising glance. "Miss Guile" and "Mrs. Gaston" were the names +he read. + +"Americans," he mused. "Young lady and chaperone, that's it. A real +American beauty! And Blithers loudly boasts that his daughter is the +prettiest girl in America! Shades of Venus! Can there be such a thing +on earth as a prettier girl than this one? Can nature have performed +the impossible? Is America so full of lovely girls that this one must +take second place to a daughter of Blithers? I wonder if she knows the +imperial Maud. I'll make it a point to inquire." + +Moved by a sudden restlessness, he decided that he was in need of +exercise. A walk would do him good. The same spirit of restlessness, no +doubt, urged him to walk rather rapidly in the direction opposite to +that taken by the lovely Miss Guile. After completely circling the deck +once he decided that he did not need the exercise after all. His walk +had not benefitted him in the least. She _had_ gone to her room. He +returned to his chair, conscious of having been defeated but without +really knowing why or how. As he turned into the dry, snug corner, he +came to an abrupt stop and stared. Miss Guile was sitting in her chair, +neatly encased in a mummy-like sheath of grey that covered her slim +body to the waist. + +She was quite alone in her nook, and reading. Evidently the book +interested her, for she failed to look up when he clumsily slid into +his chair and threw the rug over his legs--dreadfully long, +uninteresting legs, he thought, as he stretched them out and found that +his feet protruded like a pair of white obelisks. + +Naturally he looked seaward, but in his mind's eye he saw her as he had +seen her not more than ten minutes before: a slim, tall girl in a smart +buff coat, with a limp white hat drawn down over her hair by means of a +bright green veil; he had had a glimpse of staunch tan walking-shoes. +He found himself wondering how he had missed her in the turn about the +deck, and how she could have ensconced herself so snugly during his +brief evacuation of the spot. Suddenly it occurred to him that she had +returned to the chair only after discovering that his was vacant. It +wasn't a very gratifying conclusion. + +An astonishing intrepidity induced him to speak to her after a lapse of +five or six minutes, and so surprising was the impulse that he blurted +out his question without preamble. + +"How did you manage to get back so quickly?" he inquired. + +She looked up, and for an instant there was something like alarm in her +lovely eyes, as of one caught in the perpetration of a guilty act. + +"I beg your pardon," she said, rather indistinctly. + +"I was away less than eight minutes," he declared, and she was +confronted by the wonderfully frank smile that never failed to work its +charm. To his surprise, a shy smile grew in her eyes, and her warm red +lips twitched uncertainly. He had expected a cold rebuff. "You must +have dropped through the awning." + +"Your imagination is superior to that employed by the author of this +book," she said, "and that is saying a good deal, Mr.--Mr.--" + +"Schmidt," he supplied cheerfully. "May I inquire what book you are +reading?" + +"You would not be interested. It is by an American." + +"I have read a great many American novels," said he stiffly. "My father +was an American. Awfully jolly books, most of them." + +"I looked you up in the passenger list a moment ago," she said coolly. +"Your home is in Vienna. I like Vienna." + +He was looking rather intently at the book, now partly lowered. "Isn't +that the passenger list you have concealed in that book?" he demanded. + +"It is," she replied promptly. "You will pardon a natural curiosity? I +wanted to see whether you were from New York." + +"May I look at it, please?" + +She closed the book. "It isn't necessary. I _am_ from New York." + +"By the way, do you happen to know a Miss Blithers,--Maud Blithers?" + +Miss Guile frowned reflectively. "Blithers? The name is a familiar one. +Maud Blithers? What is she like?" + +"She's supposed to be very good-looking. I've never seen her." + +"How queer to be asking me if I know her, then. Why _do_ you ask?" + +"I've heard so much about her lately. She is the daughter of William +Blithers, the great capitalist." + +"Oh, I know who he is," she exclaimed. "Perfect roodles of money, +hasn't he?" + +"Roodles?" + +"Loads, if it means more to you. I forgot that you are a foreigner. He +gave that wonderful ball last week for the Prince of--of--Oh, some +insignificant little place over in Europe. There are such a lot of +queer little duchies and principalities, don't you know; it is quite +impossible to tell one from the other. They don't even appear on the +maps." + +He took it with a perfectly straight face, though secretly annoyed. "It +was the talk of the town, that ball. It must have cost roodles of +money. Is that right?" + +"Yes, but it doesn't sound right when you say it. Naturally one doesn't +say roodles in Vienna." + +"We say noodles," said he. "I am very fond of them. But to resume; I +supposed every one in New York knew Miss Blithers. She's quite the +rage, I'm told." + +"Indeed? I should think she might be, Mr. Schmidt, with all those +lovely millions behind her." + +He smiled introspectively. "Yes; and I am told that, in spite of them, +she is the prettiest girl in New York." + +She appeared to lose interest in the topic. "Oh, indeed?" + +"But," he supplemented gracefully, "it isn't true." + +"What isn't true?" + +"The statement that she is the prettiest girl in New York." + +"How can you say that, when you admit you've never seen her?" + +"I can say it with a perfectly clear conscience, Miss Guile," said he, +and was filled with delight when she bit her lip as a sign of +acknowledgment. + +"Oh, here comes the tea," she cried, with a strange eagerness in her +voice. "I am so glad." She scrambled gracefully out of her rug and +arose to her feet. + +"Aren't you going to have some?" he cried. + +"Yes," she said, quite pointedly. "In my room, Mr. Schmidt," and before +he could get to his feet she was moving away without so much as a nod +or smile for him. Indeed, she appeared to have dismissed him from her +thoughts quite as completely as from her vision. He experienced a queer +sensation of shrivelling. + +At dinner that night, she failed to look in his direction, a +circumstance that may not appear extraordinary when it is stated that +she purposely or inadvertently exchanged seats with Mrs. Gaston and sat +with her back to the table occupied by R. Schmidt and his friends. He +had to be content with a view of the most exquisite back and shoulders +that good fortune had ever allowed him to gaze upon. And then there was +the way that her soft brown hair grew above the slender neck, to say +nothing of--but Mrs. Gaston was watching him with most unfriendly eyes, +so the feast was spoiled. + +The following day was as unlike its predecessor as black is like white. +During the night the smooth grey pond had been transformed into a +turbulent, storm-threshed ocean; the once gentle wind was now a howling +gale that swept the decks with a merciless lash in its grip and whipped +into submission all who vaingloriously sought to defy its chill +dominion. Not rain, but spray from huge, swashing billows, clouded the +decks, biting and cutting like countless needles, each drop with the +sting of a hornet behind it. Now the end of the world seemed far away, +and the jumping off place was a rickety wall of white and black, +leaning against a cold, drear sky. + +Only the hardiest of the passengers ventured on deck; the exhilaration +they professed was but another name for bravado. They shivered and +gasped for breath as they forged their bitter way into the gale, and +few were they who took more than a single turn of the deck. Like beaten +cowards they soon slunk into the sheltered spots, or sought even less +heroic means of surrender by tumbling into bed with the considerate +help of unsmiling stewards. The great ship went up and the great ship +came down: when up so high that the sky seemed to be startlingly near +and down so horribly low that the bottom of the ocean was even nearer. +And it creaked and groaned and sighed even above the wild monody of the +wind, like a thing in misery, yet all the while holding its sides to +keep from bursting with laughter over the plight of the little creature +whom God made after His own image but not until after all of the big +things of the universe had been designed. + +R. Schmidt, being a good sailor and a hardy young chap, albeit a prince +of royal blood, was abroad early, after a breakfast that staggered the +few who remained unstaggered up to that particular crisis. A genial +sailor-man and an equally ungenial deck swabber advised him, in totally +different styles of address, to stay below if he knew what was good for +him, only to be thanked with all the blitheness of a man who jolly well +knows what is good for him, or who doesn't care whether it is good for +him or not so long as he is doing the thing that he wants to do. + +He took two turns about the deck, and each time as he passed the spot +he sent a covert glance into the corner where Miss Guile's chair was +standing. Of course he did not expect to find her there in weather like +this, but--well, he looked and that is the end to the argument. The +going was extremely treacherous and unpleasant he was free to confess +to the genial sailor-man after the second breathless turn, and gave +that worthy a bright silver dollar upon receiving a further bit of +advice: to sit down somewhere out of the wind, sir. + +Quinnox and Dank were hopelessly bed-ridden, so to speak. They were +very disagreeable, cross and unpleasant, and somehow he felt that they +hated their cheerful, happy-faced Prince. Never before had Count +Quinnox scowled at him, no matter how mad his pranks as a child or how +silly his actions as a youth. Never before had any one told him to go +to the devil. He rather liked it. And he rather admired poor Dank for +ordering him out of his cabin, with a perfectly astounding oath as a +climax to the command. Moreover, he thought considerably better of the +faithful Hobbs for an amazing exposition of human equality in the +matter of a pair of boots that he desired to wear that morning but +which happened to be stowed away in a cabin trunk. He told Hobbs to go +to the devil and Hobbs repeated the injunction, with especial heat, to +the boots, when he bumped his head in hauling them out of the trunk. +Whereupon R. Schmidt said to Hobbs: "Good for you. Hobbs. Go on, +please. Don't mind me. It was quite a thump, wasn't it?" And Hobbs +managed, between other words, to say that it was a whacking thump, and +one he would not forget to his dying day--(if he lived through this +one!). + +"And you'd do well to sit in the smoke-room, sir," further advised the +sailor-man, clinging to the rail with one hand and pocketing the coin +with the other. + +"No," said R. Schmidt resolutely. "I don't like the air in the +smoke-room." + +"There's quite a bit of air out 'ere, sir." + +"I need quite a bit." + +"I should think you might, sir, being a 'ealthy, strappin' sort of a +chap, sir. 'Elp yourself. All the chairs is yours if you'll unpile 'em." + +The young man battled his way down the deck and soon found himself in +the well-protected corner. A half-dozen unoccupied chairs were +cluttered about, having been abandoned by persons who over-estimated +their hardiness. One of the stewards was engaged in stacking them up +and making them fast. + +Miss Guile's chair and that of Mrs. Gaston were staunchly fastened down +and their rugs were in place. R. Schmidt experienced an exquisite +sensation of pleasure. Here was a perfect exemplification of that +much-abused thing known as circumstantial evidence. She contemplated +coming on deck. So he had his chair put in place, called for his rug, +shrugged his chin down into the collar of his thick ulster, and sat +down to wait. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AN HOUR ON DECK + + +She literally was blown into his presence. He sprang to his feet to +check her swift approach before she could be dashed against the wall or +upon the heap of chairs in the corner. The deep roll of the vessel had +ended so suddenly that she was thrown off her balance, at best +precariously maintained in the hurricane that swept her along the deck. +She was projected with considerable violence against the waiting figure +of R. Schmidt, who had hastily braced himself for the impact of the +slender body in the thick sea-ulster. She uttered an excited little +shriek as she came bang up against him and found his ready arms closing +about her shoulders. + +"Oh, goodness!" she gasped, with what little breath she had left, and +then began to laugh as she freed herself in confusion--a very pretty +confusion he recalled later on, after he had recovered to some extent +from the effects of an exceedingly severe bump on the back of his head. +"How awkward!" + +"Not at all," he proclaimed, retaining a grip on one of her arms until +the ship showed some signs of resuming its way eastward instead of +downward. + +"I am sure it must have hurt dreadfully," she cried. "Nothing hurts +worse than a bump. It seemed as though you must have splintered the +wall." + +"I have a singularly hard head," said he, and forthwith felt of the +back of it. + +"Will you please stand ready to receive boarders? My maid is following +me, poor thing, and I can't afford to have her smashed to pieces. Here +she is!" + +Quite a pretty maid, with wide, horrified eyes and a pale green +complexion came hustling around the corner. R. Schmidt, albeit a +prince, received her with open arms. + +"Merci, M'sieur!" she squealed and added something in muffled French +that strangely reminded him of what Hobbs had said in English. Then she +deposited an armful of rugs and magazines at Robin's feet, and clutched +wildly at a post actually some ten feet away but which appeared to be +coming toward her with obliging swiftness, so nicely was the deck +rotating for her. "Mon dieu! Mon dieu!" + +"You may go back to bed, Marie," cried her mistress in some haste. + +"But ze rug, I feex it--" groaned the unhappy maid, and then once more: +"Merci, M'sieur!" She clung to the arm he extended, and tried bravely +to smile her thanks. + +"Here! Go in through this door," he said, bracing the door open with +his elbow. "You'll be all right in a little while. Keep your nerve." He +closed the door after her and turned to the amused Miss Guile. "Well, +it's an ill wind that blows no good," he said enigmatically, and she +flushed under the steady smile in his eyes. "Allow me to arrange your +rug for you. Miss Guile." + +"Thank you, no. I think I would better go inside. It is really too +windy--" + +"The wind can't get at you back here in this cubbyhole," he protested. +"Do sit down. I'll have you as snug as a bug in a rug before you can +say Jack Robinson. See! Now stick 'em out and I'll wrap it around them. +There! You're as neatly done up as a mummy and a good deal better off, +because you are a long way short of being two thousand years old." + +"How is your head, Mr. Schmidt?" she inquired with grave concern. "You +seem to be quite crazy. I hope--" + +"Every one is a little bit mad, don't you think? Especially in moments +of great excitement. I daresay my head _has_ been turned quite +appreciably, and I'm glad that you've been kind enough to notice it. +Where is Mrs. Gaston?" He was vastly exhilarated. + +She regarded him with eyes that sparkled and belied the unamiable +nature of her reply. + +"The poor lady is where she is not at all likely to be annoyed, Mr. +Schmidt." + +Then she took up a magazine and coolly began to run through the pages. +He waited for a moment, considerably dashed, and then said "Oh," in a +very unfriendly manner. She found her place in the magazine, assumed a +more comfortable position, and, with noteworthy resolution, set about +reading as if her life depended upon it. + +He sat down, pulled the rug up to his chin, and stared out at the +great, heaving billows. Suddenly remembering another injury, he felt +once more of the back of his head. + +"By jove!" he exclaimed. "There _is_ a lump there." + +"I can't hear you," she said, allowing the magazine to drop into her +lap, but keeping her place carefully marked with one of her fingers. + +"I can hear you perfectly," he said. + +"It's the way the wind blows," she explained. + +"Easily remedied," said he. "I'll move into Mrs. Gaston's chair if you +think it will help any." + +"Do!" she said promptly. "You will not disturb me in the least,--unless +you talk." She resumed her reading, half a page above the finger tip. + +He moved over and arranged himself comfortably, snugly in Mrs. Gaston's +chair. Their elbows almost met. He was prepared to be very patient. For +a long time she continued to read, her warm, rosy cheek half-averted, +her eyes applied to their task with irritating constancy. He did not +despair. Some wise person once had told him that it was only necessary +to give a woman sufficient time and she would be the one to despair. + +A few passengers possessed of proud sea-legs, staggered past the snug +couple on their ridiculous rounds of the ship. If they thought of Miss +Guile and R. Schmidt at all it was with the scorn that is usually +devoted to youth at its very best. There could be no doubt in the +passing mind that these two were sweethearts who managed to thrive on +the smallest of comforts. + +At last his patience was rewarded. She lowered the magazine and stifled +a yawn--but not a real one. + +"Have you read it?" she inquired composedly. + +"A part of it," he said. "Over your shoulder." + +"Is that considered polite in Vienna?" + +"If you only knew what a bump I've got on the back of my head you +wouldn't be so ungracious." he said. + +"I couldn't possibly know, could I?" + +He leaned forward and indicated the spot on the back of his head, first +removing his cap. She laughed nervously, and then gently rubbed her +fingers over the thick hair. + +"There is a dreadful lump!" she exclaimed. "Oh, how sorry I am. Do--do +you feel faint or--or--I mean, is it very painful?" + +"Not now," he replied, replacing his cap and favouring her with his +most engaging smile. + +She smiled in response, betraying not the slightest sign of +embarrassment. As a matter of fact, she was, if anything, somewhat too +self-possessed. + +"I remember falling down stairs once," she said, "and getting a +stupendous bump on my forehead. But that was a great many years ago and +I cried. How was I to know that it hurt you, Mr. Schmidt, when you +neglected to cry?" + +"Heroes never cry," said he. "It isn't considered first-class fiction, +you know." + +"Am I to regard you as a hero?" + +"If you will be so kind, please." + +She laughed outright at this. "I think I rather like you, Mr. Schmidt," +she said, with unexpected candour. + +"Oh, I fancy I'm not at all bad," said he, after a momentary stare of +astonishment. "I am especially good in rough weather," he went on, +trying to forget that he was a prince of the royal blood, a rather +difficult matter when one stops to consider he was not in the habit of +hearing people say that they rather liked him. + +"Do your friends come from Vienna?" she inquired abruptly. + +"Yes," he said, and then saved his face as usual by adding under his +breath: "but they don't live there." It was not in him to lie outright, +hence the handy way of appeasing his conscience. + +"They are very interesting looking men, especially the younger. I +cannot remember when I have seen a more attractive man." + +"He is a splendid chap," exclaimed Robin, with genuine enthusiasm. "I +am very fond of Dank." + +She was silent for a moment. Something had failed, and she was rather +glad of it. + +"Do you like New York?" she asked. + +"Immensely. I met a great many delightful people there. Miss Guile. You +say you do not know the Blithers family? Mr. Blithers is a rare old +bird." + +"Isn't there some talk of his daughter being engaged to the Prince of +Graustark?" + +He felt that his ears were red. "The newspapers hinted at something of +the sort, I believe." He was suddenly possessed by the curious notion +that he was being "pumped" by his fair companion. Indeed, a certain +insistent note had crept into her voice and her eyes were searching his +with an intentness that had not appeared in them until now. + +"Have you seen him?" + +"The Prince?" + +"Yes. What is he like?" + +"I've seen pictures of him," he equivocated. "Rather nice looking, I +should say." + +"Of course he is like all foreign noblemen and will leap at the +Blithers millions if he gets the chance. I sometimes feel sorry for the +poor wretches." There was more scorn than pity in the way she said it, +however, and her velvety eyes were suddenly hard and uncompromising. + +He longed to defend himself, in the third person, but could not do so +for very strong and obvious reasons. He allowed himself the privilege, +however, of declaring that foreign noblemen are not always as black as +they are painted. And then, for a very excellent reason, he contrived +to change the subject by asking where she was going on the continent. + +"I may go to Vienna," she said, with a smile that served to puzzle +rather than to delight him. He was more than ever convinced that she +was playing with him. "But pray do not look so gloomy, Mr. Schmidt, I +shall not make any demands upon your time while I am there. You may--" + +"I am quite sure of that," he interrupted, with his ready smile. "You +see, I am a person of no consequence in Vienna, while you--Ah, well, as +an American girl you will be hobnobbing with the nobility while the +humble Schmidt sits afar off and marvels at the kindness of a fate that +befell him in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and yet curses the fate +that makes him unworthy of the slightest notice from the aforesaid +American girl. For, I daresay, Miss Guile, you, like all American +girls, are ready to leap at titles." + +"That really isn't fair, Mr. Schmidt," she protested, flushing. "Why +should you and I quarrel over a condition that cannot apply to either +of us? You are not a nobleman, and I am not a title-seeking American +girl. So, why all this beautiful irony?" + +"It only remains for me to humbly beg your pardon and to add that if +you come to Vienna my every waking hour shall be devoted to the +pleasure of--" + +"I am sorry I mentioned it, Mr. Schmidt," she interrupted coldly. "You +may rest easy, for I shall not keep you awake for a single hour. +Besides, I may not go to Vienna at all." + +"I am sure you would like Vienna," he said, somewhat chilled by her +manner. + +"I have been there, with my parents, but it was a long time ago. I once +saw the Emperor and often have I seen the wonderful Prince +Liechtenstein." + +"Have you travelled extensively in Europe?" + +She was smiling once more. "I don't know what you would consider +extensively," she said. "I was educated in Paris, I have spent +innumerable winters in Rome and quite as many summers in Scotland, +England, Switzerland, Germ--" + +"I know who you are!" he cried out enthusiastically. To his amazement, +a startled expression leaped into her eyes. "You are travelling under +an assumed name." She remained perfectly still, watching him with an +anxious smile on her lips. "You are no other than Miss Baedeker, the +well-known authoress." + +It seemed to him that she breathed deeply. At any rate, her brow +cleared and her smile was positively enchanting. Never, in all his +life, had he gazed upon a lovelier face. His heart began to beat with a +rapidity that startled him, and a queer little sensation, as of +smothering, made it difficult for him to speak naturally in his next +attempt. + +"In that case, my pseudonym should be Guide, not Guile," she cried +merrily. The dimples played in her cheeks and her eyes were dancing. + +"B. stands for Baedeker, I'm sure. Baedeker Guide. If the B. isn't for +Baedeker, what is it for?" + +"Are you asking what the B. really stands for, Mr. Schmidt?" + +"In a round-about way, Miss Guile," he admitted. + +"My name is Bedelia," she said, with absolute sincerity. "Me mither is +Irish, d'ye see?" + +"By jove, it's worth a lot of trouble to get you to smile like that," +he cried admiringly. "It is the first really honest smile you've +displayed. If you knew how it improves you, you'd be doing it all of +the time." + +"Smiles are sometimes expensive." + +"It depends on the market." + +"I never take them to a cheap market. They are not classed as +necessities." + +"You couldn't offer them to any one who loves luxuries more than I do." + +"You pay for them only with compliments, I see, and there is nothing so +cheap." + +"Am I to take that as a rebuke?" + +"If possible," she said sweetly. + +At this juncture, the miserable Hobbs hove into sight, not figuratively +but literally. He came surging across the deck in a mad dash from one +haven to another, or, more accurately, from post to post. + +"I beg pardon, sir," he gasped, finally steadying himself on +wide-spread legs within easy reach of Robin's sustaining person. "There +is a wireless for Mr. Totten, sir, but when I took it to 'im he said to +fetch it to you, being unable to hold up 'is head, wot with the +wretched meal he had yesterday and the--" + +"I see, Hobbs. Well, where is it?" + +Hobbs looked embarrassed. "Well, you see, sir, I 'esitated about giving +it to you when you appear to be so--" + +"Never mind. You may give it to me. Miss Guile will surely pardon me if +I devote a second or two to an occupation she followed so earnestly up +to a very short time ago." + +"Pray forget that I am present, Mr. Schmidt," she said, and smiled upon +the bewildered Hobbs, who after an instant delivered the message to his +master. + +Robin read it through and at the end whistled softly. + +"Take it to Mr. Totten, Hobbs, and see if it will not serve to make him +hold up his head a little." + +"Very good, sir. I hope it will. Wouldn't it be wise for me to +hannounce who it is from, sir, to sort of prepare him for--" + +"He knows who it is from, Hobbs, so you needn't worry. It is from home, +if it will interest you, Hobbs." + +"Thank you, sir, it does interest me. I thought it might be from Mr. +Blithers." + +Robin's scowl sent him scuttling away a great deal more rigidly than +when he came. + +"Idiot!" muttered the young man, still scowling. + +There was silence between the two for a few seconds. Then she spoke +disinterestedly: + +"Is it from the Mr. Blithers who has the millions and the daughter who +wants to marry a prince?" + +"Merely a business transaction, Miss Guile," he said absently. He was +thinking of Romano's message. + +"So it would appear." + +"I beg pardon? I was--er--thinking--" + +"It was of no consequence, Mr. Schmidt," she said airily. + +He picked up the thread once more. "As a matter of fact, I've heard it +said that Miss Blithers refused to marry the Prince." + +"Is it possible?" with fine irony. "Is he such a dreadful person as all +that?" + +"I'm sure I don't know," murmured Robin uncomfortably. "He may be no +more dreadful than she." + +"I cannot hear you, Mr. Schmidt," she persisted, with unmistakeable +malice in her lovely eyes. + +"I'm rather glad that you didn't," he confessed. "Silly remark, you +know." + +"Well, I hope she doesn't marry him," said Miss Guile. + +"So do I," said R. Schmidt, and their eyes met. After a moment, she +looked away, her first surrender to the mysterious something that lay +deep in his. + +"It would prove that all American girls are not so black as they're +painted, wouldn't it?" she said, striving to regain the ground she had +lost by that momentary lapse. + +"Pray do not overlook the fact that I am half American," he said. "You +must not expect me to say that they paint at all." + +"Schmidt is a fine old American name," she mused, the mischief back in +her eyes. + +"And so is Bedelia," said he. + +"Will you pardon me, Mr. Schmidt, if I express surprise that you speak +English without the tiniest suggestion of an accent?" + +"I will pardon you for everything and anything, Miss Guile," said he, +quite too distinctly. She drew back in her chair and the light of +raillery died in her eyes. + +"What an imperial sound it has!" + +"And why not? The R stands for Rex." + +"Ah, that accounts for the King's English!" + +"Certainly," he grinned. "The king can do no wrong, don't you see?" + +"Your servant who was here speaks nothing but the King's English, I +perceive. Perhaps that accounts for a great deal." + +"Hobbs? I mean to say,'Obbs? I confess that he has taught me many +tricks of the tongue. He is one of the crown jewels." + +Suddenly, and without reason, she appeared to be bored. As a matter of +fact, she hid an incipient yawn behind her small gloved hand. + +"I think I shall go to my room. Will you kindly unwrap me, Mr. Schmidt?" + +He promptly obeyed, and then assisted her to her feet, steadying her +against the roll of the vessel. + +"I shall pray for continuous rough weather," he announced, with as +gallant a bow as could be made under the circumstances. + +"Thank you," she said, and he was pleased to take it that she was not +thanking him for a physical service. + +A few minutes later he was in his own room, and she was in hers, and +the promenade deck was as barren as the desert of Sahara. + +He found Count Quinnox stretched out upon his bed, attended not only by +Hobbs but also the reanimated Dank. The crumpled message lay on the +floor. + +"I'm glad you waited awhile," said the young lieutenant, getting up +from the trunk on which he had been sitting. "If you had come any +sooner you would have heard words fit only for a soldier to hear. It +really was quite appalling." + +"He's better now," said Hobbs, more respectfully than was his wont. It +was evident that he had sustained quite a shock. + +"Well, what do you think of it?" demanded the Prince, pointing to the +message. + +"Of all the confounded impudence--" began the Count healthily, and then +uttered a mighty groan of impotence. It was clear that he could not do +justice to the occasion a second time. + +Robin picked up the Marconigram, and calmly smoothed out the crinkles. +Then he read it aloud, very slowly and with extreme disgust in his fine +young face. It was a lengthy communication from Baron Romano, the Prime +Minister in Edelweiss. + +"'Preliminary agreement signed before hearing Blithers had bought +London, Paris, Berlin. He cables his immediate visit to G. Object now +appears clear. All newspapers in Europe print despatches from America +that marriage is practically arranged between R. and M. Interviews with +Blithers corroborate reported engagement. Europe is amused. Editorials +sarcastic. Price on our securities advance two points on confirmation +of report. We are bewildered. Also vague rumour they have eloped, but +denied by B. Dawsbergen silent. What does it all mean? Wire truth to +me. People are uneasy. Gourou will meet you in Paris.'" + +[Illustration: "I shall pray for continuous rough weather"] + +In the adjoining suite, Miss Guile was shaking Mrs. Gaston out of a +long-courted and much needed sleep. The poor lady sat up and blinked +feebly at the excited, starry-eyed girl. + +"Wake up!" cried Bedelia impatiently. "What do you think? I have a +perfectly wonderful suspicion--perfectly wonderful." + +"How can you be so unfeeling?" moaned the limp lady. + +"This R. Schmidt is Prince Robin of Graustark!" cried the girl +excitedly. "I am sure of it--just as sure as can be." + +Mrs. Gaston's eyes were popping, not with amazement but alarm. + +"Do lie down, child," she whimpered. "Marie! The sleeping powders at +once! Do--" + +"Oh, I'm not mad," cried the girl. "Now listen to me and I'll tell you +why I believe--yes, actually believe him to be the--" + +"Marie, do you hear me?" + +Miss Guile shook her vigorously. "Wake up! It isn't a nightmare. Now +listen!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE LIEUTENANT RECEIVES ORDERS + + +The next day brought not only an agreeable change in the weather but a +most surprising alteration in the manner of Mrs. Gaston, whose attitude +toward R. Schmidt and his friends had been anything but amicable up to +the hour of Miss Guile's discovery. The excellent lady, recovering very +quickly from her indisposition became positively polite to the hitherto +repugnant Mr. Schmidt. She melted so abruptly and so completely that +the young man was vaguely troubled. He began to wonder if his incognito +had been pierced, so to speak. + +It was not reasonable to suppose that Miss Guile was personally +responsible for this startling transition from the inimical to the +gracious on the part of her companion; the indifference of Miss Guile +herself was sufficient proof to the contrary. Therefore, when Mrs. +Gaston nosed him out shortly after breakfast and began to talk about +the beautiful day in a manner so thoroughly respectful that it savoured +of servility, he was taken-aback, flabbergasted. She seemed to be on +the point of dropping her knee every time she spoke to him, and there +was an unmistakable tremor of excitement in her voice even when she +confided to him that she adored the ocean when it was calm. He forbore +asking when Miss Guile might be expected to appear on deck for her +constitutional but she volunteered the information, which was neither +vague nor yet definite. In fact, she said that Miss Guile would be up +soon, and soon is a word that has a double meaning when applied to the +movements of capricious womanhood. It may mean ten minutes and it may +mean an hour and a half. + +Mrs. Gaston's severely critical eyes were no longer severe, albeit they +were critical. She took him in from head to foot with the eye of an +appraiser, and the more she took him in the more she melted, until at +last in order to keep from completely dissolving, she said good-bye to +him and hurried off to find Miss Guile. + +Now it is necessary to relate that Miss Guile had been particularly +firm in her commands to Mrs. Gaston. She literally had stood the +excellent lady up in a corner and lectured her for an hour on the +wisdom of silence. In the first place, Mrs. Gaston was given to +understand that she was not to breathe it to a soul that R. Schmidt was +not R. Schmidt, and she was not to betray to him by word or sign that +he was suspected of being the Prince of Graustark. Moreover, the +exacting Miss Guile laid great stress upon another command: R. Schmidt +was never to know that she was _not_ Miss Guile, but some one else +altogether. + +"You're right, my dear," exclaimed Mrs. Gaston in an excited whisper as +she burst in upon her fair companion, who was having coffee and toast +in her parlour. The more or less resuscitated Marie was waiting to do +up her mistress's hair, and the young lady herself was alluringly +charming in spite of the fact that it was not already "done up." "He is +the--er--he is just what you think." + +"Good heavens, you haven't gone and done it, have you," cried the girl, +a slim hand halting with a piece of toast half way to her lips. + +"Gone and done it?" + +"You haven't been blabbing, have you?" + +"How can you say that to me? Am I not to be trusted? Am I so weak and--" + +"Don't cry, you old dear! Forgive me. But now tell me--absolutely--just +what you've been up to. Don't mind Marie. She is French. She can always +hold her tongue." + +"Well, I've been talking with him, that's all. I'm sure he is the +Prince. No ordinary male could be as sweet and agreeable and sunny as--" + +"Stop!" cried Miss Guile, with a pretty moue, putting the tips of her +fingers to her ears after putting the piece of toast into her mouth. +"One would think you were a sentimental old maid instead of a +cold-blooded, experienced, man-hating married woman." + +"You forget that I am a widow, my dear. Besides, it is disgusting for +one to speak with one's mouth full of buttered toast. It--" + +"Oh, how I used to loathe you when you kept forever ding-donging at me +about the way I ate when I was almost starving. Were you never a hungry +little kid? Did you never lick jam and honey off your fingers and--" + +"Many and many a time," confessed Mrs. Gaston, beaming once more and +laying a gentle, loving hand on the girl's shoulder. Miss Guile dropped +her head over until her cheek rested on the caressing hand, and munched +toast with blissful abandon. + +"Now tell me what you've been up to," she said, and Mrs. Gaston +repeated every word of the conversation she had had with R. Schmidt, +proving absolutely nothing but stoutly maintaining that her intuition +was completely to be depended upon. + +"And, oh," she whispered in conclusion, "wouldn't it be perfectly +wonderful if you two should fall in love with each other--" + +"Don't be silly!" + +"But you have said that if he should fall in love with you for yourself +and not because--" + +"I have also said that I will not marry any man, prince, duke, king, +count or anything else unless I am in love with him. Don't overlook +that, please." + +"But he is really very nice. I should think you _could_ fall in love +with him. Just think how it would please your father and mother. Just +think--" + +"I won't be bullied!" + +"Am I bullying you?" in amazement. + +"No; but father tries to bully me, and you know it." + +"You must admit that the--this Mr. Schmidt is handsome, charming, +bright--" + +"I admit nothing," said Miss Guile resolutely, and ordered Marie to +dress her hair as carefully as possible. "Take as long as you like, +Marie. I shall not go on deck for hours." + +"I--I told him you would be up soon," stammered the poor, man-hating +ex-governess. + +"You did?" said Miss Guile, with what was supposed to be a deadly look +in her eyes. + +"Well, he enquired," said the other. + +"Anything else?" domineered the beauty. + +"I forgot to mention one thing. He _did_ ask me if your name was really +Bedelia." + +"And what did you tell him?" cried the girl, in sudden agitation. + +"I managed to tell him that it was," said Mrs. Gaston stiffly. + +"Good!" cried Miss Guile, vastly relieved, and not at all troubled over +the blight that had been put upon a very worthy lady's conscience. + +When she appeared on deck long afterward, she found every chair +occupied. A warm sun, a far from turbulent sea, and a refreshing breeze +had brought about a marvellous transformation. Every one was happy, +every one had come back from the grave to gloat over the grim reaper's +failure to do his worst, although in certain cases he had been +importuned to do it without hesitation. + +She made several brisk rounds of the deck; then, feeling that people +were following her with their eyes,--admiringly, to be sure, but what +of that?--she abandoned the pleasant exercise and sought the seclusion +of the sunless corner where her chair was stationed. The ship's daily +newspaper was just off the press and many of the loungers were reading +the brief telegraphic news from the capitals of the world. + +During her stroll she passed several groups of men and women who were +lightly, even scornfully employed in discussing an article of news +which had to do with Mr. Blithers and the Prince of Graustark. Filled +with an acute curiosity, she procured a copy of the paper from a +steward, and was glancing at the head lines as she made her way into +her corner. Double-leaded type appeared over the rumoured engagment of +Miss Maud Applegate Blithers, the beautiful and accomplished daughter +of the great capitalist, and Robin, Prince of Graustark. A queer little +smile played about her lips as she folded the paper for future perusal. +Turning the earner of the deck-building she almost collided with R. +Schmidt, who stood leaning against the wall, scanning the little +newspaper with eyes that were blind to everything else. + +"Oh!" she gasped. + +"I'm sorry," he exclaimed, crumpling the paper in his hand as he backed +away, flushing. "Stupid of me. Good morning." + +"Good morning, Mr. Schmidt. It wasn't your fault. I should have looked +where I was going. 'Stop, look and listen,' as they say at the railway +crossing." + +"'Danger' is one of the commonest signs, Miss Guile. It lurks +everywhere, especially around corners. I see you have a paper. It +appears that Miss Blithers and the Prince are to be married after all." + +"Yes; it is quite apparent that the Blithers family intends to have a +title at any cost," she said, and her eyes flashed. + +"Would you like to take a few turns, Miss Guile?" he inquired, a trace +of nervousness in his manner. "I think I can take you safely over the +hurdles and around the bunkers." He indicated the outstretched legs +along the promenade deck and the immovable groups of chatterers along +the rail. + +Before deciding, she shot an investigating glance into the corner. Mrs. +Gaston was not only there but was engaged in conversation with the +grey-moustached gentleman in a near-by chair. It required but half a +glance to show that Mr. Totten was unmistakably interested in something +the voluble lady had just said to him. + +"No, thank you, Mr. Schmidt," said Miss Guile hastily, and then hurried +over to her chair, a distinct cloud on her smooth brow. Robin, +considering himself dismissed, whirled and went his way, a dark flush +spreading over his face. Never, in all his life, had he been quite so +out of patience with the world as on this bright, sunny morning. + +Miss Guile's frown deepened when her abrupt appearance at Mrs. Gaston's +side caused that lady to look up with a guilty start and to break off +in the middle of a sentence that had begun with: "International +marriages, as a rule, are--Oh!" + +Mr. Totten arose and bowed with courtly grace to the new arrival on the +scene. He appeared to be immensely relieved. + +"A lovely morning, Miss Guile," he said as he stooped to arrange her +rug. "I hear that you were not at all disturbed by yesterday's blow." + +"I was just telling Mr. Totten that you are a wonderful sailor," said +Mrs. Gaston, a note of appeal in her voice. "He says his friend, Mr. +Schmidt, is also a good sailor. Isn't it perfectly wonderful?" + +"I can't see anything wonderful about it," said Miss Guile, fixing the +ex-governess with a look that seared. + +"We were speaking of this rumoured engagement of the Prince of +Graustark and--er--what's the name?" He glanced at his newspaper. "Miss +Blithers, of course. I enquired of Mrs.--er--Gaston if she happens to +know the young lady. She remembers seeing her frequently as a very +small child." + +"In Paris," said Mrs. Gaston. "One couldn't very well help seeing her, +you know. She was the only child of the great Mr. Blithers, whose name +was on every one's lips at the--" + +Miss Guile interrupted. "It would be like the great Mr. Blithers to buy +this toy prince for his daughter--as a family plaything or human +lap-dog, or something of the sort, wouldn't it?" + +Mr. Totten betrayed no emotion save amusement. Miss Guile was watching +through half-closed eyes. There was a noticeable stiffening of the prim +figure of Mrs. Gaston. + +"I've no doubt Mr. Blithers can afford to buy the most expensive of +toys for his only child. You Americans go in for the luxuries of life. +What could be more extravagant than the purchase of a royal lap-dog? +The only drawback I can suggest is that the Prince might turn out to be +a cur, and then where would Mr. Blithers be?" + +"It is more to the point to ask where Miss Blithers would be, Mr. +Totten," said Miss Guile, with a smile that caused the fierce old +warrior to afterwards declare to Dank that he never had seen a lovelier +girl in all his life. + +"Ah, but we spoke of the Prince as a lap-dog or a cur, Miss Guile, not +as a watch-dog," said he. + +"I see," said Miss Guile, after a moment. "He wouldn't sleep with one +eye open. I see." + +"The lap of luxury is an enviable resting-place. I know of no prince +who would despise it." + +"But a wife is sometimes a thing to be despised," said she. + +"Quite true," said Mr. Totten. "I've no doubt that the Prince of +Graustark will despise his wife, and for that reason will be quite +content to close both eyes and let her go on searching for her heart's +desire." + +"She would be his Princess. Could he afford to allow his love of luxury +to go as far as that?" + +"Quite as justifiably, I should say, as Mr. Blithers when he delivers +his only child into--into bondage." + +"You were about to use another term." + +"I was, but I thought in time, Miss Guile." + +R. Schmidt sauntered briskly past at this juncture, looking neither to +the right nor left. They watched him until he disappeared down the deck. + +"I think Mr. Schmidt is a perfectly delightful young man," said Mrs. +Gaston, simply because she couldn't help it. + +"You really think he will marry Miss Blithers, Mr. Totten?" ventured +Miss Guile. + +"He? Oh, I see--the Prince?" Mr. Totten came near to being no diplomat. +"How should I know, Miss Guile?" + +"Of course! How _should_ you know?" she cried. + +Mr. Totten found something to interest him in the printed sheet and +proceeded to read it with considerable avidity. Miss Guile smiled to +herself and purposely avoided the shocked look in Mrs. Gaston's eyes. + +"Bouillon at last," cried the agitated duenna, and peremptorily +summoned one of the tray-bearing stewards. "I am famished." + +Evidently Mr. Totten did not care for his mid-morning refreshment, for, +with the most courtly of smiles, he arose and left them to their +bouillon. + +"Here comes Mr. Schmidt," whispered Mrs. Gaston excitedly, a few +moments later, and at once made a movement indicative of hasty +departure. + +"Sit still," said Miss Guile peremptorily. + +R. Schmidt again passed them by without so much as a glance in their +direction. There was a very sweet smile on Miss Guile's lips as she +closed her eyes and lay back in her chair. Once, twice, thrice, even as +many as six times R. Schmidt strode rapidly by their corner, his head +high and his face aglow. + +At last a queer little pucker appeared on the serene brow of the far +from drowsy young lady whose eyes peeped through half closed lids. +Suddenly she threw off her rug and with a brief remark to her companion +arose and went to her cabin. Mrs. Gaston followed, not from choice but +because the brief remark was in the form of a command. + +Soon afterward, R. Schmidt who had been joined by Dank, threw himself +into his chair with a great sigh of fatigue and said: + +"'Gad, I've walked a hundred miles since breakfast. Have you a match?" + +"Hobbs has made a very curious discovery," said the young lieutenant, +producing his match-box. There was a perturbed look in his eyes. + +"If Hobbs isn't careful he'll discover a new continent one of these +days. He is always discovering something," said Robin, puffing away at +his pipe. + +"But this is really interesting. It seems that he was in the hold when +Miss Guile's maid came down to get into one of her mistress's trunks. +Now, the first letter in Guile is G, isn't it? Well, Hobbs says there +are at least half-a-dozen trunks there belonging to the young lady and +that all of them are marked with a large red B. What do you make of it?" + +The Prince had stopped puffing at his pipe. + +"Hobbs may be mistaken in the maid. Dank. It is likely that they are +not Miss Guile's trunks, at all." + +"He appears to be absolutely sure of his ground. He heard the maid +mention Miss Guile's name when she directed the men to get one of the +trunks out of the pile. That's what attracted his attention. He +confided to me that you are interested in the young lady, and therefore +it was quite natural for him to be similarly affected. 'Like master, +like man,' d'ye see?" + +"Really, you know, Dank, I ought to dismiss Hobbs," said Robin +irritably. "He is getting to be a dreadful nuisance. Always nosing +around, trying to--" + +"But after all, sir, you'll have to admit that he has made a puzzling +discovery. Why should her luggage be marked with a B?" + +"I should say because her name begins with a B," said Robin shortly. + +"In that case, it isn't Guile." + +"Obviously." The young man was thinking very hard. + +"And if it isn't Guile, there must be an excellent reason for her +sailing under a false name. She doesn't look like an adventuress." + +R. Schmidt rewarded this remark with a cold stare. "Would you mind +telling me what she does look like, Dank?" he enquired severely. + +The lieutenant flushed. "I have not had the same opportunity for +observation that you've enjoyed, sir, but I should say, off-hand, that +she looks like a very dangerous young person." + +"Do you mean to imply that she is--er--not altogether what one would +call right?" + +Dank grinned. "Don't you regard her as rather perilously beautiful?" + +"Oh, I see. That's what you mean. I suppose you got _that_ from Hobbs, +too." + +"Not at all. I have an excellent pair of eyes." + +"What are you trying to get at, Dank?" demanded Robin abruptly. + +"I'm trying to get to the bottom of Miss Guile's guile, if it please +your royal highness," said the lieutenant coolly. "It is hard to +connect the B and the G, you know." + +"But why should we deny her a privilege that we are enjoying, all three +of us? Are we not in the same boat?" + +"Literally and figuratively. That explains nothing, however." + +"Have you a theory?" + +"There are many that we could advance, but, of course, only one of them +could be the right one, even if we were acute enough to include it in +our list of guesses. She may have an imperative reason for not +disclosing her identity. For instance, she may be running away to get +married." + +"That's possible," agreed Robin. + +"But not probable. She may be a popular music-hall favourite, or one of +those peculiarly clever creatures known as the American newspaper +woman, against whom we have been warned. Don't you regard it as rather +significant that of all the people on this ship she should be one to +attach herself to the unrecognised Prince of Graustark? Put two and two +together, sir, and--" + +"I find it singularly difficult to put one and one together, Dank," +said the Prince ruefully. "No; you are wrong in both of your guesses. +I've encountered music-hall favourites and I can assure you she isn't +one of them. And as for your statement that she attached herself to me, +you were never so mistaken in your life. I give you my word, she +doesn't care a hang whether I'm on the ship or clinging to a life +preserver out there in the middle of the Atlantic. I have reason to +know, Dank." + +"So be it," said Dank, but with doubt in his eyes. "You ought to know. +I've never spoken to her, so--" + +"She thinks you are a dreadfully attractive chap, Dank," said Robin +mischievously. "She said so only yesterday." + +Dank gave his prince a disgusted look, and smoked on in silence. His +dignity was ruffled. + +"Her Christian name is Bedelia," ventured Robin, after a pause. + +"That doesn't get us anywhere," said Dank sourly. + +"And her mother is Irish." + +"Which accounts for those wonderful Irish blue eyes that--" + +"So you've noticed them, eh?" + +"Naturally." + +"I consider them a very dark grey." + +"I think we'd better get back to the luggage," said Dank hastily. +"Hobbs thinks that she--" + +"Oh, Lord, Dank, don't tell me what Hobbs thinks," growled Robin. "Let +her make use of all the letters in the alphabet if it pleases her. What +is it to us? Moreover, she may be utilising a lot of borrowed trunks, +who knows? Or B may have been her initial before she was divorced and--" + +"Divorced?" + +"--her maiden name restored," concluded Robin airily. "Simple +deduction, Dank. Don't bother your head about her any longer. What we +know isn't going to hurt us, and what we don't know isn't--" + +"Has it occurred to you that Russia may have set spies upon you--" + +"Nonsense!" + +"It isn't as preposterous as you--" + +"Come, old fellow, let's forget Miss Guile," cried Robin, slapping the +lieutenant on the shoulder. "Let's think of the real peril,--Maud +Applegate Blithers." He held up the ship's paper for Dank to see and +then sat back to enjoy his companion's rage. + +An hour later Dank and Count Quinnox might have been seen seated side +by side on the edge of a skylight at the tip-top of the ship's +structure, engaged in the closest conversation. There was a troubled +look in the old man's eyes and the light of adventure in those of his +junior. The sum and substance of their discussion may be given in a +brief sentence: Something would have to be done to prevent Robin from +falling in love with the fascinating Miss Guile. + +"He is young enough and stubborn enough to make a fool of himself over +her," the Count had said. "I wouldn't blame him, 'pon my soul I +wouldn't. She is very attractive--ahem! You must be his safeguard, +Dank. Go in and do as I suggest. You are a good looking chap and you've +nothing to lose. So far as she is concerned, you are quite as well +worth while as the fellow known as R. Schmidt. There's no reason why +you shouldn't make the remainder of the passage pleasant for her, and +at the same time enjoy yourself at nobody's expense." + +"They know by instinct, confound 'em," lamented Dank; "they know the +real article, and you can't fool 'em. She knows that he is the high +muck-a-muck in this party and she won't even look at me, you take my +word for it." + +"At any rate, you can try, can't you?" said the Count impatiently. + +"Is it a command, sir?" + +"It is." + +"Very well, sir. I shall do my best." + +"We can't afford to have him losing his head over a pretty--er--a +nobody, perhaps an adventuress,--at this stage of the game. I much +prefer the impossible Miss Blithers, Dank, to this captivating unknown. +At least we know who and what she is, and what she represents. But we +owe it to our country and to Dawsbergen to see that he doesn't do +anything--er--foolish. We have five days left of this voyage, Dank. +They may be fatal days for him, if you do not come to the rescue." + +"They may be fatal days for me," said Dank, looking out over the ocean. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE LIEUTENANT REPORTS + + +Five days later as the _Jupiter_ was discharging passengers at +Plymouth, Count Quinnox and Lieutenant Dank stood well forward on the +promenade deck watching the operations. The younger man was moody and +distrait, an unusual condition for him but one that had been noticeably +recurrent during the past two or three days. He pulled at his smart +little moustache and looked out upon the world through singularly +lack-lustre eyes. Something had gone wrong with him, and it was +something that he felt in duty bound to lay before his superior, the +grim old Minister of War and hereditary chief of the Castle Guard. +Occasionally his sombre gaze shifted to a spot farther down the deck, +where a young man and woman leaned upon the rail and surveyed the scene +of activity below. + +"What is on your mind, Dank?" asked the Count abruptly. "Out with it." + +Dank started. "It's true, then? I _do_ look as much of a fool as I +feel, eh?" There was bitterness in his usually cheery voice. + +"Feel like a fool, eh?" growled the old soldier. + +"Pretty mess I've made of the business," lamented Dank surlily. +"Putting myself up as a contender against a fellow like Robin, and +dreaming that I could win out, even for a minute! Good Lord, what an +ass I am! Why we've only made it worse, Count. We've touched him with +the spur of rivalry, and what could be more calamitous than that? From +being a rather matter-of-fact, indifferent observer, he becomes a +bewildering cavalier bent on conquest at any cost. I am swept aside as +if I were a parcel of rags. For two days I stood between him and the +incomparable Miss Guile. Then he suddenly arouses himself. My cake is +dough. I am nobody. My feet get cold, as they say in America,--although +I don't know why they say it. What has the temperature of one's feet to +do with it? See! There they are. They are constantly together, walking, +sitting, standing, eating, drinking, reading--_Eh bien!_ You have seen +with your own eyes. The beautiful Miss Guile has bewitched our Prince, +and my labour is not only lost but I myself am lost. _Mon dieu!_" + +The Count stared at him in perplexity for a moment. Then a look of +surprise came into his eyes,--surprise not unmingled with scorn. + +"You don't mean to say, Dank, that you've fallen in love with her? Oh, +you absurd fledgelings. Will you--" + +"Forgive my insolence, Count, but it is forty years since you were a +fledgeling. You don't see things as you saw them forty years ago. +Permit me to remind you that you are a grandfather." + +"Your point is well taken, my lad," said the Count, with a twinkle in +his eye. "You can't help being young any more than I can help being +old. Youth is perennial, old age a winding-sheet. I am to take it, +then, that you've lost your heart to the fair--" + +"Why not?" broke in Dank fiercely. "Why should it appear incredible to +you? Is she not the most entrancing creature in all the world? Is she +not the most appealing, the most adorable, the most feminine of all her +sex? Is it possible that one can be so old that it is impossible for +him to feel the charm, the loveliness, the--" + +"For heaven's sake, Dank," said the old man in alarm, "don't +gesticulate so wildly. People will think we are quarrelling. Calm +yourself, my boy." + +"You set a task for me and I obey. You urge me to do my duty by +Graustark. You tell me I am a handsome dog and irresistible. She will +be overwhelmed by my manly beauty, my valour, my soldierly bearing,--so +say you! And what is the outcome? I--I, the vain-glorious,--I am +wrapped around her little finger so tightly that all the king's horses +and all the king's men--" + +"Halt!" commanded his general softly. "You are turning tail like the +veriest coward. Right about, face! Would you surrender to a slip of a +girl whose only weapons are a pair of innocent blue eyes and a roguish +smile? Be a man! Stand by your guns. Outwardly you are the equal of R. +Schmidt, whose sole--" + +"That sounds very well, sir, but how can I take up arms against my +Prince? He stands by _his_ guns--as you may see, sir,--and, dammit all, +I'm no traitor. I've just got to stand by 'em with him. That rot about +all being fair in love and war is the silliest--Oh, well, there's no +use whining about it. I'm mad about her, and so is he. You can't--" + +The Count stopped him with a sharp gesture. A look of real concern +appeared in his eyes. + +"Do you believe that he is actually in love with this girl?" + +"Heels over head," barked the unhappy lieutenant. "I've never seen a +worse case." + +"This is serious--more serious than I thought." + +"It's horrible," declared Dank, but not thinking of the situation from +the Count's point of view. + +"We do not know who or what she is. She may be--" + +"I beg your pardon, sir, but we do know what she is," said the other +firmly. "You will not pretend to say that she is not a gentlewoman. She +is cultured, refined--" + +"I grant all of that," said the Count. "I am not blind, Dank, But it +seems fairly certain that her name is not Guile. We--" + +"Nor is his name Schmidt. That's no argument, sir." + +"Still we cannot take the chance, my lad. We must put an end to this +fond adventure. Robin is our most precious possession. We must not--Why +do you shake your head?" + +"We are powerless, sir. If he makes up his mind to marry Miss Guile, +he'll do it in spite of anything we can do. That is, provided she is of +the same mind." + +"God defend us, I fear you are right," groaned the old Count. "He has +declared himself a hundred times, and he is a wilful lad. I recall the +uselessness of the opposition that was set up against his lamented +mother when she decided to marry Grenfell Lorry. 'Gad, sir, it was like +butting into a stone wall. She said she _would_ and she did. I fear me +that Robin has much of his mother in him." + +"Behold in me the first sacrifice," declaimed Dank, lifting his eyes +heavenward. + +"Oh, you will recover," was the unsympathetic rejoinder. "It is for him +that I fear, not for you." + +"Recover, sir?" in despair. "I fear you misjudge my humble heart--" + +"Bosh! Your heart has been through a dozen accidents of this character, +Dank, and it is good for a hundred more. I'll rejoice when this voyage +is ended and we have him safe on his way to Edelweiss." + +"That will not make the slightest difference, sir. If he sets his head +to marry her he'll do it if we take him to the North Pole. All +Graustark can't stop him,--nor old man Blithers either. Besides, he +says he isn't going to Edelweiss immediately." + +"That is news to me." + +"I thought it would be. He came to the decision not more than two hours +ago. He is determined to spend a couple of weeks at Interlaken." + +"Interlaken?" + +"Yes. Miss Guile expects to stop there for a fortnight after leaving +Paris." + +"I must remonstrate with Robin--at once," declared the old man. "He is +needed in Graustark. He must be made to realise the importance of--" + +"And what are you going to do if he declines to realise anything but +the importance of a fortnight in the shadow of the Jungfrau?" + +"God help me, I don't know, Dank." The Count's brow was moist, and he +looked anything but an unconquerable soldier. + +"I told him we were expected to reach home by the end of next week, and +he said that a quiet fortnight in the Alps would make new men of all of +us." + +"Do you mean to say he expects me to dawdle--" + +"More than that, sir. He also expects me to dawdle too. I shall +probably shoot myself before the two weeks are over." + +"I have it! I shall take Mrs. Gaston into my confidence. It is the only +hope, I fear. I shall tell her that he is--" + +"No hope there," said Dank mournfully. + +"Haven't you noticed how keen she is to have them together all the +time? She's as wily as a fox. Never misses a chance. Hasn't it occurred +to you to wonder why she drags you off on the slightest pretext when +you happen to be in the way? She's done it a hundred times. Always +leaving them alone together. My God, how I despise that woman! Not once +but twenty times a day she finds an excuse to interfere when I am +trying to get in a few words with Miss Guile. She's forever wanting me +to show her the engine-room or the Captain's bridge or the wireless +office or--why, by Jove, sir, it was only yesterday that she asked me +to come and look at the waves. Said she'd found a splendid place to see +them from, just as if the whole damned Atlantic wasn't full of 'em. And +isn't she always looking for porpoises on the opposite side of the +ship? And how many whales and ice-bergs do you think she's been trying +to find in the last five days? No, sir! There's no hope there!" + +"'Pon my soul!" was all that the poor Minister of War, an adept in +strategy, was able to exclaim. + +The _Jupiter_ disgorged most of her passengers at Cherbourg and the +descent upon Paris had scarcely begun when the good ship steamed away +for Antwerp, Bremen and Hamburg. She was one of the older vessels in +the vast fleet of ships controlled by the American All-Seas and +All-Ports Company, and she called wherever there was a port open to +trans-Atlantic navigation. She was a single factor in the great +monopoly described as the "Billion Dollar Boast." The United States had +been slow to recognise the profits of seas that were free, but when she +did wake up she proceeded to act as if she owned them and all that +therein lay. Her people spoke of the Gulf Stream as "ours"; of the +Banks of Newfoundland as "ours"--or in some instances as "ourn"; of +Liverpool, Hamburg, London, Bremen and other such places as "our +European terminals"; and of the various oceans, seas and navigable +waters as "a part of the system." Where once the Stars and Stripes were +as rare as hummingbirds in Baffin's Bay, the flags were now so thick +that they resembled Fourth of July decorations on Fifth avenue, and it +was almost impossible to cross the Atlantic without dodging a hundred +vessels on which Dixie was being played, coming and going. A man from +New Hampshire declared, after one of his trips over and back, that he +cheered the good old tune so incessantly that his voice failed on the +third day out, both ways, and he had to voice his patriotism with a tin +horn. + +Ships of the All-Seas and All-Ports Company fairly stuffed the harbours +of the world. America was awake at last--wide awake!--and the necessity +for prodding her was now limited to the task of putting her to sleep +long enough to allow other nations a chance to scrape together enough +able bodied seamen to man the ships. + +William W. Blithers was one of the directors of the All-Seas and +All-Ports Company. He was the first American to awake. + +For some unaccountable reason Miss Guile and her companion preferred to +travel alone to Paris. They had a private compartment, over which a +respectful but adamantine conductor exercised an authority that +irritated R. Schmidt beyond expression. The rest of the train was +crowded to its capacity, and here was desirable space going to waste in +the section occupied by the selfish Miss Guile. He couldn't understand +it in her. Was it, after all, to be put down as a simple steamer +encounter? Was she deliberately snubbing him, now that they were on +land? Was he, a prince of the royal blood, to be tossed aside by this +purse-proud American as if he were the simplest of simpletons? And what +did she mean by stationing an officious hireling before her door to +order him away when he undertook to pay her a friendly visit?--to offer +his own and Hobbs' services in case they were needed in Paris. Why +should she lock her confounded door anyway,--and draw the curtains? +There were other whys too numerous to mention, and there wasn't an +answer to a single one of them. The whole proceeding was +incomprehensible. + +To begin with, she certainly made no effort to conceal the fact that +she was trying to avoid him from the instant the tender drew alongside +to take off the passengers. As a matter of fact, she seemed to be +making a point of it. And yet, the evening before, she had appeared +rather enchanted with the prospect of seeing him at Interlaken. + +It was not until the boat-train was nearing the environs of Paris that +Hobbs threw some light over the situation, with the result that it +instantly became darker than ever before. It appears that Miss Guile +was met at the landing by a very good-looking young man who not only +escorted her to the train but actually entered it with her, and was +even now enjoying the luxury of a private compartment as well as the +contents of a large luncheon hamper, to say nothing of an uninterrupted +view of something far more inspiring than the scenery. + +"Frenchman?" inquired Dank listlessly. + +"American, I should say, sir," said Hobbs, balancing himself in the +corridor outside the door and sticking his head inside with more +confidence than a traveller usually feels when travelling from +Cherbourg to Paris. "But I wouldn't swear to it, sir. I didn't 'ear a +word he said, being quite some distance away at the time. Happearances +are deceptive, as I've said a great many times. A man may look like an +American and still be almost anything else, see wot I mean? On the +other hand, a man may look like almost nothing and still be American to +his toes. I remember once saying to--" + +"That's all right, Hobbs," broke in R. Schmidt sternly. "We also +remember what you said, so don't repeat it. How soon do we get in?" + +Hobbs cheerfully looked at his watch. "I couldn't say positive, sir, +but I should think in about fourteen and a 'alf minutes, or maybe a +shade under--between fourteen and fourteen and a 'alf, sir. As I was +saying, he was a most intelligent looking chap, sir, and very 'andsome +of face and figger. Between twenty-four and twenty-five, I dare say. +Light haired, smooth-faced, quite tall and dressed in dark blue with a +cravat, sir, that looked like cerise but may have been--" + +"For heaven's sake, Hobbs, let up!" cried Robin, throwing up his hands. + +"Yes, sir; certainly, sir. Did I mention that he wears a straw 'at with +a crimson band on it? Well, if I didn't, he does. Hincidentally, they +seemed greatly pleased to see each other. He kissed her hand, and +looked as though he might have gone even farther than that if it 'adn't +been for the crowd--" + +"That will do!" said Robin sharply, a sudden flush mounting to his +cheek. + +"Very good, sir. Shall I get the bags down for the porters, sir? I beg +pardon, sir,--" to one of the three surly gentlemen who sat facing the +travellers from Graustark,--"my fault entirely. I don't believe it is +damaged, sir. Allow me to--" + +"Thank you," growled the stranger. "I can put it on myself," and he +jerked his hat out of Hobbs' hand and set it at a rather forbidding +angle above a lowering brow. "Look what you're doing after this, will +you?" + +"Certainly, sir," said Hobbs agreeably. "It's almost impossible to see +without eyes in the back of one's head, don't you know. I 'ope--" + +"All right, _all_ right!" snapped the man, glaring balefully. "And let +me tell you something else, my man. Don't go about knocking Americans +without first taking a look. Just bear that in mind, will you?" + +"The surest way is to listen," began Hobbs loftily, but, catching a +look from his royal master, desisted. He proceeded to get down the hand +luggage. + +At the Gare St. Lazare, Robin had a brief glimpse of Miss Guile as she +hurried with the crowd down to the cab enclosure, where her escort, the +alert young stranger, put her into a waiting limousine, bundled Mrs. +Gaston and Marie in after her, and then dashed away, obviously to see +their luggage through the _douane_. + +She espied the tall figure of her fellow voyager near the steps and +leaned forward to wave a perfunctory farewell to him. The car was +creeping out toward the packed thoroughfare. It is possible that she +expected him to dash among the chortling machines, at risk of life or +limb, for a word or two at parting. If so, she was disappointed. He +remained perfectly still, with uplifted hat, a faint smile on his lips +and not the slightest sign of annoyance in his face. She smiled +securely to herself as she leaned back in the seat, and was satisfied! +Curiosity set its demand upon her an instant later, however, and she +peered slyly through the little window in the back. He lifted his hat +once more and she flushed to her throat as she quickly drew back into +the corner. How in the world could he have seen her through that +abominable slit in the limousine? And why was he now grinning so +broadly? + +Count Quinnox found him standing there a few minutes later, twirling +his stick and smiling with his eyes. Accompanying the old soldier was a +slight, sharp-featured man with keen black eyes and a thin, pointed +moustache of grey. + +This man was Gourou, Chief of Police and Commander of the Tower in +Edelweiss, successor to the celebrated Baron Dangloss. After he had +greeted his prince, the quiet little man announced that he had reserved +for him an apartment at the Bristol. + +"I am instructed by the Prime Minister, your highness, to urge your +immediate return to Edelweiss," he went on, lowering his voice. "The +people are disturbed by the reports that have reached us during the +past week or two, and Baron Romano is convinced that nothing will serve +to subdue the feeling of uneasiness that prevails except your own +declaration--in person--that these reports arc untrue." + +"I shall telegraph at once to Baron Romano that it is all poppy-cock," +said Robin easily. "I refer, of course, to the reported engagement. I +am not going to marry Miss Blithers and that's all there is to be said. +You may see to it, baron, that a statement is issued to all of the +Paris newspapers to-day, and to the correspondents for all the great +papers in Europe and America. I have prepared this statement, under my +own signature, and it is to be the last word in the matter. It is in my +pocket at this instant. You shall have it when we reach the hotel--And +that reminds me of another thing. I'm sorry that I shall have to ask +you to countermand the reservation for rooms at the hotel you mention. +I have already reserved rooms at the Ritz,--by wireless. We shall stop +there. Where is Dank?" + +"The Ritz is hardly the place for--" + +But Robin clapped him on the back and favoured him with the +good-natured, boyish smile that mastered even the fiercest of his +counsellors, and the Minister of Police, being an astute man, heaved a +deep sigh of resignation. + +"Dank is looking after the trunks, highness, and Hobbs is coming along +with the hand luggage," he said. "The Ritz, you say? Then I shall have +to instruct Lieutenant Dank to send the luggage there instead of to the +Bristol. Pardon, your highness." He was off like a flash. + +Count Quinnox was gnawing his moustache. "See here, Robin," he said, +laying his hand on the young man's shoulder, "you are in Paris now and +not on board a ship at sea. Miss Guile is a beautiful, charming, highly +estimable young woman, and, I might as well say it straight out to your +face, you ought not to subject her to the notoriety that is bound to +follow if the newspapers learn that she is playing around Paris, no +matter how innocently, with a prince whom--" + +"Just a moment, Count," interrupted Robin, a cold light in his now +unsmiling eyes. "You are getting a little ahead of the game. Miss Guile +is not going to the Ritz, nor do I expect her to play around Paris with +me. As a matter of fact, she refused to tell me where she is to stop +while here, and I am uncomfortably certain that I shall not see her +unless by chance. On the other hand, I may as well be perfectly frank +with you and say it straight out to _your_ face that I am going to try +to find her if possible, but I am not mean enough to employ the methods +common to such enterprises. I could have followed her car in another +when she left here a few minutes ago; I could manage in a dozen ways to +run her to earth, as the detectives do in the books, but I'd be ashamed +to look her in the face if I did any of these things. I shall take a +gentleman's chance, my dear Count, and trust to luck and the generosity +of fate. You may be sure that I shall not annoy Miss Guile, and you may +be equally sure that she--" + +"I beg your pardon, Robin, but I did not employ the word annoy," +protested the Count. + +"--that she takes me for a gentleman if not for a prince," went on +Robin, deliberately completing the sentence before he smiled his +forgiveness upon the old man. "I selected the Ritz because all rich +Americans go there, I'm told. I'm taking a chance." + +Quinnox had an obstinate strain in his make-up. He continued: "There is +another side to the case, my boy. As a gentleman, you cannot allow this +lovely girl to--er--well, to fall in love with you. That would be +cruel, wantonly cruel. And it is just the thing that is bound to happen +if you go on with--" + +"My dear Count, you forget that I am only R. Schmidt to her and but one +of perhaps a hundred young men who have placed her in the same perilous +position. Moreover, it's the other way 'round, sir. It is I who take +the risk, not Miss Guile. I regret to say, sir, that if there is to be +any falling in love, I am the one who is most likely to fall, and to +fall hard. You assume that Miss Guile is heart-whole and fancy free. +'Gad, I wish that I could be sure of it!" He spoke with such fervour +that the Count was indeed dismayed. + +"Robin, my lad, I beg of you to consider the consequences that--" + +"There's no use discussing it, old friend. Trust to luck. There is a +bully good chance that she will send me about my business when the time +comes and then the salvation of Graustark will be assured." He said it +lightly but there was a dark look in his eyes that belied the jaunty +words. + +"Am I to understand that you intend to--to ask her to marry you?" +demanded the Count, profoundly troubled. "Remember, boy, that you are +the Prince of Graustark, that you--" + +"But I'm not going to ask her to marry the Prince of Graustark. I'm +going to ask her to marry R. Schmidt," said Robin composedly. + +"God defend us, Robin, I--I--" + +"God has all he can do to defend us from William W. Blithers, Count. +Don't ask too much of him. What kind of a nation are we if we can't get +along without asking God to defend us every time we see trouble ahead? +And do you suppose he is going to defend us against a slip of a girl--" + +"Enough! Enough!" cried the Count, compressing his lips and glaring +straight ahead. + +"That's the way to talk," cried Robin enthusiastically. "By the way, I +hope Dank is clever enough to find out who that young fellow is while +they are clearing the luggage in there. I had a good look at him just +now. He is all that Hobbs describes and a little more. He is a hustler." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE RED LETTER B + + +In the Baron's room at the Ritz late that night there was held a secret +conference. Two shadowy figures stole down the corridor at midnight and +were admitted to the room, while Prince Robin slept soundly in his +remote four-poster and dreamed of something that brought a gentle smile +to his lips. + +The three conspirators were of the same mind: it was clear that +something must be done. But what? That was the question. Gourou +declared that the people were very much disturbed over the trick the +great capitalist had played upon the cabinet; there were sullen threats +of a revolt if the government insisted on the deposit of bonds as +required by the agreement. More than that, there were open declarations +that the daughter of Mr. Blithers would never be permitted to occupy +the throne of Graustark. Deeply as his subjects loved the young Prince, +they would force him to abdicate rather than submit to the desecration +of a throne that had never been dishonoured. They would accept William +W. Blithers' money, but they would have none of William W. Blithers' +daughter. That was more than could be expected of any self-respecting +people! According to the Minister of Police, the name of Blithers was +already a common synonym for affliction--and frequently employed in +supposing a malediction. It signified all that was mean, treacherous, +scurrilous. He was spoken of through clenched teeth as "the blood +sucker." Children were ominously reproved by the threatening use of the +word Blithers. "Blithers will get you if you don't wash your face," and +all that sort of thing. + +There was talk in some circles of demanding the resignation of the +cabinet, but even the pessimistic Gourou admitted that it was idle talk +and would come to nothing if the menacing shadow of Maud Applegate +Blithers could be banished from the vicinity of the throne. +Graustarkians would abide by the compact made by their leading men and +would be content to regard Mr. Blithers as a bona fide creditor. They +would pay him in full when the loan matured, even though they were +compelled to sacrifice their houses in order to accomplish that end. +But, like all the rest of the world, they saw through the rich +American's scheme. + +The world knew, and Graustark knew, just what Mr. Blithers was after, +and the worst of it all was that Mr. Blithers also knew, which was more +to the point. But, said Baron Gourou, Graustark knew something that +neither the world nor Mr. Blithers knew, and that was its own mind. +Never, said he, would Maud Applegate be recognised as the Princess of +Graustark, not if she lived for a thousand years and married Robin as +many times as she had hairs on her head. At least, he amended, that was +the way every one felt about it at present. + +The afternoon papers had published the brief statement prepared by +Robin in the seclusion of his stateroom on board the _Jupiter_ +immediately after a most enjoyable hour with Miss Guile. It was a curt +and extremely positive denial of the rumoured engagement, with the +additional information that he never had seen Miss Blithers and was +more or less certain that she never had set eyes on him. + +A rather staggering co-incidence appeared with the published report +that Miss Blithers herself was supposed to be somewhere in Europe, word +having been received that day from sources in London that she had +sailed from New York under an assumed name. The imaginative French +journals put two and two together and dwelt upon the possibility that +the two young people who had never seen each other might have crossed +the Atlantic on the same steamer, seeing each other frequently and yet +remaining entirely in the dark, so to speak. Inspired writers began to +weave a romance out of the probabilities. + +On one point Robin was adamantine. He refused positively to have his +identity disclosed at this time, and Gourou had to say to the +newspapers that the Prince was even then on his way to Vienna, hurrying +homeward as fast as steel cars could carry him. He admitted that the +young man had arrived on the _Jupiter_ that morning, having remained in +the closest seclusion all the way across the Atlantic. + +This equivocation necessitated the most cautious rearrangement of plans +on the part of the Baron. He was required to act as though he had no +acquaintance with either of the three travellers stopping at the Ritz, +although for obvious reasons he took up a temporary abode there +himself. Moreover, he had to telegraph the Prime Minister in Edelweiss +that the Prince was not to be budged, and would in all likelihood +postpone his return to the capitol. All of which stamped the honest +Baron as a most prodigious liar, if one stops to think of what he said +to the reporters. + +The newspapers also printed a definite bit of news in the shape of a +despatch from New York to the effect that Mr. and Mrs. William W. +Blithers were sailing for Europe on the ensuing day, bound for +Graustark! + +However, the chief and present concern of the three loyal gentlemen in +midnight conclave was not centred in the trouble that Mr. Blithers had +started, but in the more desperate situation created by Miss Guile. She +was the peril that now confronted them, and she was indeed a peril. +Quinnox and Dank explained the situation to the Minister of Police, and +the Minister of Police admitted that the deuce was to pay. + +"There is but one way out of it," said he, speaking officially, "and +that is the simplest one I know of." + +"Assassination, I suppose," said Dank scornfully. + +"It rests with me, gentlemen," said the Baron, ignoring the +lieutenant's remark, "to find Miss Guile and take her into my +confidence in respect--" + +"No use," said Dank, and, to his surprise, the Count repeated the words +after him. + +"Miss Guile is a lady. Baron," said the latter gloomily. "You cannot go +to her with a command to clear out, keep her hands off, or any such +thing. She would be justified in having you kicked out of the house. We +must not annoy Miss Guile. That is quite out of the question." + +"By jove!" exclaimed Dank, so loudly that his companions actually +jumped in their seats. They looked at him in amazement,--the Count with +something akin to apprehension in his eyes. Had the fellow lost his +mind over the girl? Before they could ask what he meant by shouting at +the top of his voice, he repeated the ejaculation, but less +explosively. His eyes were bulging and his mouth remained agape. + +"What ails you, Dank?" demanded the Baron, removing his eyes from the +young man's face long enough to glance fearfully at the transom. + +"I've--I've got it!" cried the soldier, and then sank back in his +chair, quite out of breath. The Baron got up and took a peep into the +hallway, and then carefully locked the door. "What are you locking the +door for?" demanded Dank, sitting up suddenly. "It's only a theory that +I've got--but it is wonderful. Absolutely staggering." + +"Oh!" said Gourou, but he did not unlock the door. "A theory, eh?" He +came back and stood facing the young man. + +"Count," began Dank excitedly, "you remember the big red letter B on +all of her trunks, don't you? Hobbs is positive he--" + +Count Quinnox sprang to his feet and banged the table with his fist. + +"By jove!" he shouted, suddenly comprehending. + +"The letter B?" queried Gourou, perplexed. + +"The newspapers say that she sailed from New York under an assumed +name," went on Dank, thrilled by his own amazing cleverness. "There you +are! Plain as day. The letter B explains everything. Now we know who +Miss Guile really is. She's--" + +"Maud" exclaimed Quinnox, sinking back into his chair. + +"Miss Blithers!" cried Gourou, divining at last. "By jove!" And thus +was the jovian circle completed. + +It was two o'clock before the three gentlemen separated and retired to +rest, each fully convinced that the situation was even more complicated +than before, for in view of this new and most convincing revelation +there now could be no adequate defence against the alluring Miss Guile. + +Robin was informed bright and early the next morning. In fact, he was +still in his pajamas when the news was carried to him by the exhausted +Dank, who had spent five hours in bed but none in slumber. Never in all +his ardent career had the smart lieutenant been so bitterly afflicted +with love-sickness as now. + +"I don't believe a word of it," said the Prince, promptly. "You've been +dreaming, old chap." + +"That letter B isn't a dream, is it?" + +"No, it isn't," said Robin, and instantly sat up in bed, his face very +serious. "If she should turn out to be Miss Blithers, I've cooked my +goose to a crisp. Good Lord, when I think of some of the things I said +to her about the Blithers family! But wait! If she is Miss Blithers do +you suppose she'd sit calmly by and hear the family ridiculed? No, sir! +She would have taken my head off like a flash. She--" + +"I've no doubt she regarded the situation as extremely humorous," said +Dank, "and laughed herself almost sick over the way she was fooling +you." + +"That might sound reasonable enough, Dank, if she had known who I was. +But where was the fun in fooling an utter outsider like R. Schmidt? It +doesn't hold together." + +"Americans have an amazing notion of humour, I am reliably informed. +They appear to be able to see a joke under the most distressing +circumstances. I'll stake my head that she is Miss Blithers." + +"I can't imagine anything more terrible," groaned Robin, lying down +flat again and staring at the ceiling. + +"I shouldn't call her terrible," protested Dank, rather stiffly. + +"I refer to the situation, Dank,--the mess, in other words. It _is_ a +mess, isn't it?" + +"I suppose you'll see nothing more of her, your highness," remarked +Dank, a sly hope struggling in his breast. + +"You'd better put it the other way. She'll see nothing more of me," +lugubriously. + +"I mean to say, sir, you can't go on with it, can you?" + +"Go on with what?" + +"The--er--you know," floundered Dank. + +"If there is really anything to go on with, Dank, I'll go on with it, +believe me." + +The lieutenant stared. "But if she _should_ be Miss Blithers, what +then?" + +"It might simplify matters tremendously," said Robin, but not at all +confidently. "I think I'll get up, Dank, if you don't mind. Call Hobbs, +will you? And, I say, won't you have breakfast up here with me?" + +"I had quite overlooked breakfast, 'pon my soul, I had," said Dank, a +look of pain in his face. "No wonder I have a headache, going without +my coffee so long." + +Later on, while they were breakfasting in Robin's sitting room, Hobbs +brought in the morning newspapers. He laid one of them before the +Prince, and jabbed his forefinger upon a glaring headline. + +"I beg pardon, sir; I didn't mean to get it into the butter. Very +awkward, I'm sure. Hi, _garcon!_ Fresh butter 'ere, and lively about +it, too. _Buerre!_ That's the word--buttah." + +Robin and Dank were staring at the headline as if fascinated. Having +successfully managed the butter, Hobbs at once restored his attention +to the headline, reading it aloud, albeit both of the young men were +capable of reading French at sight. He translated with great profundity. + +"'Miss Blithers Denies Report. Signed Statement Mysteriously Received. +American Heiress not to wed Prince of Graustark.' Shall I read the +harticle, sir?" + +Robin snatched up the paper and read aloud for himself. Hobbs merely +wiped a bit of butter from his finger and listened attentively. + +The following card appeared at the head of the column, and was +supplemented by a complete resume of the Blithers-Graustark muddle: + +"Miss Blithers desires to correct an erroneous report that has appeared +in the newspapers. She is not engaged to be married to the Prince of +Graustark, nor is there even the remotest probability that such will +ever be the case. Miss Blithers regrets that she has not the honour of +Prince Robin's acquaintance, and the Prince has specifically stated in +the public prints that he does not know her by sight. The statements of +the two persons most vitally affected by this disturbing rumour should +be taken as final. Sufficient pain and annoyance already has been +caused by the malicious and utterly groundless report." The name of +Maud Applegate Blithers was appended to the statement, and it was dated +Paris, August 29. + +Thereafter followed a lengthy description of the futile search for the +young lady in Paris, and an interview with the local representatives of +Mr. Blithers, all of whom declared that the signature was genuine, but +refused to commit themselves further without consulting their employer. +They could throw no light upon the situation, even going so far as to +declare that they were unaware of the presence of Miss Blithers in +Paris. + +It appears that the signed statement was left in the counting-rooms of +the various newspapers by a heavily veiled lady at an hour agreed upon +as "about ten o'clock." There was absolutely no clue to the identity of +this woman. + +Instead of following the suggestion of Miss Blithers that "sufficient +pain and annoyance already had been caused," the journalists proceeded +to increase the agony by venturing the hope that fresh developments +would materialise before the day was done. + +"Well, she appears to be here," said Robin, as he laid down the last of +the three journals and stared at Dank as if expecting hope from that +most unreliable source. + +"I suppose you will now admit that I am right about the letter B," said +Dank sullenly. + +"When I see Miss Guile I shall ask point blank if she is Maud +Applegate, Dank, and if she says she isn't, I'll take her word for it," +said Robin. + +"And if she says she is?" + +"Well," said the Prince, ruefully, "I'll still take her word for it." + +"And then?" + +"Then I shall be equally frank and tell her that I am Robin of +Graustark. That will put us all square again, and we'll see what comes +of it in the end." + +"You don't mean to say you'll--you'll continue as you were?" gasped +Dank. + +"That depends entirely on Miss Guile, Boske." + +"But you wouldn't dare to marry Maud Applegate Blithers, sir. You would +be driven out of Graustark and--" + +"I think that would depend a good deal on Miss Guile, too, old chap," +said Robin coolly. + +Dank swallowed very hard. "I want to be loyal to you, your highness," +he said as if he did not think it would be possible to remain so. + +"I shall count on you, Dank," said Robin earnestly. + +"But--" began the lieutenant, and then stopped short. + +"Let me finish it for you. You don't feel as though you could be loyal +to Miss Blithers, is that it?" + +"I think that would depend on Miss Blithers," said Dank, and then +begged to be excused. He went out of the room rather hurriedly. + +"Well, Hobbs," said Robin, after his astonishment had abated, "what do +_you_ think of it?" + +"I think he's in love with her, sir," said Hobbs promptly. + +"Good Lord! with--with Miss Guile?" + +"Precisely so, sir." + +"Well, I'll be _darned!_" said the American half of Prince Robin with +great fervour. + +"Tut, tut, sir," reproved Hobbs, who, as has been said before, was a +privileged character by virtue of long service and his previous calling +as a Cook's interpreter. "Are you going out, sir?" + +"Yes. I'm going out to search the highways and by-ways for Bedelia," +said Robin, a gay light in his eyes. "By the way, did you, by any +chance, learn the name of the 'andsome young gent as went away with +'er, 'Obbs?" + +"I did not, sir. I stood at his helbow for quite some time at the Gare +St. Lazare and the only words he spoke that I could hear distinctly was +'wot the devil do you mean, me man? Ain't there room enough for you +here without standing on my toes like that? Move hover.' Only, of +course, sir, he used the haspirates after a fashion of his own. The +haitches are mine, sir." + +"Is he an American?" + +"It's difficult to say, sir. He may be from Boston, but you never can +tell, sir." + +"Do you know Boston, Hobbs?" inquired the Prince, adjusting his tie +before the mirror. + +"Not to speak it, sir," said Hobbs. + +The day was warm and clear, and Paris was gleaming. Robin stretched his +long legs in a brisk walk across the Place Vendome and up the Rue de la +Paix to the Boulevard. Here he hesitated and then retraced his steps +slowly down the street of diamonds, for he suspected Miss Guile of +being interested in things that were costly. Suddenly inspired, he made +his way to the Place de la Concorde and settled himself on one of the +seats near the entrance to the Champs Elysees. It was his shrewd +argument that if she planned a ride on that exquisite morning it +naturally would be along the great avenue, and in that event he might +reasonably hope to catch her coming or going. A man came up and took a +seat beside him. + +"Good morning, Mr. Schmidt," said the newcomer, and Robin somewhat +gruffly demanded what the deuce he meant by following him. "I have some +interesting news," said Baron Gourou quietly, removing his hat to wipe +a damp brow. He also took the time to recover his breath after some +rather sharp dodging of automobiles in order to attain his present +position of security. Even a Minister of Police has to step lively in +Paris. + +"From home?" asked Robin carelessly. + +"Indirectly. It comes through Berlin. Our special agent there wires me +that the offices of Mr. Blithers in that city have received +instructions from him to send engineers to Edelweiss for the purpose of +estimating the cost of remodelling and rebuilding the castle,--in other +words to restore it to its condition prior to the Marlanx rebellion +fifteen years ago." + +There was a tantalising smile on the Baron's face as he watched the +changing expressions in that of his Prince. + +"Are you in earnest?" demanded Robin, a bright red spot appearing in +each cheek. The Baron nodded his head. "Well, he's got a lot of nerve!" + +"I shudder when I think of what is likely to happen to those architects +when they begin snooping around the castle," said Gourou drily. "By the +way, have you seen Miss Guile this morning?" + +Robin's cheeks were now completely suffused. "Certainly not." + +"She was in the Rue de la Paix half an hour ago. I thought you might--" + +"You saw her, Baron?" + +"Yes, highness, and it may interest you to know that she saw you." + +"The deuce you say! But how do you know that it was Miss Guile. You've +no means of knowing." + +"It is a part of my profession to recognise people from given +descriptions. In this case, however, the identification was rendered +quite simple by the actions of the young lady herself. She happened to +emerge from a shop just as you were passing and I've never seen any +one, criminal or otherwise, seek cover as quickly as she did. She +darted back into the shop like one pursued by the devil. Naturally I +hung around for a few minutes to see the rest of the play. Presently +she peered forth, looked stealthily up and down the street, and then +dashed across the pavement to a waiting taxi-metre. It affords me +pleasure to inform your highness that I took the number of the +machine." He glanced at his cuff-band. + +"Where did she go from the Rue de la Paix?" asked Robin impatiently. + +"To the Ritz. I was there almost as soon as she. She handed an +envelope--containing a letter, I fancy--to the carriage man and drove +away in the direction of the Place de l'Opera. I have a sly notion, my +Prince, that you will find a note awaiting you on your return to the +hotel. Ah, you appear to be in haste, my young hunter." + +"I am in haste. If you expect to keep alongside, Baron, you'll have to +run I'm afraid," cried the Prince, and was instantly in his +seven-league boots. + +There was a note in Robin's rooms when he reached the hotel. It was not +the delicately perfumed article that usually is despatched by fictional +heroines but a rather business-like envelope bearing the well-known +words "The New York Herald" in one corner and the name "R. Schmidt, +Hotel Ritz," in firm but angular scrawl across its face. As Robin +ripped it open with his finger, Baron Gourou entered the room, but not +without giving vent to a slight cough in the way of an announcement. + +"You forget, highness, that I am a short man and not possessed of legs +that travel by yards instead of feet," he panted. "Forgive me for +lagging behind. I did my best to keep up with you." + +Robin stared at his visitor haughtily for a moment and then broke into +a good-humoured laugh. + +"Won't you sit down, Baron? I'll be at liberty in a minute or two," he +said, and coolly proceeded to scan the brief message from Miss Guile. + +"Well," said Gourou, as the young man replaced the letter in the +envelope and stuck it into his pocket. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE CAT IS AWAY + + +Robins's face was glowing with excitement. He put his hands in his +trousers pockets and nervously jingled the coins therein, all the while +regarding his Minister of Police with speculative eyes. Then he turned +to the window and continued to stare down into the Place Vendome for +several minutes, obviously turning something over in his mind before +coming to a decision. The Baron waited. None knew better than he how to +wait. He realised that a great deal hung upon the next few sentences to +be uttered in that room, and yet he could be patient. + +At last Robin faced him, but without speaking. An instant later he +impulsively withdrew the letter from his pocket and held it out to the +Baron, who strode across the room and took it from his hand. Without a +word, he extracted the single sheet of paper and read what was written +thereon. + +"I gather from the nature of the invitation that you are expected to +enjoy stolen fruit, if I may be so bold as to put it in just that way," +said he grimly. "Apparently Miss Guile finds the presence of a duenna +unnecessarily wise." + +"There's no harm in a quiet little excursion such as she suggests, +Baron," said Robin, defensively. + +"You forget that I have seen the beautiful Miss Guile," said Gourou +drily. "I take it, then, that you approve of the young lady's scheme." + +"Scheme sounds rather sinister, doesn't it?" + +"Trick, if it please you more than the other. Moreover, I cannot say +that she _suggests_ the quiet little excursion. It occurs to me that +she commands, your highness." He held the missive to the light and +read, a tender irony in his voice: "'My motor will call for you at +three this afternoon, and we will run out to St. Cloud for tea; at the +Pavilion Bleu. Mrs. Gaston is spending the day with relatives at +Champigny, and we may as well be mice under the circumstances. If you +have another engagement, pray do not let it interfere with the pleasure +I am seeking.' Nothing could be more exacting, my dear Prince. She +signs herself 'B. Guile,' and I am sure she is magnificently beguiling, +if you will pardon the play on words." + +"You wouldn't adopt that tone of suspicion if you knew Miss Guile," +said Robin stiffly. "I am sure nothing could be more frank and +above-board than her manner of treating the--" + +"And nothing so cock-sure and confident," put in the Baron. "It would +serve her right if you ignored the letter altogether." + +"If I were as old as you, Baron, I haven't the least doubt that I +should do so," said Robin coolly. "And by the same token, if you were +as young as I, you'd do precisely the thing that I intend to do. I'm +going to St. Cloud with her." + +"Oh, I haven't been in doubt about that for an instant," said Gourou. +"At your age I greatly favoured the clandestine. You will not pretend +to assume that this is not a clandestine excursion." + +"It's a jolly little adventure," was all that Robin could say, in his +youthfulness. + +The Baron was thoughtful. "There is something behind this extraordinary +behaviour on the part of a lady generally accredited with sense and +refinement," said he after a moment. "I think I have it, too. She is +deliberately putting you to a rather severe test." + +"Test? What do you mean?" + +"She is trying you out, sir. Miss Guile,--or possibly Miss Blithers,--is +taking a genuine risk in order to determine whether you are a real +gentleman or only a make-believe. She is taking a chance with you. You +may call it a jolly little adventure, but I call it the acid test. +Young women of good breeding and refinement do not plan such adventures +with casual, ship-board acquaintances. She intends to find out _what_, +not _who_, you are. I must say she's exceedingly clever and courageous." + +Robin laughed. "Thank you, Baron. Forewarned is forearmed. I shall +remain a gentleman at any cost." + +"She is so shrewd and resourceful that I am almost convinced she can be +no other than the daughter of the amazing Mr. Blithers. I believe he +achieved most of his success through sheer impudence, though it is +commonly described as daring." + +"In any case. Baron, I shall make it a point to find out whether she is +the lady who defies the amazing Mr. Blithers, and goes into print about +it." + +"She has merely denied that she is engaged to the Prince of Graustark. +Pray do not come back to us with the news that she is engaged to R. +Schmidt," said Gourou significantly. + +Robin smiled reflectively. "That _would_ make a jolly adventure of it, +wouldn't it?" + +At three o'clock, a big limousine swung under the porte cochere at the +Ritz and a nimble footman hopped down and entered the hotel. Robin was +waiting just inside the doors. He recognised the car as the one that +had taken Miss Guile away from the Gare St. Lazare, and stepped forward +instantly to intercept the man. + +"For Mr. Schmidt?" he inquired. + +"Oui, M'sieur." + +Thrilled by a pleasurable sense of excitement, the Prince of Graustark +entered the car. He was quick to observe that the curtains in the side +windows were partially drawn across the glass. The fact that she +elected to journey to the country in a limousine on this hot day did +not strike him as odd, for he knew that the comfort loving French +people prefer the closed vehicle to the wind-inviting, dust-gathering +touring body of the Americans and British. He observed the single +letter L in gold in the panel of the door, and made mental note of the +smart livery of the two men on the front seat. + +A delicate perfume lingered in the car, convincing proof that Miss +Guile had left it but a few minutes before its arrival at the Ritz. As +a matter of fact, she was nearer than he thought, for the car whirled +into the Rue de la Paix and stopped at the curb not more than a hundred +yards from the Place Vendome. + +Once more the nimble footman hopped down and threw open the door. A +slender, swift-moving figure in a blue linen gown and a wide hat from +which sprung two gorgeous blue plumes, emerged from the door of a +diamond merchant's shop, and, before Robin could move from his corner, +popped into the car and sat down beside him with a nervous little laugh +on her lips--red lips that showed rose-like and tempting behind a thick +chiffon veil, obviously donned for an excellent reason. The exquisite +features of Miss Guile were barely distinguishable beneath the surface +of this filmy barrier. The door closed sharply and, almost before the +Prince had recovered from his surprise, the car glided off in the +direction of the Place de l'Opera. + +"Isn't it just like an elopement?" cried Miss Guile, and it was quite +plain to him that she was vastly pleased with the sprightly +introduction to the adventure. Her voice trembled slightly and she sat +up very straight in the wide, comfortable seat. + +"Is it really you?" cried Robin, and he was surprised to find that his +own voice trembled. + +"Oh," she said, with a sudden diffidence, "how do you do? What must you +think of me, bouncing in like that and never once speaking to you?" + +"If I were to tell you what I think of you, you'd bounce right out +again without speaking to me," said he, smiling. "How do you do?" He +extended his hand, but it was ignored. She sank back into the corner +and looked at him for a moment as if uncertain what to say or do next. +The shadowy red lips were smiling and the big dark eyes were eloquent, +even through the screen. + +"I may as well tell you at the outset, Mr. Schmidt, that I've +never--_never_--done a thing like this before," she said, an uneasy +note in her voice. + +"I am quite sure of that," said he, "and therefore confess to a vast +wealth of satisfaction." + +"What _do_ you think of me?" + +"I think that you are frightened almost out of your boots," said he +boldly. + +"No, I'm not," said she resolutely. "I am only conscious of feeling +extremely foolish." + +"I shouldn't feel that way about stealing off for a cup of tea," said +he. "It's all quite regular, you know, and is frequently done in the +very best circles when the cat's away." + +"You see, I couldn't quite scrape up the courage to go directly to the +hotel for you," she said. "I know several people who are stopping there +and I--I--well, you won't think I'm a dreadful person, will you?" + +"Not at all," he declared promptly. Then he resolved to put one of the +questions he had made up his mind to ask at the first opportunity. "Do +you mind telling me why you abandoned me so completely, so heartlessly +on the day we landed?" + +"Because there was no reason why I should act otherwise, Mr. Schmidt," +she said, the tremor gone from her voice. + +"And yet you take me to St. Cloud for tea," he said pointedly. + +"Ah, but no one is to know of this," she cried warmly. "This is a +secret, a very secret adventure." + +He could not help staring. "And that is just why I am mystified. Why is +to-day so different from yesterday?" + +"It isn't," she said. "Doesn't all this prove it?" + +His face fell. "Don't you want to be seen with me, Miss Guile? Am I +not--" + +"Wait! Will you not be satisfied with things as they are and refrain +from asking unnecessary questions?" + +"I shall have to be satisfied," said he ruefully. + +"I am sorry I said that, Mr. Schmidt," she cried, contrite at once. +"There is absolutely no reason why I should not be seen with you. But +won't you be appeased when I say that I wanted to be with you alone +to-day?" + +He suddenly remembered the Baron's shrewd conjecture and let the +opportunity to say something banal go by without a word. Perhaps it was +a test, after all. He merely replied that she was paying him a greater +compliment than he deserved. + +"There are many things I want to speak about, Mr. Schmidt, and--and you +know how impossible it is to--to get a moment to one's self when one is +being watched like a child, as I am being watched over by dear Mrs. +Gaston. She is my shield and armour, my lovely one-headed dragon. I +placed myself in her care and--well, she is a very dependable person. +You _will_ understand, won't you?" + +"Pray do not distress yourself, Miss Guile," he protested. "The last +word is spoken. I am too happy to spoil the day by doubting its +integrity. Besides, I believe I know you better than you think I do." + +He expected her to reveal some sign of dismay, but she was suddenly on +guard. + +"Then you will not mind my eccentricities," she said calmly, "and we +shall have a very nice drive, some tea and a--lark in place of the more +delectable birds prescribed by the chef at the Pavilion Bleu." + +As the car turned into the Boulevard des Capucines Robin suppressed an +exclamation of annoyance on beholding Baron Gourou and Dank standing on +the curb almost within arm's length of the car as it passed. The former +was peering rather intently at the two men on the front seat, and +evinced little or no interest in the occupants of the tonneau. + +"Wasn't that your friend Mr. Dank?" inquired Miss Guile with interest. +He felt that she was chiding him. + +"Yes," said he, and then turned for another look at his compatriots. +Gourou was jotting something down on his cuff-band. The Prince mentally +promised him something for his pains. "But let us leave dull care +behind," he went on gaily. + +"He isn't at all dull," said she. + +"But he _is_ a care," said he. "He is always losing his heart, Miss +Guile." + +"And picking up some one else's, I fancy," said she. + +"By the way, who was the good-looking chap that came to Cherbourg to +meet you?" + +"A very old friend, Mr. Schmidt. I've known him since I was that high." +(That high was on a line with her knee.) + +"Attractive fellow," was his comment. + +"Do you think so?" she inquired innocently, and he thought she +over-played it a little. He was conscious of an odd sense of +disappointment in her. "Have you never been out to St. Cloud? No? I +never go there without feeling a terrible pity for those poor prodigals +who stood beside its funeral pyre and saw their folly stripped down to +the starkest of skeletons while they waited. The day of glory is short, +Mr. Schmidt, and the night that follows is bitterly long. They say +possession is nine points of the law, but what do nine points mean to +the lawless? The rich man of to-day may be the beggar of to-morrow, and +the rich man's sons and daughters may be serving the beggars of +yesterday. I have been told that in the lower east side of New York +City there are men and women who were once princes and princesses, +counts and countesses, dukes and duchesses. Why doesn't some one write +a novel about the royalty that hides its beggary in the slums of that +great city?" + +"What's this? Epigrams and philosophy, Miss Guile?" he exclaimed +wonderingly. "You amaze me. What are you trying to convey? That some +day you may be serving yesterday's beggar?" + +"Who knows!" she said cryptically. "I am not a philosopher, and I'm +sorry about the epigrams. I loathe people who make use of them. They +are a cheap substitution for wisdom. Do you take sugar in your tea?" It +was her way of abandoning the topic, but he looked his perplexity. "I +thought I'd ask now, just for the sake of testing my memory later on." +She was laughing. + +"Two lumps and cream," he said. "Won't you be good enough to take off +that veil? It seriously obstructs the view." + +She complacently shook her head. "It doesn't obstruct mine," she said. +"Have you been reading what the papers are saying about your friend Mr. +Blithers and his obstreperous Maud?" + +Robin caught his breath. In a flash he suspected an excellent reason +for keeping the veil in place. It gave her a distinct advantage over +him. + +"Yes. I see that she positively denies the whole business." + +"Likewise the prospective spouse," she added. "Isn't it sickening?" + +"I wonder what Mr. Blithers is saying to-day," said he audaciously. +"Poor old cock, he must be as sore as a crab. By the way, it is +reported that she crossed on the steamer with us." + +"I am quite certain that she did, Mr. Schmidt," said she. + +"You really think so?" he cried, regarding her keenly. + +"The man who came to meet me knows her quite well. He is confident that +he saw her at Cherbourg." + +"I see," said he, and was thoroughly convinced. "I may as well confess +to you. Miss Guile, that I also know her when I see her." + +"But you told me positively that you had never seen her, Mr. Schmidt," +she said quickly. + +"I had not seen her up to the second day out on the _Jupiter_," he +explained, enjoying himself immensely. + +"It was after that that you--" + +"I know," he said, as she hesitated; "but you see I didn't know she was +Miss Blithers until sometime after I had met you." There was a +challenge in his manner amounting almost to a declaration. + +She leaned forward to regard him more intently. + +"Is it possible, Mr. Schmidt, that you suspect _me_ of being that +horrid, vulgar creature?" + +Robin was not to be trapped. There was something in the shadowy eyes +that warned him. + +"At least, I may say that I do not suspect you of being a horrid, +vulgar creature," he said evasively. + +"What else can this Miss Blithers be if not that?" + +"Would you say that she is vulgar because she refuses to acknowledge a +condition that doesn't exist? I think she did perfectly right in +denying the engagement." + +"You haven't answered my question, Mr. Schmidt." + +"Well," he began slowly, "I don't suspect you of being Miss Blithers." + +"But you did suspect it." + +"I was pleasantly engaged in speculation, that's all. It is generally +believed that Miss Blithers sailed under an assumed name--literally, +not figuratively." + +"Is there any reason why you should imagine that my name is not Guile?" + +"Yes. Your luggage is resplendently marked with the second letter in +the alphabet--a gory, crimson B." + +"I see," she said reflectively. "You examined my luggage, as they say +in the customs office. And you couldn't put B and G together, is that +it?" + +"Obviously." + +"If you had taken the trouble to look, you would have found an equally +resplendent G on the opposite end of each and every trunk, Mr. +Schmidt," she said quietly. + +"I did not examine your luggage, Miss Guile," said he stiffly. She +hadn't left much for him to stand upon. "Rather unique way to put one's +initials on a trunk, isn't it?" + +"It possesses the virtue of originality," she admitted, "and it never +fails to excite curiosity. I am sorry you were misled. Nothing could be +more distressing than to be mistaken for the heroine of a story and +then turn out to be a mere nobody in the end. I've no doubt that if the +amiable Miss Blithers were to hear of it, she'd rush into print and +belabour me with the largest type that money could buy." + +"Oh, come now, Miss Guile," he protested, "it really isn't fair to Miss +Blithers. She was justified in following an illustrious example. You +forget that the Prince of Graustark was the first to rush into print +with a flat denial. What else could the poor girl do?" + +"Oh, I am not defending the Prince of Graustark. He behaved abominably, +rushing into print as you say. Extremely bad taste, I should call it." + +Robin's ears burned. He could not defend himself. There was nothing +left for him to do but to say that it "served him jolly well right, the +way Miss Blithers came back at him." + +"Still," she said, "I would be willing to make a small wager that the +well-advertised match comes off in spite of all the denials. Given a +determined father, an ambitious mother, a purse-filled daughter and an +empty-pursed nobleman, and I don't see how the inevitable can be +avoided." + +His face was flaming. It was with difficulty that he restrained the +impulse to put her right in the matter without further ado. + +"Are you sure that the Prince is so empty of purse as all that?" he +managed to say, without betraying himself irretrievably. + +"There doesn't seem to be any doubt that he borrowed extensively of Mr. +Blithers," she said scornfully. "He is under some obligations to his +would-be-father-in-law, I submit, now isn't he?" + +"I suppose so, Miss Guile," he admitted uncomfortably. + +"And therefore owes him something more than a card in the newspapers, +don't you think?" + +"Really, Miss Guile, I--I--" + +"I beg your pardon. The Prince's affairs are of no importance to you, +so why should I expect you to stand up for him?" + +"I confess that I am a great deal more interested in Miss Blithers than +I am in the Prince. By the way, what would you have done had you been +placed in her position?" + +"I think I should have acted quite as independently as she." + +"If your father were to pick out a husband for you, whether or no, you +would refuse to obey the paternal command?" + +"Most assuredly. As a matter of fact, Mr. Schmidt, my father has +expressed a wish that I should marry a man who doesn't appeal to me at +all." + +"And you refuse?" + +"Absolutely." + +"More or less as Miss Blithers has done," he said pointedly. + +"Miss Blithers, I understand, has the advantage of me in one respect. I +am told that she wants to marry another man and is very much in love +with him." + +"A chap named Scoville," said Robin, unguardedly. + +"You know him, Mr. Schmidt?" + +"No. I've merely heard of him. I take it from your remark that you +don't want to marry anybody--at present." + +"Quite right. Not at present. Now let us talk of something else. _A +bas_ Blithers! Down with the plutocrats! Stamp out the vulgarians! Is +there anything else you can suggest?" she cried gaily. + +"Long live the Princess Maud!" said he, and doffed his hat. The +satirical note in his voice was not lost on her. She started +perceptibly, and caught her breath. Then she sank back into the corner +with a nervous, strained little laugh. + +"You think she will marry him?" + +"I think as you do about it, Miss Guile," said he, and she was silenced. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE MICE IN A TRAP + + +They had a table in a cool, shady corner of the broad porch overlooking +the Place d'Armes and the Seine and its vociferous ferries. To the +right runs the gleaming roadway that leads to the hills and glades +through which pomp and pride once strode with such fatal arrogance. +Blue coated servitors attended them on their arrival, and watched over +them during their stay. It was as if Miss Guile were the fairy princess +who had but to wish and her slightest desire was gratified. Her guest, +a real prince, marvelled not a little at the complete sway she +exercised over this somewhat autocratic army of menials. They bowed and +scraped, and fetched, and carried, and were not Swiss but slaves in +Bagdad during the reign of its most illustrious Caliph, Al-haroun +Raschid the great. The magic of Araby could have been no more potent +than the spell this beautiful girl cast over the house of Mammon. She +laid her finger upon a purse of gold and wished, and lo! the wonders of +the magic carpet were repeated. + +Robin remembered that Maud Applegate Blithers had spent the greater +part of her life in Paris, and it was therefore not unreasonable to +suppose that she had spent something else as well. At any rate, the +Pavilion Bleu was a place where it _had_ to be spent if one wanted the +attention accorded the few. + +She had removed her veil, but he was not slow to perceive that she sat +with her back to the long stretch of porch. + +"Do you prefer this place to Armenonville or the Paillard at Pre +Catelan, Miss Guile?" he inquired, quite casually, but with a secret +purpose. + +"No, it is stupid here, as a rule, and common. Still every one goes to +the other places in the afternoon and I particularly wanted to be as +naughty as possible, so I came here to-day." + +"It doesn't strike me as especially naughty," he remarked. + +"But it was very, very naughty before you and I were born, Mr. Schmidt. +The atmosphere still remains, if one possesses a comprehensive +imagination." + +"I daresay," said he, "but the imagination doesn't thrive on tea. Those +were the days of burgundy and a lot of other red things." + +"One doesn't need to be in shackles, to expatiate on the terrors of the +Bridge of Sighs," she said. + +"Are you going to take me up to the park?" + +"Yes. Into the Shadows." + +"Oh, that's good! I'm sure my imagination will work beautifully when it +isn't subdued by all these blue devils. I--_Que voulez vous?_" The +question was directed rather sharply to a particularly deferential +"blue devil" who stood at his elbow. + +"Monsieur Schmidt?" + +"Yes. What's this? A letter! 'Pon my soul, how the deuce could any +one--" He got no farther, for Miss Guile's action in pulling down her +veil and the subsequent spasmodic glance over her shoulder betrayed +such an agitated state of mind on her part that his own sensations were +checked at the outset. + +"There must be some one here who knows you, Mr. Schmidt," she said +nervously. "See what it says, please,--at once. I--perhaps we should be +starting home immediately." + +Robin tore open the envelope. A glance showed him that the brief note +was from Gourou. A characteristic G served as a signature. As he read, +a hard line appeared between his eyes and his expression grew serious. + +"It is really nothing, Miss Guile," he said and prepared to tear the +sheet into many pieces. "A stupid, alleged joke of a fellow who happens +to know me, that's all." + +"Don't tear it up!" she cried sharply. "What does it say? I have a +right to know, Mr. Schmidt, even though it is only a joke. What has +this friend of yours to say about me? What coarse, uncalled-for comment +has he to make about--" + +"Let me think for a moment, Miss Guile," he interrupted, suddenly +realising that it was time for reflection. After a moment he said +soberly: "I think it would be wise if we were to leave instantly. There +is nothing to be alarmed about, I assure you, but--well, we'd better +go." + +"Will you allow me to see that letter?" she asked, extending her hand. + +"I'd rather not, if you don't mind." + +"But I insist, sir! I'll not go a step from this place until I know +what all this is about." + +"As it happens to concern you even more than it does me, I suppose +you'd better see what it says." He passed the letter over to her and +watched her narrowly as she read. Again the veil served as a competent +mask. + +"Who wrote this letter, Mr. Schmidt?" she demanded. Even through the +veil he could see that her eyes were wide with--was it alarm or anger? + +"A man named Gourou. He is a detective engaged on a piece of work for +Mr. Totten." + +"Is it a part of his duty to watch your movements?" she asked, leaning +forward. + +"No. He is my friend, however," said Robin steadily. "According to this +epistle, it would appear that it is a part of his duty to keep track of +you, not me. May I ask why you should be shadowed by two of his kind?" + +She did not answer at once. When she spoke, it was with a determined +effort to maintain her composure. + +"I am sorry to have subjected you to all this, Mr. Schmidt. We will +depart at once. I find that the cat is never away, so we can't be mice. +What a fool I've been." There was something suspiciously suggestive of +tears in her soft voice. + +He laid a hand upon the small fingers that clutched the crumpled sheet +of paper. To have saved his life, he could not keep the choked, husky +tremor out of his voice. + +"The day is spoiled for you. That is my only regret. As for me, Miss +Guile, I am not without sin, so I may cast no stones. Pray regard me as +a fellow culprit, and rest assured that I have no bone to pick with +you. I too am watched and yet I am no more of a criminal than you. Will +you allow me to say that I am a friend whose devotion cannot be shaken +by all the tempests in the world?" + +"Thank you," she said, and turned her hand under his to give it a +quick, convulsive clasp. Her spirits seemed to revive under the +responsive grip. "You might have said all the tempests in a tea pot, +for that is really what it amounts to. My father is a very foolish man. +Will you send for the car?" + +He called an attendant and ordered him to find Miss Guile's footman at +once. When he returned to the table, she was reading the note once more. + +"It is really quite thrilling, isn't it?" she said, and there was still +a quaver of indignation in her voice. "Are you not mystified?" + +"Not in the least," said he promptly, and drew a chair up close beside +hers. "It's as plain as day. Your father has found you out, that's all. +Let's read it again," and they read it together. + +"A word to the wise," it began. "Two men from a private detective +concern have been employed since yesterday in watching the movements of +your companion, for the purpose of safe-guarding her against +good-looking young men, I suspect. I have it from the most reliable of +sources that her father engaged the services of these men almost +simultaneously with the date of our sailing from New York. It may +interest you to know that they followed you to St. Cloud in a +high-power car and no doubt are watching you as you read this message +from your faithful friend, who likewise is not far away." + +"I should have anticipated this, Mr. Schmidt," she said ruefully. "It +is just the sort of thing my father would do." + +"You seem to take it calmly enough." + +"I am quite used to it. I would be worth a great deal to any +enterprising person who made it his business to steal me. There is no +limit to the ransom he could demand." + +"You alarm me," he declared. "No doubt these worthy guardians look upon +me as a kidnapper. I am inclined to shiver." + +"'All's well that ends well,'" quoth she, pulling on her gloves, "I +shall restore you safely to the bosom of the Ritz and that will be the +end of it." + +"I almost wish that some one would kidnap you, Miss Guile. It would +afford me the greatest pleasure in the world to snatch you from their +clutches. Your father would be saved paying the ransom but I should +have to be adequately rewarded. I fancy, however, that he wouldn't mind +paying the reward I should hold out for." + +"I am quite sure he would give you anything you were to ask for, Mr. +Schmidt," said she gaily. "You would be reasonable, of course." + +"I might ask for the most precious of his possessions," said he, +leaning forward to look directly into eyes that wavered and refused to +meet his. + +"Curiosity almost makes me wish that I might be kidnapped. I should +then find out what you consider to be his most precious possession," +she said, and her voice was perilously low. + +"I think I could tell you in advance," said he, his eyes shining. + +"I--I prefer to find out in my own way, Mr. Schmidt," she stammered +hurriedly. Her confusion was immensely gratifying to him. There is no +telling what might have happened to the Prince of Graustark at that +moment if an obsequious attendant had not intervened with the earthly +information that the car was waiting. + +"Good Lord," Robin was saying to himself as he followed her to the +steps, "was I about to go directly against the sage advice of old +Gourou? Was I so near to it as that? In another minute--Gee, but it was +a close shave. She is adorable, she is the most adorable creature in +the world, even though she is the daughter of old man Blithers, and +I--'gad I wonder what will come of it in the end? Keep a tight grip on +yourself, Bobby, or you're a goner, sure as fate." + +They were painfully aware of the fact that their progress down the long +verandah was made under the surveillance of two, perhaps three pairs of +unwavering eyes, and because of it they looked neither to right nor +left but as those who walk tight-ropes over dangerous places. There was +something positively uncanny in the feeling that their every movement +was being watched by secret observers. Once inside the car, Miss Guile +sank back with a long sigh of relief. + +"Did you feel it, too?" she asked, with a nervous little catch in her +voice. + +"I did," said he, passing his hand over his brow. "It was like being +alone in the dark with eyes staring at one from all sides of the room." + +The car shot across the bridge and was speeding on its way toward the +Bois when Robin ventured a glance behind. Through the little window in +the back of the car he saw a big, swift-moving automobile not more than +a quarter of a mile in their rear. + +"Would you like to verify the report of my friend Gourou?" he asked, +his voice quick with exhilaration. She knelt with one knee upon the +seat and peered back along the road. + +"There they are!" she cried. She threw the veil back over her hat as +she resumed her seat in the corner. Her eyes were fairly dancing with +excitement. The warm red lips were parted and she was breathing +quickly. Suddenly she laid her hand over her heart as if to check its +lively thumping. "Isn't it splendid? We are being pursued--actually +chased by the man-hunters of Paris! Oh, I was never so happy in my +life. Isn't it great?" + +"It is glorious!" he cried exultantly. "Shall I tell the chauffeur to +hit it up a bit? Let's make it a real chase." + +"Yes, do! We'll see if we can foil them, as they say in the books. Oh, +wouldn't it be wonderful if we were to--to--what do you call it? Give +them the slip, isn't that it?" + +"I'm game," said he, with enthusiasm. For a second or two they looked +straight into each other's eyes and a message was exchanged that never +could have been put into words. No doubt it was the flush of eager +excitement that darkened their cheeks. In any case, it came swiftly and +went as quickly, leaving them paler than before and vastly +self-conscious. And after that brief, searching look they knew that +they could never be as they were before the exchange. They were no +longer strangers to each other, but shy comrades and filled with a +delicious sense of wonder. + +Robin gave hurried directions through the speaking tube to the +attentive footman, and so explicit were these directions that the +greatest excitement prevailed upon the decorous front seat of the +car--first the footman looked back along the road, then the chauffeur, +after which a thrill of excitement seemed to fairly race up and down +their liveried backs. The car itself took a notion to quiver with the +promise of joy unrestrained. In less than a minute they were going more +than a mile a minute over a short stretch of the Avenue de Longchamp. +At the Porte de Hippodrome they slowed down and ran into the Bois, +taking the first road to the left. In a few minutes they were scudding +past Longchamp at a "fair clip" to quote R. Schmidt. Instead of +diverging into the Allee de Longchamp, the car took a sharp turn into +the Avenue de l'Hippodrome and, at the intersection, doubled back over +the Allee de la Heine Marguerite, going almost to the Boulogne gate, +where again it was sent Parisward over the Avenue de St. Cloud. + +Miss Guile was in command of the flight. She called out the +instructions to the driver and her knowledge of the intricate routes +through the park stood them well in hand. Purposely she evaded the +Cascades, circling the little pools by narrow, unfrequented roads, +coming out at last to the Porte de la Muette, where they left the park +and took to the Avenue Henri Martin. It was her design to avoid the +customary routes to the heart of the city, and all would have gone well +with them had not fate in the shape of two burly _sergents de ville_ +intervened at a time when success seemed most certain. It was quite +clear to the pursued that the car containing their followers had been +successfully eluded and was no doubt in the Champs Elysees by this +time. For some time there had been a worried look in the Prince's eyes. +Once he undertook to remonstrate with his fair companion. + +"My dear Miss Guile, we'll land in jail if we keep up this hair-raising +speed. There wouldn't be any fun in that, you know." + +She gave him a scornful look. "Are you afraid, Mr. Schmidt?" + +"Not on my own account," said he, "but yours. I've heard that the new +regulations are extremely rigid." + +"Pooh! I'm not afraid of the police. They--why, what's the matter? Oh, +goodness!" + +The car had come to a somewhat abrupt stop. Two policemen, dismounted +from their bicycles, formed an insurmountable obstruction. They were +almost in the shade of the Trocadero. + +"Do not be alarmed," whispered Robin to the fast paling girl, into +whose eyes the most abject misery had leaped at the sight of the two +officers. "Leave it to me. I can fix them all right. There's nothing to +be worried about--well, _sergent_, what is it?" + +The polite officers came up to the window with their little note-books. + +"I regret, m'sieur, that we shall be obliged to conduct yourself and +mademoiselle to the office of a magistrate. Under the new regulations +set forth in the order of last May, motorists may be given a hearing at +once. I regret to add that m'sieur has been exceeding the speed limit. +A complaint came in but a few minutes ago from the Porte de la Muette +and we have been ordered to intercept the car. You may follow us to the +office of the magistrate, m'sieur. It will soon be over, mademoiselle." + +"But we can explain--" she began nervously. + +The _sergent_ held up his hand. "It is not necessary to explain, +mademoiselle. Too many motorists have explained in the past but that +does not restore to life the people they have killed in the pursuit of +pleasure. Paris is enforcing her laws." + +"But, _sergent_, I alone am to blame for any violation of the law," +said Robin suavely. "Surely it is only necessary that I should +accompany you to the magistrate. The young lady is in no way +responsible--" + +"Alas, m'sieur," said the man firmly but as if he were quite +broken-hearted, "it is not for me to disobey the law, even though you +may do so. It is necessary for the lady to appear before the Judge, and +it is our duty to convey her there. The new law explicitly says that +all occupants of said car shall be subject to penalty under the law +without reprieve or pardon!" + +"Where are your witnesses?" demanded Robin. + +The two men produced their watches and their notebooks, tapping them +significantly. + +"M'sieur will not think of denying that he has been running more +rapidly than the law allows," said the second officer. "It will go +harder with him if he should do so." + +"I shall insist upon having an advocate to represent me before--" + +"As you like, m'sieur," said the first officer curtly. "Proceed!" he +uttered as a command to the chauffeur, and forthwith mounted his wheel. +A score of people had gathered round them by this time, and Miss Guile +was crouching back in her corner. Her veil was down. In single file, so +to speak, they started off for the office of the nearest magistrate +appointed under the new law governing automobiles. A policeman pedaled +ahead of the car and another followed. + +"Isn't it dreadful?" whispered Miss Guile. "What do you think they will +do to us? Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Schmidt, to have dragged you into this +horrid--" + +"I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world," said he so +earnestly that she sat up a little straighter and caught her breath. +"After all, they will do no more than assess a fine against us. A +hundred francs, perhaps. That is nothing." + +"I am not so sure of that," said she gloomily. "My friends were saying +only yesterday that the new law provides for imprisonment as well. +Paris has constructed special prisons for motorists, and people are +compelled to remain in them for days and weeks at a time. Oh, I hope--" + +"I'll inquire of the footman," said Robin. "He will know." The footman, +whose face was very long and serious, replied through the tube that +very few violators escaped confinement in the "little prisons." He also +said "Mon dieu" a half dozen times, and there was a movement of the +driver's pallid lips that seemed to indicate a fervent echo. + +"I shall telephone at once--to my friends," said Miss Guile, a note of +anger in her voice. "They are very powerful in Paris. We shall put +those miserable wretches in their proper places. They--" + +"We must not forget. Miss Guile, that we _were_ breaking the law," said +Robin, who was beginning to enjoy the discomfiture of this spoiled +beauty, this girl whose word was a sort of law unto itself. + +"It is perfect nonsense," she declared. "We did no harm. Goodness! What +is this?" + +Four or five policemen on wheels passed by the car, each with a +forbidding glance through the windows. + +"They are the boys we left behind us," paraphrased Robin soberly. "The +park policemen. They've just caught us up, and, believe me, they look +serious, too. I dare say we are in for it." + +In a very few minutes the procession arrived at a low, formidable +looking building on a narrow side street. The cavalcade of policemen +dismounted and stood at attention while Mademoiselle and Monsieur got +down from the car and followed a polite person in uniform through the +doors. Whereupon the group of _sergents de ville_ trooped in behind, +bringing with them the neatly liveried servants with the golden letter +L on their cuffs. + +"I believe there is a jail back there," whispered the slim culprit, a +quaver in her voice. She pointed down the long, narrow corridor at the +end of which loomed a rather sinister looking door with thick +bolt-heads studding its surface. + +An instant later they were ushered into a fair-sized room on the left +of the hall, where they were commanded to sit down. A lot of chairs +stood about the room, filling it to the farthest corners, while at the +extreme end was the Judge's bench. + +"I insist on being permitted to telephone to friends--to my legal +advisors,--" began Miss Guile, with praiseworthy firmness, only to be +silenced by the attendant, who whispered shrilly that a trial was in +progress, couldn't she see? + +Two dejected young men were standing before the Judge, flanked by three +_sergents de ville_. Robin and Miss Guile stared wide-eyed at their +fellow criminals and tried to catch the low words spoken by the fat +Magistrate. Once more they were ordered to sit down, this time not +quite so politely, and they took seats in the darkest corner of the +room, as far removed from justice as possible under the circumstances. + +Presently a young man approached them. He was very nice looking and +astonishingly cheerful. The hopes of the twain went up with a bound. +His expression was so benign, so bland that they at once jumped to the +conclusion that he was coming to tell them that they were free to go, +that it had all been a stupid mistake. But they were wrong. He +smilingly introduced himself as an advocate connected with the court by +appointment and that he would be eternally grateful to them if they +would tell him what he could do for them. + +"I'd like to have a word in private with the Magistrate," said the +Prince of Graustark eagerly. + +"Impossible!" said the advocate, lifting his eyebrows and his smart +little mustachios in an expression of extreme amazement. "It is +imposs--" A sharp rapping on the Judge's desk reduced the remainder of +the sentence to a delicate whisper--"ible. M'sieur." + +"Will you conduct me to a telephone booth?" whispered Miss Guile, +tearfully. + +"Pray do not weep, Mademoiselle," implored the advocate, profoundly +moved, but at the same time casting a calculating eye over the luckless +pair. + +"Well, what's to be done?" demanded Robin. "We insist on having our own +legal advisors here." + +"The court will not delay the hearing, M'sieur," explained the young +man. "Besides, the best legal advisor in Paris could do no more than to +advise you to plead guilty. I at least can do that quite as ably as the +best of them. No one ever pretends to defend a case in the automobile +courts, M'sieur. It is a waste of time, and the court does not approve +of wasting time. Perhaps you will feel more content if I introduce the +assistant public prosecutor, who will explain the law. That is his only +duty. He does not prosecute. There is no need. The _sergents_ testify +and that is all there is to the case." + +"May I inquire what service you can be to us if the whole business is +cut and dried like that?" asked Robin. + +"Not so loud, M'sieur. As I said before, I can advise you in respect to +your plea, and I can tell you how to present your statement to the +court. I can caution you in many ways. Sometimes a prisoner, who is +well-rehearsed, succeeds in affecting the honourable Magistrate nicely, +and the punishment is not so severe." + +"So you advise us to plead guilty as delicately as possible?" + +"I shall not advise you, M'sieur, unless it pleases you to retain me as +your counsellor. The fee is small. Ten francs. Inasmuch as the amount +is charged against you in the supplemental costs, it seems foolish not +to take advantage of what you are obliged to pay for in any event. You +will have to pay my fee, so you may as well permit me to be of service +to you." + +"My only concern is over Mademoiselle," said the Prince. "You may send +me to jail if you like, if you'll only--" + +"Mon dieu! I am not the one who enjoys the distinguished honour of +being permitted to send people to jail, but the Judge, M'sieur." + +"It is ridiculous to submit this innocent young lady to the humiliation +of--" + +"It is not only ridiculous but criminal," said the advocate, with a +magnificent bow. "But what is one to do when it is the law? Of late, +the law is peculiarly sexless. And now here is where I come in. It is I +who shall instruct you--both of you, Mademoiselle--how to conduct +yourselves before the Magistrate. Above all things, do not attempt to +contradict a single statement of the police. Admit that all they say is +true, even though they say that you have run over a child or an old +woman with mortal results. It will go much easier with you. Exercise +the gravest politeness and deference toward the honourable Magistrate +and to every officer of the court. You are Americans, no doubt. The +courts are prone to be severe with the Americans because they sometimes +undertake to tell them how easy it is to get the right kind of justice +in your wonderfully progressive United States. Be humble, contrite, +submissive, for that is only justice to the court. If you have killed +some one in your diversions, pray do not try to tell the magistrate +that the idiot ought to have kept his eyes open. Another thing: do not +inform the court that you require a lawyer. That is evidence of extreme +culpability and he will consider you to be inexcusably guilty. Are you +attending? Pray do not feel sorry for the two young men who are now +being led away. See! They are weeping. It is as I thought. They are +going to prison for--But that is their affair, not ours. I advised them +as I am advising you, but they insisted on making a statement of their +case. That was fatal, for it failed in many respects to corroborate the +information supplied by the police. It-" + +"What was the charge against them?" whispered Miss Guile, quaking. She +had watched the exit of the tearful young men, one of whom was sobbing +bitterly, and a great fear possessed her. + +"Of that, Mademoiselle, I am entirely ignorant, but they were +unmistakably guilty of denying it, whatever it was." + +"Are they going to prison?" she gasped. + +"It is not that which causes them to weep so bitterly, but the +knowledge that their names are to be posted on the bulletin boards in +the Place de l'Opera, the Place de l'Concorde, the--" + +"Good Lord!" gasped Robin. "Is _that_ being done?" + +"It is M'sieur, and the effect is marvellous. Three months ago the +boards were filled with illustrious names; to-day there are but few to +be found upon them. The people have discovered that the courts are in +earnest. The law is obeyed as it never was before. The prisons were +crowded to suffocation at one time; now they are almost empty. It is a +good law. To-day a mother can wheel her baby carriage in the thickest +of the traffic and run no risk of--Ah, but here is the assistant +prosecutor coming. Permit me to further warn you that you will be +placed under oath to tell the absolute truth. The prosecutor will ask +but three questions of you: your age, your name and your place of +residence. All of them you must answer truthfully, especially as to +your names. If it is discovered that you have falsely given a name not +your own, the lowest penalty is sixty days in prison, imposed +afterwards in addition to the sentence you will receive for violating +the traffic laws. I have performed my duty as required by the +commissioner. My fee is a fixed one, so you need not put your hand into +your pocket, M'sieur. Good day. Mademoiselle--good day, M'sieur." He +bowed profoundly and gave way to the impatient prosecutor, who had +considerately held himself aloof while the final words were being +uttered, albeit he glanced at his watch a couple of times. + +"Come," he said, and he did not whisper; "let us be as expeditious as +possible. Approach the court. It is--" + +"See here," said Robin savagely, "this is too damned high-handed. Are +we to have no chance to defend ourselves? We--" + +"Just as you please, M'sieur," interrupted the prosecutor patiently. +"It is nothing to me. I receive my fee in any event. If you care to +defy the law in addition to what you have already done, it is not for +me to object." + +"Well, I insist on having--" + +A thunderous pounding on the bench interrupted his hot-headed speech. + +"Attend!" came in a sharp, uncompromising voice from the bench. "What +is the delay? This is no time to think. All that should have been done +before. Step forward! _Sergent_, see that the prisoners step forward." + +Robin slipped his arm through Miss Guile's, expecting her to droop +heavily upon it for support. To his surprise she drew herself up, +dis-engaged herself, and walked straight up to the bench, without fear +or hesitation. It was Robin who needed an example of courage and +fortitude, not she. The chauffeur and footman, shivering in their +elegance, already stood before the bench. + +"Will you be so kind as to raise your veil, Madam?" spake the court. + +She promptly obeyed. He leaned forward with sudden interest. The +prosecutor blinked and abruptly overcame the habitual inclination to +appear bored. Such ravishing beauty had never before found its way into +that little court-room. Adjacent moustaches were fingered somewhat +convulsively by several _sergents de ville._ + +"Ahem!" said the court, managing with some difficulty to regain his +judicial form. "I am compelled by law, Mademoiselle, to warn you before +you are placed under oath that the lowest penalty for giving a false +name in answer to the charge to be brought against you is imprisonment +for not less than sixty days. I repeat this warning to you, young man. +Be sworn, if you please." + +Robin experienced a queer sense of exultation, not at all lessened by +the knowledge that he would be forced to reveal his own identity. "Would +she call herself Bedelia Guile or would she--" + +"State your name, Mademoiselle," said the prosecutor. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THREE MESSAGES + + +Miss Guile lowered her head for an instant. Robin could see that her +lip was quivering. A vast pity for her took possession of him and he +was ashamed of what he now regarded as unexampled meanness of spirit on +his own part. She lifted her shamed, pleading eyes to search his, as if +expecting to find succour in their fearless depths. She found them +gleaming with indignation, suddenly aroused, and was instantly +apprehensive. There was a look in those eyes of his that seemed +prophetic of dire results unless she checked the words that were rising +to his lips. She shook her head quickly and, laying a hand upon his +arm, turned to the waiting magistrate. + +"My name is--Oh, is there no way to avoid the publicity--" she sighed +miserably--"the publicity that--" + +"I regret, Mademoiselle, that there is no alternative--" began the +Judge, to be interrupted by the banging of the court-room door. He +looked up, glaring at the offender with ominous eyes. The polite +attendant from the outer corridor was advancing in great haste. He was +not only in haste but vastly perturbed. + +Despite the profound whack of the magistrate's paper weight on the +hollow top of the desk and the withering scowl that went with it, the +attendant rushed forward, forgetting his manners, his habits and his +power of speech in one complete surrender to nature. He thrust into the +hand of the Judge a slip of paper, at the same time gasping something +that might have been mistaken for an appeal for pardon but which more +than likely was nothing of the sort. + +"What is this?" demanded the Judge ferociously. + +"Mon dieu!" replied the attendant, rolling his eyes heavenward. + +The magistrate was impressed. He took up the slip of paper and read +what was written thereon. Then he was guilty of a start. The next +instant he had the prosecutor up beside him and then the advocate. +Together they read the message from the outside and together they +lifted three pairs of incredulous eyes to stare at the culprits below. +There was a hurried consultation in excited whisperings, intermittent +stares and far from magisterial blinkings. + +Robin bent close to Bedelia's ear and whispered: "We must have killed +some one, the way they are acting." + +Her face was glowing with triumph. "No. Luck is with us, Mr. Schmidt. +You'll see!" + +The magistrate cleared his throat and beamed upon them in a most +friendly fashion. + +Robin grasped the situation in a flash. His own identity had been +revealed to the Judge. It was not likely that the daughter of William +Blithers could create such lively interest in a French court of +justice, so it _must_ be that Gourou or Quinnox had come to the rescue. +The court would not think of fining a prince of the royal blood, law or +no law! + +"M'sieur, Mademoiselle, will you be so good as to resume your seats? An +extraordinary condition has arisen. I shall be obliged to investigate. +The trial must be interrupted for a few minutes. Pardon the delay. I +shall return as quickly as possible. _Sergent!_ See that Mademoiselle +and M'sieur are made comfortable." + +He descended from the bench and hurried into the corridor, followed +closely by the prosecutor and the advocate, both of whom almost trod on +his heels. This may have been due to the fact that they were slighter +men and more sprightly, but more than likely it was because they were +unable to see where they were going for the excellent reason that they +were not looking in that direction at all. + +Policemen and attendants, mystified but impressed, set about to make +the culprits comfortable. They hustled at least a half dozen roomy +chairs out of an adjoining chamber; they procured palm-leaf fans and +even proffered the improbable--ice-water!--after which they betook +themselves to a remote corner and whispered excitedly at each other, +all the while regarding the two prisoners with intense interest. Even +the despairing footman and chauffeur exhibited unmistakable signs of +life. + +"I fancy my friends have heard of our plight, Mr. Schmidt," she said, +quite composedly. "We will be released in a very few minutes." + +He smiled complacently. He could afford to let her believe that her +friends and not his were performing a miracle. + +"Your friends must be very powerful," he said. + +"They are," said she, with considerable directness. + +"Still, we are not out of the scrape yet, Miss Guile," he remarked, +shaking his head. "It may be a flash in the pan." + +"Oh, please don't say that," she cried in quick alarm. "I--I should die +if--if we were to be sent to--" + +"Listen to me," he broke in eagerly, for an inspiration had come to +him. "There's no reason why you should suffer, in any event. Apparently +I am a suspected person. I may just as well be a kidnapper as not. You +must allow me to inform the Judge that I was abducting you, so that +he--" + +"How absurd!" + +"I don't in the least mind. Besides, I too have powerful friends who +will see that I am released in a day or two. You--" + +"You cannot hope to convince the Judge that you were abducting me in my +own automobile--or at least in one belonging to my friends, who are +irreproachable. I am very much obliged to you for thinking of it, Mr. +Schmidt, but it is out of the question. I couldn't allow you to do it +in the first place, and in the second I'm sure the court wouldn't +believe you." + +"It was I who suggested running away from those detectives," he +protested. + +"But I jumped at the chance, didn't I?" she whispered triumphantly. "I +am even guiltier than thou. Can you ever forgive me for--" + +"Hush!" he said, in a very low voice. His hand fell upon hers as it +rested on the arm of the chair. They were in the shadows. She looked up +quickly and their eyes met. After a moment hers fell, and she gently +withdrew her hand from its place of bondage. "We are pals, Bedelia," he +went on softly. "Pals never go back on each other. They sink or swim +together, and they never stop to inquire the reason why. When it comes +to a pinch, one or the other will sacrifice himself that his pal may be +saved. I--" + +"Please do not say anything more," she said, her eyes strangely serious +and her voice vibrant with emotion. "Please!" + +"I have a confession to make to you," he began, leaning still closer. +"You have taken me on faith. You do not know who or what I am. I--" + +She held up her hand, an engaging frown in her eyes. "Stop! This is no +place for confessions. I will not listen to you. Save your confessions +for the magistrate. Tell him the truth, Mr. Schmidt. I am content to +wait." + +He stared for an instant, perplexed. "See here, Miss +Guile,--Bedelia,--I've just got to tell you something that--" + +"You may tell me at Interlaken," she interrupted, and she was now quite +visibly agitated. + +"At Interlaken? Then you mean to carry out your plan to spend--" + +"Sh! Here they come. Now we shall see." + +The magistrate and his companions re-entered the room at that instant, +more noticeably excited than when they left it. The former, rubbing his +hands together and smiling as he had never smiled before, approached +the pair. It did not occur to him to resent the fact that they remained +seated in his august presence. + +"A lamentable mistake has been made," he said. "I regret that M'sieur +and Mademoiselle have been subjected to so grave an indignity. Permit +me to apologise for the misguided energy of our excellent _sergents_. +They--" + +"But we were exceeding the speed limit," said Robin comfortably, now +that the danger was past. "The officers were acting within their +rights." + +"I know, I know," exclaimed the magistrate. "They are splendid fellows, +all of them, and I beg of you to overlook their +unfortunate--er--zealousness. Permit me to add that you are not +guilty--I should say, that you are honourably discharged by this humble +court. But wait! The _sergents_ shall also apologise. Here! Attend. It +devolves upon you--" + +"Oh, I beg of you--" began Robin, but already the policemen, who had +been listening open-mouthed to the agitated prosecutor, were bowing and +scraping and muttering their apologies for enforcing a cruel and unjust +law. + +"And we are not obliged to give our names, _M'sieur le judge?_" cried +Miss Guile gladly. + +"Mademoiselle," said he, with a profound bow, "it is not necessary to +acquaint me with something I already know. Permit me to again express +the most unbounded regret that--" + +"Oh, thank you," she cried. "We have had a really delightful +experience. You owe us no apology, M'sieur. And now, may we depart?" + +"Instantly! LaChance, conduct M'sieur and Mademoiselle into the fresh, +sweet, open air and discover their car for them without delay. +_Sergents_, remain behind. Let there be nothing to indicate that there +has been detention. Mademoiselle, you have been merely making a +philanthropic visit to our prison. There has been no arrest." + +Robin and Miss Guile emerged from the low, forbidding door and stood +side by side on the pavement looking up and down the street in search +of the car. It was nowhere in sight. The chauffeur gasped with +amazement--and alarm. He had left it standing directly in front of the +door, and now it was gone. + +"It is suggested, M'sieur," said the polite LaChance, "that you walk to +the corner beyond, turn to the left and there you will find the car in +plain view. It was removed by two gentlemen soon after you condescended +to honour us with a visit of inspection, and thereby you have escaped +much unnecessary attention from the curious who always infest the +vicinity of police offices." He saluted them gravely and returned at +once to the corridor. + +Following leisurely in the wake of the hurrying servants, Robin and +Bedelia proceeded down the narrow street to the corner indicated. They +were silent and preoccupied. After all, _who_ was to be thanked for the +timely escape, his god or hers? + +And here it may be said that neither of them was ever to know who sent +that brief effective message to the magistrate, nor were they ever to +know the nature of its contents. + +The men were examining the car when they came up. No one was near. +There was no one to tell how it came to be there nor whither its +unknown driver had gone. It stood close to the curb and the engine was +throbbing, proof in itself that some one had but recently deserted his +post as guardian. + +"The obliging man-hunters," suggested Robin in reply to a low-voiced +question. + +"Or your guardian angel, the great Gourou!" she said, frowning +slightly. "By the way, Mr. Schmidt, do you expect to be under +surveillance during your stay at Interlaken?" + +There was irony in her voice. "Not if I can help it," he said. "And +you, Miss Guile? Is it possible that two of the best detectives in +Paris are to continue treading on your heels all the time you are in +Europe? Must we go about with the uncomfortable feeling that some one +is staring at us from behind, no matter where we are? Are we to be +perpetually attended by the invisible? If so, I am afraid we will find +it very embarrassing." + +They were in the car now and proceeding at a snail's pace toward the +Arc de Triomphe. Her eyes narrowed. He was sure that she clutched her +slim fingers tightly although, for an excellent reason, he was not by +way of knowing. He was rapturously watching those expressive eyes. + +"I shall put a stop to this ridiculous espionage at once, Mr. Schmidt. +These men shall be sent kiting--I mean, about their business before +this day is over. I do not intend to be spied upon an instant longer." + +"Still they may have been instruments of providence to-day," he +reminded her. "Without them, we might now be languishing in jail and +our spotless names posted in the Place de l'Opera. Bedelia Guile and +Rex Schmidt, malefactors. What would your father say to that?" + +She smiled--a ravishing smile, it was. His heart gave a stupendous +jump. "He would say that it served me right," said she, and then: "But +what difference can it possibly make to you, Mr. Schmidt, if the +detectives continue to watch over me?" + +"None," said he promptly. "I suppose they are used to almost anything +in the way of human nature, so if they don't mind, I'm sure I sha'n't. +I haven't the slightest objection to being watched by detectives, if we +can only keep other people from seeing us." + +"Don't be silly," she cried. "And let me remind you while I think of +it: You are not to call me Bedelia." + +"Bedelia," he said deliberately. + +She sighed. "I am afraid I have been mistaken in you," she said. He +recalled Gourou's advice. Had he failed in the test? "But don't do it +again." + +"Now that I think of it," he said soberly, "you are not to call me Mr. +Schmidt. Please bear that in mind, Bedelia." + +"Thank you. I don't like the name. I'll call you--" + +Just then the footman turned on the seat and excitedly pointed to a car +that had swung into the boulevard from a side street. + +"The man-hunters!" exclaimed Robin. "By jove, we didn't lose them after +all." + +"To the Ritz, Pierre," she cried out sharply. Once more she seemed +perturbed and anxious. + +"What are you going to call me?" he demanded, insistently. + +"I haven't quite decided," she replied, and lapsed into moody silence. + +Her nervousness increased as they sped down the Champs Elysees and +across the Place de la Concorde. He thought that he understood the +cause and presently sought to relieve her anxiety by suggesting that +she set him down somewhere along the Rue de Rivoli. She flushed +painfully. + +"Thank you, Mr. Schmidt, I--are you sure you will not mind?" + +"May I ask what it is that you are afraid of, Miss Guile?" he inquired +seriously. + +She was lowering her veil. "I am not afraid, Mr. Schmidt," she said. "I +am a very, very guilty person, that's all. I've done something I ought +not to have done, and I'm--I'm ashamed. You don't consider me a bold, +silly--" + +"Good Lord, no!" he cried fervently. + +"Then why do you call me Bedelia?" she asked, shaking her head. + +"If you feel that way about it, I--I humbly implore you to overlook my +freshness," he cried in despair. + +"Will you get out here, Mr. Schmidt?" She pressed a button and the car +swung alongside the curb. + +"When am I to see you again?" he asked, holding out his hand. She gave +it a firm, friendly grip and said: + +"I am going to Switzerland the day after tomorrow. Good-bye." + +In a sort of daze, he walked up the Rue Castiliogne to the Place +Vendome. His heart was light and his eyes were shining with a flame +that could have but one origin. He was no longer in doubt. He was in +love. He had found the Golden Girl almost at the end of his journey, +and what cared he if she did turn out to be the daughter of old man +Blithers? What cared he for _anything_ but Bedelia? There would be a +pretty howdy-do when he announced to his people that their Princess had +been selected for them, whether or no, and there might be such a thing +as banishment for himself. Even at that, he would be content, for +Bedelia was proof against titles. If she loved him, it would be for +himself. She would scorn the crown and mock the throne, and they would +go away together and live happily ever afterward, as provided by the +most exacting form of romance. And Blithers? What a joke it would be on +Blithers if he gave up the throne! + +As he approached the Ritz, a tall young man emerged from the entrance, +stared at him for an instant, and then swung off at a rapid pace in the +direction of the Rue de la Paix. The look he gave Robin was one of +combined amazement and concern, and the tail end of it betrayed +unmistakable annoyance,--or it might have been hatred. He looked over +his shoulder once and found Robin staring after him. This time there +could be no mistake. He was furious, but whether with Robin or himself +there was no means of deciding from the standpoint of an observer. At +any rate, he quickened his pace and soon disappeared. + +He was the good-looking young fellow who had met her at the steamship +landing, and it was quite obvious that he had been making +investigations on his own account. + +Robin permitted himself a sly grin as he sauntered into the hotel. He +had given _that_ fellow something to worry about, if he had +accomplished nothing else. Then he found himself wondering if, by any +chance, it could be the Scoville fellow. That would be a facer! + +He found Quinnox and Dank awaiting him in the lobby. They were visibly +excited. + +"Did you observe the fellow who just went out?" inquired Robin, +assuming a most casual manner. + +"Yes," said both men in unison. + +"I think we've got some interesting news concerning that very chap," +added the Count, glancing around uneasily. + +"Perhaps I may be able to anticipate it, Count," ventured Robin. "I've +an idea he is young Scoville, the chap who is supposed to be in love +with Miss Blithers--and _vice versa_," he concluded, with a chuckle. + +"What have you heard?" demanded the Count in astonishment. + +"Let's sit down," said Robin, at once convinced that he had stumbled +upon an unwelcome truth. + +They repaired to the garden and were lucky enough to find a table +somewhat removed from the crowd of tea-drinkers. Robin began fanning +himself with his broad straw-hat. He felt uncomfortably warm. Quinnox +gravely extracted two or three bits of paper from his pocket, and +spread them out in order before his sovereign. + +"Read this one first," said he grimly. + +It was a cablegram from their financial agents in New York City, and it +said: "Mr. B. making a hurried trip to Paris. Just learned Scoville +preceded Miss B. to Europe by fast steamer and has been seen with her +in Paris. B. fears an elopement. Make sure papers are signed at once as +such contingency might cause B. to change mind and withdraw if +possible." + +Robin looked up. "I think this may account for the two man-hunters," +said he. His companions stared. "You will hear all about them from +Gourou. We were followed this afternoon." + +"Followed?" gasped Quinnox. + +"Beautifully," said the Prince, with his brightest smile. "Detectives, +you know. It was ripping." + +"My God!" groaned the Count. + +"I fancy you'll now agree with me that she is Miss Blithers," said Dank +forlornly. + +"Cheer up, Boske," cried Robin, slapping him on the shoulder. "You'll +meet another fate before you're a month older. The world is absolutely +crowded with girls." + +"You can't crowd the world with one girl," said Dank, and it was quite +evident from his expression that he believed the world contained no +more than one. + +"I had the feeling that evil would be the result of this foolish trip +to-day," groaned Quinnox. "I should not have permitted you to--" + +"The result is still in doubt," said Robin enigmatically. "And now, +what comes next?" + +"Read this one. It is from Mr. Blithers. I'll guarantee that you do not +take this one so complacently." + +He was right in his surmise. Robin ran his eye swiftly over the +cablegram and then started up from his chair with a muttered +imprecation. + +"Sh!" cautioned the Count,--and just in time, for the young man was on +the point of enlarging upon his original effort. "Calm yourself, Bobby, +my lad. Try taking six or seven full, deep inhalations, and you'll find +that it helps wonderfully as a preventive. It saves many a harsh word. +I've--" + +"You needn't caution me," murmured the Prince. "If I had the tongue of +a pirate I couldn't begin to do justice to _this_," and he slapped his +hand resoundingly upon the crumpled message from William W. Blithers. + +The message had been sent by Mr. Blithers that morning, evidently just +before the sailing of the fast French steamer on which he and his wife +were crossing to Havre. It was directed to August Totten and read as +follows: + +"Tell our young friend to qualify statement to press at once. Announce +reconsideration of hasty denial and admit engagement. This is +imperative. I am not in mood for trifling. Have wired Paris papers that +engagement is settled. Have also wired daughter. The sooner we get +together on this the better. Wait for my arrival in Paris." It was +signed "W. B." + +"There's Blitherskite methods for you," said Dank. "Speaking of +pirates, he's the king of them all. Did you ever hear of such +confounded insolence? The damned--" + +"Wait a second, Dank," interrupted the Count. "There is still another +delectable communication for you, Robin. It was directed to R. Schmidt +and I took the liberty of opening it, as authorised. Read it." + +This was one of the ordinary "_petits bleu_," dropped into the +pneumatic tube letter-box at half-past two that afternoon, shortly +before Robin ventured forth on his interesting expedition in quest of +tea, and its contents were very crisp and to the point: + +"Pay no attention to any word you may have received from my father. He +cables a ridiculous command to me which I shall ignore. If you have +received a similar message I implore you to disregard it altogether. +Let's give each other a fighting chance." + +It was signed "Maud Blithers." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER + + +Mr. Blithers received a marconigram from the _Jupiter_ when the ship +was three days out from New York. It was terse but sufficient. + +"Have just had a glimpse of Prince Charming. He is very good-looking. +Love to mother. Maud." + +He had barely settled into a state of complete satisfaction with +himself over the successful inauguration of a shrewd campaign to get +the better of the recalcitrant Maud and the incomprehensible Robin, +when he was thrown into a panic by the discovery that young Chandler +Scoville had sailed for Europe two days ahead of Maud and her elderly +companion. The gratification of knowing that the two young people had +sailed away on the same vessel was not in the least minimised by Maud's +declaration that she intended to remain in her cabin all the way across +in order to avoid recognition, for he knew her too well to believe it +possible that she could stay out of sight for any length of time, fair +weather or foul. He even made a definite wager with his wife that the +two would become acquainted before they were half-way across the +Atlantic, and he made a bet with himself that nature would do the rest. +And now here came the staggering suspicion that Scoville's hasty +departure was the result of a pre-arranged plan between him and Maud, +and that, after all, the silly girl might spoil everything by marrying +the confounded rascal before he could do anything to prevent the +catastrophe. + +He even tried to engineer a scheme whereby young Scoville might be +arrested on landing and detained on one pretext or another until he +could reach Europe and put an end to the fellow's vain-glorious +conniving. + +But after consulting with his lawyers he abandoned the plan because +they succeeded in proving to him that Maud certainly would marry the +fellow if she had the least ground for believing that he was being +oppressed on her account. The cables were kept very busy, however, for +the next twenty-four hours, and it is certain that Scoville was a +marked man from the moment he landed. + +Newspaper reporters camped on the trail of Mr. Blithers. He very +obligingly admitted that there was something in the report that his +daughter was to marry the Prince of Graustark, although he couldn't say +anything definite at the time. It wouldn't be fair to the parties +concerned, he explained. He gave away a great many boxes of cigars, and +not a few of the more sagacious reporters succeeded in getting at least +three boxes by interviewing him on as many separate occasions without +being detected in the act of repeating. Then came the disgusting +denials in Paris by his daughter and the ungrateful Prince. This was +too much. He couldn't understand such unfilial behaviour on the part of +one, and he certainly couldn't forgive the ingratitude of the other. + +Instead of waiting until Saturday to sail, he changed ships and left +New York on Friday, thereby gaining nothing by the move except relief +from the newspapers, for it appears that he gave up a five day boat for +one that could not do it under six. Still he was in active pursuit, +which was a great deal better than sitting in New York twiddling his +thumbs or looking at his watch and berating the pernicious hours that +stood between him and Saturday noon. + +"There will be something doing in Europe the day I land there, Lou," he +said to his wife as they stood on deck and watched the Statue of +Liberty glide swiftly back toward Manhattan Island. "I've got all the +strings working smoothly. We've got Groostock where it can't peep any +louder than a freshly hatched chicken, and we'll soon bring Maud to her +senses. I tell you, Lou, there is nothing that makes a girl forget her +lofty ideals so quickly as the chance to go shopping for princess +gowns. She's seen the prince and I'll bet she won't be so stubborn as +she was before. And if he has had a good, square look at her,--if he's +had a chance to gaze into those eyes of hers,--why, I--well, I leave +it to you. He can't help getting off his high horse, can he?" + +Mrs. Blithers favoured him with a smile. It was acknowledged that Maud +was the living image of what her mother had been at the age of twenty. + +"I hope the child hasn't made any silly promise to Channie Scoville," +she sighed. + +"I've been thinking of that, Lou," said he, wiping his brow, "and I've +come to one conclusion: Scoville can be bought off. He's as poor as Job +and half a million will look like the Bank of England to him. I'll--" + +"You are not to attempt anything of the kind, Will," she cried +emphatically. "He would laugh in your face, poor as he is. He comes +from one of the best families in New York and--" + +"And I don't know where the best families need money any more than they +do in New York," he interrupted irritably. "'Gad, if the worst families +need it as badly as they do, what must be the needs of the best? You +leave it to me. It may be possible to insult him with a half million, +so if he feels that way about it I'll apologise to him again with +another half million. You'll see that he won't be capable of resenting +two insults in succession. He'll--" + +"He isn't a fool," said she significantly. + +"He'd be a fool if he refused to take--" + +"Are you losing your senses, Will?" she cried impatiently. "Why should +he accept a million to give up Maud, when he can be sure of fifty times +that much if he marries her?" + +"But I'll cut Maud off with a dollar if she marries him, so help me +Moses!" exclaimed Mr. Blithers, but he went a little pale just the +same. "That will fix him!" + +"You are talking nonsense," said she sharply. He put his fingers to his +ears somewhat earlier than usual, and she turned away with a +tantalising laugh. "I'm going inside," and inside she went. When he +followed a few minutes later he was uncommonly meek. + +"At any rate," he said, seating himself on the edge of a chair in her +parlour, "I guess those cablegrams this morning will make 'em think +twice before they go on denying things in the newspapers." + +"Maud will pay no attention to your cablegram, and, if I am any judge +of human nature, the Prince will laugh himself sick over the one you +sent to Count Quinnox. I told you not to send them. You are not dealing +with Wall Street. You are dealing with a girl and a boy who appear to +have minds of their own." + +He ventured a superior sniff. "I guess you don't know as much about +Wall Street as you think you do." + +"I only know that it puts its tail between its legs and howls every +time some one points a finger at it," she observed scornfully. + +"Now let's be sensible, Lou," he said, sitting back a little further in +the chair, relieved to find that she was at least willing to tolerate +his presence,--a matter on which he was in some doubt when he entered +the room. There were times when he was not quite certain whether he or +she was the brains of the family. "We'll probably have a wireless from +Maud before long. Then we'll have something tangible to discuss. By the +way, did I tell you that I've ordered some Dutch architects from Berlin +to go--" + +"The Dutch are from Holland," she said wearily. + +"--to go over to Growstock and give me a complete estimate on repairing +and remodelling the royal castle? I dare say we'll have to do a good +deal to the place. It's several hundred years old and must require a +lot of conveniences. Such as bath-rooms, electric lights, steam heating +appar--" + +"Better make haste slowly, Will," she said, and he ought to have been +warned by the light in her eye. "You are taking a great deal for +granted, aren't you?" + +"It's got to be fixed up some time, so we might just as well do it in +the beginning," said he, failing utterly to grasp her meaning. +"Probably needs refurnishing from top to bottom, too, and a new roof. I +never saw a ruin yet that didn't leak. Remember those castles on the +Rhine? Will you ever forget how wet we got the day we went through the +one at--" + +"They were abandoned, tumble-down castles," she reminded him. + +"There isn't a castle in Europe that's any good in a rain-storm," he +proclaimed. "A mortgage can't keep out the rain and that's what every +one of 'em is covered with. Why old man Quiddox himself told me that +their castle had been shot to pieces in one of the revolutions and--" + +"It is time you informed yourself about the country you are trying to +annex to the Blithers estate," she said sarcastically. "I can assist +you to some extent if you will be good enough to listen. In the first +place, the royal castle at Edelweiss is one of the most substantial in +the world. It has not been allowed to fall into decay. In fact, it is +inhabitated from top to bottom by members of the royal household and +the court, and I fancy they are not the sort of people who take kindly +to a wetting. It is not a ruin, Will, such as you have been permitted +to visit, but a magnificent building with all of the modern +improvements. The only wettings that the inmates sustain are of a daily +character and due entirely to voluntary association with porcelain +bath-tubs and nickle-plated showers, and they never get anything wet +but their skins. As for the furnishings, I can assure you that the +entire Blithers fortune could not replace them if they were to be +destroyed by fire or pillage. They are priceless and they are unique. I +have read that the hangings in the bed-chamber of the late Princess +Yetive are the most wonderful in the whole world. The throne chair in +the great audience chamber is of solid gold and weighs nearly three +thousand pounds. It is studded with diamonds, rubies--" + +"Great Scott, Lou, where did you learn all this?" he gasped, his eyes +bulging. + +"--emeralds and other precious stones. There is one huge carpet in the +royal drawing-room that the Czar of Russia is said to have offered one +hundred thousand pounds for and the offer was scorned. The park +surrounding the castle is said to be beautiful beyond the power of +description. The--" + +"I asked you where you got all this information. Can't you answer me?" + +"I obtained all this and a great deal more from a lady who spent a year +or two inside the castle walls. I refer to Mrs. Truxton King, who might +have told you as much if you had possessed the intelligence to inquire." + +"Gee whiz!" exclaimed Mr. Blithers, going back to his buoyant boyhood +days for an adequate expression. "What a wonder you are, Lou. But +that's the woman of it, always getting at the inside of a thing while a +man is standing around looking at the outside. Say, but won't it make a +wonderful home for you and me to spend a peaceful old age in when we +get ready to lay aside the--" + +He stopped short, for she had arisen and was standing over him with a +quivering forefinger levelled at his nose,--and not more than six +inches away from it,--her handsome eyes flashing with fury. + +"You may walk in where angels fear to tread, but you will walk alone, +Will Blithers. I shall not be with you, and you may as well understand +it now. I've told you a hundred times that money isn't everything, and +it is as cheap as dirt when you put it alongside of tradition, honour, +pride and loyalty. Those Graustarkians would take you by the nape of +the neck and march you out of their castle so quick that your head +would swim. You may be able to buy their prince for Maudie to exhibit +around the country, but you can't buy the intelligence of the people. +They won't have you at any price and they won't have me, so there is +the situation in a nutshell. They will hate Maudie, of course, but they +will endure her for obvious reasons. They may even come to love and +respect her in the end, for she is worthy. But as for you and me, +William,--with all our money,--we will find every hand against us--even +the hand of our daughter, I prophesy. I am not saying that I would +regret seeing Maud the Princess of Graustark--far from it. But I do say +that you and I will be expected to know our places. If you attempt to +spend your declining years in the castle at Edelweiss you will find +them reduced to days, and short ones at that. The people of Graustark +will see to it that you die before your time." + +"Bosh!" said Mr. Blithers. "Mind if I smoke?" He took out a cigar and +began searching for matches. + +"No," she said, "I don't mind. It is a sign that you need something to +steady your nerves. I know you, Will Blithers. You don't want to smoke. +You want to gain a few minutes of time, that's all." + +He lit a cigar. "Right you are," was his unexpected admission. "I +wonder if you really have the right idea about this business. What +objection could any one have to a poor, tired old man sitting in front +of his daughter's fireside and--and playing with her kiddies? It seems +to me that--" + +"You will never be a tired old man, that's the trouble," she said, +instantly touched. + +"Oh, yes, I will," said he slowly. "I'm rather looking forward to it, +too." + +"It will be much nicer to have the kiddies come to your own fireside, +Will. I used to enjoy nothing better than going to spend a few days +with my grandfather." + +"But what's the use of going to all this trouble and expense if we are +not to enjoy some of the fruits?" he protested, making a determined +stand. "If these people can't be grateful to the man who helps 'em out +in their time of trouble,--and who goes out of his way to present 'em +with a bright, capable posterity,--I'd like to know what in thunder +gratitude really means." + +"Oh, there isn't such a thing as gratitude," she said. "Obligation, +yes,--and ingratitude most certainly, but gratitude,--no. You are in a +position to know that gratitude doesn't exist. Are you forgetting the +private advices we already have had from Graustark? Does it indicate +that the people are grateful? There are moments when I fear that we are +actually placing Maud's life in peril, and I have had some wretched +dreams. They do not want her. They speak of exile for the Prince if he +marries her. And now I repeat what I have said before:--the people of +Graustark must have an opportunity to see and become acquainted with +Maud before the marriage is definitely arranged. I will not have my +daughter cast into a den of lions. Will,--for that is what it may +amount to. The people will adore her, they will welcome her with open +arms if they are given the chance. But they will have none of her if +she is forced upon them in the way you propose." + +"I'll--I'll think it over," said Mr. Blithers, and then discovered that +his cigar had gone out. "I think I'll go on deck and smoke, Lou. Makes +it stuffy in here. We'll lunch in the restaurant at half-past one, eh?" + +"Think hard, Will," she recommended, with a smile. + +"I'll do that," he said, "but there's nothing on earth that can alter +my determination to make Maud the Princess of Groostork. _That's_ +settled." + +"Graustark, Will." + +"Well, whatever it is," said he, and departed. + +He did think hard, but not so much about a regal home for aged people +as about Channie Scoville who had now become a positive menace to all +of his well-ordered and costly plans. The principal subject for thought +just now was not Graustark but this conniving young gentleman who stood +ready to make a terrible mess of posterity. Mr. Blithers was +sufficiently fair-minded to concede that the fellow was good-looking, +well-bred and clever, just the sort of chap that any girl might fall in +love with like a shot. As a matter of fact, he once had admired +Scoville, but that was before he came to look upon him as a menace. He +would make a capital husband for any girl in the world, except Maud. He +could say that much for him, without reserve. + +He thought hard until half-past one and then went to the wireless +office, where he wrote out a message in cipher and directed the +operator to waste no time in relaying it to his offices in Paris. His +wife was right. It would be the height of folly to offer Scoville money +and it would be even worse to inspire the temporary imprisonment of the +young man. + +But there was a splendid alternative. He could manage to have his own +daughter abducted,--chaperon included,--and held for ransom! + +The more he thought of it the better it seemed to him, and so he sent a +cipher message that was destined to throw his Paris managers into a +state of agitation that cannot possibly be measured by words. In brief, +he instructed them to engage a few peaceable, trustworthy and +positively respectable gentlemen,--he was particularly exacting on the +score of gentility,--with orders to abduct the young lady and hold her +in restraint until he arrived and arranged for her liberation! They +were to do the deed without making any fuss about it, but at the same +time they were to do it effectually. + +He had the foresight to suggest that the job should be undertaken by +the very detective agency he had employed to shadow young Scoville and +also to keep an eye on Maud. Naturally, she was never to know the truth +about the matter. She was to believe that her father came up with a +huge sum in the shape of ransom, no questions asked. He also remembered +in time and added the imperative command that she was to be confined in +clean, comfortable quarters and given the best of nourishment. But, +above all else, it was to be managed in a decidedly realistic way, for +Maud was a keen-witted creature who would see through the smallest +crack in the conspiracy if there was a single false movement on the +part of the plotters. It is also worthy of mention that Mrs. Blithers +was never--_decidedly never_--to know the truth about the matter. + +He went in to luncheon in a very amiable, even docile frame of mind. + +"I've thought the matter over, Lou," he said, "and I guess you are +right, after all. We will make all the repairs necessary, but we won't +consider living in it ourselves. We'll return good for evil and live in +a hotel when we go to visit the royal family. As for--" + +"I meant that you were to think hard before attempting to force Maud +upon Prince Robin's subjects without preparing them for the--" + +"I thought of that, too," he interrupted cheerfully. "I'm not going to +cast my only child into the den of lions, so that's the end of it. Have +you given the order, my dear?" + +"No," she said; "for I knew you would change it when you came in." + +Late that evening he had a reply from his Paris managers. They inquired +if he was responsible for the message they had received. It was a +ticklish job and they wanted to be sure that the message was genuine. +He wired back that he was the sender and to go ahead. The next morning +they notified him that his instructions would be carried out as +expeditiously as possible. + +He displayed such a beaming countenance all that day that his wife +finally demanded an explanation. It wasn't like him to beam when he was +worried about anything, and she wanted to know what had come over him. + +"It's the sea-air, Lou," he exclaimed glibly. "It always makes me feel +like a fighting-cock. I--" + +"Rubbish! You detest the sea-air. It makes you feel like fighting, I +grant, but not like a fighting-cock." + +"There you go, trying to tell me how I feel. I've never known any one +like you, Lou. I can't say a word that--" + +"Have you had any news from Maud?" she broke in suspiciously. + +"Not a word," said he. + +"What have you done to Channie Scoville?" she questioned, fixing him +with an accusing eye. + +"Not a thing," said he. + +"Then, what is it?" + +"You won't believe me if I tell you," said he warily. + +"Yes, I will." + +"No, you won't." + +"Tell me this instant why you've been grinning like a Cheshire cat all +day." + +"It's the sea-air," said he, and then: "I said you wouldn't believe me, +didn't I?" + +"Do you think I'm a fool, Will Blithers?" she flashed, and did not wait +for an answer. He chuckled to himself as she swept imperiously out of +sight around a corner of the deck-building. + +He was up bright and early the next morning, tingling with +anticipation. There ought to be word from Paris before noon, and it +might come earlier. He kept pretty close to the wireless operator's +office, and was particularly attentive to the spitting crackle of the +instrument. + +About eleven o'clock an incomprehensibly long message began to rattle +out of the air. He contained himself in patience for the matter of half +an hour or longer, and then, as the clatter continued without +cessation, he got up and made his way to the door of the operator's +office. + +"What is it? The history of England?" he demanded sarcastically. + +"Message for you, Mr. Blithers. It's a long one and I'm having a hard +time picking it up. Everybody seems to be talking at once. Do you want +the baseball scores, Mr. Blithers?" + +"Not unless they come in cipher," said Mr. Blithers acidly. + +"Some of 'em do. Six to nothing in favor of the Giants, two to +nothing--Here we are at last. I've picked up the _Mauretania_ again. +She's relaying." + +Mr. Blithers sat down on the steps and looked at his watch. It would be +five o'clock in Paris. He wondered if they were giving Maud her +afternoon tea, and then choked up with a sudden pity for the terrified +captive. It was all he could do to keep from jumping up and ordering +the operator to drop everything and take a message countermanding his +inhuman instructions to those asses in Paris. Tears gushed from his +eyes. He brushed them away angrily and tried to convince himself that +it served Maud right for being so obstinate. Still the tears came. The +corners of his mouth drooped and his chin began to quiver. It was too +much! The poor child was-- + +But just then the operator sat back with a sigh of relief, mopped his +brow, and said: + +"Good thing you're a rich man, Mr. Blithers. It came collect and--" + +"Never mind," blurted Mr. Blithers. "Hand it over." + +There were four sheets of writing at some outlandish price per word, +but what cared he? He wanted to get back to his stateroom and his +cipher code as quickly--but his eyes almost started from his head as he +took in the name at the bottom of the message. It was "Maud." + +He did not require the cipher book. A fourth reader child could have +read the message without a halt. Maud had taken his request literally. +He had asked her to send him a nice long message, but he did not expect +her to make a four-page letter of it. She was paying him out with a +vengeance! + +He took the precaution to read it before handing it over to his wife, +to whom it was addressed in conjunction with himself: + +"Dear father and mother," it began--(and he looked at the date line +again to make sure it was from Paris)--"in reply to your esteemed +favour of the nineteenth, or possibly the twentieth, I beg to inform +you that I arrived safely in Paris as per schedule. Regarding the +voyage, it was delightful. We had one or two rough days. The rest of +the time it was perfectly heavenly. I met two or three interesting and +amusing people on board and they made the time pass most agreeably. I +think I wired you that I had a glimpse of a certain person. On my +arrival in Paris I was met at the station by friends and taken at once +to the small, exclusive hotel where they are stopping for the summer. +It is so small and exclusive that I'm sure you have never heard of it. +I may as well tell you that I have seen Channie,--you know who I +mean,--Chandler Scoville, and he has been very nice to me. Concerning +your suggestion that I reconsider the statement issued to the press, I +beg to state that I don't see any sense in taking the world into my +confidence any farther than it has been taken already, if that is +grammatically correct. I have also sent word to a certain person that +he is not to pay any attention to the report that we are likely to +change our minds in order to help out the greedy newspapers who don't +appear to know when they have had enough. I hope that the voyage will +benefit both of you as much as it did me. If I felt any better than I +do now I'd call for the police as a precaution. Let me suggest that you +try the chicken a la Bombardier in the Ritz restaurant. I found it +delicious. I daresay they serve it as nicely on your ship as they do on +the _Jupiter_. as the management is the same. Of course one never can +tell about chefs. My plans are a trifle indefinite. I may leave here at +any moment. It is very hot and muggy and nearly every one is skipping +off to the mountains or seashore. If I should happen to be away from +Paris when you arrive don't worry about me. I shall be all right and in +safe hands. I will let you know where I am just as soon as I get +settled somewhere. I must go where it is quiet and peaceful. I am so +distressed over what has occurred that I don't feel as though I could +ever be seen in public again without a thick veil and a pair of +goggles. I have plenty of money for immediate use, but you might +deposit something to my credit at the Credit Lyonnais as I haven't the +least idea how long I shall stay over here. Miranda is well and is +taking good care of me. She seldom lets me out of her sight if that is +any comfort to you. I hope you will forgive the brevity of this +communication and believe me when I say that it is not lack of love for +you both that curtails its length but the abominably hot weather. With +endless love from your devoted daughter--Maud." + +The tears had dried in Mr. Blithers' eyes but he wiped them time and +again as he read this amazing letter,--this staggering exhibition of +prodigality. He swore a little at first, but toward the end even that +prerogative failed him. He set out in quest of his wife. Not that he +expected her to say any more than he had said, but that he wanted her +to see at a glance what kind of a child she had brought into the world +and to forever hold her peace in future when he undertook to speak his +mind. + +He could not understand why his wife laughed softly to herself as she +read, and he looked on in simple amazement when she deliberately +undertook to count the words. She counted them in a whisper and he +couldn't stand it. He went down where the children were shrieking over +a game of quoits and felt singularly peaceful and undisturbed. + +It was nearly bed-time before word came from his managers in Paris. +Bed-time had no meaning for him after he had worked out the message by +the code. It is true that he observed a life-long custom and went to +bed, but he did not do it for the purpose of going to sleep. + +"Your daughter has disappeared from Paris. All efforts to locate her +have failed. Friends say she left ostensibly for the Pyrenees but +inquiries at stations and along line fail to reveal trace of her. +Scoville still here and apparently in the dark. He is being watched. +Her companion and maid left with her last night. Prince of Graustark +and party left for Edelweiss to-day." + +So read the message from Paris. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT + + +One usually has breakfast on the porch of the Hotel Schweizerhof at +Interlaken. It is not the most fashionable hostelry in the quaint +little town at the head of the Lake of Thun, but it is of an excellent +character, and the rolls and honey to be had with one's breakfast can +not be surpassed in the Bernese Oberland. Straight ahead lies one of +the most magnificent prospects in all the world: an unobstructed view +of the snow-thatched Jungfrau, miles away, gleaming white and jagged +against an azure sky, suggesting warmth instead of chill, grandeur +instead of terror. Looking up the valley one might be led to say that +an hour's ramble would take him to the crest of that shining peak, and +yet some men have made a life's journey of it. Others have turned back +in time. + +One has a whiff of fragrant woodlands and serene hay-cocks, a breath of +cool air from the Jungfrau's snows, a sniff of delectable bacon and +toast--and a zest for breakfast. And one sets about it with interest, +with the breakfast of the next day as a thing to look forward to. + +R. Schmidt sat facing the dejected Boske Dank. His eyes were dancing +with the joy of living, and nothing better can be said of a man's +character than that he is gay and happy at breakfast-time. He who wakes +up, refreshed and buoyant, and eager for the day's adventure, is indeed +a child of nature. He will never grow old and crabbed; he will grip the +hand of death when the time comes with the unconquered zeal that makes +the grim reaper despise himself for the advantage he takes of youth. + +"Well, here we are and in spite of that, where are we?" said Dank, who +saw nothing beautiful in the smile of any early morn. "I mean to say, +what have we to show for our pains? We sneak into this Godforsaken +hamlet, surrounded on all sides by abominations in the shape of +tourists, and at the end of twenty-four hours we discover that the fair +Miss Guile has played us a shabby trick. I daresay she is laughing +herself sick over the whole business." + +"Which is more than you can say for yourself, Boske," said Robin +blithely. "Brace up! All is not lost. We'll wait here a day or two +longer and then--well, I don't know what we'll do then." + +"She never intended to come here at all," said Dank, filled with +resentment. "It was a trick to get rid of us. She--" + +"Be honest, old chap and say that it was a trick to get rid of _me_. Us +is entirely too plural. But I haven't lost heart. She'll turn up yet." + +"Count Quinnox is in despair over this extraordinary whim of yours, +highness. He is really ill in bed this morning. I--" + +"I'll run up and see him after breakfast," cried the Prince, genuinely +concerned. "I'm sorry he is taking it so seriously." + +"He feels that we should be at home instead of dawdling about the--" + +"That reminds me. Dank," broke in the Prince, fresh happiness in his +smile; "I've decided that home is the place for you and the Count--and +Gourou too. I'm perfectly able to take care of myself,--with some +assistance from Hobbs,--and I don't see any necessity for you three to +remain with me any longer. I'll tell the Count that you all may start +for Vienna tonight. You connect with the Orient express at--" + +"Are you mad, highness?" cried Dank, startled out of his dejection. +"What you speak of is impossible--utterly impossible. We cannot leave +you. We were delegated to escort you--" + +"I understand all of that perfectly, Dank," interrupted Robin, suddenly +embarrassed, "but don't you see how infernally awkward it will be for +me if Miss Guile does appear, according to plan? She will find me +body-guarded, so to speak, by three surly, scowling individuals whose +presence I cannot explain to save my soul, unless I tell the truth, and +I'm not yet ready to do that. Can't you see what I mean? How am I to +explain the three of you? A hawk-eyed triumvirate that camps on my +trail from morn till night and refuses to budge! She'll suspect +something, old fellow, and--well, I certainly will feel more +comfortable if I'm not watched for the next few days." + +"That's the point, highness. You've just got to be watched for the next +few days. We would never dare to show our faces in Graustark again if +we allowed anything to happen to you while you are under our care. You +are a sacred charge. We must return you to Graustark as--er--inviolate +as when you departed. We--we couldn't think of subjecting you to the +peril of a--that is to say, it might prove fatal. Graustark, in that +event, would be justified in hanging two of her foremost citizens and +yours truly from gibbets designed especially for the blackest of +traitors." + +"I see, Dank. If I find happiness, you are almost sure to find disgrace +and death, eh? It doesn't seem a fair division, does it? I suppose you +all feel that the worst thing that can possibly happen is for me to +find happiness." + +"If I were the Prince of Graustark I should first think of the +happiness of my subjects. I would not offend." + +"Well put, Boske, but fortunately you are not the Prince. I sometimes +wish that you were. It would relieve me of a tremendous responsibility. +I am not mean enough, however, to wish a crown upon you, old fellow. +You are lucky to be who and what you are. No one cares what you do, so +long as you are honourable about it. With me it is different. I have to +be watched day and night in order to be kept from doing what all the +rest of the world looks upon as honourable." + +"I implore you, highness, to give up this mad enterprise and return to +your people as--" + +"There is only one person in the world who can stop me now, Dank." + +"And she isn't likely to do so, worse luck," was the other's complaint. + +"When she tells me to go about my business, I'll go, but not until +then. Don't you like honey, Dank?" + +"No," said Dank savagely. "I hate it." He leaned back in his chair and +glowered upon the innocent, placid Jungfrau. The Prince ate in silence. +"May I be permitted a question, highness?" + +"All you like, Boske. You are my best friend. Go ahead." + +"Did you see Miss Guile after that visit to St. Cloud--and to the +police station?" + +"No. Evidently she was frightened out of her boots by the Hawkshaws. I +don't blame her, do you?" + +"And you've had no word from her?" + +"None. Now you are going to ask what reason I have for believing that +she will come to Interlaken. Well, I can't answer that question. I +think she'll come, that's all." + +"Do you think she is in love with you?" + +"Ah, my dear fellow, you are asking me to answer my own prayer," said +Robin, without a sign of resentment in his manner. "I'm praying that +she isn't altogether indifferent. By the way, it is my turn to ask +questions. Are you still in love with her?" + +"I am proud to say that you are more in my prayers that she," said +Dank, with a profound sigh. "Nothing could please me more than to be +the one to save my prince from disaster, even if it meant the sacrifice +of self. My only prayer is that you may be spared, sir, and I taken in +your place." + +"That was a neat answer, 'pon my soul," cried the Prince admiringly. +"You--Hello, who is this approaching? It is no other than the great +Gourou himself, the king of sleuths, as they say in the books I used to +read. Good morning, Baron." + +The sharp-visaged little Minister of Police came up to the table and +fixed an accusing eye upon his sovereign,--the literal truth, for he +had the other eye closed in a protracted wink. + +"I regret to inform your majesty that the enemy is upon us," he said. +"I fear that our retreat is cut off. Nothing remains save--" + +"She has arrived?" cried the Prince eagerly. + +"She has," said the Baron. "Bag and baggage, and armed to the eyes. +Each eye is a gatling-gun, each lip a lunette behind which lies an +unconquerable legion of smiles and rows of ivory bayonets, each ear a +hardy spy, and every nut-brown strand a covetous dastard on the warpath +not for a scalp but for a crown. Napoleon was never so well prepared +for battle as she, nor Troy so firmly fortified. Yes, highness, the foe +is at our gates. We must to arms!" + +"Where is she?" demanded Robin, unimpressed by this glowing panegyric. + +"At this instant, sir, I fancy she is rallying her forces in the very +face of a helpless mirror. In other words, she is preparing for the +fray. She is dressing." + +"The devil! How dare you pry into the secret--" + +"Abhorrent thought! I deduce, nothing more. Her maid loses herself in +the halls while attempting to respond to the call for re-inforcements. +She accosts a gentleman of whom she inquires the way. The gentleman +informs her she is on the third, not the second _etage_, and she +scurries away simpering, but not before confiding to me--the aforesaid +gentleman--that her mistress will give her fits for being late with her +hair, whatever that may signify. So, you see, I do not stoop to +keyholes but put my wits to work instead." + +"When did she arrive?" + +"She came last night via Milan." + +"From Milan?" cried Robin, astonished. + +"A roundabout way, I'll admit," said the Baron, drily, "and tortuous in +these hot days, but admirably suited to a purpose. I should say that +she was bent on throwing some one off the track." + +"And yet she came!" cried the Prince, in exultation. "She wanted to +come, after all, now didn't she, Dank?" He gave the lieutenant a look +of triumph. + +"She is more dangerous than I thought," said the guardsman mournfully. + +"Sit down, Baron," commanded the Prince. "I want to lay down the law to +all of you. You three will have to move on to Graustark and leave me to +look out for myself. I will not have Miss Guile--" + +"No!" exclaimed the Baron, with unusual vehemence. "I expected you to +propose something of the kind, and I am obliged to confess to you that +we have discussed the contingency in advance. We will not leave you. +That is final. You may depose us, exile us, curse us or anything you +like, but still we shall remain true to the duty we owe to our country. +We stay here, Prince Robin, just so long as you are content to remain." + +Robin's face was very red. "You shame me, Baron," he said simply. "I am +sorry that I spoke as I did. You are my friends, my loyal friends, and +I would have humbled you in the eyes of my people. I beg your pardon, +and yours, Boske. After all, I am only a prince and a prince is +dependent on the loyalty of such as you. I take back all that I said." + +The Baron laid a kindly hand on the young man's shoulder. "I was rough, +highness, in my speech just now, but you will understand that I was +moved to--" + +"I know, Baron. It was the only way to fetch me up sharp. No apology is +required. God bless you." + +"Now I have a suggestion of my own to offer," said the Baron, taking a +seat at the end of the table. "I confess that Miss Guile may not be +favourably impressed by the constant attendance of three able-bodied +nurses, and, as she happens to be no fool, it is reasonably certain +that she will grasp the significance of our assiduity. Now I propose +that the Count, Dank and myself efface ourselves as completely as +possible during the rest of our enforced stay in Interlaken. I propose +that we take quarters in another hotel and leave you and Hobbs to the +tender mercies of the enemy. It seems to me that--" + +"Good!" cried Robin. "That's the ticket! I quite agree to that, Baron." + +Dank was prepared to object but a dark look from Gourou silenced him. +"I've talked it over with the Count and he acquiesces," went on the +Baron. "We recognise the futility of trying to induce you to leave at +once for Graustark, and we are now content to trust Providence to watch +over and protect you against a foe whose motives may in time become +transparent, even to the blind." + +The irony in the remark was not lost on Robin. He flushed angrily but +held his tongue. + +Ten o'clock found the three gentlemen,--so classified by Hobbs,--out of +the Schweizerhof and arranging for accommodations at the Regina Hotel +Jungfraublick, perched on an eminence overlooking the valley and some +distance removed from the temporary abode of the Prince. Their +departure from the hotel in the Hoheweg was accomplished without +detection by Miss Guile or her friends, and, to all intents and +purposes, Robin was alone and unattended when he sat down on the porch +near the telescope to await the first appearance of the enchanting foe. +He was somewhat puzzled by the strange submissiveness of his +companions. Deep down in his mind lurked the disquieting suspicion that +they were conniving to get the better of the lovely temptress by some +sly and secret bit of strategy. What was back of the wily Baron's +motive? Why were they now content to let him take the bit in his teeth +and run wherever he would? What had become of their anxiety, their +eagerness to drag him off to Graustark by the first train? There was +food for reflection in the tranquil capitulation of the defenders. Were +they acting under fresh instructions from Edelweiss? Had the Prime +Minister directed them to put no further obstacle in front of the great +Blithers invasion? Or--and he scowled darkly at the thought--was there +a plan afoot to overcome the dangerous Miss Guile by means more +sinister than subtle? + +Enlightenment came unexpectedly and with a shock to his composure. He +had observed the three spirited saddlehorses near the entrance of the +hotel, in charge of two stable-boys, but had regarded them only as +splendid specimens of equine aristocracy. It had not entered his mind +to look upon them as agents of despair. + +Two people emerged from the door and, passing by without so much as a +glance in his direction, made their way to the mounting block. Robin's +heart went down to his boots. Bedelia, a graceful figure in a smart +riding habit, was laughing blithely over a soft-spoken remark that her +companion had made as they were crossing the porch. And that companion +was no other than the tall, good-looking fellow who had met her at +Cherbourg! The Prince, stunned and incredulous, watched them mount +their horses and canter away, followed by a groom who seemed to have +sprung up from nowhere. + +"Good morning, Mr. Schmidt," spoke a voice, and, still bewildered, he +whirled, hat in hand, to confront Mrs. Gaston. "Did I startle you?" + +He bowed stiffly over the hand she held out for him to clasp, and +murmured something about being proof against any surprise. The colour +was slowly returning to his face, and his smile was as engaging as ever +despite the bitterness that filled his soul. Here was a pretty trick to +play on a fellow! Here was a slap in the face! + +"Isn't it a glorious morning? And how wonderful she is in this gorgeous +sunlight," went on Mrs. Gaston, in what may be described as a hurried, +nervous manner. + +"I had the briefest glimpse of her," mumbled Robin. "When did she come?" + +"Centuries and centuries ago, Mr. Schmidt," said she, with a smile. "I +was speaking of the Jungfrau." + +"Oh!" he exclaimed, flushing. "I thought you--er--yes, of course! +Really quite wonderful. I have heard it said that she never removes her +night-cap, but always greets the dawn in spotless--ahem! Of course you +understand that I am speaking of the Jungfrau," he floundered. + +"Naturally, Mr. Schmidt. And so you came, after all. We were afraid you +might have concluded to alter your plans. Miss Guile will be delighted." + +He appeared grateful for the promise. "I have been here for three days, +Mrs. Gaston. You were delayed in leaving Paris?" + +"Yes," she said, and changed the subject. "The riding is quite good, I +understand. They are off for Lauterbrunnen." + +"I see," said he. "There is a splendid inn there, I am told." + +"They will return here for luncheon, of course," she said, raising her +eyebrows slightly. His heart became a trifle lighter at this. "Mr. +White is a lifelong friend and acquaintance of the family," she +volunteered, apropos of nothing. + +"Oh, his name is White?" with a quiet laugh. + +"If you have nothing better to do, Mr. Schmidt, why not come with me to +the Kursaal? The morning concert will begin shortly, and I--" + +"I think you will find that the band plays in the square across the +way, Mrs. Gaston, and not in the Casino. At least, that has been the +programme for the last two mornings." + +"Nevertheless, there is a concert at the Casino today," she informed +him. "Will you come?" + +"Gladly," he replied, and they set off for the Kursaal. He found seats +in the half-empty pavillion and prepared to listen to the music, +although his real interest was following the narrow highway to +Lauterbrunnen--and the Staubbach. + +"This is to be a special concert given at the request of the Grand Duke +who, I hear, is leaving this afternoon for Berne." + +"The Grand Duke? I was not aware of the presence of royalty," said he +in surprise. + +"No? He has been here for three days, but at another hotel. The Grand +Duke Paulus and his family, you know." + +Robin shot a swift, apprehensive glance about the big enclosure, +sweeping the raised circle from end to end. On the opposite side of the +pavillion he discovered the space reserved for the distinguished party. +Although he was far removed from that section he sank deeper into his +chair and found one pretext after another to screen his face from view. +He did know the Grand Duke Paulus and the Grand Duke knew him, which +was even more to the point. + +The Prince of Graustark had been a prime favourite of the great man +since his knickerbocker days. Twice as a boy he had visited in the +ducal palace, far distant from Graustark, and at the time of his own +coronation the Grand Duke and his sons had come to the castle in +Edelweiss for a full month's stay. They knew him well and they would +recognise him at a glance. At this particular time the last thing on +earth that he desired was to be hailed as a royal prince. + +Never, in all his life, had he known the sun to penetrate so brightly +into shadows as it did to-day. He felt that he was sitting in a perfect +glare of light and that every feature of his face was clear to the most +distant observer. + +He was on the point of making an excuse to leave the place when the +ducal party came sauntering down the aisle on their way to the reserved +section. Every one stood up, the band played, the Grand Duke bowed to +the right and to the left, and escape was cut off. Robin could only +stand with averted face and direct mild execrations at the sunlight +that had seemed so glorious at breakfast-time. + +"He is a splendid-looking man, isn't he?" Mrs. Gaston was saying. She +was gazing in rapt admiration upon the royal group. + +"He is, indeed," said Robin, resolutely scanning a programme, which he +continued to hold before his face. When he sat down again, it was with +his back to the band. "I don't like to watch the conductors," he +explained. "They do such foolish things, you know." + +Mrs. Gaston was eyeing him curiously. He was bitterly conscious of a +crimson cheek. In silence they listened to the first number. While the +applause was at its height, Mrs. Gaston leaned forward and said to him: + +"I am afraid you are not enjoying the music, Mr. Schmidt. What is on +your mind?" + +He started. "I--I--really, Mrs. Gaston, I am enjoying it. I--" + +"Your mind has gone horse-back riding, I fear. At present it is between +here and Lauterbrunnen, jogging beside that roaring little torrent +that--" + +"I don't mind confessing that you are quite right," said he frankly. +"And I may add that the music makes me so blue that I'd like to jump +into that roaring torrent and--and swim out again, I suppose," he +concluded, with a sheepish grin. + +"You are in love." + +"I am," he confessed. + +She laid her hand upon his. Her eyes were wide with eagerness. "Would +it drive away the blues if I were to tell you that you have a chance to +win her?" + +He felt his head spinning. "If--if I could believe that--that-" he +began, and choked up with the rush of emotion that swept through him. + +"She is a strange girl. She will marry for love alone. Her father is +determined that she shall marry a royal prince. That much I may confess +to you. She has defied her father, Mr. Schmidt. She will marry for +love, and I believe it is in your power to awaken love in that adorable +heart of hers. You--" + +"For God's sake, Mrs. Gaston, tell me--tell me, has she breathed a word +to you that--" + +"Not a single word. But I know her well. I have known her since she was +a baby, and I can read the soul that looks out through those lovely +eyes. Knowing her so well, I may say to you--oh, it must be in the +strictest confidence!--that you have a chance. And if you win her love, +you will _have_ the greatest treasure in all the world. She--but, look! +The Grand Duke is leaving. He--" + +"I don't care what becomes of the Grand Duke," he burst out. "Tell me +more. Tell me how you look into her soul, and tell me what you see--" + +"Not now, sir. I have said enough. I have given you the sign of hope. +It remains with you to make the most of it." + +"But you--you don't know anything about me. I may be the veriest +adventurer, the most unworthy of all--" + +"I think, Mr. Schmidt, that I know you pretty well. I do not require +the aid of Diogenes' lantern to see an honest man. I am responsible for +her welfare. She has been placed under my protection. For twenty years +I have adored her. I am not likely to encourage an adventurer." + +"I must be honest with you, Mrs. Gaston," he said suddenly. "I am not--" + +She held up her hand. "Mr. Totten has informed me that you are a +life-long friend of Mrs. Truxton King. I cabled to her from Paris. +There is no more to be said." + +His face fell. "Did she tell you--everything?" + +"She said no more than that R. Schmidt is the finest boy in all the +world." Suddenly her face paled. "You are never--_never_ to breathe a +word of this to--to Bedelia," she whispered. + +"But her father? What will he say to--" + +"Her father has said all that can be said," she broke in quietly. "He +cannot force her to marry the man he has selected. She will marry the +man she loves. Come now! Let us go. I am tired of the music." + +"Thank you, thank you, Mrs. Gaston," he cried, with shining eyes. "God +bless you!" + +She gave him a queer look. "You must not think that your task is an +easy one," she said meaningly. "There are other men in the world, you +know." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +"WHAT WILL MY PEOPLE DO!" + + +The Grand Duke and his party left Interlaken by special train early in +the afternoon, and great was Robin's relief when Hobbs returned with +the word that they were safely on their way to the capital of +Switzerland. He emerged from the seclusion of his room, where he had +been in hiding since noon, and set out for a walk through the town. His +head was high and his stride jaunty, for his heart was like a cork. +People stared after him with smiles of admiration, and never a +_cocher'_ passed him by without a genial, inviting tilt of the eyebrow +and a tentative pull at the reins, only to meet with a pleasant shake +of the head or the negative flourish of a bamboo cane. + +Night came and with it the silvery glow of moonlight across the hoary +headed queen of the Oberland. When Robin came out from dinner he seated +himself on the porch, expectant, eager--and vastly lonesome. An +unaccountable shyness afflicted him, rendering him quite incapable of +sending his card up to the one who could have dispelled the gathering +gloom with a single glance of the eye. Would she come stealing out +ostensibly to look at the night-capped peak, but with furtive glances +into the shadows of the porch in quest of--But no! She would not do +that! She would come attended by the exasperating Mr. White and the +friendly duenna. Her starry eyes, directed elsewhere, would only serve +to increase the depth of the shadows in which he lurked impatient. + +She came at last--and alone. Stopping at the rail not more than an +arm's length from where he sat, she gazed pensively up at the solemn +mistress of the valley, one slim hand at her bosom, the other hanging +limp at her side. He could have touched that slender hand by merely +stretching forth his own. Breathless, enthralled, he sat as one +deprived of the power or even the wish to move. The spell was upon him; +he was in thralldom. + +She wore a rose-coloured gown, soft, slinky, seductive. A light +Egyptian scarf lay across her bare shoulders. The slim, white neck and +the soft dark hair--but she sighed! He heard that faint, quick-drawn +sigh and started to his feet. + +"Bedelia!" he whispered softly. + +She turned quickly, to find him standing beside her, his face aglow +with rapture. A quick catch of the breath, a sudden movement of the +hand that lay upon her breast, and then she smiled,--a wavering, +uncertain smile that went straight to his heart and shamed him for +startling her. "I beg your pardon," he began lamely. "I--I startled +you." + +She held out her hand to him, still smiling. "I fear I shall never +become accustomed to being pursued," she said, striving for command of +her voice. + +"It is dreadful to feel that some one is forever watching you from +behind. I am glad it is you, however. You at least are not 'the secret +eye that never sleeps'!" She gently withdrew her hand from his ardent +clasp. "Mrs. Gaston told me that she had seen you. I feared that you +might have gone on your way rejoicing." + +"Rejoicing?" he cried. "Why do you say that?" + +"After our experience in Paris, I should think that you had had enough +of me and my faithful watchdogs." + +"Rubbish!" he exclaimed. "I shall never have enough of you," he went +on, with sudden boldness. "As for the watch-dogs, they are not likely +to bite us, so what is there to be afraid of?" + +"Have you succeeded in evading the watchful eye of Mr. Totten's +friend?" she enquired, sending an apprehensive glance along the porch. + +"Completely," he declared. "I am quite alone in this hotel and, I +believe, unsuspected. And you? Are you still being--" + +"Sh! Who knows? I think we have thrown them off the track, but one +cannot be sure. I raised a dreadful rumpus about it in Paris, +and--well, they said they were sorry and advised me not to be worried, +for the surveillance would cease at once. Still, I am quite sure that +they lied to me." + +"Then you _are_ being followed." + +She smiled again, and there was mischief in her eyes. "If so, I have +led them a merry chase. We have been travelling for two days and +nights, Mr. Schmidt, by train and motor, getting off at stations +unexpectedly, hopping into trains going in any direction but the right +one, sleeping in strange beds and doing all manner of queer things. And +here we are at last. I am sure you must look upon me as a very silly, +flibberty-gibbet creature." + +"I see that your retinue has been substantially augmented," he +remarked, a trace of jealousy in his voice. "The good-looking Mr. White +has not been eluded." + +"Mr. White? Oh, yes, I see. But he is to be trusted, Mr. Schmidt," she +said mysteriously--and tantalisingly. "He will not betray me to my +cruel monster of a father. I have his solemn promise not to reveal my +whereabouts to any one. My father is the last person in the world to +whom he would go with reports of my misdoings." + +"I saw you this morning, riding with him," said he glumly. + +"Through the telescope?" she inquired softly, laying a hand upon the +stationary instrument. + +He flushed hotly. "It was when you were starting out, Miss Guile. I am +not one of the spies, you should remember." + +"You are my partner in guilt," she said lightly. "By the way, have you +forgiven me for leading you into temptation?" + +"Certainly. I am still in the Garden of Eden, you see, and as I don't +take any stock in the book of Genesis, I hope to prove to myself at +least, that the conduct of an illustrious forebear of mine was not due +to the frailties of Eve but to his own tremendous anxiety to get out of +a place that was filled with snakes. I hope and pray that you will +continue to put temptation in my path so that I may have the frequent +pleasure of falling." + +She turned her face away and for a moment was silent. "Shall we take +those chairs over there, Mr. Schmidt? They appear to be as abandoned as +we." She indicated two chairs near the broad portals. + +He shook his head. "If we are looking for the most utterly abandoned, +allow me to call your attention to the two in yonder corner." + +"It is quite dark over there," she said with a frown. + +"Quite," he agreed. "Which accounts, no doubt, for your failure to see +them." + +"Mrs. Gaston will be looking for me before--" she began hesitatingly. + +"Or Mr. White, perhaps. Let me remind you that they have exceedingly +sharp eyes." + +"Mr. White is no longer here," she announced. + +His heart leaped. "Then I, at least, have nothing to fear," he said +quickly. + +She ignored the banality. "He left this afternoon. Very well, let us +take the seats over there. I rather like the--shall I say shadows?" + +"I too object to the limelight,--Bedelia," he said, offering her his +arm. + +"You are not to call me Bedelia," she said, holding back. + +"Then 'forgive us our transgressions' is to be applied in the usual +order, I presume." + +"Are you sorry you called me Bedelia?" she insisted, frowning ominously. + +"No. I'm sorry you object, that's all." + +They made their way through a maze of chairs and seated themselves in +the dim corner. Their view of the Jungfrau from this vine-screened +corner was not as perfect as it might have been, but the Jungfrau had +no present power of allurement for them. + +"I cannot stay very long," she said as she sank back in the comfortable +chair. + +He turned his back not only upon the occupants of the porch but the +lustrous Jungfrau, drawing his chair up quite close to hers. As he +leaned forward, with his elbows on the arms of the chair, she seemed to +slink farther back in the depths of hers, as if suddenly afraid of him. + +"Now, tell me everything," he said. "From beginning to end. What became +of you after that day at St. Cloud, whither have you journeyed, and +wherefore were you so bent on coming to this now blessed Interlaken?" + +"Easily answered. Nothing at all became of me. I journeyed thither, and +I came because I had set my heart on seeing the Jungfrau." + +"But you had seen it many times." + +"And I hoped that I might find peace and quiet here," she added quite +distinctly. + +"You expected to find me here, didn't you?" + +"Yes, but I did not regard you as a disturber of the peace." + +"You knew I would come, but you didn't know why, did you, Bedelia?" He +leaned a little closer. + +"Yes, I knew why," she said calmly, emotionlessly. He drew back +instantly, chilled by her directness. "You came because there was +promise of an interesting adventure, which you now are on the point of +making impossible by a rather rash exhibition of haste." + +He stared at her shadowy face in utter confusion. For a moment he was +speechless. Then a rush of protesting sincerity surged up within him +and he cried out in low, intense tones: "I cannot allow you to think +that of me, Miss Guile. If I have done or said anything to lead you to +believe that I am--" + +"Oh, I beg of you, Mr. Schmidt, do not enlarge upon the matter by +trying to apologise," she cried. + +"I am not trying to apologise," he protested. "I am trying to justify +what you are pleased to call an exhibition of haste. You see, it's just +this way: I am obliged to make hay while the sun shines, for soon I may +be cast into utter darkness. My days are numbered. In a fortnight I +shall be where I cannot call my soul my own. I--" + +"You alarm me. Are you to be sent to prison?" + +"You wouldn't look upon it as a prison, but it seems like one to me. Do +not laugh. I cannot explain to you now. Another day I shall tell you +everything, so pray take me for what I am to-day, and ask no questions. +I have asked no more of you, so do you be equally generous with me." + +"True," she said, "you have asked no questions of me. You take me for +what I am to-day, and yet you know nothing of my yesterdays or my +to-morrows. It is only fair that I should be equally confiding. Let +there be no more questions. Are we, however, to take each other +seriously?" + +"By all means," he cried. "There will come a day when you may +appreciate the full extent of my seriousness." + +"You speak in riddles." + +"Is the time ripe for me to speak in sober earnest?" he questioned +softly. She drew back again in swift alarm. + +"No, no! Not now--not yet. Do not say anything now, Mr. Schmidt, that +may put an end to our--to our adventure." + +She was so serious, so plaintive, and yet so shyly prophetic of comfort +yet to be attained, that his heart warmed with a mighty glow of +exaltation. A sweet feeling of tenderness swept over him. + +"If God is good, there can be but one end to our adventure," he said, +and then, for some mysterious reason, silence fell between them. Long +afterward--it seemed hours to him!--she spoke, and her voice was low +and troubled. + +"Can you guess why I am being watched so carefully, why I am being +followed so doggedly by men who serve not me but another?" + +"Yes. It is because you are the greatest jewel in the possession of a +great man, and he would preserve you against all varlets,--such as I." + +She did not reveal surprise at his shrewd conjecture. She nodded her +head and sighed. + +"You are right. I am his greatest jewel, and yet he would give me into +the keeping of an utter stranger. I am being protected against that +conscienceless varlet--Love! If love lays hands upon me--ah, my friend, +you cannot possibly guess what a calamity that would be!" + +"And love _will_ lay hands upon you, Bedelia,--" + +"I am sure of that," she said, once more serene mistress of herself +after a peculiarly dangerous lapse. "That is why I shudder. What could +be more dreadful than to fall into the clutches of that merciless foe +to peace? He rends one's heart into shreds; he stabs in the dark; he +thrusts, cuts and slashes and the wounds never heal; he blinds without +pity; he is overbearing, domineering, ruthless and his victims are +powerless to retaliate. Love is the greatest tyrant in all the world, +Mr. Schmidt, and we poor wretches can never hope to conquer him. We are +his prey, and he is rapacious. Do you not shudder also?" + +"Bless you, no! I'd rather enjoy meeting him in mortal combat. My +notion of bliss would be a fight to the death with love, for then the +conflict would not be one-sided. What could be more glorious than to +stand face to face with love, hand to hand, breast to breast, lip to +lip until the end of time? Let him cut and slash and stab if you will, +there would still be recompense for the vanquished. Even those who have +suffered most in the conflict with love must admit that they have had a +share in the spoils. One can't ignore the sweet hours when counting up +the bitter ones, after love has withdrawn from the tender encounter. +The cuts and slashes are cherished and memory is a store-house for the +spoils that must be shared with vanity." + +"It sounds like a book. Who is your favourite author?" she inquired +lightly. + +"Baedeker," he replied, with promptness. "Without my Baedeker, I should +never have chanced upon the route travelled by love, nor the hotel +where I now lodge in close proximity to--" + +"Will you please be sensible?" + +"You invite something to the contrary, Bedelia," he ventured. + +"Haven't I requested you to--" + +"I think of you only as Bedelia," he made haste to explain. "Bedelia +will stick to you forever, you see, while Miss Guile is almost +ephemeral. It cannot live long, you know, with so many other names +eager to take its place. But Bedelia--ah, Bedelia is everlasting." + +She laughed joyously, naturally. "You really are quite wonderful, Mr. +Schmidt. Still I must change the subject. I trust the change will not +affect your glibness, for it is quite exhilarating. How long do you +purpose remaining in Interlaken?" + +"That isn't changing the subject," said he. "I shall be here for a week +or ten days--or perhaps longer." He put it in the form of a question, +after all. + +"Indeed? How I envy you. I am sorry to say I shall have to leave in a +day or two." + +His face fell. "Why?" he demanded, almost indignantly. + +"Because I am enjoying myself," she replied. + +"I don't quite get your meaning." + +"I am having such a good time disobeying my father, Mr. Schmidt, and +eluding pursuers. It is only a matter of a day or two before I am +discovered here, so I mean to keep on dodging. It is splendid fun." + +"Do you think it is quite fair to me?" + +"Did I induce you to come here, good sir?" + +"You did," said he, with conviction. "Heaven is my witness. I would not +have come but for you. I am due at home by this time." + +"Are you under any obligations to remain in Interlaken for a week or +ten days?" + +"Not now," he replied. "Do you mind telling me where you are going to, +Miss Guile?" + +"First to Vienna, then--well, you cannot guess where. I have decided to +go to Edelweiss." + +"Edelweiss!" he exclaimed in astonishment. He could hardly believe his +ears. + +"It is the very last place in the world that my father would think of +looking for me. Besides I am curious to see the place. I understand +that the great Mr. Blithers is to be there soon, and the stupid Prince +who will not be tempted by millions, and it is even possible that the +extraordinary Miss Blithers may take it into her head to look the place +over before definitely refusing to be its Princess. I may find some +amusement--or entertainment as an on-looker when the riots begin." + +He was staring at her wide-eyed and incredulous. "Do you really mean to +say you are going to Graustark?" + +"I have thought of doing so. Don't you think it will be amusing to be +on the scene when the grand climax occurs? Of course, the Prince will +come off his high horse, and the girl will see the folly of her ways, +and old Mr. Blithers will run 'rough shod over everybody, and--but, +goodness, I can't even speculate on the possibilities." + +He was silent. So this was the way the wind blew, eh? There was but one +construction to be put upon her decision to visit the Capital of +Graustark. She _had_ taken it into her head "to look the place over +before definitely refusing to be its Princess!" His first thrill of +exultation gave way to a sickening sense of disappointment. + +All this time she was regarding him through amused, half-closed eyes. +She had a distinct advantage over him. She knew that he was the Prince +of Graustark; she had known it for many days. Perhaps if she had known +all the things that were in his cunning brain, she would not have +ventured so far into the comedy she was constructing. She would have +hesitated--aye, she might have changed her methods completely. But she +was in the mood to do and say daring things. She considered her +position absolutely secure, and so she could afford to enjoy herself +for the time being. There would be an hour of reckoning, no doubt, but +she was not troubled by its promise of castigation. + +"Poor Prince!" she sighed pityingly. He started. The remark was so +unexpected that he almost betrayed himself. It seemed profoundly +personal. "He will be in very hot water, I fear." + +He regarded her coldly. "And you want to be on hand to see him squirm, +I suppose." + +She took instant alarm. Was she going too far? His query was somewhat +disconcerting. + +"To be perfectly frank with you, Mr. Schmidt, I am going to Graustark +because no one will ever think of looking for me in such an +out-of-the-way place. I am serious now, so you must not laugh at me. +Circumstances are such that I prefer to seek happiness after a fashion +of my own. My parents love me, but they will not understand me. They +wish me to marry a man they have picked out for me. I intend to pick +out my own man, Mr. Schmidt. You may suspect, from all that you have +seen, that I am running away from home, from those who are dearest in +all the world to me. You knew that I was carefully watched in Paris. +You know that my father fears that I may marry a man distasteful to +him, and I suppose to my mother, although she is not so--" + +"Are his fears well-founded?" he asked, rudely interrupting her. "Is +there a man that he has cause to fear? Are--are you in love with some +one, Bedelia?" + +"Do not interrupt me. I want you to know that I am not running away +from home, that I shall return to it when I see fit, and that I am not +in love with the man they suspect. I want you to be just with me. You +are not to blame my father for anything, no matter how absurd his +actions may appear to you in the light of the past few days. It is +right that he should try to safeguard me. I am wayward but I am not +foolish. I shall commit no silly blunder, you may be sure of that. Now +do you understand me better?" + +She was very serious, very intense. He laid his hand on hers, and she +did not withdraw it. Emboldened, his hand closed upon the dainty +fingers and an instant later they were borne to his hot lips. + +"You have said that I came here in search of a light adventure," he +whispered, holding her hand close to his cheek as he bent nearer to +her. "You imply that I am a trifler, a light-o'-love. I want you to +understand me better. I came here because I--" + +"Stop!" she pleaded. "You must not say it. I am serious--yes, I know +that you are serious too. But you must wait. If you were to say it to +me now I should have to send you away and--oh, believe me, I do not +want to do that. I--I--" + +"You love no one else?" he cried, rapturously. + +She swayed slightly, as if incapable of resisting the appeal that +called her to his heart. Her lips were parted, her eyes glowed +luminously even in the shadows, and she scarcely breathed the words: + +"I love no one else." + +A less noble nature than his would have seized upon the advantage +offered by her sudden weakness. Instead, he drew a long, deep breath, +straightened his figure and as he gently released the imprisoned hand, +the prince in him spoke. + +"You have asked me to wait. I am sure that you know what is in my +heart. It will always be there. It will not cut and slash and stab, for +it is the most tender thing that has ever come into my life--or yours. +It must never be accused of giving pain to you, so I shall obey +you--and wait. You are right to avoid the risk of entrusting a single +word of hope to me. I am a passer-by. My sincerity, my honesty of +purpose remain to be proved. Time will serve my cause. I can only ask +you to believe in me--to trust me a little more each day--and to let +your heart be my judge." + +She spoke softly. "I believe in you, I trust you even now, or I would +not be here. You are kind to me. Few would have been so generous. We +both are passers-by. It is too soon for us to judge each other in the +full. I must be sure--oh, I must be sure of myself. Can you understand? +I must be sure of myself, and I am not sure now. You do not know how +much there is at stake, you can not possibly know what it would mean to +me if I were to discover that our adventure had no real significance in +the end. I know it sounds strange and mysterious, or you would not look +so puzzled. But unless I can be sure of one thing--one vital thing--our +adventure has failed in every respect. Now, I must go in. No; do not +ask me to stay--and let me go alone. I prefer it so. Good night, my +comrade." + +He stood up and let her pass. "Good night, my princess," he said, +clearly and distinctly. She shot a swift glance into his eyes, smiled +faintly, and moved away. His rapt gaze followed her. She entered the +door without so much as a glance over her shoulder. + +"My princess," he repeated wonderingly, to himself. "Have I kissed the +hand of my princess? God in heaven, is there on earth a princess more +perfect than she? Can there be in all this world another so deserving +of worship as she?" + +Late at night she sat in her window looking up at the peaceful +Jungfrau. A dreamy, ineffably sweet smile lay in her dark eyes. The +hand he kissed had lain long against her lips. To herself she had +repeated, over and over again, the inward whisper: + +"What will my dear, simple old dad say if I marry this man after all?" + +In a window not ten feet away, he was staring out into the night, with +lowering eyes and troubled heart, and in his mind he was saying: + +"What will my people do if I marry this woman after all?" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +LOVE IN ABEYANCE + + +Two days went by. They were fraught with an ever-increasing joy for the +two who were learning to understand each other through the mute, though +irresistible teachings of a common tutor. Each succeeding hour had its +exquisite compensation; each presented the cup of knowledge to lips +that were parched with the fever of impotence, and each time it was +returned empty by the seekers after wisdom. There were days in which +Love went harvesting and prospered amazingly in the fields, for each +moment that he stored away against the future was ripe with promise. He +was laying by the store on which he was to subsist to the end of his +days; he allowed no moment to go to waste, for he is a miser and full +of greed. Not one word of love passed between these two who waited for +the fruit to ripen. They were never alone together. Always they were +attended by the calm, keen-eyed Mrs. Gaston, who, though she may have +been in sympathy with their secret enterprise, was nevertheless a +dependable barrier to its hasty consummation. + +She had received her instructions from the one now most likely to be in +need of a deterring influence; the girl herself. After that evening on +the porch, Bedelia had gone straight to her duenna with the truth. Then +she made it clear to the good lady that she was not to be left alone +for an instant to confront the welcome besieger. And so it was that +when Robin and Bedelia walked or rode together, they were attended by +prevention. In the Casino, at the gaming tables, at the concert, or +even in the street he was never free to express a thought or emotion +that, under less guarded conditions, might have exposed her to the risk +she was so carefully avoiding. + +He understood the situation perfectly and was not resentful. He +appreciated the caution with which she was carrying on her own +campaign, and he was not unmindful of the benefits that might also +accrue to him through this proscribed period of reflection. While he +was sure of himself by this time, and fully determined to risk even his +crown for the girl who so calmly held him at bay, he was also sensible +of the wisdom of her course. She was not willing to subject herself or +him to the dangers of temptation. As she had said, there was a great +deal at stake; the rest of their lives, in truth. + +There was one little excursion to Grindelwald and its glacier, and +later an ascent of the Schynige Platte. Even a desperate horror of the +rack and pinion railway up and down the steep mountain did not daunt +the incomparable chaperone. (True, she closed her eyes and shrank as +far away from the edge of eternity as possible, but she stuck manfully +to her post.) He dined with them on the two evenings, and with them +heard the concerts. + +There were times when he was perplexed, and uncertain of her. At no +time did she relax into what might have been considered a receptive or +even an encouraging mood. He watched eagerly for the love-light that he +hoped to surprise in her eyes, but it never appeared. She was serene, +self-contained, natural. That momentary dissolving on her part when she +sat with him in the shadows was the only circumstance he had to base +his hopes upon. She had betrayed herself then by word and manner, but +now she had her emotions well in hand. + +Her lovely eyes met his frankly and without the faintest sign of +diffidence or self-consciousness. Her soft laugh was free and +unconstrained, her smile gay and remotely suggestive of mischief. At +times he thought she was playing the game too well for one who +professed to be concerned about the future. + +On the third day he was convicted of duplicity. She went off for a walk +alone, leaving him safely anchored in what he afterwards came to look +upon as a pre-arranged game of auction-bridge. When she came in after +an absence of at least two hours, the game was just breaking up. He +noted the questioning look that Mrs. Gaston bestowed upon her fair +charge, and also remarked that it contained no sign of reproof. The +girl went up to her room without so much as a word with him. Her face +was flushed and she carried her head disdainfully. He was greatly +puzzled. + +The puzzle was soon explained. He waited for her on the stairway as she +came down alone to dinner. + +"You told me that your friends were not in Interlaken, Mr. Schmidt," +she said coldly. "Why did you feel called upon to deceive me?" + +He bit his lip. For an instant he reflected, and then gave an evasive +answer. "I think I told you that I was alone in this hotel. Miss Guile. +My friends are at another hotel. I am not aware that--" + +"I have seen and talked with that charming old man, Mr. Totten," she +interrupted. "He has been here for days, and Mr. Dank as well. Do you +think that you have been quite fair with me?" + +He lowered his eyes. "I think I have been most fair to both of us," he +replied. "Will you believe me when I say that in a way I personally +requested them to leave this hotel and seek another? And will it +decrease your respect for me if I add that I wanted to have you all to +myself, so to speak, and not to feel that these good friends of mine +were--" + +"Why don't you look me in the face, Mr. Schmidt?" she broke in. He +looked up at once prepared to meet a look of disdain. To his surprise, +she was smiling. "I have talked it all over with Mrs. Gaston, and she +advised me to forgive you if you were in the least penitent +and--honest. Well, you have made an honest confession, I am satisfied. +Now, I have a confession to make. I have suspected all along that Mr. +Totten and Mr. Dank and the shadowy Mr. Gourou were in the town." + +"You suspected?" he cried in amazement and chagrin. + +"I was morally certain that they were here. Today my suspicions were +justified. I encountered Mr. Totten in the park beyond the +Jungfraublick. He was very much upset, I can assure you, but he +recovered with amazing swiftness. We sat on one of the benches in a +nice little nook and had a long, long talk. He is a charming man. I +have asked him to come to luncheon with us to-morrow, and to bring Mr. +Dank." + +"Good Lord, will wonders never--" + +"But I did not include the still invisible Mr. Gourou. I was afraid +that you would be too uncomfortable under the hawk-like eye of the +gentleman who so kindly warned us at the Pavilion Bleu." There was +gentle raillery in her manner. "I shall expect you to join us, Mr. +Schmidt. You have no other engagement?" + +"I--I shall be delighted," he stammered. + +She laid her hand gently upon his arm and a serious sweetness came into +her eyes. + +"Come," she said; "let us go in ahead of Mrs. Gaston. Let us have just +one little minute to ourselves, Mr. Schmidt." + +It was true that she came upon the Count in one of the paths of the +Kleine Rugen. He was walking slowly toward her, his eyes fixed +thoughtfully upon the ground. When she accosted him, he was plainly +confused, as she had said. After the first few passages in polite +though stilted conversation, his keen, grey eyes resumed their +thoughtful--it was even a calculating look. + +"Will you sit here with me for a while, Miss Guile?" he asked gently. +"I have something of the gravest importance to say to you." + +She sat beside him on the sequestered bench, and when she arose to +leave him an hour later, her cheek was warm with colour and her eyes +were filled with tenderness toward this grim, staunch old man who was +the friend of _her_ friend. She laid her hand in his and suffered him +to raise it to his lips. + +"I hope, my dear young lady," said he with simple directness, "that you +will not regard me as a stupid, interfering old meddler. God is my +witness, I have your best interests at heart. You are too good and +beautiful to--" + +"I shall always look upon you as the kindest of men!" she cried +impulsively, and left him. + +He stood watching her slender, graceful figure as she moved down the +sloping path and turned into the broad avenue. A smallish man with a +lean face came up from the opposite direction and stopped beside him. + +"Could you resist her, Quinnox, if you were twenty-two?" asked this man +in his quiet voice. + +Quinnox did not look around, but shook his head slowly. "I cannot +resist her at sixty-two, my friend. She is adorable." + +"I do not blame him. It is fate. _She_ is fate. Our work is done, my +friend. We have served our country well, but fate has taken the matter +out of our hands. There is nothing left for us to do but to fold our +arms and wait." Gourou revealed his inscrutable smile as he pulled at +his thin, scraggly moustache. He was shaking his head, as one who +resigns himself to the inevitable. + +After a long silence Quinnox spoke. + +"Our people will come to love their princess, Gourou." + +"Even as you and I, my friend," said the Baron. + +And then they held their heads erect and walked confidently down the +road their future sovereign had traversed before them. + +When Mrs. Gaston joined Robin and Bedelia at the table which had been +set for them in the _salle a manger_, she laid several letters before +the girl who picked them up instantly and glanced at the superscription +on each. + +"I think that all of them are important," said Mrs. Gaston +significantly. The smile on the girl's face had given way to a clouded +brow. She was visibly perturbed. + +"You will forgive me, Mr. Schmidt," she said nervously. "I must look at +them at once." + +He tried not to watch her face as she read what appeared to be a brief +and yet evidently important letter, but his rapt gaze was not to be so +easily managed. An exclamation of annoyance fell from her lips. + +"This is from a friend in Paris, Mr. Schmidt," she said, hesitatingly. +Then, as if coming to a quick decision: "My father has heard that I am +carrying on atrociously with a strange young man. It seems that it is a +_new_ young man. He is beside himself with rage. My friends have +already come in for severe criticism. He blames them for permitting his +daughter to run at large and to pick up with every Tom, Dick and Harry. +Dear me, I shudder when I think of what he will do to you, Mrs. Gaston. +He will take off your head completely. But never fear, you old dear, I +will see that it is put on again as neatly as ever. So, you see, Mr. +Schmidt, you now belong to that frightful order of nobodies, the Toms +and the Dicks and the Harrys." + +"I see that there is a newspaper clipping attached," he remarked. +"Perhaps your father has been saying something to the newspapers." It +was a mean speech and he regretted it instantly. + +She was not offended, however. Indeed, she may not have heard what he +said, for she was reading the little slip of printed matter. Suddenly +she tore it into tiny bits and scattered them under the table. Her +cheeks were red and her eyes glistened unmistakably with mortification. +He was never to know what was in that newspaper cutting, but he was +conscious of a sharp sensation of anger and pity combined. Whatever it +was, it was offensive to her, and his blood boiled. He noted the +expression of alarm and apprehension deepen in Mrs. Gaston's face. + +Bedelia slashed open another envelope and glanced at its contents. Her +eyes flew open with surprise. For an instant she stared, a frown of +perplexity on her brow. + +"We are discovered!" she cried a moment later, clapping her hands +together in an ecstasy of delight. "The pursuers are upon our heels. +Even now they may be watching me from behind some convenient post or +through some handy window pane. Isn't it fine? Don't look so horrified, +you old dear. They can't eat us, you know, even though we are in a +dining-room. I love it all! Followed by man-hunters! What could be more +thrilling? The chase is on again. Quick! We must prepare for flight!" + +"Flight?" gasped Robin. Her eyes were dancing. His were filled with +dismay. + +"It is as I feared," she cried. "They have found me out. Hurry! Let us +finish this wretched dinner. I must leave here to-night." + +"Impossible!" cried Mrs. Gaston. "Don't be silly. To-morrow will be +time enough. Calm yourself, my dear." + +"To-morrow at sunrise," cried Bedelia enthusiastically. "It is already +planned, Mr. Schmidt. I have engaged an automobile in anticipation of +this very emergency. The trains are not safe. To-morrow I fly again. +This letter is from the little stenographer in Paris. I bribed +her--yes, I bribed her with many francs. She is in the offices of the +great detective agency-'the Eye that never Sleeps!' I shall give her a +great many more of those excellent francs, my friends. She is an honest +girl. She did not fail me." + +"I don't see how you can say she is honest if she accepted a bribe," +said Mrs. Gaston severely. + +"Pooh!" was Miss Guile's sufficient answer to this. "We cross the +Brunig Pass by motor. That really is like flying, isn't it?" + +"To Lucerne?" demanded Robin, still hazily. + +"No, no! That would be madness. We shall avoid Lucerne. Miles and miles +to the north we will find a safe retreat for a day or two. Then there +will be a journey by rail to--to your own city of Vienna, Mr. Schmidt. +You--" + +"See here," said Robin flatly, "I don't understand the necessity for +all this rushing about by motor and--" + +"Of course you don't," she cried. "You are not being sought by a cruel, +inhuman monster of a father who would consign you to a most shudderable +fate! You don't have to marry a man whose very name you have hated. You +can pick and choose for yourself. And so shall I, for that matter. +You--" + +"You _adore_ your father," cut in Mrs. Gaston sharply. "I don't think +you should speak of him in that--" + +"Of course I adore him! He is a dear old bear. But he is a monster, an +ogre, a tyrant, a--oh, well, he is everything that's dreadful! You look +dreadfully serious, Mr. Schmidt. Do you think that I should submit to +my father's demands and marry the man he has chosen for me?" + +"I do," said Robin, abruptly and so emphatically that both of his +hearers jumped in their seats. He made haste to dissemble. "Of course, +I'd much rather have you do that than to break your neck rolling over a +precipice or something of the sort in a crazy automobile dash." + +Miss Guile recovered her poise with admirable promptness. Her smile was +a trifle uncertain, but she had a dependable wit. "If that is all that +you are afraid of, I'll promise to save my neck at all costs," she +said. "I could have many husbands but only one poor little neck." + +"You can have only one husband," said he, almost savagely. "By the way, +why don't you read the other letter?" He was regarding it with jealous +eyes, for she had slipped it, face downward, under the edge of her +plate. + +"It isn't important," she said, with a quick look into his eyes. She +convicted herself in that glance, and knew it on the instant. + +Angry with herself, she snatched up the letter and tore it open. Her +cheeks were flushed. She read however without betraying any additional +evidence of uneasiness or embarrassment. When she had finished, she +deliberately folded the sheets and stuck them back into the envelope +without comment. One looking over her shoulder as she read, however, +might have caught snatches of sentences here and there on the heavily +scrawled page. They were such as these: "You had led me to +hope," ... "for years I have been your faithful admirer," ... "Nor have I +wavered for an instant despite your whimsical attitude," ... "therefore +I felt justified in believing that you were sincere in your +determination to defy your father." And others of an even more caustic +nature: "You are going to marry this prince after all," ... "not that +you have ever by word or deed bound yourself to me, yet I had every +reason to hope," ... "Your father will be pleased to find that you are +obedient," ... "I am not mean enough to wish you anything but happiness, +although I know you will never achieve it through this sickening +surrender to vanity," ... "if I were a prince with a crown and a debt +that I couldn't pay," ... "admit that I have had no real chance to win +out against such odds," etc. + +She faced Robin coolly. "It will be necessary to abandon our little +luncheon for to-morrow. I am sorry. Still Mr. Totten informs me that he +will be in Vienna shortly. The pleasure is merely postponed." + +"Are you in earnest about this trip by motor to-morrow morning?" +demanded Robin darkly. "You surely cannot be--" + +"I am very much in earnest," she said decisively. He looked to Mrs. +Gaston for help. That lady placidly shook her head. In fact, she +appeared to be rather in favour of the preposterous plan, if one were +to judge by the rapt expression on her countenance. "I had the +supposedly honest word of these crafty gentlemen that I was not to be +interfered with again. They gave me their promise. I shall now give +them all the trouble possible." + +"But it will be a simple matter for them to find out how and when you +left this hotel and to trace you perfectly." + +"Don't be too sure of that," she said, exultantly. "I have a trick or +two up my sleeve that will baffle them properly, Mr. Schmidt." + +"My dear," interposed Mrs. Gaston severely, "do not forget yourself. It +isn't necessary to resort to slang in order--" + +"Slang is always necessary," avowed Bedelia, undisturbed. "Goodness, I +know I shall not sleep a wink to-night." + +"Nor I," said Robin gloomily. Suddenly his face lightened. A wild, +reckless gleam shot into his eyes and, to their amazement, he banged +the table with his fist. "By Jove, I know what I shall do. I'll go with +you!" + +"No!" cried Bedelia, aghast. "I--I cannot permit it, Mr. Schmidt. Can't +you understand? You--_you_ are the man with whom I am supposed to be +carrying on atrociously. What could be more convicting than to be +discovered racing over a mountain-pass--Oh, it is not to be +considered--not for an instant." + +"Well, I can tell you flatly just what I intend to do," said he, +setting his jaws. "I shall hire another car and keep you in sight every +foot of the way. You may be able to elude the greatest detective agency +in Europe, but you can't get away from me. I intend to keep you now +that I've got you, Bedelia. You can't shake me off. Where you go, I go." + +"Do you mean it?" she cried, a new thrill in her voice. He looked deep +into her eyes and read there a message that invited him to perform vast +though fool-hardy deeds. Her eyes were suddenly sweet with the love she +had never expected to know; her lips trembled with the longing for +kisses. "I shall travel far," she murmured. "You may find the task an +arduous one--keeping up with me, I mean." + +"I am young and strong," he said, "and, if God is good to me, I shall +live for fifty years to come, or even longer. I tingle with joy, +Bedelia, when I think of being near you for fifty years or more. +Have--have you thought of it in that light? Have you looked ahead and +said to yourself: fifty years have I to live and all of them with--" + +"Hush! I was speaking of a week's journey, not of a life's voyage, Mr. +Schmidt," she said, her face suffused. + +"I was speaking of a honeymoon," said he, and then remembered Mrs. +Gaston. She was leaning back in her chair, smiling benignly. He had an +uncomfortable thought: was he walking into a trap set for him by this +clever woman? Had she an ulterior motive in advancing his cause? + +"But it would be perfectly silly of you to follow me in a car," said +Bedelia, trying to regain her lost composure. "Perfectly silly, +wouldn't it, Mrs. Gas-ton?" + +"Perfectly," said Mrs. Gaston. + +"I will promise to see you in Vienna--" + +"I intend to see you every day," he declared, "from now till the end of +time." + +"Really, Mr. Schmidt, you--" + +"If there is one thing I despise beyond all reason, Bedelia, it is the +name of 'Schmidt'! I wish you wouldn't call me by that name." + +"I can't just call you 'Mister,'" she demurred. + +"Call me Rex for the present," said he. "I will supply you with a +better one later on." + +"May I call him Rex?" she inquired of her companion. + +"In moderation," said Mrs. Gaston. + +"Very well, then, Rex, I have changed my mind. I shall not cross the +Brunig by motor since you insist upon risking your neck in pursuit of +me. I shall go by train in the morning,--calmly, complacently, stupidly +by train. Instead of a thrilling dash for liberty over rocky heights +and through perilous gorges, I shall travel like any bourgeoise in a +second--or third class carriage, and the only thrill I shall have will +be when we stop for Baker's chocolate at the top of the Pass. By that +time I expect to be sufficiently hungry to be thrilled even by the +sight of a cake of chocolate. Will you travel in the carriage behind +me? I fancy it will be safe and convenient and you can't possibly be +far from my heels." + +"That's a sensible idea," he cried. "And we may be able to accommodate +your other pursuers on the same train. What's the sense of leaving them +behind? They'd only catch us up in the end, so we might just as well +take them along with us." + +"No. We will keep well ahead of them. I insist on that. They can't get +here before to-morrow afternoon, so we will be far in the lead. We will +be in Vienna in two days. There I shall say good-bye to you, for I am +going on beyond. I am going to Graustark, the new Blithers estate. +Surely you will not follow me there." + +"You are very much mistaken. I shall be there as soon as you and I +shall stay just as long, provided Mr. Blithers has no objections," said +Robin, with more calmness than he had hoped to display in the face of +her sudden thrust. + +"We are forgetting our dinner," said Mrs. Gaston quietly. "I think the +waiter is annoyed." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +MR. BLITHERS ARRIVES IN GRAUSTARK + + +Mr. William W. Blithers arrived in Edelweiss, the Capital of Graustark, +on the same day that the Prince returned from his tour of the world. As +a matter of fact, he travelled by special train and beat the Prince +home by the matter of three hours. The procession of troops, headed by +the Royal Castle Guard, it was announced would pass the historic Hotel +Regengetz at five in the afternoon, so Mr. Blithers had front seats on +the extension porch facing the Platz. + +He did not know it, but if he had waited for the regular train in +Vienna, he would have had the honour of travelling in the same railway +carriage with the royal young man. ("Would" is used advisedly in the +place of "might," for he _would_ have travelled in it, you may be sure.) + +Moreover, he erred in another particular, for arriving at the same +instant and virtually arm-in-arm with the country's sovereign, he could +hardly have been kept out of the procession itself. When you stop to +think that next to the Prince he was the most important personage in +the realm on this day of celebration, it ought not to be considered at +all unreasonable for him to have expected some notable attention, such +as being placed in the first carriage immediately behind the country's +sovereign, or possibly on the seat facing him. Missing an opportunity +like this, wasn't at all Mr. Blithers' idea of success. He was very +sorry about the special train. If it hadn't been for that train he +might now be preparing to ride castlewards behind a royal band instead +of sitting with his wife in the front row of seats on a hotel porch, +just like a regular guest, waiting for the parade to come along. It +certainly was a wasted opportunity. + +He had lost no time in his dash across the continent. In the first +place, his agents in Paris made it quite clear to him that there was +likely to be "ructions" in Graustark over the loan and the prospect of +a plebeian princess being seated on the throne whether the people liked +it or not; and in the second place, Maud Applegate had left a note on +his desk in the Paris offices, coolly informing him that she was likely +to turn up in Edelweiss almost as soon as he. She added an annoying +postscript. She said she was curious to see what sort of a place it was +that he had been wasting his money on! + +To say that he was put out by Maud's aggravating behaviour would be +stating the case with excessive gentleness. He was furious. He sent for +the head of the detective agency and gave him a blowing up that he was +never to forget. It appears that the detectives had followed a false +lead and had been fooled by the wary Maud in a most humiliating manner. +They hadn't the remotest notion where she was, and evinced great +surprise when informed in a voice loud enough to be heard a half-block +away that she was on her way to Graustark. They said it couldn't be +possible, and he said they didn't know what they were talking about. He +was done with them. They could step out and ask the cashier to give +them a check for their services, and so on and so forth. He did not +forget to notify them that they were a gang of loafers. + +Then he dragged Mrs. Blithers off to the Gare de l'Este and took the +Express to Vienna. He would see to the loan first and to Maud afterward. + +He had no means of knowing that a certain Miss Guile was doing more to +shape the destiny of the principality of Graustark than all the +millions he had poured into its treasury. Nor had he the faintest +suspicion that she was even then on Graustark soil and waiting as +eagerly as he for the procession to pass a given point. + +Going back a day or two, it becomes necessary to report that while in +Vienna the perverse Bedelia played a shabby trick on the infatuated +Robin. She stole away from the Bristol in the middle of the night and +was half-way to the Graustark frontier before he was aware of her +flight. She left a note for him, the contents of which sufficed to ease +his mind in the presence of what otherwise might have been looked upon +as a calamity. Instead of relapsing into despondency over her +defection, he became astonishingly exuberant. It was relief and not +despair that followed the receipt of the brief letter. She had played +directly into his hand, after all. In other words, she had removed a +difficulty that had been troubling him for days: the impossibility of +entering his own domain without betraying his identity to her. +Naturally his entrance to the Capital would be attended by the most +incriminating manifestation on the part of the populace. The character +of R. Schmidt would be effaced in an instant, and, according to his own +notion, quite a bit too soon to suit his plans. He preferred to remain +Schmidt until she placed her hand in his and signified a readiness to +become plain Mrs. R. Schmidt of Vienna. That would be his hour of +triumph. + +In her note she said: "Forgive me for running away like this. It is for +the best. I must have a few days to myself, dear friend,--days for +sober reflection uninfluenced by the presence of a natural enemy to +composure. And so I am leaving you in this cowardly, graceless fashion. +Do not think ill of me. I give you my solemn promise that in a few days +I shall let you know where I may be found if you choose to come to me. +Even then I may not be fully convinced in my own mind that our +adventure has reached its climax. You have said that you would +accompany me to Graustark. I am leaving to-night for that country, +where I shall remain in seclusion for a few days before acquainting you +with my future plans. It is not my intention to stop in Edelweiss at +present. The newspapers proclaim a state of unrest there over the +coming visit of Mr. Blithers and the return of the Prince, both of whom +are very much in the public eye just now. I prefer the quiet of the +country to the excitement of the city, so I shall seek some remote +village and give myself up to--shall I say prayerful meditation? +Believe me, dear Rex, to be your most devoted, though whimsical, +Bedelia." + +He was content with this. Deep down in his heart he thanked her for +running away at such an opportune time! The situation was immeasurably +simplified. He had laid awake nights wondering how he could steal into +his own domain with her as a companion and still put off the revelation +that he was not yet ready to make. Now the way was comparatively easy. +Once the demonstration was safely over, he could carry on his adventure +with something of the same security that made the prowlings of the +Bagdad Caliphs such happy enterprises, for he could with impunity +traverse the night in the mantle of R. Schmidt. + +Immediately upon receiving her letter, he sent for Quinnox and Gourou, +who were stopping at a hotel nearby. + +"I am ready to proceed to Edelweiss, my friends," said he. "Miss Guile +has departed. Will you book accommodations on the earliest train +leaving for home?" + +"I have already seen to that, highness," said Gourou calmly. "We leave +at six this evening. Count Quinnox has wired the Prime Minister that +you will arrive in Edelweiss at three to-morrow afternoon, God willing." + +"You knew that she had gone?" + +"I happened to be in the Nordbahnhof when she boarded the train at +midnight," replied the Baron, unmoved. + +"Do you never sleep?" demanded Robin hotly. + +"Not while I am on duty," said Gourou. + +The Prince was thoughtful, his brow clouding with a troubled frown. "I +suppose I shall now have to face my people with the confession that +will confirm their worst fears. I may as well say to you, my friends, +that I mean to make her my wife even though it costs me my kingdom. Am +I asking too much of you, gentlemen, when I solicit your support in my +fight against the prejudice that is certain to--" + +Quinnox stopped him with a profound gesture of resignation and a single +word: "Kismet!" and Gourou, with his most ironic smile, added: "You may +count on us to support the crown, highness, even though we lose our +heads." + +"Thank you," said Robin, flushing. "Just because I appear to have lost +my head is no reason for your doing the same, Baron Gourou." + +The Baron's smile was unfaltering. "True," he said. "But we may be able +to avoid all that by inducing the people of Graustark to lose their +hearts." + +"Do you think they will accept her as--as their princess?" cried Robin, +hopefully. + +"I submit that it will first be necessary for you to induce Miss Guile +to accept you as her prince," said Gourou mildly. "That doesn't appear +to be settled at present." + +He took alarm. "What do you mean? Your remark has a sinister sound. Has +anything transpired to--" + +"She has disappeared, highness, quite effectually. That is all that I +can say," said Gourou, and Robin was conscious of a sudden chill and +the rush of cold moisture to his brow. "But let us prepare to confront +an even more substantial condition. A prospective father-in-law is +descending upon our land. He is groping in the dark and he is angry. He +has lost a daughter somewhere in the wilds of Europe, and he realises +that he cannot hope to become the grandfather of princes unless he can +produce a mother for them. At present he seems to be desperate. He +doesn't know where to find her, as Little Bo-peep might have said. We +may expect to catch him in a very ugly and obstreperous mood. Have I +told you that he was in this city last night? He arrived at the Bristol +a few hours prior to the significant departure of Miss Guile. Moreover, +he has chartered a special train and is leaving to-day for Edelweiss. +Count Quinnox has taken the precaution to advise the Prime Minister of +his approach and has impressed upon him the importance of decrying any +sort of popular demonstration against him on his arrival. Romano +reports that the people are in an angry mood. I would suggest that you +prepare, in a way, to placate them, now that Miss Guile has more or +less dropped out of sight. It behooves you to--" + +"See here," broke in Robin harshly, "have you had the effrontery to +make a personal appeal to Miss Guile in your confounded efforts to +prevent the--" + +"Just a moment, Robin," exclaimed Count Quinnox, his face hardening. "I +am sorry to hear words of anger on your lips, and directed toward your +most loyal friends. You ask us to support you and in the next breath +imply that we are unworthy. It is beneath the dignity of either Baron +Gourou or myself to reply to your ungenerous charge." + +"I beg your pardon," said Robin, but without lowering his head. He was +not convinced. The barb of suspicion had entered his brain. Were they, +after all, responsible for Bedelia's flight? Had they revealed his +identity to the girl and afterward created such alarm in her breast +that she preferred to slink away in the night rather than to court the +humiliation that might follow if she presumed to wed Graustark's prince +in opposition to his country's wish? "You must admit that the +circumstance of her secret flight last night is calculated to--But, no +matter. We will drop the subject. I warn you, however, that my mind is +fixed. I shall not rest until I have found her." + +"I fancy that the state of unrest will be general," said Gourou, with +perfect good-nature. "It will go very hard with Graustark if we fail to +find her. And now, to return to our original sin: What are we to do +about the ambitious Mr. Blithers? He is on my conscience and I tremble." + +It must not be supposed for an instant that the City of Edelweiss and +the court of Graustark was unimpressed by the swift approach and abrupt +arrival of Mr. Blithers. His coming had been heralded for days in +advance. The city was rudely expectant, the court uneasy. The man who +had announced his determination to manage the public and private +affairs of the principality was coming to town. He was coming in state, +there could be no doubt about that. More than that, he was coming to +propitiate the people whether they chose to be mollified or not. He was +bringing with him a vast store of business acumen, an unexampled +confidence and the self-assurance of one who has never encountered +failure. Shylock's mantle rested on his hated shoulders, and Judas +Iscariot was spoken of with less abhorrence than William W. Blithers by +the Christian country of Graustark. He was coming to get better +acquainted with his daughter's future subjects. + +Earlier in the week certain polite and competent gentlemen from Berlin +had appeared at the Castle gates, carrying authority from the dauntless +millionaire. They calmly announced that they had come to see what +repairs were needed in and about the Castle and to put the place in +shape. A most regrettable incident followed. They were chased out of +town by an angry mob and serious complications with the German Empire +were likely to be the result of the outrage. + +Moreover, the citizens of Graustark were openly reluctant to deposit +their state bonds as security for the unpopular loan, and there was a +lively sentiment in favour of renouncing the agreement entered into by +the cabinet. + +The Prime Minister, in the absence of the Prince, called mass meetings +in all the towns and villages and emissaries of the crown addressed the +sullen crowds. They sought to clarify the atmosphere. So eloquent were +their pleadings and so sincere their promises that no evil would befall +the state, that the more enlightened of the people began to deposit +their bonds in the crown treasury. Others, impressed by the confidence +of their more prosperous neighbours, showed signs of weakening. The +situation was made clear to them. There could be no possible chance of +loss from a financial point of view. Their bonds were safe, for the +loan itself was a perfectly legitimate transaction, a conclusion which +could not be gainsaid by the most pessimistic of the objectors. Mr. +Blithers would be paid in full when the time came for settlement, the +bonds would be restored to their owners, and all would be well with +Graustark. + +As for the huge transactions Mr. Blithers had made in London, Paris and +Berlin, there could be but one conclusion: he had the right to invest +his money as he pleased. That was his look-out. The bonds of Graustark +were open to purchase in any market. Any investor in the world was +entitled to buy all that he could obtain if he felt inclined to put his +money to that use. The earnest agents of the government succeeded in +convincing the people that Mr. Blithers had made a good investment +because he was a good business man. What did it matter to Graustark who +owned the outstanding bonds? It might as well be Blithers as Bernstein +or any one else. + +As for Miss Blithers becoming the Princess of Graustark, that was +simple poppy-cock, declared the speakers. The crown could take oath +that Prince Robin would not allow _that_ to happen. Had he not declared +in so many words that he would never wed the daughter of William +Blithers, and, for that matter, hadn't the young woman also announced +that she would have none of him? There was one thing that Mr. Blithers +couldn't do, and that was to marry his daughter to the Prince of +Graustark. + +And so, by the time that Mr. Blithers arrived in Edelweiss, the people +were in a less antagonistic frame of mind,--though sullenly +suspicious,--and were even prepared to grin in their sleeves, for, +after all, it was quite clear that the joke was not on them but on Mr. +Blithers. + +When the special train pulled into the station Mr. Blithers turned to +his wife and said: + +"Cheer up, Lou. This isn't a funeral." + +"But there is quite a mob out there," she said, peering through the car +window. "How can we be sure that they are friendly?" + +"Don't you worry," said Mr. Blithers confidently. "They are not likely +to throw rocks at the goose that lays the golden egg." If he had paused +to think, he would not have uttered such a careless indictment. The +time would come when she was to remind him of his thoughtless +admission, omitting, however, any reference to the golden egg. + +The crowd was big, immobile, surly. It lined the sidewalks in the +vicinity of the station and stared with curious, half-closed eyes at +the portly capitalist and his party, which, by the way, was rendered +somewhat imposing in size by augmentation in the shape of lawyers from +Paris and London, clerks and stenographers from the Paris office, and +four plain clothes men who were to see to it that Midas wasn't blown to +smithereens by envious anarchists; to say nothing of a lady's maid, a +valet, a private secretary and a doctor. (Mr. Blithers always went +prepared for the worst.) + +He was somewhat amazed and disgruntled by the absence of silk-hat +ambassadors from the Castle, with words of welcome for him on his +arrival. There was a plentiful supply of policemen but no cabinet +ministers. He was on the point of censuring his secretary for not +making it clear to the government that he was due to arrive at such and +such an hour and minute, when a dapper young man in uniform--he +couldn't tell whether he was a patrolman or a captain--came up and +saluted. + +"I am William W. Blithers," said he sharply. + +"I am an official guide and interpreter, sir," announced the young man +suavely. "May I have the honour--" + +"Not necessary--not necessary at all," exploded Mr. Blithers. "I can +get about without a guide." + +"You will require an interpreter, sir," began the other, only to be +waved aside. + +"Any one desiring to speak to me will have to do it in English," said +Mr. Blithers, and marched out to the carriages. + +He was in some doubt at first, but as his carriage passed swiftly +between the staring ranks on the sidewalks, he began to doff his hat +and bow to the right and the left. His smiles were returned by the +multitude, and so his progress was more or less of a triumph after all. + +At the Regengetz he found additional cause for irritation. The lords +and nobles who should have met him at the railway station were as +conspicuously absent in the rotunda of the hotel. No one was there to +receive him except the ingratiating manager of the establishment, who +hoped that he had had a pleasant trip and who assured him that it would +not be more than a couple of hours before his rooms would be vacated by +the people who now had them but were going away as soon as the +procession had passed. + +"Get 'em out at once," stormed Mr. Blithers. "Do you think I want to +hang around this infernal lobby until--" + +"Pardon me," said the manager blandly, "but your rooms will not be +ready for you before four or five o'clock. They are occupied. We can +put you temporarily in rooms at the rear if your lady desires to rest +and refresh herself after the journey." + +"Well, I'll be--" began Mr. Blithers, purple in the face, and then +leaned suddenly against the counter, incapable of finishing the +sentence. + +The manager rubbed his hands and smiled. "This is one of our gala days, +Mr. Blithers. You could not have arrived at a time more opportune. I +have taken the precaution to reserve chairs for you on the verandah. +The procession will pass directly in front of the hotel on its way to +Castle avenue." + +"What procession?" demanded Mr. Blithers. He was beginning to recall +the presence of uniformed bands and mounted troops in the side streets +near the station. + +"The Prince is returning to-day from his trip around the world," said +the manager. + +"He ought to have been back long ago," said Mr. Blithers wrathfully, +and mopped his brow with a hand rendered unsteady by a mental +convulsion. He was thinking of his hat-lifting experience. + +True to schedule, the procession passed the hotel at five. Bands were +playing, people were shouting, banners were waving, and legions of +mounted and foot soldiers in brilliant array clogged the thoroughfare. +The royal equipage rolled slowly by, followed by less gorgeous +carriages in which were seated the men who failed to make the advent of +Mr. Blithers a conspicuous success. + +Prince Robin sat in the royal coach, faced by two unbending officers of +the Royal Guard. He was alone on the rear seat, and his brown, handsome +face was aglow with smiles. Instead of a hat of silk, he lifted a gay +and far from immaculate conception in straw; instead of a glittering +uniform, he wore a suit of blue serge and a peculiarly American tie of +crimson hue. He looked more like a popular athlete returning from +conquests abroad than a prince of ancient lineage. But the crowd +cheered itself hoarse over this bright-faced youngster who rode by in a +coach of gold and brandished a singularly unregal chapeau. + +His alert eyes were searching the crowd along the street, in the +balconies and windows with an eager intensity. He was looking for the +sweet familiar face of the loveliest girl on earth, and knew that he +looked in vain, for even though she were one among the many her +features would be obscured by an impenetrable veil. If she were there, +he wondered what her thoughts might be on beholding the humble R. +Schmidt in the role of a royal prince receiving the laudations of the +loving multitude! + +Passing the Regengetz, his eyes swept the rows of cheering people +banked upon its wide terrace and verandahs. He saw Mr. and Mrs. +Blithers well down in front, and for a second his heart seemed to stand +still. Would she be with them? It was with a distinct sensation of +relief that he realised that she was not with the smiling Americans. + +Mr. Blithers waved his hat and, instead of shouting the +incomprehensible greeting of the native spectators, called out in +vociferous tones: + +"Welcome home! Welcome! Hurrah!" + +As the coach swerved into the circle and entered the great, tree-lined +avenue, followed by the clattering chorus of four thousand horse-shoes, +Mrs. Blithers after a final glimpse of the disappearing coach, sighed +profoundly, shook out her handkerchief from the crumpled ball she had +made of it with her nervously clenched fingers, touched her lips with +it and said: + +"Oh, what a remarkably handsome, manly boy he is, Will." + +Mr. Blithers nodded his head proudly. "He certainly is. I'll bet my +head that Maud is crazy about him already. She can't help it, Lou. That +trip on the _Jupiter_ was a God-send." + +"I wish we could hear something from her," said Mrs. Blithers, +anxiously. + +"Don't you worry," said he. "She'll turn up safe and sound and +enthusiastic before she's a week older. We'll have plain sailing from +now on, Lou." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A VISIT TO THE CASTLE + + +Mr. Blithers indeed experienced plain sailing for the ensuing twenty +hours. It was not until just before he set forth at two the next +afternoon to attend, by special appointment, a meeting of the cabinet +in the council chamber at the Castle that he encountered the first +symptom of squalls ahead. + +He had sent his secretary to the Castle with a brief note suggesting an +early conference. It naturally would be of an informal character, as +there was no present business before them. The contracts had already +been signed by the government and by his authorised agents. So far as +the loan was concerned there was nothing more to be said. Everything +was settled. True, it was still necessary to conform to a certain +custom by having the Prince affix his signature to the contract over +the Great Seal of State, but as he previously had signed an agreement +in New York this brief act was of a more or less perfunctory nature. + +The deposit of bonds by the state and its people would follow in course +of time, as prescribed by contract, and Mr. Blithers was required to +place in the Bank of Graustark, on such and such a date, the sum of +three million pounds sterling. Everybody was satisfied with the terms +of the contract. Mr. Blithers was to get what really amounted to nearly +nine percent on a gilt-edged investment, and Graustark was to preserve +its integrity and retain its possessions. + +There was a distant cloud on the financial horizon, however, a vague +shadow at present,--but prophetic of storm. It was perfectly clear to +the nobles that when these bonds matured, Mr. Blithers would be in a +position to exact payment, and as they matured in twelve years from +date he was likely to be pretty much alive and kicking when the hour of +reckoning arrived. + +Mr. Blithers was in the mood to be amiable. He anticipated considerable +pleasure in visiting the ancient halls of his prospective +grandchildren. During the forenoon he had taken a motor ride about the +city with Mrs. Blithers, accompanied by a guide who created history for +them with commendable glibness and some veracity, and pointed out the +homes of great personages as well as the churches, monuments and +museums. He also told them in a confidential undertone that the Prince +was expected to marry a beautiful American girl and that the people +were enchanted with the prospect! That sly bit of information realised +ten dollars for him at the end of the trip, aside from his customary +fee. + +The first shock to the placidity of Mr. Blithers came with the brief +note in reply to his request for an informal conference. The Lord +Chamberlain curtly informed him that the Cabinet would be in session at +two and would be pleased to grant him an audience of half an hour, +depending on his promptness in appearing. + +Mr. Blithers was not accustomed to being granted audiences. He had got +into the habit of having them thrust upon him. It irritated him +tremendously to have any one measure time for him. Why, even the +President of the United States, the Senate, or the District Attorney in +New York couldn't do _that_ for him. And here was a whipper-snapper +Lord Chamberlain telling him that the Cabinet would grant him +half-an-hour! He managed to console himself, however, with the thought +that matters would not always be as they were at present. There would +be a decided change of tune later on. + +It would be folly to undertake the depiction of Mr. Blithers' first +impressions of the Castle and its glories, both inside out. To begin +with, he lost no small amount of his assurance when he discovered that +the great gates in the wall surrounding the park were guarded by +resplendent dragoons who politely demanded his "pass." After the +officer in charge had inspected the Lord Chamberlain's card as if he +had never seen one before, he ceremoniously indicated to a warden that +the gates were to be opened. There was a great clanking of chains, the +drawing of iron bolts, the whirl of a windlass, and the ponderous gates +swung slowly ajar. + +Mr. Blithers caught his breath--and from that instant until he found +himself crossing the great hall in the wake of an attendant delegated +to conduct him to the council chamber his sensations are not to be +described. It is only necessary to say that he was in a reverential +condition, and that is saying a great deal for Mr. Blithers. A certain +bombastic confidence in himself gave way to mellow timidity. He was in +a new world. He was cognisant of a distinct sensation of awe. His +ruthless Wall Street tread became a mincing, uncertain shuffle; he +could not conquer the absurd notion that he ought to tip-toe his way +about these ancient halls with their thick, velvety rugs and whispering +shadows. + +Everywhere about him was pomp, visible and invisible. It was in the +great stairway, the vaulted ceilings, the haughty pillars, over all of +which was the sheen of an age that surpassed his comprehension. Rigid +servitors watched his progress through the vast spaces--men with grim, +unsmiling faces. He knew, without seeing, that this huge pile was alive +with noble lords and ladies: The court! Gallantry and beauty to mock +him with their serene indifference! + +Somewhere in this great house beautiful women were idling, or feasting, +or dreaming. He was conscious of their presence all about him, and +shrank slightly as he wondered if they were scrutinising his ungainly +person. He was suddenly ashamed of his tight-fitting cut-a-way coat and +striped trousers. Really he ought to get a new suit! These garments +were much too small for him. + +Were ironic eyes taking in the fresh creases in those New York +trousers? Were they regarding his shimmering patent leather shoes with +an intelligence that told them that he was in pain? Were they wondering +how much he weighed and why he didn't unbutton his coat when he must +have known that it would look better if it didn't pinch him so tightly +across the chest? Above all things, were they smiling at the corpulent +part of him that preceded the rest of his body, clad in an immaculate +waistcoat? He never had felt so conspicuous in his life, nor so certain +that he was out of place. + +Coming in due time--and with a grateful heart--to a small ante-chamber, +he was told to sit down and wait. He sat down very promptly. In any +other house he would have sauntered around, looking at the emblems, +crests and shields that hung upon the walls. But now he sat and +wondered. He wondered whether this could be William W. Blithers. Was +this one of the richest men in the world--this fellow sitting here with +his hands folded tightly across his waistcoat? He was forced to admit +that it was and at the same time it wasn't. + +The attendant returned and he was ushered into a second chamber, at the +opposite end of which was a large, imposing door--closed. Beside this +door stood a slim, erect figure in the red, blue and gold uniform of an +officer of the Castle guard. As Mr. Blithers approached this rigid +figure, he recognised a friend and a warm glow pervaded his heart. +There could be no mistaking the smart moustache and supercilious +eye-brows. It was Lieutenant Dank. + +"How do you do?" said Mr. Blithers. "Glad to see you again." His voice +sounded unnatural. He extended his hand. + +Dank gave him a ceremonious salute, bowed slightly but without a smile, +and then threw open the door. + +"Mr. Blithers, my lords," he announced, and stood aside to let the +stranger in a strange land pass within. + +A number of men were seated about a long table in the centre of this +imposing chamber. No one arose as Mr. Blithers entered the room and +stopped just inside the door. He heard it close gently behind him. He +was at a loss for the first time in his life. He didn't know whether he +was to stop just inside the door fingering his hat like a messenger +boy, or go forward and join the group. His gaze fell upon a huge oaken +chair at the far end of the table. It was the only unoccupied seat that +came within the scope of his rather limited vision. He could not see +anything beyond the table and the impassive group that surrounded it. +Was it possible that the big chair was intended for him? If so, how +small and insignificant he would look upon it. He had a ghastly notion +that his feet would not touch the floor, and he went so far as to +venture the hope that there would be a substantial round somewhere +about midway from the bottom. + +He had appeared before the inquisitorial committees in the United +States Senate, and had not been oppressed by the ponderous gravity of +the investigation. He had faced the Senators without a tremor of awe. +He had even regarded them with a confidence, equal if not superior to +their own. But now he faced a calm, impassive group of men who seemed +to strip him down to the flesh with a cool, piercing interest, and who +were in no sense impressed by what they saw. + +Despite his nervousness he responded to the life long habit of +calculation. He counted the units in the group in a single, rapid +glance, and found that there were eleven. Eleven lords of the realm! +Eleven stern, dignified, unsmiling strangers to the arrogance of +William W. Blithers! Something told him at once that he could not spend +an informal half-hour with them. Grim, striking, serious visages, all +of them! The last hope for his well-fed American humour flickered and +died. He knew that it would never do to regale them in an informal +off-hand way--as he had planned--with examples of native wit. + +Reverting to the precise moment of his entrance to the Castle, we find +Mr. Blithers saying to himself that there wasn't the slightest use in +even hoping that he might be invited to transfer his lodgings from the +Regengetz to the Royal bed-chambers. The chance of being invited to +dine there seemed to dwindle as well. While he sat and waited in the +first antechamber he even experienced strange misgivings in respect to +parental privileges later on. + +After what appeared to him to be an interminable length of time, but in +reality no more than a few seconds, a tall man arose from his seat and +advanced with outstretched hand. Mr. Blithers recognised Count Quinnox, +the Minister of War. He shook that friendly hand with a fervour that +must have surprised the Count. Never in all his life had he been so +glad to see any one. + +"How are you, my lord," said the king of finance, fairly meek with +gratefulness. + +"Excellently well, Mr. Blithers," returned the Count. "And you?" + +"Never better, never better," said Mr. Blithers, again pumping the +Count's hand up and down--with even greater heartiness than before. +"Glad to see you. Isn't it a pleasant day? I was telling Mrs. Blithers +this morning that I'd never seen a pleasanter day. We--" + +"Let me introduce you to my colleagues, Mr. Blithers," interrupted the +Count. + +"Happy, I'm sure," mumbled Mr. Blithers. To save his life, he couldn't +tell what had got into him. He had never acted like this before. + +The Count was mentioning the names of dukes, counts and barons, and Mr. +Blithers was bowing profoundly to each in turn. No one offered to shake +hands with him, although each rose politely, even graciously. They even +smiled. He remembered that very well afterwards. They smiled kindly, +almost benignly. He suddenly realised what had got into him. It was +respect. + +"A chair, Franz," said the white haired, gaunt man who was called Baron +Romano. "Will you sit here, Mr. Blithers? Pray forgive our delay in +admitting you. We were engaged in a rather serious discussion over--" + +"Oh, that's all right," said Mr. Blithers, magnanimously. "Am I +interfering with any important business, gent--my lords? If so, just--" + +"Not at all, Mr. Blithers. Pray be seated." + +"Sure I'm not taking any one's seat?" + +"A secretary's, sir. He can readily find another." + +Mr. Blithers sat down. He was rather pleased to find that the big chair +was not meant for him. A swift intuition told him that it was reserved +for the country's ruler. + +"The Prince signed the contracts just before you arrived, Mr. +Blithers," said Baron Romano. "The seal has been affixed to each of the +documents, and your copy is ready for delivery at any time." + +Mr. Blithers recovered himself slightly. "You may send it to the hotel, +Baron, at any time to-morrow. My lawyers will have a look at it." Then +he made haste to explain: "Not that it is really necessary, but just as +a matter of form. Besides, it gives the lawyers something to do." He +sent an investigating glance around the room. + +"The Prince has retired," said the Baron, divining the thought. "He +does not remain for the discussions." Glancing at the huge old clock +above the door, the Prime Minister assumed a most business-like air. +"It will doubtless gratify you to know that three-fourths of the bonds +have been deposited, Mr. Blithers, and the remainder will be gathered +in during the week. Holders living in remote corners of our country +have not as yet been able to reach us with their securities. A week +will give them sufficient time, will it not, Count Lazzar?" + +"I may safely say that all the bonds will be in our hands by next +Tuesday at the latest," said the Minister of the Treasury. He was a +thin, ascetic man; his keen eyes were fixed rather steadily upon Mr. +Blithers. After a moment's pause, he went on: "We are naturally +interested in your extensive purchases of our outstanding bonds, Mr. +Blithers. I refer to the big blocks you have acquired in London, Paris +and Berlin." + +"Want to know what I bought them for?" inquired Mr. Blithers amiably. + +"We have wondered not a little at your readiness to invest such a +fortune in our securities." + +"Well, there you have it. Investment, that's all. Your credit is sound, +and your resources unquestioned, your bonds gilt-edge. I am glad of the +opportunity to take a few dollars out of Wall Street uncertainties and +put 'em into something absolutely certain. Groo--Gras--er--Groostock +bonds are pretty safe things to have lying in a safety vault in these +times of financial unrest. They create a pretty solid fortune for my +family,--that is to say, for my daughter and her children. A sensible +business man,--and I claim to be one,--looks ahead, my lords. Railroads +are all right as long as you are alive and can run them yourself. It's +after you are dead that they fail to do what is expected of them. New +fingers get into the pie, and you never can tell what they'll pull out +in their greediness. I cannot imagine anything safer in the shape of an +investment than the bonds of a nation that has a debt of less than +fifty million dollars. As a citizen of a republic whose national debt +is nearly a billion, I confess that I can't see how you've managed so +well." + +"We are so infinitesimal, Mr. Blithers, that I daresay we could be lost +in the smallest of your states," said Baron Romano, with a smile. + +"Rhode Island is pretty small," Mr. Blithers informed him, without a +smile. + +"It is most gratifying to Graustark to know that you value our +securities so highly as a legacy," said Count Lazzar, suavely. "May I +venture the hope, however, that your life may be prolonged beyond the +term of their existence? They expire in a very few years--a dozen, in +fact." + +"Oh, I think I can hang on that long," said Mr. Blithers, a little more +at ease. He was saying to himself that these fellows were not so bad, +after all. "Still one never knows. I may be dead in a year. My +daughter--but, of course, you will pardon me if I don't go into my +private affairs. I fear I have already said too much." + +"On the contrary, sir, we are all only too willing to be edified. The +workings of an intelligence such as jours cannot fail to be of interest +to us who are so lacking in the power to cope with great undertakings. +I confess to a selfish motive in asking you about your methods +of--er--investment," said the Minister of Finance. Mr. Blithers failed +to see that he was shrewdly being led up to a matter that was of more +importance to Graustark just then than anything along financial lines. + +"I am only too willing, my lords, to give you the benefit of my +experience. Any questions that you may care to ask, I'll be glad to +answer to the best of my ability. It is only natural that I should take +a great personal interest in Graustock from now on. I want to see the +country on the boom. I want to see it taking advantage of all the +opportunities that--er--come its way. There may be a few pointers that +William W. Blithers can give you in respect to your railways and +mines--and your general policy, perhaps. I hope you won't hesitate +about asking." + +The Prime Minister tapped reflectively upon the table-top with his +fingers for a moment or two. + +"Thank you," he said. "We are at this very moment in something of a +quandary in respect to the renewal of a treaty with one of our +neighbours. For the past twenty years we have been in alliance with our +next door neighbours, Axphain on the north and Dawsbergen on the south +and east. The triple alliance will end this year unless renewed. Up to +the present our relations have been most amiable. Axphain stands ready +to extend our mutual protective agreement for another term of years, +but Dawsbergen is lukewarm and inclined to withdraw. When you become +better acquainted with the politics of our country you will understand +how regrettable such an action on the part of a hitherto friendly +government will be." + +"What's the grievance?" inquired Mr. Blithers, bluntly. He was edging +into familiar waters now. "What's the matter with Dawsbergen? Money +controversy?" + +"Not at all," said Lazzar hastily. + +"Why not let 'em withdraw?" said Mr. Blithers. "We can get along +without them." + +There was a general uplifting of heads at the use of the pronoun, and a +more fixed concentration of gaze. + +"I daresay you are already acquainted with the desire on the part of +Dawsbergen to form an alliance in which Axphain can have no part," said +Baron Romano. "In other words, it has been the desire of both +Dawsbergen and Graustark to perfect a matrimonial alliance that may +cement the fortunes of the two countries--" + +"Count Quinnox mentioned something of the sort," interrupted Mr. +Blithers. "But suppose this matrimonial alliance doesn't come off, who +would be the sufferer, you or Dawsbergen? Who will it benefit the most?" + +There was a moment's silence. Doubtless it had never occurred to the +Ministry to speculate on the point. + +"Dawsbergen is a rich, powerful country," said Romano. "We will be the +gainers by such an alliance. Mr. Blithers." + +"I don't go much on alliances," said the capitalist. "I believe in +keeping out of them if possible." + +"I see," said the Baron reflectively. There was another silence. Then: +"It has come to our notice in a most direct manner that the Prince of +Dawsbergen feels that his friendly consideration of a proposal made by +our government some years ago is being disregarded in a manner that can +hardly be anything but humiliating to him, not only as a sovereign but +as a father." + +"He's the one who has the marriageable daughter, eh? I had really +forgotten the name." + +The Baron leaned forward, still tapping the table-top with his long, +slim fingers. + +"The report that Prince Robin is to marry your daughter, Mr. Blithers, +has reached his ears. It is only natural that he should feel resentful. +For fifteen years there has been an understanding that the Crown +Princess of Dawsbergen and the Prince of Graustark were one day to be +wedded to each other. You will admit that the present reports are +somewhat distressing to him and unquestionably so to the Crown +Princess." + +Mr. Blithers settled back in his chair. "It seems to me that he is +making a mountain out of a molehill." + +Baron Romano shrank perceptibly. "It devolves upon me, sir, as +spokesman for the Ministry, the court and the people of Graustark, to +inform you that marriage between our Prince and any other than the +Crown Princess of Dawsbergen is not to be considered as possible." + +Mr. Blithers stared. "Hasn't the Prince any voice in the matter?" he +demanded. + +"Yes. He has already denied, somewhat publicly, that he is not +contemplating marriage with your daughter. He has had a voice in that +matter at least." + +A fine moisture started out on the purplish brow of Mr. Blithers. +Twenty-two eyes were upon him. He realised that he was not attending an +informal conference. He had been brought here for a deliberate purpose. + +"I may be permitted the privilege of reminding you, my lords, that his +denial was no more emphatic than that expressed by my daughter," he +said, with real dignity. + +"We have accepted her statement as final, but it is our earnest desire +that the minds of the people be set at rest," said the Baron gravely. +"I sincerely trust that you will appreciate our position, Mr. Blithers. +It is not our desire or intention to offend in this matter, but we +believe it to be only fair and just that we should understand each +other at the outset. The impression is afoot that--" + +"My lords," said Mr. Blithers, rising, his face suddenly pale, "I beg +leave to assure you that my daughter's happiness is of far more +importance to me than all the damned principalities in the world. Just +a moment, please. I apologise for the oath--but I mean it, just the +same. I do not resent your attitude, nor do I resent your haste in +conveying to me your views on the subject. It may be diplomacy to go +straight to a question and get it over with, but it isn't always +diplomatic to go off half-cocked. I will say, with perfect candour, +that I should like to see my daughter the Princess of Graustark, +but--by God! I want you to understand that her own wishes in the matter +are to govern mine in the end. I have had this marriage in mind, +there's no use denying it. I have schemed to bring these two young +people together with a single object in view. I knew that if they saw +enough of each other they would fall in love, and they would want the +happiness that love brings to all people. Just a moment, Baron! I want +to say to you now, all of you, that if my girl should love your prince +and he should love her in return, there isn't a power below heaven that +can keep them apart. If she doesn't love him, and he should be unlucky +enough to love her, I'd see him hanged before he could have her. I'll +admit that I have counted on seeing all of this come to pass, and that +I have bungled the thing pretty badly because I'm a loving, selfish +father,--but, my lords, since you have brought me here to tell me that +it is impossible for my girl to marry your prince, I will say to you, +here and now, that if they ever love each other and want to get +married, I'll see to it that it isn't impossible. You issue an +ultimatum to me, in plain words, so I'll submit one to you, in equally +plain words. I intend to leave this matter entirely to my daughter and +Prince Robin. They are to do the deciding, so far as I am concerned. +And if they decide that they love each other and want to get married, +_they will get married_. Do I make myself perfectly plain, my lords?" + +The dignified Ministry of Graustark sat agape. With his concluding +words, Mr. Blithers deposited his clenched fist upon the table with a +heavy thud, and, as if fascinated, every eye shifted from his face to +the white knuckles of that resolute hand. + +Baron Romano also arose. "You place us in the extremely distressing +position of being obliged to oppose the hand of a benefactor, Mr. +Blithers. You have come to our assistance in a time of need. You have--" + +"If it is the loan you are talking about, Baron, that is quite beside +the question," interrupted Mr. Blithers. "I do not speculate. I may +have had a personal motive in lending you this money, but I don't +believe you will find that it enters into the contract we have signed. +I don't lend money for charity's sake. I sometimes give it to charity, +but when it comes to business, I am not charitable. I have made a +satisfactory loan and I am not complaining. You may leave out the word +benefactor, Baron. It doesn't belong in the game." + +"As you please, sir," said Romano coldly. "We were only intent upon +conveying to you our desire to maintain friendly relations with you, +Mr. Blithers, despite the unpleasant conditions that have arisen. I may +at least question your right to assume that we are powerless to prevent +a marriage that is manifestly unpopular with the subjects of Prince +Robin." + +"I had it on excellent authority to-day that the people are not opposed +to the union of my daughter and the prince," said Mr. Blithers. + +"I am compelled to say that you have been misinformed," said the Baron, +flatly. + +"I think I have not been misinformed, however, concerning the personal +views of Prince Robin. If I am not mistaken, he openly declares that he +will marry to suit himself and not the people of Graustark. Isn't it +barely possible, my lords, that he may have something to say about who +he is to marry?" + +"I confess that his attitude is all that you describe," said the Baron. +"He has announced his views quite plainly. We admit that he may have +something to say about it." + +"Then I submit that it isn't altogether an improbability that he may +decide to marry according to the dictates of his heart and not for the +sake of appearances," said Mr. Blithers scathingly. "I have an idea +that he will marry the girl he loves, no matter who she may be." + +[Illustration: The dignified Ministry of Graustark sat agape] + +Count Quinnox and Baron Gourou exchanged glances. These two men were +guilty of having kept from their colleagues all information concerning +a certain Miss Guile. They, as well as Dank, were bound by a promise +exacted by their sovereign prince. They alone knew that Mr. Blithers +was supported by an incontrovertible truth. For the present, their lips +were sealed, and yet they faced that anxious group with a complete +understanding of the situation. They knew that Mr. Blithers was right. +Prince Robin would marry the girl that he loved, and no other. They +knew that their prince expected to marry the daughter of the man who +now faced these proud noblemen and virtually defied them! + +"Am I not right, Count Quinnox?" demanded Mr. Blithers, turning +suddenly upon the Minister of War. "You are in a position to know +something about him. Am I not right?" + +Every eye was on the Count. "Prince Robin will marry for love, my +lords," he said quietly, "I am forced to agree with Mr. Blithers." + +Baron Romano sank into his chair. There was silence in the room for +many seconds. + +"May I enquire, Count Quinnox, if you know anything of the present +state of Prince Robin's--er--heart?" inquired the Prime Minister +finally. + +A tinge of red appeared in each of Count Quinnox's swarthy cheeks. + +"I can only surmise," said he briefly. + +"Has--has he met some one in whom he feels a--er--an interest?" + +"Yes." + +"May we have the benefit of your conclusions?" said Baron Romano, icily. + +"I am not at liberty to supply information at present," said the Count, +visibly distressed. + +Mr. Blithers leaned forward, his hands upon the table. "Some one he met +after leaving New York?" he inquired eagerly. + +"Time will reveal everything, Mr. Blithers," said the Count, and closed +his jaws resolutely. His colleagues looked at him in consternation. The +worst, then, had happened! + +A gleam of triumph shot into the eyes of Mr. Blithers. His heart +swelled. He felt himself stepping out upon safe, solid ground after a +period of floundering. The very best, then, had happened! + +"My lords, I find that my half-hour is almost up," he said, pulling out +his gold watch and comparing its time with that of the clock on the +wall. "Permit me to take my departure. I am content to let matters +shape themselves as they may. Shakespeare says 'there is a destiny that +shapes our ends, rough hew them'--er--and so forth. Allow me, however, +before leaving, to assure you of my most kindly interest in the welfare +of your State. You may be pleased to know that it is not from me that +Graustark--did I get it right that time?--will redeem her bonds when +they mature, but from my only daughter. She is nearly twenty-one years +of age. On her twenty-fifth birthday I shall present to her--as a +gift--all of my holdings in Graustark. She may do as she sees fit with +them. Permit me to wish you all good day, my lords. You may send the +contract to my hotel, Baron. I expect to remain in the city for some +time." + +As he traversed the vast halls on his way to the outer world, he was +again overcome by the uneasy conviction that ironic eyes were looking +out upon him from luxurious retreats. Again he felt that his coat +fitted him too tightly and that his waistcoat was painfully in +evidence. He hurried a bit. If he could have had his way about it, he +would have run. Once outside the castle doors, he lighted a big cigar, +and threw the burnt-out match upon the polished flagstones of the +terrace. He regretted the act on the instant. He wished he had not +thrown it there. If the solemn grooms had not been watching, he would +have picked it up and stuck it into his pocket for disposal on the less +hallowed stones of a city thoroughfare. + +Outside the gates he felt more at ease, more at home, in fact. He +smoked in great contentment. In the broad, shady avenue he took out his +watch and pried open the case. A great pride filled his eyes as he +looked upon the dainty miniature portrait of his daughter Maud. She +_was_ lovely--she was even lovelier than he had ever thought before. + +At the Regengetz a telegram awaited him. It was from Maud. + +"I shall be in Edelweiss this week without fail. I have something very +important to tell you." So it read. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +PINGARI'S + + +Nine o'clock of a rainy night, on the steep, winding road that climbed +the mountain-side from the walled-in city to the crest on which stood +the famed monastery of St. Valentine,--nine o'clock of a night fraught +with pleasurable anticipation on the part of one R. Schmidt, whose +eager progress up the slope was all too slow notwithstanding the +encouragement offered by the conscienceless Jehu who frequently beat +his poor steeds into a gallop over level stretches and never allowed +them to pause on the cruel grades. + +Late in the afternoon there had come to the general post-office a +letter for Mr. R. Schmidt. He had told her that any message intended +for him would reach his hands if directed to the post-office. Since his +arrival in the city, three days before, he had purposely avoided the +main streets and avenues of Edelweiss, venturing forth but seldom from +the Castle grounds, and all because he knew that he could not go abroad +during the day-time without forfeiting the privileges to be enjoyed in +emulation of the good Caliphs of Baghdad. His people would betray their +prince because they loved him: his passage through the streets could +only be attended by respectful homage on the part of every man, woman +and child in the place. If Bedelia were there, she could not help +knowing who and what he was, with every one stupidly lifting his hat +and bowing to him as he passed, and he did not want Bedelia to know the +truth about him until she had answered an all-important question, as +has been mentioned before on more than one occasion in the course of +this simple tale. + +Her letter was brief. She merely acquainted him with the fact that she +had arrived in Edelweiss that day from Ganlook, twenty miles away, and +was stopping at the Inn of the Stars outside the city gates and half +way up the mountain-side, preferring the quiet, ancient tavern to the +stately Regengetz for reasons of her own. + +In closing she said that she would be delighted to see him when it was +convenient for him to come to her. On receipt of this singularly +matter-of-fact letter, he promptly despatched a message to Miss Guile, +Inn of the Stars, saying that she might expect him at nine that night. + +Fortunately for him, the night was wet and blustering. He donned a +rain-coat, whose cape and collar served to cover the lower part of his +face fairly well, and completed his disguise by pulling far down over +his eyes the villainous broad-brimmed hat affected by the shepherds in +the hills. He had a pair of dark eye-glasses in reserve for the crucial +test that would come with his entrance to the Inn. + +Stealing away from the Castle at night, he entered the ram-shackle cab +that Hobbs had engaged for the expedition, and which awaited him not +far from the private entrance to the Park. Warders at the gate looked +askance as he passed them by, but not one presumed to question him. +They winked slyly at each other, however, after he had disappeared in +the shadows beyond the rays of the feeble lanterns that they carried. +It was good to be young! + +The driver of that rattling old vehicle was no other than the versatile +Hobbs, who, it appears, had rented the outfit for a fixed sum, +guaranteeing the owner against loss by theft, fire or dissolution. It +is not even remotely probable that the owner would have covered the +ground so quickly as Hobbs, and it is certain that the horses never +suspected that they had it in them. + +The mud-covered vehicle was nearing the Inn of the Stars when Robin +stuck his head out of the window and directed Hobbs to drive slower. + +"Very good, sir," said Hobbs. "I thought as how we might be late after +losing time at the city gates, sir, wot with that silly guard and the--" + +"We are in good time, Hobbs. Take it easy." + +The lights of the Inn were gleaming through the drizzle not more than a +block away. Robin's heart was thumping furiously. Little chills ran +over him, delicious chills of excitement. His blood was hot and cold, +his nerves were tingling. The adventure! + +"Whoa!" said Hobbs suddenly. "'Ello, wot the 'ell is--" + +A dark figure had sprung into the road-way near the horses' heads, and +was holding up a warning hand. + +"Is this Mr. Schmidt's carriage?" demanded a hoarse, suppressed voice. + +"It is," said Hobbs, "for the time being. Wot of it?" + +Robin's head came through the window. + +"What do you want?" + +"Some one is coming out here to meet you, sir. Do not drive up to the +doors. Those are the orders. You are to wait here, if you please." + +Then the man shot away into the darkness, leaving the wayfarers +mystified by his words and action. + +"Wot am I to do, sir?" inquired Hobbs. "Most hextraordinary orders, and +who the deuce is behind them, that's wot I'd like to know." + +"We'll wait here, Hobbs," said Robin, and then put his hand suddenly to +his heart. It was acting very queerly. For a moment he thought it was +in danger of pounding its way out of his body! + +Below him lay the lighted city, a great yellow cloud almost at his +feet. Nearer, on the mountain-side were the misty lights in the windows +of dwellers on the slope, and at points far apart the street lamps, dim +splashes of light in the gloom. Far above were the almost obscured +lights of St. Valentine, hanging in the sky. He thought of the monks up +there. What a life! He would not be a monk, not he. + +"My word!" exclaimed Hobbs, but instantly resumed his character as +cabby. + +A woman came swiftly out of the blackness and stopped beside the cab. +She was swathed in a long gossamer, and hooded. The carriage lamps +gleamed strong against the dripping coat. + +"Is it you?" cried Robin, throwing open the door and leaping to the +ground. + +"It is I, M'sieur," said the voice of Marie, Miss Guile's French maid. + +Bleak disappointment filled his soul. He had hoped for--but no! He +might have known. She would not meet him in this manner. + +"What has happened?" he cried, grasping the girl's arm. "Has she--" + +"Sh! May we not speak in French?" said Marie, lowering her voice after +a significant look at the motionless cabman. "He may understand +English, M'sieur. My mistress has sent me to say to M'sieur that she +has changed her mind." + +"Changed her mind," gasped Robin. + +"Yes, M'sieur. She will not receive you at the Inn of the Stars. She +bids you drive to the end of this street, where there is a garden with +a Magyar band, and the most delicious of refreshments to be had under +vine-covered--" + +"A public garden?" exclaimed Robin in utter dismay. + +"Pingari's, sir," said Hobbs, without thinking. "I know the place well. +It is a very quiet, orderly place--I beg pardon!" + +"So he understands French, eh?" cried Marie sharply. + +"It doesn't matter," cried Robin impatiently. "Why, in heaven's name, +did she select a public eating-house in which to receive me?" + +"If M'sieur chooses to disregard the wishes of--" began the maid, but +he interrupted her. + +"I am not accustomed to meeting people in public gardens. I--" + +"Nor is my mistress, M'sieur. I assure you it is the first time she has +committed an indiscretion of this kind. May I put a flea in M'sieur's +ear? The place is quite empty to-night, and besides there is the drive +back to the Inn with Mademoiselle. Is not that something, M'sieur?' + +"By jove!" exclaimed Robin. "Drive on,--you! But wait! Let me take you +to the Inn, Marie. It--" + +"No! I may not accept M'sieur's thoughtful invitation. Bon soir, +M'sieur." + +She was off like a flash. Robin leaped nimbly into the cab. + +"Pingari's, driver!" he said, his heart thumping once more. + +"Very good, sir," and they were off at a lively rate, rattling quite +gaily over the cobble-stones. + +Pingari's is the jumping-off place. It stands at the sharp corner of an +elbow in the mountain, with an almost sheer drop of a thousand feet +into the quarries below. A low-roofed, rambling building, once used as +a troop-house for nomadic fighting-men who came from all parts of the +principality on draft by feudal barons in the days before real law +obtained, it was something of a historic place. Parts of the structure +are said to be no less than five hundred years old, but time and +avarice have relegated history to a rather uncertain background, and +unless one is pretty well up in the traditions of the town, he may be +taken in nicely by shameless attendants who make no distinction between +the old and the new so long as it pays them to procrastinate. + +As a matter of fact, the walls of the ancient troop-house surround what +is now considered the kitchen, and one never steps inside of them +unless he happens to be connected in a somewhat menial way with the +green grocer, the fish-monger, the butcher or the poultry-man. The +wonderful vine-covered porches, reeking with signs of decay and +tottering with age, are in truth very substantial affairs constructed +by an ancestor of the present Signor Pingari no longer ago than the +Napoleonic era--which is quite recent as things go in Graustark. + +Hobbs drove bravely into the court yard, shouted orders to a couple of +hostlers and descended from the box. The Magyar band was playing +blithely to the scattered occupants of the porches overlooking the +precipice. + +"'Ere we are, sir," said he to the Prince, as he jerked open the door +of the cab. "Shall I wait, sir?" + +"Certainly," said Robin, climbing out. "I am a long way from home, my +good man." + +He hurried up the steps and cast an eye about the place. There were no +ladies unattached. As he was about to start on a tour of investigation, +a polite person in brass buttons came up to him. + +"Alone, sir?" he inquired pityingly. + +"Quite," said Robin, still peering into the recesses. + +"Then come with me, if you please. I am directed to escort you to one +who is also alone. This way, sir." + +Robin followed him through a door, down a narrow hallway, up a flight +of stairs and out another door upon a small portico, sheltered by a +heavy canvas awning. Two men were standing at the railing, looking down +upon the impressionistic lights of the sunken city. The Prince drew +back, his face hardening. + +"What does this mean, sirrah? You said--" + +At the sound of his voice the two men turned, stared at him intently +for an instant and then deliberately strode past him, entered the door +and disappeared. The person in brass buttons followed them. + +A soft, gurgling laugh fell upon his ears--a laugh of pure delight. He +whirled about and faced--one who was no longer alone. + +She was seated at the solitary little table in the corner; until now it +had escaped his notice for the excellent reason that it was outside the +path of light from the open doorway, and the faint glow from the +adjacent porches did not penetrate the quiet retreat. + +He sprang toward her with a glad cry, expecting her to rise. She +remained seated, her hand extended. This indifference on her part may +have been the result of cool premeditation. In any event, it served to +check the impulsive ardour of the Prince, who, it is to be feared, had +lost something in the way of self-restraint. It is certain--absolutely +certain--that had she come forward to meet him, she would have found +herself imprisoned in a pair of strong, eager arms,--and a crisis +precipitated. He had to be content with a warm hand-clasp and a smile +of welcome that even the gloom could not hide from his devouring eyes. + +"My dear, dear Bedelia," he murmured. "I had almost given you up. Three +long days have I waited for you. You--" + +"I have never broken a promise, Rex," she said coolly. "It is you who +are to be commended, not I, for you see I was coming to Graustark +anyway. I should not have been surprised if you had failed me, sir. It +is a long way from Vienna to this out-of-the-way--" + +"The most distant spot in the world would not have been too far away to +cause an instant's hesitation on my part," said he, dropping into the +chair opposite her. "I would go to the end of the world, Bedelia." + +"But your personal affairs--your business," she protested. "Can you +neglect it so--" + +"My business is to find happiness," said he. "I should be neglecting it +indeed if I failed to pursue the only means of attaining it. You are +happiness, Bedelia." + +"What would you sacrifice for happiness?" she asked softly. + +"All else in the world," he replied steadily. "If I were a king, my +realm should go if it stood between me and--you, Bedelia." + +She drew back with a queer little gasp, as if suddenly breathless. + +"Wait--wait just for a moment," she said, with difficulty steadying her +voice. "This night may see the end of our adventure, Rex. Let us think +well before we say that it is over. I know, if you do not, that a great +deal depends upon what we are to say to each other to-night. You will +ask me to be your wife. Are you sure that you appreciate all that it +means to you and to your future if I should say yes to that dear +question?" + +He looked at her intently. "What do you know, Bedelia?" + +"I know that you are the Prince of Graustark and that it is ordained +that you shall wed one whose station is the equal of your own. You must +think well, dear Rex, before you ask Bedelia Guile to be your wife." + +"You know that I am--" he began, dully, and then burst into a mirthless +laugh. "And knowing who I am, why do you not leap at the chance to +become the Princess of Graustark? Why not realise an ambition that--" + +"Hush! You see how well I considered when I advised you to think before +speaking? You are now saying things that are unworthy of you. You are +forgetting that it is my privilege to say no to the am in search of +happiness. I too--" + +He stood up, leaning far over the table, a penetrating look in his eyes. + +"How long have you known, Bedelia?" + +"Since the second day out on the _Jupiter_," she replied serenely. + +He slowly resumed his seat, overwhelmed by the sickening realisation +that his bubble had burst. She had known from the beginning. She had +played with him. She had defied him! + +"I know what you are thinking, Rex," she said, almost pleadingly. "You +are thinking ill of me, and you are unjust. It was as fair for me as it +was for you. We played a cautious game. You set about to win my love as +you saw fit, my friend, and am I to be condemned if I exercised the +same privilege? I was no more deliberate, no more reprehensible than +you. Am I more guilty of deceit than you?" + +He gave a great sigh of relief. "You are right," he said. "It is my +turn to confess. I have known for many days that you are not Bedelia +Guile. We are quits." + +She laughed softly. "I rather like Bedelia. I think I shall keep it as +a good-luck name. We have now arrived at the time for a profound +contemplation of the results of our experiments. In the meantime, I +have had no dinner. I trust that the Prince of Graustark has dined so +lightly that he will not decline to share my repast with me. It has +already been ordered--for two." + +"By jove, you--you amaze me!" he exclaimed. + +"Please remove that dreadful mackintosh and touch the bell for me. You +see, I am a very prosaic person, after all. Even in the face of +disaster I can have a craving for food and drink. That's better." + +In a sort of daze, he tapped the little table bell. A waiter appeared +on the instant. + +"Give us more light, waiter," was her command, "and serve dinner at +once." + +The lights went up, and Robin looked into her soft, smiling eyes. + +"It doesn't matter," he whispered hoarsely. "I don't care what happens +to me, Bedelia, I--I shall never give you up. You are worth all the +kingdoms in the world. You are the loveliest, most adorable--" + +"Hush! The eyes of your people are upon you. See! Even the waiter +recognises his prince. He is overcome. Ah! He falters with the +consomme. It is a perilous moment. There! I knew something would +happen, poor fellow. He has spilled--but, all is well; he has his wits +again. See! He replenishes from the steaming tureen. We are saved." + +Her mood was so gaily satiric, so inconsequential, that he allowed a +wondering, uncertain smile to banish the trouble from his eyes as he +leaned back in the chair and studied the vivid, excited face of the +girl who had created havoc with his senses. She was dressed as he had +seen her on board the _Jupiter_ during those delightful days on deck: +the same trim figure in a blue serge suit and a limp white hat, drawn +well down over her soft brown hair, with the smart red tie and the +never-to-be-forgotten scent of a perfume that would linger in his +nostrils forever and forever. + +"Do you think it strange that I should have asked you to meet me here +in this unconventional way instead of at the Inn?" she inquired, +suddenly serious. Again the shy, pleading expression stole into her +eyes. + +"I did think so, but no longer. I am glad that we are here." + +"Mrs. Gaston is inside," she informed him quickly. "I do not come +alone. An hour ago the Inn became quite impossible as a trysting place. +A small party from the Regengetz arrived for dinner. Can you guess who +is giving the dinner? The great and only William W. Blithers, sir, who +comes to put an obstinate daughter upon the throne of Graustark, +whether she will or no." + +"Did he see you?" cried Robin. + +"No," she answered, with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "I stole out +through the back door, and sent Marie out with one of the porters to +head you off. Then I came on here. I didn't even stop to change my +gown." + +"Hide and seek is a bully game," said he. "It can't last much longer, +Bedelia. I think it is only right that we should go to your father and +tell him that--everything is all right. It is his due. You've solved +your own problem and are satisfied, so why not reveal yourself. There +is nothing to be gained by further secrecy." + +She was watching him closely. "Are you, after all is said and done, +sure that you want to marry the daughter of William Blithers, in the +face of all the bitter consequences that may follow such an act? Think +hard, my dear. She is being forced upon you, in a way. Mr. Blithers' +money is behind her. Your people are opposed to the bargain, for that +is the way in which they will look upon it. They may act very harshly +toward you. The name of Blithers is detested in your land. His daughter +is reviled. Are you sure that you want to marry her, Re--Robin?" + +"Are you through?" he asked, transfixing her with a determined look. +"Well, then, I'll answer you. I do want to marry you, and, more than +that, I mean to marry you. I love--" + +"You may tell me, Robin, as we are driving back to the Inn +together--not here, not now," she said softly, the lovelight in her +eyes. + +Happiness blurred his vision. He was thrilled by an enchantment so +stupefying that the power of speech, almost of thought, was denied him +for the time being. He could only sit and stare at her with prophetic +love in his eyes, love that bided its time and trembled with +anticipation. + +Long afterward, as they were preparing to leave Pingari's she said to +him: + +"My father is at the Inn, Robin. I ran away from him to-night because I +wanted to be sure that our adventure was closed before I revealed +myself to him. I wanted to be able to say to him that love will find +its way, no matter how blind it is, nor how vast the world it has to +traverse in search of its own. My father is at the Inn. Take me to him +now, Robin, and make the miracle complete." + +His fingers caressed her warm cheek as he adjusted the collar of the +long seacoat about her throat and chin. Her eyes were starry bright, +her red lips were parted. + +"My Princess!" he whispered tenderly. "My Princess!" + +"My Prince," she said so softly that the words barely reached his ears. +"We have proved that Love is the king. He rules us all. He laughs at +locksmiths--and fathers--but he does not laugh at sweethearts. Come, I +am ready." + +He handed her into the cab a moment later, and drew the long deep +breath of one who goes down into deep water. Then he followed after +her. The attendant closed the door. + +"Where to, sir?" called Hobbs from the driver's seat. + +He received no answer, yet cracked his whip gaily over the horses' +backs and drove out into the slanting rain. + +Hobbs was a dependable fellow. He drove the full length of the street +twice, passing the Inn of the Stars both times at a lively clip, and +might have gone on forever in his shuttlecock enterprise, had not the +excited voice of a woman hailed him from the sidewalk. + +"Stop! _Attendez_! You! Man!" + +He pulled up with a jerk. The dripping figure of Marie ran up from +behind. + +"My mistress? Where is she?" panted the girl. + +"In heaven," said Hobbs promptly, whereupon Marie pounded on the glass +window of the cab. + +Robin quickly opened the door. + +"Wha--what is it?" + +"Yes, Marie," came in muffled tones from the depths of the cab. + +"Madame Gaston returns long ago. She is beside herself. She is like a +maniac. She has lost you; she cannot explain to--to Mademoiselle's +father. Mon dieu, when he met her unexpectedly in the hall, he shouts, +'where is my daughter?' And poor Madame she has but to shiver and +stammer and--run away! _Oui_! She dash out into the rain! It is +terrible. She--" + +Bedelia broke in upon this jumbled recitation. "Where have we been, +Robin? Where are we now?" + +"Where are we, Hobbs?" + +"We are just getting back to the Inn of the Stars, sir,--descending, +you might say, sir," said Hobbs. + +"Drive on, confound you." + +"To the Inn, sir?" + +"Certainly!" + +The door slammed and the final block was covered in so short a time +that Robin's final kiss was still warm on Bedelia's lips when the +gallant cab rolled up to the portals of the Inn of the Stars. + +"Did you ever know such a night, sir?" inquired Hobbs, as the Prince +handed his lady out. He was referring to the weather. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +JUST WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN EXPECTED + + +Even the most flamboyant of natures may suffer depression at times, and +by the same token arrogance may give way to humility,--or, at the very +least, conviction. + +Mr. Blithers had had a trying day of it. To begin with, his wife raked +him over the coals for what she was pleased to call his senseless +persistence in the face of what she regarded as unalterable opposition +on the part of the Cabinet and House of Nobles. It appears that he had +experienced a second encounter with the Ministry only the day before. +After sleeping over the results of his first visit to the Council +Chamber, he awoke to the fact that matters were in such a condition +that it behooved him to strike while the iron was hot. So he obtained a +second hearing, principally because he had not slept as well over it as +he would have liked, and secondarily because he wanted to convince +himself that he could parade their ancient halls without feeling as +self-conscious as a whipped spaniel. + +He came off even worse in his second assault upon the ministry, for +this time the members openly sneered at his declarations. As for his +progress through the enchanted halls he was no end worse off than +before. It so happened that he arrived at the castle at the very hour +when the ladies and gentlemen of the royal household were preparing to +fare forth to the tennis courts. He came upon them, first on the +terrace, then in the entrance, and later on was stared at with evident +curiosity by white flanneled and duck-skirted persons in the lofty +halls. He wished that he was back at Blitherwood where simplicity was +not so infernally common. + +He made the mistake of his life when he gave to his wife the details of +this second conference with the Cabinet. He did it in the hope that a +sympathetic response would be forthcoming. To his surprise, she merely +pitied him, but in such a disgustingly personal way that he wondered if +he could ever forgive her. + +"Can't you appreciate what I am doing for Maud?" he argued, almost +tearfully. + +"I can appreciate what you are doing _to_ her," said she, and swept out +of the room. + +"It's bad enough to have one stubborn woman in the family," said he to +himself, glaring at the closed door--which had been slammed, by the +way,--"but two of 'em--Good Lord!" + +And so it was that Mr. Blithers, feeling in need of cheer, arranged a +little dinner for that evening, at the Inn of the Stars. He first +invited his principal London lawyer and his wife--who happened to be +_his_ principal--and then sent a more or less peremptory invitation to +the President of the Bank of Graustark, urging him to join the party at +the Regengetz and motor to the Inn. He was to bring his wife and any +friends that might be stopping with them at the time. The banker +declined. His wife had been dead for twenty years; the only friends he +possessed were directors in the bank, and they happened to be having a +meeting that night. So Mr. Blithers invited his secondary London +lawyer, his French lawyer and two attractive young women who it appears +were related to the latter, although at quite a distance, and then +concluded that it was best to speak to his own wife about the little +affair. She said she couldn't even think of going. Maud might arrive +that very night and she certainly was not going out of the hotel with +such an event as that in prospect. + +"But Simpson's wife is coming," protested Mr. Blithers, "and +Pericault's cousins. Certainly you must come. Jolly little affair to +liven us up a bit. Now Lou,--" + +"I am quite positive that Lady Simpson will change her mind when she +hears that Pericault's cousins are going," said Mrs. Blithers acidly. + +"Anything the matter with Pericault's cousins?" he demanded, inclined +to the bellicose. + +"Ask Pericault," she replied briefly. + +He thought for a moment. "If that's the case, Lou, you'll have to come, +if only to save my reputation," he said. "I didn't think it of +Pericault. He seems less like a Frenchman than any man I've ever known." + +Mrs. Blithers relented. She went to the dinner and so did Lady Simpson, +despite Pericault's cousins, and the only ones in the party who +appeared to be uneasy were the cousins themselves. It is safe to say +that it was not the rain that put a dampener on what otherwise might +have been an excessively jovial party. + +Stupendous was the commotion at the Inn of the Stars when it became +known that one of the richest men in the world--and a possible +father-in-law apparent to the crown,--was to honour the place with his +presence that night. Every one, from the manager down to the boy who +pared potatoes, laid himself out to make the occasion a memorable one. + +The millionaire's table was placed in the very centre of the +dining-room, and plates were laid for eight. At the last minute, Mr. +Blithers ordered the number increased to nine. + +"My daughter may put in an appearance," he explained to Lady Simpson. +"I have left word at the hotel for her to come up if by any chance she +happens to arrive on the evening train." + +"Haven't you heard from her, Mr. Blithers?" inquired the austere lady, +regarding the top of his head with an illy-directed lorgnon. + +They were entering the long, low dining-room. Mr. Blithers resented the +scrutiny: It was lofty and yet stooping. She seemed to be looking down +upon him at right angles, due no doubt to her superior height and to +the fact that she had taken his arm. + +"We have," said he, "but not definitely. She is likely to pop in on us +at any moment, and then again she's likely not to. My daughter is a +very uncertain person, Lady Simpson. I never seem to be able to put my +finger upon her." + +"Have you ever tried putting the whole hand upon her?" inquired her +ladyship, and Mr. Blithers stared straight ahead, incapable of replying. + +He waited until they were seated at the table and then remarked: "I am +sorry you got splashed, Lady Simpson. You'd think they might keep the +approach to a place like this free of mud and water." + +"Oh, I daresay the gown can be cleaned, Mr. Blithers," she said. "I am +quite ready to discard it, in any event, so it really doesn't matter." + +"My dear," said he to his wife, raising his voice so that diners at +nearby tables could not help hearing what he said, "I forgot to tell +you that we are expected to dine with the Prince at the Castle." Then +he wondered if any one in the room understood English. + +"When?" she inquired. + +"Very shortly," said he, and she was puzzled for a moment by the stony +glare he gave her. + +Lord Simpson took this opportunity to mention that he had taken +reservations for the return of himself and wife to Vienna on the next +day but one. + +"We shall catch the Orient Express on Friday and be in London by +Monday," he said. "Our work here is completed. Everything is in +ship-shape. Jenkins will remain, of course, to attend to the minor +details, such as going over the securities and--" + +"Don't you like that caviare?" asked Mr. Blithers with some asperity. + +"It has a peculiar taste," said Lord Simpson. + +"Best I've ever tasted," said Mr. Blithers, spreading a bun thickly. +Pericault's cousins were fingering the champagne glasses. "We've got +sherry coming first," said he. + +"Everything satisfactory, M'sieur Blithers?" inquired the _maitre +d'hotel_ softly, ingratiatingly, into his left ear. + +"Absolutely," said Mr. Blithers with precision. "You needn't hurry +things. We've got the whole evening ahead of us." + +Lady Simpson shivered slightly. The Pericault cousins brightened up. +There was still a chance that the "dowagers" would retire early from +the scene of festivity. + +"By the way," said Simpson, "how long do you purpose remaining in +Edelweiss, Blithers?" + +For the first time, the capitalist faltered. He was almost ready to +admit that his enterprise had failed in one vital respect. The +morning's experience in the Council Chamber had shaken his confidence +considerably. + +"I don't know, Simpson," said he. "It is possible that we may leave +soon." + +"Before the Prince's dinner?" inquired Lady Simpson, again regarding +his bald spot through the lorg-non. + +"Depends on what my daughter has to say when she gets here," said he +almost gruffly. "If she wants to stay for a while, we will remain. I +don't mind saying that I have a curious longing for Wall Street. I am +at home there and--well, by George, I'm like a fish out of water here." + +His wife looked up quickly, but did not speak. + +"I am a business man, Lady Simpson, not a philanderer. I'd like to take +this town by the neck and shake some real enterprise into it, but what +can you do when everybody is willing to sit down and let tradition look +after 'em? I've put a lot of money into Grosstock and I'd like to see +the country prosper. Still I'm not worried over my investment. It is as +good as gold." + +"Perfectly safe," said Lord Simpson. + +"Absolutely," said the secondary London lawyer. + +Pericault's comment was in French and not intended to be brief, but as +Mr. Blithers was no longer interested, the privilege of completing his +remarks was not accorded him. He did say _Mon dieu_ under his breath, +however, in the middle of his employer's next sentence. + +"As I said before, everything depends on whether my daughter wants to +remain. If she says she wants to stay, that settles the point so far as +I am concerned. If she says she doesn't want to stay, we'll--well, that +will settle it also. I say, waiter, can't you hurry the fish along?" + +"Certainly, sir. I understood M'sieur to say that there was no hurry--" + +"Well, pour the champagne anyway. I think we need it." + +Two hours later, Mr. Blithers looked at his watch again. The party was +quite gay: at least fifty percent disorderly. + +"That train has been in for an hour," said the host. "I guess Maud +didn't come. I left word for the hotel to call me up if she arrived--I +say, waiter, has there been a telephone message for me?" + +"No, M'sieur. We have kept a boy near the telephone all evening, +M'sieur. No message." + +"I also told 'em to send up any telegram that might come," he informed +his wife, who merely lifted her eyebrows. They had been lowered +perceptibly in consequence of the ebullience of Pericault's cousins. + +The vivacious young women were attracting a great deal of attention to +their table. Smart diners in the immediate neighbourhood appeared to be +a trifle shocked. Three dignified looking gentlemen, seated near the +door, got up and left the room. + +"We really must be going," said Mrs. Blithers nervously, who had been +watching the three men for some time with something akin to dismay in +her soul. She had the sickening notion that they were members of the +Cabinet--lords of the realm. + +"All right," said Mr. Blithers, "Call the cars up, waiter. Still +raining?" + +"Yes, M'sieur. At this season of the year--" + +"Call the cars. Let's have your bill." + +Pericault's cousins were reluctant to go. In fact, they protested +shrilly that it was silly to break up such a successful party at such +an unseemly hour. + +"Never mind," whispered Pericault softly, and winked. + +"I'll leave 'em in your care, Pericault," said Mr. Blithers grimly. +"They are _your_ cousins, you know." + +"Trust me implicitly. Monsieur," said Pericault, bowing very deeply. +Then he said good-night to Mrs. Blithers and Lady Simpson. The +secondary London lawyer did the same. + +Out in the wide, brilliantly lighted foyer, a few late-stayers were +waiting for their conveyances to be announced. As the four departing +members of the Blithers party grouped themselves near the big doors, +impatient to be off, a brass-buttoned boy came up and delivered a +telegram to the host. + +He was on the point of tearing open the envelope when his eyes fell +upon two people who had just entered the hall from without, a man and +woman clad in raincoats. At the same instant the former saw Mr. +Blithers. Clutching his companion's arm he directed her attention to +the millionaire. + +"Now for it, Bedelia," he whispered excitedly. + +Bedelia gazed calmly at Mr. Blithers and Mr. Blithers gazed blankly at +the Prince of Graustark. Then the great financier bowed very deeply and +called out: + +"Good evening, Prince!" + +He received no response to his polite greeting, for the Prince was +staring at Bedelia as if stupefied. The millionaire's face was very red +with mortification as he turned it away. + +"He--he doesn't recognise you," gasped Robin in amazement. + +"Who?" she asked, her eyes searching the room with an eager, inquiring +look. + +"Your father," he said. + +She gave him a ravishing, delighted smile. + +"Oh, it is so wonderful, Robin. I have fooled you completely. That man +isn't my father." + +"That's Mr. Blithers or I am as blind as a bat," he exclaimed. + +"Is it, indeed? The one reading the telegram, with his eyes sticking +out of his head?" + +Robin's head was swimming. "Good heaven, Bedelia, what are you--" + +"Ah!" she cried, with a little shriek of joy. "See! There he is!" + +One of the three distinguished men who had been remarked by Mrs. +Blithers now separated himself from his companions and approached the +couple. He was a tall, handsome man of fifty. Although his approach was +swift and eager, there was in his face the signs of wrath that still +struggled against joy. + +She turned quickly, laid her hand upon the Prince's rigid arm, and said +softly: + +"My father is the Prince of Dawsbergen, dear." + + * * * * * + +A crumpled telegram dropped from Mr. Blithers' palsied hand to the +floor as he turned a white, despairing face upon his wife. The +brass-buttoned boy picked it up and handed it to Mrs. Blithers. It was +from Maud. + +"We were married in Vienna today. After all I think I shall not care to +see Graustark. Channie is a dear. I have promised him that you will +take him into the business as a partner. We are at the Bristol. + + "Maud." + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Prince of Graustark, by George Barr McCutcheon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK *** + +***** This file should be named 6353.txt or 6353.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/5/6353/ + +Produced by Duncan Harrod, Juliet Sutherland, Charles +Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at + www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 +North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email +contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the +Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/6353.zip b/6353.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c18fa18 --- /dev/null +++ b/6353.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..392727c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #6353 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6353) diff --git a/old/prgrk10.txt b/old/prgrk10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1284f79 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/prgrk10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11930 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Prince of Graustark, by George Barr McCutcheon +#17 in our series by George Barr McCutcheon + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Prince of Graustark + +Author: George Barr McCutcheon + +Release Date: August, 2004 [EBook #6353] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on November 29, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK *** + + + + +Produced by Duncan Harrod, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK + +BY + +GEORGE BARR McCUTCHEON + +Author of "Graustark", "Beverly of Graustark," etc. + +With Illustrations by +A.I. KELLER + +1914 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I MR. AND MRS. BLITHERS DISCUSS MATRIMONY + + II TWO COUNTRIES DISCUSS MARRIAGE + + III MR. BLITHERS GOES VISITING + + IV PROTECTING THE BLOOD + + V PRINCE ROBIN is ASKED TO STAND UP + + VI THE PRINCE AND MR. BLITHERS + + VII A LETTER FROM MAUD + + VIII ON BOARD THE JUPITER + + IX THE PRINCE MEETS MISS GUILE + + X AN HOUR ON DECK + + XI THE LIEUTENANT RECEIVES ORDERS + + XII THE LIEUTENANT REPORTS + + XIII THE RED LETTER B + + XIV THE CAT IS AWAY + + XV THE MICE IN A TRAP + + XVI THREE MESSAGES + + XVII THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER + +XVIII A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT + + XIX "WHAT WILL MY PEOPLE DO" + + XX LOVE IN ABEYANCE + + XXI MR. BLITHERS ARRIVES IN GRAUSTARK + + XXII A VISIT TO THE CASTLE + +XXIII PINGARI'S + + XIV JUST WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN EXPECTED + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +Her eyes were starry bright, her red lips were parted. +_Frontispiece_ + +"You will be her choice," said the other, without the quiver of an +eye-lash. + +"I shall pray for continuous rough weather." + +The dignified Ministry of Graustark sat agape. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +MR. AND MRS. BLITHERS DISCUSS MATRIMONY + + +"My dear," said Mr. Blithers, with decision," you can't tell me." + +"I know I can't," said his wife, quite as positively. She knew when +she could tell him a thing and when she couldn't. + +It was quite impossible to impart information to Mr. Blithers when he +had the tips of two resolute fingers embedded in his ears. That +happened to be his customary and rather unfair method of conquering +her when an argument was going against him, not for want of logic on +his part, but because it was easier to express himself with his ears +closed than with them open. By this means he effectually shut out the +voice of opposition and had the discussion all to himself. Of course, +it would have been more convincing if he had been permitted to hear +the sound of his own eloquence; still, it was effective. + +She was sure to go on talking for two or three minutes and then +subside in despair. A woman will not talk to a stone wall. Nor will +she wantonly allow an argument to die while there remains the +slightest chance of its survival. Given the same situation, a man +would get up and leave his wife sitting there with her fingers in her +ears; and, as he bolted from the room in high dudgeon, he would be +mean enough to call attention to her pig-headedness. In most cases, a +woman is content to listen to a silly argument rather than to leave +the room just because her husband elects to be childish about a +perfectly simple elucidation of the truth. + +Mrs. Blithers had lived with Mr. Blithers, more or less, for twenty- +five years and she knew him like a book. He was a forceful person who +would have his own way, even though he had to put his fingers in his +ears to get it. At one period of their joint connubial agreement, +when he had succeeded in accumulating a pitiful hoard amounting to +but little more than ten millions of dollars, she concluded to live +abroad for the purpose of educating their daughter, allowing him in +the meantime to increase his fortune to something like fifty millions +without having to worry about household affairs. But she had +sojourned with him long enough, at odd times, to realise that, so +long as he lived, he would never run away from an argument--unless, +by some dreadful hook or crook, he should be so unfortunate as to be +deprived of the use of both hands. She found room to gloat, of +course, in the fact that he was obliged to stop up his ears in order +to shut out the incontrovertible. + +Moreover, when he called her "my dear" instead of the customary Lou, +it was a sign of supreme obstinacy on his part and could not, by any +stretch of the imagination, be regarded as an indication of placid +affection. He always said "my dear" at the top of his voice and with +a great deal of irascibility. + +Mr. William W. Blithers was a self-made man who had begun his career +by shouting lustily at a team of mules in a railway construction +camp. Other drivers had tried to improve on his vocabulary but even +the mules were able to appreciate the futility of such an ambition, +and later on, when he came to own two or three railroads, to say +nothing of a few mines and a steam yacht, his ability to drive men +was even more noteworthy than his power over the jackasses had been. +But driving mules and men was one thing, driving a wife another. What +incentive has a man, said he, when after he gets through bullying a +creature that very creature turns in and caresses him? No self- +respecting mule ever did such a thing as that, and no man would think +of it except with horror. There is absolutely no defence against a +creature who will rub your head with loving, gentle fingers after she +has worked you up to the point where you could kill her with +pleasure--or at least so said Mr. Blithers with rueful frequency. + +Mr. and Mrs. Blithers had been discussing royalty. Up to the previous +week they had restricted themselves to the nobility, but as an event +of unexampled importance had transpired in the interim, they now felt +that it would be the rankest stupidity to consider any one short of a +Prince Royal in picking out a suitable husband--or, more properly +speaking, consort--for their only daughter, Maud Applegate Blithers, +aged twenty. + +Mrs. Blithers long ago had convinced her husband that no ordinary +human being of the male persuasion was worthy of their daughter's +hand, and had set her heart on having nothing meaner than a Duke on +the family roll,--(Blithers alluded to it for a while as the pay- +roll)--, with the choice lying between England and Italy. At first, +Blithers, being an honest soul, insisted that a good American +gentleman was all that anybody could ask for in the way of a son-in- +law, and that when it came to a grandchild it would be perfectly +proper to christen him Duke--lots of people did!--and that was about +all that a title amounted to anyway. She met this with the retort +that Maud might marry a man named Jones, and how would Duke Jones +sound? He weakly suggested that they could christen him Marmaduke +and--but she reminded him of his oft-repeated boast that there was +nothing in the world too good for Maud and instituted a pictorial +campaign against his prejudices by painting in the most alluring +colours the picture of a ducal palace in which the name of Jones +would never be uttered except when employed in directing the fifth +footman or the third stable-boy--or perhaps a scullery maid--to do +this, that or the other thing at the behest of her Grace, the +daughter of William W. Blithers. This eventually worked on his +imagination to such an extent that he forgot his natural pride and +admitted that perhaps she was right. + +But now, just as they were on the point of accepting, in lieu of a +Duke, an exceptionally promising Count, the aforesaid event conspired +to completely upset all of their plans--or notions, so to speak. It +was nothing less than the arrival in America of an eligible Prince of +the royal blood, a ruling Prince at that. As a matter of fact he had +not only arrived in America but upon the vast estate adjoining their +own in the Catskills. + +Fortunately nothing definite had been arranged with the Count. Mrs. +Blithers now advised waiting a while before giving a definite answer +to his somewhat eager proposal, especially as he was reputed to have +sufficient means of his own to defend the chateau against any +immediate peril of profligacy. She counselled Mr. Blithers to notify +him that he deemed it wise to take the matter under advisement for a +couple of weeks at least, but not to commit himself to anything +positively negative. + +Mr. Blithers said that he had never heard anything so beautifully +adroit as "positively negative," and directed his secretary to submit +to him without delay the draft of a tactful letter to the anxious +nobleman. They were agreed that a Prince was more to be desired than +a Count and, as long as they were actually about it, they might as +well aim high. Somewhat hazily Mr. Blithers had Inquired if it +wouldn't be worth while to consider a King, but his wife set him +straight in short order. + +Peculiarly promising their hopes was the indisputable fact that the +Prince's mother had married an American, thereby establishing a +precedent behind which no constitutional obstacle could thrive, and +had lived very happily with the gentleman in spite of the critics. +Moreover, she had met him while sojourning on American soil, and that +was certainly an excellent augury for the success of the present +enterprise. What could be more fitting than that the son should +follow in the footsteps of an illustrious mother? If an American +gentleman was worthy of a princess, why not the other way about? +Certainly Maud Blithers was as full of attributes as any man in +America. + +It appears that the Prince, after leisurely crossing the continent on +his way around the world, had come to the Truxton Kings for a long- +promised and much-desired visit, the duration of which depended to +some extent on his own inclinations, and not a little on the outcome +of the war-talk that affected two great European nations--Russia and +Austria. Ever since the historic war between the Balkan allies and +the Turks, in 1912 and 1913, there had been mutterings, and now the +situation had come to be admittedly precarious. Mr. Blithers was in a +position to know that the little principality over which the young +man reigned was bound to be drawn into the cataclysm, not as a +belligerent or an ally, but in the matter of a loan that +inconveniently expired within the year and which would hardly be +renewed by Russia with the prospect of vast expenditures of war +threatening her treasury. The loan undoubtedly would be called and +Graustark was not in a position to pay out of her own slender +resources, two years of famine having fallen upon the people at a +time when prosperity was most to be desired. + +He was in touch with the great financial movements in all the world's +capitals, and he knew that retrenchment was the watchword. It would +be no easy matter for the little principality to negotiate a loan at +this particular time, nor was there even a slender chance that Russia +would be benevolently disposed toward her debtors, no matter how +small their obligations. They who owed would be called upon to pay, +they who petitioned would be turned away with scant courtesy. It was +the private opinion of Mr. Blithers that the young Prince and the +trusted agents who accompanied him on his journey, were in the United +States solely for the purpose of arranging a loan through sources +that could only be reached by personal appeal. But, naturally, Mr. +Blithers couldn't breathe this to a soul. Under the circumstances he +couldn't even breathe it to his wife who, he firmly believed, was +soulless. + +But all this is beside the question. The young Prince of Graustark +was enjoying American hospitality, and no matter what he owed to +Russia, America owed to him its most punctillious consideration. If +Mr. Blithers was to have anything to say about the matter, it would +be for the ear of the Prince alone and not for the busybodies. + +The main point is that the Prince was now rusticating within what you +might call a stone's throw of the capacious and lordly country +residence of Mr. Blithers; moreover, he was an uncommonly attractive +chap, with a laugh that was so charged with heartiness that it didn't +seem possible that he could have a drop of royal blood in his +vigorous young body. And the perfectly ridiculous part of the whole +situation was that Mr. and Mrs. King lived in a modest, vine-covered +little house that could have been lost in the servants' quarters at +Blitherwood. Especially aggravating, too, was the attitude of the +Kings. They were really nobodies, so to speak, and yet they blithely +called their royal guest "Bobby" and allowed him to fetch and carry +for their women-folk quite as if he were an ordinary whipper-snapper +up from the city to spend the week-end. + +The remark with which Mr. Blithers introduces this chapter was in +response to an oft-repeated declaration made by his wife in the shade +of the red, white and blue awning of the terrace overlooking, from +its despotic heights, the modest red roof of the King villa in the +valley below. Mrs. Blithers merely had stated--but over and over +again--that money couldn't buy everything in the world, referring +directly to social eminence and indirectly to their secret ambition +to capture a Prince of the royal blood for their daughter Maud. She +had prefaced this opinion, however, with the exceedingly irritating +insinuation that Mr. Blithers was not in his right mind when he +proposed inviting the Prince to spend a few weeks at Blitherwood, +provided the young man could cut short his visit in the home of Mr. +and Mrs. King, who, he had asseverated, were not in a position to +entertain royalty as royalty was in the habit of being entertained. + +Long experience had taught Mr. Blithers to read the lip and eye +language with some degree of certainty, so by watching his wife's +indignant face closely he was able to tell when she was succumbing to +reason. He was a burly, domineering person who reasoned for every one +within range of his voice, and it was only when his wife became +coldly sarcastic that he closed his ears and boomed his opinions into +her very teeth, so to say, joyfully overwhelming her with facts which +it were futile for her to attempt to deny. He was aware, quite as +much so as if he had heard the words, that she was now saying: + +"Well, there is absolutely no use arguing with you, Will. Have it +your way if it pleases you." + +Eying her with some uneasiness, he cautiously inserted his thumbs in +the armholes of his brocaded waistcoat, and proclaimed: + +"As I said before, Lou, there isn't a foreign nobleman, from the +Emperor down, who is above grabbing a few million dollars. They're +all hard up, and what do they gain by marrying ladies of noble birth +if said ladies are the daughters of noblemen who are as hard up as +all the rest of 'em? Besides, hasn't Maud been presented at Court? +Didn't you see to that? How about that pearl necklace I gave her when +she was presented? Wasn't it the talk of the season? There wasn't a +Duke in England who didn't figure the cost of that necklace to within +a guinea or two. No girl ever had better advertising than--" + +"We were speaking of Prince Robin," remarked his wife, with a slight +shudder. Mrs. Blithers came of better stock than her husband. His +gaucheries frequently set her teeth on edge. She was born in +Providence and sometimes mentioned the occurrence when particularly +desirous of squelching him, not unkindly perhaps but by way of making +him realise that their daughter had good blood in her veins. Mr. +Blithers had heard, in a round-about way, that he first saw the light +of day in Jersey City, although after he became famous Newark claimed +him. He did not bother about the matter. + +"Well, he's like all the rest of them," said he, after a moment of +indecision. Something told him that he really ought to refrain from +talking about the cost of things, even in the bosom of his family. He +had heard that only vulgarians speak of their possessions. "Now, +there's no reason in the world why we shouldn't consider his offer. +He--" + +"Offer?" she cried, aghast. "He has made no offer, Will. He doesn't +even know that Maud is in existence. How can you say such a thing?" + +"I was merely looking ahead, that's all. My motto is 'Look Ahead.' +You know it as well as I do. Where would I be to-day if I hadn't +looked ahead and seen what was going to happen before the other +fellow had his eyes open? Will you tell me that? Where, I say? What's +more, where would I be now if I hadn't looked ahead and seen what a +marriage with the daughter of Judge Morton would mean to me in the +long run?" He felt that he had uttered a very pretty and convincing +compliment." I never made a bad bargain in my life, Lou, and it +wasn't guess-work when I married you. You, my dear old girl, you were +the solid foundation on which I--" + +"I know," she said wearily; "you've said it a thousand times: 'The +foundation on which I built my temple of posterity'--yes, I know, +Will. But I am still unalterably opposed to making ourselves +ridiculous in the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. King." + +"Ridiculous? I don't understand you." + +"Well, you will after you think it over," she said quietly, and he +scowled in positive perplexity. + +"Don't you think he'd be a good match for Maud?" he asked, after many +minutes. He felt that he had thought it over. + +"Are you thinking of kidnapping him, Will?" she demanded. + +"Certainly not! But all you've got to do is to say that he's the man +for Maud and I'll--I'll do the rest. That's the kind of a man I am, +Lou. You say you don't want Count What's-His-Name,--that is, you +don't want him as much as you did,--and you do say that it would be +the grandest thing in the world if Maud could be the Princess of +Grosstick--" + +"Graustark, Will." + +"That's what I said. Well, if you want her to be the Princess of +_THAT_, I'll see that she is, providing this fellow is a gentleman and +worthy of _her_. The only Prince I ever knew was a damned rascal, and +I'm going to be careful about this one. You remember that measly--" + +"There is no question about Prince Robin," said she sharply. + +"I suppose the only question is, how much will he want?" + +"You mean--settlement?" + +"Sure." + +"Have you no romance in your soul, William Blithers?" + +"I never believed in fairy stories," said he grimly. "And what's +more, I don't take any stock in cheap novels in which American heroes +go about marrying into royal families and all that sort of rot. It +isn't done, Lou. If you want to marry into a royal family you've got +to put up the coin." + +"Prince Robin's mother, the poor Princess Yetive, married an American +for love, let me remind you." + +"Umph! Where is this Groostock anyway?" + +"'Somewhere east of the setting sun,'" she quoted. "You _must_ learn +how to pronounce it." + +"I never was good at foreign languages. By the way, where is Maud +this afternoon?" + +"Motoring." + +He waited for additional information. It was not vouchsafed, so he +demanded somewhat fearfully: + +"Who with?" + +"Young Scoville." + +He scowled. "He's a loafer, Lou. No good in the world. I don't like +the way you let--" + +"He is of a very good family, my dear. I--" + +"Is he--er--in love with her?" + +"Certainly." + +"Good Lord!" + +"And why not? Isn't every one she meets in love with her?" + +"I--I suppose so," he admitted sheepishly. His face brightened. "And +there's no reason why this Prince shouldn't fall heels over head, is +there? Well, there you are! That will make a difference in the +settlement, believe me--a difference of a couple of millions at +least, if--" + +She arose abruptly. "You are positively disgusting, Will. Can't you +think of anything but--" + +"Say, ain't that Maudie coming up the drive now? Sure it is! By +gracious, did you ever see anything to beat her? She's got 'em all +beat a mile when it comes to looks and style and--Oh, by the way," +lowering his voice to a hoarse, confidential whisper, "--I wouldn't +say anything to her about the marriage just yet if I were you. I want +to look him over first." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +TWO COUNTRIES DISCUSS MARRIAGE + + +Prince Robin of Graustark was as good-looking a chap as one would see +in a week's journey. Little would one suspect him of being the +descendant of a long and distinguished line of princes, save for the +unmistakeable though indefinable something in his eye that exacted +rather than invited the homage of his fellow man. His laugh was a +free and merry one, his spirits as effervescent as wine, his manner +blithe and boyish; yet beneath all this fair and guileless exposition +of carelessness lay the sober integrity of caste. It looked out +through the steady, unswerving eyes, even when they twinkled with +mirth; it met the gaze of the world with a serene imperiousness that +gave way before no mortal influence; it told without boastfulness a +story of centuries. For he was the son of a princess royal, and the +blood of ten score rulers of men had come down to him as a heritage +of strength. + +His mother, the beautiful, gracious and lamented Yetive, set all +royal circles by the ears when she married the American, Lorry, back +in the nineties. A special act of the ministry had legalised this +union and the son of the American was not deprived of his right to +succeed to the throne which his forebears had occupied for centuries. +From his mother he had inherited the right of kings, from his father +the spirit of freedom; from his mother the power of majesty, from his +father the power to see beyond that majesty. When little more than a +babe in arms he was orphaned and the affairs of state fell upon the +shoulders of three loyal and devoted men who served as regents until +he became of age. + +Wisely they served both him and the people through the years that +intervened between the death of the Princess and her consort and the +day when he reached his majority. That day was a glorious one in +Graustark. The people worshipped the little Prince when he was in +knickerbockers and played with toys; they saw him grow to manhood +with hearts that were full of hope and contentment; they made him +their real ruler with the same joyous spirit that had attended him in +the days when he sat in the great throne and "made believe" that he +was one of the mighty, despite the fact that his little legs barely +reached to the edge of the gold and silver seat,--and slept soundly +through all the befuddling sessions of the cabinet. He was seven when +the great revolt headed by Count Marlanx came so near to overthrowing +the government, and he behaved like the Prince that he was. It was +during those perilous times that he came to know the gallant Truxton +King in whose home he was now a happy guest. But before Truxton King +he knew the lovely girl who became the wife of that devoted +adventurer, and who, to him, was always to be "Aunt Loraine." + +As a very small boy he had paid two visits to the homeland of his +father, but after the death of his parents his valuable little person +was guarded so jealously by his subjects that not once had he set +foot beyond the borders of Graustark, except on two widely separated +occasions of great pomp and ceremony at the courts of Vienna and St. +Petersburgh, and a secret journey to London when he was seventeen. +(It appears that he was determined to see a great football match.) On +each of these occasions he was attended by watchful members of the +cabinet and certain military units in the now far from insignificant +standing army. As a matter of fact, he witnessed the football match +from the ordinary stands, surrounded by thousands of unsuspecting +Britons, but carefully wedged in between two generals of his own army +and flanked by a minister of police, a minister of the treasury and a +minister of war, all of whom were excessively bored by the contest +and more or less appalled by his unregal enthusiasm. He had insisted +on going to the match incog, to enjoy it for all it was worth to the +real spectators--those who sit or stand where the compression is not +unlike that applied to a box of sardines. + +The regency expired when he was twenty years of age, and he became +ruler in fact, of himself as well as of the half-million subjects who +had waited patiently for the great day that was to see him crowned +and glorified. Not one was there in that goodly half million who +stood out against him on that triumphant day; not one who possessed a +sullen or resentful heart. He was their Prince, and they loved him +well. After that wonderful coronation day he would never forget that +he was a Prince or that the hearts of a half million were to throb +with love for him so long as he was man as well as Prince. + +Mr. Blithers was very close to the truth when he said (to himself, if +you remember) that the financial situation in the far-off +principality was not all that could be desired. It is true that +Graustark was in Russia's debt to the extent of some twenty million +gavvos,--about thirty millions of dollars, in other words,--and that +the day of reckoning was very near at hand. The loan was for a period +of twelve years, and had been arranged contrary to the advice of John +Tullis, an American financier who long had been interested in the +welfare of the principality through friendship for the lamented +Prince Consort, Lorry. He had been farsighted enough to realise that +Russia would prove a hard creditor, even though she may have been +sincere in her protestations of friendship for the modest borrower. + +A stubborn element in the cabinet overcame his opposition, however, +and the debt was contracted, taxation increased by popular vote and a +period of governmental thriftiness inaugurated. Railroads, highways, +bridges and aqueducts were built, owned and controlled by the state, +and the city of Edelweiss rebuilt after the devastation created +during the revolt of Count Marlanx and his minions. There seemed to +be some prospect of vindication for the ministry and Tullis, who +lived in Edelweiss, was fair-minded enough to admit that their action +appeared to have been for the best. The people had prospered and +taxes were paid in full and without complaint. The reserve fund grew +steadily and surely and there was every prospect that when the huge +debt came due it would be paid in cash. But on the very crest of +their prosperity came adversity. For two years the crops failed and a +pestilence swept through the herds. The flood of gavvos that had been +pouring into the treasury dwindled into a pitiful rivulet; the little +that came in was applied, of necessity, to administration purposes +and the maintenance of the army, and there was not so much as a penny +left over for the so-called sinking fund. + +A year of grace remained. The minister of finance had long since +recovered from the delusion that it would be easy to borrow from +England or France to pay the Russians, there being small prospect of +a renewal by the Czar even for a short period at a higher rate of +interest. The great nations of Europe made it plain to the little +principality that they would not put a finger in Russia's pie at this +stage of the game. Russia was ready to go to war with her great +neighbour, Austria. Diplomacy--caution, if you will,--made it +imperative that other nations should sit tight and look to their own +knitting, so to say. Not one could afford to be charged with +befriending, even in a round-about way, either of the angry +grumblers. + +It was only too well known in diplomatic circles that Russia coveted +the railroads of Graustark, as a means of throwing troops into a +remote and almost impregnable portion of Austria. If the debt were +paid promptly, it would be impossible, according to international +law, for the great White Bear to take over these roads and at least a +portion of the western border of the principality. Obviously, Austria +would be benefitted by the prompt lifting of the debt, but her own +relations with Russia were so strained that an offer to come to the +rescue of Graustark would be taken at once as an open affront and +vigorously resented. Her hands were tied. + +The northern and western parts of Graustark were rich with productive +mines. The government had built railroads throughout these sections +so that the yield of coal and copper might be given an outlet to the +world at large. In making the loan, Russia had demanded these +prosperous sections as security for the vast sum advanced, and +Graustark in an evil hour had submitted, little suspecting the trick +that Dame Nature was to play in the end. + +Private banking institutions in Europe refused to make loans under +the rather exasperating circumstances, preferring to take no chances. +Money was not cheap in these bitter days, neither in Europe nor +America. Caution was the watchword. A vast European war was not +improbable, despite the sincere efforts on the part of the various +nations to keep out of the controversy. + +Nor was Mr. Blithers far from right in his shrewd surmise that Prince +Robin and his agents were not without hope in coming to America at +this particular time. Graustark had laid by barely half the amount +required to lift the debt to Russia. It was not beyond the bounds of +reason to expect her Prince to secure the remaining fifteen millions +through private sources in New York City. + +Six weeks prior to his arrival in New York, the young Prince landed +in San Francisco. He had come by way of the Orient, accompanied by +the Chief of Staff of the Graustark Army, Count Quinnox,--hereditary +watch-dog to the royal family!--and a young lieutenant of the guard, +Boske Dank. Two men were they who would have given a thousand lives +in the service of their Prince. No less loyal was the body-servant +who looked after the personal wants of the eager young traveller, an +Englishman of the name of Hobbs. A very poor valet was he, but an +exceptionally capable person when it came to the checking of luggage +and the divining of railway time-tables. He had been an agent for +Cook's. It was quite impossible to miss a train that Hobbs suspected +of being the right one. + +Prince Robin came unheralded and traversed the breadth of the +continent without attracting more than the attention that is bestowed +upon good-looking young men. Like his mother, nearly a quarter of a +century before, he travelled incognito. But where she had used the +somewhat emphatic name of Guggenslocker, he was known to the hotel +registers as "Mr. R. Schmidt and servant." + +There was romance in the eager young soul of Prince Robin. He +revelled in the love story of his parents. The beautiful Princess +Yetive first saw Grenfell Lorry in an express train going eastward +from Denver. Their wonderful romance was born, so to speak, in a +Pullman compartment car, and it thrived so splendidly that it almost +upset a dynasty, for never--in all of nine centuries--had a ruler of +Graustark stooped to marriage with a commoner. + +And so when the far-sighted ministry and House of Nobles in Graustark +set about to select a wife for their young ruler, they made overtures +to the Prince of Dawsbergen whose domain adjoined Graustark on the +south. The Crown Princess of Dawsbergen, then but fifteen, was the +unanimous choice of the amiable match-makers in secret conclave. This +was when Robin was seventeen and just over being fatuously in love +with his middle-aged instructress in French. + +The Prince of Dawsbergen despatched an embassy of noblemen to assure +his neighbour that the match would be highly acceptable to him and +that in proper season the betrothal might be announced. But alack! +both courts overlooked the fact that there was independent American +blood in the two young people. Neither the Prince of Graustark nor +the Crown Princess of Dawsbergen,--whose mother was a Miss Beverly +Calhoun of Virginia,--was disposed to listen to the voice of +expediency; in fact, at a safe distance of three or four hundred +miles, the youngsters figuratively turned up their noses at each +other and frankly confessed that they hated each other and wouldn't +be bullied into getting married, no matter what _anybody_ said, or +something of the sort. + +"S'pose I'm going to say I'll marry a girl I've never seen?" demanded +seventeen-year-old Robin, full of wrath. "Not I, my lords. I'm going +to look about a bit, if you don't mind. The world is full of girls. +I'll marry the one I happen to want or I'll not marry at all." + +"But, highness," they protested, "you must listen to reason. There +must be a successor to the throne of Graustark. You would not have +the name die with you. The young Princess is--" + +"Is fifteen you say," he interrupted loftily. "Come around in ten +years and we'll talk it over again. But I'm not going to pledge +myself to marry a child in short frocks, name or no name. Is she +pretty?" + +The lords did not know. They had not seen the young lady. + +"If she is pretty you'd be sure to know it, my lords, so we'll assume +she isn't. I saw her when she was three years old, and she certainly +was a fright when she cried, and, my lords, she cried all the time. +No, I'll not marry her. Be good enough to say to the Prince of +Dawsbergen that I'm very much obliged to him, but it's quite out of +the question." + +And the fifteen-year-old Crown Princess, four hundred miles away, +coolly informed her doting parents that she was tired of being a +Princess anyway and very much preferred marrying some one who lived +in a cottage. In fine, she stamped her little foot and said she'd +jump into the river before she'd marry the Prince of Graustark. + +"But he's a very handsome, adorable boy," began her mother. + +"And half-American just as you are, my child," put in her father +encouragingly. "Nothing could be more suitable than--" + +"I don't intend to marry anybody until I'm thirty at least, so that +ends it, daddy,--I mean, your poor old highness." + +"Naturally we do not expect you to be married before you are out of +short frocks, my dear," said Prince Dantan stiffly. "But a betrothal +is quite another thing. It is customary to arrange these marriages +years before--" + +"Is Prince Robin in love with me?" + +"I--ahem!--that's a very silly question. He hasn't seen you since you +were a baby. But he _will_ be in love with you, never fear." + +"He may be in love with some one else, for all we know, so where do I +come in?" + +"Come in?" gasped her father. + +"She's part American, dear," explained the mother, with her prettiest +smile. + +"Besides," said the Crown Princess, with finality, "I'm not even +going to be engaged to a man I've never seen. And if you insist, I'll +run away as sure as anything." + +And so the matter rested. Five years have passed since the initial +overtures were made by the two courts, and although several sly +attempts were made to bring the young people to a proper +understanding of their case, they aroused nothing more than scornful +laughter on the part of the belligerents, as the venerable Baron +Dangloss was wont to call them, not without pride in his sharp old +voice. + +"It all comes from mixing the blood," said the Prime Minister +gloomily. + +"Or improving it," said the Baron, and was frowned upon. + +And no one saw the portentous shadow cast by the slim daughter of +William W. Blithers, for the simple reason that neither Graustark nor +Dawsbergen knew that it existed. They lived in serene ignorance of +the fact that God, while he was about it, put Maud Applegate Blithers +into the world on precisely the same day that the Crown Princess of +Dawsbergen first saw the light of day. + +On the twenty-second anniversary of his birth, Prince Robin fared +forth in quest of love and romance, not without hope of adventure, +for he was a valorous chap with the heritage of warriors in his +veins. Said he to himself in dreamy contemplation of the long journey +ahead of him: "I will traverse the great highways that my mother trod +and I will look for the Golden Girl sitting by the wayside. She must +be there, and though it is a wide world, I am young and my eyes are +sharp. I will find her sitting at the roadside eager for me to come, +not housed in a gloomy; castle surrounded by the spooks of a hundred +ancestors. They who live in castles wed to hate and they who wed at +the roadside live to love. Fortune attend me! If love lies at the +roadside waiting, do not let me pass it by. All the princesses are +not inside the castles. Some sit outside the gates and laugh with +glee, for love is their companion. So away I go, la, la! looking for +the princess with the happy heart and the smiling lips! It is a wide +world but my eyes are sharp. I shall find my princess." + +But, alas, for his fine young dream, he found no Golden Girl at the +roadside nor anything that suggested romance. There were happy hearts +and smiling lips--and all for him, it would appear--but he passed +them by, for his eyes were _sharp_ and his wits awake. And so, +at last, he came to Gotham, his heart as free as the air he breathed, +confessing that his quest had been in vain. History failed to repeat +itself. His mother's romance would stand alone and shine without a +flicker to the end of time. There could be no counterpart. + +"Well, I had the fun of looking," he philosophised (to himself, for +no man knew of his secret project) and grinned with a sort of amused +tolerance for the sentimental side of his nature. "I'm a silly ass to +have even dreamed of finding her as I passed along, and if I had +found her what the deuce could I have done about it anyway? This +isn't the day for mediaeval lady-snatching. I dare say I'm just as +well off for not having found her. I still have the zest for hunting +farther, and there's a lot in that." Then aloud: "Hobbs, are we on +time?" + +"We are, sir," said Hobbs, without even glancing at his watch. The +train was passing 125th Street. "To the minute, sir. We will be in in +ten minutes, if nothing happens. Mr. King will be at the station to +meet you, sir. Any orders, sir?" + +"Yes, pinch me, Hobbs." + +"Pinch your Highness?" in amazement. "My word, sir, wot--" + +"I just want to be sure that the dream is over, Hobbs. Never mind. +You needn't pinch me. I'm awake," and to prove it he stretched his +fine young body in the ecstasy of realisation. + +That night he slept soundly in the Catskills. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MR. BLITHERS GOES VISITING + + +I repeat: Prince Robin was as handsome a chap as you'll see in a +week's journey. He was just under six feet, slender, erect and strong +in the way that a fine blade is strong. His hair was dark and +straight, his eyes blue-black, his cheek brown and ruddy with the +health of a life well-ordered. Nose, mouth and chin were clean-cut +and indicative of power, while his brow was broad and smooth, with a +surface so serene that it might have belonged to a woman. At first +glance you would have taken him for a healthy, eager American +athlete, just out of college, but that aforementioned seriousness in +his deep-set, thoughtful eyes would have caused you to think twice +before pronouncing him a fledgling. He had enjoyed life, he had made +the most of his play-days, but always there had hung over his young +head the shadow of the cross that would have to be supported to the +end of his reign, through thick and thin, through joy and sorrow, +through peace and strife. + +He saw the shadow when he was little more than a baby; it was like a +figure striding beside him always; it never left him. He could not be +like other boys, for he was a prince, and it was a serious business +being a prince! A thousand times, as a lad, he had wished that he +could have a few "weeks off" from being what he was and be just a +common, ordinary, harum scarum boy, like the "kids" of Petrove, the +head stableman. He would even have put up with the thrashings they +got from their father, just for the sake of enjoying the mischief +that purchased the punishment. But alas! no one would ever dream of +giving him the lovely "tannings" that other boys got when they were +naughty. Such joys were not for him; he was mildly reproved and that +was all. But his valiant spirit found release in many a glorious +though secret encounter with boys both large and small, and not +infrequently he sustained severe pummelings at the hands of plebeians +who never were quite sure that they wouldn't be beheaded for obliging +him in the matter of a "scrap," but who fought like little wild-cats +while they were about it. They were always fair fights, for he fought +as a boy and not as a prince. He took his lickings like a prince, +however, and his victories like a boy. The one thing he wanted to do +above all others was to play foot-ball. But they taught him fencing, +riding, shooting and tennis instead, for, said they, foot-ball is +only to be looked-at, not played,--fine argument, said Robin! + +Be that as it may, he was physically intact and bodily perfect. He +had no broken nose, smashed ribs, stiff shoulder joints or weak +ankles, nor was he toothless. In all his ambitious young life he had +never achieved anything more enduring than a bloody nose, a cracked +lip or a purple eye, and he had been compelled to struggle pretty +hard for even those blessings. And to him the pity of it all was that +he was as hard as nails and as strong as a bullock--a sad waste, if +one were to believe him in his bitter lamentations. + +Toward the end of his first week at Red Roof, the summer home of the +Truxton Kings, he might have been found on the broad lawn late one +afternoon, playing tennis with his hostess, the lovely and vivacious +"Aunt Loraine." To him, Mrs. King would always be "Aunt Loraine," +even as he would never be anything but Bobby to her. + +She was several years under forty and as light and active as a young +girl. Her smooth cheek glowed with the happiness and thrill of the +sport, and he was hard put to hold his own against her, even though +she insisted that he play his level best. + +Truxton King, stalwart and lazy, lounged on the turf, umpiring the +game, attended by two pretty young girls, a lieutenant in flannels +and the ceremonious Count Quinnox, iron grey and gaunt-faced +battleman with the sabre scars on his cheek and the bullet wound in +his side. + +"Good work, Rainie," shouted the umpire as his wife safely placed the +ball far out of her opponent's reach. + +"Hi!" shouted Robin, turning on him with a scowl. "You're not +supposed to cheer anybody, d' you understand? You're only an umpire." + +"Outburst of excitement, Kid," apologised the umpire complacently. +"Couldn't help it. Forty thirty. Get busy." + +"He called him 'kid,'" whispered one of the young girls to the other. + +"Well I heard the Prince call Mr. King 'Truck' a little while ago," +whispered the other. + +"Isn't he good-looking?" sighed the first one. + +They were sisters, very young, and lived in the cottage across the +road with their widowed mother. Their existence was quite unknown to +Mr. and Mrs. Blithers, although the amiable Maud was rather nice to +them. She had once picked them up in her automobile when she +encountered them walking to the station. After that she called them +by their Christian names and generously asked them to call her Maud. +It might appear from this that Maud suffered somewhat from loneliness +in the great house on the hill. The Felton girls had known Robin a +scant three-quarters of an hour and were deeply in love with him. +Fannie was eighteen and Nellie but little more than sixteen. He was +their first Prince. + +"Whee-ee!" shrilled Mrs. King, going madly after a return that her +opponent had lobbed over the net. She missed. + +"Deuce," said her husband laconically. A servant was crossing the +lawn with a tray of iced drinks. As he neared the recumbent group he +paused irresolutely and allowed his gaze to shift toward the road +below. Then he came on and as he drew alongside the interested umpire +he leaned over and spoke in a low tone of voice. + +"What?" demanded King, squinting. + +"Just coming in the gate, sir," said the footman. + +King shot a glance over his shoulder and then sat up in astonishment. + +"Good Lord! Blithers! What the deuce can he be doing here? I say, +Loraine! Hi!" + +"Vantage in," cried his pretty wife, dashing a stray lock from her +eyes. + +Mr. King's astonishment was genuine. It might better have been +pronounced bewilderment. Mr. Blithers was paying his first visit to +Red Roof. Up to this minute it is doubtful if he ever had accorded it +so much as a glance of interest in passing. He bowed to King +occasionally at the station, but that was all. + +But now his manner was exceedingly friendly as he advanced upon the +group. One might have been pardoned for believing him to be a most +intimate friend of the family and given to constantly dropping in at +any and all hours of the day. + +The game was promptly interrupted. It would not be far from wrong to +say that Mrs. King's pretty mouth was open not entirely as an aid to +breathing. She couldn't believe her eyes as she slowly abandoned her +court and came forward to meet their advancing visitor. + +"Take my racket, dear," she said to one of the Peltons, It happened +to be Fannie and the poor child almost fainted with joy. + +The Prince remained in the far court, idly twirling his racket. + +"Afternoon, King," said Mr. Blithers, doffing his panama--to fan a +heated brow. "Been watching the game from the road for a spell. Out +for a stroll. Couldn't resist running in for a minute. You play a +beautiful game, Mrs. King. How do you do! Pretty hot work though, +isn't it?" + +He was shaking hands with King and smiling genially upon the trim, +panting figure of the Prince's adversary. + +"Good afternoon, Mr. Blithers," said King, still staring." You--you +know my wife?" + +Mr. Blithers ignored what might have been regarded as an +introduction, and blandly announced that tennis wasn't a game for fat +people, patting his somewhat aggressive extension in mock dolefulness +as he spoke. + +"You should see my daughter play," he went on, scarcely heeding Mrs. +King's tactless remark that she affected the game because she had a +horror of getting fat. "Corking, she is, and as quick as a cat. Got a +medal at Lakewood last spring. I'll fix up a match soon, Mrs. King, +between you and Maud. Ought to be worth going miles to see, eh, +King?" + +"Oh, I am afraid, Mr. Blithers, that I am not in your daughter's +class," said Loraine King, much too innocently. + +"We've got a pretty fair tennis court up at Blitherwood," said Mr. +Blithers calmly. "I have a professional instructor up every week to +play with Maud. She can trim most of the amateurs so--" + +"May I offer you a drink of some kind, Mr. Blithers?" asked King, +recovering his poise to some extent. "We are having lemonades, but +perhaps you'd prefer something--" + +"Lemonade will do for me, thanks," said the visitor affably. "We +ought to run in on each other a little more often than--thanks! By +jove, it looks refreshing. Your health, Mrs. King. Too bad to drink a +lady's health in lemonade but--the sentiment's the same." + +He was looking over her shoulder at the bounding Prince in the far +court as he spoke, and it seemed that he held his glass a trifle too +high in proposing the toast. + +"I beg your pardon, Mr. Blithers," mumbled King. "Permit me to +introduce Count Quinnox and Lieutenant Dank." Both of the foreigners +had arisen and were standing very erect and soldierly a few yards +away. "You know Miss Felton, of course." + +"Delighted to meet you, Count," said Mr. Blithers, advancing with +outstretched hand. He shook the hand of the lieutenant with a shade +less energy. "Enjoying the game?" + +"Immensely," said the Count." It is rarely played so well." + +Mr. Blithers affected a most degage manner, squinting carelessly at +the Prince. + +"That young chap plays a nice game. Who is he?" + +The two Graustarkians stiffened perceptibly, and waited for King to +make the revelation to his visitor. + +"That's Prince Robin of--" he began but Mr. Blithers cut him short +with a genial wave of the hand. + +"Of course," he exclaimed, as if annoyed by his own stupidity. "I did +hear that you were entertaining a Prince. Slipped my mind, however. +Well, well, we're coming up in the world, eh?--having a real nabob +among us." He hesitated for a moment. "But don't let me interrupt the +game," he went on, as if expecting King to end the contest in order +to present the Prince to him. + +"Won't you sit down, Mr. Blithers?" said Mrs. King. "Or would you +prefer a more comfortable chair on the porch? We--" + +"No, thanks, I'll stay here if you don't mind," said he hastily, and +dragged up the camp chair that Lieutenant Dank had been occupying. + +"Fetch another chair, Lucas," said King to the servant. "And another +glass of lemonade for Miss Felton." + +"Felton?" queried Mr. Blithers, sitting down very carefully on the +rather fragile chair, and hitching up his white flannel trousers at +the knees to reveal a pair of purple socks, somewhat elementary in +tone. + +"We know your daughter, Mr. Blithers," said little Miss Nellie +eagerly. + +"I was just trying to remember--" + +"We live across the road--over there in the little white house with +the ivy--" + +"--where I'd heard the name," proceeded Mr. Blithers, still looking +at the Prince. "By jove, I should think my daughter and the Prince +would make a rattling good match. I mean," he added, with a +boisterous laugh, "a good match at tennis. We'll have to get 'em +together some day, eh, up at Blitherwood. How long is the Prince to +be with you, Mrs. King?" + +"It's rather uncertain, Mr. Blithers," said she, and no more. + +Mr. Blithers fanned himself in patience for a moment or two. Then he +looked at his watch. + +"Getting along toward dinner-time up our way," he ventured. Everybody +seemed rather intent on the game, which was extremely one-sided. + +"Good work!" shouted King as Fannie Felton managed to return an easy +service. + +Lieutenant Dank applauded vigorously. "Splendid!" he cried out. +"Capitally placed!" + +"They speak remarkably good English, don't they?" said Mr. Blithers +in an audible aside to Mrs. King. "Beats the deuce how quickly they +pick it up." + +She smiled. "Officers in the Graustark army are required to speak +English, French and German, Mr., Blithers." + +"It's a good idea," said he. "Maud speaks French and Italian like a +native. She was educated in Paris and Rome, you know. Fact is, she's +lived abroad a great deal." + +"Is she at home now, Mr. Blithers?" + +"Depends on what you'd call home, Mrs. King. We've got so many I +don't know just which is the real one. If you mean Blitherwood, yes, +she's there. Course, there's our town house in Madison Avenue, the +place at Newport, one at Nice and one at Pasadena--California, you +know--and a little shack in London. By the way, my wife says you live +quite near our place in New York." + +"We live in Madison Avenue, but it's a rather long street, Mr. +Blithers. Just where is your house?" she inquired, rather spitefully. + +He looked astonished. "You surely must know where the Blithers house +is at--" + +"Game!" shrieked Fannie Felton, tossing her racket in the air, a +victor. + +"They're through," said Mr. Blithers in a tone of relief. He shifted +his legs and put his hands on his knees, suggesting a readiness to +arise on an instant's notice. + +"Shall we try another set?" called out the Prince. + +"Make it doubles," put in Lieutenant Dank, and turned to Nellie. +"Shall we take them on?" + +And doubles it was, much to the disgust of Mr. Blithers. He sat +through the nine games, manifesting an interest he was far from +feeling, and then--as dusk fell across the valley--arose expectantly +with the cry of "game and set." He had discoursed freely on the +relative merits of various motor cars, stoutly maintaining that the +one he drove was without question the best in the market (in fact, +there wasn't another "make" that he would have as a gift); the clubs +he belonged to in New York were the only ones that were worth +belonging to (he wouldn't be caught dead in any of the others); his +tailor was the only tailor in the country who knew how to make a +decent looking suit of clothes (the rest of them were "the limit"); +the Pomeranian that he had given his daughter was the best dog of its +breed in the world (he was looking at Mrs. King's Pomeranian as he +made the remark); the tennis court at Blitherwood was pronounced by +experts to be the finest they'd, ever seen--and so on and so on, +until the long-drawn-out set was ended. + +To his utter amazement, at the conclusion of the game, the four +players made a dash for the house without even so much as a glance in +his direction. It was the Prince who shouted something that sounded +like "now for a shower!" as he raced up the terrace, followed by the +other participants. + +Mr. Blithers said something violent under his breath, but resolutely +retained his seat. It was King who glanced slyly at his watch this +time, and subsequently shot a questioning look at his wife. She was +frowning in considerable perplexity, and biting her firm red lips. +Count Quinnox coolly arose and excused himself with the remark that +he was off to dress for dinner. He also looked at his watch, which +certainly was an act that one would hardly have expected of a +diplomat. + +"Well, well," said Mr. Blithers profoundly. Then he looked at his own +watch--and settled back in his chair, a somewhat dogged compression +about his jaws. He was not the man to be thwarted. "You certainly +have a cosy little place here. King," he remarked after a moment or +two. + +"We like it," said King, twiddling his fingers behind his back. +"Humble but homelike." + +"Mrs. Blithers has been planning to come over for some time, Mrs. +King. I told her she oughtn't to put it off--be neighbourly, don't +you know. That's me. I'm for being neighbourly with my neighbours. +But women, they--well, you know how it is, Mrs. King. Always +something turning up to keep 'em from doing the things they want to +do most. And Mrs. Blithers has so many sociable obli--I beg pardon?" + +"I was just wondering if you would stay and have dinner with us, Mr. +Blithers," said she, utterly helpless. She wouldn't look her husband +in the eye--and it was quite fortunate that she was unable to do so, +for it would have resulted in a laughing duet that could never have +been explained. + +"Why," said Mr. Blithers, arising and looking at his watch again, +"bless my soul, it is _past_ dinner time, isn't it? I had no +idea it was so late. 'Pon my soul, it's good of you, Mrs. King. You +see, we have dinner at seven up at Blitherwood and--I declare it's +half-past now. I don't see where the time has gone. Thanks, I +_will_ stay if you really mean to be kind to a poor old beggar. +Don't do anything extra on my account, though, just your regular +dinner, you know. No frills, if you please. "He looked himself over +in some uncertainty. "Will this rag of mine do?" + +"We shan't notice it, Mr. Blithers," said she, and he turned the +remark over in his mind several times as he walked beside her toward +the house. Somehow it didn't sound just right to him, but for the +life of him he couldn't tell why. "We are quite simple folk, you +see," she went on desperately, making note of the fact that her +husband lagged behind like the coward he was. "Red Roof is as nothing +compared to Blitherwood, with its army of servants and--" + +Mr. Blithers magnanimously said "Pooh!" and, continuing, remarked +that he wouldn't say exactly how many they employed but he was sure +there were not more than forty, including the gardeners. "Besides," +he added gallantly, "what is an army of servants compared to the army +of Grasstock? You've got the real article, Mrs. King, so don't you +worry. But, I say, if necessary, I can telephone up to the house and +have a dress suit sent down. It won't take fifteen minutes, Lou--er-- +Mrs. Blithers always has 'em laid out for me, in case of an +emergency, and--" + +"Pray do not think of it," she cried. "The men change, of course, +after they've been playing tennis, but we--we--well, you see, you +haven't been playing," she concluded, quite breathlessly. + +At that instant the sprightly Feltons dashed pell mell down the steps +and across the lawn homeward, shrieking something unintelligible to +Mrs. King as they passed. + +"Rather skittish," observed Mr. Blithers, glaring after them +disapprovingly. + +"They are dears," said Mrs. King. + +"The--er--Prince attracted by either one of 'em?" he queried. + +"He barely knows them, Mr. Blithers." + +"I see. Shouldn't think they'd appeal to him. Rather light, I should +say--I mean up here," and he tapped his forehead so that she wouldn't +think that he referred to pounds and ounces. "I don't believe Maud +knows 'em, as the little one said. Maud is rather--" + +"It is possible they have mistaken some one else for your daughter," +said she very gently. + +"Impossible," said he with force. + +"They are coming back here to dinner," she said, and her eyes +sparkled with mischief. "I shall put you between them, Mr. Blithers. +You will find that they are very bright, attractive girls." + +"We'll see," said he succinctly. + +King caught them up at the top of the steps. He seemed to be slightly +out of breath. + +"Make yourself at home, Mr. Blithers. I must get into something +besides these duds I'm wearing," he said. "Would you like to--er-- +wash up while we're--" + +"No, thanks," interposed Mr. Blithers. "I'm as clean as a whistle. +Don't mind me, please. Run along and dress, both of you. I'll sit out +here and--count the minutes," the last with a very elaborate bow to +Mrs. King. + +"Dinner's at half-past eight," said she, and disappeared. Mr. +Blithers recalled his last glance at his watch, and calculated that +he would have at least fifty minutes to count, provided dinner was +served promptly on the dot. + +"You will excuse me if I leave you--" + +"Don't mention it, old man," said the new guest, rather more curtly +than he intended. "I'll take it easy." + +"Shall I have the butler telephone to Blitherwood to say that you +won't be home to dinner?" + +"It would be better if he were to say that I wasn't home to dinner," +said Mr. Blithers. "It's over by this time." + +"Something to drink while you're--" + +"No, thanks. I can wait," and he sat down. + +"You don't mind my--" + +"Not at all." + +Mr. Blithers settled himself in the big porch chair and glowered at +the shadowy hills on the opposite side of the valley. The little +cottage of the Feltons came directly in his line of vision. He +scowled more deeply than before. At the end of fifteen minutes he +started up suddenly and, after a quick uneasy glance about him, +started off across the lawn, walking more rapidly than was his wont. + +He had remembered that his chauffeur was waiting for him with the car +just around a bend in the road--and had been waiting for two hours +or more. + +"Go home," he said to the man. "Come back at twelve. And don't use +the cut-out going up that hill, either." + +Later on, he met the Prince. Very warmly he shook the tall young +man's hand,--he even gave it a prophetic second squeeze,--and said: + +"I am happy to welcome you to the Catskills, Prince." + +"Thank you," said Prince Robin. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +PROTECTING THE BLOOD + + +"A most extraordinary person," said Count Quinnox to King, after Mr. +Blithers had taken his departure, close upon the heels of the Feltons +who were being escorted home by the Prince and Dank. The venerable +Graustarkian's heroic face was a study. He had just concluded a +confidential hour in a remote corner of the library with the +millionaire while the younger people were engaged in a noisy though +temperate encounter with the roulette wheel at the opposite end of +the room. "I've never met any one like him, Mr. King." He mopped his +brow, and still looked a trifle dazed. + +King laughed. "There isn't any one like him, Count. He is the one and +only Blithers." + +"He is very rich?" + +"Millions and millions," said Mrs. King. "Didn't he tell you how +many?" + +"I am not quite sure. This daughter of his--is she attractive?" + +"Rather. Why?" + +"He informed me that her dot would be twenty millions if she married +the right man. Moreover, she is his only heir. 'Pon my soul, Mrs. +King, he quite took my breath away when he announced that he knew all +about our predicament in relation to the Russian loan. It really +sounded quite--you might say significant. Does--does he imagine that-- +good heaven, it's almost stupefying!" + +King smoked in silence for many seconds. There was a pucker of +annoyance on his wife's fair brow as she stared reflectively through +the window at the distant lights of Blitherwood, far up the mountain +side. + +"Sounds ominous to me," said King drily. "Is Bobby for sale?" + +The Count favoured him with a look of horror. "My dear Mr. King!" +Then as comprehension came, he smiled. "I see. No, he isn't for sale. +He is a Prince, not a pawn. Mr. Blithers may be willing to buy but--" +he proudly shook his head. + +"He was feeling you out, however," said King, ruminating. "Planting +the seed, so to speak." + +"There is a rumour that she is to marry Count Lannet," said his wife. +"A horrid creature. There was talk in the newspapers last winter of +an Italian duke. Poor girl! From what I hear of her, she is rather a +good sort, sensible and more genuinely American in her tastes than +might be, expected after her bringing-up. And she _is_ pretty." + +"How about this young Scoville, Rainie?" + +"He's a nice boy but--he'll never get her. She is marked up too high +for him. He doesn't possess so much as the title to an acre of land." + +"Extraordinary, the way you Americans go after our titles," said the +Count good-naturedly. + +"No more extraordinary than the way you Europeans go after our +money," was her retort. + +"I don't know which is the cheaper, titles or money in these days," +said King. "I understand one can get a most acceptable duke for three +or four millions, a nice marquis or count for half as much, and a Sir +on tick." He eyed the Count speculatively. "Of course a prince of the +royal blood comes pretty high." + +"Pretty high," said the Count grimly. He seemed to be turning +something over in his mind. "Your amazing Mr. Blithers further +confided to me that he might be willing to take care of the Russian +obligation for us if no one else turns up in time. As a matter of +fact, without waiting for my reply, he said that he would have his +lawyers look into the matter of security at once. I was somewhat +dazed, but I think he said that it would be no trouble at all for him +to provide the money himself and he would be glad to accommodate us +if we had no other plan in mind. Amazing, amazing!" + +"Of course, you told him it was not to be considered," said King +sharply. + +"I endeavoured to do so, but I fear he did not grasp what I was +saying. Moreover, I tried to tell him that it was a matter I was not +at liberty to discuss. He didn't hear that, either." + +"He is not in the habit of hearing any one but himself, I fear," said +King. + +"I am afraid poor Robin is in jeopardy," said his wife, ruefully. +"The Bogieman is after him." + +"Does the incomprehensible creature imagine--" began the Count +loudly, and then found it necessary to pull his collar away from his +throat as if to save himself from immediate strangulation. + +"Mr. Blithers is not blessed with an imagination, Count," said she. +"He doesn't imagine anything." + +"If he should presume to insult our Prince by--" grated the old +soldier, very red in the face and erect--"if he should presume to--" +Words failed him and an instant later he was laughing, but somewhat +uncertainly, with his amused host and hostess. + +Mr. Blithers reached home in high spirits. His wife was asleep, but +he awoke her without ceremony. + +"I say, Lou, wake up. Got some news for you. We'll have a prince in +the family before you can say Jack Robinson." + +She sat up in bed, blinking with dismay. "In heaven's name, Will, +what have you been doing? What--_have_ you been--" + +"Cutting bait," said he jovially. "In a day or two I'll throw the +hook in, and you'll see what I land. He's as good as caught right +now, but we'll let him nibble a while before we jerk. And say, he's a +corker, Lou. Finest young fellow I've seen in many a day. He--" + +"You don't mean to say that you--you actually said anything to him +about--about--Oh, my God, Will, don't tell me that you were crazy +enough to--" cried the poor woman, almost in tears. + +"Now cool down, cool down," he broke in soothingly. "I'm no fool, +Lou. Trust me to do the fine work in a case like this. Sow the right +kind of seeds and you'll get results every time. I merely dropped a +few hints, that's all,--and in the right direction, believe me. Count +Equinox will do the rest. I'll bet my head we'll have this prince +running after Maud so--" + +"What _did_ you say?" she demanded. There was a fine moisture on +her upper lip. He sat down on the edge of the bed and talked for half +an hour without interruption. When he came to the end of his oration, +she turned over with her face to the wall and fairly sobbed: "What +will the Kings think of us? What will they think?" + +"Who the dickens cares what the Kings think?" he roared, perfectly +aghast at the way she took it. "Who are the Kings? Tell me that! who +are they?" + +"I--I can't bear to talk about it. Go to bed." + +He wiped his brow helplessly. "You beat anything I've ever seen. +What's the matter with you? Don't you want this prince for Maud? +Well, then, what the deuce are you crying about? You said you wanted +him, didn't you? Well, I'm going to get him. If I say I'll do a +thing, you can bet your last dollar I'll do it. That's the kind of a +man William W. Blithers is. You leave it to me. There's only one way +to land these foreign noblemen, and I'm--" + +She faced him once more, and angrily. "Listen to me," she said. "I've +had a talk with Maud. She has gone to bed with a splitting headache +and I'm not surprised. Don't you suppose the poor child has a +particle of pride? She guessed at once just what you had gone over +there for and she cried her eyes out. Now she declares she will never +be able to look the Prince in the face, and as for the Kings--Oh, +it's sickening. Why can't you leave these things to me? You go about +like a bull in a china shop. You might at least have waited until the +poor child had an opportunity to see the man before rushing in with +your talk about money. She--" + +"Confound it, Lou, don't blame me for everything. We all three agreed +at lunch that he was a better bargain than this measly count we've +been considering. Maud says she won't marry the count, anyhow, and +she _did_ say that if this prince was all that he's cracked up to be, +she wouldn't mind being the Princess of Groostock. You can't deny +that, Lou. You heard her say it. You--" + +"She didn't say Groostock," said his wife shortly. "And you forget +that she said she wouldn't promise anything until she'd met him and +decided whether she liked him." + +"She'll like him all right," said he confidently. + +"She will refuse to even meet him, if she hears of your silly blunder +to-night." + +"Refuse to meet him?" gasped Mr. Blithers. + +"I may be able to reason with her, Will, but--but she's stubborn, as +well you know. I'm afraid you've spoiled everything." + +His face brightened. Lowering his voice to a half-whisper, he said: +"We needn't tell her what I said to that old chap, Lou. Just let her +think I sat around like a gump and never said a word to anybody. We +can--" + +"But she'll pin you down, Will, and you know you can't lie with a +straight face." + +"Maybe--maybe I'd better run down to New York for a few days," he +muttered unhappily. "You can square it better than I can." + +"In other words, I can lie with a straight face," she said +ironically. + +"I never thought she'd balk like this," said he, ignoring the remark. + +"I fancy you'd better go to New York," she said mercilessly. + +"I've got business there anyhow," muttered he. "I--I think I'll go +before she's up in the morning." + +"You can save yourself a bad hour or two if you leave before +breakfast," said she levelly. + +"Get around her some way, Lou," he pleaded. "Tell her I'm sorry I had +to leave so early, and--and that I love her better than anything on +earth, and that I'll be back the end of the week. If--if she wants +anything in New York, just have her wire me. You say she cried?" + +"She did, and I don't blame her." + +Mr. Blithers scowled. "Well--well, you see if you can do any better +than I did. Arrange it somehow for them to meet. She'll--she'll like +him and then--by George, she'll thank us both for the interest we +take in her future. It wouldn't surprise me if she fell in love with +him right off the reel. And you may be sure he'll fall in love with +her. He can't help it. The knowledge that she'll have fifty millions +some day won't have anything to do with his feeling for her, once he-- +" + +"Don't mention the word millions again. Will Blithers." + +"All right," said he, more humbly than he knew, "But listen to this, +old girl; I'm going to get this prince for her if it's the last act +of my life. I never failed in anything and I won't fail in this." + +"Well, go to bed, dear, and don't worry. I may be able to undo the +mischief. It--it isn't hopeless, of course." + +"I'll trust you, Lou, to do your part. Count on me to do mine when +the time comes. And I still insist that I have sowed the right sort +of seed to-night. You'll see. Just wait." + +Sure enough, Mr. Blithers was off for New York soon after daybreak +the next morning, and with him went a mighty determination to justify +himself before the week was over. His wily brain was working as it +had never worked before. + +Two days later, Count Quinnox received a message from New York +bearing the distressing information that the two private banking +institutions on which he had been depending for aid in the hour of +trouble had decided that it would be impossible for them to make the +loan under consideration. The financial agents who had been operating +in behalf of the Graustark government confessed that they were unable +to explain the sudden change of heart on the part of the bankers, +inasmuch as the negotiations practically had been closed with them. +The decision of the directors was utterly incomprehensible under the +circumstances. + +Vastly disturbed, Count Quinnox took the first train to New York, +accompanied by Truxton King, who was confident that outside +influences had been brought to bear upon the situation, influences +inimical to Graustark. Both were of the opinion that Russia had +something to do with it, although the negotiations had been conducted +with all the secrecy permissible in such cases. + +"We may be able to get to the banks through Blithers," said King. + +"How could he possibly be of assistance to us?" the Count inquired. + +"He happens to be a director in both concerns, besides being such a +power in the financial world that his word is almost law when it +comes to the big deals." + +All the way down to the city Count Quinnox was thoughtful, even pre- +occupied. They were nearing the Terminal when he leaned over and, +laying his hand on King's knee, said, after a long interval of +silence between them: + +"I suppose you know that Graustark has not given up hope that Prince +Robin may soon espouse the daughter of our neighbour, Dawsbergen." + +King gave him a queer look. "By jove, that's odd. I was thinking of +that very thing when you spoke." + +"The union would be of no profit to us in a pecuniary way, my +friend," explained the Count. "Still it is most desirable for other +reasons. Dawsbergen is not a rich country, nor are its people +progressive. The reigning house, however, is an old one and rich in +traditions. Money, my dear King, is not everything in this world. +There are some things it cannot buy. It is singularly ineffective +when opposed to an honest sentiment. Even though the young Princess +were to come to Graustark without a farthing, she would still be +hailed with the wildest acclaim. We are a race of blood worshippers, +if I may put it in that way. She represents a force that has +dominated our instincts for a great many centuries, and we are bound +hand and foot, heart and soul, by the so-called fetters of +imperialism. We are fierce men, but we bend the knee and we wear the +yoke because the sword of destiny is in the hand that drives us. To- +day we are ruled by a prince whose sire was not of the royal blood. I +do not say that we deplore this infusion, but it behooves us to +protect the original strain. We must conserve our royal blood. Our +prince assumes an attitude of independence that we find difficult to +overcome. He is prepared to defy an old precedent in support of a new +one. In other words, he points out the unmistakably happy union of +his own mother, the late Princess Yetive, and the American Lorry, and +it is something we cannot go behind. He declares that his mother set +an example that he may emulate without prejudice to his country if he +is allowed a free hand in choosing his mate. + +"But we people of Graustark cannot look with complaisance on the +possible result of his search for a sharer of the throne. Traditions +must be upheld--or we die. True, the Crown Princess of Dawsbergen +has American blood in her veins but her sire is a prince royal. Her +mother, as you know, was an American girl. She who sits on the throne +with Robin must be a princess by birth or the grip on the sword of +destiny is weakened and the dynasty falters. I know what is in your +mind. You are wondering why our Prince should not wed one of your +fabulously rich American girls--" + +"My dear Count," said King warmly, "I am not thinking anything of the +sort. Naturally I am opposed to your pre-arranged marriages and all +that sort of thing, but still I appreciate what it means as a safe- +guard to the crown you support. I sincerely hope that Robin may find +his love-mate in the small circle you draw for him, but I fear it +isn't likely. He is young, romantic, impressionable, and he abhors +the thought of marriage without love. He refuses to even consider the +princess you have picked out for him. Time may prove to him that his +ideals are false and he may resign himself to the--I was about to say +the inevitable." + +"Inevitable is the word, Mr. King," said Count Quinnox grimly. "'Pon +my word, sir, I don't know what our princes and princesses are coming +to in these days. There seems to be a perfect epidemic of +independence among them. They marry whom they please in spite of +royal command, and the courts of Europe are being shorn of half their +glory. It wouldn't surprise me to see an American woman on the throne +of England one of these days. 'Gad, sir, you know what happened in +Axphain two years ago. Her crown prince renounced the throne and +married a French singer." + +"And they say he is a very happy young beggar," said King drily. + +"It is the prerogative of fools to be happy," said Count Quinnox. + +"Not so with princes, eh?" + +"It is a duty with princes, Mr. King." + +They had not been in New York City an hour before they discovered +that William W. Blithers was the man to whom they would have to +appeal if they expected to gain a fresh hearing with the banks. The +agents were in a dismal state of mind. The deal had been blocked no +later than the afternoon of the day before and at a time when +everything appeared to be going along most swimmingly. Blithers was +the man to see; he and he alone could bring pressure to bear on the +directorates that might result in a reconsideration of the surprising +verdict. Something had happened during the day to alter the friendly +attitude of the banks; they were now politely reluctant, as one of +the agents expressed it, which really meant that opposition to the +loan had appeared from some unexpected source, as a sort of eleventh +hour obstacle. The heads of the two banks had as much as said that +negotiations were at an end, that was the long and short of it; it +really didn't matter what was back of their sudden change of front, +the fact still remained that the transaction was as "dead as a door +nail" unless it could be revived by the magnetic touch of a man like +Blithers. + +"What can have happened to cause them to change their minds so +abruptly?" cried the perplexed Count. "Surely our prime minister and +the cabinet have left nothing undone to convince them of Graustark's +integrity and--" + +"Pardon me. Count," interrupted one of the brokers, "shall I try to +make an appointment for you with Mr. Blithers? I hear he is in town +for a few days." + +Count Quinnox looked to Truxton King for inspiration and that +gentleman favoured him with a singularly dis-spiriting nod of the +head. The old Graustarkian cleared his throat and rather stiffly +announced that he would receive Mr. Blithers if he would call on him +at the Ritz that afternoon. + +"What!" exclaimed both agents, half-starting from their chairs in +amazement. + +The Count stared hard at them. "You may say to him that I will be in +at four." + +"He'll tell you to go to--ahem!" The speaker coughed just in time. +"Blithers isn't in the habit of going out of his way to--to oblige +anybody. He wouldn't do it for the Emperor of Germany." + +"But," said the Count with a frosty smile, "I am not the Emperor of +Germany." + +"Better let me make an appointment for you to see him at his office. +It's just around the corner." There was a pleading note in the +speaker's voice. + +"You might save your face, Calvert, by saying that the Count will be +pleased to have him take tea with him at the Ritz," suggested King. + +"Tea!" exclaimed Calvert scornfully. "Blithers, doesn't drink the +stuff." + +"It's a figure of speech," said King patiently. + +"All right, I'll telephone," said the other dubiously. + +He came back a few minutes later with a triumphant look in his eye. + +"Blithers says to tell Count Quinnox he'll see him to-morrow morning +at half-past eight at his office. Sorry he's engaged this afternoon." + +"But did you say I wanted him to have tea with us!" demanded the +Count, an angry flush leaping to his cheek. + +"I did. I'm merely repeating what he said in reply. Half-past eight, +at his office, Count. Those were his words." + +"It is the most brazen exhibition of insolence I've ever--" began the +Count furiously, but checked himself with an effort. "I--I hope you +did not say that I would come, sir!" + +"Yes. It's the only way--" + +"Well, be good enough to call him up again and say to him that I'll-- +I'll see him damned before I'll come to his office to-morrow at +eight-thirty or at any other hour." And with that the Count got up +and stalked out of the office, putting on his hat as he did so. + +"Count," said King, as they descended in the elevator, "I've got an +idea in my head that Blithers will be at the Ritz at four." + +"Do you imagine, sir, that I will receive him?" + +"Certainly. Are you not a diplomat?" + +"I am a Minister of War," said the Count, and his scowl was an +indication of absolute proficiency in the science. + +"And what's more," went on King, reflectively, "it wouldn't in the +least surprise me if Blithers is the man behind the directors in this +sudden move of the banks." + +"My dear King, he displayed the keenest interest and sympathy the +other night at your house. He--" + +"Of course I may be wrong," admitted King, but his brow was clouded. + +Shortly after luncheon that day, Mrs. Blithers received a telegram +from her husband. It merely stated that he was going up to have tea +with the Count at four o'clock, and not to worry as "things were +shaping themselves nicely." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +PRINCE ROBIN IS ASKED TO STAND UP + + +Late the same evening. Prince Robin, at Red Roof, received a long +distance telephone communication from New York City. The Count was on +the wire. He imparted the rather startling news that William W. +Blithers had volunteered to take care of the loan out of his own +private means! Quinnox was cabling the Prime Minister for advice and +would remain in New York for further conference with the capitalist, +who, it was to be assumed, would want time to satisfy himself as to +the stability of Graustark's resources. + +Robin was jubilant. The thought had not entered his mind that there +could be anything sinister in this amazing proposition of the great +financier. + +If Count Quinnox himself suspected Mr. Blithers of an ulterior +motive, the suspicion was rendered doubtful by the evidence of +sincerity on the part of the capitalist who professed no sentiment in +the matter but insisted on the most complete indemnification by the +Graustark government. Even King was impressed by the absolute +fairness of the proposition. Mr. Blithers demanded no more than the +banks were asking for in the shape of indemnity; a first lien +mortgage for 12 years on all properties owned and controlled by the +government and the deposit of all bonds held by the people with the +understanding that the interest would be paid to them regularly, less +a small per cent as commission. His protection would be complete,-- +for the people of Graustark owned fully four-fifths of the bonds +issued by the government for the construction of public service +institutions; these by consent of Mr. Blithers were to be limited to +three utilities: railroads, telegraph and canals. These properties, +as Mr. Blithers was by way of knowing, were absolutely sound and +self-supporting. According to his investigators in London and Berlin, +they were as solid as Gibraltar and not in need of one-tenth the +protection required by the famous rock. + +Robin inquired whether he was to come to New York at once in relation +to the matter, and was informed that it would not be necessary at +present. In fact, Mr. Blithers preferred to let the situation remain +in statu quo (as he expressed it to the Count), until it was +determined whether the people were willing to deposit their bonds, a +condition which was hardly worth while worrying about in view of the +fact that they had already signified their readiness to present them +for security in the original proposition to the banks. Mr. Blithers, +however, would give himself the pleasure of calling upon the Prince +at Red Roof later in the week, when the situation could be discussed +over a dish of tea or a cup of lemonade. That is precisely the way +Mr. Blithers put it. + +The next afternoon Mrs. Blithers left cards at Red Roof--or rather, +the foot-man left them--and on the day following the Kings and their +guests received invitations to a ball at Blitherwood on the ensuing +Friday, but four days off. While Mrs. King and the two young men were +discussing the invitation the former was called to the telephone. +Mrs. Blithers herself was speaking. + +"I hope you will pardon me for calling you up, Mrs. King, but I +wanted to be sure that you can come on the seventeenth. We want so +much to have the Prince and his friends with us. Mr. Blithers has +taken a great fancy to Prince Robin and Count Quinnox, and he +declares the whole affair will be a fiasco if they are not to be +here." + +"It is good of you to ask us, Mrs. Blithers. The Prince is planning +to leave for Washington within the next few days and I fear--" + +"Oh, you must prevail upon him to remain over, my Dear Mrs. King. We +are to have a lot of people up from Newport and Tuxedo--you know the +crowd--it's the _real_ crowd--and I'm sure he will enjoy meeting them. +Mr. Blithers has arranged for a special train to bring them up--a +train de luxe, you may be sure, both as to equipment and occupant. +Zabo's orchestra, too. A notion seized us last night to give the ball, +which accounts for the short notice. It's the way we do everything--on +a minute's notice. I think they're jollier if one doesn't go through +the agony of a month's preparation, don't you? Nearly every one has +wired acceptance, so we're sure to have a lot of nice people. Loads of +girls,--you know the ones I mean,--and Mr. Blithers is trying to +arrange a sparring match between those two great prizefighters,--you +know the ones, Mrs. King,--just to give us poor women a chance to see +what a real man looks like in--I mean to say, what marvellous +specimens they are, don't you know. Now please tell the Prince that he +positively cannot afford to miss a real sparring match. Every one is +terribly excited over it, and naturally we are keeping it very quiet. +Won't it be a lark? My daughter thinks it's terrible, but she is +finicky. One of them is a negro, isn't he?" + +"I'm sure I don't know." + +"You can imagine how splendid they must be when I tell you that Mr. +Blithers is afraid they won't come up for less than fifteen thousand +dollars. Isn't it ridiculous?" + +"Perfectly," said Mrs. King. + +"Of course, we shall insist on the Prince receiving with us. He is +our _piece de resistance_. You--" + +"I'm sure it will be awfully jolly, Mrs. Blithers. What did you say?" + +"I beg pardon?" + +"I'm sorry. I was speaking to the Prince. He just called up stairs to +me." + +"What does he say?" + +"It was really nothing. He was asking about Hobbs." + +"Hobbs? Tell him, please, that if he has any friends he would like to +have invited we shall be only too proud to--" + +"Oh, thank you! I'll tell him." + +"You must not let him go away before--" + +"I shall try my best, Mrs. Blithers. It is awfully kind of you to ask +us to--" + +"You must all come up to dinner either to-morrow night or the night +after. I shall be so glad if you will suggest anything that can help +us to make the ball a success. You see, I know how terribly clever +you are, Mrs. King." + +"I am dreadfully stupid." + +"Nonsense!" + +"I'm sorry to say we're dining out to-morrow night and on Thursday we +are having some people here for--" + +"Can't you bring them all up to Blitherwood? We'd be delighted to +have them, I'm sure." + +"I'm afraid I couldn't manage it. They--well, you see, they are in +mourning." + +"Oh, I see. Well, perhaps Maud and I could run in and see you for a +few minutes to-morrow or next day, just to talk things over a little-- +what's that, Maud? I beg your pardon, Mrs. King. Ahem! Well, I'll +call you up to-morrow, if you don't mind being bothered about a silly +old ball. Good-bye. Thank you so much." + +Mrs. King confronted Robin in the lower hall a few seconds later and +roundly berated him for shouting up the steps that Hobbs ought to be +invited to the ball. Prince Robin rolled on a couch and roared with +delight. Lieutenant Dank, as became an officer of the Royal Guard, +stood at attention--in the bow window with his back to the room, very +red about the ears and rigid to the bursting point. + +"I suppose, however, we'll have to keep on the good side of the +Blithers syndicate," said Robin soberly, after his mirth and subsided +before her wrath. "Good Lord, Aunt Loraine, I simply cannot go up +there and stand in line like a freak in a side show for all the +ladies and girls to gape at I'll get sick the day of the party, +that's what I'll do, and you can tell 'em how desolated I am over my +misfortune." + +"They've got their eyes on you, Bobby," she said flatly. "You can't +escape so easily as all that. If you're not very, very careful +they'll have you married to the charming Miss Maud before you can say +Jack Rabbit." + +"Think that's their idea?" + +"Unquestionably." + +He stretched himself lazily. "Well, it may be that she's the very one +I'm looking for, Auntie. Who knows?" + +"You silly boy!" + +"She may be the Golden Girl in every sense of the term," said he +lightly. "You say she's pretty?" + +"My notion of beauty and yours may not agree at all." + +"That's not an answer." + +"Well, I consider her to be a very good-looking girl." + +"Blonde?" + +"Mixed. Light brown hair and very dark eyes and lashes. A little +taller than I, more graceful and a splendid horse-woman. I've seen +her riding." + +"Astride?" + +"No. I've seen her in a ball gown, too. Most men think she's +stunning." + +"Well, let's have a game of billiards," said he, dismissing Maud in a +way that would have caused the proud Mr. Blithers to reel with +indignation. + +A little later on, at the billiard table, Mrs. King remarked, apropos +of nothing and quite out of a clear sky, so to speak: + +"And she'll do anything her parents command her to do, that's the +worst of it." + +"What are you talking about? It's your shot." + +"If they order her to marry a title, she'll do it. That's the way +she's been brought up, I'm afraid." + +"Meaning Maud?" + +"Certainly. Who else? Poor thing, she hasn't a chance in the world, +with that mother of hers." + +"Shoot, please. Mark up six for me, Dank." + +"Wait till you see her, Bobby." + +"All right. I'll wait," said he cheerfully. + +The next day Count Quinnox and King returned from the city, coming up +in a private car with Mr. Blithers himself. + +"I'll have Maud drive me over this afternoon," said Mr. Blithers, as +they parted at the station. + +But Maud did not drive him over that afternoon. The pride, joy and +hope of the Blithers family flatly refused to be a party of any such +arrangement, and set out for a horse-back ride in a direction that +took her as far away from Red Roof as possible. + +"What's come over the girl?" demanded Mr. Blithers, completely non- +plused. "She's never acted like this before, Lou." + +"Some silly notion about being made a laughingstock, I gather," said +his wife. "Heaven knows I've talked to her till I'm utterly worn out. +She says she won't be bullied into even meeting the Prince, much less +marrying him. I've never known her to be so pig-headed. Usually I can +make her see things in a sensible way. She would have married the +duke, I'm sure, if--if you hadn't put a stop to it on account of his +so-called habits. She--" + +"Well, it's turned out for the best, hasn't it? Isn't a prince better +than a duke?" + +"You've said all that before, Will. I wanted her to run down with me +this morning to talk the ball over with Mrs. King, and what do you +think happened?" + +"She wouldn't go?" + +"Worse than that. She wouldn't let _me_ go. Now, things are coming to +a pretty pass when--" + +"Never mind. I'll talk to her," said Mr. Blithers, somewhat bleakly +despite his confident front. "She loves her old dad. I can do +_anything_ with her." + +"She's on a frightfully high horse lately," sighed Mrs. Blithers +fretfully. "It--it can't be that young Scoville, can it?" + +"If I thought it was, I'd--I'd--" There is no telling what Mr. +Blithers would have done to young Scoville, at the moment, for he +couldn't think of anything dire enough to inflict upon the suspected +meddler. + +"In any event, it's dreadfully upsetting to me, Will. She--she won't +listen to anything. And here's something else: She declares she won't +stay here for the ball on Friday night." + +Mr. Blithers had her repeat it, and then almost missed the chair in +sitting down, he was so precipitous about it. + +"Won't stay for her own ball?" he bellowed. + +"She says it isn't her ball," lamented his wife. + +"If it isn't hers, in the name of God whose is it?" + +"Ask her, not me," flared Mrs. Blithers. "And don't glare at me like +that. I've had nothing but glares since you went away. I thought I +was doing the very nicest thing in the world when I suggested the +ball. It would bring them together--" + +"The only two it will actually bring together, it seems, are those +damned prize-fighters. They'll get together all right, but what good +is it going to do us, if Maud's going to act like this? See here, +Lou, I've got things fixed so that the Prince of Groostuck can't very +well do anything but ask Maud to--" + +"That's just it!" she exclaimed. "Maud sees through the whole +arrangement, Will. She said last night that she wouldn't be at all +surprised if you offered to assume Graustark's debt to Russia in +order to--" + +"That's just what I've done, old girl," said he in triumph. "I'll +have 'em sewed up so tight by next week that they can't move without +asking me to loosen the strings. And you can tell Maud once more for +me that I'll get this Prince for her if--" + +"But she doesn't want him!" + +"She doesn't know what she wants!" he roared. "Where is she going?" + +"You saw her start off on Katydid, so why--" + +"I mean on the day of the ball." + +"To New York." + +"By gad, I'll--I'll see about _that_," he grated. "I'll see that +she doesn't leave the grounds if I have to put guards at every gate. +She's got to be reasonable. What does she think I'm putting sixteen +millions into the Grasstork treasury for? She's got to stay here for +the ball. Why, it would be a crime for her to--but what's the use +talking about it? She'll be here and she'll lead the grand march with +the Prince. I've got it all--" + +"Well, you'll have to talk to her. I've done all that I can do. She +swears she won't marry a man she's never seen." + +"Ain't we trying to show him to her?" he snorted. "She won't have to +marry him till she's seen him, and when she does see him she'll +apologise to me for all the nasty things she's been saying about me." +For a moment it looked as though Mr. Blithers would dissolve into +tears, so suddenly was he afflicted by self-pity. "By the way, didn't +she like the necklace I sent up to her from Tiffany's?" + +"I suppose so. She said you were a dear old foozler." + +"Foozler? What's that mean?" He wasn't quite sure, but somehow it +sounded like a term of opprobrium. + +"I haven't the faintest idea," she said shortly. + +"Well, why didn't you ask her? You've had charge of her bringing up. +If she uses a word that you don't know the meaning of, you ought to-- +" + +"Are you actually going to lend all that money to Graustark?" she cut +in. + +He glared at her uncertainly for a moment and then nodded his head. +The words wouldn't come. + +"Are you not a trifle premature about it?" she demanded with deep +significance in her manner. + +This time he did not nod his head, nor did he shake it. He simply got +up and walked out of the room. Half way across the terrace he stopped +short and said it with a great fervour and instantly felt very much +relieved. In fact, the sensation of relief was so pleasant that he +repeated it two or three times and then had to explain to a near by +gardener that he didn't mean him at all. Then he went down to the +stables. All the grooms and stableboys came tumbling into the stable +yard in response to his thunderous shout. + +"Saddle Red Rover, and be quick about it," he commanded. + +"Going out, sir?" asked the head groom, touching his fore-lock. + +"I am," said Mr. Blithers succinctly and with a withering glare. Red +Rover must have been surprised by the unusual celerity with which he +was saddled and bridled. If there could be such a thing as a horse +looking shocked, that beast certainly betrayed himself as he was +yanked away from his full manger and hustled out to the mounting +block. + +"Which way did Miss Blithers go?" demanded Mr. Blithers, in the +saddle. Two grooms were clumsily trying to insert his toes into the +stirrups, at the same time pulling down his trousers legs, which had +a tendency to hitch up in what seemed to them a most exasperating +disregard for form. To their certain knowledge, Mr. Blithers had +never started out before without boot and spur; therefore, the +suddenness of his present sortie sank into their intellects with +overwhelming impressiveness. + +"Down the Cutler road, sir, three quarters of an hour ago. She +refused to have a groom go along, sir." + +"Get ap!" said Mr. Blithers, and almost ran down a groom in his rush +for the gate. For the information of the curious, it may be added +that he did not overtake his daughter until she had been at home for +half an hour, but he was gracious enough to admit to himself that he +had been a fool to pursue a stern chase rather than to intercept her +on the back road home, which _any_ fool might have known she would +take. + +His wife came upon him a few minutes later while he was feverishly +engaged in getting into his white flannels. + +"Tell Maud I'm going over to have tea with the Prince," he grunted, +without looking up from the shoe lace he was tying in a hard knot. "I +want her to go with me in fifteen minutes. Told 'em I would bring her +over to play tennis. Tell her to put on tennis clothes. Hurry up, +Lou. Where's my watch? What time is it? For God's sake, look at the +watch, not at me! I'm not a clock! What?" + +"Mrs. King called up half an hour ago to say that they were all +motoring over to the Grandby Tavern for tea and wouldn't be back till +half-past seven--" + +He managed to look up at that. For a moment he was speechless. No one +had ever treated him like this before. + +"Well, I'll be--hanged! Positive engagement. But's it's all right," +he concluded resolutely. "I can motor to Grandby Tavern, too, can't +I? Tell Maud not to mind tennis clothes, but to hurry. Want to go +along?" + +"No, I don't," she said emphatically. "And Maud isn't going, either." + +"She isn't, eh?" + +"No, she isn't. Can't you leave this affair to me?" + +"I'm pretty hot under the collar," he warned her, and it was easy to +believe that he was. + +"Don't rush in where angels fear to tread, Will dear," she pleaded. +It was so unusual for her to adopt a pleading tone that he overlooked +the implication. Besides he had just got through calling himself a +fool, so perhaps she was more or less justified. Moreover, at that +particular moment she undertook to assist him with his necktie. Her +soft, cool fingers touched his double chin and seemed to caress it +lovingly. He lifted his head very much as a dog does when he is being +tickled on that velvety spot under the lower jaw. + +"Stuff and nonsense," he murmured throatily. + +"I thought you would see it that way," she said so calmly that he +blinked a couple of times in sheer perplexity and then diminished his +double chin perceptibly by a very helpful screwing up of his lower +lip. He said nothing, preferring to let her think that the most +important thing in the world just then was the proper adjustment of +the wings of his necktie. "There!" she said, and patted him on the +cheek, to show that the task had been successfully accomplished. + +"Better come along for a little spin," he said, readjusting the tie +with man-like ingenuousness. "Do you good, Lou." + +"Very well," she said. "Can you wait a few minutes?" + +"Long as you like," said he graciously. "Ask Maud if she wants to +come, too." + +"I am sure she will enjoy it," said his wife, and then Mr. Blithers +descended to the verandah to think. Somehow he felt if he did a +little more thinking perhaps matters wouldn't be so bad. Among other +things, he thought it would be a good idea not to motor in the +direction of Grandby Tavern. And he also thought it was not worth +while resenting the fact that his wife and daughter took something +over an hour to prepare for the little spin. + +In the meantime, Prince Robin was racing over the mountain roads in a +high-power car, attended by a merry company of conspirators whose +sole object was to keep him out of the clutches of that far-reaching +octopus, William W. Blithers. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE PRINCE AND MR. BLITHERS + + +In order to get on with the narrative, I shall be as brief as +possible in the matter of the Blitherwood ball. In the first place, +mere words would prove to be not only feeble but actually out of +place. Any attempt to define the sensation of awe by recourse to a +dictionary would put one in the ridiculous position of seeking the +unattainable. The word has its meaning, of course, but the sensation +itself is quite another thing. As every one who attended the ball was +filled with awe, which he tried to put forward as admiration, the +attitude of the guest was no more limp than that of the chronicler. +In the second place, I am not qualified by experience or imagination +to describe a ball that stood its promoter not a penny short of one +hundred thousand dollars. I believe I could go as high as a fifteen +or even twenty thousand dollar affair with some sort of intelligence, +but anything beyond those figures renders me void and useless. + +Mr. Blithers not only ran a special train de luxe from New York City, +but another from Washington and still another from Newport, for it +appears that the Newporters at the last minute couldn't bear the idea +of going to the Metropolis out of season. He actually had to take +them around the city in such a way that they were not even obliged to +submit to a glimpse of the remotest outskirts of the Bronx. + +From Washington came an amazing company of foreign ladies and +gentlemen, ranging from the most exalted Europeans to the lowliest of +the yellow races. They came with gold all over them; they tinkled +with the clash of a million cymbals. The President of the United +States almost came. Having no spangles of his own, he delegated a +Major-General and a Rear-Admiral to represent Old Glory, and no doubt +sulked in the White House because a parsimonious nation refuses to +buy braid and buttons for its chief executive. + +Any one who has seen a gentleman in braid, buttons and spangles will +understand how impossible it is to describe him. One might enumerate +the buttons and the spangles and even locate them precisely upon his +person, but no mortal intellect can expand sufficiently to cope with +an undertaking that would try even the powers of Him who created the +contents of those wellstuffed uniforms. + +A car load of orchids and gardenias came up, fairly depleting the +florists' shops on Manhattan Island, and with them came a small army +of skilled decorators. In order to deliver his guests at the doors of +Blitherwood, so to speak, the incomprehensible Mr. Blithers had a +temporary spur of track laid from the station two miles away, +employing no fewer than a thousand men to do the work in forty-eight +hours. (Work on a terminal extension in New York was delayed for a +week or more in order that he might borrow the rails, ties and +worktrains!) + +Two hundred and fifty precious and skillfully selected guests ate two +hundred and fifty gargantuan dinners and twice as many suppers; drank +barrels of the rarest of wines; smoked countless two dollar Perfectos +and stuffed their pockets with enough to last them for days to come; +burnt up five thousand cigarettes and ate at least two dozen eggs for +breakfast, and then flitted away with a thousand complaints in two +hundred and fifty Pullman drawing-rooms, Nothing could have been more +accurately pulled-off than the wonderful Blitherwood ball. (The +sparring match on the lawn, under the glare of a stupendous cluster +of lights, resulted in favour of Mr. Bullhead Brown, who +successfully--if accidentally--landed with considerably energy on the +left lower corner of Mr. Sledge-hammer Smith's diaphragm, completely +dividing the purse with him in four scientifically satisfactory +rounds, although they came to blows over it afterwards when Mr. Smith +told Mr. Brown what he thought of him for hitting with such fervour +just after they had eaten a hearty meal.) + +A great many mothers inspected Prince Robin with interest and +confessed to a really genuine enthusiasm: something they had not +experienced since one of the German princes got close enough to +Newport to see it quite clearly through his marine glasses from the +bridge of a battleship. The ruler of Graustark--(four-fifths of the +guests asked where in the world it was!)--was the lion of the day. +Mr. Blithers was annoyed because he did not wear his crown, but was +somewhat mollified by the information that he had neglected to bring +it along with him in his travels. He was also considerably put out by +the discovery that the Prince had left his white and gold uniform at +home and had to appear in an ordinary dress-suit, which, to be sure, +fitted him perfectly but did not achieve distinction. He did wear a +black and silver ribbon across his shirt front, however, and a tiny +gold button in the lapel of his coat; otherwise he might have been +mistaken for a "regular guest," to borrow an expression from Mr. +Blithers. The Prince's host manoeuvred until nearly one o'clock in +the morning before he succeeded in getting a close look at the little +gold button, and then found that the inscription thereon was in some +sort of hieroglyphics that afforded no enlightenment whatsoever. + +Exercising a potentate's prerogative, Prince Robin left the scene of +festivity somewhat earlier than was expected. As a matter of fact, he +departed shortly after one. Moreover, being a prince, it did not +occur to him to offer any excuse for leaving so early, but gracefully +thanked his host and hostess and took himself off without the +customary assertion that he had had a splendid time. Strange to say, +he did not offer a single comment on the sumptuousness of the affair +that had been given in his honor. Mr. Blithers couldn't get over +that. He couldn't help thinking that the fellow had not been properly +brought-up, or was it possible that he was not in the habit of going +out in good society? + +Except for one heart-rending incident, the Blitherwood ball was the +most satisfying event in the lives of Mr. and Mrs. William W. +Blithers. That incident, however, happened to be the hasty and well- +managed flight of Maud Applegate Blithers at an hour indefinitely +placed somewhere between four and seven o'clock on the morning of the +great day. + +Miss Blithers was not at the ball. She was in New York City serenely +enjoying one of the big summer shows, accompanied by young Scoville +and her onetime governess, a middle-aged gentlewoman who had seen +even better days than those spent in the employ of William W. +Blithers. The resolute young lady had done precisely what she said +she would do, and for the first time in his life Mr. Blithers +realised that his daughter was a creation and not a mere condition. +He wilted like a famished water-lily and went about the place in a +state of bewilderment so bleak that even his wife felt sorry for him +and refrained from the "I told you so" that might have been expected +under the circumstances. + +Maud's telegram, which came at three o'clock in the afternoon, was +meant to be reassuring but it failed of its purpose. It said: "Have a +good time and don't lose any sleep over me. I shall sleep very +soundly myself at the Ritz to-night and hope you will be doing the +same when I return home to-morrow afternoon, for I know you will be +dreadfully tired after all the excitement. Convey my congratulations +to the guest of honor and believe me to be your devoted and obedient +daughter." + +The co-incidental absence of young Mr. Scoville from the ball was a +cause of considerable uneasiness on the part of the agitated Mr. +Blithers, who commented upon it quite expansively in the seclusion of +his own bed-chamber after the last guest had sought repose. Some of +the things that Mr. Blithers said about Mr. Scoville will never be +forgotten by the four walls of that room, if, as commonly reported, +they possess auricular attachments. + +Any one who imagines that Mr. Blithers accepted Maud's defection as a +final disposition of the cause he had set his heart upon is very much +mistaken in his man. Far from receding so much as an inch from his +position, he at once set about to strengthen it in such a way that +Maud would have to come to the conclusion that it was useless to +combat the inevitable, and ultimately would heap praises upon his +devoted head for the great blessing he was determined to bestow upon +her in spite of herself. + +The last of the special coaches was barely moving on its jiggly way +to the main line, carrying the tag end of the revellers, when he set +forth in his car for a mid-day visit to Red Roof. Already the huge +camp of Slavs and Italians was beginning to jerk up the borrowed +rails and ties; the work trains were rumbling and snorting in the +meadows above Blitherwood, tottering about on the uncertain road-bed. +He gave a few concise and imperative orders to obsequious +superintendents and foremen, who subsequently repeated them with even +greater freedom to the perspiring foreigners, and left the scene of +confusion without so much as a glance behind. Wagons, carts, +motortrucks and all manner of wheeled things were scuttling about +Blitherwood as he shot down the long, winding avenue toward the lodge +gates, but he paid no attention to them. They were removing the +remnants of a glory that had passed at five in the morning. He was +not interested in the well-plucked skeleton. It was a nuisance +getting rid of it, that was all, and he wanted it to be completely +out of sight when he returned from Red Roof. If a vestige of the +ruins remained, some one would hear from him! That was understood. +And when Maud came home on the five-fourteen she would not find him +asleep--not by a long shot! + +Half-way to Red Roof, he espied a man walking briskly along the road +ahead of him. To be perfectly accurate, he was walking in the middle +of the road and his back was toward the swift-moving, almost +noiseless Packard. + +"Blow the horn for the dam' fool," said Mr. Blithers to the +chauffeur. A moment later the pedestrian leaped nimbly aside and the +car shot past, the dying wail of the siren dwindling away in the +whirr of the wheels. "Look where you're going!" shouted Mr. Blithers +from the tonneau, as if the walker had come near to running him down +instead of the other way around. "Whoa! Stop 'er, Jackson!" he called +to the driver. He had recognised the pedestrian. + +The car came to a stop with grinding brakes, and at the same time the +pedestrian halted a hundred yards away. + +"Back up," commanded Mr. Blithers in some haste, for the Prince +seemed to be on the point of deserting the highway for the wood that +lined it. "Morning, Prince!" he shouted, waving his hat vigorously. +"Want a lift?" + +The car shot backward with almost the same speed that it had gone +forward, and the Prince exercised prudence when he stepped quickly up +the sloping bank at the roadside. + +"Were you addressing me," he demanded curtly, as the car came to a +stop. + +"Yes, your highness. Get in. I'm going your way," said Mr. Blithers +beamingly. + +"I mean a moment ago, when you shouted 'Look where you are going,'" +said Robin, an angry gleam in his eye. + +Mr. Blithers looked positively dumbfounded. "Good Heavens, no!" he +cried. "I was speaking to the chauffeur." (Jackson's back seemed to +stiffen a little.) "I've told him a thousand times to be careful +about running up on people like that. Now this is the last time I'll +warn you, Jackson. The next time you go. Understand? Just because you +happen to be driving for me doesn't signify that you can run over +people who--" + +"It's all right, Mr. Blithers," interrupted Robin, with his fine +smile. "No harm done. I'll walk if you don't mind. Out for a bit of +exercise, you know. Thank you just the same." + +"Where are you bound for?" asked Mr. Blithers. + +"I don't know. I ramble where my fancy leads me." + +"I guess I'll get out and stroll along with you. God knows I need +more exercise than I get. Is it agreeable?" He was on the ground by +this time. Without waiting for an answer, he directed Jackson to run +on to Red Roof and wait for him. + +"I shall be charmed," said Robin, a twinkle in the tail of his eye. +"An eight or ten mile jaunt will do you a world of good, I'm sure. +Shall we explore this little road up the mountain and then drop down +to Red Roof? I don't believe it can be more than five or six miles." + +"Capital," said Mr. Blithers with enthusiasm. He happened to know +that it was a "short cut" to Red Roof and less than a mile as the +crow flies. True, there was something of an ascent ahead of them, but +there was also a corresponding descent at the other end. Besides, he +was confident he could keep up with the long-legged youngster by the +paradoxical process of holding back. The Prince, having suggested the +route, couldn't very well be arbitrary in traversing it. Mr. Blithers +regarded the suggestion as an invitation. + +They struck off into the narrow woodland road, not precisely side by +side, but somewhat after the fashion of a horseback rider and his +groom, or, more strictly speaking, as a Knight and his vassal. Robin +started off so briskly that Mr. Blithers fell behind a few paces and +had to exert himself considerably to keep from losing more ground as +they took the first steep rise. The road was full of ruts and cross +ruts and littered with boulders that had ambled down the mountain- +side in the spring moving. To save his life, Mr. Blithers couldn't +keep to a straight course. He went from rut to rut and from rock to +rock with the fidelity of a magnetised atom, seldom putting his foot +where he meant to put it, and never by any chance achieving a steady +stride. He would take one long, purposeful step and then a couple of +short "feelers," progressing very much as a man tramps over a newly +ploughed field. + +At the top of the rise, Robin considerately slackened his pace and +the chubby gentleman drew alongside, somewhat out of breath but as +cheerful as a cricket. + +"Going too fast for you, Mr. Blithers?" inquired Robin. + +"Not at all," said Mr. Blithers. "By the way, Prince," he went on, +cunningly seizing the young man's arm and thereby putting a check on +his speed for the time being at least, "I want to explain my +daughter's unfortunate absence last night. You must have thought it +very strange. Naturally it was unavoidable. The poor girl is really +quite heart-broken. I beg pardon!" He stepped into a rut and came +perilously near to going over on his nose. "Beastly road! Thanks. +Good thing I took hold of you. Yes, as I was saying, it was really a +most unfortunate thing; missed the train, don't you see. Went down +for the day--just like a girl, you know--and missed the train." + +"Ah, I see. She missed it twice." + +"Eh? Oh! Ha ha! Very good! She might just as well have missed it a +dozen times as once, eh? Well, she could have arranged for a special +to bring her up, but she's got a confounded streak of thriftiness in +her. Couldn't think of spending the money. Silly idea of--I beg your +pardon, did I hurt you? I'm pretty heavy, you know, no light weight +when I come down on a fellow's toe like that. What say to sitting +down on this log for a while? Give your foot a chance to rest a bit. +Deucedly awkward of me. Ought to look out where I'm stepping, eh?" + +"It really doesn't matter, Mr. Blithers," said Robin hastily. "We'll +keep right on if it's all the same to you. I'm due at home in--in +half an hour. We lunch very punctually." + +"I was particularly anxious for you and Maud to meet under the +conditions that obtained last night," went on Mr. Blithers, with a +regretful look at the log they were passing. "Nothing could have been +more--er--ripping." + +"I hear from every one that your daughter is most attractive," said +Robin. "Sorry not to have met her, Mr. Blithers." + +"Oh, you'll meet her all right. Prince. She's coming home to-day. I +believe Mrs. Blithers is expecting you to dinner to-night. She--" + +"I'm sure there must be some mistake," began Robin, but was cut +short. + +"I was on my way to Red Roof to ask you and Count Quiddux to give us +this evening in connection with that little affair we are arranging. +It is most imperative that it should be to-night, as my attorney is +coming up for the conference." + +"I fear that Mrs. King has planned something--" + +Mr. Blithers waved his hand deprecatingly. "I am sure Mrs. King will +let you off when she knows how important it is. As a matter of fact, +it has to be tonight or not at all." + +There was a note in his voice that Robin did not like. It savoured of +arrogance. + +"I daresay Count Quinnox can attend to all the details, Mr. Blithers. +I have the power of veto, of course, but I shall be guided by the +counsel of my ministers. You need have no hesitancy in dealing with-- +" + +"That's not the point, Prince. I am a business man,--as perhaps you +know. I make it a point never to deal with any one except the head of +a concern, if you'll pardon my way of putting it. It isn't right to +speak of Growstock as a concern, but you'll understand, of course. +Figure of speech." + +"I can only assure you, sir, that Graustark is in a position to +indemnify you against any possible chance of loss. You will be amply +secured. I take it that you are not coming to our assistance through +any desire to be philanthropic, but as a business proposition, pure +and simple. At least, that is how we regard the matter. Am I not +right?" + +"Perfectly," said Mr. Blithers. "I haven't got sixteen millions to +throw away. Still I don't see that that has anything to do with my +request that you be present at the conference to-night. To be +perfectly frank with you, I don't like working in the dark. You have +the power of veto, as you say. Well, if I am to lend Groostork a good +many millions of hard-earned dollars, I certainly don't relish the +idea that you may take it into your head to upset the whole +transaction merely because you have not had the matter presented to +you by me instead of by your cabinet, competent as its members may +be. First hand information on any subject is my notion of +simplicity." + +"The integrity of the cabinet is not to be questioned, Mr. Blithers. +Its members have never failed Graustark in any--" + +"I beg your pardon, Prince," said Mr. Blithers firmly, "but I +certainly suspect that they failed her when they contracted this debt +to Russia. You will forgive me for saying it, but it was the most +asinine bit of short-sightedness I've ever heard of. My office boys +could have seen farther than your honourable ministers." + +To his utter amazement, Robin turned a pair of beaming, excited eyes +upon him. + +"Do you really mean that, Mr. Blithers?" he cried eagerly. + +"I certainly do!" + +"By jove, I--I can't tell you how happy I am to hear you say it. You +see it is exactly what John Tullis said from the first. He was +bitterly opposed to the loan. He tried his best to convince the prime +minister that it was inadvisable. I granted him the special privilege +of addressing the full House of Nobles on the question, an honour +that no alien had known up to that time. Of course I was a boy when +all this happened, Mr. Blithers, or I might have put a stop to the-- +but I'll not go into that. The House of Nobles went against his +judgment and voted in favour of accepting Russia's loan. Now they +realise that dear old John Tullis was right. Somehow it gratifies me +to hear you say that they were--ahem!--shortsighted." + +"What you need in Groostock is a little more good American blood," +announced Mr. Blithers, pointedly. "If you are going to cope with the +world, you've got to tackle the job with brains and not with that +idiotic thing called faith. There's no such thing in these days as +charity among men, good will, and all that nonsense. Now, you've got +a splendid start in the right direction, Prince. You've got American +blood in your veins and that means a good deal. Take my advice and +increase the proportion. In a couple of generations you'll have +something to brag about. Take Tullis as your example. Beget sons that +will think and act as he is capable of doing. Weed out the thin blood +and give the crown of Grasstick something that is thick and red. It +will be the making of your--" + +"I suppose you are advising me to marry an American woman, Mr. +Blithers," said Robin drily. + +Mr. Blithers directed a calculating squint into the tree-tops. "I am +simply looking ahead for my own protection, Prince," said he. + +"In what respect?" + +"Well I am putting a lot of money into the hands of your people. +Isn't it natural that I should look ahead to some extent?" + +"But my people are honest. They will pay." + +"I understand all that, but at the same time I do not relish the idea +of some day being obliged to squeeze blood from a turnip. Now is the +time for you to think for the future. Your people are honest, I'll +grant. But they also are poor. And why? Because no one has been able +to act for them as your friend Tullis is capable of acting. The day +will come when they will have to settle with me, and will it be any +easier to pay William W. Blithers than it is to pay Russia? Not a bit +of it. As you have said, I am not a philanthropist. I shall exact +full and prompt payment. I prefer to collect from the prosperous, +however, and not from the poor. It goes against the grain. That's why +I want to see you rich and powerful--as well as honest." + +"I grant you it is splendid philosophy," said Robin. "But are you not +forgetting that even the best of Americans are sometimes failures +when it comes to laying up treasure?" + +"As individuals, yes; but not as a class. You will not deny that we +are the richest people in the world. On the other hand I do not +pretend to say that we are a people of one strain of blood. We +represent a mixture of many strains, but underneath them all runs the +full stream that makes us what we are: Americans. You can't get away +from that. Yes, I _do_ advise you to marry an American girl." + +"In other words, I am to make a business of it," said Robin, +tolerantly. + +"It isn't beyond the range of possibility that you should fall in +love with an American girl, is it? You wouldn't call that making a +business of it, would you?" + +"You may rest assured, Mr. Blithers, that I shall marry to please +myself and no one else," said Robin, regarding him with a coldness +that for an instant affected the millionaire uncomfortably. + +"Well," said Mr. Blithers, after a moment of hard thinking, "it may +interest you to know that I married for love." + +"It _does_ interest me," said Robin. "I am glad that you did." + +"I was a comparatively poor man when I married. The girl I married +was well-off in her own right. She had brains as well. We worked +together to lay the foundation for a--well, for the fortune we now +possess. A fortune, I may add, that is to go, every dollar of it, to +my daughter. It represents nearly five hundred million dollars. The +greatest king in the world to-day is poor in comparison to that vast +estate. My daughter will one day be the richest woman in the world." + +"Why are you taking the pains to enlighten me as to your daughter's +future, Mr. Blithers?" + +"Because I regard you as a sensible young man, Prince." + +"Thank you. And I suppose you regard your daughter as a sensible +young woman?" + +"Certainly!" exploded Mr. Blithers. + +"Well, it seems to me, she will be capable of taking care of her +fortune a great deal more successfully than you imagine, Mr. +Blithers. She will doubtless marry an excellent chap who has the +capacity to increase her fortune, rather than to let it stand at a +figure that some day may be surpassed by the possessions of an +ambitious king." + +There was fine irony in the Prince's tone but no trace of +offensiveness. Nevertheless, Mr. Blithers turned a shade more purple +than before, and not from the violence of exercise. He was having +some difficulty in controlling his temper. What manner of fool was +this fellow who could sneer at five hundred million dollars? He +managed to choke back something that rose to his lips and very +politely remarked: + +"I am sure you will like her, Prince. If I do say it myself, she is +as handsome as they grow." + +"So I have been told." + +"You will see her to-night." + +"Really, Mr. Blithers, I cannot--" + +"I'll fix it with Mrs. King. Don't you worry." + +"May I be pardoned for observing that Mrs. King, greatly as I love +her, is not invested with the power to govern my actions?" said Robin +haughtily. + +"And may I be pardoned for suggesting that it is your duty to your +people to completely understand this loan of mine before you agree to +accept it?" said Mr. Blithers, compressing his lips. + +"Forgive me, Mr. Blithers, but it is not altogether improbable that +Graustark may secure the money elsewhere." + +"It is not only improbable but impossible," said Mr. Blithers flatly. + +"Impossible?" + +"Absolutely," said the millionaire so significantly that Robin would +have been a dolt not to grasp the situation. Nothing could have been +clearer than the fact that Mr. Blithers believed it to be in his +power to block any effort Graustark might make in other directions to +secure the much-needed money. + +"Will you come to the point, Mr. Blithers?" said the young Prince, +stopping abruptly in the middle of the road and facing his companion. +"What are you trying to get at?" + +Mr. Blithers was not long in getting to the point. In the first +place, he was hot and tired and his shoes were hurting; in the second +place, he felt that he knew precisely how to handle these money- +seeking scions of nobility. He planted himself squarely in front of +the Prince and jammed his hands deep into his coat pockets. + +"The day my daughter is married to the man of my choice, I will hand +over to that man exactly twenty million dollars," he said slowly, +impressively. + +"Yes, go on." + +"The sole object I have in life is to see my girl happy and at the +same time at the top of the heap. She is worthy of any man's love. +She is as good as gold. She--" + +"The point is this, then: You would like to have me for a son-in- +law." + +"Yes," said Mr. Blithers. + +Robin grinned. He was amused in spite of himself. "You take it for +granted that I can be bought?" + +"I have not made any such statement." + +"And how much will you hand over to the man of _her_ choice when +she marries him?" enquired the young man. + +"You will be her choice," said the other, without the quiver of an +eye-lash. + +"How can you be sure of that? Has she no mind of her own?" + +"It isn't incomprehensible that she should fall in love with you, is +it?" + +"It might be possible, of course, provided she is not already in love +with some one else." + +Mr. Blithers started. "Have you heard any one say that--but, that's +nonsense! She's not in love with any one, take it from me. And just +to show you how fair I am to her--and to you--I'll stake my head you +fall in love with each other before you've been together a week." + +"But we're not going to be together for a week." + +"I should have said before you've known each other a week. You will +find--" + +"Just a moment, please. We can cut all this very short, and go about +our business. I've never seen your daughter, nor, to my knowledge, +has she ever laid eyes on me. From what I've heard of her, she _has_ a +mind of her own. You will not be able to force her into a marriage +that doesn't appeal to her, and you may be quite sure, Mr. Blithers, +that you can't force me into one. I do not want you to feel that I +have a single disparaging thought concerning Miss Blithers. It is +possible that I could fall in love with her inside of a week, or +even sooner. But I don't intend to, Mr. Blithers, any more than she +intends to fall in love with me. You say that twenty millions will go +to the man she marries, if he is your choice. Well, I don't give a +hang, sir, if you make it fifty millions. The chap who gets it will +not be me, so what's the odds? You--" + +"Wait a minute, young man," said Mr. Blithers coolly. (He was never +anything but cool when under fire.) "Why not wait until you have met +my daughter before making a statement like that? After all, am I not +the one who is taking chances? Well, I'm willing to risk my girl's +happiness with you and that's saying everything when you come right +down to it. She will make you happy in--" + +[Illustration: "You will be her choice," said the other, without the +quiver of an eye-lash ] + +"I am not for sale. Mr. Blithers," said Robin abruptly. "Good +morning." He turned into the wood and was sauntering away with his +chin high in the air when Mr. Blithers called out to him from behind. + +"I shall expect you to-night, just the same." + +Robin halted, amazed by the man's assurance. He retraced his steps to +the roadside. + +"Will you pardon a slight feeling of curiosity on my part, Mr. +Blithers, if I ask whether your daughter consents to the arrangement +you propose. Does she approve of the scheme?" + +Mr. Blithers was honest. "No, she doesn't," he said succinctly. "At +least, not at present. I'll be honest with you. She stayed away from +the ball last night simply because she did not want to meet you. +That's the kind of a girl _she_ is." + +"By jove, I take off my hat to her," cried Robin. "She is a brick, +after all. Take it from me, Mr. Blithers, you will not be able to +hand over twenty millions without her consent. I believe that I +should enjoy meeting her, now that I come to think of it. It would be +a pleasure to exchange confidences with a girl of that sort." + +Mr. Blithers betrayed agitation. "See here, Prince, I don't want her +to know that I've said anything to you about this matter," he said, +unconsciously lowering his voice as if fearing that Maud might be +somewhere within hearing distance. "This is between you and me. Don't +breathe a word of it to her. 'Gad, she'd--she'd skin me alive!" At +the very thought of it, he wiped his forehead with unusual vigour. + +Robin laughed heartily. "Rest easy, Mr. Blithers. I shall not even +think of your proposition again, much less speak of it." + +"Come now, Prince; wait until you've seen her. I know you'll get on +famously--" + +"I should like her to know that I consider her a brick, Mr. Blithers. +Is it too much to ask of you? Just tell her that I think she's a +brick." + +"Tell her yourself," growled Mr. Blithers, looking very black. "You +will see her this evening," he added levelly. + +"Shall I instruct your chauffeur to come for you up here or will you +walk back to--" + +"I'll walk to Red Roof," said Mr. Blithers doggedly. "I'm going to +ask Mrs. King to let you off for to-night." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A LETTER FROM MAUD + + +Mr. Blithers, triumphant, left Red Roof shortly after luncheon; Mr. +Blithers, dismayed, arrived at Blitherwood a quarter of an hour +later. He had had his way with Robin, who, after all, was coming to +dinner that evening with Count Quinnox. The Prince, after a few words +in private with the Count, changed his mind and accepted Mr. +Blithers' invitation with a liveliness that was mistaken for +eagerness by that gentleman, who had made very short work of subduing +Mrs. King when she tried to tell him that her own dinner-party would +be ruined if the principal guest defaulted. He was gloating over his +victory up to the instant he reached his own lodge gates. There +dismay sat patiently waiting for him in the shape of a messenger from +the local telegraph office in the village below. He had seen Mr. +Blithers approaching in the distance, and, with an astuteness that +argued well for his future success in life, calmly sat down to wait +instead of pedaling his decrepit bicycle up the long slope to the +villa. + +He delivered a telegram and kindly vouchsafed the information that it +was from New York. + +Mr. Blithers experienced a queer sinking of the heart as he gazed at +the envelope. Something warned him that if he opened it in the +presence of the messenger he would say something that a young boy +ought not to hear. + +"It's from Maud," said the obliging boy, beaming good-nature. It cost +him a quarter, that bit of gentility, for Mr. Blithers at once said +something that a messenger boy ought to hear, and ordered Jackson to +go ahead. + +It was from Maud and it said: "I shall stay in town a few days +longer. It is delightfully cool here. Dear old Miranda is at the Ritz +with me and we are having a fine spree. Don't worry about money. I +find I have a staggering balance in the bank. The cashier showed me +where I had made a mistake in subtraction of an even ten thousand. I +was amazed to find what a big difference a little figure makes. Have +made no definite plans but will write Mother to-night. Please give my +love to the Prince. Have you seen to-day's _Town Truth_? Or worse, has +he seen it? Your loving daughter, Maud." + +The butler was sure it was apoplexy, but the chauffeur, out of a wide +experience, announced, behind his hand, that he would be all right +the instant the words ceased to stick in his throat. And he was +right. Mr. Blithers _was_ all right. Not even the chauffeur had +seen him when he was more so. + +A little later on, after he had cooled off to a quite considerable +extent, Mr. Blithers lighted a cigar and sat down in the hall outside +his wife's bed-chamber door. She was having her beauty nap. Not even +he possessed the temerity to break in upon that. He sat and listened +for the first sound that would indicate the appeasement of beauty, +occasionally hitching his chair a trifle nearer to the door in the +agony of impatience. By the time Jackson returned from the village +with word that a copy of _Town Truth_ was not to be had until +the next day, he was so close to the door that if any one had +happened to stick a hat pin through the keyhole at precisely the +right instant it would have punctured his left ear with appalling +results. + +"What are we going to do about it?" he demanded three minutes after +entering the chamber. His wife was prostrate on the luxurious couch +from which she had failed to arise when he burst in upon her with the +telegram in his hand. + +"Oh, the foolish child," she moaned. "If she only knew how adorable +he is she wouldn't be acting in this perfectly absurd manner. Every +girl who was here last night is madly in love with him. Why must Maud +be so obstinate?" + +Mr. Blithers was very careful not to mention his roadside experience +with the Prince, and you may be sure that he said nothing about his +proposition to the young man. He merely declared, with a vast +bitterness in his soul, that the Prince was coming to dinner, but +what the deuce was the use? + +"She ought to be soundly--spoken to," said he, breaking the sentence +with a hasty gulp. "Now, Lou, there's just one thing to do. I must go +to New York on the midnight train and get her. That woman was all +right as a tutor, but hanged if I like to see a daughter of mine +traipsing around New York with a school teacher. She--" + +"You forget that she has retired on a competence. She is not in +active employment. Will. You forget that she is one of the Van +Valkens." + +"There you go, talking about good old families again. Why is it that +so blamed many of your fine old blue stockings are hunting jobs--" + +"Now don't be vulgar, Will," she cut in. "Maud is quite safe with +Miranda, and you know it perfectly well, so don't talk like that. I +think it would be a fearful mistake for you to go to New York. She +would never forgive you and, what is more to the point, she wouldn't +budge a step if you tried to bully her into coming home with you. You +know it quite as well as I do." + +He groaned. "Give me a chance to think, Lou. Just half a chance, +that's all I ask. I'll work out some--" + +"Wait until her letter comes. We'll see what she has to say. Perhaps +she intends coming home tomorrow, who can tell? This may be a pose on +her part. Give her free rein and she will not pull against the bit. +It may surprise her into doing the sensible thing if we calmly ignore +her altogether. I've been thinking it over, and I've come to the +conclusion that we'll be doing the wisest thing in the world if we +pay absolutely no attention to her." + +"By George, I believe you've hit it, Lou! She'll be looking for a +letter or telegram from me and she'll not receive a word, eh? She'll +be expecting us to beg her to come back and all the while we just sit +tight and say not a word. We'll fool her, by thunder. By to-morrow +afternoon she'll be so curious to know what's got into us that she'll +come home on a run. You're right. It takes a thief to catch a thief, +--which is another way of saying that it takes a woman to understand a +woman. We'll sit tight and let Maud worry for a day or two. It will +do her good." + +Maud's continued absence was explained to Prince Robin that evening, +not by the volcanic Mr. Blithers but by his practised and adroit +better-half who had no compunction in ascribing it to the alarming +condition of a very dear friend in New York,--one of the Van Valkens, +you know. + +"Maud is so tender-hearted, so loyal, so really sweet about her +friends, that nothing in the world could have induced her to leave +this dear friend, don't you know." + +"I am extremely sorry not to have met your daughter," said Robin very +politely. + +"Oh, but she will be here in a day or two, Prince." + +"Unfortunately, we are leaving to-morrow, Mrs. Blithers." + +"To-morrow?" murmured Mrs. Blithers, aghast. + +"I received a cablegram to-day advising me to return to Edelweiss at +once. We are obliged to cut short a very charming visit with Mr. and +Mrs. King and to give up the trip to Washington. Lieutenant Dank left +for New York this afternoon to exchange our reservations for the +first ship that we can--" + +"What's this?" demanded Mr. Blithers, abruptly withdrawing his +attention from Count Quinnox who was in the middle of a sentence when +the interruption came. They were on the point of going out to dinner. +"What's this?" + +"The Prince says that he is leaving to-morrow--" + +"Nonsense!" exploded Mr. Blithers, with no effort toward geniality. +"He doesn't mean it. Why,--why, we haven't signed a single +agreement--" + +"Fortunately it isn't necessary for me to sign anything, Mr. +Blithers," broke in Robin hastily. "The papers are to be signed by +the Minister of Finance, and afterwards my signature is attached in +approval. Isn't that true, Count Quinnox?" + +"I daresay Mr. Blithers understands the situation perfectly," said +the Count. + +Mr. Blithers looked blank. He _did_ understand the situation, +that was the worst of it. He knew that although the cabinet had +sanctioned the loan by cable, completing the transaction so far as it +could be completed at this time, it was still necessary for the +Minister of Finance to sign the agreement under the royal seal of +Graustark. + +"Of course I understand it," he said bluntly. "Still I had it in mind +to ask the Prince to put his signature to a sort of preliminary +document which would at least assure me that he would sign the final +agreement when the time comes. That's only fair, isn't it?" + +"Quite fair, Mr. Blithers. The Prince will sign such an article to- +morrow or the next day at your office in the city. Pray have no +uneasiness, sir. It shall be as you wish. By the way, I understood +that your solicitor--your lawyer, I should say,--was to be here this +evening. It had occurred to me that he might draw up the statement,-- +if Mrs. Blithers will forgive us in our haste--" + +"He couldn't get here," said Mr. Blithers, and no more. He was +thinking too intently of something more important. "What's turned +up?" + +"Turned up, Mr. Blithers?" + +"Yes--in Groostock. What's taking you off in such a hurry?" + +"The Prince has been away for nearly six months," said the Count, as +if that explained everything. + +"Was it necessary to cable for him to come home?" persisted the +financier. + +"Graustark and Dawsbergen are endeavouring to form an alliance, Mr. +Blithers, and Prince Robin's presence at the capitol is very much to +be desired in connection with the project." + +"What kind of an alliance?" + +The Count looked bored. "An alliance prescribed for the general +improvement of the two races, I should say, Mr. Blithers." He smiled. +"It would in no way impair the credit of Graustark, however. It is +what you might really describe as a family secret, if you will pardon +my flippancy." + +The butler announced dinner. + +"Wait for a couple of days. Prince, and I'll send you down to New +York by special train," said Mr. Blithers. + +"Thank you. It is splendid of you. I daresay everything will depend +on Dank's success in--" + +"Crawford," said Mr. Blithers to the butler, "ask Mr. Davis to look +up the sailings for next week and let me know at once, will you?" +Turning to the Prince, he went on: "We can wire down to-night and +engage passage for next week. Davis is my secretary. I'll have him +attend to everything. And now let's forget our troubles." + +A great deal was said by her parents about Maud's unfortunate +detention in the city. Both of them were decidedly upset by the +sudden change in the Prince's plans. Once under pretext of whispering +to Crawford about the wine, Mr. Blithers succeeded in transmitting a +question to his wife. She shook her head in reply, and he sighed +audibly. He had asked if she thought he'd better take the midnight +train. + +Mr. Davis found that there were a dozen ships sailing the next week, +but nothing came of it, for the Prince resolutely declared he would +be obliged to take the first available steamer. + +"We shall go down to-morrow," he said, and even Mr. Blithers +subsided. He looked to his wife in desperation. She failed him for +the first time in her life. Her eyes were absolutely messageless. + +"I'll go down with you," he said, and then gave his wife a look of +defiance. + +The next morning brought Maud's letter to her mother. It said: +"Dearest Mother: I enclose the cutting from _Town Truth_. You +may see for yourself what a sickening thing it is. The whole world +knows by this time that the ball was a joke--a horrible joke. +Everybody knows that you are trying to hand me over to Prince Robin +neatly wrapped up in bank notes. And everybody knows that he is +laughing at us, and he isn't alone in his mirth either. What must the +Truxton Kings think of us? I can't bear the thought of meeting that +pretty, clever woman face to face. I know I should die of +mortification, for, of course, she must believe that I am dying to +marry anything on earth that has a title and a pair of legs. Somehow +I don't blame you and dad. You really love me, I know, and you want +to give me the best that the world affords. But why, oh why, can't +you let me choose for myself? I don't object to having a title, but I +do object to having a husband that I don't want and who certainly +could not, by any chance, want me. You think that I am in love with +Channie Scoville. Well, I'm not. I am very fond of him, that's all, +and if it came to a pinch I would marry him in preference to any +prince on the globe. To-day I met a couple of girls who were at the +ball. They told me that the Prince is adorable. They are really quite +mad about him, and one of them had the nerve to ask what it was going +to cost dad to land him. _Town Truth_ says he is to cost ten +millions! Well, you may just tell dad that I'll help him to practice +economy. He needn't pay a nickle for my husband--when I get him. The +world is small. It may be that I shall come upon this same Prince +Charming some place before it is too late, and fall in love with him +all of a heap. Loads of silly girls do fall in love with fairy +princes, and I'm just as silly as the rest of them. Ever since I was +a little kiddie I've dreamed of marrying a real, lace-and-gold +Prince, the kind Miranda used to read about in the story books. But I +also dreamed that he loved me. There's the rub, you see. How could +any prince love a girl who set out to buy him with a lot of silly +millions? It's not to be expected. I know it is done in the best +society, but I should want my prince to be happy instead of merely +comfortable. I should want both of us to live happy ever afterwards. + +"So, dearest mother, I am going abroad to forget. Miranda is going +with me and we sail next Saturday on the _Jupiter_ I think. We +haven't got our suite, but Mr. Bliss says he is sure he can arrange +it for me. If we can't get one on the _Jupiter_, we'll take some +other boat that is just as inconspicuous. You see, I want to go on a +ship that isn't likely to be packed with people I know, for it is my +intention to travel incog, as they say in the books. No one shall +stare at me and say: 'There is that Maud Blithers we were reading +about in _Town Truth_--and all the other papers this week. Her +father is going to buy a prince for her.' + +"I know dad will be perfectly furious, but I'm going or die, one or +the other. Now it won't do a bit of good to try to stop me, dearest. +The best thing for you and dad to do is to come down at once and say +goodbye to me--but you are not to go to the steamer! Never! Please, +please come, for I love you both and I do so want you to love me. +Come to-morrow and kiss your horrid, horrid, disappointing, loathsome +daughter--and forgive her, too." + +Mr. Blithers was equal to the occasion. His varying emotions +manifested themselves with peculiar vividness during the reading of +the letter by his tearful wife. At the outset he was frankly humble +and contrite; he felt bitterly aggrieved over the unhappy position in +which they innocently had placed their cherished idol. Then came the +deep breath of relief over the apparent casting away of young +Scoville, followed by an angry snort when Maud repeated the remark of +her girl friend. His dismay was pathetic while Mrs. Blithers was +fairly gasping out Maud's determination to go abroad, but before she +reached the concluding sentences of the extraordinary missive, he was +himself again. As a matter of fact, he was almost jubilant. He +slapped his knee with resounding force and uttered an ejaculation +that caused his wife to stare at him as if the very worst had +happened: he was a chuckling lunatic! + +"Immense!" he exclaimed. "Immense!" + +"Oh, Will!" she sobbed. + +"Nothing could be better! Luck is with me, Lou. It always is." + +"In heaven's name, what are you saying, Will?" + +"Great Scott, can't you see? He goes abroad, she goes abroad. See? +Same ship. See what I mean? Nothing could be finer. They--" + +"But I do not want my child to go abroad," wailed the unhappy mother. +"I cannot bear--" + +"Stuff and nonsense! Brace up! Grasp the romance. Both of 'em sailing +under assumed names. They see each other on deck. Mutual attraction. +Love at first sight. Both of 'em. Money no object. There you are. +Leave it to me." + +"Maud is not the kind of girl to take up with a stranger on board--" + +"Don't glare at me like that! Love finds the way, it doesn't matter +what kind of a girl she is. But listen to me, Lou; we've got to be +mighty careful that Maud doesn't suspect that we're putting up a job +on her. She'd balk at the gang-plank and that would be the end of it. +She must not know that he is on board. Now, here's the idea," and he +talked on in a strangely subdued voice for fifteen minutes, his +enthusiasm mounting to such heights that she was fairly lifted to the +seventh heaven he produced, and, for once in her life, she actually +submitted to his bumptious argument without so much as a single +protesting word. + +The down train at two-seventeen had on board a most distinguished +group of passengers, according to the Pullman conductor whose skilful +conniving resulted in the banishment of a few unimportant creatures +who had paid for chairs in the observation coach but who had to get +out, whether or no, when Mr. Blithers loudly said it was a nuisance +having everything on the shady side of the car taken "on a hot day +like this." He surreptitiously informed the conductor that there was +a prince in his party, and that highly impressed official at once +informed ten other passengers that they had no business in a private +car and would have to move up to the car ahead--and rather quickly at +that. + +The Prince announced that Lieutenant Dank had secured comfortable +cabins on a steamer sailing Saturday, but he did not feel at liberty +to mention the name of the boat owing to his determination to avoid +newspaper men, who no doubt would move heaven and earth for an +interview, now that he had become a person of so much importance in +the social world. Indeed, his indentity was to be more completely +obscured than at any time since he landed on American soil. He +thanked Mr. Blithers for his offer to command the "royal suite" on +the _Jupiter_, but declined, volunteering the somewhat curt remark +that it was his earnest desire to keep as far away from royalty as +possible on the voyage over. (A remark that Mr. Blithers couldn't +quite fathom, then or afterward.) + +Mrs. Blithers' retort to her husband's shocked comment on the un- +princely appearance of the young man and the wofully ordinary suit of +clothes worn by the Count, was sufficiently caustic, and he was +silenced--and convinced. Neither of the distinguished foreigners +looked the part of a nobleman. + +"I wouldn't talk about clothes if I were you," Mrs. Blithers had said +on the station platform. "Who would suspect you of being one of the +richest men in America?" She sent a disdainful glance at his baggy +knees and bulging coat pockets, and for the moment he shrank into the +state of being one of the poorest men in America. + +They were surprised and not a little perplexed by the fact that the +Prince and his companion arrived at the station quite alone. Neither +of the Kings accompanied them. There was, Mrs. Blithers admitted, +food for thought in this peculiar omission on the part of the +Prince's late host and hostess, and she would have given a great deal +to know what was back of it. The "luggage" was attended to by the +admirable Hobbs, there being no sign of a Red Roof servant about the +place. Moreover, there seemed to be considerable uneasiness +noticeable in the manner of the two foreigners. They appeared to be +unnecessarily impatient for the train to arrive, looking at their +watches now and again, and frequently sending sharp glances down the +village street in the direction of Red Roof. Blithers afterwards +remarked that they made him think of a couple of absconding cashiers. +The mystery, however, was never explained. + +Arriving at the Grand Central Terminal, Prince Robin and the Count +made off in a taxi-cab, smilingly declining to reveal their hotel +destination. + +"But where am I to send my attorney with the agreement you are to +sign, Prince?" asked Mr. Blithers, plainly irritated by the young +man's obstinacy in declining to be "dropped" at his hotel by the +Blithers motor. + +"I shall come to your office at eleven to-morrow morning, Mr. +Blithers," said Robin, his hat in his hand. He had bowed very deeply +to Mrs. Blithers. + +"But that's not right," blustered the financier. "A prince of royal +blood hadn't ought to visit a money-grubber's office. It's not--" + +"_Noblesse oblige_," said Robin, with his hand on his heart. "It +has been a pleasure to know you, Mrs. Blithers. I trust we may meet +again. If you should ever come to Graustark, please consider that the +castle is yours--as you hospitable Americans would say." + +"We surely will," said Mrs. Blithers. Both the Prince and Count +Quinnox bowed very profoundly, and did not smile. + +"And it will be ours," added Mr. Blithers, more to himself than to +his wife as the two tall figures moved off with the throng. Then to +his wife: "Now to find out what ship they're sailing on. I'll fix it +so they'll _have_ to take the _Jupiter_, whether they want to or not." + +"Wouldn't it be wisdom to find out what ship Maud is sailing on, +Will? It seems to me that she is the real problem." + +"Right you are!" said he instantly. "I must be getting dotty in my +old age, Lou." + +They were nearing the Ritz when she broke a prolonged period of +abstraction by suddenly inquiring: "What did you mean when you said +to him on the train: 'Better think it over, Prince,' and what did he +mean by the insolent grin he gave you in reply?" + +Mr. Blithers looked straight ahead. + +"Business," said he, answering the first question but not the last. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ON BOARD THE "JUPITER" + + +A grey day at sea. The _Jupiter_ seemed to be slinking through the +mist and drizzle, so still was the world of waters. The ocean was +as smooth as a mill pond; the reflected sky came down bleak and drab +and no wind was stirring. The rush of the ship through the glassy, +sullen sea produced a fictitious gale across the decks; aside from +that there was dead calm ahead and behind. + +A threat seemed to lurk in the smooth, oily face of the Atlantic. Far +ahead stretched the grey barricade that seemed to mark the spot where +the voyage was to end. There was no going beyond that clear-cut line. +When the ship came up to it, there would be no more water beyond; +naught but a vast space into which the vessel must topple and go on +falling to the end of time. The great sirens were silent, for the fog +of the night before had lifted, laying bare a desolate plain. The +ship was sliding into oblivion, magnificently indifferent to the +catastrophe that awaited its arrival at the edge of the universe. And +she was sailing the sea alone. All other ships had passed over that +sinister line and were plunging toward a bottom that would never be +reached, so long is eternity. + +The decks of the _Jupiter_ were wet with the almost invisible drizzle +that filled the air, yet they were swarming with the busy pedestrians +who never lose an opportunity to let every one know that they are on +board. No ship's company is complete without its leg-stretchers. They +who never walk a block on dry land without complaining, right manfully +lop off miles when walking on the water, and get to be known--at least +visually--to the entire first cabin before they have paraded half way +across the Atlantic. (There was once a man who had the strutting +disease so badly that he literally walked from Sandy Hook to Gaunt's +Rock, but, who, on getting to London, refused to walk from the Savoy +to the Cecil because of a weak heart.) The worst feature about these +inveterate water-walkers is that they tread quite as proudly upon +other people's feet as they do upon their own, and as often as not +they appear to do it from choice. Still, that is another story. It has +nothing to do with the one we are trying to tell. + +To resume, the decks of the _Jupiter_ were wet and the sky was drab. +New York was twenty-four hours astern and the brief Sunday service had +come to a peaceful end. It died just in time to escape the horrors of +a popular programme by the band amidships. The echo of the last amen +was a resounding thump on the big bass drum. + +Three tall, interesting looking men stood leaning against the +starboard rail of the promenade deck, unmindful of the mist, watching +the scurrying throng of exercise fiends. Two were young, the third +was old, and of the three there was one who merited the second glance +that invariably was bestowed upon him by the circling passers-by. +Each succeeding revolution increased the interest and admiration and +people soon began to favour him with frankly unabashed stares and +smiles that could not have been mistaken for anything but tribute to +his extreme good looks. + +He stood between the gaunt, soldierly old man with the fierce +moustache, and the trim, military young man with one that was close +cropped and smart. Each wore a blue serge suit and affected a short +visored cap of the same material, and each lazily puffed at a very +commonplace briar pipe. They in turn were watching the sprightly +parade with an interest that was calmly impersonal. They saw no one +person who deserved more than a casual glance, and yet the motley +crowd passed before them, apparently without end, as if expecting a +responsive smile of recognition from the tall young fellow to whom it +paid the honest tribute of curiosity. + +The customary he-gossip and perennial snooper who is always making +the voyage no matter what ship one takes or the direction one goes, +nosed out the purser and discovered that the young man was R. Schmidt +of Vienna. He was busy thereafter mixing with the throng, +volunteering information that had not been solicited but which +appeared to be welcome. Especially were the young women on board +grateful to the he-gossip, when he accosted them as a perfect +stranger to tell them the name of another and even more perfect +stranger. + +"Evidently an Austrian army officer," he always proclaimed, and that +seemed to settle it. + +Luckily he did not overhear R. Schmidt's impassive estimate of the +first cabin parade, or he might have had something to repeat that +would not have pleased those who took part in it. + +"Queer looking lot of people," said R. Schmidt, and his two +companions moodily nodded their heads. + +"I am sorry we lost those rooms on the _Salammbo_," said the younger +of his two companions. "I had them positively engaged, money paid +down." + +"Some one else came along with more money, Dank," observed R. +Schmidt. "We ought to be thankful that we received anything at all. +Has it occurred to you that this boat isn't crowded?" + +"Not more than half full," said the older man. "All of the others +appeared to be packed from hold to funnel. This must be an unpopular +boat." + +"I don't know where we'd be, however, if Mr. Blithers hadn't thought +of the _Jupiter_ almost at the last minute," said R. Schmidt. + +"Nine day boat, though," growled the old man. + +"I don't mind that in the least. She's a steady old tub and that's +something." + +"Hobbs tells me that it is most extraordinary to find the east bound +steamers crowded at this season of the year," said Dank. "He can't +understand it at all. The crowds go over in June and July and by this +time they should be starting for home. I thought we'd have no +difficulty in getting on any one of the big boats, but, by jove, +everywhere I went they said they were full up." + +"It was uncommonly decent of Blithers not coming down to see us off," +said the elderly man, who was down on the passenger list as Totten. +"I was apprehensive, 'pon my soul. He stuck like a leech up to the +last minute." + +R. Schmidt was reflecting. "It struck me as queer that he had not +heard of the transfer of our securities in London." + +I cannot understand Bernstein & Sons selling out at a time when the +price of our bonds is considerably below their actual value," said +Totten, frowning." A million pounds sterling is what their holdings +really represented; according to the despatches they must have sold +at a loss of nearly fifty thousand pounds. It is unbelievable that +the house can be hard-pressed for money. There isn't a sounder +concern in Europe than Bernstein's." + +"We should have a Marconi-gram to-night or tomorrow in regard to the +bid made in Paris for the bonds held by the French syndicate," said +Dank, pulling at his short moustache." Mr. Blithers is investigating." + +"There is something sinister in all this," said R. Schmidt. "Who is +buying up all of the out-standing bonds and what is behind the +movement? London has sold all that were held there and Paris is +approached on the same day. If Paris and Berlin should sell, nearly +four million pounds in Graustark bonds will be in the hands of people +whose identity and motives appear to be shrouded in the deepest +mystery." + +"And four million pounds represents the entire amount of our bonds +held by outside parties," said Totten, with a significant shake of +his grizzled head. "The remainder are in the possession of our own +institutions and the people themselves. We should hear from +Edelweiss, too, in response to my cablegram. Perhaps Romano may be +able to throw light on the situation. I confess that I am troubled." + +"Russia would have no object in buying up our general bonds, would +she?" inquired R. Schmidt. + +"None whatever. She would have nothing to gain. Mr. Blithers assured +me that he was not in the least apprehensive. In fact, he declared +that Russia would not be buying bonds that do not mature for twelve +years to come. There must be some private--eh?" + +A steward was politely accosting the trio. + +"I beg pardon, is this Mr. Totten?" + +"Yes." + +"Message for you, sir, at the purser's." + +"Bring it to my stateroom, Totten," said R. Schmidt briefly, and the +old man hurried away on the heels of the messenger. + +The two young men sauntered carelessly in an opposite direction and +soon disappeared from the deck. A few minutes later, Totten entered +the luxurious parlour of R. Schmidt and laid an unopened wireless +message on the table at the young man's elbow. + +"Open it, Totten." + +The old man slit the envelope and glanced at the contents. He nodded +his head in answer to an unspoken question. + +"Sold?" asked R. Schmidt. + +"Paris and Berlin, both of them, Prince. Every bond has been gobbled +up." + +"Does he mention the name of the buyer?" + +"Only by the use of the personal pronoun. He says--'I have taken over +the Paris and Berlin holdings. All is well.' It is signed 'B.' So! +Now we know." + +"By jove!" fell from the lips of both men, and then the three +Graustarkians stared in speechless amazement at each other for the +space of a minute before another word was spoken. + +"Blithers!" exclaimed Dank, sinking back into his chair. + +"Blithers," repeated Totten, but with an entirely different +inflection. The word was conviction itself as he pronounced it. + +R. Schmidt indulged in a wry little smile. "It amounts to nearly +twenty million dollars, Count. That's a great deal of money to spend +in the pursuit of an idle whim." + +"Humph!" grunted the old Count, and then favoured the sunny-faced +Prince with a singularly sharp glance. "Of course, you understand his +game?" + +"Perfectly. It's as clear as day. He intends to be the crown father- +in-law. I suppose he will expect Graustark to establish an Order of +Royal Grandfathers." + +"It may prove to be no jest, Robin," said the Count seriously. + +"My dear Quinnox, don't look so sad," cried the Prince. "He may have +money enough to buy Graustark but he hasn't enough to buy +grandchildren that won't grow, you know. He is counting chickens +before they're hatched, which isn't a good business principle, I'd +have you to know." + +"What was it he said to you at Red Roof?" + +"That was nothing. Pure bluster." + +"He said he had never set his heart on anything that he didn't get in +the end, wasn't that it?" + +"I think so. Something of the sort. I took it as a joke." + +"Well, I took it as a threat." + +"A threat?" + +"A pleasant, agreeable threat, of course. He has set his heart on +having the crown of Graustark worn by a Blithers. That is the long +and short of it." + +"I believe he did say to me in the woods that day that he could put +his daughter on any throne in Europe if he set his mind to the job," +said the Prince carelessly. "But you see, the old gentleman is not +counting on two very serious sources of opposition when it comes to +this particular case. There is Maud, you see,--and me." + +"I am not so sure of the young lady," said the Count sententiously. +"The opposition may falter a bit there, and half of his battle is +won." + +"You seem to forget, Quinnox, that such a marriage is utterly +impossible," said the Prince coldly, "Do you imagine that I would +marry--" + +"Pardon me, highness, I said _half_ the battle would be won. I +do contemplate a surrender on your part. You are a very pig-headed +young man. The most pig-headed I've ever known, if you will forgive +me for expressing myself so--" + +"You've said it a hundred times," laughed the Prince, good-naturedly. +"Don't apologise. Not only you but the entire House of Nobles have +characterised me as pig-headed and I have never even thought of +resenting it, so it must be that I believe it to be true." + +"We have never voiced the opinion, highness, except in reference to +our own great desire to bring about the union between our beloved +ruler and the Crown Princess of--" + +"So," interrupted R. Schmidt, "it ought to be very clear to you that +if I will not marry to please my loyal, devoted cabinet I certainly +shall not marry to please William W. Blithers. No doubt the excellent +Maud is a most desirable person. In any event, she has a mind of her +own. I confess that I am sorry to have missed seeing her. We might +have got on famously together, seeing that our point of view is +apparently unique in this day and age of the world, No, my good +friends, Mr. Blithers is making a poor investment. He will not get +the return for his money that he is expecting. If it pleases him to +buy our securities, all well and good. He shall lose nothing in the +end. But he will find that Graustark is not a toy, nor the people +puppets. More than all that, I am not a bargain sale prince with +Christmas tree aspirations, but a very unamiable devil who cultivates +an ambition to throw stones at the conventions. Not only do I intend +to choose my wife but also the court grandfather. And now let us +forget the folly of Mr. Blithers and discuss his methods of business. +What does he expect to gain by this extraordinary investment?" + +Count Quinnox looked at him rather pityingly. "It appears to be his +way of pulling the strings, my boy. He has loaned us something like +sixteen millions of dollars. We have agreed to deposit our public +service bonds as security against the loan, so that practically +equalises the situation. It becomes a purely business transaction. +But he sees far ahead. This loan of his matures at practically the +same time that our first series of government bonds are due for +payment. It will be extremely difficult for a small country, such as +Graustark, to raise nearly forty millions of dollars in, say ten +years. The European syndicates undoubtedly would be willing to renew +the loan under a new issue--I think it is called refunding, or +something of the sort. But Mr. Blithers will be in a position to say +no to any such arrangement. He holds the whip hand and--" + +"But, my dear Count," interrupted the Prince, "what if he does hold +it? Does he expect to wait ten years before exercising his power? You +forget that marriage is his ambition. Isn't he taking a desperate +risk in assuming that I will not marry before the ten years are up? +And, for that matter, his daughter may decide to wed some other chap +who--" + +"That's just the point," said Quinnox. "He is arranging it so that +you _can't_ marry without his consent." + +"The deuce you say!" + +"I am not saying that he can carry out his design, my dear boy, but +it is his secret hope, just the same. So far as Graustark is +concerned, she will stand by you no matter what betides. As you know, +there is nothing so dear to our hearts as the proposed union of +Dawsbergen's Crown Princess and--" + +"That's utterly out of the question, Count," said the Prince, setting +his jaws. + +The count sighed patiently. "So you say, my boy, so you say. But you +are not reasonable. How can you know that the Crown Princess of +Dawsbergen is not the very mate your soul has been craving--" + +"That's not the point. I am opposed to this miserable custom of +giving in marriage without the consent of the people most vitally +concerned, and I shall never recede from my position." + +"You are very young, my dear Prince." + +"And I intend to remain young, my dear Count. Loveless marriages make +old men and women of youths and maidens. I remember thinking that +remark out for myself after a great deal of effort, and you may +remember that I sprung it with considerable effect on the cabinet +when the matter was formally discussed a year or two ago. You heard +about it, didn't you, Dank?" + +"I did, highness." + +"And every newspaper in the world printed it as coming from me, +didn't they? Well, there you are. I can't go behind my publicly +avowed principles." + +The young fellow stretched his long body in a sort of luxurious +defiance, and eyed his companions somewhat combatively. + +"Sounds very well," growled the Count, with scant reverence for +royalty, being a privileged person. + +"Now, Dank here can marry any one he likes--if she'll have him--and +he is only a lieutenant of the guard. Why should I,--prince royal and +master of all he surveys, so to speak,--why should I be denied a +privilege enjoyed by every good-looking soldier who carries a sword +in my army--_my_ army, do you understand? I leave it to you, Dank, is +it fair? Who are you that you should presume to think of a happy +marriage while I, your Prince, am obliged to twiddle my thumbs and say +'all right, bring any old thing along and I'll marry her'? Who are +you, Dank, that's what I'd like to know." + +His humour was so high-handed that the two soldiers laughed and Dank +ruefully admitted that he was a lucky dog. + +"You shall not marry into the Blithers family, my lad, if we can help +it," said the Count, pulling at his moustaches. + +"I should say not!" said Dank, feeling for his. + +"I should as soon marry a daughter of Hobbs," said R. Schmidt, +getting up from his chair with restored sprightliness. "If he had +one, I mean." + +"The bonds of matrimony and the bonds of government are by no means +synonymous," said Dank, and felt rather proud of himself when his +companions favoured him with a stare of amazement. The excellent +lieutenant was not given to persiflage. He felt that for a moment he +had scintillated. + +"Shall we send a wireless to Blithers congratulating him on his +coup?" enquired the Prince gaily. + +"No," said the Count. "Congratulating ourselves on his coup is +better." + +"Good! And you might add that we also are trusting to luck. It may +give him something to think about. And now where is Hobbs?" said +royalty. + +"Here, sir," said Hobbs, appearing in the bed-room door, but not +unexpectedly. "I heard wot you said about my daughter, sir. It may +set your mind at rest, sir, to hear that I am childless." + +"Thank you, Hobbs. You are always thinking of my comfort. You may +order luncheon for us in the Ritz restaurant. The head steward has +been instructed to reserve the corner table for the whole voyage." + +"The 'ead waiter, sir," corrected Hobbs politely, and was gone. + +In three minutes he was back with the information that two ladies had +taken the table and refused to be dislodged, although the head waiter +had vainly tried to convince them that it was reserved for the +passage by R. Schmidt and party. + +"I am quite sure, sir, he put it to them very hagreeably and +politely, but the young lady gave 'im the 'aughtiest look I've ever +seen on mortal fice, sir, and he came back to me so 'umble that I +could 'ardly believe he was an 'ead waiter." + +"I hope he was not unnecessarily persistent," said the Prince, +annoyed. "It really is of no consequence where we sit." + +"Ladies first, world without end," said Dank. "Especially at sea." + +"He was not persistent, sir. In fact he was hextraordinary subdued +all the time he was hexplaining the situation to them. I could tell +by the way his back looked, sir." + +"Never mind, Hobbs. You ordered luncheon?" + +"Yes, your 'ighness. Chops and sweet potatoes and--" + +"But that's what we had yesterday, Hobbs." + +A vivid red overspread the suddenly dismayed face of Hobbs. "'Pon my +soul, sir, I--I clean forgot that it was yesterday I was thinking of. +The young lady gave me such a sharp look, sir, when the 'ead waiter +pointed at me that I clean forgot wot I was there for. I will 'urry +back and--" + +"Do, Hobbs, that's a good fellow. I'm as hungry as a bear. But no +chops!" + +"Thank you, sir. No chops. Absolutely, sir." He stopped in the +doorway. "I daresay it was 'er beauty, sir, that did it. No chops. +Quite so, sir." + +"If Blithers were only here," sighed Dank. "He would make short work +of the female invasion. He would have them chucked overboard." + +"I beg pardon, sir," further adventured Hobbs, "but I fancy not even +Mr. Blithers could move that young woman, sir, if she didn't 'appen +to want to be moved. Never in my life, sir, have I seen--" + +"Run along, Hobbs," said the Prince. "Boiled guinea hen." + +"And cantaloupe, sir. Yes, sir, I quite remember everything now, +sir." + +Twenty minutes later, R. Schmidt, seated in the Ritz restaurant, +happened to look fairly into the eyes of the loveliest girl he had +ever seen, and on the instant forgave the extraordinary delinquency +of the hitherto infallible Hobbs. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE PRINCE MEETS MISS GUILE + + +Later on R. Schmidt sat alone in a sheltered corner of the promenade +deck, where chairs had been secured by the forehanded Hobbs. The thin +drizzle now aspired to something more definite in the shape of a +steady downpour, and the decks were almost deserted, save for the few +who huddled in the unexposed nooks where the sweep and swish of the +rain failed to penetrate. There was a faraway look in the young man's +eyes, as of one who dreams pleasantly, with little effort but +excellent effect. His pipe had gone out, so his dream must have been +long and uninterrupted. Eight bells sounded, but what is time to a +dreamer? Then came one bell and two, and now his eyes were closed. + +Two women came and stood over him, but little did they suspect that +his dream was of one of them: the one with the lovely eyes and the +soft brown hair. They surveyed him, whispering, the one with a little +perplexed frown on her brow, the other with distinct signs of +annoyance in her face. The girl was not more than twenty, her +companion quite old enough to be her mother: a considerate if not +complimentary estimate, for a girl's mother may be either forty, +fifty or even fifty-five, when you come to think of it. + +They were looking for something. That was quite clear. And it was +deplorably clear that whatever it was, R. Schmidt was sitting upon +it. They saw that he was asleep, which made the search if not the +actual recovery quite out of the question. The older woman was on the +point of poking the sleeper with the toe of her shoe, being a matter- +of-fact sort of person, when the girl imperatively shook her head and +frowned upon the lady in a way to prove that even though she was old +enough to be the mother of a girl of twenty she was by no means the +mother of this one. + +At that very instant, R. Schmidt opened his eyes. It must have been a +kindly poke by the god of sleep that aroused him so opportunely, but +even so, the toe of a shoe could not have created a graver +catastrophe than that which immediately befell him. He completely +lost his head. If one had suddenly asked what had become of it, he +couldn't have told, not for the life of him. For that matter, he +couldn't have put his finger, so to speak, on any part of his person +and proclaimed with confidence that it belonged to R. Schmidt of +Vienna. He was looking directly up into a pair of dark, startled +eyes, in which there was a very pretty confusion and a far from +impervious blink. + +"I beg your pardon," said the older woman, without the faintest trace +of embarrassment,--indeed, with some asperity,--"I think you are +occupying one of our chairs." + +He scrambled out of the steamer rug and came to his feet, blushing to +the roots of his hair. + +"I beg your pardon," he stammered, and found his awkwardness rewarded +by an extremely sweet smile--in the eyes of the one he addressed. + +"We were looking for a letter that I am quite sure was left in my +chair," said she. + +"A letter?" he murmured vaguely, and at once began to search with his +eyes. + +"From her father," volunteered the elderly one, as if it were a +necessary bit of information. Then she jerked the rug away and three +pairs of eyes examined the place where R. Schmidt had been reclining. +"That's odd. Did you happen to see it when you sat down, sir?" + +"I am confident that there was no letter--" began he, and then +allowed his gaze to rest on the name-card at the top of the chair. +"This happens to be _my_ chair, madam," he went on, pointing to +the card. "'R. Schmidt.' I am very sorry." + +"The steward must have put that card there while you were at +luncheon, dear. What right has he to sell our chairs over again? I +shall report this to the Captain--" + +"I am quite positive that this is my chair, sir," said the girl, a +spot of red in each cheek. "It was engaged two days ago. I have been +occupying it since--but it really doesn't matter. It has your name +on it now, so I suppose I shall have to--" + +"Not at all," he made haste to say. "It's yours. There has been some +miserable mistake. These deck stewards are always messing things up. +Still, it is rather a mystery about the letter. I assure you I saw +no--" + +"No doubt the steward who changed the cards had sufficient +intelligence to remove all incriminating evidence," said she coolly. +"We shall find it among the lost, strayed and stolen articles, no +doubt. Pray retain the chair, Mr.--" She peered at the name-card-- +"Mr. Schmidt." + +Her cool insolence succeeded in nettling a nature that was usually +most gentle. He spoke with characteristic directness. + +"Thank you, I shall do so. We thereby manage to strike a fair +average. I seize your deck chair, you seize my table. We are quits." + +She smiled faintly. "R. Schmidt did not sound young and gentle, but +old and hateful. That is why I seized the table. I expected to find +R. Schmidt a fat, old German with very bad manners. Instead, you are +neither fat, old, nor disagreeable. You took it very nicely, Mr. +Schmidt, and I am undone. Won't you permit me to restore your table +to you?" + +The elderly lady was tapping the deck with a most impatient foot. +"Really my dear, we were quite within our rights in approaching the +head waiter. He--" + +"He said it was engaged," interrupted the young lady. "R. Schmidt was +the name he gave and I informed him it meant nothing to me. I am very +sorry, Mr. Schmidt. I suppose it was all because I am so accustomed +to having my own way." + +"In that case, it is all very easy to understand," said he, "for I +have always longed to be in a position where I could have my own way. +I am sure that if I could have it, I would be a most overbearing, +selfish person." + +"We must enquire at the office for the letter, my dear, before--" + +"It may have dropped behind the chair," said the girl. + +"Right!" cried R. Schmidt, dragging the chair away and pointing in +triumph at the missing letter. He stooped to recover the missive, but +she was quick to forestall him. With a little gasp she pounced upon +it and, like a child proceeded to hold it behind her back. He +stiffened. "I remember that you said it was from your father." + +She hesitated an instant and then held it forth for his inspection, +rather adroitly concealing the postmark with her thumb. It was +addressed to "Miss B. Guile, S. S. _Jupiter_, New York City, N. Y.," +and type-written. + +"It is only fair that we should be quits in every particular," she +said, with a frank smile. + +He bowed. "A letter of introduction," he said, "in the strictest +sense of the word. You have already had my card thrust upon you, so +everything is quite regular. And now it is only right and proper that +I should see what has become of your chairs. Permit me--" + +"Really, Miss Guile," interposed her companion, "this is quite +irregular. I may say it is unusual. Pray allow me to suggest--" + +"I think it is only right that Mr. Schmidt should return good for +evil," interrupted the girl gaily. "Please enquire, Mr. Schmidt. No +doubt the deck steward will know." + +Again the Prince bowed, but this time there was amusement instead of +uncertainty in his eyes. It was the first time that any one had ever +urged him, even by inference, to "fetch and carry." Moreover, she was +extremely cool about it, as one who exacts much of young men in serge +suits and outing-caps. He found himself wondering what she would say +if he were to suddenly announce that he was the Prince of Graustark. +The thought tickled his fancy, accounting, no doubt, for the even +deeper bow that he gave her. + +"They can't be very far away," he observed quite meekly. "Oh, I say, +steward! One moment, here." A deck steward approached with alacrity. +"What has become of Miss Guile's chair?" + +The man touched his cap and beamed joyously upon the fair young lady. + +"Ach! See how I have forgot! It is here! The best place on the deck-- +on any deck. See! Two--side by side,--above the door, away from the +draft--see, in the corner, ha, ha! Yes! Two by side. The very best. +Miss Guile complains of the draft from the door. I exchanged the +chairs. See! But I forgot to speak. Yes! See!" + +And, sure enough, there were the chairs of Miss Guile and her +companion snugly stowed away in the corner, standing at right angles +to the long row that lined the deck, the foot rests pointed directly +at the chair R. Schmidt had just vacated, not more than a yard and a +half away. + +"How stupid!" exclaimed Miss Guile. "Thank you, steward. This is much +better. So sorry, Mr. Schmidt, to have disturbed you. I abhor drafts, +don't you?" + +"Not to the extent that I shall move out of this one," he replied +gallantly, "now that I've got an undisputed claim to it. I intend to +stand up for my rights, Miss Guile, even though you find me at your +feet." + +"How perfectly love--" began Miss Guile, a gleam of real enthusiasm +in her eyes. A sharp, horrified look from her companion served as a +check, and she became at once the coolly indifferent creature who +exacts everything. "Thank you, Mr. Schmidt, for being so nice when we +were trying so hard to be horrid." + +"But you don't know how nice you are when you are trying to be +horrid," he remarked. "Are you not going to sit down, now that we've +captured the disappearing chair?" + +"No," she said, and he fancied he saw regret in her eyes. "I am going +to my room,--if I can find it. No doubt it also is lost. This seems +to be a day for misplacing things." + +"At any rate, permit me to thank you for discovering me, Miss Guile." + +"Oh, I daresay I shall misplace you, too, Mr. Schmidt." She said it +so insolently that he flushed as he drew himself up and stepped aside +to allow her to pass. For an instant their eyes met, and the sign of +the humble was not to be found in the expression of either. + +"Even _that_ will be something for me to look forward to, Miss Guile," +said he. Far from being vexed, she favoured him with a faint smile +of--was it wonder or admiration? + +Then she moved away, followed by the uneasy lady--who was old enough +to be her mother and wasn't. + +Robin remained standing for a moment, looking after her, and somehow +he felt that his dream was not yet ended. She turned the corner of +the deck building and was lost to sight. He sat down, only to arise +almost instantly, moved by a livelier curiosity than he ever had felt +before. Conscious of a certain feeling of stealth, he scrutinised the +cards in the backs of the two chairs. The steward was collecting the +discarded steamer-rugs farther down the deck, and the few passengers +who occupied chairs, appeared to be snoozing,--all of which he took +in with his first appraising glance. "Miss Guile" and "Mrs. Gaston" +were the names he read. + +"Americans," he mused. "Young lady and chaperone, that's it. A real +American beauty! And Blithers loudly boasts that his daughter is the +prettiest girl in America! Shades of Venus! Can there be such a thing +on earth as a prettier girl than this one? Can nature have performed +the impossible? Is America so full of lovely girls that this one must +take second place to a daughter of Blithers? I wonder if she knows +the imperial Maud. I'll make it a point to inquire." + +Moved by a sudden restlessness, he decided that he was in need of +exercise. A walk would do him good. The same spirit of restlessness, +no doubt, urged him to walk rather rapidly in the direction opposite +to that taken by the lovely Miss Guile. After completely circling the +deck once he decided that he did not need the exercise after all. His +walk had not benefitted him in the least. She _had_ gone to her room. +He returned to his chair, conscious of having been defeated but +without really knowing why or how. As he turned into the dry, snug +corner, he came to an abrupt stop and stared. Miss Guile was sitting +in her chair, neatly encased in a mummy-like sheath of grey that +covered her slim body to the waist. + +She was quite alone in her nook, and reading. Evidently the book +interested her, for she failed to look up when he clumsily slid into +his chair and threw the rug over his legs--dreadfully long, +uninteresting legs, he thought, as he stretched them out and found +that his feet protruded like a pair of white obelisks. + +Naturally he looked seaward, but in his mind's eye he saw her as he +had seen her not more than ten minutes before: a slim, tall girl in a +smart buff coat, with a limp white hat drawn down over her hair by +means of a bright green veil; he had had a glimpse of staunch tan +walking-shoes. He found himself wondering how he had missed her in +the turn about the deck, and how she could have ensconced herself so +snugly during his brief evacuation of the spot. Suddenly it occurred +to him that she had returned to the chair only after discovering that +his was vacant. It wasn't a very gratifying conclusion. + +An astonishing intrepidity induced him to speak to her after a lapse +of five or six minutes, and so surprising was the impulse that he +blurted out his question without preamble. + +"How did you manage to get back so quickly?" he inquired. + +She looked up, and for an instant there was something like alarm in +her lovely eyes, as of one caught in the perpetration of a guilty +act. + +"I beg your pardon," she said, rather indistinctly. + +"I was away less than eight minutes," he declared, and she was +confronted by the wonderfully frank smile that never failed to work +its charm. To his surprise, a shy smile grew in her eyes, and her +warm red lips twitched uncertainly. He had expected a cold rebuff. +"You must have dropped through the awning." + +"Your imagination is superior to that employed by the author of this +book," she said, "and that is saying a good deal, Mr.--Mr.--" + +"Schmidt," he supplied cheerfully. "May I inquire what book you are +reading?" + +"You would not be interested. It is by an American." + +"I have read a great many American novels," said he stiffly. "My +father was an American. Awfully jolly books, most of them." + +"I looked you up in the passenger list a moment ago," she said +coolly. "Your home is in Vienna. I like Vienna." + +He was looking rather intently at the book, now partly lowered. +"Isn't that the passenger list you have concealed in that book?" he +demanded. + +"It is," she replied promptly. "You will pardon a natural curiosity? +I wanted to see whether you were from New York." + +"May I look at it, please?" + +She closed the book. "It isn't necessary. I _am_ from New York." + +"By the way, do you happen to know a Miss Blithers,--Maud Blithers?" + +Miss Guile frowned reflectively. "Blithers? The name is a familiar +one. Maud Blithers? What is she like?" + +"She's supposed to be very good-looking. I've never seen her." + +"How queer to be asking me if I know her, then. Why _do_ you ask?" + +"I've heard so much about her lately. She is the daughter of William +Blithers, the great capitalist." + +"Oh, I know who he is," she exclaimed. "Perfect roodles of money, +hasn't he?" + +"Roodles?" + +"Loads, if it means more to you. I forgot that you are a foreigner. +He gave that wonderful ball last week for the Prince of--of--Oh, some +insignificant little place over in Europe. There are such a lot of +queer little duchies and principalities, don't you know; it is quite +impossible to tell one from the other. They don't even appear on the +maps." + +He took it with a perfectly straight face, though secretly annoyed. +"It was the talk of the town, that ball. It must have cost roodles of +money. Is that right?" + +"Yes, but it doesn't sound right when you say it. Naturally one +doesn't say roodles in Vienna." + +"We say noodles," said he. "I am very fond of them. But to resume; I +supposed every one in New York knew Miss Blithers. She's quite the +rage, I'm told." + +"Indeed? I should think she might be, Mr. Schmidt, with all those +lovely millions behind her." + +He smiled introspectively. "Yes; and I am told that, in spite of +them, she is the prettiest girl in New York." + +She appeared to lose interest in the topic. "Oh, indeed?" + +"But," he supplemented gracefully, "it isn't true." + +"What isn't true?" + +"The statement that she is the prettiest girl in New York." + +"How can you say that, when you admit you've never seen her?" + +"I can say it with a perfectly clear conscience, Miss Guile," said +he, and was filled with delight when she bit her lip as a sign of +acknowledgment. + +"Oh, here comes the tea," she cried, with a strange eagerness in her +voice. "I am so glad." She scrambled gracefully out of her rug and +arose to her feet. + +"Aren't you going to have some?" he cried. + +"Yes," she said, quite pointedly. "In my room, Mr. Schmidt," and +before he could get to his feet she was moving away without so much +as a nod or smile for him. Indeed, she appeared to have dismissed him +from her thoughts quite as completely as from her vision. He +experienced a queer sensation of shrivelling. + +At dinner that night, she failed to look in his direction, a +circumstance that may not appear extraordinary when it is stated that +she purposely or inadvertently exchanged seats with Mrs. Gaston and +sat with her back to the table occupied by R. Schmidt and his +friends. He had to be content with a view of the most exquisite back +and shoulders that good fortune had ever allowed him to gaze upon. +And then there was the way that her soft brown hair grew above the +slender neck, to say nothing of--but Mrs. Gaston was watching him +with most unfriendly eyes, so the feast was spoiled. + +The following day was as unlike its predecessor as black is like +white. During the night the smooth grey pond had been transformed +into a turbulent, storm-threshed ocean; the once gentle wind was now +a howling gale that swept the decks with a merciless lash in its grip +and whipped into submission all who vaingloriously sought to defy its +chill dominion. Not rain, but spray from huge, swashing billows, +clouded the decks, biting and cutting like countless needles, each +drop with the sting of a hornet behind it. Now the end of the world +seemed far away, and the jumping off place was a rickety wall of +white and black, leaning against a cold, drear sky. + +Only the hardiest of the passengers ventured on deck; the +exhilaration they professed was but another name for bravado. They +shivered and gasped for breath as they forged their bitter way into +the gale, and few were they who took more than a single turn of the +deck. Like beaten cowards they soon slunk into the sheltered spots, +or sought even less heroic means of surrender by tumbling into bed +with the considerate help of unsmiling stewards. The great ship went +up and the great ship came down: when up so high that the sky seemed +to be startlingly near and down so horribly low that the bottom of +the ocean was even nearer. And it creaked and groaned and sighed even +above the wild monody of the wind, like a thing in misery, yet all +the while holding its sides to keep from bursting with laughter over +the plight of the little creature whom God made after His own image +but not until after all of the big things of the universe had been +designed. + +R. Schmidt, being a good sailor and a hardy young chap, albeit a +prince of royal blood, was abroad early, after a breakfast that +staggered the few who remained unstaggered up to that particular +crisis. A genial sailor-man and an equally ungenial deck swabber +advised him, in totally different styles of address, to stay below if +he knew what was good for him, only to be thanked with all the +blitheness of a man who jolly well knows what is good for him, or who +doesn't care whether it is good for him or not so long as he is doing +the thing that he wants to do. + +He took two turns about the deck, and each time as he passed the spot +he sent a covert glance into the corner where Miss Guile's chair was +standing. Of course he did not expect to find her there in weather +like this, but--well, he looked and that is the end to the argument. +The going was extremely treacherous and unpleasant he was free to +confess to the genial sailor-man after the second breathless turn, +and gave that worthy a bright silver dollar upon receiving a further +bit of advice: to sit down somewhere out of the wind, sir. + +Quinnox and Dank were hopelessly bed-ridden, so to speak. They were +very disagreeable, cross and unpleasant, and somehow he felt that +they hated their cheerful, happy-faced Prince. Never before had Count +Quinnox scowled at him, no matter how mad his pranks as a child or +how silly his actions as a youth. Never before had any one told him +to go to the devil. He rather liked it. And he rather admired poor +Dank for ordering him out of his cabin, with a perfectly astounding +oath as a climax to the command. Moreover, he thought considerably +better of the faithful Hobbs for an amazing exposition of human +equality in the matter of a pair of boots that he desired to wear +that morning but which happened to be stowed away in a cabin trunk. +He told Hobbs to go to the devil and Hobbs repeated the injunction, +with especial heat, to the boots, when he bumped his head in hauling +them out of the trunk. Whereupon R. Schmidt said to Hobbs: "Good for +you. Hobbs. Go on, please. Don't mind me. It was quite a thump, +wasn't it?" And Hobbs managed, between other words, to say that it +was a whacking thump, and one he would not forget to his dying day-- +(if he lived through this one!). + +"And you'd do well to sit in the smoke-room, sir," further advised +the sailor-man, clinging to the rail with one hand and pocketing the +coin with the other. + +"No," said R. Schmidt resolutely. "I don't like the air in the smoke- +room." + +"There's quite a bit of air out 'ere, sir." + +"I need quite a bit." + +"I should think you might, sir, being a 'ealthy, strappin' sort of a +chap, sir. 'Elp yourself. All the chairs is yours if you'll unpile +'em." + +The young man battled his way down the deck and soon found himself in +the well-protected corner. A half-dozen unoccupied chairs were +cluttered about, having been abandoned by persons who over-estimated +their hardiness. One of the stewards was engaged in stacking them up +and making them fast. + +Miss Guile's chair and that of Mrs. Gaston were staunchly fastened +down and their rugs were in place. R. Schmidt experienced an +exquisite sensation of pleasure. Here was a perfect exemplification +of that much-abused thing known as circumstantial evidence. She +contemplated coming on deck. So he had his chair put in place, called +for his rug, shrugged his chin down into the collar of his thick +ulster, and sat down to wait. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AN HOUR ON DECK + + +She literally was blown into his presence. He sprang to his feet to +check her swift approach before she could be dashed against the wall +or upon the heap of chairs in the corner. The deep roll of the vessel +had ended so suddenly that she was thrown off her balance, at best +precariously maintained in the hurricane that swept her along the +deck. She was projected with considerable violence against the +waiting figure of R. Schmidt, who had hastily braced himself for the +impact of the slender body in the thick sea-ulster. She uttered an +excited little shriek as she came bang up against him and found his +ready arms closing about her shoulders. + +"Oh, goodness!" she gasped, with what little breath she had left, and +then began to laugh as she freed herself in confusion--a very pretty +confusion he recalled later on, after he had recovered to some extent +from the effects of an exceedingly severe bump on the back of his +head. "How awkward!" + +"Not at all," he proclaimed, retaining a grip on one of her arms +until the ship showed some signs of resuming its way eastward instead +of downward. + +"I am sure it must have hurt dreadfully," she cried. "Nothing hurts +worse than a bump. It seemed as though you must have splintered the +wall." + +"I have a singularly hard head," said he, and forthwith felt of the +back of it. + +"Will you please stand ready to receive boarders? My maid is +following me, poor thing, and I can't afford to have her smashed to +pieces. Here she is!" + +Quite a pretty maid, with wide, horrified eyes and a pale green +complexion came hustling around the corner. R. Schmidt, albeit a +prince, received her with open arms. + +"Merci, M'sieur!" she squealed and added something in muffled French +that strangely reminded him of what Hobbs had said in English. Then +she deposited an armful of rugs and magazines at Robin's feet, and +clutched wildly at a post actually some ten feet away but which +appeared to be coming toward her with obliging swiftness, so nicely +was the deck rotating for her. "Mon dieu! Mon dieu!" + +"You may go back to bed, Marie," cried her mistress in some haste. + +"But ze rug, I feex it--" groaned the unhappy maid, and then once +more: "Merci, M'sieur!" She clung to the arm he extended, and tried +bravely to smile her thanks. + +"Here! Go in through this door," he said, bracing the door open with +his elbow. "You'll be all right in a little while. Keep your nerve." +He closed the door after her and turned to the amused Miss Guile. +"Well, it's an ill wind that blows no good," he said enigmatically, +and she flushed under the steady smile in his eyes. "Allow me to +arrange your rug for you. Miss Guile." + +"Thank you, no. I think I would better go inside. It is really too +windy--" + +"The wind can't get at you back here in this cubbyhole," he +protested. "Do sit down. I'll have you as snug as a bug in a rug +before you can say Jack Robinson. See! Now stick 'em out and I'll +wrap it around them. There! You're as neatly done up as a mummy and a +good deal better off, because you are a long way short of being two +thousand years old." + +"How is your head, Mr. Schmidt?" she inquired with grave concern. +"You seem to be quite crazy. I hope--" + +"Every one is a little bit mad, don't you think? Especially in +moments of great excitement. I daresay my head _has_ been turned +quite appreciably, and I'm glad that you've been kind enough to +notice it. Where is Mrs. Gaston?" He was vastly exhilarated. + +She regarded him with eyes that sparkled and belied the unamiable +nature of her reply. + +"The poor lady is where she is not at all likely to be annoyed, Mr. +Schmidt." + +Then she took up a magazine and coolly began to run through the +pages. He waited for a moment, considerably dashed, and then said +"Oh," in a very unfriendly manner. She found her place in the +magazine, assumed a more comfortable position, and, with noteworthy +resolution, set about reading as if her life depended upon it. + +He sat down, pulled the rug up to his chin, and stared out at the +great, heaving billows. Suddenly remembering another injury, he felt +once more of the back of his head. + +"By jove!" he exclaimed. "There _is_ a lump there." + +"I can't hear you," she said, allowing the magazine to drop into her +lap, but keeping her place carefully marked with one of her fingers. + +"I can hear you perfectly," he said. + +"It's the way the wind blows," she explained. + +"Easily remedied," said he. "I'll move into Mrs. Gaston's chair if +you think it will help any." + +"Do!" she said promptly. "You will not disturb me in the least,-- +unless you talk." She resumed her reading, half a page above the +finger tip. + +He moved over and arranged himself comfortably, snugly in Mrs. +Gaston's chair. Their elbows almost met. He was prepared to be very +patient. For a long time she continued to read, her warm, rosy cheek +half-averted, her eyes applied to their task with irritating +constancy. He did not despair. Some wise person once had told him +that it was only necessary to give a woman sufficient time and she +would be the one to despair. + +A few passengers possessed of proud sea-legs, staggered past the snug +couple on their ridiculous rounds of the ship. If they thought of +Miss Guile and R. Schmidt at all it was with the scorn that is +usually devoted to youth at its very best. There could be no doubt in +the passing mind that these two were sweethearts who managed to +thrive on the smallest of comforts. + +At last his patience was rewarded. She lowered the magazine and +stifled a yawn--but not a real one. + +"Have you read it?" she inquired composedly. + +"A part of it," he said. "Over your shoulder." + +"Is that considered polite in Vienna?" + +"If you only knew what a bump I've got on the back of my head you +wouldn't be so ungracious." he said. + +"I couldn't possibly know, could I?" + +He leaned forward and indicated the spot on the back of his head, +first removing his cap. She laughed nervously, and then gently rubbed +her fingers over the thick hair. + +"There is a dreadful lump!" she exclaimed. "Oh, how sorry I am. Do-- +do you feel faint or--or--I mean, is it very painful?" + +"Not now," he replied, replacing his cap and favouring her with his +most engaging smile. + +She smiled in response, betraying not the slightest sign of +embarrassment. As a matter of fact, she was, if anything, somewhat +too self-possessed. + +"I remember falling down stairs once," she said, "and getting a +stupendous bump on my forehead. But that was a great many years ago +and I cried. How was I to know that it hurt you, Mr. Schmidt, when +you neglected to cry?" + +"Heroes never cry," said he. "It isn't considered first-class +fiction, you know." + +"Am I to regard you as a hero?" + +"If you will be so kind, please." + +She laughed outright at this. "I think I rather like you, Mr. +Schmidt," she said, with unexpected candour. + +"Oh, I fancy I'm not at all bad," said he, after a momentary stare of +astonishment. "I am especially good in rough weather," he went on, +trying to forget that he was a prince of the royal blood, a rather +difficult matter when one stops to consider he was not in the habit +of hearing people say that they rather liked him. + +"Do your friends come from Vienna?" she inquired abruptly. + +"Yes," he said, and then saved his face as usual by adding under his +breath: "but they don't live there." It was not in him to lie +outright, hence the handy way of appeasing his conscience. + +"They are very interesting looking men, especially the younger. I +cannot remember when I have seen a more attractive man." + +"He is a splendid chap," exclaimed Robin, with genuine enthusiasm. "I +am very fond of Dank." + +She was silent for a moment. Something had failed, and she was rather +glad of it. + +"Do you like New York?" she asked. + +"Immensely. I met a great many delightful people there. Miss Guile. +You say you do not know the Blithers family? Mr. Blithers is a rare +old bird." + +"Isn't there some talk of his daughter being engaged to the Prince of +Graustark?" + +He felt that his ears were red. "The newspapers hinted at something +of the sort, I believe." He was suddenly possessed by the curious +notion that he was being "pumped" by his fair companion. Indeed, a +certain insistent note had crept into her voice and her eyes were +searching his with an intentness that had not appeared in them until +now. + +"Have you seen him?" + +"The Prince?" + +"Yes. What is he like?" + +"I've seen pictures of him," he equivocated. "Rather nice looking, I +should say." + +"Of course he is like all foreign noblemen and will leap at the +Blithers millions if he gets the chance. I sometimes feel sorry for +the poor wretches." There was more scorn than pity in the way she +said it, however, and her velvety eyes were suddenly hard and +uncompromising. + +He longed to defend himself, in the third person, but could not do so +for very strong and obvious reasons. He allowed himself the +privilege, however, of declaring that foreign noblemen are not always +as black as they are painted. And then, for a very excellent reason, +he contrived to change the subject by asking where she was going on +the continent. + +"I may go to Vienna," she said, with a smile that served to puzzle +rather than to delight him. He was more than ever convinced that she +was playing with him. "But pray do not look so gloomy, Mr. Schmidt, I +shall not make any demands upon your time while I am there. You may-- +" + +"I am quite sure of that," he interrupted, with his ready smile. "You +see, I am a person of no consequence in Vienna, while you--Ah, well, +as an American girl you will be hobnobbing with the nobility while +the humble Schmidt sits afar off and marvels at the kindness of a +fate that befell him in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and yet +curses the fate that makes him unworthy of the slightest notice from +the aforesaid American girl. For, I daresay, Miss Guile, you, like +all American girls, are ready to leap at titles." + +"That really isn't fair, Mr. Schmidt," she protested, flushing. "Why +should you and I quarrel over a condition that cannot apply to either +of us? You are not a nobleman, and I am not a title-seeking American +girl. So, why all this beautiful irony?" + +"It only remains for me to humbly beg your pardon and to add that if +you come to Vienna my every waking hour shall be devoted to the +pleasure of--" + +"I am sorry I mentioned it, Mr. Schmidt," she interrupted coldly. +"You may rest easy, for I shall not keep you awake for a single hour. +Besides, I may not go to Vienna at all." + +"I am sure you would like Vienna," he said, somewhat chilled by her +manner. + +"I have been there, with my parents, but it was a long time ago. I +once saw the Emperor and often have I seen the wonderful Prince +Liechtenstein." + +"Have you travelled extensively in Europe?" + +She was smiling once more. "I don't know what you would consider +extensively," she said. "I was educated in Paris, I have spent +innumerable winters in Rome and quite as many summers in Scotland, +England, Switzerland, Germ--" + +"I know who you are!" he cried out enthusiastically. To his +amazement, a startled expression leaped into her eyes. "You are +travelling under an assumed name." She remained perfectly still, +watching him with an anxious smile on her lips. "You are no other +than Miss Baedeker, the well-known authoress." + +It seemed to him that she breathed deeply. At any rate, her brow +cleared and her smile was positively enchanting. Never, in all his +life, had he gazed upon a lovelier face. His heart began to beat with +a rapidity that startled him, and a queer little sensation, as of +smothering, made it difficult for him to speak naturally in his next +attempt. + +"In that case, my pseudonym should be Guide, not Guile," she cried +merrily. The dimples played in her cheeks and her eyes were dancing. + +"B. stands for Baedeker, I'm sure. Baedeker Guide. If the B. isn't +for Baedeker, what is it for?" + +"Are you asking what the B. really stands for, Mr. Schmidt?" + +"In a round-about way, Miss Guile," he admitted. + +"My name is Bedelia," she said, with absolute sincerity. "Me mither +is Irish, d'ye see?" + +"By jove, it's worth a lot of trouble to get you to smile like that," +he cried admiringly. "It is the first really honest smile you've +displayed. If you knew how it improves you, you'd be doing it all of +the time." + +"Smiles are sometimes expensive." + +"It depends on the market." + +"I never take them to a cheap market. They are not classed as +necessities." + +"You couldn't offer them to any one who loves luxuries more than I +do." + +"You pay for them only with compliments, I see, and there is nothing +so cheap." + +"Am I to take that as a rebuke?" + +"If possible," she said sweetly. + +At this juncture, the miserable Hobbs hove into sight, not +figuratively but literally. He came surging across the deck in a mad +dash from one haven to another, or, more accurately, from post to +post. + +"I beg pardon, sir," he gasped, finally steadying himself on wide- +spread legs within easy reach of Robin's sustaining person. "There is +a wireless for Mr. Totten, sir, but when I took it to 'im he said to +fetch it to you, being unable to hold up 'is head, wot with the +wretched meal he had yesterday and the--" + +"I see, Hobbs. Well, where is it?" + +Hobbs looked embarrassed. "Well, you see, sir, I 'esitated about +giving it to you when you appear to be so--" + +"Never mind. You may give it to me. Miss Guile will surely pardon me +if I devote a second or two to an occupation she followed so +earnestly up to a very short time ago." + +"Pray forget that I am present, Mr. Schmidt," she said, and smiled +upon the bewildered Hobbs, who after an instant delivered the message +to his master. + +Robin read it through and at the end whistled softly. + +"Take it to Mr. Totten, Hobbs. and see if it will not serve to make +him hold up his head a little." + +"Very good, sir. I hope it will. Wouldn't it be wise for me to +hannounce who it is from, sir, to sort of prepare him for--" + +"He knows who it is from, Hobbs, so you needn't worry. It is from +home, if it will interest you, Hobbs." + +"Thank you, sir, it does interest me. I thought it might be from Mr. +Blithers." + +Robin's scowl sent him scuttling away a great deal more rigidly than +when he came. + +"Idiot!" muttered the young man, still scowling. + +There was silence between the two for a few seconds. Then she spoke +disinterestedly: + +"Is it from the Mr. Blithers who has the millions and the daughter +who wants to marry a prince?" + +"Merely a business transaction, Miss Guile," he said absently. He was +thinking of Romano's message. + +"So it would appear." + +"I beg pardon? I was--er--thinking--" + +"It was of no consequence, Mr. Schmidt," she said airily. + +He picked up the thread once more. "As a matter of fact, I've heard +it said that Miss Blithers refused to marry the Prince." + +"Is it possible?" with fine irony. "Is he such a dreadful person as +all that?" + +"I'm sure I don't know," murmured Robin uncomfortably. "He may be no +more dreadful than she." + +"I cannot hear you, Mr. Schmidt," she persisted, with unmistakeable +malice in her lovely eyes. + +"I'm rather glad that you didn't," he confessed. "Silly remark, you +know." + +"Well, I hope she doesn't marry him," said Miss Guile. + +"So do I," said R. Schmidt, and their eyes met. After a moment, she +looked away, her first surrender to the mysterious something that lay +deep in his. + +"It would prove that all American girls are not so black as they're +painted, wouldn't it?" she said, striving to regain the ground she +had lost by that momentary lapse. + +"Pray do not overlook the fact that I am half American," he said. +"You must not expect me to say that they paint at all." + +"Schmidt is a fine old American name," she mused, the mischief back +in her eyes. + +"And so is Bedelia," said he. + +"Will you pardon me, Mr. Schmidt, if I express surprise that you +speak English without the tiniest suggestion of an accent?" + +"I will pardon you for everything and anything, Miss Guile," said he, +quite too distinctly. She drew back in her chair and the light of +raillery died in her eyes. + +"What an imperial sound it has!" + +"And why not? The R stands for Rex." + +"Ah, that accounts for the King's English!" + +"Certainly," he grinned. "The king can do no wrong, don't you see?" + +"Your servant who was here speaks nothing but the King's English, I +perceive. Perhaps that accounts for a great deal." + +"Hobbs? I mean to say,'Obbs? I confess that he has taught me many +tricks of the tongue. He is one of the crown jewels." + +Suddenly, and without reason, she appeared to be bored. As a matter +of fact, she hid an incipient yawn behind her small gloved hand. + +"I think I shall go to my room. Will you kindly unwrap me, Mr. +Schmidt?" + +He promptly obeyed, and then assisted her to her feet, steadying her +against the roll of the vessel. + +"I shall pray for continuous rough weather," he announced, with as +gallant a bow as could be made under the circumstances. + +"Thank you," she said, and he was pleased to take it that she was not +thanking him for a physical service. + +A few minutes later he was in his own room, and she was in hers, and +the promenade deck was as barren as the desert of Sahara. + +He found Count Quinnox stretched out upon his bed, attended not only +by Hobbs but also the reanimated Dank. The crumpled message lay on +the floor. + +"I'm glad you waited awhile," said the young lieutenant, getting up +from the trunk on which he had been sitting. "If you had come any +sooner you would have heard words fit only for a soldier to hear. It +really was quite appalling." + +"He's better now," said Hobbs, more respectfully than was his wont. +It was evident that he had sustained quite a shock. + +"Well, what do you think of it?" demanded the Prince, pointing to the +message. + +"Of all the confounded impudence--" began the Count healthily, and +then uttered a mighty groan of impotence. It was clear that he could +not do justice to the occasion a second time. + +Robin picked up the Marconigram, and calmly smoothed out the +crinkles. Then he read it aloud, very slowly and with extreme disgust +in his fine young face. It was a lengthy communication from Baron +Romano, the Prime Minister in Edelweiss. + +"'Preliminary agreement signed before hearing Blithers had bought +London, Paris, Berlin. He cables his immediate visit to G. Object now +appears clear. All newspapers in Europe print despatches from America +that marriage is practically arranged between R. and M. Interviews +with Blithers corroborate reported engagement. Europe is amused. +Editorials sarcastic. Price on our securities advance two points on +confirmation of report. We are bewildered. Also vague rumour they +have eloped, but denied by B. Dawsbergen silent. What does it all +mean? Wire truth to me. People are uneasy. Gourou will meet you in +Paris.'" + +[Illustration: "I shall pray for continuous rough weather"] + +In the adjoining suite, Miss Guile was shaking Mrs. Gaston out of a +long-courted and much needed sleep. The poor lady sat up and blinked +feebly at the excited, starry-eyed girl. + +"Wake up!" cried Bedelia impatiently. "What do you think? I have a +perfectly wonderful suspicion--perfectly wonderful." + +"How can you be so unfeeling?" moaned the limp lady. + +"This R. Schmidt is Prince Robin of Graustark!" cried the girl +excitedly. "I am sure of it--just as sure as can be." + +Mrs. Gaston's eyes were popping, not with amazement but alarm. + +"Do lie down, child," she whimpered. "Marie! The sleeping powders at +once! Do--" + +"Oh, I'm not mad," cried the girl. "Now listen to me and I'll tell +you why I believe--yes, actually believe him to be the--" + +"Marie, do you hear me?" + +Miss Guile shook her vigorously. "Wake up! It isn't a nightmare. Now +listen!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE LIEUTENANT RECEIVES ORDERS + + +The next day brought not only an agreeable change in the weather but +a most surprising alteration in the manner of Mrs. Gaston, whose +attitude toward R. Schmidt and his friends had been anything but +amicable up to the hour of Miss Guile's discovery. The excellent +lady, recovering very quickly from her indisposition became +positively polite to the hitherto repugnant Mr. Schmidt. She melted +so abruptly and so completely that the young man was vaguely +troubled. He began to wonder if his incognito had been pierced, so to +speak. + +It was not reasonable to suppose that Miss Guile was personally +responsible for this startling transition from the inimical to the +gracious on the part of her companion; the indifference of Miss Guile +herself was sufficient proof to the contrary. Therefore, when Mrs. +Gaston nosed him out shortly after breakfast and began to talk about +the beautiful day in a manner so thoroughly respectful that it +savoured of servility, he was taken-aback, flabbergasted. She seemed +to be on the point of dropping her knee every time she spoke to him, +and there was an unmistakable tremor of excitement in her voice even +when she confided to him that she adored the ocean when it was calm. +He forbore asking when Miss Guile might be expected to appear on deck +for her constitutional but she volunteered the information, which was +neither vague nor yet definite. In fact, she said that Miss Guile +would be up soon, and soon is a word that has a double meaning when +applied to the movements of capricious womanhood. It may mean ten +minutes and it may mean an hour and a half. + +Mrs. Gaston's severely critical eyes were no longer severe, albeit +they were critical. She took him in from head to foot with the eye of +an appraiser, and the more she took him in the more she melted, until +at last in order to keep from completely dissolving, she said good- +bye to him and hurried off to find Miss Guile. + +Now it is necessary to relate that Miss Guile had been particularly +firm in her commands to Mrs. Gaston. She literally had stood the +excellent lady up in a corner and lectured her for an hour on the +wisdom of silence. In the first place, Mrs. Gaston was given to +understand that she was not to breathe it to a soul that R. Schmidt +was not R. Schmidt, and she was not to betray to him by word or sign +that he was suspected of being the Prince of Graustark. Moreover, the +exacting Miss Guile laid great stress upon another command: R. +Schmidt was never to know that she was _not_ Miss Guile, but some one +else altogether. + +"You're right, my dear," exclaimed Mrs. Gaston in an excited whisper +as she burst in upon her fair companion, who was having coffee and +toast in her parlour. The more or less resuscitated Marie was waiting +to do up her mistress's hair, and the young lady herself was +alluringly charming in spite of the fact that it was not already +"done up." "He is the--er--he is just what you think." + +"Good heavens, you haven't gone and done it, have you," cried the +girl, a slim hand halting with a piece of toast half way to her lips. + +"Gone and done it?" + +"You haven't been blabbing, have you?" + +"How can you say that to me? Am I not to be trusted? Am I so weak +and--" + +"Don't cry, you old dear! Forgive me. But now tell me--absolutely-- +just what you've been up to. Don't mind Marie. She is French. She can +always hold her tongue." + +"Well, I've been talking with him, that's all. I'm sure he is the +Prince. No ordinary male could be as sweet and agreeable and sunny +as--" + +"Stop!" cried Miss Guile, with a pretty moue, putting the tips of her +fingers to her ears after putting the piece of toast into her mouth. +"One would think you were a sentimental old maid instead of a cold- +blooded, experienced, man-hating married woman." + +"You forget that I am a widow, my dear. Besides, it is disgusting for +one to speak with one's mouth full of buttered toast. It--" + +"Oh, how I used to loathe you when you kept forever ding-donging at +me about the way I ate when I was almost starving. Were you never a +hungry little kid? Did you never lick jam and honey off your fingers +and--" + +"Many and many a time," confessed Mrs. Gaston, beaming once more and +laying a gentle, loving hand on the girl's shoulder. Miss Guile +dropped her head over until her cheek rested on the caressing hand, +and munched toast with blissful abandon. + +"Now tell me what you've been up to," she said, and Mrs. Gaston +repeated every word of the conversation she had had with R. Schmidt, +proving absolutely nothing but stoutly maintaining that her intuition +was completely to be depended upon. + +"And, oh," she whispered in conclusion, "wouldn't it be perfectly +wonderful if you two should fall in love with each other--" + +"Don't be silly!" + +"But you have said that if he should fall in love with you for +yourself and not because--" + +"I have also said that I will not marry any man, prince, duke, king, +count or anything else unless I am in love with him. Don't overlook +that, please." + +"But he is really very nice. I should think you _could_ fall in love +with him. Just think how it would please your father and mother. +Just think--" + +"I won't be bullied!" + +"Am I bullying you?" in amazement. + +"No; but father tries to bully me, and you know it." + +"You must admit that the--this Mr. Schmidt is handsome, charming, +bright--" + +"I admit nothing," said Miss Guile resolutely, and ordered Marie to +dress her hair as carefully as possible. "Take as long as you like, +Marie. I shall not go on deck for hours." + +"I--I told him you would be up soon," stammered the poor, man-hating +ex-governess. + +"You did?" said Miss Guile, with what was supposed to be a deadly +look in her eyes. + +"Well, he enquired," said the other. + +"Anything else?" domineered the beauty. + +"I forgot to mention one thing. He _did_ ask me if your name was +really Bedelia." + +"And what did you tell him?" cried the girl, in sudden agitation. + +"I managed to tell him that it was," said Mrs. Gaston stiffly. + +"Good!" cried Miss Guile, vastly relieved, and not at all troubled +over the blight that had been put upon a very worthy lady's +conscience. + +When she appeared on deck long afterward, she found every chair +occupied. A warm sun, a far from turbulent sea, and a refreshing +breeze had brought about a marvellous transformation. Every one was +happy, every one had come back from the grave to gloat over the grim +reaper's failure to do his worst, although in certain cases he had +been importuned to do it without hesitation. + +She made several brisk rounds of the deck; then, feeling that people +were following her with their eyes,--admiringly, to be sure, but what +of that?--she abandoned the pleasant exercise and sought the +seclusion of the sunless corner where her chair was stationed. The +ship's daily newspaper was just off the press and many of the +loungers were reading the brief telegraphic news from the capitals of +the world. + +During her stroll she passed several groups of men and women who were +lightly, even scornfully employed in discussing an article of news +which had to do with Mr. Blithers and the Prince of Graustark. Filled +with an acute curiosity, she procured a copy of the paper from a +steward, and was glancing at the head lines as she made her way into +her corner. Double-leaded type appeared over the rumoured engagment +of Miss Maud Applegate Blithers, the beautiful and accomplished +daughter of the great capitalist, and Robin, Prince of Graustark. A +queer little smile played about her lips as she folded the paper for +future perusal. Turning the earner of the deck-building she almost +collided with R. Schmidt, who stood leaning against the wall, +scanning the little newspaper with eyes that were blind to everything +else. + +"Oh!" she gasped. + +"I'm sorry," he exclaimed, crumpling the paper in his hand as he +backed away, flushing. "Stupid of me. Good morning." + +"Good morning, Mr. Schmidt. It wasn't your fault. I should have +looked where I was going. 'Stop, look and listen,' as they say at the +railway crossing." + +"'Danger' is one of the commonest signs, Miss Guile. It lurks +everywhere, especially around corners. I see you have a paper. It +appears that Miss Blithers and the Prince are to be married after +all." + +"Yes; it is quite apparent that the Blithers family intends to have a +title at any cost," she said, and her eyes flashed. + +"Would you like to take a few turns, Miss Guile?" he inquired, a +trace of nervousness in his manner. "I think I can take you safely +over the hurdles and around the bunkers." He indicated the +outstretched legs along the promenade deck and the immovable groups +of chatterers along the rail. + +Before deciding, she shot an investigating glance into the corner. +Mrs. Gaston was not only there but was engaged in conversation with +the grey-moustached gentleman in a near-by chair. It required but +half a glance to show that Mr. Totten was unmistakably interested in +something the voluble lady had just said to him. + +"No, thank you, Mr. Schmidt," said Miss Guile hastily, and then +hurried over to her chair, a distinct cloud on her smooth brow. +Robin, considering himself dismissed, whirled and went his way, a +dark flush spreading over his face. Never, in all his life, had he +been quite so out of patience with the world as on this bright, sunny +morning. + +Miss Guile's frown deepened when her abrupt appearance at Mrs. +Gaston's side caused that lady to look up with a guilty start and to +break off in the middle of a sentence that had begun with: +"International marriages, as a rule, are--Oh!" + +Mr. Totten arose and bowed with courtly grace to the new arrival on +the scene. He appeared to be immensely relieved. + +"A lovely morning, Miss Guile," he said as he stooped to arrange her +rug. "I hear that you were not at all disturbed by yesterday's blow." + +"I was just telling Mr. Totten that you are a wonderful sailor," said +Mrs. Gaston, a note of appeal in her voice. "He says his friend, Mr. +Schmidt, is also a good sailor. Isn't it perfectly wonderful?" + +"I can't see anything wonderful about it," said Miss Guile, fixing +the ex-governess with a look that seared. + +"We were speaking of this rumoured engagement of the Prince of +Graustark and--er--what's the name?" He glanced at his newspaper. +"Miss Blithers, of course. I enquired of Mrs.--er--Gaston if she +happens to know the young lady. She remembers seeing her frequently +as a very small child." + +"In Paris," said Mrs. Gaston. "One couldn't very well help seeing +her, you know. She was the only child of the great Mr. Blithers, +whose name was on every one's lips at the--" + +Miss Guile interrupted. "It would be like the great Mr. Blithers to +buy this toy prince for his daughter--as a family plaything or human +lap-dog, or something of the sort, wouldn't it?" + +Mr. Totten betrayed no emotion save amusement. Miss Guile was +watching through half-closed eyes. There was a noticeable stiffening +of the prim figure of Mrs. Gaston. + +"I've no doubt Mr. Blithers can afford to buy the most expensive of +toys for his only child. You Americans go in for the luxuries of +life. What could be more extravagant than the purchase of a royal +lap-dog? The only drawback I can suggest is that the Prince might +turn out to be a cur, and then where would Mr. Blithers be?" + +"It is more to the point to ask where Miss Blithers would be, Mr. +Totten," said Miss Guile, with a smile that caused the fierce old +warrior to afterwards declare to Dank that he never had seen a +lovelier girl in all his life. + +"Ah, but we spoke of the Prince as a lap-dog or a cur, Miss Guile, +not as a watch-dog," said he. + +"I see," said Miss Guile, after a moment. "He wouldn't sleep with one +eye open. I see." + +"The lap of luxury is an enviable resting-place. I know of no prince +who would despise it." + +"But a wife is sometimes a thing to be despised," said she. + +"Quite true," said Mr. Totten. "I've no doubt that the Prince of +Graustark will despise his wife, and for that reason will be quite +content to close both eyes and let her go on searching for her +heart's desire." + +"She would be his Princess. Could he afford to allow his love of +luxury to go as far as that?" + +"Quite as justifiably, I should say, as Mr. Blithers when he delivers +his only child into--into bondage." + +"You were about to use another term." + +"I was, but I thought in time, Miss Guile." + +R. Schmidt sauntered briskly past at this juncture, looking neither +to the right nor left. They watched him until he disappeared down the +deck. + +"I think Mr. Schmidt is a perfectly delightful young man," said Mrs. +Gaston, simply because she couldn't help it. + +"You really think he will marry Miss Blithers, Mr. Totten?" ventured +Miss Guile. + +"He? Oh, I see--the Prince?" Mr. Totten came near to being no +diplomat. "How should I know, Miss Guile?" + +"Of course! How _should_ you know?" she cried. + +Mr. Totten found something to interest him in the printed sheet and +proceeded to read it with considerable avidity. Miss Guile smiled to +herself and purposely avoided the shocked look in Mrs. Gaston's eyes. + +"Bouillon at last," cried the agitated duenna, and peremptorily +summoned one of the tray-bearing stewards. "I am famished." + +Evidently Mr. Totten did not care for his mid-morning refreshment, +for, with the most courtly of smiles, he arose and left them to their +bouillon. + +"Here comes Mr. Schmidt," whispered Mrs. Gaston excitedly, a few +moments later, and at once made a movement indicative of hasty +departure. + +"Sit still," said Miss Guile peremptorily. + +R. Schmidt again passed them by without so much as a glance in their +direction. There was a very sweet smile on Miss Guile's lips as she +closed her eyes and lay back in her chair. Once, twice, thrice, even +as many as six times R. Schmidt strode rapidly by their corner, his +head high and his face aglow. + +At last a queer little pucker appeared on the serene brow of the far +from drowsy young lady whose eyes peeped through half closed lids. +Suddenly she threw off her rug and with a brief remark to her +companion arose and went to her cabin. Mrs. Gaston followed, not from +choice but because the brief remark was in the form of a command. + +Soon afterward, R. Schmidt who had been joined by Dank, threw himself +into his chair with a great sigh of fatigue and said: + +"'Gad, I've walked a hundred miles since breakfast. Have you a +match?" + +"Hobbs has made a very curious discovery," said the young lieutenant, +producing his match-box. There was a perturbed look in his eyes. + +"If Hobbs isn't careful he'll discover a new continent one of these +days. He is always discovering something," said Robin, puffing away +at his pipe. + +"But this is really interesting. It seems that he was in the hold +when Miss Guile's maid came down to get into one of her mistress's +trunks. Now, the first letter in Guile is G, isn't it? Well, Hobbs +says there are at least half-a-dozen trunks there belonging to the +young lady and that all of them are marked with a large red B. What +do you make of it?" + +The Prince had stopped puffing at his pipe. + +"Hobbs may be mistaken in the maid. Dank. It is likely that they are +not Miss Guile's trunks, at all." + +"He appears to be absolutely sure of his ground. He heard the maid +mention Miss Guile's name when she directed the men to get one of the +trunks out of the pile. That's what attracted his attention. He +confided to me that you are interested in the young lady, and +therefore it was quite natural for him to be similarly affected. +'Like master, like man,' d'ye see?" + +"Really, you know, Dank, I ought to dismiss Hobbs," said Robin +irritably. "He is getting to be a dreadful nuisance. Always nosing +around, trying to--" + +"But after all, sir, you'll have to admit that he has made a puzzling +discovery. Why should her luggage be marked with a B?" + +"I should say because her name begins with a B," said Robin shortly. + +"In that case, it isn't Guile." + +"Obviously." The young man was thinking very hard. + +"And if it isn't Guile, there must be an excellent reason for her +sailing under a false name. She doesn't look like an adventuress." + +R. Schmidt rewarded this remark with a cold stare. "Would you mind +telling me what she does look like, Dank?" he enquired severely. + +The lieutenant flushed. "I have not had the same opportunity for +observation that you've enjoyed, sir, but I should say, off-hand, +that she looks like a very dangerous young person." + +"Do you mean to imply that she is--er--not altogether what one would +call right?" + +Dank grinned. "Don't you regard her as rather perilously beautiful?" + +"Oh, I see. That's what you mean. I suppose you got _that_ from Hobbs, +too." + +"Not at all. I have an excellent pair of eyes." + +"What are you trying to get at, Dank?" demanded Robin abruptly. + +"I'm trying to get to the bottom of Miss Guile's guile, if it please +your royal highness," said the lieutenant coolly. "It is hard to +connect the B and the G, you know." + +"But why should we deny her a privilege that we are enjoying, all +three of us? Are we not in the same boat?" + +"Literally and figuratively. That explains nothing, however." + +"Have you a theory?" + +"There are many that we could advance, but, of course, only one of +them could be the right one, even if we were acute enough to include +it in our list of guesses. She may have an imperative reason for not +disclosing her identity. For instance, she may be running away to get +married." + +"That's possible," agreed Robin. + +"But not probable. She may be a popular music-hall favourite, or one +of those peculiarly clever creatures known as the American newspaper +woman, against whom we have been warned. Don't you regard it as +rather significant that of all the people on this ship she should be +one to attach herself to the unrecognised Prince of Graustark? Put +two and two together, sir, and--" + +"I find it singularly difficult to put one and one together, Dank," +said the Prince ruefully. "No; you are wrong in both of your guesses. +I've encountered music-hall favourites and I can assure you she isn't +one of them. And as for your statement that she attached herself to +me, you were never so mistaken in your life. I give you my word, she +doesn't care a hang whether I'm on the ship or clinging to a life +preserver out there in the middle of the Atlantic. I have reason to +know, Dank." + +"So be it," said Dank, but with doubt in his eyes. "You ought to +know. I've never spoken to her, so--" + +"She thinks you are a dreadfully attractive chap, Dank," said Robin +mischievously. "She said so only yesterday." + +Dank gave his prince a disgusted look, and smoked on in silence. His +dignity was ruffled. + +"Her Christian name is Bedelia," ventured Robin, after a pause. + +"That doesn't get us anywhere," said Dank sourly. + +"And her mother is Irish." + +"Which accounts for those wonderful Irish blue eyes that--" + +"So you've noticed them, eh?" + +"Naturally." + +"I consider them a very dark grey." + +"I think we'd better get back to the luggage," said Dank hastily." +Hobbs thinks that she--" + +"Oh, Lord, Dank, don't tell me what Hobbs thinks," growled Robin. +"Let her make use of all the letters in the alphabet if it pleases +her. What is it to us? Moreover, she may be utilising a lot of +borrowed trunks, who knows? Or B may have been her initial before she +was divorced and--" + +"Divorced?" + +"--her maiden name restored," concluded Robin airily. "Simple +deduction, Dank. Don't bother your head about her any longer. What we +know isn't going to hurt us, and what we don't know isn't--" + +"Has it occurred to you that Russia may have set spies upon you--" + +"Nonsense!" + +"It isn't as preposterous as you--" + +"Come, old fellow, let's forget Miss Guile," cried Robin, slapping +the lieutenant on the shoulder. "Let's think of the real peril,--Maud +Applegate Blithers." He held up the ship's paper for Dank to see and +then sat back to enjoy his companion's rage. + +An hour later Dank and Count Quinnox might have been seen seated side +by side on the edge of a skylight at the tip-top of the ship's +structure, engaged in the closest conversation. There was a troubled +look in the old man's eyes and the light of adventure in those of his +junior. The sum and substance of their discussion may be given in a +brief sentence: Something would have to be done to prevent Robin from +falling in love with the fascinating Miss Guile. + +"He is young enough and stubborn enough to make a fool of himself +over her," the Count had said. "I wouldn't blame him, 'pon my soul I +wouldn't. She is very attractive--ahem! You must be his safeguard, +Dank. Go in and do as I suggest. You are a good looking chap and +you've nothing to lose. So far as she is concerned, you are quite as +well worth while as the fellow known as R. Schmidt. There's no reason +why you shouldn't make the remainder of the passage pleasant for her, +and at the same time enjoy yourself at nobody's expense." + +"They know by instinct, confound 'em," lamented Dank; "they know the +real article, and you can't fool 'em. She knows that he is the high +muck-a-muck in this party and she won't even look at me, you take my +word for it." + +"At any rate, you can try, can't you?" said the Count impatiently. + +"Is it a command, sir?" + +"It is." + +"Very well, sir. I shall do my best." + +"We can't afford to have him losing his head over a pretty--er--a +nobody, perhaps an adventuress,--at this stage of the game. I much +prefer the impossible Miss Blithers, Dank, to this captivating +unknown. At least we know who and what she is, and what she +represents. But we owe it to our country and to Dawsbergen to see +that he doesn't do anything--er--foolish. We have five days left of +this voyage, Dank. They may be fatal days for him, if you do not come +to the rescue." + +"They may be fatal days for me," said Dank, looking out over the +ocean. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE LIEUTENANT REPORTS + + +Five days later as the _Jupiter_ was discharging passengers at +Plymouth, Count Quinnox and Lieutenant Dank stood well forward on the +promenade deck watching the operations. The younger man was moody and +distrait, an unusual condition for him but one that had been +noticeably recurrent during the past two or three days. He pulled at +his smart little moustache and looked out upon the world through +singularly lack-lustre eyes. Something had gone wrong with him, and +it was something that he felt in duty bound to lay before his +superior, the grim old Minister of War and hereditary chief of the +Castle Guard. Occasionally his sombre gaze shifted to a spot farther +down the deck, where a young man and woman leaned upon the rail and +surveyed the scene of activity below. + +"What is on your mind, Dank?" asked the Count abruptly. "Out with +it." + +Dank started. "It's true, then? I _do_ look as much of a fool as I +feel, eh?" There was bitterness in his usually cheery voice. + +"Feel like a fool, eh?" growled the old soldier. + +"Pretty mess I've made of the business," lamented Dank surlily. +"Putting myself up as a contender against a fellow like Robin, and +dreaming that I could win out, even for a minute! Good Lord, what an +ass I am! Why we've only made it worse, Count. We've touched him with +the spur of rivalry, and what could be more calamitous than that? +From being a rather matter-of-fact, indifferent observer, he becomes +a bewildering cavalier bent on conquest at any cost. I am swept aside +as if I were a parcel of rags. For two days I stood between him and +the incomparable Miss Guile. Then he suddenly arouses himself. My +cake is dough. I am nobody. My feet get cold, as they say in +America,--although I don't know why they say it. What has the +temperature of one's feet to do with it? See! There they are. They +are constantly together, walking, sitting, standing, eating, +drinking, reading--_Eh bien!_ You have seen with your own eyes. +The beautiful Miss Guile has bewitched our Prince, and my labour is +not only lost but I myself am lost. _Mon dieu!_" + +The Count stared at him in perplexity for a moment. Then a look of +surprise came into his eyes,--surprise not unmingled with scorn. + +"You don't mean to say, Dank, that you've fallen in love with her? +Oh, you absurd fledgelings. Will you--" + +"Forgive my insolence, Count, but it is forty years since you were a +fledgeling. You don't see things as you saw them forty years ago. +Permit me to remind you that you are a grandfather." + +"Your point is well taken, my lad," said the Count, with a twinkle in +his eye. "You can't help being young any more than I can help being +old. Youth is perennial, old age a winding-sheet. I am to take it, +then, that you've lost your heart to the fair--" + +"Why not?" broke in Dank fiercely. "Why should it appear incredible +to you? Is she not the most entrancing creature in all the world? Is +she not the most appealing, the most adorable, the most feminine of +all her sex? Is it possible that one can be so old that it is +impossible for him to feel the charm, the loveliness, the--" + +"For heaven's sake, Dank," said the old man in alarm, "don't +gesticulate so wildly. People will think we are quarrelling. Calm +yourself, my boy." + +"You set a task for me and I obey. You urge me to do my duty by +Graustark. You tell me I am a handsome dog and irresistible. She will +be overwhelmed by my manly beauty, my valour, my soldierly bearing,-- +so say you! And what is the outcome? I--I, the vain-glorious,--I am +wrapped around her little finger so tightly that all the king's +horses and all the king's men--" + +"Halt!" commanded his general softly. "You are turning tail like the +veriest coward. Right about, face! Would you surrender to a slip of a +girl whose only weapons are a pair of innocent blue eyes and a +roguish smile? Be a man! Stand by your guns. Outwardly you are the +equal of R. Schmidt, whose sole--" + +"That sounds very well, sir, but how can I take up arms against my +Prince? He stands by _his_ guns--as you may see, sir,--and, dammit +all, I'm no traitor. I've just got to stand by 'em with him. That rot +about all being fair in love and war is the silliest--Oh, well, +there's no use whining about it. I'm mad about her, and so is he. You +can't--" + +The Count stopped him with a sharp gesture. A look of real concern +appeared in his eyes. + +"Do you believe that he is actually in love with this girl?" + +"Heels over head," barked the unhappy lieutenant. "I've never seen a +worse case." + +"This is serious--more serious than I thought." + +"It's horrible," declared Dank, but not thinking of the situation +from the Count's point of view. + +"We do not know who or what she is. She may be--" + +"I beg your pardon, sir, but we do know what she is," said the other +firmly. "You will not pretend to say that she is not a gentlewoman. +She is cultured, refined--" + +"I grant all of that," said the Count. "I am not blind, Dank, But it +seems fairly certain that her name is not Guile. We--" + +"Nor is his name Schmidt. That's no argument, sir." + +"Still we cannot take the chance, my lad. We must put an end to this +fond adventure. Robin is our most precious possession. We must not-- +Why do you shake your head?" + +"We are powerless, sir. If he makes up his mind to marry Miss Guile, +he'll do it in spite of anything we can do. That is, provided she is +of the same mind." + +"God defend us, I fear you are right," groaned the old Count. "He has +declared himself a hundred times, and he is a wilful lad. I recall +the uselessness of the opposition that was set up against his +lamented mother when she decided to marry Grenfell Lorry. 'Gad, sir, +it was like butting into a stone wall. She said she _would_ and she +did. I fear me that Robin has much of his mother in him." + +"Behold in me the first sacrifice," declaimed Dank, lifting his eyes +heavenward. + +"Oh, you will recover," was the unsympathetic rejoinder. "It is for +him that I fear, not for you." + +"Recover, sir?" in despair. "I fear you misjudge my humble heart--" + +"Bosh! Your heart has been through a dozen accidents of this +character, Dank, and it is good for a hundred more. I'll rejoice when +this voyage is ended and we have him safe on his way to Edelweiss." + +"That will not make the slightest difference, sir. If he sets his +head to marry her he'll do it if we take him to the North Pole. All +Graustark can't stop him,--nor old man Blithers either. Besides, he +says he isn't going to Edelweiss immediately." + +"That is news to me." + +"I thought it would be. He came to the decision not more than two +hours ago. He is determined to spend a couple of weeks at +Interlaken." + +"Interlaken?" + +"Yes. Miss Guile expects to stop there for a fortnight after leaving +Paris." + +"I must remonstrate with Robin--at once," declared the old man. "He +is needed in Graustark. He must be made to realise the importance of-- +" + +"And what are you going to do if he declines to realise anything but +the importance of a fortnight in the shadow of the Jungfrau?" + +"God help me, I don't know, Dank." The Count's brow was moist, and he +looked anything but an unconquerable soldier. + +"I told him we were expected to reach home by the end of next week, +and he said that a quiet fortnight in the Alps would make new men of +all of us." + +"Do you mean to say he expects me to dawdle--" + +"More than that, sir. He also expects me to dawdle too. I shall +probably shoot myself before the two weeks are over." + +"I have it! I shall take Mrs. Gaston into my confidence. It is the +only hope, I fear. I shall tell her that he is--" + +"No hope there," said Dank mournfully. + +"Haven't you noticed how keen she is to have them together all the +time? She's as wily as a fox. Never misses a chance. Hasn't it +occurred to you to wonder why she drags you off on the slightest +pretext when you happen to be in the way? She's done it a hundred +times. Always leaving them alone together. My God, how I despise that +woman! Not once but twenty times a day she finds an excuse to +interfere when I am trying to get in a few words with Miss Guile. +She's forever wanting me to show her the engine-room or the Captain's +bridge or the wireless office or--why, by Jove, sir, it was only +yesterday that she asked me to come and look at the waves. Said she'd +found a splendid place to see them from, just as if the whole damned +Atlantic wasn't full of 'em. And isn't she always looking for +porpoises on the opposite side of the ship? And how many whales and +ice-bergs do you think she's been trying to find in the last five +days? No, sir! There's no hope there!" + +"'Pon my soul!" was all that the poor Minister of War, an adept in +strategy, was able to exclaim. + +The _Jupiter_ disgorged most of her passengers at Cherbourg and +the descent upon Paris had scarcely begun when the good ship steamed +away for Antwerp, Bremen and Hamburg. She was one of the older +vessels in the vast fleet of ships controlled by the American All- +Seas and All-Ports Company, and she called wherever there was a port +open to trans-Atlantic navigation. She was a single factor in the +great monopoly described as the "Billion Dollar Boast." The United +States had been slow to recognise the profits of seas that were free, +but when she did wake up she proceeded to act as if she owned them +and all that therein lay. Her people spoke of the Gulf Stream as +"ours"; of the Banks of Newfoundland as "ours"--or in some instances +as "ourn"; of Liverpool, Hamburg, London, Bremen and other such +places as "our European terminals"; and of the various oceans, seas +and navigable waters as "a part of the system." Where once the Stars +and Stripes were as rare as hummingbirds in Baffin's Bay, the flags +were now so thick that they resembled Fourth of July decorations on +Fifth avenue, and it was almost impossible to cross the Atlantic +without dodging a hundred vessels on which Dixie was being played, +coming and going. A man from New Hampshire declared, after one of his +trips over and back, that he cheered the good old tune so incessantly +that his voice failed on the third day out, both ways, and he had to +voice his patriotism with a tin horn. + +Ships of the All-Seas and All-Ports Company fairly stuffed the +harbours of the world. America was awake at last--wide awake!--and +the necessity for prodding her was now limited to the task of putting +her to sleep long enough to allow other nations a chance to scrape +together enough able bodied seamen to man the ships. + +William W. Blithers was one of the directors of the All-Seas and All- +Ports Company. He was the first American to awake. + +For some unaccountable reason Miss Guile and her companion preferred +to travel alone to Paris. They had a private compartment, over which +a respectful but adamantine conductor exercised an authority that +irritated R. Schmidt beyond expression. The rest of the train was +crowded to its capacity, and here was desirable space going to waste +in the section occupied by the selfish Miss Guile. He couldn't +understand it in her. Was it, after all, to be put down as a simple +steamer encounter? Was she deliberately snubbing him, now that they +were on land? Was he, a prince of the royal blood, to be tossed aside +by this purse-proud American as if he were the simplest of +simpletons? And what did she mean by stationing an officious hireling +before her door to order him away when he undertook to pay her a +friendly visit?--to offer his own and Hobbs' services in case they +were needed in Paris. Why should she lock her confounded door +anyway,--and draw the curtains? There were other whys too numerous to +mention, and there wasn't an answer to a single one of them. The +whole proceeding was incomprehensible. + +To begin with, she certainly made no effort to conceal the fact that +she was trying to avoid him from the instant the tender drew +alongside to take off the passengers. As a matter of fact, she seemed +to be making a point of it. And yet, the evening before, she had +appeared rather enchanted with the prospect of seeing him at +Interlaken. + +It was not until the boat-train was nearing the environs of Paris +that Hobbs threw some light over the situation, with the result that +it instantly became darker than ever before. It appears that Miss +Guile was met at the landing by a very good-looking young man who not +only escorted her to the train but actually entered it with her, and +was even now enjoying the luxury of a private compartment as well as +the contents of a large luncheon hamper, to say nothing of an +uninterrupted view of something far more inspiring than the scenery. + +"Frenchman?" inquired Dank listlessly. + +"American, I should say, sir," said Hobbs, balancing himself in the +corridor outside the door and sticking his head inside with more +confidence than a traveller usually feels when travelling from +Cherbourg to Paris. "But I wouldn't swear to it, sir. I didn't 'ear a +word he said, being quite some distance away at the time. +Happearances are deceptive, as I've said a great many times. A man +may look like an American and still be almost anything else, see wot +I mean? On the other hand, a man may look like almost nothing and +still be American to his toes. I remember once saying to--" + +"That's all right, Hobbs," broke in R. Schmidt sternly. "We also +remember what you said, so don't repeat it. How soon do we get in?" + +Hobbs cheerfully looked at his watch. "I couldn't say positive, sir, +but I should think in about fourteen and a 'alf minutes, or maybe a +shade under--between fourteen and fourteen and a 'alf, sir. As I was +saying, he was a most intelligent looking chap, sir, and very +'andsome of face and figger. Between twenty-four and twenty-five, I +dare say. Light haired, smooth-faced, quite tall and dressed in dark +blue with a cravat, sir, that looked like cerise but may have been--" + +"For heaven's sake, Hobbs, let up!" cried Robin, throwing up his +hands. + +"Yes, sir; certainly, sir. Did I mention that he wears a straw 'at +with a crimson band on it? Well, if I didn't, he does. Hincidentally, +they seemed greatly pleased to see each other. He kissed her hand, +and looked as though he might have gone even farther than that if it +'adn't been for the crowd--" + +"That will do!" said Robin sharply, a sudden flush mounting to his +cheek. + +"Very good, sir. Shall I get the bags down for the porters, sir? I +beg pardon, sir,--" to one of the three surly gentlemen who sat +facing the travellers from Graustark,--"my fault entirely. I don't +believe it is damaged, sir. Allow me to--" + +"Thank you," growled the stranger. "I can put it on myself," and he +jerked his hat out of Hobbs' hand and set it at a rather forbidding +angle above a lowering brow. "Look what you're doing after this, will +you?" + +"Certainly, sir," said Hobbs agreeably. "It's almost impossible to +see without eyes in the back of one's head, don't you know. I 'ope--" + +"All right, _all_ right!" snapped the man, glaring balefully. "And let +me tell you something else, my man. Don't go about knocking Americans +without first taking a look. Just bear that in mind, will you?" + +"The surest way is to listen," began Hobbs loftily, but, catching a +look from his royal master, desisted. He proceeded to get down the +hand luggage. + +At the Gare St. Lazare, Robin had a brief glimpse of Miss Guile as +she hurried with the crowd down to the cab enclosure, where her +escort, the alert young stranger, put her into a waiting limousine, +bundled Mrs. Gaston and Marie in after her, and then dashed away, +obviously to see their luggage through the _douane_. + +She espied the tall figure of her fellow voyager near the steps and +leaned forward to wave a perfunctory farewell to him. The car was +creeping out toward the packed thoroughfare. It is possible that she +expected him to dash among the chortling machines, at risk of life or +limb, for a word or two at parting. If so, she was disappointed. He +remained perfectly still, with uplifted hat, a faint smile on his +lips and not the slightest sign of annoyance in his face. She smiled +securely to herself as she leaned back in the seat, and was +satisfied! Curiosity set its demand upon her an instant later, +however, and she peered slyly through the little window in the back. +He lifted his hat once more and she flushed to her throat as she +quickly drew back into the corner. How in the world could he have +seen her through that abominable slit in the limousine? And why was +he now grinning so broadly? + +Count Quinnox found him standing there a few minutes later, twirling +his stick and smiling with his eyes. Accompanying the old soldier was +a slight, sharp-featured man with keen black eyes and a thin, pointed +moustache of grey. + +This man was Gourou, Chief of Police and Commander of the Tower in +Edelweiss, successor to the celebrated Baron Dangloss. After he had +greeted his prince, the quiet little man announced that he had +reserved for him an apartment at the Bristol. + +"I am instructed by the Prime Minister, your highness, to urge your +immediate return to Edelweiss," he went on, lowering his voice. "The +people are disturbed by the reports that have reached us during the +past week or two, and Baron Romano is convinced that nothing will +serve to subdue the feeling of uneasiness that prevails except your +own declaration--in person--that these reports arc untrue." + +"I shall telegraph at once to Baron Romano that it is all poppy- +cock," said Robin easily. "I refer, of course, to the reported +engagement. I am not going to marry Miss Blithers and that's all +there is to be said. You may see to it, baron, that a statement is +issued to all of the Paris newspapers to-day, and to the +correspondents for all the great papers in Europe and America. I have +prepared this statement, under my own signature, and it is to be the +last word in the matter. It is in my pocket at this instant. You +shall have it when we reach the hotel--And that reminds me of another +thing. I'm sorry that I shall have to ask you to countermand the +reservation for rooms at the hotel you mention. I have already +reserved rooms at the Ritz,--by wireless. We shall stop there. Where +is Dank?" + +"The Ritz is hardly the place for--" + +But Robin clapped him on the back and favoured him with the good- +natured, boyish smile that mastered even the fiercest of his +counsellors, and the Minister of Police, being an astute man, heaved +a deep sigh of resignation. + +"Dank is looking after the trunks, highness, and Hobbs is coming +along with the hand luggage," he said. "The Ritz, you say? Then I +shall have to instruct Lieutenant Dank to send the luggage there +instead of to the Bristol. Pardon, your highness." He was off like a +flash. + +Count Quinnox was gnawing his moustache. "See here, Robin," he said, +laying his hand on the young man's shoulder, "you are in Paris now +and not on board a ship at sea. Miss Guile is a beautiful, charming, +highly estimable young woman, and, I might as well say it straight +out to your face, you ought not to subject her to the notoriety that +is bound to follow if the newspapers learn that she is playing around +Paris, no matter how innocently, with a prince whom--" + +"Just a moment, Count," interrupted Robin, a cold light in his now +unsmiling eyes. "You are getting a little ahead of the game. Miss +Guile is not going to the Ritz, nor do I expect her to play around +Paris with me. As a matter of fact, she refused to tell me where she +is to stop while here, and I am uncomfortably certain that I shall +not see her unless by chance. On the other hand, I may as well be +perfectly frank with you and say it straight out to _your_ face +that I am going to try to find her if possible, but I am not mean +enough to employ the methods common to such enterprises. I could have +followed her car in another when she left here a few minutes ago; I +could manage in a dozen ways to run her to earth, as the detectives +do in the books, but I'd be ashamed to look her in the face if I did +any of these things. I shall take a gentleman's chance, my dear +Count, and trust to luck and the generosity of fate. You may be sure +that I shall not annoy Miss Guile, and you may be equally sure that +she--" + +"I beg your pardon, Robin, but I did not employ the word annoy," +protested the Count. + +"--that she takes me for a gentleman if not for a prince," went on +Robin, deliberately completing the sentence before he smiled his +forgiveness upon the old man. "I selected the Ritz because all rich +Americans go there, I'm told. I'm taking a chance." + +Quinnox had an obstinate strain in his make-up. He continued: "There +is another side to the case, my boy. As a gentleman, you cannot allow +this lovely girl to--er--well, to fall in love with you. That would +be cruel, wantonly cruel. And it is just the thing that is bound to +happen if you go on with--" + +"My dear Count, you forget that I am only R. Schmidt to her and but +one of perhaps a hundred young men who have placed her in the same +perilous position. Moreover, it's the other way 'round, sir. It is I +who take the risk, not Miss Guile. I regret to say, sir, that if +there is to be any falling in love, I am the one who is most likely +to fall, and to fall hard. You assume that Miss Guile is heart-whole +and fancy free. 'Gad, I wish that I could be sure of it!" He spoke +with such fervour that the Count was indeed dismayed. + +"Robin, my lad, I beg of you to consider the consequences that--" + +"There's no use discussing it, old friend. Trust to luck. There is a +bully good chance that she will send me about my business when the +time comes and then the salvation of Graustark will be assured." He +said it lightly but there was a dark look in his eyes that belied the +jaunty words. + +"Am I to understand that you intend to--to ask her to marry you?" +demanded the Count, profoundly troubled. "Remember, boy, that you are +the Prince of Graustark, that you--" + +"But I'm not going to ask her to marry the Prince of Graustark. I'm +going to ask her to marry R. Schmidt," said Robin composedly. + +"God defend us, Robin, I--I--" + +"God has all he can do to defend us from William W. Blithers, Count. +Don't ask too much of him. What kind of a nation are we if we can't +get along without asking God to defend us every time we see trouble +ahead? And do you suppose he is going to defend us against a slip of +a girl--" + +"Enough! Enough!" cried the Count, compressing his lips and glaring +straight ahead. + +"That's the way to talk," cried Robin enthusiastically. "By the way, +I hope Dank is clever enough to find out who that young fellow is +while they are clearing the luggage in there. I had a good look at +him just now. He is all that Hobbs describes and a little more. He is +a hustler." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE RED LETTER B + + +In the Baron's room at the Ritz late that night there was held a +secret conference. Two shadowy figures stole down the corridor at +midnight and were admitted to the room, while Prince Robin slept +soundly in his remote four-poster and dreamed of something that +brought a gentle smile to his lips. + +The three conspirators were of the same mind: it was clear that +something must be done. But what? That was the question. Gourou +declared that the people were very much disturbed over the trick the +great capitalist had played upon the cabinet; there were sullen +threats of a revolt if the government insisted on the deposit of +bonds as required by the agreement. More than that, there were open +declarations that the daughter of Mr. Blithers would never be +permitted to occupy the throne of Graustark. Deeply as his subjects +loved the young Prince, they would force him to abdicate rather than +submit to the desecration of a throne that had never been +dishonoured. They would accept William W. Blithers' money, but they +would have none of William W. Blithers' daughter. That was more than +could be expected of any self-respecting people! According to the +Minister of Police, the name of Blithers was already a common synonym +for affliction--and frequently employed in supposing a malediction. +It signified all that was mean, treacherous, scurrilous. He was +spoken of through clenched teeth as "the blood sucker." Children were +ominously reproved by the threatening use of the word Blithers. +"Blithers will get you if you don't wash your face," and all that +sort of thing. + +There was talk in some circles of demanding the resignation of the +cabinet, but even the pessimistic Gourou admitted that it was idle +talk and would come to nothing if the menacing shadow of Maud +Applegate Blithers could be banished from the vicinity of the throne. +Graustarkians would abide by the compact made by their leading men +and would be content to regard Mr. Blithers as a bona fide creditor. +They would pay him in full when the loan matured, even though they +were compelled to sacrifice their houses in order to accomplish that +end. But, like all the rest of the world, they saw through the rich +American's scheme. + +The world knew, and Graustark knew, just what Mr. Blithers was after, +and the worst of it all was that Mr. Blithers also knew, which was +more to the point. But, said Baron Gourou, Graustark knew something +that neither the world nor Mr. Blithers knew, and that was its own +mind. Never, said he, would Maud Applegate be recognised as the +Princess of Graustark, not if she lived for a thousand years and +married Robin as many times as she had hairs on her head. At least, +he amended, that was the way every one felt about it at present. + +The afternoon papers had published the brief statement prepared by +Robin in the seclusion of his stateroom on board the _Jupiter_ +immediately after a most enjoyable hour with Miss Guile. It was a +curt and extremely positive denial of the rumoured engagement, with +the additional information that he never had seen Miss Blithers and +was more or less certain that she never had set eyes on him. + +A rather staggering co-incidence appeared with the published report +that Miss Blithers herself was supposed to be somewhere in Europe, +word having been received that day from sources in London that she +had sailed from New York under an assumed name. The imaginative +French journals put two and two together and dwelt upon the +possibility that the two young people who had never seen each other +might have crossed the Atlantic on the same steamer, seeing each +other frequently and yet remaining entirely in the dark, so to speak. +Inspired writers began to weave a romance out of the probabilities. + +On one point Robin was adamantine. He refused positively to have his +identity disclosed at this time, and Gourou had to say to the +newspapers that the Prince was even then on his way to Vienna, +hurrying homeward as fast as steel cars could carry him. He admitted +that the young man had arrived on the _Jupiter_ that morning, +having remained in the closest seclusion all the way across the +Atlantic. + +This equivocation necessitated the most cautious rearrangement of +plans on the part of the Baron. He was required to act as though he +had no acquaintance with either of the three travellers stopping at +the Ritz, although for obvious reasons he took up a temporary abode +there himself. Moreover, he had to telegraph the Prime Minister in +Edelweiss that the Prince was not to be budged, and would in all +likelihood postpone his return to the capitol. All of which stamped +the honest Baron as a most prodigious liar, if one stops to think of +what he said to the reporters. + +The newspapers also printed a definite bit of news in the shape of a +despatch from New York to the effect that Mr. and Mrs. William W. +Blithers were sailing for Europe on the ensuing day, bound for +Graustark! + +However, the chief and present concern of the three loyal gentlemen +in midnight conclave was not centred in the trouble that Mr. Blithers +had started, but in the more desperate situation created by Miss +Guile. She was the peril that now confronted them, and she was indeed +a peril. Quinnox and Dank explained the situation to the Minister of +Police, and the Minister of Police admitted that the deuce was to +pay. + +"There is but one way out of it," said he, speaking officially, "and +that is the simplest one I know of." + +"Assassination, I suppose," said Dank scornfully. + +"It rests with me, gentlemen," said the Baron, ignoring the +lieutenant's remark, "to find Miss Guile and take her into my +confidence in respect--" + +"No use," said Dank, and, to his surprise, the Count repeated the +words after him. + +"Miss Guile is a lady. Baron," said the latter gloomily. "You cannot +go to her with a command to clear out, keep her hands off, or any +such thing. She would be justified in having you kicked out of the +house. We must not annoy Miss Guile. That is quite out of the +question." + +"By jove!" exclaimed Dank, so loudly that his companions actually +jumped in their seats. They looked at him in amazement,--the Count +with something akin to apprehension in his eyes. Had the fellow lost +his mind over the girl? Before they could ask what he meant by +shouting at the top of his voice, he repeated the ejaculation, but +less explosively. His eyes were bulging and his mouth remained agape. + +"What ails you, Dank?" demanded the Baron, removing his eyes from the +young man's face long enough to glance fearfully at the transom. + +"I've--I've got it!" cried the soldier, and then sank back in his +chair, quite out of breath. The Baron got up and took a peep into the +hallway, and then carefully locked the door. "What are you locking +the door for?" demanded Dank, sitting up suddenly. "It's only a +theory that I've got--but it is wonderful. Absolutely staggering." + +"Oh!" said Gourou, but he did not unlock the door. "A theory, eh?" He +came back and stood facing the young man. + +"Count," began Dank excitedly, "you remember the big red letter B on +all of her trunks, don't you? Hobbs is positive he--" + +Count Quinnox sprang to his feet and banged the table with his fist. + +"By jove!" he shouted, suddenly comprehending. + +"The letter B?" queried Gourou, perplexed. + +"The newspapers say that she sailed from New York under an assumed +name," went on Dank, thrilled by his own amazing cleverness. "There +you are! Plain as day. The letter B explains everything. Now we know +who Miss Guile really is. She's--" + +"Maud" exclaimed Quinnox, sinking back into his chair. + +"Miss Blithers!" cried Gourou, divining at last. "By jove!" And thus +was the jovian circle completed. + +It was two o'clock before the three gentlemen separated and retired +to rest, each fully convinced that the situation was even more +complicated than before, for in view of this new and most convincing +revelation there now could be no adequate defence against the +alluring Miss Guile. + +Robin was informed bright and early the next morning. In fact, he was +still in his pajamas when the news was carried to him by the +exhausted Dank, who had spent five hours in bed but none in slumber. +Never in all his ardent career had the smart lieutenant been so +bitterly afflicted with love-sickness as now. + +"I don't believe a word of it," said the Prince. promptly. "You've +been dreaming, old chap." + +"That letter B isn't a dream, is it?" + +"No, it isn't," said Robin, and instantly sat up in bed, his face +very serious. "If she should turn out to be Miss Blithers, I've +cooked my goose to a crisp. Good Lord, when I think of some of the +things I said to her about the Blithers family! But wait! If she is +Miss Blithers do you suppose she'd sit calmly by and hear the family +ridiculed? No, sir! She would have taken my head off like a flash. +She--" + +"I've no doubt she regarded the situation as extremely humorous," +said Dank, "and laughed herself almost sick over the way she was +fooling you." + +"That might sound reasonable enough, Dank, if she had known who I +was. But where was the fun in fooling an utter outsider like R. +Schmidt? It doesn't hold together." + +"Americans have an amazing notion of humour, I am reliably informed. +They appear to be able to see a joke under the most distressing +circumstances. I'll stake my head that she is Miss Blithers." + +"I can't imagine anything more terrible," groaned Robin, lying down +flat again and staring at the ceiling. + +"I shouldn't call her terrible," protested Dank, rather stiffly. + +"I refer to the situation, Dank,--the mess, in other words. It +_is_ a mess, isn't it?" + +"I suppose you'll see nothing more of her, your highness," remarked +Dank, a sly hope struggling in his breast. + +"You'd better put it the other way. She'll see nothing more of me," +lugubriously. + +"I mean to say, sir, you can't go on with it, can you?" + +"Go on with what?" + +"The--er--you know," floundered Dank. + +"If there is really anything to go on with, Dank, I'll go on with it, +believe me." + +The lieutenant stared. "But if she _should_ be Miss Blithers, what +then?" + +"It might simplify matters tremendously," said Robin, but not at all +confidently. "I think I'll get up, Dank, if you don't mind. Call +Hobbs, will you? And, I say, won't you have breakfast up here with +me?" + +"I had quite overlooked breakfast, 'pon my soul, I had," said Dank, a +look of pain in his face. "No wonder I have a headache, going without +my coffee so long." + +Later on, while they were breakfasting in Robin's sitting room, Hobbs +brought in the morning newspapers. He laid one of them before the +Prince, and jabbed his forefinger upon a glaring headline. + +"I beg pardon, sir; I didn't mean to get it into the butter. Very +awkward, I'm sure. Hi, _garcon!_ Fresh butter 'ere, and lively about +it, too. _Buerre!_ That's the word--buttah." + +Robin and Dank were staring at the headline as if fascinated. Having +successfully managed the butter, Hobbs at once restored his attention +to the headline, reading it aloud, albeit both of the young men were +capable of reading French at sight. He translated with great +profundity. + +"'Miss Blithers Denies Report. Signed Statement Mysteriously +Received. American Heiress not to wed Prince of Graustark.' Shall I +read the harticle, sir?" + +Robin snatched up the paper and read aloud for himself. Hobbs merely +wiped a bit of butter from his finger and listened attentively. + +The following card appeared at the head of the column, and was +supplemented by a complete resume of the Blithers-Graustark muddle: + +"Miss Blithers desires to correct an erroneous report that has +appeared in the newspapers. She is not engaged to be married to the +Prince of Graustark, nor is there even the remotest probability that +such will ever be the case. Miss Blithers regrets that she has not +the honour of Prince Robin's acquaintance, and the Prince has +specifically stated in the public prints that he does not know her by +sight. The statements of the two persons most vitally affected by +this disturbing rumour should be taken as final. Sufficient pain and +annoyance already has been caused by the malicious and utterly +groundless report." The name of Maud Applegate Blithers was appended +to the statement, and it was dated Paris, August 29. + +Thereafter followed a lengthy description of the futile search for +the young lady in Paris, and an interview with the local +representatives of Mr. Blithers, all of whom declared that the +signature was genuine, but refused to commit themselves further +without consulting their employer. They could throw no light upon the +situation, even going so far as to declare that they were unaware of +the presence of Miss Blithers in Paris. + +It appears that the signed statement was left in the counting-rooms +of the various newspapers by a heavily veiled lady at an hour agreed +upon as "about ten o'clock." There was absolutely no clue to the +identity of this woman. + +Instead of following the suggestion of Miss Blithers that "sufficient +pain and annoyance already had been caused," the journalists +proceeded to increase the agony by venturing the hope that fresh +developments would materialise before the day was done. + +"Well, she appears to be here," said Robin, as he laid down the last +of the three journals and stared at Dank as if expecting hope from +that most unreliable source. + +"I suppose you will now admit that I am right about the letter B," +said Dank sullenly. + +"When I see Miss Guile I shall ask point blank if she is Maud +Applegate, Dank, and if she says she isn't, I'll take her word for +it," said Robin. + +"And if she says she is?" + +"Well," said the Prince, ruefully, "I'll still take her word for it." + +"And then?" + +"Then I shall be equally frank and tell her that I am Robin of +Graustark. That will put us all square again, and we'll see what +comes of it in the end." + +"You don't mean to say you'll--you'll continue as you were?" gasped +Dank. + +"That depends entirely on Miss Guile, Boske." + +"But you wouldn't dare to marry Maud Applegate Blithers, sir. You +would be driven out of Graustark and--" + +"I think that would depend a good deal on Miss Guile, too, old chap," +said Robin coolly. + +Dank swallowed very hard. "I want to be loyal to you, your highness," +he said as if he did not think it would be possible to remain so. + +"I shall count on you, Dank," said Robin earnestly. + +"But--" began the lieutenant, and then stopped short. + +"Let me finish it for you. You don't feel as though you could be +loyal to Miss Blithers, is that it?" + +"I think that would depend on Miss Blithers," said Dank, and then +begged to be excused. He went out of the room rather hurriedly. + +"Well, Hobbs," said Robin, after his astonishment had abated, "what +do _you_ think of it?" + +"I think he's in love with her, sir," said Hobbs promptly. + +"Good Lord! with--with Miss Guile?" + +"Precisely so, sir." + +"Well, I'll be _darned!_" said the American half of Prince Robin with +great fervour. + +"Tut, tut, sir," reproved Hobbs, who, as has been said before, was a +privileged character by virtue of long service and his previous +calling as a Cook's interpreter. "Are you going out, sir?" + +"Yes. I'm going out to search the highways and by-ways for Bedelia," +said Robin, a gay light in his eyes. "By the way, did you, by any +chance, learn the name of the 'andsome young gent as went away with +'er, 'Obbs?" + +"I did not, sir. I stood at his helbow for quite some time at the +Gare St. Lazare and the only words he spoke that I could hear +distinctly was 'wot the devil do you mean, me man? Ain't there room +enough for you here without standing on my toes like that? Move +hover.' Only, of course, sir, he used the haspirates after a fashion +of his own. The haitches are mine, sir." + +"Is he an American?" + +"It's difficult to say, sir. He may be from Boston, but you never can +tell, sir." + +"Do you know Boston, Hobbs?" inquired the Prince, adjusting his tie +before the mirror. + +"Not to speak it, sir," said Hobbs. + +The day was warm and clear, and Paris was gleaming. Robin stretched +his long legs in a brisk walk across the Place Vendome and up the Rue +de la Paix to the Boulevard. Here he hesitated and then retraced his +steps slowly down the street of diamonds, for he suspected Miss Guile +of being interested in things that were costly. Suddenly inspired, he +made his way to the Place de la Concorde and settled himself on one +of the seats near the entrance to the Champs Elysees. It was his +shrewd argument that if she planned a ride on that exquisite morning +it naturally would be along the great avenue, and in that event he +might reasonably hope to catch her coming or going. A man came up and +took a seat beside him. + +"Good morning, Mr. Schmidt," said the newcomer, and Robin somewhat +gruffly demanded what the deuce he meant by following him. "I have +some interesting news," said Baron Gourou quietly, removing his hat +to wipe a damp brow. He also took the time to recover his breath +after some rather sharp dodging of automobiles in order to attain his +present position of security. Even a Minister of Police has to step +lively in Paris. + +"From home?" asked Robin carelessly. + +"Indirectly. It comes through Berlin. Our special agent there wires +me that the offices of Mr. Blithers in that city have received +instructions from him to send engineers to Edelweiss for the purpose +of estimating the cost of remodelling and rebuilding the castle,--in +other words to restore it to its condition prior to the Marlanx +rebellion fifteen years ago." + +There was a tantalising smile on the Baron's face as he watched the +changing expressions in that of his Prince. + +"Are you in earnest?" demanded Robin, a bright red spot appearing in +each cheek. The Baron nodded his head. "Well, he's got a lot of +nerve!" + +"I shudder when I think of what is likely to happen to those +architects when they begin snooping around the castle," said Gourou +drily. "By the way, have you seen Miss Guile this morning?" + +Robin's cheeks were now completely suffused. "Certainly not." + +"She was in the Rue de la Paix half an hour ago. I thought you might-- +" + +"You saw her, Baron?" + +"Yes, highness, and it may interest you to know that she saw you." + +"The deuce you say! But how do you know that it was Miss Guile. +You've no means of knowing." + +"It is a part of my profession to recognise people from given +descriptions. In this case, however, the identification was rendered +quite simple by the actions of the young lady herself. She happened +to emerge from a shop just as you were passing and I've never seen +any one, criminal or otherwise, seek cover as quickly as she did. She +darted back into the shop like one pursued by the devil. Naturally I +hung around for a few minutes to see the rest of the play. Presently +she peered forth, looked stealthily up and down the street, and then +dashed across the pavement to a waiting taxi-metre. It affords me +pleasure to inform your highness that I took the number of the +machine." He glanced at his cuff-band. + +"Where did she go from the Rue de la Paix?" asked Robin impatiently. + +"To the Ritz. I was there almost as soon as she. She handed an +envelope--containing a letter, I fancy--to the carriage man and +drove away in the direction of the Place de l'Opera. I have a sly +notion, my Prince, that you will find a note awaiting you on your +return to the hotel. Ah, you appear to be in haste, my young hunter." + +"I am in haste. If you expect to keep alongside, Baron, you'll have +to run I'm afraid," cried the Prince, and was instantly in his seven- +league boots. + +There was a note in Robin's rooms when he reached the hotel. It was +not the delicately perfumed article that usually is despatched by +fictional heroines but a rather business-like envelope bearing the +well-known words "The New York Herald" in one corner and the name "R. +Schmidt, Hotel Ritz," in firm but angular scrawl across its face. As +Robin ripped it open with his finger, Baron Gourou entered the room, +but not without giving vent to a slight cough in the way of an +announcement. + +"You forget, highness, that I am a short man and not possessed of +legs that travel by yards instead of feet," he panted. "Forgive me +for lagging behind. I did my best to keep up with you." + +Robin stared at his visitor haughtily for a moment and then broke +into a good-humoured laugh. + +"Won't you sit down, Baron? I'll be at liberty in a minute or two," +he said, and coolly proceeded to scan the brief message from Miss +Guile. + +"Well," said Gourou, as the young man replaced the letter in the +envelope and stuck it into his pocket. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE CAT IS AWAY + + +Robins's face was glowing with excitement. He put his hands in his +trousers pockets and nervously jingled the coins therein, all the +while regarding his Minister of Police with speculative eyes. Then he +turned to the window and continued to stare down into the Place +Vendome for several minutes, obviously turning something over in his +mind before coming to a decision. The Baron waited. None knew better +than he how to wait. He realised that a great deal hung upon the next +few sentences to be uttered in that room, and yet he could be +patient. + +At last Robin faced him, but without speaking. An instant later he +impulsively withdrew the letter from his pocket and held it out to +the Baron, who strode across the room and took it from his hand. +Without a word, he extracted the single sheet of paper and read what +was written thereon. + +"I gather from the nature of the invitation that you are expected to +enjoy stolen fruit, if I may be so bold as to put it in just that +way," said he grimly. "Apparently Miss Guile finds the presence of a +duenna unnecessarily wise." + +"There's no harm in a quiet little excursion such as she suggests, +Baron," said Robin, defensively. + +"You forget that I have seen the beautiful Miss Guile," said Gourou +drily. "I take it, then, that you approve of the young lady's +scheme." + +"Scheme sounds rather sinister, doesn't it?" + +"Trick, if it please you more than the other. Moreover, I cannot say +that she _suggests_ the quiet little excursion. It occurs to me +that she commands, your highness." He held the missive to the light +and read, a tender irony in his voice: "'My motor will call for you +at three this afternoon, and we will run out to St. Cloud for tea; at +the Pavilion Bleu. Mrs. Gaston is spending the day with relatives at +Champigny, and we may as well be mice under the circumstances. If you +have another engagement, pray do not let it interfere with the +pleasure I am seeking.' Nothing could be more exacting, my dear +Prince. She signs herself 'B. Guile,' and I am sure she is +magnificently beguiling, if you will pardon the play on words." + +"You wouldn't adopt that tone of suspicion if you knew Miss Guile," +said Robin stiffly. "I am sure nothing could be more frank and above- +board than her manner of treating the--" + +"And nothing so cock-sure and confident," put in the Baron. "It would +serve her right if you ignored the letter altogether." + +"If I were as old as you, Baron, I haven't the least doubt that I +should do so," said Robin coolly. "And by the same token, if you were +as young as I, you'd do precisely the thing that I intend to do. I'm +going to St. Cloud with her." + +"Oh, I haven't been in doubt about that for an instant," said Gourou. +"At your age I greatly favoured the clandestine. You will not pretend +to assume that this is not a clandestine excursion." + +"It's a jolly little adventure," was all that Robin could say, in his +youthfulness. + +The Baron was thoughtful. "There is something behind this +extraordinary behaviour on the part of a lady generally accredited +with sense and refinement," said he after a moment. "I think I have +it, too. She is deliberately putting you to a rather severe test." + +"Test? What do you mean?" + +"She is trying you out, sir. Miss Guile,--or possibly Miss Blithers, +--is taking a genuine risk in order to determine whether you are a +real gentleman or only a make-believe. She is taking a chance with +you. You may call it a jolly little adventure, but I call it the acid +test. Young women of good breeding and refinement do not plan such +adventures with casual, ship-board acquaintances. She intends to find +out _what_, not _who_, you are. I must say she's exceedingly clever +and courageous." + +Robin laughed. "Thank you, Baron. Forewarned is forearmed. I shall +remain a gentleman at any cost." + +"She is so shrewd and resourceful that I am almost convinced she can +be no other than the daughter of the amazing Mr. Blithers. I believe +he achieved most of his success through sheer impudence, though it is +commonly described as daring." + +"In any case. Baron, I shall make it a point to find out whether she +is the lady who defies the amazing Mr. Blithers, and goes into print +about it." + +"She has merely denied that she is engaged to the Prince of +Graustark. Pray do not come back to us with the news that she is +engaged to R. Schmidt," said Gourou significantly. + +Robin smiled reflectively. "That _would_ make a jolly adventure of it, +wouldn't it?" + +At three o'clock, a big limousine swung under the porte cochere at +the Ritz and a nimble footman hopped down and entered the hotel. +Robin was waiting just inside the doors. He recognised the car as the +one that had taken Miss Guile away from the Gare St. Lazare, and +stepped forward instantly to intercept the man. + +"For Mr. Schmidt?" he inquired. + +"Oui, M'sieur." + +Thrilled by a pleasurable sense of excitement, the Prince of +Graustark entered the car. He was quick to observe that the curtains +in the side windows were partially drawn across the glass. The fact +that she elected to journey to the country in a limousine on this hot +day did not strike him as odd, for he knew that the comfort loving +French people prefer the closed vehicle to the wind-inviting, dust- +gathering touring body of the Americans and British. He observed the +single letter L in gold in the panel of the door, and made mental +note of the smart livery of the two men on the front seat. + +A delicate perfume lingered in the car, convincing proof that Miss +Guile had left it but a few minutes before its arrival at the Ritz. +As a matter of fact, she was nearer than he thought, for the car +whirled into the Rue de la Paix and stopped at the curb not more than +a hundred yards from the Place Vendome. + +Once more the nimble footman hopped down and threw open the door. A +slender, swift-moving figure in a blue linen gown and a wide hat from +which sprung two gorgeous blue plumes, emerged from the door of a +diamond merchant's shop, and, before Robin could move from his +corner, popped into the car and sat down beside him with a nervous +little laugh on her lips--red lips that showed rose-like and tempting +behind a thick chiffon veil, obviously donned for an excellent +reason. The exquisite features of Miss Guile were barely +distinguishable beneath the surface of this filmy barrier. The door +closed sharply and, almost before the Prince had recovered from his +surprise, the car glided off in the direction of the Place de +l'Opera. + +"Isn't it just like an elopement?" cried Miss Guile, and it was quite +plain to him that she was vastly pleased with the sprightly +introduction to the adventure. Her voice trembled slightly and she +sat up very straight in the wide, comfortable seat. + +"Is it really you?" cried Robin, and he was surprised to find that +his own voice trembled. + +"Oh," she said, with a sudden diffidence, "how do you do? What must +you think of me, bouncing in like that and never once speaking to +you?" + +"If I were to tell you what I think of you, you'd bounce right out +again without speaking to me," said he, smiling. "How do you do?" He +extended his hand, but it was ignored. She sank back into the corner +and looked at him for a moment as if uncertain what to say or do +next. The shadowy red lips were smiling and the big dark eyes were +eloquent, even through the screen. + +"I may as well tell you at the outset, Mr. Schmidt, that I've never-- +_never_--done a thing like this before," she said, an uneasy note in +her voice. + +"I am quite sure of that," said he, "and therefore confess to a vast +wealth of satisfaction." + +"What _do_ you think of me?" + +"I think that you are frightened almost out of your boots," said he +boldly. + +"No, I'm not," said she resolutely. "I am only conscious of feeling +extremely foolish." + +"I shouldn't feel that way about stealing off for a cup of tea," said +he. "It's all quite regular, you know, and is frequently done in the +very best circles when the cat's away." + +"You see, I couldn't quite scrape up the courage to go directly to +the hotel for you," she said. "I know several people who are stopping +there and I--I--well, you won't think I'm a dreadful person, will +you?" + +"Not at all," he declared promptly. Then he resolved to put one of +the questions he had made up his mind to ask at the first +opportunity. "Do you mind telling me why you abandoned me so +completely, so heartlessly on the day we landed?" + +"Because there was no reason why I should act otherwise, Mr. +Schmidt," she said, the tremor gone from her voice. + +"And yet you take me to St. Cloud for tea," he said pointedly. + +"Ah, but no one is to know of this," she cried warmly. "This is a +secret, a very secret adventure." + +He could not help staring. "And that is just why I am mystified. Why +is to-day so different from yesterday?" + +"It isn't," she said. "Doesn't all this prove it?" + +His face fell. "Don't you want to be seen with me, Miss Guile? Am I +not--" + +"Wait! Will you not be satisfied with things as they are and refrain +from asking unnecessary questions?" + +"I shall have to be satisfied," said he ruefully. + +"I am sorry I said that, Mr. Schmidt," she cried, contrite at once. +"There is absolutely no reason why I should not be seen with you. But +won't you be appeased when I say that I wanted to be with you alone +to-day?" + +He suddenly remembered the Baron's shrewd conjecture and let the +opportunity to say something banal go by without a word. Perhaps it +was a test, after all. He merely replied that she was paying him a +greater compliment than he deserved. + +"There are many things I want to speak about, Mr. Schmidt, and--and +you know how impossible it is to--to get a moment to one's self when +one is being watched like a child, as I am being watched over by dear +Mrs. Gaston. She is my shield and armour, my lovely one-headed +dragon. I placed myself in her care and--well, she is a very +dependable person. You _will_ understand, won't you?" + +"Pray do not distress yourself, Miss Guile," he protested. "The last +word is spoken. I am too happy to spoil the day by doubting its +integrity. Besides, I believe I know you better than you think I do." + +He expected her to reveal some sign of dismay, but she was suddenly +on guard. + +"Then you will not mind my eccentricities," she said calmly, "and we +shall have a very nice drive, some tea and a--lark in place of the +more delectable birds prescribed by the chef at the Pavilion Bleu." + +As the car turned into the Boulevard des Capucines Robin suppressed +an exclamation of annoyance on beholding Baron Gourou and Dank +standing on the curb almost within arm's length of the car as it +passed. The former was peering rather intently at the two men on the +front seat, and evinced little or no interest in the occupants of the +tonneau. + +"Wasn't that your friend Mr. Dank?" inquired Miss Guile with +interest. He felt that she was chiding him. + +"Yes," said he, and then turned for another look at his compatriots. +Gourou was jotting something down on his cuff-band. The Prince +mentally promised him something for his pains. "But let us leave dull +care behind," he went on gaily. + +"He isn't at all dull," said she. + +"But he _is_ a care," said he. "He is always losing his heart, Miss +Guile." + +"And picking up some one else's, I fancy," said she. + +"By the way, who was the good-looking chap that came to Cherbourg to +meet you?" + +"A very old friend, Mr. Schmidt. I've known him since I was that +high." (That high was on a line with her knee.) + +"Attractive fellow," was his comment. + +"Do you think so?" she inquired innocently, and he thought she over- +played it a little. He was conscious of an odd sense of +disappointment in her. "Have you never been out to St. Cloud? No? I +never go there without feeling a terrible pity for those poor +prodigals who stood beside its funeral pyre and saw their folly +stripped down to the starkest of skeletons while they waited. The day +of glory is short, Mr. Schmidt, and the night that follows is +bitterly long. They say possession is nine points of the law, but +what do nine points mean to the lawless? The rich man of to-day may +be the beggar of to-morrow, and the rich man's sons and daughters may +be serving the beggars of yesterday. I have been told that in the +lower east side of New York City there are men and women who were +once princes and princesses, counts and countesses, dukes and +duchesses. Why doesn't some one write a novel about the royalty that +hides its beggary in the slums of that great city?" + +"What's this? Epigrams and philosophy, Miss Guile?" he exclaimed +wonderingly. "You amaze me. What are you trying to convey? That some +day you may be serving yesterday's beggar?" + +"Who knows!" she said cryptically. "I am not a philosopher, and I'm +sorry about the epigrams. I loathe people who make use of them. They +are a cheap substitution for wisdom. Do you take sugar in your tea?" +It was her way of abandoning the topic, but he looked his perplexity. +"I thought I'd ask now, just for the sake of testing my memory later +on." She was laughing. + +"Two lumps and cream," he said. "Won't you be good enough to take off +that veil? It seriously obstructs the view." + +She complacently shook her head. "It doesn't obstruct mine," she +said. "Have you been reading what the papers are saying about your +friend Mr. Blithers and his obstreperous Maud?" + +Robin caught his breath. In a flash he suspected an excellent reason +for keeping the veil in place. It gave her a distinct advantage over +him. + +"Yes. I see that she positively denies the whole business." + +"Likewise the prospective spouse," she added. "Isn't it sickening?" + +"I wonder what Mr. Blithers is saying to-day," said he audaciously. +"Poor old cock, he must be as sore as a crab. By the way, it is +reported that she crossed on the steamer with us." + +"I am quite certain that she did, Mr. Schmidt," said she. + +"You really think so?" he cried, regarding her keenly. + +"The man who came to meet me knows her quite well. He is confident +that he saw her at Cherbourg." + +"I see," said he, and was thoroughly convinced. "I may as well +confess to you. Miss Guile, that I also know her when I see her." + +"But you told me positively that you had never seen her, Mr. +Schmidt," she said quickly. + +"I had not seen her up to the second day out on the _Jupiter_," he +explained, enjoying himself immensely. + +"It was after that that you--" + +"I know," he said, as she hesitated; "but you see I didn't know she +was Miss Blithers until sometime after I had met you." There was a +challenge in his manner amounting almost to a declaration. + +She leaned forward to regard him more intently. + +"Is it possible, Mr. Schmidt, that you suspect _me_ of being +that horrid, vulgar creature?" + +Robin was not to be trapped. There was something in the shadowy eyes +that warned him. + +"At least, I may say that I do not suspect you of being a horrid, +vulgar creature," he said evasively. + +"What else can this Miss Blithers be if not that?" + +"Would you say that she is vulgar because she refuses to acknowledge +a condition that doesn't exist? I think she did perfectly right in +denying the engagement." + +"You haven't answered my question, Mr. Schmidt." + +"Well," he began slowly, "I don't suspect you of being Miss +Blithers." + +"But you did suspect it." + +"I was pleasantly engaged in speculation, that's all. It is generally +believed that Miss Blithers sailed under an assumed name--literally, +not figuratively." + +"Is there any reason why you should imagine that my name is not +Guile?" + +"Yes. Your luggage is resplendently marked with the second letter in +the alphabet--a gory, crimson B." + +"I see," she said reflectively. "You examined my luggage, as they say +in the customs office. And you couldn't put B and G together, is that +it?" + +"Obviously." + +"If you had taken the trouble to look, you would have found an +equally resplendent G on the opposite end of each and every trunk, +Mr. Schmidt," she said quietly. + +"I did not examine your luggage, Miss Guile," said he stiffly. She +hadn't left much for him to stand upon. "Rather unique way to put +one's initials on a trunk, isn't it?" + +"It possesses the virtue of originality," she admitted, "and it never +fails to excite curiosity. I am sorry you were misled. Nothing could +be more distressing than to be mistaken for the heroine of a story +and then turn out to be a mere nobody in the end. I've no doubt that +if the amiable Miss Blithers were to hear of it, she'd rush into +print and belabour me with the largest type that money could buy." + +"Oh, come now, Miss Guile," he protested, "it really isn't fair to +Miss Blithers. She was justified in following an illustrious example. +You forget that the Prince of Graustark was the first to rush into +print with a flat denial. What else could the poor girl do?" + +"Oh, I am not defending the Prince of Graustark. He behaved +abominably, rushing into print as you say. Extremely bad taste, I +should call it." + +Robin's ears burned. He could not defend himself. There was nothing +left for him to do but to say that it "served him jolly well right, +the way Miss Blithers came back at him." + +"Still," she said, "I would be willing to make a small wager that the +well-advertised match comes off in spite of all the denials. Given a +determined father, an ambitious mother, a purse-filled daughter and +an empty-pursed nobleman, and I don't see how the inevitable can be +avoided." + +His face was flaming. It was with difficulty that he restrained the +impulse to put her right in the matter without further ado. + +"Are you sure that the Prince is so empty of purse as all that?" he +managed to say, without betraying himself irretrievably. + +"There doesn't seem to be any doubt that he borrowed extensively of +Mr. Blithers," she said scornfully. "He is under some obligations to +his would-be-father-in-law, I submit, now isn't he?" + +"I suppose so, Miss Guile," he admitted uncomfortably. + +"And therefore owes him something more than a card in the newspapers, +don't you think?" + +"Really, Miss Guile, I--I--" + +"I beg your pardon. The Prince's affairs are of no importance to you, +so why should I expect you to stand up for him?" + +"I confess that I am a great deal more interested in Miss Blithers +than I am in the Prince. By the way, what would you have done had you +been placed in her position?" + +"I think I should have acted quite as independently as she." + +"If your father were to pick out a husband for you, whether or no, +you would refuse to obey the paternal command?" + +"Most assuredly. As a matter of fact, Mr. Schmidt, my father has +expressed a wish that I should marry a man who doesn't appeal to me +at all." + +"And you refuse?" + +"Absolutely." + +"More or less as Miss Blithers has done," he said pointedly. + +"Miss Blithers, I understand, has the advantage of me in one respect. +I am told that she wants to marry another man and is very much in +love with him." + +"A chap named Scoville," said Robin, unguardedly. + +"You know him, Mr. Schmidt?" + +"No. I've merely heard of him. I take it from your remark that you +don't want to marry anybody--at present." + +"Quite right. Not at present. Now let us talk of something else. _A +bas_ Blithers! Down with the plutocrats! Stamp out the vulgarians! +Is there anything else you can suggest?" she cried gaily. + +"Long live the Princess Maud!" said he, and doffed his hat. The +satirical note in his voice was not lost on her. She started +perceptibly, and caught her breath. Then she sank back into the +corner with a nervous, strained little laugh. + +"You think she will marry him?" + +"I think as you do about it, Miss Guile," said he, and she was +silenced. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE MICE IN A TRAP + + +They had a table in a cool, shady corner of the broad porch +overlooking the Place d'Armes and the Seine and its vociferous +ferries. To the right runs the gleaming roadway that leads to the +hills and glades through which pomp and pride once strode with such +fatal arrogance. Blue coated servitors attended them on their +arrival, and watched over them during their stay. It was as if Miss +Guile were the fairy princess who had but to wish and her slightest +desire was gratified. Her guest, a real prince, marvelled not a +little at the complete sway she exercised over this somewhat +autocratic army of menials. They bowed and scraped, and fetched, and +carried, and were not Swiss but slaves in Bagdad during the reign of +its most illustrious Caliph, Al-haroun Raschid the great. The magic +of Araby could have been no more potent than the spell this beautiful +girl cast over the house of Mammon. She laid her finger upon a purse +of gold and wished, and lo! the wonders of the magic carpet were +repeated. + +Robin remembered that Maud Applegate Blithers had spent the greater +part of her life in Paris, and it was therefore not unreasonable to +suppose that she had spent something else as well. At any rate, the +Pavilion Bleu was a place where it _had_ to be spent if one wanted the +attention accorded the few. + +She had removed her veil, but he was not slow to perceive that she +sat with her back to the long stretch of porch. + +"Do you prefer this place to Armenonville or the Paillard at Pre +Catelan, Miss Guile?" he inquired, quite casually, but with a secret +purpose. + +"No, it is stupid here, as a rule, and common. Still every one goes +to the other places in the afternoon and I particularly wanted to be +as naughty as possible, so I came here to-day." + +"It doesn't strike me as especially naughty," he remarked. + +"But it was very, very naughty before you and I were born, Mr. +Schmidt. The atmosphere still remains, if one possesses a +comprehensive imagination." + +"I daresay," said he, "but the imagination doesn't thrive on tea. +Those were the days of burgundy and a lot of other red things." + +"One doesn't need to be in shackles, to expatiate on the terrors of +the Bridge of Sighs," she said. + +"Are you going to take me up to the park?" + +"Yes. Into the Shadows." + +"Oh, that's good! I'm sure my imagination will work beautifully when +it isn't subdued by all these blue devils. I--_Que voulez vous?_" The +question was directed rather sharply to a particularly deferential +"blue devil" who stood at his elbow. + +"Monsieur Schmidt?" + +"Yes. What's this? A letter! 'Pon my soul, how the deuce could any +one--" He got no farther, for Miss Guile's action in pulling down her +veil and the subsequent spasmodic glance over her shoulder betrayed +such an agitated state of mind on her part that his own sensations +were checked at the outset. + +"There must be some one here who knows you, Mr. Schmidt," she said +nervously. "See what it says, please,--at once. I--perhaps we should +be starting home immediately." + +Robin tore open the envelope. A glance showed him that the brief note +was from Gourou. A characteristic G served as a signature. As he +read, a hard line appeared between his eyes and his expression grew +serious. + +"It is really nothing, Miss Guile," he said and prepared to tear the +sheet into many pieces. "A stupid, alleged joke of a fellow who +happens to know me, that's all." + +"Don't tear it up!" she cried sharply. "What does it say? I have a +right to know, Mr. Schmidt, even though it is only a joke. What has +this friend of yours to say about me? What coarse, uncalled-for +comment has he to make about--" + +"Let me think for a moment, Miss Guile," he interrupted, suddenly +realising that it was time for reflection. After a moment he said +soberly: "I think it would be wise if we were to leave instantly. +There is nothing to be alarmed about, I assure you, but--well, we'd +better go." + +"Will you allow me to see that letter?" she asked, extending her +hand. + +"I'd rather not, if you don't mind." + +"But I insist, sir! I'll not go a step from this place until I know +what all this is about." + +"As it happens to concern you even more than it does me, I suppose +you'd better see what it says." He passed the letter over to her and +watched her narrowly as she read. Again the veil served as a +competent mask. + +"Who wrote this letter, Mr. Schmidt?" she demanded. Even through the +veil he could see that her eyes were wide with--was it alarm or +anger? + +"A man named Gourou. He is a detective engaged on a piece of work for +Mr. Totten." + +"Is it a part of his duty to watch your movements?" she asked, +leaning forward. + +"No. He is my friend, however," said Robin steadily." According to +this epistle, it would appear that it is a part of his duty to keep +track of you, not me. May I ask why you should be shadowed by two of +his kind?" + +She did not answer at once. When she spoke, it was with a determined +effort to maintain her composure. + +"I am sorry to have subjected you to all this, Mr. Schmidt. We will +depart at once. I find that the cat is never away, so we can't be +mice. What a fool I've been." There was something suspiciously +suggestive of tears in her soft voice. + +He laid a hand upon the small fingers that clutched the crumpled +sheet of paper. To have saved his life, he could not keep the choked, +husky tremor out of his voice. + +"The day is spoiled for you. That is my only regret. As for me, Miss +Guile, I am not without sin, so I may cast no stones. Pray regard me +as a fellow culprit, and rest assured that I have no bone to pick +with you. I too am watched and yet I am no more of a criminal than +you. Will you allow me to say that I am a friend whose devotion +cannot be shaken by all the tempests in the world?" + +"Thank you," she said, and turned her hand under his to give it a +quick, convulsive clasp. Her spirits seemed to revive under the +responsive grip. "You might have said all the tempests in a tea pot, +for that is really what it amounts to. My father is a very foolish +man. Will you send for the car?" + +He called an attendant and ordered him to find Miss Guile's footman +at once. When he returned to the table, she was reading the note once +more. + +"It is really quite thrilling, isn't it?" she said, and there was +still a quaver of indignation in her voice. "Are you not mystified?" + +"Not in the least," said he promptly, and drew a chair up close +beside hers. "It's as plain as day. Your father has found you out, +that's all. Let's read it again," and they read it together. + +"A word to the wise," it began. "Two men from a private detective +concern have been employed since yesterday in watching the movements +of your companion, for the purpose of safe-guarding her against good- +looking young men, I suspect. I have it from the most reliable of +sources that her father engaged the services of these men almost +simultaneously with the date of our sailing from New York. It may +interest you to know that they followed you to St. Cloud in a high- +power car and no doubt are watching you as you read this message from +your faithful friend, who likewise is not far away." + +"I should have anticipated this, Mr. Schmidt," she said ruefully. "It +is just the sort of thing my father would do." + +"You seem to take it calmly enough." + +"I am quite used to it. I would be worth a great deal to any +enterprising person who made it his business to steal me. There is no +limit to the ransom he could demand." + +"You alarm me," he declared. "No doubt these worthy guardians look +upon me as a kidnapper. I am inclined to shiver." + +"'All's well that ends well,'" quoth she, pulling on her gloves, "I +shall restore you safely to the bosom of the Ritz and that will be +the end of it." + +"I almost wish that some one would kidnap you, Miss Guile. It would +afford me the greatest pleasure in the world to snatch you from their +clutches. Your father would be saved paying the ransom but I should +have to be adequately rewarded. I fancy, however, that he wouldn't +mind paying the reward I should hold out for." + +"I am quite sure he would give you anything you were to ask for, Mr. +Schmidt," said she gaily. "You would be reasonable, of course." + +"I might ask for the most precious of his possessions," said he, +leaning forward to look directly into eyes that wavered and refused +to meet his. + +"Curiosity almost makes me wish that I might be kidnapped. I should +then find out what you consider to be his most precious possession," +she said, and her voice was perilously low. + +"I think I could tell you in advance," said he, his eyes shining. + +"I--I prefer to find out in my own way, Mr. Schmidt," she stammered +hurriedly. Her confusion was immensely gratifying to him. There is no +telling what might have happened to the Prince of Graustark at that +moment if an obsequious attendant had not intervened with the earthly +information that the car was waiting. + +"Good Lord," Robin was saying to himself as he followed her to the +steps, "was I about to go directly against the sage advice of old +Gourou? Was I so near to it as that? In another minute--Gee, but it +was a close shave. She is adorable, she is the most adorable creature +in the world, even though she is the daughter of old man Blithers, +and I--'gad I wonder what will come of it in the end? Keep a tight +grip on yourself, Bobby, or you're a goner, sure as fate." + +They were painfully aware of the fact that their progress down the +long verandah was made under the surveillance of two, perhaps three +pairs of unwavering eyes, and because of it they looked neither to +right nor left but as those who walk tight-ropes over dangerous +places. There was something positively uncanny in the feeling that +their every movement was being watched by secret observers. Once +inside the car, Miss Guile sank back with a long sigh of relief. + +"Did you feel it, too?" she asked, with a nervous little catch in her +voice. + +"I did," said he, passing his hand over his brow. "It was like being +alone in the dark with eyes staring at one from all sides of the +room." + +The car shot across the bridge and was speeding on its way toward +the Bois when Robin ventured a glance behind. Through the little +window in the back of the car he saw a big, swift-moving automobile +not more than a quarter of a mile in their rear. + +"Would you like to verify the report of my friend Gourou?" he asked, +his voice quick with exhilaration. She knelt with one knee upon the +seat and peered back along the road. + +"There they are!" she cried. She threw the veil back over her hat as +she resumed her seat in the corner. Her eyes were fairly dancing with +excitement. The warm red lips were parted and she was breathing +quickly. Suddenly she laid her hand over her heart as if to check its +lively thumping. "Isn't it splendid? We are being pursued--actually +chased by the man-hunters of Paris! Oh, I was never so happy in my +life. Isn't it great?" + +"It is glorious!" he cried exultantly. "Shall I tell the chauffeur to +hit it up a bit? Let's make it a real chase." + +"Yes, do! We'll see if we can foil them, as they say in the books. +Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if we were to--to--what do you call it? +Give them the slip, isn't that it?" + +"I'm game," said he, with enthusiasm. For a second or two they looked +straight into each other's eyes and a message was exchanged that +never could have been put into words. No doubt it was the flush of +eager excitement that darkened their cheeks. In any case, it came +swiftly and went as quickly, leaving them paler than before and +vastly self-conscious. And after that brief, searching look they knew +that they could never be as they were before the exchange. They were +no longer strangers to each other, but shy comrades and filled with a +delicious sense of wonder. + +Robin gave hurried directions through the speaking tube to the +attentive footman, and so explicit were these directions that the +greatest excitement prevailed upon the decorous front seat of the +car--first the footman looked back along the road, then the +chauffeur, after which a thrill of excitement seemed to fairly race +up and down their liveried backs. The car itself took a notion to +quiver with the promise of joy unrestrained. In less than a minute +they were going more than a mile a minute over a short stretch of the +Avenue de Longchamp. At the Porte de Hippodrome they slowed down and +ran into the Bois, taking the first road to the left. In a few +minutes they were scudding past Longchamp at a "fair clip" to quote +R. Schmidt. Instead of diverging into the Allee de Longchamp, the car +took a sharp turn into the Avenue de l'Hippodrome and, at the +intersection, doubled back over the Allee de la Heine Marguerite, +going almost to the Boulogne gate, where again it was sent Parisward +over the Avenue de St. Cloud. + +Miss Guile was in command of the flight. She called out the +instructions to the driver and her knowledge of the intricate routes +through the park stood them well in hand. Purposely she evaded the +Cascades, circling the little pools by narrow, unfrequented roads, +coming out at last to the Porte de la Muette, where they left the +park and took to the Avenue Henri Martin. It was her design to avoid +the customary routes to the heart of the city, and all would have +gone well with them had not fate in the shape of two burly +_sergents de ville_ intervened at a time when success seemed +most certain. It was quite clear to the pursued that the car +containing their followers had been successfully eluded and was no +doubt in the Champs Elysees by this time. For some time there had +been a worried look in the Prince's eyes. Once he undertook to +remonstrate with his fair companion. + +"My dear Miss Guile, we'll land in jail if we keep up this hair- +raising speed. There wouldn't be any fun in that, you know." + +She gave him a scornful look. "Are you afraid, Mr. Schmidt?" + +"Not on my own account," said he, "but yours. I've heard that the new +regulations are extremely rigid." + +"Pooh! I'm not afraid of the police. They--why, what's the matter? +Oh, goodness!" + +The car had come to a somewhat abrupt stop. Two policemen, dismounted +from their bicycles, formed an insurmountable obstruction. They were +almost in the shade of the Trocadero. + +"Do not be alarmed," whispered Robin to the fast paling girl, into +whose eyes the most abject misery had leaped at the sight of the two +officers. "Leave it to me. I can fix them all right. There's nothing +to be worried about--well, _sergent_, what is it?" + +The polite officers came up to the window with their little note- +books. + +"I regret, m'sieur, that we shall be obliged to conduct yourself and +mademoiselle to the office of a magistrate. Under the new regulations +set forth in the order of last May, motorists may be given a hearing +at once. I regret to add that m'sieur has been exceeding the speed +limit. A complaint came in but a few minutes ago from the Porte de la +Muette and we have been ordered to intercept the car. You may follow +us to the office of the magistrate, m'sieur. It will soon be over, +mademoiselle." + +"But we can explain--" she began nervously. + +The _sergent_ held up his hand. "It is not necessary to explain, +mademoiselle. Too many motorists have explained in the past but that +does not restore to life the people they have killed in the pursuit +of pleasure. Paris is enforcing her laws." + +"But, _sergent_, I alone am to blame for any violation of the law," +said Robin suavely. "Surely it is only necessary that I should +accompany you to the magistrate. The young lady is in no way +responsible--" + +"Alas, m'sieur," said the man firmly but as if he were quite broken- +hearted, "it is not for me to disobey the law, even though you may do +so. It is necessary for the lady to appear before the Judge, and it +is our duty to convey her there. The new law explicitly says that all +occupants of said car shall be subject to penalty under the law +without reprieve or pardon!" + +"Where are your witnesses?" demanded Robin. + +The two men produced their watches and their notebooks, tapping them +significantly. + +"M'sieur will not think of denying that he has been running more +rapidly than the law allows," said the second officer. "It will go +harder with him if he should do so." + +"I shall insist upon having an advocate to represent me before--" + +"As you like, m'sieur," said the first officer curtly. "Proceed!" he +uttered as a command to the chauffeur, and forthwith mounted his +wheel. A score of people had gathered round them by this time, and +Miss Guile was crouching back in her corner. Her veil was down. In +single file, so to speak, they started off for the office of the +nearest magistrate appointed under the new law governing automobiles. +A policeman pedaled ahead of the car and another followed. + +"Isn't it dreadful?" whispered Miss Guile. "What do you think they +will do to us? Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Schmidt, to have dragged you +into this horrid--" + +"I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world," said he so +earnestly that she sat up a little straighter and caught her breath. +"After all, they will do no more than assess a fine against us. A +hundred francs, perhaps. That is nothing." + +"I am not so sure of that," said she gloomily. "My friends were +saying only yesterday that the new law provides for imprisonment as +well. Paris has constructed special prisons for motorists, and people +are compelled to remain in them for days and weeks at a time. Oh, I +hope--" + +"I'll inquire of the footman," said Robin. "He will know." The +footman, whose face was very long and serious, replied through the +tube that very few violators escaped confinement in the "little +prisons." He also said "Mon dieu" a half dozen times, and there was a +movement of the driver's pallid lips that seemed to indicate a +fervent echo. + +"I shall telephone at once--to my friends," said Miss Guile, a note +of anger in her voice. "They are very powerful in Paris. We shall put +those miserable wretches in their proper places. They--" + +"We must not forget. Miss Guile, that we _were_ breaking the law," +said Robin, who was beginning to enjoy the discomfiture of this +spoiled beauty, this girl whose word was a sort of law unto itself. + +"It is perfect nonsense," she declared. "We did no harm. Goodness! +What is this?" + +Four or five policemen on wheels passed by the car, each with a +forbidding glance through the windows. + +"They are the boys we left behind us," paraphrased Robin soberly. +"The park policemen. They've just caught us up, and, believe me, they +look serious, too. I dare say we are in for it." + +In a very few minutes the procession arrived at a low, formidable +looking building on a narrow side street. The cavalcade of policemen +dismounted and stood at attention while Mademoiselle and Monsieur got +down from the car and followed a polite person in uniform through the +doors. Whereupon the group of _sergents de ville_ trooped in behind, +bringing with them the neatly liveried servants with the golden letter +L on their cuffs. + +"I believe there is a jail back there," whispered the slim culprit, a +quaver in her voice. She pointed down the long, narrow corridor at +the end of which loomed a rather sinister looking door with thick +bolt-heads studding its surface. + +An instant later they were ushered into a fair-sized room on the left +of the hall, where they were commanded to sit down. A lot of chairs +stood about the room, filling it to the farthest corners, while at +the extreme end was the Judge's bench. + +"I insist on being permitted to telephone to friends--to my legal +advisors,--"began Miss Guile, with praiseworthy firmness, only to be +silenced by the attendant, who whispered shrilly that a trial was in +progress, couldn't she see? + +Two dejected young men were standing before the Judge, flanked by +three _sergents de ville_. Robin and Miss Guile stared wide-eyed +at their fellow criminals and tried to catch the low words spoken by +the fat Magistrate. Once more they were ordered to sit down, this +time not quite so politely, and they took seats in the darkest corner +of the room, as far removed from justice as possible under the +circumstances. + +Presently a young man approached them. He was very nice looking and +astonishingly cheerful. The hopes of the twain went up with a bound. +His expression was so benign, so bland that they at once jumped to +the conclusion that he was coming to tell them that they were free to +go, that it had all been a stupid mistake. But they were wrong. He +smilingly introduced himself as an advocate connected with the court +by appointment and that he would be eternally grateful to them if +they would tell him what he could do for them. + +"I'd like to have a word in private with the Magistrate," said the +Prince of Graustark eagerly. + +"Impossible!" said the advocate, lifting his eyebrows and his smart +little mustachios in an expression of extreme amazement. "It is +imposs--" A sharp rapping on the Judge's desk reduced the remainder +of the sentence to a delicate whisper--"ible. M'sieur." + +"Will you conduct me to a telephone booth?" whispered Miss Guile, +tearfully. + +"Pray do not weep, Mademoiselle," implored the advocate, profoundly +moved, but at the same time casting a calculating eye over the +luckless pair. + +"Well, what's to be done?" demanded Robin. "We insist on having our +own legal advisors here." + +"The court will not delay the hearing, M'sieur," explained the young +man. "Besides, the best legal advisor in Paris could do no more than +to advise you to plead guilty. I at least can do that quite as ably +as the best of them. No one ever pretends to defend a case in the +automobile courts, M'sieur. It is a waste of time, and the court does +not approve of wasting time. Perhaps you will feel more content if I +introduce the assistant public prosecutor, who will explain the law. +That is his only duty. He does not prosecute. There is no need. The +_sergents_ testify and that is all there is to the case." + +"May I inquire what service you can be to us if the whole business is +cut and dried like that?" asked Robin. + +"Not so loud, M'sieur. As I said before, I can advise you in respect +to your plea, and I can tell you how to present your statement to the +court. I can caution you in many ways. Sometimes a prisoner, who is +well-rehearsed, succeeds in affecting the honourable Magistrate +nicely, and the punishment is not so severe." + +"So you advise us to plead guilty as delicately as possible?" + +"I shall not advise you, M'sieur, unless it pleases you to retain me +as your counsellor. The fee is small. Ten francs. Inasmuch as the +amount is charged against you in the supplemental costs, it seems +foolish not to take advantage of what you are obliged to pay for in +any event. You will have to pay my fee, so you may as well permit me +to be of service to you." + +"My only concern is over Mademoiselle," said the Prince. "You may +send me to jail if you like, if you'll only--" + +"Mon dieu! I am not the one who enjoys the distinguished honour of +being permitted to send people to jail, but the Judge, M'sieur." + +"It is ridiculous to submit this innocent young lady to the +humiliation of--" + +"It is not only ridiculous but criminal," said the advocate, with a +magnificent bow. "But what is one to do when it is the law? Of late, +the law is peculiarly sexless. And now here is where I come in. It is +I who shall instruct you--both of you, Mademoiselle--how to conduct +yourselves before the Magistrate. Above all things, do not attempt to +contradict a single statement of the police. Admit that all they say +is true, even though they say that you have run over a child or an +old woman with mortal results. It will go much easier with you. +Exercise the gravest politeness and deference toward the honourable +Magistrate and to every officer of the court. You are Americans, no +doubt. The courts are prone to be severe with the Americans because +they sometimes undertake to tell them how easy it is to get the right +kind of justice in your wonderfully progressive United States. Be +humble, contrite, submissive, for that is only justice to the court. +If you have killed some one in your diversions, pray do not try to +tell the magistrate that the idiot ought to have kept his eyes open. +Another thing: do not inform the court that you require a lawyer. +That is evidence of extreme culpability and he will consider you to +be inexcusably guilty. Are you attending? Pray do not feel sorry for +the two young men who are now being led away. See! They are weeping. +It is as I thought. They are going to prison for--But that is their +affair, not ours. I advised them as I am advising you, but they +insisted on making a statement of their case. That was fatal, for it +failed in many respects to corroborate the information supplied by +the police. It-" + +"What was the charge against them?" whispered Miss Guile, quaking. +She had watched the exit of the tearful young men, one of whom was +sobbing bitterly, and a great fear possessed her. + +"Of that, Mademoiselle, I am entirely ignorant, but they were +unmistakably guilty of denying it, whatever it was." + +"Are they going to prison?" she gasped. + +"It is not that which causes them to weep so bitterly, but the +knowledge that their names are to be posted on the bulletin boards in +the Place de l'Opera, the Place de l'Concorde, the--" + +"Good Lord!" gasped Robin. "Is _that_ being done?" + +"It is M'sieur, and the effect is marvellous. Three months ago the +boards were filled with illustrious names; to-day there are but few +to be found upon them. The people have discovered that the courts are +in earnest. The law is obeyed as it never was before. The prisons +were crowded to suffocation at one time; now they are almost empty. +It is a good law. To-day a mother can wheel her baby carriage in the +thickest of the traffic and run no risk of--Ah, but here is the +assistant prosecutor coming. Permit me to further warn you that you +will be placed under oath to tell the absolute truth. The prosecutor +will ask but three questions of you: your age, your name and your +place of residence. All of them you must answer truthfully, +especially as to your names. If it is discovered that you have +falsely given a name not your own, the lowest penalty is sixty days +in prison, imposed afterwards in addition to the sentence you will +receive for violating the traffic laws. I have performed my duty as +required by the commissioner. My fee is a fixed one, so you need not +put your hand into your pocket, M'sieur. Good day. Mademoiselle--good +day, M'sieur." He bowed profoundly and gave way to the impatient +prosecutor, who had considerately held himself aloof while the final +words were being uttered, albeit he glanced at his watch a couple of +times. + +"Come," he said, and he did not whisper; "let us be as expeditious as +possible. Approach the court. It is--" + +"See here," said Robin savagely, "this is too damned high-handed. Are +we to have no chance to defend ourselves? We--" + +"Just as you please, M'sieur," interrupted the prosecutor patiently. +"It is nothing to me. I receive my fee in any event. If you care to +defy the law in addition to what you have already done, it is not for +me to object." + +"Well, I insist on having--" + +A thunderous pounding on the bench interrupted his hot-headed speech. + +"Attend!" came in a sharp, uncompromising voice from the bench. "What +is the delay? This is no time to think. All that should have been +done before. Step forward! _Sergent_, see that the prisoners step +forward." + +Robin slipped his arm through Miss Guile's, expecting her to droop +heavily upon it for support. To his surprise she drew herself up, +dis-engaged herself, and walked straight up to the bench, without +fear or hesitation. It was Robin who needed an example of courage and +fortitude, not she. The chauffeur and footman, shivering in their +elegance, already stood before the bench. + +"Will you be so kind as to raise your veil, Madam?" spake the court. + +She promptly obeyed. He leaned forward with sudden interest. The +prosecutor blinked and abruptly overcame the habitual inclination to +appear bored. Such ravishing beauty had never before found its way +into that little court-room. Adjacent moustaches were fingered +somewhat convulsively by several _sergents de ville._ + +"Ahem!" said the court, managing with some difficulty to regain his +judicial form. "I am compelled by law, Mademoiselle, to warn you +before you are placed under oath that the lowest penalty for giving a +false name in answer to the charge to be brought against you is +imprisonment for not less than sixty days. I repeat this warning to +you, young man. Be sworn, if you please." + +Robin experienced a queer sense of exultation, not at all lessened by +the knowledge that he would be forced to reveal his own identity. +Would she call herself Bedelia Guile or would she--" + +"State your name, Mademoiselle," said the prosecutor. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THREE MESSAGES + + +Miss Guile lowered her head for an instant. Robin could see that her +lip was quivering. A vast pity for her took possession of him and he +was ashamed of what he now regarded as unexampled meanness of spirit +on his own part. She lifted her shamed, pleading eyes to search his, +as if expecting to find succour in their fearless depths. She found +them gleaming with indignation, suddenly aroused, and was instantly +apprehensive. There was a look in those eyes of his that seemed +prophetic of dire results unless she checked the words that were +rising to his lips. She shook her head quickly and, laying a hand +upon his arm, turned to the waiting magistrate. + +"My name is--Oh, is there no way to avoid the publicity--" she sighed +miserably--"the publicity that--" + +"I regret, Mademoiselle, that there is no alternative--" began the +Judge, to be interrupted by the banging of the court-room door. He +looked up, glaring at the offender with ominous eyes. The polite +attendant from the outer corridor was advancing in great haste. He +was not only in haste but vastly perturbed. + +Despite the profound whack of the magistrate's paper weight on the +hollow top of the desk and the withering scowl that went with it, the +attendant rushed forward, forgetting his manners, his habits and his +power of speech in one complete surrender to nature. He thrust into +the hand of the Judge a slip of paper, at the same time gasping +something that might have been mistaken for an appeal for pardon but +which more than likely was nothing of the sort. + +"What is this?" demanded the Judge ferociously. + +"Mon dieu!" replied the attendant, rolling his eyes heavenward. + +The magistrate was impressed. He took up the slip of paper and read +what was written thereon. Then he was guilty of a start. The next +instant he had the prosecutor up beside him and then the advocate. +Together they read the message from the outside and together they +lifted three pairs of incredulous eyes to stare at the culprits +below. There was a hurried consultation in excited whisperings, +intermittent stares and far from magisterial blinkings. + +Robin bent close to Bedelia's ear and whispered: "We must have killed +some one, the way they are acting." + +Her face was glowing with triumph. "No. Luck is with us, Mr. Schmidt. +You'll see!" + +The magistrate cleared his throat and beamed upon them in a most +friendly fashion. + +Robin grasped the situation in a flash. His own identity had been +revealed to the Judge. It was not likely that the daughter of William +Blithers could create such lively interest in a French court of +justice, so it _must_ be that Gourou or Quinnox had come to the +rescue. The court would not think of fining a prince of the royal +blood, law or no law! + +"M'sieur, Mademoiselle, will you be so good as to resume your seats? +An extraordinary condition has arisen. I shall be obliged to +investigate. The trial must be interrupted for a few minutes. Pardon +the delay. I shall return as quickly as possible. _Sergent!_ See +that Mademoiselle and M'sieur are made comfortable." + +He descended from the bench and hurried into the corridor, followed +closely by the prosecutor and the advocate, both of whom almost trod +on his heels. This may have been due to the fact that they were +slighter men and more sprightly, but more than likely it was because +they were unable to see where they were going for the excellent +reason that they were not looking in that direction at all. + +Policemen and attendants, mystified but impressed, set about to make +the culprits comfortable. They hustled at least a half dozen roomy +chairs out of an adjoining chamber; they procured palm-leaf fans and +even proffered the improbable--ice-water!--after which they betook +themselves to a remote corner and whispered excitedly at each other, +all the while regarding the two prisoners with intense interest. Even +the despairing footman and chauffeur exhibited unmistakable signs of +life. + +"I fancy my friends have heard of our plight, Mr. Schmidt," she said, +quite composedly. "We will be released in a very few minutes." + +He smiled complacently. He could afford to let her believe that her +friends and not his were performing a miracle. + +"Your friends must be very powerful," he said. + +"They are," said she, with considerable directness. + +"Still, we are not out of the scrape yet, Miss Guile," he remarked, +shaking his head. "It may be a flash in the pan." + +"Oh, please don't say that," she cried in quick alarm. "I--I should +die if--if we were to be sent to--" + +"Listen to me," he broke in eagerly, for an inspiration had come to +him. "There's no reason why you should suffer, in any event. +Apparently I am a suspected person. I may just as well be a kidnapper +as not. You must allow me to inform the Judge that I was abducting +you, so that he--" + +"How absurd!" + +"I don't in the least mind. Besides, I too have powerful friends who +will see that I am released in a day or two. You--" + +"You cannot hope to convince the Judge that you were abducting me in +my own automobile--or at least in one belonging to my friends, who +are irreproachable. I am very much obliged to you for thinking of it, +Mr. Schmidt, but it is out of the question. I couldn't allow you to +do it in the first place, and in the second I'm sure the court +wouldn't believe you." + +"It was I who suggested running away from those detectives," he +protested. + +"But I jumped at the chance, didn't I?" she whispered triumphantly. +"I am even guiltier than thou. Can you ever forgive me for--" + +"Hush!" he said, in a very low voice. His hand fell upon hers as it +rested on the arm of the chair. They were in the shadows. She looked +up quickly and their eyes met. After a moment hers fell, and she +gently withdrew her hand from its place of bondage. "We are pals, +Bedelia," he went on softly. "Pals never go back on each other. They +sink or swim together, and they never stop to inquire the reason why. +When it comes to a pinch, one or the other will sacrifice himself +that his pal may be saved. I--" + +"Please do not say anything more," she said, her eyes strangely +serious and her voice vibrant with emotion. "Please!" + +"I have a confession to make to you," he began, leaning still closer. +"You have taken me on faith. You do not know who or what I am. I--" + +She held up her hand, an engaging frown in her eyes. "Stop! This is +no place for confessions. I will not listen to you. Save your +confessions for the magistrate. Tell him the truth, Mr. Schmidt. I am +content to wait." + +He stared for an instant, perplexed. "See here, Miss Guile,-- +Bedelia,--I've just got to tell you something that--" + +"You may tell me at Interlaken," she interrupted, and she was now +quite visibly agitated. + +"At Interlaken? Then you mean to carry out your plan to spend--" + +"Sh! Here they come. Now we shall see." + +The magistrate and his companions re-entered the room at that +instant, more noticeably excited than when they left it. The former, +rubbing his hands together and smiling as he had never smiled before, +approached the pair. It did not occur to him to resent the fact that +they remained seated in his august presence. + +"A lamentable mistake has been made," he said. "I regret that M'sieur +and Mademoiselle have been subjected to so grave an indignity. Permit +me to apologise for the misguided energy of our excellent +_sergents_. They--" + +"But we were exceeding the speed limit," said Robin comfortably, now +that the danger was past. "The officers were acting within their +rights." + +"I know, I know," exclaimed the magistrate. "They are splendid +fellows, all of them, and I beg of you to overlook their unfortunate +--er--zealousness. Permit me to add that you are not guilty--I should +say, that you are honourably discharged by this humble court. But +wait! The _sergents_ shall also apologise. Here! Attend. It devolves +upon you--" + +"Oh, I beg of you--" began Robin, but already the policemen, who had +been listening open-mouthed to the agitated prosecutor, were bowing +and scraping and muttering their apologies for enforcing a cruel and +unjust law. + +"And we are not obliged to give our names, _M'sieur le judge?_" cried +Miss Guile gladly. + +"Mademoiselle," said he, with a profound bow, "it is not necessary to +acquaint me with something I already know. Permit me to again express +the most unbounded regret that--" + +"Oh, thank you," she cried. "We have had a really delightful +experience. You owe us no apology, M'sieur. And now, may we depart?" + +"Instantly! LaChance, conduct M'sieur and Mademoiselle into the +fresh, sweet, open air and discover their car for them without delay. +_Sergents_, remain behind. Let there be nothing to indicate that +there has been detention. Mademoiselle, you have been merely making a +philanthropic visit to our prison. There has been no arrest." + +Robin and Miss Guile emerged from the low, forbidding door and stood +side by side on the pavement looking up and down the street in search +of the car. It was nowhere in sight. The chauffeur gasped with +amazement--and alarm. He had left it standing directly in front of +the door, and now it was gone. + +"It is suggested, M'sieur," said the polite LaChance, "that you walk +to the corner beyond, turn to the left and there you will find the +car in plain view. It was removed by two gentlemen soon after you +condescended to honour us with a visit of inspection, and thereby you +have escaped much unnecessary attention from the curious who always +infest the vicinity of police offices." He saluted them gravely and +returned at once to the corridor. + +Following leisurely in the wake of the hurrying servants, Robin and +Bedelia proceeded down the narrow street to the corner indicated. +They were silent and preoccupied. After all, _who_ was to be thanked +for the timely escape, his god or hers? + +And here it may be said that neither of them was ever to know who +sent that brief effective message to the magistrate, nor were they +ever to know the nature of its contents. + +The men were examining the car when they came up. No one was near. +There was no one to tell how it came to be there nor whither its +unknown driver had gone. It stood close to the curb and the engine +was throbbing, proof in itself that some one had but recently +deserted his post as guardian. + +"The obliging man-hunters," suggested Robin in reply to a low-voiced +question. + +"Or your guardian angel, the great Gourou!" she said, frowning +slightly. "By the way, Mr. Schmidt. do you expect to be under +surveillance during your stay at Interlaken?" + +There was irony in her voice. "Not if I can help it," he said. "And +you, Miss Guile? Is it possible that two of the best detectives in +Paris are to continue treading on your heels all the time you are in +Europe? Must we go about with the uncomfortable feeling that some one +is staring at us from behind, no matter where we are? Are we to be +perpetually attended by the invisible? If so, I am afraid we will +find it very embarrassing." + +They were in the car now and proceeding at a snail's pace toward the +Arc de Triomphe. Her eyes narrowed. He was sure that she clutched her +slim fingers tightly although, for an excellent reason, he was not by +way of knowing. He was rapturously watching those expressive eyes. + +"I shall put a stop to this ridiculous espionage at once, Mr. +Schmidt. These men shall be sent kiting--I mean, about their +business before this day is over. I do not intend to be spied upon an +instant longer." + +"Still they may have been instruments of providence to-day," he +reminded her. "Without them, we might now be languishing in jail and +our spotless names posted in the Place de l'Opera. Bedelia Guile and +Rex Schmidt, malefactors. What would your father say to that?" + +She smiled--a ravishing smile, it was. His heart gave a stupendous +jump. "He would say that it served me right," said she, and then: +"But what difference can it possibly make to you, Mr. Schmidt, if the +detectives continue to watch over me?" + +"None," said he promptly. "I suppose they are used to almost anything +in the way of human nature, so if they don't mind, I'm sure I +sha'n't. I haven't the slightest objection to being watched by +detectives, if we can only keep other people from seeing us." + +"Don't be silly," she cried. "And let me remind you while I think of +it: You are not to call me Bedelia." + +"Bedelia," he said deliberately. + +She sighed. "I am afraid I have been mistaken in you," she said. He +recalled Gourou's advice. Had he failed in the test? "But don't do it +again." + +"Now that I think of it," he said soberly, "you are not to call me +Mr. Schmidt. Please bear that in mind, Bedelia." + +"Thank you. I don't like the name. I'll call you--" + +Just then the footman turned on the seat and excitedly pointed to a +car that had swung into the boulevard from a side street. + +"The man-hunters!" exclaimed Robin. "By jove, we didn't lose them +after all." + +"To the Ritz, Pierre," she cried out sharply. Once more she seemed +perturbed and anxious. + +"What are you going to call me?" he demanded, insistently. + +"I haven't quite decided," she replied, and lapsed into moody +silence. + +Her nervousness increased as they sped down the Champs Elysees and +across the Place de la Concorde. He thought that he understood the +cause and presently sought to relieve her anxiety by suggesting that +she set him down somewhere along the Rue de Rivoli. She flushed +painfully. + +"Thank you, Mr. Schmidt, I--are you sure you will not mind?" + +"May I ask what it is that you are afraid of, Miss Guile?" he +inquired seriously. + +She was lowering her veil. "I am not afraid, Mr. Schmidt," she said. +"I am a very, very guilty person, that's all. I've done something I +ought not to have done, and I'm--I'm ashamed. You don't consider me a +bold, silly--" + +"Good Lord, no!" he cried fervently. + +"Then why do you call me Bedelia?" she asked, shaking her head. + +"If you feel that way about it, I--I humbly implore you to overlook +my freshness," he cried in despair. + +"Will you get out here, Mr. Schmidt?" She pressed a button and the +car swung alongside the curb. + +"When am I to see you again?" he asked, holding out his hand. She +gave it a firm, friendly grip and said: + +"I am going to Switzerland the day after tomorrow. Good-bye." + +In a sort of daze, he walked up the Rue Castiliogne to the Place +Vendome. His heart was light and his eyes were shining with a flame +that could have but one origin. He was no longer in doubt. He was in +love. He had found the Golden Girl almost at the end of his journey, +and what cared he if she did turn out to be the daughter of old man +Blithers? What cared he for _anything_ but Bedelia? There would +be a pretty howdy-do when he announced to his people that their +Princess had been selected for them, whether or no, and there might +be such a thing as banishment for himself. Even at that, he would be +content, for Bedelia was proof against titles. If she loved him, it +would be for himself. She would scorn the crown and mock the throne, +and they would go away together and live happily ever afterward, as +provided by the most exacting form of romance. And Blithers? What a +joke it would be on Blithers if he gave up the throne! + +As he approached the Ritz, a tall young man emerged from the +entrance, stared at him for an instant, and then swung off at a rapid +pace in the direction of the Rue de la Paix. The look he gave Robin +was one of combined amazement and concern, and the tail end of it +betrayed unmistakable annoyance,--or it might have been hatred. He +looked over his shoulder once and found Robin staring after him. This +time there could be no mistake. He was furious, but whether with +Robin or himself there was no means of deciding from the standpoint +of an observer. At any rate, he quickened his pace and soon +disappeared. + +He was the good-looking young fellow who had met her at the steamship +landing, and it was quite obvious that he had been making +investigations on his own account. + +Robin permitted himself a sly grin as he sauntered into the hotel. He +had given _that_ fellow something to worry about, if he had +accomplished nothing else. Then he found himself wondering if, by any +chance, it could be the Scoville fellow. That would be a facer! + +He found Quinnox and Dank awaiting him in the lobby. They were +visibly excited. + +"Did you observe the fellow who just went out?" inquired Robin, +assuming a most casual manner. + +"Yes," said both men in unison. + +"I think we've got some interesting news concerning that very chap," +added the Count, glancing around uneasily. + +"Perhaps I may be able to anticipate it, Count," ventured Robin. +"I've an idea he is young Scoville, the chap who is supposed to be in +love with Miss Blithers--and _vice versa_," he concluded, with a +chuckle. + +"What have you heard?" demanded the Count in astonishment. + +"Let's sit down," said Robin, at once convinced that he had stumbled +upon an unwelcome truth. + +They repaired to the garden and were lucky enough to find a table +somewhat removed from the crowd of tea-drinkers. Robin began fanning +himself with his broad straw-hat. He felt uncomfortably warm. Quinnox +gravely extracted two or three bits of paper from his pocket, and +spread them out in order before his sovereign. + +"Read this one first," said he grimly. + +It was a cablegram from their financial agents in New York City, and +it said: "Mr. B. making a hurried trip to Paris. Just learned +Scoville preceded Miss B. to Europe by fast steamer and has been seen +with her in Paris. B. fears an elopement. Make sure papers are signed +at once as such contingency might cause B. to change mind and +withdraw if possible." + +Robin looked up. "I think this may account for the two man-hunters," +said he. His companions stared. "You will hear all about them from +Gourou. We were followed this afternoon." + +"Followed?" gasped Quinnox. + +"Beautifully," said the Prince, with his brightest smile. +"Detectives, you know. It was ripping." + +"My God!" groaned the Count. + +"I fancy you'll now agree with me that she is Miss Blithers," said +Dank forlornly. + +"Cheer up, Boske," cried Robin, slapping him on the shoulder. "You'll +meet another fate before you're a month older. The world is +absolutely crowded with girls." + +"You can't crowd the world with one girl," said Dank, and it was +quite evident from his expression that he believed the world +contained no more than one. + +"I had the feeling that evil would be the result of this foolish trip +to-day," groaned Quinnox. "I should not have permitted you to--" + +"The result is still in doubt," said Robin enigmatically. "And now, +what comes next?" + +"Read this one. It is from Mr. Blithers. I'll guarantee that you do +not take this one so complacently." + +He was right in his surmise. Robin ran his eye swiftly over the +cablegram and then started up from his chair with a muttered +imprecation. + +"Sh!" cautioned the Count,--and just in time, for the young man was +on the point of enlarging upon his original effort. "Calm yourself, +Bobby, my lad. Try taking six or seven full, deep inhalations, and +you'll find that it helps wonderfully as a preventive. It saves many +a harsh word. I've--" + +"You needn't caution me," murmured the Prince. "If I had the tongue +of a pirate I couldn't begin to do justice to _this_," and he +slapped his hand resoundingly upon the crumpled message from William +W. Blithers. + +The message had been sent by Mr. Blithers that morning, evidently +just before the sailing of the fast French steamer on which he and +his wife were crossing to Havre. It was directed to August Totten and +read as follows: + +"Tell our young friend to qualify statement to press at once. +Announce reconsideration of hasty denial and admit engagement. This +is imperative. I am not in mood for trifling. Have wired Paris papers +that engagement is settled. Have also wired daughter. The sooner we +get together on this the better. Wait for my arrival in Paris." It +was signed "W. B." + +"There's Blitherskite methods for you," said Dank. "Speaking of +pirates, he's the king of them all. Did you ever hear of such +confounded insolence? The damned--" + +"Wait a second, Dank," interrupted the Count. "There is still another +delectable communication for you, Robin. It was directed to R. +Schmidt and I took the liberty of opening it, as authorised. Read +it." + +This was one of the ordinary "_petits bleu_," dropped into the +pneumatic tube letter-box at half-past two that afternoon, shortly +before Robin ventured forth on his interesting expedition in quest of +tea, and its contents were very crisp and to the point: + +"Pay no attention to any word you may have received from my father. +He cables a ridiculous command to me which I shall ignore. If you +have received a similar message I implore you to disregard it +altogether. Let's give each other a fighting chance." + +It was signed "Maud Blithers." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER + + +Mr. Blithers received a marconigram from the _Jupiter_ when the ship +was three days out from New York. It was terse but sufficient. + +"Have just had a glimpse of Prince Charming. He is very good-looking. +Love to mother. Maud." + +He had barely settled into a state of complete satisfaction with +himself over the successful inauguration of a shrewd campaign to get +the better of the recalcitrant Maud and the incomprehensible Robin, +when he was thrown into a panic by the discovery that young Chandler +Scoville had sailed for Europe two days ahead of Maud and her elderly +companion. The gratification of knowing that the two young people had +sailed away on the same vessel was not in the least minimised by +Maud's declaration that she intended to remain in her cabin all the +way across in order to avoid recognition, for he knew her too well to +believe it possible that she could stay out of sight for any length +of time, fair weather or foul. He even made a definite wager with his +wife that the two would become acquainted before they were half-way +across the Atlantic, and he made a bet with himself that nature would +do the rest. And now here came the staggering suspicion that +Scoville's hasty departure was the result of a pre-arranged plan +between him and Maud, and that, after all, the silly girl might spoil +everything by marrying the confounded rascal before he could do +anything to prevent the catastrophe. + +He even tried to engineer a scheme whereby young Scoville might be +arrested on landing and detained on one pretext or another until he +could reach Europe and put an end to the fellow's vain-glorious +conniving. + +But after consulting with his lawyers he abandoned the plan because +they succeeded in proving to him that Maud certainly would marry the +fellow if she had the least ground for believing that he was being +oppressed on her account. The cables were kept very busy, however, +for the next twenty-four hours, and it is certain that Scoville was a +marked man from the moment he landed. + +Newspaper reporters camped on the trail of Mr. Blithers. He very +obligingly admitted that there was something in the report that his +daughter was to marry the Prince of Graustark, although he couldn't +say anything definite at the time. It wouldn't be fair to the parties +concerned, he explained. He gave away a great many boxes of cigars, +and not a few of the more sagacious reporters succeeded in getting at +least three boxes by interviewing him on as many separate occasions +without being detected in the act of repeating. Then came the +disgusting denials in Paris by his daughter and the ungrateful +Prince. This was too much. He couldn't understand such unfilial +behaviour on the part of one, and he certainly couldn't forgive the +ingratitude of the other. + +Instead of waiting until Saturday to sail, he changed ships and left +New York on Friday, thereby gaining nothing by the move except relief +from the newspapers, for it appears that he gave up a five day boat +for one that could not do it under six. Still he was in active +pursuit, which was a great deal better than sitting in New York +twiddling his thumbs or looking at his watch and berating the +pernicious hours that stood between him and Saturday noon. + +"There will be something doing in Europe the day I land there, Lou," +he said to his wife as they stood on deck and watched the Statue of +Liberty glide swiftly back toward Manhattan Island. "I've got all the +strings working smoothly. We've got Groostock where it can't peep any +louder than a freshly hatched chicken, and we'll soon bring Maud to +her senses. I tell you, Lou, there is nothing that makes a girl +forget her lofty ideals so quickly as the chance to go shopping for +princess gowns. She's seen the prince and I'll bet she won't be so +stubborn as she was before. And if he has had a good, square look at +her,--if he's had a chance to gaze into those eyes of hers,--why, I +--well, I leave it to you. He can't help getting off his high horse, +can he?" + +Mrs. Blithers favoured him with a smile. It was acknowledged that +Maud was the living image of what her mother had been at the age of +twenty. + +"I hope the child hasn't made any silly promise to Channie Scoville," +she sighed. + +"I've been thinking of that, Lou," said he, wiping his brow, "and +I've come to one conclusion: Scoville can be bought off. He's as poor +as Job and half a million will look like the Bank of England to him. +I'll--" + +"You are not to attempt anything of the kind, Will," she cried +emphatically. "He would laugh in your face, poor as he is. He comes +from one of the best families in New York and--" + +"And I don't know where the best families need money any more than +they do in New York," he interrupted irritably. "'Gad, if the worst +families need it as badly as they do, what must be the needs of the +best? You leave it to me. It may be possible to insult him with a +half million, so if he feels that way about it I'll apologise to him +again with another half million. You'll see that he won't be capable +of resenting two insults in succession. He'll--" + +"He isn't a fool," said she significantly. + +"He'd be a fool if he refused to take--" + +"Are you losing your senses, Will?" she cried impatiently. "Why +should he accept a million to give up Maud, when he can be sure of +fifty times that much if he marries her?" + +"But I'll cut Maud off with a dollar if she marries him, so help me +Moses!" exclaimed Mr. Blithers, but he went a little pale just the +same. "That will fix him!" + +"You are talking nonsense," said she sharply. He put his fingers to +his ears somewhat earlier than usual, and she turned away with a +tantalising laugh. "I'm going inside," and inside she went. When he +followed a few minutes later he was uncommonly meek. + +"At any rate," he said, seating himself on the edge of a chair in her +parlour, "I guess those cablegrams this morning will make 'em think +twice before they go on denying things in the newspapers." + +"Maud will pay no attention to your cablegram, and, if I am any judge +of human nature, the Prince will laugh himself sick over the one you +sent to Count Quinnox. I told you not to send them. You are not +dealing with Wall Street. You are dealing with a girl and a boy who +appear to have minds of their own." + +He ventured a superior sniff. "I guess you don't know as much about +Wall Street as you think you do." + +"I only know that it puts its tail between its legs and howls every +time some one points a finger at it," she observed scornfully. + +"Now let's be sensible, Lou," he said, sitting back a little further +in the chair, relieved to find that she was at least willing to +tolerate his presence,--a matter on which he was in some doubt when +he entered the room. There were times when he was not quite certain +whether he or she was the brains of the family. "We'll probably have +a wireless from Maud before long. Then we'll have something tangible +to discuss. By the way, did I tell you that I've ordered some Dutch +architects from Berlin to go--" + +"The Dutch are from Holland," she said wearily. + +"--to go over to Growstock and give me a complete estimate on +repairing and remodelling the royal castle? I dare say we'll have to +do a good deal to the place. It's several hundred years old and must +require a lot of conveniences. Such as bath-rooms, electric lights, +steam heating appar--" + +"Better make haste slowly, Will," she said, and he ought to have been +warned by the light in her eye. "You are taking a great deal for +granted, aren't you?" + +"It's got to be fixed up some time, so we might just as well do it in +the beginning," said he, failing utterly to grasp her meaning. +"Probably needs refurnishing from top to bottom, too, and a new roof. +I never saw a ruin yet that didn't leak. Remember those castles on +the Rhine? Will you ever forget how wet we got the day we went +through the one at--" + +"They were abandoned, tumble-down castles," she reminded him. + +"There isn't a castle in Europe that's any good in a rain-storm," he +proclaimed. "A mortgage can't keep out the rain and that's what every +one of 'em is covered with. Why old man Quiddox himself told me that +their castle had been shot to pieces in one of the revolutions and--" + +"It is time you informed yourself about the country you are trying to +annex to the Blithers estate," she said sarcastically. "I can assist +you to some extent if you will be good enough to listen. In the first +place, the royal castle at Edelweiss is one of the most substantial +in the world. It has not been allowed to fall into decay. In fact, it +is inhabitated from top to bottom by members of the royal household +and the court, and I fancy they are not the sort of people who take +kindly to a wetting. It is not a ruin, Will, such as you have been +permitted to visit, but a magnificent building with all of the modern +improvements. The only wettings that the inmates sustain are of a +daily character and due entirely to voluntary association with +porcelain bath-tubs and nickle-plated showers, and they never get +anything wet but their skins. As for the furnishings, I can assure +you that the entire Blithers fortune could not replace them if they +were to be destroyed by fire or pillage. They are priceless and they +are unique. I have read that the hangings in the bed-chamber of the +late Princess Yetive are the most wonderful in the whole world. The +throne chair in the great audience chamber is of solid gold and +weighs nearly three thousand pounds. It is studded with diamonds, +rubies--" + +"Great Scott, Lou, where did you learn all this?" he gasped, his eyes +bulging. + +"--emeralds and other precious stones. There is one huge carpet in +the royal drawing-room that the Czar of Russia is said to have +offered one hundred thousand pounds for and the offer was scorned. +The park surrounding the castle is said to be beautiful beyond the +power of description. The--" + +"I asked you where you got all this information. Can't you answer +me?" + +"I obtained all this and a great deal more from a lady who spent a +year or two inside the castle walls. I refer to Mrs. Truxton King, +who might have told you as much if you had possessed the intelligence +to inquire." + +"Gee whiz!" exclaimed Mr. Blithers, going back to his buoyant boyhood +days for an adequate expression. "What a wonder you are, Lou. But +that's the woman of it, always getting at the inside of a thing while +a man is standing around looking at the outside. Say, but won't it +make a wonderful home for you and me to spend a peaceful old age in +when we get ready to lay aside the--" + +He stopped short, for she had arisen and was standing over him with a +quivering forefinger levelled at his nose,--and not more than six +inches away from it,--her handsome eyes flashing with fury. + +"You may walk in where angels fear to tread, but you will walk alone, +Will Blithers. I shall not be with you, and you may as well +understand it now. I've told you a hundred times that money isn't +everything, and it is as cheap as dirt when you put it alongside of +tradition, honour, pride and loyalty. Those Graustarkians would take +you by the nape of the neck and march you out of their castle so +quick that your head would swim. You may be able to buy their prince +for Maudie to exhibit around the country, but you can't buy the +intelligence of the people. They won't have you at any price and they +won't have me, so there is the situation in a nutshell. They will +hate Maudie, of course, but they will endure her for obvious reasons. +They may even come to love and respect her in the end, for she is +worthy. But as for you and me, William,--with all our money,--we +will find every hand against us--even the hand of our daughter, I +prophesy. I am not saying that I would regret seeing Maud the +Princess of Graustark--far from it. But I do say that you and I will +be expected to know our places. If you attempt to spend your +declining years in the castle at Edelweiss you will find them reduced +to days, and short ones at that. The people of Graustark will see to +it that you die before your time." + +"Bosh!" said Mr. Blithers. "Mind if I smoke?" He took out a cigar and +began searching for matches. + +"No," she said, "I don't mind. It is a sign that you need something +to steady your nerves. I know you, Will Blithers. You don't want to +smoke. You want to gain a few minutes of time, that's all." + +He lit a cigar. "Right you are," was his unexpected admission. "I +wonder if you really have the right idea about this business. What +objection could any one have to a poor, tired old man sitting in +front of his daughter's fireside and--and playing with her kiddies? +It seems to me that--" + +"You will never be a tired old man, that's the trouble," she said, +instantly touched. + +"Oh, yes, I will," said he slowly. "I'm rather looking forward to it, +too." + +"It will be much nicer to have the kiddies come to your own fireside, +Will. I used to enjoy nothing better than going to spend a few days +with my grandfather." + +"But what's the use of going to all this trouble and expense if we +are not to enjoy some of the fruits?" he protested, making a +determined stand. "If these people can't be grateful to the man who +helps 'em out in their time of trouble,--and who goes out of his way +to present 'em with a bright, capable posterity,--I'd like to know +what in thunder gratitude really means." + +"Oh, there isn't such a thing as gratitude," she said. "Obligation, +yes,--and ingratitude most certainly, but gratitude,--no. You are in +a position to know that gratitude doesn't exist. Are you forgetting +the private advices we already have had from Graustark? Does it +indicate that the people are grateful? There are moments when I fear +that we are actually placing Maud's life in peril, and I have had +some wretched dreams. They do not want her. They speak of exile for +the Prince if he marries her. And now I repeat what I have said +before:--the people of Graustark must have an opportunity to see and +become acquainted with Maud before the marriage is definitely +arranged. I will not have my daughter cast into a den of lions. +Will,--for that is what it may amount to. The people will adore her, +they will welcome her with open arms if they are given the chance. +But they will have none of her if she is forced upon them in the way +you propose." + +"I'll--I'll think it over," said Mr. Blithers, and then discovered +that his cigar had gone out. "I think I'll go on deck and smoke, Lou. +Makes it stuffy in here. We'll lunch in the restaurant at half-past +one, eh?" + +"Think hard, Will," she recommended, with a smile. + +"I'll do that," he said, "but there's nothing on earth that can alter +my determination to make Maud the Princess of Groostork. +_That's_ settled." + +"Graustark, Will." + +"Well, whatever it is," said he, and departed. + +He did think hard, but not so much about a regal home for aged people +as about Channie Scoville who had now become a positive menace to all +of his well-ordered and costly plans. The principal subject for +thought just now was not Graustark but this conniving young gentleman +who stood ready to make a terrible mess of posterity. Mr. Blithers +was sufficiently fair-minded to concede that the fellow was good- +looking, well-bred and clever, just the sort of chap that any girl +might fall in love with like a shot. As a matter of fact, he once had +admired Scoville, but that was before he came to look upon him as a +menace. He would make a capital husband for any girl in the world, +except Maud. He could say that much for him, without reserve. + +He thought hard until half-past one and then went to the wireless +office, where he wrote out a message in cipher and directed the +operator to waste no time in relaying it to his offices in Paris. His +wife was right. It would be the height of folly to offer Scoville +money and it would be even worse to inspire the temporary +imprisonment of the young man. + +But there was a splendid alternative. He could manage to have his own +daughter abducted,--chaperon included,--and held for ransom! + +The more he thought of it the better it seemed to him, and so he sent +a cipher message that was destined to throw his Paris managers into a +state of agitation that cannot possibly be measured by words. In +brief, he instructed them to engage a few peaceable, trustworthy and +positively respectable gentlemen,--he was particularly exacting on +the score of gentility,--with orders to abduct the young lady and +hold her in restraint until he arrived and arranged for her +liberation! They were to do the deed without making any fuss about +it, but at the same time they were to do it effectually. + +He had the foresight to suggest that the job should be undertaken by +the very detective agency he had employed to shadow young Scoville +and also to keep an eye on Maud. Naturally, she was never to know the +truth about the matter. She was to believe that her father came up +with a huge sum in the shape of ransom, no questions asked. He also +remembered in time and added the imperative command that she was to +be confined in clean, comfortable quarters and given the best of +nourishment. But, above all else, it was to be managed in a decidedly +realistic way, for Maud was a keen-witted creature who would see +through the smallest crack in the conspiracy if there was a single +false movement on the part of the plotters. It is also worthy of +mention that Mrs. Blithers was never--_decidedly never_--to know the +truth about the matter. + +He went in to luncheon in a very amiable, even docile frame of mind. + +"I've thought the matter over, Lou," he said, "and I guess you are +right, after all. We will make all the repairs necessary, but we +won't consider living in it ourselves. We'll return good for evil and +live in a hotel when we go to visit the royal family. As for--" + +"I meant that you were to think hard before attempting to force Maud +upon Prince Robin's subjects without preparing them for the--" + +"I thought of that, too," he interrupted cheerfully. "I'm not going +to cast my only child into the den of lions, so that's the end of it. +Have you given the order, my dear?" + +"No," she said; "for I knew you would change it when you came in." + +Late that evening he had a reply from his Paris managers. They +inquired if he was responsible for the message they had received. It +was a ticklish job and they wanted to be sure that the message was +genuine. He wired back that he was the sender and to go ahead. The +next morning they notified him that his instructions would be carried +out as expeditiously as possible. + +He displayed such a beaming countenance all that day that his wife +finally demanded an explanation. It wasn't like him to beam when he +was worried about anything, and she wanted to know what had come over +him. + +"It's the sea-air, Lou," he exclaimed glibly. "It always makes me +feel like a fighting-cock. I--" + +"Rubbish! You detest the sea-air. It makes you feel like fighting, I +grant, but not like a fighting-cock." + +"There you go, trying to tell me how I feel. I've never known any one +like you, Lou. I can't say a word that--" + +"Have you had any news from Maud?" she broke in suspiciously. + +"Not a word," said he. + +"What have you done to Channie Scoville?" she questioned, fixing him +with an accusing eye. + +"Not a thing," said he. + +"Then, what is it?" + +"You won't believe me if I tell you," said he warily. + +"Yes, I will." + +"No, you won't." + +"Tell me this instant why you've been grinning like a Cheshire cat +all day." + +"It's the sea-air," said he, and then: "I said you wouldn't believe +me, didn't I?" + +"Do you think I'm a fool, Will Blithers?" she flashed, and did not +wait for an answer. He chuckled to himself as she swept imperiously +out of sight around a corner of the deck-building. + +He was up bright and early the next morning, tingling with +anticipation. There ought to be word from Paris before noon, and it +might come earlier. He kept pretty close to the wireless operator's +office, and was particularly attentive to the spitting crackle of the +instrument. + +About eleven o'clock an incomprehensibly long message began to rattle +out of the air. He contained himself in patience for the matter of +half an hour or longer, and then, as the clatter continued without +cessation, he got up and made his way to the door of the operator's +office. + +"What is it? The history of England?" he demanded sarcastically. + +"Message for you, Mr. Blithers. It's a long one and I'm having a hard +time picking it up. Everybody seems to be talking at once. Do you +want the baseball scores, Mr. Blithers?" + +"Not unless they come in cipher," said Mr. Blithers acidly. + +"Some of 'em do. Six to nothing in favor of the Giants, two to +nothing--Here we are at last. I've picked up the _Mauretania_ again. +She's relaying." + +Mr. Blithers sat down on the steps and looked at his watch. It would +be five o'clock in Paris. He wondered if they were giving Maud her +afternoon tea, and then choked up with a sudden pity for the +terrified captive. It was all he could do to keep from jumping up and +ordering the operator to drop everything and take a message +countermanding his inhuman instructions to those asses in Paris. +Tears gushed from his eyes. He brushed them away angrily and tried to +convince himself that it served Maud right for being so obstinate. +Still the tears came. The corners of his mouth drooped and his chin +began to quiver. It was too much! The poor child was-- + +But just then the operator sat back with a sigh of relief, mopped his +brow, and said: + +"Good thing you're a rich man, Mr. Blithers. It came collect and--" + +"Never mind," blurted Mr. Blithers. "Hand it over." + +There were four sheets of writing at some outlandish price per word, +but what cared he? He wanted to get back to his stateroom and his +cipher code as quickly--but his eyes almost started from his head as +he took in the name at the bottom of the message. It was "Maud." + +He did not require the cipher book. A fourth reader child could have +read the message without a halt. Maud had taken his request +literally. He had asked her to send him a nice long message, but he +did not expect her to make a four-page letter of it. She was paying +him out with a vengeance! + +He took the precaution to read it before handing it over to his wife, +to whom it was addressed in conjunction with himself: + +"Dear father and mother," it began--(and he looked at the date line +again to make sure it was from Paris)--"in reply to your esteemed +favour of the nineteenth, or possibly the twentieth, I beg to inform +you that I arrived safely in Paris as per schedule. Regarding the +voyage, it was delightful. We had one or two rough days. The rest of +the time it was perfectly heavenly. I met two or three interesting +and amusing people on board and they made the time pass most +agreeably. I think I wired you that I had a glimpse of a certain +person. On my arrival in Paris I was met at the station by friends +and taken at once to the small, exclusive hotel where they are +stopping for the summer. It is so small and exclusive that I'm sure +you have never heard of it. I may as well tell you that I have seen +Channie,--you know who I mean,--Chandler Scoville, and he has been +very nice to me. Concerning your suggestion that I reconsider the +statement issued to the press, I beg to state that I don't see any +sense in taking the world into my confidence any farther than it has +been taken already, if that is grammatically correct. I have also +sent word to a certain person that he is not to pay any attention to +the report that we are likely to change our minds in order to help +out the greedy newspapers who don't appear to know when they have had +enough. I hope that the voyage will benefit both of you as much as it +did me. If I felt any better than I do now I'd call for the police as +a precaution. Let me suggest that you try the chicken a la Bombardier +in the Ritz restaurant. I found it delicious. I daresay they serve it +as nicely on your ship as they do on the _Jupiter_. as the management +is the same. Of course one never can tell about chefs. My plans are a +trifle indefinite. I may leave here at any moment. It is very hot and +muggy and nearly every one is skipping off to the mountains or +seashore. If I should happen to be away from Paris when you arrive +don't worry about me. I shall be all right and in safe hands. I will +let you know where I am just as soon as I get settled somewhere. I +must go where it is quiet and peaceful. I am so distressed over what +has occurred that I don't feel as though I could ever be seen in +public again without a thick veil and a pair of goggles. I have plenty +of money for immediate use, but you might deposit something to my +credit at the Credit Lyonnais as I haven't the least idea how long I +shall stay over here. Miranda is well and is taking good care of me. +She seldom lets me out of her sight if that is any comfort to you. I +hope you will forgive the brevity of this communication and believe me +when I say that it is not lack of love for you both that curtails its +length but the abominably hot weather. With endless love from your +devoted daughter--Maud." + +The tears had dried in Mr. Blithers' eyes but he wiped them time and +again as he read this amazing letter,--this staggering exhibition of +prodigality. He swore a little at first, but toward the end even that +prerogative failed him. He set out in quest of his wife. Not that he +expected her to say any more than he had said, but that he wanted her +to see at a glance what kind of a child she had brought into the +world and to forever hold her peace in future when he undertook to +speak his mind. + +He could not understand why his wife laughed softly to herself as she +read, and he looked on in simple amazement when she deliberately +undertook to count the words. She counted them in a whisper and he +couldn't stand it. He went down where the children were shrieking +over a game of quoits and felt singularly peaceful and undisturbed. + +It was nearly bed-time before word came from his managers in Paris. +Bed-time had no meaning for him after he had worked out the message +by the code. It is true that he observed a life-long custom and went +to bed, but he did not do it for the purpose of going to sleep. + +"Your daughter has disappeared from Paris. All efforts to locate her +have failed. Friends say she left ostensibly for the Pyrenees but +inquiries at stations and along line fail to reveal trace of her. +Scoville still here and apparently in the dark. He is being watched. +Her companion and maid left with her last night. Prince of Graustark +and party left for Edelweiss to-day." + +So read the message from Paris. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT + + +One usually has breakfast on the porch of the Hotel Schweizerhof at +Interlaken. It is not the most fashionable hostelry in the quaint +little town at the head of the Lake of Thun, but it is of an +excellent character, and the rolls and honey to be had with one's +breakfast can not be surpassed in the Bernese Oberland. Straight +ahead lies one of the most magnificent prospects in all the world: an +unobstructed view of the snow-thatched Jungfrau, miles away, gleaming +white and jagged against an azure sky, suggesting warmth instead of +chill, grandeur instead of terror. Looking up the valley one might be +led to say that an hour's ramble would take him to the crest of that +shining peak, and yet some men have made a life's journey of it. +Others have turned back in time. + +One has a whiff of fragrant woodlands and serene hay-cocks, a breath +of cool air from the Jungfrau's snows, a sniff of delectable bacon +and toast--and a zest for breakfast. And one sets about it with +interest, with the breakfast of the next day as a thing to look +forward to. + +R. Schmidt sat facing the dejected Boske Dank. His eyes were dancing +with the joy of living, and nothing better can be said of a man's +character than that he is gay and happy at breakfast-time. He who +wakes up, refreshed and buoyant, and eager for the day's adventure, +is indeed a child of nature. He will never grow old and crabbed; he +will grip the hand of death when the time comes with the unconquered +zeal that makes the grim reaper despise himself for the advantage he +takes of youth. + +"Well, here we are and in spite of that, where are we?" said Dank, +who saw nothing beautiful in the smile of any early morn. "I mean to +say, what have we to show for our pains? We sneak into this +Godforsaken hamlet, surrounded on all sides by abominations in the +shape of tourists, and at the end of twenty-four hours we discover +that the fair Miss Guile has played us a shabby trick. I daresay she +is laughing herself sick over the whole business." + +"Which is more than you can say for yourself, Boske," said Robin +blithely. "Brace up! All is not lost. We'll wait here a day or two +longer and then--well, I don't know what we'll do then." + +"She never intended to come here at all," said Dank, filled with +resentment. "It was a trick to get rid of us. She--" + +"Be honest, old chap and say that it was a trick to get rid of +_me_. Us is entirely too plural. But I haven't lost heart. She'll turn +up yet." + +"Count Quinnox is in despair over this extraordinary whim of yours, +highness. He is really ill in bed this morning. I--" + +"I'll run up and see him after breakfast," cried the Prince, +genuinely concerned. "I'm sorry he is taking it so seriously." + +"He feels that we should be at home instead of dawdling about the--" + +"That reminds me. Dank," broke in the Prince, fresh happiness in his +smile; "I've decided that home is the place for you and the Count-- +and Gourou too. I'm perfectly able to take care of myself,--with some +assistance from Hobbs,--and I don't see any necessity for you three +to remain with me any longer. I'll tell the Count that you all may +start for Vienna tonight. You connect with the Orient express at--" + +"Are you mad, highness?" cried Dank, startled out of his dejection. +"What you speak of is impossible--utterly impossible. We cannot +leave you. We were delegated to escort you--" + +"I understand all of that perfectly, Dank," interrupted Robin, +suddenly embarrassed, "but don't you see how infernally awkward it +will be for me if Miss Guile does appear, according to plan? She will +find me body-guarded, so to speak, by three surly, scowling +individuals whose presence I cannot explain to save my soul, unless I +tell the truth, and I'm not yet ready to do that. Can't you see what +I mean? How am I to explain the three of you? A hawk-eyed triumvirate +that camps on my trail from morn till night and refuses to budge! +She'll suspect something, old fellow, and--well, I certainly will +feel more comfortable if I'm not watched for the next few days." + +"That's the point, highness. You've just got to be watched for the +next few days. We would never dare to show our faces in Graustark +again if we allowed anything to happen to you while you are under our +care. You are a sacred charge. We must return you to Graustark as-- +er--inviolate as when you departed. We--we couldn't think of +subjecting you to the peril of a--that is to say, it might prove +fatal. Graustark, in that event, would be justified in hanging two of +her foremost citizens and yours truly from gibbets designed +especially for the blackest of traitors." + +"I see, Dank. If I find happiness, you are almost sure to find +disgrace and death, eh? It doesn't seem a fair division, does it? I +suppose you all feel that the worst thing that can possibly happen is +for me to find happiness." + +"If I were the Prince of Graustark I should first think of the +happiness of my subjects. I would not offend." + +"Well put, Boske, but fortunately you are not the Prince. I sometimes +wish that you were. It would relieve me of a tremendous +responsibility. I am not mean enough, however, to wish a crown upon +you, old fellow. You are lucky to be who and what you are. No one +cares what you do, so long as you are honourable about it. With me it +is different. I have to be watched day and night in order to be kept +from doing what all the rest of the world looks upon as honourable." + +"I implore you, highness, to give up this mad enterprise and return +to your people as--" + +"There is only one person in the world who can stop me now, Dank." + +"And she isn't likely to do so, worse luck," was the other's +complaint. + +"When she tells me to go about my business, I'll go, but not until +then. Don't you like honey, Dank?" + +"No," said Dank savagely. "I hate it." He leaned back in his chair +and glowered upon the innocent, placid Jungfrau. The Prince ate in +silence. "May I be permitted a question, highness?" + +"All you like, Boske. You are my best friend. Go ahead." + +"Did you see Miss Guile after that visit to St. Cloud--and to the +police station?" + +"No. Evidently she was frightened out of her boots by the Hawkshaws. +I don't blame her, do you?" + +"And you've had no word from her?" + +"None. Now you are going to ask what reason I have for believing that +she will come to Interlaken. Well, I can't answer that question. I +think she'll come, that's all." + +"Do you think she is in love with you?" + +"Ah, my dear fellow, you are asking me to answer my own prayer," said +Robin, without a sign of resentment in his manner. "I'm praying that +she isn't altogether indifferent. By the way, it is my turn to ask +questions. Are you still in love with her?" + +"I am proud to say that you are more in my prayers that she," said +Dank, with a profound sigh. "Nothing could please me more than to be +the one to save my prince from disaster, even if it meant the +sacrifice of self. My only prayer is that you may be spared, sir, and +I taken in your place." + +"That was a neat answer, 'pon my soul," cried the Prince admiringly. +"You--Hello, who is this approaching? It is no other than the great +Gourou himself, the king of sleuths, as they say in the books I used +to read. Good morning, Baron." + +The sharp-visaged little Minister of Police came up to the table and +fixed an accusing eye upon his sovereign,--the literal truth, for he +had the other eye closed in a protracted wink. + +"I regret to inform your majesty that the enemy is upon us," he said. +"I fear that our retreat is cut off. Nothing remains save--" + +"She has arrived?" cried the Prince eagerly. + +"She has," said the Baron. "Bag and baggage, and armed to the eyes. +Each eye is a gatling-gun, each lip a lunette behind which lies an +unconquerable legion of smiles and rows of ivory bayonets, each ear a +hardy spy, and every nut-brown strand a covetous dastard on the +warpath not for a scalp but for a crown. Napoleon was never so well +prepared for battle as she, nor Troy so firmly fortified. Yes, +highness, the foe is at our gates. We must to arms!" + +"Where is she?" demanded Robin, unimpressed by this glowing +panegyric. + +"At this instant, sir, I fancy she is rallying her forces in the very +face of a helpless mirror. In other words, she is preparing for the +fray. She is dressing." + +"The devil! How dare you pry into the secret--" + +"Abhorrent thought! I deduce, nothing more. Her maid loses herself in +the halls while attempting to respond to the call for re-inforcements. +She accosts a gentleman of whom she inquires the way. The gentleman +informs her she is on the third, not the second _etage_, and she +scurries away simpering, but not before confiding to me--the aforesaid +gentleman--that her mistress will give her fits for being late with her +hair, whatever that may signify. So, you see, I do not stoop to keyholes +but put my wits to work instead." + +"When did she arrive?" + +"She came last night via Milan." + +"From Milan?" cried Robin, astonished. + +"A roundabout way, I'll admit," said the Baron, drily, "and tortuous +in these hot days, but admirably suited to a purpose. I should say +that she was bent on throwing some one off the track." + +"And yet she came!" cried the Prince, in exultation. "She wanted to +come, after all, now didn't she, Dank?" He gave the lieutenant a look +of triumph. + +"She is more dangerous than I thought," said the guardsman +mournfully. + +"Sit down, Baron," commanded the Prince. "I want to lay down the law +to all of you. You three will have to move on to Graustark and leave +me to look out for myself. I will not have Miss Guile--" + +"No!" exclaimed the Baron, with unusual vehemence. "I expected you to +propose something of the kind, and I am obliged to confess to you +that we have discussed the contingency in advance. We will not leave +you. That is final. You may depose us, exile us, curse us or anything +you like, but still we shall remain true to the duty we owe to our +country. We stay here, Prince Robin, just so long as you are content +to remain." + +Robin's face was very red. "You shame me, Baron," he said simply. "I +am sorry that I spoke as I did. You are my friends, my loyal friends, +and I would have humbled you in the eyes of my people. I beg your +pardon, and yours, Boske. After all, I am only a prince and a prince +is dependent on the loyalty of such as you. I take back all that I +said." + +The Baron laid a kindly hand on the young man's shoulder. "I was +rough, highness, in my speech just now, but you will understand that +I was moved to--" + +"I know, Baron. It was the only way to fetch me up sharp. No apology +is required. God bless you." + +"Now I have a suggestion of my own to offer," said the Baron, taking +a seat at the end of the table. "I confess that Miss Guile may not be +favourably impressed by the constant attendance of three able-bodied +nurses, and, as she happens to be no fool, it is reasonably certain +that she will grasp the significance of our assiduity. Now I propose +that the Count, Dank and myself efface ourselves as completely as +possible during the rest of our enforced stay in Interlaken. I +propose that we take quarters in another hotel and leave you and +Hobbs to the tender mercies of the enemy. It seems to me that--" + +"Good!" cried Robin. "That's the ticket! I quite agree to that, +Baron." + +Dank was prepared to object but a dark look from Gourou silenced him. +"I've talked it over with the Count and he acquiesces," went on the +Baron. "We recognise the futility of trying to induce you to leave at +once for Graustark, and we are now content to trust Providence to +watch over and protect you against a foe whose motives may in time +become transparent, even to the blind." + +The irony in the remark was not lost on Robin. He flushed angrily but +held his tongue. + +Ten o'clock found the three gentlemen,--so classified by Hobbs,--out +of the Schweizerhof and arranging for accommodations at the Regina +Hotel Jungfraublick, perched on an eminence overlooking the valley +and some distance removed from the temporary abode of the Prince. +Their departure from the hotel in the Hoheweg was accomplished +without detection by Miss Guile or her friends, and, to all intents +and purposes, Robin was alone and unattended when he sat down on the +porch near the telescope to await the first appearance of the +enchanting foe. He was somewhat puzzled by the strange submissiveness +of his companions. Deep down in his mind lurked the disquieting +suspicion that they were conniving to get the better of the lovely +temptress by some sly and secret bit of strategy. What was back of +the wily Baron's motive? Why were they now content to let him take +the bit in his teeth and run wherever he would? What had become of +their anxiety, their eagerness to drag him off to Graustark by the +first train? There was food for reflection in the tranquil +capitulation of the defenders. Were they acting under fresh +instructions from Edelweiss? Had the Prime Minister directed them to +put no further obstacle in front of the great Blithers invasion? Or-- +and he scowled darkly at the thought--was there a plan afoot to +overcome the dangerous Miss Guile by means more sinister than subtle? + +Enlightenment came unexpectedly and with a shock to his composure. He +had observed the three spirited saddlehorses near the entrance of the +hotel, in charge of two stable-boys, but had regarded them only as +splendid specimens of equine aristocracy. It had not entered his mind +to look upon them as agents of despair. + +Two people emerged from the door and, passing by without so much as a +glance in his direction, made their way to the mounting block. +Robin's heart went down to his boots. Bedelia, a graceful figure in a +smart riding habit, was laughing blithely over a soft-spoken remark +that her companion had made as they were crossing the porch. And that +companion was no other than the tall, good-looking fellow who had met +her at Cherbourg! The Prince, stunned and incredulous, watched them +mount their horses and canter away, followed by a groom who seemed to +have sprung up from nowhere. + +"Good morning, Mr. Schmidt," spoke a voice, and, still bewildered, he +whirled, hat in hand, to confront Mrs. Gaston. "Did I startle you?" + +He bowed stiffly over the hand she held out for him to clasp, and +murmured something about being proof against any surprise. The colour +was slowly returning to his face, and his smile was as engaging as +ever despite the bitterness that filled his soul. Here was a pretty +trick to play on a fellow! Here was a slap in the face! + +"Isn't it a glorious morning? And how wonderful she is in this +gorgeous sunlight," went on Mrs. Gaston, in what may be described as +a hurried, nervous manner. + +"I had the briefest glimpse of her," mumbled Robin. "When did she +come?" + +"Centuries and centuries ago, Mr. Schmidt," said she, with a smile. +"I was speaking of the Jungfrau." + +"Oh!" he exclaimed, flushing. "I thought you--er--yes, of course! +Really quite wonderful. I have heard it said that she never removes +her night-cap, but always greets the dawn in spotless--ahem! Of +course you understand that I am speaking of the Jungfrau," he +floundered. + +"Naturally, Mr. Schmidt. And so you came, after all. We were afraid +you might have concluded to alter your plans. Miss Guile will be +delighted." + +He appeared grateful for the promise. "I have been here for three +days, Mrs. Gaston. You were delayed in leaving Paris?" + +"Yes," she said, and changed the subject. "The riding is quite good, +I understand. They are off for Lauterbrunnen." + +"I see," said he. "There is a splendid inn there, I am told." + +"They will return here for luncheon, of course," she said, raising +her eyebrows slightly. His heart became a trifle lighter at this. +"Mr. White is a lifelong friend and acquaintance of the family," she +volunteered, apropos of nothing. + +"Oh, his name is White?" with a quiet laugh. + +"If you have nothing better to do, Mr. Schmidt, why not come with me +to the Kursaal? The morning concert will begin shortly, and I--" + +"I think you will find that the band plays in the square across the +way, Mrs. Gaston, and not in the Casino. At least, that has been the +programme for the last two mornings." + +"Nevertheless, there is a concert at the Casino today," she informed +him. "Will you come?" + +"Gladly," he replied, and they set off for the Kursaal. He found +seats in the half-empty pavillion and prepared to listen to the +music, although his real interest was following the narrow highway to +Lauterbrunnen--and the Staubbach. + +"This is to be a special concert given at the request of the Grand +Duke who, I hear, is leaving this afternoon for Berne." + +"The Grand Duke? I was not aware of the presence of royalty," said he +in surprise. + +"No? He has been here for three days, but at another hotel. The Grand +Duke Paulus and his family, you know." + +Robin shot a swift, apprehensive glance about the big enclosure, +sweeping the raised circle from end to end. On the opposite side of +the pavillion he discovered the space reserved for the distinguished +party. Although he was far removed from that section he sank deeper +into his chair and found one pretext after another to screen his face +from view. He did know the Grand Duke Paulus and the Grand Duke knew +him, which was even more to the point. + +The Prince of Graustark had been a prime favourite of the great man +since his knickerbocker days. Twice as a boy he had visited in the +ducal palace, far distant from Graustark, and at the time of his own +coronation the Grand Duke and his sons had come to the castle in +Edelweiss for a full month's stay. They knew him well and they would +recognise him at a glance. At this particular time the last thing on +earth that he desired was to be hailed as a royal prince. + +Never, in all his life, had he known the sun to penetrate so brightly +into shadows as it did to-day. He felt that he was sitting in a +perfect glare of light and that every feature of his face was clear +to the most distant observer. + +He was on the point of making an excuse to leave the place when the +ducal party came sauntering down the aisle on their way to the +reserved section. Every one stood up, the band played, the Grand Duke +bowed to the right and to the left, and escape was cut off. Robin +could only stand with averted face and direct mild execrations at the +sunlight that had seemed so glorious at breakfast-time. + +"He is a splendid-looking man, isn't he?" Mrs. Gaston was saying. She +was gazing in rapt admiration upon the royal group. + +"He is, indeed," said Robin, resolutely scanning a programme, which +he continued to hold before his face. When he sat down again, it was +with his back to the band. "I don't like to watch the conductors," he +explained. "They do such foolish things, you know." + +Mrs. Gaston was eyeing him curiously. He was bitterly conscious of a +crimson cheek. In silence they listened to the first number. While +the applause was at its height, Mrs. Gaston leaned forward and said +to him: + +"I am afraid you are not enjoying the music, Mr. Schmidt. What is on +your mind?" + +He started. "I--I--really, Mrs. Gaston, I am enjoying it. I--" + +"Your mind has gone horse-back riding, I fear. At present it is +between here and Lauterbrunnen, jogging beside that roaring little +torrent that--" + +"I don't mind confessing that you are quite right," said he frankly. +"And I may add that the music makes me so blue that I'd like to jump +into that roaring torrent and--and swim out again, I suppose," he +concluded, with a sheepish grin. + +"You are in love." + +"I am," he confessed. + +She laid her hand upon his. Her eyes were wide with eagerness. "Would +it drive away the blues if I were to tell you that you have a chance +to win her?" + +He felt his head spinning. "If--if I could believe that--that-" he +began, and choked up with the rush of emotion that swept through him. + +"She is a strange girl. She will marry for love alone. Her father is +determined that she shall marry a royal prince. That much I may +confess to you. She has defied her father, Mr. Schmidt. She will +marry for love, and I believe it is in your power to awaken love in +that adorable heart of hers. You--" + +"For God's sake, Mrs. Gaston, tell me--tell me, has she breathed a +word to you that--" + +"Not a single word. But I know her well. I have known her since she +was a baby, and I can read the soul that looks out through those +lovely eyes. Knowing her so well, I may say to you--oh, it must be in +the strictest confidence!--that you have a chance. And if you win her +love, you will _have_ the greatest treasure in all the world. +She--but, look! The Grand Duke is leaving. He--" + +"I don't care what becomes of the Grand Duke," he burst out. "Tell me +more. Tell me how you look into her soul, and tell me what you see--" + +"Not now, sir. I have said enough. I have given you the sign of hope. +It remains with you to make the most of it." + +"But you--you don't know anything about me. I may be the veriest +adventurer, the most unworthy of all--" + +"I think, Mr. Schmidt, that I know you pretty well. I do not require +the aid of Diogenes' lantern to see an honest man. I am responsible +for her welfare. She has been placed under my protection. For twenty +years I have adored her. I am not likely to encourage an adventurer." + +"I must be honest with you, Mrs. Gaston," he said suddenly. "I am +not--" + +She held up her hand. "Mr. Totten has informed me that you are a +life-long friend of Mrs. Truxton King. I cabled to her from Paris. +There is no more to be said." + +His face fell. "Did she tell you--everything?" + +"She said no more than that R. Schmidt is the finest boy in all the +world." Suddenly her face paled. "You are never--_never_ to breathe a +word of this to--to Bedelia," she whispered. + +"But her father? What will he say to--" + +"Her father has said all that can be said," she broke in quietly. "He +cannot force her to marry the man he has selected. She will marry the +man she loves. Come now! Let us go. I am tired of the music." + +"Thank you, thank you, Mrs. Gaston," he cried, with shining eyes. +"God bless you!" + +She gave him a queer look. "You must not think that your task is an +easy one," she said meaningly. "There are other men in the world, you +know." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +"WHAT WILL MY PEOPLE DO!" + + +The Grand Duke and his party left Interlaken by special train early +in the afternoon, and great was Robin's relief when Hobbs returned +with the word that they were safely on their way to the capital of +Switzerland. He emerged from the seclusion of his room, where he had +been in hiding since noon, and set out for a walk through the town. +His head was high and his stride jaunty, for his heart was like a +cork. People stared after him with smiles of admiration, and never a +_cocher'_ passed him by without a genial, inviting tilt of the +eyebrow and a tentative pull at the reins, only to meet with a +pleasant shake of the head or the negative flourish of a bamboo cane. + +Night came and with it the silvery glow of moonlight across the hoary +headed queen of the Oberland. When Robin came out from dinner he +seated himself on the porch, expectant, eager--and vastly lonesome. +An unaccountable shyness afflicted him, rendering him quite incapable +of sending his card up to the one who could have dispelled the +gathering gloom with a single glance of the eye. Would she come +stealing out ostensibly to look at the night-capped peak, but with +furtive glances into the shadows of the porch in quest of--But no! +She would not do that! She would come attended by the exasperating +Mr. White and the friendly duenna. Her starry eyes, directed +elsewhere, would only serve to increase the depth of the shadows in +which he lurked impatient. + +She came at last--and alone. Stopping at the rail not more than an +arm's length from where he sat, she gazed pensively up at the solemn +mistress of the valley, one slim hand at her bosom, the other hanging +limp at her side. He could have touched that slender hand by merely +stretching forth his own. Breathless, enthralled, he sat as one +deprived of the power or even the wish to move. The spell was upon +him; he was in thralldom. + +She wore a rose-coloured gown, soft, slinky, seductive. A light +Egyptian scarf lay across her bare shoulders. The slim, white neck +and the soft dark hair--but she sighed! He heard that faint, quick- +drawn sigh and started to his feet. + +"Bedelia!" he whispered softly. + +She turned quickly, to find him standing beside her, his face aglow +with rapture. A quick catch of the breath, a sudden movement of the +hand that lay upon her breast, and then she smiled,--a wavering, +uncertain smile that went straight to his heart and shamed him for +startling her. "I beg your pardon," he began lamely. "I--I startled +you." + +She held out her hand to him, still smiling. "I fear I shall never +become accustomed to being pursued," she said, striving for command +of her voice. + +"It is dreadful to feel that some one is forever watching you from +behind. I am glad it is you, however. You at least are not 'the +secret eye that never sleeps'!" She gently withdrew her hand from his +ardent clasp. "Mrs. Gaston told me that she had seen you. I feared +that you might have gone on your way rejoicing." + +"Rejoicing?" he cried. "Why do you say that?" + +"After our experience in Paris, I should think that you had had +enough of me and my faithful watchdogs." + +"Rubbish!" he exclaimed. "I shall never have enough of you," he went +on, with sudden boldness. "As for the watch-dogs, they are not likely +to bite us, so what is there to be afraid of?" + +"Have you succeeded in evading the watchful eye of Mr. Totten's +friend?" she enquired, sending an apprehensive glance along the +porch. + +"Completely," he declared. "I am quite alone in this hotel and, I +believe, unsuspected. And you? Are you still being--" + +"Sh! Who knows? I think we have thrown them off the track, but one +cannot be sure. I raised a dreadful rumpus about it in Paris, and-- +well, they said they were sorry and advised me not to be worried, for +the surveillance would cease at once. Still, I am quite sure that +they lied to me." + +"Then you _are_ being followed." + +She smiled again, and there was mischief in her eyes. "If so, I have +led them a merry chase. We have been travelling for two days and +nights, Mr. Schmidt, by train and motor, getting off at stations +unexpectedly, hopping into trains going in any direction but the +right one, sleeping in strange beds and doing all manner of queer +things. And here we are at last. I am sure you must look upon me as a +very silly, flibberty-gibbet creature." + +"I see that your retinue has been substantially augmented," he +remarked, a trace of jealousy in his voice. "The good-looking Mr. +White has not been eluded." + +"Mr. White? Oh, yes, I see. But he is to be trusted, Mr. Schmidt," +she said mysteriously--and tantalisingly. "He will not betray me to +my cruel monster of a father. I have his solemn promise not to reveal +my whereabouts to any one. My father is the last person in the world +to whom he would go with reports of my misdoings." + +"I saw you this morning, riding with him," said he glumly. + +"Through the telescope?" she inquired softly, laying a hand upon the +stationary instrument. + +He flushed hotly. "It was when you were starting out, Miss Guile. I +am not one of the spies, you should remember." + +"You are my partner in guilt," she said lightly. "By the way, have +you forgiven me for leading you into temptation?" + +"Certainly. I am still in the Garden of Eden, you see, and as I don't +take any stock in the book of Genesis, I hope to prove to myself at +least, that the conduct of an illustrious forebear of mine was not +due to the frailties of Eve but to his own tremendous anxiety to get +out of a place that was filled with snakes. I hope and pray that you +will continue to put temptation in my path so that I may have the +frequent pleasure of falling." + +She turned her face away and for a moment was silent. "Shall we take +those chairs over there, Mr. Schmidt? They appear to be as abandoned +as we." She indicated two chairs near the broad portals. + +He shook his head. "If we are looking for the most utterly abandoned, +allow me to call your attention to the two in yonder corner." + +"It is quite dark over there," she said with a frown. + +"Quite," he agreed. "Which accounts, no doubt, for your failure to +see them." + +"Mrs. Gaston will be looking for me before--" she began hesitatingly. + +"Or Mr. White, perhaps. Let me remind you that they have exceedingly +sharp eyes." + +"Mr. White is no longer here," she announced. + +His heart leaped. "Then I, at least, have nothing to fear," he said +quickly. + +She ignored the banality. "He left this afternoon. Very well, let us +take the seats over there. I rather like the--shall I say shadows?" + +"I too object to the limelight,--Bedelia," he said, offering her his +arm. + +"You are not to call me Bedelia," she said, holding back. + +"Then 'forgive us our transgressions' is to be applied in the usual +order, I presume." + +"Are you sorry you called me Bedelia?" she insisted, frowning +ominously. + +"No. I'm sorry you object, that's all." + +They made their way through a maze of chairs and seated themselves in +the dim corner. Their view of the Jungfrau from this vine-screened +corner was not as perfect as it might have been, but the Jungfrau had +no present power of allurement for them. + +"I cannot stay very long," she said as she sank back in the +comfortable chair. + +He turned his back not only upon the occupants of the porch but the +lustrous Jungfrau, drawing his chair up quite close to hers. As he +leaned forward, with his elbows on the arms of the chair, she seemed +to slink farther back in the depths of hers, as if suddenly afraid of +him. + +"Now, tell me everything," he said. "From beginning to end. What +became of you after that day at St. Cloud, whither have you +journeyed, and wherefore were you so bent on coming to this now +blessed Interlaken?" + +"Easily answered. Nothing at all became of me. I journeyed thither, +and I came because I had set my heart on seeing the Jungfrau." + +"But you had seen it many times." + +"And I hoped that I might find peace and quiet here," she added quite +distinctly. + +"You expected to find me here, didn't you?" + +"Yes, but I did not regard you as a disturber of the peace." + +"You knew I would come, but you didn't know why, did you, Bedelia?" +He leaned a little closer. + +"Yes, I knew why," she said calmly, emotionlessly. He drew back +instantly, chilled by her directness. "You came because there was +promise of an interesting adventure, which you now are on the point +of making impossible by a rather rash exhibition of haste." + +He stared at her shadowy face in utter confusion. For a moment he was +speechless. Then a rush of protesting sincerity surged up within him +and he cried out in low, intense tones: "I cannot allow you to think +that of me, Miss Guile. If I have done or said anything to lead you +to believe that I am--" + +"Oh, I beg of you, Mr. Schmidt, do not enlarge upon the matter by +trying to apologise," she cried. + +"I am not trying to apologise," he protested. "I am trying to justify +what you are pleased to call an exhibition of haste. You see, it's +just this way: I am obliged to make hay while the sun shines, for +soon I may be cast into utter darkness. My days are numbered. In a +fortnight I shall be where I cannot call my soul my own. I--" + +"You alarm me. Are you to be sent to prison?" + +"You wouldn't look upon it as a prison, but it seems like one to me. +Do not laugh. I cannot explain to you now. Another day I shall tell +you everything, so pray take me for what I am to-day, and ask no +questions. I have asked no more of you, so do you be equally generous +with me." + +"True," she said, "you have asked no questions of me. You take me for +what I am to-day, and yet you know nothing of my yesterdays or my to- +morrows. It is only fair that I should be equally confiding. Let +there be no more questions. Are we, however, to take each other +seriously?" + +"By all means," he cried. "There will come a day when you may +appreciate the full extent of my seriousness." + +"You speak in riddles." + +"Is the time ripe for me to speak in sober earnest?" he questioned +softly. She drew back again in swift alarm. + +"No, no! Not now--not yet. Do not say anything now, Mr. Schmidt, that +may put an end to our--to our adventure." + +She was so serious, so plaintive, and yet so shyly prophetic of +comfort yet to be attained, that his heart warmed with a mighty glow +of exaltation. A sweet feeling of tenderness swept over him. + +"If God is good, there can be but one end to our adventure," he said, +and then, for some mysterious reason, silence fell between them. Long +afterward--it seemed hours to him!--she spoke, and her voice was low +and troubled. + +"Can you guess why I am being watched so carefully, why I am being +followed so doggedly by men who serve not me but another?" + +"Yes. It is because you are the greatest jewel in the possession of a +great man, and he would preserve you against all varlets,--such as +I." + +She did not reveal surprise at his shrewd conjecture. She nodded her +head and sighed. + +"You are right. I am his greatest jewel, and yet he would give me +into the keeping of an utter stranger. I am being protected against +that conscienceless varlet--Love! If love lays hands upon me--ah, my +friend, you cannot possibly guess what a calamity that would be!" + +"And love _will_ lay hands upon you, Bedelia,--" + +"I am sure of that," she said, once more serene mistress of herself +after a peculiarly dangerous lapse. "That is why I shudder. What +could be more dreadful than to fall into the clutches of that +merciless foe to peace? He rends one's heart into shreds; he stabs in +the dark; he thrusts, cuts and slashes and the wounds never heal; he +blinds without pity; he is overbearing, domineering, ruthless and his +victims are powerless to retaliate. Love is the greatest tyrant in +all the world, Mr. Schmidt, and we poor wretches can never hope to +conquer him. We are his prey, and he is rapacious. Do you not shudder +also?" + +"Bless you, no! I'd rather enjoy meeting him in mortal combat. My +notion of bliss would be a fight to the death with love, for then the +conflict would not be one-sided. What could be more glorious than to +stand face to face with love, hand to hand, breast to breast, lip to +lip until the end of time? Let him cut and slash and stab if you +will, there would still be recompense for the vanquished. Even those +who have suffered most in the conflict with love must admit that they +have had a share in the spoils. One can't ignore the sweet hours when +counting up the bitter ones, after love has withdrawn from the tender +encounter. The cuts and slashes are cherished and memory is a store- +house for the spoils that must be shared with vanity." + +"It sounds like a book. Who is your favourite author?" she inquired +lightly. + +"Baedeker," he replied, with promptness. "Without my Baedeker, I +should never have chanced upon the route travelled by love, nor the +hotel where I now lodge in close proximity to--" + +"Will you please be sensible?" + +"You invite something to the contrary, Bedelia," he ventured. + +"Haven't I requested you to--" + +"I think of you only as Bedelia," he made haste to explain. "Bedelia +will stick to you forever, you see, while Miss Guile is almost +ephemeral. It cannot live long, you know, with so many other names +eager to take its place. But Bedelia--ah, Bedelia is everlasting." + +She laughed joyously, naturally. "You really are quite wonderful, Mr. +Schmidt. Still I must change the subject. I trust the change will not +affect your glibness, for it is quite exhilarating. How long do you +purpose remaining in Interlaken?" + +"That isn't changing the subject," said he. "I shall be here for a +week or ten days--or perhaps longer." He put it in the form of a +question, after all. + +"Indeed? How I envy you. I am sorry to say I shall have to leave in a +day or two." + +His face fell. "Why?" he demanded, almost indignantly. + +"Because I am enjoying myself," she replied. + +"I don't quite get your meaning." + +"I am having such a good time disobeying my father, Mr. Schmidt, and +eluding pursuers. It is only a matter of a day or two before I am +discovered here, so I mean to keep on dodging. It is splendid fun." + +"Do you think it is quite fair to me?" + +"Did I induce you to come here, good sir?" + +"You did," said he, with conviction. "Heaven is my witness. I would +not have come but for you. I am due at home by this time." + +"Are you under any obligations to remain in Interlaken for a week or +ten days?" + +"Not now," he replied. "Do you mind telling me where you are going +to, Miss Guile?" + +"First to Vienna, then--well, you cannot guess where. I have decided +to go to Edelweiss." + +"Edelweiss!" he exclaimed in astonishment. He could hardly believe +his ears. + +"It is the very last place in the world that my father would think of +looking for me. Besides I am curious to see the place. I understand +that the great Mr. Blithers is to be there soon, and the stupid +Prince who will not be tempted by millions, and it is even possible +that the extraordinary Miss Blithers may take it into her head to +look the place over before definitely refusing to be its Princess. I +may find some amusement--or entertainment as an on-looker when the +riots begin." + +He was staring at her wide-eyed and incredulous. "Do you really mean +to say you are going to Graustark?" + +"I have thought of doing so. Don't you think it will be amusing to be +on the scene when the grand climax occurs? Of course, the Prince will +come off his high horse, and the girl will see the folly of her ways, +and old Mr. Blithers will run 'rough shod over everybody, and--but, +goodness, I can't even speculate on the possibilities." + +He was silent. So this was the way the wind blew, eh? There was but +one construction to be put upon her decision to visit the Capital of +Graustark. She _had_ taken it into her head "to look the place +over before definitely refusing to be its Princess!" His first thrill +of exultation gave way to a sickening sense of disappointment. + +All this time she was regarding him through amused, half-closed eyes. +She had a distinct advantage over him. She knew that he was the +Prince of Graustark; she had known it for many days. Perhaps if she +had known all the things that were in his cunning brain, she would +not have ventured so far into the comedy she was constructing. She +would have hesitated--aye, she might have changed her methods +completely. But she was in the mood to do and say daring things. She +considered her position absolutely secure, and so she could afford to +enjoy herself for the time being. There would be an hour of +reckoning, no doubt, but she was not troubled by its promise of +castigation. + +"Poor Prince!" she sighed pityingly. He started. The remark was so +unexpected that he almost betrayed himself. It seemed profoundly +personal. "He will be in very hot water, I fear." + +He regarded her coldly. "And you want to be on hand to see him +squirm, I suppose." + +She took instant alarm. Was she going too far? His query was somewhat +disconcerting. + +"To be perfectly frank with you, Mr. Schmidt, I am going to Graustark +because no one will ever think of looking for me in such an out-of- +the-way place. I am serious now, so you must not laugh at me. +Circumstances are such that I prefer to seek happiness after a +fashion of my own. My parents love me, but they will not understand +me. They wish me to marry a man they have picked out for me. I intend +to pick out my own man, Mr. Schmidt. You may suspect, from all that +you have seen, that I am running away from home, from those who are +dearest in all the world to me. You knew that I was carefully watched +in Paris. You know that my father fears that I may marry a man +distasteful to him, and I suppose to my mother, although she is not +so--" + +"Are his fears well-founded?" he asked, rudely interrupting her. "Is +there a man that he has cause to fear? Are--are you in love with some +one, Bedelia?" + +"Do not interrupt me. I want you to know that I am not running away +from home, that I shall return to it when I see fit, and that I am +not in love with the man they suspect. I want you to be just with me. +You are not to blame my father for anything, no matter how absurd his +actions may appear to you in the light of the past few days. It is +right that he should try to safeguard me. I am wayward but I am not +foolish. I shall commit no silly blunder, you may be sure of that. +Now do you understand me better?" + +She was very serious, very intense. He laid his hand on hers, and she +did not withdraw it. Emboldened, his hand closed upon the dainty +fingers and an instant later they were borne to his hot lips. + +"You have said that I came here in search of a light adventure," he +whispered, holding her hand close to his cheek as he bent nearer to +her. "You imply that I am a trifler, a light-o'-love. I want you to +understand me better. I came here because I--" + +"Stop!" she pleaded. "You must not say it. I am serious--yes, I know +that you are serious too. But you must wait. If you were to say it to +me now I should have to send you away and--oh, believe me, I do not +want to do that. I--I--" + +"You love no one else?" he cried, rapturously. + +She swayed slightly, as if incapable of resisting the appeal that +called her to his heart. Her lips were parted, her eyes glowed +luminously even in the shadows, and she scarcely breathed the words: + +"I love no one else." + +A less noble nature than his would have seized upon the advantage +offered by her sudden weakness. Instead, he drew a long, deep breath, +straightened his figure and as he gently released the imprisoned +hand, the prince in him spoke. + +"You have asked me to wait. I am sure that you know what is in my +heart. It will always be there. It will not cut and slash and stab, +for it is the most tender thing that has ever come into my life--or +yours. It must never be accused of giving pain to you, so I shall +obey you--and wait. You are right to avoid the risk of entrusting a +single word of hope to me. I am a passer-by. My sincerity, my honesty +of purpose remain to be proved. Time will serve my cause. I can only +ask you to believe in me--to trust me a little more each day--and to +let your heart be my judge." + +She spoke softly. "I believe in you, I trust you even now, or I would +not be here. You are kind to me. Few would have been so generous. We +both are passers-by. It is too soon for us to judge each other in the +full. I must be sure--oh, I must be sure of myself. Can you +understand? I must be sure of myself, and I am not sure now. You do +not know how much there is at stake, you can not possibly know what +it would mean to me if I were to discover that our adventure had no +real significance in the end. I know it sounds strange and +mysterious, or you would not look so puzzled. But unless I can be +sure of one thing--one vital thing--our adventure has failed in every +respect. Now, I must go in. No; do not ask me to stay--and let me go +alone. I prefer it so. Good night, my comrade." + +He stood up and let her pass. "Good night, my princess," he said, +clearly and distinctly. She shot a swift glance into his eyes, smiled +faintly, and moved away. His rapt gaze followed her. She entered the +door without so much as a glance over her shoulder. + +"My princess," he repeated wonderingly, to himself. "Have I kissed +the hand of my princess? God in heaven, is there on earth a princess +more perfect than she? Can there be in all this world another so +deserving of worship as she?" + +Late at night she sat in her window looking up at the peaceful +Jungfrau. A dreamy, ineffably sweet smile lay in her dark eyes. The +hand he kissed had lain long against her lips. To herself she had +repeated, over and over again, the inward whisper: + +"What will my dear, simple old dad say if I marry this man after +all?" + +In a window not ten feet away, he was staring out into the night, +with lowering eyes and troubled heart, and in his mind he was saying: + +"What will my people do if I marry this woman after all?" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +LOVE IN ABEYANCE + + +Two days went by. They were fraught with an ever-increasing joy for +the two who were learning to understand each other through the mute, +though irresistible teachings of a common tutor. Each succeeding hour +had its exquisite compensation; each presented the cup of knowledge +to lips that were parched with the fever of impotence, and each time +it was returned empty by the seekers after wisdom. There were days in +which Love went harvesting and prospered amazingly in the fields, for +each moment that he stored away against the future was ripe with +promise. He was laying by the store on which he was to subsist to the +end of his days; he allowed no moment to go to waste, for he is a +miser and full of greed. Not one word of love passed between these +two who waited for the fruit to ripen. They were never alone +together. Always they were attended by the calm, keen-eyed Mrs. +Gaston, who, though she may have been in sympathy with their secret +enterprise, was nevertheless a dependable barrier to its hasty +consummation. + +She had received her instructions from the one now most likely to be +in need of a deterring influence; the girl herself. After that +evening on the porch, Bedelia had gone straight to her duenna with +the truth. Then she made it clear to the good lady that she was not +to be left alone for an instant to confront the welcome besieger. And +so it was that when Robin and Bedelia walked or rode together, they +were attended by prevention. In the Casino, at the gaming tables, at +the concert, or even in the street he was never free to express a +thought or emotion that, under less guarded conditions, might have +exposed her to the risk she was so carefully avoiding. + +He understood the situation perfectly and was not resentful. He +appreciated the caution with which she was carrying on her own +campaign, and he was not unmindful of the benefits that might also +accrue to him through this proscribed period of reflection. While he +was sure of himself by this time, and fully determined to risk even +his crown for the girl who so calmly held him at bay, he was also +sensible of the wisdom of her course. She was not willing to subject +herself or him to the dangers of temptation. As she had said, there +was a great deal at stake; the rest of their lives, in truth. + +There was one little excursion to Grindelwald and its glacier, and +later an ascent of the Schynige Platte. Even a desperate horror of +the rack and pinion railway up and down the steep mountain did not +daunt the incomparable chaperone. (True, she closed her eyes and +shrank as far away from the edge of eternity as possible, but she +stuck manfully to her post.) He dined with them on the two evenings, +and with them heard the concerts. + +There were times when he was perplexed, and uncertain of her. At no +time did she relax into what might have been considered a receptive +or even an encouraging mood. He watched eagerly for the love-light +that he hoped to surprise in her eyes, but it never appeared. She was +serene, self-contained, natural. That momentary dissolving on her +part when she sat with him in the shadows was the only circumstance +he had to base his hopes upon. She had betrayed herself then by word +and manner, but now she had her emotions well in hand. + +Her lovely eyes met his frankly and without the faintest sign of +diffidence or self-consciousness. Her soft laugh was free and +unconstrained, her smile gay and remotely suggestive of mischief. At +times he thought she was playing the game too well for one who +professed to be concerned about the future. + +On the third day he was convicted of duplicity. She went off for a +walk alone, leaving him safely anchored in what he afterwards came to +look upon as a pre-arranged game of auction-bridge. When she came in +after an absence of at least two hours, the game was just breaking +up. He noted the questioning look that Mrs. Gaston bestowed upon her +fair charge, and also remarked that it contained no sign of reproof. +The girl went up to her room without so much as a word with him. Her +face was flushed and she carried her head disdainfully. He was +greatly puzzled. + +The puzzle was soon explained. He waited for her on the stairway as +she came down alone to dinner. + +"You told me that your friends were not in Interlaken, Mr. Schmidt," +she said coldly. "Why did you feel called upon to deceive me?" + +He bit his lip. For an instant he reflected, and then gave an evasive +answer. "I think I told you that I was alone in this hotel. Miss +Guile. My friends are at another hotel. I am not aware that--" + +"I have seen and talked with that charming old man, Mr. Totten," she +interrupted. "He has been here for days, and Mr. Dank as well. Do you +think that you have been quite fair with me?" + +He lowered his eyes. "I think I have been most fair to both of us," +he replied. "Will you believe me when I say that in a way I +personally requested them to leave this hotel and seek another? And +will it decrease your respect for me if I add that I wanted to have +you all to myself, so to speak, and not to feel that these good +friends of mine were--" + +"Why don't you look me in the face, Mr. Schmidt?" she broke in. He +looked up at once prepared to meet a look of disdain. To his +surprise, she was smiling. "I have talked it all over with Mrs. +Gaston, and she advised me to forgive you if you were in the least +penitent and--honest. Well, you have made an honest confession, I am +satisfied. Now, I have a confession to make. I have suspected all +along that Mr. Totten and Mr. Dank and the shadowy Mr. Gourou were in +the town." + +"You suspected?" he cried in amazement and chagrin. + +"I was morally certain that they were here. Today my suspicions were +justified. I encountered Mr. Totten in the park beyond the +Jungfraublick. He was very much upset, I can assure you, but he +recovered with amazing swiftness. We sat on one of the benches in a +nice little nook and had a long, long talk. He is a charming man. I +have asked him to come to luncheon with us to-morrow, and to bring +Mr. Dank." + +"Good Lord, will wonders never--" + +"But I did not include the still invisible Mr. Gourou. I was afraid +that you would be too uncomfortable under the hawk-like eye of the +gentleman who so kindly warned us at the Pavilion Bleu." There was +gentle raillery in her manner. "I shall expect you to join us, Mr. +Schmidt. You have no other engagement?" + +"I--I shall be delighted," he stammered. + +She laid her hand gently upon his arm and a serious sweetness came +into her eyes. + +"Come," she said; "let us go in ahead of Mrs. Gaston. Let us have +just one little minute to ourselves, Mr. Schmidt." + +It was true that she came upon the Count in one of the paths of the +Kleine Rugen. He was walking slowly toward her, his eyes fixed +thoughtfully upon the ground. When she accosted him, he was plainly +confused, as she had said. After the first few passages in polite +though stilted conversation, his keen, grey eyes resumed their +thoughtful--it was even a calculating look. + +"Will you sit here with me for a while, Miss Guile?" he asked gently. +"I have something of the gravest importance to say to you." + +She sat beside him on the sequestered bench, and when she arose to +leave him an hour later, her cheek was warm with colour and her eyes +were filled with tenderness toward this grim, staunch old man who was +the friend of _her_ friend. She laid her hand in his and suffered him +to raise it to his lips. + +"I hope, my dear young lady," said he with simple directness, "that +you will not regard me as a stupid, interfering old meddler. God is +my witness, I have your best interests at heart. You are too good and +beautiful to--" + +"I shall always look upon you as the kindest of men!" she cried +impulsively, and left him. + +He stood watching her slender, graceful figure as she moved down the +sloping path and turned into the broad avenue. A smallish man with a +lean face came up from the opposite direction and stopped beside him. + +"Could you resist her, Quinnox, if you were twenty-two?" asked this +man in his quiet voice. + +Quinnox did not look around, but shook his head slowly. "I cannot +resist her at sixty-two, my friend. She is adorable." + +"I do not blame him. It is fate. _She_ is fate. Our work is done, my +friend. We have served our country well, but fate has taken the matter +out of our hands. There is nothing left for us to do but to fold our +arms and wait." Gourou revealed his inscrutable smile as he pulled at +his thin, scraggly moustache. He was shaking his head, as one who +resigns himself to the inevitable. + +After a long silence Quinnox spoke. + +"Our people will come to love their princess, Gourou." + +"Even as you and I, my friend," said the Baron. + +And then they held their heads erect and walked confidently down the +road their future sovereign had traversed before them. + +When Mrs. Gaston joined Robin and Bedelia at the table which had been +set for them in the _salle a manger_, she laid several letters before +the girl who picked them up instantly and glanced at the +superscription on each. + +"I think that all of them are important," said Mrs. Gaston +significantly. The smile on the girl's face had given way to a +clouded brow. She was visibly perturbed. + +"You will forgive me, Mr. Schmidt," she said nervously. "I must +look at them at once." + +He tried not to watch her face as she read what appeared to be a +brief and yet evidently important letter, but his rapt gaze was not +to be so easily managed. An exclamation of annoyance fell from her +lips. + +"This is from a friend in Paris, Mr. Schmidt," she said, hesitatingly. +Then, as if coming to a quick decision: "My father has heard that I am +carrying on atrociously with a strange young man. It seems that it is +a _new_ young man. He is beside himself with rage. My friends have +already come in for severe criticism. He blames them for permitting +his daughter to run at large and to pick up with every Tom, Dick and +Harry. Dear me, I shudder when I think of what he will do to you, Mrs. +Gaston. He will take off your head completely. But never fear, you old +dear, I will see that it is put on again as neatly as ever. So, you +see, Mr. Schmidt, you now belong to that frightful order of nobodies, +the Toms and the Dicks and the Harrys." + +"I see that there is a newspaper clipping attached," he remarked. +"Perhaps your father has been saying something to the newspapers." It +was a mean speech and he regretted it instantly. + +She was not offended, however. Indeed, she may not have heard what he +said, for she was reading the little slip of printed matter. Suddenly +she tore it into tiny bits and scattered them under the table. Her +cheeks were red and her eyes glistened unmistakably with +mortification. He was never to know what was in that newspaper +cutting, but he was conscious of a sharp sensation of anger and pity +combined. Whatever it was, it was offensive to her, and his blood +boiled. He noted the expression of alarm and apprehension deepen in +Mrs. Gaston's face. + +Bedelia slashed open another envelope and glanced at its contents. +Her eyes flew open with surprise. For an instant she stared, a frown +of perplexity on her brow. + +"We are discovered!" she cried a moment later, clapping her hands +together in an ecstasy of delight. "The pursuers are upon our heels. +Even now they may be watching me from behind some convenient post or +through some handy window pane. Isn't it fine? Don't look so +horrified, you old dear. They can't eat us, you know, even though we +are in a dining-room. I love it all! Followed by man-hunters! What +could be more thrilling? The chase is on again. Quick! We must +prepare for flight!" + +"Flight?" gasped Robin. Her eyes were dancing. His were filled with +dismay. + +"It is as I feared," she cried. "They have found me out. Hurry! Let +us finish this wretched dinner. I must leave here to-night." + +"Impossible!" cried Mrs. Gaston. "Don't be silly. To-morrow will be +time enough. Calm yourself, my dear." + +"To-morrow at sunrise," cried Bedelia enthusiastically. "It is +already planned, Mr. Schmidt. I have engaged an automobile in +anticipation of this very emergency. The trains are not safe. To- +morrow I fly again. This letter is from the little stenographer in +Paris. I bribed her--yes, I bribed her with many francs. She is in +the offices of the great detective agency-'the Eye that never +Sleeps!' I shall give her a great many more of those excellent +francs, my friends. She is an honest girl. She did not fail me." + +"I don't see how you can say she is honest if she accepted a bribe," +said Mrs. Gaston severely. + +"Pooh!" was Miss Guile's sufficient answer to this. "We cross the +Brunig Pass by motor. That really is like flying, isn't it?" + +"To Lucerne?" demanded Robin, still hazily. + +"No, no! That would be madness. We shall avoid Lucerne. Miles and +miles to the north we will find a safe retreat for a day or two. Then +there will be a journey by rail to--to your own city of Vienna, Mr. +Schmidt. You--" + +"See here," said Robin flatly, "I don't understand the necessity for +all this rushing about by motor and--" + +"Of course you don't," she cried. "You are not being sought by a +cruel, inhuman monster of a father who would consign you to a most +shudderable fate! You don't have to marry a man whose very name you +have hated. You can pick and choose for yourself. And so shall I, for +that matter. You--" + +"You _adore_ your father," cut in Mrs. Gaston sharply. "I don't +think you should speak of him in that--" + +"Of course I adore him! He is a dear old bear. But he is a monster, +an ogre, a tyrant, a--oh, well, he is everything that's dreadful! You +look dreadfully serious, Mr. Schmidt. Do you think that I should +submit to my father's demands and marry the man he has chosen for +me?" + +"I do," said Robin, abruptly and so emphatically that both of his +hearers jumped in their seats. He made haste to dissemble. "Of +course, I'd much rather have you do that than to break your neck +rolling over a precipice or something of the sort in a crazy +automobile dash." + +Miss Guile recovered her poise with admirable promptness. Her smile +was a trifle uncertain, but she had a dependable wit. "If that is all +that you are afraid of, I'll promise to save my neck at all costs," +she said. "I could have many husbands but only one poor little neck." + +"You can have only one husband," said he, almost savagely. "By the +way, why don't you read the other letter?" He was regarding it with +jealous eyes, for she had slipped it, face downward, under the edge +of her plate. + +"It isn't important," she said, with a quick look into his eyes. She +convicted herself in that glance, and knew it on the instant. + +Angry with herself, she snatched up the letter and tore it open. Her +cheeks were flushed. She read however without betraying any +additional evidence of uneasiness or embarrassment. When she had +finished, she deliberately folded the sheets and stuck them back into +the envelope without comment. One looking over her shoulder as she +read, however, might have caught snatches of sentences here and there +on the heavily scrawled page. They were such as these: "You had led +me to hope,"..."for years I have been your faithful admirer,"... "Nor +have I wavered for an instant despite your whimsical attitude,"... +"therefore I felt justified in believing that you were sincere in +your determination to defy your father." And others of an even more +caustic nature: "You are going to marry this prince after all,"..." +not that you have ever by word or deed bound yourself to me, yet I +had every reason to hope,"..." Your father will be pleased to find +that you are obedient," ..."I am not mean enough to wish you anything +but happiness, although I know you will never achieve it through this +sickening surrender to vanity,"... "if I were a prince with a crown +and a debt that I couldn't pay,"..."admit that I have had no real +chance to win out against such odds," etc. + +She faced Robin coolly. "It will be necessary to abandon our little +luncheon for to-morrow. I am sorry. Still Mr. Totten informs me that +he will be in Vienna shortly. The pleasure is merely postponed." + +"Are you in earnest about this trip by motor to-morrow morning?" +demanded Robin darkly. "You surely cannot be--" + +"I am very much in earnest," she said decisively. He looked to Mrs. +Gaston for help. That lady placidly shook her head. In fact, she +appeared to be rather in favour of the preposterous plan, if one were +to judge by the rapt expression on her countenance. "I had the +supposedly honest word of these crafty gentlemen that I was not to be +interfered with again. They gave me their promise. I shall now give +them all the trouble possible." + +"But it will be a simple matter for them to find out how and when you +left this hotel and to trace you perfectly." + +"Don't be too sure of that," she said, exultantly. "I have a trick or +two up my sleeve that will baffle them properly, Mr. Schmidt." + +"My dear," interposed Mrs. Gaston severely, "do not forget yourself. +It isn't necessary to resort to slang in order--" + +"Slang is always necessary," avowed Bedelia, undisturbed. "Goodness, +I know I shall not sleep a wink to-night." + +"Nor I," said Robin gloomily. Suddenly his face lightened. A wild, +reckless gleam shot into his eyes and, to their amazement, he banged +the table with his fist. "By Jove, I know what I shall do. I'll go +with you!" + +"No!" cried Bedelia, aghast. "I--I cannot permit it, Mr. Schmidt. +Can't you understand? You--_you_ are the man with whom I am supposed +to be carrying on atrociously. What could be more convicting than to +be discovered racing over a mountain-pass--Oh, it is not to be +considered--not for an instant." + +"Well, I can tell you flatly just what I intend to do," said he, +setting his jaws. "I shall hire another car and keep you in sight +every foot of the way. You may be able to elude the greatest +detective agency in Europe, but you can't get away from me. I intend +to keep you now that I've got you, Bedelia. You can't shake me off. +Where you go, I go." + +"Do you mean it?" she cried, a new thrill in her voice. He looked +deep into her eyes and read there a message that invited him to +perform vast though fool-hardy deeds. Her eyes were suddenly sweet +with the love she had never expected to know; her lips trembled with +the longing for kisses. "I shall travel far," she murmured. "You may +find the task an arduous one--keeping up with me, I mean." + +"I am young and strong," he said, "and, if God is good to me, I shall +live for fifty years to come, or even longer. I tingle with joy, +Bedelia, when I think of being near you for fifty years or more. +Have--have you thought of it in that light? Have you looked ahead +and said to yourself: fifty years have I to live and all of them +with--" + +"Hush! I was speaking of a week's journey, not of a life's voyage, +Mr. Schmidt," she said, her face suffused. + +"I was speaking of a honeymoon," said he, and then remembered Mrs. +Gaston. She was leaning back in her chair, smiling benignly. He had +an uncomfortable thought: was he walking into a trap set for him by +this clever woman? Had she an ulterior motive in advancing his cause? + +"But it would be perfectly silly of you to follow me in a car," said +Bedelia, trying to regain her lost composure. "Perfectly silly, +wouldn't it, Mrs. Gas-ton?" + +"Perfectly," said Mrs. Gaston. + +"I will promise to see you in Vienna--" + +"I intend to see you every day," he declared, "from now till the end +of time." + +"Really, Mr. Schmidt, you--" + +"If there is one thing I despise beyond all reason, Bedelia, it is +the name of 'Schmidt'! I wish you wouldn't call me by that name." + +"I can't just call you 'Mister,'" she demurred. + +"Call me Rex for the present," said he. "I will supply you with a +better one later on." + +"May I call him Rex?" she inquired of her companion. + +"In moderation," said Mrs. Gaston. + +"Very well, then, Rex, I have changed my mind. I shall not cross the +Brunig by motor since you insist upon risking your neck in pursuit of +me. I shall go by train in the morning,--calmly, complacently, +stupidly by train. Instead of a thrilling dash for liberty over rocky +heights and through perilous gorges, I shall travel like any +bourgeoise in a second--or third class carriage, and the only thrill +I shall have will be when we stop for Baker's chocolate at the top of +the Pass. By that time I expect to be sufficiently hungry to be +thrilled even by the sight of a cake of chocolate. Will you travel in +the carriage behind me? I fancy it will be safe and convenient and +you can't possibly be far from my heels." + +"That's a sensible idea," he cried. "And we may be able to +accommodate your other pursuers on the same train. What's the sense +of leaving them behind? They'd only catch us up in the end, so we +might just as well take them along with us." + +"No. We will keep well ahead of them. I insist on that. They can't +get here before to-morrow afternoon, so we will be far in the lead. +We will be in Vienna in two days. There I shall say good-bye to you, +for I am going on beyond. I am going to Graustark, the new Blithers +estate. Surely you will not follow me there." + +"You are very much mistaken. I shall be there as soon as you and I +shall stay just as long, provided Mr. Blithers has no objections," +said Robin, with more calmness than he had hoped to display in the +face of her sudden thrust. + +"We are forgetting our dinner," said Mrs. Gaston quietly. "I think +the waiter is annoyed." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +MR. BLITHERS ARRIVES IN GRAUSTARK + + +Mr. William W. Blithers arrived in Edelweiss, the Capital of +Graustark, on the same day that the Prince returned from his tour of +the world. As a matter of fact, he travelled by special train and +beat the Prince home by the matter of three hours. The procession of +troops, headed by the Royal Castle Guard, it was announced would pass +the historic Hotel Regengetz at five in the afternoon, so Mr. +Blithers had front seats on the extension porch facing the Platz. + +He did not know it, but if he had waited for the regular train in +Vienna, he would have had the honour of travelling in the same +railway carriage with the royal young man. ("Would" is used advisedly +in the place of "might," for he _would_ have travelled in it, you may +be sure.) + +Moreover, he erred in another particular, for arriving at the same +instant and virtually arm-in-arm with the country's sovereign, he +could hardly have been kept out of the procession itself. When you +stop to think that next to the Prince he was the most important +personage in the realm on this day of celebration, it ought not to be +considered at all unreasonable for him to have expected some notable +attention, such as being placed in the first carriage immediately +behind the country's sovereign, or possibly on the seat facing him. +Missing an opportunity like this, wasn't at all Mr. Blithers' idea of +success. He was very sorry about the special train. If it hadn't been +for that train he might now be preparing to ride castlewards behind a +royal band instead of sitting with his wife in the front row of seats +on a hotel porch, just like a regular guest, waiting for the parade +to come along. It certainly was a wasted opportunity. + +He had lost no time in his dash across the continent. In the first +place, his agents in Paris made it quite clear to him that there was +likely to be "ructions" in Graustark over the loan and the prospect +of a plebeian princess being seated on the throne whether the people +liked it or not; and in the second place, Maud Applegate had left a +note on his desk in the Paris offices, coolly informing him that she +was likely to turn up in Edelweiss almost as soon as he. She added an +annoying postscript. She said she was curious to see what sort of a +place it was that he had been wasting his money on! + +To say that he was put out by Maud's aggravating behaviour would be +stating the case with excessive gentleness. He was furious. He sent +for the head of the detective agency and gave him a blowing up that +he was never to forget. It appears that the detectives had followed a +false lead and had been fooled by the wary Maud in a most humiliating +manner. They hadn't the remotest notion where she was, and evinced +great surprise when informed in a voice loud enough to be heard a +half-block away that she was on her way to Graustark. They said it +couldn't be possible, and he said they didn't know what they were +talking about. He was done with them. They could step out and ask the +cashier to give them a check for their services, and so on and so +forth. He did not forget to notify them that they were a gang of +loafers. + +Then he dragged Mrs. Blithers off to the Gare de l'Este and took the +Express to Vienna. He would see to the loan first and to Maud +afterward. + +He had no means of knowing that a certain Miss Guile was doing more +to shape the destiny of the principality of Graustark than all the +millions he had poured into its treasury. Nor had he the faintest +suspicion that she was even then on Graustark soil and waiting as +eagerly as he for the procession to pass a given point. + +Going back a day or two, it becomes necessary to report that while in +Vienna the perverse Bedelia played a shabby trick on the infatuated +Robin. She stole away from the Bristol in the middle of the night and +was half-way to the Graustark frontier before he was aware of her +flight. She left a note for him, the contents of which sufficed to +ease his mind in the presence of what otherwise might have been +looked upon as a calamity. Instead of relapsing into despondency over +her defection, he became astonishingly exuberant. It was relief and +not despair that followed the receipt of the brief letter. She had +played directly into his hand, after all. In other words, she had +removed a difficulty that had been troubling him for days: the +impossibility of entering his own domain without betraying his +identity to her. Naturally his entrance to the Capital would be +attended by the most incriminating manifestation on the part of the +populace. The character of R. Schmidt would be effaced in an instant, +and, according to his own notion, quite a bit too soon to suit his +plans. He preferred to remain Schmidt until she placed her hand in +his and signified a readiness to become plain Mrs. R. Schmidt of +Vienna. That would be his hour of triumph. + +In her note she said: "Forgive me for running away like this. It is +for the best. I must have a few days to myself, dear friend,--days +for sober reflection uninfluenced by the presence of a natural enemy +to composure. And so I am leaving you in this cowardly, graceless +fashion. Do not think ill of me. I give you my solemn promise that in +a few days I shall let you know where I may be found if you choose to +come to me. Even then I may not be fully convinced in my own mind +that our adventure has reached its climax. You have said that you +would accompany me to Graustark. I am leaving to-night for that +country, where I shall remain in seclusion for a few days before +acquainting you with my future plans. It is not my intention to stop +in Edelweiss at present. The newspapers proclaim a state of unrest +there over the coming visit of Mr. Blithers and the return of the +Prince, both of whom are very much in the public eye just now. I +prefer the quiet of the country to the excitement of the city, so I +shall seek some remote village and give myself up to--shall I say +prayerful meditation? Believe me, dear Rex, to be your most devoted, +though whimsical, Bedelia." + +He was content with this. Deep down in his heart he thanked her for +running away at such an opportune time! The situation was +immeasurably simplified. He had laid awake nights wondering how he +could steal into his own domain with her as a companion and still put +off the revelation that he was not yet ready to make. Now the way was +comparatively easy. Once the demonstration was safely over, he could +carry on his adventure with something of the same security that made +the prowlings of the Bagdad Caliphs such happy enterprises, for he +could with impunity traverse the night in the mantle of R. Schmidt. + +Immediately upon receiving her letter, he sent for Quinnox and +Gourou, who were stopping at a hotel nearby. + +"I am ready to proceed to Edelweiss, my friends," said he. "Miss +Guile has departed. Will you book accommodations on the earliest +train leaving for home?" + +"I have already seen to that, highness," said Gourou calmly. "We +leave at six this evening. Count Quinnox has wired the Prime Minister +that you will arrive in Edelweiss at three to-morrow afternoon, God +willing." + +"You knew that she had gone?" + +"I happened to be in the Nordbahnhof when she boarded the train at +midnight," replied the Baron, unmoved. + +"Do you never sleep?" demanded Robin hotly. + +"Not while I am on duty," said Gourou. + +The Prince was thoughtful, his brow clouding with a troubled frown. +"I suppose I shall now have to face my people with the confession +that will confirm their worst fears. I may as well say to you, my +friends, that I mean to make her my wife even though it costs me my +kingdom. Am I asking too much of you, gentlemen, when I solicit your +support in my fight against the prejudice that is certain to--" + +Quinnox stopped him with a profound gesture of resignation and a +single word: "Kismet!" and Gourou, with his most ironic smile, added: +"You may count on us to support the crown, highness, even though we +lose our heads." + +"Thank you," said Robin, flushing. "Just because I appear to have +lost my head is no reason for your doing the same, Baron Gourou." + +The Baron's smile was unfaltering. "True," he said." But we may be +able to avoid all that by inducing the people of Graustark to lose +their hearts." + +"Do you think they will accept her as--as their princess?" cried +Robin, hopefully. + +"I submit that it will first be necessary for you to induce Miss +Guile to accept you as her prince," said Gourou mildly. "That doesn't +appear to be settled at present." + +He took alarm. "What do you mean? Your remark has a sinister sound. +Has anything transpired to--" + +"She has disappeared, highness, quite effectually. That is all that I +can say," said Gourou, and Robin was conscious of a sudden chill and +the rush of cold moisture to his brow. "But let us prepare to +confront an even more substantial condition. A prospective father-in- +law is descending upon our land. He is groping in the dark and he is +angry. He has lost a daughter somewhere in the wilds of Europe, and +he realises that he cannot hope to become the grandfather of princes +unless he can produce a mother for them. At present he seems to be +desperate. He doesn't know where to find her, as Little Bo-peep might +have said. We may expect to catch him in a very ugly and obstreperous +mood. Have I told you that he was in this city last night? He arrived +at the Bristol a few hours prior to the significant departure of Miss +Guile. Moreover, he has chartered a special train and is leaving to- +day for Edelweiss. Count Quinnox has taken the precaution to advise +the Prime Minister of his approach and has impressed upon him the +importance of decrying any sort of popular demonstration against him +on his arrival. Romano reports that the people are in an angry mood. +I would suggest that you prepare, in a way, to placate them, now that +Miss Guile has more or less dropped out of sight. It behooves you to-- +" + +"See here," broke in Robin harshly, "have you had the effrontery to +make a personal appeal to Miss Guile in your confounded efforts to +prevent the--" + +"Just a moment, Robin," exclaimed Count Quinnox, his face hardening. +"I am sorry to hear words of anger on your lips, and directed toward +your most loyal friends. You ask us to support you and in the next +breath imply that we are unworthy. It is beneath the dignity of +either Baron Gourou or myself to reply to your ungenerous charge." + +"I beg your pardon," said Robin, but without lowering his head. He +was not convinced. The barb of suspicion had entered his brain. Were +they, after all, responsible for Bedelia's flight? Had they revealed +his identity to the girl and afterward created such alarm in her +breast that she preferred to slink away in the night rather than to +court the humiliation that might follow if she presumed to wed +Graustark's prince in opposition to his country's wish? "You must +admit that the circumstance of her secret flight last night is +calculated to--But, no matter. We will drop the subject. I warn you, +however, that my mind is fixed. I shall not rest until I have found +her." + +"I fancy that the state of unrest will be general," said Gourou, with +perfect good-nature. "It will go very hard with Graustark if we fail +to find her. And now, to return to our original sin: What are we to +do about the ambitious Mr. Blithers? He is on my conscience and I +tremble." + +It must not be supposed for an instant that the City of Edelweiss and +the court of Graustark was unimpressed by the swift approach and +abrupt arrival of Mr. Blithers. His coming had been heralded for days +in advance. The city was rudely expectant, the court uneasy. The man +who had announced his determination to manage the public and private +affairs of the principality was coming to town. He was coming in +state, there could be no doubt about that. More than that, he was +coming to propitiate the people whether they chose to be mollified or +not. He was bringing with him a vast store of business acumen, an +unexampled confidence and the self-assurance of one who has never +encountered failure. Shylock's mantle rested on his hated shoulders, +and Judas Iscariot was spoken of with less abhorrence than William W. +Blithers by the Christian country of Graustark. He was coming to get +better acquainted with his daughter's future subjects. + +Earlier in the week certain polite and competent gentlemen from +Berlin had appeared at the Castle gates, carrying authority from the +dauntless millionaire. They calmly announced that they had come to +see what repairs were needed in and about the Castle and to put the +place in shape. A most regrettable incident followed. They were +chased out of town by an angry mob and serious complications with the +German Empire were likely to be the result of the outrage. + +Moreover, the citizens of Graustark were openly reluctant to deposit +their state bonds as security for the unpopular loan, and there was a +lively sentiment in favour of renouncing the agreement entered into +by the cabinet. + +The Prime Minister, in the absence of the Prince, called mass +meetings in all the towns and villages and emissaries of the crown +addressed the sullen crowds. They sought to clarify the atmosphere. +So eloquent were their pleadings and so sincere their promises that +no evil would befall the state, that the more enlightened of the +people began to deposit their bonds in the crown treasury. Others, +impressed by the confidence of their more prosperous neighbours, +showed signs of weakening. The situation was made clear to them. +There could be no possible chance of loss from a financial point of +view. Their bonds were safe, for the loan itself was a perfectly +legitimate transaction, a conclusion which could not be gainsaid by +the most pessimistic of the objectors. Mr. Blithers would be paid in +full when the time came for settlement, the bonds would be restored +to their owners, and all would be well with Graustark. + +As for the huge transactions Mr. Blithers had made in London, Paris +and Berlin, there could be but one conclusion: he had the right to +invest his money as he pleased. That was his look-out. The bonds of +Graustark were open to purchase in any market. Any investor in the +world was entitled to buy all that he could obtain if he felt +inclined to put his money to that use. The earnest agents of the +government succeeded in convincing the people that Mr. Blithers had +made a good investment because he was a good business man. What did +it matter to Graustark who owned the outstanding bonds? It might as +well be Blithers as Bernstein or any one else. + +As for Miss Blithers becoming the Princess of Graustark, that was +simple poppy-cock, declared the speakers. The crown could take oath +that Prince Robin would not allow _that_ to happen. Had he not +declared in so many words that he would never wed the daughter of +William Blithers, and, for that matter, hadn't the young woman also +announced that she would have none of him? There was one thing that +Mr. Blithers couldn't do, and that was to marry his daughter to the +Prince of Graustark. + +And so, by the time that Mr. Blithers arrived in Edelweiss, the +people were in a less antagonistic frame of mind,--though sullenly +suspicious,--and were even prepared to grin in their sleeves, for, +after all, it was quite clear that the joke was not on them but on +Mr. Blithers. + +When the special train pulled into the station Mr. Blithers turned to +his wife and said: + +"Cheer up, Lou. This isn't a funeral." + +"But there is quite a mob out there," she said, peering through the +car window. "How can we be sure that they are friendly?" + +"Don't you worry," said Mr. Blithers confidently. "They are not +likely to throw rocks at the goose that lays the golden egg." If he +had paused to think, he would not have uttered such a careless +indictment. The time would come when she was to remind him of his +thoughtless admission, omitting, however, any reference to the golden +egg. + +The crowd was big, immobile, surly. It lined the sidewalks in the +vicinity of the station and stared with curious, half-closed eyes at +the portly capitalist and his party, which, by the way, was rendered +somewhat imposing in size by augmentation in the shape of lawyers +from Paris and London, clerks and stenographers from the Paris +office, and four plain clothes men who were to see to it that Midas +wasn't blown to smithereens by envious anarchists; to say nothing of +a lady's maid, a valet, a private secretary and a doctor. (Mr. +Blithers always went prepared for the worst.) + +He was somewhat amazed and disgruntled by the absence of silk-hat +ambassadors from the Castle, with words of welcome for him on his +arrival. There was a plentiful supply of policemen but no cabinet +ministers. He was on the point of censuring his secretary for not +making it clear to the government that he was due to arrive at such +and such an hour and minute, when a dapper young man in uniform--he +couldn't tell whether he was a patrolman or a captain--came up and +saluted. + +"I am William W. Blithers," said he sharply. + +"I am an official guide and interpreter, sir," announced the young +man suavely. "May I have the honour--" + +"Not necessary--not necessary at all," exploded Mr. Blithers. "I can +get about without a guide." + +"You will require an interpreter, sir," began the other, only to be +waved aside. + +"Any one desiring to speak to me will have to do it in English," said +Mr. Blithers, and marched out to the carriages. + +He was in some doubt at first, but as his carriage passed swiftly +between the staring ranks on the sidewalks, he began to doff his hat +and bow to the right and the left. His smiles were returned by the +multitude, and so his progress was more or less of a triumph after +all. + +At the Regengetz he found additional cause for irritation. The lords +and nobles who should have met him at the railway station were as +conspicuously absent in the rotunda of the hotel. No one was there to +receive him except the ingratiating manager of the establishment, who +hoped that he had had a pleasant trip and who assured him that it +would not be more than a couple of hours before his rooms would be +vacated by the people who now had them but were going away as soon as +the procession had passed. + +"Get 'em out at once," stormed Mr. Blithers. "Do you think I want to +hang around this infernal lobby until--" + +"Pardon me," said the manager blandly, "but your rooms will not be +ready for you before four or five o'clock. They are occupied. We can +put you temporarily in rooms at the rear if your lady desires to rest +and refresh herself after the journey." + +"Well, I'll be--" began Mr. Blithers, purple in the face, and then +leaned suddenly against the counter, incapable of finishing the +sentence. + +The manager rubbed his hands and smiled. "This is one of our gala +days, Mr. Blithers. You could not have arrived at a time more +opportune. I have taken the precaution to reserve chairs for you on +the verandah. The procession will pass directly in front of the hotel +on its way to Castle avenue." + +"What procession?" demanded Mr. Blithers. He was beginning to recall +the presence of uniformed bands and mounted troops in the side +streets near the station. + +"The Prince is returning to-day from his trip around the world," said +the manager. + +"He ought to have been back long ago," said Mr. Blithers wrathfully, +and mopped his brow with a hand rendered unsteady by a mental +convulsion. He was thinking of his hat-lifting experience. + +True to schedule, the procession passed the hotel at five. Bands were +playing, people were shouting, banners were waving, and legions of +mounted and foot soldiers in brilliant array clogged the +thoroughfare. The royal equipage rolled slowly by, followed by less +gorgeous carriages in which were seated the men who failed to make +the advent of Mr. Blithers a conspicuous success. + +Prince Robin sat in the royal coach, faced by two unbending officers +of the Royal Guard. He was alone on the rear seat, and his brown, +handsome face was aglow with smiles. Instead of a hat of silk, he +lifted a gay and far from immaculate conception in straw; instead of +a glittering uniform, he wore a suit of blue serge and a peculiarly +American tie of crimson hue. He looked more like a popular athlete +returning from conquests abroad than a prince of ancient lineage. But +the crowd cheered itself hoarse over this bright-faced youngster who +rode by in a coach of gold and brandished a singularly unregal +chapeau. + +His alert eyes were searching the crowd along the street, in the +balconies and windows with an eager intensity. He was looking for the +sweet familiar face of the loveliest girl on earth, and knew that he +looked in vain, for even though she were one among the many her +features would be obscured by an impenetrable veil. If she were +there, he wondered what her thoughts might be on beholding the humble +R. Schmidt in the role of a royal prince receiving the laudations of +the loving multitude! + +Passing the Regengetz, his eyes swept the rows of cheering people +banked upon its wide terrace and verandahs. He saw Mr. and Mrs. +Blithers well down in front, and for a second his heart seemed to +stand still. Would she be with them? It was with a distinct sensation +of relief that he realised that she was not with the smiling +Americans. + +Mr. Blithers waved his hat and, instead of shouting the +incomprehensible greeting of the native spectators, called out in +vociferous tones: + +"Welcome home! Welcome! Hurrah!" + +As the coach swerved into the circle and entered the great, tree- +lined avenue, followed by the clattering chorus of four thousand +horse-shoes, Mrs. Blithers after a final glimpse of the disappearing +coach, sighed profoundly, shook out her handkerchief from the +crumpled ball she had made of it with her nervously clenched fingers, +touched her lips with it and said: + +"Oh, what a remarkably handsome, manly boy he is, Will." + +Mr. Blithers nodded his head proudly. "He certainly is. I'll bet my +head that Maud is crazy about him already. She can't help it, Lou. +That trip on the _Jupiter_ was a God-send." + +"I wish we could hear something from her," said Mrs. Blithers, +anxiously. + +"Don't you worry," said he. "She'll turn up safe and sound and +enthusiastic before she's a week older. We'll have plain sailing from +now on, Lou." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A VISIT TO THE CASTLE + + +Mr. Blithers indeed experienced plain sailing for the ensuing twenty +hours. It was not until just before he set forth at two the next +afternoon to attend, by special appointment, a meeting of the cabinet +in the council chamber at the Castle that he encountered the first +symptom of squalls ahead. + +He had sent his secretary to the Castle with a brief note suggesting +an early conference. It naturally would be of an informal character, +as there was no present business before them. The contracts had +already been signed by the government and by his authorised agents. +So far as the loan was concerned there was nothing more to be said. +Everything was settled. True, it was still necessary to conform to a +certain custom by having the Prince affix his signature to the +contract over the Great Seal of State, but as he previously had +signed an agreement in New York this brief act was of a more or less +perfunctory nature. + +The deposit of bonds by the state and its people would follow in +course of time, as prescribed by contract, and Mr. Blithers was +required to place in the Bank of Graustark, on such and such a date, +the sum of three million pounds sterling. Everybody was satisfied +with the terms of the contract. Mr. Blithers was to get what really +amounted to nearly nine percent on a gilt-edged investment, and +Graustark was to preserve its integrity and retain its possessions. + +There was a distant cloud on the financial horizon, however, a vague +shadow at present,--but prophetic of storm. It was perfectly clear to +the nobles that when these bonds matured, Mr. Blithers would be in a +position to exact payment, and as they matured in twelve years from +date he was likely to be pretty much alive and kicking when the hour +of reckoning arrived. + +Mr. Blithers was in the mood to be amiable. He anticipated +considerable pleasure in visiting the ancient halls of his +prospective grandchildren. During the forenoon he had taken a motor +ride about the city with Mrs. Blithers, accompanied by a guide who +created history for them with commendable glibness and some veracity, +and pointed out the homes of great personages as well as the +churches, monuments and museums. He also told them in a confidential +undertone that the Prince was expected to marry a beautiful American +girl and that the people were enchanted with the prospect! That sly +bit of information realised ten dollars for him at the end of the +trip, aside from his customary fee. + +The first shock to the placidity of Mr. Blithers came with the brief +note in reply to his request for an informal conference. The Lord +Chamberlain curtly informed him that the Cabinet would be in session +at two and would be pleased to grant him an audience of half an hour, +depending on his promptness in appearing. + +Mr. Blithers was not accustomed to being granted audiences. He had +got into the habit of having them thrust upon him. It irritated him +tremendously to have any one measure time for him. Why, even the +President of the United States, the Senate, or the District Attorney +in New York couldn't do _that_ for him. And here was a whipper- +snapper Lord Chamberlain telling him that the Cabinet would grant him +half-an-hour! He managed to console himself, however, with the +thought that matters would not always be as they were at present. +There would be a decided change of tune later on. + +It would be folly to undertake the depiction of Mr. Blithers' first +impressions of the Castle and its glories, both inside out. To begin +with, he lost no small amount of his assurance when he discovered +that the great gates in the wall surrounding the park were guarded by +resplendent dragoons who politely demanded his "pass." After the +officer in charge had inspected the Lord Chamberlain's card as if he +had never seen one before, he ceremoniously indicated to a warden +that the gates were to be opened. There was a great clanking of +chains, the drawing of iron bolts, the whirl of a windlass, and the +ponderous gates swung slowly ajar. + +Mr. Blithers caught his breath--and from that instant until he found +himself crossing the great hall in the wake of an attendant delegated +to conduct him to the council chamber his sensations are not to be +described. It is only necessary to say that he was in a reverential +condition, and that is saying a great deal for Mr. Blithers. A +certain bombastic confidence in himself gave way to mellow timidity. +He was in a new world. He was cognisant of a distinct sensation of +awe. His ruthless Wall Street tread became a mincing, uncertain +shuffle; he could not conquer the absurd notion that he ought to tip- +toe his way about these ancient halls with their thick, velvety rugs +and whispering shadows. + +Everywhere about him was pomp, visible and invisible. It was in the +great stairway, the vaulted ceilings, the haughty pillars, over all +of which was the sheen of an age that surpassed his comprehension. +Rigid servitors watched his progress through the vast spaces--men +with grim, unsmiling faces. He knew, without seeing, that this huge +pile was alive with noble lords and ladies: The court! Gallantry and +beauty to mock him with their serene indifference! + +Somewhere in this great house beautiful women were idling, or +feasting, or dreaming. He was conscious of their presence all about +him, and shrank slightly as he wondered if they were scrutinising his +ungainly person. He was suddenly ashamed of his tight-fitting cut-a- +way coat and striped trousers. Really he ought to get a new suit! +These garments were much too small for him. + +Were ironic eyes taking in the fresh creases in those New York +trousers? Were they regarding his shimmering patent leather shoes +with an intelligence that told them that he was in pain? Were they +wondering how much he weighed and why he didn't unbutton his coat +when he must have known that it would look better if it didn't pinch +him so tightly across the chest? Above all things, were they smiling +at the corpulent part of him that preceded the rest of his body, clad +in an immaculate waistcoat? He never had felt so conspicuous in his +life, nor so certain that he was out of place. + +Coming in due time--and with a grateful heart--to a small ante- +chamber, he was told to sit down and wait. He sat down very promptly. +In any other house he would have sauntered around, looking at the +emblems, crests and shields that hung upon the walls. But now he sat +and wondered. He wondered whether this could be William W. Blithers. +Was this one of the richest men in the world--this fellow sitting +here with his hands folded tightly across his waistcoat? He was +forced to admit that it was and at the same time it wasn't. + +The attendant returned and he was ushered into a second chamber, at +the opposite end of which was a large, imposing door--closed. Beside +this door stood a slim, erect figure in the red, blue and gold +uniform of an officer of the Castle guard. As Mr. Blithers approached +this rigid figure, he recognised a friend and a warm glow pervaded +his heart. There could be no mistaking the smart moustache and +supercilious eye-brows. It was Lieutenant Dank. + +"How do you do?" said Mr. Blithers. "Glad to see you again." His +voice sounded unnatural. He extended his hand. + +Dank gave him a ceremonious salute, bowed slightly but without a +smile, and then threw open the door. + +"Mr. Blithers, my lords," he announced, and stood aside to let the +stranger in a strange land pass within. + +A number of men were seated about a long table in the centre of this +imposing chamber. No one arose as Mr. Blithers entered the room and +stopped just inside the door. He heard it close gently behind him. He +was at a loss for the first time in his life. He didn't know whether +he was to stop just inside the door fingering his hat like a +messenger boy, or go forward and join the group. His gaze fell upon a +huge oaken chair at the far end of the table. It was the only +unoccupied seat that came within the scope of his rather limited +vision. He could not see anything beyond the table and the impassive +group that surrounded it. Was it possible that the big chair was +intended for him? If so, how small and insignificant he would look +upon it. He had a ghastly notion that his feet would not touch the +floor, and he went so far as to venture the hope that there would be +a substantial round somewhere about midway from the bottom. + +He had appeared before the inquisitorial committees in the United +States Senate, and had not been oppressed by the ponderous gravity of +the investigation. He had faced the Senators without a tremor of awe. +He had even regarded them with a confidence, equal if not superior to +their own. But now he faced a calm, impassive group of men who seemed +to strip him down to the flesh with a cool, piercing interest, and +who were in no sense impressed by what they saw. + +Despite his nervousness he responded to the life long habit of +calculation. He counted the units in the group in a single, rapid +glance, and found that there were eleven. Eleven lords of the realm! +Eleven stern, dignified, unsmiling strangers to the arrogance of +William W. Blithers! Something told him at once that he could not +spend an informal half-hour with them. Grim, striking, serious +visages, all of them! The last hope for his well-fed American humour +flickered and died. He knew that it would never do to regale them in +an informal off-hand way--as he had planned--with examples of native +wit. + +Reverting to the precise moment of his entrance to the Castle, we +find Mr. Blithers saying to himself that there wasn't the slightest +use in even hoping that he might be invited to transfer his lodgings +from the Regengetz to the Royal bed-chambers. The chance of being +invited to dine there seemed to dwindle as well. While he sat and +waited in the first antechamber he even experienced strange +misgivings in respect to parental privileges later on. + +After what appeared to him to be an interminable length of time, but +in reality no more than a few seconds, a tall man arose from his seat +and advanced with outstretched hand. Mr. Blithers recognised Count +Quinnox, the Minister of War. He shook that friendly hand with a +fervour that must have surprised the Count. Never in all his life had +he been so glad to see any one. + +"How are you, my lord," said the king of finance, fairly meek with +gratefulness. + +"Excellently well, Mr. Blithers," returned the Count. "And you?" + +"Never better, never better," said Mr. Blithers, again pumping the +Count's hand up and down--with even greater heartiness than before. +"Glad to see you. Isn't it a pleasant day? I was telling Mrs. +Blithers this morning that I'd never seen a pleasanter day. We--" + +"Let me introduce you to my colleagues, Mr. Blithers," interrupted +the Count. + +"Happy, I'm sure," mumbled Mr. Blithers. To save his life, he +couldn't tell what had got into him. He had never acted like this +before. + +The Count was mentioning the names of dukes, counts and barons, and +Mr. Blithers was bowing profoundly to each in turn. No one offered to +shake hands with him, although each rose politely, even graciously. +They even smiled. He remembered that very well afterwards. They +smiled kindly, almost benignly. He suddenly realised what had got +into him. It was respect. + +"A chair, Franz," said the white haired, gaunt man who was called +Baron Romano. "Will you sit here, Mr. Blithers? Pray forgive our +delay in admitting you. We were engaged in a rather serious +discussion over--" + +"Oh, that's all right," said Mr. Blithers, magnanimously. "Am I +interfering with any important business, gent--my lords? If so, just-- +" + +"Not at all, Mr. Blithers. Pray be seated." + +"Sure I'm not taking any one's seat?" + +"A secretary's, sir. He can readily find another." + +Mr. Blithers sat down. He was rather pleased to find that the big +chair was not meant for him. A swift intuition told him that it was +reserved for the country's ruler. + +"The Prince signed the contracts just before you arrived, Mr. +Blithers," said Baron Romano. "The seal has been affixed to each of +the documents, and your copy is ready for delivery at any time." + +Mr. Blithers recovered himself slightly. "You may send it to the +hotel, Baron, at any time to-morrow. My lawyers will have a look at +it." Then he made haste to explain: "Not that it is really necessary, +but just as a matter of form. Besides, it gives the lawyers something +to do." He sent an investigating glance around the room. + +"The Prince has retired," said the Baron, divining the thought. "He +does not remain for the discussions." Glancing at the huge old clock +above the door, the Prime Minister assumed a most business-like air. +"It will doubtless gratify you to know that three-fourths of the +bonds have been deposited, Mr. Blithers, and the remainder will be +gathered in during the week. Holders living in remote corners of our +country have not as yet been able to reach us with their securities. +A week will give them sufficient time, will it not, Count Lazzar?" + +"I may safely say that all the bonds will be in our hands by next +Tuesday at the latest," said the Minister of the Treasury. He was a +thin, ascetic man; his keen eyes were fixed rather steadily upon Mr. +Blithers. After a moment's pause, he went on: "We are naturally +interested in your extensive purchases of our outstanding bonds, Mr. +Blithers. I refer to the big blocks you have acquired in London, +Paris and Berlin." + +"Want to know what I bought them for?" inquired Mr. Blithers amiably. + +"We have wondered not a little at your readiness to invest such a +fortune in our securities." + +"Well, there you have it. Investment, that's all. Your credit is +sound, and your resources unquestioned, your bonds gilt-edge. I am +glad of the opportunity to take a few dollars out of Wall Street +uncertainties and put 'em into something absolutely certain. Groo-- +Gras--er--Groostock bonds are pretty safe things to have lying in a +safety vault in these times of financial unrest. They create a pretty +solid fortune for my family,--that is to say, for my daughter and her +children. A sensible business man,--and I claim to be one,--looks +ahead, my lords. Railroads are all right as long as you are alive and +can run them yourself. It's after you are dead that they fail to do +what is expected of them. New fingers get into the pie, and you never +can tell what they'll pull out in their greediness. I cannot imagine +anything safer in the shape of an investment than the bonds of a +nation that has a debt of less than fifty million dollars. As a +citizen of a republic whose national debt is nearly a billion, I +confess that I can't see how you've managed so well." + +"We are so infinitesimal, Mr. Blithers, that I daresay we could be +lost in the smallest of your states," said Baron Romano, with a +smile. + +"Rhode Island is pretty small," Mr. Blithers informed him, without a +smile. + +"It is most gratifying to Graustark to know that you value our +securities so highly as a legacy," said Count Lazzar, suavely. "May I +venture the hope, however, that your life may be prolonged beyond the +term of their existence? They expire in a very few years--a dozen, in +fact." + +"Oh, I think I can hang on that long," said Mr. Blithers, a little +more at ease. He was saying to himself that these fellows were not so +bad, after all. "Still one never knows. I may be dead in a year. My +daughter--but, of course, you will pardon me if I don't go into my +private affairs. I fear I have already said too much." + +"On the contrary, sir, we are all only too willing to be edified. The +workings of an intelligence such as jours cannot fail to be of +interest to us who are so lacking in the power to cope with great +undertakings. I confess to a selfish motive in asking you about your +methods of--er--investment," said the Minister of Finance. Mr. +Blithers failed to see that he was shrewdly being led up to a matter +that was of more importance to Graustark just then than anything +along financial lines. + +"I am only too willing, my lords, to give you the benefit of my +experience. Any questions that you may care to ask, I'll be glad to +answer to the best of my ability. It is only natural that I should +take a great personal interest in Graustock from now on. I want to +see the country on the boom. I want to see it taking advantage of all +the opportunities that--er--come its way. There may be a few +pointers that William W. Blithers can give you in respect to your +railways and mines--and your general policy, perhaps. I hope you +won't hesitate about asking." + +The Prime Minister tapped reflectively upon the table-top with his +fingers for a moment or two. + +"Thank you," he said. "We are at this very moment in something of a +quandary in respect to the renewal of a treaty with one of our +neighbours. For the past twenty years we have been in alliance with +our next door neighbours, Axphain on the north and Dawsbergen on the +south and east. The triple alliance will end this year unless +renewed. Up to the present our relations have been most amiable. +Axphain stands ready to extend our mutual protective agreement for +another term of years, but Dawsbergen is lukewarm and inclined to +withdraw. When you become better acquainted with the politics of our +country you will understand how regrettable such an action on the +part of a hitherto friendly government will be." + +"What's the grievance?" inquired Mr. Blithers, bluntly. He was edging +into familiar waters now. "What's the matter with Dawsbergen? Money +controversy?" + +"Not at all," said Lazzar hastily. + +"Why not let 'em withdraw?" said Mr. Blithers. "We can get along +without them." + +There was a general uplifting of heads at the use of the pronoun, and +a more fixed concentration of gaze. + +"I daresay you are already acquainted with the desire on the part of +Dawsbergen to form an alliance in which Axphain can have no part," +said Baron Romano. "In other words, it has been the desire of both +Dawsbergen and Graustark to perfect a matrimonial alliance that may +cement the fortunes of the two countries--" + +"Count Quinnox mentioned something of the sort," interrupted Mr. +Blithers. "But suppose this matrimonial alliance doesn't come off, +who would be the sufferer, you or Dawsbergen? Who will it benefit the +most?" + +There was a moment's silence. Doubtless it had never occurred to the +Ministry to speculate on the point. + +"Dawsbergen is a rich, powerful country," said Romano. "We will be +the gainers by such an alliance. Mr. Blithers." + +"I don't go much on alliances," said the capitalist. "I believe in +keeping out of them if possible." + +"I see," said the Baron reflectively. There was another silence. +Then: "It has come to our notice in a most direct manner that the +Prince of Dawsbergen feels that his friendly consideration of a +proposal made by our government some years ago is being disregarded +in a manner that can hardly be anything but humiliating to him, not +only as a sovereign but as a father." + +"He's the one who has the marriageable daughter, eh? I had really +forgotten the name." + +The Baron leaned forward, still tapping the table-top with his long, +slim fingers. + +"The report that Prince Robin is to marry your daughter, Mr. +Blithers, has reached his ears. It is only natural that he should +feel resentful. For fifteen years there has been an understanding +that the Crown Princess of Dawsbergen and the Prince of Graustark +were one day to be wedded to each other. You will admit that the +present reports are somewhat distressing to him and unquestionably so +to the Crown Princess." + +Mr. Blithers settled back in his chair. "It seems to me that he is +making a mountain out of a molehill." + +Baron Romano shrank perceptibly. "It devolves upon me, sir, as +spokesman for the Ministry, the court and the people of Graustark, to +inform you that marriage between our Prince and any other than the +Crown Princess of Dawsbergen is not to be considered as possible." + +Mr. Blithers stared. "Hasn't the Prince any voice in the matter?" he +demanded. + +"Yes. He has already denied, somewhat publicly, that he is not +contemplating marriage with your daughter. He has had a voice in that +matter at least." + +A fine moisture started out on the purplish brow of Mr. Blithers. +Twenty-two eyes were upon him. He realised that he was not attending +an informal conference. He had been brought here for a deliberate +purpose. + +"I may be permitted the privilege of reminding you, my lords, that +his denial was no more emphatic than that expressed by my daughter," +he said, with real dignity. + +"We have accepted her statement as final, but it is our earnest +desire that the minds of the people be set at rest," said the Baron +gravely. "I sincerely trust that you will appreciate our position, +Mr. Blithers. It is not our desire or intention to offend in this +matter, but we believe it to be only fair and just that we should +understand each other at the outset. The impression is afoot that--" + +"My lords," said Mr. Blithers, rising, his face suddenly pale, "I beg +leave to assure you that my daughter's happiness is of far more +importance to me than all the damned principalities in the world. +Just a moment, please. I apologise for the oath--but I mean it, just +the same. I do not resent your attitude, nor do I resent your haste +in conveying to me your views on the subject. It may be diplomacy to +go straight to a question and get it over with, but it isn't always +diplomatic to go off half-cocked. I will say, with perfect candour, +that I should like to see my daughter the Princess of Graustark, but +--by God! I want you to understand that her own wishes in the matter +are to govern mine in the end. I have had this marriage in mind, +there's no use denying it. I have schemed to bring these two young +people together with a single object in view. I knew that if they saw +enough of each other they would fall in love, and they would want the +happiness that love brings to all people. Just a moment, Baron! I +want to say to you now, all of you, that if my girl should love your +prince and he should love her in return, there isn't a power below +heaven that can keep them apart. If she doesn't love him, and he +should be unlucky enough to love her, I'd see him hanged before he +could have her. I'll admit that I have counted on seeing all of this +come to pass, and that I have bungled the thing pretty badly because +I'm a loving, selfish father,--but, my lords, since you have brought +me here to tell me that it is impossible for my girl to marry your +prince, I will say to you, here and now, that if they ever love each +other and want to get married, I'll see to it that it isn't +impossible. You issue an ultimatum to me, in plain words, so I'll +submit one to you, in equally plain words. I intend to leave this +matter entirely to my daughter and Prince Robin. They are to do the +deciding, so far as I am concerned. And if they decide that they love +each other and want to get married, _they will get married_. Do I make +myself perfectly plain, my lords?" + +The dignified Ministry of Graustark sat agape. With his concluding +words, Mr. Blithers deposited his clenched fist upon the table with a +heavy thud, and, as if fascinated, every eye shifted from his face to +the white knuckles of that resolute hand. + +Baron Romano also arose. "You place us in the extremely distressing +position of being obliged to oppose the hand of a benefactor, Mr. +Blithers. You have come to our assistance in a time of need. You +have--" + +"If it is the loan you are talking about, Baron, that is quite beside +the question," interrupted Mr. Blithers. "I do not speculate. I may +have had a personal motive in lending you this money, but I don't +believe you will find that it enters into the contract we have +signed. I don't lend money for charity's sake. I sometimes give it to +charity, but when it comes to business, I am not charitable. I have +made a satisfactory loan and I am not complaining. You may leave out +the word benefactor, Baron. It doesn't belong in the game." + +"As you please, sir," said Romano coldly. "We were only intent upon +conveying to you our desire to maintain friendly relations with you, +Mr. Blithers, despite the unpleasant conditions that have arisen. I +may at least question your right to assume that we are powerless to +prevent a marriage that is manifestly unpopular with the subjects of +Prince Robin." + +"I had it on excellent authority to-day that the people are not +opposed to the union of my daughter and the prince," said Mr. +Blithers. + +"I am compelled to say that you have been misinformed," said the +Baron, flatly. + +"I think I have not been misinformed, however, concerning the +personal views of Prince Robin. If I am not mistaken, he openly +declares that he will marry to suit himself and not the people of +Graustark. Isn't it barely possible, my lords, that he may have +something to say about who he is to marry?" + +"I confess that his attitude is all that you describe," said the +Baron. "He has announced his views quite plainly. We admit that he +may have something to say about it." + +"Then I submit that it isn't altogether an improbability that he may +decide to marry according to the dictates of his heart and not for +the sake of appearances," said Mr. Blithers scathingly. "I have an +idea that he will marry the girl he loves, no matter who she may be." + +[Illustration: The dignified Ministry of Graustark sat agape] + +Count Quinnox and Baron Gourou exchanged glances. These two men were +guilty of having kept from their colleagues all information +concerning a certain Miss Guile. They, as well as Dank, were bound by +a promise exacted by their sovereign prince. They alone knew that Mr. +Blithers was supported by an incontrovertible truth. For the present, +their lips were sealed, and yet they faced that anxious group with a +complete understanding of the situation. They knew that Mr. Blithers +was right. Prince Robin would marry the girl that he loved, and no +other. They knew that their prince expected to marry the daughter of +the man who now faced these proud noblemen and virtually defied them! + +"Am I not right, Count Quinnox?" demanded Mr. Blithers, turning +suddenly upon the Minister of War. "You are in a position to know +something about him. Am I not right?" + +Every eye was on the Count. "Prince Robin will marry for love, my +lords," he said quietly, "I am forced to agree with Mr. Blithers." + +Baron Romano sank into his chair. There was silence in the room for +many seconds. + +"May I enquire, Count Quinnox, if you know anything of the present +state of Prince Robin's--er--heart?" inquired the Prime Minister +finally. + +A tinge of red appeared in each of Count Quinnox's swarthy cheeks. + +"I can only surmise," said he briefly. + +"Has--has he met some one in whom he feels a--er--an interest?" + +"Yes." + +"May we have the benefit of your conclusions?" said Baron Romano, +icily. + +"I am not at liberty to supply information at present," said the +Count, visibly distressed. + +Mr. Blithers leaned forward, his hands upon the table. "Some one he +met after leaving New York?" he inquired eagerly. + +"Time will reveal everything, Mr. Blithers," said the Count, and +closed his jaws resolutely. His colleagues looked at him in +consternation. The worst, then, had happened! + +A gleam of triumph shot into the eyes of Mr. Blithers. His heart +swelled. He felt himself stepping out upon safe, solid ground after a +period of floundering. The very best, then, had happened! + +"My lords, I find that my half-hour is almost up," he said, pulling +out his gold watch and comparing its time with that of the clock on +the wall. "Permit me to take my departure. I am content to let +matters shape themselves as they may. Shakespeare says 'there is a +destiny that shapes our ends, rough hew them'--er--and so forth. +Allow me, however, before leaving, to assure you of my most kindly +interest in the welfare of your State. You may be pleased to know +that it is not from me that Graustark--did I get it right that time? +--will redeem her bonds when they mature, but from my only daughter. +She is nearly twenty-one years of age. On her twenty-fifth birthday I +shall present to her--as a gift--all of my holdings in Graustark. She +may do as she sees fit with them. Permit me to wish you all good day, +my lords. You may send the contract to my hotel, Baron. I expect to +remain in the city for some time." + +As he traversed the vast halls on his way to the outer world, he was +again overcome by the uneasy conviction that ironic eyes were looking +out upon him from luxurious retreats. Again he felt that his coat +fitted him too tightly and that his waistcoat was painfully in +evidence. He hurried a bit. If he could have had his way about it, he +would have run. Once outside the castle doors, he lighted a big +cigar, and threw the burnt-out match upon the polished flagstones of +the terrace. He regretted the act on the instant. He wished he had +not thrown it there. If the solemn grooms had not been watching, he +would have picked it up and stuck it into his pocket for disposal on +the less hallowed stones of a city thoroughfare. + +Outside the gates he felt more at ease, more at home, in fact. He +smoked in great contentment. In the broad, shady avenue he took out +his watch and pried open the case. A great pride filled his eyes as +he looked upon the dainty miniature portrait of his daughter Maud. +She _was_ lovely--she was even lovelier than he had ever thought +before. + +At the Regengetz a telegram awaited him. It was from Maud. + +"I shall be in Edelweiss this week without fail. I have something +very important to tell you." So it read. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +PINGARI'S + + +Nine o'clock of a rainy night, on the steep, winding road that +climbed the mountain-side from the walled-in city to the crest on +which stood the famed monastery of St. Valentine,--nine o'clock of a +night fraught with pleasurable anticipation on the part of one R. +Schmidt, whose eager progress up the slope was all too slow +notwithstanding the encouragement offered by the conscienceless Jehu +who frequently beat his poor steeds into a gallop over level +stretches and never allowed them to pause on the cruel grades. + +Late in the afternoon there had come to the general post-office a +letter for Mr. R. Schmidt. He had told her that any message intended +for him would reach his hands if directed to the post-office. Since +his arrival in the city, three days before, he had purposely avoided +the main streets and avenues of Edelweiss, venturing forth but seldom +from the Castle grounds, and all because he knew that he could not go +abroad during the day-time without forfeiting the privileges to be +enjoyed in emulation of the good Caliphs of Baghdad. His people would +betray their prince because they loved him: his passage through the +streets could only be attended by respectful homage on the part of +every man, woman and child in the place. If Bedelia were there, she +could not help knowing who and what he was, with every one stupidly +lifting his hat and bowing to him as he passed, and he did not want +Bedelia to know the truth about him until she had answered an all- +important question, as has been mentioned before on more than one +occasion in the course of this simple tale. + +Her letter was brief. She merely acquainted him with the fact that +she had arrived in Edelweiss that day from Ganlook, twenty miles +away, and was stopping at the Inn of the Stars outside the city gates +and half way up the mountain-side, preferring the quiet, ancient +tavern to the stately Regengetz for reasons of her own. + +In closing she said that she would be delighted to see him when it +was convenient for him to come to her. On receipt of this singularly +matter-of-fact letter, he promptly despatched a message to Miss +Guile, Inn of the Stars, saying that she might expect him at nine +that night. + +Fortunately for him, the night was wet and blustering. He donned a +rain-coat, whose cape and collar served to cover the lower part of +his face fairly well, and completed his disguise by pulling far down +over his eyes the villainous broad-brimmed hat affected by the +shepherds in the hills. He had a pair of dark eye-glasses in reserve +for the crucial test that would come with his entrance to the Inn. + +Stealing away from the Castle at night, he entered the ram-shackle +cab that Hobbs had engaged for the expedition, and which awaited him +not far from the private entrance to the Park. Warders at the gate +looked askance as he passed them by, but not one presumed to question +him. They winked slyly at each other, however, after he had +disappeared in the shadows beyond the rays of the feeble lanterns +that they carried. It was good to be young! + +The driver of that rattling old vehicle was no other than the +versatile Hobbs, who, it appears, had rented the outfit for a fixed +sum, guaranteeing the owner against loss by theft, fire or +dissolution. It is not even remotely probable that the owner would +have covered the ground so quickly as Hobbs, and it is certain that +the horses never suspected that they had it in them. + +The mud-covered vehicle was nearing the Inn of the Stars when Robin +stuck his head out of the window and directed Hobbs to drive slower. + +"Very good, sir," said Hobbs. "I thought as how we might be late +after losing time at the city gates, sir, wot with that silly guard +and the--" + +"We are in good time, Hobbs. Take it easy." + +The lights of the Inn were gleaming through the drizzle not more than +a block away. Robin's heart was thumping furiously. Little chills ran +over him, delicious chills of excitement. His blood was hot and cold, +his nerves were tingling. The adventure! + +"Whoa!" said Hobbs suddenly. "'Ello, wot the 'ell is--" + +A dark figure had sprung into the road-way near the horses' heads, +and was holding up a warning hand. + +"Is this Mr. Schmidt's carriage?" demanded a hoarse, suppressed +voice. + +"It is," said Hobbs, "for the time being. Wot of it?" + +Robin's head came through the window. + +"What do you want?" + +"Some one is coming out here to meet you, sir. Do not drive up to the +doors. Those are the orders. You are to wait here, if you please." + +Then the man shot away into the darkness, leaving the wayfarers +mystified by his words and action. + +"Wot am I to do, sir?" inquired Hobbs. "Most hextraordinary orders, +and who the deuce is behind them, that's wot I'd like to know." + +"We'll wait here, Hobbs," said Robin, and then put his hand suddenly +to his heart. It was acting very queerly. For a moment he thought it +was in danger of pounding its way out of his body! + +Below him lay the lighted city, a great yellow cloud almost at his +feet. Nearer, on the mountain-side were the misty lights in the +windows of dwellers on the slope, and at points far apart the street +lamps, dim splashes of light in the gloom. Far above were the almost +obscured lights of St. Valentine, hanging in the sky. He thought of +the monks up there. What a life! He would not be a monk, not he. + +"My word!" exclaimed Hobbs, but instantly resumed his character as +cabby. + +A woman came swiftly out of the blackness and stopped beside the cab. +She was swathed in a long gossamer, and hooded. The carriage lamps +gleamed strong against the dripping coat. + +"Is it you?" cried Robin, throwing open the door and leaping to the +ground. + +"It is I, M'sieur," said the voice of Marie, Miss Guile's French +maid. + +Bleak disappointment filled his soul. He had hoped for--but no! He +might have known. She would not meet him in this manner. + +"What has happened?" he cried, grasping the girl's arm. "Has she--" + +"Sh! May we not speak in French?" said Marie, lowering her voice +after a significant look at the motionless cabman. "He may understand +English, M'sieur. My mistress has sent me to say to M'sieur that she +has changed her mind." + +"Changed her mind," gasped Robin. + +"Yes, M'sieur. She will not receive you at the Inn of the Stars. She +bids you drive to the end of this street, where there is a garden +with a Magyar band, and the most delicious of refreshments to be had +under vine-covered--" + +"A public garden?" exclaimed Robin in utter dismay. + +"Pingari's, sir," said Hobbs, without thinking. "I know the place +well. It is a very quiet, orderly place--I beg pardon!" + +"So he understands French, eh?" cried Marie sharply. + +"It doesn't matter," cried Robin impatiently. "Why, in heaven's name, +did she select a public eating-house in which to receive me?" + +"If M'sieur chooses to disregard the wishes of--" began the maid, but +he interrupted her. + +"I am not accustomed to meeting people in public gardens. I--" + +"Nor is my mistress, M'sieur. I assure you it is the first time she +has committed an indiscretion of this kind. May I put a flea in +M'sieur's ear? The place is quite empty to-night, and besides there +is the drive back to the Inn with Mademoiselle. Is not that +something, M'sieur?' + +"By jove!" exclaimed Robin. "Drive on,--you! But wait! Let me take +you to the Inn, Marie. It--" + +"No! I may not accept M'sieur's thoughtful invitation. Bon soir, +M'sieur." + +She was off like a flash. Robin leaped nimbly into the cab. + +"Pingari's, driver!" he said, his heart thumping once more. + +"Very good, sir," and they were off at a lively rate, rattling quite +gaily over the cobble-stones. + +Pingari's is the jumping-off place. It stands at the sharp corner of +an elbow in the mountain, with an almost sheer drop of a thousand +feet into the quarries below. A low-roofed, rambling building, once +used as a troop-house for nomadic fighting-men who came from all +parts of the principality on draft by feudal barons in the days +before real law obtained, it was something of a historic place. Parts +of the structure are said to be no less than five hundred years old, +but time and avarice have relegated history to a rather uncertain +background, and unless one is pretty well up in the traditions of the +town, he may be taken in nicely by shameless attendants who make no +distinction between the old and the new so long as it pays them to +procrastinate. + +As a matter of fact, the walls of the ancient troop-house surround +what is now considered the kitchen, and one never steps inside of +them unless he happens to be connected in a somewhat menial way with +the green grocer, the fish-monger, the butcher or the poultry-man. +The wonderful vine-covered porches, reeking with signs of decay and +tottering with age, are in truth very substantial affairs constructed +by an ancestor of the present Signor Pingari no longer ago than the +Napoleonic era--which is quite recent as things go in Graustark. + +Hobbs drove bravely into the court yard, shouted orders to a couple +of hostlers and descended from the box. The Magyar band was playing +blithely to the scattered occupants of the porches overlooking the +precipice. + +"'Ere we are, sir," said he to the Prince, as he jerked open the door +of the cab. "Shall I wait, sir?" + +"Certainly," said Robin, climbing out. "I am a long way from home, my +good man." + +He hurried up the steps and cast an eye about the place. There were +no ladies unattached. As he was about to start on a tour of +investigation, a polite person in brass buttons came up to him. + +"Alone, sir?" he inquired pityingly. + +"Quite," said Robin, still peering into the recesses. + +"Then come with me, if you please. I am directed to escort you to one +who is also alone. This way, sir." + +Robin followed him through a door, down a narrow hallway, up a flight +of stairs and out another door upon a small portico, sheltered by a +heavy canvas awning. Two men were standing at the railing, looking +down upon the impressionistic lights of the sunken city. The Prince +drew back, his face hardening. + +"What does this mean, sirrah? You said--" + +At the sound of his voice the two men turned, stared at him intently +for an instant and then deliberately strode past him, entered the +door and disappeared. The person in brass buttons followed them. + +A soft, gurgling laugh fell upon his ears--a laugh of pure delight. +He whirled about and faced--one who was no longer alone. + +She was seated at the solitary little table in the corner; until now +it had escaped his notice for the excellent reason that it was +outside the path of light from the open doorway, and the faint glow +from the adjacent porches did not penetrate the quiet retreat. + +He sprang toward her with a glad cry, expecting her to rise. She +remained seated, her hand extended. This indifference on her part may +have been the result of cool premeditation. In any event, it served +to check the impulsive ardour of the Prince, who, it is to be feared, +had lost something in the way of self-restraint. It is certain-- +absolutely certain--that had she come forward to meet him, she would +have found herself imprisoned in a pair of strong, eager arms,--and a +crisis precipitated. He had to be content with a warm hand-clasp and +a smile of welcome that even the gloom could not hide from his +devouring eyes. + +"My dear, dear Bedelia," he murmured. "I had almost given you up. +Three long days have I waited for you. You--" + +"I have never broken a promise, Rex," she said coolly." It is you who +are to be commended, not I, for you see I was coming to Graustark +anyway. I should not have been surprised if you had failed me, sir. +It is a long way from Vienna to this out-of-the-way--" + +"The most distant spot in the world would not have been too far away +to cause an instant's hesitation on my part," said he, dropping into +the chair opposite her. "I would go to the end of the world, +Bedelia." + +"But your personal affairs--your business," she protested. "Can you +neglect it so--" + +"My business is to find happiness," said he. "I should be neglecting +it indeed if I failed to pursue the only means of attaining it. You +are happiness, Bedelia." + +"What would you sacrifice for happiness?" she asked softly. + +"All else in the world," he replied steadily. "If I were a king, my +realm should go if it stood between me and--you, Bedelia." + +She drew back with a queer little gasp, as if suddenly breathless. + +"Wait--wait just for a moment," she said, with difficulty steadying +her voice. "This night may see the end of our adventure, Rex. Let us +think well before we say that it is over. I know, if you do not, that +a great deal depends upon what we are to say to each other to-night. +You will ask me to be your wife. Are you sure that you appreciate all +that it means to you and to your future if I should say yes to that +dear question?" + +He looked at her intently. "What do you know, Bedelia?" + +"I know that you are the Prince of Graustark and that it is ordained +that you shall wed one whose station is the equal of your own. You +must think well, dear Rex, before you ask Bedelia Guile to be your +wife." + +"You know that I am--" he began, dully, and then burst into a +mirthless laugh. "And knowing who I am, why do you not leap at the +chance to become the Princess of Graustark? Why not realise an +ambition that--" + +"Hush! You see how well I considered when I advised you to think +before speaking? You are now saying things that are unworthy of you. +You are forgetting that it is my privilege to say no to the am in +search of happiness. I too--" + +He stood up, leaning far over the table, a penetrating look in his +eyes. + +"How long have you known, Bedelia?" + +"Since the second day out on the _Jupiter_," she replied serenely. + +He slowly resumed his seat, overwhelmed by the sickening realisation +that his bubble had burst. She had known from the beginning. She had +played with him. She had defied him! + +"I know what you are thinking, Rex," she said, almost pleadingly. +"You are thinking ill of me, and you are unjust. It was as fair for +me as it was for you. We played a cautious game. You set about to win +my love as you saw fit, my friend, and am I to be condemned if I +exercised the same privilege? I was no more deliberate, no more +reprehensible than you. Am I more guilty of deceit than you?" + +He gave a great sigh of relief. "You are right," he said. "It is my +turn to confess. I have known for many days that you are not Bedelia +Guile. We are quits." + +She laughed softly. "I rather like Bedelia. I think I shall keep it +as a good-luck name. We have now arrived at the time for a profound +contemplation of the results of our experiments. In the meantime, I +have had no dinner. I trust that the Prince of Graustark has dined so +lightly that he will not decline to share my repast with me. It has +already been ordered--for two." + +"By jove, you--you amaze me!" he exclaimed. + +"Please remove that dreadful mackintosh and touch the bell for me. +You see, I am a very prosaic person, after all. Even in the face of +disaster I can have a craving for food and drink. That's better." + +In a sort of daze, he tapped the little table bell. A waiter appeared +on the instant. + +"Give us more light, waiter," was her command, "and serve dinner at +once." + +The lights went up, and Robin looked into her soft, smiling eyes. + +"It doesn't matter," he whispered hoarsely. "I don't care what +happens to me, Bedelia, I--I shall never give you up. You are worth +all the kingdoms in the world. You are the loveliest, most adorable-- +" + +"Hush! The eyes of your people are upon you. See! Even the waiter +recognises his prince. He is overcome. Ah! He falters with the +consomme. It is a perilous moment. There! I knew something would +happen, poor fellow. He has spilled--but, all is well; he has his +wits again. See! He replenishes from the steaming tureen. We are +saved." + +Her mood was so gaily satiric, so inconsequential, that he allowed a +wondering, uncertain smile to banish the trouble from his eyes as he +leaned back in the chair and studied the vivid, excited face of the +girl who had created havoc with his senses. She was dressed as he had +seen her on board the _Jupiter_ during those delightful days on +deck: the same trim figure in a blue serge suit and a limp white hat, +drawn well down over her soft brown hair, with the smart red tie and +the never-to-be-forgotten scent of a perfume that would linger in his +nostrils forever and forever. + +"Do you think it strange that I should have asked you to meet me here +in this unconventional way instead of at the Inn?" she inquired, +suddenly serious. Again the shy, pleading expression stole into her +eyes. + +"I did think so, but no longer. I am glad that we are here." + +"Mrs. Gaston is inside," she informed him quickly. "I do not come +alone. An hour ago the Inn became quite impossible as a trysting +place. A small party from the Regengetz arrived for dinner. Can you +guess who is giving the dinner? The great and only William W. +Blithers, sir, who comes to put an obstinate daughter upon the throne +of Graustark, whether she will or no." + +"Did he see you?" cried Robin. + +"No," she answered, with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "I stole +out through the back door, and sent Marie out with one of the porters +to head you off. Then I came on here. I didn't even stop to change my +gown." + +"Hide and seek is a bully game," said he. "It can't last much longer, +Bedelia. I think it is only right that we should go to your father +and tell him that--everything is all right. It is his due. You've +solved your own problem and are satisfied, so why not reveal +yourself. There is nothing to be gained by further secrecy." + +She was watching him closely. "Are you, after all is said and done, +sure that you want to marry the daughter of William Blithers, in the +face of all the bitter consequences that may follow such an act? +Think hard, my dear. She is being forced upon you, in a way. Mr. +Blithers' money is behind her. Your people are opposed to the +bargain, for that is the way in which they will look upon it. They +may act very harshly toward you. The name of Blithers is detested in +your land. His daughter is reviled. Are you sure that you want to +marry her, Re--Robin?" + +"Are you through?" he asked, transfixing her with a determined look. +"Well, then, I'll answer you. I do want to marry you, and, more than +that, I mean to marry you. I love--" + +"You may tell me, Robin, as we are driving back to the Inn together-- +not here, not now," she said softly, the lovelight in her eyes. + +Happiness blurred his vision. He was thrilled by an enchantment so +stupefying that the power of speech, almost of thought, was denied +him for the time being. He could only sit and stare at her with +prophetic love in his eyes, love that bided its time and trembled +with anticipation. + +Long afterward, as they were preparing to leave Pingari's she said to +him: + +"My father is at the Inn, Robin. I ran away from him to-night because +I wanted to be sure that our adventure was closed before I revealed +myself to him. I wanted to be able to say to him that love will find +its way, no matter how blind it is, nor how vast the world it has to +traverse in search of its own. My father is at the Inn. Take me to +him now, Robin, and make the miracle complete." + +His fingers caressed her warm cheek as he adjusted the collar of the +long seacoat about her throat and chin. Her eyes were starry bright, +her red lips were parted. + +"My Princess!" he whispered tenderly. "My Princess!" + +"My Prince," she said so softly that the words barely reached his +ears. "We have proved that Love is the king. He rules us all. He +laughs at locksmiths--and fathers--but he does not laugh at +sweethearts. Come, I am ready." + +He handed her into the cab a moment later, and drew the long deep +breath of one who goes down into deep water. Then he followed after +her. The attendant closed the door. + +"Where to, sir?" called Hobbs from the driver's seat. + +He received no answer, yet cracked his whip gaily over the horses' +backs and drove out into the slanting rain. + +Hobbs was a dependable fellow. He drove the full length of the street +twice, passing the Inn of the Stars both times at a lively clip, and +might have gone on forever in his shuttlecock enterprise, had not the +excited voice of a woman hailed him from the sidewalk. + +"Stop! _Attendez_! You! Man!" + +He pulled up with a jerk. The dripping figure of Marie ran up from +behind. + +"My mistress? Where is she?" panted the girl. + +"In heaven," said Hobbs promptly, whereupon Marie pounded on the +glass window of the cab. + +Robin quickly opened the door. + +"Wha--what is it?" + +"Yes, Marie," came in muffled tones from the depths of the cab. + +"Madame Gaston returns long ago. She is beside herself. She is like a +maniac. She has lost you; she cannot explain to--to Mademoiselle's +father. Mon dieu, when he met her unexpectedly in the hall, he +shouts, 'where is my daughter?' And poor Madame she has but to shiver +and stammer and--run away! _Oui_! She dash out into the rain! It +is terrible. She--" + +Bedelia broke in upon this jumbled recitation. "Where have we been, +Robin? Where are we now?" + +"Where are we, Hobbs?" + +"We are just getting back to the Inn of the Stars, sir,--descending, +you might say, sir," said Hobbs. + +"Drive on, confound you." + +"To the Inn, sir?" + +"Certainly!" + +The door slammed and the final block was covered in so short a time +that Robin's final kiss was still warm on Bedelia's lips when the +gallant cab rolled up to the portals of the Inn of the Stars. + +"Did you ever know such a night, sir?" inquired Hobbs, as the Prince +handed his lady out. He was referring to the weather. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +JUST WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN EXPECTED + + +Even the most flamboyant of natures may suffer depression at times, +and by the same token arrogance may give way to humility,--or, at the +very least, conviction. + +Mr. Blithers had had a trying day of it. To begin with, his wife +raked him over the coals for what she was pleased to call his +senseless persistence in the face of what she regarded as unalterable +opposition on the part of the Cabinet and House of Nobles. It appears +that he had experienced a second encounter with the Ministry only the +day before. After sleeping over the results of his first visit to the +Council Chamber, he awoke to the fact that matters were in such a +condition that it behooved him to strike while the iron was hot. So +he obtained a second hearing, principally because he had not slept as +well over it as he would have liked, and secondarily because he +wanted to convince himself that he could parade their ancient halls +without feeling as self-conscious as a whipped spaniel. + +He came off even worse in his second assault upon the ministry, for +this time the members openly sneered at his declarations. As for his +progress through the enchanted halls he was no end worse off than +before. It so happened that he arrived at the castle at the very hour +when the ladies and gentlemen of the royal household were preparing +to fare forth to the tennis courts. He came upon them, first on the +terrace, then in the entrance, and later on was stared at with +evident curiosity by white flanneled and duck-skirted persons in the +lofty halls. He wished that he was back at Blitherwood where +simplicity was not so infernally common. + +He made the mistake of his life when he gave to his wife the details +of this second conference with the Cabinet. He did it in the hope +that a sympathetic response would be forthcoming. To his surprise, +she merely pitied him, but in such a disgustingly personal way that +he wondered if he could ever forgive her. + +"Can't you appreciate what I am doing for Maud?" he argued, almost +tearfully. + +"I can appreciate what you are doing _to_ her," said she, and swept +out of the room. + +"It's bad enough to have one stubborn woman in the family," said he +to himself, glaring at the closed door--which had been slammed, by +the way,--"but two of 'em--Good Lord!" + +And so it was that Mr. Blithers, feeling in need of cheer, arranged a +little dinner for that evening, at the Inn of the Stars. He first +invited his principal London lawyer and his wife--who happened to be +_his_ principal--and then sent a more or less peremptory invitation to +the President of the Bank of Graustark, urging him to join the party +at the Regengetz and motor to the Inn. He was to bring his wife and +any friends that might be stopping with them at the time. The banker +declined. His wife had been dead for twenty years; the only friends he +possessed were directors in the bank, and they happened to be having a +meeting that night. So Mr. Blithers invited his secondary London +lawyer, his French lawyer and two attractive young women who it +appears were related to the latter, although at quite a distance, and +then concluded that it was best to speak to his own wife about the +little affair. She said she couldn't even think of going. Maud might +arrive that very night and she certainly was not going out of the +hotel with such an event as that in prospect. + +"But Simpson's wife is coming," protested Mr. Blithers, "and +Pericault's cousins. Certainly you must come. Jolly little affair to +liven us up a bit. Now Lou,--" + +"I am quite positive that Lady Simpson will change her mind when she +hears that Pericault's cousins are going," said Mrs. Blithers acidly. + +"Anything the matter with Pericault's cousins?" he demanded, inclined +to the bellicose. + +"Ask Pericault," she replied briefly. + +He thought for a moment. "If that's the case, Lou, you'll have to +come, if only to save my reputation," he said." I didn't think it of +Pericault. He seems less like a Frenchman than any man I've ever +known." + +Mrs. Blithers relented. She went to the dinner and so did Lady +Simpson, despite Pericault's cousins, and the only ones in the party +who appeared to be uneasy were the cousins themselves. It is safe to +say that it was not the rain that put a dampener on what otherwise +might have been an excessively jovial party. + +Stupendous was the commotion at the Inn of the Stars when it became +known that one of the richest men in the world--and a possible +father-in-law apparent to the crown,--was to honour the place with +his presence that night. Every one, from the manager down to the boy +who pared potatoes, laid himself out to make the occasion a memorable +one. + +The millionaire's table was placed in the very centre of the dining- +room, and plates were laid for eight. At the last minute, Mr. +Blithers ordered the number increased to nine. + +"My daughter may put in an appearance," he explained to Lady Simpson. +"I have left word at the hotel for her to come up if by any chance +she happens to arrive on the evening train." + +"Haven't you heard from her, Mr. Blithers?" inquired the austere +lady, regarding the top of his head with an illy-directed lorgnon. + +They were entering the long, low dining-room. Mr. Blithers resented +the scrutiny: It was lofty and yet stooping. She seemed to be looking +down upon him at right angles, due no doubt to her superior height +and to the fact that she had taken his arm. + +"We have," said he, "but not definitely. She is likely to pop in on +us at any moment, and then again she's likely not to. My daughter is +a very uncertain person, Lady Simpson. I never seem to be able to put +my finger upon her." + +"Have you ever tried putting the whole hand upon her?" inquired her +ladyship, and Mr. Blithers stared straight ahead, incapable of +replying. + +He waited until they were seated at the table and then remarked: "I +am sorry you got splashed, Lady Simpson. You'd think they might keep +the approach to a place like this free of mud and water." + +"Oh, I daresay the gown can be cleaned, Mr. Blithers," she said. "I +am quite ready to discard it, in any event, so it really doesn't +matter." + +"My dear," said he to his wife, raising his voice so that diners at +nearby tables could not help hearing what he said, "I forgot to tell +you that we are expected to dine with the Prince at the Castle." Then +he wondered if any one in the room understood English. + +"When?" she inquired. + +"Very shortly," said he, and she was puzzled for a moment by the +stony glare he gave her. + +Lord Simpson took this opportunity to mention that he had taken +reservations for the return of himself and wife to Vienna on the next +day but one. + +"We shall catch the Orient Express on Friday and be in London by +Monday," he said. "Our work here is completed. Everything is in ship- +shape. Jenkins will remain, of course, to attend to the minor +details, such as going over the securities and--" + +"Don't you like that caviare?" asked Mr. Blithers with some asperity. + +"It has a peculiar taste," said Lord Simpson. + +"Best I've ever tasted," said Mr. Blithers, spreading a bun thickly. +Pericault's cousins were fingering the champagne glasses. "We've got +sherry coming first," said he. + +"Everything satisfactory, M'sieur Blithers?" inquired the _maitre +d'hotel_ softly, ingratiatingly, into his left ear. + +"Absolutely," said Mr. Blithers with precision. "You needn't hurry +things. We've got the whole evening ahead of us." + +Lady Simpson shivered slightly. The Pericault cousins brightened up. +There was still a chance that the "dowagers" would retire early from +the scene of festivity. + +"By the way," said Simpson, "how long do you purpose remaining in +Edelweiss, Blithers?" + +For the first time, the capitalist faltered. He was almost ready to +admit that his enterprise had failed in one vital respect. The +morning's experience in the Council Chamber had shaken his confidence +considerably. + +"I don't know, Simpson," said he. "It is possible that we may leave +soon." + +"Before the Prince's dinner?" inquired Lady Simpson, again regarding +his bald spot through the lorg-non. + +"Depends on what my daughter has to say when she gets here," said he +almost gruffly. "If she wants to stay for a while, we will remain. I +don't mind saying that I have a curious longing for Wall Street. I am +at home there and--well, by George, I'm like a fish out of water +here." + +His wife looked up quickly, but did not speak. + +"I am a business man, Lady Simpson, not a philanderer. I'd like to +take this town by the neck and shake some real enterprise into it, +but what can you do when everybody is willing to sit down and let +tradition look after 'em? I've put a lot of money into Grosstock and +I'd like to see the country prosper. Still I'm not worried over my +investment. It is as good as gold." + +"Perfectly safe," said Lord Simpson. + +"Absolutely," said the secondary London lawyer. + +Pericault's comment was in French and not intended to be brief, but +as Mr. Blithers was no longer interested, the privilege of completing +his remarks was not accorded him. He did say _Mon dieu_ under +his breath, however, in the middle of his employer's next sentence. + +"As I said before, everything depends on whether my daughter wants to +remain. If she says she wants to stay, that settles the point so far +as I am concerned. If she says she doesn't want to stay, we'll--well, +that will settle it also. I say, waiter, can't you hurry the fish +along?" + +"Certainly, sir. I understood M'sieur to say that there was no +hurry--" + +"Well, pour the champagne anyway. I think we need it." + +Two hours later, Mr. Blithers looked at his watch again. The party +was quite gay: at least fifty percent disorderly. + +"That train has been in for an hour," said the host. "I guess Maud +didn't come. I left word for the hotel to call me up if she arrived-- +I say, waiter, has there been a telephone message for me?" + +"No, M'sieur. We have kept a boy near the telephone all evening, +M'sieur. No message." + +"I also told 'em to send up any telegram that might come," he +informed his wife, who merely lifted her eyebrows. They had been +lowered perceptibly in consequence of the ebullience of Pericault's +cousins. + +The vivacious young women were attracting a great deal of attention +to their table. Smart diners in the immediate neighbourhood appeared +to be a trifle shocked. Three dignified looking gentlemen, seated +near the door, got up and left the room. + +"We really must be going," said Mrs. Blithers nervously, who had been +watching the three men for some time with something akin to dismay in +her soul. She had the sickening notion that they were members of the +Cabinet--lords of the realm. + +"All right," said Mr. Blithers, "Call the cars up, waiter. Still +raining?" + +"Yes, M'sieur. At this season of the year--" + +"Call the cars. Let's have your bill." + +Pericault's cousins were reluctant to go. In fact, they protested +shrilly that it was silly to break up such a successful party at such +an unseemly hour. + +"Never mind," whispered Pericault softly, and winked. + +"I'll leave 'em in your care, Pericault," said Mr. Blithers grimly. +"They are _your_ cousins, you know." + +"Trust me implicitly. Monsieur," said Pericault, bowing very deeply. +Then he said good-night to Mrs. Blithers and Lady Simpson. The +secondary London lawyer did the same. + +Out in the wide, brilliantly lighted foyer, a few late-stayers were +waiting for their conveyances to be announced. As the four departing +members of the Blithers party grouped themselves near the big doors, +impatient to be off, a brass-buttoned boy came up and delivered a +telegram to the host. + +He was on the point of tearing open the envelope when his eyes fell +upon two people who had just entered the hall from without, a man and +woman clad in raincoats. At the same instant the former saw Mr. +Blithers. Clutching his companion's arm he directed her attention to +the millionaire. + +"Now for it, Bedelia," he whispered excitedly. + +Bedelia gazed calmly at Mr. Blithers and Mr. Blithers gazed blankly +at the Prince of Graustark. Then the great financier bowed very +deeply and called out: + +"Good evening, Prince!" + +He received no response to his polite greeting, for the Prince was +staring at Bedelia as if stupefied. The millionaire's face was very +red with mortification as he turned it away. + +"He--he doesn't recognise you," gasped Robin in amazement. + +"Who?" she asked, her eyes searching the room with an eager, +inquiring look. + +"Your father," he said. + +She gave him a ravishing, delighted smile. + +"Oh, it is so wonderful, Robin. I have fooled you completely. That +man isn't my father." + +"That's Mr. Blithers or I am as blind as a bat," he exclaimed. + +"Is it, indeed? The one reading the telegram, with his eyes sticking +out of his head?" + +Robin's head was swimming. "Good heaven, Bedelia, what are you--" + +"Ah!" she cried, with a little shriek of joy. "See! There he is!" + +One of the three distinguished men who had been remarked by Mrs. +Blithers now separated himself from his companions and approached the +couple. He was a tall, handsome man of fifty. Although his approach +was swift and eager, there was in his face the signs of wrath that +still struggled against joy. + +She turned quickly, laid her hand upon the Prince's rigid arm, and +said softly: + +"My father is the Prince of Dawsbergen, dear." + + * * * * * + +A crumpled telegram dropped from Mr. Blithers' palsied hand to the +floor as he turned a white, despairing face upon his wife. The brass- +buttoned boy picked it up and handed it to Mrs. Blithers. It was from +Maud. + +"We were married in Vienna today. After all I think I shall not care +to see Graustark. Channie is a dear. I have promised him that you +will take him into the business as a partner. We are at the Bristol. + + "Maud." + +THE END + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Prince of Graustark, by George Barr McCutcheon + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK *** + +This file should be named prgrk10.txt or prgrk10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, prgrk11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, prgrk10a.txt + +Produced by Duncan Harrod, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +http://gutenberg.net or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/prgrk10.zip b/old/prgrk10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..15e173b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/prgrk10.zip |