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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf 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..330fcfa --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66383 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66383) diff --git a/old/66383-0.txt b/old/66383-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 36a1bb6..0000000 --- a/old/66383-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12970 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Kings of the East, by Sydney C. Grier - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Kings of the East - A Romance of the Near Future - -Author: Sydney C. Grier - -Release Date: September 26, 2021 [eBook #66383] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KINGS OF THE EAST *** - - - - - THE KINGS - OF THE EAST - - A Romance of the Near Future - - - BY - SYDNEY C. GRIER - AUTHOR OF - ‘LIKE ANOTHER HELEN,’ ‘A CROWNED QUEEN,’ - ETC., ETC. - - - (_Third in the Balkan Series_) - - - WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS - EDINBURGH AND LONDON - MDCCCC - _All Rights reserved_ - - - - -CONTENTS. - - I. THE MOVEMENT AND THE MAN. - II. FIRING THE FIRST SHOT. - III. IN SILVER SLIPPERS. - IV. A DISTURBING ELEMENT. - V. THE CROWN MATRIMONIAL. - VI. _DANAOS DONA FERENTES_. - VII. BREAKING WITH THE PAST. - VIII. “A KIND OF WILD JUSTICE.” - IX. VERSIONS DIFFER. - X. TAKING COUNSEL WITH BABES. - XI. EASTWARD HO! - XII. THE CHURCH MILITANT AND ORTHODOX. - XIII. A GROUND OF HOPE. - XIV. NO PLACE OF REPENTANCE. - XV. A FOOL’S ERRAND. - XVI. THE HOUSE OF THE LADY ZENOBIA. - XVII. FACE TO FACE. - XVIII. THE PENALTY OF GREATNESS. - XIX. THE BREAKING-POINT. - XX. _REDINTEGRATIO AMORIS_. - XXI. A NEW FACTOR. - XXII. THE HISTORY OF AN EVENING. - XXIII. MAN AND WIFE. - XXIV. “THE BITTER CLOSE OF ALL.” - - - - - THE KINGS OF THE EAST. - - CHAPTER I. - THE MOVEMENT AND THE MAN. - -It was a brilliant afternoon in late spring, and Vindobona was -taking its pleasure joyously out of doors, as is its wont. The many -parks and gardens of the city were crowded with holiday-makers in -every variety of national costume and speaking the tongues of all the -earth, and in the boulevards of the Ringstrasse a well-dressed throng -made the pavements almost impassable. There was not a vacant seat to -be found at the rows of tables outside each café, where strange and -wonderful liquids were being consumed in vast quantities, but with a -deliberation that implied the possession of unlimited leisure. No one -seemed to have anything to do but to walk and talk, salute his -acquaintances and criticise the rest of the world, pause for a while -to refresh the inner man and then saunter on again, and this was -indeed the case. The true citizen of Vindobona always has time for -holiday-making, whatever other duties he may neglect, and those who -make a study of his weaknesses calculate confidently upon this amiable -peculiarity. This saint’s day afternoon, for instance, there were -gathered, in a room on the second floor of one of the palatial -mansions in the Opera Ring, four men, whose meeting had been -facilitated by the absorption of the populace in its pleasures. One by -one they had made their way to the appointed spot, the private office -of the great financier Israel Goldberg, and here, where a -business-like severity strove with a certain barbaric splendour in the -appointments, they had refreshed themselves with fruit sherbets and -perfumed Eastern tobacco before turning their attention to the matter -upon which they had come together. Some signing of papers and a good -deal of low-toned conversation followed, until at last the host leaned -back in his chair and threw down his pen. - -“That is well over,” he said, speaking in German. “The movement is on -the verge of realisation; we only await the man.” - -“Just so,” said the venerable Scythian Jew at his right hand; “we need -our Moses.” - -“But where is he to be found in this age of doubt and depression?” -asked a sallow-faced young man, with large vague wandering eyes. - -The remaining person at the table snorted fiercely. “This is the age -of limited liability,” he said. “Our Moses will take the form of a -syndicate.” - -“With the excellent Texelius as managing director?” asked the -Chevalier Goldberg, with a sympathetic smile. “I think not, my dear -friend.” - -“I rejoice to hear you say that, Israel,” said the old Rabbi, whose -susceptibilities had been much ruffled by the irreverent remark of Dr -Texelius. - -“No,” said the Chevalier, “although we are business men and this is a -business matter, we must return, I fear, to the old ways. Without the -man to whom I hope to present you this afternoon, our movement would -be like a ship without a captain. You, my good Texelius, bring us the -help of science, in my young friend Rubenssohn we have the support of -literature, and our venerable Rabbi Schaul assures us of the blessing -of orthodoxy, while I myself supply the not unnecessary item of money. -But we must, besides all these, have brains.” - -Dr Texelius was understood to reply that no gathering which included -himself could be considered deficient in that particular, whatever -might be said of the rest of the company, but his host smiled with -pitying gentleness. - -“My good Texelius, we all admit that you are unapproachable in your -own line. You have enabled all the half-educated people in Europe to -gabble a parody of your philosophy with more than your own brutality -of language, and have taught them new bad names to call their -neighbours by. But when it is a matter of conducting diplomatic -negotiations of the highest delicacy, something more is needed.” - -“I see no need of diplomacy,” protested Dr Texelius. “We have the -Grand Seignior’s promise, and we hold the money-bags. The Land is -ours, and we have only to keep it, which is an affair of the sword, -not of the tongue.” - -“And surely,” said young Rubenssohn, “it is the Gentiles who will sue -for our favour, not we for theirs?” - -“Israel will become at once the exemplar and the monitress of the -world,” said the Rabbi. “Her central position, separated from the -nations and yet vitally connected with all of them, her theocratic -government, and the purity of her family life, will make her not only -the model state of the new century, but the natural arbitrator in -international quarrels.” - -The Chevalier Goldberg smiled again, but less patiently. “My dear good -friends,” he said, “do you think the world and its inhabitants will -all undergo a radical change because Israel has obtained permission -from Czarigrad to re-colonise Palestine? I tell you that as soon as -our scheme is known, it will become the butt for the malice and -jealousy of the whole earth. The hostile nations will unite against -us; our own friends will be swept into the vortex. To enable us to -surmount the crisis before us, we need a leader of such varied gifts -and experiences as it would seem almost impossible to find combined in -a single individual. In fact, there is only one man in Europe, perhaps -in the world, who possesses them, and I expect him here in a few -minutes.” - -“And who may this heaven-sent leader be?” sneered Dr Texelius. - -“I see him now, coming round the corner of the Opera-house,” pursued -the Chevalier, who from his seat by the window could obtain a view -through the openings of the sun-blind. “That is he--the short man with -the light moustache.” - -“An Englishman, evidently,” said Rubenssohn; “or he would not walk to -keep an appointment when he might drive.” - -“Right, Herschel my son. He is an Englishman. But,” and the Chevalier -dropped the blind which he had partially drawn up, and turned away -from the window and the sounds of voices, laughter, and crowding -footfalls which it admitted, “he is also a true cosmopolitan. For over -ten years he was a king in all but name, and might, had he cared to do -it, have married a queen.” - -“What! You too have been taken captive by the Mortimer idea?” cried Dr -Texelius. “Our Thracian friends can’t find words to deplore his loss. -To hear them one might indeed think him Moses and David rolled into -one.” - -“Is your friend really the man who was Prime Minister of Thracia, and -was overthrown by foreign intrigues the day that the young King -attained his majority, Chevalier?” asked Rubenssohn eagerly. “He has -always seemed to me a heroic figure in an unheroic age.” - -“What I want to know is, how much are you going to pay him?” -vociferated Dr Texelius, while the Chevalier smiled rather drily. -Before he could answer the question, a deferential servant at the door -announced “His Excellency Count Mortimer,” and ushered in a -grey-haired man, whose keen blue eyes appeared to take the measure of -all the occupants of the room at a single glance. - -“Ah, my frient! You hef arrifed, den?” cried the Chevalier in English. -“Beholt us all awaitink your pleassure. Dis fenerable clerchymen iss -our goot frient de Rabbi Schaul, and here iss de worlt-renowned -scientist Dr Texelius. Dis younk men iss Herschel Rubenssohn, de Poet -off de Ghetto, a redical in theory, but aristocret by nature.” - -The Chevalier laughed meaningly, for while the Rabbi had risen from -his chair and bowed low at the introduction, not without a touch of -the servility of manner natural to one who sees a probable and -powerful enemy in every man of superior rank, Rubenssohn had -half-risen and then resumed his seat, conscious of the critical eye of -Dr Texelius, who acknowledged the stranger’s entrance merely by a nod. -Count Mortimer was accustomed to associate with kings and queens, and -Dr Texelius was an austere Republican, hating an aristocrat, moreover, -as an anomaly in nature--a specimen which would not allow itself to be -weighed and measured and labelled by his philosophy. Aristocrats -worshipped an absurd fetish called honour, some of the manifestations -of which could by no means be reduced to the profit and loss -denominator to which he referred all human actions, and for some -reason or other these same misguided people regarded themselves as -superior to him. It was evident, at least, that this one did, or what -was the meaning of the scarcely veiled irony in his glance as, after -shaking hands with the Chevalier, he bowed to the rest? - -“I am fortunate,” said Count Mortimer, “in meeting two gentlemen of -such European reputation as Dr Texelius and Mr Rubenssohn. Of Dr -Schaul I heard much while I lived in Thracia; and when I learned that -he was throwing himself heartily into this movement, it seemed to me a -fact of the happiest augury for the future.” - -“And pray, noble sir, are we to think the same of your own connection -with the movement?” asked Dr Texelius. - -“The answer to that question lies largely in your own hands, Herr -Professor. Am I to rely upon your loyal support, or not?” - -“My dear Count,” interposed the host, in German, “these gentlemen are -prepared to support you to the utmost of their power. I have just made -them see that without your kind offices we could have no hope of -success.” - -“I am glad to hear it, Chevalier. Perhaps it will set our friends’ -minds at ease if I explain, first of all, that I derive no pecuniary -benefit from my connection with the movement. A busy man does not take -kindly to an idle life, and I am glad to employ my leisure for so good -an object.” - -“And do you wish us to understand that you cut yourself off from your -class, and range yourself on the side of Israel in the sight of the -world, purely for the sake of occupation and philanthropy?” snarled Dr -Texelius. - -“Herr Professor, I am a man who has not a little to avenge. If I -choose to combine my own pleasure with the advantage of your nation, -you will do well to be thankful and accept my help. Do we understand -one another?” - -“Your Excellency does not mince matters, nor will I. What guarantee -have we that the interests of Israel will not be sacrificed to your -own?” - -“Your frankness charms me. You have no guarantee. But without my help -the interests of Israel will remain where they are at present.” - -“Prove it!” shouted Dr Texelius. “How are we to know that you have the -power to do what you pretend?” - -“Simply by waiting to see. But do not mistake me, Herr Professor. I -believe that you and Mr Rubenssohn enjoy considerable influence with -the Jewish press. If we are to work together that influence must be -employed exclusively and loyally on my side, which is your own. Should -there be the slightest attempt to weaken my position, or to form a -cabal against me among your followers, I shall take my choice between -getting rid of you and ceasing my efforts on behalf of Israel, which -will then be far worse off than it is now. Do I make myself plain?” - -“Your Excellency’s demand is only reasonable,” said Rubenssohn; while -Dr Texelius spluttered inarticulately. “Such influence as a poor poet -may possess is placed unreservedly at your service.” - -“And if your influence is used wrongly, my excellent Texelius,” said -the Chevalier Goldberg, “I shall find myself under the painful -necessity of ceasing to finance your newspapers, when the annoyance -will die a natural death.” - -“My fears are not for myself,” was the sulky response. “If the Gentile -is loyal to Zion, he shall have my support. But what reason is there -for his joining us, and what good can he do us? That’s what I want to -know.” - -“Friend,” said the Rabbi reprovingly, “if the noble gentleman is -willing to forsake his own people and cast in his lot with Israel, is -it for us to sneer at his chivalrous offer and throw doubt upon his -motives? Surely he is one of the sons of the stranger who shall build -the walls of Zion.” - -Cyril Mortimer bowed gravely to the Rabbi. “I give Dr Texelius free -leave to trust me in private no further than he can see me, provided -that he supports me in public,” he said. “And now that this is -settled, perhaps we may come to a clear understanding of the position. -Through my friend the Chevalier Goldberg I am informed that you, -gentlemen, form the executive of the guild called the Children of -Zion, that your object is to colonise Palestine with Jews from Europe, -buying out the present inhabitants where necessary, and that you are -in command of a certain sum of money for this purpose, invested on -proper security in a series of commercial schemes?” - -“Of which the control is in Jewish hands,” interjected Dr Texelius. - -“Quite so. I understand also that the Chevalier has volunteered to -bear the entire cost of obtaining the necessary concession from Roum, -leaving you at liberty to devote the whole of your trust-funds to the -work of colonisation. Indeed, gentlemen, you are to be congratulated. -What with a sum of money to be paid down at the outset, and a yearly -rent for the province, together with the necessary compensation, -palm-oil, and perquisites, my friend will sacrifice a very large part -of his fortune in giving your movement a favourable start. I honour -his motives, and I only hope you appreciate his generosity.” - -“If Goldberg had shown this generosity ten years ago, the Land would -be already repopulated by a thriving race of colonists,” said Dr -Texelius. - -“There, Herr Professor, you are in error. The Chevalier could not show -this generosity ten years ago for two reasons. In the first place, it -has been the labour of years for him to establish the agreement now -arrived at between the Jews of all nations, by which they bind -themselves to assist the Children of Zion by bringing pressure on -their respective Governments when it is needed. Without this -solidarity of action, a band of selfish plutocrats in any one country -might have overthrown the whole scheme. And in the second place, ten -years ago I was not at liberty to devote myself to assuring the -success of the movement.” - -“Which is now secured by your Excellency’s adhesion.” The tone was -sarcastic in the extreme. - -“You are very good, Herr Professor. To me it falls to direct the -working of this new machine. Without a single head, to ensure the -application of the pressure at the right moment and the right spot, -the financial union would soon break up, or at best fall to pieces. It -is my aim to produce the necessary effect before disintegration sets -in, and I may say I have every hope of success. The Children of Zion -may colonise Palestine, but it is the United Nation Syndicate that -will make their work possible.” - -“Under your Excellency’s guidance.” - -“I hope so. You will perceive now the necessity there is for absolute -unanimity. Our enemies will be on the watch for the slightest sign of -dissension. There is one point upon which it may be desirable to give -you a special warning. You are aware of the fanaticism of the -Scythians and others with regard to the Holy Places? Now I think it -highly probable that I shall be obliged to consent to the appointment -of a Christian prince as governor-general, as a guarantee against -their desecration.” - -“Oho, the thin end of the wedge!” cried Dr Texelius. “A Christian -governor--a prince, too--with a Christian Court and army and -executive. Where is our free and independent republic, in which the -Jew might at last obtain security and justice? Rubenssohn--Rabbi--you -have heard the Gentile speak, will you still believe that his forked -tongue utters truth?” - -“Friend Texelius, you insult his Excellency,” said Rabbi Schaul. “How -can it signify to us what precautions the Gentiles take in the vain -hope of maintaining their ascendancy over Zion? Of what use would it -be to us to draw up the wisest republican constitution, which would -last but a day? Once we are restored to the land, He will come whose -right it is to reign, and neither Christian prince nor atheistic -republic can stand against Him.” - -“Beautiful dream!” murmured Rubenssohn, his eyes kindling, “but it is -only a dream. A literal Messiah is an impossibility. The house of -David is extinct, the monarchical principle incapable of revival among -us. The Grand Seignior may play the part of the Messiah in bringing us -back, or there may be before us a Messianic age of peace and plenty, -such as the prophets picture, but we need look for nothing more.” - -“Young man, will you limit the Holy One of Israel? A few years ago -this return, for which we are planning, was counted impossible, but it -is now at hand. The appearance and reign of Messiah will follow in due -time.” - -“Rabbi, you are a dreamer!” cried Dr Texelius angrily. “Will you allow -your absurd visions to interfere with practical politics?” - -“Visions? You call the prophecies of the Divine Word absurd visions?” -cried the Rabbi, trembling with mingled anger and alarm. “Let me go, -Israel Goldberg. I dare not sit at the same table as this unbeliever.” - -“No, no; Texelius spoke more strongly than he intended,” said the -Chevalier, whose hair had grown grey in the endeavour to induce the -orthodox and free-thinking sections of his co-religionists to work -together. “He has the highest respect for your views, Rabbi, and I, as -you know, share them.” - -“Well, let him show his respect for the prophecies by abandoning his -opposition to Count Mortimer,” said the old man, supporting himself -with his shaking hands upon the table, “or I must withdraw from all -association with him, and call upon my flock to do the same.” - -“I agree,” said Dr Texelius hastily, for the defection of Rabbi -Schaul’s following would have been a serious blow to the movement. -“Perhaps you will own some day, Rabbi, that it would have been better -to take the advice of a practical man, but by all means let us all -become dreamers together.” - -“If the learned Dr Texelius had listened more carefully to what I -said,” remarked Cyril, “he would have noticed that I proposed only to -consent to the appointment, not to make it. That will be the business -of the Powers, and while they are wrangling over it we are -establishing ourselves in Palestine.” - -“But they will soon perceive that,” said Rubenssohn. - -“True; but I shall propose a commission, composed of the various -consuls, to take charge of the Holy Places until the governor is -appointed. That will lead to further wrangling, but it will only give -us more time.” - -“But why is time so necessary?” asked Rubenssohn. - -“To enable us to import our Jews. You understand, Dr Texelius, there -must be no interference with Christian communities or forcible -dispossession of Moslems, nothing to give a pretext for European -intervention. If you can’t buy one piece of ground easily, turn to -another. Do everything quietly, settle your Jews wherever there is -room for them, and then we can confidently demand a _plébiscite_ of -the whole country, if we see the opportunity, or at least ask -permission to elect a temporary governor until the Powers have agreed -on their nominee. I need scarcely say that if the colonists possessed -a spark of gratitude, their choice would fall on Dr Texelius, and the -Powers might even be brought to confirm that appointment.” - -“So!” cried Dr Texelius, with evident pleasure, “I perceive that you -are not wholly a dreamer, Count.” - -“Few men less so, Herr Professor. We are agreed, then? You will hurry -on your part of the work by every means in your power, while I do my -best to keep the attention of Europe fixed upon side-issues?” - -“And if you are agreed upon that,” cried the host, when the rest had -signified their assent, “it would be as well for us to separate. I -have been on thorns all the afternoon, lest the police should have -noticed you coming to this house, friends. Unless the movement is to -be rudely checked, you ought all to be on your way back to your own -countries to-night.” - -At this very plain hint the conference broke up, its members leaving -the mansion singly. The Rabbi went first, shuffling down the grand -staircase in his shabby clothes, a decrepit figure in whom the most -lynx-eyed police agent would have found a difficulty in recognising -the chief spiritual guide of multitudes of orthodox Jews in Pannonia -and Southern Scythia. Rubenssohn, who had lived in England long enough -to pass on the Continent for an Englishman, left the house openly, but -by a different door, after taking a reverential farewell of Cyril, Dr -Texelius utilising the moment by whispering to the Chevalier-- - -“I have classified your friend, Goldberg. His ambition is enormous, -amounting, indeed, to mania. If Europe will not admire him, Europe may -hate him, but it shall not disregard him.” - -And Dr Texelius stumped down the stairs with an aggressive air -peculiarly his own, which he joined on this occasion with the -stateliness of demeanour proper to the future president of the Hebrew -Republic. Meeting on the threshold a young Jewish _savant_, who had -made the great philosopher’s acquaintance at a scientific congress, he -responded affably to the timid greeting of the neophyte, and piqued -his curiosity by informing him that he had just been investigating a -very interesting case of lunacy. - -Cyril and the Chevalier Goldberg, left alone together, looked at one -another and smiled as the Professor’s footsteps died away. - -“Well, Count,” said the host, “you hef seen our tools. What iss de -prospect off your beink able to work wid dem?” - -“The Rabbi is a fanatic and Rubenssohn an enthusiast,” was the reply; -“but I had rather work with either of them than with our scientific -friend. There is no one so suspicious as the man who has neither faith -nor enthusiasm himself. However, we can’t afford to have his influence -arrayed against us, so we must make the best of him.” - -“Den you hef decided to ranche yourself on our side? What are your -plens, my dear Count?” - -“I think it will be best to go to Ludwigsbad, as I intended. Every one -will be there this season.” - -“True; all de great people, but you will be greater den any. Oh, my -frient, let me hef my way about dis. You shell treffel like a prince, -you shell hef a whole wink of de best hotel resserfed for you. De -worlt shell see det Israel iss not ungrateful to de Christian det -helps her.” - -“I thought we had threshed this matter out already, Chevalier. Can’t -you see that the more I am seen to act on my own initiative, and the -less as the agent of the United Nation, the better it is for both of -us? I am the friendly go-between, the honest broker, no more. My -out-of-pocket expenses I will accept, but nothing else, not even a -commission. Living modestly, they can scarcely accuse me of having -been bought by you, the next step to which would be that they would -try to offer a higher price themselves.” - -“I see you are right, but I must hef your promise det you will not -spare me in de way off expense. Entertainments, chourneys, -telegrephs--nothink must be wantink det might lighten your labours or -edd to de success off your mission. You promise me dis? And det second -secretary you talked off--you will let me profide you wid de best I -can find?” - -“Thanks, Chevalier, but I won’t have a Jew. Anything that would -identify me in the general mind with your nation is to be avoided. I -think of getting an Englishman, as the fellow will be more for -ornament than use. Paschics is a perfect glutton for work, but when he -is thrown into general society he cannot forget that he began life as -a farm-labourer, and he becomes either servile or truculent. No one -knows and regrets the fact better than he does, and he suggested -himself that I should have some one else to receive visitors and do -the light work, while he grapples with the bulk of it behind the -scenes as he always has done.” - -“You hef indeed an atteched follower, Count.” - -“_One_ attached follower, you may as well say, Chevalier, unless you -count my servant, who is a faithful fool of the same sort.” - -“My frient,” the Chevalier laid aside his smiling mask, and approached -Cyril with intense solemnity as he stood leaning against the -window-frame, “I must ask you once more, hef you counted de cost off -throwink in your lot wid us? At pressent, you are de most successful -failure in Europe. Dere iss not one sofereign det would not obtain -your help if he could, not one state det would not be enxious if deir -enemies were employink you. You are receifed eferywhere, you may merry -whom you please--for dere are heiresses off de noblest femilies det -would think nothink off gifink you deir whole fortune, if only dey -might accompany it--you are de frient off all de most powerful people. -Will you gif up all dis for de sake off de oppressed Chews? We know -what contempt--ill-treatment--iss like, for we are born to it; but -you, a Christian and a noble, how will you bear it? Dey will treat you -worse den us, for dey will say you are a traitor to dem.” - -“My dear Chevalier,” the sarcasm had left Cyril’s tone, and he looked -at the stout little Jew with an earnestness almost equalling his own, -“you are wasting your pity on me. After the knock-down blow I got two -years ago, I must fight my way up again from the foot of the hill, and -it won’t make it any harder to do it in your cause. What I want is -power, and with reasonable luck I stand to get it by means of this -scheme. As to the personal consequences, don’t trouble yourself about -them. I knew what it was to be socially ostracised long ago in -Thracia, and it did me no harm. I shall continue to be received -wherever I like to go. As to marrying, there is only one woman in the -world that I would choose to marry, and she is out of my reach -already. I am committed to this enterprise, and I have no wish to draw -back. Now what is it that has led you to make me this undesired offer -of release?” - -“Dere iss noose from Czarigrad,” answered the Chevalier, in a tone in -which relief blended with disappointment. “Chust before our meetink -to-day I receifed a secret message det Hercynia hed discofered our -negotiations wid Roum, and was puttink pressure on de Grand Seignior -to refuse us our concession. Dey must hef heard off your fissit to his -Machesty.” - -“Ah, this is the declaration of war, then! Well, I am glad Hercynia -has opened the ball, because I have such an excellent object-lesson in -store for her. Let me see, Baron de la Mothe von Elterthal passes -through Vindobona to-morrow on his way home from Czarigrad. He will -spend a few hours here with his sister, Countess Temeszy. Count -Temeszy is an old friend of my brother’s, and will get me an interview -without making any fuss. I shall see him to-night at the Opera, and we -will settle things then. To-morrow the Chancellor shall have his -warning, and we shall see whether it is necessary to proceed to -extremities.” - -“Once you hef approached him on behalf off Israel, dere will be no -drawink-back,” said the Chevalier. - -“There is none now. Well, Chevalier, I must be going.” - -“But you will lose no time in seekink det noo secretary?” - -“Certainly not. My brother will help me in the matter. There was a -young fellow hanging about at Llandiarmid the last time I was there -who would suit me well enough, but I daresay he has found something -better to do by this time.” - -“Farewell den, my frient. You may depend on me to keep you well posted -in all de mofements off de enemy. I hef efery confidence in you, but I -entreat you not to spare expense.” - -Cyril smiled as he succeeded in making his escape. It would have been -a standing marvel to him, had he been inclined to waste time in -theorising on the weaknesses of human nature instead of profiting by -them, that the great financier, whose name ensured respect throughout -the civilised world, should repose this absolute and deferential -confidence in an unsuccessful statesman, whose sole political capital -was now his vast experience, and a certain strength of head, combined -with coldness of heart, which had much advantaged him in the past. But -Cyril was one who took things as he found them, and made prompt use of -them; and the doglike fidelity with which the Chevalier Goldberg clung -to his fallen fortunes struck him merely as a very serviceable fact, -which, though it might be strange, was by no means to be neglected. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - FIRING THE FIRST SHOT. - -Returning to his hotel, Cyril found a letter awaiting him in the -handwriting of his brother, Lord Caerleon. - -“What’s up?” he said to himself, as he opened the envelope and drew -out the closely written sheets. “Something must be wrong for Caerleon -to favour me with such an imposing epistle. Probably some kind -mischief-maker on this side of the Channel has told him that I have -given myself over body and soul to the Jews, and he is trying to avert -the catastrophe. It would save time to burn the letter and wire to him -that the deed is done, but that might hurt his feelings, so here -goes!” - -He lit a cigar and sat down with the air of a martyr to read the -letter, but his brow cleared when he found that it contained none of -the anxious entreaties he had expected. His brother needed his help, -it seemed, and the occasion of the request was curiously connected -with the subject of his conversation with the Chevalier Goldberg. - - - “You may remember,” wrote Lord Caerleon, “a young fellow named - Mansfield, who prepared Usk for college, and was staying with us when - you were here two years ago. He is a thoroughly nice chap, and as we - all took a fancy to him, Usk has brought him down again two or three - times since he has been at Cambridge. That was all very well, but why - should he take it into his head to fall in love with Phil? I suppose - you will smile your superior smile when you read that sentence; but I - give you my word that the thought of such a thing had never entered my - mind. It’s only yesterday that Phil was about as high as the table, - and running wild about the park with her hair flying loose. How is an - unsuspecting parent to know that she has suddenly grown up, and is - actually old enough to contemplate matrimony? I can tell you it was a - frightful shock to Nadia and me. We sat looking at one another in - consternation, until Nadia rallied sufficiently to remind me in a - faint voice that the child will be twenty-one next month. Many girls - are married before that, as she very truly added, but what comfort - does that afford when one finds oneself all at once regarded as a - stern and venerable elder? Well, as I said, we can have no possible - objection to young Mansfield himself, except on the ground that he has - nothing to do. He is a distant connection of Forfar’s, and has the - promise of a private secretaryship when a vacancy occurs, but that may - not be for years. He has been hanging on at Cambridge since he took - his degree, writing prize essays and (at least this is my private - idea) keeping Master Usk up to the mark; but he sees as clearly as I - do that that can’t go on. He came to me very honourably when he first - discovered the state of his feelings, and said that he did not dare - ask me to sanction an engagement at present, but if he could get some - settled employment, might he speak to Philippa? You know that - desperation will make the most guileless of men artful, and therefore - you won’t wonder that I resorted to a mean expedient in order to keep - my daughter a little longer. I said that Phil was so very young for - her age, and had seen so little of the world (this is absolutely true, - you know), that I should prefer him not to speak to her for a year in - any case. In the meantime he might be getting something to do, and she - should have a London season, and pay a visit to her godmother in - Germany. It was a bitter pill, I could see, but he took it very well, - and left Llandiarmid without saying a word to Phil, so that she knows - nothing about the business. At least, that is my contention; but Nadia - is under the impression that Phil has her own ideas on the subject. - Still, the child is not pining, or I should give way at once. No doubt - she sees, like a sensible girl, that it is the best possible thing for - the young fellow not to be at a loose end any longer. Well, old man, - you see by this time what I want of you. Do you know any one among - your acquaintances who would take an Englishman as secretary, who is - nothing very great in the way of attainments, but has the memory of a - second-class in Modern Languages to fall back upon? He has travelled a - good deal, and is a thoroughly pleasant fellow, rather too literary - for my taste, but there’s no harm in that. He has something of his own - since his father’s death, so that a high salary is not an object; what - he wants is to be set to regular work, and taught to run in harness. - If you know of anything suitable, I will bless you for ever, for my - conscience is pricking me (and I believe Nadia, in her secret - thoughts, blames me too) for condemning Phil and this inconvenient - youth to a lengthy separation just because I don’t want to lose the - child.” ... - - -Long before he had reached this point, Cyril’s mind was made up, and -his answer to his brother’s letter contained his response to the -appeal made to him:-- - -“I want a second secretary, and your Mansfield is the very man for me. -Please write to him at once, and let him meet me at the Hôtel -Waldthier at Ludwigsbad this day week. We shall not haggle about -terms, though Paschics will continue to do most of the work. By the -bye, if association with me is likely to do your young friend harm in -the future, don’t let him come, but if there is no risk of his -suffering in that way, he may take my word for it that he will learn a -good deal that will be of use to him.” - -About two o’clock the next day Cyril presented himself at Count -Temeszy’s house for his interview with the Hercynian Imperial -Chancellor, who was paying a strictly private visit of twelve hours or -so to his sister. When Cyril’s request was sprung upon him at the -Opera, Gyula Temeszy had declared roundly that there was no prospect -of his brother-in-law’s visiting Vindobona at present. When it -appeared, however, that Cyril was well acquainted with the Baron’s -movements, he not only promised him the desired interview, but invited -him to lunch. This invitation Cyril refused, in view of the -complications which might ensue when Baron de la Mothe von Elterthal -had told his hosts of his discoveries at Czarigrad, and he had reason -to congratulate himself upon his foresight. The Temeszy servants, who -had hitherto bowed almost to the ground before him, received him on -this occasion with a perfunctory civility that was little less than -insulting; and when they turned him over to Baron de la Mothe von -Elterthal’s personal attendant, the man’s manner showed a scarcely -veiled insolence. Ushering Cyril into an unoccupied room, he promised -to carry the noble Count’s name to his master, but added that his -Excellency was very much engaged, and might not be able to see him. -For a quarter of an hour Cyril waited impatiently, within earshot of -the luncheon-room in which, to judge from the noise and laughter, the -Baron was the life and soul of a jovial party, then he rose and rang -the electric bell sharply. - -“Present my compliments to his Excellency,” he said, watch in hand, -when the servant appeared, “and tell him that as the fifteen minutes I -was able to spare him have expired, I regret not to be able to see -him.” - -The man, taken aback by this turning of the tables, poured forth a -torrent of apologies and entreaties, but Cyril waved them aside, and -passed down the grand staircase with a calm _hauteur_ of demeanour -which compelled the respect of the servants in the hall. This time -none of them failed in the due observances, and he left the house like -an honoured guest. Before he had gone more than a few steps, Count -Temeszy ran after him, bare-headed. - -“Pray come back, Mortimer. I can’t think what the servants were doing, -that they didn’t send in your name.” - -“Sorry I have no time to spare.” - -“Nonsense; come back. I can’t let Caerleon’s brother be turned away -from my door like this.” - -Count Temeszy spoke with evident embarrassment, and Cyril was quick to -draw the inference that he was now only to be tolerated as Caerleon’s -brother. He withdrew his arm from the Hungarian’s grasp. - -“Thanks, Temeszy; but there are doors enough open to me without -darkening those where I am unwelcome. I will tell Caerleon how -faithful you are to your ideas of friendship.” - -“But my brother-in-law is most anxious to see you. He is awaiting you -at this moment with the greatest eagerness.” - -“My dear Count Temeszy, you only increase my regret that I cannot -possibly spare him another moment. I am lunching at the Café Viborg, -and you must excuse me if I hurry away.” - -Leaving Count Temeszy disconsolate on the pavement, Cyril disengaged -himself with a ceremonious bow, and walked on. It was without any -surprise that, when he was seated at his lunch a little later, he saw -the Count and his brother-in-law enter the café. Glancing in his -direction as if accidentally, they crossed the room to speak to him, -and almost immediately a friend on the other side of the place claimed -Count Temeszy’s attention. With a muttered apology, he joined him at -his table, and Baron de la Mothe von Elterthal sat down casually -opposite Cyril. - -“You had something to say to me, I believe?” he remarked. - -“Not that I know of,” was the disconcerting reply. “Hearing that you -would be in Vindobona, I set aside a quarter of an hour for you for -the sake of auld lang syne, but that was all.” - -“My brother-in-law understood that you were most anxious to see me. In -fact, he was lamenting all morning that you had refused his invitation -to lunch, until I reminded him that it was perhaps just as well, for -at such short notice it would be difficult to ensure that there should -be no pork on the table.” - -Cyril smiled. “You are in good spirits to-day, Baron. Still, I would -advise you, as a friend, to let your jokes remain entirely between -ourselves. Other people might fail to appreciate them.” - -“That is as I please,” snapped the Baron. “Once more, have you -anything to say to me?” as Cyril raised his eyebrows in well-bred -surprise at his tone. - -“Nothing whatever,” said Cyril, choosing a cigarette with care. “Allow -me to offer you---- You will not? No?” - -“Perhaps,” said the Baron darkly, leaning across the table, “you are -not aware that I know all about your visit to Czarigrad, and the part -you played there?” - -“My dear Baron, this is ancient history. I am not aware that there is -any reason why the whole world should not know as much.” - -“You have no objection to the world’s knowing that you have sold -yourself to the Jews, that you are the paid agent of the enemies of -Christendom?” - -“If it was true, I should probably object very much. As things are, I -can only admire your simple faith, Baron.” - -“At least,” said the Baron, changing his tactics suddenly, “neither -you nor your new allies will benefit by your diplomacy on this -occasion. I fancy I have put a spoke in your wheel, my dear Count.” - -“What!”--there was unmistakable alarm in Cyril’s voice--“you have not -been so unwise as to interfere? When it was suggested to me the other -day that you might possibly do so, I laughed at the notion. ‘The Baron -is my friend and a man of sense,’ I said, ‘he could not do such a -foolish thing.’ And now you wish me to understand that you have done -it? My dear Baron, I am deeply concerned. Is there no way in which we -can release you from this very unfortunate _impasse_?” - -“I don’t understand you,” with evident anxiety. “Surely you are -confusing my position with your own?” - -“Baron, this is not the time for joking. Is it possible that in the -course of your researches at Czarigrad you never discovered that the -Palestine scheme and your Anatolian concession stand or fall -together?” - -“Pray, what do you know about the Anatolian concession, Count?” - -“Just as much as I need to know. I am aware that it is of a very -far-reaching character, and that a high and illustrious personage in -Hercynia is determined to obtain it. You could not imagine, Baron, -that I, your friend, could remain ignorant of your troubles of the -last few months? Do you think I don’t know of the immense difficulties -you have had to encounter, and the fact that your Emperor is -graciously pleased to believe that you are secretly opposing his will -and encouraging the Grand Seignior to refuse to grant the concession? -Your continuance in office depends upon your obtaining it, I am well -aware, and now you have deliberately postponed it for an indefinite -time. This is terrible!” - -“The whole thing is your doing!” burst from the Chancellor. Cyril eyed -him with mild reproof. - -“This accusation is unworthy of you, Baron, when I am doing my best to -extricate you from your deadlock.” - -“Tell me exactly what your threats are worth. Whether you are a paid -agent of the Children of Zion, or a Quixotic philanthropist,” -sneeringly, “the trap is yours, I know that.” - -“I have neither the power nor the necessity to threaten. I simply say -that if our concession is refused, yours will be refused also, or if -ours is merely delayed, yours will suffer in the same way. If ours is -granted----” - -“Yes?” with intense eagerness. - -“Yours will also be granted when the time comes, and Baron de la Mothe -von Elterthal will continue to be the chief ornament of the Hercynian -bureaucracy and the favoured adviser of his sovereign.” - -“What are they paying you for this?” broke out the Baron. “Thunder and -lightning, man! if you are hard up, why not apply to us? We would have -found some place for you, or screwed a decent subsistence out of -ungrateful Thracia. Why accept the first offer, instead of waiting for -a higher?” - -“You are agitated, my dear Baron. Take one of these cigarettes, just -to please me, and calm yourself. Did you ever, in the course of our -former dealings together, find that any good came of trying to insult -me?” - -“Never; I always paid for it dearly. Yes, you are right, I am a fool. -No doubt I am expiating at this moment the errors of my last interview -with you. What?” as Cyril’s impassive face relaxed slightly, “I am -right. Oh, pray consider all that I said about money withdrawn. You -are taking your revenge upon Europe, I see. You would destroy the -world, if you could, to punish the faults of mankind towards you.” - -“This is very interesting, Baron, but not particularly practical.” - -“No? Well, tell me, how can you and your Children of Zion, with their -hoarded centimes and kopecks and piastres, hope to oppose yourselves -to the power of the Hercynian empire? We can tire you out at -Czarigrad, simply because we have a longer purse.” - -“I will let you into a secret, Baron. Try your experiment, and oppose -our concession. You will find that it is not you who will tire us out, -but we you, and for this reason, that you will be pitting yourself -against all the Jews in the world. The Children of Zion are backed by -a syndicate composed of the capitalists of all nations, and Hercynia -would scarcely be well advised to enter on a war with them. I don’t -ask you to accept this merely on my authority. Make the experiment, -and you will see whether the result bears out my warning.” - -“This is a very serious matter, Count.” The Baron had sat lost in -wonder, supporting his chin on his hand, for some minutes. “Do you see -that you are practically declaring war on Europe?” - -“Not quite, Baron. It is not necessary for all Europe to oppose itself -to the United Nation. Think of the other side of the picture. What a -future would lie before the country which had the support of all the -Jews in the world!” - -Baron de la Mothe von Elterthal drew a long breath. “You dazzle me, -Count! Am I to understand this as an offer?” - -“As a conditional offer,” said Cyril, rising; “conditional on your -supporting us at Czarigrad. I will leave you to think it over, for I -must get back to my hotel, unless I am to lose the train for -Charlottenbad.” - -“We part as--as friends, I hope? Gyula,” as Count Temeszy paused near -them, in the course of an impatient promenade up and down the room, “I -am venturing to ofter Count Mortimer a seat in your carriage. We might -drive him to his hotel.” - -“With the greatest pleasure,” said Count Temeszy, in hopeless -bewilderment, and presently the servants were edified to behold Count -Mortimer seated beside the Hercynian Chancellor in their master’s -carriage, and not only escorted up the steps of the hotel by the man -who had denounced him that morning as a pervert to Judaism, but -fervently embraced at parting. As for Cyril himself, it did not -surprise him in the least to receive, a week later, a cipher telegram -from the Chevalier Goldberg to the following effect:-- - - - “Hercynian opposition suddenly withdrawn, after various attempts to - out-manœuvre us in matter of Anatolian concession. Fear secrecy is - now at an end, for business has become known to English journalist. - Suspect Hercynian Embassy at Czarigrad of communicating news, hoping - to rouse Scythia to action.” - - -“So!” murmured Cyril to himself, in the long-drawn, meditative German -fashion, as he translated the cipher. “Then the battle is beginning in -earnest. That is a smart dodge of yours, my dear Baron, to set Scythia -on our track, knowing that we can’t hope to bring the matter home to -you. I suppose the English papers all revelled in a nice little -sensation yesterday. Mr Mansfield!” - -Cyril was sitting in the balcony belonging to his _appartement_ in the -Hôtel Waldthier at Ludwigsbad, and a young man came hurriedly to the -window in answer to his summons. There was nothing in any way -remarkable about the new secretary’s appearance--at least to an -English eye. Brown-haired and hazel-eyed, tall, broad-shouldered, and -carelessly dressed, he would have been passed over at home as “a most -ordinary-looking man,” but on the Continent it was his fate to attract -attention as a typical Englishman wherever he went. - -“Have you found anything in the papers about our business?” Cyril -asked him. - -“I was just going to bring your Excellency this.” Mansfield tendered a -Vindobona evening journal to his employer. - -“Just read me the paragraph. And by the way, don’t ‘Excellency’ me in -private. The King was good enough to continue me in the use of the -title when I left Thracia, but it may be kept for state occasions. And -don’t call me ‘sir,’ as you have done once or twice, or it will get -about that I am arrogating to myself princely honours. I must ask you -to address me as ‘Count,’ if your instinctive veneration for me -demands the use of some epithet.” - -The reproof was given so genially that it was impossible to take -offence, and Mansfield, who had grown very red, returned gradually to -his normal colour, and translated the paragraph with very fair -fluency:-- - - - “The London ‘Fleet Street Gazette’ publishes a telegram from its - correspondent in Czarigrad which exposes a deep-laid conspiracy on the - part of the Jews to possess themselves of Palestine. A concession is - on the point of being obtained from the Grand Seignior which - authorises the development of the whole country by a Hebrew syndicate, - and its colonisation by Jewish immigrants. The intermediary at - Czarigrad is understood to have been the Englishman Mortimer, of - Thracian notoriety.” - - -Mansfield’s voice dropped when he came to the last word, and he -glanced fearfully at Cyril, expecting to find him pained, possibly -indignant; but seeing that he was smoking placidly, he took heart of -grace. - -“I expected this. Are you a thin-skinned person, Mansfield?” - -“I don’t think so--I really don’t know,” stammered Mansfield. - -“I mean, can you stand being generally cold-shouldered, if not -actually cut? Do you yearn for constant communion with your kind?” - -“I suppose I could stand being sent to Coventry without whining. Is -that the sort of thing?” - -“Exactly. If I am not mistaken, that is the fate which will be meted -out to you and me for the next few days. If your spirits are liable to -give way under it, you had better go home at once.” - -“Count!” There was no mistaking the chagrin in the young man’s tone, -and Cyril laughed encouragingly. - -“That’s all right. I only wanted to prepare you for the worst. Well, -shall we take a little stroll? If you are anxious to put my powers of -prophecy to the proof, we might pay a few visits.” - -The prospect of being turned from the doors of the persons visited did -not commend itself to Mansfield, however, and Cyril and he strolled -across the bridge and into the tree-shaded Neue Wiese or promenade. -The stern regulations in vogue at Ludwigsbad permit an afternoon walk, -but do not enforce it, and the gardens and the Königspark were not -therefore crowded with _Kurgäste_, as would be the case a little -later n the day. Still, there were a fair number of restless sufferers -endeavouring to satisfy their consciences by a feverish activity in -lounging up and down, or taking duty drives to points of interest, in -company with the faithful relations who had attended them into exile, -and Mansfield watched with a painful attention their demeanour towards -his employer. He himself had arrived only the day before, and Cyril -had carried him off almost immediately to an informal dinner-party at -an open-air restaurant, where a little knot of men bearing historic -names, and of women famous all over Europe for their beauty, had -laughed and talked and jested, as they discussed the unappetising fare -allowed them, like members of a very happy, simple-hearted, and united -family. The novelty of the occasion had a little intoxicated him, and -when the party broke up at nine o’clock it had needed a brisk walk -along the Charlottenbad road, and an indulgence in thoughts of -Philippa, such as he rarely allowed himself, to enable him to sleep at -all. The unexpected friendliness of these great people had been -astonishing enough, but it would be nothing compared with a sudden -change to coolness, such as Cyril seemed to anticipate. Just as -Mansfield, in his thoughts, had reached this point, he saw a carriage -approaching in which sat the loveliest and friendliest of the ladies -of the evening before. The Countess von Hohenthurm was a celebrated -Pannonian beauty, and was commonly considered the haughtiest woman in -the empire; but she had taken Mansfield under her wing at the -dinner-party, explaining the half-veiled personal allusions with which -the conversation was largely sprinkled, and confiding to him various -indiscreet revelations respecting notable people then staying or -expected at the baths. As she came towards him now, Mansfield raised -his hand instinctively towards his hat, but Cyril’s voice at his side -said, “Wait. It is possible that the lady has not the pleasure of your -acquaintance.” - -The idea seemed preposterous, for the Countess, in response to some -remark made by the elderly lady who was driving with her, had turned -her head in the direction of the two Englishmen, but there was no -glance of recognition as her eyes met theirs. Without the movement of -a muscle or the slightest change of colour, she looked through them -both at the trees behind. It was beyond question that in the world of -the Countess von Hohenthurm there existed no such persons as Count -Mortimer and his secretary. - -“Don’t look so utterly crushed,” said Cyril, giving Mansfield’s arm a -gentle shake. “Didn’t I tell you how it would be?” - -Mansfield walked on in silence, with compressed lips. Presently they -met two of the gentlemen with whom they had dined, but these were so -deeply engrossed in conversation as to be unable to recognise them. -Next they passed a rustic seat, behind which rose a rock bearing an -inscription to the effect that the Archduke Ferdinand Joachim desired -to testify to the benefit he had derived from a course of the -Ludwigsbad waters. Here there sat a hideous elderly man, of generous -proportions, who was laying down the laws of fashion to two or three -admiring disciples, with all the confidence to be expected in the -recognised arbiter of taste at the baths. He also had been one of the -guests of the night before, and Mansfield had conceived an instinctive -dislike to him--a dislike which was not now lessened by his putting up -an eyeglass, and wondering audibly, in terms of unnecessary emphasis, -“Who those fellows might be that looked like Englishmen?” - -“Well?” said Cyril, as they passed on; “was I a true prophet?” - -“Yes; oh yes. But why--what does it all mean?” - -“It means that they believe, or pretend to believe, that we are -leagued with the Jews against them, and therefore, very naturally, -they feel obliged to mark their disapproval of us.” - -“But will it go on? How long will they keep it up?” - -“Oh yes, it will go on, for exactly three days and a half. Remember -that. Until then, I fear that you and I shall be confined to each -other’s society. Pray talk as much as you like. I shall be delighted -to listen.” - -“I should like to say a word or two to that fellow,” muttered -Mansfield, indicating by a backward glance the oracle of fashion. - -“I earnestly hope you won’t. In the first place, he would not -understand your German, and your righteous indignation would therefore -be wasted. In the next, I would rather not kill him if I can help it.” - -“Kill him? how?” - -“With a sword, my dear youth. Excuse me, but you are really so -refreshingly young. Is it beyond your powers of imagination to -conceive that if you insulted him he would forthwith challenge me?” - -“I can look after my own quarrels, Count,” very haughtily. - -“In that case I should very soon have a funeral to look after in the -British cemetery,” was the calm reply. “The man is a noted duellist, -and you would be at his mercy in two minutes. With me as his -antagonist, I will be conceited enough to say, things would be -reversed. Since you are so kind as to propose to quarrel with him on -my account, perhaps I may be allowed to intimate that I prefer a -living secretary to a dead one.” - -Mansfield, with an embarrassed laugh, yielded the point, although he -did not succeed in arriving all at once at his employer’s pitch of -philosophy. As they walked on, Cyril amused himself by detecting and -commenting upon the shifts to which his acquaintances were reduced in -order to escape seeing him. The ostracism was complete, and he pointed -out to Mansfield that it must have been decreed only that -morning--probably as soon as the Vindobona papers arrived. It so -happened that there were no royal personages at the baths at present; -but among the sojourners there was a large contingent of the Pannonian -nobility, and it was from these, doubtless, that the fiat had gone -forth which declared Count Mortimer to be from henceforth beyond the -pale of society. A determined enemy, or even a mere busybody, could -easily have found means to promulgate the news during those hours of -the morning which were supposed to be devoted to rest, when authority -had once spoken. It proved that no one was sufficiently courageous to -disobey the edict but the officials of the place, who themselves -saluted Cyril with an expression which said that this courtesy was not -a reflection of their personal feelings, and that their sympathies -were with his opponents. Matters were not improved on the arrival of -the English papers, for it was discovered that the Vindobona journal -which had done all the mischief had omitted one item of special -interest in its quotation from the ‘Fleet Street Gazette.’ “The sudden -collapse of the Hercynian opposition to Count Mortimer’s scheme,” -wrote the correspondent at Czarigrad, “is thought here to be the -result of the kind of business arrangement vulgarly known as a ‘deal.’ -In other words, the Imperial Government has been bought off.” This was -enough. The hatred always smouldering between the two Teutonic empires -burst forth once more in the breasts of their representatives at -Ludwigsbad, and the few Hercynians at the baths found themselves -shunned almost as completely as Cyril, with whom their own convictions -effectually forbade them to fraternise. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - IN SILVER SLIPPERS. - -During the three days and a half anticipated by Cyril, he and his -secretary remained under a ban, and moved about among the crowds of -_Kurgäste_ as little noticed as if they had been two invisible men, -and almost as freely as if they had had Ludwigsbad to themselves. They -were apparently unseen when, with their Bohemian glass tumblers -suspended from their buttonholes, they joined the shivering throngs -that surround in the early morning the kiosks from which the horrible -healing waters are dispensed, and partook of their respective -draughts, Cyril taking the proper eight glasses and Mansfield only -one, purely for the sake of sociability. In the promenade which -followed they met no one who was conscious of ever having seen them -before; and when they had bought the regulation rolls and sat down to -drink their coffee at a little table surrounded by scores of others, -they were not only alone but unperceived in the crowd. In the -afternoon they paid no visits and received none; and at dinner-time, -when merry parties were formed round all the restaurant-tables, they -sat down alone save for the company of the taciturn Thracian secretary -Paschics, who seemed to be given over to perpetual mourning for the -high position his employer had once held and lost. Not that their -isolated condition made their table less gay than the rest. Cyril, -always debonnaire and cheerful, exerted himself determinedly on these -occasions to bring a smile to the melancholy countenance of Paschics, -with the result that Mansfield became almost exhausted with laughing. -The waiters hovered attentively in their neighbourhood, eager to catch -a stray joke; and even the Kurdirektor, a very high and mighty -autocrat indeed, found himself tempted by the peals of laughter to -smoke a cigarette and partake of dessert in company with these victims -of popular disapproval. One evening there was a dance after dinner at -the Kursaal, and Cyril and Mansfield strolled in among the spectators, -enjoying hugely the promptness with which way was made for them, as -though they had been royal personages, or surrounded by an invisible -but tangible fence. That is to say, Cyril enjoyed the experience -frankly for its own sake, and Mansfield because he reflected that it -was in Cyril’s cause he was undergoing it. Two years of fairly -constant intercourse with Lady Philippa Mortimer had not tended to -diminish his early veneration for her adored uncle, and there was also -the further consolation for such hardship as his lot involved that she -would regard it with sympathy--even with admiration. - -The evenings on which there was no dancing were equally amusing in -their way. Wandering through the shrubberies of the Königspark in the -summer twilight, Cyril found himself accosted in sheltered corners -first by one man and then by another who did not dare to dispute the -general edict in public, but thought it might be advisable to remain -friends with both sides under the rose. Naturally these people were -not of the class or character with whom friendship was most desirable, -being chiefly gentlemen who lived by their wits, with a sprinkling of -Jews who believed that the Chevalier Goldberg had bought Cyril for -their nation, and that this justified them in claiming his services -for themselves, and it was a never-ending amusement to Mansfield to -observe the adroitness with which Cyril snubbed them and dropped them -promptly back into their proper places. There was one elderly -capitalist who seemed to have been mildly coerced by the Chevalier -into giving in his adhesion to the national movement, for on three -separate occasions he pursued Cyril with a mournful persistence, -endeavouring to persuade him that, since the masters of money -throughout Europe were now for once united, it was folly to waste the -force of such a combination on the mere acquisition of Palestine, when -it might be used to establish a universal empire on a financial basis. -The contrast between the frail, cringing figure of the old man, and -his world-embracing schemes, was sufficiently ludicrous; but he stuck -to his point until Cyril asked him what the hapless Jews scattered -throughout Europe, on whom the popular fury would at once fall in case -his plan was attempted, would think of him. Then he wrung his hands -and made as though to rend his clothes, and departed sorrowful. - -The three days mentioned by Cyril as the duration of the ostracism had -elapsed; but when the usual visit to the springs was paid on the -fourth morning, Mansfield noticed no change in the demeanour of the -_Kurgäste_. People still looked over, round, and through the two -Englishmen, and avoided carefully coming into the slightest personal -contact with them as they stood waiting their turn to receive the hot -and loathsome beverage. But when the unpleasant duty had been -performed, and the drinkers turned away from the kiosk and into the -promenade, the event occurred which Cyril had foreseen. Approaching -the spring was a tall grey-bearded man of military appearance, walking -with two others, who maintained their position a step behind him on -either side, and to whom he turned and spoke occasionally. In the -foreground, ranged in two lines and leaving an ample path for the -new-comer, were all the most aristocratic of the Ludwigsbad visitors, -bowing and curtseying with the deepest reverence as he reached them, -and manifestly overjoyed when they received a personal greeting. - -“The Emperor of Pannonia,” whispered Cyril to Mansfield. “Watch!” - -How it happened Mansfield did not clearly see, since he was doing his -best to copy the elaborate bows of the Pannonian magnates, but he was -aware that the Emperor caught sight of Cyril, beckoned him forward, -greeted him warmly, and requested him to turn and walk with him a -short distance. Standing rather in the background, Mansfield was able -to perceive and appreciate the expressions of astonishment and chagrin -which chased one another over the countenances of the crowd that -attended the Emperor, but he had little time to reflect upon their -discomfiture, for a sign from Cyril warned him to fall into line with -the two equerries, so that he could no longer observe the results of -the Imperial condescension on the Emperor’s subjects. As for Cyril, he -knew the reason of this friendly address, and had anticipated it. A -Court scandal of a peculiarly unpleasant character had just been -averted by means of the ready help of the Chevalier Goldberg. Not for -the first time an archducal household had been established with the -aid of the Chevalier’s money, and a secret threatening the honour of -the Imperial house and the happiness of a young bride was safely -locked up in the Chevalier’s breast. The Emperor was duly grateful, -and having been informed of the connection between the Chevalier and -Cyril, was doing honour to the one man by way of gratifying the other. -He had, moreover, something to say also to Cyril himself. - -“This Palestine scheme of yours, Count--I am glad to have the -opportunity of speaking to you about it. Is there any prospect of your -being successful?” - -“I see no insuperable difficulty in our way at present, sir.” - -“Well, I only hope you may succeed--as far as possible, that is--for -there is no chance of getting rid of the whole body of Jews. The fewer -that remain in Europe the more business will there be for those few, -and I should fear that the emigrants will all come flocking back when -they see how things are going. Still, you may relieve us of the lowest -class of Jew for a time, at any rate, and that will do something to -simplify our heart-breaking problems here. But before I can commend -your scheme unreservedly, Count, I must be satisfied on one point of -the utmost importance. You are aware that I number among my titles -that of King of Jerusalem, and that two at least of my brother -monarchs claim the right to do the same. We are hereditary guardians -of the Holy Places, and you must see that it would not only be -abhorrent to ourselves personally, but absolutely impossible, in view -of the sentiment of Christendom, to place them in the power of the -Jews.” - -“That has been clearly foreseen, sir. It was the intention of the -board whom I represent to request the Powers to nominate a Christian -governor, who should make the Holy Places his chief care.” - -“You make no suggestion as to the person to be nominated, Count?” The -Emperor turned a keen glance upon Cyril. - -“None, sir. It is obvious that the Prince to be chosen must be a man -of liberal views, or he would fail to obtain the suffrages of all the -Powers, but that is the only suggestion we could venture to offer. I -suppose the governor would maintain order, as at present, by the aid -of a Moslem guard; but it would be necessary to allow the Jews free -access to the spots which they consider holy, and which they are now -debarred from approaching. That proviso can hardly fail to commend -itself to your Majesty as fair, I think?” - -“It is only natural, and would affect no one but the Roumis, I -imagine. Well, Count, you have relieved my mind. It will not surprise -you to hear that urgent representations against your scheme have been -made to me from several quarters, and without this very equitable -proposal of yours I should have been forced to fall in with the views -they expressed. Now, however, I am able to say that in my opinion you -offer adequate protection for Christianity and the Holy Places, and I -shall act accordingly. You are taking the waters here, I believe? I am -glad to know you are at hand, in case I wish to consult you again on -this subject.” - -Thus graciously dismissed, Cyril mingled again with the crowd--a crowd -that was now as anxious to propitiate as it had hitherto been to -ignore him. During the next five minutes, three men, one of whom was -the arbiter of fashion, asked him to dinner that night, and the -Countess von Hohenthurm vouchsafed him the honour of carrying the -paper bag containing her breakfast-roll. Tactless people complained of -their bad eyesight, or lamented that they had not heard Count Mortimer -was at the baths until this morning, but the tactful simply took up -their acquaintance with him at the point where they had dropped it -three days before. Cyril met their overtures in the same spirit, and -his sole piece of revenge was to tell his entertainers at breakfast -all the news of the last three days, as though they had only just -arrived--a piece of pleasantry which brought to Mansfield’s face a -passing gleam of satisfaction. Cyril took him to task for his lowering -brow as they returned to the hotel, and told him that when the -Countess von Hohenthurm was so condescending as to show an interest in -a young man, it behoved that young man to be grateful, and to look it. - -“They are all a set of sycophants!” returned Mansfield sharply. “How -you can make friends of them again, I can’t imagine.” - -“I don’t make friends of them, but they are fellow-members of society, -and it would serve no good purpose to quarrel with them. If I was in -their place, I should have acted precisely as they have done.” - -“You won’t get me to believe that!” said Mansfield, with an air of -mild reproof which Cyril found irresistibly comic. - -“Why, how would you have had me mark my sense of their behaviour?” he -asked. - -“I don’t see how you can meet them again with any cordiality. Why not -decline the honour of their further acquaintance?” - -“Because we live in the great world, and not in Arcadia. You young -people brought up virtuously in England have something terribly stagey -about you. You are all for great _coups_, but that sort of thing -doesn’t do in ordinary life. You remind me very much of my brother -Caerleon as a young fellow. I don’t think I was ever so ineffably -young myself. I hope not, at any rate. Melodrama is not good form.” - -Much crushed by these remarks, which he received as a rebuke, -Mansfield remained silent, and Cyril, observing this, administered a -restorative as they entered the hotel. - -“Never mind. I prefer you as you are. A little melodrama in private is -rather amusing than otherwise, and in society you are a model of -discretion, except as regards your looks. Those you must learn to -control a little, but don’t think that I want you not to tell me what -you think.” - -He spoke rather absently, for the post had come in while they were -out, and the table in his room was covered with letters and -newspapers. He began at once to open the letters, while Mansfield -turned to the papers and began his daily task of looking through them -in search of any reference to the United Nation scheme. - -“There is a very hostile article in this Scythian paper, Count,” he -said after a time, looking round. - -“Ah! what paper?” - -“The ‘Pavelsburg Gazette.’” - -“Good! then it’s inspired. Give me a rough translation, please.” - -Mansfield was now accustomed to requests of this kind, and went -through the article as rapidly as his somewhat imperfect knowledge of -Scythian permitted. The writer was absolutely appalled by the news -which had come from Czarigrad by way of England, and called upon all -Christians to rise and prevent the proposed transfer of Palestine to -Jewish hands. So sacrilegious an outrage could not be allowed to -proceed, and it was the glorious privilege of the Emperor of Scythia, -as head of the Orthodox Church and protector of the Holy Places, to -prevent it. There was not a Scythian that would not give his life -freely in such a cause, and the sooner the necessary steps were taken -the better. It might be well even to proclaim a crusade, and end the -Jewish difficulty at one blow by sweeping the whole of the accursed -race from the earth. - -“Very pretty!” said Cyril, “and evidently meant to prepare the way for -effective action. Scythia has already sounded the other Powers, no -doubt; I thought as much from what the Emperor said to me just now. -Well, I have put a spoke in her wheel, I fancy. When she finds there -is nothing to be done in that direction, she will proceed to push -matters to extremities at Czarigrad, and then comes the tug of war.” - -“But can you hope to put sufficient backbone into the Grand Seignior -to enable Roum to stand up against her?” asked Mansfield, surprised by -the confident tone. - -“No, that would be beyond the wit of man, but I intend to put a little -gentle pressure on Scythia instead.” - -“Would it spoil your plans if you told me how you intend to do it? I -can’t imagine how you will manage.” - -Cyril smiled pleasantly. “There is a famine in Scythia at this -moment,” he said; “so much you know already. You know also that it -must be pretty bad for the Scythian papers to be allowed to -acknowledge its existence at all. There is also a rising in Central -Asia that looks threatening. The sufferers from the famine must be -helped, and the rising must be put down, but where is the money to -come from? Such hoards as the peasantry may have amassed in good years -are exhausted by this time, and there are no Jews left in the rural -districts to borrow from. The Government will have to step in, but -though the war-chest is full, its contents must be kept intact in view -of a possible European war, and there is very little money in the -country otherwise. To improve matters, certain shrewd gentlemen in -America have arranged a corner in cereals, with a special eye to this -famine and the consequent demand. Now do you see where we come in, -when it becomes evident that there is no money to be obtained in all -Europe if our scheme is thwarted at Czarigrad?” - -“You mean to starve them out?” said Mansfield, with more than a touch -of horror in his tone. - -“By no means. We take our pound of flesh, which is Palestine, that’s -all.” - - -“What a queer-looking old chap that is over there, Count!” said -Mansfield to Cyril, as they were taking their walk one morning about a -week after the Emperor’s arrival. “He might be a stage brigand.” - -Cyril glanced in the direction he indicated. “Why, that is my -venerable friend Prince Mirkovics!” he cried. “Who would ever have -dreamt of meeting him here? I thought he never left Thracia.” - -He crossed the promenade with a rapid step, and accosted the old man -whose truculent air and fierce white moustache had attracted -Mansfield’s attention. The garb of civilisation sat awkwardly upon -Prince Mirkovics, and it was obvious that he felt ill at ease without -the pistols and dagger which adorned his girdle when in Thracian -costume; but the scornful frown with which he had been contemplating -the vanities of Ludwigsbad vanished when he caught sight of Cyril, -whom he greeted with beaming smiles. - -“I will join you in your walk, Count, if you will allow me,” he said, -when Mansfield had been duly introduced to him. “I have a good deal to -tell you.” - -“Two years’ Thracian news!” said Cyril lightly. “I have avoided -hearing or reading anything of the kind, on principle, since I left -Thracia, but I felt all the time that it was only accumulating, to -overwhelm me some day.” - -“His Excellency loves to jest,” remarked Prince Mirkovics solemnly to -Mansfield. “Perhaps,” he added, turning again to Cyril, “you are not -even aware that his Majesty intends to visit Ludwigsbad? I believe he -was to arrive to-day.” - -“What, King Michael?” cried Cyril. “No, I had not heard it. Why, Mr -Mansfield, how is this? It’s your business to keep me posted up in the -names of the expected arrivals. Oh, is that it?” as Mansfield began a -stammering defence; “you thought it might call up unpleasant memories, -and therefore you left me to meet him unawares? I am not quite so -sensitive as that, you know, and you needn’t be so very anxious to -spare my feelings.” - -“The Princess of Dardania is naturally coming as well,” continued -Prince Mirkovics. - -“Surely not? Why, her husband has only been dead for ten or twelve -months. She is far too clever to outrage propriety by coming to such a -place as this so soon.” - -“She does not dare to stay away, Count. The quarrel with her eldest -son has forced her to quit Dardania, and the coolness which came to a -head before that between herself and her elder daughter closes Mœsia -to her. Thracia is her only hope, for if King Michael should break his -promise to marry the Princess Ludmilla, she would be discredited on -all sides.” - -Cyril’s eyes flashed ominously. “Then her Nemesis has overtaken her -already?” he said. - -“It has, Count, at least so far as regards the marriage project which -threw you out of office. Her Royal Highness is a clever woman, but she -has so much at stake in this affair that she has failed to show her -customary tact. She has kept too tight a hand over young Michael, made -the chain by which she has bound him to her daughter too evident, and -if he could muster sufficient courage, he would break it. He slipped -away from Thracia without her knowledge, well aware that she would -oppose his coming here, and she, her daughter, and her household, are -following him promptly. But everything will be done with propriety, my -dear Count. She has borrowed the Grand-Duke Eugen’s villa, and will -receive none but relations.” - -“Still, the proceeding sounds a little undignified,” said Cyril drily. - -“So much the better, Count, provided it fails. That woman is the curse -of Thracia. Since you left us she has filled the Ministry, the army, -and the civil service with Scythian sympathisers--for Drakovics, in -his second childhood, is nothing but her tool--with the result that we -are now bankrupt in all but name.” - -“Bankrupt? and I left the treasury full!” - -“Bankrupt. Such changes cost money, Count, both for rewarding friends -and bribing foes. The King, again--he is a young gentleman of taste, -and must spend liberally on his pleasures. The increase of the -army--we could approve of that, for he is Otto Georg’s son, and should -be a born soldier. The beautifying of the capital and the construction -of needless public works--well, it provides employment for the -proletariat, and no doubt he has inherited his mother’s charitable -disposition. But when it comes to squandering money upon theatres and -pictures, and subsidising musicians and dubious foreigners of all -sorts--then, Count, we remember that he is the grandson of Luitpold of -Weldart, and we tremble.” - -“And does the Princess approve of these artistic pleasures?” - -“By no means, Count; but she cannot persuade his Majesty to relinquish -them, and since his mother left Thracia there is no one else who can -even pretend to influence him.” - -“But what a shameful thing for the Queen to leave Thracia when she had -allowed her son to bring all this trouble upon the kingdom!” broke in -Mansfield, who had imbibed from Lady Philippa an inveterate dislike of -the woman whom she regarded as her uncle’s evil genius. “What has she -done with herself?” - -“Young man,” said Prince Mirkovics severely, “her Majesty was deeply -affected by the unhappy events which drove Count Mortimer from -Thracia. Her uncontrollable grief reflected so severely upon her son -and the Princess of Dardania, that they proposed to place her in -seclusion, alleging that she suffered from delusions. Warned in time, -the Queen succeeded in escaping from the kingdom, accompanied by -several faithful members of her household. From Czarigrad, where she -took refuge, she made terms with her son, who agreed to pay her -jointure without protest if she withdrew altogether from politics in -future. Her Majesty then retired to a community of Protestant nuns on -Mount Lebanon, where she occupies herself in good works and in -bewailing the past. My daughter is one of those who share her exile, -gladly devoting their lives to the service of their unfortunate -mistress. Count Mortimer knows that I disliked the Queen’s being -appointed regent, but nothing can excuse King Michael’s conduct to his -mother.” - -Cyril had remained silent while Prince Mirkovics spoke. His face was -very pale, and it was with evident difficulty that he said-- - -“Have you no remedy to propose for the state of things in Thracia, -Prince?” - -“I have; but it is a drastic one. You wonder, perhaps, to see me here? -Do you know that I am on my way home from England--I who have never -left Thracia before? I visited your brother, to inquire whether there -was any hope of his returning to the throne in this extremity.” - -“My dear Prince!” - -“How are we better off than when we were under the house of Franza, -Count? Your brother came to our help then, but he refuses now.” - -“And quite right, too. Accepting the offer of a vacant throne is a -very different thing from annexing an occupied one.” - -“Well, Count, we turn to you. Will you return to Thracia as Prime -Minister? The country is on our side, and we propose to set before the -King the alternatives of accepting you as Premier or as Regent. The -Constitution makes provision for such an appointment in case of the -incurable extravagance or deliberate viciousness of the monarch.” - -“Pray speak lower, Prince. You are talking treason, and in Ludwigsbad -the very rocks have ears. No; I cannot come. I have other work on -hand.” - -“You are doing something for the Jews. Oh, throw them over.” - -“Not in favour of Thracia, at any rate. Thracia had me once, and -resigned me with quite unnecessary willingness. Now she may want me, -but she can’t have me. The punishment is deserved.” - -“But for our sakes, Count--your friends?” - -“No, Prince, I am not up to it. I gave the best part of my life to -building up a workable and fairly honest system of government, and two -years have been enough to reduce it to chaos. I could not submit to -the years of weary office drudgery over again. New work I can take up -and carry through; but I have lost the patience and elasticity I used -to possess, and I will not fail where I succeeded once.” - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - A DISTURBING ELEMENT. - -The bitter words in which Cyril renounced all interest in Thracia -were interrupted by an exclamation from Mansfield, who was staring -incredulously at a little party of people approaching from one of the -winding paths. There were an old lady in a bath-chair, a girl, and a -young man, the last two unmistakably English. - -“Don’t you see, Count? It’s Lady Phil and Usk!” cried Mansfield, -quickening his steps; but Cyril caught him by the arm. - -“Wait a minute, Mansfield. Did my brother stipulate that you were not -to speak to Lady Phil during this year of probation? If he did, I will -curb my natural longing to see my niece, and we will turn our backs -upon danger.” - -“Oh, no, really!” Mansfield was horror-struck by the suggestion. “I -was not to follow her about; but I was never forbidden to speak to her -if we met. Lord Caerleon trusted me, I am sure.” - -“Caerleon was always trustful,” said Cyril unkindly; but he consented -to keep pace with Mansfield’s hurrying feet, and was considerate -enough to allow the young people to greet one another apart, while he -presented Prince Mirkovics in due form to Princess Soudaroff, an -exiled Scythian lady who occupied the position of godmother to both -the Marchioness of Caerleon and her daughter. Had the matter rested -with him, he would have left them to themselves for a longer time, but -Prince Mirkovics, who was standing with his hat in his hand, looked at -him reproachfully. - -“Alas, Count! am I not to enjoy the honour of being presented also to -Madame your niece?” - -“Prince Mirkovics accords you royal honours, Phil,” said Cyril. “Is it -necessary to mention that Lady Philippa is Lord Caerleon’s daughter, -Prince?” - -“Quite unnecessary, Count. Madame must not come to Thracia unless she -comes as queen. There are still old men who remember her father’s -reign, and it goes without saying that all the young men would be -ready to champion the cause of such a lady.” - -“I’m so glad you think me like my father,” said Philippa, in her old -impulsive way. “But even if he was still King of Thracia, I shouldn’t -be of any importance, you know. Usk would be the great person, not I.” - -Prince Mirkovics glanced at the slight dark-haired youth whose -mirthful grey eyes met his across the bath-chair, and shook his head. - -“No, madame, Milord Usk resembles your mother too much. She was a -beautiful girl, indeed--I remember seeing her at the municipal ball -given in honour of your father’s arrival at Bellaviste--but to us she -is only the woman for whose sake Carlino forsook Thracia.” - -“What a horrid way of putting it!” cried Philippa. “You ought to be -thankful that I’m not a princess, for I should get you banished from -Court for saying such things. Uncle Cyril, I am sure we ought not to -keep Prince Mirkovics standing here so long.” - -She glanced entreatingly at her uncle, for Prince Mirkovics still -maintained his deferential attitude, hat in hand, and Cyril came to -the rescue. “My niece is afraid you will take cold, Prince. Pray put -on your hat.” - -“May I be permitted to attend Madame for a short distance?” asked the -old man, complying immediately with the request, and Cyril, much -amused, accepted the humbler office of walking beside the bath-chair, -while Mansfield, looking extremely disconsolate, attached himself to -Usk. - -“Ah, Princess, this is your doing!” said Cyril to the old lady. “You -are certainly an inveterate match-maker. I never knew any one like -you.” - -“Why, what have I done?” asked Princess Soudaroff, with great -simplicity. “I thought the Ludwigsbad waters might do me good, and -therefore I came here. Could I leave Phil and her brother behind, when -their parents had entrusted them to my care?” - -“Perhaps you had heard that the Ludwigsbad water is meat and drink in -one, and thought you might economise, eh, Princess? Have you been -spending your whole year’s income in advance on your charities, as -usual?” - -“No, no. The fact is, poor Phil seemed so painfully interested in -Ludwigsbad and your letters, that I thought the waters would--would do -me no harm, and so we are here.” - -“The truth at last, Princess! Confession is good for the soul.” - -“I like the look of the young man,” remarked the Princess -confidentially. “Of course I have heard a great deal about him already -from Usk, but I was anxious to see him. And he is your secretary, Lord -Cyril? And you are engaged in bringing about the restoration of the -Jews to their own land? What a wonderful age this is of ours, and what -a privilege for you to be allowed to assist in such a work! I can’t -tell you how thankful it makes me that I have been allowed to live -long enough to witness this crowning fulfilment of prophecy.” - -“I must introduce my friend Goldberg to you if he comes here,” said -Cyril. “You and he both take that view of things.” - -“I have already had some correspondence with the Chevalier Goldberg on -the subject of relief for the Scythian Jews. Ah, how sad it is that my -own country should take the lead in ill-treating God’s ancient people! -Is it true that Scythia is even now resisting your measures for -releasing them from bondage?” - -“Scythia is undoubtedly doing her best to spoil our plans at -Czarigrad.” - -“Lord Cyril, a thought has struck me.” The old lady sat upright -suddenly. “I am expecting Vladimir Alexandrovitch here in a day or -two. You know that he manages my affairs, and is anxious to consult me -about some investment. When I told him I should be at Ludwigsbad, he -said that would suit him quite well.” - -“Prince Soudaroff is coming here?” - -“Yes, merely on this business of mine, as I said. But he is an -honourable, fair-minded man. Why should you not meet him informally -and talk things over? You could put the case for the Jews fully before -him--men in his position are always surrounded by people whose -interest it is to keep the truth from them--and I am sure he would be -convinced. Then he could represent the real state of affairs to the -Emperor. You won’t refuse to make the attempt? It may save so much -delay.” - -“I shall be delighted to meet Prince Soudaroff whenever you like, -Princess.” But in his own mind Cyril was using very different language -regarding the prospective visit of the great diplomatist who was so -fortunate as to be brother-in-law to the unsuspicious old lady in the -bath-chair. - -“Then they have felt the pinch already? This is sharp work. Wily idea -to cloak the object of Soudaroff’s journey in this way. But I shall -have to walk warily, for it’s no joke to find oneself between him and -her most sapient Highness of Dardania.” - -They had arrived at the bridge between the old and new promenades, and -he seized the opportunity to detach Prince Mirkovics from Philippa, -and carry him off to his rooms, earning Mansfield’s undying gratitude -by deputing him to escort the ladies back to their lodgings--a -gratitude which was immediately extended to the Princess when she -remarked that it would be pleasant to take a turn in the Neue Wiese -before returning. - -“Do you know,” said Philippa mysteriously, as she resumed her place -beside the chair, while Mansfield unblushingly deserted Usk in order -to walk with her, “I think that poor old man must be a little queer. -He has been going on in the most extraordinary way, saying that I -ought to be a queen, and trying to make me discontented with my humble -lot in life. I told him I was perfectly happy in it, and then he said -that I had inherited my father’s only fault, lack of ambition, and -that if father and Uncle Cyril could be mixed up together, they would -make a perfect king. I told him that I thought Uncle Cyril was -splendid, but that I wouldn’t have father the least bit different for -anything, and he said that only confirmed what he had remarked -before.” - -“He evidently thinks it’s your duty to worry father back to Thracia,” -laughed Usk. - -“Awfully lucky for me that you don’t agree with him,” said Mansfield. -“I should never have had a chance of coming across you in that case.” - -“And if you had,” said Usk, “it wouldn’t have done you much good. Do -you think her Royal Highness the Princess Philippa would have -condescended to be aware of your existence?” - -“Usk! as if I should ever forget old friends, or pretend to make any -difference with them!” cried Philippa indignantly. - -“I am sure you never would,” said Mansfield, so fervently that Usk -laughed aloud, and Princess Soudaroff smiled a placid smile. They had -now reached the Königspark, and were passing one of the outlying -restaurants with which it is dotted. Before the door stood three dusty -travelling-carriages loaded with luggage. The drivers were refreshing -themselves after the not very lengthy journey from Charlottenbad, and -a number of servants, swaggering about, were displaying their liveries -before the admiring eyes of the waitresses. As Princess Soudaroff and -her companions passed on, they came in sight of a group of rather -noisy young men, who were gathered round a table on a terrace -overlooking the river, apparently recruiting their exhausted energies -with the help of beverages not exactly of a temperance character. One -of the drinkers, who sat by himself on one side of the table, made a -remark to the rest, and the whole party turned round and stared at -Philippa. The blush called up on her cheek by the fervour of -Mansfield’s remark changed into a flush of anger when she became aware -of their rudeness, and she held her golden head very high as she -addressed a studiously careless observation to Usk, but her -displeasure appeared to fail of its intended effect. - -“_A la belle Anglaise_!” cried the youth who had already spoken to his -friends, who were now all standing up round the table, and the words -were followed by the crash of broken glass as the goblets were dashed -down after the toast had been drunk. - -“I say, this is beyond a joke!” cried Usk angrily, but Mansfield -gripped his arm, with a look that said, “We will come back and settle -things when the ladies are gone indoors.” Philippa was too much -discomposed to observe this piece of by-play, finding it necessary to -relieve her feelings by a sweeping denunciation of the manners of -foreigners, in which both the young men heartily agreed with her. When -Mansfield had stigmatised the unknown roisterers as a set of cads, and -Usk had added that they were probably shop-walkers from Vindobona out -for a holiday, she felt better, and made haste to turn the -conversation to more agreeable themes. Before very long, however, a -hurried footstep became audible in the direction from which they had -come, and an officer in undress uniform, catching them up, bowed -profoundly to the Princess and Philippa. - -“My august master, the King of Thracia, regrets deeply that the -indiscreet remarks of some person in his company annoyed -mademoiselle,” he said, in French. “It will afford his Majesty much -gratification to be permitted to offer his apologies in person later -in the day.” - -“We are much honoured by his Majesty’s solicitude, monsieur,” replied -Princess Soudaroff promptly, “and neither my god-daughter nor I could -dream of demanding further apologies. Karl, you may go on.” - -And with a bow that equalled his own in courtliness, the Princess left -the discomfited emissary standing in the road. - -“It is nothing but a trick to discover where we are staying,” she -remarked to the rest, when they were out of earshot. - -“I shall have something to say to that youth,” said Usk, jerking his -head in the direction of the distant monarch. “Wretched little -whippersnapper, how can he summon up the cheek to look a Mortimer in -the face?” - -“No, Usk,” said Philippa earnestly; “you mustn’t say a word to him. It -might get Uncle Cyril into fresh trouble. I suppose if the King is -determined to make our acquaintance, he must; but if he does I shall -let him know what I think of him.” - -None of the party happened to look round, or they would have perceived -the disconsolate messenger following them at a discreet distance. His -errand of pursuing these strangers to their hotel was not an agreeable -one to him, and he hailed gladly the appearance of Prince Mirkovics, -whose elaborate salutation showed that he was acquainted with them, as -a relief from the necessity. The old noble’s eyes gleamed when he -heard the story. - -“Yes; I can tell his Majesty who the young lady is,” he said, and -walked on so fast that the officer could hardly keep pace with him or -find breath to tell the King why he had come. - -“Well, Prince; so you can tell us who it is that we have been -admiring?” said King Michael, lazily erecting a pile of broken -wine-glasses. - -“The lady, sir, is the daughter of the Marquis Carlino, your august -father’s predecessor on the throne.” - -“The niece, then, of the excellent Count Mortimer!” said the Scythian -officer who had failed in his errand. - -“What does that signify, when she has such hair?” demanded King -Michael. “I never saw anything like it. All these German women look -washed-out beside her.” - -The youthful monarch posed as a connoisseur of female beauty, and his -attendants murmured a respectful acquiescence in his decision. Prince -Mirkovics alone did not seem to have heard it. His sombre eyes were -gleaming again under their shaggy brows. - -“I am glad your Majesty has enjoyed this one glimpse of the lady,” he -said. - -“Why do you speak as though I should never see her again, Prince? I -intend to make her acquaintance at the ball to-night, and I’ll bet you -anything you like that she gives me half a dozen dances.” - -“The lady does not attend public balls, sir.” As he spoke Prince -Mirkovics blessed secretly the strict principles in which Nadia -Caerleon had brought up her daughter. - -“Not go to balls? Why not?” asked the King, in unaffected -astonishment. - -“Possibly because her parents do not approve of the class of person -she would meet there, sir,” replied Prince Mirkovics, bestowing a -severe glance upon the would-be lady-killer, who looked offended. - -“Oh, very well: then I shall command Count Mortimer to present her, -that’s all. I mean to speak to her.” - -“With what object, sir, if I may venture to ask?” - -“Because I want to see whether she is as lively as she is handsome, of -course. She ought to have plenty of fun in her, from her face.” - -“If your Majesty is really desirous of making the lady’s -acquaintance”--Prince Mirkovics was astonished and delighted by the -sudden development in himself of such powers of diplomacy as he had -never suspected hitherto--“surely it would be well to say nothing to -Count Mortimer. As I ventured to hint just now, if his Excellency knew -that you, sir, had been graciously pleased to express admiration of -his niece, he would probably remove her at once from Ludwigsbad.” - -“Hang it! so he would,” said the King peevishly. “It would be just -like him.” - -“Perhaps, sir, without mentioning the matter to Count Mortimer, I -might have the honour of making your Majesty acquainted with the lady -at a little entertainment of some sort. A ball, of course, is out of -the question----” - -“And moreover, their Highnesses the Princess of Dardania and Princess -Ludmilla could not be present,” put in the Scythian officer. - -The King frowned fiercely at the interrupter. “Their Highnesses have -nothing whatever to do with it,” he said angrily. “I make my own -friends without asking their leave.” - -“Sir,” said Prince Mirkovics, “allow me to say that Captain Roburoff -is nevertheless in the right. I must be able to invite the Princess -Ludmilla, at any rate, to grace the entertainment by her presence. -Would a party of pleasure to visit some object of interest meet your -Majesty’s wishes?” - -“Anything, anything!” said the King sulkily. “Arrange it as you like, -Prince; only be sure to let me know in time, so that I may make no -other engagement. And see here, you must look after Princess Lida. I -am not going to dangle after her all day, instead of talking to the -beautiful Mortimer.” - -“I will do my best to arrange everything to your Majesty’s taste,” -said Prince Mirkovics as he retired. Once out of the King’s presence, -a feeling of sick disgust came over the old man as he thought of the -part he had played. - -“That wretched boy the son of Queen Ernestine!” he muttered. “It is as -well she cannot see him. And I to be plotting to give him Carlino’s -daughter! But that is the very thing. She has spirit and strength of -mind sufficient to save him in spite of himself. And if not--if he -ventured to slight her, to ill-treat her”--Prince Mirkovics’s hand -clenched itself involuntarily--“we would tear him from the throne, and -seat her there alone. I would kill him with my own hands; but it would -be worth a year or two of misery for her to have her reigning in -Thracia.” - - -After due consultation with his hotel-keeper and with the director of -the baths, Prince Mirkovics sent out that evening the invitations for -his picnic, and resigned himself to wait four whole days before he -could do anything more. During this period, however, King Michael -contrived to steal a march upon him. Cyril, to whom in righteous -indignation Mansfield had borne the news of the King’s extraordinary -behaviour, thought it well to make a point of accompanying Princess -Soudaroff and Philippa in their morning and evening promenades, and on -these occasions his party invariably encountered that of the King. The -first time this happened, King Michael, who had not chosen to receive -Cyril when the latter called at his hotel the day before, stopped and -spoke to him with marked graciousness. The next time, becoming aware, -apparently, that the ex-Premier was not alone, he desired him to -present his relations, and addressed to each of them a few affable -words, delivered with a _blasé_ and venerable air which sat oddly -upon his youthful countenance. This gave him the opportunity of seeing -Philippa in a new character, for the spectacle of the sallow, -weary-eyed boy, who had treated him with so much ingratitude, -patronising her beloved uncle, was almost too much for her, and her -blue eyes sparkled with the indignation which her close-pressed lips -succeeded in restraining. Cyril was not blind to the feelings of -either side, but his only comment on what he saw was to tease Philippa -afterwards about her manners, which he declared to lack the repose -that ought to mark the caste of Vere de Vere. - -On the evening before Prince Mirkovics’s picnic Cyril and Mansfield -betook themselves to Princess Soudaroff’s rooms to join her -dinner-party, instead of dining as usual in the open air. The only -other visitor present was her brother-in-law, the great Scythian -diplomatist, and it was for his benefit that this formal indoor dinner -had been arranged, in order that the keen eyes of Ludwigsbad might not -observe his conference with Cyril. As soon as the meal was over Usk -gave his arm to the Princess, Mansfield, who had received his orders -beforehand, followed, nothing loth, with Philippa, and the two -statesmen were left to themselves, Cyril bringing his chair to Prince -Soudaroff’s end of the table, and waiting for him to begin to speak. A -curious visitor might have observed that when either man glanced away -the eyes of the other ran searchingly over him, as though to discover -some joint in his armour, but that when the two pairs of eyes met, an -impenetrable veil seemed to be let down to hide the soul behind each. -Prince Soudaroff raised a glass of wine critically to the light as he -said-- - -“What are your terms, Count?” - -“You desire an accommodation, then?” - -Prince Soudaroff shrugged his shoulders. “What would you have? You -have hedged us in so completely that we must capitulate or starve. I -suppose it is understood that if we withdraw our opposition at -Czarigrad you get us the loan we want on easy terms?” - -“I regret to say that no money can pass until our concession is -actually granted. Aid in corn you shall have to any reasonable -extent.” - -“This is ungenerous, Count. Why such distrust of our honour?” - -“It is a compliment to you, Prince. We must make things safe.” - -“Well, I suppose you rely on cruel necessity to bring us to our knees. -But there is one indispensable condition. The proposed governor of -Palestine must be an Orthodox prince.” - -“That is not our affair. It is for the Powers to decide.” - -“Nonsense, my friend! No one knows better than you how to manage the -Powers. You and your syndicate can impose your will upon them in this -particular as in others. Our honour forbids us to accept anything -else. Our past history, the blood we have shed in the Christian cause -against the infidel----” - -“Let me advise you to write it off as a bad debt, Prince.” - -“Impossible. I dare not return to Pavelsburg without this -modification. The Emperor is firm. He will risk and lose everything -rather than yield the point.” - -“Then he must bring the Powers to see it in the same light.” - -“But that is impossible, I tell you. We have no means of bringing them -to our side. Come, Count, we must have your help. Prince Kazimir of -Dardania is our candidate--a German on the mother’s side. Europe will -not be irreconcilable. What can we offer you to ensure his election?” - -“Unfortunately, I can’t think of anything I want,” drawled Cyril. - -“Money--when we get it? Titles--we will make you a prince? Political -power?--come, we will propose you as High Commissioner of Minoa, and -you can enjoy yourself there to your heart’s content.” - -“Thanks, Prince; it’s not big enough.” - -“Well, if you will not accept anything for yourself, what of your -family? Would you care to see your niece Queen of Thracia? Roburoff -tells me that young Michael is perfectly infatuated with her.” - -“Unfortunately there is an obstacle, in the shape of the Princess of -Dardania and her daughter.” - -“Oh, the Princess has failed us twice, we need not consider her. One -throws away an untrustworthy tool, you know. As for the girl, we will -find her another husband. Your niece would suit Michael much -better--keep him well in hand and look the part, too. I have been -studying her closely since I came here. She will never have the -regular beauty of her mother; but her colouring is far more charming, -and--Englishwoman though she is--she has not the distressing -woodenness of manner which spoiled the lovely Nadia Mikhailovna in her -younger days. If that girl had been brought up by a woman of the -world, instead of a saintly fanatic like my sister Pauline -Vassilievna, she would have taken Europe by storm. Your niece can -never rival her. But then, as I say, she has dignity and good-humour -and _bonhomie_ such as her mother did not possess. Why, I would advise -my august master to obtain her hand for the Crown Prince, but that I -should despair of making her a convert to Orthodoxy.” - -Cyril laughed gently. “If my niece wishes to be Queen of Thracia, -Prince, she will attain her object without my help. If she doesn’t, -nothing I could do would have any effect upon her.” - -“You would return to Thracia as Premier, of course.” - -“Thanks, but that I have already refused to do.” - -“Then I fear we can settle nothing,” said Prince Soudaroff, rising -from the table, “since I am forbidden to accept any agreement that -excludes this all-important stipulation. I am returning to Pavelsburg -at once, and I will take his Imperial Majesty’s pleasure on the -subject. Shall we join the ladies? I must make my adieux at once, or I -shall not reach Charlottenbad in time for the train.” - -But although Prince Soudaroff’s coachman was distinctly ordered, in -the hearing of Cyril and Usk, to take the Charlottenbad road, he did -not do so, nor did the occupant of the carriage appear to feel any -alarm when he found himself being driven exactly in the opposite -direction. The road which the coachman appeared to prefer led into the -hills, and after a drive of about twenty minutes the carriage stopped -at a small door in a park-wall, and Prince Soudaroff alighted. The -door opened at his knock, and he walked briskly along the path that -led from it, guided by a ray of light from a window at some distance -in front. Below this window was a door, which was also opened promptly -by an invisible watcher, and admitted the visitor to a passage in -which was a back staircase. The man-servant who had been stationed at -the door conducted him in perfect silence up the stairs, and through a -small ante-room into a luxurious boudoir, in which was sitting a lady -in trailing garments of black and a cap with a long black veil falling -from it to the ground. She dismissed the servant with a gesture. - -“Well, what is your news?” she asked imperiously of Prince Soudaroff. - -“Bad, madame. The Mortimer is incorruptible.” - -“Then the negotiations are broken off?” - -“Unfortunately, madame, we cannot afford to do that. The other side -know that they have only to wait, and we must yield.” - -“He refuses to consent to the election of my son?” - -“He will not express any preference, madame. The matter is one for the -Powers, he says. You and I know that his personal assent would satisfy -the Emperor, and give us all we want.” - -“Because it would discredit him with the Jews when it came out?” - -“Either that, madame, or it would so revolt the Catholic powers that -they would combine to oblige Roum to refuse the concession, and he -would lose his prestige. When the Jews reject him, he cannot sink much -lower. Perhaps Hayti would afford the only possible field for his -powers.” - -The Princess of Dardania smiled gently at the brutal joke. “Then the -affair resolves itself once more into a personal contest between Count -Mortimer and myself,” she said. “You will let me know anything of -moment that occurs to you, and I will turn my thoughts to winning the -assent which is either to ruin our friend’s influence or discredit his -cause, or both.” - -“The task could not be in abler hands, madame. Perhaps I might venture -to offer one single suggestion? I hear rumours that the Mortimer is -aiming at the throne of Thracia for his niece.” - -“Ah, he wishes her to supplant my daughter?” - -“Exactly so, madame. The presumption of the idea is atrocious, but it -occurs to me that it might prove useful. It might be possible to lead -him on by its means. For instance, from an incautious remark he let -drop, it seems to me that his Majesty must have made overtures to him, -with the view of inducing him to return to Thracia. That opens up -dangerous possibilities, but it also gives us some idea how to set to -work.” - -“I see.” The Princess sat with her black brows drawn together. - -“And now, madame, I will depart, if your Royal Highness will permit -me. It would not look well to lose my train after starting in such -excellent time. You wished me to convey a letter to the Emperor, I -believe?” - -The Princess unlocked her writing-case, and took out a sealed -envelope, which Prince Soudaroff placed in an inner pocket. Kissing -the hand which the Princess extended to him, he took his leave, and -quitted the villa with the same precautions as he had observed on -entering it. His carriage was waiting for him under the wall of the -park, and he was quickly embarked on the long drive necessary to bring -him to Charlottenbad and the train. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - THE CROWN MATRIMONIAL. - -It was with a sardonic chuckle that Prince Mirkovics remarked the -next morning to his pretty German daughter-in-law, whom he had -summoned by telegraph from Thracia to assist him upon this momentous -occasion, that the entertainment he was offering to his future Queen -was favoured with Queen’s weather. The irony underlying the speech was -necessarily lost upon Princess Boris, to whom Princess Lida of -Dardania was the only possible Queen for Thracia, but she responded -with sympathetic cheerfulness, relieved to be able to display her new -Felix gown without offering it up as a sacrifice to her loyalty. The -locality of the picnic had cost Prince Mirkovics much anxious thought, -but he had fixed at last upon a spot known as the Tannenspitze, a -grassy hill-top emerging from a sea of pines, and commanding an -extensive view. Carriages were to convey the party from Ludwigsbad to -the foot of the hill, but the summit itself could only be approached -on foot, by means of a variety of intricate paths through the -pine-woods, and this it was that rendered the place specially suitable -in view of Prince Mirkovics’s purposes. The arrangements generally -were left in the hands of Princess Boris, who was dominated by the -ambition of giving the smartest picnic Ludwigsbad had ever seen. This -necessitated an expenditure at which the frugal soul of her -father-in-law rose in shocked revolt, but he remembered in time the -stakes for which he was playing, and held his peace. - -In spite of the magnitude of the preparations for their entertainment, -the list of those invited was rather select than lengthy. The guest of -the day was naturally Princess Lida, a young lady of seventeen, -endowed with a tact and assurance that would have done credit to a -world-worn society leader of seventy. It pleased her Highness, who may -or may not have received a hint from her mother before starting, to -single out Philippa as the object of her special favour, and enlist -her as her inseparable companion for the day. Philippa must sit beside -her in the carriage, and walk with her through the pine-woods, and -give detailed answers to an endless list of searching questions as to -her home life, her favourite pursuits, her tastes, and her ancestry. -The easy persistence with which Princess Lida imposed her will upon -the whole party, and her stamp upon the conversation, astonished and -oppressed the English girl, who felt herself overgrown and unfinished -and badly dressed in the presence of this very self-possessed young -lady. The only misgiving which had afflicted Philippa on starting, -relative to her gown of white cloth, with its edging of gold cord, and -pale blue silk shirt, was the fear that something darker would be more -suitable for a rough country walk. Now, however, as she contemplated -Princess Lida’s delicate silver-grey silk and black lace, and the -marvellous confection of _pervenche_ cashmere, decked in bewildering -fashion with velvet bows, diamond buttons, iridescent embroidery, and -silk fringe, which Princess Boris had considered fitting wear for the -occasion, she owned to herself that the dress she had worn at the -Marlborough House garden-party, a few weeks back, would not have been -at all too smart. A miserable consciousness of her shoes also -oppressed her, for they were English-made and serviceable, and -contrasted painfully with the fairy-like foot-gear, high-heeled and -highly decorated, of the other ladies. - -When the carriages had been left behind, however, and the walk through -the woods began, Philippa found that the advantage was on her own -side, but she thought Prince Mirkovics need not have emphasised this -superiority in the way he did. Noticing the difficulty with which -Princess Lida stumbled along the rough track, he devoted himself -ostentatiously to removing the stones from her path, accompanying his -attentions with remarks which the two girls were fain to regard as -breathing loyalty and respect, but which seemed fated to move King -Michael and his suite to bursts of ill-concealed laughter. It was a -relief to Philippa when their host insisted at last on offering his -arm to the Princess, and provided a cavalier for herself in the shape -of Captain Roburoff, who appeared to have altogether forgotten and -forgiven the snub he had received only five days ago at her -godmother’s hands. He spoke of Cyril and his efforts to solve the -Jewish problem with so much interest and appreciation that Philippa, -unconscious that a word from Prince Soudaroff had led him to read up -the subject carefully, felt her heart warm towards him, and conversed -with an animation such as she rarely showed to strangers. - -Cyril himself was unable to spare time for the picnic, which caused -Prince Mirkovics a secret guilty satisfaction, but he had generously -given Mansfield a day’s holiday, which had so far failed to bring the -secretary the pleasure he had expected. Philippa’s society was -unattainable, and in despair Mansfield attached himself to another -disconsolate young Englishman, who knew no one but the friends with -whom he had come. Together they forsook the beaten track in favour of -a torrent-bed, which afforded them a good deal of scrambling and a -certain amount of risk, arousing thereby the longing envy of Usk, who -had been delivered over to the tender mercies of Princess Lida’s -lady-in-waiting. Countess Birnsdorf was stiff, elderly, and -unappreciative of rural delights, and she subjected Usk to a severe -cross-examination, with the view of discovering whether he was really -“born,” in the German sense of the word. His light-hearted confession -that he really could not answer half her questions without looking up -his family history in the ‘Peerage’ shocked and startled her, and he -detected a perceptible shrinking from his society until she had -satisfied herself as to the length of time the Mortimers had reigned -at Llandiarmid, and the arms they had borne at different epochs. Early -study of the carvings and stained glass in the Castle hall had -rendered Usk well versed in these, and before the hill-top was -reached, the Countess had come to look upon him almost with -friendliness. The feeling was not reciprocated, however, and Usk was -base enough to turn his charge over to Mansfield’s unhappy friend, who -had in some way contrived to lose his companion in the wood, and -approached to ask whether Usk had seen him. Quieting his conscience -with the excuse that it would be quite a novel and exciting sensation -for the Countess to tall for the first time to some one who was not -“born,” Usk slipped away to find Mansfield, whom he discovered engaged -in a solitary search for adventures in the miniature cavern where the -stream took its rise. In this Usk joined him, and they wasted all the -vestas they had with them, made themselves decidedly wet, and tore -their clothes a little, enjoying themselves thoroughly the while. When -the want of matches rendered further exploration impracticable, they -remembered reluctantly their duty to the rest of the party, and were -retracing their steps to the summit of the hill, when there was a -flash of blue and white through the trees, and the two young men were -suddenly confronted by Philippa, who burst upon them, flushed and -panting. - -“Usk,” she cried fiercely, “if you let that odious little cad come -near me again, I’ll never speak another word to you in my life!” - -“Which I wish to remark, that your language is strong, Phil,” observed -Usk mildly. - -Mansfield’s eyes blazed as he turned upon him. “For shame, Usk! -Doesn’t it matter to you that your sister has been insulted? Who is -it, Lady Phil? that Scythian fellow?” - -“No, no,” panted Philippa, “it’s the King. But Usk is quite right. It -was silly of me to be so excited. Oh, please, Mr Mansfield, don’t go. -I--I want you to hear how it was. Please stay here.” - -She caught his hand and held it, and Mansfield, before whose eyes had -floated a vision in which his stick made closer acquaintance with King -Michael’s sacred person than the monarch would be likely to consider -agreeable, allowed himself to be persuaded to remain, more especially -since Usk gave him a warning look behind Philippa’s back. “This is my -affair. You have no right to interfere,” the look meant, and Mansfield -was forced to submit. - -“I suppose they must have arranged it beforehand,” Philippa went on, -“for you know, Usk, I was walking with Captain Roburoff. He talked so -nicely about Uncle Cyril, and told me such interesting things about -the Jews in Scythia, that I never thought about the path until he -stopped suddenly, and said, ‘A thousand pardons, mademoiselle! What a -fool I am! I have lost the way,’ and then I found that none of the -others were in sight, and I could not hear their voices either. -Captain Roburoff seemed dreadfully sorry, and asked me to sit down on -a fallen tree while he went on a little farther to see where the path -led to. I said I was not tired, but he persisted I must be, and I -thought he would fancy that I was afraid to stay in the wood alone, so -I sat down. He was out of sight among the trees almost at once, and it -really was rather lonely, so that I was quite glad when I heard him -coming back, as I thought. But it wasn’t Captain Roburoff at all, it -was the King, and he said he had flown to the relief of the distressed -damsel, and talked a lot of nonsense about wood-nymphs, and tried to -pay me compliments about--about my hair, you know, and that sort of -thing. I nearly laughed, but I thought it might be his way of being -polite, so I walked on with him. Then we came to a rather steep place, -and he would insist on helping me up it (though I believe I could have -helped him much better), and he squeezed my hand. I pulled it away at -once, and he said, in the most idiotic way, ‘Would that I might call -that fair hand mine for ever!’ I thought that was going rather far, -even for a foreigner, so I made some remark about Princess Lida, just -to recall her to his mind. Then he flew out and said that he hated -Princess Lida, that his mother and the Princess of Dardania had -arranged the marriage when he was a baby, and had brought him up to -look upon it as a settled thing, and that Princess Lida had no soul, -and not a thought in common with him, and he was tired of her very -name, and he would be graciously pleased to marry me instead. Fancy--a -boy years younger than I am! He had got sentimental again by that -time, but I was so angry that I gave him a good talking-to, and told -him that he ought to be ashamed of himself, and that Princess Lida was -perfectly lovely, and would make him a far better queen than he had -any right to expect, and then he went into such a passion! I think he -must have expected me to regard his offer as a sort of command, to be -obeyed without question, for he said that the Princess of Dardania and -her daughter were the curse of Thracia, and that it would be my fault -if the kingdom was ruined and he went to the bad. I wanted to box his -ears, and at last I was really afraid I should, for he was just like a -little boy who ought to be put in a corner, so I came away. Usk, do -you think he was mad--or _drunk_?” Philippa ended the story of her -wrongs in an awestruck whisper. - -“Don’t know, I am sure. I shall speak to him and see.” - -“No, Usk, you’d better not. You know father told us to be sure to -consult Uncle Cyril at once if the slightest attempt was made to -entangle us in politics while we were abroad, and I suppose this must -be the sort of thing he meant.” - -“Would you like me to tell Count Mortimer when I see him to-night, -Lady Phil?” asked Mansfield. A horrible suspicion had seized him that -Cyril might have some hand in the affair. He hated himself for the -thought, but his short intercourse with his employer had served to -assure him that over-scrupulousness was not one of Cyril’s failings. -If he was indeed in King Michael’s confidence, and Philippa discovered -the fact, the enthusiastic love she cherished for her uncle would be -destroyed for ever, and Mansfield made up his mind to spare her the -pain of such a disillusionment. - -“Oh no,” she answered, flushing scarlet. “I could not let any one else -tell him about such a horrid thing. I must do it myself.” - -“I would make as little of it as possible,” said Mansfield, with -assumed unconcern. “I shall see him before you do, that’s all.” - -“Oh yes, please tell him, then. Perhaps he might say we ought not to -have lost time. But you won’t leave me alone all afternoon, Usk, will -you? or if Usk is called away, you’ll stay with me, won’t you, Mr -Mansfield?” - -Mansfield assured her of his constant attendance with a warmth that -drew another warning look from Usk, and they returned to the rest of -the party, who were all somewhat ruffled, owing to the obvious -ill-temper of King Michael. He was seated between his _fiancée_ and -Princess Boris, doing his best to make both ladies uncomfortable, and -the appearance of Philippa with her bodyguard produced no improvement -in his mood, since all Prince Mirkovics’s tactics failed to separate -the three. Even when Princess Lida claimed Philippa again after lunch -as her companion, Usk and Mansfield followed the two girls at a -discreet distance, much to the disapproval of the lady-in-waiting, who -suspected in them a romantic adoration for her charge. By affecting an -abnormal denseness, and complete ignorance of the French language, -they succeeded in baffling their host’s efforts to detach them from -Philippa, and when they returned to Ludwigsbad in the evening they -were able to boast that King Michael had not ventured to approach her -again. Mansfield saw Usk and his sister safely deposited at Princess -Soudaroff’s lodgings, and returned reluctantly to the Hôtel Waldthier -to tell his story to Cyril. He could not bring himself to look at his -employer during the recital, for the fear which had seized him at -first had become almost a certainty, and it was with a shock of -anticipation rather than surprise that he heard Cyril say-- - -“So soon? The young rascal has lost no time, certainly.” - -“Count, you didn’t know of this?” The agony of entreaty in his own -voice startled Mansfield. - -“May I ask what business it is of yours?” - -“I couldn’t--I can’t believe it. Some one told me once that you spared -no one when it was a question of politics, but I can’t believe you -would expose your own niece to unpleasantness simply to further your -schemes.” - -“A Daniel come to judgment! The unpleasantness was soon over, on your -own showing.” - -“It would not have been in the case of any other girl. It might have -led her into awful trouble. Lady Phil is different. She would not let -herself be tempted by a crown.” - -“In view of your position with regard to my brother’s family,” -remarked Cyril icily, “your interference in this affair is open to -objection.” - -Mansfield’s accusing eyes fell, but he recovered himself quickly. “I -can’t deny that I love Lady Phil, Count; but that doesn’t deprive me -of the right a man has to help any girl that he may see placed in an -unfair position.” - -“And what is the exact nature of the help you propose to render?” - -“To resign my post with you, and telegraph to Lord Caerleon. Lady Phil -shall never hear the full truth, if I can help it. I think it would -break her heart to know that you----” - -Mansfield’s voice faltered, and Cyril’s keen eyes scrutinised him -curiously. - -“Do you know that you are a fool, Mansfield?--an honest, blundering -idiot? I won’t accept your resignation, do you hear?--though I should -be justified in doing so, after the way you have spoken to me. How -dare you expect me to defend myself against your suspicions? You know -you had given me up as a bad lot. Well, all I knew of the matter was a -hint last night from Prince Soudaroff that young Michael had fallen in -love with my niece, but I refused to have anything to do with it. And -even now I know that you trust me no further than you can see me.” - -“Forgive me, Count. If you knew how I hated the thought----” - -“I should grovel before you in mingled pity and admiration, no doubt. -But why I should care a farthing about your opinion of me I don’t -know. I have never defended myself to any one before, but you are -really too young and idyllic for this wicked world. Well, you may be -easy about my niece. I will put a stop to King Michael’s love-making.” - -Mansfield’s mind was in a whirl as he departed. He had not known -hitherto what power Cyril possessed over him, nor with what mastery he -could play upon his feelings; but he felt now that if he had found his -employer guilty of the baseness he had suspected in him, it would have -been a blow second only to the loss of Philippa herself. The -unworthiness of his late suspicions cut him to the heart, and his -whole demeanour the next day was a mute entreaty for pardon, which -amused Cyril not a little. Even an incident which would have aroused -his misgivings the day before had now no power to disturb his trust. - -The early promenade and the open-air breakfast were over, and -tranquillity had settled down upon the place for the space of those -morning hours which Ludwigsbad holds sacred to rest and seclusion. At -the Hôtel Waldthier Mansfield sat writing in the little anteroom of -Cyril’s _appartement_, whence he could command the side-door which was -reserved for Count Mortimer’s visitors. Many strange guests had -Mansfield admitted at that door, from royal princes to -poverty-stricken Jews, but it was startling even to him to observe a -stage conspirator approaching it. The visitor wore a soft felt hat -pulled down over his face, and a greatcoat with the collar turned -up--an attire singularly unsuited to the weather,--and he glanced from -side to side, starting at the slightest sound, in a very realistic -manner. After stepping noiselessly up to the door, and apparently -satisfying himself that he was unobserved, he returned on tiptoe to -the gateway by which he had entered the garden, and brought back with -him another person attired like himself. Together they approached -Mansfield’s window, and the first man made signs expressive of a -desire to enter without attracting attention. Leaving his desk, -Mansfield admitted them at the private door. They entered without -uttering a word, but, once in the room, the second turned down his -collar and disclosed the features of King Michael. - -“Are we alone, and unobserved?” he demanded of his companion. - -“Absolutely so, my liege,” returned Captain Roburoff, in accents that -suggested a certain difficulty in speaking. The King turned -majestically to Mansfield, who half expected to hear himself addressed -as “Minion.” - -“Tell Count Mortimer that I wish to see him,” he said. - -“I will inquire whether his Excellency is at leisure, sir,” responded -Mansfield, who would have given much to deny the monarch admittance -altogether. But although Cyril raised his eyebrows quizzically, and -asked whether Mansfield would wish to be present during the interview, -he rose at once and came to the door to welcome his royal visitor. - -“To what am I indebted for this supreme honour, sir?” he inquired when -they were alone. - -“Be seated, Count,” replied King Michael affably. “I am here on a -friendly errand, I assure you.” - -Cyril bowed and obeyed, and his visitor continued-- - -“I perceive, Count, that you are surprised by this private visit. No -doubt it will surprise you still more to learn that it is merely an -earnest of my good-will towards you. I admit that when I came to the -throne I acted hastily in accepting your resignation, but no one can -regret it more than I do. I look to you, as a fair-minded man, to -place the blame where it is due. My mind had been poisoned against -you--by whom, you can guess.” - -Cyril bowed again in silence. King Michael went on-- - -“I have made up my mind to redress the injustice into which I was -hurried. In their eagerness to aggrandise their own family, my mother -and the Princess of Dardania induced me to engage myself to Princess -Ludmilla, and by means of this quasi-promise the Princess of Dardania -has contrived to exercise a wholly unwarranted authority over myself -and the kingdom. I have determined to put an end to it. The Princess’s -influence is injurious to Thracia, and her daughter is personally -distasteful to myself. The position which she hopes to occupy I -destine for your niece, Lady Philippa Mortimer, and I desire your -assistance in the matter.” - -“Well?” interjected Cyril, with startling suddenness. - -“I think you forget to whom you are speaking, Count.” - -“No, sir. I do not forget that for the sake of the girl you now wish -to cast aside you broke the heart of the mother who had sacrificed her -life’s happiness for you and your kingdom.” - -The King’s sallow face grew livid. “If all that is said is true, you -are not the man to talk to me of cruelty to her Majesty, Count.” - -“At least I can say that I have repented my cruelty from that day to -this. You have not.” Cyril’s eyes were flashing, and his even voice -was charged with thunder. King Michael and he had both risen to their -feet, and were confronting each other angrily across the table. - -“We are losing time in these irrelevant recriminations, Count,” said -the King, recovering himself. “I wish you to undertake the conduct of -this affair. You will return to office, of course--I give you _carte -blanche_ with regard to the wretched crew of incapables at present in -power--but I do not know whether you will prefer to rid me of the -Princess of Dardania and her daughter before setting to work. I leave -the method to you--you are an old enemy of her Royal Highness, I -believe?--and I don’t stipulate for any special tenderness towards -either of them. Afterwards you will take the proper steps to obtain -Lady Philippa’s hand for me. I believe I alarmed the young lady -yesterday by avowing my sentiments too openly; no doubt she thought -such warmth incorrect in view of Princess Lida’s presence in the -company; but you will do everything in due form. You hesitate? You -think I am making a cat’s paw of you?” A grim smile crossed Cyril’s -face. “I am willing to repeat before witnesses the orders I have given -you, if you will call in Roburoff and your secretary.” - -“Quite unnecessary.” Cyril had regained his usual calm. “You broke the -heart of the woman who gave up everything for you, and now you want to -throw away the toy for the sake of which you did it. But that you -won’t do. I don’t pose as a moralist, but I have some sense of the -fitness of things. At the rate you are going, it won’t be long before -you are unfit to speak to a decent woman, and you expect me to give -you my niece! Why, I should have scruples about marrying you to -Princess Lida, if I had any responsibility in the matter, but her -mother and you settled that between you, and you shall stick to it. If -I am not mistaken, she will turn out a match for you. But at any rate, -for your mother’s sake, I will see that her wishes on the subject are -carried out.” - -The fierce irony of the tone roused the King to something very like -frenzy. “If I don’t marry your niece, I’ll make you sorry that you -refused her to me,” he muttered, his lips twitching and his fingers -picking nervously at his chin. - -“The first word you say against her will be the signal for your own -destruction,” said Cyril coldly. “I am not in the habit of speaking -idly, and I warn you that you are still on the throne only because I -have not cared to dethrone you. But if you are good enough to furnish -me with a reason for taking action----” - -“I don’t revenge myself upon women,” snarled the King, forgetting his -threat of the moment before. - -“Ah, you are young yet,” replied Cyril pleasantly. “Permit me to -attend your Majesty to the door.” - -In the anteroom Captain Roburoff, who had been amusing himself with -trying to torment Mansfield by means of hints as to the King’s -matrimonial intentions, jumped up in a hurry when his sovereign -appeared. He expected a return to the elaborate ceremonial which had -marked their entrance into the hotel, but King Michael strode out of -the room without a word, neglecting all the precautions he had seen -fit to adopt, and Mansfield breathed freely. It was evident that here -was no accepted lover, and the refusal appeared to have been -accompanied by a little wholesome plain speaking. On Cyril the -impression left by the interview was one of unmitigated disgust. - -“_That_ Ernestine’s boy!” he muttered, as Prince Mirkovics had done -before him. “Well, it’s a good thing that the young blackguard forgot -himself so far as to threaten poor little Phil. It forces me to make -things safe by cutting the ground from under his feet. So now to -business!” - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - _DANAOS DONA FERENTES._ - -Telling Mansfield that he was going for a stroll, and should -probably lunch at Princess Soudaroff’s--a piece of information that -filled the secretary with unavailing envy--Cyril took the road which -led to the villa occupied by the Princess of Dardania. Reaching the -door, he was greeted with stares of surprise by the servants on the -steps and in the hall, and his request to be permitted to wait upon -the Princess was regarded with amazement, not unmixed with suspicion. - -“Her Royal Highness does not receive visitors,” he was told, while his -card was handed round and scrutinised with something of awe. - -“I think her Royal Highness will receive me,” he answered calmly, -wishing he was as sure of the fact as he pretended to be. No one knew -better than he did that he was making a hazardous stroke. If it -failed, his old enemy would have scored a point. But his confident air -impressed the servants sufficiently to induce them to carry his name -to the Princess, and her reception of it established him in their -respect. Princess Ottilie was beginning to be anxious about the -fulfilment of her compact with Prince Soudaroff. Two days had passed -since his visit, and she had made no progress towards securing the -coveted governorship for her son. Worse than this, there seemed to be -no means even of sounding Cyril upon the subject, unless she went so -far as to make direct advances, such as he would probably take delight -in repulsing. Not knowing that she had become necessary to his -schemes, she had never dared to hope that the first overtures would -come from him, and the announcement that he asked to see her was music -in her ears. She gave orders that he should be admitted at once, and -when he was ushered into her boudoir he found her standing beside the -table to receive him, a majestic figure in her sweeping black robes. -Why was it that Cyril’s heart flew straightway to another woman who -had worn similar weeds, which, so far from enhancing such beauty as -she possessed, had only served to accentuate the slenderness of her -form and deprive her of every vestige of colour? The Princess of -Dardania looked more magnificent even than of old, the severity of the -garb exhibiting her stately stature to the fullest advantage. - -“A year ago,” she said, “I should have hesitated to receive Count -Mortimer, fearing that he came as an enemy; but now”--her eyes strayed -to the large portrait of her late husband which stood upon the -table--“I cannot believe that he would seek my presence with the -desire of adding to my misfortunes.” - -“Indeed, madame, my sole reason for entreating an audience is the -double hope of doing you a service and of obtaining a favour from -you.” - -“Tell me the last first, Count, that I may at any rate have the -pleasure of granting it.” - -“It grows out of the first, madame, and I will therefore ask -permission to defer it for a moment. Your Royal Highness will -recollect that when we last met I had the misfortune to differ from -you with regard to the affairs of Thracia?” - -The Princess remembered Prince Soudaroff’s hint, and trembled in spite -of herself. Had her old enemy come to announce the downfall of her -dearest hopes? She inclined her head slightly in answer to the -question, but said nothing. - -“You favoured a certain policy, madame, which I opposed. Your advice -prevailed. I bowed to circumstances, and quitted Thracia. I have now -no wish to disturb the settlement then arrived at, although I think -your Royal Highness will perceive presently that I could easily do -so.” - -“I don’t understand you, Count. Pray do not speak in riddles.” - -“To speak plainly, madame, the King of Thracia has been seized with a -violent--we will hope only evanescent--passion for my niece.” - -“Surely you forget that his Majesty is betrothed to my daughter, -Count?” - -“Say rather, madame, that his Majesty has forgotten it, since this -morning he directed me to make formal proposals to my brother for his -daughter’s hand.” - -“Oh, really, Count, this is too absurd! His Majesty must be out of his -mind.” - -“The derangement is merely temporary, madame. My niece regards it in -that light, I assure you. She was horrified by the King’s proposal.” - -“I congratulate you on the good sense of the young lady, Count.” - -“I am indeed to be congratulated, madame; but I can see that this -vexatious affair may have disagreeable consequences, of which my niece -does not dream. I understand that at the picnic yesterday his Majesty -made her unpleasantly conspicuous by his attentions. Her natural -impulse is to leave Ludwigsbad immediately; but such a flight would -only cause the sensation we wish to avoid. You acknowledge, madame, -that Lady Philippa has behaved well, you have honoured her parents -with your friendship--you must see that there is only one means of -averting such gossip as would be equally painful to you and to them.” - -The Princess’s countenance cleared. “Have you heard, Count, that my -daughter hurt her foot yesterday, and is condemned to the sofa for -several days? She has conceived a romantic attachment for your pretty -niece, and it would cheer her to have her society. Do you think Lady -Philippa’s excellent godmother would spare her to us for a week? If -so, I will send Countess Birnsdorf to bring her here.” - -“I feel sure that Princess Soudaroff will rejoice to sacrifice herself -on Princess Lida’s behalf, madame. The King, of course----” - -“The King is about to join a shooting-party in the mountains. I heard -the news just before you came.” - -“That removes my sole anxiety, madame. Your Royal Highness will -condescend to accept my thanks for your great kindness?” - -“Wait, Count. There is something I wish to say. Do you remember -telling me that if I tried to rule the Balkans without your help I -should fail? It is true; I have proved it. But who could have imagined -that it would be the ingratitude and disobedience of my own children -which would bring about the fulfilment of your prophecy?” - -“You have my sincerest sympathy, madame.” - -“My eldest daughter, as you know, is married to King Albrecht of -Mœsia. I thought him all I could desire; he seemed thoroughly in -sympathy with my schemes; but no sooner was he married than he became -a German of the Germans, and Bettine followed his example. Thus I lost -Mœsia from my Slavonic confederation. But with my son it was even -worse. You know, of course, that he was to marry the Grand-Duchess -Sonya Eugenovna. Her mother has long been dead, and she spent much of -her time with me. All seemed to go well between her and Alexis; but -shortly before his father died, when I wished him to propose to her, -he refused flatly. He had met Princess Emilia of Magnagrecia at the -Pannonian Court, and declared that he would marry no one else. In vain -I pointed out the disgrace he was bringing upon me; he married -Princess Emilia a month ago; and now I am only welcome in Dardania, as -in Mœsia, on sufferance. Surely even you must pity me?” - -“Madame,” interposed Cyril, in tones of deep emotion, “your gracious -confidence forces me to speak. The idea of detaching your son from the -Grand-Duchess Sonya, and attracting him to the lady who is now his -wife, was mine.” - -The Princess sat as if stunned. She had known the truth perfectly -well, and Cyril was aware of this. It was his confession that took her -by surprise. “You have made amends by your chivalrous action to-day,” -she said at last, with a sad smile. - -“Your kindness overwhelms me, madame. Have I your Highness’s -permission to retire? I know my presence must be distasteful.” - -“No; there is something else you can do, Count. I have another son, -and I have set my heart on his becoming governor of Palestine. That is -in your power to bring about.” - -“Alas, madame! Why ask me the one impossible thing? The decision does -not rest with me, nor even with my friends.” - -The Princess smiled more gently still. “I must take the will for the -deed, I suppose?” she said. “That is poor comfort for an anxious -mother, Count. But don’t think I blame you. You will come here -occasionally when your niece is with us, and assure yourself that we -are taking proper care of her? We need not sadden the young with the -knowledge of our troubles. Come as often as you like, and do not feel -compelled to ask for me. I cannot forget that I am growing old.” - -“Then, madame, you succeed where all the rest of the world has -failed,” responded Cyril, kissing the beautiful hand she held out to -him. His manner was remorseful, and his eyes lingered on her face as -he left the room. As soon as he was gone, the Princess crossed the -floor to a large mirror. - -“He was more nearly human than I have ever known him,” she mused. -“What can it be?” She smiled consciously as her eyes fell upon the -reflection in the glass. “Would it be possible? What a triumph! to -have him at my feet! But he is dangerous; I dare not trust him. There -is Ernestine, too; I must sound him on that subject. That will give me -some clue to his present feelings. He is open to conviction on the -subject of Kazimir, I think; but even that would be nothing in -comparison with the joy of snatching him from Ernestine. But I must -not think of that. I must keep cool. If he once gets the upper hand, -all is lost. I am glad I thought of giving him a general invitation. -Ah, Birnsdorf,” as the lady-in-waiting appeared at the door, “I want -you to take one of the carriages, and go to Princess Soudaroff’s -lodgings. You will carry a note from me, and bring back Lady Philippa -Mortimer. Impress upon the old fanatic that Lida is making herself ill -for want of the girl, and say anything else that occurs to you as -likely to weigh with her.” - -Countess Birnsdorf curtseyed and retired, and executed her mission -with so much success that Philippa returned with her to the villa -within an hour. Cyril had prepared Princess Soudaroff’s mind for the -request, and the Countess worked skilfully upon her feelings; hence -the easy victory. - - -The week of Philippa’s stay at the villa--a stay which she discovered -to be intended as a reward for what Countess Birnsdorf called the -“delicate correctness” of her conduct--was not a period of unmixed -bliss. The house and grounds were beautiful, and the etiquette exacted -by the Princess not excessive, but the atmosphere was new and -disagreeable to Philippa. The air seemed full of plots, every one -appeared to be playing a part, and the unreality oppressed her, while -her usual home remedy for bad spirits, a brisk ride or a long ramble -over the hills, was unattainable. She complained afterwards that she -never had a chance of blowing the cobwebs away, restricted as she was -to stately promenades with Countess Birnsdorf, or funereal drives in a -closed carriage with the Princess. Nor were her troubles wholly -physical. Her father’s wisdom in declining a crown, and preferring -England to the Continent as a residence, commended itself to her more -and more when she told herself that even she, placed in Princess -Lida’s circumstances, might have learned to share her views of right -and wrong. Princess Lida, she found, had fallen deeply in love, not -with King Michael, but with a gentleman occupying an official position -of some sort, to whose identity she gave no clue, intending, possibly, -that Philippa should elicit it by means of cross-examination. But -Philippa was disappointing. She was as much shocked as the Princess -could desire, but not so much at the existence of the attachment as at -the fact that it was not intended to lead to anything more. She -listened with but slight interest to Princess Lida’s vivacious -enumeration of the various artifices by which she and her lover -contrived to carry on their flirtation under the very noses of the -Princess of Dardania and Countess Birnsdorf, and she interrupted the -history of a certain Court ball, at which the pair had succeeded in -exchanging notes, by the question-- - -“But what do you mean to do about him?” - -“Do? What is there to be done? I suppose we shall simply go on.” - -“But you can’t intend to marry King Michael when you care for this -other man?” - -“Of course I do. It has been arranged for me.” - -“What does that signify? It would be wrong.” - -“Oh, you English, with your right and wrong! I don’t trouble my head -with all that. I take my pleasure as it comes.” - -“But you would be miserable, married to a man you didn’t love.” - -“Oh, the good Philippa is trying to persuade me to run away with the -other! I must tell mamma. She little thinks what a serpent she has -welcomed into her home, to poison the innocent mind of her child! But -you mistake me, my Lippchen. The misery would be if I married the -other. I want jewellery and Paris gowns and a gay Court, not love in -a four-roomed flat. One of the Pannonian Archduchesses has tried that. -She comes to the Schloss (only to family gatherings, of course) in a -common cab, and makes her own dresses, I believe. Can you imagine my -doing that sort of thing?” - -“I never thought of advising you to run away,” said Philippa -indignantly, “and if you are only thinking of what you can get, you -had certainly better not try it. But you could remain unmarried. That -would be better than----” - -“Than marrying the King? Thank you, Lippchen! It’s quite clear that -you don’t know the sort of life a Princess leads if she doesn’t happen -to marry. No position, no independence, patronised and pushed aside by -her relations, obliged to become a dowdy old devotee through sheer -terror of scandal, for there is no mercy for any one who is remotely -suspected of a tendency to disgrace the house. A convent or a -fortress, there’s your choice! No, I shall marry King Michael and keep -him in order, at any rate in public, and we will have the gayest Court -in Europe. Oh, you may trust me to keep up appearances when I have got -the reality.” - -Philippa was too much disgusted to answer, and Princess Lida, turning -restlessly on her couch, broke into a laugh at the sight of her -disapproving face. - -“You are too delightfully innocent, Lippchen! But, after all, I am in -the right. My mother has brought me up, educated me, trained me, with -the sole intention of my making this marriage. You would not have me -disappoint her--and myself? Is that how you intend to treat your -parents when they present your future husband to you?” - -“People don’t do that in England,” with dignity. - -“Not among the lower orders, I know, but you are ‘highly well-born,’ -as we say in German. Let us imagine an instance.” Princess Lida raised -herself on her elbow. “Suppose that secretary of your uncle’s declared -to you that he had conceived a passion for you”--she watched with -delight the flood of crimson which overspread Philippa’s face at this -rude handling of the secret, the existence of which she had scarcely -owned even to herself--“and you were not insensible to it----” - -“You have no right whatever to say such things!” cried Philippa, -finding her tongue. - -“But, my Lippchen,” with extreme simplicity, “no one could have seen -the poor young man in your society the other day without perceiving -what his feelings were. Your response I am only imagining for the sake -of argument. Well, your parents declare the idea preposterous, and -inform you that you have been destined all your life for some elderly -red-faced provincial nobleman. What will you do?” - -“Of course I would never marry any one without my father’s consent. -But I should ask him to tell me his objections, and I know he would -treat me as a reasonable being. Perhaps he might change his mind after -a time, but if not, I should go on just as I was. He would never try -to make me marry any one else.” - -“Oh, you are too good, you and your parents!” cried Princess Lida, as -Philippa, her fair face crimson, put forth her defence like a -defiance; “but I have not such a considerate mother, and mamma has not -such an easily contented daughter. You see, the game would not be -worth the candle in my case.” - -“That means you don’t love the other one well enough to give up -anything for his sake?” - -“Exactly. I want to keep what I have, and to get all I can. Meanwhile, -I enjoy myself--quite decorously and without hurting any one.” - -“But surely you are hurting him?” - -“How? Oh, you mean if it came out. But I shan’t let it out, you see, -nor will he, for he is far too comfortable in his present post, just -as I am. Why shouldn’t I amuse myself like every one else? Mamma will -have her train of adorers as soon as she receives people again. Even -now she has your beloved uncle.” - -“Princess!” Philippa’s cry was a passionate contradiction. - -Princess Lida laughed. “Why, poor innocent Lippchen, you don’t imagine -that Count Mortimer comes here every day to see you? It is my mother -who is the attraction, not his dutiful niece. What! have I broken -another idol?” - -For Philippa had sprung up with an inarticulate exclamation and rushed -out of the room. The sting of the accusation lay in the fact that her -reason assured her of its truth. It was not to see her that Cyril paid -his daily visits to the villa, passing on invariably from the large -drawing-room into the boudoir beyond, there to pay his respects to the -Princess. These interviews were protracted far beyond the limits -ordained by ceremony, and Countess Birnsdorf had felt it necessary to -apologise for their length by observing to Philippa that she was quite -glad to see Count Mortimer coming in, for no one else had been able to -induce the Princess to forget her sorrows in conversation since her -bereavement. This information Philippa had received with a certain -reserve, for the Princess had not struck her as overwhelmed with -grief; but she saw now that the old lady had been endeavouring to -divert her mind from a suspicion that had already troubled herself. -But had the idea occurred to Cyril? Could he know that the purport of -his visits was thus interpreted? Surely it could only be that, -impelled at first merely by the desire of cheering the Princess, he -had afterwards been attracted by the conversation of a clever and -brilliant woman? At any rate, he should be warned what people were -saying about him. With this resolve strong in her mind Philippa walked -to the garden-gate to meet her uncle, attended only by Princess Lida’s -white poodle. One glance at her troubled face showed Cyril that -something serious was in the air; but, in his usual teasing fashion, -he talked continuously on indifferent subjects. When they came in -sight of the house Philippa stopped short, in agony lest the -opportunity should be lost. - -“Uncle Cyril, I want to ask you something. Is the Princess a friend of -yours? Usk and I always thought she had done something to injure you.” - -“So she did, Phil. But is it your creed that once an enemy always an -enemy? No? Then you see I too can be virtuous and overlook my enemies’ -faults--sometimes.” - -“But they say--they say you want to marry her,” Philippa succeeded in -bringing out. - -“Do they? How kind of them! Would you like the Princess for an aunt, -Phil? She’s a charming woman, isn’t she?” - -“Oh, Uncle Cyril, you wouldn’t--you don’t mean it?” - -“Well, Phil, I have no present intention of inviting her to become -your aunt. Would you like to know why? Because I am afraid she would -say no, of course, and your feelings might be hurt.” - -They had reached the villa by this time, and Philippa was left to her -own gloomy reflections. Whether her uncle was in earnest or not, it -was quite clear that he had no intention of taking her into his -confidence, and it did not occur to her that in the circumstances this -might be rather advantageous than otherwise. The least suspicious of -mortals, Philippa had not discovered that she was persistently -catechised as to Cyril’s future plans and his past history. The art -with which the subject was approached and the questions put was such -that she had no idea of its existence, nor yet of the fact that her -honest answers often caused much irritation to the questioner. -Philippa knew nothing of her uncle but what he chose to tell her, -together with the deductions drawn by Usk and herself from this -evidence, and she could not tell more than she knew. The Princess was -particularly curious as to the footing upon which Cyril now stood with -Queen Ernestine. Did he keep up any communication with her, or had -they parted for ever? Philippa had heard from Mansfield of Prince -Mirkovics’s defence of Queen Ernestine, and her prejudices were -somewhat modified; but she was still firm in the belief that her uncle -had been very badly treated. It was, therefore, not without -satisfaction that she informed the Princess of Cyril’s request, on his -return from Thracia, that the Queen’s name should not be mentioned in -his hearing, and added that, so far as she knew, he was of the same -mind still. - -“And you are all considerate enough to do as he asked?” cried the -Princess, with a laugh in which relief mingled with something of -pique. “Why, if I were one of his family, and he had made such a -request of me, I should have done nothing but tease him to find out -what he really felt.” - -Acting, presumably, upon this principle, the Princess prepared to seek -information from the best authority, since Philippa could tell her so -little. When she received Cyril that afternoon, she was sad and -preoccupied, and smiled only with difficulty. - -“I fear you have had bad news, madame?” he suggested at last. - -“Now how did you guess that?” she asked gratefully. “Yes, I have such -a painful account of my cousin, Queen Ernestine, from Syria.” Her -fingers played carelessly with a letter bearing a Roumi stamp as she -spoke. The letter was more than a year old, but Cyril was not supposed -to know that. - -“Her Majesty is ill, madame?” he asked, in precisely the right tone of -respectful sympathy. A single glance had shown him that the letter was -not black-edged, and there was no fear that any news but the worst -would make him betray himself. - -“No, not exactly ill; but she is subject to such strange delusions. We -hoped that the change of scene might benefit her, but I fear there can -be no doubt that her mind is permanently affected. Would you believe -it?--she will not see a man, or allow one to approach her. You know -she is residing with the Königshof deaconesses at their Institution -at Brutli, in the Lebanon? Well, I hear that only her ladies and -female attendants are allowed to be with her there--the gentlemen must -live in the village. It is entirely her own doing, for the Institution -would be quite willing to receive them, but she refuses to see even -the pastor belonging to the place. Isn’t it extraordinary?” - -“Most extraordinary, madame.” - -“And she has returned to the very deepest widow’s mourning, only -wearing white instead of black. It almost seems,” added the Princess -musingly, stealing a glance at Cyril from under the hand which was -shading her eyes, “as if she had had some experience which had -prejudiced her against your sex.” - -“That seems the most probable explanation, madame. The difference with -his Majesty, perhaps----” - -“Oh, I don’t think that would account for it; do you? No, on second -thoughts I rather fancy she must be conscious of having done a great -injury to some man, so that remorse drives her to this seclusion.” - -“It is possible, madame. There have been cases in which women have -ruined the lives of men who were foolish enough to trust them.” - -“You speak bitterly, Count. And what, in your opinion, is the usual -effect of such behaviour upon the man?” - -“Simply, madame, that he determines never to place his future in the -power of a woman again.” - -“Ah, you cherish your hatred so long, you men! We women soon grow -tired of perpetual animosities. But have you ever known what it is to -be so deceived, Count?” - -“I have, madame.” - -“And--and did you come to the usual determination?” - -“Madame, I thought I had--until a week ago.” - -The compliment was commonplace enough, but something in the tome, and -in the glance which accompanied it, thrilled the heart of the -Princess. Almost for the first time in her life she blushed like a -girl, and she changed the subject with a haste and maladroitness that -showed how deeply she was moved. - -“By-the-bye, Count, I want you to tell me how your scheme is -progressing. Is it true that, as I see by this morning’s paper, -opposition to it is springing up in England?” - -“Scarcely, madame. A vexatious incident has occurred, that is all.” - -“Pray tell me about it. I thought you felt quite safe with regard to -your own country?” - -“True, madame, except for such incidents as this. Before coming here, -I arranged matters with the Dowager Duchess of Old Sarum.” - -“The Dowager? But has she any influence in politics?” - -“The Duchess, madame, like my niece’s kind friend Princess Soudaroff, -is a lady who takes a deep interest in the conversion of the Jews to -Christianity. Fifty or sixty years ago people of her stamp believed -that the Jews could only be restored to Palestine in a Christianised -condition, and they founded the Jerusalem bishopric in order that the -converts might find some one there to receive them. Now their views -have undergone a slight change, and they think that the return to -Palestine is to come first and the conversion after it. Naturally, -then, they wish to hasten on the restoration, in order that the second -desirable event may follow as quickly as possible. Before leaving -England I had a long confidential talk with the Duchess, laid my plans -before her, and pointed out the dangers to which they were exposed. -She grasped the idea at once, and immediately volunteered her help to -smooth matters in England. I accepted it gladly, for she has a strong -influence over her son, the present Duke, and she is the sister of Mr -Forfar. Oh, the Duchess is a dear old lady!” - -“But surely she has failed you now?” - -“By no means, madame. It is a sad fact that there are some people in -England who take no interest in the conversion of the Jews--rather -dislike them than otherwise, indeed. The most prominent of these -anti-Semites (they are very mild, you understand) is Lord Ormsea, who -holds a minor post in the administration. He has picked up some -garbled idea of our intentions from the Continental press, and -speaking two nights ago at a public meeting, he thought fit to -denounce our scheme, and to invite the hostile attention of the Powers -to it. That’s all.” - -“And what measures do you intend to take?” - -“I hear from my friend the Chevalier Goldberg that he has arranged for -a fall in the price of Consols, madame, but I have told him that is a -mistake. The fall could not affect British credit, but it would give -colour to the accusations of Ormsea and his crew, and might stimulate -the nation to active hostility. England won’t stand being bullied, -though she will yield a good deal to friendly representations. I have -written to the Duchess, and I don’t doubt that the Government will -bring Ormsea to his senses in a very short time. Meanwhile, I hope the -financial panic may be stopped before anything serious happens.” - -“I wish you would tell me how you manage that sort of thing,” sighed -the Princess. - -“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that, madame,” was the reply, delivered -with so much suavity that the Princess could not decide whether want -of will or want of ability constituted the obstacle. - -“After all, England has very little interest in the matter,” she said. - -“Little enough, madame, especially after declaring, in one of her -periodical self-denying ordinances, that in no case would she permit -an Englishman to become governor of Palestine.” - -“You do not always see eye to eye with your countrymen, Count?” - -“I fear, madame, that I can scarcely consider myself an Englishman at -this late day, although my enemies are fond of saluting me with the -name.” - -There was meaning in Cyril’s tone, although the eyes which met those -of the Princess were devoid of expression, and a novel and by no means -unpleasant idea struck her. She was revolving it hastily in her mind -when she spoke next, somewhat absently. - -“Has anything happened?--does the deadlock still exist between your -Syndicate and Scythia?” - -“There is no alteration, madame. Before Scythia will allow us to have -Palestine, she demands a promise that your son shall be the first -governor.” - -“It is a great pity--I mean that such a good work should be stopped. -Will you accept me as an auxiliary, Count? or am I too transparent a -plotter? I will write to Pavelsburg, and represent that you are -powerless in the matter. Then perhaps the stipulation may be -withdrawn.” - -“Madame, I am overjoyed by your condescension.” Cyril did not consider -it necessary to say that in any case the joint pressure of famine and -poverty must cause the withdrawal of Scythian opposition in a day or -two. - -“Oh, I assure you it will be a great delight if I can give you any -help. You will let me know how your difficulty with England ends? We -shall miss your charming niece terribly. I hope Princess Soudaroff -will spare her to us for a day now and then while she remains at -Ludwigsbad.” - -Cyril retired, well content. He had secured what was of the greatest -moment to him, an invitation to continue his visits to the villa after -Philippa had quitted it on the morrow. When he had left her, the -Princess sat for some time musing deeply. - -“I cannot be sure,” she murmured at last. “It is true that he seems to -have no feeling for Ernestine but that of dislike--certainly he does -not love her at this moment--but one can never tell. They might meet, -and the sight of her might revive all the old feelings. Those -caressing ways of hers!--and he is just the man to take a whimsical -pleasure in her perpetual inconsistency. How is he to be tested? for -I dare not risk anything until I am sure of him. He and I, reigning in -Palestine! _Palestine_? we would rule the world. How I should triumph -over Alexis and Bettine and the Powers! But there is always Ernestine -in the background. How am I to be rid of the fear of her? Ah, that -photograph! That will do what I want. He comes again, say, in a week; -there will be time to have it enlarged. Birnsdorf!” she raised her -voice, and the Countess entered, “I want you to write a letter to -Vindobona for me at once.” - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - BREAKING WITH THE PAST. - -A week had passed since Philippa’s departure from the villa before -she entered it again, accompanied by her uncle, to spend the day with -Princess Lida. Cyril’s presence had not been sought by his niece. In -fact, poor Philippa, terrified lest she should be helping to involve -him in the toils of the Princess of Dardania, had assured him plainly, -almost rudely, that she preferred to go by herself. But Cyril could be -singularly dense when he chose. He insisted that he had nothing -particular to do, and could find no more delightful employment for an -idle hour than escorting his niece to the villa. This assurance only -confirmed Philippa’s fears, and the crowning touch was put to her -misery by the message which awaited Cyril on his entrance, that the -Princess would be glad to see him if he could spare her a few minutes. -Philippa cast an imploring glance at him, but he smiled wickedly at -the sight of her woe-begone face, and followed the servant sent to -conduct him to the Princess’s boudoir. - -“Some dodge on hand,” he muttered to himself, when the man had left -him with the announcement that her Royal Highness would receive him in -a short time. “I wonder what it is? Ah!” - -His eye had been caught by an unfamiliar object in the room, a large -portrait on an easel, carelessly draped with a gold and crimson scarf. -It was turned away from him, and he went round the easel to look at -it, only to recoil with a start which even his self-control could not -restrain. The gay hues of the drapery served only to accentuate the -utter desolation revealed by the photograph. A woman, dressed in -white, was sitting listlessly upon a block of stone, her hands clasped -loosely in her lap. The portrait revealed with cruel distinctness the -grey hair, the lines in the worn face, and the unfathomable sorrow in -the hopeless eyes. The Princess had given special directions that the -reproduction was to be a faithful, not a flattering, one. - -“Good heavens!” broke from Cyril under his breath, “and this is -Ernestine!” - -The wild rush of remorse and pity almost made him stagger, as he stood -with clenched hands and compressed lip before the portrait; but it was -succeeded by a vehement indignation against the woman who had -deliberately prepared this miserable shock for him. “I showed you -little mercy when last we met, dearest,” he muttered, addressing the -pictured Ernestine; “but she shall have none.” - -The sound of his own voice recalled him to himself, and before the -faint _frou-frou_ of the Princess’s silk-lined robes, sweeping over -the polished floor, announced her approach, he had had time to compose -his features, and to adopt an attitude of interest, not untouched with -criticism, as he stood before the portrait. The Princess came rustling -in, exquisitely dressed (during the past week she had mitigated the -severity of her weeds in various scarcely perceptible ways, which -caused the general effect to be considerably less sombre), graceful -and gracious, with the utmost made of every good point in face and -figure. Truth to tell, her mood at the moment was not of the most -tranquil. It had been no part of her plan that Cyril should be left -alone with the portrait of his old love. She had intended to confront -him with it unexpectedly, and to scrutinise with jealous minuteness -the effect it produced upon him, but the stupidity of the footman had -prevented this. If she felt any anxiety as to the result of her -experiment, she did not betray it, however. Her whole manner was -expressive of a superb confidence in her own power to charm, as -compared with the faded and unhappy woman in the photograph. As she -entered, Cyril turned towards her with a start, letting his eye-glass -drop from his hand. - -“Pardon me, madame,” he said hastily, without waiting for her to speak -first, “but I cannot help tracing in this portrait some resemblance to -the features of my august mistress, Queen Ernestine. Surely it is not -possible that the photograph is hers?” - -“Now who can have put that portrait here?” cried the Princess, in -tones of strong irritation. “Yes, it is the latest likeness of my poor -cousin, and I have just had it enlarged at Vindobona, but it was not -intended for exhibition in public. Birnsdorf is so officious!” She -lifted the scarf as though to cover the picture with it, but Cyril -stopped her. - -“Permit me to entreat you to leave the portrait as it is, madame. If -your Royal Highness needed a foil, you could find no better one than -this.” - -The callousness of the words would have disgusted most women, but they -rejoiced the Princess’s heart. Her expedient had succeeded. She let -the scarf fall, and stooped to look at the photograph more closely. - -“There is no posing in it, you see,” she said. “My unhappy cousin -never knew that she was watched. The original was merely a snap-shot -taken by one of the doctors whom the King sent to Syria to visit his -mother. There was some idea that it might be necessary”--_possible_ -was the word on the Princess’s tongue, but she had no intention of -revolting Cyril by an undue display of her hatred towards the woman -she had injured--“to place her under restraint, and indeed it was a -fortnight before she would consent to receive the doctors. But when -they saw her they found that violence formed no part of her disorder, -merely extreme depression, as you perceive there.” - -“Madame, it is too sad for words,” returned Cyril, in the perfunctory -tone of one who finds it incumbent upon him to sympathise in a matter -for which he has no sympathy. The Princess noticed his manner with -marked satisfaction. - -“Alas, Count! I have bored you. You must forgive me. My poor cousin -and I have always been such devoted friends. But tell me how you have -settled your dispute with England?” - -“Without difficulty, madame. The day after my letter reached the -Duchess of Old Sarum, Mr Forfar, speaking in London, took occasion to -dissociate himself and the Government from the views expressed by Lord -Ormsea, and very soon afterwards Lord Ormsea himself, in fear of -losing his post, explained that his words were to be understood only -in a Pickwickian sense. The slight fall in Consols was so adroitly -managed that it seemed the result rather of public alarm than of a -Jewish _coup de main_, and British opinion has definitely ranged -itself on our side.” - -“Good generalship usually meets with good fortune,” said the Princess, -with a smile that converted the truism into an infinitely flattering -compliment. - -“You are too kind, madame. May I hope for your good wishes in the next -little difficulty that lies before me?” - -“Indeed you have them, Count. But what is this new trouble?” - -“I am obliged to leave for Vindobona to-morrow, madame. One of our -agents, whose name you may have heard, the scientist Texelius, has -contrived to embroil himself with the Vindobona University, and the -citizens, whose sympathies are strongly Anti-Semitic, are making a -racial question of the matter.” - -“And you leave to-morrow?” said the Princess, with an irritation which -she made no attempt to conceal. “It seems quite impossible for me to -keep in touch with your movement as I was hoping to do.” - -“If I might have the honour of waiting upon you on my return, madame, -it would be my delight to report such success as I may meet with. Your -wonderful sympathy and kindness----” - -“Oh, pray come, Count. You are not mistaken. I am deeply -interested--perhaps more than is altogether wise,” she sighed. “You -don’t know what a practical proof I have just given you of my -sympathy. I have instructed my son Kazimir to withdraw from the -candidature which was so embarrassing to you.” - -“Madame, I am overwhelmed. When you graciously offered to exert your -influence on our behalf, I little dreamed of this.” - -“It is a sacrifice, I don’t deny,” said the Princess, sighing again. -“With my son enthroned at Jerusalem, I should have little left to wish -for. You know that in crusading times the Kings of Jerusalem were said -to wear the crown of the world? But I felt it my duty, Count. Kazimir -is too young, too inexperienced, for such a post. He would be merely -the mouthpiece of Scythia, and I fear your poor Jews would be as badly -off as they are now. Besides,” her eyes met Cyril’s, “there is a man -who ought to be appointed, and he is not Kazimir.” - -“Alas, madame, that I can exert no influence even in favour of your -candidate!” - -“It is unnecessary, Count. My candidate will win the suffrages of the -Powers by virtue of his fitness for the post. Even now he would be -found, like Themistocles, second on every list. He has links uniting -him to all the Powers, but he is bound to none. He can work or fight -his way to power, as may be necessary, and it would surprise me very -much if he failed to keep what he had won.” - -“Ah, madame! What hope is there that so suitable a person should ever -obtain the post?” - -“There is the help of friends, Count, and there is a curious condition -suggested in a letter I have just received from Pavelsburg. The -Emperor consents to withdraw the demand for an Orthodox Prince, but -insists that Orthodox influence shall be present in some form in the -new state. If the future governor were married to an Orthodox -princess, for instance, all would be well. A quaint idea is it not?” - -Cyril considered the matter as gravely as if he had believed that the -Emperor was really responsible for the suggestion. “I fear, madame, -that it is only mentioned because it is impracticable,” he said. “How -could the person you speak of aspire so high?” - -“Ah, Count, all is fair in--other fine arts as well as politics. -Hearts move faster sometimes than the pens of diplomatists.” - -“True, madame, but the world has sometimes occasion to say that -presumption is rightly punished.” - -“That, Count, will never be said of the man I mean. If he is willing -to be guided by me, he will leave that part of the matter in my hands. -He will continue his diplomatic campaign, and the rest is my business. -Is there any reason why he should refuse to accept the arrangement, -Count?” - -“I see none, madame, unless he is a fool.” - -Cyril kissed the hand held out to him, and retired. The Princess flung -the scarf contemptuously over the portrait of Queen Ernestine. - -“There!” she cried, “you have done your work, and I don’t want your -miserable eyes staring at me any longer. Birnsdorf, call one of the -servants to take this thing away.” - -Following on the complete success of this morning’s experiment, -however, the Princess’s plans were threatened by a danger of an -entirely unforeseen character. Her son’s withdrawal of his candidature -happened very opportunely for the Scythian Court, which was anxious to -climb down gracefully from its untenable position, in view of the -necessity for yielding to the demands of the United Nation. Still, the -opportuneness of the fact could not be allowed to stifle inquiry as to -its cause. There was something suspicious, or at any rate strange, -about the Princess of Dardania’s proceedings, and a suitable emissary -was despatched to look into them. The day after Cyril had left -Ludwigsbad for Vindobona, economising the time spent in travelling by -making notes for the letters which Mansfield, sitting opposite him, -was working off with feverish haste on the typewriter, Prince -Soudaroff arrived at the villa from the north, and requested to be -allowed to wait upon her Royal Highness. The news of his advent -paralysed the Princess with momentary dismay, but an instant’s -reflection decided her to embark upon a bold course. - -“You have no bad news for me, I hope, Prince?” she asked anxiously of -the visitor, when he was ushered into her presence. - -“None, madame; and I grieve to have alarmed your Royal Highness. My -reason for intruding is a vexatious delay which has interrupted our -communications. We understand that you have ordered your son to -withdraw from his Palestine candidature, but we have not yet been -informed of the reasons for your action.” - -“No?” said the Princess sweetly, although this authoritative demand -for an explanation roused her ire. “But you, Prince, can have had no -difficulty in perceiving my motive?” - -“I must confess with shame, madame, that your diplomacy is too deep -for me,” was the cautious reply. Prince Soudaroff thought he could -guess the motive very well, but he did not intend to exhibit his -suspicions unnecessarily. - -“You will make me too proud, Prince. That you should be baffled by my -little plot, and find it necessary to come to me for information! -Surely you must remember begging me to involve Count Mortimer in some -intrigue that would bring about his political ruin?” - -“Naturally I remember it, madame. This step, then, is a part of the -process?” - -“Undoubtedly, Prince. The unfortunate man is at this moment captivated -by the double hope of winning my affections and finding himself -appointed Governor of Palestine,” said the Princess, with a hardihood -that was nothing less than magnificent. Prince Soudaroff listened in -amazement. - -“The scheme, madame, is colossal in its boldness and simplicity. How -do you propose to bring about the _dénoûment_?” - -“That will be your part, I think, unless I can see my way to secure -the pleasure for myself. What do you say, Prince? Will Mortimer be -sufficiently discredited when it is known that he was intriguing for -his own advancement while posing as the disinterested friend of -Israel?” - -“It would be enough for Europe, madame, and for his enemies among the -Jews; but there is a large section, with his friend the banker -Goldberg at its head, that would care nothing so long as he did not -betray them.” - -“I see. Then we must think of something else. How would a secret -understanding do--say that, in consideration of a handsome sum of -money, he was to resign in favour of a Scythian Grand-Duke a month or -so after his election?” - -“It is an excellent idea, madame, for the Jews would be specially -chagrined to find themselves outbidden. But permit me to ask whether -your Royal Highness intends to appear as the temptress, or as a -fellow-dupe, when the _dénoûment_ comes?” - -“As the temptress, of course,” replied the Princess, without a -moment’s hesitation. “I can’t resign my European reputation, even for -the sake of sparing Count Mortimer’s feelings.” - -Prince Soudaroff found himself foiled. He had felt certain that the -Princess would justify his suspicions at this point, but she had stood -the test, and he had no option but to believe her. “May I ask whether -your Royal Highness’s efforts have been attended with success -hitherto?” he asked. - -“I cannot boast that success is absolutely secure,” she replied -thoughtfully. “Every man has his weak spot, as you know, Prince, but -with some men it is very difficult to find. It is my impression, -however, that Count Mortimer is safely landed.” - -“You are not afraid that he is encouraging you in that belief for his -own purposes?” Prince Soudaroff suggested, with becoming diffidence. - -The Princess’s heart uttered an indignant contradiction, but her lips -did not echo it. - -“Do you know,” she said, leaning towards him confidentially, “that has -struck me more than once? ‘What if he is merely amusing himself with -me?’ I have said; but I have seen nothing, absolutely nothing, to -justify the misgiving. And I am a woman of some little experience, -Prince.” - -“Indeed, madame, I have often envied you. Since all is secure, then, -we may go forward. The pressure of circumstances has forced us to send -orders to-day to our ambassador at Czarigrad to withdraw his -opposition to the Jewish concession. When Count Mortimer is at the -pinnacle of popularity among his friends on account of this success, I -would propose that we make public his negotiations with you.” - -“Excellent, Prince! You won’t publish my name, of course? My sons -might object to that; but a few dots and dashes and asterisks would -only add to the piquancy of the affair.” In her own mind she resolved -quickly, “Then I must marry him before it is generally known that the -concession is granted. That in itself will destroy most of the effect -of the _exposé_ when it comes; and as to the rest--well, I will make -him Prince of Palestine whether Scythia or any one else stands in the -way.” - -“It is an unsatisfactory business,” Prince Soudaroff said to himself -as he left the villa. “Clever men have undoubtedly been beguiled by -astute women before now; but it is most unlike Mortimer. I can’t help -suspecting that he has some plot on hand. At all costs we must -anticipate him in exploding the mine.” - - -The news which had summoned Cyril to the Pannonian capital was -sufficiently grave. Vindobona had long held a bad pre-eminence among -the cities of Europe on account of its malignant Anti-Semitism, and -that most militant of philosophers, Dr Texelius, had managed to bring -matters to a climax at this very unpropitious moment. His feud with -the town was of old standing. Some years before, when his fame was -only beginning to spread beyond the bounds of his own seat of -learning, he had been invited to deliver a course of lectures at -Vindobona. The course was largely attended, but the students of the -University, who came to scoff and remained to howl, formed the greater -part of the audience. To lecture, save in dumb show, was impossible, -and Dr Texelius shook the dust of Vindobona from his feet, declaring -darkly that the city should yet rue the day it had insulted him. The -passage of time and the spread of his fame did not tempt him to forget -his threat, and he devised a scheme of vengeance, which he unfolded, -under a promise of secrecy, to the Chevalier Goldberg. The financier -pointed out that the plan would involve the Jews in universal odium, -and brought pressure upon him promptly to renounce it. Dr Texelius -consented, under protest, to forego his revenge, and would probably -have kept his word but for a hostile move on the part of the -University of Vindobona. The latest idea in the city was to boycott -everything that was Jewish, and in an evil hour the University -resolved to follow the fashion. A boycott was decreed forthwith -against the works of Dr Texelius, which were extensively used by the -students and professors belonging to the faculty of philosophy, and it -proved disastrously effective. The injured author rose up in his -wrath, and descended upon his foes with might and main in the columns -of a newspaper owned by the Chevalier Goldberg. No one thought of -boycotting that particular paper while the wordy war continued, for Dr -Texelius had a pretty taste in opprobrious epithets, and the whole -empire rang with the echoes of the strife. But the University remained -unaffected by the wealth of logic showered upon it. Dr Texelius might -demonstrate the iniquity, folly, illiberality, or anything else of its -conduct, but it was not in his power to bring about the removal of his -books from its Index Expurgatorins. Once convinced of this fact, the -philosopher relieved his feelings in a parting letter that outdid all -its predecessors in scurrility, and prepared to make use of more -material weapons. - -Such was the state of affairs when Cyril left Ludwigsbad, summoned to -Vindobona by urgent letters from the Chevalier Goldberg, who was -alarmed by his own knowledge of what Dr Texelius had proposed to do. -Events developed rapidly during the few hours that followed, and when -Cyril reached the city he found one of the Imperial chamberlains -awaiting him on the railway platform, with a face of direful import. - -“We were all in darkness last night,” he said, after a hurried -greeting. - -“Then Texelius has nobbled the gas company?” asked Cyril. - -The official nodded. “We of the Court should not be sorry to see the -municipality punished,” he said, “for they richly deserve it; but -there will be barricades in every street, and a massacre of the Jews, -if this goes on. The electric light is only in use in one or two -quarters.” - -The situation was serious enough. The lighting of the city was in the -hands of a company, floated chiefly by means of Jewish capital, upon -the dividends of which the Anti-Semitic majority of the municipality -had for many years cast a covetous eye. An attempt to buy up the plant -and fittings by force had been foiled by appeal to the courts of law, -but the check served only to stimulate the townsmen to discover some -means of coercing the company. The plan at length adopted involved the -expenditure of an enormous sum of money, and a long course of -litigation and chicanery, but it was successful in its object of -exhausting the resources of the victims. The municipality was now in -possession of a lighting system of its own, almost in working order, -and the value of the company’s shares was rapidly approaching the -vanishing point. But the new gas supply was not yet ready for use, and -here Dr Texelius found his opportunity. When the strife first began, a -committee of the company’s shareholders had been formed for the -purpose of defending its rights, and since the majority of its members -were Jews, he had now little difficulty in persuading them to unite in -a last desperate effort. If it did not succeed in saving their -property from spoliation, it would at least incommode their enemies -seriously. - -The day before that on which Cyril reached Vindobona was a holiday at -the gasworks. The furnaces were allowed to grow cold, the retorts -remained uncharged, the gas-holders empty, and as soon as the small -amount of gas in reserve had been consumed, every jet in the city, -after flickering precariously for a time, went out. Summer had passed -its prime, and the evenings were drawing in, but the heat was still -intense, and the citizens were enjoying themselves in their -brilliantly lighted public gardens. On this particular evening the -brilliance was somewhat to seek, and there were many complaints even -before the moment at which all became darkness. An Anarchist plot was -the first thought, and an irresistible panic seized the crowds of -pleasure-seekers. Some rushed wildly hither and thither, others waited -tremblingly in the stupefaction of terror. It was some time before -even the police could collect their wits sufficiently to inquire into -the mystery. At length, by the joint exercise of persuasion and moral -force, as typified by the erection of temporary lights at the -street-corners, and the employment of cavalry to disperse the crowds, -they induced the populace to seek their homes, and a commission of -inquiry was despatched post-haste to the gasworks. The explanation -afforded by the few melancholy officials in charge was a simple one. -Owing to the persistent machinations of its enemies, the company’s -dues had been withheld from it, so that it was unable to procure coal -for conversion into gas. Its whole reserve stock had been worked up, -and prompt financial aid alone could enable it to obtain more. The -honourable officials of police had better apply to the municipality. -But the municipal gasworks, the police were well aware, would not be -in working order, even if operations were carried on both day and -night, for a fortnight at least, and it was impossible to contemplate -the horror of a gas-famine lasting for that period. Hence the -appearance of the Imperial chamberlain at the station to meet Cyril -and convey him in a Court carriage to the Schloss, whither the -Chevalier Goldberg had already been summoned; and hence also the -furious mob assembled in the street outside, howling for the -destruction of the Jews and the division of their property among the -burgesses of Vindobona. Just as Cyril reached the carriage with his -conductor, his servant Dietrich, who had been looking after the -luggage, stepped up to him. - -“Excellency,” he said hurriedly, “there is a riot. You cannot pass -through the streets in safety.” - -“I am not deaf,” said Cyril coldly--then, turning to the chamberlain -with a smile, “My man is an old servant, and privileged, but I don’t -feel obliged to humour him in everything.” - -The chamberlain was beginning to look uncomfortable, but he nodded, -and followed Cyril into the carriage. Mansfield took his place upon -the opposite seat, and they drove out of the station, to be greeted -with a storm of yells and execrations. “Traitor! renegade!” were the -epithets that saluted Cyril as soon as his clear-cut, contemptuous -profile was recognised, and the mob surged up to the carriage with -fierce shouts of rage. Those who succeeded in reaching it attempted no -actual violence, for the presence of the man who was so absolutely -unmoved by their clamour seemed to paralyse them, but those behind, -unable to catch a glimpse of the visitor, did not feel the influence -of his silent scorn. Cyril had turned to make a remark to the -chamberlain, when Mansfield sprang up with a cry, and threw himself -before him, only just in time to intercept with his shoulder a large -stone which was hurled through the window, the broken glass cutting -him about the face. - -“Well done, Mansfield!” cried Cyril, while the chamberlain called -frantically to the coachman to turn and drive back again into the -station. - -“You would never turn tail before a mob?” cried Cyril, roused at last. - -“How should I answer to the Emperor if you were injured, Count?” was -the reply. “Besides, it is not expedient to expose the Court vehicles -to insult--and--and this brave young man’s wounds ought to be dressed. -I will merely send to the barracks in the next street for an escort of -cavalry, and we shall not be more than a few minutes.” - -The station was gained in safety, and a surgeon summoned, who adorned -Mansfield’s face most artistically with strips of sticking-plaster, -much to the disgust of the victim, who persuaded himself that he could -have stanched the wounds with his handkerchief in another minute, if -that idiot had not poked his nose in. When the decoration was -complete, a troop of lancers was ready to escort the carriage, and the -progress through the streets to the Schloss was made in gallant wise, -a fence of bristling points and fluttering pennons separating the -endangered visitors from the sullen, baffled mob. - -At the Schloss the elaborate rules of the ordinary etiquette were -suspended in view of the importance of the crisis, and Cyril was -conducted at once to the Emperor’s private cabinet, where he found the -Chevalier Goldberg and the Minister of the Interior. There was no time -to be lost if Pannonia was to be saved from such an outbreak of -Anti-Semitic fury as might spread all over the continent, and result -in the settlement of the Jewish question in a much more drastic manner -than was contemplated by the United Nation. The Chevalier had already -telegraphed orders, at his own risk, for large supplies of coal, which -was to be converted into gas as fast as it arrived from the various -mining districts, but this was only a temporary expedient. It did not -take long to arrange a concordat, since those assembled in council -were genuinely anxious to come to an agreement, and in less than an -hour it had been decided that a fair purchase price should be paid to -the gas company by means of a loan from the Chevalier. This was to be -guaranteed by the Imperial Government, and repaid by the municipality, -to which coercion was to be applied if necessary. Every effort was to -be made by the company to ensure the full supply of gas to the city -that night and afterwards, and any deficiency was to be supplemented -by means of a free distribution of oil to the poorer citizens. In -conclusion, pressure was to be brought to bear by the Chevalier on the -militant Dr Texelius, and he was to be ordered to leave Vindobona -within twenty-four hours. A special Imperial proclamation spread the -news of the settlement through the city, the streets were patrolled by -troops, who dispersed the mob, and before long the only crowds to be -found were in the vicinity of the railways, where they were watching -the heavily laden coal-trucks as they rolled past on their way to -discharge their load at the gasworks. - -The Chevalier and Cyril were _personæ gratissimæ_ at Court that day, -and the latter took advantage of the fact to accomplish another piece -of business connected with the Palestine scheme which was destined to -astonish the Princess of Dardania when she heard of it. Meanwhile, the -Chevalier presented himself as an ambassador of authority and peace at -a hastily convened meeting of the representatives of the gas company. -The members of the committee were already alarmed by the success of -their bold step, and he plunged them into a state of abject terror by -hinting at an intention on the part of the government to confiscate -the works and carry them on for the public benefit. When they had been -reduced to a sufficiently pitiable condition, he raised them suddenly -to the seventh heaven by disclosing the arrangement which had been -made, and sent them home happy in the prospect of saving something -from the wreck. Their defection cut the ground from under the feet of -Dr Texelius, who was the next person visited by the financier, and -whose only regret hitherto had been that he dared not venture into the -streets to observe the working of his revenge. His short-lived -satisfaction was ended by the peremptory order to quit Vindobona, and -he almost wished that he had not indulged in his trip to the city when -he found himself listening to the upbraidings of the Chevalier, who -charged him roundly with doing his utmost to ruin the cause of Israel. - -The crestfallen philosopher was making his way on foot to the station -the next morning, shadowed at a distance by two police officers in -plain clothes, when a carriage containing two men drove past him. -Although Dr Texelius had prudently kept his name concealed, for fear -of the attentions of the populace, the mere fact that he was a Jew had -made it impossible for him to procure a cab to convey him to the -railway, and his luggage was being carried by a hanger-on of the -police. But if the inhabitants of Vindobona were unconscious of the -identity of their illustrious guest, the second secretary of the -Scythian Embassy, who was one of the occupants of the carriage, was -more fortunate. - -“Look there!” he said to his companion, to whom he had been recounting -with great spirit the humours of the preceding day, “that is the -redoubtable Texelius himself. I used to see him continually when I was -in South Germany.” - -“Would it be possible to express one’s sympathy with the eminent -philosopher?” - -“Scarcely, Prince--in public, at least. Look at those two fellows -behind. They would have a fine story to tell if they saw you speak to -him.” - -“You are right; they must not see it. Yet it would be a thousand -pities if I could not speak to him. Volodia, my dear boy, do you think -we could drive back to the station for a moment? I have unfortunately -forgotten to inquire about my train.” - -“Of course--as many moments as you like.” Prince Soudaroff’s godson -knew something of his methods of working. “Am I to do anything?” - -“Only watch me, and when I succeed in approaching Texelius, distract -the attention of the detectives for a second or so.” - -“Very well, Prince.” The secretary was not without practice in work of -the kind, so that when Dr Texelius had finished haggling with his -porter over his charge, he found himself confronted by a dapper -gentleman, exquisitely dressed, whose grey moustache was waxed into -points of needle-like sharpness. - -“I have the honour of addressing the Herr Professor Texelius?” said -the stranger hurriedly in German, laying one finger on his lips. - -“I am that most shamefully ill-used man,” snorted Dr Texelius. - -“You would like to expose the Mortimer?” - -The philosopher’s eyes sparkled. “Only give me the chance!” - -The other drew out a sealed envelope, and slipped it into his hand. -“That will provide you with the means of doing so. Hide it at once. I -am Soudaroff.” - -With a dexterity which a professional conjurer might have envied, Dr -Texelius made the packet vanish up his sleeve. “It shall be done,” he -said. - -“When does your paper appear?” - -“The day after to-morrow.” - -“Let it come out then without fail. Any delay will spoil the effect.” - -“It shall be inserted.” - -The colloquy, which had scarcely lasted a moment, was over, and the -speakers moved apart, Prince Soudaroff to return to his godson, and Dr -Texelius to take his place in the train, chuckling with delight over -the thought that he had now the means of ruining Cyril and annoying -the Chevalier Goldberg at one blow. His revenge would draw down upon -him instant punishment from the Chevalier, he knew, but he could -afford to disregard that in the joy of the moment. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - “A KIND OF WILD JUSTICE.” - -The business which had called Cyril to Vindobona once ended, he -returned to Ludwigsbad with Mansfield, to find awaiting him at the -hotel a note from Princess Soudaroff, couched in very urgent terms, -and entreating him to come and see her that evening, as she was -leaving the baths the next day with Usk and Philippa. - -“Do you care to come with me, Mansfield?” he asked, tossing the note -across to his secretary. - -The smile of gratification which overspread Mansfield’s features at -the question disappeared with startling suddenness, for the cuts on -his face were still painful, and he murmured dolefully that he was not -fit to go anywhere. - -“Didn’t know you were so keen about your personal appearance,” said -Cyril. “Nonsense! come at once.” - -His objections disposed of in this summary fashion, Mansfield -submitted with the best grace in the world when Cyril took him by the -arm and fairly led him out of the house. Arrived at the gate of -Princess Soudaroff’s lodgings, the prisoner found himself suddenly -released. - -“You may as well wait out here for a minute or two,” said Cyril. “I -must explain the origin of your facial adornments, and I’m afraid you -would blush yourself to death if you were listening. How many years is -it, I wonder, since I was able to blush? I’ll call you in when I have -finished.” - -In this considerate intention Cyril was foiled by Usk and Philippa, -who had been watching for his approach from the verandah, and came to -meet him. Mansfield showed signs of a desire to escape, but Cyril -seized him again and explained briefly that the fellow had saved his -life, and had repented of the deed ever since. Having thus placed -matters on a right footing, he went into the house to find the -Princess, leaving the three young people together, Usk, with awestruck -face, plying Mansfield with every conceivable variety of question. As -for Philippa, the tears which threatened to overflow forbade her -speaking, but she proffered timidly such little services as occurred -to her, seating the hero in an easy-chair, and bringing him, in spite -of his protests, a cushion and a footstool. When her further -suggestions had been gratefully but firmly declined, she sat down and -gazed at him with an expression that made the young man’s heart beat -wildly. - -“Oh, I say, Lady Phil,” he protested incoherently; “you mustn’t make -so much of it. It wasn’t anything, really.” - -“He would have been killed but for you,” persisted Philippa; “and you -are dreadfully hurt.” - -“Nothing but a bruise, truly; and these scratches on my face--not half -as bad as those German fellows get in their college duels. I’m ashamed -to be tied up so aggressively; but the doctor would do it.” - -“Of course,” said Philippa wisely. “And you ought to be proud of your -pieces of plaster. I am.” - -“No accounting for tastes,” said Usk; for Mansfield was unable to do -more than beam gratefully upon Philippa. “Did you get any chance of -paying back the chap that threw the stone, old man?” - -While Mansfield was fighting the battle o’er again in answer to the -questions showered upon him, Cyril had found his way to Princess -Soudaroff’s sitting-room. The old lady looked up with a smile as he -entered. “We were expecting you,” she said. - -“After the blood-curdling note you sent me, you couldn’t well do less, -Princess. Please relieve my mind as soon as possible. What is wrong?” - -“It was a conversation I had with Philippa that made me send for you. -Have you noticed how unhappy she has been looking lately?” - -Cyril shook his head solemnly. “Princess, Princess, if you have got a -clergyman concealed in the next room, and want me to let my secretary -marry Phil on the spot, I must tell you frankly I won’t do it. It -wouldn’t be fair to Caerleon and Nadia.” - -“As though I should dream of such a thing!” Princess Soudaroff was -more nearly angry than Cyril had ever seen her. “A clandestine -marriage for my darling Phil, and under my auspices! Lord Cyril, you -should be ashamed of yourself for suggesting it. No, Philippa’s -anxiety, and mine too, is all on your account.” - -“Ought I to be more flattered by your interest, or grieved for your -anxiety, Princess?” - -“You are incorrigible, Lord Cyril. I assure you I am absolutely in -earnest. Phil is making herself miserable with the notion that you are -in love with the Princess of Dardania, although I have done my best to -show her its absurdity. No man who had loved Queen Ernestine, however -imperfectly, could transfer his affections to the woman who wrecked -her happiness.” - -“Your sentiments are mine, Princess.” - -“Then what are you doing? Your passion for the Princess has become a -by-word in her household. Even Princess Lida amused herself with it in -talking to Phil. You cannot profess to be ignorant of this, Lord -Cyril. You are not the man to drift into such a position blindfold, -and I can only judge that you have some object in pursuing this -course.” - -“See what it is to have at hand a critic acquainted with all the -follies of one’s youth! I must congratulate you upon your -clear-sightedness, Princess.” - -“But you and she have been enemies too long to work together with any -confidence. It must be in the hope of improving your political -position that you are trying to induce her to marry you.” - -“No, Princess; there you are wrong.” Cyril spoke with a firmness that -carried conviction. “Nothing on earth could make me marry the Princess -of Dardania, or any woman in the world but Ernestine. I don’t know why -I should tell you this, except that I suspect you to be in -communication with Ernestine, and I don’t want to add to her -troubles.” - -“Then you still love Ernestine?” - -“I still love Ernestine--have always loved her--though I own that for -a few days I thought I should be glad never to see her again. She -thwarted me, and at the time I could think of nothing but punishing -her. I won’t cant and say that I suffered as much as she did; but when -I turned my back on her, I punished myself. The want of her has -tormented me ever since.” - -“And now you are making love to her cousin!” - -“I see you don’t understand me yet, Princess. I cherish a hope--a -dream, you may call it--of finding my way some day to Ernestine, and -entreating her forgiveness--her compassion. But something else must -come first.” - -“And what is that?” - -“The woman who separated us has to be dealt with.” - -“You are deliberately deceiving the unhappy creature?” - -“You will make me conceited, Princess. Is it for me to plume myself -upon having produced an impression upon the heart of her Royal -Highness?” - -The Princess waived the evasion away impatiently. “You are seeking to -revenge yourself upon a woman.” - -“When a woman has twice pitted her wits successfully against mine, -Princess, she is entitled to be treated as a man.” - -“But who are you, to revenge yourself upon her?” - -“Simply a man she has injured. I treat her as she treated Ernestine.” - -“As you treated Ernestine, you mean. Your hands are no cleaner than -hers. It was your wounded ambition that enabled her to separate you -from the Queen.” - -“I don’t deny it, Princess. I behaved like a brute, I know--possibly -like a fool, which is worse. But she has ruined young Michael, -inflicted enormous injury upon Thracia, and hunted Ernestine -rancorously from place to place.” - -“You gave her the opportunity of doing it all. And think; you speak of -returning to Ernestine. Would she wish you to avenge her wrongs in -this way?” - -“Certainly not; but then I don’t do it to gratify her. I tell you, -Princess, a few days ago I had almost decided to be satisfied with the -political portion of my revenge, and to forego the rest of it. Then -the woman took it into her head to boast in my presence of her cruelty -to Ernestine--to flaunt her own insolent charms in contrast with -Ernestine’s misery--intending, I suppose, to complete her conquest of -me; and I swore that she should have no mercy, since she showed none. -That is why I am going on to the bitter end.” - -“But how can you expect a blessing on what you are doing?” - -Cyril’s momentary fury cooled into mild impatience. “My dear Princess, -I am not in search of a blessing. What I want is revenge.” - -“Think what sorrow you have brought upon Queen Ernestine already. Can -you--dare you--expose her, when your lives are linked together, to the -retribution which must follow upon this plot of yours?” - -“I can bear my own punishment, Princess. It would be a singularly -unjust dispensation of Providence that visited my sins on Ernestine. I -fancy that had not occurred to you, had it?” - -“Her love for you will make your punishment hers. She would not escape -it if she could. Do you forget that the Princess of Dardania is an -unscrupulous and vindictive woman? She is not likely to allow herself -to be slighted with impunity, and she may make your life with -Ernestine a misery to both of you.” - -“If I succeed this time, Princess, the luck will have turned, and I am -not afraid of its turning again.” - -“Lord Cyril, will nothing turn you from your purpose? I have known you -now for many years, and each time that I see you leaves a sadder -impression on my mind than the last. It seems to me that God must deal -with you very signally before you will learn to give up your own way. -I am an old woman, on the very border of the grave, and I do entreat -you, by any kindness you may have for me, by your love for Ernestine, -by the great work in which you are engaged, to relinquish this plan of -revenge.” - -The old lady bent forward with clasped hands, panting in her -eagerness, her eyes fixed anxiously on Cyril’s face. He met her look -with good-humoured frankness. - -“Really, Princess, I am sorry not to be able to please you. One -doesn’t often get a chance of redressing the inequalities of the world -a little, and I can’t give it up when it comes.” - -“Then I feel it my duty to say that I intend to warn the Princess of -Dardania against you. I shall postpone my journey for a day, and ask -for an interview with her. I shall make no use of what you have told -me, of course; to bear of my own suspicions should serve to put her on -her guard.” - -“As you please, Princess. Her Royal Highness may possibly prefer my -word to yours, after all. How can the poor old lady be so quixotic as -to show me her hand?” he asked himself as he went out. “It only means -that I must be at the villa first.” - -A cipher telegram from Czarigrad was awaiting him when he returned to -his hotel. “Scythian opposition withdrawn; concession will probably be -granted in a day or two,” it ran, and Cyril smiled. - -“I think that for many reasons to-morrow will be a good day for -undeceiving her Royal Highness, and possibly for electrifying the -world,” he said to himself, all unconscious that Dr Texelius had -already prepared the way for both processes, by means of the -indictment so considerately drawn up by Prince Soudaroff. - -When Cyril repaired to the villa early the next day, he was ushered -into the great drawing-room, which he found deserted, almost for the -first time in his experience. The servant who had admitted him went to -seek Countess Birnsdorf, but had no sooner closed the door behind him -than Cyril heard the Countess’s voice in the inner room. - -“The Princess Soudaroff is very anxious to wait upon you, madame.” - -“What, that old heretic?” Like other converts, the Princess was -inclined to be more orthodox than the Orthodox themselves. “I don’t -want to listen to her sermons. She hopes to convert me, I suppose? No, -Birnsdorf, I won’t see her.” - -“I think, madame, that her only wish is to express her thanks for your -kindness to her god-daughter, Lady Philippa.” - -“That is quite unnecessary. I sent a message to her by the girl, -requesting her not to give herself the trouble. I can’t stand these -psalm-singing Evangelicals, although I tolerated little Philippa for -the sake of--her family.” Cyril smiled, gathering from this remark -that the household at the villa had found Philippa’s society as little -congenial as she had found theirs. - -“The lady is very old, madame,” ventured the Countess, “and she seems -extremely desirous to see you. She entreated me----” - -“I tell you, Birnsdorf, I won’t see her. What impertinence! Tell her -that I am engaged--that I am always engaged at this hour. As though I -should put off Count Mortimer for the sake of receiving her! Didn’t -you say you saw him coming? Bring him in, if he has arrived.” - -Cyril had moved noiselessly to the farther side of the drawing-room -before Countess Birnsdorf lifted the curtain that hung over the -doorway. He caught the look of annoyance on her face as she realised -that the door between the two rooms was open, but he met her with an -expression so absolutely unmoved as enabled her to comfort herself -with the assurance that he could not have heard anything. - -“Her Royal Highness will receive you, Count,” she said, and the -Princess looked up with a very natural start as he passed under the -curtained doorway. She was reading a newspaper, which Cyril recognised -immediately as the ‘Jewish Colonist,’ a journal conducted by Dr -Texelius in German and Jargon, to promote the agricultural and -commercial development of Palestine, and its re-population by the -Hebrew race. It was not quite the kind of paper one would expect to -find in the hands of a great lady of rigidly Orthodox views, but there -could be no doubt that the Princess was deeply interested in it. - -“Well, Count, are you come to scathe me with bitter reproaches?” she -cried, looking up from the closely printed page. - -“Alas, madame! your conscience must have outrun my just indignation. I -was not even aware I had been injured until now.” - -“What a misfortune it is to be in too great a hurry!” cried the -Princess. “I thought, of course, that you had heard of my treachery -from our friend here, and were come to denounce me. There is no hope -of hiding it from you now.” - -She handed him the paper, which displayed in a conspicuous position -the announcement that it would appear no more under its present -editorship. An editorial note explained that Dr Texelius, aware that -his independent course was distasteful to the proprietor of the -journal, felt it his duty to throw up his post and wreck the paper. -His position thus indicated, the editor proceeded to business. He had -always, he said, doubted the disinterestedness of Count Mortimer, but -he had forborne to ventilate his suspicions until accident had shown -them to be entirely justified. The man who posed as the high-minded -friend of Israel was merely a vulgar schemer, seeking to exploit the -greatest movement of the age for his own benefit. His ambition had led -him to lend a ready ear to the blandishments of Scythia, the natural -enemy of Zion, and he had fallen victim to the wiles of a Delilah -hired to entrap him. While deceiving his unfortunate supporters, he -had been deceived himself. The post of Governor of Palestine had been -promised him, together with the hand of his enchantress, as the price -of his care of Scythian interests throughout the negotiations, and in -consideration of a large sum of money he was to resign his position in -favour of a Scythian nominee immediately after his election. There had -never been the slightest intention of keeping faith with him, however. -The lady, whose identity was not obscurely hinted at, had held him in -play as long as he was useful, only to cast him aside when she had -done with him. He had betrayed Jewish interests in vain, and now that -it suited Scythia to throw him over, he stood revealed in all his -baseness as a faithless agent and an unsuccessful traitor. Through -this indictment, couched in terms which did not err on the side of -refinement, Cyril glanced carelessly, and, having read it, handed it -back to the Princess. - -“Well, what have you to say?” she asked him. - -“I am utterly at a loss, madame. I have nothing to say.” - -“What, Count! you don’t even feel called upon to testify the slightest -sorrow for the way in which my name is involved in your -proceedings?--for it is impossible for any one not to see who is -meant.” - -“Ah, madame, my assailant has displayed a scrupulous regard for your -feelings. You are the conqueror throughout, not the victim.” - -“Then you accept the _rôle_ of victim, Count?” - -“Even so, madame. What can I do but acknowledge your triumph and ask -your gracious leave to retire? A discredited traitor is no fit -associate for your Royal Highness.” - -“Stop, Count! You have carried on this farce long enough. Why pretend -to take the man’s nonsense seriously? You know as well as I do that -whoever may have been deceived, you were not.” - -“What, madame! Are you trying to restore my lost self-esteem! to -re-establish your empire over me, according to Dr Texelius?” Cyril was -smiling. - -“Pray, Count, be serious. What is the object of raising a new barrier -between us at this moment, when this kind enemy of yours has -unintentionally broken them all down? The hero and heroine occupy the -stage, every eye is fixed upon them, and the stupid audience, which -thinks it has followed the play with the deepest attention, -anticipates what it imagines to be the _dénoûment_. But it is -mistaken, for it has failed to see what was before its eyes. The true -_dénoûment_ is the simplest, the most unconventional possible--all -honour to the actors who have grafted it on so hackneyed a plot.” - -“I fear I am very dense, madame. Am I to understand that you and I -have been acting some comedy for the edification of the spectators? or -should it be a tragedy?” - -“Why play upon words, Count? A tragedy is what the audience expected, -undoubtedly, for the fall of a great man is far more tragic than his -death, but the slightest possible alteration in the original _motif_ -makes a happy ending not only natural, but inevitable.” - -“My stupidity is colossal, madame. Might I venture to entreat you to -point out to me the alteration to which you refer?” - -“Are you trying to tease me, Count? The audience saw only a pair of -politicians, each striving to outwit the other. But on the stage were -a man and woman playing into each other’s hands.” - -“With reference to what, madame?” - -“You are indeed dense, my dear Count.” There was some irritation in -the Princess’s tone. “You force me to speak with disagreeable -plainness. They were playing for a crown and a ring. But why this -extraordinary display of ignorance in a matter you have discussed with -me for weeks?” - -“It seems to me, madame, that one of the actors on the stage was under -the same delusion as the audience. Would it suit your Royal Highness -to drop metaphor for a moment, and let us see how we stand?” - -The Princess was genuinely puzzled. She lifted her eyes to Cyril’s -face, but discovered there no response to her smile. Was it possible -that the man had misunderstood her from the beginning? No, it was -merely that he was cautious, he would not commit himself without -specific encouragement. “You cannot have forgotten our compact -already?” she cried merrily. - -“I was not aware that there was any compact between us, madame.” - -The Princess began to perceive whither all this tended. “Not that I -was to make you Prince of Palestine? and you----” she stopped -suddenly. - -“Far from it, madame. My hopes have never climbed so high.” - -Horror was taking hold upon her, but she was still unconquered. “Let -them make the effort, then, Count. Otherwise Europe will see you as -the traitor this journalist calls you. You are too deeply involved to -draw back with honour. I hold your reputation in my hands, and Prince -Soudaroff is behind me. Choose! Safety and----” she touched the -wedding-ring on her finger, “or----” - -“Evidently, madame, you are unaware that I have just recommended the -Emperor of Pannonia to nominate Prince Franz Immanuel of -Schwarzwald-Molzau as his candidate for the post--one of the -posts--you are good enough to offer me. His religious opinions are so -truly liberal--for in view of the uncertainty as to his future he has -been brought up on an admirably eclectic system, so as to be ready for -any country that may need a king--that he seems the very man for it.” - -The vague terror which had seized the Princess became certainty. Her -face hardened, her lips grew tense, and her right hand went swiftly to -her head. Cyril understood the movement. The peasant-girls of Dardania -carry in their hair a silver-hilted dagger as a part of their -elaborate head-dress, and the Princess had worn the national costume -constantly before her widowhood. He wondered mechanically whether she -had contrived to retain the weapon under the folds of her cap, and if -so, how many seconds he had to live. Almost before the thought had -crossed his mind, however, the hand dropped again, empty. The dagger -was not there. The Princess pointed silently to the door, and he bowed -and retreated. Her voice arrested him before he reached the threshold. - -“Why have you done this?” she demanded passionately. “Oh, I know--I -have not forgotten your threat to revenge yourself on me. But that I -should have been deceived by you--I!” - -She sat for a moment without speaking, then rose and came towards him. - -“Come, Count, you have had your revenge, and enjoyed it, no doubt. You -had a right to it, I will confess, so let it pass. We are quits now. -Why not start afresh? Purely as a matter of business, don’t you think -you are very foolish to quarrel with me? You and I together could do -anything we chose. What is the use of pitting our wits continually -against each other? You know what I can do for you--you have no -prospects otherwise. Let us blot out the last quarter of an hour. Why -should not our compact remain in force? What do you say?” She laid her -hand upon his arm, and behind her honeyed smile a passionate eagerness -shone in her eyes and trembled upon her lips. Many men would have -succumbed to the temptation of the woman and what she offered. Not so -Cyril. - -“I can only repeat, madame, that I know of no compact.” - -She drew back from him and stood erect. “Then there is some other -woman,” she said, absolute certainty in her voice. “Is it Ernestine?” - -“It is Ernestine.” - -“I wish you joy, then. Go!” - -She pointed again to the door, and he went out, conscious that she -would have sold her soul for a weapon ready to her hand, and that if -wishes could kill, neither Ernestine nor he would live much longer. In -the excitement of the moment the Princess had ordered him out by the -private door at the back of the boudoir, instead of that opening into -the large drawing-room. As he entered the anteroom a female figure -quitted it hastily by the opposite door, and the Scythian Captain -Roburoff tried to look as if he had been alone for some hours. - -“Ah, Roburoff, you here?” said Cyril, nodding to him. - -“Simply on an errand for his Majesty, Count. I was the bearer of a -letter to her Royal Highness.” - -“And you were tempering duty with pleasure when I came in?” - -The Scythian’s face darkened. “Do you--would you insult--pray -consider, Count----” - -“My dear fellow, we were all young once, even ladies-in-waiting. I -wish you an uninterrupted interview next time.” - -“All the same,” murmured Cyril, as he quitted the villa by the private -door, leaving Captain Roburoff reassured, “I am much mistaken if the -young lady was not Princess Lida, and not a _dame d’honneur_ at all. I -fear there are further troubles in store for my poor friend the -Princess; but after thrusting King Michael back upon the unhappy girl -once already, I really can’t bring myself to spoil her plans a second -time. I wonder how long they have been carrying on this affair?” - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - VERSIONS DIFFER. - -“Birnsdorf!” said the Princess. - -There was no answer. Truth to tell, poor Countess Birnsdorf was dozing -in an uncomfortable high-backed chair in the great drawing-room, where -she had remained during Cyril’s interview with her mistress, after -delivering a softened version of the latter’s message to Princess -Soudaroff. Her knitting and her spectacles were left behind in the -anteroom beyond the boudoir, where Captain Roburoff was improving the -shining hour in a way that would have made her hair stand on end had -she known of it, and the low murmur of voices from the intervening -room had lulled her to sleep. The imperious tone in which the Princess -repeated her summons reached her ears, however, and she made her -appearance, full of apologies, at the inner door. The Princess was -sitting at the table, her head supported pensively upon her hand. - -“If Count Mortimer should present himself here again, Birnsdorf, -remember that I will not receive him,” she said. - -“No, madame?” hazarded the Countess, consumed with curiosity. It was -evident that the crisis which every member of the household had been -anticipating, although the Princess had apparently been blind to its -approach, had come; but how, and with what result? - -“He would scarcely venture to show himself,” pursued the Princess, -meditatively, “but one can never tell. And exciting scenes of the kind -are too much for me. Positively, I cannot stand them. I am too -tender-hearted.” - -“Indeed, madame, it has made you look frightfully ill.” Countess -Birnsdorf was horrified by the strained paleness of her mistress’s -face. “You will permit me to summon a physician? No?” Then, her -indignation increasing as the Princess shook her head with the smile -of a martyr, “I could never have believed that Count Mortimer would -forget himself so far as to persist in a conversation disagreeable to -your Highness, even if he had the bad taste to enter upon it.” - -“Ah, when these self-restrained men have once lost control of -themselves, there is no holding them. Did you see the poor man go out, -Birnsdorf?” - -“No, madame. I am certain he did not pass through the drawing-room.” - -“Oh no, of course. I allowed him to escape by the private stair. One -does not wish to subject to public humiliation a man who is already -unhappy, even though it is by his own fault.” - -“Ah, madame, in presence of your angelic kindness, I do not wonder -that the unhappy nobleman forgot himself.” - -“Nonsense, Birnsdorf! You are a sad flatterer,” with pathetic -sweetness. “Where is Lida?” - -“I believe her Highness is walking in the gardens with Mlle. -Delacroix, madame,” replied the Countess, with a perceptible sniff. -The elderly Frenchwoman who had been Princess Lida’s governess, and -was now her chosen confidant, played the part of Mordecai to Countess -Birnsdorf’s Haman. - -“Beg her to come to me when she returns to the house. I have something -important to say to her.” The lady-in-waiting departed, and the -Princess, finding herself alone, threw aside the mask for a moment. -Her right hand clenched itself involuntarily, the left was pressed -upon her heart as she rose and paced the room. - -“Yes,” she said to herself, “I will be prudent. I cannot afford to -fail again. Lida must be safely married, or I shall lose my only -chance of returning to power. I must have some standing-ground from -which to move my world--a recognised position in some country or -other. But as soon as I am sure of my footing--then, Count, look to -yourself! You shall not return to Ernestine. You may scorn me if you -like, but she shall not have you. I will track you step by step when -you try to slink back to her, and, when you think you have won her, I -will come between you. I can tell her a few little truths that will -place you in a new light, my dear Count!” - -She laughed mirthlessly, and returned with a swift step to her seat at -the table as she heard her daughter crossing the anteroom. There was a -pretty mixture of triumph and girlish timidity in Princess Lida’s -manner as she came into the room, and her shining eyes and -rose-flushed cheeks were eloquent of shy happiness. At any other time -her mother’s eagle glance would have perceived the change immediately, -but now the Princess was too much engrossed with her own thoughts to -observe it. - -“Ah, Lida!” she said. “I wanted to tell you that I think it advisable -to hasten on your wedding a little. It will be a year next month since -your father died, and there is no reason why you should not be married -the month after.” - -“Oh, mamma!” faltered Princess Lida, in dire dismay. “Michael is such -a boy,” she explained, recovering herself. - -“He will be nineteen then. Many kings have been younger when they -married.” - -“But he is so--so disagreeable. You know, when I have complained to -you of his behaviour, you have always said he would undergo a change -and become quite different before we were married; but he hasn’t done -anything of the kind yet. Lately he has been worse than ever.” - -“Well, you will have the pleasure of superintending his reformation -yourself. You are not the girl I think you if you can’t make him treat -you with proper respect.” - -“Oh, I am not afraid of that.” Princess Lida raised her dark head -proudly. “But, mamma, I don’t see any reason for being in such a -hurry. I don’t care to be married just yet.” - -“My dear child, you talk as if you had only to hold up your finger and -Michael would come whenever you chose to claim him. But that is not -the case. He would be little Philippa’s bridegroom now if she would -have taken him.” - -“I only wish she had!” - -“Lida, this is childish. Michael can give you a crown, and you don’t -find crowns hanging on every bush. The eligible princes of Europe are -not contending for the light of your _beaux yeux_, my dear--far from -it. You must take what you can get, or you will end by getting -nothing.” - -“It’s very hard,” pouted Princess Lida, “that the only person I can -get should be so horrid. Bettine had no trouble of this kind. Look how -devoted Albrecht is to her.” - -“I know he is, my dear child; but that can’t be helped. Bettine’s -marriage was arranged for her just as yours was, and we could not tell -how differently Michael and Albrecht would turn out. Of course -circumstances were more favourable at the time of her wedding. Your -father’s death, and your brother’s unkind behaviour in depriving us of -a home, place us in a difficult position at present, and Michael does -not show the consideration he might. But for your comfort, Lida, I -will say this. Michael is one of the most pliable men I know, if you -take him the right way. Once get rid of his present companions, and -make yourself necessary to him, and he will be your devoted slave as -long as you take care not to pull the chain too tight.” - -“I should like to snap it at once. I don’t want to marry him. Mamma, -you married for love, didn’t you?” - -“My dear Lida!” The Princess was shocked. “Who has been talking to you -of such things? You have picked up a wrong idea, of course. What -really happened was only that when my father chose to turn against the -lover whom he had himself recommended to me, I did not.” - -“I knew that was it! And you married him?” - -“I did; but then, you see, we had been allowed to fall in love with -one another. I have taken care that there should be no complication of -the sort in your case.” - -“But Bettine and Albrecht love one another.” - -“My dear child, pray don’t cavil. I mean, of course, that I have taken -care you should have no chance of falling in love with any one but the -man you are to marry.” - -“But he doesn’t love me.” - -“You are becoming a little tiresome, Lida. There were unfortunate -circumstances which obliged me to hasten on your betrothal before -Michael had perceived the nature of his feeling for you, and unhappily -he resents being bound, as he considers it. But I have already said -that you will be able to set things right as soon as you are married, -if you go the right way to work.” - -“But, mamma, you say you were right in disobeying your father because -it was for your lover’s sake. If I had a lover, mamma----?” She came -forward a little with clasped hands, and her eyes rested entreatingly -on her mother’s face. The Princess laughed coldly. - -“Don’t imagine impossibilities, my dear child. You have no -lover--could not have one without my knowledge, and I have no -intention of allowing you such a luxury. You will marry Michael two -months hence, and I shall write to him to-day to make arrangements. -The letter will take some time, for I must be careful how I put -things. That equerry of his had better wait until to-morrow before -returning, Czartoriski and he must amuse one another.” - -“We were thinking of a ride this afternoon,” suggested Princess Lida -meekly. Her mother nodded assent. - -“That will do very well. By the bye, Lida, if you should come across -Count Mortimer, you need not speak to him. Bow, of course, but nothing -more.” - -“Yes, mamma. Has he done anything?” Princess Lida’s eyes were dancing. - -“Count Mortimer has thought fit to lose sight of the difference -between his position and mine, and address me in a very strange way. -That is all.” - -It was enough for Princess Lida, who never dreamt of regarding Cyril -as anything but an unhappy victim of her mother’s charms. She told the -story with great glee to Mlle. Delacroix, and Mlle. Delacroix retailed -it to a compatriot who was visiting the baths. Since every one at -Ludwigsbad takes a childlike and unabashed interest in every one -else’s affairs, it was known by the evening from one end of the little -town to the other that Count Mortimer had conceived a romantic -adoration for the Princess of Dardania--and had declared it to its -object! Coming so soon after the revelations put forth by Dr Texelius, -the story met with instant and universal acceptance, and there were -only a few people who remarked that Count Mortimer must have been -playing for very high stakes when he allowed himself to appear such a -fool. Mansfield had been spending the afternoon at one of the -shooting-galleries, where the gilded youth of both sexes were wont to -consume much valuable time in massacring little wooden soldiers by -means of air-guns. Here he heard the tale, and returned to the hotel -with a settled gloom on his countenance such as even the fact of -Philippa’s departure had been insufficient to produce. - -“Why so sad, gentle youth?” asked Cyril, catching sight of his face. - -“They are saying all over the place that the Princess of Dardania -has--has given you the sack, Count,” said Mansfield tragically. - -“They are--are they? Really there’s something positively demoniacal -about that woman’s cleverness! And you, Mansfield, you--try to comfort -me in my misery with the assurance that my sad plight is known all -over the town!” - -“It’s not true?” burst from Mansfield. - -“Since the Princess has spread the report, she must intend it to be -believed. Is it for me to contradict a lady? Rather let me study how -best to corroborate her assertion. I must go to dinner in a Norfolk -jacket, I suppose, and neglect my appearance generally. If Dietrich -could only be induced to forget to shave me! But perhaps it would be -just as effective if I let my moustache droop for a day or two. What -do you say, Mansfield? You will look disconsolate too, of course--in -fact, you are doing it already--but you will wear your rue with a -difference. The Confidant is only allowed to go mad in white linen, -you know. Tilburina’s white satin must be reserved for me.” - -“But the Princess has given orders that you are to be refused -admission if you try to see her.” - -“Oh, that’s what is afflicting you, is it? Make your mind easy; I have -no intention whatever of trying to see the Princess.” - -“But will you let her go on spreading these lies about you?” - -“Why not, if it pleases her? They are telling worse lies about me all -over Europe, and it does me no harm. You and the Chevalier Goldberg -seem to take these things to heart much more than I do. By the bye, -mind you show up when the Chevalier arrives to-morrow. He wants to -speak to you.” - -The Chevalier’s reason for wishing to see Mansfield was made clear on -his arrival the next day, when the unwilling secretary found himself -invested with a gold watch and chain of surpassing magnificence. The -watch was decorated with an inscription to the effect that it was a -slight token of admiration and gratitude for Mansfield’s bravery in -saving Count Mortimer’s life, and the chain carried a small fortune in -the way of charms, which puzzled the recipient not a little. The -Chevalier had originally intended his testimonial of gratitude to take -the form of a diamond ring of the size and lustre commonly seen only -on South African mine-owners and the monarchs of high finance, but on -consulting Cyril he found that such an ornament in Mansfield’s -possession would never see the light of day, and with reluctance chose -instead the best watch that money could buy. He had taken a great -fancy to Mansfield, purely on Cyril’s account, and he dismissed him -now with an assurance of future favour which would have driven one of -his own nation wild with joy. Mansfield, who was English, and failed -to appreciate properly the power which the Chevalier possessed in -right of his millions, received the promise without any particular -emotion, and went out for a mountain walk. Left alone together, the -Chevalier and Cyril turned their attention to business. They spoke in -English, for the Chevalier was proud of his proficiency in that -language, and liked to keep himself in practice. - -“Well, have you come to tell me that I am the best-execrated man in -Europe?” asked Cyril. - -“If dere was such noose to tell you, I would not be de men to do it,” -was the quick response. “No, my frient, de storm is passed ofer your -head like water off a duck’s beck.” - -Cyril smiled involuntarily. “This is extremely gratifying, Chevalier. -You think Texelius has overreached himself, then?” - -“Undoubtedly. You know he was placed on de board off manachement off -de United Nation? Well, de directors met yesterday, and expelled him, -solely on account of his atteck on you.” - -“But that was purely your doing, of course.” - -“Not at all. Dere were some det took your side from de first, and de -rest came ofer to it ess soon ess dey heard off your confersation wid -de Emperor about Prince Franz Immanuel. Dey saw at once det you hed -been foolink de Scythians all de time dey thought dey were foolink -you, and det it was not you, but de mysterious lady, who hed been -deceifed in de metter.” - -“But how did the Franz Immanuel business come out?” - -“I saw to det, my frient. Dere was an inspired paragreph in all de -Findobona papers yesterday which related de fects.” - -“I am sorry you did that, Chevalier. If the proposal has become -public, it means that there is no hope of getting it adopted.” - -“Dere nefer wass any,” said the Chevalier calmly. “I hed sent an -achent to sound de Prince’s parents, and dey would not hear off his -goink to Pelestine. Dey mean him to merry de young Queen of Frisia.” - -“Another check!” cried Cyril. “I thought we were on firm ground at -last. Then my journey to Vindobona was all for nothing?” - -“By no means, Count. De proposal may hef failed, but at least it safed -you first. It was so netural and so suitable det no one could beliefe -de story off Texelius. Herschel Rubenssohn, whom I met passink through -Vindobona, hess written a great article on de subchect in my paper, -which I hef wid me, and you shell see it. Transferrink his republican -fiews to you, he says det de nobility off your cheracter and aims -would prefent you from efer dessirink to make yourself a prince.” - -“It is dangerous to dogmatise,” said Cyril gravely. “If Palestine was -offered me by a unanimous vote of the Powers, I fear all Mr -Rubenssohn’s pledges on my behalf would not make me refuse it.” - -The Chevalier smiled, but wistfully. “Ah, my frient, why were you not -born a prince--efen a Cherman princelink?” he said. - -“Probably because Europe would have been too small to hold me. Now, -pray, Chevalier, no hankering after impossibilities.” - -“You might efen now become a confert to Rome, and buy a dukedom from -de Fatican,” suggested the financier, with the uneasy smile of a man -experimenting on the edge of a slumbering volcano. “De money iss et -your serfice, and wid de Chews supportink you on one side and de -Chesuits on de oder, not efen Scythia could hope to keep you out of -Pelestine.” - -“Ah, if I could take you over to Rome with me, there might be -something in the idea,” responded Cyril instantly. “The Goldberg -millions would be welcome indeed at the Papal Court. But without -them---- No, Chevalier, it won’t do. And what has happened to -Texelius?” - -“He retains de direction off de colonisink scheme, but he hess lost -his influence in our cheneral councils,” replied the Chevalier, -accepting the change of subject obediently and gratefully. “Det will -allow Koepfle to come to de front--a better men off business, dough -widout de European lustre off Texelius, and one det hess nefer yet -receifed de full recognition he desserfes. It was from an idea off his -det I gained de first notion off foundink our Syndicate, in order to -help to completion de schemes he hed outlined. We shell do better now -den before, I think.” - -“When do you expect to get your concession?” asked Cyril suddenly. - -“Fery soon,” replied the Chevalier. “It may be two--three days, det -iss all.” - -“And when you have got it, you will have no need of me for a month or -so? I want a holiday. A trip to Syria would do me good, I think.” - -“To Syria? to Pelestine, you mean. Ah, my frient, you hef a plen! You -will not hide it from me? De Goldberg millions are all et your -serfice. You intend to make yourself master off de Land by a _coup de -main_?” - -“My dear Chevalier, I don’t intend anything of the kind. I am quite in -earnest in saying that the governorship is out of my reach. My visit -would be purely private and unofficial. You may call it a pilgrimage -if you like, although the saint whose shrine I have in view is alive -and not dead.” - -“You would not deceife your frient?--dough I shell not be engry if I -hear you hef esteblished yourself dere. I know your prudence, Count. -But you will not be lonk away? Our affairs in Europe will go to ruin -widout you.” - -“I don’t expect to be long, but it depends on the success I may meet -with. If others get before me, I shall have a poor chance. But -business first, Chevalier. If you need me in Europe, I won’t go.” - -“My frient, if dis fissit iss for your adfantache or pleassure, you -shell go whatefer heppens. Dere iss always the telegreph by which I -may consult you.” - -In the fulness of his generosity, the Chevalier proceeded to develop a -plan by which a staff of operators with a field telegraph were to -follow Cyril from place to place, so as to keep him always in touch -with the European headquarters of the Jewish movement. His schemes -were interrupted by the arrival of a telegram in cipher, which he read -to Cyril with triumph in his tones: “Czarigrad. You are wanted here. -Concession will probably issue to-morrow or next day.” - -“It iss well,” said the Chevalier. “To-night I leafe for Czarigrad. I -return wid de concession, den you start for Pelestine. One -confersation we must hef first, to settle our line off ection in -future.” - -“All right,” said Cyril, and the financier departed. On his return -from his walk, the astonished Mansfield was desired to hold himself in -readiness for a journey to Syria, which might become necessary at any -time within the next month. No explanation was given, but he -attributed the probable necessity to the business of the Syndicate, -and having made his preparations, awaited placidly the summons to -start. - - - - - CHAPTER X. - TAKING COUNSEL WITH BABES. - -On the third morning after the departure of the Chevalier, Mansfield -was sitting writing in the anteroom at the hotel, when the garden door -opened violently, and an elderly lady hurried up to the house. -Mansfield thought she was a _Kurgäste_ who had lost her way, for she -was wrapped in a loose cloak, and had a lace scarf thrown over her -head, in the style affected early in the day by ladies who were taking -the waters. On going to the door, he was astonished to find himself -face to face with Countess Birnsdorf, in a state of violent -excitement. - -“Where is Count Mortimer?” she cried, trying to push past him. “I -insist on seeing him immediately.” - -“I will find out whether his Excellency is able to see you, Countess,” -said Mansfield, holding his ground. “He may be engaged.” - -“Oh, then he is here? Then I am not too late!” and the old lady sank -down upon a bench and broke into gasping sobs. “Oh, Mr Secretary, let -me see him. I must see him, I tell you!” - -Surprised and perplexed, Mansfield knocked at Cyril’s door. “Countess -Birnsdorf is here, Count, and says she must see you. She is in a -terrible state about something,” he added, stepping inside the room. - -“What can be the matter now?” said Cyril. “Some trick of the -Princess’s, I suppose. Well, you had better ask her in.” - -Before Mansfield could obey, the Countess, her suspicions roused by -his closing the door behind him, forced her way in. For an instant she -stared wildly round the room and incredulously at Cyril, then flung -herself at his feet. - -“Oh, Count, give her back to us! Where is she? What have you done with -her--my little Princess? She never did you any harm. You may cherish a -grudge against her mother, but have you the heart to revenge yourself -on the child?” - -“Calm yourself, Countess,” said Cyril, so gently that the old lady -choked back her sobs and allowed him to raise her and lead her to a -seat. “What has happened to the Princess? I don’t understand you.” - -“She is gone,” sobbed Countess Birnsdorf, “and so is the Frenchwoman, -her attendant. No one saw them leave the house, and there is not so -much as a note to say where they are gone. As soon as the poor -Princess--her mother--heard the awful news, she said, ‘This is Count -Mortimer’s doing. He is taking his revenge on me,’ and I threw on a -cloak and ran all the way here in the hope of softening your heart -before it was too late.” - -“Alas, Countess, I cannot tell you where the Princess is,” said Cyril. -“But let us consider what we can do to obtain news of her Highness. -You did not intend to speak before my secretary, did you? Mr -Mansfield, please see that this visit is not mentioned.” - -Mansfield retired, and finding in the garden the old man-servant who -had accompanied Countess Birnsdorf, told him to wait in Paschics’s -room, lest his livery should be recognised by the hotel servants. -Scarcely had he returned to his writing when footsteps upon the path -announced a second visitor. This time the intruder was Colonel -Czartoriski, a white-moustached veteran of many fights, and master of -the household to the Princess of Dardania. - -“Where is your master, young man?” he inquired, looking Mansfield over -in a peculiarly irritating way. - -“Count Mortimer is in his office,” returned Mansfield curtly, -resenting the style of address. - -“Oh, indeed! Then I wish to see him.” - -“Unfortunately you can’t. His Excellency is engaged.” - -“So early?” very mildly. “I am indeed unfortunate. Who is with him, -may I ask?” - -“A lady.” - -Colonel Czartoriski’s face became livid. “And you venture to -acknowledge that to me?” he roared. “Who is the lady?” - -“I am not at liberty to mention her name.” - -“Out of the way, young man! Let me pass.” - -“Gently,” said Mansfield, shifting the old soldier adroitly from the -inner door. “I don’t know what you mean by coming here and behaving as -if you were in a comic opera, but it won’t take much more to make me -kick you down the steps.” - -Colonel Czartoriski’s hand went promptly to the place where his -sword-hilt was wont to be, but remembering that he was in plain -clothes, he repressed his wrath, and made a gallant effort to be calm. - -“I ask your pardon, young sir. If you knew the reason for my -excitement, you would excuse it, but you have not, I am sure, fathomed -the full villainy of your master’s character. No,” as Mansfield made a -threatening movement, “I will not speak against him. I ask you only to -risk his displeasure for a moment for the sake of the honour of an -august family, and the future of an unfortunate and misguided young -lady.” - -“What do you want me to do?” asked Mansfield, unconvinced. - -“You see my position?” Colonel Czartoriski turned to the wall, and -stood with his face almost touching a map of Western Asia which he -appeared to be studying. “I give you my word of honour that I will -maintain this attitude while you approach the lady, and entreat her to -return immediately with her attendant to the home she has forsaken. I -will not move until she is outside the garden, when I will venture to -attend her back to the villa. I shall not have seen her here, you are -a young man of honour and will not speak, the world will only know of -an early walk. Come, you will help me to save her?” - -“I am sure you are making some mistake about the lady,” said -Mansfield, in much perplexity; but he approached the door of Cyril’s -study, reaching it just as the owner opened it to escort Countess -Birnsdorf to the gate. The old lady’s cry of surprise on catching -sight of him made Colonel Czartoriski forget his promise and turn -round, and both looked unutterably guilty. - -“I suppose,” said Cyril, “that I ought to feel flattered at your both -regarding me as such a Lothario; but I assure you the honour is quite -undeserved.” - -“It was the words the Princess used,” explained Countess Birnsdorf, -apologetically. “A mother’s instinct----” - -“I am afraid her Royal Highness’s instincts are not to be trusted -where I am concerned. This is not the first rumour she has set afloat -about me, you will remember.” - -“Do you intend to impute malice to her Highness, Count?” demanded -Colonel Czartoriski hotly. - -“By no means, Colonel. I merely state a fact.” - -“Of course,” said Countess Birnsdorf, unaware of the admission she was -making. “How can you try to pick a quarrel with the Count, Colonel, -when he may have given us a clue to our poor Princess’s flight? If you -will make inquiries about Captain Roburoff’s destination when he left -this place three days ago, while I go home to try and calm her -Highness’s mind, it may help us a little.” - -“Oh, if Captain Roburoff has acted as Count Mortimer’s deputy----” - -“The Count once saw him talking to Princess Lida, that’s all. But if -you go on wasting time like this, how are we to save her? Come, come,” -and Countess Birnsdorf hurried the old soldier out of the house, and -saw him start in the direction of the station. But her haste was in -vain. A telegram which arrived that evening from Princess Lida -informed her mother that she was married to Captain Roburoff, and that -the ceremony had been performed by an Orthodox priest in the chapel -attached to the Thracian Legation at Vindobona. This astonishing fact -made it clear that some personage high in authority had been acting in -collusion with the fugitives, and before long every one at Ludwigsbad -knew that the Princess of Dardania had solemnly declared she would -never forgive Count Mortimer for his part in the affair. Cyril smiled -when the news reached him. - -“Excellent!” he said. “She has now a legitimate reason for hating me, -whereas before she could not very well avow the cause of her enmity.” - -The person who had told him of the rumour, and to whom he spoke, was -the Chevalier Goldberg, just returned in triumph from Czarigrad with -the long-coveted concession in his hands. The possession of Palestine -was once more secured to the Hebrew race. - -“But wid whom is she seekink to inchure you?” asked the financier in -reply. “Europe knows now de truth about her defeat in de affair -celebrated by Texelius, and will not beliefe her. Dere must be some -one outside de ranche off politics det she wishes to influence.” - -“It is just possible,” said Cyril drily. The Chevalier took heart of -grace. - -“My goot frient,” he said, “you will not take it amiss if I alloode to -your prifate affairs? You hef nefer honoured me wid your confidence -about dem, and I do not ask it off you; but chust et dis moment it iss -so closely connected wid de future off our great enterprice, det -unless you command me epsolutely to be silent, I must speak.” - -“My dear Chevalier, there was nothing to confide. My private affairs -are common property all over Europe, it seems to me. If you have any -contribution to make to the discussion, pray let me hear it.” - -“I hef a request to make off you first. You must know det since it -became efident det de concession would be granted, we hef hed ill -noose from Pelestine. Rubenssohn, who iss chust gone out dere to -inspect de colonies, says de officials are prepared to ressent our -comink. A pasha here, a sheikh dere--dey all fear we shell confiscate -deir offices and cut short deir dishonest gains. De Greek and Letin -Churches encourache dem in dis epprehension, hopink to raise a -rebellion against us, so det Europe may step in and refuse us de Land. -Now, you are about to fissit Pelestine. Will you go about amonk dese -officials ess de emissary off de Syndicate, and quiet deir minds? Dey -could nefer stend out against you.” - -“You are very kind. If I can do any good by reassuring the timid, I -shall be glad to be useful.” - -“You will make what arranchements and promises you please; dey shell -be kerried out. Some off de officials might be continued in deir posts -et a fixed selary, oders be pensioned off. Den dere are de Beni -Ismail--dose Arabs in de desert between Damascus and Baghdad. Dey hef -been told by some enemy det we intend to gerrison Palmyra and exect a -heafy tribute from dem, and deir chieftainess, whom dey call de Queen -off de Desert, threatens to appeal to Europe. You will come to terms -wid de lady, and reassure her ess to our intentions? Dere nefer wass a -woman you could not talk ofer.” - -“I will certainly do my best to conciliate her dusky Majesty. An -appeal to the Powers would land us in endless complications.” - -“True; but dere iss more at stake still. While de diplomatists are -squabblink in Europe ofer de gofernorship off Pelestine, you are on de -spot, treffellink ess a prifate indifidual, yet makink peace and -pleasantness wherefer you go. It iss well for you to be out off Europe -et dis moment, my frient, but it is better for you to be in Pelestine. -You are already a _persona grata_ et Czarigrad, et Vindobona, et de -Magnagrecian Court. Hercynia will follow Pannonia. You are de right -men for Pelestine, and dey must see it.” - -Cyril shook his head. “It sounds excellent, Chevalier, but, after all, -I am not big enough for them. They might accept me as an emergency -man, just to do the dirty work and put the place in order; but it -would be strictly stipulated that as soon as things were pretty quiet -some princeling should step into my shoes.” - -“No!” cried the Chevalier, with almost a shout. “Not if your prifate -intention in goink to Pelestine iss what I think. De saint you desire -to fenerate--pardon my boldness--iss it not de Queen Ernestine?” - -“It is,” said Cyril, not quite calmly. - -“Den all iss well. You merry de Queen; dere iss de position you need. -Through her you are connected wid half de royal femilies off Europe. -Dey must profide for her, find some post not disgraceful for you. Here -it iss.” - -Cyril rose involuntarily from his seat, and began to walk up and down -the room, while his companion, trembling with excitement, watched him -narrowly. “You have taken me by surprise, Chevalier,” he said at last, -returning to his place. “It was my last thought, in seeking to recall -myself to the memory of the lady you mention, to better my own -fortunes.” - -“Yes, yes; I understend det. But what do you say now?” - -“The matter is too complicated for me,” said Cyril idly. “I must refer -it to some one who can only see one side to a question. I will take -counsel with babes, and be guided by the advice they give me. -Mansfield,” he stepped into the anteroom, “I want your opinion on a -point of morals.” - -Mansfield glanced up quickly, suspecting a hidden irony in the -request; but Cyril’s eyes met his gravely enough. - -“Suppose you had behaved badly to the woman you loved--broken her -heart in fact. Oh, for pity’s sake----” as Mansfield attempted a -protest, “isolate your thoughts from my niece for the moment, and -imagine it possible that you could treat a woman cruelly. What would -you do when you repented and wished to undo the past?” - -“Go to her and ask her to forgive me--if I could muster up sufficient -cheek.” - -“Quite so. And if she refused to look at you?” - -“I think,” with diffidence, “I should ask her again.” - -“And worry her until she consented, I suppose? Well, that is not the -question I wanted you to consider. Suppose a reconciliation with the -lady meant the greatest possible improvement in your worldly -prospects, would you still feel free to seek her forgiveness?” - -“I see.” It was evident that Mansfield was somewhat staggered by this -view of the case. He sat silent, turning it over in his mind, for some -minutes. “It would be perfectly beastly if people--or she -herself--thought one had done it for the money,” he muttered at last. -“Is it supposed that the lady still cares for you--I mean me--Count?” -he asked suddenly. - -“How can I tell? Well, yes; suppose she does.” - -“Oh, that makes it all right, of course; if it would be a comfort to -her. A man couldn’t fight shy of making what amends he could, just -because of what people might say, could he? If she seemed inclined to -forgive him, I suppose he would have to tell her about the money, and -see what she said. If she was willing to take him on again----” - -“He must be doubly grateful, and behave better in future,” interrupted -Cyril, finishing the sentence for him. “Thanks, Mansfield. See what a -good thing it is to know exactly what other people ought to do! Well, -Chevalier, the oracle has spoken, and the die is cast. I go to -Palestine.” - -The Chevalier’s beaming countenance testified his delight, and he -proceeded to draw up, and submit for Cyril’s approval, a paragraph to -be sent to the newspapers, stating that Count Mortimer was about to -visit Palestine in the interests of the Jewish race, with a view to -the discovery of spots where new colonies might advantageously be -located. When the paragraph appeared the next day, the Princess of -Dardania was among those into whose hands it came. She smiled -contemptuously at the reason given for the journey, and called to -Countess Birnsdorf for writing materials. That evening Colonel -Czartoriski passed through Vindobona on his way to Syria, in charge of -an autograph letter from his mistress, which he was ordered to deliver -to no one but Queen Ernestine herself. The old soldier was frankly -exultant on the subject of his errand. The villain who had lured away -Princess Lida would at any rate not be allowed to find happiness with -another woman. - -In the meantime, the person whose life was most deeply affected by -Princess Lida’s elopement bore himself with the utmost equanimity. It -was Prince Mirkovics who outstripped the courier despatched from -Ludwigsbad, and carried the news to King Michael in his mountain -shooting-box. When he had delivered himself of his self-imposed -message, the old nobleman paused suddenly, his weather-beaten face -shining with fresh hope. The King, who had listened to the -announcement with sullen acquiescence, glanced up and perceived his -expression. - -“What is it, Prince? You look as if a bright idea had struck you.” - -“That is the case, sir. Does it not occur to your Majesty that this -event removes the chief obstacle to your marriage with Lady Philippa -Mortimer?” - -The King laughed harshly. “The chief obstacle?” he said. “You should -have heard what Count Mortimer said when I spoke to him on the -subject. I might have been a pickpocket. He told me I was not fit to -look at her.” - -“Sir,” said Prince Mirkovics, “I am no courtier. I cannot, as your -Majesty knows, twist my rough tongue to speak smoothly, and I will not -attempt to say that Count Mortimer was wrong. Even when I was doing my -utmost to marry you to Carlino’s daughter a few weeks back, I was -ashamed of my own schemes. You were not fit then to address words of -love to her, sir; you are not fit now. But the remedy lies in your own -hands. Do you wish to be worthy of the lady?” - -“You mean that I might promise to give up all this sort of thing?” -King Michael gave a comprehensive wave of the hand, which included at -once the pictures that adorned the walls of his room, the empty -bottles on the table, and the scattered cards strewing the floor. “If -she would marry me, I should be perfectly willing to make such a -promise--and I would keep it, too,” he added, with some anxiety, for -Prince Mirkovics still looked forbidding. - -“No, sir, that would not be sufficient. I know Lady Philippa and her -parents well enough to feel sure that they would not be satisfied with -promises. Your Majesty must give up all these habits at once, and -submit to a period of probation, to show that you have really forsaken -them, before you attempt to obtain the lady’s hand.” - -“What a disgusting idea!” The King looked blank. He had paved the way -carefully for his own suggestion, but it was quite another matter to -adopt the uncompromising scheme of reform set before him. “It would be -so wretchedly hard to have to do it all without even being sure of -her,” he added. - -“Is the lady worth it, sir?” demanded Prince Mirkovics. “And would it -not give you a claim on her respect, her admiration, if you could go -to her and say, ‘Without seeking to bind you, I gave up all my -unworthy pleasures for your sake, merely in the hope of rendering -myself less unfit to address you. In order to have more to offer you, -I have tried to govern my people better, and to raise my kingdom again -to the position it occupied under your uncle’s administration’?” - -“But suppose she won’t marry me after all?” - -“I would not suppose such a thing, sir. The lady could scarcely fail -to see that it was her duty to marry your Majesty, in order to secure -the happiness of your people and the welfare of the kingdom, and I am -certain that she will do whatever she feels to be her duty.” - -“All right, then!” King Michael dashed his fist upon the table. “By -the bye, you know, you must take office if all this has to be done. I -can’t carry it through alone. Roburoff’s conduct furnishes us with an -excellent pretext for coolness towards Scythia, and then the Ministry -will have to go. You shall be Premier, and cultivate Pannonia instead. -That will only be until we are married, of course. Lady Philippa will -certainly want her uncle to return to Thracia with her. Oh, I say, -that reminds me; what about that secretary fellow? Roburoff declares -he is in love with Philippa, and Count Mortimer makes a great pet of -him. What is there to prevent his running off with her while I am -carrying out my reformation?” - -“I saw Count Mortimer only this morning, sir, before I left -Ludwigsbad, and he mentioned that he was about to make a pilgrimage to -Palestine, taking his suite with him. The secretary will be farther -from the lady than your Majesty.” - -“So he will. Well, Prince, I will try your plan for three months--not -a day longer. That ought to be proof enough for any girl of a man’s -sincerity. Don’t you think you have reason to be grateful to Roburoff? -I should be if I hadn’t paid him in full. Oblige me by looking at -this.” He held out a folded paper, which Prince Mirkovics received -doubtfully, and read with astonishment. It was a promise on the part -of the King to pay Captain Roburoff a sum of money which to the frugal -mind of the Thracian appeared colossal. - -“What is this, sir?” he asked, bewildered. - -“Princesses are expensive wives for commoners,” returned King Michael -calmly, “and Roburoff had no intention of marrying Lida on a captain’s -pay. I was obliged to make it worth his while.” - -“Impossible, sir! You arranged the elopement with your equerry?” - -“Oh no, not at all. I discovered that he was in love with her through -his dropping a note of hers when we were fencing one day. After we had -teased him about it a little, it occurred to me that since he had gone -so far for his own pleasure, he might as well make himself useful. It -was very hard to convince him, for he was quite contented to let -things go on as they were, and I had to point out that the prospect -for the future was not exactly to my taste. At last we came to terms, -and I despatched him on a special mission, giving him credentials that -would carry him anywhere (of course never dreaming of the use he would -make of them), and this is the way he repays my confidence! Don’t you -think we are well rid of him?” - -Too much disgusted to speak, Prince Mirkovics bowed in answer. The -King laughed. “Come, Prince, I must drink one last toast before I -become a total abstainer, and you will join me in it with all your -heart.” He touched the bell. “Bring a bottle of champagne,” he said to -the servant who answered his summons. “Fill the glasses, Prince. To -Queen Philippa!” - -“To her Majesty Queen Philippa!” repeated Prince Mirkovics gravely, -touching the glass which the King held out with his own. - - -King Michael was as good as his word. Twelve hours before Prince -Soudaroff, despatched in hot haste to bear him the condolences of the -Scythian Imperial family, and to discover how the loss of his bride -seemed to affect him, could reach the hunting-box, its tenant was -hastening homewards across Europe. The state of affairs in Thracia -demanded his presence there, so he gave out. Arrived at his own -capital, the King found that he had accidentally spoken the truth -respecting the political situation, and that the course of events was -all in his favour. The shock of the sudden rupture of the betrothal on -which he had built all his hopes proved too much for Drakovics, the -great Premier whom Cyril had driven from office, and who had in turn -ousted him. The unholy compact with the Princess of Dardania which -restored him to power had become void, and almost simultaneously with -the arrival of the news, a stroke of paralysis dragged from his -failing hands the reins which he had clutched with such persistent -determination. The rest of the Ministry, deprived of their head, and -painfully aware that they held their places merely at the pleasure of -Scythia, were in no condition to combat the vigorous measures of their -youthful monarch. Drakovics would have bowed to the storm and -maintained his position, but his colleagues, left to themselves, -resisted, and gave the King the excuse he wanted for dismissing them. -Returning humbly, after an interview with the Scythian agent, to -tender their submission, they found their places filled up. Prince -Mirkovics had accepted office, and the scattered forces of Cyril’s -supporters rallied round him with magical unanimity. They were of the -King’s opinion. Prince Mirkovics was merely holding the premiership in -trust for his leader, and very shortly the period of progress at home -and high prestige abroad, which had ended with King Michael’s -attainment of his majority, might be expected to return. - -It was in vain that the Emperor of Scythia sought to conciliate the -young King by removing Captain Roburoff’s name from the roll of his -regiment, in vain that he despatched his brother, the Grand-Duke -Eugen, on a special mission of friendship, in vain even that the -Princess of Dardania sent her “beloved, deeply injured Michael” a -heartrending message entreating him to return to Ludwigsbad, if only -for a day, that she might know he had forgiven her. Prince Mirkovics -pointed out to his master with a grim smile that the beautiful -Grand-Duchess Sonya Eugenovna was now staying at the villa, and a -polite refusal was returned. The opportunity of regaining her credit -with Scythia by entangling King Michael a second time was not to be -granted to the Princess. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - EASTWARD HO! - -Foiled in the hope of regaining her empire over King Michael, the -Princess of Dardania turned with desperate vigour to the object which -lay even nearer to her heart. It was not enough to count the days -until she might hope to hear from Colonel Czartoriski of the success -of his mission in acquainting Queen Ernestine with the villainy of the -man who professed to love her--the Princess counted the very hours. At -last the anxiously expected missive lay before her, but in the fulness -of her triumph she allowed herself to gloat over her vengeance for a -while before opening the envelope. When at length she drew out the -letter and read it, the change that passed over her face was terrible -to see. Colonel Czartoriski had not been successful. The Queen had -positively refused to receive him when he presented himself at the -Deaconesses’ Institution at Brutli. He tried bribery and cajolery in -vain; and Princess Anna Mirkovics, the Queen’s maid of honour, who had -acted as her Majesty’s mouthpiece throughout the negotiations, assured -him that it was hopeless to attempt to obtain an interview. She -offered to take charge of the letter of which he was the bearer; but -in view of his mistress’s stringent order that he was to place it -himself in the Queen’s hands, Colonel Czartoriski thought it well to -ask for further instructions. The Princess of Dardania glanced through -his formal phrases with a heart-sickening sense of bitter failure. - -“He has been before me!” she said to herself, alluding not to Colonel -Czartoriski, but to Cyril. “He has warned Ernestine that I shall try -to prejudice her against him, and she is prepared to believe -everything he says and nothing that I say. This explains his -astonishing tardiness in first visiting Egypt and then Palestine, -instead of going straight to Beyrout and the Lebanon. He has made -things safe for himself already. Well, Czartoriski must wait at -Damascus and watch for a chance of giving Ernestine my letter, and it -may be possible to spoil their reunion in another way.” - -That very day Colonel Czartoriski received a fiery telegram in cipher, -which he read without astonishment as the hasty utterance of an -outraged mother, dashed off in a moment of desperation. He would have -been amazed to learn that the Princess had spent hours of anxious -thought over the brief message. - -“Do not return to tell me that the base wretch has achieved all he -desired. Is there not one among the Christians whom he has betrayed to -avenge the Holy Places on this renegade?” - -Colonel Czartoriski’s chief impression on reading the telegram was -that it was of too compromising a nature to be retained safely in his -possession, and, after fixing the contents in his mind, he destroyed -the paper. This done, he was able to consider the message calmly. The -suggestion which it contained struck him as worthy of notice; for he -had relinquished his earlier intention of challenging Cyril to a duel -_outrance_, reflecting that in such a conflict he was unlikely to be -victorious. Although, in the frenzied state to which the contemplation -of his mistress’s wrongs had reduced him, he would not have shrunk -from death if he could have ensured the destruction of his foe, he -felt that justice would be but poorly satisfied if Cyril killed him -and escaped unscathed. Since, then, a duel was not to be thought of -save as a last resort, he allowed his mind to dwell with something -like complacency on the hint thrown out by the Princess. Palestine was -filled with fanatical pilgrims from Southern and Eastern Europe; how -probable it was that Count Mortimer might meet with a fatal accident -while in the neighbourhood of one of their stations! For a minute or -two it seemed to Colonel Czartoriski that such an accident was so -likely as to be almost inevitable, but as soon as his brain had -regained its balance he perceived that the matter was not one to be -left to chance. Unless the consequences of Cyril’s present diplomacy -were pointedly brought to the notice of the pilgrims, he might pass -unharmed from one end of Palestine to the other. It was clearly -necessary that the destined avengers should be made properly -acquainted with the state of affairs--and how should this be done -unless Colonel Czartoriski made it his business? At first the old -soldier shrank back appalled from the idea: it was too much like -hounding men on to commit murder. But the thought of the Princess’s -sorrows overcame his compunction once more, and he salved his -conscience with a few curt platitudes to the effect that, since the -law often failed to punish the greatest offenders, it was well to -ensure that justice should be done at last. Thus satisfied that it lay -with him to bring criminal and punishment together, he began to ask -himself how the duty might best be performed. - -It is not seldom a delicate task to put in motion the slowly revolving -wheels of justice, and Colonel Czartoriski realised this as he sat -smoking on the verandah of his Damascus hotel and laboured at the -details of his plot. It was evident that he must not appear in -connection with it, since the mention of his name would lead the world -to infer the complicity of the Princess of Dardania; but he found it -difficult to devise any means of inciting a crowd of unlettered -fanatics to the requisite degree of hatred without communicating with -them directly. After various fruitless attempts to solve the problem, -he threw away his cigar and strolled out into the town, hoping that -some chance sight or sound might give him the enlightenment he sought. -He had scarcely left the shelter of the courtyard when the help he -needed presented itself. Bumping and jolting over the alternate -hillocks and hollows of the street came a carriage, in which sat a -tall man with flowing black hair and beard. His dark robes, and the -lofty head-dress which surmounted his stern features and piercing -eyes, marked him as a bishop of the Orthodox Church. Two monks sat -opposite him, so obviously in awe of his displeasure that even the -discomforts of the drive evoked not the slightest murmur from either -of them. - -“The very man!” murmured Colonel Czartoriski. “How could I have -forgotten that Bishop Philaret had gone on pilgrimage?” - -The reverend travellers had only snatched a very brief rest at the -Greek Convent, to which they were bound, when Colonel Czartoriski -entreated the honour of an interview with the Bishop of Tatarjé. His -request was granted at once, for the two men were old acquaintances. -Bishop Philaret had brought the whole strength of the reactionary -party in the Thracian Church to swell the forces of the Princess of -Dardania when she had arranged the betrothal between her daughter and -King Michael, which overthrew Cyril and restored M. Drakovics to -office. In return for this signal service, it was commonly understood -that when Archbishop Socrates, the Metropolitan of Thracia, should be -gathered to his fathers, his successor in the see of Bellaviste would -be the ambitious and able Bishop of Tatarjé. The recent events in -Thracia had, of course, blurred this fair prospect, and the Bishop and -Colonel Czartoriski met as fellow-sufferers by a common disaster. - -“If either her Royal Highness or I myself had been in Thracia, this -would not have happened,” said the Bishop, as his attendant monks -brought coffee and sweet jelly for the refreshment of the visitor. - -“It is a European misfortune,” observed Colonel Czartoriski gloomily. - -“European? it is a misfortune to the whole Church--a thing to make one -shudder!” cried the Bishop. “For many years I have looked forward to -this pilgrimage, but I never ventured to leave Thracia until now. -Everything seems safe--the King at Ludwigsbad under her Highness’s own -eye--and I set out with a quiet mind. I spend two peaceful months in -visiting our brethren in Armenia and Mesopotamia, and as soon as I am -once more within reach of telegraphs and newspapers, what do I learn? -Why, that the old dotard Mirkovics is Premier, and the Mortimer close -upon his heels!” - -In common with the other members of the reforming party in Thracia, -Prince Mirkovics held that his own brother, Bishop Andreas of -Karajevo, would be the most suitable successor to the present -Metropolitan. Bishop Philaret did not mention this fact, but Colonel -Czartoriski was acquainted with it. - -“And it is perfectly certain that all might have been avoided if your -Greatness had not been absent from Thracia!” he said regretfully. “Do -you intend to return to your diocese immediately?” - -“What is the use?” asked the Bishop snappishly. “The mischief is done, -and I can’t undo it any more than your mistress can. I shall stay here -until the great band of pilgrims from Scythia lands at Haifa, as I -intended, and go up to Bethlehem with them for Christmas. After all, I -may be more useful when I return to Thracia than if I had rushed to -measure my strength against the new Ministry at once, and had failed.” - -“Quite so,” returned Colonel Czartoriski, with anxious cordiality. “I -am certain your Greatness will find it the best plan to remain -quiescent until you see a chance to strike effectually. And, moreover, -there are other reasons why I should congratulate you on having -undertaken your pilgrimage this year. After a very few months -Palestine will be closed to Christians.” - -“Closed to Christians!” cried the Bishop incredulously. - -“Has your Greatness not heard that the whole country has been sold to -the Jews?” - -“I heard that Count Mortimer--like a discarded servant who takes to -brigandage--was trying to bring about something of the sort, but in -passing through Vindobona on my way to the East I fell in with Prince -Soudaroff, who assured me that everything was ready for the -destruction of the scheme, and the political annihilation of the -Mortimer.” - -“Alas! events have not stood still while your Greatness was beyond the -reach of telegraphs and newspapers. Count Mortimer is so far from -being annihilated that he feels it quite safe to leave Thracian -affairs in the hands of Prince Mirkovics, while he himself looks after -his larger interests here. He has bribed the Grand Seignior to sell -the country to him on behalf of the Jews, and next Easter he intends -to be crowned in Jerusalem the first king of the Jewish State!” - -The manifest improbability of this forecast did not strike Bishop -Philaret. “And the Holy Places?” he ejaculated. - -“I believe their inviolability is to be guaranteed by the Powers. But -a paper guarantee!--your Greatness knows what that is, something that -the Jews will tear up as soon as the Powers need money.” - -“We will preach a holy war against Mortimer and his Jews!” cried the -Bishop. “The Orthodox of Scythia and the Balkans will rise in their -millions, and free the Holy Places for ever from the dogs.” - -“But the conflict would be terrible, even if we were successful. Let -your Greatness reflect a moment. The Jews can hire -soldiers--Protestants, Moslems, Pagans even--and there will be plenty -of Hebrews who have been forced to serve in the Scythian armies to -lead them. And if Sigismund of Hercynia should be seized with an -impulse to take their part----” - -“I see, I see,” interrupted the Bishop hastily. “But is there no hope -of sowing dissension among the Jews? If those of one country alone -could be brought to detach themselves from this infamous alliance, its -power would be broken. I would support--even propose--concessions, -substantial concessions, for the Jews in Thracia, if they would -consent to abandon Count Mortimer’s scheme.” - -“It would be useless. By means of some extraordinary system of -terrorism, the originators of the plan have contrived to force all the -Jews in the world to enter into combination with them. I questioned -Speyerl, the Princess’s Vindobona banker, on the subject as I came out -here, but he would tell me nothing. I could see that his mouth watered -at the thought of the profit he might make if he broke loose from his -countrymen, but he assured me he durst not do it.” - -“The thought of the next world has little terror for a Jew,” said the -Bishop, with a laugh. “Count Mortimer has probably made use of very -mundane threats.” - -“As mundane as his own hopes,” agreed Colonel Czartoriski. “Has your -Greatness guessed who is to share with him the throne he intends to -establish in Jerusalem? No other than your late beloved and venerated -regent, her Majesty Queen Ernestine!” - -Bishop Philaret sprang to his feet, and an exclamation broke from him -which in a layman would have been called an oath, but from his -ecclesiastical lips was doubtless a solemn curse. If there was one -person whom he hated more than Cyril, it was Queen Ernestine, who had -refused him the Metropolitical mitre thirteen years before, preferring -to dismiss M. Drakovics and risk a revolution rather than consent to -his appointment. For some minutes he strode up and down the room, -alternately muttering anathemas and gnawing his beard, then halted -abruptly before Colonel Czartoriski. - -“See here,” he said rapidly, “I will force my way into this convent at -Brutli, and demand an interview with the Queen. She knows me of -old--that I do not hesitate to strike--and I will make her understand -that if she desires to see her lover again alive, he must give up both -the Jews and his schemes of self-aggrandisement.” - -“It is useless,” said Colonel Czartoriski again. “Her Majesty will not -receive your Greatness. She refuses even to see me, although I am the -bearer of a letter from my august mistress. There can be no doubt that -Mortimer has warned her to receive only visitors accredited by -himself. You would see no one but Mlle. Mirkovics, who will tell her -mistress just as much or as little as she chooses.” - -“Yes, the Mirkovics girl would face the devil and all his angels in -the Queen’s behalf,” said the Bishop, not perceiving with what -unpleasant company he was associating Colonel Czartoriski and himself; -“but,” he spoke lightly, “if this is the case, my conscience is clear. -I was merely desirous of warning her Majesty to keep her lover out of -harm’s way. Curiously enough, it is a fact that the pilgrims with whom -I hope to travel southwards from Haifa are extremely -enthusiastic--even fanatical--in their attachment to our holy and -orthodox faith.” - -“True,” said Colonel Czartoriski, “and Count Mortimer is travelling -northwards from the Egyptian frontier. It would be sad indeed if he -met with any accident.” - -“Nothing could be more lamentable,” agreed the Bishop. “In fact, I -feel it my duty to take precautions lest anything of the kind should -occur. The simple pilgrims may quite possibly have imbibed wrong ideas -of his doings, and I will therefore make a point of explaining his -true character to them. I need scarcely say that I shall warn them -expressly and in set terms against using any violence if they should -happen to find themselves in his neighbourhood.” - -“The advice is only what might be expected from your Greatness,” said -Colonel Czartoriski gravely. “It would be too cruel if all the care -Count Mortimer has taken to divert suspicion from his -intentions--approaching his goal by such a lengthy route and such -gradual stages--were to be wasted.” - -“And how sad it would be if Queen Ernestine were to see a dead body -carried into her convent, instead of welcoming a living lover!” cried -the Bishop, his teeth displayed in a smile that could only be called -wolfish. - - -The two plotters at Damascus and the Princess of Dardania would have -been equally surprised to learn that they had credited Cyril with a -greater degree of caution than he possessed. No letter had passed from -him to Queen Ernestine, and it was not with the idea of concealing his -true destination that he approached Palestine from the south. Two -motives, the existence of which was scarcely confessed even to -himself, he allowed to sway him. One was the determination to do his -duty to the utmost before gratifying his personal wishes, which sprang -rather from pride in his own self-mastery than from any ascetic notion -of self-denial, but the other was a dread lest his humiliation should -after all be in vain. Ernestine might spurn him as he had once spurned -her. Cyril did not care to contemplate this possibility, but the mere -thought made him willing to defer the time when it might become a -fact. Attended by his three inseparable followers, he pursued his -journey without hurry, and also without undue delay, halting here and -there to meet the heads of a Jewish community, and explain the -significance of the new state of affairs. Encouragement was little -needed at this juncture, except in the case of those Jews who had -hitherto regarded the Zionist movement with suspicion or dislike. All -the rest appeared to have taken a step forward--the step from bondage -to freedom, from despair to hope--and many were already preparing -their possessions for the journey to Palestine, awaiting only the -summons to start. - -At Vindobona Mansfield made the acquaintance of Dr Koepfle, to whom -the Chevalier Goldberg was fond of alluding as the brain of Zionism. -It struck him as quaintly curious that the man who had been chiefly -instrumental in arousing an enthusiasm unprecedented in modern times -should himself be enthusiastic purely as a matter of business. -Business-like from head to foot was Dr Koepfle, intent on giving -practical form to the dreams of many generations, and crystallising -the vague maxims of scattered visionaries into a workable -constitution. He was not ashamed to confess that it was the intolerant -Anti-Semitism of his Christian fellow-subjects that had first -suggested to him the possibility of a refuge over-seas for his race. -Nay, his mind was so severely practical that he had been willing to -look to the New World for a colonising ground when the difficulties in -the way of obtaining land in Palestine seemed insuperable. In the same -business-like spirit he accepted Cyril’s co-operation, displaying -neither the _empressement_ of the Chevalier nor the distrustfulness of -Dr Texelius. Cyril, on his side, declared to Mansfield that it was the -most refreshing thing on earth to come across a man who was content to -accept facts as they were. Capable of meeting men of the world on -equal terms, Dr Koepfle was able, on the occasion of conferring with -his compatriots, to pump up as much serviceable enthusiasm as assisted -him to lead them in the right way, without either chilling their zeal -or allowing himself to be carried away by it. With the harshness of -youth, Mansfield suggested that an enthusiasm which could be folded up -and put away so conveniently might merely be assumed on particular -occasions; but Cyril told him that he had failed to allow for the -contagious influence of the emotion dominating a crowd. - -At Trieste they fell in with a Zionist of a very different type, for -here Rabbi Schaul had taken up his abode for a time, in order to -bestow his blessing on the members of his flock now to be found on -board every steamer leaving for Palestine. Sauntering down to the quay -to look for their own vessel, Cyril and Mansfield found themselves -accosted by a venerable white-bearded man in shabby robes of black, -who raised his hands heavenwards and called down blessings in sonorous -Hebrew on the head of the liberator of Israel, following up his words -by bowing low enough to kiss the hem of Cyril’s coat. Then turning to -the Jews who stood around, gazing in astonishment at the homage paid -by their renowned teacher to a Gentile, he explained to them in Jargon -that when the Temple was rebuilt, and Messiah reigned in Jerusalem, -this stranger would undoubtedly be admitted to the royal table as a -guest, not as a servant like other Gentiles, and allowed to feast on -the flesh of Leviathan, since it was owing to him that the desolations -of Zion were about to be repaired. Mansfield listened, deeply moved, -although he understood only a word here and there. He treasured up the -incident for Philippa, wishing she could have witnessed it for -herself, for he knew that its pathos would have touched her keenly. As -for Cyril, he freed himself good-humouredly from the old man, waving -aside the throng of disciples who were prepared to follow his example, -and called to Mansfield to come on board quickly. - -“You know, Rabbi, that I don’t care to advertise myself,” he said. - -“But how are we to refrain from showing our gratitude to your -Excellency?” asked Rabbi Schaul. “Here are all these sons of Israel -leaving the house of bondage for the promised land, and many are gone -already. Many more are going in the spring, and I myself among them. -How can I forget that, thanks to your Excellency, I shall in truth -keep the Passover next year in Jerusalem?” - -Cyril nodded pleasantly, and took refuge on board his steamer, where -he expressed to Mansfield his satisfaction that Alexandria was their -destination, and not Beyrout or Haifa, for which ports these fervid -Zionists were bound. - -In Egypt, indeed, there proved to be little that was fervid about the -patriotism of the Jewish community. Its members were as business-like -as Dr Koepfle, but with this difference--that they had their own -interests in view, and not those of Zion. They treated the acquisition -of Palestine purely as a matter of trade. Doubtless Count Mortimer had -arranged with the Chevalier Goldberg to receive a due reward for his -services, and, now that his work was over, he had nothing to do with -the future of the country. It was the property of the United Nation -Syndicate, and they would exploit it and make the most of its -commercial capabilities for the benefit of the shareholders. It was a -matter for grave discontent that the land was being colonised on such -a large scale by the poor city-Jews of Europe, since the aim ought to -have been to secure immigrants already accustomed to agricultural -life, and not necessarily belonging to the Chosen Race. At present -much time, and therefore money, was being wasted in teaching the new -settlers and correcting their mistakes. Mansfield listened in -sorrowful and wondering disgust while these prosperous people, -themselves secure in their enjoyment of liberty and property under -British rule, talked glibly of the Holy Land as an estate to be worked -for their own advantage, without reference to the needs of their -oppressed brethren. A scheme was even proposed, and largely discussed, -for making the Holy Places more valuable from a pecuniary point of -view, by means of judicious selection and rearrangement. - -“It is so miserably mean and degraded!” Mansfield cried angrily to -Cyril, who had rallied him on his sour looks. “These people have the -romance of the ages behind them, and the fulfilment of the prophecies -just ahead, and they think of nothing but cent per cent!” - -“You have been disillusioned, and you speak severely,” said Cyril, -with great sweetness. “I am thankful I never took the trouble to set -up ideals, when I see how other people suffer in seeing theirs -overthrown. But why don’t you blame the tyranny of centuries, which -has reduced the Jews to this lamentable condition? You know the old -excuse, that because the Jew has been allowed to deal with nothing but -money, he has come to think that nothing but money exists.” - -“But the Jew has allowed himself to be degraded.” - -“Oh, come, I see disappointment has made you merciless. Perhaps you -may be induced to modify the rigour of your judgments before long. I -shall be interested to see what you think of Herschel Rubenssohn, the -Ghetto poet, when we meet him in Palestine. He was the pet of London -society a year ago, and now he is a _bonâ fide_ colonist.” - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - THE CHURCH MILITANT AND ORTHODOX. - -It was at a newly-established colony of Scythian Jews in the -neighbourhood of Hebron that the travellers found Herschel Rubenssohn, -roughly clad and labouring with his own hands like one of the -_fellahin_. He had turned his back deliberately upon the days when -English hearts had thrilled in response to his rehearsal of the -tragedy of his race, and the Anti-Semites of the Continent had been -lashed to frenzy by his cutting sarcasm. The pen was laid aside, and -the poet was intent on the best methods of cultivating olives, and on -finding new species of vines unaffected by the diseases which attacked -those native to the country. Even these lowly tasks could not be -performed in peace, for he was called upon incessantly to quell the -disputes which arose among the pale-faced, gaberdined and ringleted -denizens of the Ghetto who were his fellow-colonists. It was his duty, -also, to act as interpreter for them with the Roumi authorities, and -to mediate in the many misunderstandings that broke out between them -and the peasants who worked for them. Cyril’s invitation to dinner he -accepted with unfeigned pleasure, confessing that when he left London -he had little expected ever to regard an opportunity of donning -evening dress as an occasion of rejoicing. The momentary return to the -old life, which he had so often contemned, after the manner of poets, -as false and hollow, was a keen delight to him, and Mansfield found it -hard to believe that the vague-eyed man of the world, who knew his -London so thoroughly, could be one and the same with the industrious -toiler of the morning. Presently, however, the curious effect produced -by the contrast of the sunburnt face with the whiteness of the -forehead where the hat had shaded it attracted his attention. Looking -more closely at the guest, he saw that his delicate hands were -roughened and blistered within, and he conceived a growing admiration -for the man who had voluntarily left a life of ease for one of toil, -purely in the hope of setting an example to his nation. - -But this admiration was not fated to endure very long. As Rubenssohn -grew accustomed to the company in which he found himself, the -vagueness left his eyes. In Cyril he discovered one who appealed to a -different side of his nature, and a mocking spirit took possession of -him. Mansfield and the melancholy Paschics listened with bated breath -while the guest embarked upon a career of destruction, sparing neither -the beliefs common to mankind generally nor those of his own people. -He ridiculed with the utmost impartiality the ideas of love and -immortality, the tyranny of the Law, and the Messianic hopes of Rabbi -Schaul. The keen arrows of his wit played round each subject in turn, -disclosing with cruel certainty the weak spot or the flaw. He made no -attempt to deny the degradation of his people, and in Mansfield’s view -he proposed no remedy for it. He believed in the Jewish race, it -seemed, and he accorded a qualified toleration to Judaism on account -of its services in the preservation of the race, but his Judaism -possessed neither prophecies nor the hope of a Messiah, and existed -independently of any religious sanctions. Its ecclesiastical system -had been evolved naturally enough during the progress of the race, and -ascribed, as other nations ascribed their religions, to the guidance -of a higher power. Freedom, toleration, a more natural mode of life, -these things would in his view raise the Jews far above the level of -other nations, and then the old fetters which had held the race -together might safely be shaken off. Mansfield thought of the -prosperous Jews whom he had met at Alexandria, and who enjoyed all -these blessings already, and his heart rose in revolt against -Rubenssohn’s philosophy. If this was to be the end, if the Jews had -remained a separate people merely that in the end of the ages they -might be better fed, clothed, housed, than the nations, throwing aside -callously the prophecies which had cheered them and the faith that had -sustained them in their sorrows, if they were to be bereft at once of -hope and of religion, then the heaviest of their former woes would be -a lighter curse than their new prosperity. - -“I had rather be in the wrong with Lady Phil and Princess Soudaroff -than in the right with Rubenssohn,” he decided, remembering how often -he had listened to the old lady as she expounded her views on the -Jewish question and her interpretation of prophecy, Philippa at her -side concurring enthusiastically in all that was said. This time, -however, he did not confide his feelings to Cyril. - -Jerusalem was the next place of interest to be reached, and Mansfield -had mapped out for himself a very definite plan for occupying his -leisure hours here. He intended to visit all the missionary -establishments in and around the city in which Lady Caerleon was -interested, and to photograph them and their inmates. Any spare time -was to be devoted to views of Jerusalem itself, and by dint of these -labours Mansfield hoped to provide a peace-offering which would not be -unacceptable to Philippa’s mother, and might even tend to soften her -heart towards him. But his plans were interrupted, and his fair -project brought to a premature conclusion, owing to the greed of human -nature. No sooner was it known that Cyril had arrived in Jerusalem -than his lodgings were fairly besieged. Jews, Mohammedans and -Christians, Syrians, Levantines, Greeks, Albanians, European -adventurers of all nations, crowded to wait upon him. Since the famous -revelations of Dr Texelius, so promptly contradicted by the Pannonian -official papers, nothing had been said of Count Mortimer as a -candidate for the governorship of Palestine, but there appeared to be -a general feeling that the future of the country lay in the hands of -this unpretending traveller, and the time-servers would not lose their -opportunity. Some of them wanted concessions and some contracts, some -Government offices and some commissions in the Jewish army or police, -some wished merely to gain the general goodwill of the possible ruler, -and some were anxious to confer benefits on him, in the shape of -invitations to their houses, or gifts of horses, carpets, and works of -art, without, of course, the slightest ulterior design. Cyril -disappointed them grievously by refusing alike their favours and their -requests, assuring them that he was simply an agent of the Syndicate, -and Mansfield developed a prickly suspiciousness that made him -distrust any one who addressed him civilly. This was the result of an -adventure of his own. Pausing in a back street one day to photograph a -picturesque archway, he was accosted by a respectable citizen, who -invited him into his garden, where was to be seen a piece of ruined -wall on which no tourist’s eye had ever lighted. Mansfield accepted -the invitation, took two or three photographs, and submitted to be -regaled with coffee and sweetmeats, all before he discovered that his -host had recognised him, and was anxious to obtain the contract for -clothing the army of the Jewish State. Then he rose up and fled, with -his faith in humanity sorely shattered, and kept rigidly to the beaten -track until he was rejoiced by Cyril’s decision to leave the city for -a short time. Business was impossible while the envoy was so -persistently mobbed, and it was advisable to pay a flying visit to -Jericho, since a sheikh in the neighbourhood of that place had -threatened to make himself disagreeable with regard to the fords of -the Jordan. - -It was clear that Cyril’s movements must be kept to some extent a -secret, if he was to conduct the negotiations with the Roumi -authorities, for which he had come, without being pursued into the -very audience-chamber by the greedy throng of privilege-hunters. -Accordingly, he put the matter into the hands of the Chevalier -Goldberg’s agent, who secured him quarters for the night at Jericho, -in the house of a wealthy Jew, and despatched beforehand all that was -necessary for comfort. In this way Mansfield and his employer were -able to leave Jerusalem as if for a morning ride, and meeting, when -out of sight of the city, the guide and escort provided for them, ride -on at once to Jericho. The sight of the huge Scythian hospice, -constructed of late years for the accommodation of pilgrims, suggested -to Mansfield that their visit might have excited less remark in the -place if they had sought a lodging there, but Cyril laughed at the -idea. - -“I didn’t know you were so anxious to see the last of me,” he said. -“The monks would indeed think that their enemy was delivered into -their hand, and it would be sheer ingratitude not to prepare a special -cup of coffee for his benefit.” - -The sheikh proved more easy to deal with than had been expected, and -Cyril and Mansfield spent the evening at his village, discussing in -the most friendly spirit the various matters in dispute. As the guests -rode back to their quarters, passing the great fountain called -Ain-es-Sultan, Mansfield directed Cyril’s attention to several lights -which dotted the side of a precipitous mountain about a mile away. - -“What can those be?” he said. “I didn’t see any houses there by -daylight.” - -“That must be Jebel Karantal, the Mount of Temptation,” said Cyril, -“and the lights come from the hermits’ caves. We might ride over there -in the morning, if you are anxious to see the holy men in their native -dirt.” - -As Mansfield reflected that the picture of a real live hermit might -help to console Philippa for all the photographs he had not had time -to take at Jerusalem, he accepted the offer gratefully, and did not -fail to remind Cyril of it the next morning. They rode at an easy pace -across the plain, with its thickets of tamarisk and thorn, starting so -many partridges and other birds that the hunter’s instinct awoke in -Mansfield, and he lamented more than once that they were not spending -several days at Jericho, so as to get a little shooting. Arrived at -the foot of the path which led up the mountain, they found standing -there a horse with a European saddle, in the charge of a native -servant, who told their grooms that his master, a Frank gentleman, had -started about half an hour ago to make the ascent. - -“We are a little late,” said Cyril. “Evidently this place is becoming -popular as a tourist resort. I see a whole horde of Scythian pilgrims -in the distance,” and he pointed to a dingy mass of people, bearing -banners and sacred pictures, and headed by two priests in shining -vestments, that was approaching from the direction of Jericho. “But -they are not likely to have brought cameras with them, and we must -only hope for your sake, Mansfield, that our fellow-countryman has -been equally forgetful.” - -Leaving their horses with the grooms, they began to make the ascent of -the mountain, finding the only path that offered itself alarmingly -narrow and steep. It grew worse instead of better higher up, and when -they were between three and four hundred feet above the plain, Cyril -wiped his heated brow and sat down upon a large stone which lay -temptingly in the shadow of the rock, on a ledge into which the path -widened at this point. - -“I draw the line here, Mansfield. I may be getting old, but my life is -valuable to me, and I don’t feel justified in endangering it by any -further breakneck feats. If you are conscious of a yearning to risk -your neck on that giddy ascent in front, by way of emulating a fly -walking up a wall, pray go on, and I will sit here and await -developments. It will be some consolation to your afflicted relatives -that I am at hand to give your scattered remains decent burial.” - -Mansfield had been carrying his camera under his arm, but now he slung -it over his shoulder by its strap, so as to leave his hands free, -laughing as he did so, and applied himself to the further climb with -heroic determination, steadfastly avoiding the temptation to look -downwards. If his glance strayed for a moment from the almost -perpendicular path to the sheer precipice below, he felt sure that -nothing could save him from making personal acquaintance with its -depths. Presently he came to another ledge, which formed the approach -to the mouth of a cave, but glancing into the semi-darkness within the -dwelling, he caught sight of a pith helmet. It was clear that the -tourist whose horse they had seen below was talking to the hermit, and -Mansfield seized joyfully the opportunity of outstripping him and -reaching the summit first. Another terrific climb brought him to the -foot of an unsafe-looking flight of wooden steps, at the top of which -an elderly monk, very fat and very dirty, stood smiling hospitably. -Mansfield unstrapped his camera and photographed him in the act, then -accepted his beaming invitation to mount the steps to his cave. Here -he took one or two more photographs, making gallant attempts the while -to talk to his host in classical Greek pronounced in the modern -fashion, and smiling broadly, by way of making his goodwill evident. -His conversation or his smiles, or both, seemed to win the heart of -the hermit, for he found himself invited, partly by signs, to sling -the camera over his shoulder again, preparatory to climbing another -dizzy ascent, at the summit of which was situated the rock-hewn chapel -of which his host was the guardian. This was exactly what Mansfield -was most anxious to see, and he accepted the invitation with alacrity, -but stepped first to the edge of the little rock platform, in order to -estimate its distance from the plain. - -To his surprise the greater part of the way he had traversed was -clearly visible, and he could see Cyril peacefully smoking a cigar -where he had left him. Receiving a wave of the hand in answer to his -shout, he was about to follow his guide up the face of the rock, which -at this point justified Cyril’s comparison by appearing quite -perpendicular, when his attention was attracted by the sight of a -crowd of people gathered round the horses and their grooms at the foot -of the hill. They were the Scythian pilgrims whom Cyril had pointed -out to him, and they were buzzing round the horses like a swarm of -angry bees. For a moment he thought they must be intending to steal -them, then he told himself that the presence of the grooms would -prevent that: the pilgrims were merely examining the novel English -saddles. He began the ascent, but, before passing round a projecting -rock which would cut off his view, he looked down again at the plain. -The pilgrims had quitted the horses, and were rushing up the path in a -confused mass, priests and people mixed together, one man only being a -little in advance. Mansfield’s heart misgave him, and he pointed out -the crowd to the hermit; but it did not need the old man’s raised -hands and look of shocked surprise to tell him that the pilgrims -should have mounted the hill in slow procession, singing solemn -litanies, and not with this indecorous haste. Cyril’s allusion of the -day before to the monks of the Scythian hospice recurred to him, and, -explaining hastily to the hermit that he must go back at once, he -turned to retrace his steps. He tried to shout a warning from the -platform in front of the cave; but it was evident that Cyril regarded -his frenzied gestures merely as the result of an ebullition of animal -spirits, for he waved his hand with the same placidity as before. -Giving up the attempt to make himself understood, Mansfield addressed -his energies afresh to the task of descending, which proved to be even -more difficult and dangerous than that of ascending had been. He was -out of sight of Cyril now; but before he had covered half the distance -that separated them, a sound mounted to his ear which made him hurl -away his camera and dash headlong down the path, regardless of his own -safety. It was the crack of a revolver, the sound of which travelled -far in the clear air. - -In the meantime, Cyril, smoking quietly on his fragment of rock, and -all unconscious of danger, was disturbed by the noise of angry voices. -Almost as they reached his ear, a haggard man, in the flat cap and -long, dull-grey coat of the Scythian peasant, rushed round the corner -of the path, and recoiled precipitately on catching sight of him. - -“Odd!” said Cyril to himself. “Mad, perhaps,” and mechanically his -hand sought his revolver in its accustomed pocket. His fingers had -scarcely closed upon it when the throng of pilgrims burst upon him -with furious shouts, and he had barely time to set his back against -the rocky wall before he found himself confronted by a semicircle of -angry faces, clenched fists, and menacing clubs. - -“Kill him! kill the renegade!” was the cry. “Kill the traitor, and -save the Holy Places from the Jewish dogs!” - -“You had better go on your way quietly,” shouted Cyril in his best -Scythian. “I am armed,” and he drew out the revolver. - -“There are stones enough!” cried a voice, and a man who had found a -point of vantage flung a jagged piece of rock which struck Cyril on -the temple. The sight of the flowing blood appeared to stimulate the -ferocity of the mob, and deprive its members of such hesitation as -they may have felt in throwing themselves upon a solitary man, for -they sprang forward with a howl. Cyril had only time to fire one shot -into the air, in the hope partly of attracting Mansfield’s notice and -partly of frightening his assailants, before his right arm was broken -by a blow from a club as he raised the revolver, which dropped from -his hand. Hustled, beaten, and knocked about, the blood streaming from -his face, he had one thing, and only one, in his favour, and this was -that the pilgrims were so closely pressed together on the narrow ledge -as to be unable to get him down and trample upon him. Presently he -became aware that one of them, who must have caught it as it fell, was -holding the revolver to his head. Before the trigger could be pulled, -however, the voice of a priest, who had mounted upon the fragment of -rock upon which the victim had been sitting, rang like a trumpet -across the din. - -“No shots! no shots! Will you give the heathen Roumis cause to accuse -us of murder? Throw the apostate over the precipice, so that it may -not be known whose hand executed judgment upon him.” - -The man who held the revolver tossed it away reluctantly, and joined -with the rest in attempting to hustle Cyril to the edge of the path. -Crippled as he was, he fought savagely, contesting every inch of -ground, determined not to give his assailants the opportunity of -seizing him and hurling him down headlong. “If I go over, I won’t go -alone,” was the thought in his mind; and he fixed on a huge fellow, -whose efforts to catch him up bodily he had successfully foiled, as -the companion whom he would clutch with his last strength and drag to -destruction in his company. The unequal struggle was approaching its -only possible end as Cyril was driven farther and farther from the -rock. The pilgrims nearest the brink were beginning to edge away to -the right and left in order to secure their own safety, thereby -lessening the pressure on that side and adding to the force arrayed -against the doomed man, when a bullet whizzed past Cyril’s ear and -buried itself in the shoulder of the giant on whom he had decided as -his comrade in the fatal plunge. - -“Bravo, Mansfield!” Cyril gathered breath to shout; but before the -words were out of his mouth there was another shot, and the club fell -from an uplifted hand which was brandishing it over his head. Crack! -crack! crack! came the sharp whip-like reports, and man after man -pushed his way, cursing, out of the mass, each effectually disabled -for the time, but not one mortally wounded so far as Cyril could see. - -“Mansfield never fired those shots!” was his mental comment, as the -number of his assailants continued to diminish, until only a few -remained on the ledge, making no attempt to molest him, but looking -about in bewilderment to see where the shots came from. - -“Git!” said a stentorian voice which seemed to resound from overhead, -and the crestfallen pilgrims, grasping the meaning of the -monosyllable, embraced with thankfulness the permission accorded them -to retire. Once safely round the corner of the rock, they collected -their wounded and made their way down the hill. The speaker--a lean, -elderly man in white clothes and a pith helmet--kept them covered with -his revolver until they were out of sight, then let himself lightly -down to the path, and approached Cyril, who had sunk on the ground in -perilous proximity to the edge of the precipice. - -“Well, sir?” he asked slowly. - -“I am infinitely indebted to you,” said Cyril, looking up with -difficulty as his rescuer reached him. - -“Not you, sir,” was the prompt reply. “When I saw those Scythian -cusses preparing a new Holy Place for themselves by conducting a -Christian martyrdom on this spot, it struck me that Scythia had quite -as many Holy Places in this territory as was healthy for her, so I -just started in with my six-shooter right away. You bet it went to my -heart not to lay out two or three of the fellows, and specially the -reverend gentleman that took the rock for a pulpit; but I know the -ways of the Roumi authorities, and I didn’t want my business -interrupted by a judicial inquiry any more than you would. But I guess -there’s a dozen or so that will carry about with ’em for some time a -pleasing little souvenir of me, any way.” - -While the stranger spoke, he had been helping Cyril gently back to his -former seat on the stone, and now began to bind up the wound in his -head with a handkerchief. - -“Surely I know your voice?” said Cyril faintly. “It seems quite -familiar, and yet I can’t recall where I have heard it.” - -The rescuer ceased his work, and stepped back for a moment. “The same -as ever!” he exclaimed in admiration. “Sir, I have many a time heard -you called the first gentleman in Europe, but I never expected you -would remember me, when the last deal we did together was over twenty -years ago.” - -“Mr Hicks of the ‘Crier’?” asked Cyril, with an uncertain smile. - -“Sir, you are correct. Elkanah B. Hicks, of the ‘Empire City Crier,’ -who would be sitting in the head office of that paper as news editor -at this moment if he was not a fool. But he has got the wandering -strain in his blood, and threw up his berth to come out here, with the -excuse that it needed the best man the paper had got to fathom you, -Count.” - -“I am flattered. Then it was not Turkish you spoke just now?” - -“No, sir. I dispersed that crowd by means of the beautiful language -which is the common heritage of your nation and mine. Do you find -yourself comfortably fixed now, Count?” - -He stepped back again to look critically at his work, just as -Mansfield, with blazing eyes and panting breath, charged down upon the -ledge, revolver in hand. - -“Thank God you’re safe, sir!” he cried, with something like a sob. -“Where are the villains?” - -“Hold him, Hicks!” cried Cyril feebly, as his secretary dashed past -him in the direction taken by the fugitives. “He is suffering from the -usual British malady, and yearns to go and kill something. He isn’t -safe.” - -“Young man,” said Mr Hicks, flinging his sinewy arms round the -intending avenger, and holding him fast, “the bugle has sounded the -‘cease fire,’ and I guess you had better obey. Here’s your boss with a -broken arm and pretty near bleeding to death, and no doctor in this -forsaken locality but the one at the Scythian hospice. I reckon we -won’t requisition his services, but I shall want your help if I am to -fix things myself, old campaigner though I am. Give me that -shooting-iron for the present. Those things have a nasty trick of -going off of themselves when a young fellow is seeing red.” - -Sobered by Mr Hicks’s speech, and very much ashamed of his temporary -madness, Mansfield surrendered his revolver, and returned to Cyril’s -side, feeling an irresistible inclination to choke. - -“My dear youth, don’t be an idiot,” said Cyril, and the lump in -Mansfield’s throat vanished instantly. He even laughed, in a husky and -shame-faced manner. - -“That’s better,” said Mr Hicks. “Take this chunk of wood, my young -friend, and split it in two, if you have a knife about you.” He handed -him one of the broken clubs with which the pilgrims had been armed -instead of the regulation staves, and Mansfield succeeded in obtaining -two fairly suitable pieces of wood, rounded on one side and flat on -the other. The surgeon continued to improve the occasion even while -the operation of setting the broken arm was proceeding, talking -meditatively as he worked, perhaps with the benevolent intention of -diverting the patient’s thoughts from what was going on. - -“Yes, young man, I like your face, and I guess I don’t object to your -grit; but you’ll have to learn how to take things. A week as a special -in war time would teach you a thing or two. What’s happened to that -kodak of yours, now? I saw you figuring around with it while I was -interviewing the old nigger who calls himself a saint up there. You -hurled it away, did you, just as if it was a rock? and all the -pictures with it that you had concluded to take home to your best -girl? Now what a wicked waste! Pull, pull harder; that’s right. Keep -cool, young man; the frozen deep is not a circumstance to the coolness -you want before you’ll make a good man at a pinch.” - -With such cheerful counsels as these Mr Hicks lightened the gloom of -the painful process he had in hand, but Mansfield scarcely heard them, -in his anxiety for Cyril. At last the patient opened his eyes and -said, “Don’t be too hard on him, Hicks. He’s a good chap all round.” -The busy surgeon nodded. - -“I guess I’d turn him out a better if I had him on the ‘Crier’ staff,” -he said; but when the work was over, and Mansfield had gone to fetch -the servants, that they might lend their aid in carrying Cyril down -the path, Mr Hicks smiled confidentially at his patient. - -“That young man has a heart of gold, sir, and worships your very -shadow. It’s not his fault that he hasn’t enjoyed my experience, -though it might have been awkward for you if I hadn’t chanced to be -wandering around in these parts. I guess, if you’ll allow me, that -I’ll fix my camp next to yours while you stay at Jericho. The wily -Scythian will find that it’s another story when he has to do business -with Elkanah B. Hicks.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - A GROUND OF HOPE. - -Cyril’s troubles were by no means over when he had been carried -across the plain to Jericho, with infinite difficulty, upon a litter -made by tying branches together with handkerchiefs and turbans. His -Jewish host listened with a terrified countenance to the story of the -attack, and although he did not actually entreat his guests to quit -his roof, he expressed dismal apprehensions as to its safety if they -remained under its shelter. Finding that they did not take the hint, -he withdrew to lament the state of affairs with his family, if the -sounds of weeping and wailing that followed were to be accepted as -evidence. Mansfield was disposed to ridicule his conduct as the result -merely of constitutional cowardice, but Mr Hicks pointed out to him -the strong probability that the man’s fears were well founded. A -second band of pilgrims was expected that evening at the Scythian -hospice, and it was not in human nature that the morning’s assailants, -thus reinforced, should resist the temptation to wipe out their -defeat. That motive would be sufficient, even without the hope of -killing the man whom they regarded honestly and with full conviction -as Antichrist. Clearly there was no time to be lost, and after a visit -to the authorities, which resulted in their posting a ragged and -half-armed guard about the house, Mansfield started on a hurried ride -to Jerusalem to consult the Chevalier Goldberg’s agent. It was with no -small reluctance that he consented to leave Cyril, even though Mr -Hicks had sworn to fight in his defence until the house fell in ruins -around them. Still, not only the lives of the party but the future of -the Jewish cause hung upon this day’s doings, and since Cyril was -unable to decide upon the steps to be taken, the Chevalier was the -most suitable person to do so. - -In the course of the night Mansfield returned, half-dead with fatigue, -but accompanied by an escort of soldiers, and provided with full -directions for the future. Cyril was to be carried in a mule-litter to -an estate belonging to the Chevalier at Urtas, some miles to the south -of Jerusalem, where he could remain in safety until he was well again. -The agent would send out furniture and provisions, and see that the -place was properly guarded, and neither the hostile pilgrims nor the -Jerusalem concession-hunters were to be allowed to know where their -victim had taken refuge. A rest of an hour or so was all that was -granted to Mansfield and the soldiers, for Cyril’s host was on thorns -to get him out of the house. Mr Hicks, who had tacitly invited himself -to remain in medical charge of the patient, ordered a start soon after -daybreak, and Mansfield and he heaved a sigh of relief as they left -the house, only less fervent than that of the Hebrew who had succeeded -in getting rid of them. The travellers took the road to Jerusalem, but -turned southwards before reaching the city, and continued in that -direction until they arrived at the boundary of the Chevalier’s -estate. Here the steward, at the head of a well-armed body of -gardeners and husbandmen, welcomed the visitors in his master’s name, -and the escort, their duty performed, accepted a hearty meal and -sundry presents, and returned to Jerusalem. - -Life at Urtas was at once business-like and unconventional. The estate -was practically a huge botanical garden, in which experiments were -made in acclimatising foreign plants and improving by scientific -cultivation the products of the country. The house was merely a large -native dwelling, of no great pretensions, but the agent had sent out -from Jerusalem a wealth of rich carpets, bright-hued draperies, and -luxurious cushions, together with the irreducible minimum of European -furniture, as represented by a shaky table and four assorted chairs. -His care had even gone so far as to provide a Greek cook and a box of -books, the latter principally French and Italian novels of an -unimproving tendency. During the first few days Cyril was unable to do -anything but recline upon the cushioned divans and enjoy the Oriental -luxury of his surroundings, but before long the effect of the shock he -had received passed away, together with certain feverish symptoms -which had alarmed Mr Hicks at Jericho. Considerably before he could -fairly be called convalescent he was as busy as ever, although his -broken arm forbade him to write for himself. Every day the agent -forwarded from Jerusalem a huge pile of letters and telegrams, dealing -with all the complicated issues raised by the political situation, and -Cyril dictated the answers from his divan while Mansfield and -Paschics, who had joined the party from Jerusalem, took it in turns to -write, and Mr Hicks lounged in the verandah, looking in at the workers -now and then with a benevolent caution not to overdo things. When the -letters were finished, Paschics, who was less likely to be recognised -than either his colleague or the American, would ride with them to -Jerusalem, often bringing back a second instalment of correspondence -with him in the evening. - -Nothing relating to the affairs of Zion could be settled without -Cyril’s advice, for the political barometer showed one of the curious -lulls which the wise in such matters consider to herald an approaching -storm. The Powers, cajoled, bribed, or threatened one by one into -submitting to the Jewish acquisition of Palestine, were waiting, all -dissatisfied but each reluctant to be the first to move, to see what -the Jews would do. At the New Year the control of the Holy Places was -to be handed over to the consular body, as representing united -Christendom, and the Roumi officials would give place to a Jewish -provisional government, under the suzerainty of the Grand Seignior. -The formation of this Cabinet, as it might be called, was one of the -most delicate tasks before the leaders of the movement. In order to -uphold the theory of representative institutions, dear to the hearts -of Dr Koepfle and his school, it was necessary that the members should -be formally elected by the Children of Zion throughout the world, -voting according to their “tents” or lodges. Whether representative -institutions stood or fell, however, it was obviously indispensable -that the persons chosen should not be obnoxious to the Powers, and -should be willing to maintain friendly, even respectful, relations -with the United Nation Syndicate. Cyril’s Balkan experience had left -him little to learn in the matter of conducting an election from -above, and it was to him that harassed wire-pullers appealed in every -difficulty. Frantic telegrams poured in upon him when a “tent” refused -steadily to vote for the candidate recommended to it by headquarters, -or when all the “tents” of one country plumped for Dr Texelius, who -was not one of the official candidates, to the huge delight of the -Anti-Semitic press, or when, as happened in England, those Jews who -were opposed to political Zionism made a vigorous attempt to capture -all the “tents” of the country, with the view of electing a -reactionary Cabinet. The wire-pullers did not appeal in vain, and even -Mr Hicks was moved to admiration by Cyril’s strategy, giving it as his -opinion that Tammany could afford to learn a trick or two from -Thracia. - -The result of the election was to fill the prospective Cabinet with -men holding moderate views and willing to be guided; and if they were -virtually the nominees of Cyril and the Syndicate, this fact was not -likely to make the task of government less easy, but rather the -reverse. Cyril could not but be aware, although he gave no sign of -having perceived the fact, that to the Jews who were now crowding into -Palestine he was the Moses of this second Exodus. They were coming, -not with a wild rush, but in orderly bands, each family or individual -selected by the “tent” to which it or he belonged, and allowed to -start only when the necessary land had been secured in Palestine. The -genius of Dr Koepfle directed this migration with almost mathematical -accuracy; but Cyril’s name bulked far more largely before the world -than his, and there could be little doubt that when the immigrants -were invited to designate by means of a _plébiscite_ the man who -should rule them, they would vote unanimously for Count Mortimer. - -But this consummation, however devoutly to be wished, was at present -merely in the clouds. The Constitution which was to be administered by -the provisional government had been drawn up by the foremost Jewish -jurists--which is almost equivalent to saying the principal -Continental lawyers--and had gone the round of the Powers for approval -and criticism. It guaranteed freedom of conscience, freedom of trade, -and every political blessing that the human heart could in theory -desire, to people of all creeds and all nationalities, and yet the -Powers were not satisfied, although no one could suggest any -improvement. The lowering state of the political sky carried Cyril’s -mind back to the days when Caerleon and he had held the fort in -Thracia, alone against Europe, and when the only thing that saved them -from annihilation was the mutual jealousy of the Powers. “Nothing will -succeed here but success,” he said to himself, as he had said then. -“While each of them is waiting to see what the rest will do, we may -pull the thing through.” And he chafed the more under the physical -weakness which kept him tied at Urtas, when he might have been putting -his fortune to the touch, and gaining not only the position which his -Jewish friends desired for him, but also the happiness which up to -this point he had contrived to miss in his life. - - -Mansfield was very happy during this sojourn at Urtas. His work was -hard and the hours long, but he found time for a good deal of out-door -recreation. The agent had provided horses for the party, of a very -different type from the serviceable beasts which they had procured for -their journeys, and Mansfield loved all horses; while in the estate -and the model farm he found a whole world of delight. The steward, a -shrewd and ponderous Dutch Jew, told him when he heard of his path in -life that he was a good farmer spoilt, but Mansfield was quite content -to regard farming as merely a holiday amusement. It would not bring -him nearer to Philippa, which was what he hoped his secretaryship -would do. - -Sometimes Mr Hicks would join him in his rides, and generally on these -occasions they went hunting, as the natives called it, dignifying with -this lofty name a little quail- and partridge-shooting, for Mansfield -drew the line at shooting a fox, much to the disappointment of his -attendants. It was on their return from one of these rides that the -American said casually-- - -“Say, Mr Mansfield, not come to any notion yet what your boss has got -on his mind, have you?” - -“On his mind?” repeated Mansfield, in astonishment. “Nothing more than -the work and the political situation, I suppose.” - -“I guess that would be about enough for most men,” said Mr Hicks -grimly; “but there’s something else wrong with him, He’s just pining -to make tracks from this place right now.” - -“I haven’t noticed it,” said Mansfield, intending the remark as a -snub. - -“You bet your life you haven’t, Mr Mansfield. You weren’t meant to.” - -“But what is it?” Mansfield turned to face his tormentor; “and how do -you know anything about it?” - -“Well, sir, if you saw a man fretting like a spirited horse to find -himself held fast in one place, and working all he knew to keep -himself from thinking, and all the time taking no proper pleasure in -his work or anything, what would be your opinion of that man?” - -“He might be in fear of his life,”--this was intended to be sarcastic; -“or he might”--reluctantly--“be in love.” - -“Sir, you have hit the very central point of the bull’s-eye. That’s -what’s wrong with the boss.” - -“I don’t see that it concerns you if it is.” - -“There’s no lady in Palestine that he might have been on his way to -interview?” continued Mr Hicks imperturbably. - -“You mean that Queen--Queen Ernestine of Thracia?” asked Mansfield -blankly. Could it be possible that the moral problem Cyril had -propounded to him before leaving Ludwigsbad had been based upon -Cyril’s own experience? - -“That’s my notion,” was the cheerful reply. - -“But why wait so long, and go so far round?” - -“Because he’s half ashamed of coming back to her anyhow, and half of -being so long about it,” said Mr Hicks concisely. - -“I don’t see how you know that.” - -“Sir, I was at Bellaviste when King Michael came of age. You bet I -made things hum in New York with my reports of the festivities, and -the other specials had to fly around to get even with me, but when it -came to Count Mortimer’s dismissal the ‘Crier’ fairly took the cake. -The hours I spent hanging around at that Palace, working up all the -ins and outs of the affair from the servants and minor officials! But -it paid, sir, it paid. I wrote up the incident for the paper in my -most elegant style--real high-toned dramatic situations, heart-rending -pathos, and all the rest. I tell you, Mr Mansfield, those sheets were -wet with the scalding tears of the most beautiful women in America. -The Four Hundred was divided; half the ladies took the Queen’s side, -and half the Count’s--and where will you find a stronger testimony to -the fairness with which I had done my work? There wasn’t a likeness of -either of ’em left in a single store from one end of the Union to the -other. And having gone into the case to that extent, you tell me I’m -not even in the ring!” - -“By the bye,” said Mansfield, still impenitent, “what miles of -interviews you must be sending off to your paper every day now!” - -“I am doing my duty to the ‘Crier,’ sir. I was sent out to keep an eye -on all the proceedings in this transfer of Palestine, in which my -country has as large an interest as yours, and I am informed that all -the Churches in the States are subscribing to the paper since my -descriptive articles on the crisis started to appear. There’s not a -half-starved home missionary or a New Rush school-ma’am out West but -cherishes the hope of seeing Palestine before sending in their checks -at last, and they all calculate to have a share in the country. We are -giving ’em what they want--not a move in this high political game but -they hear of it, and if intelligent interest was allowed any weight, -the territory would be ours. But since it’s not likely that your -played-out old Powers will conclude to appoint America the guardian of -Palestine, as they ought to do if they want the property developed to -any extent, why, I am booming your boss all I know. When the pinch -comes, the great American nation will hurl itself solid on the side of -Cyril de B. Mortimer, and it would not surprise me if he took his -stand under the fostering wings of the American eagle. He knows who -are his friends, and would as lief do a deal with ’em in a friendly -spirit as not. He gives me an item or two most every day for my paper, -and is ready all the time to favour me with his opinions,--not like -some of your fine old crusted diplomats, who wouldn’t open their -mouths to save their lives. Now there was Sir Dugald Haigh, a real -petrified old chunk of British oak, no less. I was in Ethiopia for the -paper at the time of his Mission, close upon fifteen years ago now, -and not a word to be got out of any of ’em. Kept me fooling around the -servants’ quarters, trying to find out what they were doing, and -wasting my valuable time. Well, there’s something mysterious about -these things, any way----” - -“Well?” asked Mansfield, for Mr Hicks had paused darkly. - -“Well, sir, that Mission was next door to a failure.” - -“Perhaps that was not altogether the fault of the Ethiopians, was it?” - -“Mr Mansfield, I guess I’m a white man. You don’t find me taking sides -with niggers against my own colour. No, sir. The fat was just saved by -Mr Stratford, the second in command (he’s Sir Egerton now and your -Ambassador at Czarigrad), who snatched it out of the fire when we were -all making our wills, but Sir Dugald had no hand in it. And now, -instead of prancing around in a coronet and ermine robes in the House -of Lords, that old man is buried up in Scotland somewhere, cultivating -oatmeal and a little literature--that is to say, he makes himself a -general nuisance by writing to the ‘Times’ when there’s any question -on hand connected with foreign politics.” - -“Well?” asked Mansfield again. - -“Well, sir, the boss is not that sort. He knows where the pay-dirt -lies, as I said, and things will pan out as he means ’em to. If he -concludes that he didn’t treat the lady you mentioned handsomely, he -may go back to her, but if he does, it’ll be because it suits his -book.” - -“Look here,” said Mansfield, “if you go on making these vile -insinuations against him any more, you and I shall quarrel.” - -“You bet!” was the unsympathetic reply. “No, sir, when a man finds -himself able to hitch his conscience and his convenience to his waggon -together, all that the public can do is to admire his team. Why it -should turn ugly and make nasty remarks on the harness I don’t know, -and you won’t find me doing it.” - -Mr Hicks swung himself off his horse as he spoke, with the air of one -who dismissed the subject, for they had ridden up to the house, but -Mansfield had been too much disturbed by the new ideas suggested to -him to be able to banish the conversation from his mind. When work was -over that evening, instead of going out as usual for a second ride, he -hung about the room in which he had been writing at Cyril’s dictation, -alternately rearranging his papers and trying to place Cyril’s -cushions more comfortably. - -“Well, Mansfield, what is it?” asked his employer at last. - -“I thought--I didn’t know--it occurred to me that you might want a -message taken to--to some other part of the country, as you are tied -here,” stammered Mansfield. - -“You are very considerate. A message to whom?” - -“To the--to some one you were particularly anxious to see.” - -“Come, Mansfield, out with it! Who is this mysterious person? Has -Hicks been pulling your leg?” - -“I knew he had made it all up!” burst joyfully from Mansfield. - -“All what? I am afraid not. Did he tell you that I was on my way to -ask for an interview with Queen Ernestine, when the pilgrims -interfered with my plans?” - -“Yes, but I didn’t believe him.” - -“Cultivate a more credulous spirit. What he told you was perfectly -true, and so was his further information that this delay is almost -intolerable to me.” - -“I’ll start to-night,” said Mansfield, reproaching himself deeply. - -“You can do nothing, unfortunately. I must see the Queen myself, and -approach her _in forma pauperis_. You know that I treated her -shamefully?” - -“No. You can’t make me believe that.” - -“But it is true, you see. King Michael behaved to her badly enough, -but it was not that which drove her into exile in Syria. She would -have gone with me cheerfully to poverty and obscurity in England, but -I would not take her. She entreated me on her knees, but I refused to -listen.” - -Cyril spoke in a hard, even voice, and when he ceased there was -silence in the room. Mansfield tried in vain to think of something to -say, and each moment made the silence harder to interrupt. “I would -never have believed it if any one else had told me,” he groaned at -last, breaking the spell with a mighty effort. - -“I knew that. You and I have taken a fancy to one another, Mansfield, -and I was curious to see what you would say when you knew how I had -treated the woman----” - -“Who loved you,” supplied Mansfield, in a tone which was at once harsh -and dull. - -“And whom I loved.” - -There was a further silence, then Mansfield came hesitatingly forward. - -“I can’t help it,” he said. “I should never have thought I could speak -civilly to a man who had done such a thing as that, but--it’s you.” - -“My dear Mansfield!” The reaction from the strained feeling of the -moment before forced a smile from Cyril. Mansfield sitting in judgment -upon him, and allowing his just severity to be biassed by his -affection for the culprit, was very funny. “You hate the sin, but you -have a sneaking kindness left for the sinner, eh?” - -Mansfield laughed uncomfortably, and Cyril shook his head. - -“I am afraid I shall have to send you back to England, Mansfield. You -must be deteriorating horribly, if you can condone such a departure -from your creed, even in my case. I suppose I have corrupted you. What -would Lady Phil say?” - -“I shall never tell her. It would make her too miserable--about you, I -mean. But, Count----” - -“Go on. I will relieve your wounded feelings in any way I can.” - -“You were intending to--to try and get the Queen to be reconciled?” - -“Before there was any idea of its being to my advantage? Yes.” - -“And you mean to do it still? You think she will forgive you?” - -“The woman I used to know would forgive me. But suppose she is -changed? I have no right to expect anything else, and I have only -myself to thank. There is just one thing----” - -“Yes?” said Mansfield eagerly. - -“Some time ago I was shown a photograph of her, taken since she left -Europe. The woman who showed it to me would have been the last person -in the world to wish to give me any hope, but she did not see the -significance of what I noticed. On the Queen’s arm there was a -bracelet----” - -“Which you had given her?” - -“Not quite. Prince Mirkovics’s daughter, one of her _Hofdamen_, gave -it to her once at Christmas. It had one very large diamond in it, and -to the uninitiated that was all. But the diamond was so cut that by -looking at it at a certain angle you could see a portrait in the -setting behind it. The Queen was delighted.” - -“And it was your portrait? and she was wearing it still?” - -“She was wearing it still. That is my sole ground of hope. But why I -should be pouring out my sorrows to you in this way, like young -Werther or the celebrated Mr Rochester, I don’t know. It isn’t for a -warning, because I can’t by any stretch of imagination conceive you to -be in need of it, and it certainly isn’t because I was yearning for a -confidant. It must have been simply your astonishing cheek in leading -up to the subject. Well, now your idol is broken, and I hope you are -pleased.” - -“I can’t think what made me do it,” said Mansfield, awkwardly. “I know -I must seem disgustingly inquisitive to you, but I only wanted -to--to----” - -“To annihilate time and space for my benefit, I know. Well, don’t -distress yourself. I could have shut you up at any moment I chose. As -I said, I wished to see whether you would quite turn your back upon me -when you knew the whole truth.” - -“I could never do that, whatever happened. Try me.” - -“I believe you. And now, if you have probed into my past history -sufficiently, perhaps you would not mind going round to the steward’s -and seeing what he has to say about the mule-litter that Hicks -mentioned this morning?” - -Mr Hicks himself entered the room as Mansfield stumbled out of it, and -cast a glance of quizzical reproof at Cyril as he sat down on the -divan. - -“I’d lay my last red cent, Count, that you’ve been tormenting that -unhappy young man again. The way you work upon his finer feelings is -the cruellest thing I ever saw. You play upon him like an organ.” - -“Then why does he lend himself to it?” asked Cyril. “It’s not in human -nature to neglect such an opportunity. The luckless youth is -provokingly sane otherwise. My brother values his opinion, my nephew -and niece look up to him devoutly; I believe he even fancies himself a -little as a man of the world. Why should he take it into his head to -conceive such an adoration for me that he becomes like a child in my -hands? I can make him blush and stammer like a girl, and for no reason -whatever.” - -“He don’t get much show out of his adoration, sir, any way.” - -“No, indeed; and yet he keeps it up. Why does a woman torment her -lovers, Hicks? To show her power, I suppose--not necessarily because -she delights in seeing them miserable. It gives me a kind of pleasure, -no doubt, to know that I can raise the unfortunate Mansfield from -despair to the seventh heaven by a word, and plunge him down into the -depths again by another, and therefore I do it.” - -“Guess you are keeping your hand in, Count, against the time they fix -you up with a whole territory to practise your fascinations upon.” - -“Don’t dabble in prophecy, Hicks, unless you want to postpone that -desirable time until the Greek Kalends. So poor Mansfield is tortured -to make a pastime for me, is he? Well, it will be all made up to him. -I intend him to marry my niece, and she takes after her father, and -could not hurt any one’s feelings in cold blood to save her life.” - -“Is that so, Count? Well, Mr Mansfield will have earned his -happiness,” said Mr Hicks drily. “But I guess you know some folks have -figured it out that the young lady is to marry the King of Thracia? -Old Prince Mirkovics is flying round putting the kingdom in order, and -whispering the secret to most every one he meets. You are not in it, -then?” - -“Scarcely. For one thing, I don’t think my niece would come into the -scheme, and I am not so foolish as to undertake to marry her to any -one against her will. And then, you see, I am retained, as I said, in -Mansfield’s behalf.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - NO PLACE OF REPENTANCE. - -The sojourn at Urtas, which had proved so irksome to Cyril, was not -doomed to last much longer. As soon as the watchful Mr Hicks could be -induced, against his better judgment, to allow him to travel, he was -on the road again, riding whenever it was possible. When the country -was so rough as to render horse exercise unsafe for a rider able only -to use one hand, he was content to be conveyed ignominiously in the -mule-litter. In his train followed Mr Hicks, acting both as surgeon -and chronicler. Cyril was well pleased to keep the American supplied -with exclusive information on points of general interest, since he -found him prepared to exercise a wise discretion with regard to -matters of real importance. Mr Hicks asked no more favourable -treatment than this. He had been sent out to write up the Palestine -question for the ‘Crier,’ and how could he do so better than by -encamping continually, so to speak, close to the fountainhead of -information on the subject? His retinue, added to Cyril’s, made an -imposing cavalcade, and the local governors and petty sheikhs honoured -with a visit were duly impressed. - -The minds of these functionaries were found to be much perturbed, -owing to the reports which had been spread as to the intentions of the -new government, and it was sometimes a long business to reassure them. -Curiously enough, the worst and most malevolent of the mischief-makers -were the Jews whose families had been settled in the larger towns for -two or more generations. Supported in idleness by means of the -Chalukah--a kind of voluntary tax which the Jews throughout the world -imposed on themselves for the benefit of their poor brethren in -Palestine--these men, quite naturally, were fully satisfied with the -present. The prospect of a future in which their pretensions would be -examined and their privileges curtailed was not enticing. Hard work in -stubborn soil, even on land which was their own, would be a poor -exchange for ease and idleness, and these degenerate Israelites did -their best to avert it by inciting the Moslems to resist the change of -rule. Calumny after calumny was brought forward by the local -authorities, and refuted by Cyril, who made his way to the hardest -hearts by dint of a judicious combination of _bonhomie_ and -_bakhshish_. It is true that the natives, having seen the colour of -his money, and heard of the liberty and other blessings in store for -them, chose to ignore the existence of the Jewish State altogether. -However, since they accepted all Cyril’s suggestions, and agreed to -pay their taxes to the officials whom he should appoint, their belief -that England was about to take possession of the country, and had sent -him in advance as her representative, mattered little. - -Owing to the singular success of his labours, Count Mortimer’s journey -through the country bore the aspect of a triumphal progress. When he -arrived at length at Damascus, there remained only the Beni Ismail and -their Desert Queen to be placated before he could announce that the -whole Moslem population of Palestine was well affected towards the new -rule. To gain the goodwill of the Christians was a hopeless task, he -knew; but at this moment they were all fully occupied in intriguing, -with the support of the consuls of the Powers who protected them -respectively, for the aggrandisement of their property or prestige at -the expense of rival sects. Even Bishop Philaret had forgotten the -iniquities of the Jews for a time, and was so hotly engaged in a -controversy with the Latins over a piece of ground some seven feet -square, in which a ruined cistern (which he imagined to be a tomb) had -been discovered, that he had no leisure to waste in attacking Cyril. - -As the travellers approached Damascus, it seemed to Mansfield and Mr -Hicks that their pace was faster than it had been at first. Cyril had -become more impatient of delay, less tolerant of any proposal to -digress from the appointed route for the purpose of visiting some -object of interest. They could see that his spirits were variable, in -spite of the rigid self-control which he exercised, and his physician -discovered that for the first time in his life he slept badly night -after night. When they reached the city, however, and had taken up -their quarters in the house of an Oriental cousin of the Chevalier’s, -he was calm and cheerful again. On the first evening of their stay he -was the life of the party, which included a cheerful young Roumi -aide-de-camp of the Vali or Governor-General, who was the bearer of -his superior’s respects and compliments. When the story of their -journeys had been told, Mahmud Fadil Bey had a good deal to say about -the one task that remained to be completed. - -“We are all anxious to see how you get on with the Beni Ismail,” he -said, in his excellent French. “They have been a thorn in our side for -many a day, and we shall not be sorry to turn them over to you.” - -“What is their peculiar wickedness?” asked Cyril. - -Mahmud Fadil shrugged his shoulders. “They are simply an Arab tribe -who inhabit a tract of desert of which almost nothing is known, and -who make themselves rather more disagreeable than the rest. Of course -they have never paid any tribute--though our treasury officials -devised a pleasing fiction that the arrears had been accumulating for -centuries. It was practically a case of our paying tribute to them. -When the usual presents were not forthcoming, it was not long before -we heard that the Beni Ismail had robbed a caravan or two. It was no -use sending soldiers after them, for they knew the desert and we did -not, so we lay low and said nothing.” He glanced smilingly at Mr -Hicks, as he made the quotation in English. “Two years ago there was a -famine, and I suppose caravans became scarce. At any rate, the Beni -Ismail were foolish enough to wander close to the city in search of -food, and the Vali saw his opportunity. He drew a cordon of troops -round their encampment, and arrested them for non-payment of their -taxes. We had very nearly the whole tribe in our hands, and it was -intended to deport them to some other part of the country, where they -would be absolutely at the mercy of the Government. But, somehow or -other, they managed to pay up, though I will do the Vali the justice -to say that he did not diminish the sum he had named by a single -piastre. This tardy virtue was all very well; but he had no intention -of leaving the tribe at liberty to begin their old game again, and the -preparations for removing them were going forward, when--of all -people--the Pannonian Ambassador at Czarigrad took up the affair. It -was said that the Empress of Pannonia was interesting herself in the -creatures, though why she should I don’t know, but we were obliged to -let them go, on the understanding that the taxes should be paid in -future, and the attacks on caravans cease. Wonderful to relate, they -have kept their promise, thanks, I suppose, to their Queen, whom no -one had ever heard of before they got into trouble. It seems that she -holds her Court at some spot in the desert that the Arabs call Sitt -Zeynab. She had been wise enough to keep out of our reach, and we -restored her subjects to her.” - -“Do you mean that the lady’s existence had been absolutely -unsuspected?” asked Cyril. - -“Absolutely. It was supposed that the tribe were ashamed to confess -they were ruled by a woman, or perhaps afraid that we should make a -bold dash and secure her as a hostage. I believe the idea of appealing -to the Empress was hers, though it is a mystery why she should hit -upon Pannonia as the friend in need.” - -“But has no one from Damascus ever seen her?” - -“No one. Moreover, I have questioned different members of the tribe, -when they came to bring their tribute, since that time, and I think -very few of them have seen her either. I have been assured by one man -that she is ineffably old and practises magic, and by the next that -she is a perfect _houri_ in youth and beauty. The most credible thing -I have heard is that she is always wrapped in a white sheet, like the -Druse ladies, that she is attended only by women, and that no one has -ever seen her face. The tribe speak of her as the Great Princess, and -her word is law. She is a splendid horse-woman, and she lives in a -haunted palace, and both these things impress them very much.” - -“Is that so, sir?” said Mr Hicks. “And why do you expect this -interesting female to come to blows with his Excellency, if I may -ask?” - -Mahmud Fadil laughed. “I am afraid we are to blame for that. When the -last tribute came in, the Vali told the messengers that they might -think themselves independent if they liked, but let them wait until -the Prince of the Jews came, and see what all the Emperors in Europe -could do for them then! They asked innumerable questions, and got all -the information of the same kind we could give them, and retired to -tell their Princess, saying that she would know what to do.” - -“I think this will involve a visit to her Highness as soon as we have -had two or three days’ rest and a look at Lebanon,” said Cyril. - -“I hardly think you will get as far as Sitt Zeynab,” laughed the -aide-de-camp. “No one has ever yet reached it from Damascus, though -many have tried, some out of curiosity, and some for other reasons. -The Beni Ismail alone among the Arabs know the way, and they will -never take any one there. Once or twice we have caught one of the -tribe off his guard, and forced him to take charge of an exploring -party, but the explorers have always returned unsuccessful and without -their guide, after wandering very uncomfortably in the desert for a -few days. It is difficult to see how the place can be reached. We have -offered a reward to the Beni Ayub, a rival tribe, if they will find -out the way to it, but whenever the Beni Ismail discover trespassers -in their country, they cut their trespassing severely short. The town -does not seem to have been visited by any traveller, and the other -Arabs cannot even say how long the Queen has reigned.” - -“Decidedly we must face these perils and make a dash for Sitt Zeynab,” -repeated Cyril; “but I intend to spend to-morrow in exploring -Anti-Lebanon.” - - -When the next day arrived, however, Mr Hicks came into Mansfield’s -room early in the morning, and roused him unceremoniously from a sound -sleep. - -“Hullo! am I late?” asked the victim vaguely. “I’ll be down in a -minute. Does the Count want to start already?” - -“I want you to start right now,” said Mr Hicks, “if you’re game to do -the boss a kindness at the risk of his turning ugly.” - -“Of course I’ll do anything that wants doing,” said Mansfield, yawning -furiously. - -“Well, the boss’s strength has just about petered out. This hard -travelling, and holding pow-wows with those old sinners all the time, -has been too much for him, considering he was dead set on getting to -his journey’s end right away. I looked in on him an hour back, at a -word from Dietrich, and found that he hadn’t slept a wink all night, -and was in something very like a fever. I took the liberty of giving -him a sleeping-mixture that will keep him quiet till the evening, you -bet. But if he starts riding up Mount Lebanon to-morrow, and finds -maybe that Queen Ernestine won’t see him at the end, it will about -settle his business. Now, what I want you to do is----” - -“To go and see the Queen,” said Mansfield, sitting up in bed. - -“If she will permit you; but I want you to go and prospect around at -Brutli, any way. If you are able to see her, start right in and work -on her feelings till she can’t see for crying. I incline to think she -will come down to him at once, but allowing for wounded feelings and -insulted dignity, we’ll conclude that she only sends a message to -invite him up there. But even if you can’t see her, you can find out -when she walks out and where, so that we may bring him face to face -with her suddenly. Don’t give the boss away, of course. To every one -but the Queen you’re a tourist wishing to inspect the Institution, and -my darkey, who knows the country, shall go with you for a guide.” - -“All right. I’m your man.” The words followed Mr Hicks as he left the -room, and another hour saw Mansfield set forth on his embassy. The -Citadel, the Seraglio, and the bridge over the Barada left behind, the -route lay for a while along a broad, poplar-bordered road, on either -side of which were white houses set in green gardens. This pleasant -shade came to an end at the foot of the hills, and the rest of the -journey presented itself as a hot and weary climb up steep -mountain-paths, the monotony of which was only occasionally relieved -by a grove of myrtles, or a happy valley with its terraced sides -covered with vineyards and mulberry-trees. The interest which he took -in his mission armed Mansfield against fatigue, and he clattered at a -dangerous pace down slippery paths, and dismounted to lead his horse -up steep ascents, with a dogged persistence which did not commend -itself to Mr Hicks’s elderly servant, who was irreverently known as -Uncle Sam. Two or three brief halts, undertaken purely for the sake of -the horses, failed to mollify Uncle Sam, and when the travellers rode -into the village of Brutli, only to behold the Deaconesses’ -Institution towering above them at the head of a further long ascent, -his feelings overcame him. Approaching Mansfield, he hinted darkly -that the consequences would probably be serious for both of them if -they did not pause and lunch, in view of the early hour at which they -had started. Mansfield acquiesced reluctantly, and they asked their -way to the inn, which proved to be a more imposing building than those -in the other villages they had passed. The reason for this superiority -was revealed when the landlord explained with much pride that two -gentlemen and several servants belonging to the household of the Queen -of Thracia had occupied his best rooms for more than two years past, -and that this gratifying fact had obliged him to increase his -accommodation for visitors. He pointed, as he spoke, to a pleasant -vine-shaded verandah on the opposite side of the courtyard, in which a -table was set out in European fashion. A tall thin man had just taken -his seat, and a second European, stout and elderly, was standing at -the edge of the verandah, peering across the yard into the darkness of -the archway in which Mansfield stood. The landlord, with a hurried -apology, hastened towards him, to return in a moment beaming with -smiles, and bearing a request from the Thracian gentlemen that the -English traveller would share their meal. Delighted to find his path -made so smooth, Mansfield crossed the courtyard, to be met by the -short man at the foot of the verandah-steps, and received with -flattering assurances of welcome. - -“I am ashamed to intrude upon you in this way,” began the guest. - -“Intrude, monsieur! The sight of you is a perfect feast for our eyes,” -was the reply, in very rapid French. “We rejoice to greet one of your -nation. Once we regarded all Englishmen as our friends, now there is -an exception”--the thin man at the table growled indistinctly--“but -there is no need to proscribe a whole people for the fault of one man. -Let me present to you General Banics, formerly governor to his Majesty -the King of Thracia, now master of the household to her Majesty Queen -Ernestine. General, pray do me a similar kindness.” - -“Monsieur,” growled the General, “permit me to present to you M. Peter -Stefanovics, grand chamberlain to her Majesty. The coffee is growing -cold, Stefanovics.” - -“All in good time,” cried M. Stefanovics, ushering Mansfield into his -place, and bowing himself to the head of the table. “Who can think of -coffee when one sees a new face? We are quite free and easy at this -meal, M. Mansfield, and wait upon ourselves. Madame Stefanovics does -not appear so early in the day.” Mansfield struggled with a look of -astonishment, for the meal which the two Thracians considered as -breakfast he had regarded as a midday lunch. M. Stefanovics caught his -glance. - -“Ah, you wonder at our hours, monsieur! But picture to yourself our -life--what is one to do here? We rise, we eat, we proceed to the -Institution to pay our respects to her Majesty, and inquire her -orders. It is very rarely that she honours us with any. We take, -perhaps, a walk or a ride for health’s sake. We return here, the -General sets to work at the military history he is writing, and I--I -go to sleep! Madame Stefanovics spends the afternoon and evening in -attendance upon her Majesty. We dine, we end the day with a game of -cards or dominoes. What would you have? Sometimes her Majesty is good -enough to make an errand for one of us into Damascus, sometimes one -has a week’s leave of absence. Then what dissipation, monsieur! One is -accustomed to Bellaviste, to Vindobona--can you conceive that one -feels a visit to Damascus to be a riotous affair?” - -“But why does the Queen condemn you to such a life?” asked Mansfield -indignantly. “What right has she to keep you----” - -“Monsieur!” cried General Banics, bristling up like a tiger. M. -Stefanovics laid a soothing hand upon his arm. - -“Calm yourself, General. Our friend does not understand. You may not -be aware, monsieur, that General Banics refused the post offered him -in the King’s household in order to attend her Majesty here. The -unhappy events----” - -“Stefanovics, you talk too fast,” growled the General. - -“My good General, how am I to explain things if you will interrupt me? -Circumstances, monsieur, impelled the General, as a man of honour, to -quit his Majesty’s service and enter that of the Queen. I was already -in her Majesty’s household, and my wife and I followed her here as a -matter of course. She did not ask us to remain. In fact, she entreated -us with tears to return to Thracia and make our peace with her son, -while she retained only her ladies about her person. Would you expect -us to do that, monsieur? to forsake our august mistress when she was -abandoned by all her friends, treated with the most revolting cruelty -by those who ought to have----” an inarticulate remonstrance from the -General. “In a word, monsieur, we are here, and here we stay.” - -“You could do nothing else,” said Mansfield warmly. Then, remembering -the object of his journey, he added, with lamentable duplicity, “I was -anxious to see the Institution; but if her Majesty is there, I suppose -visitors are not admitted. Or perhaps there are stated hours?” - -“It is always possible to see the Institution, monsieur. Her Majesty -would never consent to interfere with the work of the good sisters, -who are a blessing to the whole countryside. But her own apartments, -and a small enclosed garden upon which they look, are sacred to her. -She receives no one, and she has not quitted the Institution since -first she entered it.” - -“Never left the one spot!” cried Mansfield, aghast. “Surely she -must--I mean, has she taken any vows?” - -“The Lutherans are not like the Orthodox or the Latins, monsieur, and -their deaconesses are not bound by irrevocable vows. It is her -Majesty’s pleasure not to receive, and it is not for us to question -it. The emissaries of the King and the Princess of Dardania made -themselves so obnoxious on her first arrival that, outraged by their -presumption and persistence, she came to this resolution. And is there -any one who has a right to decide for her Majesty in the matter?” - -“Certainly not,” said Mansfield politely, for the tone of the question -was fierce. - -“There is a certain person,” pursued M. Stefanovics, “attached to the -household of the Princess of Dardania--a Colonel Czartoriski, I -believe--who has been hanging about this neighbourhood for weeks, -riding up from Damascus day after day, in the hope of being received -by her Majesty and delivering into her hands a letter from his -mistress. Of course he has not been successful. Is it likely that her -Majesty would receive him, when we, her two faithful servants, have -never been permitted to see her face the whole time she has been -here?” - -“You have never once seen her?” cried Mansfield. - -“Stefanovics, you talk too much,” said General Banics again. - -“And why should we be granted such an honour?” asked M. Stefanovics, -trying to cover his confusion. “If her Majesty, deceived and forsaken -by the man she trusted--no, General, I mention no names--and by her -own son, chooses to confine herself to the society of her ladies, who -will venture to blame her? The decision lies entirely with her.” - -“Her Majesty’s retirement is very sad, but no doubt it is natural,” -agreed Mansfield, whose heart had sunk lower and lower as he discerned -each fresh obstacle in the way of his mission. In his own mind he was -convinced that the Queen was mad, but in the hope that sheer audacity -might succeed where the courtly training of the two Thracians held -them back, he determined to make an effort to penetrate into her -presence, that he might at least know the worst. He answered with much -patience the questions which M. Stefanovics, who had relieved his mind -by his outburst of confidence, showered upon him, and took his leave -when the meal was over without disclosing on whose behalf he had come. -He observed that neither M. Stefanovics nor the General asked any -questions about the great Palestine scheme, and that they both ignored -the tentative references he made to it; and it seemed to him that to -proclaim himself Cyril’s emissary would be to destroy the small hope -of success he still possessed. Leaving Uncle Sam and the horses at the -inn, he climbed the path to the Institution on foot, and asked the -lame Syrian who acted as porter whether it was possible for him to see -the place. The man bade him enter. - -“The lady there is the senior sister,” he said, indicating a stately -woman in the blue dress and white cap of the Königshof deaconesses, -who was passing along the piazza. “She will direct you.” - -Stepping forward and bowing to the deaconess, Mansfield repeated his -question in German, and found himself cordially welcomed. The interest -which he displayed as Sister Chriemhild conducted him in due course -through the hospital, the schools, the asylum, and the chapel, was in -no way feigned, for he intended to write Lady Caerleon an account of -his visit, and perhaps Philippa would read it. Nevertheless, his -attention wandered slightly as the tour of inspection drew to a close, -for he had not succeeded in making any allusion to the Queen, and it -seemed impossible to introduce her name naturally and without undue -emphasis. At last he relinquished all attempt at concealment, and -turned suddenly to Sister Chriemhild, who was explaining the methods -of instruction, peculiar to Königshof, which were in use among the -deaconesses. - -“Sister, is it possible for me to see Queen Ernestine?” - -“Quite impossible,” replied the deaconess, not showing the slightest -surprise at the abrupt question. - -“I come from--at least, I have a message for her.” - -She looked him straight in the face. “There is only one name that -would justify me in asking one of her Majesty’s ladies to see you and -take charge of your message.” - -“I come from Count Mortimer.” - -The glow of delight that irradiated Sister Chriemhild’s face -astonished Mansfield, for in view of her grey hair and faded blue eyes -he had not expected to find the deaconess’s heart still young and -sympathetic. She took him into a small parlour, and hurried away. -Presently a stout middle-aged lady in black burst into the room; no -other word will express the excitement which characterised her -entrance. Bitter disappointment overspread her face at the sight of -Mansfield, and she returned his bow with a frigid curtsey. - -“Have I the honour of speaking to her Majesty’s lady-in-waiting?” -began Mansfield, perplexed by the change in her manner. - -“I am Sophie von Staubach, her Majesty’s lectrice. I am on duty -to-day. You must have heard my name from Count Mortimer. Excuse my -hurry. I could not wait to hear what Sister Chriemhild said. I took it -into my head that the Count was here himself. He always looks so -young, you know,” returned the lady, all in a breath. Her resentment -seemed to have evaporated. - -“I am here on Count Mortimer’s behalf,” said Mansfield. “He is at -Damascus, making arrangements with the Roumi authorities for the -benefit of the Jews, and----” - -Fräulein von Staubach uttered a little scream. “Sit down,” she said, -pointing to a chair, “and let us talk comfortably. Then Count Mortimer -is the Prince of the Jews, after all? Now tell me----” - -She poured forth her questions. Where was Cyril staying, what was the -exact nature of his present occupation, how long had Mansfield known -him, what had he been doing since he left Thracia, did he look any -older, did he often mention the Queen, what was his object in seeking -her out?--and so on, without a pause. Mansfield answered her inquiries -as fully as she would let him, describing Cyril’s condition with all -the pathos he could command, and felt that success was in his grasp -when Fräulein von Staubach, who had been making occasional dabs at -her eyes with her handkerchief, suddenly broke down and wept noisily. - -“Of course he treated the dear Queen abominably, but I have always -longed that he should come back and make it up with her,” she sobbed. - -“Then will you tell me how I can see her Majesty, Fräulein?” -Mansfield felt it advisable not to protest against the lady’s opinion -of Cyril’s behaviour, but his self-suppression failed of its effect. -Fräulein von Staubach started violently, sat up and wiped her eyes, -and looked at him severely. - -“It is quite evident that you are not accustomed to courts, sir,” she -said. “Her Majesty has not commanded you to wait upon her, I believe?” - -“How could she, when she didn’t know of my existence?” asked -Mansfield, with not unreasonable impatience. “But if you will be kind -enough to tell her why I am here, no doubt she will allow me to wait -upon her.” - -“It is impossible--quite impossible,” said the lady, nervously. - -“Because her Majesty only receives ladies? But I am merely a -messenger--Count Mortimer’s messenger.” - -“I know; but it is out of the question--I dare not--I mean, I cannot,” -stammered Fräulein von Staubach, with more distress than the occasion -seemed to warrant. - -“Well, then, at least you will help to bring them together. Count -Mortimer will ride up here to-morrow, and you will manage to admit him -into the Queen’s private garden?” - -“You won’t understand!” she cried. “Her Majesty’s decision is -irrevocable. Nothing I could do would induce her to alter it. If Count -Mortimer were here at this moment, and if he presented himself day -after day, entreating her Majesty to receive him, it would have no -effect.” - -“But surely, Fräulein, her Majesty must be very much changed if this -is the case? And yet, from all you have been saying, I should almost -have thought she would be glad to see Count Mortimer.” - -Fräulein von Staubach flushed angrily. “I cannot answer for her -Majesty,” she said, with dignity, “and you have no right to put an -interpretation of your own on my unguarded remarks, sir. The utmost I -can do for Count Mortimer is to watch for an opportunity of bringing -his name to the Queen’s recollection; and I shall certainly not have -the chance for a fortnight, perhaps a month. It is useless for the -Count to come here at present.” - -Mansfield gazed at her aghast. This could only mean that the Queen was -mad, but enjoyed occasional lucid intervals. “Fräulein,” he said -reluctantly, “I entreat you to pardon me, but I must ask you a very -important question. Is it unhappily the case that her Majesty is--that -her troubles have--that her mind is affected?” - -Fräulein von Staubach rose and glared at him before she could find -words to reply. “Oh, that is what your master wants to know, is it?” -she cried. “Go back and tell him that if she is mad he has made her -so. He wishes to free himself from her and marry the Princess of -Dardania, does he? Oh, yes; Princess Anna Mirkovics heard of his -recent proceedings from Colonel Czartoriski when she was on duty here. -Mad, indeed! her Majesty mad! Out of the way, sir; let me pass. You -have insulted my august mistress.” - -“Pardon me, Fräulein,” said Mansfield, amazed by this sudden burst of -passion. It was so timely that it might almost seem to have occurred -in order to afford the lady an excuse for terminating the interview, -but he was between her and the door. “If you refuse to answer me, I -must sorrowfully conclude that my conjecture was well founded. Is that -the message I am to take back to Count Mortimer?” - -“Do you call yourself sane?” demanded Fräulein von Staubach -viciously; “because her Majesty is far saner than you are. You thought -she was mad, did you? No; you may tell Count Mortimer that if his -object was to drive her mad, he failed. Let me pass, sir!” - -She swept out of the room in a whirlwind of righteous indignation. As -for Mansfield, he took a sorrowful leave of Sister Chriemhild, walked -down regretfully to the spot at which he had told Uncle Sam to meet -him with the horses, and rode back to Damascus with a gloomy -countenance. He had felt so sure of success, so confident of bringing -back with him some message, though perhaps only a word or two, from -the Queen to Cyril, and he had accomplished nothing. It was possible, -even, that he had done harm, and he began to wonder what Cyril would -think of the way in which Mr Hicks and he had meddled in his affairs. - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - A FOOL’S ERRAND. - -“Really,” said Cyril, “words fail me to express my gratitude. The -conspicuous success which has crowned your kind efforts would alone be -sufficient----” - -“Say, Count,” broke in Mr Hicks, “don’t make us squirm ourselves right -away through the floor. Mr Mansfield is not to blame, any way, for I -despatched him and told him to go ahead, and I acted as I thought best -for you in my professional capacity, sir.” - -“Professional capacity be hanged!” said Cyril, sharply. “What does -your professional capacity make of the result of this precious -expedition? Nice little encouragement for the patient, eh? Hearten him -up a bit, I suppose? You and Mansfield are both too clever for me, -Hicks. To the ordinary mind it would have occurred that in the -peculiar circumstances of the case my only hope was to go there myself -and take the Queen by surprise, but you have knocked all chance of -that on the head.” - -“But, Count,” ventured Mansfield, “the lady said it would be quite -useless for you to go, because you would not be admitted.” - -“Did you ever know me baffled yet in a thing I meant to do, Mansfield? -Fräulein von Staubach and I are old friends.” - -“Well, Count, she has promised to mention your name to the Queen at -the earliest opportunity. I will ride up to Brutli again to-morrow, -and try and arrange with her to let you know the moment she has done -it. But she said it would certainly not be for a fortnight.” - -“A fortnight?” Cyril’s irritation subsided suddenly, as a new idea -appeared to strike him. “Mansfield, I want to know exactly what she -told you.” - -Mansfield cudgelled his brains, and, aided by a stringent -cross-examination, succeeded in recalling very faithfully the -conversation which had taken place between Fräulein von Staubach and -himself. When he had come to the end, Cyril smiled gently. - -“Since you two have gone to work so ingeniously to spoil my plans with -regard to the Queen,” he said, “I shall put business before pleasure -once more, and devote this fortnight to looking up the Great Princess -of the Beni Ismail.” - -“Great Jehoshaphat!” cried Mr Hicks, in consternation. “You talk of -setting off on a desert journey right now, Count, when you’re down -sick? A little ride in the cars to Beyrout, now, would bring you round -a bit, I guess, but a wild goose chase into the mouth of hell after a -female that no one has ever seen--no, sir! You may bet your bottom -dollar----” - -“That I go? Quite so. You needn’t come, you know, Hicks. If Mansfield -is willing to relinquish the right of private judgment, I’ll take him, -to punish him for the mischief he has done, but there must be no more -interference with my plans for any reason whatever.” - -“You bet!” said Mr Hicks, energetically. “But you’ll have to conclude -to take me as part of the outfit, Count. Your physician extraordinary -won’t quit until he’s kicked out. And since you’re set on this piece -of foolishness, I suppose I may as well hand you a document which was -left for you to-day, but when Mr Mansfield came back and we began upon -this palaver, I forgot it.” - -Cyril took the letter, which was written on rough native paper, and -read it through carefully. “How did you get hold of this, Hicks?” he -asked at last. - -“Brought by a blind Arab with a book under his arm, Count. ‘From the -Great Princess,’ he said, as he handed it to me. He mentioned that he -was a Protestant, and seemed to incline to loaf around and ask -affectionately after the Churches of America, but I was in a hurry, -and fired him out.” - -“My dear Hicks! Why not have humoured the poor wretch, and kept him in -talk? He would have been able to give me just the information I want.” - -“That is so, Count, and that’s why I invited him to vanish.” - -“Won’t do, Hicks. You’ll have to find him again now.” - -“I guess so,” said Mr Hicks resignedly. “Well, I reckon I’ll appeal to -our rackety friend Mahmud Fadil. He makes out to be acquainted with -all the shady characters in the city. But I hope the lady is kindly -disposed towards you, Count?” - -“Not exactly. She warns me not to meddle with her subjects or their -territory, on pain of an appeal to the Powers. Strange that she should -have picked up that idea, isn’t it? But her scribe writes French, so -very likely he is an Armenian from Czarigrad, full of the latest -European notions. Her seal is Arabic, you see, but it has only ‘I, the -Queen of the Desert,’ on it, no name.” - - -In fulfilment of the task imposed upon him by Cyril, Mr Hicks set out -the next morning to seek the help of Mahmud Fadil, who had no -difficulty in identifying from his description the person of whom he -was in search. - -“I know him,” he said. “It is Yeshua, a dog of a Bedawi who professes -to have become a Christian, and is in the pay of the English ladies -who have the schools.” - -“Could you manage to lay your hand on him?” asked Mr Hicks. - -“You want him seized--put out of the way? Oh yes, it can be done, of -course, but it will be rather expensive, on account of the English -ladies. These wretched missionaries fly to their consuls on the -slightest pretext.” - -“I guess I don’t just want him wiped out,” said Mr Hicks meditatively. -“A little quiet talk with him is all I ask. And if your soldiers could -be brought to understand, sir, that a small extra present would pass -between us if they carried the business through without fuss and -without hurting the gentleman’s feelings, it might obviate any -difficulty with the consul.” - -Mahmud Fadil acquiesced in the proposal with some disappointment. He -had anticipated the handling of a considerable sum of money, a certain -proportion of which would naturally stick to his own fingers in the -process, but he gave the necessary orders, keenly conscious that half -a loaf is better than no bread. Accordingly, Cyril’s quarters were -invaded, shortly after darkness had fallen, by several file of -soldiers, dragging with them the blind man, who offered no resistance -beyond protesting against the illegality of his arrest. Mr Hicks was -on the look-out, and after reassuring the owners of the house, and -dismissing the soldiers with the reward agreed upon, led the prisoner -into Cyril’s room. - -“Fear not, O father of a book,” he said in Arabic; “no harm shall -befall thee. Tell the Prince of the Jews who thou art.” - -“My lord’s servant is Yeshua the son of Ishak,” answered the blind -man, turning his sightless eyes in the direction of the divan on which -Cyril was lying, “and he goes hither and thither among the tents of -his brethren to tell them the words of Life.” - -“Was it you who brought me the letter from the Princess of the Beni -Ismail?” asked Cyril. Mr Hicks translated the question. - -“My lord’s servant was sojourning a week ago in the tents of the Beni -Ismail, and their sheikh asked him to carry a message to the Prince of -the Jews. The tribe fear to enter the town, lest the Roumis should -seize and imprison them.” - -“Then you did not see the Princess--I mean, she did not give you the -letter?” - -“Nay, my lord, how should such a one as Yeshua ibn Ishak be admitted -to the presence of the Great Princess? One of her women had given the -paper to the sheikh.” - -“I see. Did you find your way here from Sitt Zeynab alone?” - -“Certain of the tribe brought my lord’s servant on his way for a part -of the distance. After that he knew the road.” - -“Good. Will you guide me to the spot where they left you?” - -“God forbid! Would my lord have his servant betray his brethren?” - -“But I don’t want to do your brethren any harm,” said Cyril -impatiently. “I am not a Roumi. I am only anxious to make a treaty -with them.” - -“Nay, my lord, thy servant cannot reveal their secret. They have -trusted him, and if he failed them they would blaspheme the religion -of the Lord Jesus.” - -“I can hand you over to the Roumis, and have you thrown into prison, -if you refuse to answer me. Do you know this?” - -“My lord must do as he will with his servant,” said the blind man. - -“Oh, Count, he’s too plucky to be threatened,” said Mansfield -indignantly. “Why not see if he will take a message back to his -sheikh?” - -“I have no intention of eating him,” returned Cyril. “Well, Yeshua ibn -Ishak, will you find out your sheikh and tell him that I wish for a -friendly meeting with the Princess? These two _khawajas_ shall come -with me, and we will bring one servant each, but no soldiers. I desire -peace with the Beni Ismail, not war, and if he will bring me to Sitt -Zeynab it will be for the good of all his tribe for ever.” - -“But the Great Princess will never consent to talk with my lord.” - -“Perhaps not; but she could send her scribe, or she might even talk -with me through a curtain. Will you take the message?” - -“My lord’s servant will carry the word, but there is no likelihood -that the sheikh will consent. The stranger must not come into the land -of the Beni Ismail.” - -“Time will show. Good evening, then. Mansfield, see that the man has -something to eat, and give him a few piastres if you think it will -make him feel more kindly towards us. How long do you say it will take -to get an answer to the message, Hicks?” - -“Well, Count, I guess the sheikh has some of his men cached not so -very far from the city, in case our blind friend has any news to -despatch. Would you incline to have him shadowed?” - -“No; he would find it out, and the discovery would destroy his rather -shaky confidence in us. Suppose you jot down a few of the things we -shall need for the journey. I expect to start the day after -to-morrow.” - -“Well, sir, there’s nothing like assurance, any way,” said Mr Hicks, -sitting down at Mansfield’s table and appropriating his writing -materials. “Do you calculate to take tents with you?” - -“He’s a good fellow, Count,” said Mansfield, returning. “He would not -take any money, because he said the Mission provided for his needs. I -looked at his Bible in raised type, and he told me how astonished the -Arabs were to see a blind man read. He seems to have some thrilling -experiences to describe, if only I could understand his English; but -it is rather sketchy.” - -“You had better write an account of your interesting friend to Lady -Caerleon. I know that Syria is one of her many favourite -mission-fields. But while you are striking up an acquaintance with -this picturesque character, here is Mr Hicks doing your work. Tents, -did you say, Hicks? One small tent for the three of us. This -expedition is not going to be a picnic.” - -“You bet!” murmured Mr Hicks disconsolately, as he resigned his place -to Mansfield, who wondered even more than he did at the calm -confidence with which Cyril continued to make arrangements for a -journey which neither of his companions believed would ever be -undertaken. But his foresight was truer than theirs. When Mansfield -returned the next day from visiting the bazaars, the citadel and the -walls, the ruins of the Great Mosque, and other lions of Damascus, -under the guidance of a Jewish youth, he found the blind Bedawi -sitting outside the house and waiting for him. After puzzling out the -meaning of Yeshua’s broken English, he entered Cyril’s room somewhat -doubtfully. - -“The blind man has come back, Count. He says that the sheikh consents -to escort you to Sitt Zeynab, but you must bring no servants with you, -only Mr Hicks and myself.” - -“Very well; but in that case the sheikh must only have two of his own -men with him. It’s not so much as a precaution, for of course the -whole tribe might be hiding behind the first sandhill, but just to -show him that he can’t ride roughshod over me.” - -“But Yeshua begged me to warn you not to go, Count. He says the Beni -Ismail have never allowed a stranger to reach Sitt Zeynab yet, and he -is afraid they mean to hold you as a hostage.” - -“He doesn’t seem to realise that it is what I mean, and not what they -mean, that will come to pass. Let Yeshua arrange with the sheikh where -he is to meet us, Mansfield, and if it is out in the desert, tell him -to be waiting for us himself by the cemetery wall as soon as the gates -are opened to-morrow morning, that he may guide us to the right spot. -We will bring nothing but what we can carry on our own horses. The -tent must be given up.” - -“I guess you’re real set on this mad business, Count,” said Mr Hicks, -as Mansfield left the room. - -“That’s just what I have been trying to impress upon you for two whole -days, Hicks.” - -But in spite of this solemn assurance, and the hasty preparations -which occupied the rest of the day, neither Mr Hicks nor Mansfield -really believed in the expedition until they found themselves riding -through the eastern gate of Damascus in the dawn of the following -morning. To all appearance they were bound only on a short excursion. -The sheikh had agreed to furnish water and desert fare for the -travellers, and each man carried a bag of corn for his horse, together -with an iron peg and a rope for tethering purposes. A pair of -capacious saddlebags, containing the smallest possible allowance of -additional raiment and toilet necessaries, and a large _abba_ or cloak -of coarse cotton, rolled up tightly in front of the saddle, completed -the equipment of each. To Mahmud Fadil alone among those in authority -had the secret of their journey been confided, and his silence was -secured in the only effectual way, by means of a present and a -promise. The melancholy Paschics had been furnished with instructions -in view of all the possible complications of political affairs that -suggested themselves to Cyril’s mind, and placed in charge of two -telegrams, one for the Chevalier Goldberg and one for Lord Caerleon, -which were not to be despatched until the adventurers had fairly -started. Mr Hicks had been permitted to send a communication to his -paper, in which he dealt with the expedition in terms of such enticing -obscurity and tantalising reticence as to suggest that the whole -solution of the Palestine question hung on his being lost to sight in -the Syrian desert for a fortnight or more. Mansfield’s personal -preparations were not extensive, for he did little beyond writing a -letter to Lord Caerleon, which was only to be posted in case he did -not return from the journey. - -Outside the gate was the camping-ground of the caravans from Baghdad, -with its hundreds of knee-haltered camels, and its bronzed Arabs -bargaining and quarrelling in a hopeless _patois_ over the goods piled -up round their rough tents. Then came the dismal ride through the -native burying-ground, filled with the ruinous and half-open vaults of -the Christians on the one hand and the fallen tombstones of the Jews -on the other, and when this had been passed, the form of Yeshua could -be distinguished, waiting faithfully under the walnut-trees -overhanging the wall of the Protestant cemetery. After the usual -salutations had been exchanged, Cyril rode ahead with the blind man, -and Mr Hicks and Mansfield found themselves side by side. - -“What is it you’re afraid of?” asked Mansfield all at once, observing -that his companion looked back apprehensively from time to time. - -“Well, I must say I’m glad to have got the boss out of the city -without a fight, Mr Mansfield. There is an elderly military character -who’s been real pressing in his inquiries after him each day since we -came, and I guess his intentions are not healthy. I interviewed him on -behalf of the boss, but when I found that my friend did the general -utility business for the Princess of Dardania, and had something big -on hand, you bet his messages reached me and stopped there. The -language he made use of yesterday when I told him the Count was sick -yet was remarkably free, and he didn’t see fit to cool down until I -just had him into the yard and showed him a little fancy shooting. -Guess he won’t try the fire-eating tip again with me, after seeing me -print my initials on the wall in bullets, but I don’t mind telling you -I’ve been real scared lest he should be fooling round somewhere on the -street this morning and meet the boss.” - -“But you don’t think the Count would fight him?” - -“You bet your life he would, and paint the town red with his vital -fluid, too, if he was in his proper form. But he’s sick and strung-up -both, and I don’t care for the risk.” - -“Isn’t it wonderful how well he sits his horse?” asked Mansfield, -looking at Cyril as he rode in front. - -“That’s what I tell you, he’s strung-up for this job. He has something -big in his eye that I don’t see. I must figure it out.” - -Mr Hicks relapsed into silence, pondering busily the problem he had -set himself, and Mansfield did not disturb his meditations as they -rode through the fruit-gardens and walnut-groves surrounding the city, -and then across the bare fields, populous just now with camels -belonging to friendly Arabs. The tribesmen were encamped in the -neighbourhood of the town for the double purpose of obtaining their -annual store of corn from the farmers, and allowing their camels the -luxury of grazing upon the stubble, which the peasants did not resent, -since it helped to clear the fields for the ploughing which would take -place when the winter rains were over. A little farther, and the signs -of cultivation became more rare, one or two villages were passed, each -with its belt of fertile soil, and then the desert itself came into -view--not a wide flat expanse of sand, but a region of stony hills and -rugged valleys, with here and there a patch of coarse grass or -starved-looking bushes. The blind man, feeling the way with the staff -he carried, seemed never at a loss to discover the track, which was -hardly distinguishable even to the eye, and at length, on rounding the -shoulder of a hillock in no way more remarkable than the rest, he -turned to Cyril and remarked-- - -“This is the place where the sheikh will meet my lord.” - -“Then he is late,” said Cyril, looking round. - -“Nay, my lord, the Beni Ismail will not show themselves until they are -satisfied that the _khawajas_ are their friends.” He raised his voice -in a shrill cry, and presently a head appeared, peeping suspiciously -round a rock at some distance. Informed of this, Yeshua repeated his -call, and presently three Arabs made their appearance from different -directions, each man leading his horse. The blind man went forward to -meet them, and an animated colloquy ensued, out of earshot of the -travellers. - -“I don’t quite like the look of this,” said Cyril. “Is our blind -friend stipulating for his share of the spoils?” - -“Oh no, Count,” said Mansfield; “he’s trying to get them to swear not -to hurt us. He told me he would. The poor beggar has cottoned to me -rather,” he added shamefacedly. “Yesterday I went to see the mission -with which he is connected, and the ladies told him, and he was -awfully pleased.” - -“Well, don’t be ashamed of your good deeds,” said Cyril. “We shall -both be grateful for them when they have saved all our lives.” - -Presently, with a beaming face, the blind man brought the sheikh -forward, and having introduced him to Cyril, took his leave, -whispering to Mansfield as he passed. - -“They will not hurt you, _Khawaja_. They have sworn it on the Holy -Book.” - -He turned back in the direction of Damascus, and before disappearing -among the sandhills, paused to hold up his book as a reminder to the -Arabs. The sheikh, who had been scanning Cyril’s face with an interest -which he tried in vain to dissemble, asked him through Mr Hicks -whether he would prefer to rest for a while or to proceed at once, and -on his choosing to push on, made a sign to his men, who mounted their -horses, one of them riding ahead as a scout. - -In this way the three adventurers began a strange journey, the novelty -of which did not prevent it from palling upon them very quickly. -Sometimes the desert was hilly and rugged, sometimes it was flat and -sandy, but it was always arid, sunny, and treeless. The society of the -sheikh and his followers was as monotonous as their native scenery. -They made it evident that they preferred to keep entirely to -themselves, riding together in advance, and never, if they could help -it, exchanging a word with their unwelcome guests. When a halt for -food or rest became necessary, they showed the same anxiety not to -associate with them, seating themselves on the opposite side of the -fire, if there was one, and when there was none, taking shelter behind -their horses. At first Cyril made many determined efforts to induce -them to talk, with the help of Mr Hicks as interpreter, but in vain. -None of them would give him any information as to the extent of the -territory claimed by the tribe, their ruler or her capital, the -probable length of the journey, or the direction in which they were -going. His failure did not seem to dishearten him, however, although -he ceased his attempts to draw them into conversation, and he -sustained the hardships of the march in a way that was little short of -astonishing. The distance from one well to another, which must be -covered in a single stage, was often so great that the travellers fell -asleep from sheer fatigue as they rode, and on reaching the -halting-place could do nothing but tether their horses and throw -themselves on the ground for a few minutes of precious slumber, even -before thinking of the much-needed evening meal. The food, which -consisted almost exclusively of dry flaps of native bread and a sticky -preparation of pounded dates, was just sufficient to support life; the -water, on the other hand, seemed generally calculated to destroy it. -The small supply of tea which they had contrived to bring with them -was soon exhausted, and Cyril and Mr Hicks qualified the nauseous -draught with brandy; but Mansfield, who was a teetotaller, as became -Lady Philippa’s lover, drank it heroically unmixed. Shelter at night -there was none. The force of habit made the three foreigners creep as -far as possible under the bushes, when there were any, to the derision -of their guides, and they were also sufficiently fastidious to remove -all the most obtrusive pebbles from the spot selected for a bed; but -the large light cloaks that protected them from the dust by day served -also as a covering at night, and each man’s pillow was such as his own -ingenuity could devise from his small stock of possessions. - -“It isn’t the grub I mind,” lamented Mansfield one day to Mr Hicks, -when the journey had lasted nearly a week, “nor even having to do -without a bed, but I do detest getting so horribly grimy. I don’t -believe I shall ever be clean again.” - -“We’re all in the same boat,” responded Mr Hicks. “I guess some of the -haughty aristocrats that have entertained the boss in their marble -halls would think twice before speaking to him now.” - -“He doesn’t seem to mind,” said Mansfield dolefully. “He said this -morning that the ease with which one learned to do without the -refinements of civilisation was a clear proof of the innate savagery -of human nature. Before I came I thought I would bring plenty of soap, -whatever else I had to leave behind, but there’s no chance of using -it. And as for shaving----” - -“Well, think how you’ll wallow in the luxuries of an effete -civilisation when you get back to it!” was the sympathetic reply; but -Mansfield was wondering what Philippa would think of him if he -returned to England with a beard, and did not answer. “Guess we’ll all -be as fit as the Arabs if this goes on much longer,” continued Mr -Hicks cheerfully. “You and I are as hard as nails already. The boss -can’t get much thinner, any way, but just look at him! He’s spunkier -every day.” - -“Do you know,” said Mansfield, in a sudden burst of confidence, “it -almost makes me feel queer to see him riding on day after day with -that iron face, and not caring a hang for anything. He has been so -ill, you know, and that affair at Jericho---- Sometimes I wonder what -will happen to him if this business smashes up. He might--might--go -mad.” - -“Is that so? That notion has struck you too!” Mr Hicks glanced round -at Mansfield as the latter lowered his voice. “But don’t you go -expecting a bust-up. The boss is not taking any. He’s the man to go -fooling round in this desert until the Day of Judgment--sort of a dry -land edition of the Flying Dutchman, so to speak--rather than turn -tail and confess that he’s beaten. I’ve figured out that little -mystery by this time. The boss has planked his whole pie on the table -for this game, and he stands to win everything or go under. _Sabe_? -Say you run across a soldier of fortune. You receive him as a man and -a brother, until you get to know that he has not been above hiring his -sword out to a crowd of pirates. Then you dry up. That’s how it is -with the boss. If he comes to smash now he’s done on account of having -sided with the Jews against his own colour. His world can never -forgive that. But if he succeeds--why, then it’s as certain as things -can be in this uncertain universe that he’ll become a real brand-new, -properly organised, guaranteed by Europe, constitutional prince, with -a part to play that will take all his time and be a thing of joy to -him for ever. Do you guess he’ll let himself be fooled out of that by -any dusky scarecrow of a nigger chieftainess that chooses to work the -political racket and talk big about the Powers? No, sir!” - -The march continued, with no diminution of its unpleasantness, and the -travellers began to wonder when it would come to an end. Ordinarily, -so they had understood from Yeshua, it was accomplished in a week; but -to all appearance they were no nearer Sitt Zeynab now than they had -been at the beginning of their journey. - -“Guess I wish the desert wasn’t so like itself,” grumbled Mr Hicks to -Mansfield on the eighth day after leaving Damascus. “The hog that Mark -Twain came upon seven times over on the Riffelberg wasn’t a -circumstance to it. I could lave sworn we had passed those sandhills -before.” - -“I’ve been thinking so all day,” said Mansfield; “but I had an idea -that the heat and the monotony might be affecting my brain. Let’s ask -the Count what he thinks. I see he is suggesting a halt to the -sheikh.” - -They followed Cyril, who had been riding ahead of them as usual, but -had now dismounted, and was walking his horse towards a clump of -bushes. Here he stopped, and appeared to brush away the sand and pick -up something. As they came up, he turned to them, and held out a small -metal match-box for their inspection. - -“I buried it at the foot of that bush on the third morning after we -started,” he said. “I suspected some trick of this sort.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - THE HOUSE OF THE LADY ZENOBIA. - -The three men looked at each other and at the match-box. Mansfield -broke the silence first. - -“Then all this beastly journey has been for nothing?” he cried, with -youthful outspokenness. “We are no nearer Sitt Zeynab than we were at -first!” - -“Look out, Count!” said Mr Hicks quickly. “Put that thing away, or the -Arabs will twig that it was not here for its health.” - -“That’s just what I want. It’s no good mincing matters now. Put your -heads together and take a good squint at the thing, and then look as -angry and excited as you like, but say nothing to those fellows. After -supper we will have an ostentatiously serious talk.” - -Quite in the dark as to Cyril’s intentions, the others nevertheless -obeyed him, casting glances of suspicion and dislike, which it needed -no dissimulation to render realistic, at the Arabs in the intervals of -picketing and rubbing down the horses and gathering sticks for the -fire. This change of demeanour did not pass unnoticed, and after their -frugal meal the hostile camps met separately in serious consultation. -Mr Hicks and Mansfield failed to receive the enlightenment they -expected and desired. Cyril let them say what they liked, but offered -no suggestions of his own, listening to all that was said with an air -of languor, almost of boredom. - -“Tell the sheikh that I wish to speak to him in the morning before we -start, Hicks,” he said at last, and Mr Hicks obeyed, wondering. - -“That the boss should give them free leave to vamoose the ranche in -the hours of darkness throws me out,” he said, and Mansfield -determined to balance this extraordinary failure of judgment on his -leader’s part by keeping watch on his own account all night. But a -hard day’s riding in sun and sand is not the best method of -preparation for a vigil, and not so very long after his usual hour -Mansfield was comfortably asleep. It was Cyril’s voice which aroused -his two companions from their dreamless slumbers. - -“Mansfield! Hicks! wake up! Your revolvers!” - -Mr Hicks was on the alert in a moment, revolver in hand. There was no -moon, and the fire was almost out, but his ear told him that the words -came from the neighbourhood of the horses, which were plunging and -kicking. - -“Strike a light,” continued the voice, “and let’s see who it is I’ve -got here.” - -The flickering gleam of the match showed that Cyril was holding the -loosened heel-rope of his own horse, while his revolver was pressed to -the forehead of the sheikh. The man was crouching on the ground in an -attitude which made it clear that he had been surprised when about to -release the other horses. Just outside the circle of the light the -dark forms of the two tribesmen were visible against the stars, -mounted and ready to ride away, but afraid of endangering their sheikh -if they attempted to attack Cyril. The sheikh’s own horse was close at -his heels. - -“Is your revolver cocked, Hicks?” asked Cyril. “Mansfield, go and -fetch in the sheikh’s horse, but don’t fire unless I give the word. -Now, Hicks, ask the sheikh what he is doing here.” - -“He says he never calculated to take you to Sitt Zeynab, Count,” said -Mr Hicks, receiving the sullen answers of the captive. “He and his -people have fixed up all the other travellers in this style, leading -them round and round until they were tired, and then sloping with -their horses. They were so glad to escape from the desert, when they -found their way out at last, that they never wanted to come back. He -says he saw that we suspected something last evening, and he concluded -it was time to travel.” - -“Tell him,” said Cyril, smiling grimly, “that he may lead us round and -round as much as he likes, but he will have to take us to Sitt Zeynab -at last, unless he wishes to wander about with us for ever.” - -“He says he guesses there’ll be some shooting first, Count.” - -“I quite agree with him. Mansfield, cock your revolver, as loudly as -you can. Tell him that I shall have his horse and those of his men -shot if I hear much more of this.” - -“You have him there, Count; but he says he can get fresh horses and -come back and lay you out.” - -“Hardly,” was the suave reply. “I shall keep him and his men as guides -all the same; but they will have to walk.” - -“Don’t mind him, Count; he’s just relieving his feelings a bit, I -guess. It seems to hurt him real badly, the way he’s walked into this -trap of yours.” - -The sheikh was groaning vigorously, and alternately muttering and -shouting imprecations in Arabic. At last he became somewhat calmer. - -“What does the Prince of the Jews want?” he demanded of Mr Hicks. - -“To get to Sitt Zeynab, and you may bet your boots he’ll do it.” - -“What does he desire there?” - -“According to the stars,” said Cyril solemnly, “the fate of your -Princess is linked with mine. If we meet, it will be a very good thing -for both of us; if not, great disasters will follow.” - -“Say, Count, pile it on!” murmured Mr Hicks, in ecstasies of -admiration. “Guess I’ll most believe you myself soon. He says that -even if you get to Sitt Zeynab, that wouldn’t help you to see the -Princess or make a treaty with her.” - -“Tell him I’ll take my chance of that.” - -“He says the Princess is safe to imprison you and hold you to ransom.” - -“Let her. I am going to Sitt Zeynab.” - -“He concludes to give in, Count; but he is using improper language -about the day he inaugurated this personally conducted trip business.” - -“Quite possible and very natural. Tell him to make his men dismount, -Hicks, and let one of them bring their horses over here. Then he can -go back with them to their side of the fire. Point out to him the -space between the horses and that rock over there. If any of them -cross that before daybreak we shall not hesitate to shoot. On the -march he himself will ride between you and Mansfield, his men in -single file in front of me.” - -The contest was over, to the unbounded admiration of the Arabs, who -began to regard Cyril as a being little short of miraculous, since he -could see and hear in his sleep. That this feeling on their part was -to a certain extent a guarantee of safety to the travellers became -evident the next day, when a large body of mounted Arabs swooped down -upon the party as they approached the wells at which the unwilling -guides suggested a mid-day halt. It was clear that the new-comers were -prepared to congratulate their sheikh on his success in misleading a -fresh band of Roumi spies, and it was a shock to them to perceive that -the spies had not yet allowed themselves to be shaken off. The sheikh -displayed extreme tact in making the best of the situation. He -explained matters to his followers in a speech which was designed to -show that he was effecting a long-planned _coup_ in carrying off the -Prince of the Jews to Sitt Zeynab to hold him to ransom, without so -much as allowing the captive to suspect that he was a prisoner. But -whether the sheikh’s hearers were equally accomplished liars with -himself, and thus naturally prone to discount his assertions, or -whether his two original followers failed to corroborate him as they -should, the awe with which Cyril was regarded spread quickly to the -larger circle. This was highly satisfactory, since, as Mr Hicks -pointed out to Mansfield, the tribe might easily have annihilated the -three intruders without a possibility of resistance, in one of the -paroxysms of powder-play and spear-flourishing with which they -celebrated the sheikh’s return. Portents began to multiply around -Cyril. At one time it was a stray stork, called by the Arabs the -father of luck, which stood meditatively behind him for some time, -undisturbed by the eager whispers around; at another a scorpion, which -had ensconced itself under one of his boots for the night. It left the -marks of its claws on his finger when he took up the boot in the -morning, but Mansfield killed it with a stone before it had time to -turn round and sting him. - -Four days longer the march lasted, crossing a strip of desert more -sandy, stony, sunny, hot, and thirsty than any passed hitherto. This -pathless, waterless tract was the true defence of Sitt Zeynab, the -real reason why neither Roumi nor hostile tribesman had ever succeeded -in making his way thither. The Beni Ismail knew their desert as well -as if it had been traversed by a high road, but they economised their -stock of water and curtailed their halts as far as possible while they -were passing through it. This added discomfort pressed with special -severity upon those unaccustomed to desert travelling. Mr Hicks and -Mansfield, riding on in the baking sun hour after hour, with dry -mouths and parched tongues, were both heartily sick of the adventure; -but neither of them breathed a word of complaint or remonstrance to -Cyril. Nor--which was a far stronger testimony to their loyalty--did -they even exchange murmurs with one another; their nearest approach to -doing so was an occasional lament over the joys of civilisation. If a -bath was Mansfield’s ideal of unattainable happiness, Mr Hicks’s was a -sherry cobbler. His dreams, he averred, were haunted by the pleasant -tinkle of the ice in the glass, and as he lifted the straw to his -parched lips the thought would cross his mind that it was worth while -to have a real thirst on, for the pleasure of quenching it; but at -this point he invariably awoke. Cyril alone appeared unconscious of -the fresh hardships of this portion of the journey. Riding by himself, -he was nevertheless ready, when his companions addressed him, to -exchange with them the grim pleasantries which suited the situation. -It was clear, however, that his thoughts were not bounded by the -present scene, and Mr Hicks hazarded the suggestion that his brain was -evolving schemes of universal dominion. The Arabs viewed him with -ever-increasing respect, and it was with genuine awe that the sheikh -rode up to him one afternoon, and, pointing out a hill upon the -horizon, the summit of which seemed more regular in form than those on -either side, said-- - -“Behold, O Prince of the Jews, the house of Sitt Zeynab!” - -The response to the announcement was as alarming as it was unexpected. -Cyril fell forward unconscious upon his horse’s neck. - -“Guessed it would come to this,” muttered Mr Hicks. “No, sheikh,” when -Mansfield and he had tried various remedies in vain, “it’s no good -trying to revive him out here. We must get him in somewhere cool and -shady, with plenty of water.” - -“But why should the Prince of the Jews become as one dead when I show -him the house of Sitt Zeynab?” asked the sheikh. - -“Well,” said Mr Hicks meditatively, for he was busy superintending the -construction of a litter from spears and cloaks, “I guess he thinks -you’ve kept him so long upon the road that he hasn’t much time to ward -off those disasters he spoke of from your Princess.” - -Much subdued by this reply, the sheikh detailed four of his followers -to carry the litter, and ordered four others to be ready to relieve -them, betraying by such unexpected complaisance the ascendency which -Cyril had gained over his mind. Mansfield, in his deep anxiety, -dismounted and walked beside the litter, fearing lest the bearers -might stumble; but Mr Hicks laughed at him and maintained his position -beside the sheikh, with the cheering assurance that this period of -insensibility would ensure to Cyril the very rest his brain needed. -Mansfield had no attention to give to anything unconnected with the -patient, but the American’s restless eyes were everywhere. He noticed -the broken columns and other fragments of stonework which began to -make their appearance in the sand, and which showed that a -considerable town had once stood on this spot, looking for its defence -to the fortified hill of Sitt Zeynab. As he approached the fortress he -was able to distinguish that the massive wall enclosing the summit of -the hill bore evident traces of having been repaired at various -points, and probably at very varying dates, with masses of rock and -pieces of sculptured marble in place of its own bevelled stone. Above -the top of the wall a flat roof supported by pillars was just visible, -and at one corner stood a watch-tower of considerable height. Under -the shadow of the hill nestled a motley group of black tents and mud -huts, keeping guard over an oasis of moderate extent, the greenness of -which looked heaven-like to eyes wearied by the glare of the desert. -Palm-groves and leafy thickets marked the course of a stream, and -fringed the borders of the marsh in which it terminated, and Mr Hicks -perceived at once that some attempt was made to cultivate corn and -melons with the help of irrigation. The water, the sheikh told him, -came from hidden springs in the heart of the hill, and served to keep -filled an underground reservoir, for use in the event of a siege, -before it was allowed to issue forth into the plain. This information -was given as the travellers began to mount the zigzag path which led -to the gateway of the fortress. It was evident that their approach had -been observed, for one of the heavy doors stood open, and a woman, -wrapped from head to foot in a white veil, had stepped outside to -await them. - -“Is that the Princess?” asked Mr Hicks of the sheikh, looking up at -the white figure with involuntary awe. - -“Nay, it is only her scribe, but she also is a great woman, one in -whom is much wisdom, and the Princess is guided by her counsels. The -_khawaja_ will see her eyes like the clouds when the snow is falling -upon Lebanon, but I who speak to him have seen them black like the sky -in a midnight without stars. That is when the Princess is in great -straits.” - -“But what sort of difficulties does the Princess get into?” asked Mr -Hicks curiously. The sheikh drew nearer, and spoke confidentially. - -“There was a time, _Khawaja_, when I with certain of the tribe was -escorting the Princess and her women to Sitt Zeynab. On a sudden we -beheld a great host riding swiftly against us, with every sign of war. -Then I cried out, loudly, and with intent to deceive the women, ‘Lo! -it is the Beni Ayub who have heard that we are ruled by a woman, and -are coming to swallow us up.’ But when I looked to see the Princess -blench, she cried, as the scribe told us, ‘Let us have no bloodshed! I -will go and speak with them,’ and beckoning to the scribe, she urged -on her horse. But the scribe cried to me, ‘Stop the Princess! If aught -befall her, it were better for thee and thy tribe never to have been -born,’ and she dashed forward by herself. Then it was that I saw her -eyes black as Iblis, but it was not with fear, for she rode straight -up to those who came against us, and spoke boldly to them, I holding -fast to the Princess’s bridle, although she cursed me and struck at me -with her whip. But when the scribe reached the enemy, behold! they -were not the Beni Ayub at all, but the rest of our own tribe, come to -greet the Princess. And all the tribe said, ‘Lo! the spirit of a man -is in these women. It is no shame to be ruled by them,’ and we were -content.” - -“And the ladies--were they content when they twigged your little -joke?” asked Mr Hicks. - -“Nay, the scribe spoke very freely to us all. But who cares for a -woman’s tongue?” - -“It don’t seem to strike you that it was a queer dodge to play tricks -of that sort on your Princess, sheikh. Was it just at the beginning of -her reign?” - -The sheikh looked straight at Mr Hicks with blank, expressionless -eyes. His burst of confidence was clearly at an end. “This is the door -of the house of Sitt Zeynab, and here is the scribe of the Great -Princess,” he said. “Peace be upon thee, O lady!” - -“And upon thee be peace!” replied the veiled woman, in Arabic. “Are -the Princess’s letters with thee?” - -The sheikh took a leather bag from the front of his saddle, where it -had excited the unavailing curiosity of his guests throughout the -journey, and presented it respectfully. - -“The Princess perceived that one of thy men was being carried in a -litter, and she desired to know what had happened, and whether he was -badly hurt. But who are these?” There was a wild alarm in her voice, -as she caught sight of the travel-stained Norfolk suits of Mr Hicks -and Mansfield, whose uniform of _abba_ and _kaffiyeh_ had rendered -them until this moment indistinguishable from the Arabs, and she -staggered back against the door-post. - -“O lady, these men are the servants of the Prince of the Jews, whom we -have brought hither from Es Sham to see what is the will of the -Princess concerning him. He professes much goodwill towards our tribe, -desiring to enter into a treaty with the great lady, and we have -perceived that he is a lucky person.” - -“Where is he? Let me see him.” The bearers of the litter had deposited -their burden upon the ground, and she bent forward to look at it. A -convulsive shiver ran through her frame, and she sprang back as though -she had seen a snake. “_That_ man?” she ejaculated, and Mr Hicks and -Mansfield both observed that her grey eyes, the only feature visible -between the folds of her veil, were dilated by anger or horror until -the black alone was visible. “O son of misfortune, why hast thou -brought him here? He is the Princess’s deadliest enemy, the man that -has most injured her in all the world.” - -“It may be that he desires to make atonement, O lady,” suggested the -sheikh deprecatingly. - -“To make atonement--he? Nay, rather to do more mischief,” and she -bestowed a dainty but vicious kick upon Cyril’s unconscious form. -“Take him and his companions to the vaults, O sheikh, and keep them -there safely until they shall return to their own country.” - -“Pardon me, madam; if you would allow me a few words with you----” Mr -Hicks came forward politely, and spoke in his best Arabic, but he was -in difficulties with his _kaffiyeh_, which he had naturally tried to -take off on addressing a lady. The heavy gold-worked handkerchief had -become mixed up with the twisted cord which held it to the head, and -the consciousness that he was appearing at a disadvantage embarrassed -Mr Hicks seriously. - -“I will not listen. Take them away. Let no more be seen of them!” -cried the lady, escaping into the fortress and shutting the door -behind her. - -“What a fiend!” ejaculated Mansfield, with blazing eyes, as the rattle -of bolts and bars showed that there was no hope of changing her mind. - -“Excitable female, any way,” said Mr Hicks, his equanimity restored. -“Well, sheikh, I guess you had better march us off to these vaults of -yours. See what a pity it is that the Prince of the Jews wasn’t on -hand to blarney the lady!” - -The sheikh assented gloomily, and giving an order to his followers, -they retraced their steps and descended the path. - -“Of course you saw that our fair friend was a European?” remarked Mr -Hicks to Mansfield, as they followed the litter. - -“What, that woman--that--that creature?” - -“The lady who just honoured us with her attention. She wore Paris -shoes, any way, and a rustling frill round the edge of her gown.” - -“I should think she has very good reasons for living out here, then,” -was the unchivalrous remark of Mansfield, for the insult offered to -Cyril had made his blood boil. - -“Now that I would call one of the hasty judgments of youth,” drawled -Mr Hicks, and said no more until they arrived at the entrance to their -prison, which proved to be a cave at the foot of the hill, approached -by a low doorway almost buried in the sand. A man was sent to the -village for spades, and the sand was shovelled away until a large flat -stone, standing more or less perpendicularly, was laid bare. This -rested on rough hinges cut in the rock, and opened inwards like a -door. All was dark inside, but it seemed cool and airy. Mr Hicks -struck a match. Furniture there was none, with the exception of -various heaps of broken pottery and fragments of rock, and what seemed -a series of colossal bookshelves lining the walls. - -“Look here, sheikh,” said the American, “you’ve got to give us food -and lights, and some tent-cloth to sleep on, if you run this -high-class hotel.” - -“What will the Princess say?” was the lugubrious reply. - -“What will she say when the Prince of the Jews speaks with her and -tells her how badly you treated us?” - -“It shall be done, _Khawaja_,” and the sheikh gave the necessary -orders, which resulted in the arrival soon afterwards of three native -lamps, with a supply of oil, some fresh bread and a further provision -of the detestable compound of dates, and three pieces of goat’s-hair -cloth. Meanwhile, Mansfield had been laboriously bringing in sand, a -spadeful at a time, thus forming a substructure on which one of the -tent-cloths was laid to make a bed for Cyril. Then the door was shut, -and the prisoners were left to their reflections. - -“They may call this place the house of the Lady Zenobia as much as -they like,” said Mr Hicks aggressively, “but I’ll stick out that it -was the Lady Zenobia’s burying-lot, no less.” - -“This place--a mausoleum?” asked Mansfield, with marked disgust. - -“I guess so. Look at those shelves--all empty, of course; but there’s -a choice collection of miscellaneous remains in the room down the -passage there, where the light comes in through a hole in the roof. -The Arabs have rifled the place, you bet, and lugged the corpses into -daylight that they might be sure of missing nothing. All mummied, of -course, so you needn’t look so sick.” - -“But we can’t stay here!” cried Mansfield, in horror. - -“I guess we’ve got to. The lady upstairs don’t calculate to be trifled -with, you see. But I’ve slept in many worse locations than this, for -it’s clear that the last interment took place several hundreds of -thousands of years back, so the deceased won’t interfere with our -physical comfort; and if you see a ghost, just hurry up and tell me, -and I’ll interview him for the ‘Crier.’ Suppose you fly around and fix -things up for the night now. Our supper don’t need much cooking, -unfortunately, but the water’s good, any way. You might put out two of -those lamps, for it’s past sundown, and I’d as lief keep a light going -all night. Guess we’ll fix up one of these pieces of tent-cloth to -keep off the draught from that passage. I’m going to sit up with the -boss, so I’m better without a bed.” - -“No,” said Mansfield, “I’m going to look after him.” - -“Young man,” said Mr Hicks firmly, “this is my funeral. Your turn will -come to-morrow night, but as the distinguished sufferer’s medical -attendant, I calculate to do my obvious duty to-night. The boss is -taking a fine spell of rest just now, breathing natural, pulse -regular, everything first-rate, but I must be on hand when he wakes -up. Now don’t turn nasty, or I’ll sit up next night as well. I’m a -peaceable man, but when I get riz, there’s likely to be -unpleasantness.” - -Accepting the inevitable with the worst possible grace, Mansfield -prepared the supper, assisted in hanging the curtain, and finally -betook himself to his couch of hair cloth, where he muffled his head -in his cloak in the way he had learnt from the Arabs, and was fast -asleep in two minutes. He slept until late the next day, and was only -awakened by the voices of Cyril and Mr Hicks, as they expressed their -heartfelt admiration of his powers of slumber, and suggested -exhibiting him to the Arabs as one of the Seven Sleepers. Cyril was in -the wildest spirits. The fatigue of the journey seemed to have -altogether passed away, and Mr Hicks’s account of the lady at the -gateway and her ungracious behaviour had filled him with delight. Mr -Hicks, on the contrary, was more silent than usual, and offered -presently to show Mansfield a rock-cut swimming-bath, supplied with -water from the reservoir of which the Arabs had spoken, which he had -discovered while exploring one of the passages branching from the -cave. After a few moments’ silence, as they groped their way between -the rocky walls, he turned suddenly. - -“Mr Mansfield, do I look like a man that would see ghosts?” - -“No, I should say not,” replied Mansfield, holding up the lamp to -scrutinise his companion’s features; “but you look as if you had seen -one now,” he added maliciously. - -“That is so, Mr Mansfield. Or I have seen an apparition of a -surprising character, any way. About midnight I was sitting on a rock -beside the boss, and figuring out what I might clear by transporting -to the States that whole cargo of damaged Palmyrene antiquities in the -cellar back of ours, and selling them in small quantities to local -museums, when I distinctly saw that curtain move that we fixed up. You -bet I kept my eyes nailed on it. Well, it was drawn back slightly, and -there was an old woman--a little old woman--standing in the passage, -wrapped in a white sheet, like our friend at the door above, but I -could see her whole face. She never saw me, for the light was between -us; but she took a step forward and looked at the boss. I guess I was -hasty, but I cocked my six-shooter. She heard me, and in the minutest -fraction of a second she was gone. I caught up the light, and made -tracks after her, but there was nothing to be seen. I searched every -inch of the passage and the cave where the remains are, but she wasn’t -there, and there is no means of getting out that way, unless she -slithered up the roof to the hole where the light comes in, and that -isn’t what you would expect of an elderly female of respectable -appearance.” - -“But was she a European, as you said the other one was?” - -“Can’t say, Mr Mansfield. One old woman is pretty much like another. -Maybe she was the ghost of the Lady Zenobia. If that is so, I’ve lost -the best chance a newspaper man ever had, and I can tell you I feel -real mean.” - -“Well,” said Mansfield, with ungenerous exultation, “I can tell you -something, and that is, it’s _my_ funeral to-night. You haven’t said -anything to the Count?” - -“Do I look such a fool as all that, sir? But I’m real down. You could -most trample on me. I guess I ought to shove you into the -swimming-bath for your impudence, and I would do it, too, if it wasn’t -that maybe you would catch cold,” and having launched this Parthian -shaft, Mr Hicks departed. - -When Mansfield returned to the cave, he found that Cyril was giving -audience to the sheikh, who had come to announce their fate to the -prisoners. They need cherish no hope of being admitted to the presence -of the Princess, or even to an interview with her secretary. The doors -of the fortress were irrevocably closed against them, and they would -remain in their gloomy prison until they chose to return to -civilisation, when they would be escorted across the desert and set -down in the neighbourhood of Damascus. The sheikh’s mental discomfort -as he made this announcement was very evident, and it was clear that -he feared Cyril’s wrath only less than that of his sovereign; but the -placid smile with which his message was received served to reassure -him, and he retired puzzled but contented. Cyril remained in high -spirits all day, his gaiety only increasing towards evening. It was in -vain that Mr Hicks attempted to write to his paper, and that Mansfield -sat down resolutely with the intention of renovating the clothes of -the party, for he gave them no peace. He had a plan, which he -persisted in setting before them, conceived in the regulation -boys’-book-of-adventure style, for overpowering the sheikh and the -guard outside the cave, and scaling the walls of the fortress by the -aid of rope-ladders made of twisted strips of hair-cloth, thus -literally “dropping in” on the Princess with an urgency that would -admit of no denial. He seemed unable to turn his mind to anything -else, and at last Mr Hicks took the matter into his own hands. - -“Say, Count,” he observed, as he returned, carrying a tray, from a -colloquy at the prison-door with some person unknown, “I guess it’s my -duty as your medical adviser to warn you against all this excitement. -Now here’s some real good coffee that the sheikh has sent us, and I’ve -concluded to allow you a cup if you’ll do your level best to sleep -after it, but otherwise not so much as a drop.” - -“Tyrant!” groaned Cyril. “You know that two days ago we should have -been thankful to get drinkable water, but that, having got it, the -soul of man refuses to be satisfied without coffee, especially when -you tantalise him with the smell. Well, I give in.” He took the cup -and sipped it, but his tone changed immediately. “Hicks, you villain! -you’ve put some beastly stuff into this coffee.” - -“Just to make you sure of a night’s rest, Count. How do you intend to -go on the bust to-morrow if you don’t sleep?” - -The narcotic produced the desired effect, and before long Cyril was -sleeping as soundly as he had done the night before. As soon as this -had become evident, Mansfield jumped up. - -“Now then, Hicks, off you go!” he said, “and no keeping awake, mind. -Honour bright!” - -“Honest Injun!” assented Mr Hicks, accepting his dismissal to the -recess which Mansfield had occupied the night before. “Guess I -couldn’t keep awake if I tried, any way. But mind, you’re to call me -if there’s any spiritual manifestation.” - -“If I can do it without disturbing the manifestation,” agreed -Mansfield, and went on with his preparations for observing, in a -thoroughly scientific spirit, any phenomenon that might occur. He -looped back the curtain which had been hung over the entrance to the -passage, and arranged his bed directly opposite the opening, so that -he could command both sides of the passage as far as the light of the -lamp would extend. The lamp itself he placed in such a position that -he himself was left in shadow, while the eyes of any intruder would be -dazzled. Then he wrapped himself in his cloak, leaving a peep-hole -through which he could see without being seen, lay down with his -cocked revolver in his hand, and waited. - -He waited so long, with every sense on the alert, yet disturbed only -by purely imaginary noises, that he rebuked himself impatiently when -it seemed to him that he felt a breath of cold air in his face, and -that he heard at the same moment a slight rustle. But no, this time -there was no delusion. From the darkness of the passage emerged the -little old woman of whom Mr Hicks had spoken. She gave a quick glance -round the cave, then turned her head for a moment, and a taller woman, -also wrapped in the swathing white draperies, followed her out into -the light. Mansfield’s heart stood still as the two white figures -moved softly to Cyril’s side, and stood looking down at him. Could -they intend to murder him? But even as he raised his revolver -noiselessly to cover them, the taller woman’s veil dropped from her -face, and he saw that her hands were clasped convulsively on her -breast. Still she stood looking down at the sleeper, until her -companion touched her gently, when, to Mansfield’s utter bewilderment, -she stooped and kissed Cyril softly on the forehead. The old woman -drew her away, and they vanished. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - FACE TO FACE. - -“Mansfield, was any one in here last night?” - -“Why--er--how do you mean, Count? Oh, when the sheikh’s son brought -the coffee?” - -“No, no, much later than that. Was there any one?” - -“I--I suppose there must have been. I don’t know.” - -“But why do you suppose so? because I ask you, or because you saw some -one? Why can’t you say?” - -“Because I am not sure. I saw something.” - -“But what could it have been if it was not a person? a ghost?” - -An embarrassed laugh from Mansfield revealed that the chance shot had -hit the mark, and Cyril’s eyes gleamed with mischievous delight. - -“Come, this is interesting! Let us hear about it.” - -“Well, Count, I saw--at least, I thought I saw--two ladies come into -the cave from the passage and look at you.” - -“How flattering! Did you see their faces?” - -“The first lady was old and bent. I think Mr Hicks caught sight of her -the night before, and frightened her away. There was nothing -particular about her face. The other was taller, but not really tall. -She let her veil fall when she was standing beside you, and I saw that -her hair was white, but her face looked quite young--comparatively.” - -Cyril closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again slowly. -“And did she do nothing but look at me?” - -“She clasped her hands--like this. I don’t know whether it was because -she was glad or sorry.” - -“Is that all? You are sure there was nothing else?” - -“She--she stooped down and--and kissed you, Count.” Mansfield’s -abashed voice would have provoked his auditor to laughter at any other -moment, but now Cyril only nodded approvingly. - -“I thought I couldn’t have dreamt it. And after that?” - -“They slipped back into the passage, and disappeared suddenly. I can’t -find any door through which they could have gone.” - -“Well, we can think of that presently. I am heartily obliged to you, -Mansfield. It’s a comfort to have a man about one who can tell his -tale sensibly, without interlarding it with wretched feeble jokes. Any -one could make a joke of this affair, no doubt, but not when it is -looked at in the proper light. Of course you know who the lady is?” - -“I, Count?” Mansfield’s astonished face attested his ignorance -sufficiently. - -“It has never once struck you that the Queen of the Desert and Queen -Ernestine are one and the same person? Nor that one of the letters -which the sheikh carried in that leather bag of his was from Fräulein -von Staubach, and contained the news of your invasion of Brutli, and -identified me with the Prince of the Jews?” - -“But how long have you known it? and why didn’t you----” - -“Share my knowledge with you? Because I thought that you and Hicks -deserved a little punishment for mixing yourselves up in my affairs. I -have not known the truth long, of course. When Fräulein von Staubach -told you that she could not mention my name to the Queen for a -fortnight, that set me on the track. Some time ago I chanced to hear -that the Queen had held out for a whole fortnight before she would -consent to see some one. Of course she was being sent for from here. -When the coincidence had once flashed upon my mind, everything was -clear--the Queen’s persistent isolation on the one hand, and the -extraordinary proceedings of the Arab Princess on the other. The -rescue of the persecuted tribe, the idea of obtaining the mediation of -the Empress of Pannonia--who is Queen Ernestine’s sister-in-law--and -the threatened appeal to the Powers, are all characteristic of her. -Then you know that no one ever heard of the Queen of the Desert until -two years ago, which corresponds roughly with the time Queen Ernestine -disappeared from the public gaze. My hypothesis accounted for all the -facts, and you see it was correct.” - -“But how can you be sure, when you didn’t see the lady last night?” - -Cyril smiled impatiently. “My dear Mansfield, I felt she was there. -That’s enough for me. Did Hicks see her?” - -“No, he was asleep.” - -“Then I think you need only mention to him that you saw his old lady -of the night before. Hicks is a good fellow enough, but there are -times when he would sell his soul to purchase a sensation for his -paper. It is just like the Queen to have made this midnight -expedition, but you needn’t--I don’t want----” - -“Oh, I understand,” said Mansfield hastily. “He shall never hear about -it from me.” - -“And now, Mansfield, we will make a searching investigation of the -walls of the passage. I want to find that secret door through which -the ladies came and went, and then we will pay them a visit.” - -Mr Hicks, returning at this moment from conferring with the sheikh on -the subject of a change of food for the party, was duly informed of -the reappearance of his ghost, and joined with extreme zeal in the -hunt for the door, although a close observer might have perceived that -when his face was turned away from the others it underwent a series of -extraordinary contortions, suggestive of suppressed mirth. For some -time the search was fruitless, the smooth surface of the rock on both -sides of the passage displaying no indication of any joint or crack, -even when examined minutely with the aid of a lamp. - -“Mansfield,” said Cyril at last, “lie down where you were last night, -and tell me exactly how far the lady had got when she disappeared.” - -Mansfield obeyed, and was able to indicate the spot with tolerable -precision, by estimating its distance from the edge of the curtain. - -“Now, Hicks,” said Cyril, “the lamp here, please. I think we may be -pretty sure that the door is in the left-hand wall, as that is the -side on which the hill is, and I should imagine we shall find the -spring two or three feet either to the right or the left of the point -at which the lady vanished.” - -He began to test the wall by pressing it carefully with his fingers, -keeping his left hand a few inches higher than his right, and before -very long Mr Hicks gave a shout. - -“You’ve hit it, Count! I saw something give that time, and here’s a -break in the wall ahead of you. Guess you’d better let me help you -shove.” - -But the stone door moved so easily upon its pivot that this was -unnecessary. It swung open without the slightest sound, revealing the -foot of a flight of steps cut in the rock. - -“Now this is what I call real thoughtful of the Lady Zenobia,” said Mr -Hicks. “If she found it necessary to assist a friend into the next -world, there was no need to have corpses lying around upstairs. She -could plant them out in her lot down here quite comfortably, and no -one the wiser.” - -“Now,” said Cyril, panting a little, “you and I will make a voyage of -discovery, Mansfield. Do you know, Hicks, I think your nocturnal -visitor must be an old acquaintance of mine, Baroness von Hilfenstein? -I needn’t tell you in whose household she is, and you won’t be -surprised to hear that I intend to make a call on her.” - -“You don’t calculate to leave me out of the party, Count, I hope?” - -“I’m afraid I must on this occasion. Who is to receive the sheikh and -bamboozle him as to our doings, if we all go? He would scour the -passages, thinking we were trying to escape, and we should be brought -back before we could do anything.” - -“That’s so, sir. Go ahead,” and Mr Hicks got out his fountain pen and -his writing-pad, and set to work on a letter to his paper, while -Mansfield, by Cyril’s directions, made himself as smart as his -extremely limited resources allowed. His employer was one of those -fortunate people who contrive always to be presentable in spite of the -most adverse circumstances, but he displayed unwonted anxiety about -his appearance on this occasion, and Mr Hicks smiled grimly as he -closed the stone door upon the flickering light carried by Mansfield. - -“You ought to have known me better, Count. As if all this prinking -wouldn’t tell me what was on hand even if I hadn’t used my eyes last -night! You deserve I should make a real blood-curdling, -soul-thrilling, romantic, pathetic life-drama out of you and your -Queen, but you and I are partners, and I’m on the square, any way.” - -The rock-cut staircase up which Cyril and Mansfield made their way was -narrow and winding, but quite dry, and the edges of the stone were as -sharp as if they had only been hewn a day. Air was admitted from the -outer world by means of shafts reaching to the face of the rock, but -these were too small to allow the entrance of more than a ray of -light, which served to increase by contrast the surrounding darkness. -A quantity of sand, admitted in the course of ages through these -air-shafts, was heaped in the corners, but Cyril pointed out to -Mansfield that the flowing robes of the nocturnal visitors had swept a -clear pathway in the middle of the steps. The two men went on, up and -up, now turning to the right and now to the left, sometimes finding -themselves on ground which was almost level, and again confronted with -steps nearly two feet high, until there was a change in the sound of -their echoing footsteps, and they discovered that instead of solid -rock the walls and roof were now of masonry. - -“This is the wall of the fortress, then!” said Cyril. “Interesting -question where we shall come out--in the palace itself, or hopelessly -outside.” - -He was hot and panting, and his voice vibrated strangely. Mansfield -suggested a rest, but he shook his head. “No, no,” he said -impatiently; “let us go through with it now, and know the worst.” - -The passage ended abruptly in a stone door like that by which they had -left the cave. Mansfield pushed it open, cautiously at first, for in -the blinding glare of sunlight into which it admitted them they could -not at once see where they were. Then came disappointment. True, they -stood inside the circuit of the vast wall visible from the plain, but -before them loomed the huge side of the palace, blank and windowless, -built of immense blocks of bevelled stone. Travelling upwards from one -course of Cyclopean masonry to another, the eye could discover no -opening into the interior of the building until it reached the -colonnade supported on columns which crowned the roof. Between the -palace and the outer wall was a space of waste ground overgrown with -coarse dry grass and low bushes, and Mansfield crept softly among the -scattered rocks and fragments of carved stone, which lay everywhere -around, towards the back of the building, and peered round the corner. - -“Nothing there but a few servants’ huts and attempts at -gardening--certainly no door into the palace,” he whispered, -returning. - -“Very well, we will try this way,” said Cyril, turning to the right, -but here again was disappointment. The entrance to the palace was -before them, indeed--a huge pillared portico with great stone doors; -but these were as closely shut as the wooden gate facing them, which -the angry lady had fastened behind her two days before. A small grated -window above the door was the only opening here, and it was far beyond -even Mansfield’s reach. But Cyril did not exhibit any sign of -discouragement. - -“Take one,” he said, sitting down at the base of one of the columns -and holding out his cigar-case. “There are only two left, but Sir -Philip Sidney’s generosity was nothing to mine when there is anything -to be gained by it. What I want to gain just now is an interview with -the lady of the gateway, whom I take to be Princess Anna Mirkovics.” - -Mansfield obeyed, much puzzled, and they smoked in silence for some -minutes. Then a female voice, speaking in German, broke the stillness. - -“Those servants again!” it said. “How often have I forbidden them to -smoke in the neighbourhood of the Queen’s apartments! They know how -much she dislikes the smell. Which of them can it be?” - -“Drawn!” whispered Cyril. “Though it is a little hard to have one’s -best cigars mistaken for the stuff these fellows smoke, isn’t it?” - -“Markor! Zachary! Johannes! which of you is smoking out there?” cried -the voice, which Mansfield recognised as that of the lady of the -gateway, in Arabic, and her face appeared at the window. She recoiled -precipitately when she saw Cyril, who bowed to her with the utmost -politeness. - -“You here!” she cried, her eyes dilating as they had done before. -“What do you want?” - -“An audience of her Majesty, mademoiselle.” - -“I thought so. I felt sure you would come cringing back to the woman -you had wronged, but you shall not see her. I will not have her made -miserable a second time by you.” - -“Mademoiselle, I acknowledge you readily as a true prophet--I will -even confess that your reproaches are deserved--but it lies with her -Majesty, and not with you, to grant or refuse me an interview.” - -“It does lie with me. I refuse to submit your request to her Majesty, -do you understand? I take upon myself the responsibility of excluding -you from her presence. You shall not tear open the cruel wound you -once made. I will have you dragged back again to your prison.” - -“Pardon me, mademoiselle. I am master of the situation at present, for -I fancy the Arabs would obey my orders--perhaps as readily as your -own. In any case, the sounds of a scuffle would attract the Queen’s -attention.” - -“I have no fear of the fidelity of the Arabs, Count.” - -“Then pray test it, mademoiselle. I ask merely that my presence here -should come to her Majesty’s knowledge. Her pleasure is my law. If she -refuses to grant me an audience, I will go away without another word.” - -“Then consider that she has refused it, for it will not be granted. I -am bold enough to risk her Majesty’s displeasure when it falls to me -to guard her happiness. You need not hope to move me by an air of -meekness, of suffering. Pray remain there in the sun the whole day. I -rejoice to see you shut out--unable to reach her. Nothing could please -me better.” - -“Pardon me, mademoiselle, there is one thing wanting to complete your -enjoyment. If her Majesty rejoiced to see me shut out, then you could -be happy indeed. But you are afraid to lay my request before her, -because you know that she would grant it.” - -“I cannot stand talking all day,” said the lady angrily. “You, Count, -have doubtless plenty of time to spare. I hope you may enjoy -yourself!” - -She disappeared from the grating, and all through the long, hot, -noonday hours Cyril held his ground, with Mansfield, as determined as -himself, at his side. Recommended to find his way back to the cave and -take counsel with Mr Hicks, Mansfield refused to leave his post in the -portico. With the nature of the grudge that Princess Anna Mirkovics -cherished against Count Mortimer he was unacquainted; but she seemed -to have little regard for consequences provided she could obtain her -revenge. In the course of the afternoon she appeared again at the -window, fresh from a cool siesta--so, with a refinement of cruelty, -she informed them--and jeered at Cyril’s persistence in remaining -where he was not wanted, and where he could do no good. Even Mansfield -grew fainthearted after this. Cyril’s paleness and evident exhaustion -alarmed him, and he suggested a retreat to the cave and the employment -of Mr Hicks as ambassador. But Cyril was resolute. - -“I’ll stay here till I get in, or die on her doorstep!” he said -fiercely, and Mansfield offered no further suggestions. Their patience -met with its reward at last, although this would scarcely have -happened had Princess Anna been able to resist informing Cyril that -the Queen was about to spend the evening in the garden, and he might -therefore give up the hope of attracting her attention. Scarcely had -she departed when another face appeared at the grating, that of -Baroness von Hilfenstein, coming to see who it was that had been -conversing in French with her colleague. - -“You here, Count!” she said, with reproachful incredulity. “This is -a--a--an unpleasant surprise.” - -“Baroness, you are very cruel, when I have spent the whole day here in -the hope of catching a glimpse of you.” - -“You can hardly expect me to believe that, Count.” - -“Even though you know you are going to get me an interview with the -Queen?” - -The Baroness threw up her hands. “Not that, Count, not that!” she -pleaded piteously. “You would not make such an inexpedient, ill-timed -request?” - -“But I do make exactly that request, Baroness. One word with her -Majesty--that will tell me all I want to know.” - -“But, my dear Count,” said the old lady persuasively, “you must really -be patient. Her Majesty was quite gratified--yes, I think I may -without impropriety use the word--to hear from Fräulein von Staubach -that you were anxious to wait upon her, and I think it is extremely -probable that she will command your presence when the Court returns to -Brutli. But now--I really could not say how she would receive this -unfortunate application of yours!” - -“I will take my chance of that, Baroness. And here I stay until you -assure me that her Majesty positively refuses to receive me.” - -“Now, Count, be reasonable.” The Baroness was much distressed by -Cyril’s persistence. “I am sure you don’t wish to involve her Majesty -in any unpleasantness? And poor dear Princess Anna, who has made such -sacrifices, and shown such devotion to the Queen, would almost break -her heart if she saw you received in audience. You see, she does not -even know of Fräulein von Staubach’s letter--I happened to be in -attendance when her Majesty opened it, and we thought it better to--to -spare her feelings. Of course you understand?” - -“Am I to understand that Princess Anna’s feelings will be considered -before mine? I know I have not deserved consideration, but----” - -“Her Majesty is all consideration, Count. She knows that the Prince of -the Jews is here, for one of the Armenian servants heard it from the -Arabs, but she believes you think she is at Brutli. She is able to -identify the Prince of the Jews, but she does not know that you have -found out who the Queen of the Desert is.” - -“I see,” said Cyril meditatively. “Then this explains why you played -the ghost the night before last, Baroness--and last night also?” - -“Count!” The poor Baroness renounced the unequal struggle. “You knew -it all the time, then? I was over-persuaded--her Majesty insisted--I -was horrified, but still--Oh, come in, Count,” she began to unfasten -the door. “You must say what you like to the Queen. I might have known -that if you were determined to get in you would. Will your--your suite -accompany you?” glancing doubtfully at Mansfield. - -“I am afraid I shall need his arm,” said Cyril, with a laugh. He was -shaking from head to foot as Mansfield helped him through the doorway -and across the paved hall into which it led. The Baroness, in a state -of extreme trepidation, went before them, turning at every few steps -to hasten them on, or warn them not to speak, but they met no one. A -door at the farther end of the long hall led into an inner courtyard, -which was partially laid out as a garden, and surrounded by a -half-ruined colonnade, entwined with gourds and other creeping plants. -In the shade of the dwarf palms and shrubs at the opposite side could -be seen two white-robed figures. - -“Her Majesty walks here in the evenings,” said the Baroness, with a -gasp of uncontrollable excitement, “and Princess Anna is with her. -When they pass this doorway you must do what you think best,” and she -fled back into the hall. - -“Mansfield! when she comes, help me to kneel down, and then make -yourself scarce,” said Cyril breathlessly. - -He was gripping Mansfield’s arm hard as they stood in the shadow of -the doorway, and the two women, unconscious of their presence, came -slowly towards them. Anna Mirkovics seemed to be talking excitedly, -regardless of etiquette, but the Queen paid little or no attention to -her, pacing the time-worn stones in silence, with her eyes on the -ground, and a half-smile upon her lips. - -“Surely, madame, you were not really thinking of returning to Brutli -at present?” cried her companion, as they turned the corner. - -“Now!” panted Cyril to Mansfield, and as the Queen approached he fell -on his knees before her. She started back, and Anna Mirkovics -screamed. Mansfield had retreated swiftly into the doorway. - -“_Cyril_!” cried the Queen, irrepressible joy in her voice; then, more -doubtfully, “Is it you, Count?” - -“My dearest, forgive me!” - -“Madame!” Anna Mirkovics had recovered herself, “allow me to have this -person removed. Is he to be permitted to intrude himself upon you in -this insolent manner? Madame, you will not suffer him to approach -you?” - -“Anna, you forget yourself.” The maid of honour shrank before the -tone, and the gesture with which the Queen waved her aside, but she -made another valiant effort. - -“Oh, madame, listen to me for one moment! You know how I love -you--that I would give everything I have in the world to provide a -moment’s happiness for you. Don’t expose yourself again to this man’s -cruelty. He returns to you merely that he may gratify his ambition. He -cannot love. Trust me, madame; I love you better than my life.” - -“I am in your hands, Ernestine,” said Cyril faintly. “If you command -me to leave you, I will go at once.” - -“To leave me, when I have been waiting years for you? I knew you would -come back, Cyril, but I was often sick with longing. Go, Anna; you do -not understand. If Count Mortimer were to forsake me again to-morrow, -I would welcome him now.” - -“Oh, my dearest, I have not deserved this!” broke from Cyril. “That -day--that day--when you knelt to me, and I would not listen----” - -“Don’t, don’t!” murmured the Queen painfully. “I can’t bear to -remember it. Oh, Cyril, you would not even send me a kind word! You -did not know how I loved you, or you could not have been so cruel.” - -“I didn’t even know how I loved you, Ernestine. I thought it was all -over, but I have never had a happy moment since.” - -“I am so glad!” she replied, with a radiant smile. “That is selfish of -me, isn’t it? but I was always jealous of your policy, you know. -Cyril, my beloved, if you knew how I have prayed for this day! I used -to wish that I might die, because I thought you would come to me if I -was dying. But now--oh, I am too happy! No, you are not to kiss my -hands. Come and sit here, and tell me what you have been doing all -these years.” - -A despairing groan at his side made Mansfield start, as he stood in -the shadowy hall, out of earshot of the garden. Turning quickly, he -saw Cyril leading the Queen to a seat, and found that Princess Anna, -in the shadows beside him, was also a witness of the reconciliation. -The sight seemed to destroy her self-command altogether, for she fell -upon him as the nearest victim, and stormed at him in Thracian for -some minutes. Then, either because her anger had exhausted itself, or -because she was mollified by his enforced meekness under her attack, -she burst into tears, and was led away, sobbing bitterly, by Baroness -von Hilfenstein, who appeared opportunely from out of the gloom. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - THE PENALTY OF GREATNESS. - -“Well, gentlemen!” said Mr Hicks, as Cyril, holding tightly to -Mansfield’s arm, stumbled painfully into the cave about sunset, “I’m -glad to see you, any way, for I had a notion that the gateway lady -might have fixed you both up with safer quarters than these, but I -guess the distinguished patient is about played-out?” - -“Never felt better in my life!” returned Cyril, collapsing on his bed. -“Don’t plague me to-night, Hicks. I shall be as fit as possible after -a good rest.” - -“No, sir. I think I see myself allowing you to die of starvation. Joy -may seem to answer every demand of a man’s nature, but it don’t serve -him instead of his regular meals. Come, you don’t incline to give her -Majesty the trouble of coming all this way down to see you again right -now, do you?” - -“Then you were awake after all?” said Cyril, accepting meekly the bowl -of broth which Mr Hicks forced upon him. “I thought your sleep was -suspiciously profound.” - -“Well, Count, I don’t mind allowing that I wasn’t as fast asleep as I -looked. But I was on my honour not to interfere with Mr Mansfield’s -plan of campaign, and I didn’t. For the rest, you may be sure that the -grave isn’t a circumstance to me in the matter of discreet silence.” - -“I haven’t a doubt of it. Well, this soup of yours has waked me up -pretty thoroughly, so I may as well explain things a little to the two -of you, for I can see you are both palpitating with curiosity. It -seems that when the Queen was obliged to leave Thracia, she chose -Brutli as her place of refuge, for family reasons. The senior -deaconess was once betrothed to one of the Schwarzwald-Molzau princes, -but he died just when the family had given their consent to his -marrying her. The sisters received the Queen most kindly, but she -found that her steps were continually dogged by spies. The Princess of -Dardania was anxious to have it thought she was mad, and seems to have -left no means untried to make her so. It was partly this perpetual -espionage that made her refuse to admit any man to her presence, and -partly--well, that was my fault.” - -“Very natural in the circumstances, Count.” Mr Hicks’s comment was -diplomatically ambiguous. - -“Of course such seclusion only gave colour to her cousin’s inventions, -and the Queen and her ladies saw this. It was Mlle. Mirkovics who -devised a plan of relief. She was in Damascus when the Vali arrested -the Beni Ismail for non-payment of their tribute, and she told the -Queen about it. Her Majesty was so much affected and distressed that -Princess Anna, to please her, paid up the arrears of tribute through -the sheikh. After such kindness as that, he could not refuse to answer -the questions she asked him about the unknown desert in which his -tribe were said to live, and he even offered to guide her to this -place, Sitt Zeynab, thinking that all Europeans were interested in -antiquities. The tribe had kept it in some sort of repair as a -fortress for use in war-time, but they preferred sticking to their -tents in the oasis whenever they could. It seems to have struck her -that this might afford the Queen the refuge of which she felt the -need, and when the sheikh came to her in his next trouble she made a -bargain with him. The Queen induced the Empress of Pannonia to use her -influence at Czarigrad, so saving the tribe from deportation, and they -accepted her as their ruler. They have really made rather a good thing -out of it, for they have been provided with food, and had their -tribute paid, on condition that they robbed no more caravans. Of -course the Vali and Mahmud Fadil know the truth about the mysterious -Princess, but they have accepted a present to hold their tongues, and -they are honourable men.” - -“But General Banics and M. Stefanovics--don’t they know?” cried -Mansfield. “To keep them there at Brutli eating their hearts out----” - -“The Queen told me herself that she had entreated them to return to -Thracia, but they refused to go. No, they do not know. It was -impossible to confide the secret to them, for the Princess of -Dardania’s emissaries are buzzing round them continually. Naturally -Madame Stefanovics knows the truth, for she spends part of every day -at the Institute, with the lady who is left there to delude the -Queen’s visitors. Mlle. Mirkovics and Fräulein von Staubach spend -alternate months here and at Brutli, and do their best to account for -the fortnight which must pass before the Queen can be seen, or can -give an answer to any question.” - -“Guess it’s a queer life here for a set of lone women,” remarked Mr -Hicks. - -“The Queen seems to have found it rather peaceful than otherwise. They -have plenty of servants--fugitive Armenians who were glad to find a -refuge here with their wives and children--and the Arabs are -wonderfully amenable. They have lost their old occupation of highway -robbery, but they find it rather interesting, for a change, to mislead -inquisitive travellers, and they appear to be taking kindly to the -cultivation of their oasis. The Queen is much too devoted to the tribe -to take leave of them altogether, but I think they will be able to get -on with an occasional visit.” - -“When her Majesty and you are reigning at Jerusalem?” There was a -touch of awe in Mr Hicks’s voice. “Well, Count, I have always reckoned -you the most almighty successful man of my acquaintance--with runs of -bad luck now and then, of course, like the rest of us--but you bet I -never thought of anything like this. You start right away into the -desert on the maddest freak in creation, and it brings you out just -where you calculated to be, and fixes you up with the finest future a -man could desire. But then you started with getting round the twelve -tribes of Israel, and the man that can do that has little to learn, -even with regard to the female persuasion.” - -“You see, once I had the clue, the whole mystery surrounding the Queen -of the Desert vanished away,” said Cyril. “It is rather hard on Mlle. -Mirkovics, for I am convinced that one of her reasons for bringing the -Queen here was the desire to remove her beyond the reach of my baleful -influence, but that is the way things happen in this world. By the -bye, the Queen would like me to present you both to her to-morrow, so -be prepared.” - -“Count,” said Mr Hicks warningly, “I’m a plain American citizen, whose -intercourse with kings and queens and courts has been strictly -professional. Do you ask me to compromise my independence right now by -figuring round as a member of your suite?” - -“No, I don’t,” said Cyril, while Mansfield laughed, remembering the -Baroness’s description of himself; “I want to introduce you both, as -my friends, to the lady who is going to do me the honour of marrying -me. She knows that I owe my life to you both several times over, and -that I couldn’t have got here without you.” - -“Shake, Count!” said Mr Hicks; “you’re a white man, sir. And if it -would make you any happier, you may bet your last red cent I would go -so far as to put on a Court suit for the occasion, if you had one here -and offered it me.” - -With this magnanimous surrender on Mr Hicks’s part, the conversation -ended, and on the morrow it appeared that he was highly dissatisfied -with the meagreness of the preparation it was possible to make for his -visit to the Queen. His travel-worn clothes and the helmet in which he -had ridden out of Damascus were the objects of much anxious care, and -he went so far as to offer to part with his cherished beard, if Cyril -thought well, but the sacrifice was gratefully declined. Little time -was allowed for personal decoration, since the prisoners had scarcely -finished breakfast when the sheikh made his appearance, his demeanour -betokening a vast increase of respect, to the extent even of sending a -messenger in advance, to ask whether the Prince of the Jews would -receive him. On entering, he bowed to the ground before Cyril. - -“O my lord, the Princess desires thee and thy servants to come to her. -‘Where are my friends?’ she says. ‘Bring them here, that I may make -with them the treaty that they desire.’ O my lord, how is this? It has -never been the pleasure of the Princess heretofore that any stranger -should approach her.” - -“What did I tell you?” asked Cyril, through Mr Hicks. “Didn’t I say -that the Princess would receive me and enter into a treaty?” - -“O my lord, thy words sounded in the ears of thy servant as -foolishness, but they have indeed proved true. My lord will speak -favourably of his servant before the Princess?” - -“By all means,” said Cyril pleasantly, as the sheikh drew back to -allow him to pass out of the cave. Once outside, the whole party -mounted their horses, and rode up the hill-path in state, escorted by -the tribesmen, who discharged their guns at intervals to do honour to -the mighty stranger. Arrived at the gate, where the Armenian servants -were drawn up in line to receive the visitors, the sheikh alone -entered with his guests. Just as the gate was closing, Mansfield -uttered an exclamation. - -“There are two men on camels riding across the desert from the -direction of Damascus!” he cried. “They are kicking up a tremendous -cloud of dust, so they must be coming fast.” - -“It is doubtless a post bringing letters for the Princess,” said the -sheikh; “but I know not why there should be two men. See, the watchman -has observed them,” as a shot rang out from the lofty tower on the -wall. “Word will be brought at once if there is any ill news.” - -They passed on through the portico into the great hall, and paused -before the doorway of a room opening from it on the left. A servant -drew aside the curtain, and revealed Queen Ernestine enthroned upon a -marble seat, with Baroness von Hilfenstein and Mlle. Mirkovics -standing behind her. All three ladies were swathed from head to foot -in white _isars_, but the sheikh prostrated himself without venturing -to steal a glance at them, and remained with his forehead touching the -ground. - -“Behold, O great Princess, the Prince of the Jews,” he said. “He is -come to learn thy will concerning his nation.” - -“It is well,” said the Queen, through Princess Anna. “My scribe shall -declare to him my pleasure, and do thou wait without to conduct him -back to his lodging when the audience is over.” - -The sheikh retired, quitting the awful presence of his sovereign with -unconcealed willingness, and when he was safely out of sight the -ladies relieved the Queen of her veil. After a word or two with Cyril, -she turned to Mr Hicks and Mansfield with a smile that won their -hearts for ever. - -“Count Mortimer’s friends are mine,” she said, stepping forward and -holding out a hand to each; “and he has told me what good friends you -have been to him. Please do not think I shall be jealous of his -affection for you. I know that I owe this meeting to your fidelity to -him.” - -To Cyril’s intense delight, that sturdy republican, Mr Hicks, dropped -on one knee to kiss the Queen’s hand, as though to the manner born, -murmuring: - -“If I were Count Mortimer’s deadliest enemy, madame, I guess the -inducement you offer would make me friends with him right away.” - -“I know your story,” said the Queen softly to Mansfield, as he kissed -her hand in silence, unable to utter a word. “Consider me your friend, -and let me assure you that Count Mortimer is also on your side. When -one is happy oneself, one is always eager to make others so.” - -Cyril smiled involuntarily, as he wondered in what light the Queen -would regard Mansfield’s love-story when she heard of her son’s -admiration for Philippa, and there was the faintest ghost of a bitter -laugh from Mlle. Mirkovics. A pained look crossed the Queen’s face, -but before she could speak, the sheikh’s voice was heard on the other -side of the curtain, very close to the ground. - -“Let the Princess pardon the presumption of her servant, but word is -come for the Prince of the Jews, entreating him to return immediately -to Es Sham. The messenger has travelled day and night.” - -Mlle. Mirkovics interpreted the words, and the Queen’s eyes filled -with tears as they met Cyril’s. He had made an involuntary movement -towards the door, but her gaze of entreaty drew him back. - -“I am at your commands, madame,” he said, with forced calmness. - -“If I ask you, you will stay?” she said, too low for the rest to hear, -and her eyes marked, almost with agony, the struggle in his face. - -“I will stay, Ernestine--if you ask me,” he replied at last. He spoke -without enthusiasm, but with the desperate resolution to atone by one -tremendous sacrifice for his past sins against her. - -“But I don’t ask you. You must go--at once, if it is necessary. But -come to me before you start, and tell me what has happened. -Messieurs,” she turned again to Mr Hicks and Mansfield, “I regret to -have had so little conversation with you. We must meet again--at -Brutli, I hope. There is much that I wish to ask you.” - -Again the gleam of that dazzling smile, for which, as Mr Hicks -confided afterwards to Mansfield, he would have walked round the -world, and the visitors retired. The moment they were gone, the Queen -turned to Anna Mirkovics. - -“Anna, you have disappointed me--grieved me bitterly. You will not -forget!” - -“How can I forget, madame? He leaves you now--even now--in a moment, -for his policy.” - -“I told him to go. He would have stayed. Why will you not consent to -be happy, since I am? It breaks my heart to see how you hate him.” - -“Madame, I do rejoice to see you happy. There is nothing I desire more -on earth. But I cannot forget. In my eyes, your happiness has no -foundation. My blood boils when I remember how he treated you----” - -“Anna, Anna, think. I love him. Can’t you understand? Don’t you know -what love is?” - -“Alas, madame, yes! I love you.” - -“Then you do understand. You have borne with me, my despair, my -fretfulness, my ill temper, because you love me. Your love has never -failed for one moment. And that is the measure of my love for him.” - -“Madame, I will not have you compare yourself with him. I love your -changes of mood--even your coldness. How can they make any difference -to me?” - -“And I love him in the same way. Come, Anna, you would not make me -miserable? How can I be happy if you persist in frowning upon my -happiness?” - -“Oh, you break my heart, madame! Well, then, I rejoice that you are -happy, and if his Excellency continues to make you so, I shall rejoice -all my life long that he has returned to you.” - -“That is my dear good Anna!” cried the Queen, drawing her friend’s -pale plain face down to hers, and kissing her on the forehead. -“Hilfenstein, I must kiss you too, for you have been on my side the -whole time.” - -“Ah, madame, I have known you a good many years, and the Count also,” -said the Baroness. “It would have been little use my opposing either -of you. But I hear his Excellency returning. Your Majesty will receive -him alone?” - -The Queen’s smile was a sufficient answer to the question, and both -ladies disappeared hastily into the garden as Cyril entered from the -hall, looking rather irritated than perturbed. - -“Dearest,” he said, “I think you understand that nothing but the very -gravest necessity would drag me away from you at this moment, but I -really must go. The blind man Yeshua has come all the way from -Damascus to say that Paschics entreats me to return at once, if all -that we have gained is not to be lost. Evidently something serious has -happened, which I did not foresee, and which has thrown out all our -calculations. Moreover, as far as I can make out, there was an -unmistakable attempt made to kidnap Yeshua on his way to the spot -where he always arranges to meet your scouts, and he insists that the -Scythian Consulate was mixed up in it. However that may be, it seems -that the Beni Ayub are out on the warpath as well, for they chased -Yeshua and your tribesman who was bringing him here. They only shook -them off when they got to the waterless desert. It may be a mere -coincidence, but it looks uncommonly like an organised attempt to -prevent any notice of the danger, whatever it may be, from reaching -me. At any rate, it’s clear that I must go, or give up all hope of -success in the great scheme.” - -“Yes, yes, I quite see,” she replied quickly, “and I shall come back -to Brutli at once. Then our engagement shall be made public, Cyril. -You are going back to win success for me as well as for yourself, you -know.” - -“Do you know that every one will say I have sought your forgiveness -for the sake of the added importance that marriage with you will give -me? The world hasn’t very much confidence in me, Ernestine.” - -“But I have. Do you know what I shall do when you are Prince of -Palestine? I shall lay aside my crown for a coronet. The world shall -see that your wife is prouder of being Princess of Palestine than -Queen of Thracia.” - -“My dearest, you have a way of making the world look foolish by doing -lofty, Quixotic, useless things, that covers me with shame. I wish I -had the knack, but no one would believe that I did them without an -ulterior motive. But suppose I am not made Prince of Palestine?” - -“Then we will return here together, and you shall be King of the -Desert. You will unite the Arabs under one rule, and make a nation of -them, and they will adore you. They are grateful to me because of what -I have done for them, but they still feel a little ashamed of being -ruled by a woman. They have the greatest possible respect for you -already.” - -“Will they still respect me when I rob them of their Queen? One, or at -most two visits in the year, as a respite from the cares of State, -will be very different from having a resident sovereign. But dearest, -you won’t start for Brutli until the sheikh assures you that the way -is safe? If the Beni Ayub got hold of you it would be very unpleasant -personally, and absolutely distracting politically.” - -“Yes; I suppose Michael would feel obliged to interfere. Oh, Cyril, I -wanted to speak to you about him. You heard of that terribly sad -business about Lida, of course? Well, since his engagement came to an -end, Michael has written me such nice letters, so affectionate, so -respectful. He says that he has turned over a new leaf, and this is -because he has formed an attachment for a young lady who will be as -acceptable to me as to Thracia. Do you know who she is?” - -“I have an idea.” - -“And is it all as suitable as he thinks?” - -“So far as I know, the only opposition to their engagement will come -from the lady herself.” - -“But why? Is she as beautiful and altogether desirable as he says she -is?” - -“I feel some delicacy in answering that question. You see, she happens -to be my niece.” - -“What! your brother Carlino’s daughter? But, Cyril, the Thracians will -go mad with joy. Is it the little girl with the beautiful golden hair -whom I saw years ago at Tatarjé? She must be a good deal older than -Michael, but she had such sweet ways that it is no wonder she has -captivated him. He could not make a better choice. But why are you -looking at me in that way, Cyril? Why should she raise any objection? -It’s not--oh, don’t say that you have no other niece! This is not the -young lady with whom that pleasant Mr Mansfield is in love?” - -“Unfortunately it is.” - -“But she couldn’t refuse Michael!” - -“And yet I heard a lady propose a few minutes ago to resign a crown -for the sake of her lover.” - -“But that is different. Your niece would be the making of Michael. -Cyril, promise me you will persuade her to accept him.” - -“My dearest, I could not set myself a second time to interfere with -the course of true love.” - -“But she ought--oh, Cyril, how unkind of you to remind me of that! No, -most certainly I won’t try to smooth Michael’s path for him. I did too -much harm the last time, and it has come to nothing after all. But you -do think it is her duty to marry him, don’t you?” - -“I fancy Phil will decide for herself where her duty lies. And really, -Ernestine, it will do your boy all the good in the world to want -something very much, and not be able to get it. That will make a man -of him, if you like. Is that some one outside?” - -“I beg your pardon, Count”--Mansfield’s deprecating voice was heard -from the hall--“but the horses are ready.” - -“Those two good fellows have been doing my packing, that I might have -a longer time with you. Good-bye, my dearest. _Au revoir_ at Brutli!” - -“_Auf wiedersehen_, my beloved! Take care of yourself for my sake.” - -“By the bye, dearest, I suppose I may assure your sheikh that it’s all -right about the treaty, and that you have decided to maintain friendly -relations with the Jews?” - -“Of course you may. But politics again, Cyril! I am jealous.” - - -The sheikh and a small band of picked men were in readiness in the -desert below the fortress, all well armed, and mounted on the best -horses that the tribe possessed. Yeshua and his guide were to be left -behind, to give them time to recover from the fatigues of their -hurried journey before undertaking another, for the sheikh had -promised to conduct the travellers to Damascus by the shortest -available route, involving as few halts as possible, and the hardship -would be great. In spite, however, of long stages and little rest, -with a meagre supply of food and water, the return from Sitt Zeynab -proved much less disagreeable than the journey thither had been. The -sheikh had banished from his mind the last traces of suspicion and -enmity, and was above all things anxious to secure Cyril’s friendship -for his tribe, and for his tribe alone. His anxiety lest the Prince of -the Jews should admit the Beni Ayub also to a share in his favour -found utterance again and again, and was as amusing as was his claim -to the entire ownership of the desert between Damascus and Palmyra. He -went so far as to invite Cyril to aid him in maintaining his supposed -rights by force of arms, but this was merely a rhetorical flourish, -not intended to be taken seriously. - -The first part of the journey, including the crossing of the waterless -desert which was the true patrimony of the Beni Ismail, was -uneventful, but no sooner had the boundary, invisible as it was to the -untrained eye, been crossed, than the party became aware that they -were watched. A camel and its rider would suddenly appear on the -horizon, only to vanish in a cloud of dust as quickly as they had -come. Sometimes these scouts would appear in the direction of -Damascus, sometimes to the right or left of the line of march, but for -two days they kept the travellers almost constantly in sight, without -offering to approach them more closely. - -“The sons of Shaitan can see us much more readily than we can see -them,” grumbled the sheikh, “and they are closing round us. Then they -will lie in wait for us in the broken ground before reaching Es Sham.” - -“How would you shake them off if we were not here?” asked Cyril. - -“We would lead them astray, O my lord, with feigned pursuit of their -scouts, and running fights, until we were either safe on our own land -or could slip through them into Es Sham, but that would need many -days, and if they contrived to separate us one from another, evil -might come to my lord.” - -“Evil might also come to some of them,” suggested Cyril. - -“Doubtless, but if their object is rather to delay my lord than to -hurt him, they might attain it with little danger to themselves.” - -“Hullo! they seem to be coming to meet us,” said Mansfield, as a group -of mounted men appeared from behind a sandhill some distance in front. -The sheikh cast his eye over his own troop, and ordered a halt. Here -on the open plain there was no possibility of an ambush, but his men -unslung their long matchlocks, and the travellers locked to their -rifles. - -“They seem friendly,” said Cyril, as the sheikh of the opposite party, -distinguished by his gold-embroidered crimson cloak, rode out from -among his men, making signs that he had left his weapons behind, and -desired an amicable conference. - -“Stay thou here, O Prince of the Jews,” said the sheikh, “and let the -father of a writing-book leave his gun and ride forward with me, that -we may hear what this dog has to say. Never yet have I spoken in peace -with a man of the Beni Ayub.” - -Mr Hicks, who owed his name to the note-book which was his inseparable -companion, handed his rifle to Mansfield, remarking that he supposed -the surrender of his revolver was not necessarily included in the -bond. If it was, he had, at any rate, a weapon at hand which would -astonish the Arab who tried any foolishness with him, and as he spoke -he patted a coil of thin rope which he had procured at Sitt Zeynab and -insisted on looping to his saddle, to the mystification of his -companions. Thus provided, he rode forward with the sheikh, who halted -at a discreet distance from the representative of the other party, and -asked what the Beni Ayub were doing in that portion of the desert. As -the district in question was claimed by the Beni Ayub, their sheikh -disregarded the enquiry. - -“We come in peace, O sheikh of the Beni Ismail, hearing that the -Prince of the Jews is a sojourner in the tents of thy people. Why does -he pass by the Beni Ayub in his return to Es Sham? Does not the desert -belong to us also? Let him turn aside and visit our tents, that we may -make peace with his nation, and there be no ill blood between us.” - -“The Prince of the Jews will return at another time and visit you,” -said Mr Hicks, anticipating the angry reply which the sheikh had in -preparation. “At present he is journeying to Es Sham in haste.” - -“What is his haste to us?” was the retort. “Shall we allow the Beni -Ismail, who obey a woman, to laugh at our beards because the Prince of -the Jews has sojourned among them? Let the Prince visit our tents, or -we will come and take him.” - -“But where are your tents?” asked Mr Hicks, “and have you a sufficient -number of horsemen to give fitting escort to the Prince?” - -“My tents lie a day’s journey on the way to Es Sham, and as thou -seest, I have with me three times the number of horsemen that ride now -with the Prince.” - -“Altogether you make out a good case for yourself,” said Mr Hicks, -easily. “Suppose you and your men ride ahead and get ready for us?” - -“Nay, we desire to show due honour to the Prince. My company shall -ride side by side with his to the tents of my people.” - -“Very good. But the Prince will have none but his own followers around -him.” - -“It is well. We will but be at hand, for the safety of the Prince.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIX. - THE BREAKING-POINT. - -Returning to his friends in company with the amazed and indignant -sheikh of their own party Mr Hicks explained how matters stood, -pointing out that discretion was preeminently the better part of -valour on this occasion. - -“The enemy are between us and Damascus, and they don’t calculate to -let us through,” he said. “I guess the odds are a bit too long for -fighting, so all we can do is to select our camping-ground with an eye -to possibilities, and make tracks in the night, for if they once get -us to their tents we’re as good as squelched. With your leave, Count, -I’ll ride slightly ahead, to keep open communications with the other -platform, and also to look out for a suitable location.” - -Leaving the scouts, who had now come in, to bring up the rear of the -convoy, the sheikh of the Beni Ayub and the main body of his men took -up their position in advance of the small party from Sitt Zeynab, and -Mr Hicks attached himself to them, doing his best to impress the -sheikh with the greatness of the Prince of the Jews. It was evident -that the man was already somewhat alarmed by his own temerity in -interfering with the journey of such an important personage, and Mr -Hicks spared no pains to add to his uneasiness. When sunset was at -hand, and the sheikh suggested that it would be advisable to halt for -the night, he was told curtly that the Prince had not yet given the -signal, and when the Prince, through his representative, Mr Hicks, was -pleased to direct that the journey should be at an end for the day, -the spot chosen was not by any means an ideal camping-ground in the -eyes of the Beni Ayub. It was a small hill--perhaps a large hillock -would be a better term--accessible on one side only, and not affording -space for more than Cyril and his party. - -“I only hope they’ll conclude to camp all round it,” said Mr Hicks to -his leader, “for then they would be so scattered that we might allow -to creep through them, or charge right through at the weakest point, -any way. If we could stampede the horses we could get clean away, more -especially since we shall have our own men in a compact body.” - -Mr Hicks’s hope proved fallacious. Making the best of a bad bargain, -the sheikh decided to concentrate his forces at the foot of the slope, -thus enclosing his unwilling guests in a trap, and his men set to work -at once on their preparations for the night. - -“Well,” said Mr Hicks grimly, “it only means that we’ve got to land -the horses some way in that cañon back of us, and without making any -noise about it, either. Mr Mansfield, you just set your mighty -intellect to work on that problem, if you please. Now, how are we to -get these chaps to believe that we allow to sit up all night?” - -“Make a fire of brushwood and keep it burning,” suggested Mansfield. - -“I guess the light will just about give us away if we do.” - -“Make two or three small fires across the slope,” said Cyril, “as if -to prevent the Arabs rushing us, and keep them low and smoky by -heaping on earth as well as wood. That ought to produce the desired -moral effect.” - -“That’s so, sir. Well, Mr Mansfield, have you figured out anything to -help us at the back there?” - -“I’m going to explore as soon as the enemy have settled down to their -supper,” answered Mansfield, and as the result of his explorations he -was able before long to announce that there existed on the steepest -side of the hill an apology for a path, almost invisible to the naked -eye, down which it ought to be possible to lead the horses. - -“A sweet path it must be, if our friends the enemy haven’t sniffed it -out!” grumbled Mr Hicks; “and what a real elegant set of fools we -shall look when all the horses go down ker-smash one on top of -another! And what about the noise, Mr Mansfield? If you ask me, I -should say there would be a good deal of promiscuous language flying -around while that descent is taking place.” - -“Nonsense, Hicks! these Arabs can control their emotions better than -that,” said Cyril. “If the horses’ feet are muffled, that’s the only -thing necessary.” - -“Well, we can’t do more than try,” said Mr Hicks resignedly. “But all -the same,” he added to Mansfield, “you bet I wouldn’t do that but for -the boss. He is chafing fit to burst, and if we got carried off to the -tents of the Beni Ayub, I wouldn’t answer for him. And now for our -sheikh.” - -The sheikh approved highly of Cyril’s determination to outwit the -enemy, although he had little confidence in the success of the means -suggested, and in order to avert suspicion the camp on the hill-top -made ostentatious preparations for repose. Three men were told off to -move about round the fires and keep them supplied with fuel and sand, -and the rest wrapped themselves in their cloaks and lay down. As soon -as all was quiet in the camp of the Beni Ayub below, one man at a time -rose and crept softly to the spot where the horses were picketed. The -sheikh insisted on being the first to try the path, as his horse had -been trained to follow him like a dog, and to Mansfield’s intense -relief and secret pride the animal, its feet muffled in pieces of -cloth, picked its way down the hill after its master, reluctantly but -without accident. The rest followed one by one, with more or less -willingness, the men at the fires covering the occasional noises, -which were unavoidable in the case of a stumble, or when a stone was -set rolling, by a vigorous breaking of sticks, which sounded so -distinct in the clear desert air that Mr Hicks muttered it was enough -to wake all the Arabs for miles round. Then the men at the fires were -called down in their turn, the last to descend exhibiting marvellous -activity in producing dense clouds of smoke before he departed, and -the whole of the Sitt Zeynab party stood safely in the desert with -their horses. Mounting, they felt their way with extreme caution round -the flank of the Beni Ayub, and resumed their interrupted journey, -taking a direction that would enable them to reach Damascus without -coming upon the camp to which their enemies had intended to conduct -them. They had ridden some distance before any one had leisure to look -round, and it was Mr Hicks who perceived first that the forsaken -hill-top was no longer deserted, and uttered an exclamation. The eyes -of the rest followed his, to distinguish a number of figures outlined -against the red glow of the fires, which had by this time burnt up. - -“That I should have been sold by a nigger chief!” groaned Mr Hicks. -“All the time we were busy circumventing them, they were calculating -to circumvent us, and all that old sinner’s respect and veneration was -only a cute dodge to put us off our guard. As soon as they guessed our -stokers had sneaked off to bed, up they come to rush our camp. Well, -that gentleman and I have got to meet again, and you bet he’ll be -surprised at the strength of my attachment for him,” and again Mr -Hicks patted the rope which hung from his saddle. - -“The sons of Shaitan thought to laugh at our beards,” said the skeikh, -with a grim sound dimly suggestive of a chuckle; “but now their own -faces are black. They will not pursue us until dawn, and we may even -yet out-distance them.” - -But in making this forecast the sheikh forgot that the enemy’s horses, -which had done little work the day before, were far fresher than those -of his party; and it was less than an hour after sunrise when one of -his men, halting a moment to repair a broken girth, called out that -the pursuers were in sight. Cyril uttered an angry exclamation. - -“Look here, Hicks,” he said impatiently, “I can’t stand any more of -this foolery. I don’t want bloodshed; but if these fellows will have -it, they must. Our sheikh and two of his men have rifles, and with our -three we can diminish the enemy’s numbers effectually before they get -close to us, and then the revolver will settle the matter. I can’t -risk losing everything merely to save the skins of the Beni Ayub.” - -“Gently, Count. If you once set up a blood-feud with the Beni Ayub, -your chance of making friends with them in future is gone. I guess -we’ll keep on as hard as possible right now, so as just to separate -the enemy. When we get to the locality I have in my mind, Mr Mansfield -and I and the two men with rifles will stay behind and go on the -shoot, while you ride ahead with the sheikh and the rest and draw the -enemy into chasing you.” - -“Do you think it likely,” irritably, “that I shall consent to save -myself at the risk of your lives? We shall come out of this fight side -by side, as we went in, or go down together.” - -“Now, now, Count”--Mr Hicks laid a soothing hand on Cyril’s arm--“we -aren’t going to hurl our lives away, you bet. There’s no sort of -sentimental self-sacrifice about me--no, sir! I have a smart piece of -business on hand, and I want a young fellow of large bodily strength -to help me put it through. You are just a bundle of nerves this -journey, and so used up with strain and anxiety that it’s only spirit -and nothing else keeps you on your horse. Mr Mansfield and I are -partners in this deal, and you watch how well things will pan out when -they recognise who’s got ’em in charge.” - -Cyril laughed shamefacedly, and turned his attention to keeping his -horse in hand in the headlong race which now ensued. Mr Hicks’s object -was to escape from the flat stretch of desert on which the enemy, with -their fresher horses, might easily surround his little party, and to -gain the shelter of the sandhills in front. Pausing to look back, he -observed with satisfaction that the Beni Ayub, no longer massed in a -compact body, were tailing off gradually, the sheikh and a few -better-mounted men alone seeming to gain perceptibly on the pursued. -When the sandhills were reached, he glanced back once more, and saw -that the sheikh, on his magnificent horse, was now considerably in -advance of his nearest followers. This was what Mr Hicks had hoped -for. - -“Ride on, Count! ride on, sheikh! Turn aside, Mr Mansfield, and you -two, Abd-el-Kader and Nur-ed-Din. Dodge behind the sandhills, so. Have -your rifles ready.” - -Shouting in alternate English and Arabic, and strengthening his -exhortations by means of vigorous pointing and shoving, Mr Hicks -marshalled his forces. He and Mansfield were stationed close to the -path between the sandhills, one on each side, the two Arabs a little -behind them. - -“Stay where you are, Mr Mansfield; and when you see the sheikh -dismounted, round up his horse. That’s your business. You two men of -the Beni Ismail, ride forward the moment the sheikh of your enemies -has passed you and present your rifles at those who come after him. If -they still ride on, fire; but don’t waste your shots, and reserve the -second barrel.” - -Having given his orders, Mr Hicks rode back a short distance from the -path, and, unhooking the rope from his saddle, arranged it on his arm. -This was scarcely accomplished to his satisfaction before Mansfield’s -raised hand told him that the sheikh was close upon them, thundering -on in hot pursuit of the party that was just disappearing round the -sandhills in front. Neither Mansfield nor the Arabs could ever succeed -in saying definitely what followed. That Mr Hicks rode forward across -the sheikh’s path, that the rope in his hand whizzed through the air, -and that in an instant the sheikh was prostrate on the ground and his -horse rushing wildly away--this they perceived, but had no time even -to wonder how it was done, for their own duties demanded their -attention. Mansfield effected the capture of the terrified horse in a -brilliant and wholly original manner; for when he grabbed frantically -at its bridle as it dashed towards him, and failed to seize it, he -kicked his foot free of the stirrup and caught it in the loose rein, -with the result that he was promptly jerked from his saddle and thrown -to the ground. Recovering himself immediately, he was in time to seize -the rein with his hand before the astonished horse had made up its -mind what to do. His own horse, which was equally amazed and -indignant, by reason of his unconventional descent, allowed itself to -be caught with less difficulty, and he turned to see how the other -actors in the drama were faring. The two Arabs were sitting -statue-like on their horses, covering with their rifles five or six of -the Beni Ayub, who, on seeing their chief fall, had halted just out of -range, and were afraid to follow him further, while the sheikh -himself, black in the face and half-strangled, was being bound hand -and foot in a most workman-like manner by Mr Hicks. - -“Well done!” cried Mansfield. “Who would ever have thought of a lasso -in this part of the world?” - -“Ah, I haven’t gone cowboying in New Mexico for nothing,” said Mr -Hicks complacently. “Go ahead, you fool! The more you kick, the -tighter the knots will be, you bet. Ah, Mr Mansfield, you inclined to -think I brought this lariat along to fix up my prisoners with before -they were caught, but you see it has caught ’em and tied ’em both. Now -I’m through, I guess I’ll mount this gentleman’s horse--for these -Arabs are so cute that it would make nothing of carrying him right -back to his friends all on its own hook, according to the -Sunday-school books--and he shall have a seat on mine. But wait a -minute first.” - -He dragged his prisoner to a spot where he was in full view of his -dismayed followers, and drawing out his revolver, held it to his head. - -“You see this, men of the Beni Ayub?” he cried in Arabic, accompanying -the words with appropriate gestures. “Your sheikh will go with us the -rest of our journey. If you attack us, the first shot we fire will -settle his business, and if you even molest us, we will take him to Es -Sham and deliver him to the Roumis there. Therefore beware!” - -Having shouted his warning, Mr Hicks mounted the sheikh’s horse, and -with Mansfield’s assistance bound the prisoner firmly on his own; -then, with the two Arabs bringing up the rear, they rode on after the -rest. Great was the joy and exultation with which the Beni Ismail -beheld the unpleasant plight of their hereditary foe; but Cyril -interposed to forbid any indignities being offered to the captive, who -might yet serve as a useful intermediary with his tribe. The novel -method of his capture had produced a strong effect upon his mind, and -largely increased his respect for the Prince of the Jews, and this -feeling was enhanced by the continued failure of his own tribesmen to -rescue him. They followed the party at a distance, and prowled round -the camp at night in the hope of taking its defenders by surprise; but -Mr Hicks and Mansfield kept watch and watch all night through, and -this unceasing vigilance had its reward. By dint of long marches and -little rest, the desert was safely crossed in six days after leaving -Sitt Zeynab, and within three hours’ ride of Damascus the cavalcade -paused while Cyril gave orders for the prisoner to be unbound, and his -horse and rifle restored to him. - -“Return to thy tribe, O Sheikh of the Beni Ayub,” he said, “and tell -them of the clemency of the Prince of the Jews. I might have carried -thee bound into Es Sham, and left thee to rot in a Roumi dungeon, but -I send thee back to thy people, that they may know that I desire to be -their friend, and that it is my will there shall be peace throughout -the desert.” - -The bewildered sheikh listened apathetically as Mr Hicks translated -the words, but when the Beni Ismail drew aside to allow him to pass, -he seemed to recognise all at once that he was free, and setting spurs -to his horse, darted off into the desert like the wind. As his late -custodians stood watching him, he reined up when almost out of sight, -and returned. - -“O Prince of the Jews, the Beni Ayub are thy servants,” he cried. -“Never would I have laid wait for thee but for the words of the old -man who came to our tents with the servant of the Consulate of -Scythia, and tempted thy servant with great gifts to detain thee in -the desert for a space. Now that I know thy power and thy wisdom, -never again will I or the Beni Ayub raise a spear against thee or thy -servants the Beni Ismail.” - -Dismounting, he raised the hem of Cyril’s cloak to his lips, exchanged -greetings with the sheikh of the Beni Ismail, and rode away again. - -“All’s well that ends well,” said Cyril. “And now for Damascus!” - -They rode on briskly, only to halt again an hour later. This time it -was to bid farewell to the Beni Ismail, who in their enthusiasm for -their new leader had accompanied him far beyond their usual limits, -although for some time they had been looking askance at every hillock, -lest it should conceal that abomination of the desert Arab, a house. -The sheikh received Cyril’s messages for the Queen--including another -earnest recommendation not to cross the desert until the Beni Ayub had -returned to their usual haunts--his men salaamed, with frank -admiration beaming in their bold eyes, and stood gazing lingeringly as -Cyril and his two companions rode away. There were no more halts now, -and as the cultivated land was reached, the roads became better. The -unpleasant passage through the burying-ground was accomplished at a -reckless pace, and a judicious _bakhshish_ prevented awkward inquiries -at the city gate. Riding more cautiously through the crowded streets, -the three adventurers, worn out with hard travelling and want of -sleep, drew rein at the door of the house which they had left just -three weeks before. Paschics rushed into the courtyard to meet them, -with bloodshot eyes and the dishevelled aspect of a man who has slept -for several nights in his clothes, and wept tears of joy when he saw -Cyril. - -“Your Excellency is come. Then all is not lost!” he gasped. - -“Well, what is it?” asked Cyril, dismounting. - -“Oh, Excellency, it is partly my fault, and yet how could I have -prevented it? It was that elderly official of the Princess of -Dardania’s--Colonel Czartoriski. The first two or three days after you -started he was continually sending letters and desiring to see you, -though I assured him you could receive no one. Then he disguised -himself with a false beard and green spectacles--yes, Excellency!--and -told the people of the house that he was a doctor for whom you had -sent, and they showed him which were your rooms. He did not approach -by the staircase, knowing that I should be on the watch, and Dietrich -also, but came up the steps leading from the garden, and crept along -the verandah, and so peeped in at the window of your room. Dietrich -caught sight of him first, and rushed out. Hearing a scuffle, I -followed, and penetrated the man’s disguise immediately. We delivered -him over to the police, after handling him not too gently, but the -Scythian Consul came to his assistance, and got him released at once.” - -“But what has all this led to?” demanded Cyril, who had been listening -with what patience he might as the Thracian poured out his tale while -they were crossing the courtyard. - -“Why, Excellency, your enemies had learnt that you were away, and they -took advantage of the news immediately. There is a recrudescence of -Anti-Semitism all over Europe, especially in Neustria. The great -Lutetian preacher is delivering a course of sermons against the Jews, -and the ‘Petite Parole’ opens its columns daily to correspondents -urging the most atrocious measures. All the other papers are following -suit, members of the Government have denounced the Palestine scheme in -the Chamber, and there are signs that the different political parties -are willing to meet on the common ground of hatred of the Jews.” - -“Well, we know how to manage Neustria.” - -“But that is not the worst, Excellency. M. Lucien Salomans is dead.” - -“What, murdered?” - -“They call it suicide. He was present at some public entertainment, at -which one of the performers made a violent attack on the Jews. He -remonstrated, and became involved in a heated discussion with several -gentlemen near him. It is alleged that he left the hall exclaiming -that, Jew though he was, it was in his power to destroy Neustria if he -chose----” - -“Blatant fool!” cried Cyril furiously. - -“Excellency, he is dead. He was arrested that evening, and his house -searched. In prison he was visited by two high officials, who spent -some time in his cell. This was late at night, and in the morning he -was discovered to be dead. They say that he shot himself to avoid -being surprised into disclosures, but it is whispered that one of his -visitors, enraged by his persistent silence, killed him with the -revolver which had been held to his head to extort a confession.” - -“But surely he had not had the madness---- Did things end there?” - -“Oh no, Excellency. Since his death the houses of the principal Jews -interested in our movement have been repeatedly subjected to sudden -visits from the police.” - -“Good. They are baffled so far, then. And in other countries?” - -“When the excitement began in Neustria, Excellency, the Continental -press in general reserved judgment, as though alarmed at the temerity -of the Lutetian papers. But when two or three days passed, and there -was no sign from you, they grew bold, and revived all their old -infamies, busying themselves also with the future of Palestine. It is -now recommended everywhere that Jerusalem shall be occupied by the -Powers jointly, and the Jews excluded from it. The Powers are also to -have charge of all the foreign relations of the new state, the Jews -regulating only such of its affairs as are purely national and -domestic. The alarm in the Jewish world is very great. The Chevalier -Goldberg has telegraphed again and again, asking for some assurance -that you have the situation in hand. He is afraid to take any steps -lest he should jeopardise some plan of yours, and I could not reassure -him, for you did not contemplate such a crisis as this in your -instructions.” - -“No, I had not foreseen this,” said Cyril slowly. He had been -glancing, while Paschics spoke, through the piles of letters and -telegrams stacked on the table, flinging some aside and arranging -others carefully in order. He had a sheaf of papers in his hand now, -and was flicking them through absently. - -“Sit down and write, Paschics,” was the sharp order which startled the -secretary. “And you, Mansfield----” - -“Land alive, Count! you don’t allow to fix up all the affairs of -Europe before you get a bath and a sleep?” cried Mr Hicks, aghast. - -“That’s exactly what I have to do. You take a rest, Hicks, if you -like.” - -“Not much,” was the emphatic reply. “I won’t offer to write for you, -Count, since these two gentlemen know your ways better than I do. But -if you have any despatches to send off I can take them to the bureau -for you, and let daylight into any one that offers any objection. I -can operate the instrument if it’s necessary, you bet.” - -“A hint at the nature of the hold we have over Neustria would make the -fortune of your paper if it got wind of it. But it must not, you -understand? If the responsibility is too great for you, I won’t burden -you with it.” - -“I guess my conscience is asleep on the paper side just now, Count. Go -ahead, and make use of me right away.” - -“The immediate business of the moment is to send an ultimatum to the -Neustrian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Unless this persecution--moral -and material--of the Jews ceases instantly, there will be presented to -the United States Government a memorandum of the secret convention -entered into between Scythia and Neustria with reference to the Darien -Canal. When American attention is distracted, owing to troubles -elsewhere, it is agreed that the two Powers shall take joint action -with regard to Darien.” Cyril looked sharply at Mr Hicks, who nodded -calmly. - -“Good card, Count. It never struck me you had that up your sleeve.” - -“You knew of the convention, then?” - -“That is so, sir. I’m keeping it back for the next war-scare, or the -next time a war-scare is needed, any way. But you can just play it for -all it’s worth now. You see I know a Jew or two as well as you; but I -didn’t guess that you were able to put your fingers upon the missing -document.” - -“Salomans and I were the only men who knew where it is concealed. Now -that he is dead, without revealing the secret to his brother, it will -have to be got at by means of a long chain of intermediaries. Each man -knows only his particular link in the chain; but we must be ready to -produce the paper at once if it is wanted.” - -“And you don’t calculate that the Judenhetze has gone too far to be -stopped?” - -“Certainly not. They can stop it fast enough if they like. They will -have to take strong measures--possibly illegal measures--in the name -of the public safety, as they have done often enough when the result -would inflict injury upon the Jews. When Neustria is settled, we shall -have time to think of the rest of Europe. Ready, Paschics?” - -Cyril laid down the telegrams, which he had been looking through as he -spoke, and glanced, with the faintest shadow of a smile, at Mansfield, -who was fast asleep, his head pillowed on his arms on the table. “Wake -up, Mansfield!” a firm hand gripped his shoulder. “You can rest -afterwards, but you must work now.” - -For several hours Paschics wrote unceasingly, Mansfield laboured at -the typewriter, Mr Hicks hurried in and out with telegrams and their -answers, and still Cyril sat in his place, dictating to one, giving -directions to another, exchanging missives with the third. He seemed, -as Mr Hicks had said, to have the affairs of all Europe in his hands. -Reassuring messages went to one community of Jews, curt commands to -another, stern reproofs to yet another; while to high government -officials, and personages in situations even more lofty, were -despatched brief reminders of the unpleasant consequences that would -follow a breach of faith with the United Nation Syndicate. From the -Hercynian Chancellor to the editor of an obscure Jargon journal, no -one seemed either too high or too low for his notice, and Mr Hicks -observed in admiration that he had no need to refer to any note-book -for so much as a single name or address. Paschics was a pitiable -object as he laboured in vain to keep up with his employer’s -dictation. Mansfield had fallen into a state of semi-somnambulism as -he translated into suitable terms, in a purely mechanical way, the -brief instructions he received. Mr Hicks himself was inclined to think -that the ‘Crier’ office on a summer night, with a big sensation coming -in just as the paper had gone to press, was not so much worse than -this; but Cyril showed no sign of hurry or exhaustion as he issued his -directions without a pause, and the pile of papers before him grew -smaller and smaller. The stream of fresh telegrams ceased at last, for -the office was closed for the night, the typewriter rested from its -clicking and clacking; Paschics was engaged upon the last letter. - -“Is there anything more, Excellency?” he asked, looking up, for Cyril -had suddenly ceased speaking. - -“I believe not. No, I cannot think of anything more. Hicks,” he turned -to the American, “it’s a curious thing, my brain is an utter blank. If -you asked me what all these letters have been about, I could not tell -you. And yet my head has never been clearer than it was until just -now. It is like the sudden snapping of a thread.” - -“You had better get to bed at once, Count,” was the answer, the -roughness of which masked a fierce rush of anxiety. - - - - - CHAPTER XX. - _REDINTEGRATIO AMORIS._ - -To the surprise and delight of Mr Hicks, the attack of brain fever -which he had feared for his patient did not ensue. Cyril remained for -several days in a state of exhaustion amounting to stupor, in which he -displayed no interest in outside affairs, and showed a curious -irritability when the faithful Paschics tried to induce him to take in -hand the routine work which had fallen into arrears during his -absence. Of important business there was happily none to settle, for -Europe was conscious that the master-hand was once more on the reins, -and the anti-Semitic agitation died down as quickly as it had arisen, -without making necessary any very drastic measures. Thus relieved from -anxiety, Cyril turned impatiently from the records of work done, and -copies of answered letters, to which Paschics tried to direct his -attention. - -“Let me rest, Paschics. Don’t you see I am utterly worn out? Your -letter-books convey no meaning whatever to my mind. If another crisis -arises, you can let me know; but now I must rest.” - -“Nature is taking her revenge,” said the doctor whom Mr Hicks had felt -it his duty to call in. “His Excellency’s brain has been overworked, -and the cause of the strain is now regarded with loathing. The Count -must take a holiday, and afterwards he will return to business with -fresh zest. When this drowsiness passes off, get him up to Brutli or -one of the other villages on Anti-Lebanon, and let him live in the -open air.” - -“That doctor is what I call a sensible man,” muttered Cyril drowsily -when the prescription was repeated to him. “Let some one take rooms at -Brutli, and find out whether the Queen has arrived.” - -In pursuance of these instructions, Mansfield rode up to the village -two or three days later. The hardships of the desert journey had made -no permanent impression upon him, and after a nap which lasted the -better part of two days the brownness of his skin and a hollow look -about his cheeks were the only signs remaining of three weeks’ plain -living and hard riding. He was in the best of spirits when he -dismounted at the door of the inn and inquired of the landlord whether -the Queen’s attendants still had their quarters there. M. Stefanovics, -he found, had been spending the morning at the Institution in -attendance upon her Majesty, but was expected to return shortly, and -General Banics was in his rooms, whither Mansfield betook himself. The -General answered his inquiry for M. Stefanovics with perceptible -stiffness. - -“I expect my colleague to return to lunch, certainly, but I cannot -answer for his movements. His attendance upon the Queen has occupied a -large proportion of his time of late. Her Majesty is pleased no longer -to seclude herself so completely from the world. I had the honour of -attending her upon a mountain ride yesterday.” At the close of this -long series of brief sentences, General Banics confronted Mansfield -with an expression of great severity, as though to say, “Allude to the -indiscreet revelations made to you on your last visit if you dare!” - -“I am glad her Majesty is so much better--in spirits, I mean,” -Mansfield added hastily. “Do you think there is any chance of my being -permitted to see her?” - -“To see the Queen? you must be mad! And why is her Majesty to receive -you, pray?” - -“I am the bearer of a message from Count Mortimer.” - -“From Count Mortimer? You did not say that when you were here last.” - -“It was unnecessary. You did not ask me.” - -Suspicion and indignation strove for the mastery in General Banics’s -countenance. “Excuse me, I see my colleague coming. I must meet him,” -he said brusquely, and hurried off to intercept M. Stefanovics on his -way across the yard, and inform him of this new development of -affairs. The chamberlain looked aghast. - -“Did you obtain an interview with her Majesty the last time you were -here, monsieur?” he demanded of Mansfield, plunging violently up the -steps of the verandah as he spoke. - -“No, I saw no one but a lady-in-waiting named Von Staubach.” - -“There!” said M. Stefanovics, obviously much relieved, to General -Banics, “you see the change in her Majesty cannot be owing to----” a -reproving glance cut him short, and he turned again to Mansfield. “But -what is your message, monsieur? or is it private?” - -“Oh, no, not at all. Count Mortimer is ordered to make a short stay at -Brutli for his health, and he is anxious to know whether his presence -here would be disagreeable to her Majesty.” - -“This is an outrage!” cried M. Stefanovics, almost dancing with rage. -“Is it possible that the man can dare to force his presence again upon -our august mistress, pursuing her even into the solitudes whither she -has retreated to hide her sorrows? He, of all people! Such -shamelessness is incredible.” - -“Stefanovics, you are a fool!” growled General Banics. “How can it -affect her Majesty if the Count comes here? His movements have no -interest for her. His sending this message is a piece of impertinence. -If you attribute any importance to it, you encourage the man in his -presumption.” - -“Settle it between yourselves, gentlemen,” said Mansfield mildly. “I -am fortunate in having her Majesty as the final court of appeal.” - -M. Stefanovics dragged the General aside, and they talked rapidly and -emphatically for some minutes, such sentences reaching Mansfield as, -“Can he have written already?” “He is aiming at re-establishing his -old ascendency.” “He thinks that by coming here ill he will move her -pity.” - -“Monsieur,” said M. Stefanovics, returning, and addressing Mansfield -with a judicial air, “we wish to know whether your master has any -ulterior object in this extraordinary proceeding?” - -“Really,” replied Mansfield, with extreme innocence, “I can’t say.” - -“But does he entertain any hopes--any designs----” - -“If you will be so good as to ask me a plain question, monsieur, I -will try to give you a plain answer.” - -“Then is he hoping to resume his old position with her Majesty?” - -“May I ask what that was?” - -“He was privately betrothed to her.” - -“If it was private, how is it that you know anything about it?” - -Confusion kept M. Stefanovics silent for a moment. “Madame Stefanovics -was in the secret,” he said at last, “and when the affair terminated, -she revealed the whole thing to me, in her indignation against Count -Mortimer.” - -“You and your wife are a pair of chatterboxes!” cried General Banics -suddenly, in a fury of indignation. “No secrets are safe with you.” - -“Thank you, General,” said Mansfield warmly; “I accept the reproof. -Count Mortimer’s secrets are safe with me. Not even to you will I -reveal them.” - -M. Stefanovics had been speechless and almost black in the face with -rage, but his delight on hearing his colleague thus hoist with his own -petard relieved his mind, and he broke into a shout of laughter. - -“Aha, General, the Englishman is too clever for us! Come, monsieur, -what is it you ask?” - -“All I want you to do is to let me wait in the anteroom while you -carry the message to the Queen, so that I may be at hand if her -Majesty is pleased to wish to ask me anything.” - -“Excellent!” said M. Stefanovics, his good-humour quite restored. -“Your demands are commendably moderate, monsieur. You will join us at -lunch first?” - -The meal passed off peacefully, although General Banics preserved a -persistent silence and an expression of cold contempt towards both -Mansfield and M. Stefanovics, and when it became his duty to conduct -the uninvited guest to the Institution in the afternoon, he relieved -the monotony of the climb by a single remark only. - -“Understand, monsieur,” he burst out, standing still in the middle of -the pathway, and glaring down at Mansfield, who was following him, “if -your master succeeds in adding so much as a finger’s weight to her -Majesty’s sorrows, I will kill him in her very presence!” - -“There would be two people to reckon with in such a case, General--her -Majesty and Count Mortimer himself,” said Mansfield, with great -calmness. “It will be time enough, surely, to avenge the Queen when -she asks for your help?” - -The cool reasonableness of this speech stung the General to the quick, -and uttering an inarticulate grunt, he turned to resume the march up -the hill. Arrived at the Institution, he left Mansfield in the -deaconesses’ guest-chamber, while he went to inquire the Queen’s -pleasure, returning shortly, with a very bad grace, to say that her -Majesty desired his attendance. The Queen was sitting in a marble -verandah, which looked upon a small enclosed garden, warm and bright -in spite of the advanced season of the year, and musical with -fountains. Madame Stefanovics, a lady almost as stout and -comfortable-looking as her husband, was with her, but when General -Banics had presented Mansfield and retired to the door, she also -retreated out of earshot, and Ernestine gave her visitor a significant -smile. - -“We must not shock Banics,” she said. “He does not know that I have -ever seen you before. But tell me, is the Count’s illness serious?” -her voice shook with anxiety. - -“Oh no, madame. It is merely over-fatigue from the journey.” - -“Ah, the sheikh told me of your wonderful adventures. But I was -terrified when Banics said he was ill. You see, in his case I cannot -be sure whether his illnesses are merely--political, or whether he is -making light of a serious malady for reasons of state.” - -“Indeed, madame, this attack is genuine, but only temporary, I am -sure.” - -The confident assurance brought the smile again to the Queen’s face. -“He must recover quickly, for I am all impatience to see him. There is -so much to be arranged, you know. Only the ladies are in the secret, -and I have left Anna Mirkovics to act as my deputy at Sitt Zeynab. -Banics and Stefanovics must hear of the betrothal before it is -announced to the world. They have been so faithful to me. You will -tell the Count this?” - -“Certainly, madame. Does your Majesty wish to send him any other -message?” - -“Tell him”--she paused, and the smile grew dazzling--“give him all the -messages you would wish to receive were you in his place. You -understand?” - -She held out her hand, and Mansfield kissed it and retired in a state -of ecstatic confusion. Philippa was Philippa still, and there was no -one like her in all the world, but here was a woman in whose cause a -man might joyfully die, and dying, ask no reward but a glance from her -eyes. Once Mansfield had wondered at Cyril’s renewed devotion to the -Queen, which seemed so foreign to his character, and was kept in such -strict subjection by his own will, but since he had seen her he had -ceased to wonder. No man who had once succumbed to her charm of -manner, however valiantly he might struggle against it, could ever -escape from his bondage to those smiles. Mansfield felt no surprise at -the fierceness with which General Banics was prepared to defend his -mistress. It was only natural. In the General’s circumstances, -Mansfield would have been impelled to do the same himself. - - -Two days later, Cyril, with his train of attendants, was established -in the village inn, to the huge delight of the landlord, whose -self-satisfaction made itself felt even in Damascus, leading, as it -did, to visions of a huge hotel, to be built _alla Franca_ on the site -of the present modest edifice, and to become renowned throughout the -Levant as a sanatorium. On the evening of Cyril’s arrival, General -Banics, with fierce disinclination bristling in every hair of his -moustache, took his way across the courtyard in uniform to inquire -after his health, and to intimate that her Majesty had been pleased to -consent to receive him the next day. The reception was a very formal, -full-dress affair, designed for the sole benefit of the Thracian -officials and Fräulein von Staubach, who had been excluded from the -secret of the desert reconciliation owing to a well-grounded distrust -of her discretion. Still, since she believed firmly that the Queen had -returned to ordinary life solely on account of her letter, despatched -after Mansfield’s first visit to Brutli, she was not without her -compensations. Everything was done with great ceremony, and the -deaconesses and their Syrian flock were duly impressed, while Cyril -was so much exhausted that he could scarcely mount his horse to ride -back to the inn. The suggestion of the formal audience had been his -own, however, and his return was followed by a message brought by M. -Stefanovics, to the effect that her Majesty had been grieved to see -how ill Count Mortimer was looking, and that she hoped he would avail -himself of her pleasant sheltered garden whenever he felt well enough -to be out of doors. It was not to be expected that his presence should -exclude the Queen from her own domain, or that their meeting there -should be marked by the formality of the state reception, and towards -the end of the first afternoon Fräulein von Staubach, who had been in -attendance, crept noiselessly into the house, and ran to the room -where Baroness von Hilfenstein and Madame Stefanovics were sitting. - -“It is all settled! They are reconciled, the betrothal is renewed!” -she cried rapturously. “I saw them exchange flowers--roses and sprays -of myrtle. Oh, I was sure it would come right! I just slipped in to -tell you. I could not wait.” - -“But how can you be certain?” asked Madame Stefanovics cautiously. - -“Certain! I shall ask her Majesty,” was the reply, as Fräulein von -Staubach slipped back to her post. It was with the freedom of a -privileged confidant that she attacked the Queen that evening. - -“Dearest madame, may we not be allowed to congratulate you? Is not -something going to happen that will make us all very happy? You know -that your happiness is ours.” - -“Is that so, Sophie? Then you must be very happy at this moment.” - -“Indeed I am, madame. May I make the rest happy too?” - -“No; I will tell Banics and Stefanovics myself,” said the Queen, and -she did so the next morning. Whatever their secret thoughts were upon -the matter, they appreciated their mistress’s consideration in -communicating the news personally, and crushed down their feelings -nobly when they congratulated Cyril. There was to be no secrecy this -time about the betrothal. If Cyril had desired any delay in the -announcement, he could not have asked it, with the memory of that -twelve years’ engagement, which Ernestine had accepted with such -unwillingness, and which had ended so sadly, fresh in his mind. They -exchanged rings, therefore, in German fashion, and after taking this -decisive step, notified their respective relations of the -understanding to which they had come. - -In the meantime, the news filtered down into the village through the -gossip of the servants, and quickly reached Colonel Czartoriski at -Damascus by the agency of one of the men employed at the inn, with -whom he had bargained to keep him informed of all that went on. -Unfortunately, however, the announcement that the Queen had begun to -appear in public and to receive visitors only arrived at the same -time; so that he found it was too late to carry out his orders and -anticipate a reconciliation. In this dilemma he telegraphed to the -Princess of Dardania for instructions, receiving the prompt reply, -“Deliver my letter to her immediately,” and this he proceeded at once -to do. It was with the utmost reluctance that Ernestine consented to -receive him. The shrinking dread of her cousin, with which the -sufferings endured at her hands had filled her, made her feel -instinctively that the request boded ill to her new happiness, and she -was only partially reassured by the reminder from her ladies that -Colonel Czartoriski had been entreating an opportunity of delivering -his mistress’s letter for months past, so that it could not possibly -be concerned with the engagement. She received the visitor with the -utmost formality, accepted at his hands the packet with which he was -charged, made and answered the customary polite inquiries, and -dismissed him, graciously but with marked coldness. She was not by -nature a vindictive woman, but the injuries which the Princess of -Dardania had done her were such as she could never forgive. - -A few minutes later, Cyril, lounging idly on the grass beside one of -the fountains in the garden, was disturbed by Fräulein von Staubach, -who told him that the Queen wished to speak to him, adding the -gratuitous information that her Majesty was very much troubled about -something. He found Ernestine, as usual, in the marble verandah which -served her as a presence-chamber. She had an open letter before her, -and her face was very pale as she looked up at him. - -“Cyril,” she said fearfully, “this comes from my cousin Ottilie.” - -“Now for it!” was Cyril’s inward comment, as he braced himself to meet -the blow, the imminence of which had been little present to his mind -of late. “I hope it hasn’t brought you any bad news?” he added, with a -coolness which he was far from feeling, but which tended to reassure -the Queen. - -“I have only looked at the first page,” she said; “but I can see that -it is an attack upon you. She says that you have injured her -deeply--that you belong to her, and not to me. Cyril, I must know, I -must be sure! Do you love her? have you ever loved her?” - -“I have never loved her, and I don’t now.” - -“You have never asked her to marry you?” - -“Never.” - -“Then that is all I want to know.” She sprang up, and lifting the -perforated cover from the _mangal_, or brazier, which stood close to -the divan, threw the letter upon the glowing charcoal. “I won’t read -any more. I am not interested in what she says against you. If you had -really belonged to her, I would have given you up, though it would -have broken my heart; but I can trust you, Cyril, and I do. You may -have injured her, as she says--I know I am shut out of your political -schemes,” she smiled sadly, “and I don’t ask how or why it was--but it -was not in that way.” - -“My dearest, I wish I was more worthy of your trust.” - -“Trust me, my beloved; I shall always trust you.” - -The subject of the unread letter was not again touched upon between -them, but Ernestine did not forget it. She had a conviction that -Colonel Czartoriski would linger in the neighbourhood in order to -watch the effect of his embassy, and inform his mistress of the -result. That very evening she caught a glimpse of him, half-concealed -among the trees by the wayside, watching her as she rode. This was -merely what she had expected, and she had prepared a disappointment -for him. Turning and beckoning with smiling imperiousness to Cyril, -who was close behind, she reined in her horse that he might ride -beside her. As they rode, she engaged him in a low-toned confidential -conversation, quite contrary to her wont in public, stretching out a -hand the while to play with his horse’s mane. A second glance showed -her presently that Colonel Czartoriski had seen enough, and was -retreating down the road, with defeat in all his aspect, and she shook -her riding-whip at his unconscious form. - -“Go and tell your mistress exactly what you saw!” she cried -passionately, and laughed at the sudden dawn of comprehension in -Cyril’s face. - -Baffled in his quest, Colonel Czartoriski left Brutli, acting upon -instructions from the Princess of Dardania, and a few days of intense -quiet and happiness succeeded his departure. The unfeigned joy felt by -all the attendants of the betrothed pair in their reconciliation was -reflected in the faces of the deaconesses and their Syrian peasants, -and smiling looks and gifts of flowers or fruit greeted both Cyril and -Ernestine everywhere. Even the melancholy Paschics went about with a -beaming countenance and a flower in his buttonhole, and Mr Hicks’s -characteristic pessimism displayed itself only in a remark aside to -Mansfield, to the effect that this was the calm before the storm. What -he wanted to know was, what would all those European kings think about -it? - -It happened that the Chevalier Goldberg was at the Schloss at -Vindobona, closeted with the Emperor on a matter of high financial -importance, when the Queen’s letter to her Pannonian kinsfolk arrived. -The Chevalier had received the news of the engagement by telegram some -days before, and therefore his presence at the palace on this -particular morning may or may not have been accidental. - -“Well, Goldberg, so our friend Mortimer is to marry Queen Ernestine?” -said the Emperor, returning to the room after being summoned away by a -message from the Empress. - -“So I have heard, sir.” - -“Well, no one is likely to offer any real objection. The Emperor -Sigismund will dislike the idea, no doubt, but he has no means of -coercing the Queen, and her son’s past treatment of her debars him -from putting in a claim to interfere. But it is a preposterous affair, -for Mortimer is little better than a beggar. I thought, Goldberg, that -you financiers always made a point of paying your instruments well, -that they might do you credit?” - -“I have sometimes thought, sir, that your Majesty, and I, and the -Syndicate I represent, and various other important people, are only -the instruments--the pawns, if you will--of this little Englishman, -who plays because it interests him to move the pieces.” - -The Emperor smiled. “We shall have to do something for him, I -suppose,” he said. “Is there anything that strikes you as particularly -suitable?” - -“Ah, sir, your Majesty knows that there is one post for which Count -Mortimer is supremely fitted. His appointment to it would be welcomed -with acclamation by the Jews all over the world.” - -“You are sure of that? Well, I will set on foot negotiations. I am -uneasy--in common with the whole Catholic world--about those fortified -convents which Scythia has for years been so busy erecting on every -point of vantage round Jerusalem. At the present moment I think we -should be able to make her see reason; but when this famine is -over----! But the Jews must be unanimous, Chevalier. That is -indispensable.” - -“I cannot conceive that any opposition could arise, sir.” - -“Tell me, Goldberg, is Mortimer marrying the Queen in order to become -Prince of Palestine, or seeking to become Prince of Palestine that he -may marry the Queen?” - -“I cannot say, sir. I can only surmise that it will be the proudest -moment of his life when he can lay his coronet at her Majesty’s feet.” - -“You are diplomatic. After all, his motives do not concern us.” - -“May I entreat a favour of your Majesty? My friend has done me the -honour to invite me to assist at his wedding, and if I might be -permitted to inform him of the gracious intentions with which----” - -“You may intimate in private the probable course of events, but not -publicly. When is the wedding? Not settled? Oh, you need not try to -deceive me for politeness’ sake, Chevalier. It is better that I should -not know until it is all over. Make it a _chose jugée_; there is no -going behind that, you know. The sooner the better.” - -The day after this interview had taken place at Vindobona, a letter -from Cyril reached Llandiarmid, communicating the great news to Lord -Caerleon, and containing a proposal which excited the younger members -of the family almost to the verge of lunacy. - - - “I want you to do something for me, Caerleon. Will you bring Nadia and - the young ones to Damascus for the wedding? I need not tell you what a - pleasure your presence would be to me, and Ernestine would appreciate - the kindness deeply, especially as none of her own family are likely - to be here. You need give yourselves no trouble. Goldberg has taken - Ormsea’s yacht, the White Lady, for a year or two, and will pick you - up at Brindisi and bring you straight to Beyrout. He is charged also - with the duty of securing the parson, for there does not happen to be - an English clergyman here at this moment, and we have decided that it - would be unfair to ask any of the German missionaries to officiate, - since they stand in such abject terror of the Emperor Sigismund. I - have made up my mind you will all come. Bring Wright with you, if you - can tear the old fellow away from domestic joys. It will be something - for him to remember all the rest of his life. It is just possible that - there may be some further sights and ceremonies that will interest you - after the wedding; but I don’t want to estimate prematurely the yield - of the international incubator. Telegraph to Goldberg at Venice if you - can come, and entreat Nadia--for Ernestine’s sake, for my sake, for - any sake--to leave her Needlework Guild and Nursing Association and - Society for Making People Virtuous by Act of Parliament to take care - of themselves for a month or so, and to give the bride the support of - her presence. I know you’ll come, old man.” - - -“_Oh_, father!” burst from Philippa, as her father finished reading -the letter aloud. “Oh, mother!” - -“You feel that we ought to go, Carlino?” said Lady Caerleon. - -“Now, how did you know that? Well, yes, I do.” - -“Of course,” said Philippa; “and Usk’s vacation begins to-morrow. He -can meet us in London as we pass through. It all fits in beautifully. -To see Uncle Cyril married, and to a Queen! It’s like a book--like an -old romance. Don’t you feel as if you were a Crusader, father? To go -to Palestine, and all this as well!” - - - - - CHAPTER XXI. - A NEW FACTOR. - -“The gracious gentleman will pardon me, but--he has the appearance -of a divine of the English Church?” - -The young clergyman who was standing watching the pigeons in the -Piazza San Marco turned and looked curiously at the deferential Jew -who had addressed him in English. “Certainly, I am a clergyman of the -Church of England,” he said. - -“Will the gracious divine do me the favour to accompany me on board -the yacht White Lady, which is lying in the lagoon? There is one of -his compatriots who stands in urgent need of his ghostly services.” - -“The White Lady? That’s Lord Ormsea’s yacht, isn’t it? I’m afraid Lord -Ormsea would not consider me very sound, from his point of view, but -if he told you to fetch any clergyman you met, no doubt the case is -urgent. Yes, of course I’ll come. What is the matter with the sick -person?” - -“I was not told, gracious sir. If the venerable divine will give -himself the trouble to step this way, I have a gondola waiting.” - -There was the usual mass of tourists and idlers thronging the -Piazzetta as the clergyman followed his guide through it, and he did -not observe that the Jew exchanged signals with a co-religionist in -the crowd, who disappeared immediately. Ill informed as the messenger -seemed to be as to the cause of his embassy, he was an eminently -conversational person. The sight of the Giudecca, as they passed it, -set flowing such a stream of historical reminiscence that the -clergyman listened in fascinated silence, and scarcely noticed the -length of the journey, or the fact that the yacht was lying close to -the Porto di Lido, in readiness to proceed to sea. It struck him, -however, as strange that the sailors who were at hand to help him up -the side made no reference to the invalid for whose benefit he had -been summoned on board, and that the Jew hurried him across the deck -before he could reply to the captain’s civil words of welcome. -Understanding that the owner was in the saloon, he followed his guide -below, and found himself in the presence, not of that militant -Neo-Anglican, Lord Ormsea, but of a stout, bearded gentleman of -unmistakably Hebraic appearance. - -“De Referend Alexander Chudson, I think?” said the stranger, coming -forward with outstretched hand. “My dear sir, I am unspeakably -grateful to you for hurryink so promptly to de assistance off my poor -frient.” - -“I beg your pardon, I understood I was coming on board Lord Ormsea’s -yacht?” said Mr Judson diffidently. His host laughed. - -“Oh, den you hef not heard det I hef hired de White Lady for three -years? I shell take her to Cowes next summer. Permit me to introdooce -myself--de Chefalier Goldberg, off de house off Goldberg Frères, -Findobona and Lutetia.” - -Mr Judson bowed and murmured politely. “Will you kindly let me see the -sick person at once?” he added. “I never like losing a moment in these -cases.” - -The Chevalier waved his hands. “Pressently, pressently, my dear sir. -But what did you say--de sick person? Dere iss no one sick.” - -“Surely I haven’t come to the wrong ship, have I? I understood from -the messenger that there was an Englishman on board dangerously -ill--and he brought me here.” - -“Oh, dere iss some mistake! Did det fool employ dose words?” - -“Well, now that I remember, he did not exactly. He said that the man -needed my ghostly services, I believe.” - -“Ah, det explains de metter!” cried the Chevalier, laughing joyously. -“It iss to merry de Englishman, not to bury him, det you are wanted, -my dear sir.” - -“But that’s impossible!” cried the clergyman, starting back. “The -marriage would not be legal.” - -The Chevalier’s countenance exhibited every sign of the deepest -dejection. “But dis iss a blow!” he cried. “What iss de law, referend -sir?” - -Mr Judson’s own mind was not quite clear about the matter, but he did -his best to give reasons for his very definite impression that the -celebration of the marriage of a British subject in foreign parts, -without the presence of one of Her Majesty’s representatives, would -render all concerned in it liable to divers pains and penalties. The -Chevalier heard him to the end with great politeness, putting -questions now and then which led the conversation into pleasant little -legal byways, and finally observed complacently-- - -“But dis will be all right, you see, for de merrich iss to take place -at Damascus, and de British Consul will be dere.” - -“Damascus! But you said it was to be on board. What!--why--we are -moving!” - -“We hef been mofink some time, my dear sir. You are on your way to -Syria, where de bride and bridegroom are waitink.” - -“But this is intolerable, sir! This is kidnapping!” - -“It shell be my endeafour to make it fery tolerable to you, my dear -sir--an agreeable extension off your holiday, det iss all.” - -“But I must go back to my work. I am expected.” - -“Now, come,” the Chevalier laid a paternal hand on Mr Judson’s -coat-sleeve, “be reassonable, my dear sir. Your luggich iss all -brought on board. My achent hess telegrephed to your rector det you -are summoned suddenly to Pelestine. Your bill at de hotel iss paid, de -proprietor iss told det you are unexpectedly called away. Eferythink -iss complete, no mystery, no trouble.” - -“Really, I think you are the coolest hand I ever met.” - -“You compliment me too much. See, you receife your pessich out and -home again, and fife hundret pounts for your _douceur_--your fee. You -gif your rector ten pounts for his fafourite Society--it iss for de -confersion off de Chews, iss it not?--and you go beck and tell him -more about de Chews den he efer knew before.” - -There was a malicious twinkle in the curate’s eye. “Now, how in the -world did you guess that we were interested in the Jews at our place?” - -“You hef been seen wanderink about de Giudecca, you hef spoken to many -Chews in oder parts off Fenice, and asked dem questions about deir -faith.” - -“That’s true. I have made many inquiries of them, and for a very good -reason. You will be interested to know that I am the son of Salathiel -Yehudi, the converted Jew, who has spent the greater part of his life -at Baghdad, as a missionary to his own people.” - -An instantaneous change swept over the Chevalier’s smiling face. “Det -apostate!” he cried, then took refuge in Hebrew, “that vile serpent! -that betrayer of Israel! and I have welcomed his son on board my -ship!” - -“You will allow me to remind you that I had no desire to come on board -your ship, and that I am quite ready to leave it.” - -“Pardon me. You understend Hebrew? I should not hef thought----” - -“My father has brought us all up to claim our share in the privileges -of our race. We are proud of being Israelites, I assure you. But,” as -the Chevalier shuddered involuntarily, “perhaps you will now be kind -enough to put me on shore?” - -“My dear sir, what iss det you say? put you on shore? No, no, you are -needed. You hef studied de phenomena off de pressent Return? You hef -heard off Count Mortimer? He it iss det dessires your serfices. He iss -to merry de moder off de King of Thracia, and dere are reassons off -state why it should be done quietly.” - -“But, my good sir, why go about it in this theatrical fashion? If I -chose to make a fuss, I could set Europe ringing with your -extraordinary proceedings.” - -“Ah, you do not know: I hef tried. I meet an English clerchyman, an -old acquaintance, at Fenice: I engache him to sail wid me and perform -dis merrich, gifink him no names. He agrees. What should suddenly -possess him to write to his wife and tell her about de mysterious -business, so det de lady telegrephs beck ‘Must be somethink wronk. -Inform de police and return home.’ My dear sir, det referend men left -Fenice at once, and telegrephed to me from de frontier to say det he -was gone. He also informed de police of de metter, and dey suspect me -of intendink to kidnep an heiress--me! Dey would hef detained de -yacht, I beliefe, if I hed stayed here lonker. Det iss why I kidnep -you.” - -“But really, you know--How am I to be sure that it’s all right?” - -“My dear sir, you shell hef a prifate interfiew wid de bridegroom -before de ceremony--wid de Queen also, if she will consent to receife -you. But I am forgettink. De Count’s broder, de Marquis off Caerleon, -iss comink on board at Brindisi wid his femily, to assist et de -weddink. If you are not setisfied when you hef seen dem, you shell -leafe de ship at once. Now are you confinced off my _bona fides_?” - -“Quite,” said the clergyman politely. He did not mention that during -his theological course at Latimer Hall, he had met Lord Usk two or -three times on Sunday evenings at the Principal’s, but the -recollection afforded him a distinct gratification. If his host had -provided another trap for him, he had at any rate the means of turning -the tables. - -But it was undoubtedly the genuine Usk who came on board at Brindisi -with his parents and sister, and showed himself as delighted to meet a -fellow-Man (in the Cambridge sense) as Mr Judson was to see him. Thus -reassured, the curate was quite satisfied to fall in with the -arrangement so unceremoniously made for him. The Chevalier treated his -guests with princely hospitality, and the voyage was pleasant and -uneventful. The only cloud on the horizon appeared at Larnaka, where -the Chevalier found waiting for him at his agent’s some news that -perturbed him considerably. He discussed it at length with his -secretary and two or three of the chief Jews of the place, then sent -off several long telegrams to Damascus, and returned to his guests -with his usual cheerfulness restored. - -“I hef put it all in your broder’s hends, my lord,” he said gleefully -to Lord Caerleon, who expressed a hope that he had not received bad -news. “I hef thrown it upon his shoulders, and I feel safe. He will -not fail me.” - - -The Chevalier’s telegrams were opened by Paschics, who rode into -Damascus daily in order to keep the office-work from falling into -arrears, and now returned immediately to Brutli with a peremptory -demand for Count Mortimer’s presence in the city, since a fresh crisis -had arisen with which he alone could deal. Cyril’s disinclination for -work was as marked as it had been when his illness began, but he -allowed himself to be dragged from his pleasant lotos-eating existence -by the ruthless Paschics, and swept with his whole train down to -Damascus. The imperious summons was all the more distasteful, since -Ernestine was intending to leave Brutli for the city the next day. The -house, which had been placed at her disposal by a wealthy German -merchant who had married a former deaconess, would not be ready to -receive her until the time originally fixed, so that she would be -deprived of Cyril’s escort on the journey. Paschics saw, or thought he -saw, that he had incurred his leader’s deep displeasure by his -persistence in demanding his return, and as soon as the cavalcade was -out of sight of the Institution, he pressed forward to Cyril’s side. - -“Indeed, Excellency, it is absolutely necessary. There is----” - -“Oh, don’t din the whole thing into me just now, Paschics. When we get -to Damascus will be time enough. I can’t think when I am riding.” - -Paschics fell back to his former station, trying to remember whether -he had ever heard his employer object hitherto to thinking in any -circumstances. He himself was thoroughly alarmed by the crisis, and he -half feared that Cyril failed to realise its seriousness. As soon as -they reached the house he hurried him into the room where they had -been accustomed to work; and while Mr Hicks sat down to examine a -series of urgent telegrams which had arrived for him, and Mansfield -uncovered the typewriter in readiness to begin operations, he -summarised as tersely as possible the state of affairs described by -the Chevalier’s correspondents. - -Ten days before, the readers of all the more important papers -throughout Europe had found themselves confronted by an advertisement -bidding them to “Look out for the Yellow Pamphlet!” The advertisement -appeared each succeeding day in a different position and in different -type, and a week after its first insertion the Yellow Pamphlet burst -upon the world. The newsvendors were laden with it, the bookstalls -groaned under it, and it was sent gratuitously to vast numbers of -prominent people everywhere, especially among the Jews. Printed in -English, French, German, and Jargon, it made its appearance -simultaneously all over Europe, Egypt, and Algeria; and it was a -significant fact that the Anti-Semitic papers, together with a good -many journals which were not supposed to share their views, devoted a -large portion of their issue on the day of its publication to quoting -from its contents and drawing inferences from them. Enormous as the -cost of production must have been, the _brochure_ had sold, said the -telegrams, in such numbers that it was probable it would bring an -appreciable profit to its proprietor. Its title was “The Syndicate and -its Hero,” and it was addressed to all honest men. With an affectation -of judicial impartiality which rendered its statements all the more -damaging, it set out to prove that the United Nation Syndicate, -despite its professedly philanthropic object, was in reality nothing -less than a scheme for rendering the Jews absolutely masters of the -world. The steps by which, under Cyril’s leadership, the Syndicate had -coerced one government after another, until it had borne down all -opposition to its Palestine scheme, were traced with as much -minuteness as was requisite to vouch for the writer’s knowledge of his -subject. Then came the application. Practice had made perfect, and -there was no room for doubt that the machinery, tested by means of -these various trial trips, as they might be called, would quickly be -used for larger ends. The world lay helpless at the feet of the Jew, -but--it was for the Jew to consider whether this triumph was not -likely to be too dearly bought. - -Having exposed the real nature of the aims of the Syndicate, the -pamphlet proceeded to deal with its hero--Cyril. Between Count -Mortimer and the Jews there existed an unholy alliance, by virtue of -which he was to be raised to a position commensurate with his -ambitious designs, in return for his betrayal of Christendom. His -first attempt to make himself Prince of Palestine had been balked by -the address of the lady to whom he had confided his schemes, and the -sturdy honesty of Dr Texelius; but he had found a more adaptable tool. -Another lady, whose former history was not unconnected with his own, -and who, on his fall, had quitted society in a fit of pique at her -loss of political power, was willing to return to it in any capacity -that might offer her a scope for a fancied talent of intrigue. Thus -worthily supported, Count Mortimer had proceeded, in the most -barefaced manner, to force himself upon the world as the only possible -ruler of Palestine, as a conjurer forces a particular card upon his -audience. He had openly assumed the title of Prince of the Jews, and -in that name had traversed Palestine and the surrounding countries -from end to end, making treaties on his own authority, and organising -a _plébiscite_ which was designed to give his usurpation the -semblance of legality. This desirable end effected, he would continue -to play into the hands of the Syndicate, with the added prestige of -place and power to assist him, while they would maintain and -strengthen his position by virtue of their command of the world’s -finance. The position would be a proud one for him, no doubt; but was -it worth while for the Jews to drive Europe to desperation, and bring -upon themselves universal hatred, which was only too likely to lead to -universal reprisals, merely in order to provide a throne for Count -Mortimer? - -Thus far the Yellow Pamphlet. The telegrams added that on the -afternoon of the day of publication representatives of the press had -interviewed a number of the prominent personages in various countries -to whom it had been sent. On the subject of the revelations contained -in it, the utmost horror and detestation was expressed by one and all -of those appealed to. Everywhere the timid, cowering before the -prospect of popular fury, sought to save themselves by sacrificing -some one else, and the bold rejoiced cynically in the chance of -ridding themselves of a severe master. The scapegoat was the same in -both cases. All the Hebrews who conceived themselves to have any -grudge against Cyril--Texelius, the theoretical republican Rubenssohn, -the English Jews, the schemers he had disappointed at Jerusalem and -Alexandria--displayed the most engaging ignorance of any political -designs on the part of their nation. It had never entered their minds -that the Syndicate could have any but a purely philanthropic object; -but if they had been misled, let it be summarily crushed as soon as -its work in acquiring Palestine was done. In any case it was clear -that Count Mortimer must be thrown overboard. He had traded upon the -guileless simplicity of the Hebrew community in order to secure his -own advancement, and corrupted the innocence of its keenest minds. -There would be justice as well as policy in flinging him to the wolves -that were clamouring for Jewish blood. - -This prompt repudiation of Cyril and all his ways had proved so -convincing to the general public that the mob which had set out to -wreck the Jewish houses remained to acclaim their owners, and Semite -and Anti-Semite were exchanging pledges of eternal friendship all over -Europe. Before the joint influence of fear and interest, the United -Nation collapsed like a house of cards. The kings of finance, who had -no sentimental care for Palestine--Paris, rather than Jerusalem, -flaunting herself as the Holy City of their gilded dreams--had at -first yielded unwillingly to the Chevalier’s enthusiasm, backed up by -the monetary pressure he had contrived to exert, and now welcomed the -opportunity of throwing off the yoke. The orthodox Rabbis, who, with a -few exceptions, had used all their influence in opposition to the -Zionist movement, and had viewed its progress with fear and aversion, -as likely to transfer their power to the hands of the free-thinking -Jews and such enthusiasts as Rabbi Schaul, gloried openly in the -_exposé_. The rank and file of the Children of Zion alone remained -faithful. Thus the Jewish world was split in two, and the unanimity -demanded by the Emperor of Pannonia was absolutely unattainable. - -Paschics laid down the last telegram, and looked expectantly at his -employer. - -“This is the sort of thing that only a woman would do, and there is -only one woman who could have done it,” said Cyril. He was playing -idly with a paper-knife as he sat at the table. - -“But what is to be done, Excellency?” demanded Paschics, with anxious -eagerness. Cyril buried his face in his hands without replying, and -sat silent for some time. When he raised his head his face was -haggard. - -“Leave it for a while,” he said. “Mansfield, get out the chessboard, -and we will have a game.” - -The others stared at him in bewilderment, but Mansfield obeyed. It had -become rather unusual for them to play, since Cyril invariably won, -which deprived the contests of all their interest. This time, however, -Mansfield won easily. To his astonishment he saw great drops standing -on his employer’s brow when he looked up. - -“Another!” said Cyril hoarsely. - -Mansfield set the board afresh, and perceiving from his antagonist’s -keen anxiety that he attached some special importance to this -particular game, determined to play so carelessly as to make it -impossible for him not to win. Perhaps he was in the mood to regard a -victory here as a good omen for his success with regard to the larger -issues at stake. But Cyril saw the intention, and dashed his fist down -on the board. - -“For heaven’s sake, Mansfield, don’t humour me as if I was a child! I -haven’t come to that yet. Play your hardest.” - -Rearranging the pieces, Mansfield obeyed, and won the game with -ludicrous ease, not daring to glance at his opponent’s face. Cyril sat -for a moment playing with the pieces, then pushed his chair back and -stood up. - -“I believe my brain’s gone,” he said unsteadily. “I can think of -nothing. The game is up, Paschics. It must all go.” - -“Land’s sake, Count!” cried Mr Hicks, “bluff it out. You’ll be all -right in a day or two. Bluff will carry you through yet.” - -“It may, but I feel pretty certain it won’t. No, Hicks, I’m cornered. -Do your best with it, Paschics. Oh, to be for one hour--for ten -minutes--the man I was a month ago! But that’s all over now.” - -“Say, Count, you’re sick yet,” Mr Hicks cried after him as he went -out. “You bet you’ll be as spry as ever some time soon. Mr Mansfield,” -he added hastily, “if I were you I guess I’d give Dietrich the word to -keep an eye on his master, and not leave any shooting-irons lying -around.” - -Mansfield rushed out with frantic haste, and Mr Hicks and the -horrified Paschics put their heads together and drew up a document -which might help to postpone the need of an explanation for a day or -two. Count Mortimer was still suffering from the effects of the -dastardly attack made upon him at Jericho, but he left his character -and his cause confidently in the hands of Europe, in the full -assurance that, until he was able to vindicate them himself, judgment -would be suspended. When this had been despatched, there was no more -that they could do. If Cyril did not regain his former powers of mind, -all, as he had said, was lost. - -He returned to the room after about an hour of restless pacing up and -down upon the house-top, with Mansfield, who fondly believed himself -unseen, dogging him from behind the trellis the whole time. He seemed -to have shaken off for the present the horror which had seized him in -its grip, and apologised for his agitation, after approving the steps -which Paschics had taken. - -“I must see a specialist,” he added carelessly, “and no doubt he will -be able to put me right. Not a word of this, please, especially to the -Queen. And, Mansfield, you will be interested to know that I don’t -intend to commit suicide just at present, so that you need not devote -your leisure hours to keeping me in view.” - - -“Ernestine, are you on good terms with your cousin Prince Ramon of -Arragon?” - -“He and his wife called upon me this afternoon--before we were at all -settled, indeed. I think they mean to be friendly. But were you -thinking of inviting them to the--the wedding, Cyril?” - -“Not for a moment. I was wondering whether Prince Ramon would object -to my consulting him professionally?” - -Don Ramon of Arragon was the representative of one of those junior -branches of the Pannonian Imperial house which have been deprived of -political power by the changes of the nineteenth century. Far from -murmuring over his loss of sovereignty, he had accepted the inevitable -with marked satisfaction, and devoted himself to the study of -medicine, giving his services freely to all who chose to consult him. -He was now well known as a specialist in diseases of the brain, and -rumour said that even his pious intention in visiting Palestine was -not unmixed with the desire of investigating certain forms of madness -supposed to be peculiar to the East. - -“Oh, I’m sure he would not mind,” said the Queen eagerly. “But, Cyril, -you said you were so much better.” - -“My head doesn’t feel quite as clear as it ought, that’s all.” - -“You are sure it is nothing worse--quite sure? What a comfort it is -that the Ramons should be here just now! We are not to expect their -sympathy or countenance for our betrothal, I could see that; but I -think Ramon will be quite ready to meet you privately, in any case. -Cyril, do you mind my asking whether you are going to this -entertainment of the consuls’ to-morrow night?” - -“I was not intending to go, but I will, if you wish.” - -“No, I don’t. I could not bear to see Ramon put before you. Oh, my -beloved, you don’t know how I long to see you really Prince of -Palestine, unquestionably first on your own soil. I feel quite wicked -on state occasions. I want to go down and take your hand and lead you -up beside me, and say to every one, ‘Yes, he is your king, and mine -too. Don’t dare to offer me any honours that you would refuse to -him!’” - -“My dear child, actually tears! If you only knew how little I care for -all that sort of thing.” - -“But I care. I want every one to recognise, as I do, how great you -are. It hurts me when they show me all kinds of honour because I -happen to wear a crown, and leave you in the background, when every -man there ought to be on his knees before you. You pretend not to feel -it, for my sake, but I know you do. It makes me tingle with shame. -When we are married, I shall be only your wife and nothing else, and -no one shall put me before you.” - -“Then I hope for both our sakes that the Emperor Sigismund will not -pay another visit to Palestine--during our reign, at any rate.” Cyril -smiled rather unsteadily. - -“As if I cared for him, or anything he could say! Cyril, I want you to -bring your brother and his family to dine with me to-night, if they -arrive in time. Your relations are to be mine, and I want to know them -all--the little girl whom Michael loves, and the rest as well. It -shall be purely a family party. I remember your sister-in-law, she had -such a beautiful face, and your brother looked so thoroughly -English--so reliable. Do you think they will be willing to love me?” - -“Madame, it doesn’t become your Majesty to fish for compliments. Your -commands shall be obeyed,” and Cyril bowed himself out of her presence -backwards in the orthodox manner. - -Whether the Queen’s anxiety was real or not, it proved to be wholly -unnecessary. Her guests that evening took her to their hearts with one -accord. She was so beautiful, so gracious, so devoted to Cyril, that, -to use their own expression, Usk and Philippa “simply grovelled” at -her feet from the first moment they saw her. It was no more possible -that she had ill-treated Cyril than that he had ill-treated her, and -Philippa fell back on the theory of a misunderstanding, for which both -might perhaps be slightly to blame, but no more. Her parents took an -equal delight in the reconciliation, for they knew, as Philippa could -not know, the true story of the long waiting-time during which the -Queen’s hair had grown grey, and of the broken engagement which had -made such a grievous blank in her life. - -After dinner it was decided that the mildness of the season justified -the seeming rashness, and the Queen led her guests out into the -marble-paved courtyard. There was a good deal of happy talk about the -future as they sat under the carved arcades of curious inlaid work, -and watched the fountains springing up among the orange- and -lemon-trees. The rest remembered afterwards that Cyril refused, with -some impatience, to discuss the probability of his obtaining the -governorship of Palestine. It was in the hands of the Powers, he said, -and the less it was talked about the better were his chances. He -changed the subject almost irritably, but there was no other cloud -upon the brightness of the evening. Even Mansfield was happy, although -he was not included in the party. He had been dining with the -household, and now, as he stood leaning against the pillars at the -other end of the courtyard, smoking with M. Stefanovics, he could -feast his eyes upon what seemed to him the most beautiful sight in the -world. The blue and silver wrap which Philippa had thrown about her -had fallen back, and the moonbeams lighted up her crown of golden -curls. Not even the fact of his exclusion from the Queen’s table could -sadden Mansfield, for Philippa had been disappointed about it, -Philippa had said it was a shame, Philippa had refused to see reason -in the matter until she had appealed in vain to her uncle himself. - -But while at one end of the courtyard Philippa, sitting beside the -Queen, painted glowing pictures of the future, and Mansfield, at the -other, watched her and dreamt delicious dreams, a loud shouting became -audible. The sound came from the street, which was separated from the -inner court by an outer one, occupied by the Queen’s suite and the -servants. Some one was demanding admittance, and with no uncertain -voice. The group under the arcade turned and looked at one another, as -the porter was heard inquiring who the late arrival might be, and -Cyril felt himself growing pale. Was there at hand the announcement of -a new crisis, with which he must again confess his incapacity to deal? -It was not, however, Paschics or the Chevalier, but General Banics, -who appeared at the entrance of the passage leading to the door, and -taking three strides across the courtyard, announced-- - -“Madame, his Majesty!” - -“How dare you, Banics? I forbade you to announce me!” cried a voice, -and King Michael, casting a scathing glance at his former tutor, -stepped out into the moonlight after him. “I hope, madame, there is a -welcome for me in this delightful gathering?” - -The Queen had grasped Cyril’s arm involuntarily as her son entered. -Now she loosed her clutch, but her fingers closed round his as she -stepped forward. “Any reconciliation with me must include him,” was -the announcement conveyed by her attitude, and King Michael read it -aright. - -“You will not refuse to allow me a share in your happiness, mother? My -sole desire is to stand beside you on this auspicious occasion, and do -honour to your choice. Count, I will tell you frankly that there is no -man I would welcome into my family more heartily than yourself.” - -“No reason whatever to doubt that statement!” thought Cyril grimly, -while the Queen, her eyes full of tears, raised her son and kissed him -as he stooped to kiss her hand. - -“This is the crowning point of my happiness, little son,” she -murmured, employing the old tender diminutive. - -“You have stolen a march upon me, mother,” pursued the King, quite at -his ease. “I hoped to have the honour of presenting the Lady Philippa -to you myself, but you have been before me.” Philippa crimsoned with -indignation as she yielded her finger-tips unwillingly to be kissed. -“My friend Usk, too! And these--I have no need to ask--these must be -the honoured parents of the Lady Philippa.” - -Having saluted Lord and Lady Caerleon with marked distinction, King -Michael took a chair, and signed affably to the rest to be seated. “I -must apologise for appearing in this dress,” he said, looking at his -mother, but including Philippa, as he indicated the undress naval -uniform he was wearing, “but I have had no opportunity of changing my -clothes. I have made no attempt to secure rooms at a hotel, as I hoped -my mother might be able to find a corner for me here. I have only two -or three people with me--that is all I could bring, since I came as -far as Beyrout on a ship of war.” - -This explanation was ample for those who knew that the Thracian -sea-going navy consisted of a single gunboat of moderate size, and the -Queen summoned M. Stefanovics and gave him the necessary directions. -The King continued to converse with the greatest affability, -“patronising the whole show,” as Usk complained to Mansfield -afterwards, but the pleasantness of the evening had vanished with his -entrance. That the Queen felt this she showed when she rose as the -signal for her guests to depart. She had meant this family party to be -free from the trammels of Court etiquette, but how could she carry out -her intention when her son made evident in every word and action the -intense condescension with which he was prepared to behave towards her -new relations? - - - - - CHAPTER XXII. - THE HISTORY OF AN EVENING. - -“I did not expect to see you here to-night, Mr Mansfield.” - -“I had no idea of coming, madame, but his Excellency insisted upon it. -M. Paschics is here too.” - -“Do you know whether Prince Ramon of Arragon has visited Count -Mortimer yet?” - -“Yes, madame, this afternoon.” - -“You don’t happen to have heard what he thought of his health?” - -“No, madame, I did not like to ask; but his Excellency seemed quite -cheerful this evening. When I left the house, he was busy with his -servant, looking over his things, I think.” - -“I am glad he was in good spirits, but I should like to know exactly. -Might I trouble you to ask Prince Ramon to come and speak to me?” - -“I am honoured, madame.” - -In order to welcome the illustrious visitors to Damascus, the -Pannonian, Hercynian, and Thracian consuls had joined forces, -determining to provide an entertainment that should throw into the -shade everything of the kind that had been hitherto attempted in the -city. Strings of bright-coloured lamps, rich draperies, and a -profusion of greenery, had transformed the inner courtyard of the -Pannonian Consulate, which was covered in for the occasion, into a -fairy palace, and the display of dazzling uniforms, Parisian gowns, -and gay national costumes, was not unworthy of its frame. Cyril was -the only person of note at present in Damascus who was not to be seen, -and although the Queen had begged him not to come, she felt vaguely -uneasy at his absence. She welcomed Don Ramon with an anxious smile as -he approached her, not in the best of tempers. Mansfield had disturbed -him in the midst of a deeply interesting conversation. It was the -Prince’s habit to carry his scientific researches even into his hours -of ease, and the sight of a magnificent-looking old Syrian with a -venerable white beard had proved an irresistible temptation. A request -to be allowed to call upon him and take some measurements of his head -had terrified the old man, and it was with the utmost relief that he -took advantage of Mansfield’s approach to break away from this -alarming stranger, quite regardless of his feelings in the matter. -Moreover, like most of the Queen’s relations, Don Ramon had decided to -ignore her intended marriage altogether. Ernestine might disgrace -herself by an alliance with a mere noble if she liked, but her family -were unaware of the existence of any such presumptuous person as her -future husband. The Prince had visited Cyril at her request that -afternoon, not as her _fiancé_, but as a former valued servant of the -Thracian crown. His outraged family feelings combined at this moment -with his scientific preoccupation to make his manner more than usually -brusque. - -“You have seen Count Mortimer, cousin?” the Queen asked him timidly. -“I hope your opinion is favourable?” - -“Favourable, my dear cousin? The man’s case is hopeless!” - -“Hopeless!” she grasped at a pillar to support herself. “But what is -the matter with him?” - -“If I describe the injury in technical language you would be no wiser -than before. The brain has ceased to perform one of its functions.” - -“You mean that he will be--_mad_?” - -“No, no; how you ladies rush at conclusions! There is no trace of -mania whatever. The man is as sane as I am. He has simply lost the -power of connected thought, of planning--plotting, if you like.” - -“But how can this be? What has happened to him?” - -“Over-strain after long and continued fatigue has done the mischief, -by what he says.” - -“But it is only temporary? Rest will cure him?” - -“My dear cousin, this is not like the loss of sight or memory which -has taken place as the result of a shock, and may be restored by -another shock. The power is gone. He says that he felt as though -something snapped in his brain, and that will serve very well as a -popular description of what has occurred. The connecting-cord is -broken, and he is incapable of carrying on a train of thought.” - -“Oh, what will he do? what will he do?” moaned the Queen. - -“Pray do not distress yourself, cousin. Many very worthy persons are -born without the faculty of connected thought, and live happy lives, -unconscious of the defect.” - -If they were born without it, perhaps. But Cyril, who had possessed -and lost it? - -“You told him, cousin?” - -“Naturally. He is not a child. He received the news with the utmost -coolness, and conversed cheerfully as he escorted me to the door. But, -my dear cousin, you are ill--about to faint. Allow me to call my wife, -or one of your ladies.” - -“No! no!” Ernestine seized his arm and held him back. “Take me to the -cloakroom, that is all, and fetch Lord or Lady Caerleon. I want no one -else. Don’t let people make a scene.” - -She sank upon the couch to which he led her, and sat there with -clenched hands and staring eyes until he returned with Philippa, the -only member of the family whom he could find disengaged at the moment. -Receiving another fervent entreaty to say nothing of Ernestine’s -indisposition, he withdrew, and she turned frantically to Philippa. - -“Will you come with me to your uncle, at once? He has had bad news, -there is something wrong with his brain, and he has been told it too -suddenly. His friends are away, and the shock----” Her voice failed -her, but Philippa read in the piteous eyes the unspoken fear which had -seized herself as she listened, and she grasped the two trembling -hands in her own. - -“Oh yes, yes; let us come this moment. Usk or Mr Mansfield will help -us.” - -But Usk was the centre of a group of laughing Greek girls, who were -teaching him to pronounce their language properly, and Mansfield, -having failed to get a word with Philippa all evening, had wandered -away disconsolately with Mr Judson. Even Mr Hicks, engrossed in -subjecting a Latin bishop to an informal interview, was so busy that -Philippa could not catch his eye. - -“There is only that elderly officer who belongs to your suite, madame, -that I can see,” she said, hurrying back to the Queen. - -“Banics? Oh, fetch him--he can be trusted.” - -Philippa obeyed, and Ernestine addressed the astonished General with -feverish eagerness. “Find us a carriage, Banics. I must go at once to -Count Mortimer’s lodgings--at once, at once.” - -“At this hour, madame? Allow me to request his Excellency to wait upon -you instead,” was the sole protest General Banics permitted himself, -but his mistress waved it aside wildly. - -“You will kill me with all this delay! Find a carriage quickly. I tell -you we must go at once.” - -He hurried out, and Philippa wrapped the Queen in a dark cloak, -drawing the hood over her head. They stood waiting breathlessly until -General Banics reappeared, having taken forcible possession of the -first carriage he came across. It belonged to a private individual, -but a _bakhshish_ to the servants, added to the awe-inspiring effect -of the General’s uniform and his manner, enabled him to hire it for a -short time, and he helped the ladies in and took his seat upon the box -in disapproving silence. A short drive, during which the Queen and -Philippa held each other’s hands in an agony of fear, brought them to -the Hebrew quarter. To Philippa’s intense relief, although she could -hardly have told why she felt relieved, the door of Cyril’s Jewish -host stood open, and the porter was lounging on the threshold talking -to a friend, so that the commotion usually needed before entrance -could be obtained was not called for. Earlier in the day, Philippa and -her parents had partaken of coffee with the family, in a scene that -might have come straight from the pages of ‘Tancred,’ but now every -one was away at the consuls’ entertainment, with the exception of the -aged grandfather, who was roused from his slumbers by the servants, -and came forth blinking and bewildered. Fortunately he recognised -Philippa, but precious time passed while he lamented the unfitness of -his poor house to receive the exalted young lady, wringing his hands -the while. She cut him short at last in desperation. - -“I must see my uncle at once, please. It is most important that this -lady should speak to him. No, no; you are not to say that we are -here!” - -Fairly dashing past the servants, who were already starting off to -announce her presence, she dragged the Queen in the direction of the -staircase which led to Cyril’s rooms on the upper floor, leaving the -old man still wringing his hands and murmuring feebly something about -coffee. No one guessed who the elder woman was who followed Philippa -so closely as she crossed the courtyard, although General Banics -thought it well to station himself at the foot of the staircase, in -case curiosity should be roused as to her identity. Entering the -passage from which the rooms opened, the two ladies were confronted by -the valet Dietrich, who appeared to have been placidly smoking a huge -pipe in the dark. - -“Where is Count Mortimer, Dietrich? I want to speak to him.” Philippa -lowered her voice involuntarily. - -“At work, gracious one. He must not be disturbed.” - -“You know he never meant you were to keep me out. Let me pass, -please.” - -“Alas, gracious one! I have his Excellency’s orders to admit no one.” - -“Dietrich!” Ernestine threw back her hood, and the flash of her -diamonds dazzled the valet’s astonished eyes; “you must let me -through. It is a matter of life and death for your master.” - -“Pardon, Majesty, I dare not. I have my orders.” - -Ernestine clasped her hands wildly. Philippa drew her aside. - -“Slip round by the verandah while I distract Dietrich’s attention -here,” she whispered hurriedly, and pushing past the servant, almost -succeeded in gaining the door. While he sprang forward to stop her, -the Queen slipped away and ran round to the window. It was open. Cyril -was standing with his back to her, looking narrowly into something -which he was holding up close to his eye. - -“Cyril!” she shrieked, bursting into the room. He started violently, -but as he turned to her he thrust what he was holding under a piece of -paper lying on the table. - -“Ernestine! how you startled me! You here--at this hour? What is the -matter?” - -“Give it to me! give it to me!” she cried, rushing to the table. As -she had expected, a pistol lay under the paper. Cyril’s hand came upon -hers with a firm grasp as she snatched it up. - -“No, no, you shall not! Before my eyes, Cyril!” she screamed, trying -to wrest the weapon from him. How it happened she could not tell, but -as she struggled with him there was a sudden explosion, and a bullet -whizzed close to her head, singeing her hair in its passage. Dazed and -deafened, she loosed her hold of the pistol. - -“There!” she cried, laughing hysterically. “Better me than yourself!” - -Cyril, with an ashy face, picked up the pistol, which had fallen to -the ground. The door opened impetuously, and Philippa’s horrified face -looked in. Seeing that neither was hurt, she closed the door again, -and meeting General Banics at the top of the stairs, assured him, in a -voice which she vainly tried to render steady, that there was nothing -wrong, A pistol had gone off by accident, that was all. - -“Are you hurt, Ernestine? How came you here?” - -“I wish I was hurt! I wish I had been killed!” she cried frantically, -“for then you might have been sorry. Cyril, Cyril, I thought you loved -me, and you don’t.” - -“You are talking wildly, my dearest.” - -“You don’t, and there is the proof of it.” She pointed to the -discharged pistol. “It is cruel of you. What have I done that you -should kill yourself to be rid of me?” - -“Be reasonable, Ernestine. This is an old pistol that I came across in -turning out my things. Am I to blame if it should happen to be loaded? -Accidents with fire-arms are not, absolutely unheard-of events.” - -“Oh, that was what the world was to believe, was it?” She swept him a -superb curtsey. “Many thanks! But it is unnecessary to try to deceive -me. I have spoken to Ramon, I know all. Cyril, my beloved,” her voice -took a tone of the most poignant reproach, “have I deserved this? Am I -such a fair-weather friend that you can’t trust me to cling to you in -trouble as well as in prosperity?” - -“My dear Ernestine, it is because I know you would cling to me that I -decline to drag you down with my wretched self. I thought I should -have a kingdom to offer you; I find I shan’t have even an -independence. Therefore----” he pointed to the pistol. - -“But you know that I only cared for the kingdom for your sake. Oh, -Cyril, it is you I love, you I want. Your life is mine; you -cannot--dare not--rob me of it. Think of the many years you made me -suffer in loneliness. You owe me all those.” - -He was silent, and she crept closer to him. - -“Beloved, you don’t regret that I came in? that you have been held -back from taking your life like a coward? I would never have believed -any one who told me that you were afraid to face any future. You will -be greater in adversity than in success. God is sending you this trial -that your true strength may be shown.” Cyril shifted his position -impatiently. “You would not, in a moment of despair, refuse the trial, -fail under the test, and destroy your soul for ever?” - -“Really, Ernestine, this kind of argument has no weight with me.” - -“Then perhaps this will weigh with you.” Stung by his tone, she tore -the diamond cross from her neck and held it towards him. “Whatever you -do not believe, you know that God and Heaven and eternal judgment are -realities to me. Understand, then, that if you take your own life, -either to-night or afterwards, I swear that I will do the same, -solemnly believing that my soul will be lost for ever in consequence -of the deed. Oh, what am I saying?” She paused and trembled, but as he -tried to wrest the cross from her, her fingers tightened upon it more -firmly. “Yes, I will do it, without hesitation. God forgive me--no, I -dare not ask Him to forgive me--God forgive you, if you drive me to -it.” - -Cyril dropped into a chair, and buried his face in his hands. She -stood beside him, awaiting his decision with perfect calmness. - -“If you die, I die,” she said again. At last he looked up. - -“I give in, Ernestine. But I think you will often repent this -evening’s work.” - -“Never, even if you do.” - -“I? I shall repent it every day--every hour--of my existence.” It was -the bitter cry of the man who sees every interest and every pleasure -in life snatched from him in a moment. “I am a useless, brainless log, -and you force me to live.” - -“Dearest, there is still so much that you can do.” The woman’s -unselfishness led her to try to comfort him in his own way, instead of -resenting the little value he set upon her love. “You never even -discovered your loss until a very momentous crisis arose. If Philippa -marries Michael, you can return to Thracia, and become Premier again.” - -“Are you trying to tempt me to sacrifice poor Phil? Don’t you see that -I could never go back to office as a humdrum, routine, red-tape -Minister, incapable of effecting combinations or making bold strokes? -I could not face a horrible monotony of that sort.” - -“Then we will settle down in England, near----” - -“And add another specimen to the British collection of political -failures from the Continent? Hear myself continually pointed out as an -awful warning of the dangers of leaving the beaten track? Never!” - -“Well, then, we will go back to Sitt Zeynab. You shall reign there in -peace, and no one can come near you against your will. Wherever you -are, there I shall be happy.” - -“My poor Ernestine, I am not worth it. You had better let me die, -dear.” His eyes sought the pistol longingly. “I am a miserable, broken -wretch, with no hope and no contentment left, and I shall lead you a -terrible life.” - -“No life with you could be terrible to me. To be near you is joy -enough. It was not your success I loved, it was you, and you are the -same still. I love you, Cyril, I love you.” - -The passion of the tone, the eyes shining into his, the trembling -hands laid upon his shoulders, stirred Cyril with a stronger emotion -than he had ever known, and words came to his lips,--echoes, perhaps, -of others heard long before in his childhood--he knew not how or -whence. - -“God do so to me and more also, Ernestine, if I ever forget what you -have done for me to-night. Dearest, you understand. Some women would -have upbraided me for despising their love, but you are not like that. -And you will have your reward. Politics will never again separate me -from you, at any rate.” He kissed her gently on the forehead, and -wrapped her cloak round her. “You must go back, dear, or you will be -missed. A curious little interlude in the evening’s entertainment, -isn’t it? Well, your coming here has saved me, such as I am.” - -Ernestine choked down her sobs as she clung to him. “You will live -because I want you,” she said. “Perhaps you can’t rule the world, -beloved, but you can make one woman very happy. You have done it -already, and she is grateful.” - -She went out, and found Philippa waiting anxiously in the passage. - -“It’s all right, Phil. We have saved him,” she said, holding the -girl’s hand tightly in hers as they passed down the steps and across -the courtyard. - -“But what had happened to him?” asked Philippa breathlessly, when they -were in the carriage again. - -“Something has given way in his brain. He will never be able to plan -again.” - -“He can’t plan? Oh, poor Uncle Cyril!” cried Philippa, appalled. - -“Phil, you must help me to keep it a secret--at any rate until after -we are married. I know they will part me from him if they can. Once I -am his wife I don’t care what happens. Only his real friends must know -of this terrible trouble, such as your father and the Chevalier -Goldberg. And we must keep Michael in a good temper. My child, you see -why he has come here? His manner in addressing you last night showed -that sufficiently. Is there any hope for him? You know how I should -rejoice to welcome you as a daughter.” - -“I would do anything else in the world for you and Uncle Cyril,” burst -from Philippa, “but not that. I don’t love him in the least. I don’t -even--like him,” she was about to say, but changed it, feebly enough, -into--“care for him.” - -“It is not your fault, Phil. I ought to be the first person to know -that love is not at one’s own command. But oh, dear child, if you -could abstain from refusing him until after the wedding is over! I -don’t mean that you should deceive him, of course, but if only you -could prevent his proposing to you----” - -“I’ll do what I can,” said Philippa doubtfully, but she felt that if -King Michael had determined to propose to her, it was probable that he -would do so, in spite of any obstacles she might put in his way. That -this intuition of hers was a correct one she discovered as soon as she -re-entered the assembly-room with the Queen. Her father was standing -not far from the cloakroom door, and stepped forward to meet her. - -“Why, Phil, I have been looking for you everywhere! I could not think -what had become of you until the Prince of Arragon told me that he had -left you with her Majesty.” - -“Yes; I was seized with a sudden faintness, and Philippa was kind -enough to remain with me until I felt better,” said Ernestine -graciously, bestowing one of her rare smiles on Philippa as she turned -towards the Thracian consul, who was anxious to present a relative to -her. - -“Phil,” said Lord Caerleon, taking his daughter aside, “the King has -been speaking to me about you.” - -“Oh, father!” exclaimed Philippa, in dismay. - -“I suppose I ought to feel honoured,” continued her father ruefully, -“but that youth riles me--there’s no other word for it. He asked to be -allowed to visit me to-morrow at the hotel, graciously intimating that -he considered me as in a sort of way a brother monarch, and therefore -felt able to dispense with strict etiquette. I guessed what he wanted, -and thought we might just as well settle matters without getting your -name mixed up with his, so I said I couldn’t think of giving him the -trouble. Thereupon he did you the honour to request me in so many -words to regard him as a suitor for your hand, this being merely -preliminary, as he explained, to a formal proposal through the proper -channels. I said I hadn’t had any conversation with you lately on such -subjects, but judging from the sentiments you expressed on the last -occasion, I couldn’t give him any hope. Upon that he informed me that -I wasn’t up to date. He is now a reformed character, father of his -country and so on, the condescending patron of everything that’s good. -I don’t want to laugh at any man’s reformation, Phil, but the fellow -takes himself too seriously. I told him I didn’t see that it was much -good bothering you about the matter, and he became very high and -mighty indeed. He reminded me that young ladies did not receive offers -of marriage from crowned heads every day, and intimated that such an -honour ought to be accepted in a proper spirit. In other words, he -warns you not to reject his offer without due consideration. I am -telling you about it because he insisted I should, and I thought he -might turn rusty and make some unpleasantness if I didn’t, but having -laid the proposal before you, I can now go with a good conscience and -tell him you refuse it.” - -“Wait, father, please!” cried Philippa, in an uncertain voice. “I--I -think I will take time to consider.” - -Her father turned and gazed at her. “Phil!” he said, with more sorrow -and disappointment in his voice than she had ever heard in it before. - -“I think it’s only proper, as he says,” went on Philippa, with a laugh -that was a little hysterical. Don’t you, father? I--I should not like -to be too hasty. - -“Phil, I wouldn’t insult you by imagining that you could be induced to -marry a man you didn’t love for the sake of a crown, but what in the -world are you driving at? You needn’t think anything of what I said -just now about the fellow’s making himself unpleasant to your uncle -and the Queen, for what harm could he do, after all?” Philippa -shuddered. Her father did not know what terrible harm King Michael -might do if he chose. “But at any rate, don’t give him a moral claim -upon you in this way. It’s quite unnecessary to be so tender of his -feelings.” - -“Oh no, no moral claim,” said Philippa entreatingly. “You can tell him -you are perfectly certain that delay will make no change in my -feelings, but that if he wishes it, I will consent not to give him a -final answer until the day after the wedding. It’s--it’s due to his -position, father.” She laughed again. “I’m sure you can make him see -it in that light.” - -“I can’t make you out, Phil,” said Lord Caerleon doubtfully, as he -left her. Presently he returned, pulling at his moustache in a way -that showed him to be still puzzled. - -“Well, Phil, I have given him your message, and he accepts it as -merely his due. I can swear I’ve done my best to choke him off, but he -won’t have it. I think he understands that he’s not to come hanging -about the hotel, setting people talking, but he may do what he can, -without making you conspicuous, to prepossess you in his favour--in -conversation and so on. He seems very well satisfied, and I hope you -are. I wish with all my heart you were safely engaged to--er--some -other fellow.” - -“Are you determining to turn me out of doors if I accept King Michael, -father? Don’t you think your way of receiving a king as a would-be -son-in-law is just a little--original?” - -“Why, Phil?” cried her father in distress, catching sight at last of -the tears in her eyes. - -“Oh, father, I’m so miserable--so frightened--I don’t know what to -do!” and Philippa laid her golden head on his shoulder, and sobbed -there comfortably, as if she had gone back ten years, and been a -little girl again. - -“Do you want me to get rid of the fellow for you, Phil? I’ll do it -like a shot. King or no king, I won’t have him making you cry with his -silly nonsense.” - -“No, no, it’s not that. Lend me your handkerchief, father dear. This -lace thing is no good. Don’t you think mother would come home now?” - -“I’m sure she would. I’ll go and ask her,” and poor Lord Caerleon went -away thoroughly puzzled. Hitherto nothing had ever interrupted the -perfect understanding between Philippa and himself, but now he was -realising miserably that his little daughter had become a woman, and -Lord Caerleon had always confessed that he did not understand women. - - -“Mansfield,” said Usk abruptly, when he and his friend were leaving -the Consulate in company a little later, “that idiot is after Philippa -again.” - -“What, that Thracian beast?” Mansfield’s language was far from choice, -but he was not without provocation. “Well, your father will soon kick -him out.” - -“That’s what I thought, but there’s no chance of that now. She has -taken time to consider her answer, and we know what that means. I -thought I’d tell you myself, before--before you could hear it from any -one else.” Mansfield gasped, and Usk went on hurriedly, “I wouldn’t -have believed it, but the fellow told me himself. Perhaps it’s a lie.” - -“No fear!” was the sternly hopeless answer. “What would be the good, -when a word with your father would put you right at once? She has been -over-persuaded.” - -“Yes, I know how it is. He has got round her with the notion that it’s -her duty to sacrifice herself to him for the sake of his rotten -kingdom, like a girl in a book. I’m awfully sorry, Mansfield--sick, -too.” - -Mansfield answered only by an inarticulate grunt. - -“I wouldn’t have believed Phil was such an owl,” went on her brother. -“Every one knows that sort of arrangement is bound to end in an awful -smash. But never say die, old man; she may chuck him yet.” - -“Not she,” returned Mansfield, with a fixed despair. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII. - MAN AND WIFE. - -“This is the irony of fate!” said Mansfield to himself the next -morning. The English mail had come in, and the city postman, going his -leisurely rounds on his white donkey, was engaged in distributing the -letters it brought. A few minutes before, he had placed in Mansfield’s -hands that which should have been his passport to paradise. The Right -Honourable Geoffrey Forfar wrote to say that one of his secretaries -had accepted an appointment under Government, and he had much pleasure -in fulfilling his promise with regard to the vacant post. Would -Mansfield kindly arrange to take up his new duties as soon as his -present employer could spare him? - -Mr Forfar would have been surprised to learn that his kindly letter -served but to inflict on its recipient torments worse than those of -Tantalus. If the offer had only arrived yesterday, Mansfield reflected -bitterly, he might have spoken to Philippa in time to forestall her -royal suitor--but no, it did not turn up until Philippa was beyond his -reach. That was how things always happened, he assured himself, for -misfortune was developing in him the usual touch of cynicism. For a -short time he had visions of accepting the post and returning to -England forthwith, throwing himself into his new work with an ardour -that carried all before it. He saw himself entering the House, backed -by Mr Forfar’s influence and the prestige of his own reputation as a -man with an unusual and practical knowledge of European politics, saw -himself, equally famous as a thinker and a debater, accepting office -and rising to giddy heights of power--and this was all undertaken for -the sake of convincing the faithless Philippa that the true lover whom -she had cast off to obtain a throne would have been able to give her -something more than the love she despised. Unfortunately for -Mansfield’s political future, his heart took fright instantly at the -idea of leaving Syria while Philippa remained there. He must be on the -spot, even if it was only to witness the complete destruction of his -hopes. It is possible, also, that those hopes were not yet quite so -absolutely dead as he imagined. - -“I won’t answer this at once,” he said, thrusting the letter into his -pocket, and turned to some notes which he was to write out for Cyril. -He had scarcely sat down when he was interrupted by the Chevalier, who -emerged from the inner room in a state of wild disorder. When he had -asked to see Cyril, Mansfield had observed that he appeared to be -labouring under great emotion, but now he seemed to have been tearing -both his hair and his clothes. He dropped into a chair opposite -Mansfield, and smote his forehead with his hands. - -“De finest brain in Europe, and de stronk defence off Zion!” he -murmured. - -“I beg your pardon?” said Mansfield, astonished. - -“You do not know? you hef not heard? All we hef done iss in fain, and -Israel may return to deir keptifity to-morrow.” - -“What has gone wrong?” Mansfield asked the question with great -anxiety. - -“Your master can plen no more; his brain iss inchured. And we, wid our -scheme on de point of fulfilment, are left desolate.” - -“That break-down the other day!” cried Mansfield. - -“Yes, det must hef been de first menifestation off de melady. Ach, -Mortimer, my frient, I could always trust in you! While you lifed, -Zion was safe. And now you life still, but your mind iss dead. No, -no,” as Mansfield started up frantically, “dere iss no medness. He can -do eferythink but plen, but so can all de rest. Our head iss gone.” - -“And now that he can’t help you, you care no more about him?” - -“Hef I gifen you reasson to say det?” asked the Chevalier, with real -dignity. “Because I lament my country in peril, must I hef lost sight -off my frient? It iss de Queen det hess told me de frightful noose. -Ah, dere iss a woman! de Count hess much left still since he hess her. -She dessired to point out to me de risk. You see it? Efery nation and -efery statesman hess somethink against him. He hess played dem all off -against one anoder, and only his wits hef safed him again and again. -Now he iss powerless, and when dey find it out, dey will come about -him like birds off prey. A week ago de influence off de Syndicate, -exerted through me, would hef presserfed him from all annoyance, but -now de Syndicate iss split in two. Until we discofer how far de -disaffection extends, I dare not trust efen my broders. Your master -must not remain here, nor would he be safe in Europe--efen in America. -De Queen propoces det immediately upon deir merrich dey shell go to -dis estate off hers in de desert, where dey will be in safety until -efents hef defeloped demselfs. We shell soon see what frients he hess -left. I need not ask wheder you are true. Do me de fafour to beliefe -det I am so also, efen dough my nation hess profed ungrateful to its -benefector.” - -“I am sorry,” said Mansfield. “I had no business to say what I did.” - -“Det iss well. Trust me, and help me to do what I can for him, det iss -all I ask.” - -He went away, and Mansfield took Mr Forfar’s letter out of his pocket -again. “This settles it!” he said, and sitting down at the table, -dashed off a grateful refusal of the Prime Minister’s offer. As soon -as it was finished, he went out and posted it. - -Having thus burnt his boats and cut himself off from every hope of -Philippa, he felt that he had done all that could be expected of him, -and owed himself a reward. It is needless to say that the reward took -the shape of a sight of Philippa, and when he had dutifully attended -Cyril to the Queen’s house in the afternoon, he betook himself -forthwith to the Caerleons’ rooms in Spyridion’s hotel, where he was -able to watch Philippa pouring out tea, and to luxuriate in absolute -misery. The excitement of the night before had left Philippa white and -tired, and her hand shook as she lifted the teapot, but Mansfield -decided that her exhaustion was due to the mental struggle she must -have undergone before she could bring herself to contemplate marrying -King Michael, and he steeled his heart against her. Her father -attributed her obvious unhappiness to a very different cause, and when -Mansfield took his leave he walked a little way with him. - -“I suppose you heard nothing from Forfar by the mail, Mansfield?” he -asked. “I saw him just before we left England, and he hinted that -Jowell would probably go to the India Office, so that he would soon -need a new assistant secretary.” - -“Yes, I heard from him,” replied Mansfield, his heart beginning to -beat with uncomfortable speed, “and he offered me the post. But I -refused it.” - -“Refused it!” cried Lord Caerleon, with unconcealed dismay. - -“You see,” Mansfield went on, “I--I felt there was no particular -reason why I should go back to England,” he looked straight at his -companion, “and it would take a great deal to make me leave Count -Mortimer in the present state of his affairs.” - -“But come, Mansfield--I have a right to ask, after what you said to me -early in the year--have you changed your mind?” - -“How dare you----” began Mansfield furiously, then his tone altered. -“I beg your pardon, I’m a sulky brute; but--well, imagine that you -were in my place, Lord Caerleon, forbidden to speak to Lady Phil, and -then finding that another fellow had stepped in and cut you out.” - -“But he has not cut you out. We are all on your side. Phil’s only -reason for taking time to consider her answer is that she may not hurt -the King’s feelings. I am certain she doesn’t care a rap for him.” - -“Well, at any rate, I’m not such a cad as to cut in and spoil the -other fellow’s game,” and Mansfield marched on with an air of superior -virtue which Lord Caerleon found extremely irritating. He could not -well say that he particularly wished to see the very thing done which -Mansfield regarded with such righteous disapprobation, but he felt -that he was being treated with scant justice. True, he had banished -Mansfield originally for his own good--here he stopped; was it not -rather because he did not want to lose his daughter? Still, it was not -his fault that this second suitor had appeared, and nothing had been -farther from his thoughts than to drive Philippa into a loveless -marriage by separating her from the man whom he now suspected that she -liked. It was hard to throw the onus of rejecting the King’s suit -entirely on Philippa and himself, and things would have been much -simpler if it could have been refused on the ground that she was -already engaged to some one else. However, since Mansfield chose to -consider that he had been ill-used, and could hardly be commanded to -propose to Philippa against his will, the plan was not practicable. - -Lord Caerleon made no further attempt to alter the course of events, -and Mansfield, grimly resolute, continued to torment himself with the -sight of Philippa and her royal suitor. King Michael was following -Prince Mirkovics’ advice, and endeavouring to enlist Philippa’s sense -of duty upon his side. Since his _coup d’état_ of the summer, he had -developed an abnormal interest in affairs of State, and he recounted -his plans, hopes, fears, failures, successes, and aspirations to -Philippa at suitable length. The recital bored her extremely, but she -would not have been her mother’s daughter if she could have brought -herself to throw cold water on any man’s good intentions, and she -honestly did her best to sympathise with the King. Her task was not -made easier by Usk, who continued to regard his would-be -brother-in-law with unmitigated aversion. King Michael sought his -acquaintance in the most flattering way, and extended the same honour -to Mansfield and Mr Judson, never perceiving that his gracious -determination to put people at their ease had the invariable effect of -making them uncomfortable. The three Cambridge men were quite ready to -overlook his position, which was, after all, not his own fault; but he -could not forget it, and the consequence was that the friendship -languished, and that among themselves they accused him of “putting on -side,” and stigmatised him as “wretchedly bad form.” It is true that -Usk once expressed in private a wish that the King was his brother; -but only, as he explained immediately, that he might feel justified in -punching his head. - -While Philippa’s affairs were in this unsettled state, the time of her -uncle’s marriage was rapidly approaching. The wedding had been fixed -for New Year’s day, and it had been the secret design of the Chevalier -and his party that after the ceremony a deputation from the Jewish -provisional government should wait upon the newly married pair and -offer them the crown, if such it might be called, of Palestine. But -this was now recognised to be out of the question. When the sensation -caused by the appearance of the Yellow Pamphlet, and the subsequent -repudiation of Cyril by half the Jewish world, had a little subsided, -the journalists of the Continent held their breath for a time, -realising what they had done. The man whom they had helped to vilify -had never been known to forgive an insult, and the issue of that -_brutum fulmen_, the message framed by Mr Hicks and Paschics in order -to gain time, threw them into a state approaching panic. What blow had -Count Mortimer in preparation? - -But as the days passed on and still nothing happened, a sensation of -relief diffused itself visibly among Cyril’s opponents, while his -supporters became correspondingly dejected. Presently a brief message -from the Emperor of Pannonia, forwarded through the Chevalier’s -confidential agent in Vindobona, put the question in a nutshell. What -measures did Count Mortimer mean to take in order to re-establish his -predominant influence in the counsels of the Syndicate? Whether the -charges brought against him in the Yellow Pamphlet were true or false -did not signify in the least; but unless the Jews were unanimous in -preferring him to any other ruler, the Emperor could go no further in -recommending his selection by the Powers. While the question of the -answer to be returned to this intimation was being discussed between -Cyril and the Chevalier--the one in a frenzy of alarm and indecision, -the other in an agony of helplessness--the matter was taken out of -their hands. It became known throughout Europe that Count Mortimer’s -brain was affected, and that he was no longer to be feared. - -How the jealously guarded secret had leaked out could not at first be -discovered, but the report was afterwards traced to Don Ramon of -Arragon’s assistant, who had access to his case-books. He had been a -student of the University of Vindobona, and was therefore almost -inevitably an anti-Semite, and he had shared his discovery with -Colonel Czartoriski, with whom he had come in contact at Damascus. -Acting upon instructions from his mistress, Colonel Czartoriski -communicated the news to the press, and Anti-Semitism all over the -Continent went mad with joy. Nor were the professed enemies of Zion -alone in their exultation, for the Government papers (those of -Pannonia and Thracia alone excepted) took up the slanderous tale in -language equally bitter, if slightly more decorous. The man who had -known how to impose his will on Europe was helpless--might be knocked -down and jumped upon, metaphorically speaking--and there was no lack -of moralists to improve the occasion. The vilest calumnies, the most -outrageous accusations, were gravely detailed as matters of fact, the -attacks growing bolder as each historian, finding that the victim made -no sign, strove to outdo his neighbour. The statesmen who had smarted -under Cyril’s yoke added their quota of titbits of confidential -information, to be duly worked up by the fortunate journalist to whom -they were whispered, the result being generally a fable that -astonished no one more than the original narrator himself. In short, -the only wonder was that the political world could have been so long -held in subjection by a charlatan so abjectly worthless and -contemptible as Count Mortimer was shown to be. - -But while the storm was raging in Europe, and its echoes reached with -painful distinctness the ears of the little group of friends at -Damascus, there reached them also an intimation that behind all the -sound and fury there was a purpose that signified something. On the -morning of the 28th of December, General Banics paid an early visit, -first to Lord Caerleon and then to the Chevalier, bringing an urgent -request from Queen Ernestine that they would come to her at once. -Apprehensive of danger, they lost no time in complying, and as they -were ushered into the Queen’s presence, Ernestine came forward to meet -them in her impulsive way, holding out her hands. - -“I have sent for you,” she said, “because you are dear and faithful -friends of mine, and I can trust you to help me in the frightful -danger which is threatening the man we all love. You will not let them -separate me from him?” - -“Nefer, unless it iss your Machesty’s own dessire,” said the -Chevalier. - -“But we know that nothing could be further from the Queen’s wishes,” -said Lord Caerleon indignantly. “Command us, madame, for anything that -we can do.” - -“I knew I could rely upon you both.” She cast an encouraging glance at -the discomfited Chevalier. “Then please sit down, and let me tell you -what I have heard this morning from my dear old friend Princess -Soudaroff. She says she was afraid to telegraph, lest the message -should be stopped or the enemy discover that we had been warned, but -she writes in the greatest anxiety and haste. She is at present in -Paris, and her brother-in-law, Prince Soudaroff, had just paid her a -flying visit when she wrote. Naturally, as she says, they discussed -Count Mortimer’s misfortunes, and something that Prince Soudaroff let -fall gave her the idea that a plot was preparing against him. She -questioned him closely, and though he evaded her inquiries with the -most consummate skill, she is convinced that the Emperor Sigismund and -my own family are taking measures to prevent our marriage. What roused -her suspicions was a remark which escaped Prince Soudaroff about a -Hercynian ship of war suddenly ordered to the Levant, and she suggests -that they will attempt to kidnap the Count before New Year’s Day, and -convey him to some place of confinement on the plea that he is mad. -They will act in my interests, to save me from such an unfortunate -marriage, you see! But I won’t be saved from it. How shall we -checkmate them?” - -“Madame,” said the Chevalier, as she paused abruptly, her eyes bright -and her cheeks flushed, “de Goldberg millions hef profed demselfs off -little afail lately, but at least dey will suffice to buy de gerrison -off Damascus for a week. Efery men in it shell be your serfant, and -guard de Count.” - -“But is such a measure advisable?” asked Lord Caerleon. “The other -side can out-bribe us, and bring diplomatic pressure to bear as well. -How would you like to steal a march on them, madame? You are not -inclined to set an inordinate value upon wedding-dresses and -festivities?” - -“In comparison with the bridegroom?” Ernestine smiled. “No, indeed. If -it had not been for the wishes of my son and my faithful servants, I -would have chosen the quietest wedding possible.” - -“Under the circumstances, madame, his Majesty and your ladies will no -doubt waive their natural wishes. The time required by law for -publishing the notice of the intended marriage at the British -Consulate expires to-day. To-morrow, then----” - -“I see,” said the Queen, blushing brightly. - -“His Excellency Count Mortimer, madame,” said General Banics, -presenting himself at the door, and Cyril entered the room, his -unexpected appearance making the three conspirators look highly -confused. - -“What are you plotting against me?” he asked sharply. - -“Do you know that you have not wished me good morning?” asked -Ernestine, rising. “Our friends will excuse us for a moment, I know,” -and she made him a sign to follow her out into the verandah. After a -few minutes they returned, Ernestine flushed and smiling, with her -hand in his. - -“Caerleon, Chevalier,” said Cyril, “you have heard of the new danger -that threatens me, and you know that the Queen”--he raised her hand to -his lips--“would not refuse to share it. But to avoid complications, -and to forestall the enemy, she has consented to allow our marriage to -take place to-morrow instead of New Year’s Day.” - -“A good idea. Very sensible and prudent,” said Lord Caerleon heartily, -admiring the delicate tact with which Ernestine had contrived to make -the suggestion come from Cyril instead of herself. “We had decided -that it would be better for the marriage to take place at the -Consulate in any case, so that it will make no difference.” - -“I understand that Mr Judson can perform the service at the -Consulate,” said the Queen quickly. “I should not like a purely civil -marriage.” - -“Det iss all right,” said the Chevalier. “I hef talked to Colonel -Monckton a great deal about de metter. De merrich can take place et de -Consulate in his pressence, and nothink more will be wanted.” - -“Perhaps,” said Lord Caerleon to his brother, rather doubtfully, “it -might be as well if you left for the desert immediately after the -ceremony. If there is any idea of kidnapping you, they might still -carry you off, and set the lawyers to work to declare the marriage -invalid.” - -“We will leave Damascus as soon as the ceremony is performed,” said -the Queen calmly. “When we are together and out of their reach they -can do nothing against us. The Emperor Sigismund has no jurisdiction -over me, and no court in the world would deny that Count Mortimer, an -Englishman born, could be legally married at a British Consulate. On -his side the marriage must stand, and if they declare it invalid on -mine--well, we will be married over and over again until they are -content to allow it to stand. But there must not be the slightest -suspicion of any flaw. You will see to that, messieurs?” She looked at -the three men. - -“There shall be none,” responded Lord Caerleon. - -“It will be better,” said Cyril, “to tell no one but Monckton of our -change of plan until the morning. With the best intentions in the -world, Phil and the young fellows could not help letting it be seen -that they had an important secret in charge, and the least slip might -ruin us. I suppose, Chevalier,”--he was fingering absently Princess -Soudaroff’s letter, which the Queen had asked him to read,--“it has -occurred to you that Vladimir Alexandrovitch had some object in giving -away his fellow-conspirators like this?” - -“You mean det he intended to let you hef a hint to escape, Count?” - -“Not necessarily. I think he has some other plan on hand--more -important to him, though not to the Emperor Sigismund--and he has -deliberately sacrificed his ally in order to divert your attention -from his own game.” - -“But what iss det?” cried the Chevalier distractedly. - -“Ah, that you must not ask me. I could have told you once, I don’t -doubt, but now”--he shrugged his shoulders. “Think it out if you can, -Chevalier.” - -“It iss hopeless, Count. I gif it up. My aim now iss to see you safely -merried to her Machesty, and I can think of nothink else.” - -The three conspirators took their leave of the Queen, and departed to -put things in train for the next day’s ceremony. Lord Caerleon paid a -visit to Colonel Monckton, the British Consul, and bespoke his consent -to the change of date and his assistance in the necessary -arrangements. Cyril sent Paschics to look for Yeshua (the blind man -had returned to Damascus with the Queen and her escort), who was to -find his way to the sheikh of the Beni Ismail, and tell him that he -and his tribe would be needed to guard their sovereign and her husband -to Sitt Zeynab two days earlier than the time agreed upon. The -Chevalier, on his side, devised a little plan of his own for -hoodwinking the enemy, and having laid his train, devoted his -attention to procuring the tents and supplies for the journey. - -The next morning there was a kind of informal reception at the British -Consulate. The Chevalier took Mr Judson there to make final -arrangements with the Consul, and Lady Caerleon looked in to have a -talk with Mrs Monckton. Paschics appeared with a document which needed -signing, and an unfortunate accident led to the invasion of the house -by several other and more important guests. The Queen and her son, -with General Banics and M. Stefanovics in attendance, were going out -for a ride with Lord Caerleon, Philippa, and Usk, but just outside the -Consulate the Queen’s horse cast a shoe. It was only natural that her -Majesty and her companions should be invited into the house for a few -minutes; but it was certainly strange that Baroness von Hilfenstein, -Madame Stefanovics, and Fräulein von Staubach should have chosen that -particular time for calling upon Mrs Monckton in a body. Possibly, -however, they felt the need of some distraction after the shock they -had received when their mistress informed them that the exquisite -creation in grey and silver, fresh from a Parisian _atelier_, which -had arrived that morning, would not be worn on New Year’s day. -Curiously enough (Philippa said afterwards that the array of -coincidences in connection with this wedding surpassed those -associated with the name of Mr Wemmick), Cyril invited Mansfield to -take a stroll with him as far as the Consulate just at this time. - -“What’s this I hear about you from my brother, Mansfield?” he asked, -as they started; “that you have refused Forfar’s post?” - -“I prefer to stay with you, Count. I don’t want to change.” - -“But you can’t stay with me. Do you know where you are going at this -moment? You are going to see me married, which means that we must -part.” - -“But, Count----” gasped Mansfield, in dire dismay. - -“I don’t wish to be unkind, but doesn’t it strike you that you would -be just a little _de trop_ on the honeymoon trip? And really, you -know, it would be a perfect farce for me to drag two secretaries about -with me now.” - -“And you mean to keep Paschics, and kick me out?” - -“My dear Mansfield, don’t look at me as if I had pierced your young -heart to its depths. Paschics must stay with me. He has worked under -me more than twenty years, and asks nothing better than to go on as he -has done. It would be sheer cruelty to send him adrift at his age. But -you have your life before you, and I am not going to see you stranded -in the desert with me or any one else.” - -“You are not treating me well,” said Mansfield hoarsely. “I have not -deserved to be turned off at a moment’s notice like this. You do it -because you know how I--how fond--how much I think of you, and you -feel that you can treat me like a dog.” - -“That’s right. Your way of taking it relieves me infinitely. Do you -know that your precipitate refusal of Forfar’s offer has given me a -great deal of trouble--most inconsiderate of you to bother a man in -this way just on the eve of his wedding. The Chevalier and I have put -our heads together, and he has found a berth for you----” - -“Hang the Chevalier!” cried Mansfield. Cyril went on, unmoved. - -“He wants an Englishman to act as his agent in superintending his -various model farms and gardens in Palestine. He doesn’t expect you to -see that he isn’t cheated, for that would be hopeless; but he thinks -you are capable of discovering whether the work is done or not, which -seems to be rather a moot question at present. It will be a life after -your own heart, with plenty of riding about. You will choose a spot -that suits you and build your house, and in a year or so I haven’t a -doubt you will bring a wife to inhabit it.” - -“Why you should say that, I don’t know. You know as well as I do----” - -“Well?” for Mansfield faltered. - -“That Lady Phil will marry King Michael.” - -“Don’t you think you are taking things a little too much for granted?” - -“I don’t know. I don’t care, anyhow. It seems I have to lose -everything I care about--first Lady Phil, then you.” - -Cyril made no answer. Perhaps he had no comfort to offer; perhaps no -time to offer it. They were entering the Consulate, and Mr Hicks, who -was lounging in the doorway, greeted them with portentous solemnity -and an almost imperceptible wink. The guests who had assembled in such -a casual way were gathered in one of the larger rooms, and Mr Judson, -wearing his surplice, was in readiness. Often as most of those present -had pictured this wedding to themselves, they had never anticipated -anything like the real scene--the large bare room, hastily decorated -with a collection of European nicknacks and Oriental draperies -gathered from all corners of the house, the bride wearing her -riding-habit and the bridegroom a tweed suit, and the motley -assemblage of spectators, in which King Michael stood side by side -with the Chevalier Goldberg, and the American journalist rubbed -shoulders with the Thracian Court officials. It was only fitting that -the pair whose history had at so many points touched that of the -Hebrew race should be united by the son of a Jewish convert; but the -irony of the occasion found its climax in the fact that the woman who -had risked so much in defence of the forms of her religion should be -debarred not only from the services of a clergyman of her own church, -but even from the use of a consecrated building, and should bear the -deprivation without a murmur. - -In an incredibly short space of time the service which seemed so brief -and meant so much was over, and Cyril and his wife were receiving the -congratulations of the rest. There was small scope for oratory in the -farewells. Mansfield’s sore heart was a little comforted by the grip -of Cyril’s hand as he passed him in the doorway, even though the -accompanying words were merely, “Don’t be a silly fool!” Another horse -had been brought round for the Queen’s use, and the riding-party made -a fresh start; but this time it included Cyril. Paschics and Dietrich -were to join their master outside the city, convoying Fräulein von -Staubach, who insisted upon her right to attend the Queen now that her -turn had come round. The men took off their hats as the party rode -away, but turned immediately to rebuke the ladies for shedding tears. -Such a display of pocket-handkerchiefs was calculated to attract -undesirable attention, they said, and Baroness von Hilfenstein and -Madame Stefanovics retreated into the inmost recesses of the house, to -guard against endangering the Queen’s safety by their uncontrollable -emotion. But the fugitives rode safely through the city and out at the -gate, meeting the sheikh as had been arranged, without being -challenged by a single official. - - -That evening the yacht White Lady, lying in Beyrout roadstead, -suddenly hoisted English colours and the Thracian royal standard, and -put to sea, in company with the Thracian gunboat St Gabriel. It was -remarked as peculiar by curious observers on shore that the Hercynian -war-ship which had arrived that morning immediately slipped her cable -and followed them. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV. - “THE BITTER CLOSE OF ALL.” - -“Phil, I want a word or two with you.” - -“I’m so glad, father. I’ve been longing for a talk. Let us come up to -the roof.” - -They mounted to the marble terrace, shaded by orange-trees in pots, -and Lord Caerleon began to pull off withered leaves as busily as if he -had had no other intention in coming. Suddenly he turned to his -daughter, who sat watching him patiently, the usual sparkle of fun -missing from her blue eyes. - -“Phil, the King wants your answer. You promised he should have it the -day after the wedding, and that is to-day.” - -“I don’t think he ought to take a mean advantage of your having put -the wedding forward two days, do you, father? But perhaps it’s as well -to get it over.” - -“I--I hope you’ve thought what you’re doing, Phil?” - -“Well, it hasn’t needed very much thought. I have known all along what -I should say.” - -“Phil,” Lord Caerleon spoke with tremendous energy, “I am awfully -anxious about you. It’s not that I distrust your common-sense, for you -are old enough to judge for yourself, nor that I suspect you for a -moment of intending to marry for the sake of a crown. But I was -talking things over with your mother last night, and she is very much -cut up--afraid that your sense of duty will lead you to accept the -King. I don’t want to bias you unfairly--we have always prided -ourselves on leaving you as free as possible--but you may not have -thought what such a marriage would involve. I have tested the delights -of royalty, you know, and I felt that I could not stand it alone. With -your mother to help me I might have managed it, but--you know how -things fell out. I suppose it may be different when you are born to -it--I am sure I hope so for the sake of all royal personages--but I am -absolutely certain that my little girl could never support such a -burden and that of a loveless marriage at the same time. I am only -thinking of your happiness, Phil.” - -“Oh, father, I know that. But I’m not nearly as good as you and mother -think. I never dreamed of accepting the King.” - -“Phil, Phil! then why did you take time to consider his offer?” - -“Don’t look so miserable, father. Can’t you really guess? It was just -after the Queen--Aunt Ernestine, I mean--and I had found out about -poor Uncle Cyril. She begged me to keep the King in a good temper, and -this was the only way of doing it. And it was quite successful, you -see. He has been on his best behaviour the whole time, and everything -has gone off well.” - -“And now?” - -“Oh, now,” Philippa shook herself uncomfortably,--“now I have to pay -the bill.” - -“I’ll settle matters with the King for you, Phil. It wasn’t like you -to do such a thing, and I shall be horribly ashamed, but your -intention was good, at any rate.” - -“No, father, I won’t put it upon you. I am the sinner, and I must bear -the penalty. Yes, I suppose it was rather like doing evil that good -might come, wasn’t it? You can’t think how wicked and miserable I have -felt, and Usk and--people--have been so horrid, and I couldn’t -explain. But you see how it was, don’t you? I would have done anything -to help Uncle Cyril.” - -“Yes, I see, Phil. But I am more sorry than I can say. I am -afraid----” - -“Oh, father, don’t say you are disappointed in me, or you’ll break my -heart. I don’t care if all the whole world turn their backs upon me, -if my own people trust me still--indeed I don’t.” - -“Poor little Phil! I hope it mayn’t be as bad as that.” - -“Well, I can’t help it if it is. Please let the King come up here, -father, if he will have his answer. It’s a horrid thing to do, but it -has got to be done. Would you rather have an ambitious daughter -scheming for a throne, or a wicked flirt entangling the affections of -poor young men and then casting them aside?” - -Lord Caerleon’s smile was troubled as he went down the stairs, and -Philippa fairly shivered. She felt miserably that her hands were not -clean in the matter, and this unprecedented experience handicapped her -seriously as regarded the approaching interview. With the instinct of -self-protection, she straightened her tie as she heard footsteps -ascending the staircase, tucked away a curl that was straggling over -her brow, and did her best to look absolutely unapproachable, and even -rather indignant at being subjected to such an ordeal. Her blushes she -could not control, however, and King Michael, never a very close -observer, may be pardoned for reading in them, when he reached the -roof, an encouragement to his suit. - -“You have sent for me to tell me that you will share my throne, Lady -Phil?” he cried, with genuine delight and admiration in his tones. - -Philippa’s downcast eyes were raised suddenly, and met his with an -indignant flash. It was this young man’s misfortune that he could -never forget his throne. “No, certainly not--just the opposite,” she -replied promptly. - -“But you--you gave me hope.” The King was angry in his turn. - -“That I never did. It isn’t my fault if you took it.” - -“But why did you ask for time?” - -“I didn’t. You insisted I was not to give an answer at once.” - -“Oh, you thought you would make a fool of me, Lady Phil?” - -It was on the tip of Philippa’s tongue to reply that no such process -was needed, but she choked back the retort. “I warned you I should not -change,” she said. - -“But your taking time to think gave me ground for hope, and all the -considerations I have urged in your hearing the last few days could -only influence you in my favour. Have you given them due thought?” - -“No,” said Philippa, with sudden humility, “I haven’t, because it -would be no good. Nothing could ever make me marry you. The truth is -that I didn’t refuse you definitely because I thought you would make -yourself disagreeable to your mother and Uncle Cyril if I did. I -haven’t treated you well, and I am very sorry and very much ashamed.” - -“You are willing to take the responsibility of throwing me back into -my old way of life, and undoing all the good that the last few months -have effected in the kingdom? I suppose you know that I shall go to -the bad, and that my ruin and the ruin of Thracia will be on your -head?” - -“I can’t marry you for the sake of your kingdom.” - -“Then I presume that there is nothing left for me to do but to retire -as gracefully as I can.” - -“Yes, there is something else to do,” said Philippa sharply. “You -ought to learn to take a disappointment like a man, not like a baby.” - -“Pray continue, Lady Phil. You have the right to rebuke me.” - -The sarcastic tone roused Philippa’s anger. “I did treat you badly, -and I have told you I am sorry for it,” she cried. “You are very angry -with me, but it never seems to strike you how selfish you have been -all this time. You know that I don’t care a scrap for you, but you -have been trying to get me to marry you by making out that it would be -for the good of your kingdom. You know that I should be -miserable--perfectly miserable--but you don’t mind a bit.” - -“On my honour as a king, I would do my best to make you happy.” - -“But you couldn’t; how could you? You aren’t the right person. -Besides,” Philippa rushed on hastily, “even if I cared for you I -couldn’t bear to be a Queen. I want to be free, to be able to go about -and do as I like. It would kill me to be cooped up and never able to -get away from people.” - -“But that is my life, always.” - -“Oh, you like it. You would be miserable if you hadn’t people for ever -hanging about and keeping an eye on you. But I have heard all about it -from my father, and though I suppose one could just bear it if one -loved a person very much, still--well, I don’t love you, you know.” - -“It is a happy prospect for me, since you consider me unable to -inspire love, and yet think that love alone could induce a woman to -take up such a burden.” - -“Oh, but you might find some one who liked it, some princess who was -born to that sort of thing. Besides, there’s no reason why another -person should not love you, though I don’t.” - -“Pardon me, Lady Phil--my selfishness?” - -“But you must cure that. Don’t talk about going to the bad and ruining -your kingdom because I refuse you. It’s a miserable, cowardly thing to -say. What has your kingdom got to do with me? It’s yours, not mine, -and you are responsible for it. Besides, you can’t pretend that all -the interest you have taken in it lately has been for my sake. You -know you find it interesting yourself. These last few months you have -been a real king, looking into things and forming your own opinion -about them, and your people are pleased. You couldn’t go back to your -old way of leaving everything to your Ministers if you wished. You are -far too fond of power.” - -“Indeed, Lady Phil, I believe you are right.” The King looked -surprised, and somewhat ashamed. “After what you have said I can’t -very well be so selfish as to entreat you again to make yourself -miserable for my sake, and I will try to feel glad that I am to be -miserable instead. I may be lonely, but at least you will be happy.” - -“Oh, no!” cried Philippa, her eyes filling with tears. “It’s too -late.” - -“Allow me to ask you one question,” said King Michael, judiciously -ignoring the tears. “Do you refuse me because you care for any one -else? I think I have the right to ask, for if I am so fortunate as to -be without a rival, there might be some hope for me in the future.” - -“Oh, no!” cried Philippa again. Then, her honest heart fearing that -the negative might convey a false impression, she added, in an agony -of blushes, “It isn’t fair--it is very unkind of you to ask, because -he has never said anything, but there is some one.” - -“Thank you. That was all I wanted to know,” said the King. He lifted -Philippa’s reluctant hand and kissed it, then took his leave gravely. - -“Why, he is a man after all!” said Philippa to herself, as he went -down the steps. She was too miserable to rise and look after him, or -she would have seen him stop in crossing the court, and address -Mansfield, who was driving the gold-fish to distraction by throwing -pebbles into the fountain. Wild horses could not have dragged -Mansfield from the hotel that morning. He had been bearing from the -Chevalier of the duties and emoluments of his new post, but his -interest had been so languid that the financier was half offended, and -had taken his departure without giving him an invitation to accompany -him to Jerusalem, as he had intended. It was a relief to Mansfield to -see him go, for he had only one wish, to be left alone. Philippa was -to make her decision to-day, and he must know the worst. As he sat -upon the edge of the fountain, and took half-hearted shots at the -gold-fish, he became aware that King Michael was approaching him, had -paused beside him. To triumph over his discomfiture, of course! -thought Mansfield, and refused to turn his head and look at his rival. - -“Mr Mansfield,” said the King, “I yield in your favour the match at -billiards which we were to decide this evening. It was foolish of me -to contest the point, for your success was never in doubt. Only,” his -tone was so significant that Mansfield glanced up in spite of himself, -“let me advise you never again to throw down your cue in disgust -before the end. It is not fair to--the game.” - -Their eyes met, and Mansfield read the meaning which underlay the -words. - -“You are a good fellow!” he said hastily. “I ought to have known that -your mother’s son couldn’t be a cad.” - -“Allow me to thank you in my mother’s name,” and King Michael went on -his way, lighting a cigarette with a hand which did not shake more -than a very little. Mansfield watched him out of sight, then, waking -as if from a dream, mounted the staircase four or five steps at a -time, and presented himself suddenly before Philippa. - -“I’ve been a regular beast, Lady Phil,” he cried. “Forgive me.” - -Philippa raised a tear-stained face with a little start. - -“Oh!” she said, “it’s you!” - -“You do forgive me, don’t you?” persisted Mansfield. - -“But what has it to do with me?” Philippa was on the defensive again. - -“I thought you were going to marry the King.” - -“But what has that to do with you?” with the faintest suspicion of a -smile about the corners of the mouth. - -“It’s because I love you. Oh, Phil, you know it, you have known it for -a long time. It nearly drove me mad to think I had lost you.” - -Philippa drew herself up. “But how do you know you haven’t?” she -asked. “And, besides, how can you lose a thing you have never had?” - -Mansfield turned pale, but recovered himself promptly. “Are you trying -to torment me because you know I care for you?” he demanded. - -“I think you are a little too fond of taking things for granted,” said -Philippa demurely, looking away from him. - -“Well, there shall be no doubt about it in future,” said Mansfield, -seizing her hands. “Look at me and tell me whether you care for me or -not. Answer me, Phil.” - -“Oh, you are hurting my wrists! You are unkind! I--I----” - -“If you don’t care for me, it can’t hurt you to look at me and say so. -I will let you go the moment you do.” - -“It’s very wrong of you to tempt me to tell a story,” said Philippa, -with a sigh. - -“By all means tell the truth, then.” - -“But then you won’t let me go. There! I knew it.” - -“Then you do care? Tell the truth, Phil.” - -“Just a little.” For one moment the blue eyes met Mansfield’s, then -they were hidden; but he was satisfied. - - -“Ugh! it is cold,” cried Usk, throwing his reins to a gorgeously -apparelled groom. “What a blessing to get in out of this beastly -wind!” - -It was the second of January, and the genial, if unseasonable, weather -of the past month had been succeeded by hard frosts and biting blasts, -most difficult to cope with in a summer city like Damascus. Usk and Mr -Judson dismounted from their horses and entered the hotel, stamping -vigorously to warm their frozen feet. - -“A cup of Phil’s hottest tea suggests itself as a suitable -restorative,” Usk went on. “After all, there are some advantages in -her choosing to sit over the stove with her young man instead of -facing the wintry wind. Come in, Judson. The family party is -assembled, you see. What!” with an instantaneous change of tone as his -eye fell upon Philippa’s dark-blue habit and Mansfield’s leggings, -“you unblushing pair of frauds, do you mean to say that you went out, -after all?” - -“Oh, we had a little ride on our own account,” said Philippa calmly. - -“Your society is always delightful, Usk, but sometimes it is slightly -wearing,” said Mansfield, who had endured a good deal at the hands of -his future brother-in-law during the last three days. - -“Ah, you lazy beggar, I know now why you cried off going to Jerusalem -with the poor old Chevalier! It’s perfectly sickening to see Phil -demoralising you with her attentions when she won’t even give her only -and frozen brother a cup of tea.” - -“Sit still, Phil. I will pour out the tea,” said Lady Caerleon, with a -loving pat on her daughter’s shoulder. In Philippa’s love-story her -mother renewed her own youth, and in her overflowing happiness forgot -to curb the little caressing ways which she had spent her married life -in trying to repress as un-English. - -“I wonder we haven’t had a telegram from the Chevalier, or, at any -rate, from Hicks,” said Mansfield, jumping up to pour some more water -into the teapot for Lady Caerleon. “They both promised to let us know -how the transfer of power went off.” - -“It’s a curious thing,” said Lord Caerleon; “but I met Monckton just -now, and he tells me that no telegrams have come from Jerusalem to-day -or yesterday, and no letters to-day. They hear that there has been a -heavy snowfall in the south, and the Jerusalem trains have not arrived -at Jaffa, so the post may be interrupted; but it seems queer that the -city should be altogether isolated.” - -“I hope poor old Goldberg hasn’t got snowed up on his journey,” -laughed Usk. “Hicks has a pretty fair idea of making himself -comfortable; but the Chevalier doesn’t know the ropes as he does. -Besides, it must be soothing to be able to turn an honest penny out of -one’s misfortunes by writing a column or two about them.” - -“Perhaps the Roumis have refused to budge, after all,” suggested Mr -Judson. “They are quite capable of holding on in spite of their -promises, and the provisional government have no means of making them -turn out.” - -“That would be a deadlock, indeed,” said Lord Caerleon. “We must -hope----” - -“Why, here’s the Chevalier himself!” cried Usk, and all eyes were -turned to the doorway, where the financier stood like a man in a -dream, travel-stained and bent, with disordered garments. - -“My dear Chevalier!” said Lord Caerleon, advancing and taking him by -the arm. “Come and sit down; you are ill--frozen, perhaps.” - -“I am not ill, but sick at heart. Yerushalem, de holy city, de choy -off de whole earth”--his voice rose into a cry of agony--“iss in de -hends off Scythia. O God----” he broke into Hebrew, “the heathen are -come into Thine inheritance.... Oh that Thou wouldst rend the heavens, -that Thou wouldst come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy -presence!” - -“Cyril’s warning!” cried Lady Caerleon. - -“Yes,” said the Chevalier heavily, “he warned me, but I did not see. -None off us saw. We are helpless widout him. O my broder, de cheriot -off Israel and de horsemen dereof! All our labour iss in fain. I hef -beggared myself for dis!” - -“But how did it happen?” urged Mr Judson. “How was it possible----” - -“Dey hed deir plens laid. Eferythink wass arranched beforehend. Dey -knoo det widout de Count we hed no head to metch Prince Soudaroff’s. -Efen de Armenians--de irreconcilables--hed been squared.” - -“But did you escape?” cried Lord Caerleon; “or were you warned in -time?” - -“I heard de noose yesterday efenink, Mr Hicks and I were delayed in -our chourney by de snow--we were fumink to think we hed missed de -great ceremony. Den, ess we approached de City on horsebeck, we were -met by Levinssohn, one off de profissional gofernment, who hed -escaped, and pauced to warn me, lest de enemy should get command of de -Goldberg millions by seizink me. He told us de story.” - -“Yes, yes, and what had happened?” cried everybody. - -“De transfer off power wass made yesterday mornink in proper form, de -Roumi gofernor hendink ofer to de consuls de charche off de Holy -Places, and to de profissional gofernment de control off de city and -de remainink troops. Dere wass great rechoicink--light and gledness, a -feast and a goot day. De Letins were celebratink de feast off de -Circumecision, de Greeks, busy preparink to fissit Bethlehem for deir -Christmas Day, were all widin doors. It iss not known how de -disturbance began. I cannot beliefe det my people--but dey hef bitter -memories to afenche, and dey hef disappointed me griefously off late. -At any rate, de Letins declare det de Chews broke in upon one off deir -serfices, and insulted de worshippers. De noose spread like wildfire, -de Letins poured from all deir churches and confents, and gadered in -de street before de Serai, now become de bureau off de profissional -gofernment. De members were all assembled et deir deliberations. -Suddenly dey found de buildink besieched, so det dey must needs -berricade demselfs in. De consuls, hearink de uproar, ordered de Roumi -troops to clear de street and quell de disturbance, but dey hed been -got at. Dey refuced to mofe except under de orders off de profissional -gofernment, and dose orders it wass impossible to obtain, on account -off de mob riotink between. De consuls, attemptink to use deir -influence, were insulted and derided. Den de Scythian consul propoced -a plen. ‘Dere are here’ said he, ‘two thousand or more Scythian and -Thracian pilgrims, who hef all done military serfice and are amenable -to discipline. In a quarter off an hour I can assemble dem from de -different confents where dey are quartered, and dey will ect ess -police under de orders off de consular body, armed wid sticks and such -oder weapons ess dey can improfice.’ De consuls were doubtful, and de -British consul propoced to arm de Chews instead, but de idea wass -scouted. Arm de wicked bloodthirsty Chews against de mild chentle -Christians--nefer! De crisis wass acute, and de consuls yielded. Den -appeared a marfel. De two thousand pilgrims were dere--and a thousand -more wid dem--and wonderful to relate, dere wass also de Scythian -Cheneral Adrianoff, on pilgrimache, two or three colonels and machors, -seferal captains, lieutenants, sub-lieutenants, all on -pilgrimache--officers for an army. De pilgrims assembled, profided wid -sticks by de monks. De Cheneral Adrianoff wass neturally put in -command off de force. ‘Shoulder arms!’ and beholt, efery stick wass a -rifle! Emmunition wass immediately forthcomink, and so wass a -machine-gun and its kerrich. De Cheneral Adrianoff marched out to -conquer. De street was quickly cleared, de Cheneral approaches to -release and reassure de members off de gofernment, when a tumult -arices amonk his own men. De Bishop Philaret off Tatarjé hess -discofered a plot on de part off de Chews to blow up de Church off de -Holy Sepulchre wid dynamite. All de Christians off efery sect and -church are transported wid rache. Perish de Chews! De pilgrims dessire -to tear de gofernment to pieces, de Cheneral Adrianoff places de -members under arrest to save dem from dese frients off order. A new -confusion! De Roumis hef been informed by de Bishop det de plot wass -directed also against de Haram-es-Sherif--de holy place off all Israel -from de beginnink!--and all de soldiers come runnink to put demselfs -under de orders off de Cheneral to fight against dose wretched Chews. -In fiew off de serious state of affairs, de Cheneral does not -hessitate a moment. He clears de streets, proclaims himself gofernor -off de city ess representink de Emperor off Scythia, and reliefes de -consuls off deir functions ess guardians off de Holy Places. De -British and Pannonian consuls protest; dey cannot ressist, for anoder -miracle hess heppened. Efery Greek or Scythian church and confent and -larche buildink hess become a fort. Cannon are mounted on deir walls, -de monks are soldiers, dere iss emmunition in plenty. To de -stupefection off de consuls, de Cheneral’s forces occupy efery -strategical point, dey command efery corner off de city. Scythia hess -been preparink de ground for many years, now she hess played her game, -and won.” - -“But this is monstrous, unheard-of!” cried Lord Caerleon. “It will -never be allowed to go on. England----” - -“England,” said the Chevalier bitterly, “will protest.” - -“But the rest of the Powers--Neustria, Hercynia----” - -“Neustria iss led by de noce by Scythia. Hercynia hess, no doubt, -receifed gretifyink assurances--her consul did not efen go through de -form off protestink. Pannonia and Magnagrecia will be coerced or -flettered into ecquiescence.” - -“Then you think it is useless to struggle against this outrageous -usurpation?” - -“We shell make representations, doubtless. But do we wish to be -deprifed altogeder off de Land we hef bought? We must submit to -circumstances, until”--there was a cunning gleam in the Chevalier’s -eye--“we can alter dem. Det will be de task off de remainder off my -life--to return de poisson of dese reptiles upon deir own head. I tell -you”--he turned fiercely upon Mr Judson, who had made a deprecating -gesture--“I would conclude an alliance wid de Enemy off menkind -himself to get dis wronk redressed!” - -“Oh, Chevalier!” cried Lady Caerleon, “be patient. Can you not wait -upon God a little longer? Think how wonderfully He has furthered your -plans during the last few years--how the way of the Kings of the East -has been prepared in spite of what seemed insuperable obstacles.” - -“Kinks off de East!” cried the Chevalier. “A month ago we were de -kinks off de worrlt! Shell we rest contented wid a gofernment sittink -at Hebron or Nablûs, regulatink metters off commerce and land, when -de Holy City iss in de hends of idolaters, persecutors, creepink -things, and de sons off de apostate are gadered togeder to mock at -us?” - -“You are misjudging me, Chevalier,” remonstrated Mr Judson, against -whom the last sentence had been directed. “I feel the wrong done as -deeply as you do, although the study of prophecy had warned me that -some blow of the kind might be expected.” - -“At least leafe us our prophecies!” cried the Chevalier. “May we not -interpret dem in our own way, or must de renegades steal dem also?” - -“We have no wish to rob you of them; but you must not try to exclude -us Hebrew Christians from the heritage of Israel. Yours are the -adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the promises; but they -are ours, too. Don’t refuse our help. I think you have no idea of the -deep interest taken in the Jewish question in Evangelical circles in -England. Give us leave to do what we can to arouse these English -friends of Zion, and stimulate them to action. Believe me, when the -facts are fully known, there will be such a strong feeling throughout -the country, with regard to the action of Scythia, that the Government -will be forced to insist on her withdrawing from Jerusalem.” - -“Accept help from de apostate? Nefer, son off a traitor! I will unite -wid Christians, wid agnostics, wid Reformed Chews, wid de Adfersary -himself, in de cause off Zion, but not wid you. You hef no part in de -congregation off Israel.” - -“Come, Chevalier,” said Lady Caerleon, laying her hand on his clenched -fist, as he shook it furiously at Mr Judson, “you are over-excited. -Rest a little, and have a cup of tea,” she motioned the young people -away, “and then we will talk things over quietly, and see what can be -done.” - -“Have you thought what all this will mean to Uncle Cyril?” asked -Philippa of Mansfield, as they left the room together. He nodded -gravely. - -“I know. He came into my mind first thing. It’s awful.” - -“To see all his work undone, and to know that he can’t put it right!” -wailed Philippa, breaking down suddenly. “I think his heart will -break, or--or----” the more terrible fear remained unuttered. - -“Do you know,” said Mansfield diffidently, “I don’t think it will -break him altogether. It might have done once, but he has some one -else to think of now. He will have his wife to comfort and take care -of, and that helps a man, Phil.” - -“‘It is very good for strength, To know that some one needs you to be -strong,’” reflected Philippa. “Oh, dear!” she cried, with a watery -smile, “I’m quoting poetry again, just as Uncle Cyril told me not to.” - - -It is possible that Philippa’s anxiety might have been somewhat -relieved if she could have read a confidential letter from Queen -Ernestine to her mother, written some months later:-- - - - “This answer to your loving letter, my dear sister, is for your own - eyes alone. It seems to me (I hope I am mistaken, and that I detect a - criticism where none was intended) that I can read between the lines - something that is not exactly a distrust of my husband, but a fear - lest his terrible trials may have rendered him less regardful of me. - In no case but yours would I condescend to notice such a suspicion; - but I like to think of you, the wife of Cyril’s beloved brother, as a - dear sister of my own, and I cannot bear that you should be in any - doubt as to my happiness. When my beloved’s trial came upon him, I - said to him (I am almost ashamed now to write it) that he must be - content, instead of ruling the world, to make one woman happy, and - this is what he does. Do you realise what that means? He bends all his - powers, his whole mind, to please a woman whose life has been so - desolate that for years it seemed the height of bliss, unattainable - bliss, to be near him, to belong to him. Do you wonder my joy is so - great that I look upon it with trembling? That such a man should - devote himself to ensure the happiness of one whose only claim is that - she loves him--it is wonderful! How can you say that I have given up - everything for him? I have done nothing--nothing. You would do far - more for your Carlino; why should you think it strange in me? - - “Besides, my sister, I have given up nothing that I care for. Court - life has had no attractions for me since I left girlhood behind, at - seventeen, and although Michael was quite willing--even desirous--that - I should return to Thracia, I can see that it is better not. It is - characteristic of him to wish to go his own way, and earn his own - experience, and a mother’s anxieties and counsel would quickly become - irksome to him. There is nothing to regret there, you see. I was - cradled in romanticism (alas! my education and my fate were sadly - incongruous), and now at last I am happy. I have the society of the - man I love and of a few faithful friends, the affectionate loyalty of - these poor Arabs, and freedom from the cares of civilisation and - state. The Arabs, indeed, have transferred their allegiance from - myself to Cyril, and I rejoice in the change. We are both studying - their language, for I am anxious to be able to do something to raise - the condition of the women and girls, but he has no need of anything - to bring him into close touch with the men. Under his direction they - are beginning to build themselves more permanent houses instead of - their wretched huts, as well as to repair the ruined walls of the - fortress in case of need. He is interested also in improving their - system of irrigation, so as to utilise much of the water that is at - present wasted, and says that he is a candidate for the honour of - making two bunches of dates grow where only one grew before. - - “Nor are we shut off altogether from the old life. You may have heard - that we sent poor Stefanovics (who found the desert insupportable) and - his wife back to Brutli, to serve as a means of communication with our - friends in the world, and superintend our arrangements for visitors, - and they do their work admirably. That good, droll Mr Hicks paid us a - visit before returning to America, and the Chevalier Goldberg intends - to brave the terrors of the desert before long. Our last visitor was - dear Fred Mansfield, whose affection for my husband brings the tears - to my eyes. I can see, however (is not this candid of me?), that he - has improved immensely since he has found himself in a more - responsible position. He has gained enormously in readiness and the - habit of command since he was removed from the shadow of Cyril’s - personality. His open-air life suits him, and he has earned golden - opinions from the Chevalier and his confidential agent. Please let - Phil hear this. Fred tells us that he hopes to visit England and bring - her back with him next year, and he showed us the plans for his house. - How I shall delight to see her again! - - “You hint at our visiting Europe. I am foolishly nervous, I dare say, - but I cannot feel that Cyril is safe anywhere outside the desert. I - have visions of treachery on the part of the Powers if they knew he - was within their reach. Still, if he wishes to make the attempt, he - will hear nothing against his plan from me, even should he decide to - visit Thracia _incognito_, as Michael has suggested. At present we are - planning a trip to Palmyra, which, with the help of the Arabs, we hope - to accomplish without difficulty, posing as English tourists--not for - the first time in our lives, you will remember. The opportunity will - be valuable, in allowing my husband to make acquaintance with the - sheikhs of other tribes than ours, who have shown a strong disposition - to invite him to become their head. - - “It is a curious thing that the Arabs refuse to believe in Cyril’s - illness for a moment. According to them, he has been treated with dire - ingratitude by the Jews, and to mark his displeasure has retired into - the desert, whence he will emerge at the head of an Arab host on the - occasion of some great crisis, and carry all before him. Oh that this - might indeed be the case! Day by day, as I pray for it, I vow upon my - knees that should he ever regain his old powers I will be no hindrance - to his schemes. These few months have had more happiness crowded into - them than I could ever have anticipated, and I will show that I also - can be unselfish. But alas! there is no hope. One terrible day--I have - told this to no one on earth but yourself--when the news of the - Scythian seizure of Jerusalem arrived, I thought he would have gone - out of his mind. He walked up and down the room for a long time, - muttering and moving his hands as if he was addressing an assembly, - then he turned suddenly to me, looking like his old self. ‘Paper, - Ernestine!’ he cried. ‘They thought I was done for, did they?’ I gave - him the paper, he sat down, burning with eagerness, and made a few - marks upon the first sheet--a kind of plan. Then he began to dig the - pen into the paper, and at last threw it down in despair. ‘It’s all - gone, Ernestine, but for a moment I saw the whole thing.’ He called - Paschics, and told him to write and advise the Chevalier to make the - best terms he could for a Jewish Legislature sitting at Nablûs, and - since then he has never once alluded, at least in my hearing, to the - affairs of Palestine. It is unspeakably sad. At ordinary times he - appears perfectly contented, rides with me, hunts with Banics and the - Arabs, plans improvements for the place, reads aloud to us in the - evenings, but when the mail comes in----! Ah, my dear sister, pray - that you may never know such sorrow as I endure then. He reads of all - that is going on--without him: he sees that he is forgotten where he - was once supreme. He goes up to the ruined colonnade, at the summit of - the palace, and spends hours there alone. Once I crept up after him; - he was gazing out over the desert as Napoleon looked out upon the sea - from the cliffs of St Helena. He does not know I saw him, for I dared - not disturb his mournful reverie. I am only too well aware that I - cannot comfort him, and he would not wish me to behold him in his - desolation. I can but pray for him, and pretend to notice nothing when - he returns, full of kindness, and apologises for his long absence. He - has been reading his letters, he says. On the subject of politics we - never open our lips to one another.--Believe me to be, my dear Nadia, - your loving sister, - - Ernestine.” - - THE END. - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES. - -Sydney C. Grier was the pseudonym of Hilda Caroline Gregg. - -This book is part of the author’s “Balkan Series.” The full series, in -order, being: - - An Uncrowned King - A Crowned Queen - The Kings of the East - The Prince of the Captivity - -Alterations to the text: - -Puncuation corrections: missing periods, quotation mark pairing, etc. - -Note: minor spelling and hyphenization inconsistencies (_e.g._ -ascendency/ascendancy, anteroom/ante-room, by-the-bye/by the bye, -etc.) have been preserved. - -[Chapter II] - -“the pleasure of your _accquaintance_” to _acquaintance_. - -[Chapter IV] - -“interested in _Ludswigsbad_ and your letters” to _Ludwigsbad_. - -[Chapter VI] - -“_Sho_ grasped the idea at once” to _She_. - -[Chapter VII] - -“If it did not _suceed_ in saving” to _succeed_. - -[Chapter X] - -“Mansfield thought she was a _Kurgast_” to _Kurgäste_. - -[Chapter XI] - -“from his ecclesiastical lips was _doubless_ a solemn curse” to -_doubtless_. - -[End of Text] - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KINGS OF THE EAST *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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Grier - </title> - <style type="text/css"> - -/* Headers and Divisions */ - h1, h2, h3 {margin:2em 0em 1em 0em; page-break-before:always; text-align:center;} - - div.tp {text-align:center;} /* title page */ - - .nobreak {page-break-before:avoid;} - - /* center a block of text */ - div.quote_o {font-size:95%; margin:0.5em 2em 0.5em 2em; text-align:center;} - div.quote_i {display:inline-block; text-align:left;} - -/* General */ - - body {margin:0% 5% 0% 5%;} - - p {margin:0em 0em 0em 0em; text-align:justify; text-indent:2em;} - p.center {margin:0em 0em 0em 0em; text-align:center; text-indent:0em;} - p.noindent {text-indent:0em;} - p.sign2 {margin:0em 2em 0em 0em; text-align:right; text-indent:0em;} - p.spacer {margin:0.5em 0em 0.5em 0em; text-align:center; text-indent:0em;} - p.end {margin:1em 0em 0em 0em; text-align:center; text-indent:0em;} - - p.toc_1 {font-variant:small-caps; text-align:left; text-indent:0em;} - - div.letter {padding:1em 0em 1em 3em;} - - span.font80 {font-size:80%;} - - span.sc {font-variant:small-caps;} - - span.chap_sub {font-size:80%;} - -/* play/poetry indented verses */ - p.i0 {margin:0em 0em 0em 2em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i1 {margin:0em 0em 0em 3em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i2 {margin:0em 0em 0em 4em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i3 {margin:0em 0em 0em 5em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i4 {margin:0em 0em 0em 6em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i5 {margin:0em 0em 0em 7em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i6 {margin:0em 0em 0em 8em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i7 {margin:0em 0em 0em 9em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i8 {margin:0em 0em 0em 10em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i9 {margin:0em 0em 0em 11em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i10 {margin:0em 0em 0em 12em; text-indent:-2em;} - - </style> -</head> - -<body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Kings of the East, by Sydney C. Grier</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Kings of the East</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0;'>A Romance of the Near Future</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Sydney C. Grier</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: September 26, 2021 [eBook #66383]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KINGS OF THE EAST ***</div> - -<div class="tp"> -<h1> -THE KINGS<br/> -OF THE EAST -</h1> - -A Romance of the Near Future -<br/><br/> -BY<br/> -SYDNEY C. GRIER -<br/><br/> -<span class="font80">AUTHOR OF<br/> -‘LIKE ANOTHER HELEN,’ ‘A CROWNED QUEEN,’<br/> -ETC., ETC.</span> - -<br/><br/> -(<i>Third in the Balkan Series</i>) - -<br/><br/><br/> -WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS<br/> -EDINBURGH AND LONDON<br/> -<span class="font80">MDCCCC<br/> -<i>All Rights reserved</i></span> -</div> - - -<h2> -CONTENTS. -</h2> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch01">I. THE MOVEMENT AND THE MAN.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch02">II. FIRING THE FIRST SHOT.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch03">III. IN SILVER SLIPPERS.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch04">IV. A DISTURBING ELEMENT.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch05">V. THE CROWN MATRIMONIAL.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch06">VI. <i>DANAOS DONA FERENTES</i>.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch07">VII. BREAKING WITH THE PAST.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch08">VIII. “A KIND OF WILD JUSTICE.”</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch09">IX. VERSIONS DIFFER.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch10">X. TAKING COUNSEL WITH BABES.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch11">XI. EASTWARD HO!</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch12">XII. THE CHURCH MILITANT AND ORTHODOX.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch13">XIII. A GROUND OF HOPE.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch14">XIV. NO PLACE OF REPENTANCE.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch15">XV. A FOOL’S ERRAND.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch16">XVI. THE HOUSE OF THE LADY ZENOBIA.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch17">XVII. FACE TO FACE.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch18">XVIII. THE PENALTY OF GREATNESS.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch19">XIX. THE BREAKING-POINT.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch20">XX. <i>REDINTEGRATIO AMORIS</i>.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch21">XXI. A NEW FACTOR.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch22">XXII. THE HISTORY OF AN EVENING.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch23">XXIII. MAN AND WIFE.</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch24">XXIV. “THE BITTER CLOSE OF ALL.”</a> -</p> - - -<h2> -THE KINGS OF THE EAST. -</h2> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="ch01"> -CHAPTER I.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE MOVEMENT AND THE MAN.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">It</span> was a brilliant afternoon in late spring, and Vindobona was -taking its pleasure joyously out of doors, as is its wont. The many -parks and gardens of the city were crowded with holiday-makers in -every variety of national costume and speaking the tongues of all the -earth, and in the boulevards of the Ringstrasse a well-dressed throng -made the pavements almost impassable. There was not a vacant seat to -be found at the rows of tables outside each café, where strange and -wonderful liquids were being consumed in vast quantities, but with a -deliberation that implied the possession of unlimited leisure. No one -seemed to have anything to do but to walk and talk, salute his -acquaintances and criticise the rest of the world, pause for a while -to refresh the inner man and then saunter on again, and this was -indeed the case. The true citizen of Vindobona always has time for -holiday-making, whatever other duties he may neglect, and those who -make a study of his weaknesses calculate confidently upon this amiable -peculiarity. This saint’s day afternoon, for instance, there were -gathered, in a room on the second floor of one of the palatial -mansions in the Opera Ring, four men, whose meeting had been -facilitated by the absorption of the populace in its pleasures. One by -one they had made their way to the appointed spot, the private office -of the great financier Israel Goldberg, and here, where a -business-like severity strove with a certain barbaric splendour in the -appointments, they had refreshed themselves with fruit sherbets and -perfumed Eastern tobacco before turning their attention to the matter -upon which they had come together. Some signing of papers and a good -deal of low-toned conversation followed, until at last the host leaned -back in his chair and threw down his pen. -</p> - -<p> -“That is well over,” he said, speaking in German. “The movement is on -the verge of realisation; we only await the man.” -</p> - -<p> -“Just so,” said the venerable Scythian Jew at his right hand; “we need -our Moses.” -</p> - -<p> -“But where is he to be found in this age of doubt and depression?” -asked a sallow-faced young man, with large vague wandering eyes. -</p> - -<p> -The remaining person at the table snorted fiercely. “This is the age -of limited liability,” he said. “Our Moses will take the form of a -syndicate.” -</p> - -<p> -“With the excellent Texelius as managing director?” asked the -Chevalier Goldberg, with a sympathetic smile. “I think not, my dear -friend.” -</p> - -<p> -“I rejoice to hear you say that, Israel,” said the old Rabbi, whose -susceptibilities had been much ruffled by the irreverent remark of Dr -Texelius. -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said the Chevalier, “although we are business men and this is a -business matter, we must return, I fear, to the old ways. Without the -man to whom I hope to present you this afternoon, our movement would -be like a ship without a captain. You, my good Texelius, bring us the -help of science, in my young friend Rubenssohn we have the support of -literature, and our venerable Rabbi Schaul assures us of the blessing -of orthodoxy, while I myself supply the not unnecessary item of money. -But we must, besides all these, have brains.” -</p> - -<p> -Dr Texelius was understood to reply that no gathering which included -himself could be considered deficient in that particular, whatever -might be said of the rest of the company, but his host smiled with -pitying gentleness. -</p> - -<p> -“My good Texelius, we all admit that you are unapproachable in your -own line. You have enabled all the half-educated people in Europe to -gabble a parody of your philosophy with more than your own brutality -of language, and have taught them new bad names to call their -neighbours by. But when it is a matter of conducting diplomatic -negotiations of the highest delicacy, something more is needed.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see no need of diplomacy,” protested Dr Texelius. “We have the -Grand Seignior’s promise, and we hold the money-bags. The Land is -ours, and we have only to keep it, which is an affair of the sword, -not of the tongue.” -</p> - -<p> -“And surely,” said young Rubenssohn, “it is the Gentiles who will sue -for our favour, not we for theirs?” -</p> - -<p> -“Israel will become at once the exemplar and the monitress of the -world,” said the Rabbi. “Her central position, separated from the -nations and yet vitally connected with all of them, her theocratic -government, and the purity of her family life, will make her not only -the model state of the new century, but the natural arbitrator in -international quarrels.” -</p> - -<p> -The Chevalier Goldberg smiled again, but less patiently. “My dear good -friends,” he said, “do you think the world and its inhabitants will -all undergo a radical change because Israel has obtained permission -from Czarigrad to re-colonise Palestine? I tell you that as soon as -our scheme is known, it will become the butt for the malice and -jealousy of the whole earth. The hostile nations will unite against -us; our own friends will be swept into the vortex. To enable us to -surmount the crisis before us, we need a leader of such varied gifts -and experiences as it would seem almost impossible to find combined in -a single individual. In fact, there is only one man in Europe, perhaps -in the world, who possesses them, and I expect him here in a few -minutes.” -</p> - -<p> -“And who may this heaven-sent leader be?” sneered Dr Texelius. -</p> - -<p> -“I see him now, coming round the corner of the Opera-house,” pursued -the Chevalier, who from his seat by the window could obtain a view -through the openings of the sun-blind. “That is he—the short man with -the light moustache.” -</p> - -<p> -“An Englishman, evidently,” said Rubenssohn; “or he would not walk to -keep an appointment when he might drive.” -</p> - -<p> -“Right, Herschel my son. He is an Englishman. But,” and the Chevalier -dropped the blind which he had partially drawn up, and turned away -from the window and the sounds of voices, laughter, and crowding -footfalls which it admitted, “he is also a true cosmopolitan. For over -ten years he was a king in all but name, and might, had he cared to do -it, have married a queen.” -</p> - -<p> -“What! You too have been taken captive by the Mortimer idea?” cried Dr -Texelius. “Our Thracian friends can’t find words to deplore his loss. -To hear them one might indeed think him Moses and David rolled into -one.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is your friend really the man who was Prime Minister of Thracia, and -was overthrown by foreign intrigues the day that the young King -attained his majority, Chevalier?” asked Rubenssohn eagerly. “He has -always seemed to me a heroic figure in an unheroic age.” -</p> - -<p> -“What I want to know is, how much are you going to pay him?” -vociferated Dr Texelius, while the Chevalier smiled rather drily. -Before he could answer the question, a deferential servant at the door -announced “His Excellency Count Mortimer,” and ushered in a -grey-haired man, whose keen blue eyes appeared to take the measure of -all the occupants of the room at a single glance. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, my frient! You hef arrifed, den?” cried the Chevalier in English. -“Beholt us all awaitink your pleassure. Dis fenerable clerchymen iss -our goot frient de Rabbi Schaul, and here iss de worlt-renowned -scientist Dr Texelius. Dis younk men iss Herschel Rubenssohn, de Poet -off de Ghetto, a redical in theory, but aristocret by nature.” -</p> - -<p> -The Chevalier laughed meaningly, for while the Rabbi had risen from -his chair and bowed low at the introduction, not without a touch of -the servility of manner natural to one who sees a probable and -powerful enemy in every man of superior rank, Rubenssohn had -half-risen and then resumed his seat, conscious of the critical eye of -Dr Texelius, who acknowledged the stranger’s entrance merely by a nod. -Count Mortimer was accustomed to associate with kings and queens, and -Dr Texelius was an austere Republican, hating an aristocrat, moreover, -as an anomaly in nature—a specimen which would not allow itself to be -weighed and measured and labelled by his philosophy. Aristocrats -worshipped an absurd fetish called honour, some of the manifestations -of which could by no means be reduced to the profit and loss -denominator to which he referred all human actions, and for some -reason or other these same misguided people regarded themselves as -superior to him. It was evident, at least, that this one did, or what -was the meaning of the scarcely veiled irony in his glance as, after -shaking hands with the Chevalier, he bowed to the rest? -</p> - -<p> -“I am fortunate,” said Count Mortimer, “in meeting two gentlemen of -such European reputation as Dr Texelius and Mr Rubenssohn. Of Dr -Schaul I heard much while I lived in Thracia; and when I learned that -he was throwing himself heartily into this movement, it seemed to me a -fact of the happiest augury for the future.” -</p> - -<p> -“And pray, noble sir, are we to think the same of your own connection -with the movement?” asked Dr Texelius. -</p> - -<p> -“The answer to that question lies largely in your own hands, Herr -Professor. Am I to rely upon your loyal support, or not?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Count,” interposed the host, in German, “these gentlemen are -prepared to support you to the utmost of their power. I have just made -them see that without your kind offices we could have no hope of -success.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am glad to hear it, Chevalier. Perhaps it will set our friends’ -minds at ease if I explain, first of all, that I derive no pecuniary -benefit from my connection with the movement. A busy man does not take -kindly to an idle life, and I am glad to employ my leisure for so good -an object.” -</p> - -<p> -“And do you wish us to understand that you cut yourself off from your -class, and range yourself on the side of Israel in the sight of the -world, purely for the sake of occupation and philanthropy?” snarled Dr -Texelius. -</p> - -<p> -“Herr Professor, I am a man who has not a little to avenge. If I -choose to combine my own pleasure with the advantage of your nation, -you will do well to be thankful and accept my help. Do we understand -one another?” -</p> - -<p> -“Your Excellency does not mince matters, nor will I. What guarantee -have we that the interests of Israel will not be sacrificed to your -own?” -</p> - -<p> -“Your frankness charms me. You have no guarantee. But without my help -the interests of Israel will remain where they are at present.” -</p> - -<p> -“Prove it!” shouted Dr Texelius. “How are we to know that you have the -power to do what you pretend?” -</p> - -<p> -“Simply by waiting to see. But do not mistake me, Herr Professor. I -believe that you and Mr Rubenssohn enjoy considerable influence with -the Jewish press. If we are to work together that influence must be -employed exclusively and loyally on my side, which is your own. Should -there be the slightest attempt to weaken my position, or to form a -cabal against me among your followers, I shall take my choice between -getting rid of you and ceasing my efforts on behalf of Israel, which -will then be far worse off than it is now. Do I make myself plain?” -</p> - -<p> -“Your Excellency’s demand is only reasonable,” said Rubenssohn; while -Dr Texelius spluttered inarticulately. “Such influence as a poor poet -may possess is placed unreservedly at your service.” -</p> - -<p> -“And if your influence is used wrongly, my excellent Texelius,” said -the Chevalier Goldberg, “I shall find myself under the painful -necessity of ceasing to finance your newspapers, when the annoyance -will die a natural death.” -</p> - -<p> -“My fears are not for myself,” was the sulky response. “If the Gentile -is loyal to Zion, he shall have my support. But what reason is there -for his joining us, and what good can he do us? That’s what I want to -know.” -</p> - -<p> -“Friend,” said the Rabbi reprovingly, “if the noble gentleman is -willing to forsake his own people and cast in his lot with Israel, is -it for us to sneer at his chivalrous offer and throw doubt upon his -motives? Surely he is one of the sons of the stranger who shall build -the walls of Zion.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril Mortimer bowed gravely to the Rabbi. “I give Dr Texelius free -leave to trust me in private no further than he can see me, provided -that he supports me in public,” he said. “And now that this is -settled, perhaps we may come to a clear understanding of the position. -Through my friend the Chevalier Goldberg I am informed that you, -gentlemen, form the executive of the guild called the Children of -Zion, that your object is to colonise Palestine with Jews from Europe, -buying out the present inhabitants where necessary, and that you are -in command of a certain sum of money for this purpose, invested on -proper security in a series of commercial schemes?” -</p> - -<p> -“Of which the control is in Jewish hands,” interjected Dr Texelius. -</p> - -<p> -“Quite so. I understand also that the Chevalier has volunteered to -bear the entire cost of obtaining the necessary concession from Roum, -leaving you at liberty to devote the whole of your trust-funds to the -work of colonisation. Indeed, gentlemen, you are to be congratulated. -What with a sum of money to be paid down at the outset, and a yearly -rent for the province, together with the necessary compensation, -palm-oil, and perquisites, my friend will sacrifice a very large part -of his fortune in giving your movement a favourable start. I honour -his motives, and I only hope you appreciate his generosity.” -</p> - -<p> -“If Goldberg had shown this generosity ten years ago, the Land would -be already repopulated by a thriving race of colonists,” said Dr -Texelius. -</p> - -<p> -“There, Herr Professor, you are in error. The Chevalier could not show -this generosity ten years ago for two reasons. In the first place, it -has been the labour of years for him to establish the agreement now -arrived at between the Jews of all nations, by which they bind -themselves to assist the Children of Zion by bringing pressure on -their respective Governments when it is needed. Without this -solidarity of action, a band of selfish plutocrats in any one country -might have overthrown the whole scheme. And in the second place, ten -years ago I was not at liberty to devote myself to assuring the -success of the movement.” -</p> - -<p> -“Which is now secured by your Excellency’s adhesion.” The tone was -sarcastic in the extreme. -</p> - -<p> -“You are very good, Herr Professor. To me it falls to direct the -working of this new machine. Without a single head, to ensure the -application of the pressure at the right moment and the right spot, -the financial union would soon break up, or at best fall to pieces. It -is my aim to produce the necessary effect before disintegration sets -in, and I may say I have every hope of success. The Children of Zion -may colonise Palestine, but it is the United Nation Syndicate that -will make their work possible.” -</p> - -<p> -“Under your Excellency’s guidance.” -</p> - -<p> -“I hope so. You will perceive now the necessity there is for absolute -unanimity. Our enemies will be on the watch for the slightest sign of -dissension. There is one point upon which it may be desirable to give -you a special warning. You are aware of the fanaticism of the -Scythians and others with regard to the Holy Places? Now I think it -highly probable that I shall be obliged to consent to the appointment -of a Christian prince as governor-general, as a guarantee against -their desecration.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oho, the thin end of the wedge!” cried Dr Texelius. “A Christian -governor—a prince, too—with a Christian Court and army and -executive. Where is our free and independent republic, in which the -Jew might at last obtain security and justice? Rubenssohn—Rabbi—you -have heard the Gentile speak, will you still believe that his forked -tongue utters truth?” -</p> - -<p> -“Friend Texelius, you insult his Excellency,” said Rabbi Schaul. “How -can it signify to us what precautions the Gentiles take in the vain -hope of maintaining their ascendancy over Zion? Of what use would it -be to us to draw up the wisest republican constitution, which would -last but a day? Once we are restored to the land, He will come whose -right it is to reign, and neither Christian prince nor atheistic -republic can stand against Him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Beautiful dream!” murmured Rubenssohn, his eyes kindling, “but it is -only a dream. A literal Messiah is an impossibility. The house of -David is extinct, the monarchical principle incapable of revival among -us. The Grand Seignior may play the part of the Messiah in bringing us -back, or there may be before us a Messianic age of peace and plenty, -such as the prophets picture, but we need look for nothing more.” -</p> - -<p> -“Young man, will you limit the Holy One of Israel? A few years ago -this return, for which we are planning, was counted impossible, but it -is now at hand. The appearance and reign of Messiah will follow in due -time.” -</p> - -<p> -“Rabbi, you are a dreamer!” cried Dr Texelius angrily. “Will you allow -your absurd visions to interfere with practical politics?” -</p> - -<p> -“Visions? You call the prophecies of the Divine Word absurd visions?” -cried the Rabbi, trembling with mingled anger and alarm. “Let me go, -Israel Goldberg. I dare not sit at the same table as this unbeliever.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no; Texelius spoke more strongly than he intended,” said the -Chevalier, whose hair had grown grey in the endeavour to induce the -orthodox and free-thinking sections of his co-religionists to work -together. “He has the highest respect for your views, Rabbi, and I, as -you know, share them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, let him show his respect for the prophecies by abandoning his -opposition to Count Mortimer,” said the old man, supporting himself -with his shaking hands upon the table, “or I must withdraw from all -association with him, and call upon my flock to do the same.” -</p> - -<p> -“I agree,” said Dr Texelius hastily, for the defection of Rabbi -Schaul’s following would have been a serious blow to the movement. -“Perhaps you will own some day, Rabbi, that it would have been better -to take the advice of a practical man, but by all means let us all -become dreamers together.” -</p> - -<p> -“If the learned Dr Texelius had listened more carefully to what I -said,” remarked Cyril, “he would have noticed that I proposed only to -consent to the appointment, not to make it. That will be the business -of the Powers, and while they are wrangling over it we are -establishing ourselves in Palestine.” -</p> - -<p> -“But they will soon perceive that,” said Rubenssohn. -</p> - -<p> -“True; but I shall propose a commission, composed of the various -consuls, to take charge of the Holy Places until the governor is -appointed. That will lead to further wrangling, but it will only give -us more time.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why is time so necessary?” asked Rubenssohn. -</p> - -<p> -“To enable us to import our Jews. You understand, Dr Texelius, there -must be no interference with Christian communities or forcible -dispossession of Moslems, nothing to give a pretext for European -intervention. If you can’t buy one piece of ground easily, turn to -another. Do everything quietly, settle your Jews wherever there is -room for them, and then we can confidently demand a <i>plébiscite</i> of -the whole country, if we see the opportunity, or at least ask -permission to elect a temporary governor until the Powers have agreed -on their nominee. I need scarcely say that if the colonists possessed -a spark of gratitude, their choice would fall on Dr Texelius, and the -Powers might even be brought to confirm that appointment.” -</p> - -<p> -“So!” cried Dr Texelius, with evident pleasure, “I perceive that you -are not wholly a dreamer, Count.” -</p> - -<p> -“Few men less so, Herr Professor. We are agreed, then? You will hurry -on your part of the work by every means in your power, while I do my -best to keep the attention of Europe fixed upon side-issues?” -</p> - -<p> -“And if you are agreed upon that,” cried the host, when the rest had -signified their assent, “it would be as well for us to separate. I -have been on thorns all the afternoon, lest the police should have -noticed you coming to this house, friends. Unless the movement is to -be rudely checked, you ought all to be on your way back to your own -countries to-night.” -</p> - -<p> -At this very plain hint the conference broke up, its members leaving -the mansion singly. The Rabbi went first, shuffling down the grand -staircase in his shabby clothes, a decrepit figure in whom the most -lynx-eyed police agent would have found a difficulty in recognising -the chief spiritual guide of multitudes of orthodox Jews in Pannonia -and Southern Scythia. Rubenssohn, who had lived in England long enough -to pass on the Continent for an Englishman, left the house openly, but -by a different door, after taking a reverential farewell of Cyril, Dr -Texelius utilising the moment by whispering to the Chevalier— -</p> - -<p> -“I have classified your friend, Goldberg. His ambition is enormous, -amounting, indeed, to mania. If Europe will not admire him, Europe may -hate him, but it shall not disregard him.” -</p> - -<p> -And Dr Texelius stumped down the stairs with an aggressive air -peculiarly his own, which he joined on this occasion with the -stateliness of demeanour proper to the future president of the Hebrew -Republic. Meeting on the threshold a young Jewish <i>savant</i>, who had -made the great philosopher’s acquaintance at a scientific congress, he -responded affably to the timid greeting of the neophyte, and piqued -his curiosity by informing him that he had just been investigating a -very interesting case of lunacy. -</p> - -<p> -Cyril and the Chevalier Goldberg, left alone together, looked at one -another and smiled as the Professor’s footsteps died away. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Count,” said the host, “you hef seen our tools. What iss de -prospect off your beink able to work wid dem?” -</p> - -<p> -“The Rabbi is a fanatic and Rubenssohn an enthusiast,” was the reply; -“but I had rather work with either of them than with our scientific -friend. There is no one so suspicious as the man who has neither faith -nor enthusiasm himself. However, we can’t afford to have his influence -arrayed against us, so we must make the best of him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Den you hef decided to ranche yourself on our side? What are your -plens, my dear Count?” -</p> - -<p> -“I think it will be best to go to Ludwigsbad, as I intended. Every one -will be there this season.” -</p> - -<p> -“True; all de great people, but you will be greater den any. Oh, my -frient, let me hef my way about dis. You shell treffel like a prince, -you shell hef a whole wink of de best hotel resserfed for you. De -worlt shell see det Israel iss not ungrateful to de Christian det -helps her.” -</p> - -<p> -“I thought we had threshed this matter out already, Chevalier. Can’t -you see that the more I am seen to act on my own initiative, and the -less as the agent of the United Nation, the better it is for both of -us? I am the friendly go-between, the honest broker, no more. My -out-of-pocket expenses I will accept, but nothing else, not even a -commission. Living modestly, they can scarcely accuse me of having -been bought by you, the next step to which would be that they would -try to offer a higher price themselves.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see you are right, but I must hef your promise det you will not -spare me in de way off expense. Entertainments, chourneys, -telegrephs—nothink must be wantink det might lighten your labours or -edd to de success off your mission. You promise me dis? And det second -secretary you talked off—you will let me profide you wid de best I -can find?” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks, Chevalier, but I won’t have a Jew. Anything that would -identify me in the general mind with your nation is to be avoided. I -think of getting an Englishman, as the fellow will be more for -ornament than use. Paschics is a perfect glutton for work, but when he -is thrown into general society he cannot forget that he began life as -a farm-labourer, and he becomes either servile or truculent. No one -knows and regrets the fact better than he does, and he suggested -himself that I should have some one else to receive visitors and do -the light work, while he grapples with the bulk of it behind the -scenes as he always has done.” -</p> - -<p> -“You hef indeed an atteched follower, Count.” -</p> - -<p> -“<i>One</i> attached follower, you may as well say, Chevalier, unless you -count my servant, who is a faithful fool of the same sort.” -</p> - -<p> -“My frient,” the Chevalier laid aside his smiling mask, and approached -Cyril with intense solemnity as he stood leaning against the -window-frame, “I must ask you once more, hef you counted de cost off -throwink in your lot wid us? At pressent, you are de most successful -failure in Europe. Dere iss not one sofereign det would not obtain -your help if he could, not one state det would not be enxious if deir -enemies were employink you. You are receifed eferywhere, you may merry -whom you please—for dere are heiresses off de noblest femilies det -would think nothink off gifink you deir whole fortune, if only dey -might accompany it—you are de frient off all de most powerful people. -Will you gif up all dis for de sake off de oppressed Chews? We know -what contempt—ill-treatment—iss like, for we are born to it; but -you, a Christian and a noble, how will you bear it? Dey will treat you -worse den us, for dey will say you are a traitor to dem.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Chevalier,” the sarcasm had left Cyril’s tone, and he looked -at the stout little Jew with an earnestness almost equalling his own, -“you are wasting your pity on me. After the knock-down blow I got two -years ago, I must fight my way up again from the foot of the hill, and -it won’t make it any harder to do it in your cause. What I want is -power, and with reasonable luck I stand to get it by means of this -scheme. As to the personal consequences, don’t trouble yourself about -them. I knew what it was to be socially ostracised long ago in -Thracia, and it did me no harm. I shall continue to be received -wherever I like to go. As to marrying, there is only one woman in the -world that I would choose to marry, and she is out of my reach -already. I am committed to this enterprise, and I have no wish to draw -back. Now what is it that has led you to make me this undesired offer -of release?” -</p> - -<p> -“Dere iss noose from Czarigrad,” answered the Chevalier, in a tone in -which relief blended with disappointment. “Chust before our meetink -to-day I receifed a secret message det Hercynia hed discofered our -negotiations wid Roum, and was puttink pressure on de Grand Seignior -to refuse us our concession. Dey must hef heard off your fissit to his -Machesty.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, this is the declaration of war, then! Well, I am glad Hercynia -has opened the ball, because I have such an excellent object-lesson in -store for her. Let me see, Baron de la Mothe von Elterthal passes -through Vindobona to-morrow on his way home from Czarigrad. He will -spend a few hours here with his sister, Countess Temeszy. Count -Temeszy is an old friend of my brother’s, and will get me an interview -without making any fuss. I shall see him to-night at the Opera, and we -will settle things then. To-morrow the Chancellor shall have his -warning, and we shall see whether it is necessary to proceed to -extremities.” -</p> - -<p> -“Once you hef approached him on behalf off Israel, dere will be no -drawink-back,” said the Chevalier. -</p> - -<p> -“There is none now. Well, Chevalier, I must be going.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you will lose no time in seekink det noo secretary?” -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not. My brother will help me in the matter. There was a -young fellow hanging about at Llandiarmid the last time I was there -who would suit me well enough, but I daresay he has found something -better to do by this time.” -</p> - -<p> -“Farewell den, my frient. You may depend on me to keep you well posted -in all de mofements off de enemy. I hef efery confidence in you, but I -entreat you not to spare expense.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril smiled as he succeeded in making his escape. It would have been -a standing marvel to him, had he been inclined to waste time in -theorising on the weaknesses of human nature instead of profiting by -them, that the great financier, whose name ensured respect throughout -the civilised world, should repose this absolute and deferential -confidence in an unsuccessful statesman, whose sole political capital -was now his vast experience, and a certain strength of head, combined -with coldness of heart, which had much advantaged him in the past. But -Cyril was one who took things as he found them, and made prompt use of -them; and the doglike fidelity with which the Chevalier Goldberg clung -to his fallen fortunes struck him merely as a very serviceable fact, -which, though it might be strange, was by no means to be neglected. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch02"> -CHAPTER II.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">FIRING THE FIRST SHOT.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">Returning</span> to his hotel, Cyril found a letter awaiting him in the -handwriting of his brother, Lord Caerleon. -</p> - -<p> -“What’s up?” he said to himself, as he opened the envelope and drew -out the closely written sheets. “Something must be wrong for Caerleon -to favour me with such an imposing epistle. Probably some kind -mischief-maker on this side of the Channel has told him that I have -given myself over body and soul to the Jews, and he is trying to avert -the catastrophe. It would save time to burn the letter and wire to him -that the deed is done, but that might hurt his feelings, so here -goes!” -</p> - -<p> -He lit a cigar and sat down with the air of a martyr to read the -letter, but his brow cleared when he found that it contained none of -the anxious entreaties he had expected. His brother needed his help, -it seemed, and the occasion of the request was curiously connected -with the subject of his conversation with the Chevalier Goldberg. -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -“You may remember,” wrote Lord Caerleon, “a young fellow named -Mansfield, who prepared Usk for college, and was staying with us when -you were here two years ago. He is a thoroughly nice chap, and as we -all took a fancy to him, Usk has brought him down again two or three -times since he has been at Cambridge. That was all very well, but why -should he take it into his head to fall in love with Phil? I suppose -you will smile your superior smile when you read that sentence; but I -give you my word that the thought of such a thing had never entered my -mind. It’s only yesterday that Phil was about as high as the table, -and running wild about the park with her hair flying loose. How is an -unsuspecting parent to know that she has suddenly grown up, and is -actually old enough to contemplate matrimony? I can tell you it was a -frightful shock to Nadia and me. We sat looking at one another in -consternation, until Nadia rallied sufficiently to remind me in a -faint voice that the child will be twenty-one next month. Many girls -are married before that, as she very truly added, but what comfort -does that afford when one finds oneself all at once regarded as a -stern and venerable elder? Well, as I said, we can have no possible -objection to young Mansfield himself, except on the ground that he has -nothing to do. He is a distant connection of Forfar’s, and has the -promise of a private secretaryship when a vacancy occurs, but that may -not be for years. He has been hanging on at Cambridge since he took -his degree, writing prize essays and (at least this is my private -idea) keeping Master Usk up to the mark; but he sees as clearly as I -do that that can’t go on. He came to me very honourably when he first -discovered the state of his feelings, and said that he did not dare -ask me to sanction an engagement at present, but if he could get some -settled employment, might he speak to Philippa? You know that -desperation will make the most guileless of men artful, and therefore -you won’t wonder that I resorted to a mean expedient in order to keep -my daughter a little longer. I said that Phil was so very young for -her age, and had seen so little of the world (this is absolutely true, -you know), that I should prefer him not to speak to her for a year in -any case. In the meantime he might be getting something to do, and she -should have a London season, and pay a visit to her godmother in -Germany. It was a bitter pill, I could see, but he took it very well, -and left Llandiarmid without saying a word to Phil, so that she knows -nothing about the business. At least, that is my contention; but Nadia -is under the impression that Phil has her own ideas on the subject. -Still, the child is not pining, or I should give way at once. No doubt -she sees, like a sensible girl, that it is the best possible thing for -the young fellow not to be at a loose end any longer. Well, old man, -you see by this time what I want of you. Do you know any one among -your acquaintances who would take an Englishman as secretary, who is -nothing very great in the way of attainments, but has the memory of a -second-class in Modern Languages to fall back upon? He has travelled a -good deal, and is a thoroughly pleasant fellow, rather too literary -for my taste, but there’s no harm in that. He has something of his own -since his father’s death, so that a high salary is not an object; what -he wants is to be set to regular work, and taught to run in harness. -If you know of anything suitable, I will bless you for ever, for my -conscience is pricking me (and I believe Nadia, in her secret -thoughts, blames me too) for condemning Phil and this inconvenient -youth to a lengthy separation just because I don’t want to lose the -child.” ... -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -Long before he had reached this point, Cyril’s mind was made up, and -his answer to his brother’s letter contained his response to the -appeal made to him:— -</p> - -<p> -“I want a second secretary, and your Mansfield is the very man for me. -Please write to him at once, and let him meet me at the Hôtel -Waldthier at Ludwigsbad this day week. We shall not haggle about -terms, though Paschics will continue to do most of the work. By the -bye, if association with me is likely to do your young friend harm in -the future, don’t let him come, but if there is no risk of his -suffering in that way, he may take my word for it that he will learn a -good deal that will be of use to him.” -</p> - -<p> -About two o’clock the next day Cyril presented himself at Count -Temeszy’s house for his interview with the Hercynian Imperial -Chancellor, who was paying a strictly private visit of twelve hours or -so to his sister. When Cyril’s request was sprung upon him at the -Opera, Gyula Temeszy had declared roundly that there was no prospect -of his brother-in-law’s visiting Vindobona at present. When it -appeared, however, that Cyril was well acquainted with the Baron’s -movements, he not only promised him the desired interview, but invited -him to lunch. This invitation Cyril refused, in view of the -complications which might ensue when Baron de la Mothe von Elterthal -had told his hosts of his discoveries at Czarigrad, and he had reason -to congratulate himself upon his foresight. The Temeszy servants, who -had hitherto bowed almost to the ground before him, received him on -this occasion with a perfunctory civility that was little less than -insulting; and when they turned him over to Baron de la Mothe von -Elterthal’s personal attendant, the man’s manner showed a scarcely -veiled insolence. Ushering Cyril into an unoccupied room, he promised -to carry the noble Count’s name to his master, but added that his -Excellency was very much engaged, and might not be able to see him. -For a quarter of an hour Cyril waited impatiently, within earshot of -the luncheon-room in which, to judge from the noise and laughter, the -Baron was the life and soul of a jovial party, then he rose and rang -the electric bell sharply. -</p> - -<p> -“Present my compliments to his Excellency,” he said, watch in hand, -when the servant appeared, “and tell him that as the fifteen minutes I -was able to spare him have expired, I regret not to be able to see -him.” -</p> - -<p> -The man, taken aback by this turning of the tables, poured forth a -torrent of apologies and entreaties, but Cyril waved them aside, and -passed down the grand staircase with a calm <i>hauteur</i> of demeanour -which compelled the respect of the servants in the hall. This time -none of them failed in the due observances, and he left the house like -an honoured guest. Before he had gone more than a few steps, Count -Temeszy ran after him, bare-headed. -</p> - -<p> -“Pray come back, Mortimer. I can’t think what the servants were doing, -that they didn’t send in your name.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sorry I have no time to spare.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense; come back. I can’t let Caerleon’s brother be turned away -from my door like this.” -</p> - -<p> -Count Temeszy spoke with evident embarrassment, and Cyril was quick to -draw the inference that he was now only to be tolerated as Caerleon’s -brother. He withdrew his arm from the Hungarian’s grasp. -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks, Temeszy; but there are doors enough open to me without -darkening those where I am unwelcome. I will tell Caerleon how -faithful you are to your ideas of friendship.” -</p> - -<p> -“But my brother-in-law is most anxious to see you. He is awaiting you -at this moment with the greatest eagerness.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Count Temeszy, you only increase my regret that I cannot -possibly spare him another moment. I am lunching at the Café Viborg, -and you must excuse me if I hurry away.” -</p> - -<p> -Leaving Count Temeszy disconsolate on the pavement, Cyril disengaged -himself with a ceremonious bow, and walked on. It was without any -surprise that, when he was seated at his lunch a little later, he saw -the Count and his brother-in-law enter the café. Glancing in his -direction as if accidentally, they crossed the room to speak to him, -and almost immediately a friend on the other side of the place claimed -Count Temeszy’s attention. With a muttered apology, he joined him at -his table, and Baron de la Mothe von Elterthal sat down casually -opposite Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -“You had something to say to me, I believe?” he remarked. -</p> - -<p> -“Not that I know of,” was the disconcerting reply. “Hearing that you -would be in Vindobona, I set aside a quarter of an hour for you for -the sake of auld lang syne, but that was all.” -</p> - -<p> -“My brother-in-law understood that you were most anxious to see me. In -fact, he was lamenting all morning that you had refused his invitation -to lunch, until I reminded him that it was perhaps just as well, for -at such short notice it would be difficult to ensure that there should -be no pork on the table.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril smiled. “You are in good spirits to-day, Baron. Still, I would -advise you, as a friend, to let your jokes remain entirely between -ourselves. Other people might fail to appreciate them.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is as I please,” snapped the Baron. “Once more, have you -anything to say to me?” as Cyril raised his eyebrows in well-bred -surprise at his tone. -</p> - -<p> -“Nothing whatever,” said Cyril, choosing a cigarette with care. “Allow -me to offer you—— You will not? No?” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps,” said the Baron darkly, leaning across the table, “you are -not aware that I know all about your visit to Czarigrad, and the part -you played there?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Baron, this is ancient history. I am not aware that there is -any reason why the whole world should not know as much.” -</p> - -<p> -“You have no objection to the world’s knowing that you have sold -yourself to the Jews, that you are the paid agent of the enemies of -Christendom?” -</p> - -<p> -“If it was true, I should probably object very much. As things are, I -can only admire your simple faith, Baron.” -</p> - -<p> -“At least,” said the Baron, changing his tactics suddenly, “neither -you nor your new allies will benefit by your diplomacy on this -occasion. I fancy I have put a spoke in your wheel, my dear Count.” -</p> - -<p> -“What!”—there was unmistakable alarm in Cyril’s voice—“you have not -been so unwise as to interfere? When it was suggested to me the other -day that you might possibly do so, I laughed at the notion. ‘The Baron -is my friend and a man of sense,’ I said, ‘he could not do such a -foolish thing.’ And now you wish me to understand that you have done -it? My dear Baron, I am deeply concerned. Is there no way in which we -can release you from this very unfortunate <i>impasse</i>?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t understand you,” with evident anxiety. “Surely you are -confusing my position with your own?” -</p> - -<p> -“Baron, this is not the time for joking. Is it possible that in the -course of your researches at Czarigrad you never discovered that the -Palestine scheme and your Anatolian concession stand or fall -together?” -</p> - -<p> -“Pray, what do you know about the Anatolian concession, Count?” -</p> - -<p> -“Just as much as I need to know. I am aware that it is of a very -far-reaching character, and that a high and illustrious personage in -Hercynia is determined to obtain it. You could not imagine, Baron, -that I, your friend, could remain ignorant of your troubles of the -last few months? Do you think I don’t know of the immense difficulties -you have had to encounter, and the fact that your Emperor is -graciously pleased to believe that you are secretly opposing his will -and encouraging the Grand Seignior to refuse to grant the concession? -Your continuance in office depends upon your obtaining it, I am well -aware, and now you have deliberately postponed it for an indefinite -time. This is terrible!” -</p> - -<p> -“The whole thing is your doing!” burst from the Chancellor. Cyril eyed -him with mild reproof. -</p> - -<p> -“This accusation is unworthy of you, Baron, when I am doing my best to -extricate you from your deadlock.” -</p> - -<p> -“Tell me exactly what your threats are worth. Whether you are a paid -agent of the Children of Zion, or a Quixotic philanthropist,” -sneeringly, “the trap is yours, I know that.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have neither the power nor the necessity to threaten. I simply say -that if our concession is refused, yours will be refused also, or if -ours is merely delayed, yours will suffer in the same way. If ours is -granted——” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes?” with intense eagerness. -</p> - -<p> -“Yours will also be granted when the time comes, and Baron de la Mothe -von Elterthal will continue to be the chief ornament of the Hercynian -bureaucracy and the favoured adviser of his sovereign.” -</p> - -<p> -“What are they paying you for this?” broke out the Baron. “Thunder and -lightning, man! if you are hard up, why not apply to us? We would have -found some place for you, or screwed a decent subsistence out of -ungrateful Thracia. Why accept the first offer, instead of waiting for -a higher?” -</p> - -<p> -“You are agitated, my dear Baron. Take one of these cigarettes, just -to please me, and calm yourself. Did you ever, in the course of our -former dealings together, find that any good came of trying to insult -me?” -</p> - -<p> -“Never; I always paid for it dearly. Yes, you are right, I am a fool. -No doubt I am expiating at this moment the errors of my last interview -with you. What?” as Cyril’s impassive face relaxed slightly, “I am -right. Oh, pray consider all that I said about money withdrawn. You -are taking your revenge upon Europe, I see. You would destroy the -world, if you could, to punish the faults of mankind towards you.” -</p> - -<p> -“This is very interesting, Baron, but not particularly practical.” -</p> - -<p> -“No? Well, tell me, how can you and your Children of Zion, with their -hoarded centimes and kopecks and piastres, hope to oppose yourselves -to the power of the Hercynian empire? We can tire you out at -Czarigrad, simply because we have a longer purse.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will let you into a secret, Baron. Try your experiment, and oppose -our concession. You will find that it is not you who will tire us out, -but we you, and for this reason, that you will be pitting yourself -against all the Jews in the world. The Children of Zion are backed by -a syndicate composed of the capitalists of all nations, and Hercynia -would scarcely be well advised to enter on a war with them. I don’t -ask you to accept this merely on my authority. Make the experiment, -and you will see whether the result bears out my warning.” -</p> - -<p> -“This is a very serious matter, Count.” The Baron had sat lost in -wonder, supporting his chin on his hand, for some minutes. “Do you see -that you are practically declaring war on Europe?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not quite, Baron. It is not necessary for all Europe to oppose itself -to the United Nation. Think of the other side of the picture. What a -future would lie before the country which had the support of all the -Jews in the world!” -</p> - -<p> -Baron de la Mothe von Elterthal drew a long breath. “You dazzle me, -Count! Am I to understand this as an offer?” -</p> - -<p> -“As a conditional offer,” said Cyril, rising; “conditional on your -supporting us at Czarigrad. I will leave you to think it over, for I -must get back to my hotel, unless I am to lose the train for -Charlottenbad.” -</p> - -<p> -“We part as—as friends, I hope? Gyula,” as Count Temeszy paused near -them, in the course of an impatient promenade up and down the room, “I -am venturing to ofter Count Mortimer a seat in your carriage. We might -drive him to his hotel.” -</p> - -<p> -“With the greatest pleasure,” said Count Temeszy, in hopeless -bewilderment, and presently the servants were edified to behold Count -Mortimer seated beside the Hercynian Chancellor in their master’s -carriage, and not only escorted up the steps of the hotel by the man -who had denounced him that morning as a pervert to Judaism, but -fervently embraced at parting. As for Cyril himself, it did not -surprise him in the least to receive, a week later, a cipher telegram -from the Chevalier Goldberg to the following effect:— -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -“Hercynian opposition suddenly withdrawn, after various attempts to -out-manœuvre us in matter of Anatolian concession. Fear secrecy is -now at an end, for business has become known to English journalist. -Suspect Hercynian Embassy at Czarigrad of communicating news, hoping -to rouse Scythia to action.” -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -“So!” murmured Cyril to himself, in the long-drawn, meditative German -fashion, as he translated the cipher. “Then the battle is beginning in -earnest. That is a smart dodge of yours, my dear Baron, to set Scythia -on our track, knowing that we can’t hope to bring the matter home to -you. I suppose the English papers all revelled in a nice little -sensation yesterday. Mr Mansfield!” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril was sitting in the balcony belonging to his <i>appartement</i> in the -Hôtel Waldthier at Ludwigsbad, and a young man came hurriedly to the -window in answer to his summons. There was nothing in any way -remarkable about the new secretary’s appearance—at least to an -English eye. Brown-haired and hazel-eyed, tall, broad-shouldered, and -carelessly dressed, he would have been passed over at home as “a most -ordinary-looking man,” but on the Continent it was his fate to attract -attention as a typical Englishman wherever he went. -</p> - -<p> -“Have you found anything in the papers about our business?” Cyril -asked him. -</p> - -<p> -“I was just going to bring your Excellency this.” Mansfield tendered a -Vindobona evening journal to his employer. -</p> - -<p> -“Just read me the paragraph. And by the way, don’t ‘Excellency’ me in -private. The King was good enough to continue me in the use of the -title when I left Thracia, but it may be kept for state occasions. And -don’t call me ‘sir,’ as you have done once or twice, or it will get -about that I am arrogating to myself princely honours. I must ask you -to address me as ‘Count,’ if your instinctive veneration for me -demands the use of some epithet.” -</p> - -<p> -The reproof was given so genially that it was impossible to take -offence, and Mansfield, who had grown very red, returned gradually to -his normal colour, and translated the paragraph with very fair -fluency:— -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -“The London ‘Fleet Street Gazette’ publishes a telegram from its -correspondent in Czarigrad which exposes a deep-laid conspiracy on the -part of the Jews to possess themselves of Palestine. A concession is -on the point of being obtained from the Grand Seignior which -authorises the development of the whole country by a Hebrew syndicate, -and its colonisation by Jewish immigrants. The intermediary at -Czarigrad is understood to have been the Englishman Mortimer, of -Thracian notoriety.” -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -Mansfield’s voice dropped when he came to the last word, and he -glanced fearfully at Cyril, expecting to find him pained, possibly -indignant; but seeing that he was smoking placidly, he took heart of -grace. -</p> - -<p> -“I expected this. Are you a thin-skinned person, Mansfield?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think so—I really don’t know,” stammered Mansfield. -</p> - -<p> -“I mean, can you stand being generally cold-shouldered, if not -actually cut? Do you yearn for constant communion with your kind?” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose I could stand being sent to Coventry without whining. Is -that the sort of thing?” -</p> - -<p> -“Exactly. If I am not mistaken, that is the fate which will be meted -out to you and me for the next few days. If your spirits are liable to -give way under it, you had better go home at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“Count!” There was no mistaking the chagrin in the young man’s tone, -and Cyril laughed encouragingly. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s all right. I only wanted to prepare you for the worst. Well, -shall we take a little stroll? If you are anxious to put my powers of -prophecy to the proof, we might pay a few visits.” -</p> - -<p> -The prospect of being turned from the doors of the persons visited did -not commend itself to Mansfield, however, and Cyril and he strolled -across the bridge and into the tree-shaded Neue Wiese or promenade. -The stern regulations in vogue at Ludwigsbad permit an afternoon walk, -but do not enforce it, and the gardens and the Königspark were not -therefore crowded with <i>Kurgäste</i>, as would be the case a little -later n the day. Still, there were a fair number of restless sufferers -endeavouring to satisfy their consciences by a feverish activity in -lounging up and down, or taking duty drives to points of interest, in -company with the faithful relations who had attended them into exile, -and Mansfield watched with a painful attention their demeanour towards -his employer. He himself had arrived only the day before, and Cyril -had carried him off almost immediately to an informal dinner-party at -an open-air restaurant, where a little knot of men bearing historic -names, and of women famous all over Europe for their beauty, had -laughed and talked and jested, as they discussed the unappetising fare -allowed them, like members of a very happy, simple-hearted, and united -family. The novelty of the occasion had a little intoxicated him, and -when the party broke up at nine o’clock it had needed a brisk walk -along the Charlottenbad road, and an indulgence in thoughts of -Philippa, such as he rarely allowed himself, to enable him to sleep at -all. The unexpected friendliness of these great people had been -astonishing enough, but it would be nothing compared with a sudden -change to coolness, such as Cyril seemed to anticipate. Just as -Mansfield, in his thoughts, had reached this point, he saw a carriage -approaching in which sat the loveliest and friendliest of the ladies -of the evening before. The Countess von Hohenthurm was a celebrated -Pannonian beauty, and was commonly considered the haughtiest woman in -the empire; but she had taken Mansfield under her wing at the -dinner-party, explaining the half-veiled personal allusions with which -the conversation was largely sprinkled, and confiding to him various -indiscreet revelations respecting notable people then staying or -expected at the baths. As she came towards him now, Mansfield raised -his hand instinctively towards his hat, but Cyril’s voice at his side -said, “Wait. It is possible that the lady has not the pleasure of your -acquaintance.” -</p> - -<p> -The idea seemed preposterous, for the Countess, in response to some -remark made by the elderly lady who was driving with her, had turned -her head in the direction of the two Englishmen, but there was no -glance of recognition as her eyes met theirs. Without the movement of -a muscle or the slightest change of colour, she looked through them -both at the trees behind. It was beyond question that in the world of -the Countess von Hohenthurm there existed no such persons as Count -Mortimer and his secretary. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t look so utterly crushed,” said Cyril, giving Mansfield’s arm a -gentle shake. “Didn’t I tell you how it would be?” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield walked on in silence, with compressed lips. Presently they -met two of the gentlemen with whom they had dined, but these were so -deeply engrossed in conversation as to be unable to recognise them. -Next they passed a rustic seat, behind which rose a rock bearing an -inscription to the effect that the Archduke Ferdinand Joachim desired -to testify to the benefit he had derived from a course of the -Ludwigsbad waters. Here there sat a hideous elderly man, of generous -proportions, who was laying down the laws of fashion to two or three -admiring disciples, with all the confidence to be expected in the -recognised arbiter of taste at the baths. He also had been one of the -guests of the night before, and Mansfield had conceived an instinctive -dislike to him—a dislike which was not now lessened by his putting up -an eyeglass, and wondering audibly, in terms of unnecessary emphasis, -“Who those fellows might be that looked like Englishmen?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well?” said Cyril, as they passed on; “was I a true prophet?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; oh yes. But why—what does it all mean?” -</p> - -<p> -“It means that they believe, or pretend to believe, that we are -leagued with the Jews against them, and therefore, very naturally, -they feel obliged to mark their disapproval of us.” -</p> - -<p> -“But will it go on? How long will they keep it up?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes, it will go on, for exactly three days and a half. Remember -that. Until then, I fear that you and I shall be confined to each -other’s society. Pray talk as much as you like. I shall be delighted -to listen.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should like to say a word or two to that fellow,” muttered -Mansfield, indicating by a backward glance the oracle of fashion. -</p> - -<p> -“I earnestly hope you won’t. In the first place, he would not -understand your German, and your righteous indignation would therefore -be wasted. In the next, I would rather not kill him if I can help it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Kill him? how?” -</p> - -<p> -“With a sword, my dear youth. Excuse me, but you are really so -refreshingly young. Is it beyond your powers of imagination to -conceive that if you insulted him he would forthwith challenge me?” -</p> - -<p> -“I can look after my own quarrels, Count,” very haughtily. -</p> - -<p> -“In that case I should very soon have a funeral to look after in the -British cemetery,” was the calm reply. “The man is a noted duellist, -and you would be at his mercy in two minutes. With me as his -antagonist, I will be conceited enough to say, things would be -reversed. Since you are so kind as to propose to quarrel with him on -my account, perhaps I may be allowed to intimate that I prefer a -living secretary to a dead one.” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield, with an embarrassed laugh, yielded the point, although he -did not succeed in arriving all at once at his employer’s pitch of -philosophy. As they walked on, Cyril amused himself by detecting and -commenting upon the shifts to which his acquaintances were reduced in -order to escape seeing him. The ostracism was complete, and he pointed -out to Mansfield that it must have been decreed only that -morning—probably as soon as the Vindobona papers arrived. It so -happened that there were no royal personages at the baths at present; -but among the sojourners there was a large contingent of the Pannonian -nobility, and it was from these, doubtless, that the fiat had gone -forth which declared Count Mortimer to be from henceforth beyond the -pale of society. A determined enemy, or even a mere busybody, could -easily have found means to promulgate the news during those hours of -the morning which were supposed to be devoted to rest, when authority -had once spoken. It proved that no one was sufficiently courageous to -disobey the edict but the officials of the place, who themselves -saluted Cyril with an expression which said that this courtesy was not -a reflection of their personal feelings, and that their sympathies -were with his opponents. Matters were not improved on the arrival of -the English papers, for it was discovered that the Vindobona journal -which had done all the mischief had omitted one item of special -interest in its quotation from the ‘Fleet Street Gazette.’ “The sudden -collapse of the Hercynian opposition to Count Mortimer’s scheme,” -wrote the correspondent at Czarigrad, “is thought here to be the -result of the kind of business arrangement vulgarly known as a ‘deal.’ -In other words, the Imperial Government has been bought off.” This was -enough. The hatred always smouldering between the two Teutonic empires -burst forth once more in the breasts of their representatives at -Ludwigsbad, and the few Hercynians at the baths found themselves -shunned almost as completely as Cyril, with whom their own convictions -effectually forbade them to fraternise. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch03"> -CHAPTER III.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">IN SILVER SLIPPERS.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">During</span> the three days and a half anticipated by Cyril, he and his -secretary remained under a ban, and moved about among the crowds of -<i>Kurgäste</i> as little noticed as if they had been two invisible men, -and almost as freely as if they had had Ludwigsbad to themselves. They -were apparently unseen when, with their Bohemian glass tumblers -suspended from their buttonholes, they joined the shivering throngs -that surround in the early morning the kiosks from which the horrible -healing waters are dispensed, and partook of their respective -draughts, Cyril taking the proper eight glasses and Mansfield only -one, purely for the sake of sociability. In the promenade which -followed they met no one who was conscious of ever having seen them -before; and when they had bought the regulation rolls and sat down to -drink their coffee at a little table surrounded by scores of others, -they were not only alone but unperceived in the crowd. In the -afternoon they paid no visits and received none; and at dinner-time, -when merry parties were formed round all the restaurant-tables, they -sat down alone save for the company of the taciturn Thracian secretary -Paschics, who seemed to be given over to perpetual mourning for the -high position his employer had once held and lost. Not that their -isolated condition made their table less gay than the rest. Cyril, -always debonnaire and cheerful, exerted himself determinedly on these -occasions to bring a smile to the melancholy countenance of Paschics, -with the result that Mansfield became almost exhausted with laughing. -The waiters hovered attentively in their neighbourhood, eager to catch -a stray joke; and even the Kurdirektor, a very high and mighty -autocrat indeed, found himself tempted by the peals of laughter to -smoke a cigarette and partake of dessert in company with these victims -of popular disapproval. One evening there was a dance after dinner at -the Kursaal, and Cyril and Mansfield strolled in among the spectators, -enjoying hugely the promptness with which way was made for them, as -though they had been royal personages, or surrounded by an invisible -but tangible fence. That is to say, Cyril enjoyed the experience -frankly for its own sake, and Mansfield because he reflected that it -was in Cyril’s cause he was undergoing it. Two years of fairly -constant intercourse with Lady Philippa Mortimer had not tended to -diminish his early veneration for her adored uncle, and there was also -the further consolation for such hardship as his lot involved that she -would regard it with sympathy—even with admiration. -</p> - -<p> -The evenings on which there was no dancing were equally amusing in -their way. Wandering through the shrubberies of the Königspark in the -summer twilight, Cyril found himself accosted in sheltered corners -first by one man and then by another who did not dare to dispute the -general edict in public, but thought it might be advisable to remain -friends with both sides under the rose. Naturally these people were -not of the class or character with whom friendship was most desirable, -being chiefly gentlemen who lived by their wits, with a sprinkling of -Jews who believed that the Chevalier Goldberg had bought Cyril for -their nation, and that this justified them in claiming his services -for themselves, and it was a never-ending amusement to Mansfield to -observe the adroitness with which Cyril snubbed them and dropped them -promptly back into their proper places. There was one elderly -capitalist who seemed to have been mildly coerced by the Chevalier -into giving in his adhesion to the national movement, for on three -separate occasions he pursued Cyril with a mournful persistence, -endeavouring to persuade him that, since the masters of money -throughout Europe were now for once united, it was folly to waste the -force of such a combination on the mere acquisition of Palestine, when -it might be used to establish a universal empire on a financial basis. -The contrast between the frail, cringing figure of the old man, and -his world-embracing schemes, was sufficiently ludicrous; but he stuck -to his point until Cyril asked him what the hapless Jews scattered -throughout Europe, on whom the popular fury would at once fall in case -his plan was attempted, would think of him. Then he wrung his hands -and made as though to rend his clothes, and departed sorrowful. -</p> - -<p> -The three days mentioned by Cyril as the duration of the ostracism had -elapsed; but when the usual visit to the springs was paid on the -fourth morning, Mansfield noticed no change in the demeanour of the -<i>Kurgäste</i>. People still looked over, round, and through the two -Englishmen, and avoided carefully coming into the slightest personal -contact with them as they stood waiting their turn to receive the hot -and loathsome beverage. But when the unpleasant duty had been -performed, and the drinkers turned away from the kiosk and into the -promenade, the event occurred which Cyril had foreseen. Approaching -the spring was a tall grey-bearded man of military appearance, walking -with two others, who maintained their position a step behind him on -either side, and to whom he turned and spoke occasionally. In the -foreground, ranged in two lines and leaving an ample path for the -new-comer, were all the most aristocratic of the Ludwigsbad visitors, -bowing and curtseying with the deepest reverence as he reached them, -and manifestly overjoyed when they received a personal greeting. -</p> - -<p> -“The Emperor of Pannonia,” whispered Cyril to Mansfield. “Watch!” -</p> - -<p> -How it happened Mansfield did not clearly see, since he was doing his -best to copy the elaborate bows of the Pannonian magnates, but he was -aware that the Emperor caught sight of Cyril, beckoned him forward, -greeted him warmly, and requested him to turn and walk with him a -short distance. Standing rather in the background, Mansfield was able -to perceive and appreciate the expressions of astonishment and chagrin -which chased one another over the countenances of the crowd that -attended the Emperor, but he had little time to reflect upon their -discomfiture, for a sign from Cyril warned him to fall into line with -the two equerries, so that he could no longer observe the results of -the Imperial condescension on the Emperor’s subjects. As for Cyril, he -knew the reason of this friendly address, and had anticipated it. A -Court scandal of a peculiarly unpleasant character had just been -averted by means of the ready help of the Chevalier Goldberg. Not for -the first time an archducal household had been established with the -aid of the Chevalier’s money, and a secret threatening the honour of -the Imperial house and the happiness of a young bride was safely -locked up in the Chevalier’s breast. The Emperor was duly grateful, -and having been informed of the connection between the Chevalier and -Cyril, was doing honour to the one man by way of gratifying the other. -He had, moreover, something to say also to Cyril himself. -</p> - -<p> -“This Palestine scheme of yours, Count—I am glad to have the -opportunity of speaking to you about it. Is there any prospect of your -being successful?” -</p> - -<p> -“I see no insuperable difficulty in our way at present, sir.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I only hope you may succeed—as far as possible, that is—for -there is no chance of getting rid of the whole body of Jews. The fewer -that remain in Europe the more business will there be for those few, -and I should fear that the emigrants will all come flocking back when -they see how things are going. Still, you may relieve us of the lowest -class of Jew for a time, at any rate, and that will do something to -simplify our heart-breaking problems here. But before I can commend -your scheme unreservedly, Count, I must be satisfied on one point of -the utmost importance. You are aware that I number among my titles -that of King of Jerusalem, and that two at least of my brother -monarchs claim the right to do the same. We are hereditary guardians -of the Holy Places, and you must see that it would not only be -abhorrent to ourselves personally, but absolutely impossible, in view -of the sentiment of Christendom, to place them in the power of the -Jews.” -</p> - -<p> -“That has been clearly foreseen, sir. It was the intention of the -board whom I represent to request the Powers to nominate a Christian -governor, who should make the Holy Places his chief care.” -</p> - -<p> -“You make no suggestion as to the person to be nominated, Count?” The -Emperor turned a keen glance upon Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -“None, sir. It is obvious that the Prince to be chosen must be a man -of liberal views, or he would fail to obtain the suffrages of all the -Powers, but that is the only suggestion we could venture to offer. I -suppose the governor would maintain order, as at present, by the aid -of a Moslem guard; but it would be necessary to allow the Jews free -access to the spots which they consider holy, and which they are now -debarred from approaching. That proviso can hardly fail to commend -itself to your Majesty as fair, I think?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is only natural, and would affect no one but the Roumis, I -imagine. Well, Count, you have relieved my mind. It will not surprise -you to hear that urgent representations against your scheme have been -made to me from several quarters, and without this very equitable -proposal of yours I should have been forced to fall in with the views -they expressed. Now, however, I am able to say that in my opinion you -offer adequate protection for Christianity and the Holy Places, and I -shall act accordingly. You are taking the waters here, I believe? I am -glad to know you are at hand, in case I wish to consult you again on -this subject.” -</p> - -<p> -Thus graciously dismissed, Cyril mingled again with the crowd—a crowd -that was now as anxious to propitiate as it had hitherto been to -ignore him. During the next five minutes, three men, one of whom was -the arbiter of fashion, asked him to dinner that night, and the -Countess von Hohenthurm vouchsafed him the honour of carrying the -paper bag containing her breakfast-roll. Tactless people complained of -their bad eyesight, or lamented that they had not heard Count Mortimer -was at the baths until this morning, but the tactful simply took up -their acquaintance with him at the point where they had dropped it -three days before. Cyril met their overtures in the same spirit, and -his sole piece of revenge was to tell his entertainers at breakfast -all the news of the last three days, as though they had only just -arrived—a piece of pleasantry which brought to Mansfield’s face a -passing gleam of satisfaction. Cyril took him to task for his lowering -brow as they returned to the hotel, and told him that when the -Countess von Hohenthurm was so condescending as to show an interest in -a young man, it behoved that young man to be grateful, and to look it. -</p> - -<p> -“They are all a set of sycophants!” returned Mansfield sharply. “How -you can make friends of them again, I can’t imagine.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t make friends of them, but they are fellow-members of society, -and it would serve no good purpose to quarrel with them. If I was in -their place, I should have acted precisely as they have done.” -</p> - -<p> -“You won’t get me to believe that!” said Mansfield, with an air of -mild reproof which Cyril found irresistibly comic. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, how would you have had me mark my sense of their behaviour?” he -asked. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t see how you can meet them again with any cordiality. Why not -decline the honour of their further acquaintance?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because we live in the great world, and not in Arcadia. You young -people brought up virtuously in England have something terribly stagey -about you. You are all for great <i>coups</i>, but that sort of thing -doesn’t do in ordinary life. You remind me very much of my brother -Caerleon as a young fellow. I don’t think I was ever so ineffably -young myself. I hope not, at any rate. Melodrama is not good form.” -</p> - -<p> -Much crushed by these remarks, which he received as a rebuke, -Mansfield remained silent, and Cyril, observing this, administered a -restorative as they entered the hotel. -</p> - -<p> -“Never mind. I prefer you as you are. A little melodrama in private is -rather amusing than otherwise, and in society you are a model of -discretion, except as regards your looks. Those you must learn to -control a little, but don’t think that I want you not to tell me what -you think.” -</p> - -<p> -He spoke rather absently, for the post had come in while they were -out, and the table in his room was covered with letters and -newspapers. He began at once to open the letters, while Mansfield -turned to the papers and began his daily task of looking through them -in search of any reference to the United Nation scheme. -</p> - -<p> -“There is a very hostile article in this Scythian paper, Count,” he -said after a time, looking round. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah! what paper?” -</p> - -<p> -“The ‘Pavelsburg Gazette.’” -</p> - -<p> -“Good! then it’s inspired. Give me a rough translation, please.” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield was now accustomed to requests of this kind, and went -through the article as rapidly as his somewhat imperfect knowledge of -Scythian permitted. The writer was absolutely appalled by the news -which had come from Czarigrad by way of England, and called upon all -Christians to rise and prevent the proposed transfer of Palestine to -Jewish hands. So sacrilegious an outrage could not be allowed to -proceed, and it was the glorious privilege of the Emperor of Scythia, -as head of the Orthodox Church and protector of the Holy Places, to -prevent it. There was not a Scythian that would not give his life -freely in such a cause, and the sooner the necessary steps were taken -the better. It might be well even to proclaim a crusade, and end the -Jewish difficulty at one blow by sweeping the whole of the accursed -race from the earth. -</p> - -<p> -“Very pretty!” said Cyril, “and evidently meant to prepare the way for -effective action. Scythia has already sounded the other Powers, no -doubt; I thought as much from what the Emperor said to me just now. -Well, I have put a spoke in her wheel, I fancy. When she finds there -is nothing to be done in that direction, she will proceed to push -matters to extremities at Czarigrad, and then comes the tug of war.” -</p> - -<p> -“But can you hope to put sufficient backbone into the Grand Seignior -to enable Roum to stand up against her?” asked Mansfield, surprised by -the confident tone. -</p> - -<p> -“No, that would be beyond the wit of man, but I intend to put a little -gentle pressure on Scythia instead.” -</p> - -<p> -“Would it spoil your plans if you told me how you intend to do it? I -can’t imagine how you will manage.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril smiled pleasantly. “There is a famine in Scythia at this -moment,” he said; “so much you know already. You know also that it -must be pretty bad for the Scythian papers to be allowed to -acknowledge its existence at all. There is also a rising in Central -Asia that looks threatening. The sufferers from the famine must be -helped, and the rising must be put down, but where is the money to -come from? Such hoards as the peasantry may have amassed in good years -are exhausted by this time, and there are no Jews left in the rural -districts to borrow from. The Government will have to step in, but -though the war-chest is full, its contents must be kept intact in view -of a possible European war, and there is very little money in the -country otherwise. To improve matters, certain shrewd gentlemen in -America have arranged a corner in cereals, with a special eye to this -famine and the consequent demand. Now do you see where we come in, -when it becomes evident that there is no money to be obtained in all -Europe if our scheme is thwarted at Czarigrad?” -</p> - -<p> -“You mean to starve them out?” said Mansfield, with more than a touch -of horror in his tone. -</p> - -<p> -“By no means. We take our pound of flesh, which is Palestine, that’s -all.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“What a queer-looking old chap that is over there, Count!” said -Mansfield to Cyril, as they were taking their walk one morning about a -week after the Emperor’s arrival. “He might be a stage brigand.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril glanced in the direction he indicated. “Why, that is my -venerable friend Prince Mirkovics!” he cried. “Who would ever have -dreamt of meeting him here? I thought he never left Thracia.” -</p> - -<p> -He crossed the promenade with a rapid step, and accosted the old man -whose truculent air and fierce white moustache had attracted -Mansfield’s attention. The garb of civilisation sat awkwardly upon -Prince Mirkovics, and it was obvious that he felt ill at ease without -the pistols and dagger which adorned his girdle when in Thracian -costume; but the scornful frown with which he had been contemplating -the vanities of Ludwigsbad vanished when he caught sight of Cyril, -whom he greeted with beaming smiles. -</p> - -<p> -“I will join you in your walk, Count, if you will allow me,” he said, -when Mansfield had been duly introduced to him. “I have a good deal to -tell you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Two years’ Thracian news!” said Cyril lightly. “I have avoided -hearing or reading anything of the kind, on principle, since I left -Thracia, but I felt all the time that it was only accumulating, to -overwhelm me some day.” -</p> - -<p> -“His Excellency loves to jest,” remarked Prince Mirkovics solemnly to -Mansfield. “Perhaps,” he added, turning again to Cyril, “you are not -even aware that his Majesty intends to visit Ludwigsbad? I believe he -was to arrive to-day.” -</p> - -<p> -“What, King Michael?” cried Cyril. “No, I had not heard it. Why, Mr -Mansfield, how is this? It’s your business to keep me posted up in the -names of the expected arrivals. Oh, is that it?” as Mansfield began a -stammering defence; “you thought it might call up unpleasant memories, -and therefore you left me to meet him unawares? I am not quite so -sensitive as that, you know, and you needn’t be so very anxious to -spare my feelings.” -</p> - -<p> -“The Princess of Dardania is naturally coming as well,” continued -Prince Mirkovics. -</p> - -<p> -“Surely not? Why, her husband has only been dead for ten or twelve -months. She is far too clever to outrage propriety by coming to such a -place as this so soon.” -</p> - -<p> -“She does not dare to stay away, Count. The quarrel with her eldest -son has forced her to quit Dardania, and the coolness which came to a -head before that between herself and her elder daughter closes Mœsia -to her. Thracia is her only hope, for if King Michael should break his -promise to marry the Princess Ludmilla, she would be discredited on -all sides.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril’s eyes flashed ominously. “Then her Nemesis has overtaken her -already?” he said. -</p> - -<p> -“It has, Count, at least so far as regards the marriage project which -threw you out of office. Her Royal Highness is a clever woman, but she -has so much at stake in this affair that she has failed to show her -customary tact. She has kept too tight a hand over young Michael, made -the chain by which she has bound him to her daughter too evident, and -if he could muster sufficient courage, he would break it. He slipped -away from Thracia without her knowledge, well aware that she would -oppose his coming here, and she, her daughter, and her household, are -following him promptly. But everything will be done with propriety, my -dear Count. She has borrowed the Grand-Duke Eugen’s villa, and will -receive none but relations.” -</p> - -<p> -“Still, the proceeding sounds a little undignified,” said Cyril drily. -</p> - -<p> -“So much the better, Count, provided it fails. That woman is the curse -of Thracia. Since you left us she has filled the Ministry, the army, -and the civil service with Scythian sympathisers—for Drakovics, in -his second childhood, is nothing but her tool—with the result that we -are now bankrupt in all but name.” -</p> - -<p> -“Bankrupt? and I left the treasury full!” -</p> - -<p> -“Bankrupt. Such changes cost money, Count, both for rewarding friends -and bribing foes. The King, again—he is a young gentleman of taste, -and must spend liberally on his pleasures. The increase of the -army—we could approve of that, for he is Otto Georg’s son, and should -be a born soldier. The beautifying of the capital and the construction -of needless public works—well, it provides employment for the -proletariat, and no doubt he has inherited his mother’s charitable -disposition. But when it comes to squandering money upon theatres and -pictures, and subsidising musicians and dubious foreigners of all -sorts—then, Count, we remember that he is the grandson of Luitpold of -Weldart, and we tremble.” -</p> - -<p> -“And does the Princess approve of these artistic pleasures?” -</p> - -<p> -“By no means, Count; but she cannot persuade his Majesty to relinquish -them, and since his mother left Thracia there is no one else who can -even pretend to influence him.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what a shameful thing for the Queen to leave Thracia when she had -allowed her son to bring all this trouble upon the kingdom!” broke in -Mansfield, who had imbibed from Lady Philippa an inveterate dislike of -the woman whom she regarded as her uncle’s evil genius. “What has she -done with herself?” -</p> - -<p> -“Young man,” said Prince Mirkovics severely, “her Majesty was deeply -affected by the unhappy events which drove Count Mortimer from -Thracia. Her uncontrollable grief reflected so severely upon her son -and the Princess of Dardania, that they proposed to place her in -seclusion, alleging that she suffered from delusions. Warned in time, -the Queen succeeded in escaping from the kingdom, accompanied by -several faithful members of her household. From Czarigrad, where she -took refuge, she made terms with her son, who agreed to pay her -jointure without protest if she withdrew altogether from politics in -future. Her Majesty then retired to a community of Protestant nuns on -Mount Lebanon, where she occupies herself in good works and in -bewailing the past. My daughter is one of those who share her exile, -gladly devoting their lives to the service of their unfortunate -mistress. Count Mortimer knows that I disliked the Queen’s being -appointed regent, but nothing can excuse King Michael’s conduct to his -mother.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril had remained silent while Prince Mirkovics spoke. His face was -very pale, and it was with evident difficulty that he said— -</p> - -<p> -“Have you no remedy to propose for the state of things in Thracia, -Prince?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have; but it is a drastic one. You wonder, perhaps, to see me here? -Do you know that I am on my way home from England—I who have never -left Thracia before? I visited your brother, to inquire whether there -was any hope of his returning to the throne in this extremity.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Prince!” -</p> - -<p> -“How are we better off than when we were under the house of Franza, -Count? Your brother came to our help then, but he refuses now.” -</p> - -<p> -“And quite right, too. Accepting the offer of a vacant throne is a -very different thing from annexing an occupied one.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Count, we turn to you. Will you return to Thracia as Prime -Minister? The country is on our side, and we propose to set before the -King the alternatives of accepting you as Premier or as Regent. The -Constitution makes provision for such an appointment in case of the -incurable extravagance or deliberate viciousness of the monarch.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pray speak lower, Prince. You are talking treason, and in Ludwigsbad -the very rocks have ears. No; I cannot come. I have other work on -hand.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are doing something for the Jews. Oh, throw them over.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not in favour of Thracia, at any rate. Thracia had me once, and -resigned me with quite unnecessary willingness. Now she may want me, -but she can’t have me. The punishment is deserved.” -</p> - -<p> -“But for our sakes, Count—your friends?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, Prince, I am not up to it. I gave the best part of my life to -building up a workable and fairly honest system of government, and two -years have been enough to reduce it to chaos. I could not submit to -the years of weary office drudgery over again. New work I can take up -and carry through; but I have lost the patience and elasticity I used -to possess, and I will not fail where I succeeded once.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch04"> -CHAPTER IV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">A DISTURBING ELEMENT.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">The</span> bitter words in which Cyril renounced all interest in Thracia -were interrupted by an exclamation from Mansfield, who was staring -incredulously at a little party of people approaching from one of the -winding paths. There were an old lady in a bath-chair, a girl, and a -young man, the last two unmistakably English. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t you see, Count? It’s Lady Phil and Usk!” cried Mansfield, -quickening his steps; but Cyril caught him by the arm. -</p> - -<p> -“Wait a minute, Mansfield. Did my brother stipulate that you were not -to speak to Lady Phil during this year of probation? If he did, I will -curb my natural longing to see my niece, and we will turn our backs -upon danger.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, no, really!” Mansfield was horror-struck by the suggestion. “I -was not to follow her about; but I was never forbidden to speak to her -if we met. Lord Caerleon trusted me, I am sure.” -</p> - -<p> -“Caerleon was always trustful,” said Cyril unkindly; but he consented -to keep pace with Mansfield’s hurrying feet, and was considerate -enough to allow the young people to greet one another apart, while he -presented Prince Mirkovics in due form to Princess Soudaroff, an -exiled Scythian lady who occupied the position of godmother to both -the Marchioness of Caerleon and her daughter. Had the matter rested -with him, he would have left them to themselves for a longer time, but -Prince Mirkovics, who was standing with his hat in his hand, looked at -him reproachfully. -</p> - -<p> -“Alas, Count! am I not to enjoy the honour of being presented also to -Madame your niece?” -</p> - -<p> -“Prince Mirkovics accords you royal honours, Phil,” said Cyril. “Is it -necessary to mention that Lady Philippa is Lord Caerleon’s daughter, -Prince?” -</p> - -<p> -“Quite unnecessary, Count. Madame must not come to Thracia unless she -comes as queen. There are still old men who remember her father’s -reign, and it goes without saying that all the young men would be -ready to champion the cause of such a lady.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m so glad you think me like my father,” said Philippa, in her old -impulsive way. “But even if he was still King of Thracia, I shouldn’t -be of any importance, you know. Usk would be the great person, not I.” -</p> - -<p> -Prince Mirkovics glanced at the slight dark-haired youth whose -mirthful grey eyes met his across the bath-chair, and shook his head. -</p> - -<p> -“No, madame, Milord Usk resembles your mother too much. She was a -beautiful girl, indeed—I remember seeing her at the municipal ball -given in honour of your father’s arrival at Bellaviste—but to us she -is only the woman for whose sake Carlino forsook Thracia.” -</p> - -<p> -“What a horrid way of putting it!” cried Philippa. “You ought to be -thankful that I’m not a princess, for I should get you banished from -Court for saying such things. Uncle Cyril, I am sure we ought not to -keep Prince Mirkovics standing here so long.” -</p> - -<p> -She glanced entreatingly at her uncle, for Prince Mirkovics still -maintained his deferential attitude, hat in hand, and Cyril came to -the rescue. “My niece is afraid you will take cold, Prince. Pray put -on your hat.” -</p> - -<p> -“May I be permitted to attend Madame for a short distance?” asked the -old man, complying immediately with the request, and Cyril, much -amused, accepted the humbler office of walking beside the bath-chair, -while Mansfield, looking extremely disconsolate, attached himself to -Usk. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, Princess, this is your doing!” said Cyril to the old lady. “You -are certainly an inveterate match-maker. I never knew any one like -you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what have I done?” asked Princess Soudaroff, with great -simplicity. “I thought the Ludwigsbad waters might do me good, and -therefore I came here. Could I leave Phil and her brother behind, when -their parents had entrusted them to my care?” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps you had heard that the Ludwigsbad water is meat and drink in -one, and thought you might economise, eh, Princess? Have you been -spending your whole year’s income in advance on your charities, as -usual?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no. The fact is, poor Phil seemed so painfully interested in -Ludwigsbad and your letters, that I thought the waters would—would do -me no harm, and so we are here.” -</p> - -<p> -“The truth at last, Princess! Confession is good for the soul.” -</p> - -<p> -“I like the look of the young man,” remarked the Princess -confidentially. “Of course I have heard a great deal about him already -from Usk, but I was anxious to see him. And he is your secretary, Lord -Cyril? And you are engaged in bringing about the restoration of the -Jews to their own land? What a wonderful age this is of ours, and what -a privilege for you to be allowed to assist in such a work! I can’t -tell you how thankful it makes me that I have been allowed to live -long enough to witness this crowning fulfilment of prophecy.” -</p> - -<p> -“I must introduce my friend Goldberg to you if he comes here,” said -Cyril. “You and he both take that view of things.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have already had some correspondence with the Chevalier Goldberg on -the subject of relief for the Scythian Jews. Ah, how sad it is that my -own country should take the lead in ill-treating God’s ancient people! -Is it true that Scythia is even now resisting your measures for -releasing them from bondage?” -</p> - -<p> -“Scythia is undoubtedly doing her best to spoil our plans at -Czarigrad.” -</p> - -<p> -“Lord Cyril, a thought has struck me.” The old lady sat upright -suddenly. “I am expecting Vladimir Alexandrovitch here in a day or -two. You know that he manages my affairs, and is anxious to consult me -about some investment. When I told him I should be at Ludwigsbad, he -said that would suit him quite well.” -</p> - -<p> -“Prince Soudaroff is coming here?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, merely on this business of mine, as I said. But he is an -honourable, fair-minded man. Why should you not meet him informally -and talk things over? You could put the case for the Jews fully before -him—men in his position are always surrounded by people whose -interest it is to keep the truth from them—and I am sure he would be -convinced. Then he could represent the real state of affairs to the -Emperor. You won’t refuse to make the attempt? It may save so much -delay.” -</p> - -<p> -“I shall be delighted to meet Prince Soudaroff whenever you like, -Princess.” But in his own mind Cyril was using very different language -regarding the prospective visit of the great diplomatist who was so -fortunate as to be brother-in-law to the unsuspicious old lady in the -bath-chair. -</p> - -<p> -“Then they have felt the pinch already? This is sharp work. Wily idea -to cloak the object of Soudaroff’s journey in this way. But I shall -have to walk warily, for it’s no joke to find oneself between him and -her most sapient Highness of Dardania.” -</p> - -<p> -They had arrived at the bridge between the old and new promenades, and -he seized the opportunity to detach Prince Mirkovics from Philippa, -and carry him off to his rooms, earning Mansfield’s undying gratitude -by deputing him to escort the ladies back to their lodgings—a -gratitude which was immediately extended to the Princess when she -remarked that it would be pleasant to take a turn in the Neue Wiese -before returning. -</p> - -<p> -“Do you know,” said Philippa mysteriously, as she resumed her place -beside the chair, while Mansfield unblushingly deserted Usk in order -to walk with her, “I think that poor old man must be a little queer. -He has been going on in the most extraordinary way, saying that I -ought to be a queen, and trying to make me discontented with my humble -lot in life. I told him I was perfectly happy in it, and then he said -that I had inherited my father’s only fault, lack of ambition, and -that if father and Uncle Cyril could be mixed up together, they would -make a perfect king. I told him that I thought Uncle Cyril was -splendid, but that I wouldn’t have father the least bit different for -anything, and he said that only confirmed what he had remarked -before.” -</p> - -<p> -“He evidently thinks it’s your duty to worry father back to Thracia,” -laughed Usk. -</p> - -<p> -“Awfully lucky for me that you don’t agree with him,” said Mansfield. -“I should never have had a chance of coming across you in that case.” -</p> - -<p> -“And if you had,” said Usk, “it wouldn’t have done you much good. Do -you think her Royal Highness the Princess Philippa would have -condescended to be aware of your existence?” -</p> - -<p> -“Usk! as if I should ever forget old friends, or pretend to make any -difference with them!” cried Philippa indignantly. -</p> - -<p> -“I am sure you never would,” said Mansfield, so fervently that Usk -laughed aloud, and Princess Soudaroff smiled a placid smile. They had -now reached the Königspark, and were passing one of the outlying -restaurants with which it is dotted. Before the door stood three dusty -travelling-carriages loaded with luggage. The drivers were refreshing -themselves after the not very lengthy journey from Charlottenbad, and -a number of servants, swaggering about, were displaying their liveries -before the admiring eyes of the waitresses. As Princess Soudaroff and -her companions passed on, they came in sight of a group of rather -noisy young men, who were gathered round a table on a terrace -overlooking the river, apparently recruiting their exhausted energies -with the help of beverages not exactly of a temperance character. One -of the drinkers, who sat by himself on one side of the table, made a -remark to the rest, and the whole party turned round and stared at -Philippa. The blush called up on her cheek by the fervour of -Mansfield’s remark changed into a flush of anger when she became aware -of their rudeness, and she held her golden head very high as she -addressed a studiously careless observation to Usk, but her -displeasure appeared to fail of its intended effect. -</p> - -<p> -“<i>A la belle Anglaise</i>!” cried the youth who had already spoken to his -friends, who were now all standing up round the table, and the words -were followed by the crash of broken glass as the goblets were dashed -down after the toast had been drunk. -</p> - -<p> -“I say, this is beyond a joke!” cried Usk angrily, but Mansfield -gripped his arm, with a look that said, “We will come back and settle -things when the ladies are gone indoors.” Philippa was too much -discomposed to observe this piece of by-play, finding it necessary to -relieve her feelings by a sweeping denunciation of the manners of -foreigners, in which both the young men heartily agreed with her. When -Mansfield had stigmatised the unknown roisterers as a set of cads, and -Usk had added that they were probably shop-walkers from Vindobona out -for a holiday, she felt better, and made haste to turn the -conversation to more agreeable themes. Before very long, however, a -hurried footstep became audible in the direction from which they had -come, and an officer in undress uniform, catching them up, bowed -profoundly to the Princess and Philippa. -</p> - -<p> -“My august master, the King of Thracia, regrets deeply that the -indiscreet remarks of some person in his company annoyed -mademoiselle,” he said, in French. “It will afford his Majesty much -gratification to be permitted to offer his apologies in person later -in the day.” -</p> - -<p> -“We are much honoured by his Majesty’s solicitude, monsieur,” replied -Princess Soudaroff promptly, “and neither my god-daughter nor I could -dream of demanding further apologies. Karl, you may go on.” -</p> - -<p> -And with a bow that equalled his own in courtliness, the Princess left -the discomfited emissary standing in the road. -</p> - -<p> -“It is nothing but a trick to discover where we are staying,” she -remarked to the rest, when they were out of earshot. -</p> - -<p> -“I shall have something to say to that youth,” said Usk, jerking his -head in the direction of the distant monarch. “Wretched little -whippersnapper, how can he summon up the cheek to look a Mortimer in -the face?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, Usk,” said Philippa earnestly; “you mustn’t say a word to him. It -might get Uncle Cyril into fresh trouble. I suppose if the King is -determined to make our acquaintance, he must; but if he does I shall -let him know what I think of him.” -</p> - -<p> -None of the party happened to look round, or they would have perceived -the disconsolate messenger following them at a discreet distance. His -errand of pursuing these strangers to their hotel was not an agreeable -one to him, and he hailed gladly the appearance of Prince Mirkovics, -whose elaborate salutation showed that he was acquainted with them, as -a relief from the necessity. The old noble’s eyes gleamed when he -heard the story. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; I can tell his Majesty who the young lady is,” he said, and -walked on so fast that the officer could hardly keep pace with him or -find breath to tell the King why he had come. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Prince; so you can tell us who it is that we have been -admiring?” said King Michael, lazily erecting a pile of broken -wine-glasses. -</p> - -<p> -“The lady, sir, is the daughter of the Marquis Carlino, your august -father’s predecessor on the throne.” -</p> - -<p> -“The niece, then, of the excellent Count Mortimer!” said the Scythian -officer who had failed in his errand. -</p> - -<p> -“What does that signify, when she has such hair?” demanded King -Michael. “I never saw anything like it. All these German women look -washed-out beside her.” -</p> - -<p> -The youthful monarch posed as a connoisseur of female beauty, and his -attendants murmured a respectful acquiescence in his decision. Prince -Mirkovics alone did not seem to have heard it. His sombre eyes were -gleaming again under their shaggy brows. -</p> - -<p> -“I am glad your Majesty has enjoyed this one glimpse of the lady,” he -said. -</p> - -<p> -“Why do you speak as though I should never see her again, Prince? I -intend to make her acquaintance at the ball to-night, and I’ll bet you -anything you like that she gives me half a dozen dances.” -</p> - -<p> -“The lady does not attend public balls, sir.” As he spoke Prince -Mirkovics blessed secretly the strict principles in which Nadia -Caerleon had brought up her daughter. -</p> - -<p> -“Not go to balls? Why not?” asked the King, in unaffected -astonishment. -</p> - -<p> -“Possibly because her parents do not approve of the class of person -she would meet there, sir,” replied Prince Mirkovics, bestowing a -severe glance upon the would-be lady-killer, who looked offended. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, very well: then I shall command Count Mortimer to present her, -that’s all. I mean to speak to her.” -</p> - -<p> -“With what object, sir, if I may venture to ask?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because I want to see whether she is as lively as she is handsome, of -course. She ought to have plenty of fun in her, from her face.” -</p> - -<p> -“If your Majesty is really desirous of making the lady’s -acquaintance”—Prince Mirkovics was astonished and delighted by the -sudden development in himself of such powers of diplomacy as he had -never suspected hitherto—“surely it would be well to say nothing to -Count Mortimer. As I ventured to hint just now, if his Excellency knew -that you, sir, had been graciously pleased to express admiration of -his niece, he would probably remove her at once from Ludwigsbad.” -</p> - -<p> -“Hang it! so he would,” said the King peevishly. “It would be just -like him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps, sir, without mentioning the matter to Count Mortimer, I -might have the honour of making your Majesty acquainted with the lady -at a little entertainment of some sort. A ball, of course, is out of -the question——” -</p> - -<p> -“And moreover, their Highnesses the Princess of Dardania and Princess -Ludmilla could not be present,” put in the Scythian officer. -</p> - -<p> -The King frowned fiercely at the interrupter. “Their Highnesses have -nothing whatever to do with it,” he said angrily. “I make my own -friends without asking their leave.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sir,” said Prince Mirkovics, “allow me to say that Captain Roburoff -is nevertheless in the right. I must be able to invite the Princess -Ludmilla, at any rate, to grace the entertainment by her presence. -Would a party of pleasure to visit some object of interest meet your -Majesty’s wishes?” -</p> - -<p> -“Anything, anything!” said the King sulkily. “Arrange it as you like, -Prince; only be sure to let me know in time, so that I may make no -other engagement. And see here, you must look after Princess Lida. I -am not going to dangle after her all day, instead of talking to the -beautiful Mortimer.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will do my best to arrange everything to your Majesty’s taste,” -said Prince Mirkovics as he retired. Once out of the King’s presence, -a feeling of sick disgust came over the old man as he thought of the -part he had played. -</p> - -<p> -“That wretched boy the son of Queen Ernestine!” he muttered. “It is as -well she cannot see him. And I to be plotting to give him Carlino’s -daughter! But that is the very thing. She has spirit and strength of -mind sufficient to save him in spite of himself. And if not—if he -ventured to slight her, to ill-treat her”—Prince Mirkovics’s hand -clenched itself involuntarily—“we would tear him from the throne, and -seat her there alone. I would kill him with my own hands; but it would -be worth a year or two of misery for her to have her reigning in -Thracia.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -After due consultation with his hotel-keeper and with the director of -the baths, Prince Mirkovics sent out that evening the invitations for -his picnic, and resigned himself to wait four whole days before he -could do anything more. During this period, however, King Michael -contrived to steal a march upon him. Cyril, to whom in righteous -indignation Mansfield had borne the news of the King’s extraordinary -behaviour, thought it well to make a point of accompanying Princess -Soudaroff and Philippa in their morning and evening promenades, and on -these occasions his party invariably encountered that of the King. The -first time this happened, King Michael, who had not chosen to receive -Cyril when the latter called at his hotel the day before, stopped and -spoke to him with marked graciousness. The next time, becoming aware, -apparently, that the ex-Premier was not alone, he desired him to -present his relations, and addressed to each of them a few affable -words, delivered with a <i>blasé</i> and venerable air which sat oddly -upon his youthful countenance. This gave him the opportunity of seeing -Philippa in a new character, for the spectacle of the sallow, -weary-eyed boy, who had treated him with so much ingratitude, -patronising her beloved uncle, was almost too much for her, and her -blue eyes sparkled with the indignation which her close-pressed lips -succeeded in restraining. Cyril was not blind to the feelings of -either side, but his only comment on what he saw was to tease Philippa -afterwards about her manners, which he declared to lack the repose -that ought to mark the caste of Vere de Vere. -</p> - -<p> -On the evening before Prince Mirkovics’s picnic Cyril and Mansfield -betook themselves to Princess Soudaroff’s rooms to join her -dinner-party, instead of dining as usual in the open air. The only -other visitor present was her brother-in-law, the great Scythian -diplomatist, and it was for his benefit that this formal indoor dinner -had been arranged, in order that the keen eyes of Ludwigsbad might not -observe his conference with Cyril. As soon as the meal was over Usk -gave his arm to the Princess, Mansfield, who had received his orders -beforehand, followed, nothing loth, with Philippa, and the two -statesmen were left to themselves, Cyril bringing his chair to Prince -Soudaroff’s end of the table, and waiting for him to begin to speak. A -curious visitor might have observed that when either man glanced away -the eyes of the other ran searchingly over him, as though to discover -some joint in his armour, but that when the two pairs of eyes met, an -impenetrable veil seemed to be let down to hide the soul behind each. -Prince Soudaroff raised a glass of wine critically to the light as he -said— -</p> - -<p> -“What are your terms, Count?” -</p> - -<p> -“You desire an accommodation, then?” -</p> - -<p> -Prince Soudaroff shrugged his shoulders. “What would you have? You -have hedged us in so completely that we must capitulate or starve. I -suppose it is understood that if we withdraw our opposition at -Czarigrad you get us the loan we want on easy terms?” -</p> - -<p> -“I regret to say that no money can pass until our concession is -actually granted. Aid in corn you shall have to any reasonable -extent.” -</p> - -<p> -“This is ungenerous, Count. Why such distrust of our honour?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is a compliment to you, Prince. We must make things safe.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I suppose you rely on cruel necessity to bring us to our knees. -But there is one indispensable condition. The proposed governor of -Palestine must be an Orthodox prince.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is not our affair. It is for the Powers to decide.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense, my friend! No one knows better than you how to manage the -Powers. You and your syndicate can impose your will upon them in this -particular as in others. Our honour forbids us to accept anything -else. Our past history, the blood we have shed in the Christian cause -against the infidel——” -</p> - -<p> -“Let me advise you to write it off as a bad debt, Prince.” -</p> - -<p> -“Impossible. I dare not return to Pavelsburg without this -modification. The Emperor is firm. He will risk and lose everything -rather than yield the point.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then he must bring the Powers to see it in the same light.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that is impossible, I tell you. We have no means of bringing them -to our side. Come, Count, we must have your help. Prince Kazimir of -Dardania is our candidate—a German on the mother’s side. Europe will -not be irreconcilable. What can we offer you to ensure his election?” -</p> - -<p> -“Unfortunately, I can’t think of anything I want,” drawled Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -“Money—when we get it? Titles—we will make you a prince? Political -power?—come, we will propose you as High Commissioner of Minoa, and -you can enjoy yourself there to your heart’s content.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks, Prince; it’s not big enough.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, if you will not accept anything for yourself, what of your -family? Would you care to see your niece Queen of Thracia? Roburoff -tells me that young Michael is perfectly infatuated with her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Unfortunately there is an obstacle, in the shape of the Princess of -Dardania and her daughter.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, the Princess has failed us twice, we need not consider her. One -throws away an untrustworthy tool, you know. As for the girl, we will -find her another husband. Your niece would suit Michael much -better—keep him well in hand and look the part, too. I have been -studying her closely since I came here. She will never have the -regular beauty of her mother; but her colouring is far more charming, -and—Englishwoman though she is—she has not the distressing -woodenness of manner which spoiled the lovely Nadia Mikhailovna in her -younger days. If that girl had been brought up by a woman of the -world, instead of a saintly fanatic like my sister Pauline -Vassilievna, she would have taken Europe by storm. Your niece can -never rival her. But then, as I say, she has dignity and good-humour -and <i>bonhomie</i> such as her mother did not possess. Why, I would advise -my august master to obtain her hand for the Crown Prince, but that I -should despair of making her a convert to Orthodoxy.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril laughed gently. “If my niece wishes to be Queen of Thracia, -Prince, she will attain her object without my help. If she doesn’t, -nothing I could do would have any effect upon her.” -</p> - -<p> -“You would return to Thracia as Premier, of course.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks, but that I have already refused to do.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I fear we can settle nothing,” said Prince Soudaroff, rising -from the table, “since I am forbidden to accept any agreement that -excludes this all-important stipulation. I am returning to Pavelsburg -at once, and I will take his Imperial Majesty’s pleasure on the -subject. Shall we join the ladies? I must make my adieux at once, or I -shall not reach Charlottenbad in time for the train.” -</p> - -<p> -But although Prince Soudaroff’s coachman was distinctly ordered, in -the hearing of Cyril and Usk, to take the Charlottenbad road, he did -not do so, nor did the occupant of the carriage appear to feel any -alarm when he found himself being driven exactly in the opposite -direction. The road which the coachman appeared to prefer led into the -hills, and after a drive of about twenty minutes the carriage stopped -at a small door in a park-wall, and Prince Soudaroff alighted. The -door opened at his knock, and he walked briskly along the path that -led from it, guided by a ray of light from a window at some distance -in front. Below this window was a door, which was also opened promptly -by an invisible watcher, and admitted the visitor to a passage in -which was a back staircase. The man-servant who had been stationed at -the door conducted him in perfect silence up the stairs, and through a -small ante-room into a luxurious boudoir, in which was sitting a lady -in trailing garments of black and a cap with a long black veil falling -from it to the ground. She dismissed the servant with a gesture. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, what is your news?” she asked imperiously of Prince Soudaroff. -</p> - -<p> -“Bad, madame. The Mortimer is incorruptible.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then the negotiations are broken off?” -</p> - -<p> -“Unfortunately, madame, we cannot afford to do that. The other side -know that they have only to wait, and we must yield.” -</p> - -<p> -“He refuses to consent to the election of my son?” -</p> - -<p> -“He will not express any preference, madame. The matter is one for the -Powers, he says. You and I know that his personal assent would satisfy -the Emperor, and give us all we want.” -</p> - -<p> -“Because it would discredit him with the Jews when it came out?” -</p> - -<p> -“Either that, madame, or it would so revolt the Catholic powers that -they would combine to oblige Roum to refuse the concession, and he -would lose his prestige. When the Jews reject him, he cannot sink much -lower. Perhaps Hayti would afford the only possible field for his -powers.” -</p> - -<p> -The Princess of Dardania smiled gently at the brutal joke. “Then the -affair resolves itself once more into a personal contest between Count -Mortimer and myself,” she said. “You will let me know anything of -moment that occurs to you, and I will turn my thoughts to winning the -assent which is either to ruin our friend’s influence or discredit his -cause, or both.” -</p> - -<p> -“The task could not be in abler hands, madame. Perhaps I might venture -to offer one single suggestion? I hear rumours that the Mortimer is -aiming at the throne of Thracia for his niece.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, he wishes her to supplant my daughter?” -</p> - -<p> -“Exactly so, madame. The presumption of the idea is atrocious, but it -occurs to me that it might prove useful. It might be possible to lead -him on by its means. For instance, from an incautious remark he let -drop, it seems to me that his Majesty must have made overtures to him, -with the view of inducing him to return to Thracia. That opens up -dangerous possibilities, but it also gives us some idea how to set to -work.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see.” The Princess sat with her black brows drawn together. -</p> - -<p> -“And now, madame, I will depart, if your Royal Highness will permit -me. It would not look well to lose my train after starting in such -excellent time. You wished me to convey a letter to the Emperor, I -believe?” -</p> - -<p> -The Princess unlocked her writing-case, and took out a sealed -envelope, which Prince Soudaroff placed in an inner pocket. Kissing -the hand which the Princess extended to him, he took his leave, and -quitted the villa with the same precautions as he had observed on -entering it. His carriage was waiting for him under the wall of the -park, and he was quickly embarked on the long drive necessary to bring -him to Charlottenbad and the train. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch05"> -CHAPTER V.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE CROWN MATRIMONIAL.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">It</span> was with a sardonic chuckle that Prince Mirkovics remarked the -next morning to his pretty German daughter-in-law, whom he had -summoned by telegraph from Thracia to assist him upon this momentous -occasion, that the entertainment he was offering to his future Queen -was favoured with Queen’s weather. The irony underlying the speech was -necessarily lost upon Princess Boris, to whom Princess Lida of -Dardania was the only possible Queen for Thracia, but she responded -with sympathetic cheerfulness, relieved to be able to display her new -Felix gown without offering it up as a sacrifice to her loyalty. The -locality of the picnic had cost Prince Mirkovics much anxious thought, -but he had fixed at last upon a spot known as the Tannenspitze, a -grassy hill-top emerging from a sea of pines, and commanding an -extensive view. Carriages were to convey the party from Ludwigsbad to -the foot of the hill, but the summit itself could only be approached -on foot, by means of a variety of intricate paths through the -pine-woods, and this it was that rendered the place specially suitable -in view of Prince Mirkovics’s purposes. The arrangements generally -were left in the hands of Princess Boris, who was dominated by the -ambition of giving the smartest picnic Ludwigsbad had ever seen. This -necessitated an expenditure at which the frugal soul of her -father-in-law rose in shocked revolt, but he remembered in time the -stakes for which he was playing, and held his peace. -</p> - -<p> -In spite of the magnitude of the preparations for their entertainment, -the list of those invited was rather select than lengthy. The guest of -the day was naturally Princess Lida, a young lady of seventeen, -endowed with a tact and assurance that would have done credit to a -world-worn society leader of seventy. It pleased her Highness, who may -or may not have received a hint from her mother before starting, to -single out Philippa as the object of her special favour, and enlist -her as her inseparable companion for the day. Philippa must sit beside -her in the carriage, and walk with her through the pine-woods, and -give detailed answers to an endless list of searching questions as to -her home life, her favourite pursuits, her tastes, and her ancestry. -The easy persistence with which Princess Lida imposed her will upon -the whole party, and her stamp upon the conversation, astonished and -oppressed the English girl, who felt herself overgrown and unfinished -and badly dressed in the presence of this very self-possessed young -lady. The only misgiving which had afflicted Philippa on starting, -relative to her gown of white cloth, with its edging of gold cord, and -pale blue silk shirt, was the fear that something darker would be more -suitable for a rough country walk. Now, however, as she contemplated -Princess Lida’s delicate silver-grey silk and black lace, and the -marvellous confection of <i>pervenche</i> cashmere, decked in bewildering -fashion with velvet bows, diamond buttons, iridescent embroidery, and -silk fringe, which Princess Boris had considered fitting wear for the -occasion, she owned to herself that the dress she had worn at the -Marlborough House garden-party, a few weeks back, would not have been -at all too smart. A miserable consciousness of her shoes also -oppressed her, for they were English-made and serviceable, and -contrasted painfully with the fairy-like foot-gear, high-heeled and -highly decorated, of the other ladies. -</p> - -<p> -When the carriages had been left behind, however, and the walk through -the woods began, Philippa found that the advantage was on her own -side, but she thought Prince Mirkovics need not have emphasised this -superiority in the way he did. Noticing the difficulty with which -Princess Lida stumbled along the rough track, he devoted himself -ostentatiously to removing the stones from her path, accompanying his -attentions with remarks which the two girls were fain to regard as -breathing loyalty and respect, but which seemed fated to move King -Michael and his suite to bursts of ill-concealed laughter. It was a -relief to Philippa when their host insisted at last on offering his -arm to the Princess, and provided a cavalier for herself in the shape -of Captain Roburoff, who appeared to have altogether forgotten and -forgiven the snub he had received only five days ago at her -godmother’s hands. He spoke of Cyril and his efforts to solve the -Jewish problem with so much interest and appreciation that Philippa, -unconscious that a word from Prince Soudaroff had led him to read up -the subject carefully, felt her heart warm towards him, and conversed -with an animation such as she rarely showed to strangers. -</p> - -<p> -Cyril himself was unable to spare time for the picnic, which caused -Prince Mirkovics a secret guilty satisfaction, but he had generously -given Mansfield a day’s holiday, which had so far failed to bring the -secretary the pleasure he had expected. Philippa’s society was -unattainable, and in despair Mansfield attached himself to another -disconsolate young Englishman, who knew no one but the friends with -whom he had come. Together they forsook the beaten track in favour of -a torrent-bed, which afforded them a good deal of scrambling and a -certain amount of risk, arousing thereby the longing envy of Usk, who -had been delivered over to the tender mercies of Princess Lida’s -lady-in-waiting. Countess Birnsdorf was stiff, elderly, and -unappreciative of rural delights, and she subjected Usk to a severe -cross-examination, with the view of discovering whether he was really -“born,” in the German sense of the word. His light-hearted confession -that he really could not answer half her questions without looking up -his family history in the ‘Peerage’ shocked and startled her, and he -detected a perceptible shrinking from his society until she had -satisfied herself as to the length of time the Mortimers had reigned -at Llandiarmid, and the arms they had borne at different epochs. Early -study of the carvings and stained glass in the Castle hall had -rendered Usk well versed in these, and before the hill-top was -reached, the Countess had come to look upon him almost with -friendliness. The feeling was not reciprocated, however, and Usk was -base enough to turn his charge over to Mansfield’s unhappy friend, who -had in some way contrived to lose his companion in the wood, and -approached to ask whether Usk had seen him. Quieting his conscience -with the excuse that it would be quite a novel and exciting sensation -for the Countess to tall for the first time to some one who was not -“born,” Usk slipped away to find Mansfield, whom he discovered engaged -in a solitary search for adventures in the miniature cavern where the -stream took its rise. In this Usk joined him, and they wasted all the -vestas they had with them, made themselves decidedly wet, and tore -their clothes a little, enjoying themselves thoroughly the while. When -the want of matches rendered further exploration impracticable, they -remembered reluctantly their duty to the rest of the party, and were -retracing their steps to the summit of the hill, when there was a -flash of blue and white through the trees, and the two young men were -suddenly confronted by Philippa, who burst upon them, flushed and -panting. -</p> - -<p> -“Usk,” she cried fiercely, “if you let that odious little cad come -near me again, I’ll never speak another word to you in my life!” -</p> - -<p> -“Which I wish to remark, that your language is strong, Phil,” observed -Usk mildly. -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield’s eyes blazed as he turned upon him. “For shame, Usk! -Doesn’t it matter to you that your sister has been insulted? Who is -it, Lady Phil? that Scythian fellow?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no,” panted Philippa, “it’s the King. But Usk is quite right. It -was silly of me to be so excited. Oh, please, Mr Mansfield, don’t go. -I—I want you to hear how it was. Please stay here.” -</p> - -<p> -She caught his hand and held it, and Mansfield, before whose eyes had -floated a vision in which his stick made closer acquaintance with King -Michael’s sacred person than the monarch would be likely to consider -agreeable, allowed himself to be persuaded to remain, more especially -since Usk gave him a warning look behind Philippa’s back. “This is my -affair. You have no right to interfere,” the look meant, and Mansfield -was forced to submit. -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose they must have arranged it beforehand,” Philippa went on, -“for you know, Usk, I was walking with Captain Roburoff. He talked so -nicely about Uncle Cyril, and told me such interesting things about -the Jews in Scythia, that I never thought about the path until he -stopped suddenly, and said, ‘A thousand pardons, mademoiselle! What a -fool I am! I have lost the way,’ and then I found that none of the -others were in sight, and I could not hear their voices either. -Captain Roburoff seemed dreadfully sorry, and asked me to sit down on -a fallen tree while he went on a little farther to see where the path -led to. I said I was not tired, but he persisted I must be, and I -thought he would fancy that I was afraid to stay in the wood alone, so -I sat down. He was out of sight among the trees almost at once, and it -really was rather lonely, so that I was quite glad when I heard him -coming back, as I thought. But it wasn’t Captain Roburoff at all, it -was the King, and he said he had flown to the relief of the distressed -damsel, and talked a lot of nonsense about wood-nymphs, and tried to -pay me compliments about—about my hair, you know, and that sort of -thing. I nearly laughed, but I thought it might be his way of being -polite, so I walked on with him. Then we came to a rather steep place, -and he would insist on helping me up it (though I believe I could have -helped him much better), and he squeezed my hand. I pulled it away at -once, and he said, in the most idiotic way, ‘Would that I might call -that fair hand mine for ever!’ I thought that was going rather far, -even for a foreigner, so I made some remark about Princess Lida, just -to recall her to his mind. Then he flew out and said that he hated -Princess Lida, that his mother and the Princess of Dardania had -arranged the marriage when he was a baby, and had brought him up to -look upon it as a settled thing, and that Princess Lida had no soul, -and not a thought in common with him, and he was tired of her very -name, and he would be graciously pleased to marry me instead. Fancy—a -boy years younger than I am! He had got sentimental again by that -time, but I was so angry that I gave him a good talking-to, and told -him that he ought to be ashamed of himself, and that Princess Lida was -perfectly lovely, and would make him a far better queen than he had -any right to expect, and then he went into such a passion! I think he -must have expected me to regard his offer as a sort of command, to be -obeyed without question, for he said that the Princess of Dardania and -her daughter were the curse of Thracia, and that it would be my fault -if the kingdom was ruined and he went to the bad. I wanted to box his -ears, and at last I was really afraid I should, for he was just like a -little boy who ought to be put in a corner, so I came away. Usk, do -you think he was mad—or <i>drunk</i>?” Philippa ended the story of her -wrongs in an awestruck whisper. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t know, I am sure. I shall speak to him and see.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, Usk, you’d better not. You know father told us to be sure to -consult Uncle Cyril at once if the slightest attempt was made to -entangle us in politics while we were abroad, and I suppose this must -be the sort of thing he meant.” -</p> - -<p> -“Would you like me to tell Count Mortimer when I see him to-night, -Lady Phil?” asked Mansfield. A horrible suspicion had seized him that -Cyril might have some hand in the affair. He hated himself for the -thought, but his short intercourse with his employer had served to -assure him that over-scrupulousness was not one of Cyril’s failings. -If he was indeed in King Michael’s confidence, and Philippa discovered -the fact, the enthusiastic love she cherished for her uncle would be -destroyed for ever, and Mansfield made up his mind to spare her the -pain of such a disillusionment. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no,” she answered, flushing scarlet. “I could not let any one else -tell him about such a horrid thing. I must do it myself.” -</p> - -<p> -“I would make as little of it as possible,” said Mansfield, with -assumed unconcern. “I shall see him before you do, that’s all.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes, please tell him, then. Perhaps he might say we ought not to -have lost time. But you won’t leave me alone all afternoon, Usk, will -you? or if Usk is called away, you’ll stay with me, won’t you, Mr -Mansfield?” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield assured her of his constant attendance with a warmth that -drew another warning look from Usk, and they returned to the rest of -the party, who were all somewhat ruffled, owing to the obvious -ill-temper of King Michael. He was seated between his <i>fiancée</i> and -Princess Boris, doing his best to make both ladies uncomfortable, and -the appearance of Philippa with her bodyguard produced no improvement -in his mood, since all Prince Mirkovics’s tactics failed to separate -the three. Even when Princess Lida claimed Philippa again after lunch -as her companion, Usk and Mansfield followed the two girls at a -discreet distance, much to the disapproval of the lady-in-waiting, who -suspected in them a romantic adoration for her charge. By affecting an -abnormal denseness, and complete ignorance of the French language, -they succeeded in baffling their host’s efforts to detach them from -Philippa, and when they returned to Ludwigsbad in the evening they -were able to boast that King Michael had not ventured to approach her -again. Mansfield saw Usk and his sister safely deposited at Princess -Soudaroff’s lodgings, and returned reluctantly to the Hôtel Waldthier -to tell his story to Cyril. He could not bring himself to look at his -employer during the recital, for the fear which had seized him at -first had become almost a certainty, and it was with a shock of -anticipation rather than surprise that he heard Cyril say— -</p> - -<p> -“So soon? The young rascal has lost no time, certainly.” -</p> - -<p> -“Count, you didn’t know of this?” The agony of entreaty in his own -voice startled Mansfield. -</p> - -<p> -“May I ask what business it is of yours?” -</p> - -<p> -“I couldn’t—I can’t believe it. Some one told me once that you spared -no one when it was a question of politics, but I can’t believe you -would expose your own niece to unpleasantness simply to further your -schemes.” -</p> - -<p> -“A Daniel come to judgment! The unpleasantness was soon over, on your -own showing.” -</p> - -<p> -“It would not have been in the case of any other girl. It might have -led her into awful trouble. Lady Phil is different. She would not let -herself be tempted by a crown.” -</p> - -<p> -“In view of your position with regard to my brother’s family,” -remarked Cyril icily, “your interference in this affair is open to -objection.” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield’s accusing eyes fell, but he recovered himself quickly. “I -can’t deny that I love Lady Phil, Count; but that doesn’t deprive me -of the right a man has to help any girl that he may see placed in an -unfair position.” -</p> - -<p> -“And what is the exact nature of the help you propose to render?” -</p> - -<p> -“To resign my post with you, and telegraph to Lord Caerleon. Lady Phil -shall never hear the full truth, if I can help it. I think it would -break her heart to know that you——” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield’s voice faltered, and Cyril’s keen eyes scrutinised him -curiously. -</p> - -<p> -“Do you know that you are a fool, Mansfield?—an honest, blundering -idiot? I won’t accept your resignation, do you hear?—though I should -be justified in doing so, after the way you have spoken to me. How -dare you expect me to defend myself against your suspicions? You know -you had given me up as a bad lot. Well, all I knew of the matter was a -hint last night from Prince Soudaroff that young Michael had fallen in -love with my niece, but I refused to have anything to do with it. And -even now I know that you trust me no further than you can see me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Forgive me, Count. If you knew how I hated the thought——” -</p> - -<p> -“I should grovel before you in mingled pity and admiration, no doubt. -But why I should care a farthing about your opinion of me I don’t -know. I have never defended myself to any one before, but you are -really too young and idyllic for this wicked world. Well, you may be -easy about my niece. I will put a stop to King Michael’s love-making.” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield’s mind was in a whirl as he departed. He had not known -hitherto what power Cyril possessed over him, nor with what mastery he -could play upon his feelings; but he felt now that if he had found his -employer guilty of the baseness he had suspected in him, it would have -been a blow second only to the loss of Philippa herself. The -unworthiness of his late suspicions cut him to the heart, and his -whole demeanour the next day was a mute entreaty for pardon, which -amused Cyril not a little. Even an incident which would have aroused -his misgivings the day before had now no power to disturb his trust. -</p> - -<p> -The early promenade and the open-air breakfast were over, and -tranquillity had settled down upon the place for the space of those -morning hours which Ludwigsbad holds sacred to rest and seclusion. At -the Hôtel Waldthier Mansfield sat writing in the little anteroom of -Cyril’s <i>appartement</i>, whence he could command the side-door which was -reserved for Count Mortimer’s visitors. Many strange guests had -Mansfield admitted at that door, from royal princes to -poverty-stricken Jews, but it was startling even to him to observe a -stage conspirator approaching it. The visitor wore a soft felt hat -pulled down over his face, and a greatcoat with the collar turned -up—an attire singularly unsuited to the weather,—and he glanced from -side to side, starting at the slightest sound, in a very realistic -manner. After stepping noiselessly up to the door, and apparently -satisfying himself that he was unobserved, he returned on tiptoe to -the gateway by which he had entered the garden, and brought back with -him another person attired like himself. Together they approached -Mansfield’s window, and the first man made signs expressive of a -desire to enter without attracting attention. Leaving his desk, -Mansfield admitted them at the private door. They entered without -uttering a word, but, once in the room, the second turned down his -collar and disclosed the features of King Michael. -</p> - -<p> -“Are we alone, and unobserved?” he demanded of his companion. -</p> - -<p> -“Absolutely so, my liege,” returned Captain Roburoff, in accents that -suggested a certain difficulty in speaking. The King turned -majestically to Mansfield, who half expected to hear himself addressed -as “Minion.” -</p> - -<p> -“Tell Count Mortimer that I wish to see him,” he said. -</p> - -<p> -“I will inquire whether his Excellency is at leisure, sir,” responded -Mansfield, who would have given much to deny the monarch admittance -altogether. But although Cyril raised his eyebrows quizzically, and -asked whether Mansfield would wish to be present during the interview, -he rose at once and came to the door to welcome his royal visitor. -</p> - -<p> -“To what am I indebted for this supreme honour, sir?” he inquired when -they were alone. -</p> - -<p> -“Be seated, Count,” replied King Michael affably. “I am here on a -friendly errand, I assure you.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril bowed and obeyed, and his visitor continued— -</p> - -<p> -“I perceive, Count, that you are surprised by this private visit. No -doubt it will surprise you still more to learn that it is merely an -earnest of my good-will towards you. I admit that when I came to the -throne I acted hastily in accepting your resignation, but no one can -regret it more than I do. I look to you, as a fair-minded man, to -place the blame where it is due. My mind had been poisoned against -you—by whom, you can guess.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril bowed again in silence. King Michael went on— -</p> - -<p> -“I have made up my mind to redress the injustice into which I was -hurried. In their eagerness to aggrandise their own family, my mother -and the Princess of Dardania induced me to engage myself to Princess -Ludmilla, and by means of this quasi-promise the Princess of Dardania -has contrived to exercise a wholly unwarranted authority over myself -and the kingdom. I have determined to put an end to it. The Princess’s -influence is injurious to Thracia, and her daughter is personally -distasteful to myself. The position which she hopes to occupy I -destine for your niece, Lady Philippa Mortimer, and I desire your -assistance in the matter.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well?” interjected Cyril, with startling suddenness. -</p> - -<p> -“I think you forget to whom you are speaking, Count.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir. I do not forget that for the sake of the girl you now wish -to cast aside you broke the heart of the mother who had sacrificed her -life’s happiness for you and your kingdom.” -</p> - -<p> -The King’s sallow face grew livid. “If all that is said is true, you -are not the man to talk to me of cruelty to her Majesty, Count.” -</p> - -<p> -“At least I can say that I have repented my cruelty from that day to -this. You have not.” Cyril’s eyes were flashing, and his even voice -was charged with thunder. King Michael and he had both risen to their -feet, and were confronting each other angrily across the table. -</p> - -<p> -“We are losing time in these irrelevant recriminations, Count,” said -the King, recovering himself. “I wish you to undertake the conduct of -this affair. You will return to office, of course—I give you <i>carte -blanche</i> with regard to the wretched crew of incapables at present in -power—but I do not know whether you will prefer to rid me of the -Princess of Dardania and her daughter before setting to work. I leave -the method to you—you are an old enemy of her Royal Highness, I -believe?—and I don’t stipulate for any special tenderness towards -either of them. Afterwards you will take the proper steps to obtain -Lady Philippa’s hand for me. I believe I alarmed the young lady -yesterday by avowing my sentiments too openly; no doubt she thought -such warmth incorrect in view of Princess Lida’s presence in the -company; but you will do everything in due form. You hesitate? You -think I am making a cat’s paw of you?” A grim smile crossed Cyril’s -face. “I am willing to repeat before witnesses the orders I have given -you, if you will call in Roburoff and your secretary.” -</p> - -<p> -“Quite unnecessary.” Cyril had regained his usual calm. “You broke the -heart of the woman who gave up everything for you, and now you want to -throw away the toy for the sake of which you did it. But that you -won’t do. I don’t pose as a moralist, but I have some sense of the -fitness of things. At the rate you are going, it won’t be long before -you are unfit to speak to a decent woman, and you expect me to give -you my niece! Why, I should have scruples about marrying you to -Princess Lida, if I had any responsibility in the matter, but her -mother and you settled that between you, and you shall stick to it. If -I am not mistaken, she will turn out a match for you. But at any rate, -for your mother’s sake, I will see that her wishes on the subject are -carried out.” -</p> - -<p> -The fierce irony of the tone roused the King to something very like -frenzy. “If I don’t marry your niece, I’ll make you sorry that you -refused her to me,” he muttered, his lips twitching and his fingers -picking nervously at his chin. -</p> - -<p> -“The first word you say against her will be the signal for your own -destruction,” said Cyril coldly. “I am not in the habit of speaking -idly, and I warn you that you are still on the throne only because I -have not cared to dethrone you. But if you are good enough to furnish -me with a reason for taking action——” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t revenge myself upon women,” snarled the King, forgetting his -threat of the moment before. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, you are young yet,” replied Cyril pleasantly. “Permit me to -attend your Majesty to the door.” -</p> - -<p> -In the anteroom Captain Roburoff, who had been amusing himself with -trying to torment Mansfield by means of hints as to the King’s -matrimonial intentions, jumped up in a hurry when his sovereign -appeared. He expected a return to the elaborate ceremonial which had -marked their entrance into the hotel, but King Michael strode out of -the room without a word, neglecting all the precautions he had seen -fit to adopt, and Mansfield breathed freely. It was evident that here -was no accepted lover, and the refusal appeared to have been -accompanied by a little wholesome plain speaking. On Cyril the -impression left by the interview was one of unmitigated disgust. -</p> - -<p> -“<i>That</i> Ernestine’s boy!” he muttered, as Prince Mirkovics had done -before him. “Well, it’s a good thing that the young blackguard forgot -himself so far as to threaten poor little Phil. It forces me to make -things safe by cutting the ground from under his feet. So now to -business!” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch06"> -CHAPTER VI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub"><i>DANAOS DONA FERENTES.</i></span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">Telling</span> Mansfield that he was going for a stroll, and should -probably lunch at Princess Soudaroff’s—a piece of information that -filled the secretary with unavailing envy—Cyril took the road which -led to the villa occupied by the Princess of Dardania. Reaching the -door, he was greeted with stares of surprise by the servants on the -steps and in the hall, and his request to be permitted to wait upon -the Princess was regarded with amazement, not unmixed with suspicion. -</p> - -<p> -“Her Royal Highness does not receive visitors,” he was told, while his -card was handed round and scrutinised with something of awe. -</p> - -<p> -“I think her Royal Highness will receive me,” he answered calmly, -wishing he was as sure of the fact as he pretended to be. No one knew -better than he did that he was making a hazardous stroke. If it -failed, his old enemy would have scored a point. But his confident air -impressed the servants sufficiently to induce them to carry his name -to the Princess, and her reception of it established him in their -respect. Princess Ottilie was beginning to be anxious about the -fulfilment of her compact with Prince Soudaroff. Two days had passed -since his visit, and she had made no progress towards securing the -coveted governorship for her son. Worse than this, there seemed to be -no means even of sounding Cyril upon the subject, unless she went so -far as to make direct advances, such as he would probably take delight -in repulsing. Not knowing that she had become necessary to his -schemes, she had never dared to hope that the first overtures would -come from him, and the announcement that he asked to see her was music -in her ears. She gave orders that he should be admitted at once, and -when he was ushered into her boudoir he found her standing beside the -table to receive him, a majestic figure in her sweeping black robes. -Why was it that Cyril’s heart flew straightway to another woman who -had worn similar weeds, which, so far from enhancing such beauty as -she possessed, had only served to accentuate the slenderness of her -form and deprive her of every vestige of colour? The Princess of -Dardania looked more magnificent even than of old, the severity of the -garb exhibiting her stately stature to the fullest advantage. -</p> - -<p> -“A year ago,” she said, “I should have hesitated to receive Count -Mortimer, fearing that he came as an enemy; but now”—her eyes strayed -to the large portrait of her late husband which stood upon the -table—“I cannot believe that he would seek my presence with the -desire of adding to my misfortunes.” -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed, madame, my sole reason for entreating an audience is the -double hope of doing you a service and of obtaining a favour from -you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Tell me the last first, Count, that I may at any rate have the -pleasure of granting it.” -</p> - -<p> -“It grows out of the first, madame, and I will therefore ask -permission to defer it for a moment. Your Royal Highness will -recollect that when we last met I had the misfortune to differ from -you with regard to the affairs of Thracia?” -</p> - -<p> -The Princess remembered Prince Soudaroff’s hint, and trembled in spite -of herself. Had her old enemy come to announce the downfall of her -dearest hopes? She inclined her head slightly in answer to the -question, but said nothing. -</p> - -<p> -“You favoured a certain policy, madame, which I opposed. Your advice -prevailed. I bowed to circumstances, and quitted Thracia. I have now -no wish to disturb the settlement then arrived at, although I think -your Royal Highness will perceive presently that I could easily do -so.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t understand you, Count. Pray do not speak in riddles.” -</p> - -<p> -“To speak plainly, madame, the King of Thracia has been seized with a -violent—we will hope only evanescent—passion for my niece.” -</p> - -<p> -“Surely you forget that his Majesty is betrothed to my daughter, -Count?” -</p> - -<p> -“Say rather, madame, that his Majesty has forgotten it, since this -morning he directed me to make formal proposals to my brother for his -daughter’s hand.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, really, Count, this is too absurd! His Majesty must be out of his -mind.” -</p> - -<p> -“The derangement is merely temporary, madame. My niece regards it in -that light, I assure you. She was horrified by the King’s proposal.” -</p> - -<p> -“I congratulate you on the good sense of the young lady, Count.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am indeed to be congratulated, madame; but I can see that this -vexatious affair may have disagreeable consequences, of which my niece -does not dream. I understand that at the picnic yesterday his Majesty -made her unpleasantly conspicuous by his attentions. Her natural -impulse is to leave Ludwigsbad immediately; but such a flight would -only cause the sensation we wish to avoid. You acknowledge, madame, -that Lady Philippa has behaved well, you have honoured her parents -with your friendship—you must see that there is only one means of -averting such gossip as would be equally painful to you and to them.” -</p> - -<p> -The Princess’s countenance cleared. “Have you heard, Count, that my -daughter hurt her foot yesterday, and is condemned to the sofa for -several days? She has conceived a romantic attachment for your pretty -niece, and it would cheer her to have her society. Do you think Lady -Philippa’s excellent godmother would spare her to us for a week? If -so, I will send Countess Birnsdorf to bring her here.” -</p> - -<p> -“I feel sure that Princess Soudaroff will rejoice to sacrifice herself -on Princess Lida’s behalf, madame. The King, of course——” -</p> - -<p> -“The King is about to join a shooting-party in the mountains. I heard -the news just before you came.” -</p> - -<p> -“That removes my sole anxiety, madame. Your Royal Highness will -condescend to accept my thanks for your great kindness?” -</p> - -<p> -“Wait, Count. There is something I wish to say. Do you remember -telling me that if I tried to rule the Balkans without your help I -should fail? It is true; I have proved it. But who could have imagined -that it would be the ingratitude and disobedience of my own children -which would bring about the fulfilment of your prophecy?” -</p> - -<p> -“You have my sincerest sympathy, madame.” -</p> - -<p> -“My eldest daughter, as you know, is married to King Albrecht of -Mœsia. I thought him all I could desire; he seemed thoroughly in -sympathy with my schemes; but no sooner was he married than he became -a German of the Germans, and Bettine followed his example. Thus I lost -Mœsia from my Slavonic confederation. But with my son it was even -worse. You know, of course, that he was to marry the Grand-Duchess -Sonya Eugenovna. Her mother has long been dead, and she spent much of -her time with me. All seemed to go well between her and Alexis; but -shortly before his father died, when I wished him to propose to her, -he refused flatly. He had met Princess Emilia of Magnagrecia at the -Pannonian Court, and declared that he would marry no one else. In vain -I pointed out the disgrace he was bringing upon me; he married -Princess Emilia a month ago; and now I am only welcome in Dardania, as -in Mœsia, on sufferance. Surely even you must pity me?” -</p> - -<p> -“Madame,” interposed Cyril, in tones of deep emotion, “your gracious -confidence forces me to speak. The idea of detaching your son from the -Grand-Duchess Sonya, and attracting him to the lady who is now his -wife, was mine.” -</p> - -<p> -The Princess sat as if stunned. She had known the truth perfectly -well, and Cyril was aware of this. It was his confession that took her -by surprise. “You have made amends by your chivalrous action to-day,” -she said at last, with a sad smile. -</p> - -<p> -“Your kindness overwhelms me, madame. Have I your Highness’s -permission to retire? I know my presence must be distasteful.” -</p> - -<p> -“No; there is something else you can do, Count. I have another son, -and I have set my heart on his becoming governor of Palestine. That is -in your power to bring about.” -</p> - -<p> -“Alas, madame! Why ask me the one impossible thing? The decision does -not rest with me, nor even with my friends.” -</p> - -<p> -The Princess smiled more gently still. “I must take the will for the -deed, I suppose?” she said. “That is poor comfort for an anxious -mother, Count. But don’t think I blame you. You will come here -occasionally when your niece is with us, and assure yourself that we -are taking proper care of her? We need not sadden the young with the -knowledge of our troubles. Come as often as you like, and do not feel -compelled to ask for me. I cannot forget that I am growing old.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then, madame, you succeed where all the rest of the world has -failed,” responded Cyril, kissing the beautiful hand she held out to -him. His manner was remorseful, and his eyes lingered on her face as -he left the room. As soon as he was gone, the Princess crossed the -floor to a large mirror. -</p> - -<p> -“He was more nearly human than I have ever known him,” she mused. -“What can it be?” She smiled consciously as her eyes fell upon the -reflection in the glass. “Would it be possible? What a triumph! to -have him at my feet! But he is dangerous; I dare not trust him. There -is Ernestine, too; I must sound him on that subject. That will give me -some clue to his present feelings. He is open to conviction on the -subject of Kazimir, I think; but even that would be nothing in -comparison with the joy of snatching him from Ernestine. But I must -not think of that. I must keep cool. If he once gets the upper hand, -all is lost. I am glad I thought of giving him a general invitation. -Ah, Birnsdorf,” as the lady-in-waiting appeared at the door, “I want -you to take one of the carriages, and go to Princess Soudaroff’s -lodgings. You will carry a note from me, and bring back Lady Philippa -Mortimer. Impress upon the old fanatic that Lida is making herself ill -for want of the girl, and say anything else that occurs to you as -likely to weigh with her.” -</p> - -<p> -Countess Birnsdorf curtseyed and retired, and executed her mission -with so much success that Philippa returned with her to the villa -within an hour. Cyril had prepared Princess Soudaroff’s mind for the -request, and the Countess worked skilfully upon her feelings; hence -the easy victory. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -The week of Philippa’s stay at the villa—a stay which she discovered -to be intended as a reward for what Countess Birnsdorf called the -“delicate correctness” of her conduct—was not a period of unmixed -bliss. The house and grounds were beautiful, and the etiquette exacted -by the Princess not excessive, but the atmosphere was new and -disagreeable to Philippa. The air seemed full of plots, every one -appeared to be playing a part, and the unreality oppressed her, while -her usual home remedy for bad spirits, a brisk ride or a long ramble -over the hills, was unattainable. She complained afterwards that she -never had a chance of blowing the cobwebs away, restricted as she was -to stately promenades with Countess Birnsdorf, or funereal drives in a -closed carriage with the Princess. Nor were her troubles wholly -physical. Her father’s wisdom in declining a crown, and preferring -England to the Continent as a residence, commended itself to her more -and more when she told herself that even she, placed in Princess -Lida’s circumstances, might have learned to share her views of right -and wrong. Princess Lida, she found, had fallen deeply in love, not -with King Michael, but with a gentleman occupying an official position -of some sort, to whose identity she gave no clue, intending, possibly, -that Philippa should elicit it by means of cross-examination. But -Philippa was disappointing. She was as much shocked as the Princess -could desire, but not so much at the existence of the attachment as at -the fact that it was not intended to lead to anything more. She -listened with but slight interest to Princess Lida’s vivacious -enumeration of the various artifices by which she and her lover -contrived to carry on their flirtation under the very noses of the -Princess of Dardania and Countess Birnsdorf, and she interrupted the -history of a certain Court ball, at which the pair had succeeded in -exchanging notes, by the question— -</p> - -<p> -“But what do you mean to do about him?” -</p> - -<p> -“Do? What is there to be done? I suppose we shall simply go on.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you can’t intend to marry King Michael when you care for this -other man?” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course I do. It has been arranged for me.” -</p> - -<p> -“What does that signify? It would be wrong.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you English, with your right and wrong! I don’t trouble my head -with all that. I take my pleasure as it comes.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you would be miserable, married to a man you didn’t love.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, the good Philippa is trying to persuade me to run away with the -other! I must tell mamma. She little thinks what a serpent she has -welcomed into her home, to poison the innocent mind of her child! But -you mistake me, my Lippchen. The misery would be if I married the -other. I want jewellery and Paris gowns and a gay Court, not love in -a four-roomed flat. One of the Pannonian Archduchesses has tried that. -She comes to the Schloss (only to family gatherings, of course) in a -common cab, and makes her own dresses, I believe. Can you imagine my -doing that sort of thing?” -</p> - -<p> -“I never thought of advising you to run away,” said Philippa -indignantly, “and if you are only thinking of what you can get, you -had certainly better not try it. But you could remain unmarried. That -would be better than——” -</p> - -<p> -“Than marrying the King? Thank you, Lippchen! It’s quite clear that -you don’t know the sort of life a Princess leads if she doesn’t happen -to marry. No position, no independence, patronised and pushed aside by -her relations, obliged to become a dowdy old devotee through sheer -terror of scandal, for there is no mercy for any one who is remotely -suspected of a tendency to disgrace the house. A convent or a -fortress, there’s your choice! No, I shall marry King Michael and keep -him in order, at any rate in public, and we will have the gayest Court -in Europe. Oh, you may trust me to keep up appearances when I have got -the reality.” -</p> - -<p> -Philippa was too much disgusted to answer, and Princess Lida, turning -restlessly on her couch, broke into a laugh at the sight of her -disapproving face. -</p> - -<p> -“You are too delightfully innocent, Lippchen! But, after all, I am in -the right. My mother has brought me up, educated me, trained me, with -the sole intention of my making this marriage. You would not have me -disappoint her—and myself? Is that how you intend to treat your -parents when they present your future husband to you?” -</p> - -<p> -“People don’t do that in England,” with dignity. -</p> - -<p> -“Not among the lower orders, I know, but you are ‘highly well-born,’ -as we say in German. Let us imagine an instance.” Princess Lida raised -herself on her elbow. “Suppose that secretary of your uncle’s declared -to you that he had conceived a passion for you”—she watched with -delight the flood of crimson which overspread Philippa’s face at this -rude handling of the secret, the existence of which she had scarcely -owned even to herself—“and you were not insensible to it——” -</p> - -<p> -“You have no right whatever to say such things!” cried Philippa, -finding her tongue. -</p> - -<p> -“But, my Lippchen,” with extreme simplicity, “no one could have seen -the poor young man in your society the other day without perceiving -what his feelings were. Your response I am only imagining for the sake -of argument. Well, your parents declare the idea preposterous, and -inform you that you have been destined all your life for some elderly -red-faced provincial nobleman. What will you do?” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course I would never marry any one without my father’s consent. -But I should ask him to tell me his objections, and I know he would -treat me as a reasonable being. Perhaps he might change his mind after -a time, but if not, I should go on just as I was. He would never try -to make me marry any one else.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you are too good, you and your parents!” cried Princess Lida, as -Philippa, her fair face crimson, put forth her defence like a -defiance; “but I have not such a considerate mother, and mamma has not -such an easily contented daughter. You see, the game would not be -worth the candle in my case.” -</p> - -<p> -“That means you don’t love the other one well enough to give up -anything for his sake?” -</p> - -<p> -“Exactly. I want to keep what I have, and to get all I can. Meanwhile, -I enjoy myself—quite decorously and without hurting any one.” -</p> - -<p> -“But surely you are hurting him?” -</p> - -<p> -“How? Oh, you mean if it came out. But I shan’t let it out, you see, -nor will he, for he is far too comfortable in his present post, just -as I am. Why shouldn’t I amuse myself like every one else? Mamma will -have her train of adorers as soon as she receives people again. Even -now she has your beloved uncle.” -</p> - -<p> -“Princess!” Philippa’s cry was a passionate contradiction. -</p> - -<p> -Princess Lida laughed. “Why, poor innocent Lippchen, you don’t imagine -that Count Mortimer comes here every day to see you? It is my mother -who is the attraction, not his dutiful niece. What! have I broken -another idol?” -</p> - -<p> -For Philippa had sprung up with an inarticulate exclamation and rushed -out of the room. The sting of the accusation lay in the fact that her -reason assured her of its truth. It was not to see her that Cyril paid -his daily visits to the villa, passing on invariably from the large -drawing-room into the boudoir beyond, there to pay his respects to the -Princess. These interviews were protracted far beyond the limits -ordained by ceremony, and Countess Birnsdorf had felt it necessary to -apologise for their length by observing to Philippa that she was quite -glad to see Count Mortimer coming in, for no one else had been able to -induce the Princess to forget her sorrows in conversation since her -bereavement. This information Philippa had received with a certain -reserve, for the Princess had not struck her as overwhelmed with -grief; but she saw now that the old lady had been endeavouring to -divert her mind from a suspicion that had already troubled herself. -But had the idea occurred to Cyril? Could he know that the purport of -his visits was thus interpreted? Surely it could only be that, -impelled at first merely by the desire of cheering the Princess, he -had afterwards been attracted by the conversation of a clever and -brilliant woman? At any rate, he should be warned what people were -saying about him. With this resolve strong in her mind Philippa walked -to the garden-gate to meet her uncle, attended only by Princess Lida’s -white poodle. One glance at her troubled face showed Cyril that -something serious was in the air; but, in his usual teasing fashion, -he talked continuously on indifferent subjects. When they came in -sight of the house Philippa stopped short, in agony lest the -opportunity should be lost. -</p> - -<p> -“Uncle Cyril, I want to ask you something. Is the Princess a friend of -yours? Usk and I always thought she had done something to injure you.” -</p> - -<p> -“So she did, Phil. But is it your creed that once an enemy always an -enemy? No? Then you see I too can be virtuous and overlook my enemies’ -faults—sometimes.” -</p> - -<p> -“But they say—they say you want to marry her,” Philippa succeeded in -bringing out. -</p> - -<p> -“Do they? How kind of them! Would you like the Princess for an aunt, -Phil? She’s a charming woman, isn’t she?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Uncle Cyril, you wouldn’t—you don’t mean it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Phil, I have no present intention of inviting her to become -your aunt. Would you like to know why? Because I am afraid she would -say no, of course, and your feelings might be hurt.” -</p> - -<p> -They had reached the villa by this time, and Philippa was left to her -own gloomy reflections. Whether her uncle was in earnest or not, it -was quite clear that he had no intention of taking her into his -confidence, and it did not occur to her that in the circumstances this -might be rather advantageous than otherwise. The least suspicious of -mortals, Philippa had not discovered that she was persistently -catechised as to Cyril’s future plans and his past history. The art -with which the subject was approached and the questions put was such -that she had no idea of its existence, nor yet of the fact that her -honest answers often caused much irritation to the questioner. -Philippa knew nothing of her uncle but what he chose to tell her, -together with the deductions drawn by Usk and herself from this -evidence, and she could not tell more than she knew. The Princess was -particularly curious as to the footing upon which Cyril now stood with -Queen Ernestine. Did he keep up any communication with her, or had -they parted for ever? Philippa had heard from Mansfield of Prince -Mirkovics’s defence of Queen Ernestine, and her prejudices were -somewhat modified; but she was still firm in the belief that her uncle -had been very badly treated. It was, therefore, not without -satisfaction that she informed the Princess of Cyril’s request, on his -return from Thracia, that the Queen’s name should not be mentioned in -his hearing, and added that, so far as she knew, he was of the same -mind still. -</p> - -<p> -“And you are all considerate enough to do as he asked?” cried the -Princess, with a laugh in which relief mingled with something of -pique. “Why, if I were one of his family, and he had made such a -request of me, I should have done nothing but tease him to find out -what he really felt.” -</p> - -<p> -Acting, presumably, upon this principle, the Princess prepared to seek -information from the best authority, since Philippa could tell her so -little. When she received Cyril that afternoon, she was sad and -preoccupied, and smiled only with difficulty. -</p> - -<p> -“I fear you have had bad news, madame?” he suggested at last. -</p> - -<p> -“Now how did you guess that?” she asked gratefully. “Yes, I have such -a painful account of my cousin, Queen Ernestine, from Syria.” Her -fingers played carelessly with a letter bearing a Roumi stamp as she -spoke. The letter was more than a year old, but Cyril was not supposed -to know that. -</p> - -<p> -“Her Majesty is ill, madame?” he asked, in precisely the right tone of -respectful sympathy. A single glance had shown him that the letter was -not black-edged, and there was no fear that any news but the worst -would make him betray himself. -</p> - -<p> -“No, not exactly ill; but she is subject to such strange delusions. We -hoped that the change of scene might benefit her, but I fear there can -be no doubt that her mind is permanently affected. Would you believe -it?—she will not see a man, or allow one to approach her. You know -she is residing with the Königshof deaconesses at their Institution -at Brutli, in the Lebanon? Well, I hear that only her ladies and -female attendants are allowed to be with her there—the gentlemen must -live in the village. It is entirely her own doing, for the Institution -would be quite willing to receive them, but she refuses to see even -the pastor belonging to the place. Isn’t it extraordinary?” -</p> - -<p> -“Most extraordinary, madame.” -</p> - -<p> -“And she has returned to the very deepest widow’s mourning, only -wearing white instead of black. It almost seems,” added the Princess -musingly, stealing a glance at Cyril from under the hand which was -shading her eyes, “as if she had had some experience which had -prejudiced her against your sex.” -</p> - -<p> -“That seems the most probable explanation, madame. The difference with -his Majesty, perhaps——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I don’t think that would account for it; do you? No, on second -thoughts I rather fancy she must be conscious of having done a great -injury to some man, so that remorse drives her to this seclusion.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is possible, madame. There have been cases in which women have -ruined the lives of men who were foolish enough to trust them.” -</p> - -<p> -“You speak bitterly, Count. And what, in your opinion, is the usual -effect of such behaviour upon the man?” -</p> - -<p> -“Simply, madame, that he determines never to place his future in the -power of a woman again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, you cherish your hatred so long, you men! We women soon grow -tired of perpetual animosities. But have you ever known what it is to -be so deceived, Count?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have, madame.” -</p> - -<p> -“And—and did you come to the usual determination?” -</p> - -<p> -“Madame, I thought I had—until a week ago.” -</p> - -<p> -The compliment was commonplace enough, but something in the tome, and -in the glance which accompanied it, thrilled the heart of the -Princess. Almost for the first time in her life she blushed like a -girl, and she changed the subject with a haste and maladroitness that -showed how deeply she was moved. -</p> - -<p> -“By-the-bye, Count, I want you to tell me how your scheme is -progressing. Is it true that, as I see by this morning’s paper, -opposition to it is springing up in England?” -</p> - -<p> -“Scarcely, madame. A vexatious incident has occurred, that is all.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pray tell me about it. I thought you felt quite safe with regard to -your own country?” -</p> - -<p> -“True, madame, except for such incidents as this. Before coming here, -I arranged matters with the Dowager Duchess of Old Sarum.” -</p> - -<p> -“The Dowager? But has she any influence in politics?” -</p> - -<p> -“The Duchess, madame, like my niece’s kind friend Princess Soudaroff, -is a lady who takes a deep interest in the conversion of the Jews to -Christianity. Fifty or sixty years ago people of her stamp believed -that the Jews could only be restored to Palestine in a Christianised -condition, and they founded the Jerusalem bishopric in order that the -converts might find some one there to receive them. Now their views -have undergone a slight change, and they think that the return to -Palestine is to come first and the conversion after it. Naturally, -then, they wish to hasten on the restoration, in order that the second -desirable event may follow as quickly as possible. Before leaving -England I had a long confidential talk with the Duchess, laid my plans -before her, and pointed out the dangers to which they were exposed. -She grasped the idea at once, and immediately volunteered her help to -smooth matters in England. I accepted it gladly, for she has a strong -influence over her son, the present Duke, and she is the sister of Mr -Forfar. Oh, the Duchess is a dear old lady!” -</p> - -<p> -“But surely she has failed you now?” -</p> - -<p> -“By no means, madame. It is a sad fact that there are some people in -England who take no interest in the conversion of the Jews—rather -dislike them than otherwise, indeed. The most prominent of these -anti-Semites (they are very mild, you understand) is Lord Ormsea, who -holds a minor post in the administration. He has picked up some -garbled idea of our intentions from the Continental press, and -speaking two nights ago at a public meeting, he thought fit to -denounce our scheme, and to invite the hostile attention of the Powers -to it. That’s all.” -</p> - -<p> -“And what measures do you intend to take?” -</p> - -<p> -“I hear from my friend the Chevalier Goldberg that he has arranged for -a fall in the price of Consols, madame, but I have told him that is a -mistake. The fall could not affect British credit, but it would give -colour to the accusations of Ormsea and his crew, and might stimulate -the nation to active hostility. England won’t stand being bullied, -though she will yield a good deal to friendly representations. I have -written to the Duchess, and I don’t doubt that the Government will -bring Ormsea to his senses in a very short time. Meanwhile, I hope the -financial panic may be stopped before anything serious happens.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish you would tell me how you manage that sort of thing,” sighed -the Princess. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that, madame,” was the reply, delivered -with so much suavity that the Princess could not decide whether want -of will or want of ability constituted the obstacle. -</p> - -<p> -“After all, England has very little interest in the matter,” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“Little enough, madame, especially after declaring, in one of her -periodical self-denying ordinances, that in no case would she permit -an Englishman to become governor of Palestine.” -</p> - -<p> -“You do not always see eye to eye with your countrymen, Count?” -</p> - -<p> -“I fear, madame, that I can scarcely consider myself an Englishman at -this late day, although my enemies are fond of saluting me with the -name.” -</p> - -<p> -There was meaning in Cyril’s tone, although the eyes which met those -of the Princess were devoid of expression, and a novel and by no means -unpleasant idea struck her. She was revolving it hastily in her mind -when she spoke next, somewhat absently. -</p> - -<p> -“Has anything happened?—does the deadlock still exist between your -Syndicate and Scythia?” -</p> - -<p> -“There is no alteration, madame. Before Scythia will allow us to have -Palestine, she demands a promise that your son shall be the first -governor.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is a great pity—I mean that such a good work should be stopped. -Will you accept me as an auxiliary, Count? or am I too transparent a -plotter? I will write to Pavelsburg, and represent that you are -powerless in the matter. Then perhaps the stipulation may be -withdrawn.” -</p> - -<p> -“Madame, I am overjoyed by your condescension.” Cyril did not consider -it necessary to say that in any case the joint pressure of famine and -poverty must cause the withdrawal of Scythian opposition in a day or -two. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I assure you it will be a great delight if I can give you any -help. You will let me know how your difficulty with England ends? We -shall miss your charming niece terribly. I hope Princess Soudaroff -will spare her to us for a day now and then while she remains at -Ludwigsbad.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril retired, well content. He had secured what was of the greatest -moment to him, an invitation to continue his visits to the villa after -Philippa had quitted it on the morrow. When he had left her, the -Princess sat for some time musing deeply. -</p> - -<p> -“I cannot be sure,” she murmured at last. “It is true that he seems to -have no feeling for Ernestine but that of dislike—certainly he does -not love her at this moment—but one can never tell. They might meet, -and the sight of her might revive all the old feelings. Those -caressing ways of hers!—and he is just the man to take a whimsical -pleasure in her perpetual inconsistency. How is he to be tested? for -I dare not risk anything until I am sure of him. He and I, reigning in -Palestine! <i>Palestine</i>? we would rule the world. How I should triumph -over Alexis and Bettine and the Powers! But there is always Ernestine -in the background. How am I to be rid of the fear of her? Ah, that -photograph! That will do what I want. He comes again, say, in a week; -there will be time to have it enlarged. Birnsdorf!” she raised her -voice, and the Countess entered, “I want you to write a letter to -Vindobona for me at once.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch07"> -CHAPTER VII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">BREAKING WITH THE PAST.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">A week</span> had passed since Philippa’s departure from the villa before -she entered it again, accompanied by her uncle, to spend the day with -Princess Lida. Cyril’s presence had not been sought by his niece. In -fact, poor Philippa, terrified lest she should be helping to involve -him in the toils of the Princess of Dardania, had assured him plainly, -almost rudely, that she preferred to go by herself. But Cyril could be -singularly dense when he chose. He insisted that he had nothing -particular to do, and could find no more delightful employment for an -idle hour than escorting his niece to the villa. This assurance only -confirmed Philippa’s fears, and the crowning touch was put to her -misery by the message which awaited Cyril on his entrance, that the -Princess would be glad to see him if he could spare her a few minutes. -Philippa cast an imploring glance at him, but he smiled wickedly at -the sight of her woe-begone face, and followed the servant sent to -conduct him to the Princess’s boudoir. -</p> - -<p> -“Some dodge on hand,” he muttered to himself, when the man had left -him with the announcement that her Royal Highness would receive him in -a short time. “I wonder what it is? Ah!” -</p> - -<p> -His eye had been caught by an unfamiliar object in the room, a large -portrait on an easel, carelessly draped with a gold and crimson scarf. -It was turned away from him, and he went round the easel to look at -it, only to recoil with a start which even his self-control could not -restrain. The gay hues of the drapery served only to accentuate the -utter desolation revealed by the photograph. A woman, dressed in -white, was sitting listlessly upon a block of stone, her hands clasped -loosely in her lap. The portrait revealed with cruel distinctness the -grey hair, the lines in the worn face, and the unfathomable sorrow in -the hopeless eyes. The Princess had given special directions that the -reproduction was to be a faithful, not a flattering, one. -</p> - -<p> -“Good heavens!” broke from Cyril under his breath, “and this is -Ernestine!” -</p> - -<p> -The wild rush of remorse and pity almost made him stagger, as he stood -with clenched hands and compressed lip before the portrait; but it was -succeeded by a vehement indignation against the woman who had -deliberately prepared this miserable shock for him. “I showed you -little mercy when last we met, dearest,” he muttered, addressing the -pictured Ernestine; “but she shall have none.” -</p> - -<p> -The sound of his own voice recalled him to himself, and before the -faint <i>frou-frou</i> of the Princess’s silk-lined robes, sweeping over -the polished floor, announced her approach, he had had time to compose -his features, and to adopt an attitude of interest, not untouched with -criticism, as he stood before the portrait. The Princess came rustling -in, exquisitely dressed (during the past week she had mitigated the -severity of her weeds in various scarcely perceptible ways, which -caused the general effect to be considerably less sombre), graceful -and gracious, with the utmost made of every good point in face and -figure. Truth to tell, her mood at the moment was not of the most -tranquil. It had been no part of her plan that Cyril should be left -alone with the portrait of his old love. She had intended to confront -him with it unexpectedly, and to scrutinise with jealous minuteness -the effect it produced upon him, but the stupidity of the footman had -prevented this. If she felt any anxiety as to the result of her -experiment, she did not betray it, however. Her whole manner was -expressive of a superb confidence in her own power to charm, as -compared with the faded and unhappy woman in the photograph. As she -entered, Cyril turned towards her with a start, letting his eye-glass -drop from his hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Pardon me, madame,” he said hastily, without waiting for her to speak -first, “but I cannot help tracing in this portrait some resemblance to -the features of my august mistress, Queen Ernestine. Surely it is not -possible that the photograph is hers?” -</p> - -<p> -“Now who can have put that portrait here?” cried the Princess, in -tones of strong irritation. “Yes, it is the latest likeness of my poor -cousin, and I have just had it enlarged at Vindobona, but it was not -intended for exhibition in public. Birnsdorf is so officious!” She -lifted the scarf as though to cover the picture with it, but Cyril -stopped her. -</p> - -<p> -“Permit me to entreat you to leave the portrait as it is, madame. If -your Royal Highness needed a foil, you could find no better one than -this.” -</p> - -<p> -The callousness of the words would have disgusted most women, but they -rejoiced the Princess’s heart. Her expedient had succeeded. She let -the scarf fall, and stooped to look at the photograph more closely. -</p> - -<p> -“There is no posing in it, you see,” she said. “My unhappy cousin -never knew that she was watched. The original was merely a snap-shot -taken by one of the doctors whom the King sent to Syria to visit his -mother. There was some idea that it might be necessary”—<i>possible</i> -was the word on the Princess’s tongue, but she had no intention of -revolting Cyril by an undue display of her hatred towards the woman -she had injured—“to place her under restraint, and indeed it was a -fortnight before she would consent to receive the doctors. But when -they saw her they found that violence formed no part of her disorder, -merely extreme depression, as you perceive there.” -</p> - -<p> -“Madame, it is too sad for words,” returned Cyril, in the perfunctory -tone of one who finds it incumbent upon him to sympathise in a matter -for which he has no sympathy. The Princess noticed his manner with -marked satisfaction. -</p> - -<p> -“Alas, Count! I have bored you. You must forgive me. My poor cousin -and I have always been such devoted friends. But tell me how you have -settled your dispute with England?” -</p> - -<p> -“Without difficulty, madame. The day after my letter reached the -Duchess of Old Sarum, Mr Forfar, speaking in London, took occasion to -dissociate himself and the Government from the views expressed by Lord -Ormsea, and very soon afterwards Lord Ormsea himself, in fear of -losing his post, explained that his words were to be understood only -in a Pickwickian sense. The slight fall in Consols was so adroitly -managed that it seemed the result rather of public alarm than of a -Jewish <i>coup de main</i>, and British opinion has definitely ranged -itself on our side.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good generalship usually meets with good fortune,” said the Princess, -with a smile that converted the truism into an infinitely flattering -compliment. -</p> - -<p> -“You are too kind, madame. May I hope for your good wishes in the next -little difficulty that lies before me?” -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed you have them, Count. But what is this new trouble?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am obliged to leave for Vindobona to-morrow, madame. One of our -agents, whose name you may have heard, the scientist Texelius, has -contrived to embroil himself with the Vindobona University, and the -citizens, whose sympathies are strongly Anti-Semitic, are making a -racial question of the matter.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you leave to-morrow?” said the Princess, with an irritation which -she made no attempt to conceal. “It seems quite impossible for me to -keep in touch with your movement as I was hoping to do.” -</p> - -<p> -“If I might have the honour of waiting upon you on my return, madame, -it would be my delight to report such success as I may meet with. Your -wonderful sympathy and kindness——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, pray come, Count. You are not mistaken. I am deeply -interested—perhaps more than is altogether wise,” she sighed. “You -don’t know what a practical proof I have just given you of my -sympathy. I have instructed my son Kazimir to withdraw from the -candidature which was so embarrassing to you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Madame, I am overwhelmed. When you graciously offered to exert your -influence on our behalf, I little dreamed of this.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is a sacrifice, I don’t deny,” said the Princess, sighing again. -“With my son enthroned at Jerusalem, I should have little left to wish -for. You know that in crusading times the Kings of Jerusalem were said -to wear the crown of the world? But I felt it my duty, Count. Kazimir -is too young, too inexperienced, for such a post. He would be merely -the mouthpiece of Scythia, and I fear your poor Jews would be as badly -off as they are now. Besides,” her eyes met Cyril’s, “there is a man -who ought to be appointed, and he is not Kazimir.” -</p> - -<p> -“Alas, madame, that I can exert no influence even in favour of your -candidate!” -</p> - -<p> -“It is unnecessary, Count. My candidate will win the suffrages of the -Powers by virtue of his fitness for the post. Even now he would be -found, like Themistocles, second on every list. He has links uniting -him to all the Powers, but he is bound to none. He can work or fight -his way to power, as may be necessary, and it would surprise me very -much if he failed to keep what he had won.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, madame! What hope is there that so suitable a person should ever -obtain the post?” -</p> - -<p> -“There is the help of friends, Count, and there is a curious condition -suggested in a letter I have just received from Pavelsburg. The -Emperor consents to withdraw the demand for an Orthodox Prince, but -insists that Orthodox influence shall be present in some form in the -new state. If the future governor were married to an Orthodox -princess, for instance, all would be well. A quaint idea is it not?” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril considered the matter as gravely as if he had believed that the -Emperor was really responsible for the suggestion. “I fear, madame, -that it is only mentioned because it is impracticable,” he said. “How -could the person you speak of aspire so high?” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, Count, all is fair in—other fine arts as well as politics. -Hearts move faster sometimes than the pens of diplomatists.” -</p> - -<p> -“True, madame, but the world has sometimes occasion to say that -presumption is rightly punished.” -</p> - -<p> -“That, Count, will never be said of the man I mean. If he is willing -to be guided by me, he will leave that part of the matter in my hands. -He will continue his diplomatic campaign, and the rest is my business. -Is there any reason why he should refuse to accept the arrangement, -Count?” -</p> - -<p> -“I see none, madame, unless he is a fool.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril kissed the hand held out to him, and retired. The Princess flung -the scarf contemptuously over the portrait of Queen Ernestine. -</p> - -<p> -“There!” she cried, “you have done your work, and I don’t want your -miserable eyes staring at me any longer. Birnsdorf, call one of the -servants to take this thing away.” -</p> - -<p> -Following on the complete success of this morning’s experiment, -however, the Princess’s plans were threatened by a danger of an -entirely unforeseen character. Her son’s withdrawal of his candidature -happened very opportunely for the Scythian Court, which was anxious to -climb down gracefully from its untenable position, in view of the -necessity for yielding to the demands of the United Nation. Still, the -opportuneness of the fact could not be allowed to stifle inquiry as to -its cause. There was something suspicious, or at any rate strange, -about the Princess of Dardania’s proceedings, and a suitable emissary -was despatched to look into them. The day after Cyril had left -Ludwigsbad for Vindobona, economising the time spent in travelling by -making notes for the letters which Mansfield, sitting opposite him, -was working off with feverish haste on the typewriter, Prince -Soudaroff arrived at the villa from the north, and requested to be -allowed to wait upon her Royal Highness. The news of his advent -paralysed the Princess with momentary dismay, but an instant’s -reflection decided her to embark upon a bold course. -</p> - -<p> -“You have no bad news for me, I hope, Prince?” she asked anxiously of -the visitor, when he was ushered into her presence. -</p> - -<p> -“None, madame; and I grieve to have alarmed your Royal Highness. My -reason for intruding is a vexatious delay which has interrupted our -communications. We understand that you have ordered your son to -withdraw from his Palestine candidature, but we have not yet been -informed of the reasons for your action.” -</p> - -<p> -“No?” said the Princess sweetly, although this authoritative demand -for an explanation roused her ire. “But you, Prince, can have had no -difficulty in perceiving my motive?” -</p> - -<p> -“I must confess with shame, madame, that your diplomacy is too deep -for me,” was the cautious reply. Prince Soudaroff thought he could -guess the motive very well, but he did not intend to exhibit his -suspicions unnecessarily. -</p> - -<p> -“You will make me too proud, Prince. That you should be baffled by my -little plot, and find it necessary to come to me for information! -Surely you must remember begging me to involve Count Mortimer in some -intrigue that would bring about his political ruin?” -</p> - -<p> -“Naturally I remember it, madame. This step, then, is a part of the -process?” -</p> - -<p> -“Undoubtedly, Prince. The unfortunate man is at this moment captivated -by the double hope of winning my affections and finding himself -appointed Governor of Palestine,” said the Princess, with a hardihood -that was nothing less than magnificent. Prince Soudaroff listened in -amazement. -</p> - -<p> -“The scheme, madame, is colossal in its boldness and simplicity. How -do you propose to bring about the <i>dénoûment</i>?” -</p> - -<p> -“That will be your part, I think, unless I can see my way to secure -the pleasure for myself. What do you say, Prince? Will Mortimer be -sufficiently discredited when it is known that he was intriguing for -his own advancement while posing as the disinterested friend of -Israel?” -</p> - -<p> -“It would be enough for Europe, madame, and for his enemies among the -Jews; but there is a large section, with his friend the banker -Goldberg at its head, that would care nothing so long as he did not -betray them.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see. Then we must think of something else. How would a secret -understanding do—say that, in consideration of a handsome sum of -money, he was to resign in favour of a Scythian Grand-Duke a month or -so after his election?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is an excellent idea, madame, for the Jews would be specially -chagrined to find themselves outbidden. But permit me to ask whether -your Royal Highness intends to appear as the temptress, or as a -fellow-dupe, when the <i>dénoûment</i> comes?” -</p> - -<p> -“As the temptress, of course,” replied the Princess, without a -moment’s hesitation. “I can’t resign my European reputation, even for -the sake of sparing Count Mortimer’s feelings.” -</p> - -<p> -Prince Soudaroff found himself foiled. He had felt certain that the -Princess would justify his suspicions at this point, but she had stood -the test, and he had no option but to believe her. “May I ask whether -your Royal Highness’s efforts have been attended with success -hitherto?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“I cannot boast that success is absolutely secure,” she replied -thoughtfully. “Every man has his weak spot, as you know, Prince, but -with some men it is very difficult to find. It is my impression, -however, that Count Mortimer is safely landed.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are not afraid that he is encouraging you in that belief for his -own purposes?” Prince Soudaroff suggested, with becoming diffidence. -</p> - -<p> -The Princess’s heart uttered an indignant contradiction, but her lips -did not echo it. -</p> - -<p> -“Do you know,” she said, leaning towards him confidentially, “that has -struck me more than once? ‘What if he is merely amusing himself with -me?’ I have said; but I have seen nothing, absolutely nothing, to -justify the misgiving. And I am a woman of some little experience, -Prince.” -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed, madame, I have often envied you. Since all is secure, then, -we may go forward. The pressure of circumstances has forced us to send -orders to-day to our ambassador at Czarigrad to withdraw his -opposition to the Jewish concession. When Count Mortimer is at the -pinnacle of popularity among his friends on account of this success, I -would propose that we make public his negotiations with you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Excellent, Prince! You won’t publish my name, of course? My sons -might object to that; but a few dots and dashes and asterisks would -only add to the piquancy of the affair.” In her own mind she resolved -quickly, “Then I must marry him before it is generally known that the -concession is granted. That in itself will destroy most of the effect -of the <i>exposé</i> when it comes; and as to the rest—well, I will make -him Prince of Palestine whether Scythia or any one else stands in the -way.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is an unsatisfactory business,” Prince Soudaroff said to himself -as he left the villa. “Clever men have undoubtedly been beguiled by -astute women before now; but it is most unlike Mortimer. I can’t help -suspecting that he has some plot on hand. At all costs we must -anticipate him in exploding the mine.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -The news which had summoned Cyril to the Pannonian capital was -sufficiently grave. Vindobona had long held a bad pre-eminence among -the cities of Europe on account of its malignant Anti-Semitism, and -that most militant of philosophers, Dr Texelius, had managed to bring -matters to a climax at this very unpropitious moment. His feud with -the town was of old standing. Some years before, when his fame was -only beginning to spread beyond the bounds of his own seat of -learning, he had been invited to deliver a course of lectures at -Vindobona. The course was largely attended, but the students of the -University, who came to scoff and remained to howl, formed the greater -part of the audience. To lecture, save in dumb show, was impossible, -and Dr Texelius shook the dust of Vindobona from his feet, declaring -darkly that the city should yet rue the day it had insulted him. The -passage of time and the spread of his fame did not tempt him to forget -his threat, and he devised a scheme of vengeance, which he unfolded, -under a promise of secrecy, to the Chevalier Goldberg. The financier -pointed out that the plan would involve the Jews in universal odium, -and brought pressure upon him promptly to renounce it. Dr Texelius -consented, under protest, to forego his revenge, and would probably -have kept his word but for a hostile move on the part of the -University of Vindobona. The latest idea in the city was to boycott -everything that was Jewish, and in an evil hour the University -resolved to follow the fashion. A boycott was decreed forthwith -against the works of Dr Texelius, which were extensively used by the -students and professors belonging to the faculty of philosophy, and it -proved disastrously effective. The injured author rose up in his -wrath, and descended upon his foes with might and main in the columns -of a newspaper owned by the Chevalier Goldberg. No one thought of -boycotting that particular paper while the wordy war continued, for Dr -Texelius had a pretty taste in opprobrious epithets, and the whole -empire rang with the echoes of the strife. But the University remained -unaffected by the wealth of logic showered upon it. Dr Texelius might -demonstrate the iniquity, folly, illiberality, or anything else of its -conduct, but it was not in his power to bring about the removal of his -books from its Index Expurgatorins. Once convinced of this fact, the -philosopher relieved his feelings in a parting letter that outdid all -its predecessors in scurrility, and prepared to make use of more -material weapons. -</p> - -<p> -Such was the state of affairs when Cyril left Ludwigsbad, summoned to -Vindobona by urgent letters from the Chevalier Goldberg, who was -alarmed by his own knowledge of what Dr Texelius had proposed to do. -Events developed rapidly during the few hours that followed, and when -Cyril reached the city he found one of the Imperial chamberlains -awaiting him on the railway platform, with a face of direful import. -</p> - -<p> -“We were all in darkness last night,” he said, after a hurried -greeting. -</p> - -<p> -“Then Texelius has nobbled the gas company?” asked Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -The official nodded. “We of the Court should not be sorry to see the -municipality punished,” he said, “for they richly deserve it; but -there will be barricades in every street, and a massacre of the Jews, -if this goes on. The electric light is only in use in one or two -quarters.” -</p> - -<p> -The situation was serious enough. The lighting of the city was in the -hands of a company, floated chiefly by means of Jewish capital, upon -the dividends of which the Anti-Semitic majority of the municipality -had for many years cast a covetous eye. An attempt to buy up the plant -and fittings by force had been foiled by appeal to the courts of law, -but the check served only to stimulate the townsmen to discover some -means of coercing the company. The plan at length adopted involved the -expenditure of an enormous sum of money, and a long course of -litigation and chicanery, but it was successful in its object of -exhausting the resources of the victims. The municipality was now in -possession of a lighting system of its own, almost in working order, -and the value of the company’s shares was rapidly approaching the -vanishing point. But the new gas supply was not yet ready for use, and -here Dr Texelius found his opportunity. When the strife first began, a -committee of the company’s shareholders had been formed for the -purpose of defending its rights, and since the majority of its members -were Jews, he had now little difficulty in persuading them to unite in -a last desperate effort. If it did not succeed in saving their -property from spoliation, it would at least incommode their enemies -seriously. -</p> - -<p> -The day before that on which Cyril reached Vindobona was a holiday at -the gasworks. The furnaces were allowed to grow cold, the retorts -remained uncharged, the gas-holders empty, and as soon as the small -amount of gas in reserve had been consumed, every jet in the city, -after flickering precariously for a time, went out. Summer had passed -its prime, and the evenings were drawing in, but the heat was still -intense, and the citizens were enjoying themselves in their -brilliantly lighted public gardens. On this particular evening the -brilliance was somewhat to seek, and there were many complaints even -before the moment at which all became darkness. An Anarchist plot was -the first thought, and an irresistible panic seized the crowds of -pleasure-seekers. Some rushed wildly hither and thither, others waited -tremblingly in the stupefaction of terror. It was some time before -even the police could collect their wits sufficiently to inquire into -the mystery. At length, by the joint exercise of persuasion and moral -force, as typified by the erection of temporary lights at the -street-corners, and the employment of cavalry to disperse the crowds, -they induced the populace to seek their homes, and a commission of -inquiry was despatched post-haste to the gasworks. The explanation -afforded by the few melancholy officials in charge was a simple one. -Owing to the persistent machinations of its enemies, the company’s -dues had been withheld from it, so that it was unable to procure coal -for conversion into gas. Its whole reserve stock had been worked up, -and prompt financial aid alone could enable it to obtain more. The -honourable officials of police had better apply to the municipality. -But the municipal gasworks, the police were well aware, would not be -in working order, even if operations were carried on both day and -night, for a fortnight at least, and it was impossible to contemplate -the horror of a gas-famine lasting for that period. Hence the -appearance of the Imperial chamberlain at the station to meet Cyril -and convey him in a Court carriage to the Schloss, whither the -Chevalier Goldberg had already been summoned; and hence also the -furious mob assembled in the street outside, howling for the -destruction of the Jews and the division of their property among the -burgesses of Vindobona. Just as Cyril reached the carriage with his -conductor, his servant Dietrich, who had been looking after the -luggage, stepped up to him. -</p> - -<p> -“Excellency,” he said hurriedly, “there is a riot. You cannot pass -through the streets in safety.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am not deaf,” said Cyril coldly—then, turning to the chamberlain -with a smile, “My man is an old servant, and privileged, but I don’t -feel obliged to humour him in everything.” -</p> - -<p> -The chamberlain was beginning to look uncomfortable, but he nodded, -and followed Cyril into the carriage. Mansfield took his place upon -the opposite seat, and they drove out of the station, to be greeted -with a storm of yells and execrations. “Traitor! renegade!” were the -epithets that saluted Cyril as soon as his clear-cut, contemptuous -profile was recognised, and the mob surged up to the carriage with -fierce shouts of rage. Those who succeeded in reaching it attempted no -actual violence, for the presence of the man who was so absolutely -unmoved by their clamour seemed to paralyse them, but those behind, -unable to catch a glimpse of the visitor, did not feel the influence -of his silent scorn. Cyril had turned to make a remark to the -chamberlain, when Mansfield sprang up with a cry, and threw himself -before him, only just in time to intercept with his shoulder a large -stone which was hurled through the window, the broken glass cutting -him about the face. -</p> - -<p> -“Well done, Mansfield!” cried Cyril, while the chamberlain called -frantically to the coachman to turn and drive back again into the -station. -</p> - -<p> -“You would never turn tail before a mob?” cried Cyril, roused at last. -</p> - -<p> -“How should I answer to the Emperor if you were injured, Count?” was -the reply. “Besides, it is not expedient to expose the Court vehicles -to insult—and—and this brave young man’s wounds ought to be dressed. -I will merely send to the barracks in the next street for an escort of -cavalry, and we shall not be more than a few minutes.” -</p> - -<p> -The station was gained in safety, and a surgeon summoned, who adorned -Mansfield’s face most artistically with strips of sticking-plaster, -much to the disgust of the victim, who persuaded himself that he could -have stanched the wounds with his handkerchief in another minute, if -that idiot had not poked his nose in. When the decoration was -complete, a troop of lancers was ready to escort the carriage, and the -progress through the streets to the Schloss was made in gallant wise, -a fence of bristling points and fluttering pennons separating the -endangered visitors from the sullen, baffled mob. -</p> - -<p> -At the Schloss the elaborate rules of the ordinary etiquette were -suspended in view of the importance of the crisis, and Cyril was -conducted at once to the Emperor’s private cabinet, where he found the -Chevalier Goldberg and the Minister of the Interior. There was no time -to be lost if Pannonia was to be saved from such an outbreak of -Anti-Semitic fury as might spread all over the continent, and result -in the settlement of the Jewish question in a much more drastic manner -than was contemplated by the United Nation. The Chevalier had already -telegraphed orders, at his own risk, for large supplies of coal, which -was to be converted into gas as fast as it arrived from the various -mining districts, but this was only a temporary expedient. It did not -take long to arrange a concordat, since those assembled in council -were genuinely anxious to come to an agreement, and in less than an -hour it had been decided that a fair purchase price should be paid to -the gas company by means of a loan from the Chevalier. This was to be -guaranteed by the Imperial Government, and repaid by the municipality, -to which coercion was to be applied if necessary. Every effort was to -be made by the company to ensure the full supply of gas to the city -that night and afterwards, and any deficiency was to be supplemented -by means of a free distribution of oil to the poorer citizens. In -conclusion, pressure was to be brought to bear by the Chevalier on the -militant Dr Texelius, and he was to be ordered to leave Vindobona -within twenty-four hours. A special Imperial proclamation spread the -news of the settlement through the city, the streets were patrolled by -troops, who dispersed the mob, and before long the only crowds to be -found were in the vicinity of the railways, where they were watching -the heavily laden coal-trucks as they rolled past on their way to -discharge their load at the gasworks. -</p> - -<p> -The Chevalier and Cyril were <i>personæ gratissimæ</i> at Court that day, -and the latter took advantage of the fact to accomplish another piece -of business connected with the Palestine scheme which was destined to -astonish the Princess of Dardania when she heard of it. Meanwhile, the -Chevalier presented himself as an ambassador of authority and peace at -a hastily convened meeting of the representatives of the gas company. -The members of the committee were already alarmed by the success of -their bold step, and he plunged them into a state of abject terror by -hinting at an intention on the part of the government to confiscate -the works and carry them on for the public benefit. When they had been -reduced to a sufficiently pitiable condition, he raised them suddenly -to the seventh heaven by disclosing the arrangement which had been -made, and sent them home happy in the prospect of saving something -from the wreck. Their defection cut the ground from under the feet of -Dr Texelius, who was the next person visited by the financier, and -whose only regret hitherto had been that he dared not venture into the -streets to observe the working of his revenge. His short-lived -satisfaction was ended by the peremptory order to quit Vindobona, and -he almost wished that he had not indulged in his trip to the city when -he found himself listening to the upbraidings of the Chevalier, who -charged him roundly with doing his utmost to ruin the cause of Israel. -</p> - -<p> -The crestfallen philosopher was making his way on foot to the station -the next morning, shadowed at a distance by two police officers in -plain clothes, when a carriage containing two men drove past him. -Although Dr Texelius had prudently kept his name concealed, for fear -of the attentions of the populace, the mere fact that he was a Jew had -made it impossible for him to procure a cab to convey him to the -railway, and his luggage was being carried by a hanger-on of the -police. But if the inhabitants of Vindobona were unconscious of the -identity of their illustrious guest, the second secretary of the -Scythian Embassy, who was one of the occupants of the carriage, was -more fortunate. -</p> - -<p> -“Look there!” he said to his companion, to whom he had been recounting -with great spirit the humours of the preceding day, “that is the -redoubtable Texelius himself. I used to see him continually when I was -in South Germany.” -</p> - -<p> -“Would it be possible to express one’s sympathy with the eminent -philosopher?” -</p> - -<p> -“Scarcely, Prince—in public, at least. Look at those two fellows -behind. They would have a fine story to tell if they saw you speak to -him.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are right; they must not see it. Yet it would be a thousand -pities if I could not speak to him. Volodia, my dear boy, do you think -we could drive back to the station for a moment? I have unfortunately -forgotten to inquire about my train.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course—as many moments as you like.” Prince Soudaroff’s godson -knew something of his methods of working. “Am I to do anything?” -</p> - -<p> -“Only watch me, and when I succeed in approaching Texelius, distract -the attention of the detectives for a second or so.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very well, Prince.” The secretary was not without practice in work of -the kind, so that when Dr Texelius had finished haggling with his -porter over his charge, he found himself confronted by a dapper -gentleman, exquisitely dressed, whose grey moustache was waxed into -points of needle-like sharpness. -</p> - -<p> -“I have the honour of addressing the Herr Professor Texelius?” said -the stranger hurriedly in German, laying one finger on his lips. -</p> - -<p> -“I am that most shamefully ill-used man,” snorted Dr Texelius. -</p> - -<p> -“You would like to expose the Mortimer?” -</p> - -<p> -The philosopher’s eyes sparkled. “Only give me the chance!” -</p> - -<p> -The other drew out a sealed envelope, and slipped it into his hand. -“That will provide you with the means of doing so. Hide it at once. I -am Soudaroff.” -</p> - -<p> -With a dexterity which a professional conjurer might have envied, Dr -Texelius made the packet vanish up his sleeve. “It shall be done,” he -said. -</p> - -<p> -“When does your paper appear?” -</p> - -<p> -“The day after to-morrow.” -</p> - -<p> -“Let it come out then without fail. Any delay will spoil the effect.” -</p> - -<p> -“It shall be inserted.” -</p> - -<p> -The colloquy, which had scarcely lasted a moment, was over, and the -speakers moved apart, Prince Soudaroff to return to his godson, and Dr -Texelius to take his place in the train, chuckling with delight over -the thought that he had now the means of ruining Cyril and annoying -the Chevalier Goldberg at one blow. His revenge would draw down upon -him instant punishment from the Chevalier, he knew, but he could -afford to disregard that in the joy of the moment. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch08"> -CHAPTER VIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">“A KIND OF WILD JUSTICE.”</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">The</span> business which had called Cyril to Vindobona once ended, he -returned to Ludwigsbad with Mansfield, to find awaiting him at the -hotel a note from Princess Soudaroff, couched in very urgent terms, -and entreating him to come and see her that evening, as she was -leaving the baths the next day with Usk and Philippa. -</p> - -<p> -“Do you care to come with me, Mansfield?” he asked, tossing the note -across to his secretary. -</p> - -<p> -The smile of gratification which overspread Mansfield’s features at -the question disappeared with startling suddenness, for the cuts on -his face were still painful, and he murmured dolefully that he was not -fit to go anywhere. -</p> - -<p> -“Didn’t know you were so keen about your personal appearance,” said -Cyril. “Nonsense! come at once.” -</p> - -<p> -His objections disposed of in this summary fashion, Mansfield -submitted with the best grace in the world when Cyril took him by the -arm and fairly led him out of the house. Arrived at the gate of -Princess Soudaroff’s lodgings, the prisoner found himself suddenly -released. -</p> - -<p> -“You may as well wait out here for a minute or two,” said Cyril. “I -must explain the origin of your facial adornments, and I’m afraid you -would blush yourself to death if you were listening. How many years is -it, I wonder, since I was able to blush? I’ll call you in when I have -finished.” -</p> - -<p> -In this considerate intention Cyril was foiled by Usk and Philippa, -who had been watching for his approach from the verandah, and came to -meet him. Mansfield showed signs of a desire to escape, but Cyril -seized him again and explained briefly that the fellow had saved his -life, and had repented of the deed ever since. Having thus placed -matters on a right footing, he went into the house to find the -Princess, leaving the three young people together, Usk, with awestruck -face, plying Mansfield with every conceivable variety of question. As -for Philippa, the tears which threatened to overflow forbade her -speaking, but she proffered timidly such little services as occurred -to her, seating the hero in an easy-chair, and bringing him, in spite -of his protests, a cushion and a footstool. When her further -suggestions had been gratefully but firmly declined, she sat down and -gazed at him with an expression that made the young man’s heart beat -wildly. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I say, Lady Phil,” he protested incoherently; “you mustn’t make -so much of it. It wasn’t anything, really.” -</p> - -<p> -“He would have been killed but for you,” persisted Philippa; “and you -are dreadfully hurt.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nothing but a bruise, truly; and these scratches on my face—not half -as bad as those German fellows get in their college duels. I’m ashamed -to be tied up so aggressively; but the doctor would do it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course,” said Philippa wisely. “And you ought to be proud of your -pieces of plaster. I am.” -</p> - -<p> -“No accounting for tastes,” said Usk; for Mansfield was unable to do -more than beam gratefully upon Philippa. “Did you get any chance of -paying back the chap that threw the stone, old man?” -</p> - -<p> -While Mansfield was fighting the battle o’er again in answer to the -questions showered upon him, Cyril had found his way to Princess -Soudaroff’s sitting-room. The old lady looked up with a smile as he -entered. “We were expecting you,” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“After the blood-curdling note you sent me, you couldn’t well do less, -Princess. Please relieve my mind as soon as possible. What is wrong?” -</p> - -<p> -“It was a conversation I had with Philippa that made me send for you. -Have you noticed how unhappy she has been looking lately?” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril shook his head solemnly. “Princess, Princess, if you have got a -clergyman concealed in the next room, and want me to let my secretary -marry Phil on the spot, I must tell you frankly I won’t do it. It -wouldn’t be fair to Caerleon and Nadia.” -</p> - -<p> -“As though I should dream of such a thing!” Princess Soudaroff was -more nearly angry than Cyril had ever seen her. “A clandestine -marriage for my darling Phil, and under my auspices! Lord Cyril, you -should be ashamed of yourself for suggesting it. No, Philippa’s -anxiety, and mine too, is all on your account.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ought I to be more flattered by your interest, or grieved for your -anxiety, Princess?” -</p> - -<p> -“You are incorrigible, Lord Cyril. I assure you I am absolutely in -earnest. Phil is making herself miserable with the notion that you are -in love with the Princess of Dardania, although I have done my best to -show her its absurdity. No man who had loved Queen Ernestine, however -imperfectly, could transfer his affections to the woman who wrecked -her happiness.” -</p> - -<p> -“Your sentiments are mine, Princess.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then what are you doing? Your passion for the Princess has become a -by-word in her household. Even Princess Lida amused herself with it in -talking to Phil. You cannot profess to be ignorant of this, Lord -Cyril. You are not the man to drift into such a position blindfold, -and I can only judge that you have some object in pursuing this -course.” -</p> - -<p> -“See what it is to have at hand a critic acquainted with all the -follies of one’s youth! I must congratulate you upon your -clear-sightedness, Princess.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you and she have been enemies too long to work together with any -confidence. It must be in the hope of improving your political -position that you are trying to induce her to marry you.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, Princess; there you are wrong.” Cyril spoke with a firmness that -carried conviction. “Nothing on earth could make me marry the Princess -of Dardania, or any woman in the world but Ernestine. I don’t know why -I should tell you this, except that I suspect you to be in -communication with Ernestine, and I don’t want to add to her -troubles.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you still love Ernestine?” -</p> - -<p> -“I still love Ernestine—have always loved her—though I own that for -a few days I thought I should be glad never to see her again. She -thwarted me, and at the time I could think of nothing but punishing -her. I won’t cant and say that I suffered as much as she did; but when -I turned my back on her, I punished myself. The want of her has -tormented me ever since.” -</p> - -<p> -“And now you are making love to her cousin!” -</p> - -<p> -“I see you don’t understand me yet, Princess. I cherish a hope—a -dream, you may call it—of finding my way some day to Ernestine, and -entreating her forgiveness—her compassion. But something else must -come first.” -</p> - -<p> -“And what is that?” -</p> - -<p> -“The woman who separated us has to be dealt with.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are deliberately deceiving the unhappy creature?” -</p> - -<p> -“You will make me conceited, Princess. Is it for me to plume myself -upon having produced an impression upon the heart of her Royal -Highness?” -</p> - -<p> -The Princess waived the evasion away impatiently. “You are seeking to -revenge yourself upon a woman.” -</p> - -<p> -“When a woman has twice pitted her wits successfully against mine, -Princess, she is entitled to be treated as a man.” -</p> - -<p> -“But who are you, to revenge yourself upon her?” -</p> - -<p> -“Simply a man she has injured. I treat her as she treated Ernestine.” -</p> - -<p> -“As you treated Ernestine, you mean. Your hands are no cleaner than -hers. It was your wounded ambition that enabled her to separate you -from the Queen.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t deny it, Princess. I behaved like a brute, I know—possibly -like a fool, which is worse. But she has ruined young Michael, -inflicted enormous injury upon Thracia, and hunted Ernestine -rancorously from place to place.” -</p> - -<p> -“You gave her the opportunity of doing it all. And think; you speak of -returning to Ernestine. Would she wish you to avenge her wrongs in -this way?” -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not; but then I don’t do it to gratify her. I tell you, -Princess, a few days ago I had almost decided to be satisfied with the -political portion of my revenge, and to forego the rest of it. Then -the woman took it into her head to boast in my presence of her cruelty -to Ernestine—to flaunt her own insolent charms in contrast with -Ernestine’s misery—intending, I suppose, to complete her conquest of -me; and I swore that she should have no mercy, since she showed none. -That is why I am going on to the bitter end.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how can you expect a blessing on what you are doing?” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril’s momentary fury cooled into mild impatience. “My dear Princess, -I am not in search of a blessing. What I want is revenge.” -</p> - -<p> -“Think what sorrow you have brought upon Queen Ernestine already. Can -you—dare you—expose her, when your lives are linked together, to the -retribution which must follow upon this plot of yours?” -</p> - -<p> -“I can bear my own punishment, Princess. It would be a singularly -unjust dispensation of Providence that visited my sins on Ernestine. I -fancy that had not occurred to you, had it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Her love for you will make your punishment hers. She would not escape -it if she could. Do you forget that the Princess of Dardania is an -unscrupulous and vindictive woman? She is not likely to allow herself -to be slighted with impunity, and she may make your life with -Ernestine a misery to both of you.” -</p> - -<p> -“If I succeed this time, Princess, the luck will have turned, and I am -not afraid of its turning again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Lord Cyril, will nothing turn you from your purpose? I have known you -now for many years, and each time that I see you leaves a sadder -impression on my mind than the last. It seems to me that God must deal -with you very signally before you will learn to give up your own way. -I am an old woman, on the very border of the grave, and I do entreat -you, by any kindness you may have for me, by your love for Ernestine, -by the great work in which you are engaged, to relinquish this plan of -revenge.” -</p> - -<p> -The old lady bent forward with clasped hands, panting in her -eagerness, her eyes fixed anxiously on Cyril’s face. He met her look -with good-humoured frankness. -</p> - -<p> -“Really, Princess, I am sorry not to be able to please you. One -doesn’t often get a chance of redressing the inequalities of the world -a little, and I can’t give it up when it comes.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I feel it my duty to say that I intend to warn the Princess of -Dardania against you. I shall postpone my journey for a day, and ask -for an interview with her. I shall make no use of what you have told -me, of course; to bear of my own suspicions should serve to put her on -her guard.” -</p> - -<p> -“As you please, Princess. Her Royal Highness may possibly prefer my -word to yours, after all. How can the poor old lady be so quixotic as -to show me her hand?” he asked himself as he went out. “It only means -that I must be at the villa first.” -</p> - -<p> -A cipher telegram from Czarigrad was awaiting him when he returned to -his hotel. “Scythian opposition withdrawn; concession will probably be -granted in a day or two,” it ran, and Cyril smiled. -</p> - -<p> -“I think that for many reasons to-morrow will be a good day for -undeceiving her Royal Highness, and possibly for electrifying the -world,” he said to himself, all unconscious that Dr Texelius had -already prepared the way for both processes, by means of the -indictment so considerately drawn up by Prince Soudaroff. -</p> - -<p> -When Cyril repaired to the villa early the next day, he was ushered -into the great drawing-room, which he found deserted, almost for the -first time in his experience. The servant who had admitted him went to -seek Countess Birnsdorf, but had no sooner closed the door behind him -than Cyril heard the Countess’s voice in the inner room. -</p> - -<p> -“The Princess Soudaroff is very anxious to wait upon you, madame.” -</p> - -<p> -“What, that old heretic?” Like other converts, the Princess was -inclined to be more orthodox than the Orthodox themselves. “I don’t -want to listen to her sermons. She hopes to convert me, I suppose? No, -Birnsdorf, I won’t see her.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think, madame, that her only wish is to express her thanks for your -kindness to her god-daughter, Lady Philippa.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is quite unnecessary. I sent a message to her by the girl, -requesting her not to give herself the trouble. I can’t stand these -psalm-singing Evangelicals, although I tolerated little Philippa for -the sake of—her family.” Cyril smiled, gathering from this remark -that the household at the villa had found Philippa’s society as little -congenial as she had found theirs. -</p> - -<p> -“The lady is very old, madame,” ventured the Countess, “and she seems -extremely desirous to see you. She entreated me——” -</p> - -<p> -“I tell you, Birnsdorf, I won’t see her. What impertinence! Tell her -that I am engaged—that I am always engaged at this hour. As though I -should put off Count Mortimer for the sake of receiving her! Didn’t -you say you saw him coming? Bring him in, if he has arrived.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril had moved noiselessly to the farther side of the drawing-room -before Countess Birnsdorf lifted the curtain that hung over the -doorway. He caught the look of annoyance on her face as she realised -that the door between the two rooms was open, but he met her with an -expression so absolutely unmoved as enabled her to comfort herself -with the assurance that he could not have heard anything. -</p> - -<p> -“Her Royal Highness will receive you, Count,” she said, and the -Princess looked up with a very natural start as he passed under the -curtained doorway. She was reading a newspaper, which Cyril recognised -immediately as the ‘Jewish Colonist,’ a journal conducted by Dr -Texelius in German and Jargon, to promote the agricultural and -commercial development of Palestine, and its re-population by the -Hebrew race. It was not quite the kind of paper one would expect to -find in the hands of a great lady of rigidly Orthodox views, but there -could be no doubt that the Princess was deeply interested in it. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Count, are you come to scathe me with bitter reproaches?” she -cried, looking up from the closely printed page. -</p> - -<p> -“Alas, madame! your conscience must have outrun my just indignation. I -was not even aware I had been injured until now.” -</p> - -<p> -“What a misfortune it is to be in too great a hurry!” cried the -Princess. “I thought, of course, that you had heard of my treachery -from our friend here, and were come to denounce me. There is no hope -of hiding it from you now.” -</p> - -<p> -She handed him the paper, which displayed in a conspicuous position -the announcement that it would appear no more under its present -editorship. An editorial note explained that Dr Texelius, aware that -his independent course was distasteful to the proprietor of the -journal, felt it his duty to throw up his post and wreck the paper. -His position thus indicated, the editor proceeded to business. He had -always, he said, doubted the disinterestedness of Count Mortimer, but -he had forborne to ventilate his suspicions until accident had shown -them to be entirely justified. The man who posed as the high-minded -friend of Israel was merely a vulgar schemer, seeking to exploit the -greatest movement of the age for his own benefit. His ambition had led -him to lend a ready ear to the blandishments of Scythia, the natural -enemy of Zion, and he had fallen victim to the wiles of a Delilah -hired to entrap him. While deceiving his unfortunate supporters, he -had been deceived himself. The post of Governor of Palestine had been -promised him, together with the hand of his enchantress, as the price -of his care of Scythian interests throughout the negotiations, and in -consideration of a large sum of money he was to resign his position in -favour of a Scythian nominee immediately after his election. There had -never been the slightest intention of keeping faith with him, however. -The lady, whose identity was not obscurely hinted at, had held him in -play as long as he was useful, only to cast him aside when she had -done with him. He had betrayed Jewish interests in vain, and now that -it suited Scythia to throw him over, he stood revealed in all his -baseness as a faithless agent and an unsuccessful traitor. Through -this indictment, couched in terms which did not err on the side of -refinement, Cyril glanced carelessly, and, having read it, handed it -back to the Princess. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, what have you to say?” she asked him. -</p> - -<p> -“I am utterly at a loss, madame. I have nothing to say.” -</p> - -<p> -“What, Count! you don’t even feel called upon to testify the slightest -sorrow for the way in which my name is involved in your -proceedings?—for it is impossible for any one not to see who is -meant.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, madame, my assailant has displayed a scrupulous regard for your -feelings. You are the conqueror throughout, not the victim.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you accept the <i>rôle</i> of victim, Count?” -</p> - -<p> -“Even so, madame. What can I do but acknowledge your triumph and ask -your gracious leave to retire? A discredited traitor is no fit -associate for your Royal Highness.” -</p> - -<p> -“Stop, Count! You have carried on this farce long enough. Why pretend -to take the man’s nonsense seriously? You know as well as I do that -whoever may have been deceived, you were not.” -</p> - -<p> -“What, madame! Are you trying to restore my lost self-esteem! to -re-establish your empire over me, according to Dr Texelius?” Cyril was -smiling. -</p> - -<p> -“Pray, Count, be serious. What is the object of raising a new barrier -between us at this moment, when this kind enemy of yours has -unintentionally broken them all down? The hero and heroine occupy the -stage, every eye is fixed upon them, and the stupid audience, which -thinks it has followed the play with the deepest attention, -anticipates what it imagines to be the <i>dénoûment</i>. But it is -mistaken, for it has failed to see what was before its eyes. The true -<i>dénoûment</i> is the simplest, the most unconventional possible—all -honour to the actors who have grafted it on so hackneyed a plot.” -</p> - -<p> -“I fear I am very dense, madame. Am I to understand that you and I -have been acting some comedy for the edification of the spectators? or -should it be a tragedy?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why play upon words, Count? A tragedy is what the audience expected, -undoubtedly, for the fall of a great man is far more tragic than his -death, but the slightest possible alteration in the original <i>motif</i> -makes a happy ending not only natural, but inevitable.” -</p> - -<p> -“My stupidity is colossal, madame. Might I venture to entreat you to -point out to me the alteration to which you refer?” -</p> - -<p> -“Are you trying to tease me, Count? The audience saw only a pair of -politicians, each striving to outwit the other. But on the stage were -a man and woman playing into each other’s hands.” -</p> - -<p> -“With reference to what, madame?” -</p> - -<p> -“You are indeed dense, my dear Count.” There was some irritation in -the Princess’s tone. “You force me to speak with disagreeable -plainness. They were playing for a crown and a ring. But why this -extraordinary display of ignorance in a matter you have discussed with -me for weeks?” -</p> - -<p> -“It seems to me, madame, that one of the actors on the stage was under -the same delusion as the audience. Would it suit your Royal Highness -to drop metaphor for a moment, and let us see how we stand?” -</p> - -<p> -The Princess was genuinely puzzled. She lifted her eyes to Cyril’s -face, but discovered there no response to her smile. Was it possible -that the man had misunderstood her from the beginning? No, it was -merely that he was cautious, he would not commit himself without -specific encouragement. “You cannot have forgotten our compact -already?” she cried merrily. -</p> - -<p> -“I was not aware that there was any compact between us, madame.” -</p> - -<p> -The Princess began to perceive whither all this tended. “Not that I -was to make you Prince of Palestine? and you——” she stopped -suddenly. -</p> - -<p> -“Far from it, madame. My hopes have never climbed so high.” -</p> - -<p> -Horror was taking hold upon her, but she was still unconquered. “Let -them make the effort, then, Count. Otherwise Europe will see you as -the traitor this journalist calls you. You are too deeply involved to -draw back with honour. I hold your reputation in my hands, and Prince -Soudaroff is behind me. Choose! Safety and——” she touched the -wedding-ring on her finger, “or——” -</p> - -<p> -“Evidently, madame, you are unaware that I have just recommended the -Emperor of Pannonia to nominate Prince Franz Immanuel of -Schwarzwald-Molzau as his candidate for the post—one of the -posts—you are good enough to offer me. His religious opinions are so -truly liberal—for in view of the uncertainty as to his future he has -been brought up on an admirably eclectic system, so as to be ready for -any country that may need a king—that he seems the very man for it.” -</p> - -<p> -The vague terror which had seized the Princess became certainty. Her -face hardened, her lips grew tense, and her right hand went swiftly to -her head. Cyril understood the movement. The peasant-girls of Dardania -carry in their hair a silver-hilted dagger as a part of their -elaborate head-dress, and the Princess had worn the national costume -constantly before her widowhood. He wondered mechanically whether she -had contrived to retain the weapon under the folds of her cap, and if -so, how many seconds he had to live. Almost before the thought had -crossed his mind, however, the hand dropped again, empty. The dagger -was not there. The Princess pointed silently to the door, and he bowed -and retreated. Her voice arrested him before he reached the threshold. -</p> - -<p> -“Why have you done this?” she demanded passionately. “Oh, I know—I -have not forgotten your threat to revenge yourself on me. But that I -should have been deceived by you—I!” -</p> - -<p> -She sat for a moment without speaking, then rose and came towards him. -</p> - -<p> -“Come, Count, you have had your revenge, and enjoyed it, no doubt. You -had a right to it, I will confess, so let it pass. We are quits now. -Why not start afresh? Purely as a matter of business, don’t you think -you are very foolish to quarrel with me? You and I together could do -anything we chose. What is the use of pitting our wits continually -against each other? You know what I can do for you—you have no -prospects otherwise. Let us blot out the last quarter of an hour. Why -should not our compact remain in force? What do you say?” She laid her -hand upon his arm, and behind her honeyed smile a passionate eagerness -shone in her eyes and trembled upon her lips. Many men would have -succumbed to the temptation of the woman and what she offered. Not so -Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -“I can only repeat, madame, that I know of no compact.” -</p> - -<p> -She drew back from him and stood erect. “Then there is some other -woman,” she said, absolute certainty in her voice. “Is it Ernestine?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is Ernestine.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish you joy, then. Go!” -</p> - -<p> -She pointed again to the door, and he went out, conscious that she -would have sold her soul for a weapon ready to her hand, and that if -wishes could kill, neither Ernestine nor he would live much longer. In -the excitement of the moment the Princess had ordered him out by the -private door at the back of the boudoir, instead of that opening into -the large drawing-room. As he entered the anteroom a female figure -quitted it hastily by the opposite door, and the Scythian Captain -Roburoff tried to look as if he had been alone for some hours. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, Roburoff, you here?” said Cyril, nodding to him. -</p> - -<p> -“Simply on an errand for his Majesty, Count. I was the bearer of a -letter to her Royal Highness.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you were tempering duty with pleasure when I came in?” -</p> - -<p> -The Scythian’s face darkened. “Do you—would you insult—pray -consider, Count——” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear fellow, we were all young once, even ladies-in-waiting. I -wish you an uninterrupted interview next time.” -</p> - -<p> -“All the same,” murmured Cyril, as he quitted the villa by the private -door, leaving Captain Roburoff reassured, “I am much mistaken if the -young lady was not Princess Lida, and not a <i>dame d’honneur</i> at all. I -fear there are further troubles in store for my poor friend the -Princess; but after thrusting King Michael back upon the unhappy girl -once already, I really can’t bring myself to spoil her plans a second -time. I wonder how long they have been carrying on this affair?” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch09"> -CHAPTER IX.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">VERSIONS DIFFER.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Birnsdorf</span>!” said the Princess. -</p> - -<p> -There was no answer. Truth to tell, poor Countess Birnsdorf was dozing -in an uncomfortable high-backed chair in the great drawing-room, where -she had remained during Cyril’s interview with her mistress, after -delivering a softened version of the latter’s message to Princess -Soudaroff. Her knitting and her spectacles were left behind in the -anteroom beyond the boudoir, where Captain Roburoff was improving the -shining hour in a way that would have made her hair stand on end had -she known of it, and the low murmur of voices from the intervening -room had lulled her to sleep. The imperious tone in which the Princess -repeated her summons reached her ears, however, and she made her -appearance, full of apologies, at the inner door. The Princess was -sitting at the table, her head supported pensively upon her hand. -</p> - -<p> -“If Count Mortimer should present himself here again, Birnsdorf, -remember that I will not receive him,” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“No, madame?” hazarded the Countess, consumed with curiosity. It was -evident that the crisis which every member of the household had been -anticipating, although the Princess had apparently been blind to its -approach, had come; but how, and with what result? -</p> - -<p> -“He would scarcely venture to show himself,” pursued the Princess, -meditatively, “but one can never tell. And exciting scenes of the kind -are too much for me. Positively, I cannot stand them. I am too -tender-hearted.” -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed, madame, it has made you look frightfully ill.” Countess -Birnsdorf was horrified by the strained paleness of her mistress’s -face. “You will permit me to summon a physician? No?” Then, her -indignation increasing as the Princess shook her head with the smile -of a martyr, “I could never have believed that Count Mortimer would -forget himself so far as to persist in a conversation disagreeable to -your Highness, even if he had the bad taste to enter upon it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, when these self-restrained men have once lost control of -themselves, there is no holding them. Did you see the poor man go out, -Birnsdorf?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, madame. I am certain he did not pass through the drawing-room.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, of course. I allowed him to escape by the private stair. One -does not wish to subject to public humiliation a man who is already -unhappy, even though it is by his own fault.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, madame, in presence of your angelic kindness, I do not wonder -that the unhappy nobleman forgot himself.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense, Birnsdorf! You are a sad flatterer,” with pathetic -sweetness. “Where is Lida?” -</p> - -<p> -“I believe her Highness is walking in the gardens with Mlle. -Delacroix, madame,” replied the Countess, with a perceptible sniff. -The elderly Frenchwoman who had been Princess Lida’s governess, and -was now her chosen confidant, played the part of Mordecai to Countess -Birnsdorf’s Haman. -</p> - -<p> -“Beg her to come to me when she returns to the house. I have something -important to say to her.” The lady-in-waiting departed, and the -Princess, finding herself alone, threw aside the mask for a moment. -Her right hand clenched itself involuntarily, the left was pressed -upon her heart as she rose and paced the room. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” she said to herself, “I will be prudent. I cannot afford to -fail again. Lida must be safely married, or I shall lose my only -chance of returning to power. I must have some standing-ground from -which to move my world—a recognised position in some country or -other. But as soon as I am sure of my footing—then, Count, look to -yourself! You shall not return to Ernestine. You may scorn me if you -like, but she shall not have you. I will track you step by step when -you try to slink back to her, and, when you think you have won her, I -will come between you. I can tell her a few little truths that will -place you in a new light, my dear Count!” -</p> - -<p> -She laughed mirthlessly, and returned with a swift step to her seat at -the table as she heard her daughter crossing the anteroom. There was a -pretty mixture of triumph and girlish timidity in Princess Lida’s -manner as she came into the room, and her shining eyes and -rose-flushed cheeks were eloquent of shy happiness. At any other time -her mother’s eagle glance would have perceived the change immediately, -but now the Princess was too much engrossed with her own thoughts to -observe it. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, Lida!” she said. “I wanted to tell you that I think it advisable -to hasten on your wedding a little. It will be a year next month since -your father died, and there is no reason why you should not be married -the month after.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, mamma!” faltered Princess Lida, in dire dismay. “Michael is such -a boy,” she explained, recovering herself. -</p> - -<p> -“He will be nineteen then. Many kings have been younger when they -married.” -</p> - -<p> -“But he is so—so disagreeable. You know, when I have complained to -you of his behaviour, you have always said he would undergo a change -and become quite different before we were married; but he hasn’t done -anything of the kind yet. Lately he has been worse than ever.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, you will have the pleasure of superintending his reformation -yourself. You are not the girl I think you if you can’t make him treat -you with proper respect.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I am not afraid of that.” Princess Lida raised her dark head -proudly. “But, mamma, I don’t see any reason for being in such a -hurry. I don’t care to be married just yet.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear child, you talk as if you had only to hold up your finger and -Michael would come whenever you chose to claim him. But that is not -the case. He would be little Philippa’s bridegroom now if she would -have taken him.” -</p> - -<p> -“I only wish she had!” -</p> - -<p> -“Lida, this is childish. Michael can give you a crown, and you don’t -find crowns hanging on every bush. The eligible princes of Europe are -not contending for the light of your <i>beaux yeux</i>, my dear—far from -it. You must take what you can get, or you will end by getting -nothing.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s very hard,” pouted Princess Lida, “that the only person I can -get should be so horrid. Bettine had no trouble of this kind. Look how -devoted Albrecht is to her.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know he is, my dear child; but that can’t be helped. Bettine’s -marriage was arranged for her just as yours was, and we could not tell -how differently Michael and Albrecht would turn out. Of course -circumstances were more favourable at the time of her wedding. Your -father’s death, and your brother’s unkind behaviour in depriving us of -a home, place us in a difficult position at present, and Michael does -not show the consideration he might. But for your comfort, Lida, I -will say this. Michael is one of the most pliable men I know, if you -take him the right way. Once get rid of his present companions, and -make yourself necessary to him, and he will be your devoted slave as -long as you take care not to pull the chain too tight.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should like to snap it at once. I don’t want to marry him. Mamma, -you married for love, didn’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Lida!” The Princess was shocked. “Who has been talking to you -of such things? You have picked up a wrong idea, of course. What -really happened was only that when my father chose to turn against the -lover whom he had himself recommended to me, I did not.” -</p> - -<p> -“I knew that was it! And you married him?” -</p> - -<p> -“I did; but then, you see, we had been allowed to fall in love with -one another. I have taken care that there should be no complication of -the sort in your case.” -</p> - -<p> -“But Bettine and Albrecht love one another.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear child, pray don’t cavil. I mean, of course, that I have taken -care you should have no chance of falling in love with any one but the -man you are to marry.” -</p> - -<p> -“But he doesn’t love me.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are becoming a little tiresome, Lida. There were unfortunate -circumstances which obliged me to hasten on your betrothal before -Michael had perceived the nature of his feeling for you, and unhappily -he resents being bound, as he considers it. But I have already said -that you will be able to set things right as soon as you are married, -if you go the right way to work.” -</p> - -<p> -“But, mamma, you say you were right in disobeying your father because -it was for your lover’s sake. If I had a lover, mamma——?” She came -forward a little with clasped hands, and her eyes rested entreatingly -on her mother’s face. The Princess laughed coldly. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t imagine impossibilities, my dear child. You have no -lover—could not have one without my knowledge, and I have no -intention of allowing you such a luxury. You will marry Michael two -months hence, and I shall write to him to-day to make arrangements. -The letter will take some time, for I must be careful how I put -things. That equerry of his had better wait until to-morrow before -returning, Czartoriski and he must amuse one another.” -</p> - -<p> -“We were thinking of a ride this afternoon,” suggested Princess Lida -meekly. Her mother nodded assent. -</p> - -<p> -“That will do very well. By the bye, Lida, if you should come across -Count Mortimer, you need not speak to him. Bow, of course, but nothing -more.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, mamma. Has he done anything?” Princess Lida’s eyes were dancing. -</p> - -<p> -“Count Mortimer has thought fit to lose sight of the difference -between his position and mine, and address me in a very strange way. -That is all.” -</p> - -<p> -It was enough for Princess Lida, who never dreamt of regarding Cyril -as anything but an unhappy victim of her mother’s charms. She told the -story with great glee to Mlle. Delacroix, and Mlle. Delacroix retailed -it to a compatriot who was visiting the baths. Since every one at -Ludwigsbad takes a childlike and unabashed interest in every one -else’s affairs, it was known by the evening from one end of the little -town to the other that Count Mortimer had conceived a romantic -adoration for the Princess of Dardania—and had declared it to its -object! Coming so soon after the revelations put forth by Dr Texelius, -the story met with instant and universal acceptance, and there were -only a few people who remarked that Count Mortimer must have been -playing for very high stakes when he allowed himself to appear such a -fool. Mansfield had been spending the afternoon at one of the -shooting-galleries, where the gilded youth of both sexes were wont to -consume much valuable time in massacring little wooden soldiers by -means of air-guns. Here he heard the tale, and returned to the hotel -with a settled gloom on his countenance such as even the fact of -Philippa’s departure had been insufficient to produce. -</p> - -<p> -“Why so sad, gentle youth?” asked Cyril, catching sight of his face. -</p> - -<p> -“They are saying all over the place that the Princess of Dardania -has—has given you the sack, Count,” said Mansfield tragically. -</p> - -<p> -“They are—are they? Really there’s something positively demoniacal -about that woman’s cleverness! And you, Mansfield, you—try to comfort -me in my misery with the assurance that my sad plight is known all -over the town!” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s not true?” burst from Mansfield. -</p> - -<p> -“Since the Princess has spread the report, she must intend it to be -believed. Is it for me to contradict a lady? Rather let me study how -best to corroborate her assertion. I must go to dinner in a Norfolk -jacket, I suppose, and neglect my appearance generally. If Dietrich -could only be induced to forget to shave me! But perhaps it would be -just as effective if I let my moustache droop for a day or two. What -do you say, Mansfield? You will look disconsolate too, of course—in -fact, you are doing it already—but you will wear your rue with a -difference. The Confidant is only allowed to go mad in white linen, -you know. Tilburina’s white satin must be reserved for me.” -</p> - -<p> -“But the Princess has given orders that you are to be refused -admission if you try to see her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that’s what is afflicting you, is it? Make your mind easy; I have -no intention whatever of trying to see the Princess.” -</p> - -<p> -“But will you let her go on spreading these lies about you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why not, if it pleases her? They are telling worse lies about me all -over Europe, and it does me no harm. You and the Chevalier Goldberg -seem to take these things to heart much more than I do. By the bye, -mind you show up when the Chevalier arrives to-morrow. He wants to -speak to you.” -</p> - -<p> -The Chevalier’s reason for wishing to see Mansfield was made clear on -his arrival the next day, when the unwilling secretary found himself -invested with a gold watch and chain of surpassing magnificence. The -watch was decorated with an inscription to the effect that it was a -slight token of admiration and gratitude for Mansfield’s bravery in -saving Count Mortimer’s life, and the chain carried a small fortune in -the way of charms, which puzzled the recipient not a little. The -Chevalier had originally intended his testimonial of gratitude to take -the form of a diamond ring of the size and lustre commonly seen only -on South African mine-owners and the monarchs of high finance, but on -consulting Cyril he found that such an ornament in Mansfield’s -possession would never see the light of day, and with reluctance chose -instead the best watch that money could buy. He had taken a great -fancy to Mansfield, purely on Cyril’s account, and he dismissed him -now with an assurance of future favour which would have driven one of -his own nation wild with joy. Mansfield, who was English, and failed -to appreciate properly the power which the Chevalier possessed in -right of his millions, received the promise without any particular -emotion, and went out for a mountain walk. Left alone together, the -Chevalier and Cyril turned their attention to business. They spoke in -English, for the Chevalier was proud of his proficiency in that -language, and liked to keep himself in practice. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, have you come to tell me that I am the best-execrated man in -Europe?” asked Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -“If dere was such noose to tell you, I would not be de men to do it,” -was the quick response. “No, my frient, de storm is passed ofer your -head like water off a duck’s beck.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril smiled involuntarily. “This is extremely gratifying, Chevalier. -You think Texelius has overreached himself, then?” -</p> - -<p> -“Undoubtedly. You know he was placed on de board off manachement off -de United Nation? Well, de directors met yesterday, and expelled him, -solely on account of his atteck on you.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that was purely your doing, of course.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not at all. Dere were some det took your side from de first, and de -rest came ofer to it ess soon ess dey heard off your confersation wid -de Emperor about Prince Franz Immanuel. Dey saw at once det you hed -been foolink de Scythians all de time dey thought dey were foolink -you, and det it was not you, but de mysterious lady, who hed been -deceifed in de metter.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how did the Franz Immanuel business come out?” -</p> - -<p> -“I saw to det, my frient. Dere was an inspired paragreph in all de -Findobona papers yesterday which related de fects.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am sorry you did that, Chevalier. If the proposal has become -public, it means that there is no hope of getting it adopted.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dere nefer wass any,” said the Chevalier calmly. “I hed sent an -achent to sound de Prince’s parents, and dey would not hear off his -goink to Pelestine. Dey mean him to merry de young Queen of Frisia.” -</p> - -<p> -“Another check!” cried Cyril. “I thought we were on firm ground at -last. Then my journey to Vindobona was all for nothing?” -</p> - -<p> -“By no means, Count. De proposal may hef failed, but at least it safed -you first. It was so netural and so suitable det no one could beliefe -de story off Texelius. Herschel Rubenssohn, whom I met passink through -Vindobona, hess written a great article on de subchect in my paper, -which I hef wid me, and you shell see it. Transferrink his republican -fiews to you, he says det de nobility off your cheracter and aims -would prefent you from efer dessirink to make yourself a prince.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is dangerous to dogmatise,” said Cyril gravely. “If Palestine was -offered me by a unanimous vote of the Powers, I fear all Mr -Rubenssohn’s pledges on my behalf would not make me refuse it.” -</p> - -<p> -The Chevalier smiled, but wistfully. “Ah, my frient, why were you not -born a prince—efen a Cherman princelink?” he said. -</p> - -<p> -“Probably because Europe would have been too small to hold me. Now, -pray, Chevalier, no hankering after impossibilities.” -</p> - -<p> -“You might efen now become a confert to Rome, and buy a dukedom from -de Fatican,” suggested the financier, with the uneasy smile of a man -experimenting on the edge of a slumbering volcano. “De money iss et -your serfice, and wid de Chews supportink you on one side and de -Chesuits on de oder, not efen Scythia could hope to keep you out of -Pelestine.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, if I could take you over to Rome with me, there might be -something in the idea,” responded Cyril instantly. “The Goldberg -millions would be welcome indeed at the Papal Court. But without -them—— No, Chevalier, it won’t do. And what has happened to -Texelius?” -</p> - -<p> -“He retains de direction off de colonisink scheme, but he hess lost -his influence in our cheneral councils,” replied the Chevalier, -accepting the change of subject obediently and gratefully. “Det will -allow Koepfle to come to de front—a better men off business, dough -widout de European lustre off Texelius, and one det hess nefer yet -receifed de full recognition he desserfes. It was from an idea off his -det I gained de first notion off foundink our Syndicate, in order to -help to completion de schemes he hed outlined. We shell do better now -den before, I think.” -</p> - -<p> -“When do you expect to get your concession?” asked Cyril suddenly. -</p> - -<p> -“Fery soon,” replied the Chevalier. “It may be two—three days, det -iss all.” -</p> - -<p> -“And when you have got it, you will have no need of me for a month or -so? I want a holiday. A trip to Syria would do me good, I think.” -</p> - -<p> -“To Syria? to Pelestine, you mean. Ah, my frient, you hef a plen! You -will not hide it from me? De Goldberg millions are all et your -serfice. You intend to make yourself master off de Land by a <i>coup de -main</i>?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Chevalier, I don’t intend anything of the kind. I am quite in -earnest in saying that the governorship is out of my reach. My visit -would be purely private and unofficial. You may call it a pilgrimage -if you like, although the saint whose shrine I have in view is alive -and not dead.” -</p> - -<p> -“You would not deceife your frient?—dough I shell not be engry if I -hear you hef esteblished yourself dere. I know your prudence, Count. -But you will not be lonk away? Our affairs in Europe will go to ruin -widout you.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t expect to be long, but it depends on the success I may meet -with. If others get before me, I shall have a poor chance. But -business first, Chevalier. If you need me in Europe, I won’t go.” -</p> - -<p> -“My frient, if dis fissit iss for your adfantache or pleassure, you -shell go whatefer heppens. Dere iss always the telegreph by which I -may consult you.” -</p> - -<p> -In the fulness of his generosity, the Chevalier proceeded to develop a -plan by which a staff of operators with a field telegraph were to -follow Cyril from place to place, so as to keep him always in touch -with the European headquarters of the Jewish movement. His schemes -were interrupted by the arrival of a telegram in cipher, which he read -to Cyril with triumph in his tones: “Czarigrad. You are wanted here. -Concession will probably issue to-morrow or next day.” -</p> - -<p> -“It iss well,” said the Chevalier. “To-night I leafe for Czarigrad. I -return wid de concession, den you start for Pelestine. One -confersation we must hef first, to settle our line off ection in -future.” -</p> - -<p> -“All right,” said Cyril, and the financier departed. On his return -from his walk, the astonished Mansfield was desired to hold himself in -readiness for a journey to Syria, which might become necessary at any -time within the next month. No explanation was given, but he -attributed the probable necessity to the business of the Syndicate, -and having made his preparations, awaited placidly the summons to -start. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch10"> -CHAPTER X.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">TAKING COUNSEL WITH BABES.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">On</span> the third morning after the departure of the Chevalier, Mansfield -was sitting writing in the anteroom at the hotel, when the garden door -opened violently, and an elderly lady hurried up to the house. -Mansfield thought she was a <i>Kurgäste</i> who had lost her way, for she -was wrapped in a loose cloak, and had a lace scarf thrown over her -head, in the style affected early in the day by ladies who were taking -the waters. On going to the door, he was astonished to find himself -face to face with Countess Birnsdorf, in a state of violent -excitement. -</p> - -<p> -“Where is Count Mortimer?” she cried, trying to push past him. “I -insist on seeing him immediately.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will find out whether his Excellency is able to see you, Countess,” -said Mansfield, holding his ground. “He may be engaged.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, then he is here? Then I am not too late!” and the old lady sank -down upon a bench and broke into gasping sobs. “Oh, Mr Secretary, let -me see him. I must see him, I tell you!” -</p> - -<p> -Surprised and perplexed, Mansfield knocked at Cyril’s door. “Countess -Birnsdorf is here, Count, and says she must see you. She is in a -terrible state about something,” he added, stepping inside the room. -</p> - -<p> -“What can be the matter now?” said Cyril. “Some trick of the -Princess’s, I suppose. Well, you had better ask her in.” -</p> - -<p> -Before Mansfield could obey, the Countess, her suspicions roused by -his closing the door behind him, forced her way in. For an instant she -stared wildly round the room and incredulously at Cyril, then flung -herself at his feet. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Count, give her back to us! Where is she? What have you done with -her—my little Princess? She never did you any harm. You may cherish a -grudge against her mother, but have you the heart to revenge yourself -on the child?” -</p> - -<p> -“Calm yourself, Countess,” said Cyril, so gently that the old lady -choked back her sobs and allowed him to raise her and lead her to a -seat. “What has happened to the Princess? I don’t understand you.” -</p> - -<p> -“She is gone,” sobbed Countess Birnsdorf, “and so is the Frenchwoman, -her attendant. No one saw them leave the house, and there is not so -much as a note to say where they are gone. As soon as the poor -Princess—her mother—heard the awful news, she said, ‘This is Count -Mortimer’s doing. He is taking his revenge on me,’ and I threw on a -cloak and ran all the way here in the hope of softening your heart -before it was too late.” -</p> - -<p> -“Alas, Countess, I cannot tell you where the Princess is,” said Cyril. -“But let us consider what we can do to obtain news of her Highness. -You did not intend to speak before my secretary, did you? Mr -Mansfield, please see that this visit is not mentioned.” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield retired, and finding in the garden the old man-servant who -had accompanied Countess Birnsdorf, told him to wait in Paschics’s -room, lest his livery should be recognised by the hotel servants. -Scarcely had he returned to his writing when footsteps upon the path -announced a second visitor. This time the intruder was Colonel -Czartoriski, a white-moustached veteran of many fights, and master of -the household to the Princess of Dardania. -</p> - -<p> -“Where is your master, young man?” he inquired, looking Mansfield over -in a peculiarly irritating way. -</p> - -<p> -“Count Mortimer is in his office,” returned Mansfield curtly, -resenting the style of address. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, indeed! Then I wish to see him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Unfortunately you can’t. His Excellency is engaged.” -</p> - -<p> -“So early?” very mildly. “I am indeed unfortunate. Who is with him, -may I ask?” -</p> - -<p> -“A lady.” -</p> - -<p> -Colonel Czartoriski’s face became livid. “And you venture to -acknowledge that to me?” he roared. “Who is the lady?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am not at liberty to mention her name.” -</p> - -<p> -“Out of the way, young man! Let me pass.” -</p> - -<p> -“Gently,” said Mansfield, shifting the old soldier adroitly from the -inner door. “I don’t know what you mean by coming here and behaving as -if you were in a comic opera, but it won’t take much more to make me -kick you down the steps.” -</p> - -<p> -Colonel Czartoriski’s hand went promptly to the place where his -sword-hilt was wont to be, but remembering that he was in plain -clothes, he repressed his wrath, and made a gallant effort to be calm. -</p> - -<p> -“I ask your pardon, young sir. If you knew the reason for my -excitement, you would excuse it, but you have not, I am sure, fathomed -the full villainy of your master’s character. No,” as Mansfield made a -threatening movement, “I will not speak against him. I ask you only to -risk his displeasure for a moment for the sake of the honour of an -august family, and the future of an unfortunate and misguided young -lady.” -</p> - -<p> -“What do you want me to do?” asked Mansfield, unconvinced. -</p> - -<p> -“You see my position?” Colonel Czartoriski turned to the wall, and -stood with his face almost touching a map of Western Asia which he -appeared to be studying. “I give you my word of honour that I will -maintain this attitude while you approach the lady, and entreat her to -return immediately with her attendant to the home she has forsaken. I -will not move until she is outside the garden, when I will venture to -attend her back to the villa. I shall not have seen her here, you are -a young man of honour and will not speak, the world will only know of -an early walk. Come, you will help me to save her?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am sure you are making some mistake about the lady,” said -Mansfield, in much perplexity; but he approached the door of Cyril’s -study, reaching it just as the owner opened it to escort Countess -Birnsdorf to the gate. The old lady’s cry of surprise on catching -sight of him made Colonel Czartoriski forget his promise and turn -round, and both looked unutterably guilty. -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose,” said Cyril, “that I ought to feel flattered at your both -regarding me as such a Lothario; but I assure you the honour is quite -undeserved.” -</p> - -<p> -“It was the words the Princess used,” explained Countess Birnsdorf, -apologetically. “A mother’s instinct——” -</p> - -<p> -“I am afraid her Royal Highness’s instincts are not to be trusted -where I am concerned. This is not the first rumour she has set afloat -about me, you will remember.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you intend to impute malice to her Highness, Count?” demanded -Colonel Czartoriski hotly. -</p> - -<p> -“By no means, Colonel. I merely state a fact.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course,” said Countess Birnsdorf, unaware of the admission she was -making. “How can you try to pick a quarrel with the Count, Colonel, -when he may have given us a clue to our poor Princess’s flight? If you -will make inquiries about Captain Roburoff’s destination when he left -this place three days ago, while I go home to try and calm her -Highness’s mind, it may help us a little.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, if Captain Roburoff has acted as Count Mortimer’s deputy——” -</p> - -<p> -“The Count once saw him talking to Princess Lida, that’s all. But if -you go on wasting time like this, how are we to save her? Come, come,” -and Countess Birnsdorf hurried the old soldier out of the house, and -saw him start in the direction of the station. But her haste was in -vain. A telegram which arrived that evening from Princess Lida -informed her mother that she was married to Captain Roburoff, and that -the ceremony had been performed by an Orthodox priest in the chapel -attached to the Thracian Legation at Vindobona. This astonishing fact -made it clear that some personage high in authority had been acting in -collusion with the fugitives, and before long every one at Ludwigsbad -knew that the Princess of Dardania had solemnly declared she would -never forgive Count Mortimer for his part in the affair. Cyril smiled -when the news reached him. -</p> - -<p> -“Excellent!” he said. “She has now a legitimate reason for hating me, -whereas before she could not very well avow the cause of her enmity.” -</p> - -<p> -The person who had told him of the rumour, and to whom he spoke, was -the Chevalier Goldberg, just returned in triumph from Czarigrad with -the long-coveted concession in his hands. The possession of Palestine -was once more secured to the Hebrew race. -</p> - -<p> -“But wid whom is she seekink to inchure you?” asked the financier in -reply. “Europe knows now de truth about her defeat in de affair -celebrated by Texelius, and will not beliefe her. Dere must be some -one outside de ranche off politics det she wishes to influence.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is just possible,” said Cyril drily. The Chevalier took heart of -grace. -</p> - -<p> -“My goot frient,” he said, “you will not take it amiss if I alloode to -your prifate affairs? You hef nefer honoured me wid your confidence -about dem, and I do not ask it off you; but chust et dis moment it iss -so closely connected wid de future off our great enterprice, det -unless you command me epsolutely to be silent, I must speak.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Chevalier, there was nothing to confide. My private affairs -are common property all over Europe, it seems to me. If you have any -contribution to make to the discussion, pray let me hear it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I hef a request to make off you first. You must know det since it -became efident det de concession would be granted, we hef hed ill -noose from Pelestine. Rubenssohn, who iss chust gone out dere to -inspect de colonies, says de officials are prepared to ressent our -comink. A pasha here, a sheikh dere—dey all fear we shell confiscate -deir offices and cut short deir dishonest gains. De Greek and Letin -Churches encourache dem in dis epprehension, hopink to raise a -rebellion against us, so det Europe may step in and refuse us de Land. -Now, you are about to fissit Pelestine. Will you go about amonk dese -officials ess de emissary off de Syndicate, and quiet deir minds? Dey -could nefer stend out against you.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are very kind. If I can do any good by reassuring the timid, I -shall be glad to be useful.” -</p> - -<p> -“You will make what arranchements and promises you please; dey shell -be kerried out. Some off de officials might be continued in deir posts -et a fixed selary, oders be pensioned off. Den dere are de Beni -Ismail—dose Arabs in de desert between Damascus and Baghdad. Dey hef -been told by some enemy det we intend to gerrison Palmyra and exect a -heafy tribute from dem, and deir chieftainess, whom dey call de Queen -off de Desert, threatens to appeal to Europe. You will come to terms -wid de lady, and reassure her ess to our intentions? Dere nefer wass a -woman you could not talk ofer.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will certainly do my best to conciliate her dusky Majesty. An -appeal to the Powers would land us in endless complications.” -</p> - -<p> -“True; but dere iss more at stake still. While de diplomatists are -squabblink in Europe ofer de gofernorship off Pelestine, you are on de -spot, treffellink ess a prifate indifidual, yet makink peace and -pleasantness wherefer you go. It iss well for you to be out off Europe -et dis moment, my frient, but it is better for you to be in Pelestine. -You are already a <i>persona grata</i> et Czarigrad, et Vindobona, et de -Magnagrecian Court. Hercynia will follow Pannonia. You are de right -men for Pelestine, and dey must see it.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril shook his head. “It sounds excellent, Chevalier, but, after all, -I am not big enough for them. They might accept me as an emergency -man, just to do the dirty work and put the place in order; but it -would be strictly stipulated that as soon as things were pretty quiet -some princeling should step into my shoes.” -</p> - -<p> -“No!” cried the Chevalier, with almost a shout. “Not if your prifate -intention in goink to Pelestine iss what I think. De saint you desire -to fenerate—pardon my boldness—iss it not de Queen Ernestine?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is,” said Cyril, not quite calmly. -</p> - -<p> -“Den all iss well. You merry de Queen; dere iss de position you need. -Through her you are connected wid half de royal femilies off Europe. -Dey must profide for her, find some post not disgraceful for you. Here -it iss.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril rose involuntarily from his seat, and began to walk up and down -the room, while his companion, trembling with excitement, watched him -narrowly. “You have taken me by surprise, Chevalier,” he said at last, -returning to his place. “It was my last thought, in seeking to recall -myself to the memory of the lady you mention, to better my own -fortunes.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, yes; I understend det. But what do you say now?” -</p> - -<p> -“The matter is too complicated for me,” said Cyril idly. “I must refer -it to some one who can only see one side to a question. I will take -counsel with babes, and be guided by the advice they give me. -Mansfield,” he stepped into the anteroom, “I want your opinion on a -point of morals.” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield glanced up quickly, suspecting a hidden irony in the -request; but Cyril’s eyes met his gravely enough. -</p> - -<p> -“Suppose you had behaved badly to the woman you loved—broken her -heart in fact. Oh, for pity’s sake——” as Mansfield attempted a -protest, “isolate your thoughts from my niece for the moment, and -imagine it possible that you could treat a woman cruelly. What would -you do when you repented and wished to undo the past?” -</p> - -<p> -“Go to her and ask her to forgive me—if I could muster up sufficient -cheek.” -</p> - -<p> -“Quite so. And if she refused to look at you?” -</p> - -<p> -“I think,” with diffidence, “I should ask her again.” -</p> - -<p> -“And worry her until she consented, I suppose? Well, that is not the -question I wanted you to consider. Suppose a reconciliation with the -lady meant the greatest possible improvement in your worldly -prospects, would you still feel free to seek her forgiveness?” -</p> - -<p> -“I see.” It was evident that Mansfield was somewhat staggered by this -view of the case. He sat silent, turning it over in his mind, for some -minutes. “It would be perfectly beastly if people—or she -herself—thought one had done it for the money,” he muttered at last. -“Is it supposed that the lady still cares for you—I mean me—Count?” -he asked suddenly. -</p> - -<p> -“How can I tell? Well, yes; suppose she does.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that makes it all right, of course; if it would be a comfort to -her. A man couldn’t fight shy of making what amends he could, just -because of what people might say, could he? If she seemed inclined to -forgive him, I suppose he would have to tell her about the money, and -see what she said. If she was willing to take him on again——” -</p> - -<p> -“He must be doubly grateful, and behave better in future,” interrupted -Cyril, finishing the sentence for him. “Thanks, Mansfield. See what a -good thing it is to know exactly what other people ought to do! Well, -Chevalier, the oracle has spoken, and the die is cast. I go to -Palestine.” -</p> - -<p> -The Chevalier’s beaming countenance testified his delight, and he -proceeded to draw up, and submit for Cyril’s approval, a paragraph to -be sent to the newspapers, stating that Count Mortimer was about to -visit Palestine in the interests of the Jewish race, with a view to -the discovery of spots where new colonies might advantageously be -located. When the paragraph appeared the next day, the Princess of -Dardania was among those into whose hands it came. She smiled -contemptuously at the reason given for the journey, and called to -Countess Birnsdorf for writing materials. That evening Colonel -Czartoriski passed through Vindobona on his way to Syria, in charge of -an autograph letter from his mistress, which he was ordered to deliver -to no one but Queen Ernestine herself. The old soldier was frankly -exultant on the subject of his errand. The villain who had lured away -Princess Lida would at any rate not be allowed to find happiness with -another woman. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, the person whose life was most deeply affected by -Princess Lida’s elopement bore himself with the utmost equanimity. It -was Prince Mirkovics who outstripped the courier despatched from -Ludwigsbad, and carried the news to King Michael in his mountain -shooting-box. When he had delivered himself of his self-imposed -message, the old nobleman paused suddenly, his weather-beaten face -shining with fresh hope. The King, who had listened to the -announcement with sullen acquiescence, glanced up and perceived his -expression. -</p> - -<p> -“What is it, Prince? You look as if a bright idea had struck you.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is the case, sir. Does it not occur to your Majesty that this -event removes the chief obstacle to your marriage with Lady Philippa -Mortimer?” -</p> - -<p> -The King laughed harshly. “The chief obstacle?” he said. “You should -have heard what Count Mortimer said when I spoke to him on the -subject. I might have been a pickpocket. He told me I was not fit to -look at her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sir,” said Prince Mirkovics, “I am no courtier. I cannot, as your -Majesty knows, twist my rough tongue to speak smoothly, and I will not -attempt to say that Count Mortimer was wrong. Even when I was doing my -utmost to marry you to Carlino’s daughter a few weeks back, I was -ashamed of my own schemes. You were not fit then to address words of -love to her, sir; you are not fit now. But the remedy lies in your own -hands. Do you wish to be worthy of the lady?” -</p> - -<p> -“You mean that I might promise to give up all this sort of thing?” -King Michael gave a comprehensive wave of the hand, which included at -once the pictures that adorned the walls of his room, the empty -bottles on the table, and the scattered cards strewing the floor. “If -she would marry me, I should be perfectly willing to make such a -promise—and I would keep it, too,” he added, with some anxiety, for -Prince Mirkovics still looked forbidding. -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir, that would not be sufficient. I know Lady Philippa and her -parents well enough to feel sure that they would not be satisfied with -promises. Your Majesty must give up all these habits at once, and -submit to a period of probation, to show that you have really forsaken -them, before you attempt to obtain the lady’s hand.” -</p> - -<p> -“What a disgusting idea!” The King looked blank. He had paved the way -carefully for his own suggestion, but it was quite another matter to -adopt the uncompromising scheme of reform set before him. “It would be -so wretchedly hard to have to do it all without even being sure of -her,” he added. -</p> - -<p> -“Is the lady worth it, sir?” demanded Prince Mirkovics. “And would it -not give you a claim on her respect, her admiration, if you could go -to her and say, ‘Without seeking to bind you, I gave up all my -unworthy pleasures for your sake, merely in the hope of rendering -myself less unfit to address you. In order to have more to offer you, -I have tried to govern my people better, and to raise my kingdom again -to the position it occupied under your uncle’s administration’?” -</p> - -<p> -“But suppose she won’t marry me after all?” -</p> - -<p> -“I would not suppose such a thing, sir. The lady could scarcely fail -to see that it was her duty to marry your Majesty, in order to secure -the happiness of your people and the welfare of the kingdom, and I am -certain that she will do whatever she feels to be her duty.” -</p> - -<p> -“All right, then!” King Michael dashed his fist upon the table. “By -the bye, you know, you must take office if all this has to be done. I -can’t carry it through alone. Roburoff’s conduct furnishes us with an -excellent pretext for coolness towards Scythia, and then the Ministry -will have to go. You shall be Premier, and cultivate Pannonia instead. -That will only be until we are married, of course. Lady Philippa will -certainly want her uncle to return to Thracia with her. Oh, I say, -that reminds me; what about that secretary fellow? Roburoff declares -he is in love with Philippa, and Count Mortimer makes a great pet of -him. What is there to prevent his running off with her while I am -carrying out my reformation?” -</p> - -<p> -“I saw Count Mortimer only this morning, sir, before I left -Ludwigsbad, and he mentioned that he was about to make a pilgrimage to -Palestine, taking his suite with him. The secretary will be farther -from the lady than your Majesty.” -</p> - -<p> -“So he will. Well, Prince, I will try your plan for three months—not -a day longer. That ought to be proof enough for any girl of a man’s -sincerity. Don’t you think you have reason to be grateful to Roburoff? -I should be if I hadn’t paid him in full. Oblige me by looking at -this.” He held out a folded paper, which Prince Mirkovics received -doubtfully, and read with astonishment. It was a promise on the part -of the King to pay Captain Roburoff a sum of money which to the frugal -mind of the Thracian appeared colossal. -</p> - -<p> -“What is this, sir?” he asked, bewildered. -</p> - -<p> -“Princesses are expensive wives for commoners,” returned King Michael -calmly, “and Roburoff had no intention of marrying Lida on a captain’s -pay. I was obliged to make it worth his while.” -</p> - -<p> -“Impossible, sir! You arranged the elopement with your equerry?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, not at all. I discovered that he was in love with her through -his dropping a note of hers when we were fencing one day. After we had -teased him about it a little, it occurred to me that since he had gone -so far for his own pleasure, he might as well make himself useful. It -was very hard to convince him, for he was quite contented to let -things go on as they were, and I had to point out that the prospect -for the future was not exactly to my taste. At last we came to terms, -and I despatched him on a special mission, giving him credentials that -would carry him anywhere (of course never dreaming of the use he would -make of them), and this is the way he repays my confidence! Don’t you -think we are well rid of him?” -</p> - -<p> -Too much disgusted to speak, Prince Mirkovics bowed in answer. The -King laughed. “Come, Prince, I must drink one last toast before I -become a total abstainer, and you will join me in it with all your -heart.” He touched the bell. “Bring a bottle of champagne,” he said to -the servant who answered his summons. “Fill the glasses, Prince. To -Queen Philippa!” -</p> - -<p> -“To her Majesty Queen Philippa!” repeated Prince Mirkovics gravely, -touching the glass which the King held out with his own. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -King Michael was as good as his word. Twelve hours before Prince -Soudaroff, despatched in hot haste to bear him the condolences of the -Scythian Imperial family, and to discover how the loss of his bride -seemed to affect him, could reach the hunting-box, its tenant was -hastening homewards across Europe. The state of affairs in Thracia -demanded his presence there, so he gave out. Arrived at his own -capital, the King found that he had accidentally spoken the truth -respecting the political situation, and that the course of events was -all in his favour. The shock of the sudden rupture of the betrothal on -which he had built all his hopes proved too much for Drakovics, the -great Premier whom Cyril had driven from office, and who had in turn -ousted him. The unholy compact with the Princess of Dardania which -restored him to power had become void, and almost simultaneously with -the arrival of the news, a stroke of paralysis dragged from his -failing hands the reins which he had clutched with such persistent -determination. The rest of the Ministry, deprived of their head, and -painfully aware that they held their places merely at the pleasure of -Scythia, were in no condition to combat the vigorous measures of their -youthful monarch. Drakovics would have bowed to the storm and -maintained his position, but his colleagues, left to themselves, -resisted, and gave the King the excuse he wanted for dismissing them. -Returning humbly, after an interview with the Scythian agent, to -tender their submission, they found their places filled up. Prince -Mirkovics had accepted office, and the scattered forces of Cyril’s -supporters rallied round him with magical unanimity. They were of the -King’s opinion. Prince Mirkovics was merely holding the premiership in -trust for his leader, and very shortly the period of progress at home -and high prestige abroad, which had ended with King Michael’s -attainment of his majority, might be expected to return. -</p> - -<p> -It was in vain that the Emperor of Scythia sought to conciliate the -young King by removing Captain Roburoff’s name from the roll of his -regiment, in vain that he despatched his brother, the Grand-Duke -Eugen, on a special mission of friendship, in vain even that the -Princess of Dardania sent her “beloved, deeply injured Michael” a -heartrending message entreating him to return to Ludwigsbad, if only -for a day, that she might know he had forgiven her. Prince Mirkovics -pointed out to his master with a grim smile that the beautiful -Grand-Duchess Sonya Eugenovna was now staying at the villa, and a -polite refusal was returned. The opportunity of regaining her credit -with Scythia by entangling King Michael a second time was not to be -granted to the Princess. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch11"> -CHAPTER XI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">EASTWARD HO!</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">Foiled</span> in the hope of regaining her empire over King Michael, the -Princess of Dardania turned with desperate vigour to the object which -lay even nearer to her heart. It was not enough to count the days -until she might hope to hear from Colonel Czartoriski of the success -of his mission in acquainting Queen Ernestine with the villainy of the -man who professed to love her—the Princess counted the very hours. At -last the anxiously expected missive lay before her, but in the fulness -of her triumph she allowed herself to gloat over her vengeance for a -while before opening the envelope. When at length she drew out the -letter and read it, the change that passed over her face was terrible -to see. Colonel Czartoriski had not been successful. The Queen had -positively refused to receive him when he presented himself at the -Deaconesses’ Institution at Brutli. He tried bribery and cajolery in -vain; and Princess Anna Mirkovics, the Queen’s maid of honour, who had -acted as her Majesty’s mouthpiece throughout the negotiations, assured -him that it was hopeless to attempt to obtain an interview. She -offered to take charge of the letter of which he was the bearer; but -in view of his mistress’s stringent order that he was to place it -himself in the Queen’s hands, Colonel Czartoriski thought it well to -ask for further instructions. The Princess of Dardania glanced through -his formal phrases with a heart-sickening sense of bitter failure. -</p> - -<p> -“He has been before me!” she said to herself, alluding not to Colonel -Czartoriski, but to Cyril. “He has warned Ernestine that I shall try -to prejudice her against him, and she is prepared to believe -everything he says and nothing that I say. This explains his -astonishing tardiness in first visiting Egypt and then Palestine, -instead of going straight to Beyrout and the Lebanon. He has made -things safe for himself already. Well, Czartoriski must wait at -Damascus and watch for a chance of giving Ernestine my letter, and it -may be possible to spoil their reunion in another way.” -</p> - -<p> -That very day Colonel Czartoriski received a fiery telegram in cipher, -which he read without astonishment as the hasty utterance of an -outraged mother, dashed off in a moment of desperation. He would have -been amazed to learn that the Princess had spent hours of anxious -thought over the brief message. -</p> - -<p> -“Do not return to tell me that the base wretch has achieved all he -desired. Is there not one among the Christians whom he has betrayed to -avenge the Holy Places on this renegade?” -</p> - -<p> -Colonel Czartoriski’s chief impression on reading the telegram was -that it was of too compromising a nature to be retained safely in his -possession, and, after fixing the contents in his mind, he destroyed -the paper. This done, he was able to consider the message calmly. The -suggestion which it contained struck him as worthy of notice; for he -had relinquished his earlier intention of challenging Cyril to a duel -<i>outrance</i>, reflecting that in such a conflict he was unlikely to be -victorious. Although, in the frenzied state to which the contemplation -of his mistress’s wrongs had reduced him, he would not have shrunk -from death if he could have ensured the destruction of his foe, he -felt that justice would be but poorly satisfied if Cyril killed him -and escaped unscathed. Since, then, a duel was not to be thought of -save as a last resort, he allowed his mind to dwell with something -like complacency on the hint thrown out by the Princess. Palestine was -filled with fanatical pilgrims from Southern and Eastern Europe; how -probable it was that Count Mortimer might meet with a fatal accident -while in the neighbourhood of one of their stations! For a minute or -two it seemed to Colonel Czartoriski that such an accident was so -likely as to be almost inevitable, but as soon as his brain had -regained its balance he perceived that the matter was not one to be -left to chance. Unless the consequences of Cyril’s present diplomacy -were pointedly brought to the notice of the pilgrims, he might pass -unharmed from one end of Palestine to the other. It was clearly -necessary that the destined avengers should be made properly -acquainted with the state of affairs—and how should this be done -unless Colonel Czartoriski made it his business? At first the old -soldier shrank back appalled from the idea: it was too much like -hounding men on to commit murder. But the thought of the Princess’s -sorrows overcame his compunction once more, and he salved his -conscience with a few curt platitudes to the effect that, since the -law often failed to punish the greatest offenders, it was well to -ensure that justice should be done at last. Thus satisfied that it lay -with him to bring criminal and punishment together, he began to ask -himself how the duty might best be performed. -</p> - -<p> -It is not seldom a delicate task to put in motion the slowly revolving -wheels of justice, and Colonel Czartoriski realised this as he sat -smoking on the verandah of his Damascus hotel and laboured at the -details of his plot. It was evident that he must not appear in -connection with it, since the mention of his name would lead the world -to infer the complicity of the Princess of Dardania; but he found it -difficult to devise any means of inciting a crowd of unlettered -fanatics to the requisite degree of hatred without communicating with -them directly. After various fruitless attempts to solve the problem, -he threw away his cigar and strolled out into the town, hoping that -some chance sight or sound might give him the enlightenment he sought. -He had scarcely left the shelter of the courtyard when the help he -needed presented itself. Bumping and jolting over the alternate -hillocks and hollows of the street came a carriage, in which sat a -tall man with flowing black hair and beard. His dark robes, and the -lofty head-dress which surmounted his stern features and piercing -eyes, marked him as a bishop of the Orthodox Church. Two monks sat -opposite him, so obviously in awe of his displeasure that even the -discomforts of the drive evoked not the slightest murmur from either -of them. -</p> - -<p> -“The very man!” murmured Colonel Czartoriski. “How could I have -forgotten that Bishop Philaret had gone on pilgrimage?” -</p> - -<p> -The reverend travellers had only snatched a very brief rest at the -Greek Convent, to which they were bound, when Colonel Czartoriski -entreated the honour of an interview with the Bishop of Tatarjé. His -request was granted at once, for the two men were old acquaintances. -Bishop Philaret had brought the whole strength of the reactionary -party in the Thracian Church to swell the forces of the Princess of -Dardania when she had arranged the betrothal between her daughter and -King Michael, which overthrew Cyril and restored M. Drakovics to -office. In return for this signal service, it was commonly understood -that when Archbishop Socrates, the Metropolitan of Thracia, should be -gathered to his fathers, his successor in the see of Bellaviste would -be the ambitious and able Bishop of Tatarjé. The recent events in -Thracia had, of course, blurred this fair prospect, and the Bishop and -Colonel Czartoriski met as fellow-sufferers by a common disaster. -</p> - -<p> -“If either her Royal Highness or I myself had been in Thracia, this -would not have happened,” said the Bishop, as his attendant monks -brought coffee and sweet jelly for the refreshment of the visitor. -</p> - -<p> -“It is a European misfortune,” observed Colonel Czartoriski gloomily. -</p> - -<p> -“European? it is a misfortune to the whole Church—a thing to make one -shudder!” cried the Bishop. “For many years I have looked forward to -this pilgrimage, but I never ventured to leave Thracia until now. -Everything seems safe—the King at Ludwigsbad under her Highness’s own -eye—and I set out with a quiet mind. I spend two peaceful months in -visiting our brethren in Armenia and Mesopotamia, and as soon as I am -once more within reach of telegraphs and newspapers, what do I learn? -Why, that the old dotard Mirkovics is Premier, and the Mortimer close -upon his heels!” -</p> - -<p> -In common with the other members of the reforming party in Thracia, -Prince Mirkovics held that his own brother, Bishop Andreas of -Karajevo, would be the most suitable successor to the present -Metropolitan. Bishop Philaret did not mention this fact, but Colonel -Czartoriski was acquainted with it. -</p> - -<p> -“And it is perfectly certain that all might have been avoided if your -Greatness had not been absent from Thracia!” he said regretfully. “Do -you intend to return to your diocese immediately?” -</p> - -<p> -“What is the use?” asked the Bishop snappishly. “The mischief is done, -and I can’t undo it any more than your mistress can. I shall stay here -until the great band of pilgrims from Scythia lands at Haifa, as I -intended, and go up to Bethlehem with them for Christmas. After all, I -may be more useful when I return to Thracia than if I had rushed to -measure my strength against the new Ministry at once, and had failed.” -</p> - -<p> -“Quite so,” returned Colonel Czartoriski, with anxious cordiality. “I -am certain your Greatness will find it the best plan to remain -quiescent until you see a chance to strike effectually. And, moreover, -there are other reasons why I should congratulate you on having -undertaken your pilgrimage this year. After a very few months -Palestine will be closed to Christians.” -</p> - -<p> -“Closed to Christians!” cried the Bishop incredulously. -</p> - -<p> -“Has your Greatness not heard that the whole country has been sold to -the Jews?” -</p> - -<p> -“I heard that Count Mortimer—like a discarded servant who takes to -brigandage—was trying to bring about something of the sort, but in -passing through Vindobona on my way to the East I fell in with Prince -Soudaroff, who assured me that everything was ready for the -destruction of the scheme, and the political annihilation of the -Mortimer.” -</p> - -<p> -“Alas! events have not stood still while your Greatness was beyond the -reach of telegraphs and newspapers. Count Mortimer is so far from -being annihilated that he feels it quite safe to leave Thracian -affairs in the hands of Prince Mirkovics, while he himself looks after -his larger interests here. He has bribed the Grand Seignior to sell -the country to him on behalf of the Jews, and next Easter he intends -to be crowned in Jerusalem the first king of the Jewish State!” -</p> - -<p> -The manifest improbability of this forecast did not strike Bishop -Philaret. “And the Holy Places?” he ejaculated. -</p> - -<p> -“I believe their inviolability is to be guaranteed by the Powers. But -a paper guarantee!—your Greatness knows what that is, something that -the Jews will tear up as soon as the Powers need money.” -</p> - -<p> -“We will preach a holy war against Mortimer and his Jews!” cried the -Bishop. “The Orthodox of Scythia and the Balkans will rise in their -millions, and free the Holy Places for ever from the dogs.” -</p> - -<p> -“But the conflict would be terrible, even if we were successful. Let -your Greatness reflect a moment. The Jews can hire -soldiers—Protestants, Moslems, Pagans even—and there will be plenty -of Hebrews who have been forced to serve in the Scythian armies to -lead them. And if Sigismund of Hercynia should be seized with an -impulse to take their part——” -</p> - -<p> -“I see, I see,” interrupted the Bishop hastily. “But is there no hope -of sowing dissension among the Jews? If those of one country alone -could be brought to detach themselves from this infamous alliance, its -power would be broken. I would support—even propose—concessions, -substantial concessions, for the Jews in Thracia, if they would -consent to abandon Count Mortimer’s scheme.” -</p> - -<p> -“It would be useless. By means of some extraordinary system of -terrorism, the originators of the plan have contrived to force all the -Jews in the world to enter into combination with them. I questioned -Speyerl, the Princess’s Vindobona banker, on the subject as I came out -here, but he would tell me nothing. I could see that his mouth watered -at the thought of the profit he might make if he broke loose from his -countrymen, but he assured me he durst not do it.” -</p> - -<p> -“The thought of the next world has little terror for a Jew,” said the -Bishop, with a laugh. “Count Mortimer has probably made use of very -mundane threats.” -</p> - -<p> -“As mundane as his own hopes,” agreed Colonel Czartoriski. “Has your -Greatness guessed who is to share with him the throne he intends to -establish in Jerusalem? No other than your late beloved and venerated -regent, her Majesty Queen Ernestine!” -</p> - -<p> -Bishop Philaret sprang to his feet, and an exclamation broke from him -which in a layman would have been called an oath, but from his -ecclesiastical lips was doubtless a solemn curse. If there was one -person whom he hated more than Cyril, it was Queen Ernestine, who had -refused him the Metropolitical mitre thirteen years before, preferring -to dismiss M. Drakovics and risk a revolution rather than consent to -his appointment. For some minutes he strode up and down the room, -alternately muttering anathemas and gnawing his beard, then halted -abruptly before Colonel Czartoriski. -</p> - -<p> -“See here,” he said rapidly, “I will force my way into this convent at -Brutli, and demand an interview with the Queen. She knows me of -old—that I do not hesitate to strike—and I will make her understand -that if she desires to see her lover again alive, he must give up both -the Jews and his schemes of self-aggrandisement.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is useless,” said Colonel Czartoriski again. “Her Majesty will not -receive your Greatness. She refuses even to see me, although I am the -bearer of a letter from my august mistress. There can be no doubt that -Mortimer has warned her to receive only visitors accredited by -himself. You would see no one but Mlle. Mirkovics, who will tell her -mistress just as much or as little as she chooses.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, the Mirkovics girl would face the devil and all his angels in -the Queen’s behalf,” said the Bishop, not perceiving with what -unpleasant company he was associating Colonel Czartoriski and himself; -“but,” he spoke lightly, “if this is the case, my conscience is clear. -I was merely desirous of warning her Majesty to keep her lover out of -harm’s way. Curiously enough, it is a fact that the pilgrims with whom -I hope to travel southwards from Haifa are extremely -enthusiastic—even fanatical—in their attachment to our holy and -orthodox faith.” -</p> - -<p> -“True,” said Colonel Czartoriski, “and Count Mortimer is travelling -northwards from the Egyptian frontier. It would be sad indeed if he -met with any accident.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nothing could be more lamentable,” agreed the Bishop. “In fact, I -feel it my duty to take precautions lest anything of the kind should -occur. The simple pilgrims may quite possibly have imbibed wrong ideas -of his doings, and I will therefore make a point of explaining his -true character to them. I need scarcely say that I shall warn them -expressly and in set terms against using any violence if they should -happen to find themselves in his neighbourhood.” -</p> - -<p> -“The advice is only what might be expected from your Greatness,” said -Colonel Czartoriski gravely. “It would be too cruel if all the care -Count Mortimer has taken to divert suspicion from his -intentions—approaching his goal by such a lengthy route and such -gradual stages—were to be wasted.” -</p> - -<p> -“And how sad it would be if Queen Ernestine were to see a dead body -carried into her convent, instead of welcoming a living lover!” cried -the Bishop, his teeth displayed in a smile that could only be called -wolfish. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -The two plotters at Damascus and the Princess of Dardania would have -been equally surprised to learn that they had credited Cyril with a -greater degree of caution than he possessed. No letter had passed from -him to Queen Ernestine, and it was not with the idea of concealing his -true destination that he approached Palestine from the south. Two -motives, the existence of which was scarcely confessed even to -himself, he allowed to sway him. One was the determination to do his -duty to the utmost before gratifying his personal wishes, which sprang -rather from pride in his own self-mastery than from any ascetic notion -of self-denial, but the other was a dread lest his humiliation should -after all be in vain. Ernestine might spurn him as he had once spurned -her. Cyril did not care to contemplate this possibility, but the mere -thought made him willing to defer the time when it might become a -fact. Attended by his three inseparable followers, he pursued his -journey without hurry, and also without undue delay, halting here and -there to meet the heads of a Jewish community, and explain the -significance of the new state of affairs. Encouragement was little -needed at this juncture, except in the case of those Jews who had -hitherto regarded the Zionist movement with suspicion or dislike. All -the rest appeared to have taken a step forward—the step from bondage -to freedom, from despair to hope—and many were already preparing -their possessions for the journey to Palestine, awaiting only the -summons to start. -</p> - -<p> -At Vindobona Mansfield made the acquaintance of Dr Koepfle, to whom -the Chevalier Goldberg was fond of alluding as the brain of Zionism. -It struck him as quaintly curious that the man who had been chiefly -instrumental in arousing an enthusiasm unprecedented in modern times -should himself be enthusiastic purely as a matter of business. -Business-like from head to foot was Dr Koepfle, intent on giving -practical form to the dreams of many generations, and crystallising -the vague maxims of scattered visionaries into a workable -constitution. He was not ashamed to confess that it was the intolerant -Anti-Semitism of his Christian fellow-subjects that had first -suggested to him the possibility of a refuge over-seas for his race. -Nay, his mind was so severely practical that he had been willing to -look to the New World for a colonising ground when the difficulties in -the way of obtaining land in Palestine seemed insuperable. In the same -business-like spirit he accepted Cyril’s co-operation, displaying -neither the <i>empressement</i> of the Chevalier nor the distrustfulness of -Dr Texelius. Cyril, on his side, declared to Mansfield that it was the -most refreshing thing on earth to come across a man who was content to -accept facts as they were. Capable of meeting men of the world on -equal terms, Dr Koepfle was able, on the occasion of conferring with -his compatriots, to pump up as much serviceable enthusiasm as assisted -him to lead them in the right way, without either chilling their zeal -or allowing himself to be carried away by it. With the harshness of -youth, Mansfield suggested that an enthusiasm which could be folded up -and put away so conveniently might merely be assumed on particular -occasions; but Cyril told him that he had failed to allow for the -contagious influence of the emotion dominating a crowd. -</p> - -<p> -At Trieste they fell in with a Zionist of a very different type, for -here Rabbi Schaul had taken up his abode for a time, in order to -bestow his blessing on the members of his flock now to be found on -board every steamer leaving for Palestine. Sauntering down to the quay -to look for their own vessel, Cyril and Mansfield found themselves -accosted by a venerable white-bearded man in shabby robes of black, -who raised his hands heavenwards and called down blessings in sonorous -Hebrew on the head of the liberator of Israel, following up his words -by bowing low enough to kiss the hem of Cyril’s coat. Then turning to -the Jews who stood around, gazing in astonishment at the homage paid -by their renowned teacher to a Gentile, he explained to them in Jargon -that when the Temple was rebuilt, and Messiah reigned in Jerusalem, -this stranger would undoubtedly be admitted to the royal table as a -guest, not as a servant like other Gentiles, and allowed to feast on -the flesh of Leviathan, since it was owing to him that the desolations -of Zion were about to be repaired. Mansfield listened, deeply moved, -although he understood only a word here and there. He treasured up the -incident for Philippa, wishing she could have witnessed it for -herself, for he knew that its pathos would have touched her keenly. As -for Cyril, he freed himself good-humouredly from the old man, waving -aside the throng of disciples who were prepared to follow his example, -and called to Mansfield to come on board quickly. -</p> - -<p> -“You know, Rabbi, that I don’t care to advertise myself,” he said. -</p> - -<p> -“But how are we to refrain from showing our gratitude to your -Excellency?” asked Rabbi Schaul. “Here are all these sons of Israel -leaving the house of bondage for the promised land, and many are gone -already. Many more are going in the spring, and I myself among them. -How can I forget that, thanks to your Excellency, I shall in truth -keep the Passover next year in Jerusalem?” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril nodded pleasantly, and took refuge on board his steamer, where -he expressed to Mansfield his satisfaction that Alexandria was their -destination, and not Beyrout or Haifa, for which ports these fervid -Zionists were bound. -</p> - -<p> -In Egypt, indeed, there proved to be little that was fervid about the -patriotism of the Jewish community. Its members were as business-like -as Dr Koepfle, but with this difference—that they had their own -interests in view, and not those of Zion. They treated the acquisition -of Palestine purely as a matter of trade. Doubtless Count Mortimer had -arranged with the Chevalier Goldberg to receive a due reward for his -services, and, now that his work was over, he had nothing to do with -the future of the country. It was the property of the United Nation -Syndicate, and they would exploit it and make the most of its -commercial capabilities for the benefit of the shareholders. It was a -matter for grave discontent that the land was being colonised on such -a large scale by the poor city-Jews of Europe, since the aim ought to -have been to secure immigrants already accustomed to agricultural -life, and not necessarily belonging to the Chosen Race. At present -much time, and therefore money, was being wasted in teaching the new -settlers and correcting their mistakes. Mansfield listened in -sorrowful and wondering disgust while these prosperous people, -themselves secure in their enjoyment of liberty and property under -British rule, talked glibly of the Holy Land as an estate to be worked -for their own advantage, without reference to the needs of their -oppressed brethren. A scheme was even proposed, and largely discussed, -for making the Holy Places more valuable from a pecuniary point of -view, by means of judicious selection and rearrangement. -</p> - -<p> -“It is so miserably mean and degraded!” Mansfield cried angrily to -Cyril, who had rallied him on his sour looks. “These people have the -romance of the ages behind them, and the fulfilment of the prophecies -just ahead, and they think of nothing but cent per cent!” -</p> - -<p> -“You have been disillusioned, and you speak severely,” said Cyril, -with great sweetness. “I am thankful I never took the trouble to set -up ideals, when I see how other people suffer in seeing theirs -overthrown. But why don’t you blame the tyranny of centuries, which -has reduced the Jews to this lamentable condition? You know the old -excuse, that because the Jew has been allowed to deal with nothing but -money, he has come to think that nothing but money exists.” -</p> - -<p> -“But the Jew has allowed himself to be degraded.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, come, I see disappointment has made you merciless. Perhaps you -may be induced to modify the rigour of your judgments before long. I -shall be interested to see what you think of Herschel Rubenssohn, the -Ghetto poet, when we meet him in Palestine. He was the pet of London -society a year ago, and now he is a <i>bonâ fide</i> colonist.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch12"> -CHAPTER XII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE CHURCH MILITANT AND ORTHODOX.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">It</span> was at a newly-established colony of Scythian Jews in the -neighbourhood of Hebron that the travellers found Herschel Rubenssohn, -roughly clad and labouring with his own hands like one of the -<i>fellahin</i>. He had turned his back deliberately upon the days when -English hearts had thrilled in response to his rehearsal of the -tragedy of his race, and the Anti-Semites of the Continent had been -lashed to frenzy by his cutting sarcasm. The pen was laid aside, and -the poet was intent on the best methods of cultivating olives, and on -finding new species of vines unaffected by the diseases which attacked -those native to the country. Even these lowly tasks could not be -performed in peace, for he was called upon incessantly to quell the -disputes which arose among the pale-faced, gaberdined and ringleted -denizens of the Ghetto who were his fellow-colonists. It was his duty, -also, to act as interpreter for them with the Roumi authorities, and -to mediate in the many misunderstandings that broke out between them -and the peasants who worked for them. Cyril’s invitation to dinner he -accepted with unfeigned pleasure, confessing that when he left London -he had little expected ever to regard an opportunity of donning -evening dress as an occasion of rejoicing. The momentary return to the -old life, which he had so often contemned, after the manner of poets, -as false and hollow, was a keen delight to him, and Mansfield found it -hard to believe that the vague-eyed man of the world, who knew his -London so thoroughly, could be one and the same with the industrious -toiler of the morning. Presently, however, the curious effect produced -by the contrast of the sunburnt face with the whiteness of the -forehead where the hat had shaded it attracted his attention. Looking -more closely at the guest, he saw that his delicate hands were -roughened and blistered within, and he conceived a growing admiration -for the man who had voluntarily left a life of ease for one of toil, -purely in the hope of setting an example to his nation. -</p> - -<p> -But this admiration was not fated to endure very long. As Rubenssohn -grew accustomed to the company in which he found himself, the -vagueness left his eyes. In Cyril he discovered one who appealed to a -different side of his nature, and a mocking spirit took possession of -him. Mansfield and the melancholy Paschics listened with bated breath -while the guest embarked upon a career of destruction, sparing neither -the beliefs common to mankind generally nor those of his own people. -He ridiculed with the utmost impartiality the ideas of love and -immortality, the tyranny of the Law, and the Messianic hopes of Rabbi -Schaul. The keen arrows of his wit played round each subject in turn, -disclosing with cruel certainty the weak spot or the flaw. He made no -attempt to deny the degradation of his people, and in Mansfield’s view -he proposed no remedy for it. He believed in the Jewish race, it -seemed, and he accorded a qualified toleration to Judaism on account -of its services in the preservation of the race, but his Judaism -possessed neither prophecies nor the hope of a Messiah, and existed -independently of any religious sanctions. Its ecclesiastical system -had been evolved naturally enough during the progress of the race, and -ascribed, as other nations ascribed their religions, to the guidance -of a higher power. Freedom, toleration, a more natural mode of life, -these things would in his view raise the Jews far above the level of -other nations, and then the old fetters which had held the race -together might safely be shaken off. Mansfield thought of the -prosperous Jews whom he had met at Alexandria, and who enjoyed all -these blessings already, and his heart rose in revolt against -Rubenssohn’s philosophy. If this was to be the end, if the Jews had -remained a separate people merely that in the end of the ages they -might be better fed, clothed, housed, than the nations, throwing aside -callously the prophecies which had cheered them and the faith that had -sustained them in their sorrows, if they were to be bereft at once of -hope and of religion, then the heaviest of their former woes would be -a lighter curse than their new prosperity. -</p> - -<p> -“I had rather be in the wrong with Lady Phil and Princess Soudaroff -than in the right with Rubenssohn,” he decided, remembering how often -he had listened to the old lady as she expounded her views on the -Jewish question and her interpretation of prophecy, Philippa at her -side concurring enthusiastically in all that was said. This time, -however, he did not confide his feelings to Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -Jerusalem was the next place of interest to be reached, and Mansfield -had mapped out for himself a very definite plan for occupying his -leisure hours here. He intended to visit all the missionary -establishments in and around the city in which Lady Caerleon was -interested, and to photograph them and their inmates. Any spare time -was to be devoted to views of Jerusalem itself, and by dint of these -labours Mansfield hoped to provide a peace-offering which would not be -unacceptable to Philippa’s mother, and might even tend to soften her -heart towards him. But his plans were interrupted, and his fair -project brought to a premature conclusion, owing to the greed of human -nature. No sooner was it known that Cyril had arrived in Jerusalem -than his lodgings were fairly besieged. Jews, Mohammedans and -Christians, Syrians, Levantines, Greeks, Albanians, European -adventurers of all nations, crowded to wait upon him. Since the famous -revelations of Dr Texelius, so promptly contradicted by the Pannonian -official papers, nothing had been said of Count Mortimer as a -candidate for the governorship of Palestine, but there appeared to be -a general feeling that the future of the country lay in the hands of -this unpretending traveller, and the time-servers would not lose their -opportunity. Some of them wanted concessions and some contracts, some -Government offices and some commissions in the Jewish army or police, -some wished merely to gain the general goodwill of the possible ruler, -and some were anxious to confer benefits on him, in the shape of -invitations to their houses, or gifts of horses, carpets, and works of -art, without, of course, the slightest ulterior design. Cyril -disappointed them grievously by refusing alike their favours and their -requests, assuring them that he was simply an agent of the Syndicate, -and Mansfield developed a prickly suspiciousness that made him -distrust any one who addressed him civilly. This was the result of an -adventure of his own. Pausing in a back street one day to photograph a -picturesque archway, he was accosted by a respectable citizen, who -invited him into his garden, where was to be seen a piece of ruined -wall on which no tourist’s eye had ever lighted. Mansfield accepted -the invitation, took two or three photographs, and submitted to be -regaled with coffee and sweetmeats, all before he discovered that his -host had recognised him, and was anxious to obtain the contract for -clothing the army of the Jewish State. Then he rose up and fled, with -his faith in humanity sorely shattered, and kept rigidly to the beaten -track until he was rejoiced by Cyril’s decision to leave the city for -a short time. Business was impossible while the envoy was so -persistently mobbed, and it was advisable to pay a flying visit to -Jericho, since a sheikh in the neighbourhood of that place had -threatened to make himself disagreeable with regard to the fords of -the Jordan. -</p> - -<p> -It was clear that Cyril’s movements must be kept to some extent a -secret, if he was to conduct the negotiations with the Roumi -authorities, for which he had come, without being pursued into the -very audience-chamber by the greedy throng of privilege-hunters. -Accordingly, he put the matter into the hands of the Chevalier -Goldberg’s agent, who secured him quarters for the night at Jericho, -in the house of a wealthy Jew, and despatched beforehand all that was -necessary for comfort. In this way Mansfield and his employer were -able to leave Jerusalem as if for a morning ride, and meeting, when -out of sight of the city, the guide and escort provided for them, ride -on at once to Jericho. The sight of the huge Scythian hospice, -constructed of late years for the accommodation of pilgrims, suggested -to Mansfield that their visit might have excited less remark in the -place if they had sought a lodging there, but Cyril laughed at the -idea. -</p> - -<p> -“I didn’t know you were so anxious to see the last of me,” he said. -“The monks would indeed think that their enemy was delivered into -their hand, and it would be sheer ingratitude not to prepare a special -cup of coffee for his benefit.” -</p> - -<p> -The sheikh proved more easy to deal with than had been expected, and -Cyril and Mansfield spent the evening at his village, discussing in -the most friendly spirit the various matters in dispute. As the guests -rode back to their quarters, passing the great fountain called -Ain-es-Sultan, Mansfield directed Cyril’s attention to several lights -which dotted the side of a precipitous mountain about a mile away. -</p> - -<p> -“What can those be?” he said. “I didn’t see any houses there by -daylight.” -</p> - -<p> -“That must be Jebel Karantal, the Mount of Temptation,” said Cyril, -“and the lights come from the hermits’ caves. We might ride over there -in the morning, if you are anxious to see the holy men in their native -dirt.” -</p> - -<p> -As Mansfield reflected that the picture of a real live hermit might -help to console Philippa for all the photographs he had not had time -to take at Jerusalem, he accepted the offer gratefully, and did not -fail to remind Cyril of it the next morning. They rode at an easy pace -across the plain, with its thickets of tamarisk and thorn, starting so -many partridges and other birds that the hunter’s instinct awoke in -Mansfield, and he lamented more than once that they were not spending -several days at Jericho, so as to get a little shooting. Arrived at -the foot of the path which led up the mountain, they found standing -there a horse with a European saddle, in the charge of a native -servant, who told their grooms that his master, a Frank gentleman, had -started about half an hour ago to make the ascent. -</p> - -<p> -“We are a little late,” said Cyril. “Evidently this place is becoming -popular as a tourist resort. I see a whole horde of Scythian pilgrims -in the distance,” and he pointed to a dingy mass of people, bearing -banners and sacred pictures, and headed by two priests in shining -vestments, that was approaching from the direction of Jericho. “But -they are not likely to have brought cameras with them, and we must -only hope for your sake, Mansfield, that our fellow-countryman has -been equally forgetful.” -</p> - -<p> -Leaving their horses with the grooms, they began to make the ascent of -the mountain, finding the only path that offered itself alarmingly -narrow and steep. It grew worse instead of better higher up, and when -they were between three and four hundred feet above the plain, Cyril -wiped his heated brow and sat down upon a large stone which lay -temptingly in the shadow of the rock, on a ledge into which the path -widened at this point. -</p> - -<p> -“I draw the line here, Mansfield. I may be getting old, but my life is -valuable to me, and I don’t feel justified in endangering it by any -further breakneck feats. If you are conscious of a yearning to risk -your neck on that giddy ascent in front, by way of emulating a fly -walking up a wall, pray go on, and I will sit here and await -developments. It will be some consolation to your afflicted relatives -that I am at hand to give your scattered remains decent burial.” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield had been carrying his camera under his arm, but now he slung -it over his shoulder by its strap, so as to leave his hands free, -laughing as he did so, and applied himself to the further climb with -heroic determination, steadfastly avoiding the temptation to look -downwards. If his glance strayed for a moment from the almost -perpendicular path to the sheer precipice below, he felt sure that -nothing could save him from making personal acquaintance with its -depths. Presently he came to another ledge, which formed the approach -to the mouth of a cave, but glancing into the semi-darkness within the -dwelling, he caught sight of a pith helmet. It was clear that the -tourist whose horse they had seen below was talking to the hermit, and -Mansfield seized joyfully the opportunity of outstripping him and -reaching the summit first. Another terrific climb brought him to the -foot of an unsafe-looking flight of wooden steps, at the top of which -an elderly monk, very fat and very dirty, stood smiling hospitably. -Mansfield unstrapped his camera and photographed him in the act, then -accepted his beaming invitation to mount the steps to his cave. Here -he took one or two more photographs, making gallant attempts the while -to talk to his host in classical Greek pronounced in the modern -fashion, and smiling broadly, by way of making his goodwill evident. -His conversation or his smiles, or both, seemed to win the heart of -the hermit, for he found himself invited, partly by signs, to sling -the camera over his shoulder again, preparatory to climbing another -dizzy ascent, at the summit of which was situated the rock-hewn chapel -of which his host was the guardian. This was exactly what Mansfield -was most anxious to see, and he accepted the invitation with alacrity, -but stepped first to the edge of the little rock platform, in order to -estimate its distance from the plain. -</p> - -<p> -To his surprise the greater part of the way he had traversed was -clearly visible, and he could see Cyril peacefully smoking a cigar -where he had left him. Receiving a wave of the hand in answer to his -shout, he was about to follow his guide up the face of the rock, which -at this point justified Cyril’s comparison by appearing quite -perpendicular, when his attention was attracted by the sight of a -crowd of people gathered round the horses and their grooms at the foot -of the hill. They were the Scythian pilgrims whom Cyril had pointed -out to him, and they were buzzing round the horses like a swarm of -angry bees. For a moment he thought they must be intending to steal -them, then he told himself that the presence of the grooms would -prevent that: the pilgrims were merely examining the novel English -saddles. He began the ascent, but, before passing round a projecting -rock which would cut off his view, he looked down again at the plain. -The pilgrims had quitted the horses, and were rushing up the path in a -confused mass, priests and people mixed together, one man only being a -little in advance. Mansfield’s heart misgave him, and he pointed out -the crowd to the hermit; but it did not need the old man’s raised -hands and look of shocked surprise to tell him that the pilgrims -should have mounted the hill in slow procession, singing solemn -litanies, and not with this indecorous haste. Cyril’s allusion of the -day before to the monks of the Scythian hospice recurred to him, and, -explaining hastily to the hermit that he must go back at once, he -turned to retrace his steps. He tried to shout a warning from the -platform in front of the cave; but it was evident that Cyril regarded -his frenzied gestures merely as the result of an ebullition of animal -spirits, for he waved his hand with the same placidity as before. -Giving up the attempt to make himself understood, Mansfield addressed -his energies afresh to the task of descending, which proved to be even -more difficult and dangerous than that of ascending had been. He was -out of sight of Cyril now; but before he had covered half the distance -that separated them, a sound mounted to his ear which made him hurl -away his camera and dash headlong down the path, regardless of his own -safety. It was the crack of a revolver, the sound of which travelled -far in the clear air. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, Cyril, smoking quietly on his fragment of rock, and -all unconscious of danger, was disturbed by the noise of angry voices. -Almost as they reached his ear, a haggard man, in the flat cap and -long, dull-grey coat of the Scythian peasant, rushed round the corner -of the path, and recoiled precipitately on catching sight of him. -</p> - -<p> -“Odd!” said Cyril to himself. “Mad, perhaps,” and mechanically his -hand sought his revolver in its accustomed pocket. His fingers had -scarcely closed upon it when the throng of pilgrims burst upon him -with furious shouts, and he had barely time to set his back against -the rocky wall before he found himself confronted by a semicircle of -angry faces, clenched fists, and menacing clubs. -</p> - -<p> -“Kill him! kill the renegade!” was the cry. “Kill the traitor, and -save the Holy Places from the Jewish dogs!” -</p> - -<p> -“You had better go on your way quietly,” shouted Cyril in his best -Scythian. “I am armed,” and he drew out the revolver. -</p> - -<p> -“There are stones enough!” cried a voice, and a man who had found a -point of vantage flung a jagged piece of rock which struck Cyril on -the temple. The sight of the flowing blood appeared to stimulate the -ferocity of the mob, and deprive its members of such hesitation as -they may have felt in throwing themselves upon a solitary man, for -they sprang forward with a howl. Cyril had only time to fire one shot -into the air, in the hope partly of attracting Mansfield’s notice and -partly of frightening his assailants, before his right arm was broken -by a blow from a club as he raised the revolver, which dropped from -his hand. Hustled, beaten, and knocked about, the blood streaming from -his face, he had one thing, and only one, in his favour, and this was -that the pilgrims were so closely pressed together on the narrow ledge -as to be unable to get him down and trample upon him. Presently he -became aware that one of them, who must have caught it as it fell, was -holding the revolver to his head. Before the trigger could be pulled, -however, the voice of a priest, who had mounted upon the fragment of -rock upon which the victim had been sitting, rang like a trumpet -across the din. -</p> - -<p> -“No shots! no shots! Will you give the heathen Roumis cause to accuse -us of murder? Throw the apostate over the precipice, so that it may -not be known whose hand executed judgment upon him.” -</p> - -<p> -The man who held the revolver tossed it away reluctantly, and joined -with the rest in attempting to hustle Cyril to the edge of the path. -Crippled as he was, he fought savagely, contesting every inch of -ground, determined not to give his assailants the opportunity of -seizing him and hurling him down headlong. “If I go over, I won’t go -alone,” was the thought in his mind; and he fixed on a huge fellow, -whose efforts to catch him up bodily he had successfully foiled, as -the companion whom he would clutch with his last strength and drag to -destruction in his company. The unequal struggle was approaching its -only possible end as Cyril was driven farther and farther from the -rock. The pilgrims nearest the brink were beginning to edge away to -the right and left in order to secure their own safety, thereby -lessening the pressure on that side and adding to the force arrayed -against the doomed man, when a bullet whizzed past Cyril’s ear and -buried itself in the shoulder of the giant on whom he had decided as -his comrade in the fatal plunge. -</p> - -<p> -“Bravo, Mansfield!” Cyril gathered breath to shout; but before the -words were out of his mouth there was another shot, and the club fell -from an uplifted hand which was brandishing it over his head. Crack! -crack! crack! came the sharp whip-like reports, and man after man -pushed his way, cursing, out of the mass, each effectually disabled -for the time, but not one mortally wounded so far as Cyril could see. -</p> - -<p> -“Mansfield never fired those shots!” was his mental comment, as the -number of his assailants continued to diminish, until only a few -remained on the ledge, making no attempt to molest him, but looking -about in bewilderment to see where the shots came from. -</p> - -<p> -“Git!” said a stentorian voice which seemed to resound from overhead, -and the crestfallen pilgrims, grasping the meaning of the -monosyllable, embraced with thankfulness the permission accorded them -to retire. Once safely round the corner of the rock, they collected -their wounded and made their way down the hill. The speaker—a lean, -elderly man in white clothes and a pith helmet—kept them covered with -his revolver until they were out of sight, then let himself lightly -down to the path, and approached Cyril, who had sunk on the ground in -perilous proximity to the edge of the precipice. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, sir?” he asked slowly. -</p> - -<p> -“I am infinitely indebted to you,” said Cyril, looking up with -difficulty as his rescuer reached him. -</p> - -<p> -“Not you, sir,” was the prompt reply. “When I saw those Scythian -cusses preparing a new Holy Place for themselves by conducting a -Christian martyrdom on this spot, it struck me that Scythia had quite -as many Holy Places in this territory as was healthy for her, so I -just started in with my six-shooter right away. You bet it went to my -heart not to lay out two or three of the fellows, and specially the -reverend gentleman that took the rock for a pulpit; but I know the -ways of the Roumi authorities, and I didn’t want my business -interrupted by a judicial inquiry any more than you would. But I guess -there’s a dozen or so that will carry about with ’em for some time a -pleasing little souvenir of me, any way.” -</p> - -<p> -While the stranger spoke, he had been helping Cyril gently back to his -former seat on the stone, and now began to bind up the wound in his -head with a handkerchief. -</p> - -<p> -“Surely I know your voice?” said Cyril faintly. “It seems quite -familiar, and yet I can’t recall where I have heard it.” -</p> - -<p> -The rescuer ceased his work, and stepped back for a moment. “The same -as ever!” he exclaimed in admiration. “Sir, I have many a time heard -you called the first gentleman in Europe, but I never expected you -would remember me, when the last deal we did together was over twenty -years ago.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mr Hicks of the ‘Crier’?” asked Cyril, with an uncertain smile. -</p> - -<p> -“Sir, you are correct. Elkanah B. Hicks, of the ‘Empire City Crier,’ -who would be sitting in the head office of that paper as news editor -at this moment if he was not a fool. But he has got the wandering -strain in his blood, and threw up his berth to come out here, with the -excuse that it needed the best man the paper had got to fathom you, -Count.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am flattered. Then it was not Turkish you spoke just now?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir. I dispersed that crowd by means of the beautiful language -which is the common heritage of your nation and mine. Do you find -yourself comfortably fixed now, Count?” -</p> - -<p> -He stepped back again to look critically at his work, just as -Mansfield, with blazing eyes and panting breath, charged down upon the -ledge, revolver in hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Thank God you’re safe, sir!” he cried, with something like a sob. -“Where are the villains?” -</p> - -<p> -“Hold him, Hicks!” cried Cyril feebly, as his secretary dashed past -him in the direction taken by the fugitives. “He is suffering from the -usual British malady, and yearns to go and kill something. He isn’t -safe.” -</p> - -<p> -“Young man,” said Mr Hicks, flinging his sinewy arms round the -intending avenger, and holding him fast, “the bugle has sounded the -‘cease fire,’ and I guess you had better obey. Here’s your boss with a -broken arm and pretty near bleeding to death, and no doctor in this -forsaken locality but the one at the Scythian hospice. I reckon we -won’t requisition his services, but I shall want your help if I am to -fix things myself, old campaigner though I am. Give me that -shooting-iron for the present. Those things have a nasty trick of -going off of themselves when a young fellow is seeing red.” -</p> - -<p> -Sobered by Mr Hicks’s speech, and very much ashamed of his temporary -madness, Mansfield surrendered his revolver, and returned to Cyril’s -side, feeling an irresistible inclination to choke. -</p> - -<p> -“My dear youth, don’t be an idiot,” said Cyril, and the lump in -Mansfield’s throat vanished instantly. He even laughed, in a husky and -shame-faced manner. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s better,” said Mr Hicks. “Take this chunk of wood, my young -friend, and split it in two, if you have a knife about you.” He handed -him one of the broken clubs with which the pilgrims had been armed -instead of the regulation staves, and Mansfield succeeded in obtaining -two fairly suitable pieces of wood, rounded on one side and flat on -the other. The surgeon continued to improve the occasion even while -the operation of setting the broken arm was proceeding, talking -meditatively as he worked, perhaps with the benevolent intention of -diverting the patient’s thoughts from what was going on. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, young man, I like your face, and I guess I don’t object to your -grit; but you’ll have to learn how to take things. A week as a special -in war time would teach you a thing or two. What’s happened to that -kodak of yours, now? I saw you figuring around with it while I was -interviewing the old nigger who calls himself a saint up there. You -hurled it away, did you, just as if it was a rock? and all the -pictures with it that you had concluded to take home to your best -girl? Now what a wicked waste! Pull, pull harder; that’s right. Keep -cool, young man; the frozen deep is not a circumstance to the coolness -you want before you’ll make a good man at a pinch.” -</p> - -<p> -With such cheerful counsels as these Mr Hicks lightened the gloom of -the painful process he had in hand, but Mansfield scarcely heard them, -in his anxiety for Cyril. At last the patient opened his eyes and -said, “Don’t be too hard on him, Hicks. He’s a good chap all round.” -The busy surgeon nodded. -</p> - -<p> -“I guess I’d turn him out a better if I had him on the ‘Crier’ staff,” -he said; but when the work was over, and Mansfield had gone to fetch -the servants, that they might lend their aid in carrying Cyril down -the path, Mr Hicks smiled confidentially at his patient. -</p> - -<p> -“That young man has a heart of gold, sir, and worships your very -shadow. It’s not his fault that he hasn’t enjoyed my experience, -though it might have been awkward for you if I hadn’t chanced to be -wandering around in these parts. I guess, if you’ll allow me, that -I’ll fix my camp next to yours while you stay at Jericho. The wily -Scythian will find that it’s another story when he has to do business -with Elkanah B. Hicks.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch13"> -CHAPTER XIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">A GROUND OF HOPE.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">Cyril’s</span> troubles were by no means over when he had been carried -across the plain to Jericho, with infinite difficulty, upon a litter -made by tying branches together with handkerchiefs and turbans. His -Jewish host listened with a terrified countenance to the story of the -attack, and although he did not actually entreat his guests to quit -his roof, he expressed dismal apprehensions as to its safety if they -remained under its shelter. Finding that they did not take the hint, -he withdrew to lament the state of affairs with his family, if the -sounds of weeping and wailing that followed were to be accepted as -evidence. Mansfield was disposed to ridicule his conduct as the result -merely of constitutional cowardice, but Mr Hicks pointed out to him -the strong probability that the man’s fears were well founded. A -second band of pilgrims was expected that evening at the Scythian -hospice, and it was not in human nature that the morning’s assailants, -thus reinforced, should resist the temptation to wipe out their -defeat. That motive would be sufficient, even without the hope of -killing the man whom they regarded honestly and with full conviction -as Antichrist. Clearly there was no time to be lost, and after a visit -to the authorities, which resulted in their posting a ragged and -half-armed guard about the house, Mansfield started on a hurried ride -to Jerusalem to consult the Chevalier Goldberg’s agent. It was with no -small reluctance that he consented to leave Cyril, even though Mr -Hicks had sworn to fight in his defence until the house fell in ruins -around them. Still, not only the lives of the party but the future of -the Jewish cause hung upon this day’s doings, and since Cyril was -unable to decide upon the steps to be taken, the Chevalier was the -most suitable person to do so. -</p> - -<p> -In the course of the night Mansfield returned, half-dead with fatigue, -but accompanied by an escort of soldiers, and provided with full -directions for the future. Cyril was to be carried in a mule-litter to -an estate belonging to the Chevalier at Urtas, some miles to the south -of Jerusalem, where he could remain in safety until he was well again. -The agent would send out furniture and provisions, and see that the -place was properly guarded, and neither the hostile pilgrims nor the -Jerusalem concession-hunters were to be allowed to know where their -victim had taken refuge. A rest of an hour or so was all that was -granted to Mansfield and the soldiers, for Cyril’s host was on thorns -to get him out of the house. Mr Hicks, who had tacitly invited himself -to remain in medical charge of the patient, ordered a start soon after -daybreak, and Mansfield and he heaved a sigh of relief as they left -the house, only less fervent than that of the Hebrew who had succeeded -in getting rid of them. The travellers took the road to Jerusalem, but -turned southwards before reaching the city, and continued in that -direction until they arrived at the boundary of the Chevalier’s -estate. Here the steward, at the head of a well-armed body of -gardeners and husbandmen, welcomed the visitors in his master’s name, -and the escort, their duty performed, accepted a hearty meal and -sundry presents, and returned to Jerusalem. -</p> - -<p> -Life at Urtas was at once business-like and unconventional. The estate -was practically a huge botanical garden, in which experiments were -made in acclimatising foreign plants and improving by scientific -cultivation the products of the country. The house was merely a large -native dwelling, of no great pretensions, but the agent had sent out -from Jerusalem a wealth of rich carpets, bright-hued draperies, and -luxurious cushions, together with the irreducible minimum of European -furniture, as represented by a shaky table and four assorted chairs. -His care had even gone so far as to provide a Greek cook and a box of -books, the latter principally French and Italian novels of an -unimproving tendency. During the first few days Cyril was unable to do -anything but recline upon the cushioned divans and enjoy the Oriental -luxury of his surroundings, but before long the effect of the shock he -had received passed away, together with certain feverish symptoms -which had alarmed Mr Hicks at Jericho. Considerably before he could -fairly be called convalescent he was as busy as ever, although his -broken arm forbade him to write for himself. Every day the agent -forwarded from Jerusalem a huge pile of letters and telegrams, dealing -with all the complicated issues raised by the political situation, and -Cyril dictated the answers from his divan while Mansfield and -Paschics, who had joined the party from Jerusalem, took it in turns to -write, and Mr Hicks lounged in the verandah, looking in at the workers -now and then with a benevolent caution not to overdo things. When the -letters were finished, Paschics, who was less likely to be recognised -than either his colleague or the American, would ride with them to -Jerusalem, often bringing back a second instalment of correspondence -with him in the evening. -</p> - -<p> -Nothing relating to the affairs of Zion could be settled without -Cyril’s advice, for the political barometer showed one of the curious -lulls which the wise in such matters consider to herald an approaching -storm. The Powers, cajoled, bribed, or threatened one by one into -submitting to the Jewish acquisition of Palestine, were waiting, all -dissatisfied but each reluctant to be the first to move, to see what -the Jews would do. At the New Year the control of the Holy Places was -to be handed over to the consular body, as representing united -Christendom, and the Roumi officials would give place to a Jewish -provisional government, under the suzerainty of the Grand Seignior. -The formation of this Cabinet, as it might be called, was one of the -most delicate tasks before the leaders of the movement. In order to -uphold the theory of representative institutions, dear to the hearts -of Dr Koepfle and his school, it was necessary that the members should -be formally elected by the Children of Zion throughout the world, -voting according to their “tents” or lodges. Whether representative -institutions stood or fell, however, it was obviously indispensable -that the persons chosen should not be obnoxious to the Powers, and -should be willing to maintain friendly, even respectful, relations -with the United Nation Syndicate. Cyril’s Balkan experience had left -him little to learn in the matter of conducting an election from -above, and it was to him that harassed wire-pullers appealed in every -difficulty. Frantic telegrams poured in upon him when a “tent” refused -steadily to vote for the candidate recommended to it by headquarters, -or when all the “tents” of one country plumped for Dr Texelius, who -was not one of the official candidates, to the huge delight of the -Anti-Semitic press, or when, as happened in England, those Jews who -were opposed to political Zionism made a vigorous attempt to capture -all the “tents” of the country, with the view of electing a -reactionary Cabinet. The wire-pullers did not appeal in vain, and even -Mr Hicks was moved to admiration by Cyril’s strategy, giving it as his -opinion that Tammany could afford to learn a trick or two from -Thracia. -</p> - -<p> -The result of the election was to fill the prospective Cabinet with -men holding moderate views and willing to be guided; and if they were -virtually the nominees of Cyril and the Syndicate, this fact was not -likely to make the task of government less easy, but rather the -reverse. Cyril could not but be aware, although he gave no sign of -having perceived the fact, that to the Jews who were now crowding into -Palestine he was the Moses of this second Exodus. They were coming, -not with a wild rush, but in orderly bands, each family or individual -selected by the “tent” to which it or he belonged, and allowed to -start only when the necessary land had been secured in Palestine. The -genius of Dr Koepfle directed this migration with almost mathematical -accuracy; but Cyril’s name bulked far more largely before the world -than his, and there could be little doubt that when the immigrants -were invited to designate by means of a <i>plébiscite</i> the man who -should rule them, they would vote unanimously for Count Mortimer. -</p> - -<p> -But this consummation, however devoutly to be wished, was at present -merely in the clouds. The Constitution which was to be administered by -the provisional government had been drawn up by the foremost Jewish -jurists—which is almost equivalent to saying the principal -Continental lawyers—and had gone the round of the Powers for approval -and criticism. It guaranteed freedom of conscience, freedom of trade, -and every political blessing that the human heart could in theory -desire, to people of all creeds and all nationalities, and yet the -Powers were not satisfied, although no one could suggest any -improvement. The lowering state of the political sky carried Cyril’s -mind back to the days when Caerleon and he had held the fort in -Thracia, alone against Europe, and when the only thing that saved them -from annihilation was the mutual jealousy of the Powers. “Nothing will -succeed here but success,” he said to himself, as he had said then. -“While each of them is waiting to see what the rest will do, we may -pull the thing through.” And he chafed the more under the physical -weakness which kept him tied at Urtas, when he might have been putting -his fortune to the touch, and gaining not only the position which his -Jewish friends desired for him, but also the happiness which up to -this point he had contrived to miss in his life. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield was very happy during this sojourn at Urtas. His work was -hard and the hours long, but he found time for a good deal of out-door -recreation. The agent had provided horses for the party, of a very -different type from the serviceable beasts which they had procured for -their journeys, and Mansfield loved all horses; while in the estate -and the model farm he found a whole world of delight. The steward, a -shrewd and ponderous Dutch Jew, told him when he heard of his path in -life that he was a good farmer spoilt, but Mansfield was quite content -to regard farming as merely a holiday amusement. It would not bring -him nearer to Philippa, which was what he hoped his secretaryship -would do. -</p> - -<p> -Sometimes Mr Hicks would join him in his rides, and generally on these -occasions they went hunting, as the natives called it, dignifying with -this lofty name a little quail- and partridge-shooting, for Mansfield -drew the line at shooting a fox, much to the disappointment of his -attendants. It was on their return from one of these rides that the -American said casually— -</p> - -<p> -“Say, Mr Mansfield, not come to any notion yet what your boss has got -on his mind, have you?” -</p> - -<p> -“On his mind?” repeated Mansfield, in astonishment. “Nothing more than -the work and the political situation, I suppose.” -</p> - -<p> -“I guess that would be about enough for most men,” said Mr Hicks -grimly; “but there’s something else wrong with him, He’s just pining -to make tracks from this place right now.” -</p> - -<p> -“I haven’t noticed it,” said Mansfield, intending the remark as a -snub. -</p> - -<p> -“You bet your life you haven’t, Mr Mansfield. You weren’t meant to.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what is it?” Mansfield turned to face his tormentor; “and how do -you know anything about it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, sir, if you saw a man fretting like a spirited horse to find -himself held fast in one place, and working all he knew to keep -himself from thinking, and all the time taking no proper pleasure in -his work or anything, what would be your opinion of that man?” -</p> - -<p> -“He might be in fear of his life,”—this was intended to be sarcastic; -“or he might”—reluctantly—“be in love.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sir, you have hit the very central point of the bull’s-eye. That’s -what’s wrong with the boss.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t see that it concerns you if it is.” -</p> - -<p> -“There’s no lady in Palestine that he might have been on his way to -interview?” continued Mr Hicks imperturbably. -</p> - -<p> -“You mean that Queen—Queen Ernestine of Thracia?” asked Mansfield -blankly. Could it be possible that the moral problem Cyril had -propounded to him before leaving Ludwigsbad had been based upon -Cyril’s own experience? -</p> - -<p> -“That’s my notion,” was the cheerful reply. -</p> - -<p> -“But why wait so long, and go so far round?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because he’s half ashamed of coming back to her anyhow, and half of -being so long about it,” said Mr Hicks concisely. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t see how you know that.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sir, I was at Bellaviste when King Michael came of age. You bet I -made things hum in New York with my reports of the festivities, and -the other specials had to fly around to get even with me, but when it -came to Count Mortimer’s dismissal the ‘Crier’ fairly took the cake. -The hours I spent hanging around at that Palace, working up all the -ins and outs of the affair from the servants and minor officials! But -it paid, sir, it paid. I wrote up the incident for the paper in my -most elegant style—real high-toned dramatic situations, heart-rending -pathos, and all the rest. I tell you, Mr Mansfield, those sheets were -wet with the scalding tears of the most beautiful women in America. -The Four Hundred was divided; half the ladies took the Queen’s side, -and half the Count’s—and where will you find a stronger testimony to -the fairness with which I had done my work? There wasn’t a likeness of -either of ’em left in a single store from one end of the Union to the -other. And having gone into the case to that extent, you tell me I’m -not even in the ring!” -</p> - -<p> -“By the bye,” said Mansfield, still impenitent, “what miles of -interviews you must be sending off to your paper every day now!” -</p> - -<p> -“I am doing my duty to the ‘Crier,’ sir. I was sent out to keep an eye -on all the proceedings in this transfer of Palestine, in which my -country has as large an interest as yours, and I am informed that all -the Churches in the States are subscribing to the paper since my -descriptive articles on the crisis started to appear. There’s not a -half-starved home missionary or a New Rush school-ma’am out West but -cherishes the hope of seeing Palestine before sending in their checks -at last, and they all calculate to have a share in the country. We are -giving ’em what they want—not a move in this high political game but -they hear of it, and if intelligent interest was allowed any weight, -the territory would be ours. But since it’s not likely that your -played-out old Powers will conclude to appoint America the guardian of -Palestine, as they ought to do if they want the property developed to -any extent, why, I am booming your boss all I know. When the pinch -comes, the great American nation will hurl itself solid on the side of -Cyril de B. Mortimer, and it would not surprise me if he took his -stand under the fostering wings of the American eagle. He knows who -are his friends, and would as lief do a deal with ’em in a friendly -spirit as not. He gives me an item or two most every day for my paper, -and is ready all the time to favour me with his opinions,—not like -some of your fine old crusted diplomats, who wouldn’t open their -mouths to save their lives. Now there was Sir Dugald Haigh, a real -petrified old chunk of British oak, no less. I was in Ethiopia for the -paper at the time of his Mission, close upon fifteen years ago now, -and not a word to be got out of any of ’em. Kept me fooling around the -servants’ quarters, trying to find out what they were doing, and -wasting my valuable time. Well, there’s something mysterious about -these things, any way——” -</p> - -<p> -“Well?” asked Mansfield, for Mr Hicks had paused darkly. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, sir, that Mission was next door to a failure.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps that was not altogether the fault of the Ethiopians, was it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Mr Mansfield, I guess I’m a white man. You don’t find me taking sides -with niggers against my own colour. No, sir. The fat was just saved by -Mr Stratford, the second in command (he’s Sir Egerton now and your -Ambassador at Czarigrad), who snatched it out of the fire when we were -all making our wills, but Sir Dugald had no hand in it. And now, -instead of prancing around in a coronet and ermine robes in the House -of Lords, that old man is buried up in Scotland somewhere, cultivating -oatmeal and a little literature—that is to say, he makes himself a -general nuisance by writing to the ‘Times’ when there’s any question -on hand connected with foreign politics.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well?” asked Mansfield again. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, sir, the boss is not that sort. He knows where the pay-dirt -lies, as I said, and things will pan out as he means ’em to. If he -concludes that he didn’t treat the lady you mentioned handsomely, he -may go back to her, but if he does, it’ll be because it suits his -book.” -</p> - -<p> -“Look here,” said Mansfield, “if you go on making these vile -insinuations against him any more, you and I shall quarrel.” -</p> - -<p> -“You bet!” was the unsympathetic reply. “No, sir, when a man finds -himself able to hitch his conscience and his convenience to his waggon -together, all that the public can do is to admire his team. Why it -should turn ugly and make nasty remarks on the harness I don’t know, -and you won’t find me doing it.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Hicks swung himself off his horse as he spoke, with the air of one -who dismissed the subject, for they had ridden up to the house, but -Mansfield had been too much disturbed by the new ideas suggested to -him to be able to banish the conversation from his mind. When work was -over that evening, instead of going out as usual for a second ride, he -hung about the room in which he had been writing at Cyril’s dictation, -alternately rearranging his papers and trying to place Cyril’s -cushions more comfortably. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Mansfield, what is it?” asked his employer at last. -</p> - -<p> -“I thought—I didn’t know—it occurred to me that you might want a -message taken to—to some other part of the country, as you are tied -here,” stammered Mansfield. -</p> - -<p> -“You are very considerate. A message to whom?” -</p> - -<p> -“To the—to some one you were particularly anxious to see.” -</p> - -<p> -“Come, Mansfield, out with it! Who is this mysterious person? Has -Hicks been pulling your leg?” -</p> - -<p> -“I knew he had made it all up!” burst joyfully from Mansfield. -</p> - -<p> -“All what? I am afraid not. Did he tell you that I was on my way to -ask for an interview with Queen Ernestine, when the pilgrims -interfered with my plans?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, but I didn’t believe him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Cultivate a more credulous spirit. What he told you was perfectly -true, and so was his further information that this delay is almost -intolerable to me.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll start to-night,” said Mansfield, reproaching himself deeply. -</p> - -<p> -“You can do nothing, unfortunately. I must see the Queen myself, and -approach her <i>in forma pauperis</i>. You know that I treated her -shamefully?” -</p> - -<p> -“No. You can’t make me believe that.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it is true, you see. King Michael behaved to her badly enough, -but it was not that which drove her into exile in Syria. She would -have gone with me cheerfully to poverty and obscurity in England, but -I would not take her. She entreated me on her knees, but I refused to -listen.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril spoke in a hard, even voice, and when he ceased there was -silence in the room. Mansfield tried in vain to think of something to -say, and each moment made the silence harder to interrupt. “I would -never have believed it if any one else had told me,” he groaned at -last, breaking the spell with a mighty effort. -</p> - -<p> -“I knew that. You and I have taken a fancy to one another, Mansfield, -and I was curious to see what you would say when you knew how I had -treated the woman——” -</p> - -<p> -“Who loved you,” supplied Mansfield, in a tone which was at once harsh -and dull. -</p> - -<p> -“And whom I loved.” -</p> - -<p> -There was a further silence, then Mansfield came hesitatingly forward. -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t help it,” he said. “I should never have thought I could speak -civilly to a man who had done such a thing as that, but—it’s you.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Mansfield!” The reaction from the strained feeling of the -moment before forced a smile from Cyril. Mansfield sitting in judgment -upon him, and allowing his just severity to be biassed by his -affection for the culprit, was very funny. “You hate the sin, but you -have a sneaking kindness left for the sinner, eh?” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield laughed uncomfortably, and Cyril shook his head. -</p> - -<p> -“I am afraid I shall have to send you back to England, Mansfield. You -must be deteriorating horribly, if you can condone such a departure -from your creed, even in my case. I suppose I have corrupted you. What -would Lady Phil say?” -</p> - -<p> -“I shall never tell her. It would make her too miserable—about you, I -mean. But, Count——” -</p> - -<p> -“Go on. I will relieve your wounded feelings in any way I can.” -</p> - -<p> -“You were intending to—to try and get the Queen to be reconciled?” -</p> - -<p> -“Before there was any idea of its being to my advantage? Yes.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you mean to do it still? You think she will forgive you?” -</p> - -<p> -“The woman I used to know would forgive me. But suppose she is -changed? I have no right to expect anything else, and I have only -myself to thank. There is just one thing——” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes?” said Mansfield eagerly. -</p> - -<p> -“Some time ago I was shown a photograph of her, taken since she left -Europe. The woman who showed it to me would have been the last person -in the world to wish to give me any hope, but she did not see the -significance of what I noticed. On the Queen’s arm there was a -bracelet——” -</p> - -<p> -“Which you had given her?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not quite. Prince Mirkovics’s daughter, one of her <i>Hofdamen</i>, gave -it to her once at Christmas. It had one very large diamond in it, and -to the uninitiated that was all. But the diamond was so cut that by -looking at it at a certain angle you could see a portrait in the -setting behind it. The Queen was delighted.” -</p> - -<p> -“And it was your portrait? and she was wearing it still?” -</p> - -<p> -“She was wearing it still. That is my sole ground of hope. But why I -should be pouring out my sorrows to you in this way, like young -Werther or the celebrated Mr Rochester, I don’t know. It isn’t for a -warning, because I can’t by any stretch of imagination conceive you to -be in need of it, and it certainly isn’t because I was yearning for a -confidant. It must have been simply your astonishing cheek in leading -up to the subject. Well, now your idol is broken, and I hope you are -pleased.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t think what made me do it,” said Mansfield, awkwardly. “I know -I must seem disgustingly inquisitive to you, but I only wanted -to—to——” -</p> - -<p> -“To annihilate time and space for my benefit, I know. Well, don’t -distress yourself. I could have shut you up at any moment I chose. As -I said, I wished to see whether you would quite turn your back upon me -when you knew the whole truth.” -</p> - -<p> -“I could never do that, whatever happened. Try me.” -</p> - -<p> -“I believe you. And now, if you have probed into my past history -sufficiently, perhaps you would not mind going round to the steward’s -and seeing what he has to say about the mule-litter that Hicks -mentioned this morning?” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Hicks himself entered the room as Mansfield stumbled out of it, and -cast a glance of quizzical reproof at Cyril as he sat down on the -divan. -</p> - -<p> -“I’d lay my last red cent, Count, that you’ve been tormenting that -unhappy young man again. The way you work upon his finer feelings is -the cruellest thing I ever saw. You play upon him like an organ.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then why does he lend himself to it?” asked Cyril. “It’s not in human -nature to neglect such an opportunity. The luckless youth is -provokingly sane otherwise. My brother values his opinion, my nephew -and niece look up to him devoutly; I believe he even fancies himself a -little as a man of the world. Why should he take it into his head to -conceive such an adoration for me that he becomes like a child in my -hands? I can make him blush and stammer like a girl, and for no reason -whatever.” -</p> - -<p> -“He don’t get much show out of his adoration, sir, any way.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, indeed; and yet he keeps it up. Why does a woman torment her -lovers, Hicks? To show her power, I suppose—not necessarily because -she delights in seeing them miserable. It gives me a kind of pleasure, -no doubt, to know that I can raise the unfortunate Mansfield from -despair to the seventh heaven by a word, and plunge him down into the -depths again by another, and therefore I do it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Guess you are keeping your hand in, Count, against the time they fix -you up with a whole territory to practise your fascinations upon.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t dabble in prophecy, Hicks, unless you want to postpone that -desirable time until the Greek Kalends. So poor Mansfield is tortured -to make a pastime for me, is he? Well, it will be all made up to him. -I intend him to marry my niece, and she takes after her father, and -could not hurt any one’s feelings in cold blood to save her life.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is that so, Count? Well, Mr Mansfield will have earned his -happiness,” said Mr Hicks drily. “But I guess you know some folks have -figured it out that the young lady is to marry the King of Thracia? -Old Prince Mirkovics is flying round putting the kingdom in order, and -whispering the secret to most every one he meets. You are not in it, -then?” -</p> - -<p> -“Scarcely. For one thing, I don’t think my niece would come into the -scheme, and I am not so foolish as to undertake to marry her to any -one against her will. And then, you see, I am retained, as I said, in -Mansfield’s behalf.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch14"> -CHAPTER XIV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">NO PLACE OF REPENTANCE.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">The</span> sojourn at Urtas, which had proved so irksome to Cyril, was not -doomed to last much longer. As soon as the watchful Mr Hicks could be -induced, against his better judgment, to allow him to travel, he was -on the road again, riding whenever it was possible. When the country -was so rough as to render horse exercise unsafe for a rider able only -to use one hand, he was content to be conveyed ignominiously in the -mule-litter. In his train followed Mr Hicks, acting both as surgeon -and chronicler. Cyril was well pleased to keep the American supplied -with exclusive information on points of general interest, since he -found him prepared to exercise a wise discretion with regard to -matters of real importance. Mr Hicks asked no more favourable -treatment than this. He had been sent out to write up the Palestine -question for the ‘Crier,’ and how could he do so better than by -encamping continually, so to speak, close to the fountainhead of -information on the subject? His retinue, added to Cyril’s, made an -imposing cavalcade, and the local governors and petty sheikhs honoured -with a visit were duly impressed. -</p> - -<p> -The minds of these functionaries were found to be much perturbed, -owing to the reports which had been spread as to the intentions of the -new government, and it was sometimes a long business to reassure them. -Curiously enough, the worst and most malevolent of the mischief-makers -were the Jews whose families had been settled in the larger towns for -two or more generations. Supported in idleness by means of the -Chalukah—a kind of voluntary tax which the Jews throughout the world -imposed on themselves for the benefit of their poor brethren in -Palestine—these men, quite naturally, were fully satisfied with the -present. The prospect of a future in which their pretensions would be -examined and their privileges curtailed was not enticing. Hard work in -stubborn soil, even on land which was their own, would be a poor -exchange for ease and idleness, and these degenerate Israelites did -their best to avert it by inciting the Moslems to resist the change of -rule. Calumny after calumny was brought forward by the local -authorities, and refuted by Cyril, who made his way to the hardest -hearts by dint of a judicious combination of <i>bonhomie</i> and -<i>bakhshish</i>. It is true that the natives, having seen the colour of -his money, and heard of the liberty and other blessings in store for -them, chose to ignore the existence of the Jewish State altogether. -However, since they accepted all Cyril’s suggestions, and agreed to -pay their taxes to the officials whom he should appoint, their belief -that England was about to take possession of the country, and had sent -him in advance as her representative, mattered little. -</p> - -<p> -Owing to the singular success of his labours, Count Mortimer’s journey -through the country bore the aspect of a triumphal progress. When he -arrived at length at Damascus, there remained only the Beni Ismail and -their Desert Queen to be placated before he could announce that the -whole Moslem population of Palestine was well affected towards the new -rule. To gain the goodwill of the Christians was a hopeless task, he -knew; but at this moment they were all fully occupied in intriguing, -with the support of the consuls of the Powers who protected them -respectively, for the aggrandisement of their property or prestige at -the expense of rival sects. Even Bishop Philaret had forgotten the -iniquities of the Jews for a time, and was so hotly engaged in a -controversy with the Latins over a piece of ground some seven feet -square, in which a ruined cistern (which he imagined to be a tomb) had -been discovered, that he had no leisure to waste in attacking Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -As the travellers approached Damascus, it seemed to Mansfield and Mr -Hicks that their pace was faster than it had been at first. Cyril had -become more impatient of delay, less tolerant of any proposal to -digress from the appointed route for the purpose of visiting some -object of interest. They could see that his spirits were variable, in -spite of the rigid self-control which he exercised, and his physician -discovered that for the first time in his life he slept badly night -after night. When they reached the city, however, and had taken up -their quarters in the house of an Oriental cousin of the Chevalier’s, -he was calm and cheerful again. On the first evening of their stay he -was the life of the party, which included a cheerful young Roumi -aide-de-camp of the Vali or Governor-General, who was the bearer of -his superior’s respects and compliments. When the story of their -journeys had been told, Mahmud Fadil Bey had a good deal to say about -the one task that remained to be completed. -</p> - -<p> -“We are all anxious to see how you get on with the Beni Ismail,” he -said, in his excellent French. “They have been a thorn in our side for -many a day, and we shall not be sorry to turn them over to you.” -</p> - -<p> -“What is their peculiar wickedness?” asked Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -Mahmud Fadil shrugged his shoulders. “They are simply an Arab tribe -who inhabit a tract of desert of which almost nothing is known, and -who make themselves rather more disagreeable than the rest. Of course -they have never paid any tribute—though our treasury officials -devised a pleasing fiction that the arrears had been accumulating for -centuries. It was practically a case of our paying tribute to them. -When the usual presents were not forthcoming, it was not long before -we heard that the Beni Ismail had robbed a caravan or two. It was no -use sending soldiers after them, for they knew the desert and we did -not, so we lay low and said nothing.” He glanced smilingly at Mr -Hicks, as he made the quotation in English. “Two years ago there was a -famine, and I suppose caravans became scarce. At any rate, the Beni -Ismail were foolish enough to wander close to the city in search of -food, and the Vali saw his opportunity. He drew a cordon of troops -round their encampment, and arrested them for non-payment of their -taxes. We had very nearly the whole tribe in our hands, and it was -intended to deport them to some other part of the country, where they -would be absolutely at the mercy of the Government. But, somehow or -other, they managed to pay up, though I will do the Vali the justice -to say that he did not diminish the sum he had named by a single -piastre. This tardy virtue was all very well; but he had no intention -of leaving the tribe at liberty to begin their old game again, and the -preparations for removing them were going forward, when—of all -people—the Pannonian Ambassador at Czarigrad took up the affair. It -was said that the Empress of Pannonia was interesting herself in the -creatures, though why she should I don’t know, but we were obliged to -let them go, on the understanding that the taxes should be paid in -future, and the attacks on caravans cease. Wonderful to relate, they -have kept their promise, thanks, I suppose, to their Queen, whom no -one had ever heard of before they got into trouble. It seems that she -holds her Court at some spot in the desert that the Arabs call Sitt -Zeynab. She had been wise enough to keep out of our reach, and we -restored her subjects to her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you mean that the lady’s existence had been absolutely -unsuspected?” asked Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -“Absolutely. It was supposed that the tribe were ashamed to confess -they were ruled by a woman, or perhaps afraid that we should make a -bold dash and secure her as a hostage. I believe the idea of appealing -to the Empress was hers, though it is a mystery why she should hit -upon Pannonia as the friend in need.” -</p> - -<p> -“But has no one from Damascus ever seen her?” -</p> - -<p> -“No one. Moreover, I have questioned different members of the tribe, -when they came to bring their tribute, since that time, and I think -very few of them have seen her either. I have been assured by one man -that she is ineffably old and practises magic, and by the next that -she is a perfect <i>houri</i> in youth and beauty. The most credible thing -I have heard is that she is always wrapped in a white sheet, like the -Druse ladies, that she is attended only by women, and that no one has -ever seen her face. The tribe speak of her as the Great Princess, and -her word is law. She is a splendid horse-woman, and she lives in a -haunted palace, and both these things impress them very much.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is that so, sir?” said Mr Hicks. “And why do you expect this -interesting female to come to blows with his Excellency, if I may -ask?” -</p> - -<p> -Mahmud Fadil laughed. “I am afraid we are to blame for that. When the -last tribute came in, the Vali told the messengers that they might -think themselves independent if they liked, but let them wait until -the Prince of the Jews came, and see what all the Emperors in Europe -could do for them then! They asked innumerable questions, and got all -the information of the same kind we could give them, and retired to -tell their Princess, saying that she would know what to do.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think this will involve a visit to her Highness as soon as we have -had two or three days’ rest and a look at Lebanon,” said Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -“I hardly think you will get as far as Sitt Zeynab,” laughed the -aide-de-camp. “No one has ever yet reached it from Damascus, though -many have tried, some out of curiosity, and some for other reasons. -The Beni Ismail alone among the Arabs know the way, and they will -never take any one there. Once or twice we have caught one of the -tribe off his guard, and forced him to take charge of an exploring -party, but the explorers have always returned unsuccessful and without -their guide, after wandering very uncomfortably in the desert for a -few days. It is difficult to see how the place can be reached. We have -offered a reward to the Beni Ayub, a rival tribe, if they will find -out the way to it, but whenever the Beni Ismail discover trespassers -in their country, they cut their trespassing severely short. The town -does not seem to have been visited by any traveller, and the other -Arabs cannot even say how long the Queen has reigned.” -</p> - -<p> -“Decidedly we must face these perils and make a dash for Sitt Zeynab,” -repeated Cyril; “but I intend to spend to-morrow in exploring -Anti-Lebanon.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -When the next day arrived, however, Mr Hicks came into Mansfield’s -room early in the morning, and roused him unceremoniously from a sound -sleep. -</p> - -<p> -“Hullo! am I late?” asked the victim vaguely. “I’ll be down in a -minute. Does the Count want to start already?” -</p> - -<p> -“I want you to start right now,” said Mr Hicks, “if you’re game to do -the boss a kindness at the risk of his turning ugly.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course I’ll do anything that wants doing,” said Mansfield, yawning -furiously. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, the boss’s strength has just about petered out. This hard -travelling, and holding pow-wows with those old sinners all the time, -has been too much for him, considering he was dead set on getting to -his journey’s end right away. I looked in on him an hour back, at a -word from Dietrich, and found that he hadn’t slept a wink all night, -and was in something very like a fever. I took the liberty of giving -him a sleeping-mixture that will keep him quiet till the evening, you -bet. But if he starts riding up Mount Lebanon to-morrow, and finds -maybe that Queen Ernestine won’t see him at the end, it will about -settle his business. Now, what I want you to do is——” -</p> - -<p> -“To go and see the Queen,” said Mansfield, sitting up in bed. -</p> - -<p> -“If she will permit you; but I want you to go and prospect around at -Brutli, any way. If you are able to see her, start right in and work -on her feelings till she can’t see for crying. I incline to think she -will come down to him at once, but allowing for wounded feelings and -insulted dignity, we’ll conclude that she only sends a message to -invite him up there. But even if you can’t see her, you can find out -when she walks out and where, so that we may bring him face to face -with her suddenly. Don’t give the boss away, of course. To every one -but the Queen you’re a tourist wishing to inspect the Institution, and -my darkey, who knows the country, shall go with you for a guide.” -</p> - -<p> -“All right. I’m your man.” The words followed Mr Hicks as he left the -room, and another hour saw Mansfield set forth on his embassy. The -Citadel, the Seraglio, and the bridge over the Barada left behind, the -route lay for a while along a broad, poplar-bordered road, on either -side of which were white houses set in green gardens. This pleasant -shade came to an end at the foot of the hills, and the rest of the -journey presented itself as a hot and weary climb up steep -mountain-paths, the monotony of which was only occasionally relieved -by a grove of myrtles, or a happy valley with its terraced sides -covered with vineyards and mulberry-trees. The interest which he took -in his mission armed Mansfield against fatigue, and he clattered at a -dangerous pace down slippery paths, and dismounted to lead his horse -up steep ascents, with a dogged persistence which did not commend -itself to Mr Hicks’s elderly servant, who was irreverently known as -Uncle Sam. Two or three brief halts, undertaken purely for the sake of -the horses, failed to mollify Uncle Sam, and when the travellers rode -into the village of Brutli, only to behold the Deaconesses’ -Institution towering above them at the head of a further long ascent, -his feelings overcame him. Approaching Mansfield, he hinted darkly -that the consequences would probably be serious for both of them if -they did not pause and lunch, in view of the early hour at which they -had started. Mansfield acquiesced reluctantly, and they asked their -way to the inn, which proved to be a more imposing building than those -in the other villages they had passed. The reason for this superiority -was revealed when the landlord explained with much pride that two -gentlemen and several servants belonging to the household of the Queen -of Thracia had occupied his best rooms for more than two years past, -and that this gratifying fact had obliged him to increase his -accommodation for visitors. He pointed, as he spoke, to a pleasant -vine-shaded verandah on the opposite side of the courtyard, in which a -table was set out in European fashion. A tall thin man had just taken -his seat, and a second European, stout and elderly, was standing at -the edge of the verandah, peering across the yard into the darkness of -the archway in which Mansfield stood. The landlord, with a hurried -apology, hastened towards him, to return in a moment beaming with -smiles, and bearing a request from the Thracian gentlemen that the -English traveller would share their meal. Delighted to find his path -made so smooth, Mansfield crossed the courtyard, to be met by the -short man at the foot of the verandah-steps, and received with -flattering assurances of welcome. -</p> - -<p> -“I am ashamed to intrude upon you in this way,” began the guest. -</p> - -<p> -“Intrude, monsieur! The sight of you is a perfect feast for our eyes,” -was the reply, in very rapid French. “We rejoice to greet one of your -nation. Once we regarded all Englishmen as our friends, now there is -an exception”—the thin man at the table growled indistinctly—“but -there is no need to proscribe a whole people for the fault of one man. -Let me present to you General Banics, formerly governor to his Majesty -the King of Thracia, now master of the household to her Majesty Queen -Ernestine. General, pray do me a similar kindness.” -</p> - -<p> -“Monsieur,” growled the General, “permit me to present to you M. Peter -Stefanovics, grand chamberlain to her Majesty. The coffee is growing -cold, Stefanovics.” -</p> - -<p> -“All in good time,” cried M. Stefanovics, ushering Mansfield into his -place, and bowing himself to the head of the table. “Who can think of -coffee when one sees a new face? We are quite free and easy at this -meal, M. Mansfield, and wait upon ourselves. Madame Stefanovics does -not appear so early in the day.” Mansfield struggled with a look of -astonishment, for the meal which the two Thracians considered as -breakfast he had regarded as a midday lunch. M. Stefanovics caught his -glance. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, you wonder at our hours, monsieur! But picture to yourself our -life—what is one to do here? We rise, we eat, we proceed to the -Institution to pay our respects to her Majesty, and inquire her -orders. It is very rarely that she honours us with any. We take, -perhaps, a walk or a ride for health’s sake. We return here, the -General sets to work at the military history he is writing, and I—I -go to sleep! Madame Stefanovics spends the afternoon and evening in -attendance upon her Majesty. We dine, we end the day with a game of -cards or dominoes. What would you have? Sometimes her Majesty is good -enough to make an errand for one of us into Damascus, sometimes one -has a week’s leave of absence. Then what dissipation, monsieur! One is -accustomed to Bellaviste, to Vindobona—can you conceive that one -feels a visit to Damascus to be a riotous affair?” -</p> - -<p> -“But why does the Queen condemn you to such a life?” asked Mansfield -indignantly. “What right has she to keep you——” -</p> - -<p> -“Monsieur!” cried General Banics, bristling up like a tiger. M. -Stefanovics laid a soothing hand upon his arm. -</p> - -<p> -“Calm yourself, General. Our friend does not understand. You may not -be aware, monsieur, that General Banics refused the post offered him -in the King’s household in order to attend her Majesty here. The -unhappy events——” -</p> - -<p> -“Stefanovics, you talk too fast,” growled the General. -</p> - -<p> -“My good General, how am I to explain things if you will interrupt me? -Circumstances, monsieur, impelled the General, as a man of honour, to -quit his Majesty’s service and enter that of the Queen. I was already -in her Majesty’s household, and my wife and I followed her here as a -matter of course. She did not ask us to remain. In fact, she entreated -us with tears to return to Thracia and make our peace with her son, -while she retained only her ladies about her person. Would you expect -us to do that, monsieur? to forsake our august mistress when she was -abandoned by all her friends, treated with the most revolting cruelty -by those who ought to have——” an inarticulate remonstrance from the -General. “In a word, monsieur, we are here, and here we stay.” -</p> - -<p> -“You could do nothing else,” said Mansfield warmly. Then, remembering -the object of his journey, he added, with lamentable duplicity, “I was -anxious to see the Institution; but if her Majesty is there, I suppose -visitors are not admitted. Or perhaps there are stated hours?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is always possible to see the Institution, monsieur. Her Majesty -would never consent to interfere with the work of the good sisters, -who are a blessing to the whole countryside. But her own apartments, -and a small enclosed garden upon which they look, are sacred to her. -She receives no one, and she has not quitted the Institution since -first she entered it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Never left the one spot!” cried Mansfield, aghast. “Surely she -must—I mean, has she taken any vows?” -</p> - -<p> -“The Lutherans are not like the Orthodox or the Latins, monsieur, and -their deaconesses are not bound by irrevocable vows. It is her -Majesty’s pleasure not to receive, and it is not for us to question -it. The emissaries of the King and the Princess of Dardania made -themselves so obnoxious on her first arrival that, outraged by their -presumption and persistence, she came to this resolution. And is there -any one who has a right to decide for her Majesty in the matter?” -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not,” said Mansfield politely, for the tone of the question -was fierce. -</p> - -<p> -“There is a certain person,” pursued M. Stefanovics, “attached to the -household of the Princess of Dardania—a Colonel Czartoriski, I -believe—who has been hanging about this neighbourhood for weeks, -riding up from Damascus day after day, in the hope of being received -by her Majesty and delivering into her hands a letter from his -mistress. Of course he has not been successful. Is it likely that her -Majesty would receive him, when we, her two faithful servants, have -never been permitted to see her face the whole time she has been -here?” -</p> - -<p> -“You have never once seen her?” cried Mansfield. -</p> - -<p> -“Stefanovics, you talk too much,” said General Banics again. -</p> - -<p> -“And why should we be granted such an honour?” asked M. Stefanovics, -trying to cover his confusion. “If her Majesty, deceived and forsaken -by the man she trusted—no, General, I mention no names—and by her -own son, chooses to confine herself to the society of her ladies, who -will venture to blame her? The decision lies entirely with her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Her Majesty’s retirement is very sad, but no doubt it is natural,” -agreed Mansfield, whose heart had sunk lower and lower as he discerned -each fresh obstacle in the way of his mission. In his own mind he was -convinced that the Queen was mad, but in the hope that sheer audacity -might succeed where the courtly training of the two Thracians held -them back, he determined to make an effort to penetrate into her -presence, that he might at least know the worst. He answered with much -patience the questions which M. Stefanovics, who had relieved his mind -by his outburst of confidence, showered upon him, and took his leave -when the meal was over without disclosing on whose behalf he had come. -He observed that neither M. Stefanovics nor the General asked any -questions about the great Palestine scheme, and that they both ignored -the tentative references he made to it; and it seemed to him that to -proclaim himself Cyril’s emissary would be to destroy the small hope -of success he still possessed. Leaving Uncle Sam and the horses at the -inn, he climbed the path to the Institution on foot, and asked the -lame Syrian who acted as porter whether it was possible for him to see -the place. The man bade him enter. -</p> - -<p> -“The lady there is the senior sister,” he said, indicating a stately -woman in the blue dress and white cap of the Königshof deaconesses, -who was passing along the piazza. “She will direct you.” -</p> - -<p> -Stepping forward and bowing to the deaconess, Mansfield repeated his -question in German, and found himself cordially welcomed. The interest -which he displayed as Sister Chriemhild conducted him in due course -through the hospital, the schools, the asylum, and the chapel, was in -no way feigned, for he intended to write Lady Caerleon an account of -his visit, and perhaps Philippa would read it. Nevertheless, his -attention wandered slightly as the tour of inspection drew to a close, -for he had not succeeded in making any allusion to the Queen, and it -seemed impossible to introduce her name naturally and without undue -emphasis. At last he relinquished all attempt at concealment, and -turned suddenly to Sister Chriemhild, who was explaining the methods -of instruction, peculiar to Königshof, which were in use among the -deaconesses. -</p> - -<p> -“Sister, is it possible for me to see Queen Ernestine?” -</p> - -<p> -“Quite impossible,” replied the deaconess, not showing the slightest -surprise at the abrupt question. -</p> - -<p> -“I come from—at least, I have a message for her.” -</p> - -<p> -She looked him straight in the face. “There is only one name that -would justify me in asking one of her Majesty’s ladies to see you and -take charge of your message.” -</p> - -<p> -“I come from Count Mortimer.” -</p> - -<p> -The glow of delight that irradiated Sister Chriemhild’s face -astonished Mansfield, for in view of her grey hair and faded blue eyes -he had not expected to find the deaconess’s heart still young and -sympathetic. She took him into a small parlour, and hurried away. -Presently a stout middle-aged lady in black burst into the room; no -other word will express the excitement which characterised her -entrance. Bitter disappointment overspread her face at the sight of -Mansfield, and she returned his bow with a frigid curtsey. -</p> - -<p> -“Have I the honour of speaking to her Majesty’s lady-in-waiting?” -began Mansfield, perplexed by the change in her manner. -</p> - -<p> -“I am Sophie von Staubach, her Majesty’s lectrice. I am on duty -to-day. You must have heard my name from Count Mortimer. Excuse my -hurry. I could not wait to hear what Sister Chriemhild said. I took it -into my head that the Count was here himself. He always looks so -young, you know,” returned the lady, all in a breath. Her resentment -seemed to have evaporated. -</p> - -<p> -“I am here on Count Mortimer’s behalf,” said Mansfield. “He is at -Damascus, making arrangements with the Roumi authorities for the -benefit of the Jews, and——” -</p> - -<p> -Fräulein von Staubach uttered a little scream. “Sit down,” she said, -pointing to a chair, “and let us talk comfortably. Then Count Mortimer -is the Prince of the Jews, after all? Now tell me——” -</p> - -<p> -She poured forth her questions. Where was Cyril staying, what was the -exact nature of his present occupation, how long had Mansfield known -him, what had he been doing since he left Thracia, did he look any -older, did he often mention the Queen, what was his object in seeking -her out?—and so on, without a pause. Mansfield answered her inquiries -as fully as she would let him, describing Cyril’s condition with all -the pathos he could command, and felt that success was in his grasp -when Fräulein von Staubach, who had been making occasional dabs at -her eyes with her handkerchief, suddenly broke down and wept noisily. -</p> - -<p> -“Of course he treated the dear Queen abominably, but I have always -longed that he should come back and make it up with her,” she sobbed. -</p> - -<p> -“Then will you tell me how I can see her Majesty, Fräulein?” -Mansfield felt it advisable not to protest against the lady’s opinion -of Cyril’s behaviour, but his self-suppression failed of its effect. -Fräulein von Staubach started violently, sat up and wiped her eyes, -and looked at him severely. -</p> - -<p> -“It is quite evident that you are not accustomed to courts, sir,” she -said. “Her Majesty has not commanded you to wait upon her, I believe?” -</p> - -<p> -“How could she, when she didn’t know of my existence?” asked -Mansfield, with not unreasonable impatience. “But if you will be kind -enough to tell her why I am here, no doubt she will allow me to wait -upon her.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is impossible—quite impossible,” said the lady, nervously. -</p> - -<p> -“Because her Majesty only receives ladies? But I am merely a -messenger—Count Mortimer’s messenger.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know; but it is out of the question—I dare not—I mean, I cannot,” -stammered Fräulein von Staubach, with more distress than the occasion -seemed to warrant. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, then, at least you will help to bring them together. Count -Mortimer will ride up here to-morrow, and you will manage to admit him -into the Queen’s private garden?” -</p> - -<p> -“You won’t understand!” she cried. “Her Majesty’s decision is -irrevocable. Nothing I could do would induce her to alter it. If Count -Mortimer were here at this moment, and if he presented himself day -after day, entreating her Majesty to receive him, it would have no -effect.” -</p> - -<p> -“But surely, Fräulein, her Majesty must be very much changed if this -is the case? And yet, from all you have been saying, I should almost -have thought she would be glad to see Count Mortimer.” -</p> - -<p> -Fräulein von Staubach flushed angrily. “I cannot answer for her -Majesty,” she said, with dignity, “and you have no right to put an -interpretation of your own on my unguarded remarks, sir. The utmost I -can do for Count Mortimer is to watch for an opportunity of bringing -his name to the Queen’s recollection; and I shall certainly not have -the chance for a fortnight, perhaps a month. It is useless for the -Count to come here at present.” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield gazed at her aghast. This could only mean that the Queen was -mad, but enjoyed occasional lucid intervals. “Fräulein,” he said -reluctantly, “I entreat you to pardon me, but I must ask you a very -important question. Is it unhappily the case that her Majesty is—that -her troubles have—that her mind is affected?” -</p> - -<p> -Fräulein von Staubach rose and glared at him before she could find -words to reply. “Oh, that is what your master wants to know, is it?” -she cried. “Go back and tell him that if she is mad he has made her -so. He wishes to free himself from her and marry the Princess of -Dardania, does he? Oh, yes; Princess Anna Mirkovics heard of his -recent proceedings from Colonel Czartoriski when she was on duty here. -Mad, indeed! her Majesty mad! Out of the way, sir; let me pass. You -have insulted my august mistress.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pardon me, Fräulein,” said Mansfield, amazed by this sudden burst of -passion. It was so timely that it might almost seem to have occurred -in order to afford the lady an excuse for terminating the interview, -but he was between her and the door. “If you refuse to answer me, I -must sorrowfully conclude that my conjecture was well founded. Is that -the message I am to take back to Count Mortimer?” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you call yourself sane?” demanded Fräulein von Staubach -viciously; “because her Majesty is far saner than you are. You thought -she was mad, did you? No; you may tell Count Mortimer that if his -object was to drive her mad, he failed. Let me pass, sir!” -</p> - -<p> -She swept out of the room in a whirlwind of righteous indignation. As -for Mansfield, he took a sorrowful leave of Sister Chriemhild, walked -down regretfully to the spot at which he had told Uncle Sam to meet -him with the horses, and rode back to Damascus with a gloomy -countenance. He had felt so sure of success, so confident of bringing -back with him some message, though perhaps only a word or two, from -the Queen to Cyril, and he had accomplished nothing. It was possible, -even, that he had done harm, and he began to wonder what Cyril would -think of the way in which Mr Hicks and he had meddled in his affairs. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch15"> -CHAPTER XV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">A FOOL’S ERRAND.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Really</span>,” said Cyril, “words fail me to express my gratitude. The -conspicuous success which has crowned your kind efforts would alone be -sufficient——” -</p> - -<p> -“Say, Count,” broke in Mr Hicks, “don’t make us squirm ourselves right -away through the floor. Mr Mansfield is not to blame, any way, for I -despatched him and told him to go ahead, and I acted as I thought best -for you in my professional capacity, sir.” -</p> - -<p> -“Professional capacity be hanged!” said Cyril, sharply. “What does -your professional capacity make of the result of this precious -expedition? Nice little encouragement for the patient, eh? Hearten him -up a bit, I suppose? You and Mansfield are both too clever for me, -Hicks. To the ordinary mind it would have occurred that in the -peculiar circumstances of the case my only hope was to go there myself -and take the Queen by surprise, but you have knocked all chance of -that on the head.” -</p> - -<p> -“But, Count,” ventured Mansfield, “the lady said it would be quite -useless for you to go, because you would not be admitted.” -</p> - -<p> -“Did you ever know me baffled yet in a thing I meant to do, Mansfield? -Fräulein von Staubach and I are old friends.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Count, she has promised to mention your name to the Queen at -the earliest opportunity. I will ride up to Brutli again to-morrow, -and try and arrange with her to let you know the moment she has done -it. But she said it would certainly not be for a fortnight.” -</p> - -<p> -“A fortnight?” Cyril’s irritation subsided suddenly, as a new idea -appeared to strike him. “Mansfield, I want to know exactly what she -told you.” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield cudgelled his brains, and, aided by a stringent -cross-examination, succeeded in recalling very faithfully the -conversation which had taken place between Fräulein von Staubach and -himself. When he had come to the end, Cyril smiled gently. -</p> - -<p> -“Since you two have gone to work so ingeniously to spoil my plans with -regard to the Queen,” he said, “I shall put business before pleasure -once more, and devote this fortnight to looking up the Great Princess -of the Beni Ismail.” -</p> - -<p> -“Great Jehoshaphat!” cried Mr Hicks, in consternation. “You talk of -setting off on a desert journey right now, Count, when you’re down -sick? A little ride in the cars to Beyrout, now, would bring you round -a bit, I guess, but a wild goose chase into the mouth of hell after a -female that no one has ever seen—no, sir! You may bet your bottom -dollar——” -</p> - -<p> -“That I go? Quite so. You needn’t come, you know, Hicks. If Mansfield -is willing to relinquish the right of private judgment, I’ll take him, -to punish him for the mischief he has done, but there must be no more -interference with my plans for any reason whatever.” -</p> - -<p> -“You bet!” said Mr Hicks, energetically. “But you’ll have to conclude -to take me as part of the outfit, Count. Your physician extraordinary -won’t quit until he’s kicked out. And since you’re set on this piece -of foolishness, I suppose I may as well hand you a document which was -left for you to-day, but when Mr Mansfield came back and we began upon -this palaver, I forgot it.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril took the letter, which was written on rough native paper, and -read it through carefully. “How did you get hold of this, Hicks?” he -asked at last. -</p> - -<p> -“Brought by a blind Arab with a book under his arm, Count. ‘From the -Great Princess,’ he said, as he handed it to me. He mentioned that he -was a Protestant, and seemed to incline to loaf around and ask -affectionately after the Churches of America, but I was in a hurry, -and fired him out.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Hicks! Why not have humoured the poor wretch, and kept him in -talk? He would have been able to give me just the information I want.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is so, Count, and that’s why I invited him to vanish.” -</p> - -<p> -“Won’t do, Hicks. You’ll have to find him again now.” -</p> - -<p> -“I guess so,” said Mr Hicks resignedly. “Well, I reckon I’ll appeal to -our rackety friend Mahmud Fadil. He makes out to be acquainted with -all the shady characters in the city. But I hope the lady is kindly -disposed towards you, Count?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not exactly. She warns me not to meddle with her subjects or their -territory, on pain of an appeal to the Powers. Strange that she should -have picked up that idea, isn’t it? But her scribe writes French, so -very likely he is an Armenian from Czarigrad, full of the latest -European notions. Her seal is Arabic, you see, but it has only ‘I, the -Queen of the Desert,’ on it, no name.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -In fulfilment of the task imposed upon him by Cyril, Mr Hicks set out -the next morning to seek the help of Mahmud Fadil, who had no -difficulty in identifying from his description the person of whom he -was in search. -</p> - -<p> -“I know him,” he said. “It is Yeshua, a dog of a Bedawi who professes -to have become a Christian, and is in the pay of the English ladies -who have the schools.” -</p> - -<p> -“Could you manage to lay your hand on him?” asked Mr Hicks. -</p> - -<p> -“You want him seized—put out of the way? Oh yes, it can be done, of -course, but it will be rather expensive, on account of the English -ladies. These wretched missionaries fly to their consuls on the -slightest pretext.” -</p> - -<p> -“I guess I don’t just want him wiped out,” said Mr Hicks meditatively. -“A little quiet talk with him is all I ask. And if your soldiers could -be brought to understand, sir, that a small extra present would pass -between us if they carried the business through without fuss and -without hurting the gentleman’s feelings, it might obviate any -difficulty with the consul.” -</p> - -<p> -Mahmud Fadil acquiesced in the proposal with some disappointment. He -had anticipated the handling of a considerable sum of money, a certain -proportion of which would naturally stick to his own fingers in the -process, but he gave the necessary orders, keenly conscious that half -a loaf is better than no bread. Accordingly, Cyril’s quarters were -invaded, shortly after darkness had fallen, by several file of -soldiers, dragging with them the blind man, who offered no resistance -beyond protesting against the illegality of his arrest. Mr Hicks was -on the look-out, and after reassuring the owners of the house, and -dismissing the soldiers with the reward agreed upon, led the prisoner -into Cyril’s room. -</p> - -<p> -“Fear not, O father of a book,” he said in Arabic; “no harm shall -befall thee. Tell the Prince of the Jews who thou art.” -</p> - -<p> -“My lord’s servant is Yeshua the son of Ishak,” answered the blind -man, turning his sightless eyes in the direction of the divan on which -Cyril was lying, “and he goes hither and thither among the tents of -his brethren to tell them the words of Life.” -</p> - -<p> -“Was it you who brought me the letter from the Princess of the Beni -Ismail?” asked Cyril. Mr Hicks translated the question. -</p> - -<p> -“My lord’s servant was sojourning a week ago in the tents of the Beni -Ismail, and their sheikh asked him to carry a message to the Prince of -the Jews. The tribe fear to enter the town, lest the Roumis should -seize and imprison them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you did not see the Princess—I mean, she did not give you the -letter?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, my lord, how should such a one as Yeshua ibn Ishak be admitted -to the presence of the Great Princess? One of her women had given the -paper to the sheikh.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see. Did you find your way here from Sitt Zeynab alone?” -</p> - -<p> -“Certain of the tribe brought my lord’s servant on his way for a part -of the distance. After that he knew the road.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good. Will you guide me to the spot where they left you?” -</p> - -<p> -“God forbid! Would my lord have his servant betray his brethren?” -</p> - -<p> -“But I don’t want to do your brethren any harm,” said Cyril -impatiently. “I am not a Roumi. I am only anxious to make a treaty -with them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, my lord, thy servant cannot reveal their secret. They have -trusted him, and if he failed them they would blaspheme the religion -of the Lord Jesus.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can hand you over to the Roumis, and have you thrown into prison, -if you refuse to answer me. Do you know this?” -</p> - -<p> -“My lord must do as he will with his servant,” said the blind man. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Count, he’s too plucky to be threatened,” said Mansfield -indignantly. “Why not see if he will take a message back to his -sheikh?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have no intention of eating him,” returned Cyril. “Well, Yeshua ibn -Ishak, will you find out your sheikh and tell him that I wish for a -friendly meeting with the Princess? These two <i>khawajas</i> shall come -with me, and we will bring one servant each, but no soldiers. I desire -peace with the Beni Ismail, not war, and if he will bring me to Sitt -Zeynab it will be for the good of all his tribe for ever.” -</p> - -<p> -“But the Great Princess will never consent to talk with my lord.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps not; but she could send her scribe, or she might even talk -with me through a curtain. Will you take the message?” -</p> - -<p> -“My lord’s servant will carry the word, but there is no likelihood -that the sheikh will consent. The stranger must not come into the land -of the Beni Ismail.” -</p> - -<p> -“Time will show. Good evening, then. Mansfield, see that the man has -something to eat, and give him a few piastres if you think it will -make him feel more kindly towards us. How long do you say it will take -to get an answer to the message, Hicks?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Count, I guess the sheikh has some of his men cached not so -very far from the city, in case our blind friend has any news to -despatch. Would you incline to have him shadowed?” -</p> - -<p> -“No; he would find it out, and the discovery would destroy his rather -shaky confidence in us. Suppose you jot down a few of the things we -shall need for the journey. I expect to start the day after -to-morrow.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, sir, there’s nothing like assurance, any way,” said Mr Hicks, -sitting down at Mansfield’s table and appropriating his writing -materials. “Do you calculate to take tents with you?” -</p> - -<p> -“He’s a good fellow, Count,” said Mansfield, returning. “He would not -take any money, because he said the Mission provided for his needs. I -looked at his Bible in raised type, and he told me how astonished the -Arabs were to see a blind man read. He seems to have some thrilling -experiences to describe, if only I could understand his English; but -it is rather sketchy.” -</p> - -<p> -“You had better write an account of your interesting friend to Lady -Caerleon. I know that Syria is one of her many favourite -mission-fields. But while you are striking up an acquaintance with -this picturesque character, here is Mr Hicks doing your work. Tents, -did you say, Hicks? One small tent for the three of us. This -expedition is not going to be a picnic.” -</p> - -<p> -“You bet!” murmured Mr Hicks disconsolately, as he resigned his place -to Mansfield, who wondered even more than he did at the calm -confidence with which Cyril continued to make arrangements for a -journey which neither of his companions believed would ever be -undertaken. But his foresight was truer than theirs. When Mansfield -returned the next day from visiting the bazaars, the citadel and the -walls, the ruins of the Great Mosque, and other lions of Damascus, -under the guidance of a Jewish youth, he found the blind Bedawi -sitting outside the house and waiting for him. After puzzling out the -meaning of Yeshua’s broken English, he entered Cyril’s room somewhat -doubtfully. -</p> - -<p> -“The blind man has come back, Count. He says that the sheikh consents -to escort you to Sitt Zeynab, but you must bring no servants with you, -only Mr Hicks and myself.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very well; but in that case the sheikh must only have two of his own -men with him. It’s not so much as a precaution, for of course the -whole tribe might be hiding behind the first sandhill, but just to -show him that he can’t ride roughshod over me.” -</p> - -<p> -“But Yeshua begged me to warn you not to go, Count. He says the Beni -Ismail have never allowed a stranger to reach Sitt Zeynab yet, and he -is afraid they mean to hold you as a hostage.” -</p> - -<p> -“He doesn’t seem to realise that it is what I mean, and not what they -mean, that will come to pass. Let Yeshua arrange with the sheikh where -he is to meet us, Mansfield, and if it is out in the desert, tell him -to be waiting for us himself by the cemetery wall as soon as the gates -are opened to-morrow morning, that he may guide us to the right spot. -We will bring nothing but what we can carry on our own horses. The -tent must be given up.” -</p> - -<p> -“I guess you’re real set on this mad business, Count,” said Mr Hicks, -as Mansfield left the room. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s just what I have been trying to impress upon you for two whole -days, Hicks.” -</p> - -<p> -But in spite of this solemn assurance, and the hasty preparations -which occupied the rest of the day, neither Mr Hicks nor Mansfield -really believed in the expedition until they found themselves riding -through the eastern gate of Damascus in the dawn of the following -morning. To all appearance they were bound only on a short excursion. -The sheikh had agreed to furnish water and desert fare for the -travellers, and each man carried a bag of corn for his horse, together -with an iron peg and a rope for tethering purposes. A pair of -capacious saddlebags, containing the smallest possible allowance of -additional raiment and toilet necessaries, and a large <i>abba</i> or cloak -of coarse cotton, rolled up tightly in front of the saddle, completed -the equipment of each. To Mahmud Fadil alone among those in authority -had the secret of their journey been confided, and his silence was -secured in the only effectual way, by means of a present and a -promise. The melancholy Paschics had been furnished with instructions -in view of all the possible complications of political affairs that -suggested themselves to Cyril’s mind, and placed in charge of two -telegrams, one for the Chevalier Goldberg and one for Lord Caerleon, -which were not to be despatched until the adventurers had fairly -started. Mr Hicks had been permitted to send a communication to his -paper, in which he dealt with the expedition in terms of such enticing -obscurity and tantalising reticence as to suggest that the whole -solution of the Palestine question hung on his being lost to sight in -the Syrian desert for a fortnight or more. Mansfield’s personal -preparations were not extensive, for he did little beyond writing a -letter to Lord Caerleon, which was only to be posted in case he did -not return from the journey. -</p> - -<p> -Outside the gate was the camping-ground of the caravans from Baghdad, -with its hundreds of knee-haltered camels, and its bronzed Arabs -bargaining and quarrelling in a hopeless <i>patois</i> over the goods piled -up round their rough tents. Then came the dismal ride through the -native burying-ground, filled with the ruinous and half-open vaults of -the Christians on the one hand and the fallen tombstones of the Jews -on the other, and when this had been passed, the form of Yeshua could -be distinguished, waiting faithfully under the walnut-trees -overhanging the wall of the Protestant cemetery. After the usual -salutations had been exchanged, Cyril rode ahead with the blind man, -and Mr Hicks and Mansfield found themselves side by side. -</p> - -<p> -“What is it you’re afraid of?” asked Mansfield all at once, observing -that his companion looked back apprehensively from time to time. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I must say I’m glad to have got the boss out of the city -without a fight, Mr Mansfield. There is an elderly military character -who’s been real pressing in his inquiries after him each day since we -came, and I guess his intentions are not healthy. I interviewed him on -behalf of the boss, but when I found that my friend did the general -utility business for the Princess of Dardania, and had something big -on hand, you bet his messages reached me and stopped there. The -language he made use of yesterday when I told him the Count was sick -yet was remarkably free, and he didn’t see fit to cool down until I -just had him into the yard and showed him a little fancy shooting. -Guess he won’t try the fire-eating tip again with me, after seeing me -print my initials on the wall in bullets, but I don’t mind telling you -I’ve been real scared lest he should be fooling round somewhere on the -street this morning and meet the boss.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you don’t think the Count would fight him?” -</p> - -<p> -“You bet your life he would, and paint the town red with his vital -fluid, too, if he was in his proper form. But he’s sick and strung-up -both, and I don’t care for the risk.” -</p> - -<p> -“Isn’t it wonderful how well he sits his horse?” asked Mansfield, -looking at Cyril as he rode in front. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s what I tell you, he’s strung-up for this job. He has something -big in his eye that I don’t see. I must figure it out.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Hicks relapsed into silence, pondering busily the problem he had -set himself, and Mansfield did not disturb his meditations as they -rode through the fruit-gardens and walnut-groves surrounding the city, -and then across the bare fields, populous just now with camels -belonging to friendly Arabs. The tribesmen were encamped in the -neighbourhood of the town for the double purpose of obtaining their -annual store of corn from the farmers, and allowing their camels the -luxury of grazing upon the stubble, which the peasants did not resent, -since it helped to clear the fields for the ploughing which would take -place when the winter rains were over. A little farther, and the signs -of cultivation became more rare, one or two villages were passed, each -with its belt of fertile soil, and then the desert itself came into -view—not a wide flat expanse of sand, but a region of stony hills and -rugged valleys, with here and there a patch of coarse grass or -starved-looking bushes. The blind man, feeling the way with the staff -he carried, seemed never at a loss to discover the track, which was -hardly distinguishable even to the eye, and at length, on rounding the -shoulder of a hillock in no way more remarkable than the rest, he -turned to Cyril and remarked— -</p> - -<p> -“This is the place where the sheikh will meet my lord.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then he is late,” said Cyril, looking round. -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, my lord, the Beni Ismail will not show themselves until they are -satisfied that the <i>khawajas</i> are their friends.” He raised his voice -in a shrill cry, and presently a head appeared, peeping suspiciously -round a rock at some distance. Informed of this, Yeshua repeated his -call, and presently three Arabs made their appearance from different -directions, each man leading his horse. The blind man went forward to -meet them, and an animated colloquy ensued, out of earshot of the -travellers. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t quite like the look of this,” said Cyril. “Is our blind -friend stipulating for his share of the spoils?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, Count,” said Mansfield; “he’s trying to get them to swear not -to hurt us. He told me he would. The poor beggar has cottoned to me -rather,” he added shamefacedly. “Yesterday I went to see the mission -with which he is connected, and the ladies told him, and he was -awfully pleased.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, don’t be ashamed of your good deeds,” said Cyril. “We shall -both be grateful for them when they have saved all our lives.” -</p> - -<p> -Presently, with a beaming face, the blind man brought the sheikh -forward, and having introduced him to Cyril, took his leave, -whispering to Mansfield as he passed. -</p> - -<p> -“They will not hurt you, <i>Khawaja</i>. They have sworn it on the Holy -Book.” -</p> - -<p> -He turned back in the direction of Damascus, and before disappearing -among the sandhills, paused to hold up his book as a reminder to the -Arabs. The sheikh, who had been scanning Cyril’s face with an interest -which he tried in vain to dissemble, asked him through Mr Hicks -whether he would prefer to rest for a while or to proceed at once, and -on his choosing to push on, made a sign to his men, who mounted their -horses, one of them riding ahead as a scout. -</p> - -<p> -In this way the three adventurers began a strange journey, the novelty -of which did not prevent it from palling upon them very quickly. -Sometimes the desert was hilly and rugged, sometimes it was flat and -sandy, but it was always arid, sunny, and treeless. The society of the -sheikh and his followers was as monotonous as their native scenery. -They made it evident that they preferred to keep entirely to -themselves, riding together in advance, and never, if they could help -it, exchanging a word with their unwelcome guests. When a halt for -food or rest became necessary, they showed the same anxiety not to -associate with them, seating themselves on the opposite side of the -fire, if there was one, and when there was none, taking shelter behind -their horses. At first Cyril made many determined efforts to induce -them to talk, with the help of Mr Hicks as interpreter, but in vain. -None of them would give him any information as to the extent of the -territory claimed by the tribe, their ruler or her capital, the -probable length of the journey, or the direction in which they were -going. His failure did not seem to dishearten him, however, although -he ceased his attempts to draw them into conversation, and he -sustained the hardships of the march in a way that was little short of -astonishing. The distance from one well to another, which must be -covered in a single stage, was often so great that the travellers fell -asleep from sheer fatigue as they rode, and on reaching the -halting-place could do nothing but tether their horses and throw -themselves on the ground for a few minutes of precious slumber, even -before thinking of the much-needed evening meal. The food, which -consisted almost exclusively of dry flaps of native bread and a sticky -preparation of pounded dates, was just sufficient to support life; the -water, on the other hand, seemed generally calculated to destroy it. -The small supply of tea which they had contrived to bring with them -was soon exhausted, and Cyril and Mr Hicks qualified the nauseous -draught with brandy; but Mansfield, who was a teetotaller, as became -Lady Philippa’s lover, drank it heroically unmixed. Shelter at night -there was none. The force of habit made the three foreigners creep as -far as possible under the bushes, when there were any, to the derision -of their guides, and they were also sufficiently fastidious to remove -all the most obtrusive pebbles from the spot selected for a bed; but -the large light cloaks that protected them from the dust by day served -also as a covering at night, and each man’s pillow was such as his own -ingenuity could devise from his small stock of possessions. -</p> - -<p> -“It isn’t the grub I mind,” lamented Mansfield one day to Mr Hicks, -when the journey had lasted nearly a week, “nor even having to do -without a bed, but I do detest getting so horribly grimy. I don’t -believe I shall ever be clean again.” -</p> - -<p> -“We’re all in the same boat,” responded Mr Hicks. “I guess some of the -haughty aristocrats that have entertained the boss in their marble -halls would think twice before speaking to him now.” -</p> - -<p> -“He doesn’t seem to mind,” said Mansfield dolefully. “He said this -morning that the ease with which one learned to do without the -refinements of civilisation was a clear proof of the innate savagery -of human nature. Before I came I thought I would bring plenty of soap, -whatever else I had to leave behind, but there’s no chance of using -it. And as for shaving——” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, think how you’ll wallow in the luxuries of an effete -civilisation when you get back to it!” was the sympathetic reply; but -Mansfield was wondering what Philippa would think of him if he -returned to England with a beard, and did not answer. “Guess we’ll all -be as fit as the Arabs if this goes on much longer,” continued Mr -Hicks cheerfully. “You and I are as hard as nails already. The boss -can’t get much thinner, any way, but just look at him! He’s spunkier -every day.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you know,” said Mansfield, in a sudden burst of confidence, “it -almost makes me feel queer to see him riding on day after day with -that iron face, and not caring a hang for anything. He has been so -ill, you know, and that affair at Jericho—— Sometimes I wonder what -will happen to him if this business smashes up. He might—might—go -mad.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is that so? That notion has struck you too!” Mr Hicks glanced round -at Mansfield as the latter lowered his voice. “But don’t you go -expecting a bust-up. The boss is not taking any. He’s the man to go -fooling round in this desert until the Day of Judgment—sort of a dry -land edition of the Flying Dutchman, so to speak—rather than turn -tail and confess that he’s beaten. I’ve figured out that little -mystery by this time. The boss has planked his whole pie on the table -for this game, and he stands to win everything or go under. <i>Sabe</i>? -Say you run across a soldier of fortune. You receive him as a man and -a brother, until you get to know that he has not been above hiring his -sword out to a crowd of pirates. Then you dry up. That’s how it is -with the boss. If he comes to smash now he’s done on account of having -sided with the Jews against his own colour. His world can never -forgive that. But if he succeeds—why, then it’s as certain as things -can be in this uncertain universe that he’ll become a real brand-new, -properly organised, guaranteed by Europe, constitutional prince, with -a part to play that will take all his time and be a thing of joy to -him for ever. Do you guess he’ll let himself be fooled out of that by -any dusky scarecrow of a nigger chieftainess that chooses to work the -political racket and talk big about the Powers? No, sir!” -</p> - -<p> -The march continued, with no diminution of its unpleasantness, and the -travellers began to wonder when it would come to an end. Ordinarily, -so they had understood from Yeshua, it was accomplished in a week; but -to all appearance they were no nearer Sitt Zeynab now than they had -been at the beginning of their journey. -</p> - -<p> -“Guess I wish the desert wasn’t so like itself,” grumbled Mr Hicks to -Mansfield on the eighth day after leaving Damascus. “The hog that Mark -Twain came upon seven times over on the Riffelberg wasn’t a -circumstance to it. I could lave sworn we had passed those sandhills -before.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’ve been thinking so all day,” said Mansfield; “but I had an idea -that the heat and the monotony might be affecting my brain. Let’s ask -the Count what he thinks. I see he is suggesting a halt to the -sheikh.” -</p> - -<p> -They followed Cyril, who had been riding ahead of them as usual, but -had now dismounted, and was walking his horse towards a clump of -bushes. Here he stopped, and appeared to brush away the sand and pick -up something. As they came up, he turned to them, and held out a small -metal match-box for their inspection. -</p> - -<p> -“I buried it at the foot of that bush on the third morning after we -started,” he said. “I suspected some trick of this sort.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch16"> -CHAPTER XVI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE HOUSE OF THE LADY ZENOBIA.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">The</span> three men looked at each other and at the match-box. Mansfield -broke the silence first. -</p> - -<p> -“Then all this beastly journey has been for nothing?” he cried, with -youthful outspokenness. “We are no nearer Sitt Zeynab than we were at -first!” -</p> - -<p> -“Look out, Count!” said Mr Hicks quickly. “Put that thing away, or the -Arabs will twig that it was not here for its health.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s just what I want. It’s no good mincing matters now. Put your -heads together and take a good squint at the thing, and then look as -angry and excited as you like, but say nothing to those fellows. After -supper we will have an ostentatiously serious talk.” -</p> - -<p> -Quite in the dark as to Cyril’s intentions, the others nevertheless -obeyed him, casting glances of suspicion and dislike, which it needed -no dissimulation to render realistic, at the Arabs in the intervals of -picketing and rubbing down the horses and gathering sticks for the -fire. This change of demeanour did not pass unnoticed, and after their -frugal meal the hostile camps met separately in serious consultation. -Mr Hicks and Mansfield failed to receive the enlightenment they -expected and desired. Cyril let them say what they liked, but offered -no suggestions of his own, listening to all that was said with an air -of languor, almost of boredom. -</p> - -<p> -“Tell the sheikh that I wish to speak to him in the morning before we -start, Hicks,” he said at last, and Mr Hicks obeyed, wondering. -</p> - -<p> -“That the boss should give them free leave to vamoose the ranche in -the hours of darkness throws me out,” he said, and Mansfield -determined to balance this extraordinary failure of judgment on his -leader’s part by keeping watch on his own account all night. But a -hard day’s riding in sun and sand is not the best method of -preparation for a vigil, and not so very long after his usual hour -Mansfield was comfortably asleep. It was Cyril’s voice which aroused -his two companions from their dreamless slumbers. -</p> - -<p> -“Mansfield! Hicks! wake up! Your revolvers!” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Hicks was on the alert in a moment, revolver in hand. There was no -moon, and the fire was almost out, but his ear told him that the words -came from the neighbourhood of the horses, which were plunging and -kicking. -</p> - -<p> -“Strike a light,” continued the voice, “and let’s see who it is I’ve -got here.” -</p> - -<p> -The flickering gleam of the match showed that Cyril was holding the -loosened heel-rope of his own horse, while his revolver was pressed to -the forehead of the sheikh. The man was crouching on the ground in an -attitude which made it clear that he had been surprised when about to -release the other horses. Just outside the circle of the light the -dark forms of the two tribesmen were visible against the stars, -mounted and ready to ride away, but afraid of endangering their sheikh -if they attempted to attack Cyril. The sheikh’s own horse was close at -his heels. -</p> - -<p> -“Is your revolver cocked, Hicks?” asked Cyril. “Mansfield, go and -fetch in the sheikh’s horse, but don’t fire unless I give the word. -Now, Hicks, ask the sheikh what he is doing here.” -</p> - -<p> -“He says he never calculated to take you to Sitt Zeynab, Count,” said -Mr Hicks, receiving the sullen answers of the captive. “He and his -people have fixed up all the other travellers in this style, leading -them round and round until they were tired, and then sloping with -their horses. They were so glad to escape from the desert, when they -found their way out at last, that they never wanted to come back. He -says he saw that we suspected something last evening, and he concluded -it was time to travel.” -</p> - -<p> -“Tell him,” said Cyril, smiling grimly, “that he may lead us round and -round as much as he likes, but he will have to take us to Sitt Zeynab -at last, unless he wishes to wander about with us for ever.” -</p> - -<p> -“He says he guesses there’ll be some shooting first, Count.” -</p> - -<p> -“I quite agree with him. Mansfield, cock your revolver, as loudly as -you can. Tell him that I shall have his horse and those of his men -shot if I hear much more of this.” -</p> - -<p> -“You have him there, Count; but he says he can get fresh horses and -come back and lay you out.” -</p> - -<p> -“Hardly,” was the suave reply. “I shall keep him and his men as guides -all the same; but they will have to walk.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t mind him, Count; he’s just relieving his feelings a bit, I -guess. It seems to hurt him real badly, the way he’s walked into this -trap of yours.” -</p> - -<p> -The sheikh was groaning vigorously, and alternately muttering and -shouting imprecations in Arabic. At last he became somewhat calmer. -</p> - -<p> -“What does the Prince of the Jews want?” he demanded of Mr Hicks. -</p> - -<p> -“To get to Sitt Zeynab, and you may bet your boots he’ll do it.” -</p> - -<p> -“What does he desire there?” -</p> - -<p> -“According to the stars,” said Cyril solemnly, “the fate of your -Princess is linked with mine. If we meet, it will be a very good thing -for both of us; if not, great disasters will follow.” -</p> - -<p> -“Say, Count, pile it on!” murmured Mr Hicks, in ecstasies of -admiration. “Guess I’ll most believe you myself soon. He says that -even if you get to Sitt Zeynab, that wouldn’t help you to see the -Princess or make a treaty with her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Tell him I’ll take my chance of that.” -</p> - -<p> -“He says the Princess is safe to imprison you and hold you to ransom.” -</p> - -<p> -“Let her. I am going to Sitt Zeynab.” -</p> - -<p> -“He concludes to give in, Count; but he is using improper language -about the day he inaugurated this personally conducted trip business.” -</p> - -<p> -“Quite possible and very natural. Tell him to make his men dismount, -Hicks, and let one of them bring their horses over here. Then he can -go back with them to their side of the fire. Point out to him the -space between the horses and that rock over there. If any of them -cross that before daybreak we shall not hesitate to shoot. On the -march he himself will ride between you and Mansfield, his men in -single file in front of me.” -</p> - -<p> -The contest was over, to the unbounded admiration of the Arabs, who -began to regard Cyril as a being little short of miraculous, since he -could see and hear in his sleep. That this feeling on their part was -to a certain extent a guarantee of safety to the travellers became -evident the next day, when a large body of mounted Arabs swooped down -upon the party as they approached the wells at which the unwilling -guides suggested a mid-day halt. It was clear that the new-comers were -prepared to congratulate their sheikh on his success in misleading a -fresh band of Roumi spies, and it was a shock to them to perceive that -the spies had not yet allowed themselves to be shaken off. The sheikh -displayed extreme tact in making the best of the situation. He -explained matters to his followers in a speech which was designed to -show that he was effecting a long-planned <i>coup</i> in carrying off the -Prince of the Jews to Sitt Zeynab to hold him to ransom, without so -much as allowing the captive to suspect that he was a prisoner. But -whether the sheikh’s hearers were equally accomplished liars with -himself, and thus naturally prone to discount his assertions, or -whether his two original followers failed to corroborate him as they -should, the awe with which Cyril was regarded spread quickly to the -larger circle. This was highly satisfactory, since, as Mr Hicks -pointed out to Mansfield, the tribe might easily have annihilated the -three intruders without a possibility of resistance, in one of the -paroxysms of powder-play and spear-flourishing with which they -celebrated the sheikh’s return. Portents began to multiply around -Cyril. At one time it was a stray stork, called by the Arabs the -father of luck, which stood meditatively behind him for some time, -undisturbed by the eager whispers around; at another a scorpion, which -had ensconced itself under one of his boots for the night. It left the -marks of its claws on his finger when he took up the boot in the -morning, but Mansfield killed it with a stone before it had time to -turn round and sting him. -</p> - -<p> -Four days longer the march lasted, crossing a strip of desert more -sandy, stony, sunny, hot, and thirsty than any passed hitherto. This -pathless, waterless tract was the true defence of Sitt Zeynab, the -real reason why neither Roumi nor hostile tribesman had ever succeeded -in making his way thither. The Beni Ismail knew their desert as well -as if it had been traversed by a high road, but they economised their -stock of water and curtailed their halts as far as possible while they -were passing through it. This added discomfort pressed with special -severity upon those unaccustomed to desert travelling. Mr Hicks and -Mansfield, riding on in the baking sun hour after hour, with dry -mouths and parched tongues, were both heartily sick of the adventure; -but neither of them breathed a word of complaint or remonstrance to -Cyril. Nor—which was a far stronger testimony to their loyalty—did -they even exchange murmurs with one another; their nearest approach to -doing so was an occasional lament over the joys of civilisation. If a -bath was Mansfield’s ideal of unattainable happiness, Mr Hicks’s was a -sherry cobbler. His dreams, he averred, were haunted by the pleasant -tinkle of the ice in the glass, and as he lifted the straw to his -parched lips the thought would cross his mind that it was worth while -to have a real thirst on, for the pleasure of quenching it; but at -this point he invariably awoke. Cyril alone appeared unconscious of -the fresh hardships of this portion of the journey. Riding by himself, -he was nevertheless ready, when his companions addressed him, to -exchange with them the grim pleasantries which suited the situation. -It was clear, however, that his thoughts were not bounded by the -present scene, and Mr Hicks hazarded the suggestion that his brain was -evolving schemes of universal dominion. The Arabs viewed him with -ever-increasing respect, and it was with genuine awe that the sheikh -rode up to him one afternoon, and, pointing out a hill upon the -horizon, the summit of which seemed more regular in form than those on -either side, said— -</p> - -<p> -“Behold, O Prince of the Jews, the house of Sitt Zeynab!” -</p> - -<p> -The response to the announcement was as alarming as it was unexpected. -Cyril fell forward unconscious upon his horse’s neck. -</p> - -<p> -“Guessed it would come to this,” muttered Mr Hicks. “No, sheikh,” when -Mansfield and he had tried various remedies in vain, “it’s no good -trying to revive him out here. We must get him in somewhere cool and -shady, with plenty of water.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why should the Prince of the Jews become as one dead when I show -him the house of Sitt Zeynab?” asked the sheikh. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said Mr Hicks meditatively, for he was busy superintending the -construction of a litter from spears and cloaks, “I guess he thinks -you’ve kept him so long upon the road that he hasn’t much time to ward -off those disasters he spoke of from your Princess.” -</p> - -<p> -Much subdued by this reply, the sheikh detailed four of his followers -to carry the litter, and ordered four others to be ready to relieve -them, betraying by such unexpected complaisance the ascendency which -Cyril had gained over his mind. Mansfield, in his deep anxiety, -dismounted and walked beside the litter, fearing lest the bearers -might stumble; but Mr Hicks laughed at him and maintained his position -beside the sheikh, with the cheering assurance that this period of -insensibility would ensure to Cyril the very rest his brain needed. -Mansfield had no attention to give to anything unconnected with the -patient, but the American’s restless eyes were everywhere. He noticed -the broken columns and other fragments of stonework which began to -make their appearance in the sand, and which showed that a -considerable town had once stood on this spot, looking for its defence -to the fortified hill of Sitt Zeynab. As he approached the fortress he -was able to distinguish that the massive wall enclosing the summit of -the hill bore evident traces of having been repaired at various -points, and probably at very varying dates, with masses of rock and -pieces of sculptured marble in place of its own bevelled stone. Above -the top of the wall a flat roof supported by pillars was just visible, -and at one corner stood a watch-tower of considerable height. Under -the shadow of the hill nestled a motley group of black tents and mud -huts, keeping guard over an oasis of moderate extent, the greenness of -which looked heaven-like to eyes wearied by the glare of the desert. -Palm-groves and leafy thickets marked the course of a stream, and -fringed the borders of the marsh in which it terminated, and Mr Hicks -perceived at once that some attempt was made to cultivate corn and -melons with the help of irrigation. The water, the sheikh told him, -came from hidden springs in the heart of the hill, and served to keep -filled an underground reservoir, for use in the event of a siege, -before it was allowed to issue forth into the plain. This information -was given as the travellers began to mount the zigzag path which led -to the gateway of the fortress. It was evident that their approach had -been observed, for one of the heavy doors stood open, and a woman, -wrapped from head to foot in a white veil, had stepped outside to -await them. -</p> - -<p> -“Is that the Princess?” asked Mr Hicks of the sheikh, looking up at -the white figure with involuntary awe. -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, it is only her scribe, but she also is a great woman, one in -whom is much wisdom, and the Princess is guided by her counsels. The -<i>khawaja</i> will see her eyes like the clouds when the snow is falling -upon Lebanon, but I who speak to him have seen them black like the sky -in a midnight without stars. That is when the Princess is in great -straits.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what sort of difficulties does the Princess get into?” asked Mr -Hicks curiously. The sheikh drew nearer, and spoke confidentially. -</p> - -<p> -“There was a time, <i>Khawaja</i>, when I with certain of the tribe was -escorting the Princess and her women to Sitt Zeynab. On a sudden we -beheld a great host riding swiftly against us, with every sign of war. -Then I cried out, loudly, and with intent to deceive the women, ‘Lo! -it is the Beni Ayub who have heard that we are ruled by a woman, and -are coming to swallow us up.’ But when I looked to see the Princess -blench, she cried, as the scribe told us, ‘Let us have no bloodshed! I -will go and speak with them,’ and beckoning to the scribe, she urged -on her horse. But the scribe cried to me, ‘Stop the Princess! If aught -befall her, it were better for thee and thy tribe never to have been -born,’ and she dashed forward by herself. Then it was that I saw her -eyes black as Iblis, but it was not with fear, for she rode straight -up to those who came against us, and spoke boldly to them, I holding -fast to the Princess’s bridle, although she cursed me and struck at me -with her whip. But when the scribe reached the enemy, behold! they -were not the Beni Ayub at all, but the rest of our own tribe, come to -greet the Princess. And all the tribe said, ‘Lo! the spirit of a man -is in these women. It is no shame to be ruled by them,’ and we were -content.” -</p> - -<p> -“And the ladies—were they content when they twigged your little -joke?” asked Mr Hicks. -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, the scribe spoke very freely to us all. But who cares for a -woman’s tongue?” -</p> - -<p> -“It don’t seem to strike you that it was a queer dodge to play tricks -of that sort on your Princess, sheikh. Was it just at the beginning of -her reign?” -</p> - -<p> -The sheikh looked straight at Mr Hicks with blank, expressionless -eyes. His burst of confidence was clearly at an end. “This is the door -of the house of Sitt Zeynab, and here is the scribe of the Great -Princess,” he said. “Peace be upon thee, O lady!” -</p> - -<p> -“And upon thee be peace!” replied the veiled woman, in Arabic. “Are -the Princess’s letters with thee?” -</p> - -<p> -The sheikh took a leather bag from the front of his saddle, where it -had excited the unavailing curiosity of his guests throughout the -journey, and presented it respectfully. -</p> - -<p> -“The Princess perceived that one of thy men was being carried in a -litter, and she desired to know what had happened, and whether he was -badly hurt. But who are these?” There was a wild alarm in her voice, -as she caught sight of the travel-stained Norfolk suits of Mr Hicks -and Mansfield, whose uniform of <i>abba</i> and <i>kaffiyeh</i> had rendered -them until this moment indistinguishable from the Arabs, and she -staggered back against the door-post. -</p> - -<p> -“O lady, these men are the servants of the Prince of the Jews, whom we -have brought hither from Es Sham to see what is the will of the -Princess concerning him. He professes much goodwill towards our tribe, -desiring to enter into a treaty with the great lady, and we have -perceived that he is a lucky person.” -</p> - -<p> -“Where is he? Let me see him.” The bearers of the litter had deposited -their burden upon the ground, and she bent forward to look at it. A -convulsive shiver ran through her frame, and she sprang back as though -she had seen a snake. “<i>That</i> man?” she ejaculated, and Mr Hicks and -Mansfield both observed that her grey eyes, the only feature visible -between the folds of her veil, were dilated by anger or horror until -the black alone was visible. “O son of misfortune, why hast thou -brought him here? He is the Princess’s deadliest enemy, the man that -has most injured her in all the world.” -</p> - -<p> -“It may be that he desires to make atonement, O lady,” suggested the -sheikh deprecatingly. -</p> - -<p> -“To make atonement—he? Nay, rather to do more mischief,” and she -bestowed a dainty but vicious kick upon Cyril’s unconscious form. -“Take him and his companions to the vaults, O sheikh, and keep them -there safely until they shall return to their own country.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pardon me, madam; if you would allow me a few words with you——” Mr -Hicks came forward politely, and spoke in his best Arabic, but he was -in difficulties with his <i>kaffiyeh</i>, which he had naturally tried to -take off on addressing a lady. The heavy gold-worked handkerchief had -become mixed up with the twisted cord which held it to the head, and -the consciousness that he was appearing at a disadvantage embarrassed -Mr Hicks seriously. -</p> - -<p> -“I will not listen. Take them away. Let no more be seen of them!” -cried the lady, escaping into the fortress and shutting the door -behind her. -</p> - -<p> -“What a fiend!” ejaculated Mansfield, with blazing eyes, as the rattle -of bolts and bars showed that there was no hope of changing her mind. -</p> - -<p> -“Excitable female, any way,” said Mr Hicks, his equanimity restored. -“Well, sheikh, I guess you had better march us off to these vaults of -yours. See what a pity it is that the Prince of the Jews wasn’t on -hand to blarney the lady!” -</p> - -<p> -The sheikh assented gloomily, and giving an order to his followers, -they retraced their steps and descended the path. -</p> - -<p> -“Of course you saw that our fair friend was a European?” remarked Mr -Hicks to Mansfield, as they followed the litter. -</p> - -<p> -“What, that woman—that—that creature?” -</p> - -<p> -“The lady who just honoured us with her attention. She wore Paris -shoes, any way, and a rustling frill round the edge of her gown.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should think she has very good reasons for living out here, then,” -was the unchivalrous remark of Mansfield, for the insult offered to -Cyril had made his blood boil. -</p> - -<p> -“Now that I would call one of the hasty judgments of youth,” drawled -Mr Hicks, and said no more until they arrived at the entrance to their -prison, which proved to be a cave at the foot of the hill, approached -by a low doorway almost buried in the sand. A man was sent to the -village for spades, and the sand was shovelled away until a large flat -stone, standing more or less perpendicularly, was laid bare. This -rested on rough hinges cut in the rock, and opened inwards like a -door. All was dark inside, but it seemed cool and airy. Mr Hicks -struck a match. Furniture there was none, with the exception of -various heaps of broken pottery and fragments of rock, and what seemed -a series of colossal bookshelves lining the walls. -</p> - -<p> -“Look here, sheikh,” said the American, “you’ve got to give us food -and lights, and some tent-cloth to sleep on, if you run this -high-class hotel.” -</p> - -<p> -“What will the Princess say?” was the lugubrious reply. -</p> - -<p> -“What will she say when the Prince of the Jews speaks with her and -tells her how badly you treated us?” -</p> - -<p> -“It shall be done, <i>Khawaja</i>,” and the sheikh gave the necessary -orders, which resulted in the arrival soon afterwards of three native -lamps, with a supply of oil, some fresh bread and a further provision -of the detestable compound of dates, and three pieces of goat’s-hair -cloth. Meanwhile, Mansfield had been laboriously bringing in sand, a -spadeful at a time, thus forming a substructure on which one of the -tent-cloths was laid to make a bed for Cyril. Then the door was shut, -and the prisoners were left to their reflections. -</p> - -<p> -“They may call this place the house of the Lady Zenobia as much as -they like,” said Mr Hicks aggressively, “but I’ll stick out that it -was the Lady Zenobia’s burying-lot, no less.” -</p> - -<p> -“This place—a mausoleum?” asked Mansfield, with marked disgust. -</p> - -<p> -“I guess so. Look at those shelves—all empty, of course; but there’s -a choice collection of miscellaneous remains in the room down the -passage there, where the light comes in through a hole in the roof. -The Arabs have rifled the place, you bet, and lugged the corpses into -daylight that they might be sure of missing nothing. All mummied, of -course, so you needn’t look so sick.” -</p> - -<p> -“But we can’t stay here!” cried Mansfield, in horror. -</p> - -<p> -“I guess we’ve got to. The lady upstairs don’t calculate to be trifled -with, you see. But I’ve slept in many worse locations than this, for -it’s clear that the last interment took place several hundreds of -thousands of years back, so the deceased won’t interfere with our -physical comfort; and if you see a ghost, just hurry up and tell me, -and I’ll interview him for the ‘Crier.’ Suppose you fly around and fix -things up for the night now. Our supper don’t need much cooking, -unfortunately, but the water’s good, any way. You might put out two of -those lamps, for it’s past sundown, and I’d as lief keep a light going -all night. Guess we’ll fix up one of these pieces of tent-cloth to -keep off the draught from that passage. I’m going to sit up with the -boss, so I’m better without a bed.” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said Mansfield, “I’m going to look after him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Young man,” said Mr Hicks firmly, “this is my funeral. Your turn will -come to-morrow night, but as the distinguished sufferer’s medical -attendant, I calculate to do my obvious duty to-night. The boss is -taking a fine spell of rest just now, breathing natural, pulse -regular, everything first-rate, but I must be on hand when he wakes -up. Now don’t turn nasty, or I’ll sit up next night as well. I’m a -peaceable man, but when I get riz, there’s likely to be -unpleasantness.” -</p> - -<p> -Accepting the inevitable with the worst possible grace, Mansfield -prepared the supper, assisted in hanging the curtain, and finally -betook himself to his couch of hair cloth, where he muffled his head -in his cloak in the way he had learnt from the Arabs, and was fast -asleep in two minutes. He slept until late the next day, and was only -awakened by the voices of Cyril and Mr Hicks, as they expressed their -heartfelt admiration of his powers of slumber, and suggested -exhibiting him to the Arabs as one of the Seven Sleepers. Cyril was in -the wildest spirits. The fatigue of the journey seemed to have -altogether passed away, and Mr Hicks’s account of the lady at the -gateway and her ungracious behaviour had filled him with delight. Mr -Hicks, on the contrary, was more silent than usual, and offered -presently to show Mansfield a rock-cut swimming-bath, supplied with -water from the reservoir of which the Arabs had spoken, which he had -discovered while exploring one of the passages branching from the -cave. After a few moments’ silence, as they groped their way between -the rocky walls, he turned suddenly. -</p> - -<p> -“Mr Mansfield, do I look like a man that would see ghosts?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I should say not,” replied Mansfield, holding up the lamp to -scrutinise his companion’s features; “but you look as if you had seen -one now,” he added maliciously. -</p> - -<p> -“That is so, Mr Mansfield. Or I have seen an apparition of a -surprising character, any way. About midnight I was sitting on a rock -beside the boss, and figuring out what I might clear by transporting -to the States that whole cargo of damaged Palmyrene antiquities in the -cellar back of ours, and selling them in small quantities to local -museums, when I distinctly saw that curtain move that we fixed up. You -bet I kept my eyes nailed on it. Well, it was drawn back slightly, and -there was an old woman—a little old woman—standing in the passage, -wrapped in a white sheet, like our friend at the door above, but I -could see her whole face. She never saw me, for the light was between -us; but she took a step forward and looked at the boss. I guess I was -hasty, but I cocked my six-shooter. She heard me, and in the minutest -fraction of a second she was gone. I caught up the light, and made -tracks after her, but there was nothing to be seen. I searched every -inch of the passage and the cave where the remains are, but she wasn’t -there, and there is no means of getting out that way, unless she -slithered up the roof to the hole where the light comes in, and that -isn’t what you would expect of an elderly female of respectable -appearance.” -</p> - -<p> -“But was she a European, as you said the other one was?” -</p> - -<p> -“Can’t say, Mr Mansfield. One old woman is pretty much like another. -Maybe she was the ghost of the Lady Zenobia. If that is so, I’ve lost -the best chance a newspaper man ever had, and I can tell you I feel -real mean.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said Mansfield, with ungenerous exultation, “I can tell you -something, and that is, it’s <i>my</i> funeral to-night. You haven’t said -anything to the Count?” -</p> - -<p> -“Do I look such a fool as all that, sir? But I’m real down. You could -most trample on me. I guess I ought to shove you into the -swimming-bath for your impudence, and I would do it, too, if it wasn’t -that maybe you would catch cold,” and having launched this Parthian -shaft, Mr Hicks departed. -</p> - -<p> -When Mansfield returned to the cave, he found that Cyril was giving -audience to the sheikh, who had come to announce their fate to the -prisoners. They need cherish no hope of being admitted to the presence -of the Princess, or even to an interview with her secretary. The doors -of the fortress were irrevocably closed against them, and they would -remain in their gloomy prison until they chose to return to -civilisation, when they would be escorted across the desert and set -down in the neighbourhood of Damascus. The sheikh’s mental discomfort -as he made this announcement was very evident, and it was clear that -he feared Cyril’s wrath only less than that of his sovereign; but the -placid smile with which his message was received served to reassure -him, and he retired puzzled but contented. Cyril remained in high -spirits all day, his gaiety only increasing towards evening. It was in -vain that Mr Hicks attempted to write to his paper, and that Mansfield -sat down resolutely with the intention of renovating the clothes of -the party, for he gave them no peace. He had a plan, which he -persisted in setting before them, conceived in the regulation -boys’-book-of-adventure style, for overpowering the sheikh and the -guard outside the cave, and scaling the walls of the fortress by the -aid of rope-ladders made of twisted strips of hair-cloth, thus -literally “dropping in” on the Princess with an urgency that would -admit of no denial. He seemed unable to turn his mind to anything -else, and at last Mr Hicks took the matter into his own hands. -</p> - -<p> -“Say, Count,” he observed, as he returned, carrying a tray, from a -colloquy at the prison-door with some person unknown, “I guess it’s my -duty as your medical adviser to warn you against all this excitement. -Now here’s some real good coffee that the sheikh has sent us, and I’ve -concluded to allow you a cup if you’ll do your level best to sleep -after it, but otherwise not so much as a drop.” -</p> - -<p> -“Tyrant!” groaned Cyril. “You know that two days ago we should have -been thankful to get drinkable water, but that, having got it, the -soul of man refuses to be satisfied without coffee, especially when -you tantalise him with the smell. Well, I give in.” He took the cup -and sipped it, but his tone changed immediately. “Hicks, you villain! -you’ve put some beastly stuff into this coffee.” -</p> - -<p> -“Just to make you sure of a night’s rest, Count. How do you intend to -go on the bust to-morrow if you don’t sleep?” -</p> - -<p> -The narcotic produced the desired effect, and before long Cyril was -sleeping as soundly as he had done the night before. As soon as this -had become evident, Mansfield jumped up. -</p> - -<p> -“Now then, Hicks, off you go!” he said, “and no keeping awake, mind. -Honour bright!” -</p> - -<p> -“Honest Injun!” assented Mr Hicks, accepting his dismissal to the -recess which Mansfield had occupied the night before. “Guess I -couldn’t keep awake if I tried, any way. But mind, you’re to call me -if there’s any spiritual manifestation.” -</p> - -<p> -“If I can do it without disturbing the manifestation,” agreed -Mansfield, and went on with his preparations for observing, in a -thoroughly scientific spirit, any phenomenon that might occur. He -looped back the curtain which had been hung over the entrance to the -passage, and arranged his bed directly opposite the opening, so that -he could command both sides of the passage as far as the light of the -lamp would extend. The lamp itself he placed in such a position that -he himself was left in shadow, while the eyes of any intruder would be -dazzled. Then he wrapped himself in his cloak, leaving a peep-hole -through which he could see without being seen, lay down with his -cocked revolver in his hand, and waited. -</p> - -<p> -He waited so long, with every sense on the alert, yet disturbed only -by purely imaginary noises, that he rebuked himself impatiently when -it seemed to him that he felt a breath of cold air in his face, and -that he heard at the same moment a slight rustle. But no, this time -there was no delusion. From the darkness of the passage emerged the -little old woman of whom Mr Hicks had spoken. She gave a quick glance -round the cave, then turned her head for a moment, and a taller woman, -also wrapped in the swathing white draperies, followed her out into -the light. Mansfield’s heart stood still as the two white figures -moved softly to Cyril’s side, and stood looking down at him. Could -they intend to murder him? But even as he raised his revolver -noiselessly to cover them, the taller woman’s veil dropped from her -face, and he saw that her hands were clasped convulsively on her -breast. Still she stood looking down at the sleeper, until her -companion touched her gently, when, to Mansfield’s utter bewilderment, -she stooped and kissed Cyril softly on the forehead. The old woman -drew her away, and they vanished. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch17"> -CHAPTER XVII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">FACE TO FACE.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Mansfield</span>, was any one in here last night?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why—er—how do you mean, Count? Oh, when the sheikh’s son brought -the coffee?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no, much later than that. Was there any one?” -</p> - -<p> -“I—I suppose there must have been. I don’t know.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why do you suppose so? because I ask you, or because you saw some -one? Why can’t you say?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because I am not sure. I saw something.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what could it have been if it was not a person? a ghost?” -</p> - -<p> -An embarrassed laugh from Mansfield revealed that the chance shot had -hit the mark, and Cyril’s eyes gleamed with mischievous delight. -</p> - -<p> -“Come, this is interesting! Let us hear about it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Count, I saw—at least, I thought I saw—two ladies come into -the cave from the passage and look at you.” -</p> - -<p> -“How flattering! Did you see their faces?” -</p> - -<p> -“The first lady was old and bent. I think Mr Hicks caught sight of her -the night before, and frightened her away. There was nothing -particular about her face. The other was taller, but not really tall. -She let her veil fall when she was standing beside you, and I saw that -her hair was white, but her face looked quite young—comparatively.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again slowly. -“And did she do nothing but look at me?” -</p> - -<p> -“She clasped her hands—like this. I don’t know whether it was because -she was glad or sorry.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is that all? You are sure there was nothing else?” -</p> - -<p> -“She—she stooped down and—and kissed you, Count.” Mansfield’s -abashed voice would have provoked his auditor to laughter at any other -moment, but now Cyril only nodded approvingly. -</p> - -<p> -“I thought I couldn’t have dreamt it. And after that?” -</p> - -<p> -“They slipped back into the passage, and disappeared suddenly. I can’t -find any door through which they could have gone.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, we can think of that presently. I am heartily obliged to you, -Mansfield. It’s a comfort to have a man about one who can tell his -tale sensibly, without interlarding it with wretched feeble jokes. Any -one could make a joke of this affair, no doubt, but not when it is -looked at in the proper light. Of course you know who the lady is?” -</p> - -<p> -“I, Count?” Mansfield’s astonished face attested his ignorance -sufficiently. -</p> - -<p> -“It has never once struck you that the Queen of the Desert and Queen -Ernestine are one and the same person? Nor that one of the letters -which the sheikh carried in that leather bag of his was from Fräulein -von Staubach, and contained the news of your invasion of Brutli, and -identified me with the Prince of the Jews?” -</p> - -<p> -“But how long have you known it? and why didn’t you——” -</p> - -<p> -“Share my knowledge with you? Because I thought that you and Hicks -deserved a little punishment for mixing yourselves up in my affairs. I -have not known the truth long, of course. When Fräulein von Staubach -told you that she could not mention my name to the Queen for a -fortnight, that set me on the track. Some time ago I chanced to hear -that the Queen had held out for a whole fortnight before she would -consent to see some one. Of course she was being sent for from here. -When the coincidence had once flashed upon my mind, everything was -clear—the Queen’s persistent isolation on the one hand, and the -extraordinary proceedings of the Arab Princess on the other. The -rescue of the persecuted tribe, the idea of obtaining the mediation of -the Empress of Pannonia—who is Queen Ernestine’s sister-in-law—and -the threatened appeal to the Powers, are all characteristic of her. -Then you know that no one ever heard of the Queen of the Desert until -two years ago, which corresponds roughly with the time Queen Ernestine -disappeared from the public gaze. My hypothesis accounted for all the -facts, and you see it was correct.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how can you be sure, when you didn’t see the lady last night?” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril smiled impatiently. “My dear Mansfield, I felt she was there. -That’s enough for me. Did Hicks see her?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, he was asleep.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I think you need only mention to him that you saw his old lady -of the night before. Hicks is a good fellow enough, but there are -times when he would sell his soul to purchase a sensation for his -paper. It is just like the Queen to have made this midnight -expedition, but you needn’t—I don’t want——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I understand,” said Mansfield hastily. “He shall never hear about -it from me.” -</p> - -<p> -“And now, Mansfield, we will make a searching investigation of the -walls of the passage. I want to find that secret door through which -the ladies came and went, and then we will pay them a visit.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Hicks, returning at this moment from conferring with the sheikh on -the subject of a change of food for the party, was duly informed of -the reappearance of his ghost, and joined with extreme zeal in the -hunt for the door, although a close observer might have perceived that -when his face was turned away from the others it underwent a series of -extraordinary contortions, suggestive of suppressed mirth. For some -time the search was fruitless, the smooth surface of the rock on both -sides of the passage displaying no indication of any joint or crack, -even when examined minutely with the aid of a lamp. -</p> - -<p> -“Mansfield,” said Cyril at last, “lie down where you were last night, -and tell me exactly how far the lady had got when she disappeared.” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield obeyed, and was able to indicate the spot with tolerable -precision, by estimating its distance from the edge of the curtain. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Hicks,” said Cyril, “the lamp here, please. I think we may be -pretty sure that the door is in the left-hand wall, as that is the -side on which the hill is, and I should imagine we shall find the -spring two or three feet either to the right or the left of the point -at which the lady vanished.” -</p> - -<p> -He began to test the wall by pressing it carefully with his fingers, -keeping his left hand a few inches higher than his right, and before -very long Mr Hicks gave a shout. -</p> - -<p> -“You’ve hit it, Count! I saw something give that time, and here’s a -break in the wall ahead of you. Guess you’d better let me help you -shove.” -</p> - -<p> -But the stone door moved so easily upon its pivot that this was -unnecessary. It swung open without the slightest sound, revealing the -foot of a flight of steps cut in the rock. -</p> - -<p> -“Now this is what I call real thoughtful of the Lady Zenobia,” said Mr -Hicks. “If she found it necessary to assist a friend into the next -world, there was no need to have corpses lying around upstairs. She -could plant them out in her lot down here quite comfortably, and no -one the wiser.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now,” said Cyril, panting a little, “you and I will make a voyage of -discovery, Mansfield. Do you know, Hicks, I think your nocturnal -visitor must be an old acquaintance of mine, Baroness von Hilfenstein? -I needn’t tell you in whose household she is, and you won’t be -surprised to hear that I intend to make a call on her.” -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t calculate to leave me out of the party, Count, I hope?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid I must on this occasion. Who is to receive the sheikh and -bamboozle him as to our doings, if we all go? He would scour the -passages, thinking we were trying to escape, and we should be brought -back before we could do anything.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s so, sir. Go ahead,” and Mr Hicks got out his fountain pen and -his writing-pad, and set to work on a letter to his paper, while -Mansfield, by Cyril’s directions, made himself as smart as his -extremely limited resources allowed. His employer was one of those -fortunate people who contrive always to be presentable in spite of the -most adverse circumstances, but he displayed unwonted anxiety about -his appearance on this occasion, and Mr Hicks smiled grimly as he -closed the stone door upon the flickering light carried by Mansfield. -</p> - -<p> -“You ought to have known me better, Count. As if all this prinking -wouldn’t tell me what was on hand even if I hadn’t used my eyes last -night! You deserve I should make a real blood-curdling, -soul-thrilling, romantic, pathetic life-drama out of you and your -Queen, but you and I are partners, and I’m on the square, any way.” -</p> - -<p> -The rock-cut staircase up which Cyril and Mansfield made their way was -narrow and winding, but quite dry, and the edges of the stone were as -sharp as if they had only been hewn a day. Air was admitted from the -outer world by means of shafts reaching to the face of the rock, but -these were too small to allow the entrance of more than a ray of -light, which served to increase by contrast the surrounding darkness. -A quantity of sand, admitted in the course of ages through these -air-shafts, was heaped in the corners, but Cyril pointed out to -Mansfield that the flowing robes of the nocturnal visitors had swept a -clear pathway in the middle of the steps. The two men went on, up and -up, now turning to the right and now to the left, sometimes finding -themselves on ground which was almost level, and again confronted with -steps nearly two feet high, until there was a change in the sound of -their echoing footsteps, and they discovered that instead of solid -rock the walls and roof were now of masonry. -</p> - -<p> -“This is the wall of the fortress, then!” said Cyril. “Interesting -question where we shall come out—in the palace itself, or hopelessly -outside.” -</p> - -<p> -He was hot and panting, and his voice vibrated strangely. Mansfield -suggested a rest, but he shook his head. “No, no,” he said -impatiently; “let us go through with it now, and know the worst.” -</p> - -<p> -The passage ended abruptly in a stone door like that by which they had -left the cave. Mansfield pushed it open, cautiously at first, for in -the blinding glare of sunlight into which it admitted them they could -not at once see where they were. Then came disappointment. True, they -stood inside the circuit of the vast wall visible from the plain, but -before them loomed the huge side of the palace, blank and windowless, -built of immense blocks of bevelled stone. Travelling upwards from one -course of Cyclopean masonry to another, the eye could discover no -opening into the interior of the building until it reached the -colonnade supported on columns which crowned the roof. Between the -palace and the outer wall was a space of waste ground overgrown with -coarse dry grass and low bushes, and Mansfield crept softly among the -scattered rocks and fragments of carved stone, which lay everywhere -around, towards the back of the building, and peered round the corner. -</p> - -<p> -“Nothing there but a few servants’ huts and attempts at -gardening—certainly no door into the palace,” he whispered, -returning. -</p> - -<p> -“Very well, we will try this way,” said Cyril, turning to the right, -but here again was disappointment. The entrance to the palace was -before them, indeed—a huge pillared portico with great stone doors; -but these were as closely shut as the wooden gate facing them, which -the angry lady had fastened behind her two days before. A small grated -window above the door was the only opening here, and it was far beyond -even Mansfield’s reach. But Cyril did not exhibit any sign of -discouragement. -</p> - -<p> -“Take one,” he said, sitting down at the base of one of the columns -and holding out his cigar-case. “There are only two left, but Sir -Philip Sidney’s generosity was nothing to mine when there is anything -to be gained by it. What I want to gain just now is an interview with -the lady of the gateway, whom I take to be Princess Anna Mirkovics.” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield obeyed, much puzzled, and they smoked in silence for some -minutes. Then a female voice, speaking in German, broke the stillness. -</p> - -<p> -“Those servants again!” it said. “How often have I forbidden them to -smoke in the neighbourhood of the Queen’s apartments! They know how -much she dislikes the smell. Which of them can it be?” -</p> - -<p> -“Drawn!” whispered Cyril. “Though it is a little hard to have one’s -best cigars mistaken for the stuff these fellows smoke, isn’t it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Markor! Zachary! Johannes! which of you is smoking out there?” cried -the voice, which Mansfield recognised as that of the lady of the -gateway, in Arabic, and her face appeared at the window. She recoiled -precipitately when she saw Cyril, who bowed to her with the utmost -politeness. -</p> - -<p> -“You here!” she cried, her eyes dilating as they had done before. -“What do you want?” -</p> - -<p> -“An audience of her Majesty, mademoiselle.” -</p> - -<p> -“I thought so. I felt sure you would come cringing back to the woman -you had wronged, but you shall not see her. I will not have her made -miserable a second time by you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mademoiselle, I acknowledge you readily as a true prophet—I will -even confess that your reproaches are deserved—but it lies with her -Majesty, and not with you, to grant or refuse me an interview.” -</p> - -<p> -“It does lie with me. I refuse to submit your request to her Majesty, -do you understand? I take upon myself the responsibility of excluding -you from her presence. You shall not tear open the cruel wound you -once made. I will have you dragged back again to your prison.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pardon me, mademoiselle. I am master of the situation at present, for -I fancy the Arabs would obey my orders—perhaps as readily as your -own. In any case, the sounds of a scuffle would attract the Queen’s -attention.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have no fear of the fidelity of the Arabs, Count.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then pray test it, mademoiselle. I ask merely that my presence here -should come to her Majesty’s knowledge. Her pleasure is my law. If she -refuses to grant me an audience, I will go away without another word.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then consider that she has refused it, for it will not be granted. I -am bold enough to risk her Majesty’s displeasure when it falls to me -to guard her happiness. You need not hope to move me by an air of -meekness, of suffering. Pray remain there in the sun the whole day. I -rejoice to see you shut out—unable to reach her. Nothing could please -me better.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pardon me, mademoiselle, there is one thing wanting to complete your -enjoyment. If her Majesty rejoiced to see me shut out, then you could -be happy indeed. But you are afraid to lay my request before her, -because you know that she would grant it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I cannot stand talking all day,” said the lady angrily. “You, Count, -have doubtless plenty of time to spare. I hope you may enjoy -yourself!” -</p> - -<p> -She disappeared from the grating, and all through the long, hot, -noonday hours Cyril held his ground, with Mansfield, as determined as -himself, at his side. Recommended to find his way back to the cave and -take counsel with Mr Hicks, Mansfield refused to leave his post in the -portico. With the nature of the grudge that Princess Anna Mirkovics -cherished against Count Mortimer he was unacquainted; but she seemed -to have little regard for consequences provided she could obtain her -revenge. In the course of the afternoon she appeared again at the -window, fresh from a cool siesta—so, with a refinement of cruelty, -she informed them—and jeered at Cyril’s persistence in remaining -where he was not wanted, and where he could do no good. Even Mansfield -grew fainthearted after this. Cyril’s paleness and evident exhaustion -alarmed him, and he suggested a retreat to the cave and the employment -of Mr Hicks as ambassador. But Cyril was resolute. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll stay here till I get in, or die on her doorstep!” he said -fiercely, and Mansfield offered no further suggestions. Their patience -met with its reward at last, although this would scarcely have -happened had Princess Anna been able to resist informing Cyril that -the Queen was about to spend the evening in the garden, and he might -therefore give up the hope of attracting her attention. Scarcely had -she departed when another face appeared at the grating, that of -Baroness von Hilfenstein, coming to see who it was that had been -conversing in French with her colleague. -</p> - -<p> -“You here, Count!” she said, with reproachful incredulity. “This is -a—a—an unpleasant surprise.” -</p> - -<p> -“Baroness, you are very cruel, when I have spent the whole day here in -the hope of catching a glimpse of you.” -</p> - -<p> -“You can hardly expect me to believe that, Count.” -</p> - -<p> -“Even though you know you are going to get me an interview with the -Queen?” -</p> - -<p> -The Baroness threw up her hands. “Not that, Count, not that!” she -pleaded piteously. “You would not make such an inexpedient, ill-timed -request?” -</p> - -<p> -“But I do make exactly that request, Baroness. One word with her -Majesty—that will tell me all I want to know.” -</p> - -<p> -“But, my dear Count,” said the old lady persuasively, “you must really -be patient. Her Majesty was quite gratified—yes, I think I may -without impropriety use the word—to hear from Fräulein von Staubach -that you were anxious to wait upon her, and I think it is extremely -probable that she will command your presence when the Court returns to -Brutli. But now—I really could not say how she would receive this -unfortunate application of yours!” -</p> - -<p> -“I will take my chance of that, Baroness. And here I stay until you -assure me that her Majesty positively refuses to receive me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Count, be reasonable.” The Baroness was much distressed by -Cyril’s persistence. “I am sure you don’t wish to involve her Majesty -in any unpleasantness? And poor dear Princess Anna, who has made such -sacrifices, and shown such devotion to the Queen, would almost break -her heart if she saw you received in audience. You see, she does not -even know of Fräulein von Staubach’s letter—I happened to be in -attendance when her Majesty opened it, and we thought it better to—to -spare her feelings. Of course you understand?” -</p> - -<p> -“Am I to understand that Princess Anna’s feelings will be considered -before mine? I know I have not deserved consideration, but——” -</p> - -<p> -“Her Majesty is all consideration, Count. She knows that the Prince of -the Jews is here, for one of the Armenian servants heard it from the -Arabs, but she believes you think she is at Brutli. She is able to -identify the Prince of the Jews, but she does not know that you have -found out who the Queen of the Desert is.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see,” said Cyril meditatively. “Then this explains why you played -the ghost the night before last, Baroness—and last night also?” -</p> - -<p> -“Count!” The poor Baroness renounced the unequal struggle. “You knew -it all the time, then? I was over-persuaded—her Majesty insisted—I -was horrified, but still—Oh, come in, Count,” she began to unfasten -the door. “You must say what you like to the Queen. I might have known -that if you were determined to get in you would. Will your—your suite -accompany you?” glancing doubtfully at Mansfield. -</p> - -<p> -“I am afraid I shall need his arm,” said Cyril, with a laugh. He was -shaking from head to foot as Mansfield helped him through the doorway -and across the paved hall into which it led. The Baroness, in a state -of extreme trepidation, went before them, turning at every few steps -to hasten them on, or warn them not to speak, but they met no one. A -door at the farther end of the long hall led into an inner courtyard, -which was partially laid out as a garden, and surrounded by a -half-ruined colonnade, entwined with gourds and other creeping plants. -In the shade of the dwarf palms and shrubs at the opposite side could -be seen two white-robed figures. -</p> - -<p> -“Her Majesty walks here in the evenings,” said the Baroness, with a -gasp of uncontrollable excitement, “and Princess Anna is with her. -When they pass this doorway you must do what you think best,” and she -fled back into the hall. -</p> - -<p> -“Mansfield! when she comes, help me to kneel down, and then make -yourself scarce,” said Cyril breathlessly. -</p> - -<p> -He was gripping Mansfield’s arm hard as they stood in the shadow of -the doorway, and the two women, unconscious of their presence, came -slowly towards them. Anna Mirkovics seemed to be talking excitedly, -regardless of etiquette, but the Queen paid little or no attention to -her, pacing the time-worn stones in silence, with her eyes on the -ground, and a half-smile upon her lips. -</p> - -<p> -“Surely, madame, you were not really thinking of returning to Brutli -at present?” cried her companion, as they turned the corner. -</p> - -<p> -“Now!” panted Cyril to Mansfield, and as the Queen approached he fell -on his knees before her. She started back, and Anna Mirkovics -screamed. Mansfield had retreated swiftly into the doorway. -</p> - -<p> -“<i>Cyril</i>!” cried the Queen, irrepressible joy in her voice; then, more -doubtfully, “Is it you, Count?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dearest, forgive me!” -</p> - -<p> -“Madame!” Anna Mirkovics had recovered herself, “allow me to have this -person removed. Is he to be permitted to intrude himself upon you in -this insolent manner? Madame, you will not suffer him to approach -you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Anna, you forget yourself.” The maid of honour shrank before the -tone, and the gesture with which the Queen waved her aside, but she -made another valiant effort. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, madame, listen to me for one moment! You know how I love -you—that I would give everything I have in the world to provide a -moment’s happiness for you. Don’t expose yourself again to this man’s -cruelty. He returns to you merely that he may gratify his ambition. He -cannot love. Trust me, madame; I love you better than my life.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am in your hands, Ernestine,” said Cyril faintly. “If you command -me to leave you, I will go at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“To leave me, when I have been waiting years for you? I knew you would -come back, Cyril, but I was often sick with longing. Go, Anna; you do -not understand. If Count Mortimer were to forsake me again to-morrow, -I would welcome him now.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, my dearest, I have not deserved this!” broke from Cyril. “That -day—that day—when you knelt to me, and I would not listen——” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t, don’t!” murmured the Queen painfully. “I can’t bear to -remember it. Oh, Cyril, you would not even send me a kind word! You -did not know how I loved you, or you could not have been so cruel.” -</p> - -<p> -“I didn’t even know how I loved you, Ernestine. I thought it was all -over, but I have never had a happy moment since.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am so glad!” she replied, with a radiant smile. “That is selfish of -me, isn’t it? but I was always jealous of your policy, you know. -Cyril, my beloved, if you knew how I have prayed for this day! I used -to wish that I might die, because I thought you would come to me if I -was dying. But now—oh, I am too happy! No, you are not to kiss my -hands. Come and sit here, and tell me what you have been doing all -these years.” -</p> - -<p> -A despairing groan at his side made Mansfield start, as he stood in -the shadowy hall, out of earshot of the garden. Turning quickly, he -saw Cyril leading the Queen to a seat, and found that Princess Anna, -in the shadows beside him, was also a witness of the reconciliation. -The sight seemed to destroy her self-command altogether, for she fell -upon him as the nearest victim, and stormed at him in Thracian for -some minutes. Then, either because her anger had exhausted itself, or -because she was mollified by his enforced meekness under her attack, -she burst into tears, and was led away, sobbing bitterly, by Baroness -von Hilfenstein, who appeared opportunely from out of the gloom. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch18"> -CHAPTER XVIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE PENALTY OF GREATNESS.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Well</span>, gentlemen!” said Mr Hicks, as Cyril, holding tightly to -Mansfield’s arm, stumbled painfully into the cave about sunset, “I’m -glad to see you, any way, for I had a notion that the gateway lady -might have fixed you both up with safer quarters than these, but I -guess the distinguished patient is about played-out?” -</p> - -<p> -“Never felt better in my life!” returned Cyril, collapsing on his bed. -“Don’t plague me to-night, Hicks. I shall be as fit as possible after -a good rest.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir. I think I see myself allowing you to die of starvation. Joy -may seem to answer every demand of a man’s nature, but it don’t serve -him instead of his regular meals. Come, you don’t incline to give her -Majesty the trouble of coming all this way down to see you again right -now, do you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you were awake after all?” said Cyril, accepting meekly the bowl -of broth which Mr Hicks forced upon him. “I thought your sleep was -suspiciously profound.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Count, I don’t mind allowing that I wasn’t as fast asleep as I -looked. But I was on my honour not to interfere with Mr Mansfield’s -plan of campaign, and I didn’t. For the rest, you may be sure that the -grave isn’t a circumstance to me in the matter of discreet silence.” -</p> - -<p> -“I haven’t a doubt of it. Well, this soup of yours has waked me up -pretty thoroughly, so I may as well explain things a little to the two -of you, for I can see you are both palpitating with curiosity. It -seems that when the Queen was obliged to leave Thracia, she chose -Brutli as her place of refuge, for family reasons. The senior -deaconess was once betrothed to one of the Schwarzwald-Molzau princes, -but he died just when the family had given their consent to his -marrying her. The sisters received the Queen most kindly, but she -found that her steps were continually dogged by spies. The Princess of -Dardania was anxious to have it thought she was mad, and seems to have -left no means untried to make her so. It was partly this perpetual -espionage that made her refuse to admit any man to her presence, and -partly—well, that was my fault.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very natural in the circumstances, Count.” Mr Hicks’s comment was -diplomatically ambiguous. -</p> - -<p> -“Of course such seclusion only gave colour to her cousin’s inventions, -and the Queen and her ladies saw this. It was Mlle. Mirkovics who -devised a plan of relief. She was in Damascus when the Vali arrested -the Beni Ismail for non-payment of their tribute, and she told the -Queen about it. Her Majesty was so much affected and distressed that -Princess Anna, to please her, paid up the arrears of tribute through -the sheikh. After such kindness as that, he could not refuse to answer -the questions she asked him about the unknown desert in which his -tribe were said to live, and he even offered to guide her to this -place, Sitt Zeynab, thinking that all Europeans were interested in -antiquities. The tribe had kept it in some sort of repair as a -fortress for use in war-time, but they preferred sticking to their -tents in the oasis whenever they could. It seems to have struck her -that this might afford the Queen the refuge of which she felt the -need, and when the sheikh came to her in his next trouble she made a -bargain with him. The Queen induced the Empress of Pannonia to use her -influence at Czarigrad, so saving the tribe from deportation, and they -accepted her as their ruler. They have really made rather a good thing -out of it, for they have been provided with food, and had their -tribute paid, on condition that they robbed no more caravans. Of -course the Vali and Mahmud Fadil know the truth about the mysterious -Princess, but they have accepted a present to hold their tongues, and -they are honourable men.” -</p> - -<p> -“But General Banics and M. Stefanovics—don’t they know?” cried -Mansfield. “To keep them there at Brutli eating their hearts out——” -</p> - -<p> -“The Queen told me herself that she had entreated them to return to -Thracia, but they refused to go. No, they do not know. It was -impossible to confide the secret to them, for the Princess of -Dardania’s emissaries are buzzing round them continually. Naturally -Madame Stefanovics knows the truth, for she spends part of every day -at the Institute, with the lady who is left there to delude the -Queen’s visitors. Mlle. Mirkovics and Fräulein von Staubach spend -alternate months here and at Brutli, and do their best to account for -the fortnight which must pass before the Queen can be seen, or can -give an answer to any question.” -</p> - -<p> -“Guess it’s a queer life here for a set of lone women,” remarked Mr -Hicks. -</p> - -<p> -“The Queen seems to have found it rather peaceful than otherwise. They -have plenty of servants—fugitive Armenians who were glad to find a -refuge here with their wives and children—and the Arabs are -wonderfully amenable. They have lost their old occupation of highway -robbery, but they find it rather interesting, for a change, to mislead -inquisitive travellers, and they appear to be taking kindly to the -cultivation of their oasis. The Queen is much too devoted to the tribe -to take leave of them altogether, but I think they will be able to get -on with an occasional visit.” -</p> - -<p> -“When her Majesty and you are reigning at Jerusalem?” There was a -touch of awe in Mr Hicks’s voice. “Well, Count, I have always reckoned -you the most almighty successful man of my acquaintance—with runs of -bad luck now and then, of course, like the rest of us—but you bet I -never thought of anything like this. You start right away into the -desert on the maddest freak in creation, and it brings you out just -where you calculated to be, and fixes you up with the finest future a -man could desire. But then you started with getting round the twelve -tribes of Israel, and the man that can do that has little to learn, -even with regard to the female persuasion.” -</p> - -<p> -“You see, once I had the clue, the whole mystery surrounding the Queen -of the Desert vanished away,” said Cyril. “It is rather hard on Mlle. -Mirkovics, for I am convinced that one of her reasons for bringing the -Queen here was the desire to remove her beyond the reach of my baleful -influence, but that is the way things happen in this world. By the -bye, the Queen would like me to present you both to her to-morrow, so -be prepared.” -</p> - -<p> -“Count,” said Mr Hicks warningly, “I’m a plain American citizen, whose -intercourse with kings and queens and courts has been strictly -professional. Do you ask me to compromise my independence right now by -figuring round as a member of your suite?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I don’t,” said Cyril, while Mansfield laughed, remembering the -Baroness’s description of himself; “I want to introduce you both, as -my friends, to the lady who is going to do me the honour of marrying -me. She knows that I owe my life to you both several times over, and -that I couldn’t have got here without you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Shake, Count!” said Mr Hicks; “you’re a white man, sir. And if it -would make you any happier, you may bet your last red cent I would go -so far as to put on a Court suit for the occasion, if you had one here -and offered it me.” -</p> - -<p> -With this magnanimous surrender on Mr Hicks’s part, the conversation -ended, and on the morrow it appeared that he was highly dissatisfied -with the meagreness of the preparation it was possible to make for his -visit to the Queen. His travel-worn clothes and the helmet in which he -had ridden out of Damascus were the objects of much anxious care, and -he went so far as to offer to part with his cherished beard, if Cyril -thought well, but the sacrifice was gratefully declined. Little time -was allowed for personal decoration, since the prisoners had scarcely -finished breakfast when the sheikh made his appearance, his demeanour -betokening a vast increase of respect, to the extent even of sending a -messenger in advance, to ask whether the Prince of the Jews would -receive him. On entering, he bowed to the ground before Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -“O my lord, the Princess desires thee and thy servants to come to her. -‘Where are my friends?’ she says. ‘Bring them here, that I may make -with them the treaty that they desire.’ O my lord, how is this? It has -never been the pleasure of the Princess heretofore that any stranger -should approach her.” -</p> - -<p> -“What did I tell you?” asked Cyril, through Mr Hicks. “Didn’t I say -that the Princess would receive me and enter into a treaty?” -</p> - -<p> -“O my lord, thy words sounded in the ears of thy servant as -foolishness, but they have indeed proved true. My lord will speak -favourably of his servant before the Princess?” -</p> - -<p> -“By all means,” said Cyril pleasantly, as the sheikh drew back to -allow him to pass out of the cave. Once outside, the whole party -mounted their horses, and rode up the hill-path in state, escorted by -the tribesmen, who discharged their guns at intervals to do honour to -the mighty stranger. Arrived at the gate, where the Armenian servants -were drawn up in line to receive the visitors, the sheikh alone -entered with his guests. Just as the gate was closing, Mansfield -uttered an exclamation. -</p> - -<p> -“There are two men on camels riding across the desert from the -direction of Damascus!” he cried. “They are kicking up a tremendous -cloud of dust, so they must be coming fast.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is doubtless a post bringing letters for the Princess,” said the -sheikh; “but I know not why there should be two men. See, the watchman -has observed them,” as a shot rang out from the lofty tower on the -wall. “Word will be brought at once if there is any ill news.” -</p> - -<p> -They passed on through the portico into the great hall, and paused -before the doorway of a room opening from it on the left. A servant -drew aside the curtain, and revealed Queen Ernestine enthroned upon a -marble seat, with Baroness von Hilfenstein and Mlle. Mirkovics -standing behind her. All three ladies were swathed from head to foot -in white <i>isars</i>, but the sheikh prostrated himself without venturing -to steal a glance at them, and remained with his forehead touching the -ground. -</p> - -<p> -“Behold, O great Princess, the Prince of the Jews,” he said. “He is -come to learn thy will concerning his nation.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is well,” said the Queen, through Princess Anna. “My scribe shall -declare to him my pleasure, and do thou wait without to conduct him -back to his lodging when the audience is over.” -</p> - -<p> -The sheikh retired, quitting the awful presence of his sovereign with -unconcealed willingness, and when he was safely out of sight the -ladies relieved the Queen of her veil. After a word or two with Cyril, -she turned to Mr Hicks and Mansfield with a smile that won their -hearts for ever. -</p> - -<p> -“Count Mortimer’s friends are mine,” she said, stepping forward and -holding out a hand to each; “and he has told me what good friends you -have been to him. Please do not think I shall be jealous of his -affection for you. I know that I owe this meeting to your fidelity to -him.” -</p> - -<p> -To Cyril’s intense delight, that sturdy republican, Mr Hicks, dropped -on one knee to kiss the Queen’s hand, as though to the manner born, -murmuring: -</p> - -<p> -“If I were Count Mortimer’s deadliest enemy, madame, I guess the -inducement you offer would make me friends with him right away.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know your story,” said the Queen softly to Mansfield, as he kissed -her hand in silence, unable to utter a word. “Consider me your friend, -and let me assure you that Count Mortimer is also on your side. When -one is happy oneself, one is always eager to make others so.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril smiled involuntarily, as he wondered in what light the Queen -would regard Mansfield’s love-story when she heard of her son’s -admiration for Philippa, and there was the faintest ghost of a bitter -laugh from Mlle. Mirkovics. A pained look crossed the Queen’s face, -but before she could speak, the sheikh’s voice was heard on the other -side of the curtain, very close to the ground. -</p> - -<p> -“Let the Princess pardon the presumption of her servant, but word is -come for the Prince of the Jews, entreating him to return immediately -to Es Sham. The messenger has travelled day and night.” -</p> - -<p> -Mlle. Mirkovics interpreted the words, and the Queen’s eyes filled -with tears as they met Cyril’s. He had made an involuntary movement -towards the door, but her gaze of entreaty drew him back. -</p> - -<p> -“I am at your commands, madame,” he said, with forced calmness. -</p> - -<p> -“If I ask you, you will stay?” she said, too low for the rest to hear, -and her eyes marked, almost with agony, the struggle in his face. -</p> - -<p> -“I will stay, Ernestine—if you ask me,” he replied at last. He spoke -without enthusiasm, but with the desperate resolution to atone by one -tremendous sacrifice for his past sins against her. -</p> - -<p> -“But I don’t ask you. You must go—at once, if it is necessary. But -come to me before you start, and tell me what has happened. -Messieurs,” she turned again to Mr Hicks and Mansfield, “I regret to -have had so little conversation with you. We must meet again—at -Brutli, I hope. There is much that I wish to ask you.” -</p> - -<p> -Again the gleam of that dazzling smile, for which, as Mr Hicks -confided afterwards to Mansfield, he would have walked round the -world, and the visitors retired. The moment they were gone, the Queen -turned to Anna Mirkovics. -</p> - -<p> -“Anna, you have disappointed me—grieved me bitterly. You will not -forget!” -</p> - -<p> -“How can I forget, madame? He leaves you now—even now—in a moment, -for his policy.” -</p> - -<p> -“I told him to go. He would have stayed. Why will you not consent to -be happy, since I am? It breaks my heart to see how you hate him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Madame, I do rejoice to see you happy. There is nothing I desire more -on earth. But I cannot forget. In my eyes, your happiness has no -foundation. My blood boils when I remember how he treated you——” -</p> - -<p> -“Anna, Anna, think. I love him. Can’t you understand? Don’t you know -what love is?” -</p> - -<p> -“Alas, madame, yes! I love you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you do understand. You have borne with me, my despair, my -fretfulness, my ill temper, because you love me. Your love has never -failed for one moment. And that is the measure of my love for him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Madame, I will not have you compare yourself with him. I love your -changes of mood—even your coldness. How can they make any difference -to me?” -</p> - -<p> -“And I love him in the same way. Come, Anna, you would not make me -miserable? How can I be happy if you persist in frowning upon my -happiness?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you break my heart, madame! Well, then, I rejoice that you are -happy, and if his Excellency continues to make you so, I shall rejoice -all my life long that he has returned to you.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is my dear good Anna!” cried the Queen, drawing her friend’s -pale plain face down to hers, and kissing her on the forehead. -“Hilfenstein, I must kiss you too, for you have been on my side the -whole time.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, madame, I have known you a good many years, and the Count also,” -said the Baroness. “It would have been little use my opposing either -of you. But I hear his Excellency returning. Your Majesty will receive -him alone?” -</p> - -<p> -The Queen’s smile was a sufficient answer to the question, and both -ladies disappeared hastily into the garden as Cyril entered from the -hall, looking rather irritated than perturbed. -</p> - -<p> -“Dearest,” he said, “I think you understand that nothing but the very -gravest necessity would drag me away from you at this moment, but I -really must go. The blind man Yeshua has come all the way from -Damascus to say that Paschics entreats me to return at once, if all -that we have gained is not to be lost. Evidently something serious has -happened, which I did not foresee, and which has thrown out all our -calculations. Moreover, as far as I can make out, there was an -unmistakable attempt made to kidnap Yeshua on his way to the spot -where he always arranges to meet your scouts, and he insists that the -Scythian Consulate was mixed up in it. However that may be, it seems -that the Beni Ayub are out on the warpath as well, for they chased -Yeshua and your tribesman who was bringing him here. They only shook -them off when they got to the waterless desert. It may be a mere -coincidence, but it looks uncommonly like an organised attempt to -prevent any notice of the danger, whatever it may be, from reaching -me. At any rate, it’s clear that I must go, or give up all hope of -success in the great scheme.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, yes, I quite see,” she replied quickly, “and I shall come back -to Brutli at once. Then our engagement shall be made public, Cyril. -You are going back to win success for me as well as for yourself, you -know.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you know that every one will say I have sought your forgiveness -for the sake of the added importance that marriage with you will give -me? The world hasn’t very much confidence in me, Ernestine.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I have. Do you know what I shall do when you are Prince of -Palestine? I shall lay aside my crown for a coronet. The world shall -see that your wife is prouder of being Princess of Palestine than -Queen of Thracia.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dearest, you have a way of making the world look foolish by doing -lofty, Quixotic, useless things, that covers me with shame. I wish I -had the knack, but no one would believe that I did them without an -ulterior motive. But suppose I am not made Prince of Palestine?” -</p> - -<p> -“Then we will return here together, and you shall be King of the -Desert. You will unite the Arabs under one rule, and make a nation of -them, and they will adore you. They are grateful to me because of what -I have done for them, but they still feel a little ashamed of being -ruled by a woman. They have the greatest possible respect for you -already.” -</p> - -<p> -“Will they still respect me when I rob them of their Queen? One, or at -most two visits in the year, as a respite from the cares of State, -will be very different from having a resident sovereign. But dearest, -you won’t start for Brutli until the sheikh assures you that the way -is safe? If the Beni Ayub got hold of you it would be very unpleasant -personally, and absolutely distracting politically.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; I suppose Michael would feel obliged to interfere. Oh, Cyril, I -wanted to speak to you about him. You heard of that terribly sad -business about Lida, of course? Well, since his engagement came to an -end, Michael has written me such nice letters, so affectionate, so -respectful. He says that he has turned over a new leaf, and this is -because he has formed an attachment for a young lady who will be as -acceptable to me as to Thracia. Do you know who she is?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have an idea.” -</p> - -<p> -“And is it all as suitable as he thinks?” -</p> - -<p> -“So far as I know, the only opposition to their engagement will come -from the lady herself.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why? Is she as beautiful and altogether desirable as he says she -is?” -</p> - -<p> -“I feel some delicacy in answering that question. You see, she happens -to be my niece.” -</p> - -<p> -“What! your brother Carlino’s daughter? But, Cyril, the Thracians will -go mad with joy. Is it the little girl with the beautiful golden hair -whom I saw years ago at Tatarjé? She must be a good deal older than -Michael, but she had such sweet ways that it is no wonder she has -captivated him. He could not make a better choice. But why are you -looking at me in that way, Cyril? Why should she raise any objection? -It’s not—oh, don’t say that you have no other niece! This is not the -young lady with whom that pleasant Mr Mansfield is in love?” -</p> - -<p> -“Unfortunately it is.” -</p> - -<p> -“But she couldn’t refuse Michael!” -</p> - -<p> -“And yet I heard a lady propose a few minutes ago to resign a crown -for the sake of her lover.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that is different. Your niece would be the making of Michael. -Cyril, promise me you will persuade her to accept him.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dearest, I could not set myself a second time to interfere with -the course of true love.” -</p> - -<p> -“But she ought—oh, Cyril, how unkind of you to remind me of that! No, -most certainly I won’t try to smooth Michael’s path for him. I did too -much harm the last time, and it has come to nothing after all. But you -do think it is her duty to marry him, don’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“I fancy Phil will decide for herself where her duty lies. And really, -Ernestine, it will do your boy all the good in the world to want -something very much, and not be able to get it. That will make a man -of him, if you like. Is that some one outside?” -</p> - -<p> -“I beg your pardon, Count”—Mansfield’s deprecating voice was heard -from the hall—“but the horses are ready.” -</p> - -<p> -“Those two good fellows have been doing my packing, that I might have -a longer time with you. Good-bye, my dearest. <i>Au revoir</i> at Brutli!” -</p> - -<p> -“<i>Auf wiedersehen</i>, my beloved! Take care of yourself for my sake.” -</p> - -<p> -“By the bye, dearest, I suppose I may assure your sheikh that it’s all -right about the treaty, and that you have decided to maintain friendly -relations with the Jews?” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course you may. But politics again, Cyril! I am jealous.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -The sheikh and a small band of picked men were in readiness in the -desert below the fortress, all well armed, and mounted on the best -horses that the tribe possessed. Yeshua and his guide were to be left -behind, to give them time to recover from the fatigues of their -hurried journey before undertaking another, for the sheikh had -promised to conduct the travellers to Damascus by the shortest -available route, involving as few halts as possible, and the hardship -would be great. In spite, however, of long stages and little rest, -with a meagre supply of food and water, the return from Sitt Zeynab -proved much less disagreeable than the journey thither had been. The -sheikh had banished from his mind the last traces of suspicion and -enmity, and was above all things anxious to secure Cyril’s friendship -for his tribe, and for his tribe alone. His anxiety lest the Prince of -the Jews should admit the Beni Ayub also to a share in his favour -found utterance again and again, and was as amusing as was his claim -to the entire ownership of the desert between Damascus and Palmyra. He -went so far as to invite Cyril to aid him in maintaining his supposed -rights by force of arms, but this was merely a rhetorical flourish, -not intended to be taken seriously. -</p> - -<p> -The first part of the journey, including the crossing of the waterless -desert which was the true patrimony of the Beni Ismail, was -uneventful, but no sooner had the boundary, invisible as it was to the -untrained eye, been crossed, than the party became aware that they -were watched. A camel and its rider would suddenly appear on the -horizon, only to vanish in a cloud of dust as quickly as they had -come. Sometimes these scouts would appear in the direction of -Damascus, sometimes to the right or left of the line of march, but for -two days they kept the travellers almost constantly in sight, without -offering to approach them more closely. -</p> - -<p> -“The sons of Shaitan can see us much more readily than we can see -them,” grumbled the sheikh, “and they are closing round us. Then they -will lie in wait for us in the broken ground before reaching Es Sham.” -</p> - -<p> -“How would you shake them off if we were not here?” asked Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -“We would lead them astray, O my lord, with feigned pursuit of their -scouts, and running fights, until we were either safe on our own land -or could slip through them into Es Sham, but that would need many -days, and if they contrived to separate us one from another, evil -might come to my lord.” -</p> - -<p> -“Evil might also come to some of them,” suggested Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -“Doubtless, but if their object is rather to delay my lord than to -hurt him, they might attain it with little danger to themselves.” -</p> - -<p> -“Hullo! they seem to be coming to meet us,” said Mansfield, as a group -of mounted men appeared from behind a sandhill some distance in front. -The sheikh cast his eye over his own troop, and ordered a halt. Here -on the open plain there was no possibility of an ambush, but his men -unslung their long matchlocks, and the travellers locked to their -rifles. -</p> - -<p> -“They seem friendly,” said Cyril, as the sheikh of the opposite party, -distinguished by his gold-embroidered crimson cloak, rode out from -among his men, making signs that he had left his weapons behind, and -desired an amicable conference. -</p> - -<p> -“Stay thou here, O Prince of the Jews,” said the sheikh, “and let the -father of a writing-book leave his gun and ride forward with me, that -we may hear what this dog has to say. Never yet have I spoken in peace -with a man of the Beni Ayub.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Hicks, who owed his name to the note-book which was his inseparable -companion, handed his rifle to Mansfield, remarking that he supposed -the surrender of his revolver was not necessarily included in the -bond. If it was, he had, at any rate, a weapon at hand which would -astonish the Arab who tried any foolishness with him, and as he spoke -he patted a coil of thin rope which he had procured at Sitt Zeynab and -insisted on looping to his saddle, to the mystification of his -companions. Thus provided, he rode forward with the sheikh, who halted -at a discreet distance from the representative of the other party, and -asked what the Beni Ayub were doing in that portion of the desert. As -the district in question was claimed by the Beni Ayub, their sheikh -disregarded the enquiry. -</p> - -<p> -“We come in peace, O sheikh of the Beni Ismail, hearing that the -Prince of the Jews is a sojourner in the tents of thy people. Why does -he pass by the Beni Ayub in his return to Es Sham? Does not the desert -belong to us also? Let him turn aside and visit our tents, that we may -make peace with his nation, and there be no ill blood between us.” -</p> - -<p> -“The Prince of the Jews will return at another time and visit you,” -said Mr Hicks, anticipating the angry reply which the sheikh had in -preparation. “At present he is journeying to Es Sham in haste.” -</p> - -<p> -“What is his haste to us?” was the retort. “Shall we allow the Beni -Ismail, who obey a woman, to laugh at our beards because the Prince of -the Jews has sojourned among them? Let the Prince visit our tents, or -we will come and take him.” -</p> - -<p> -“But where are your tents?” asked Mr Hicks, “and have you a sufficient -number of horsemen to give fitting escort to the Prince?” -</p> - -<p> -“My tents lie a day’s journey on the way to Es Sham, and as thou -seest, I have with me three times the number of horsemen that ride now -with the Prince.” -</p> - -<p> -“Altogether you make out a good case for yourself,” said Mr Hicks, -easily. “Suppose you and your men ride ahead and get ready for us?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, we desire to show due honour to the Prince. My company shall -ride side by side with his to the tents of my people.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very good. But the Prince will have none but his own followers around -him.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is well. We will but be at hand, for the safety of the Prince.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch19"> -CHAPTER XIX.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE BREAKING-POINT.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">Returning</span> to his friends in company with the amazed and indignant -sheikh of their own party Mr Hicks explained how matters stood, -pointing out that discretion was preeminently the better part of -valour on this occasion. -</p> - -<p> -“The enemy are between us and Damascus, and they don’t calculate to -let us through,” he said. “I guess the odds are a bit too long for -fighting, so all we can do is to select our camping-ground with an eye -to possibilities, and make tracks in the night, for if they once get -us to their tents we’re as good as squelched. With your leave, Count, -I’ll ride slightly ahead, to keep open communications with the other -platform, and also to look out for a suitable location.” -</p> - -<p> -Leaving the scouts, who had now come in, to bring up the rear of the -convoy, the sheikh of the Beni Ayub and the main body of his men took -up their position in advance of the small party from Sitt Zeynab, and -Mr Hicks attached himself to them, doing his best to impress the -sheikh with the greatness of the Prince of the Jews. It was evident -that the man was already somewhat alarmed by his own temerity in -interfering with the journey of such an important personage, and Mr -Hicks spared no pains to add to his uneasiness. When sunset was at -hand, and the sheikh suggested that it would be advisable to halt for -the night, he was told curtly that the Prince had not yet given the -signal, and when the Prince, through his representative, Mr Hicks, was -pleased to direct that the journey should be at an end for the day, -the spot chosen was not by any means an ideal camping-ground in the -eyes of the Beni Ayub. It was a small hill—perhaps a large hillock -would be a better term—accessible on one side only, and not affording -space for more than Cyril and his party. -</p> - -<p> -“I only hope they’ll conclude to camp all round it,” said Mr Hicks to -his leader, “for then they would be so scattered that we might allow -to creep through them, or charge right through at the weakest point, -any way. If we could stampede the horses we could get clean away, more -especially since we shall have our own men in a compact body.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Hicks’s hope proved fallacious. Making the best of a bad bargain, -the sheikh decided to concentrate his forces at the foot of the slope, -thus enclosing his unwilling guests in a trap, and his men set to work -at once on their preparations for the night. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said Mr Hicks grimly, “it only means that we’ve got to land -the horses some way in that cañon back of us, and without making any -noise about it, either. Mr Mansfield, you just set your mighty -intellect to work on that problem, if you please. Now, how are we to -get these chaps to believe that we allow to sit up all night?” -</p> - -<p> -“Make a fire of brushwood and keep it burning,” suggested Mansfield. -</p> - -<p> -“I guess the light will just about give us away if we do.” -</p> - -<p> -“Make two or three small fires across the slope,” said Cyril, “as if -to prevent the Arabs rushing us, and keep them low and smoky by -heaping on earth as well as wood. That ought to produce the desired -moral effect.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s so, sir. Well, Mr Mansfield, have you figured out anything to -help us at the back there?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m going to explore as soon as the enemy have settled down to their -supper,” answered Mansfield, and as the result of his explorations he -was able before long to announce that there existed on the steepest -side of the hill an apology for a path, almost invisible to the naked -eye, down which it ought to be possible to lead the horses. -</p> - -<p> -“A sweet path it must be, if our friends the enemy haven’t sniffed it -out!” grumbled Mr Hicks; “and what a real elegant set of fools we -shall look when all the horses go down ker-smash one on top of -another! And what about the noise, Mr Mansfield? If you ask me, I -should say there would be a good deal of promiscuous language flying -around while that descent is taking place.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense, Hicks! these Arabs can control their emotions better than -that,” said Cyril. “If the horses’ feet are muffled, that’s the only -thing necessary.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, we can’t do more than try,” said Mr Hicks resignedly. “But all -the same,” he added to Mansfield, “you bet I wouldn’t do that but for -the boss. He is chafing fit to burst, and if we got carried off to the -tents of the Beni Ayub, I wouldn’t answer for him. And now for our -sheikh.” -</p> - -<p> -The sheikh approved highly of Cyril’s determination to outwit the -enemy, although he had little confidence in the success of the means -suggested, and in order to avert suspicion the camp on the hill-top -made ostentatious preparations for repose. Three men were told off to -move about round the fires and keep them supplied with fuel and sand, -and the rest wrapped themselves in their cloaks and lay down. As soon -as all was quiet in the camp of the Beni Ayub below, one man at a time -rose and crept softly to the spot where the horses were picketed. The -sheikh insisted on being the first to try the path, as his horse had -been trained to follow him like a dog, and to Mansfield’s intense -relief and secret pride the animal, its feet muffled in pieces of -cloth, picked its way down the hill after its master, reluctantly but -without accident. The rest followed one by one, with more or less -willingness, the men at the fires covering the occasional noises, -which were unavoidable in the case of a stumble, or when a stone was -set rolling, by a vigorous breaking of sticks, which sounded so -distinct in the clear desert air that Mr Hicks muttered it was enough -to wake all the Arabs for miles round. Then the men at the fires were -called down in their turn, the last to descend exhibiting marvellous -activity in producing dense clouds of smoke before he departed, and -the whole of the Sitt Zeynab party stood safely in the desert with -their horses. Mounting, they felt their way with extreme caution round -the flank of the Beni Ayub, and resumed their interrupted journey, -taking a direction that would enable them to reach Damascus without -coming upon the camp to which their enemies had intended to conduct -them. They had ridden some distance before any one had leisure to look -round, and it was Mr Hicks who perceived first that the forsaken -hill-top was no longer deserted, and uttered an exclamation. The eyes -of the rest followed his, to distinguish a number of figures outlined -against the red glow of the fires, which had by this time burnt up. -</p> - -<p> -“That I should have been sold by a nigger chief!” groaned Mr Hicks. -“All the time we were busy circumventing them, they were calculating -to circumvent us, and all that old sinner’s respect and veneration was -only a cute dodge to put us off our guard. As soon as they guessed our -stokers had sneaked off to bed, up they come to rush our camp. Well, -that gentleman and I have got to meet again, and you bet he’ll be -surprised at the strength of my attachment for him,” and again Mr -Hicks patted the rope which hung from his saddle. -</p> - -<p> -“The sons of Shaitan thought to laugh at our beards,” said the skeikh, -with a grim sound dimly suggestive of a chuckle; “but now their own -faces are black. They will not pursue us until dawn, and we may even -yet out-distance them.” -</p> - -<p> -But in making this forecast the sheikh forgot that the enemy’s horses, -which had done little work the day before, were far fresher than those -of his party; and it was less than an hour after sunrise when one of -his men, halting a moment to repair a broken girth, called out that -the pursuers were in sight. Cyril uttered an angry exclamation. -</p> - -<p> -“Look here, Hicks,” he said impatiently, “I can’t stand any more of -this foolery. I don’t want bloodshed; but if these fellows will have -it, they must. Our sheikh and two of his men have rifles, and with our -three we can diminish the enemy’s numbers effectually before they get -close to us, and then the revolver will settle the matter. I can’t -risk losing everything merely to save the skins of the Beni Ayub.” -</p> - -<p> -“Gently, Count. If you once set up a blood-feud with the Beni Ayub, -your chance of making friends with them in future is gone. I guess -we’ll keep on as hard as possible right now, so as just to separate -the enemy. When we get to the locality I have in my mind, Mr Mansfield -and I and the two men with rifles will stay behind and go on the -shoot, while you ride ahead with the sheikh and the rest and draw the -enemy into chasing you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you think it likely,” irritably, “that I shall consent to save -myself at the risk of your lives? We shall come out of this fight side -by side, as we went in, or go down together.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now, now, Count”—Mr Hicks laid a soothing hand on Cyril’s arm—“we -aren’t going to hurl our lives away, you bet. There’s no sort of -sentimental self-sacrifice about me—no, sir! I have a smart piece of -business on hand, and I want a young fellow of large bodily strength -to help me put it through. You are just a bundle of nerves this -journey, and so used up with strain and anxiety that it’s only spirit -and nothing else keeps you on your horse. Mr Mansfield and I are -partners in this deal, and you watch how well things will pan out when -they recognise who’s got ’em in charge.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril laughed shamefacedly, and turned his attention to keeping his -horse in hand in the headlong race which now ensued. Mr Hicks’s object -was to escape from the flat stretch of desert on which the enemy, with -their fresher horses, might easily surround his little party, and to -gain the shelter of the sandhills in front. Pausing to look back, he -observed with satisfaction that the Beni Ayub, no longer massed in a -compact body, were tailing off gradually, the sheikh and a few -better-mounted men alone seeming to gain perceptibly on the pursued. -When the sandhills were reached, he glanced back once more, and saw -that the sheikh, on his magnificent horse, was now considerably in -advance of his nearest followers. This was what Mr Hicks had hoped -for. -</p> - -<p> -“Ride on, Count! ride on, sheikh! Turn aside, Mr Mansfield, and you -two, Abd-el-Kader and Nur-ed-Din. Dodge behind the sandhills, so. Have -your rifles ready.” -</p> - -<p> -Shouting in alternate English and Arabic, and strengthening his -exhortations by means of vigorous pointing and shoving, Mr Hicks -marshalled his forces. He and Mansfield were stationed close to the -path between the sandhills, one on each side, the two Arabs a little -behind them. -</p> - -<p> -“Stay where you are, Mr Mansfield; and when you see the sheikh -dismounted, round up his horse. That’s your business. You two men of -the Beni Ismail, ride forward the moment the sheikh of your enemies -has passed you and present your rifles at those who come after him. If -they still ride on, fire; but don’t waste your shots, and reserve the -second barrel.” -</p> - -<p> -Having given his orders, Mr Hicks rode back a short distance from the -path, and, unhooking the rope from his saddle, arranged it on his arm. -This was scarcely accomplished to his satisfaction before Mansfield’s -raised hand told him that the sheikh was close upon them, thundering -on in hot pursuit of the party that was just disappearing round the -sandhills in front. Neither Mansfield nor the Arabs could ever succeed -in saying definitely what followed. That Mr Hicks rode forward across -the sheikh’s path, that the rope in his hand whizzed through the air, -and that in an instant the sheikh was prostrate on the ground and his -horse rushing wildly away—this they perceived, but had no time even -to wonder how it was done, for their own duties demanded their -attention. Mansfield effected the capture of the terrified horse in a -brilliant and wholly original manner; for when he grabbed frantically -at its bridle as it dashed towards him, and failed to seize it, he -kicked his foot free of the stirrup and caught it in the loose rein, -with the result that he was promptly jerked from his saddle and thrown -to the ground. Recovering himself immediately, he was in time to seize -the rein with his hand before the astonished horse had made up its -mind what to do. His own horse, which was equally amazed and -indignant, by reason of his unconventional descent, allowed itself to -be caught with less difficulty, and he turned to see how the other -actors in the drama were faring. The two Arabs were sitting -statue-like on their horses, covering with their rifles five or six of -the Beni Ayub, who, on seeing their chief fall, had halted just out of -range, and were afraid to follow him further, while the sheikh -himself, black in the face and half-strangled, was being bound hand -and foot in a most workman-like manner by Mr Hicks. -</p> - -<p> -“Well done!” cried Mansfield. “Who would ever have thought of a lasso -in this part of the world?” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, I haven’t gone cowboying in New Mexico for nothing,” said Mr -Hicks complacently. “Go ahead, you fool! The more you kick, the -tighter the knots will be, you bet. Ah, Mr Mansfield, you inclined to -think I brought this lariat along to fix up my prisoners with before -they were caught, but you see it has caught ’em and tied ’em both. Now -I’m through, I guess I’ll mount this gentleman’s horse—for these -Arabs are so cute that it would make nothing of carrying him right -back to his friends all on its own hook, according to the -Sunday-school books—and he shall have a seat on mine. But wait a -minute first.” -</p> - -<p> -He dragged his prisoner to a spot where he was in full view of his -dismayed followers, and drawing out his revolver, held it to his head. -</p> - -<p> -“You see this, men of the Beni Ayub?” he cried in Arabic, accompanying -the words with appropriate gestures. “Your sheikh will go with us the -rest of our journey. If you attack us, the first shot we fire will -settle his business, and if you even molest us, we will take him to Es -Sham and deliver him to the Roumis there. Therefore beware!” -</p> - -<p> -Having shouted his warning, Mr Hicks mounted the sheikh’s horse, and -with Mansfield’s assistance bound the prisoner firmly on his own; -then, with the two Arabs bringing up the rear, they rode on after the -rest. Great was the joy and exultation with which the Beni Ismail -beheld the unpleasant plight of their hereditary foe; but Cyril -interposed to forbid any indignities being offered to the captive, who -might yet serve as a useful intermediary with his tribe. The novel -method of his capture had produced a strong effect upon his mind, and -largely increased his respect for the Prince of the Jews, and this -feeling was enhanced by the continued failure of his own tribesmen to -rescue him. They followed the party at a distance, and prowled round -the camp at night in the hope of taking its defenders by surprise; but -Mr Hicks and Mansfield kept watch and watch all night through, and -this unceasing vigilance had its reward. By dint of long marches and -little rest, the desert was safely crossed in six days after leaving -Sitt Zeynab, and within three hours’ ride of Damascus the cavalcade -paused while Cyril gave orders for the prisoner to be unbound, and his -horse and rifle restored to him. -</p> - -<p> -“Return to thy tribe, O Sheikh of the Beni Ayub,” he said, “and tell -them of the clemency of the Prince of the Jews. I might have carried -thee bound into Es Sham, and left thee to rot in a Roumi dungeon, but -I send thee back to thy people, that they may know that I desire to be -their friend, and that it is my will there shall be peace throughout -the desert.” -</p> - -<p> -The bewildered sheikh listened apathetically as Mr Hicks translated -the words, but when the Beni Ismail drew aside to allow him to pass, -he seemed to recognise all at once that he was free, and setting spurs -to his horse, darted off into the desert like the wind. As his late -custodians stood watching him, he reined up when almost out of sight, -and returned. -</p> - -<p> -“O Prince of the Jews, the Beni Ayub are thy servants,” he cried. -“Never would I have laid wait for thee but for the words of the old -man who came to our tents with the servant of the Consulate of -Scythia, and tempted thy servant with great gifts to detain thee in -the desert for a space. Now that I know thy power and thy wisdom, -never again will I or the Beni Ayub raise a spear against thee or thy -servants the Beni Ismail.” -</p> - -<p> -Dismounting, he raised the hem of Cyril’s cloak to his lips, exchanged -greetings with the sheikh of the Beni Ismail, and rode away again. -</p> - -<p> -“All’s well that ends well,” said Cyril. “And now for Damascus!” -</p> - -<p> -They rode on briskly, only to halt again an hour later. This time it -was to bid farewell to the Beni Ismail, who in their enthusiasm for -their new leader had accompanied him far beyond their usual limits, -although for some time they had been looking askance at every hillock, -lest it should conceal that abomination of the desert Arab, a house. -The sheikh received Cyril’s messages for the Queen—including another -earnest recommendation not to cross the desert until the Beni Ayub had -returned to their usual haunts—his men salaamed, with frank -admiration beaming in their bold eyes, and stood gazing lingeringly as -Cyril and his two companions rode away. There were no more halts now, -and as the cultivated land was reached, the roads became better. The -unpleasant passage through the burying-ground was accomplished at a -reckless pace, and a judicious <i>bakhshish</i> prevented awkward inquiries -at the city gate. Riding more cautiously through the crowded streets, -the three adventurers, worn out with hard travelling and want of -sleep, drew rein at the door of the house which they had left just -three weeks before. Paschics rushed into the courtyard to meet them, -with bloodshot eyes and the dishevelled aspect of a man who has slept -for several nights in his clothes, and wept tears of joy when he saw -Cyril. -</p> - -<p> -“Your Excellency is come. Then all is not lost!” he gasped. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, what is it?” asked Cyril, dismounting. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Excellency, it is partly my fault, and yet how could I have -prevented it? It was that elderly official of the Princess of -Dardania’s—Colonel Czartoriski. The first two or three days after you -started he was continually sending letters and desiring to see you, -though I assured him you could receive no one. Then he disguised -himself with a false beard and green spectacles—yes, Excellency!—and -told the people of the house that he was a doctor for whom you had -sent, and they showed him which were your rooms. He did not approach -by the staircase, knowing that I should be on the watch, and Dietrich -also, but came up the steps leading from the garden, and crept along -the verandah, and so peeped in at the window of your room. Dietrich -caught sight of him first, and rushed out. Hearing a scuffle, I -followed, and penetrated the man’s disguise immediately. We delivered -him over to the police, after handling him not too gently, but the -Scythian Consul came to his assistance, and got him released at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what has all this led to?” demanded Cyril, who had been listening -with what patience he might as the Thracian poured out his tale while -they were crossing the courtyard. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Excellency, your enemies had learnt that you were away, and they -took advantage of the news immediately. There is a recrudescence of -Anti-Semitism all over Europe, especially in Neustria. The great -Lutetian preacher is delivering a course of sermons against the Jews, -and the ‘Petite Parole’ opens its columns daily to correspondents -urging the most atrocious measures. All the other papers are following -suit, members of the Government have denounced the Palestine scheme in -the Chamber, and there are signs that the different political parties -are willing to meet on the common ground of hatred of the Jews.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, we know how to manage Neustria.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that is not the worst, Excellency. M. Lucien Salomans is dead.” -</p> - -<p> -“What, murdered?” -</p> - -<p> -“They call it suicide. He was present at some public entertainment, at -which one of the performers made a violent attack on the Jews. He -remonstrated, and became involved in a heated discussion with several -gentlemen near him. It is alleged that he left the hall exclaiming -that, Jew though he was, it was in his power to destroy Neustria if he -chose——” -</p> - -<p> -“Blatant fool!” cried Cyril furiously. -</p> - -<p> -“Excellency, he is dead. He was arrested that evening, and his house -searched. In prison he was visited by two high officials, who spent -some time in his cell. This was late at night, and in the morning he -was discovered to be dead. They say that he shot himself to avoid -being surprised into disclosures, but it is whispered that one of his -visitors, enraged by his persistent silence, killed him with the -revolver which had been held to his head to extort a confession.” -</p> - -<p> -“But surely he had not had the madness—— Did things end there?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, Excellency. Since his death the houses of the principal Jews -interested in our movement have been repeatedly subjected to sudden -visits from the police.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good. They are baffled so far, then. And in other countries?” -</p> - -<p> -“When the excitement began in Neustria, Excellency, the Continental -press in general reserved judgment, as though alarmed at the temerity -of the Lutetian papers. But when two or three days passed, and there -was no sign from you, they grew bold, and revived all their old -infamies, busying themselves also with the future of Palestine. It is -now recommended everywhere that Jerusalem shall be occupied by the -Powers jointly, and the Jews excluded from it. The Powers are also to -have charge of all the foreign relations of the new state, the Jews -regulating only such of its affairs as are purely national and -domestic. The alarm in the Jewish world is very great. The Chevalier -Goldberg has telegraphed again and again, asking for some assurance -that you have the situation in hand. He is afraid to take any steps -lest he should jeopardise some plan of yours, and I could not reassure -him, for you did not contemplate such a crisis as this in your -instructions.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I had not foreseen this,” said Cyril slowly. He had been -glancing, while Paschics spoke, through the piles of letters and -telegrams stacked on the table, flinging some aside and arranging -others carefully in order. He had a sheaf of papers in his hand now, -and was flicking them through absently. -</p> - -<p> -“Sit down and write, Paschics,” was the sharp order which startled the -secretary. “And you, Mansfield——” -</p> - -<p> -“Land alive, Count! you don’t allow to fix up all the affairs of -Europe before you get a bath and a sleep?” cried Mr Hicks, aghast. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s exactly what I have to do. You take a rest, Hicks, if you -like.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not much,” was the emphatic reply. “I won’t offer to write for you, -Count, since these two gentlemen know your ways better than I do. But -if you have any despatches to send off I can take them to the bureau -for you, and let daylight into any one that offers any objection. I -can operate the instrument if it’s necessary, you bet.” -</p> - -<p> -“A hint at the nature of the hold we have over Neustria would make the -fortune of your paper if it got wind of it. But it must not, you -understand? If the responsibility is too great for you, I won’t burden -you with it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I guess my conscience is asleep on the paper side just now, Count. Go -ahead, and make use of me right away.” -</p> - -<p> -“The immediate business of the moment is to send an ultimatum to the -Neustrian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Unless this persecution—moral -and material—of the Jews ceases instantly, there will be presented to -the United States Government a memorandum of the secret convention -entered into between Scythia and Neustria with reference to the Darien -Canal. When American attention is distracted, owing to troubles -elsewhere, it is agreed that the two Powers shall take joint action -with regard to Darien.” Cyril looked sharply at Mr Hicks, who nodded -calmly. -</p> - -<p> -“Good card, Count. It never struck me you had that up your sleeve.” -</p> - -<p> -“You knew of the convention, then?” -</p> - -<p> -“That is so, sir. I’m keeping it back for the next war-scare, or the -next time a war-scare is needed, any way. But you can just play it for -all it’s worth now. You see I know a Jew or two as well as you; but I -didn’t guess that you were able to put your fingers upon the missing -document.” -</p> - -<p> -“Salomans and I were the only men who knew where it is concealed. Now -that he is dead, without revealing the secret to his brother, it will -have to be got at by means of a long chain of intermediaries. Each man -knows only his particular link in the chain; but we must be ready to -produce the paper at once if it is wanted.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you don’t calculate that the Judenhetze has gone too far to be -stopped?” -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not. They can stop it fast enough if they like. They will -have to take strong measures—possibly illegal measures—in the name -of the public safety, as they have done often enough when the result -would inflict injury upon the Jews. When Neustria is settled, we shall -have time to think of the rest of Europe. Ready, Paschics?” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril laid down the telegrams, which he had been looking through as he -spoke, and glanced, with the faintest shadow of a smile, at Mansfield, -who was fast asleep, his head pillowed on his arms on the table. “Wake -up, Mansfield!” a firm hand gripped his shoulder. “You can rest -afterwards, but you must work now.” -</p> - -<p> -For several hours Paschics wrote unceasingly, Mansfield laboured at -the typewriter, Mr Hicks hurried in and out with telegrams and their -answers, and still Cyril sat in his place, dictating to one, giving -directions to another, exchanging missives with the third. He seemed, -as Mr Hicks had said, to have the affairs of all Europe in his hands. -Reassuring messages went to one community of Jews, curt commands to -another, stern reproofs to yet another; while to high government -officials, and personages in situations even more lofty, were -despatched brief reminders of the unpleasant consequences that would -follow a breach of faith with the United Nation Syndicate. From the -Hercynian Chancellor to the editor of an obscure Jargon journal, no -one seemed either too high or too low for his notice, and Mr Hicks -observed in admiration that he had no need to refer to any note-book -for so much as a single name or address. Paschics was a pitiable -object as he laboured in vain to keep up with his employer’s -dictation. Mansfield had fallen into a state of semi-somnambulism as -he translated into suitable terms, in a purely mechanical way, the -brief instructions he received. Mr Hicks himself was inclined to think -that the ‘Crier’ office on a summer night, with a big sensation coming -in just as the paper had gone to press, was not so much worse than -this; but Cyril showed no sign of hurry or exhaustion as he issued his -directions without a pause, and the pile of papers before him grew -smaller and smaller. The stream of fresh telegrams ceased at last, for -the office was closed for the night, the typewriter rested from its -clicking and clacking; Paschics was engaged upon the last letter. -</p> - -<p> -“Is there anything more, Excellency?” he asked, looking up, for Cyril -had suddenly ceased speaking. -</p> - -<p> -“I believe not. No, I cannot think of anything more. Hicks,” he turned -to the American, “it’s a curious thing, my brain is an utter blank. If -you asked me what all these letters have been about, I could not tell -you. And yet my head has never been clearer than it was until just -now. It is like the sudden snapping of a thread.” -</p> - -<p> -“You had better get to bed at once, Count,” was the answer, the -roughness of which masked a fierce rush of anxiety. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch20"> -CHAPTER XX.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub"><i>REDINTEGRATIO AMORIS.</i></span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">To</span> the surprise and delight of Mr Hicks, the attack of brain fever -which he had feared for his patient did not ensue. Cyril remained for -several days in a state of exhaustion amounting to stupor, in which he -displayed no interest in outside affairs, and showed a curious -irritability when the faithful Paschics tried to induce him to take in -hand the routine work which had fallen into arrears during his -absence. Of important business there was happily none to settle, for -Europe was conscious that the master-hand was once more on the reins, -and the anti-Semitic agitation died down as quickly as it had arisen, -without making necessary any very drastic measures. Thus relieved from -anxiety, Cyril turned impatiently from the records of work done, and -copies of answered letters, to which Paschics tried to direct his -attention. -</p> - -<p> -“Let me rest, Paschics. Don’t you see I am utterly worn out? Your -letter-books convey no meaning whatever to my mind. If another crisis -arises, you can let me know; but now I must rest.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nature is taking her revenge,” said the doctor whom Mr Hicks had felt -it his duty to call in. “His Excellency’s brain has been overworked, -and the cause of the strain is now regarded with loathing. The Count -must take a holiday, and afterwards he will return to business with -fresh zest. When this drowsiness passes off, get him up to Brutli or -one of the other villages on Anti-Lebanon, and let him live in the -open air.” -</p> - -<p> -“That doctor is what I call a sensible man,” muttered Cyril drowsily -when the prescription was repeated to him. “Let some one take rooms at -Brutli, and find out whether the Queen has arrived.” -</p> - -<p> -In pursuance of these instructions, Mansfield rode up to the village -two or three days later. The hardships of the desert journey had made -no permanent impression upon him, and after a nap which lasted the -better part of two days the brownness of his skin and a hollow look -about his cheeks were the only signs remaining of three weeks’ plain -living and hard riding. He was in the best of spirits when he -dismounted at the door of the inn and inquired of the landlord whether -the Queen’s attendants still had their quarters there. M. Stefanovics, -he found, had been spending the morning at the Institution in -attendance upon her Majesty, but was expected to return shortly, and -General Banics was in his rooms, whither Mansfield betook himself. The -General answered his inquiry for M. Stefanovics with perceptible -stiffness. -</p> - -<p> -“I expect my colleague to return to lunch, certainly, but I cannot -answer for his movements. His attendance upon the Queen has occupied a -large proportion of his time of late. Her Majesty is pleased no longer -to seclude herself so completely from the world. I had the honour of -attending her upon a mountain ride yesterday.” At the close of this -long series of brief sentences, General Banics confronted Mansfield -with an expression of great severity, as though to say, “Allude to the -indiscreet revelations made to you on your last visit if you dare!” -</p> - -<p> -“I am glad her Majesty is so much better—in spirits, I mean,” -Mansfield added hastily. “Do you think there is any chance of my being -permitted to see her?” -</p> - -<p> -“To see the Queen? you must be mad! And why is her Majesty to receive -you, pray?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am the bearer of a message from Count Mortimer.” -</p> - -<p> -“From Count Mortimer? You did not say that when you were here last.” -</p> - -<p> -“It was unnecessary. You did not ask me.” -</p> - -<p> -Suspicion and indignation strove for the mastery in General Banics’s -countenance. “Excuse me, I see my colleague coming. I must meet him,” -he said brusquely, and hurried off to intercept M. Stefanovics on his -way across the yard, and inform him of this new development of -affairs. The chamberlain looked aghast. -</p> - -<p> -“Did you obtain an interview with her Majesty the last time you were -here, monsieur?” he demanded of Mansfield, plunging violently up the -steps of the verandah as he spoke. -</p> - -<p> -“No, I saw no one but a lady-in-waiting named Von Staubach.” -</p> - -<p> -“There!” said M. Stefanovics, obviously much relieved, to General -Banics, “you see the change in her Majesty cannot be owing to——” a -reproving glance cut him short, and he turned again to Mansfield. “But -what is your message, monsieur? or is it private?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, no, not at all. Count Mortimer is ordered to make a short stay at -Brutli for his health, and he is anxious to know whether his presence -here would be disagreeable to her Majesty.” -</p> - -<p> -“This is an outrage!” cried M. Stefanovics, almost dancing with rage. -“Is it possible that the man can dare to force his presence again upon -our august mistress, pursuing her even into the solitudes whither she -has retreated to hide her sorrows? He, of all people! Such -shamelessness is incredible.” -</p> - -<p> -“Stefanovics, you are a fool!” growled General Banics. “How can it -affect her Majesty if the Count comes here? His movements have no -interest for her. His sending this message is a piece of impertinence. -If you attribute any importance to it, you encourage the man in his -presumption.” -</p> - -<p> -“Settle it between yourselves, gentlemen,” said Mansfield mildly. “I -am fortunate in having her Majesty as the final court of appeal.” -</p> - -<p> -M. Stefanovics dragged the General aside, and they talked rapidly and -emphatically for some minutes, such sentences reaching Mansfield as, -“Can he have written already?” “He is aiming at re-establishing his -old ascendency.” “He thinks that by coming here ill he will move her -pity.” -</p> - -<p> -“Monsieur,” said M. Stefanovics, returning, and addressing Mansfield -with a judicial air, “we wish to know whether your master has any -ulterior object in this extraordinary proceeding?” -</p> - -<p> -“Really,” replied Mansfield, with extreme innocence, “I can’t say.” -</p> - -<p> -“But does he entertain any hopes—any designs——” -</p> - -<p> -“If you will be so good as to ask me a plain question, monsieur, I -will try to give you a plain answer.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then is he hoping to resume his old position with her Majesty?” -</p> - -<p> -“May I ask what that was?” -</p> - -<p> -“He was privately betrothed to her.” -</p> - -<p> -“If it was private, how is it that you know anything about it?” -</p> - -<p> -Confusion kept M. Stefanovics silent for a moment. “Madame Stefanovics -was in the secret,” he said at last, “and when the affair terminated, -she revealed the whole thing to me, in her indignation against Count -Mortimer.” -</p> - -<p> -“You and your wife are a pair of chatterboxes!” cried General Banics -suddenly, in a fury of indignation. “No secrets are safe with you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you, General,” said Mansfield warmly; “I accept the reproof. -Count Mortimer’s secrets are safe with me. Not even to you will I -reveal them.” -</p> - -<p> -M. Stefanovics had been speechless and almost black in the face with -rage, but his delight on hearing his colleague thus hoist with his own -petard relieved his mind, and he broke into a shout of laughter. -</p> - -<p> -“Aha, General, the Englishman is too clever for us! Come, monsieur, -what is it you ask?” -</p> - -<p> -“All I want you to do is to let me wait in the anteroom while you -carry the message to the Queen, so that I may be at hand if her -Majesty is pleased to wish to ask me anything.” -</p> - -<p> -“Excellent!” said M. Stefanovics, his good-humour quite restored. -“Your demands are commendably moderate, monsieur. You will join us at -lunch first?” -</p> - -<p> -The meal passed off peacefully, although General Banics preserved a -persistent silence and an expression of cold contempt towards both -Mansfield and M. Stefanovics, and when it became his duty to conduct -the uninvited guest to the Institution in the afternoon, he relieved -the monotony of the climb by a single remark only. -</p> - -<p> -“Understand, monsieur,” he burst out, standing still in the middle of -the pathway, and glaring down at Mansfield, who was following him, “if -your master succeeds in adding so much as a finger’s weight to her -Majesty’s sorrows, I will kill him in her very presence!” -</p> - -<p> -“There would be two people to reckon with in such a case, General—her -Majesty and Count Mortimer himself,” said Mansfield, with great -calmness. “It will be time enough, surely, to avenge the Queen when -she asks for your help?” -</p> - -<p> -The cool reasonableness of this speech stung the General to the quick, -and uttering an inarticulate grunt, he turned to resume the march up -the hill. Arrived at the Institution, he left Mansfield in the -deaconesses’ guest-chamber, while he went to inquire the Queen’s -pleasure, returning shortly, with a very bad grace, to say that her -Majesty desired his attendance. The Queen was sitting in a marble -verandah, which looked upon a small enclosed garden, warm and bright -in spite of the advanced season of the year, and musical with -fountains. Madame Stefanovics, a lady almost as stout and -comfortable-looking as her husband, was with her, but when General -Banics had presented Mansfield and retired to the door, she also -retreated out of earshot, and Ernestine gave her visitor a significant -smile. -</p> - -<p> -“We must not shock Banics,” she said. “He does not know that I have -ever seen you before. But tell me, is the Count’s illness serious?” -her voice shook with anxiety. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, madame. It is merely over-fatigue from the journey.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, the sheikh told me of your wonderful adventures. But I was -terrified when Banics said he was ill. You see, in his case I cannot -be sure whether his illnesses are merely—political, or whether he is -making light of a serious malady for reasons of state.” -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed, madame, this attack is genuine, but only temporary, I am -sure.” -</p> - -<p> -The confident assurance brought the smile again to the Queen’s face. -“He must recover quickly, for I am all impatience to see him. There is -so much to be arranged, you know. Only the ladies are in the secret, -and I have left Anna Mirkovics to act as my deputy at Sitt Zeynab. -Banics and Stefanovics must hear of the betrothal before it is -announced to the world. They have been so faithful to me. You will -tell the Count this?” -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly, madame. Does your Majesty wish to send him any other -message?” -</p> - -<p> -“Tell him”—she paused, and the smile grew dazzling—“give him all the -messages you would wish to receive were you in his place. You -understand?” -</p> - -<p> -She held out her hand, and Mansfield kissed it and retired in a state -of ecstatic confusion. Philippa was Philippa still, and there was no -one like her in all the world, but here was a woman in whose cause a -man might joyfully die, and dying, ask no reward but a glance from her -eyes. Once Mansfield had wondered at Cyril’s renewed devotion to the -Queen, which seemed so foreign to his character, and was kept in such -strict subjection by his own will, but since he had seen her he had -ceased to wonder. No man who had once succumbed to her charm of -manner, however valiantly he might struggle against it, could ever -escape from his bondage to those smiles. Mansfield felt no surprise at -the fierceness with which General Banics was prepared to defend his -mistress. It was only natural. In the General’s circumstances, -Mansfield would have been impelled to do the same himself. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -Two days later, Cyril, with his train of attendants, was established -in the village inn, to the huge delight of the landlord, whose -self-satisfaction made itself felt even in Damascus, leading, as it -did, to visions of a huge hotel, to be built <i>alla Franca</i> on the site -of the present modest edifice, and to become renowned throughout the -Levant as a sanatorium. On the evening of Cyril’s arrival, General -Banics, with fierce disinclination bristling in every hair of his -moustache, took his way across the courtyard in uniform to inquire -after his health, and to intimate that her Majesty had been pleased to -consent to receive him the next day. The reception was a very formal, -full-dress affair, designed for the sole benefit of the Thracian -officials and Fräulein von Staubach, who had been excluded from the -secret of the desert reconciliation owing to a well-grounded distrust -of her discretion. Still, since she believed firmly that the Queen had -returned to ordinary life solely on account of her letter, despatched -after Mansfield’s first visit to Brutli, she was not without her -compensations. Everything was done with great ceremony, and the -deaconesses and their Syrian flock were duly impressed, while Cyril -was so much exhausted that he could scarcely mount his horse to ride -back to the inn. The suggestion of the formal audience had been his -own, however, and his return was followed by a message brought by M. -Stefanovics, to the effect that her Majesty had been grieved to see -how ill Count Mortimer was looking, and that she hoped he would avail -himself of her pleasant sheltered garden whenever he felt well enough -to be out of doors. It was not to be expected that his presence should -exclude the Queen from her own domain, or that their meeting there -should be marked by the formality of the state reception, and towards -the end of the first afternoon Fräulein von Staubach, who had been in -attendance, crept noiselessly into the house, and ran to the room -where Baroness von Hilfenstein and Madame Stefanovics were sitting. -</p> - -<p> -“It is all settled! They are reconciled, the betrothal is renewed!” -she cried rapturously. “I saw them exchange flowers—roses and sprays -of myrtle. Oh, I was sure it would come right! I just slipped in to -tell you. I could not wait.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how can you be certain?” asked Madame Stefanovics cautiously. -</p> - -<p> -“Certain! I shall ask her Majesty,” was the reply, as Fräulein von -Staubach slipped back to her post. It was with the freedom of a -privileged confidant that she attacked the Queen that evening. -</p> - -<p> -“Dearest madame, may we not be allowed to congratulate you? Is not -something going to happen that will make us all very happy? You know -that your happiness is ours.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is that so, Sophie? Then you must be very happy at this moment.” -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed I am, madame. May I make the rest happy too?” -</p> - -<p> -“No; I will tell Banics and Stefanovics myself,” said the Queen, and -she did so the next morning. Whatever their secret thoughts were upon -the matter, they appreciated their mistress’s consideration in -communicating the news personally, and crushed down their feelings -nobly when they congratulated Cyril. There was to be no secrecy this -time about the betrothal. If Cyril had desired any delay in the -announcement, he could not have asked it, with the memory of that -twelve years’ engagement, which Ernestine had accepted with such -unwillingness, and which had ended so sadly, fresh in his mind. They -exchanged rings, therefore, in German fashion, and after taking this -decisive step, notified their respective relations of the -understanding to which they had come. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, the news filtered down into the village through the -gossip of the servants, and quickly reached Colonel Czartoriski at -Damascus by the agency of one of the men employed at the inn, with -whom he had bargained to keep him informed of all that went on. -Unfortunately, however, the announcement that the Queen had begun to -appear in public and to receive visitors only arrived at the same -time; so that he found it was too late to carry out his orders and -anticipate a reconciliation. In this dilemma he telegraphed to the -Princess of Dardania for instructions, receiving the prompt reply, -“Deliver my letter to her immediately,” and this he proceeded at once -to do. It was with the utmost reluctance that Ernestine consented to -receive him. The shrinking dread of her cousin, with which the -sufferings endured at her hands had filled her, made her feel -instinctively that the request boded ill to her new happiness, and she -was only partially reassured by the reminder from her ladies that -Colonel Czartoriski had been entreating an opportunity of delivering -his mistress’s letter for months past, so that it could not possibly -be concerned with the engagement. She received the visitor with the -utmost formality, accepted at his hands the packet with which he was -charged, made and answered the customary polite inquiries, and -dismissed him, graciously but with marked coldness. She was not by -nature a vindictive woman, but the injuries which the Princess of -Dardania had done her were such as she could never forgive. -</p> - -<p> -A few minutes later, Cyril, lounging idly on the grass beside one of -the fountains in the garden, was disturbed by Fräulein von Staubach, -who told him that the Queen wished to speak to him, adding the -gratuitous information that her Majesty was very much troubled about -something. He found Ernestine, as usual, in the marble verandah which -served her as a presence-chamber. She had an open letter before her, -and her face was very pale as she looked up at him. -</p> - -<p> -“Cyril,” she said fearfully, “this comes from my cousin Ottilie.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now for it!” was Cyril’s inward comment, as he braced himself to meet -the blow, the imminence of which had been little present to his mind -of late. “I hope it hasn’t brought you any bad news?” he added, with a -coolness which he was far from feeling, but which tended to reassure -the Queen. -</p> - -<p> -“I have only looked at the first page,” she said; “but I can see that -it is an attack upon you. She says that you have injured her -deeply—that you belong to her, and not to me. Cyril, I must know, I -must be sure! Do you love her? have you ever loved her?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have never loved her, and I don’t now.” -</p> - -<p> -“You have never asked her to marry you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Never.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then that is all I want to know.” She sprang up, and lifting the -perforated cover from the <i>mangal</i>, or brazier, which stood close to -the divan, threw the letter upon the glowing charcoal. “I won’t read -any more. I am not interested in what she says against you. If you had -really belonged to her, I would have given you up, though it would -have broken my heart; but I can trust you, Cyril, and I do. You may -have injured her, as she says—I know I am shut out of your political -schemes,” she smiled sadly, “and I don’t ask how or why it was—but it -was not in that way.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dearest, I wish I was more worthy of your trust.” -</p> - -<p> -“Trust me, my beloved; I shall always trust you.” -</p> - -<p> -The subject of the unread letter was not again touched upon between -them, but Ernestine did not forget it. She had a conviction that -Colonel Czartoriski would linger in the neighbourhood in order to -watch the effect of his embassy, and inform his mistress of the -result. That very evening she caught a glimpse of him, half-concealed -among the trees by the wayside, watching her as she rode. This was -merely what she had expected, and she had prepared a disappointment -for him. Turning and beckoning with smiling imperiousness to Cyril, -who was close behind, she reined in her horse that he might ride -beside her. As they rode, she engaged him in a low-toned confidential -conversation, quite contrary to her wont in public, stretching out a -hand the while to play with his horse’s mane. A second glance showed -her presently that Colonel Czartoriski had seen enough, and was -retreating down the road, with defeat in all his aspect, and she shook -her riding-whip at his unconscious form. -</p> - -<p> -“Go and tell your mistress exactly what you saw!” she cried -passionately, and laughed at the sudden dawn of comprehension in -Cyril’s face. -</p> - -<p> -Baffled in his quest, Colonel Czartoriski left Brutli, acting upon -instructions from the Princess of Dardania, and a few days of intense -quiet and happiness succeeded his departure. The unfeigned joy felt by -all the attendants of the betrothed pair in their reconciliation was -reflected in the faces of the deaconesses and their Syrian peasants, -and smiling looks and gifts of flowers or fruit greeted both Cyril and -Ernestine everywhere. Even the melancholy Paschics went about with a -beaming countenance and a flower in his buttonhole, and Mr Hicks’s -characteristic pessimism displayed itself only in a remark aside to -Mansfield, to the effect that this was the calm before the storm. What -he wanted to know was, what would all those European kings think about -it? -</p> - -<p> -It happened that the Chevalier Goldberg was at the Schloss at -Vindobona, closeted with the Emperor on a matter of high financial -importance, when the Queen’s letter to her Pannonian kinsfolk arrived. -The Chevalier had received the news of the engagement by telegram some -days before, and therefore his presence at the palace on this -particular morning may or may not have been accidental. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Goldberg, so our friend Mortimer is to marry Queen Ernestine?” -said the Emperor, returning to the room after being summoned away by a -message from the Empress. -</p> - -<p> -“So I have heard, sir.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, no one is likely to offer any real objection. The Emperor -Sigismund will dislike the idea, no doubt, but he has no means of -coercing the Queen, and her son’s past treatment of her debars him -from putting in a claim to interfere. But it is a preposterous affair, -for Mortimer is little better than a beggar. I thought, Goldberg, that -you financiers always made a point of paying your instruments well, -that they might do you credit?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have sometimes thought, sir, that your Majesty, and I, and the -Syndicate I represent, and various other important people, are only -the instruments—the pawns, if you will—of this little Englishman, -who plays because it interests him to move the pieces.” -</p> - -<p> -The Emperor smiled. “We shall have to do something for him, I -suppose,” he said. “Is there anything that strikes you as particularly -suitable?” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, sir, your Majesty knows that there is one post for which Count -Mortimer is supremely fitted. His appointment to it would be welcomed -with acclamation by the Jews all over the world.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are sure of that? Well, I will set on foot negotiations. I am -uneasy—in common with the whole Catholic world—about those fortified -convents which Scythia has for years been so busy erecting on every -point of vantage round Jerusalem. At the present moment I think we -should be able to make her see reason; but when this famine is -over——! But the Jews must be unanimous, Chevalier. That is -indispensable.” -</p> - -<p> -“I cannot conceive that any opposition could arise, sir.” -</p> - -<p> -“Tell me, Goldberg, is Mortimer marrying the Queen in order to become -Prince of Palestine, or seeking to become Prince of Palestine that he -may marry the Queen?” -</p> - -<p> -“I cannot say, sir. I can only surmise that it will be the proudest -moment of his life when he can lay his coronet at her Majesty’s feet.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are diplomatic. After all, his motives do not concern us.” -</p> - -<p> -“May I entreat a favour of your Majesty? My friend has done me the -honour to invite me to assist at his wedding, and if I might be -permitted to inform him of the gracious intentions with which——” -</p> - -<p> -“You may intimate in private the probable course of events, but not -publicly. When is the wedding? Not settled? Oh, you need not try to -deceive me for politeness’ sake, Chevalier. It is better that I should -not know until it is all over. Make it a <i>chose jugée</i>; there is no -going behind that, you know. The sooner the better.” -</p> - -<p> -The day after this interview had taken place at Vindobona, a letter -from Cyril reached Llandiarmid, communicating the great news to Lord -Caerleon, and containing a proposal which excited the younger members -of the family almost to the verge of lunacy. -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -“I want you to do something for me, Caerleon. Will you bring Nadia and -the young ones to Damascus for the wedding? I need not tell you what a -pleasure your presence would be to me, and Ernestine would appreciate -the kindness deeply, especially as none of her own family are likely -to be here. You need give yourselves no trouble. Goldberg has taken -Ormsea’s yacht, the White Lady, for a year or two, and will pick you -up at Brindisi and bring you straight to Beyrout. He is charged also -with the duty of securing the parson, for there does not happen to be -an English clergyman here at this moment, and we have decided that it -would be unfair to ask any of the German missionaries to officiate, -since they stand in such abject terror of the Emperor Sigismund. I -have made up my mind you will all come. Bring Wright with you, if you -can tear the old fellow away from domestic joys. It will be something -for him to remember all the rest of his life. It is just possible that -there may be some further sights and ceremonies that will interest you -after the wedding; but I don’t want to estimate prematurely the yield -of the international incubator. Telegraph to Goldberg at Venice if you -can come, and entreat Nadia—for Ernestine’s sake, for my sake, for -any sake—to leave her Needlework Guild and Nursing Association and -Society for Making People Virtuous by Act of Parliament to take care -of themselves for a month or so, and to give the bride the support of -her presence. I know you’ll come, old man.” -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -“<i>Oh</i>, father!” burst from Philippa, as her father finished reading -the letter aloud. “Oh, mother!” -</p> - -<p> -“You feel that we ought to go, Carlino?” said Lady Caerleon. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, how did you know that? Well, yes, I do.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course,” said Philippa; “and Usk’s vacation begins to-morrow. He -can meet us in London as we pass through. It all fits in beautifully. -To see Uncle Cyril married, and to a Queen! It’s like a book—like an -old romance. Don’t you feel as if you were a Crusader, father? To go -to Palestine, and all this as well!” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch21"> -CHAPTER XXI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">A NEW FACTOR.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">The</span> gracious gentleman will pardon me, but—he has the appearance -of a divine of the English Church?” -</p> - -<p> -The young clergyman who was standing watching the pigeons in the -Piazza San Marco turned and looked curiously at the deferential Jew -who had addressed him in English. “Certainly, I am a clergyman of the -Church of England,” he said. -</p> - -<p> -“Will the gracious divine do me the favour to accompany me on board -the yacht White Lady, which is lying in the lagoon? There is one of -his compatriots who stands in urgent need of his ghostly services.” -</p> - -<p> -“The White Lady? That’s Lord Ormsea’s yacht, isn’t it? I’m afraid Lord -Ormsea would not consider me very sound, from his point of view, but -if he told you to fetch any clergyman you met, no doubt the case is -urgent. Yes, of course I’ll come. What is the matter with the sick -person?” -</p> - -<p> -“I was not told, gracious sir. If the venerable divine will give -himself the trouble to step this way, I have a gondola waiting.” -</p> - -<p> -There was the usual mass of tourists and idlers thronging the -Piazzetta as the clergyman followed his guide through it, and he did -not observe that the Jew exchanged signals with a co-religionist in -the crowd, who disappeared immediately. Ill informed as the messenger -seemed to be as to the cause of his embassy, he was an eminently -conversational person. The sight of the Giudecca, as they passed it, -set flowing such a stream of historical reminiscence that the -clergyman listened in fascinated silence, and scarcely noticed the -length of the journey, or the fact that the yacht was lying close to -the Porto di Lido, in readiness to proceed to sea. It struck him, -however, as strange that the sailors who were at hand to help him up -the side made no reference to the invalid for whose benefit he had -been summoned on board, and that the Jew hurried him across the deck -before he could reply to the captain’s civil words of welcome. -Understanding that the owner was in the saloon, he followed his guide -below, and found himself in the presence, not of that militant -Neo-Anglican, Lord Ormsea, but of a stout, bearded gentleman of -unmistakably Hebraic appearance. -</p> - -<p> -“De Referend Alexander Chudson, I think?” said the stranger, coming -forward with outstretched hand. “My dear sir, I am unspeakably -grateful to you for hurryink so promptly to de assistance off my poor -frient.” -</p> - -<p> -“I beg your pardon, I understood I was coming on board Lord Ormsea’s -yacht?” said Mr Judson diffidently. His host laughed. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, den you hef not heard det I hef hired de White Lady for three -years? I shell take her to Cowes next summer. Permit me to introdooce -myself—de Chefalier Goldberg, off de house off Goldberg Frères, -Findobona and Lutetia.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Judson bowed and murmured politely. “Will you kindly let me see the -sick person at once?” he added. “I never like losing a moment in these -cases.” -</p> - -<p> -The Chevalier waved his hands. “Pressently, pressently, my dear sir. -But what did you say—de sick person? Dere iss no one sick.” -</p> - -<p> -“Surely I haven’t come to the wrong ship, have I? I understood from -the messenger that there was an Englishman on board dangerously -ill—and he brought me here.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, dere iss some mistake! Did det fool employ dose words?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, now that I remember, he did not exactly. He said that the man -needed my ghostly services, I believe.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, det explains de metter!” cried the Chevalier, laughing joyously. -“It iss to merry de Englishman, not to bury him, det you are wanted, -my dear sir.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that’s impossible!” cried the clergyman, starting back. “The -marriage would not be legal.” -</p> - -<p> -The Chevalier’s countenance exhibited every sign of the deepest -dejection. “But dis iss a blow!” he cried. “What iss de law, referend -sir?” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Judson’s own mind was not quite clear about the matter, but he did -his best to give reasons for his very definite impression that the -celebration of the marriage of a British subject in foreign parts, -without the presence of one of Her Majesty’s representatives, would -render all concerned in it liable to divers pains and penalties. The -Chevalier heard him to the end with great politeness, putting -questions now and then which led the conversation into pleasant little -legal byways, and finally observed complacently— -</p> - -<p> -“But dis will be all right, you see, for de merrich iss to take place -at Damascus, and de British Consul will be dere.” -</p> - -<p> -“Damascus! But you said it was to be on board. What!—why—we are -moving!” -</p> - -<p> -“We hef been mofink some time, my dear sir. You are on your way to -Syria, where de bride and bridegroom are waitink.” -</p> - -<p> -“But this is intolerable, sir! This is kidnapping!” -</p> - -<p> -“It shell be my endeafour to make it fery tolerable to you, my dear -sir—an agreeable extension off your holiday, det iss all.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I must go back to my work. I am expected.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now, come,” the Chevalier laid a paternal hand on Mr Judson’s -coat-sleeve, “be reassonable, my dear sir. Your luggich iss all -brought on board. My achent hess telegrephed to your rector det you -are summoned suddenly to Pelestine. Your bill at de hotel iss paid, de -proprietor iss told det you are unexpectedly called away. Eferythink -iss complete, no mystery, no trouble.” -</p> - -<p> -“Really, I think you are the coolest hand I ever met.” -</p> - -<p> -“You compliment me too much. See, you receife your pessich out and -home again, and fife hundret pounts for your <i>douceur</i>—your fee. You -gif your rector ten pounts for his fafourite Society—it iss for de -confersion off de Chews, iss it not?—and you go beck and tell him -more about de Chews den he efer knew before.” -</p> - -<p> -There was a malicious twinkle in the curate’s eye. “Now, how in the -world did you guess that we were interested in the Jews at our place?” -</p> - -<p> -“You hef been seen wanderink about de Giudecca, you hef spoken to many -Chews in oder parts off Fenice, and asked dem questions about deir -faith.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s true. I have made many inquiries of them, and for a very good -reason. You will be interested to know that I am the son of Salathiel -Yehudi, the converted Jew, who has spent the greater part of his life -at Baghdad, as a missionary to his own people.” -</p> - -<p> -An instantaneous change swept over the Chevalier’s smiling face. “Det -apostate!” he cried, then took refuge in Hebrew, “that vile serpent! -that betrayer of Israel! and I have welcomed his son on board my -ship!” -</p> - -<p> -“You will allow me to remind you that I had no desire to come on board -your ship, and that I am quite ready to leave it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pardon me. You understend Hebrew? I should not hef thought——” -</p> - -<p> -“My father has brought us all up to claim our share in the privileges -of our race. We are proud of being Israelites, I assure you. But,” as -the Chevalier shuddered involuntarily, “perhaps you will now be kind -enough to put me on shore?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear sir, what iss det you say? put you on shore? No, no, you are -needed. You hef studied de phenomena off de pressent Return? You hef -heard off Count Mortimer? He it iss det dessires your serfices. He iss -to merry de moder off de King of Thracia, and dere are reassons off -state why it should be done quietly.” -</p> - -<p> -“But, my good sir, why go about it in this theatrical fashion? If I -chose to make a fuss, I could set Europe ringing with your -extraordinary proceedings.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, you do not know: I hef tried. I meet an English clerchyman, an -old acquaintance, at Fenice: I engache him to sail wid me and perform -dis merrich, gifink him no names. He agrees. What should suddenly -possess him to write to his wife and tell her about de mysterious -business, so det de lady telegrephs beck ‘Must be somethink wronk. -Inform de police and return home.’ My dear sir, det referend men left -Fenice at once, and telegrephed to me from de frontier to say det he -was gone. He also informed de police of de metter, and dey suspect me -of intendink to kidnep an heiress—me! Dey would hef detained de -yacht, I beliefe, if I hed stayed here lonker. Det iss why I kidnep -you.” -</p> - -<p> -“But really, you know—How am I to be sure that it’s all right?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear sir, you shell hef a prifate interfiew wid de bridegroom -before de ceremony—wid de Queen also, if she will consent to receife -you. But I am forgettink. De Count’s broder, de Marquis off Caerleon, -iss comink on board at Brindisi wid his femily, to assist et de -weddink. If you are not setisfied when you hef seen dem, you shell -leafe de ship at once. Now are you confinced off my <i>bona fides</i>?” -</p> - -<p> -“Quite,” said the clergyman politely. He did not mention that during -his theological course at Latimer Hall, he had met Lord Usk two or -three times on Sunday evenings at the Principal’s, but the -recollection afforded him a distinct gratification. If his host had -provided another trap for him, he had at any rate the means of turning -the tables. -</p> - -<p> -But it was undoubtedly the genuine Usk who came on board at Brindisi -with his parents and sister, and showed himself as delighted to meet a -fellow-Man (in the Cambridge sense) as Mr Judson was to see him. Thus -reassured, the curate was quite satisfied to fall in with the -arrangement so unceremoniously made for him. The Chevalier treated his -guests with princely hospitality, and the voyage was pleasant and -uneventful. The only cloud on the horizon appeared at Larnaka, where -the Chevalier found waiting for him at his agent’s some news that -perturbed him considerably. He discussed it at length with his -secretary and two or three of the chief Jews of the place, then sent -off several long telegrams to Damascus, and returned to his guests -with his usual cheerfulness restored. -</p> - -<p> -“I hef put it all in your broder’s hends, my lord,” he said gleefully -to Lord Caerleon, who expressed a hope that he had not received bad -news. “I hef thrown it upon his shoulders, and I feel safe. He will -not fail me.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -The Chevalier’s telegrams were opened by Paschics, who rode into -Damascus daily in order to keep the office-work from falling into -arrears, and now returned immediately to Brutli with a peremptory -demand for Count Mortimer’s presence in the city, since a fresh crisis -had arisen with which he alone could deal. Cyril’s disinclination for -work was as marked as it had been when his illness began, but he -allowed himself to be dragged from his pleasant lotos-eating existence -by the ruthless Paschics, and swept with his whole train down to -Damascus. The imperious summons was all the more distasteful, since -Ernestine was intending to leave Brutli for the city the next day. The -house, which had been placed at her disposal by a wealthy German -merchant who had married a former deaconess, would not be ready to -receive her until the time originally fixed, so that she would be -deprived of Cyril’s escort on the journey. Paschics saw, or thought he -saw, that he had incurred his leader’s deep displeasure by his -persistence in demanding his return, and as soon as the cavalcade was -out of sight of the Institution, he pressed forward to Cyril’s side. -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed, Excellency, it is absolutely necessary. There is——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, don’t din the whole thing into me just now, Paschics. When we get -to Damascus will be time enough. I can’t think when I am riding.” -</p> - -<p> -Paschics fell back to his former station, trying to remember whether -he had ever heard his employer object hitherto to thinking in any -circumstances. He himself was thoroughly alarmed by the crisis, and he -half feared that Cyril failed to realise its seriousness. As soon as -they reached the house he hurried him into the room where they had -been accustomed to work; and while Mr Hicks sat down to examine a -series of urgent telegrams which had arrived for him, and Mansfield -uncovered the typewriter in readiness to begin operations, he -summarised as tersely as possible the state of affairs described by -the Chevalier’s correspondents. -</p> - -<p> -Ten days before, the readers of all the more important papers -throughout Europe had found themselves confronted by an advertisement -bidding them to “Look out for the Yellow Pamphlet!” The advertisement -appeared each succeeding day in a different position and in different -type, and a week after its first insertion the Yellow Pamphlet burst -upon the world. The newsvendors were laden with it, the bookstalls -groaned under it, and it was sent gratuitously to vast numbers of -prominent people everywhere, especially among the Jews. Printed in -English, French, German, and Jargon, it made its appearance -simultaneously all over Europe, Egypt, and Algeria; and it was a -significant fact that the Anti-Semitic papers, together with a good -many journals which were not supposed to share their views, devoted a -large portion of their issue on the day of its publication to quoting -from its contents and drawing inferences from them. Enormous as the -cost of production must have been, the <i>brochure</i> had sold, said the -telegrams, in such numbers that it was probable it would bring an -appreciable profit to its proprietor. Its title was “The Syndicate and -its Hero,” and it was addressed to all honest men. With an affectation -of judicial impartiality which rendered its statements all the more -damaging, it set out to prove that the United Nation Syndicate, -despite its professedly philanthropic object, was in reality nothing -less than a scheme for rendering the Jews absolutely masters of the -world. The steps by which, under Cyril’s leadership, the Syndicate had -coerced one government after another, until it had borne down all -opposition to its Palestine scheme, were traced with as much -minuteness as was requisite to vouch for the writer’s knowledge of his -subject. Then came the application. Practice had made perfect, and -there was no room for doubt that the machinery, tested by means of -these various trial trips, as they might be called, would quickly be -used for larger ends. The world lay helpless at the feet of the Jew, -but—it was for the Jew to consider whether this triumph was not -likely to be too dearly bought. -</p> - -<p> -Having exposed the real nature of the aims of the Syndicate, the -pamphlet proceeded to deal with its hero—Cyril. Between Count -Mortimer and the Jews there existed an unholy alliance, by virtue of -which he was to be raised to a position commensurate with his -ambitious designs, in return for his betrayal of Christendom. His -first attempt to make himself Prince of Palestine had been balked by -the address of the lady to whom he had confided his schemes, and the -sturdy honesty of Dr Texelius; but he had found a more adaptable tool. -Another lady, whose former history was not unconnected with his own, -and who, on his fall, had quitted society in a fit of pique at her -loss of political power, was willing to return to it in any capacity -that might offer her a scope for a fancied talent of intrigue. Thus -worthily supported, Count Mortimer had proceeded, in the most -barefaced manner, to force himself upon the world as the only possible -ruler of Palestine, as a conjurer forces a particular card upon his -audience. He had openly assumed the title of Prince of the Jews, and -in that name had traversed Palestine and the surrounding countries -from end to end, making treaties on his own authority, and organising -a <i>plébiscite</i> which was designed to give his usurpation the -semblance of legality. This desirable end effected, he would continue -to play into the hands of the Syndicate, with the added prestige of -place and power to assist him, while they would maintain and -strengthen his position by virtue of their command of the world’s -finance. The position would be a proud one for him, no doubt; but was -it worth while for the Jews to drive Europe to desperation, and bring -upon themselves universal hatred, which was only too likely to lead to -universal reprisals, merely in order to provide a throne for Count -Mortimer? -</p> - -<p> -Thus far the Yellow Pamphlet. The telegrams added that on the -afternoon of the day of publication representatives of the press had -interviewed a number of the prominent personages in various countries -to whom it had been sent. On the subject of the revelations contained -in it, the utmost horror and detestation was expressed by one and all -of those appealed to. Everywhere the timid, cowering before the -prospect of popular fury, sought to save themselves by sacrificing -some one else, and the bold rejoiced cynically in the chance of -ridding themselves of a severe master. The scapegoat was the same in -both cases. All the Hebrews who conceived themselves to have any -grudge against Cyril—Texelius, the theoretical republican Rubenssohn, -the English Jews, the schemers he had disappointed at Jerusalem and -Alexandria—displayed the most engaging ignorance of any political -designs on the part of their nation. It had never entered their minds -that the Syndicate could have any but a purely philanthropic object; -but if they had been misled, let it be summarily crushed as soon as -its work in acquiring Palestine was done. In any case it was clear -that Count Mortimer must be thrown overboard. He had traded upon the -guileless simplicity of the Hebrew community in order to secure his -own advancement, and corrupted the innocence of its keenest minds. -There would be justice as well as policy in flinging him to the wolves -that were clamouring for Jewish blood. -</p> - -<p> -This prompt repudiation of Cyril and all his ways had proved so -convincing to the general public that the mob which had set out to -wreck the Jewish houses remained to acclaim their owners, and Semite -and Anti-Semite were exchanging pledges of eternal friendship all over -Europe. Before the joint influence of fear and interest, the United -Nation collapsed like a house of cards. The kings of finance, who had -no sentimental care for Palestine—Paris, rather than Jerusalem, -flaunting herself as the Holy City of their gilded dreams—had at -first yielded unwillingly to the Chevalier’s enthusiasm, backed up by -the monetary pressure he had contrived to exert, and now welcomed the -opportunity of throwing off the yoke. The orthodox Rabbis, who, with a -few exceptions, had used all their influence in opposition to the -Zionist movement, and had viewed its progress with fear and aversion, -as likely to transfer their power to the hands of the free-thinking -Jews and such enthusiasts as Rabbi Schaul, gloried openly in the -<i>exposé</i>. The rank and file of the Children of Zion alone remained -faithful. Thus the Jewish world was split in two, and the unanimity -demanded by the Emperor of Pannonia was absolutely unattainable. -</p> - -<p> -Paschics laid down the last telegram, and looked expectantly at his -employer. -</p> - -<p> -“This is the sort of thing that only a woman would do, and there is -only one woman who could have done it,” said Cyril. He was playing -idly with a paper-knife as he sat at the table. -</p> - -<p> -“But what is to be done, Excellency?” demanded Paschics, with anxious -eagerness. Cyril buried his face in his hands without replying, and -sat silent for some time. When he raised his head his face was -haggard. -</p> - -<p> -“Leave it for a while,” he said. “Mansfield, get out the chessboard, -and we will have a game.” -</p> - -<p> -The others stared at him in bewilderment, but Mansfield obeyed. It had -become rather unusual for them to play, since Cyril invariably won, -which deprived the contests of all their interest. This time, however, -Mansfield won easily. To his astonishment he saw great drops standing -on his employer’s brow when he looked up. -</p> - -<p> -“Another!” said Cyril hoarsely. -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield set the board afresh, and perceiving from his antagonist’s -keen anxiety that he attached some special importance to this -particular game, determined to play so carelessly as to make it -impossible for him not to win. Perhaps he was in the mood to regard a -victory here as a good omen for his success with regard to the larger -issues at stake. But Cyril saw the intention, and dashed his fist down -on the board. -</p> - -<p> -“For heaven’s sake, Mansfield, don’t humour me as if I was a child! I -haven’t come to that yet. Play your hardest.” -</p> - -<p> -Rearranging the pieces, Mansfield obeyed, and won the game with -ludicrous ease, not daring to glance at his opponent’s face. Cyril sat -for a moment playing with the pieces, then pushed his chair back and -stood up. -</p> - -<p> -“I believe my brain’s gone,” he said unsteadily. “I can think of -nothing. The game is up, Paschics. It must all go.” -</p> - -<p> -“Land’s sake, Count!” cried Mr Hicks, “bluff it out. You’ll be all -right in a day or two. Bluff will carry you through yet.” -</p> - -<p> -“It may, but I feel pretty certain it won’t. No, Hicks, I’m cornered. -Do your best with it, Paschics. Oh, to be for one hour—for ten -minutes—the man I was a month ago! But that’s all over now.” -</p> - -<p> -“Say, Count, you’re sick yet,” Mr Hicks cried after him as he went -out. “You bet you’ll be as spry as ever some time soon. Mr Mansfield,” -he added hastily, “if I were you I guess I’d give Dietrich the word to -keep an eye on his master, and not leave any shooting-irons lying -around.” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield rushed out with frantic haste, and Mr Hicks and the -horrified Paschics put their heads together and drew up a document -which might help to postpone the need of an explanation for a day or -two. Count Mortimer was still suffering from the effects of the -dastardly attack made upon him at Jericho, but he left his character -and his cause confidently in the hands of Europe, in the full -assurance that, until he was able to vindicate them himself, judgment -would be suspended. When this had been despatched, there was no more -that they could do. If Cyril did not regain his former powers of mind, -all, as he had said, was lost. -</p> - -<p> -He returned to the room after about an hour of restless pacing up and -down upon the house-top, with Mansfield, who fondly believed himself -unseen, dogging him from behind the trellis the whole time. He seemed -to have shaken off for the present the horror which had seized him in -its grip, and apologised for his agitation, after approving the steps -which Paschics had taken. -</p> - -<p> -“I must see a specialist,” he added carelessly, “and no doubt he will -be able to put me right. Not a word of this, please, especially to the -Queen. And, Mansfield, you will be interested to know that I don’t -intend to commit suicide just at present, so that you need not devote -your leisure hours to keeping me in view.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“Ernestine, are you on good terms with your cousin Prince Ramon of -Arragon?” -</p> - -<p> -“He and his wife called upon me this afternoon—before we were at all -settled, indeed. I think they mean to be friendly. But were you -thinking of inviting them to the—the wedding, Cyril?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not for a moment. I was wondering whether Prince Ramon would object -to my consulting him professionally?” -</p> - -<p> -Don Ramon of Arragon was the representative of one of those junior -branches of the Pannonian Imperial house which have been deprived of -political power by the changes of the nineteenth century. Far from -murmuring over his loss of sovereignty, he had accepted the inevitable -with marked satisfaction, and devoted himself to the study of -medicine, giving his services freely to all who chose to consult him. -He was now well known as a specialist in diseases of the brain, and -rumour said that even his pious intention in visiting Palestine was -not unmixed with the desire of investigating certain forms of madness -supposed to be peculiar to the East. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I’m sure he would not mind,” said the Queen eagerly. “But, Cyril, -you said you were so much better.” -</p> - -<p> -“My head doesn’t feel quite as clear as it ought, that’s all.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are sure it is nothing worse—quite sure? What a comfort it is -that the Ramons should be here just now! We are not to expect their -sympathy or countenance for our betrothal, I could see that; but I -think Ramon will be quite ready to meet you privately, in any case. -Cyril, do you mind my asking whether you are going to this -entertainment of the consuls’ to-morrow night?” -</p> - -<p> -“I was not intending to go, but I will, if you wish.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I don’t. I could not bear to see Ramon put before you. Oh, my -beloved, you don’t know how I long to see you really Prince of -Palestine, unquestionably first on your own soil. I feel quite wicked -on state occasions. I want to go down and take your hand and lead you -up beside me, and say to every one, ‘Yes, he is your king, and mine -too. Don’t dare to offer me any honours that you would refuse to -him!’” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear child, actually tears! If you only knew how little I care for -all that sort of thing.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I care. I want every one to recognise, as I do, how great you -are. It hurts me when they show me all kinds of honour because I -happen to wear a crown, and leave you in the background, when every -man there ought to be on his knees before you. You pretend not to feel -it, for my sake, but I know you do. It makes me tingle with shame. -When we are married, I shall be only your wife and nothing else, and -no one shall put me before you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I hope for both our sakes that the Emperor Sigismund will not -pay another visit to Palestine—during our reign, at any rate.” Cyril -smiled rather unsteadily. -</p> - -<p> -“As if I cared for him, or anything he could say! Cyril, I want you to -bring your brother and his family to dine with me to-night, if they -arrive in time. Your relations are to be mine, and I want to know them -all—the little girl whom Michael loves, and the rest as well. It -shall be purely a family party. I remember your sister-in-law, she had -such a beautiful face, and your brother looked so thoroughly -English—so reliable. Do you think they will be willing to love me?” -</p> - -<p> -“Madame, it doesn’t become your Majesty to fish for compliments. Your -commands shall be obeyed,” and Cyril bowed himself out of her presence -backwards in the orthodox manner. -</p> - -<p> -Whether the Queen’s anxiety was real or not, it proved to be wholly -unnecessary. Her guests that evening took her to their hearts with one -accord. She was so beautiful, so gracious, so devoted to Cyril, that, -to use their own expression, Usk and Philippa “simply grovelled” at -her feet from the first moment they saw her. It was no more possible -that she had ill-treated Cyril than that he had ill-treated her, and -Philippa fell back on the theory of a misunderstanding, for which both -might perhaps be slightly to blame, but no more. Her parents took an -equal delight in the reconciliation, for they knew, as Philippa could -not know, the true story of the long waiting-time during which the -Queen’s hair had grown grey, and of the broken engagement which had -made such a grievous blank in her life. -</p> - -<p> -After dinner it was decided that the mildness of the season justified -the seeming rashness, and the Queen led her guests out into the -marble-paved courtyard. There was a good deal of happy talk about the -future as they sat under the carved arcades of curious inlaid work, -and watched the fountains springing up among the orange- and -lemon-trees. The rest remembered afterwards that Cyril refused, with -some impatience, to discuss the probability of his obtaining the -governorship of Palestine. It was in the hands of the Powers, he said, -and the less it was talked about the better were his chances. He -changed the subject almost irritably, but there was no other cloud -upon the brightness of the evening. Even Mansfield was happy, although -he was not included in the party. He had been dining with the -household, and now, as he stood leaning against the pillars at the -other end of the courtyard, smoking with M. Stefanovics, he could -feast his eyes upon what seemed to him the most beautiful sight in the -world. The blue and silver wrap which Philippa had thrown about her -had fallen back, and the moonbeams lighted up her crown of golden -curls. Not even the fact of his exclusion from the Queen’s table could -sadden Mansfield, for Philippa had been disappointed about it, -Philippa had said it was a shame, Philippa had refused to see reason -in the matter until she had appealed in vain to her uncle himself. -</p> - -<p> -But while at one end of the courtyard Philippa, sitting beside the -Queen, painted glowing pictures of the future, and Mansfield, at the -other, watched her and dreamt delicious dreams, a loud shouting became -audible. The sound came from the street, which was separated from the -inner court by an outer one, occupied by the Queen’s suite and the -servants. Some one was demanding admittance, and with no uncertain -voice. The group under the arcade turned and looked at one another, as -the porter was heard inquiring who the late arrival might be, and -Cyril felt himself growing pale. Was there at hand the announcement of -a new crisis, with which he must again confess his incapacity to deal? -It was not, however, Paschics or the Chevalier, but General Banics, -who appeared at the entrance of the passage leading to the door, and -taking three strides across the courtyard, announced— -</p> - -<p> -“Madame, his Majesty!” -</p> - -<p> -“How dare you, Banics? I forbade you to announce me!” cried a voice, -and King Michael, casting a scathing glance at his former tutor, -stepped out into the moonlight after him. “I hope, madame, there is a -welcome for me in this delightful gathering?” -</p> - -<p> -The Queen had grasped Cyril’s arm involuntarily as her son entered. -Now she loosed her clutch, but her fingers closed round his as she -stepped forward. “Any reconciliation with me must include him,” was -the announcement conveyed by her attitude, and King Michael read it -aright. -</p> - -<p> -“You will not refuse to allow me a share in your happiness, mother? My -sole desire is to stand beside you on this auspicious occasion, and do -honour to your choice. Count, I will tell you frankly that there is no -man I would welcome into my family more heartily than yourself.” -</p> - -<p> -“No reason whatever to doubt that statement!” thought Cyril grimly, -while the Queen, her eyes full of tears, raised her son and kissed him -as he stooped to kiss her hand. -</p> - -<p> -“This is the crowning point of my happiness, little son,” she -murmured, employing the old tender diminutive. -</p> - -<p> -“You have stolen a march upon me, mother,” pursued the King, quite at -his ease. “I hoped to have the honour of presenting the Lady Philippa -to you myself, but you have been before me.” Philippa crimsoned with -indignation as she yielded her finger-tips unwillingly to be kissed. -“My friend Usk, too! And these—I have no need to ask—these must be -the honoured parents of the Lady Philippa.” -</p> - -<p> -Having saluted Lord and Lady Caerleon with marked distinction, King -Michael took a chair, and signed affably to the rest to be seated. “I -must apologise for appearing in this dress,” he said, looking at his -mother, but including Philippa, as he indicated the undress naval -uniform he was wearing, “but I have had no opportunity of changing my -clothes. I have made no attempt to secure rooms at a hotel, as I hoped -my mother might be able to find a corner for me here. I have only two -or three people with me—that is all I could bring, since I came as -far as Beyrout on a ship of war.” -</p> - -<p> -This explanation was ample for those who knew that the Thracian -sea-going navy consisted of a single gunboat of moderate size, and the -Queen summoned M. Stefanovics and gave him the necessary directions. -The King continued to converse with the greatest affability, -“patronising the whole show,” as Usk complained to Mansfield -afterwards, but the pleasantness of the evening had vanished with his -entrance. That the Queen felt this she showed when she rose as the -signal for her guests to depart. She had meant this family party to be -free from the trammels of Court etiquette, but how could she carry out -her intention when her son made evident in every word and action the -intense condescension with which he was prepared to behave towards her -new relations? -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch22"> -CHAPTER XXII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE HISTORY OF AN EVENING.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">I did</span> not expect to see you here to-night, Mr Mansfield.” -</p> - -<p> -“I had no idea of coming, madame, but his Excellency insisted upon it. -M. Paschics is here too.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you know whether Prince Ramon of Arragon has visited Count -Mortimer yet?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, madame, this afternoon.” -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t happen to have heard what he thought of his health?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, madame, I did not like to ask; but his Excellency seemed quite -cheerful this evening. When I left the house, he was busy with his -servant, looking over his things, I think.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am glad he was in good spirits, but I should like to know exactly. -Might I trouble you to ask Prince Ramon to come and speak to me?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am honoured, madame.” -</p> - -<p> -In order to welcome the illustrious visitors to Damascus, the -Pannonian, Hercynian, and Thracian consuls had joined forces, -determining to provide an entertainment that should throw into the -shade everything of the kind that had been hitherto attempted in the -city. Strings of bright-coloured lamps, rich draperies, and a -profusion of greenery, had transformed the inner courtyard of the -Pannonian Consulate, which was covered in for the occasion, into a -fairy palace, and the display of dazzling uniforms, Parisian gowns, -and gay national costumes, was not unworthy of its frame. Cyril was -the only person of note at present in Damascus who was not to be seen, -and although the Queen had begged him not to come, she felt vaguely -uneasy at his absence. She welcomed Don Ramon with an anxious smile as -he approached her, not in the best of tempers. Mansfield had disturbed -him in the midst of a deeply interesting conversation. It was the -Prince’s habit to carry his scientific researches even into his hours -of ease, and the sight of a magnificent-looking old Syrian with a -venerable white beard had proved an irresistible temptation. A request -to be allowed to call upon him and take some measurements of his head -had terrified the old man, and it was with the utmost relief that he -took advantage of Mansfield’s approach to break away from this -alarming stranger, quite regardless of his feelings in the matter. -Moreover, like most of the Queen’s relations, Don Ramon had decided to -ignore her intended marriage altogether. Ernestine might disgrace -herself by an alliance with a mere noble if she liked, but her family -were unaware of the existence of any such presumptuous person as her -future husband. The Prince had visited Cyril at her request that -afternoon, not as her <i>fiancé</i>, but as a former valued servant of the -Thracian crown. His outraged family feelings combined at this moment -with his scientific preoccupation to make his manner more than usually -brusque. -</p> - -<p> -“You have seen Count Mortimer, cousin?” the Queen asked him timidly. -“I hope your opinion is favourable?” -</p> - -<p> -“Favourable, my dear cousin? The man’s case is hopeless!” -</p> - -<p> -“Hopeless!” she grasped at a pillar to support herself. “But what is -the matter with him?” -</p> - -<p> -“If I describe the injury in technical language you would be no wiser -than before. The brain has ceased to perform one of its functions.” -</p> - -<p> -“You mean that he will be—<i>mad</i>?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no; how you ladies rush at conclusions! There is no trace of -mania whatever. The man is as sane as I am. He has simply lost the -power of connected thought, of planning—plotting, if you like.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how can this be? What has happened to him?” -</p> - -<p> -“Over-strain after long and continued fatigue has done the mischief, -by what he says.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it is only temporary? Rest will cure him?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear cousin, this is not like the loss of sight or memory which -has taken place as the result of a shock, and may be restored by -another shock. The power is gone. He says that he felt as though -something snapped in his brain, and that will serve very well as a -popular description of what has occurred. The connecting-cord is -broken, and he is incapable of carrying on a train of thought.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, what will he do? what will he do?” moaned the Queen. -</p> - -<p> -“Pray do not distress yourself, cousin. Many very worthy persons are -born without the faculty of connected thought, and live happy lives, -unconscious of the defect.” -</p> - -<p> -If they were born without it, perhaps. But Cyril, who had possessed -and lost it? -</p> - -<p> -“You told him, cousin?” -</p> - -<p> -“Naturally. He is not a child. He received the news with the utmost -coolness, and conversed cheerfully as he escorted me to the door. But, -my dear cousin, you are ill—about to faint. Allow me to call my wife, -or one of your ladies.” -</p> - -<p> -“No! no!” Ernestine seized his arm and held him back. “Take me to the -cloakroom, that is all, and fetch Lord or Lady Caerleon. I want no one -else. Don’t let people make a scene.” -</p> - -<p> -She sank upon the couch to which he led her, and sat there with -clenched hands and staring eyes until he returned with Philippa, the -only member of the family whom he could find disengaged at the moment. -Receiving another fervent entreaty to say nothing of Ernestine’s -indisposition, he withdrew, and she turned frantically to Philippa. -</p> - -<p> -“Will you come with me to your uncle, at once? He has had bad news, -there is something wrong with his brain, and he has been told it too -suddenly. His friends are away, and the shock——” Her voice failed -her, but Philippa read in the piteous eyes the unspoken fear which had -seized herself as she listened, and she grasped the two trembling -hands in her own. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes, yes; let us come this moment. Usk or Mr Mansfield will help -us.” -</p> - -<p> -But Usk was the centre of a group of laughing Greek girls, who were -teaching him to pronounce their language properly, and Mansfield, -having failed to get a word with Philippa all evening, had wandered -away disconsolately with Mr Judson. Even Mr Hicks, engrossed in -subjecting a Latin bishop to an informal interview, was so busy that -Philippa could not catch his eye. -</p> - -<p> -“There is only that elderly officer who belongs to your suite, madame, -that I can see,” she said, hurrying back to the Queen. -</p> - -<p> -“Banics? Oh, fetch him—he can be trusted.” -</p> - -<p> -Philippa obeyed, and Ernestine addressed the astonished General with -feverish eagerness. “Find us a carriage, Banics. I must go at once to -Count Mortimer’s lodgings—at once, at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“At this hour, madame? Allow me to request his Excellency to wait upon -you instead,” was the sole protest General Banics permitted himself, -but his mistress waved it aside wildly. -</p> - -<p> -“You will kill me with all this delay! Find a carriage quickly. I tell -you we must go at once.” -</p> - -<p> -He hurried out, and Philippa wrapped the Queen in a dark cloak, -drawing the hood over her head. They stood waiting breathlessly until -General Banics reappeared, having taken forcible possession of the -first carriage he came across. It belonged to a private individual, -but a <i>bakhshish</i> to the servants, added to the awe-inspiring effect -of the General’s uniform and his manner, enabled him to hire it for a -short time, and he helped the ladies in and took his seat upon the box -in disapproving silence. A short drive, during which the Queen and -Philippa held each other’s hands in an agony of fear, brought them to -the Hebrew quarter. To Philippa’s intense relief, although she could -hardly have told why she felt relieved, the door of Cyril’s Jewish -host stood open, and the porter was lounging on the threshold talking -to a friend, so that the commotion usually needed before entrance -could be obtained was not called for. Earlier in the day, Philippa and -her parents had partaken of coffee with the family, in a scene that -might have come straight from the pages of ‘Tancred,’ but now every -one was away at the consuls’ entertainment, with the exception of the -aged grandfather, who was roused from his slumbers by the servants, -and came forth blinking and bewildered. Fortunately he recognised -Philippa, but precious time passed while he lamented the unfitness of -his poor house to receive the exalted young lady, wringing his hands -the while. She cut him short at last in desperation. -</p> - -<p> -“I must see my uncle at once, please. It is most important that this -lady should speak to him. No, no; you are not to say that we are -here!” -</p> - -<p> -Fairly dashing past the servants, who were already starting off to -announce her presence, she dragged the Queen in the direction of the -staircase which led to Cyril’s rooms on the upper floor, leaving the -old man still wringing his hands and murmuring feebly something about -coffee. No one guessed who the elder woman was who followed Philippa -so closely as she crossed the courtyard, although General Banics -thought it well to station himself at the foot of the staircase, in -case curiosity should be roused as to her identity. Entering the -passage from which the rooms opened, the two ladies were confronted by -the valet Dietrich, who appeared to have been placidly smoking a huge -pipe in the dark. -</p> - -<p> -“Where is Count Mortimer, Dietrich? I want to speak to him.” Philippa -lowered her voice involuntarily. -</p> - -<p> -“At work, gracious one. He must not be disturbed.” -</p> - -<p> -“You know he never meant you were to keep me out. Let me pass, -please.” -</p> - -<p> -“Alas, gracious one! I have his Excellency’s orders to admit no one.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dietrich!” Ernestine threw back her hood, and the flash of her -diamonds dazzled the valet’s astonished eyes; “you must let me -through. It is a matter of life and death for your master.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pardon, Majesty, I dare not. I have my orders.” -</p> - -<p> -Ernestine clasped her hands wildly. Philippa drew her aside. -</p> - -<p> -“Slip round by the verandah while I distract Dietrich’s attention -here,” she whispered hurriedly, and pushing past the servant, almost -succeeded in gaining the door. While he sprang forward to stop her, -the Queen slipped away and ran round to the window. It was open. Cyril -was standing with his back to her, looking narrowly into something -which he was holding up close to his eye. -</p> - -<p> -“Cyril!” she shrieked, bursting into the room. He started violently, -but as he turned to her he thrust what he was holding under a piece of -paper lying on the table. -</p> - -<p> -“Ernestine! how you startled me! You here—at this hour? What is the -matter?” -</p> - -<p> -“Give it to me! give it to me!” she cried, rushing to the table. As -she had expected, a pistol lay under the paper. Cyril’s hand came upon -hers with a firm grasp as she snatched it up. -</p> - -<p> -“No, no, you shall not! Before my eyes, Cyril!” she screamed, trying -to wrest the weapon from him. How it happened she could not tell, but -as she struggled with him there was a sudden explosion, and a bullet -whizzed close to her head, singeing her hair in its passage. Dazed and -deafened, she loosed her hold of the pistol. -</p> - -<p> -“There!” she cried, laughing hysterically. “Better me than yourself!” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril, with an ashy face, picked up the pistol, which had fallen to -the ground. The door opened impetuously, and Philippa’s horrified face -looked in. Seeing that neither was hurt, she closed the door again, -and meeting General Banics at the top of the stairs, assured him, in a -voice which she vainly tried to render steady, that there was nothing -wrong, A pistol had gone off by accident, that was all. -</p> - -<p> -“Are you hurt, Ernestine? How came you here?” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish I was hurt! I wish I had been killed!” she cried frantically, -“for then you might have been sorry. Cyril, Cyril, I thought you loved -me, and you don’t.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are talking wildly, my dearest.” -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t, and there is the proof of it.” She pointed to the -discharged pistol. “It is cruel of you. What have I done that you -should kill yourself to be rid of me?” -</p> - -<p> -“Be reasonable, Ernestine. This is an old pistol that I came across in -turning out my things. Am I to blame if it should happen to be loaded? -Accidents with fire-arms are not, absolutely unheard-of events.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that was what the world was to believe, was it?” She swept him a -superb curtsey. “Many thanks! But it is unnecessary to try to deceive -me. I have spoken to Ramon, I know all. Cyril, my beloved,” her voice -took a tone of the most poignant reproach, “have I deserved this? Am I -such a fair-weather friend that you can’t trust me to cling to you in -trouble as well as in prosperity?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Ernestine, it is because I know you would cling to me that I -decline to drag you down with my wretched self. I thought I should -have a kingdom to offer you; I find I shan’t have even an -independence. Therefore——” he pointed to the pistol. -</p> - -<p> -“But you know that I only cared for the kingdom for your sake. Oh, -Cyril, it is you I love, you I want. Your life is mine; you -cannot—dare not—rob me of it. Think of the many years you made me -suffer in loneliness. You owe me all those.” -</p> - -<p> -He was silent, and she crept closer to him. -</p> - -<p> -“Beloved, you don’t regret that I came in? that you have been held -back from taking your life like a coward? I would never have believed -any one who told me that you were afraid to face any future. You will -be greater in adversity than in success. God is sending you this trial -that your true strength may be shown.” Cyril shifted his position -impatiently. “You would not, in a moment of despair, refuse the trial, -fail under the test, and destroy your soul for ever?” -</p> - -<p> -“Really, Ernestine, this kind of argument has no weight with me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then perhaps this will weigh with you.” Stung by his tone, she tore -the diamond cross from her neck and held it towards him. “Whatever you -do not believe, you know that God and Heaven and eternal judgment are -realities to me. Understand, then, that if you take your own life, -either to-night or afterwards, I swear that I will do the same, -solemnly believing that my soul will be lost for ever in consequence -of the deed. Oh, what am I saying?” She paused and trembled, but as he -tried to wrest the cross from her, her fingers tightened upon it more -firmly. “Yes, I will do it, without hesitation. God forgive me—no, I -dare not ask Him to forgive me—God forgive you, if you drive me to -it.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril dropped into a chair, and buried his face in his hands. She -stood beside him, awaiting his decision with perfect calmness. -</p> - -<p> -“If you die, I die,” she said again. At last he looked up. -</p> - -<p> -“I give in, Ernestine. But I think you will often repent this -evening’s work.” -</p> - -<p> -“Never, even if you do.” -</p> - -<p> -“I? I shall repent it every day—every hour—of my existence.” It was -the bitter cry of the man who sees every interest and every pleasure -in life snatched from him in a moment. “I am a useless, brainless log, -and you force me to live.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dearest, there is still so much that you can do.” The woman’s -unselfishness led her to try to comfort him in his own way, instead of -resenting the little value he set upon her love. “You never even -discovered your loss until a very momentous crisis arose. If Philippa -marries Michael, you can return to Thracia, and become Premier again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Are you trying to tempt me to sacrifice poor Phil? Don’t you see that -I could never go back to office as a humdrum, routine, red-tape -Minister, incapable of effecting combinations or making bold strokes? -I could not face a horrible monotony of that sort.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then we will settle down in England, near——” -</p> - -<p> -“And add another specimen to the British collection of political -failures from the Continent? Hear myself continually pointed out as an -awful warning of the dangers of leaving the beaten track? Never!” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, then, we will go back to Sitt Zeynab. You shall reign there in -peace, and no one can come near you against your will. Wherever you -are, there I shall be happy.” -</p> - -<p> -“My poor Ernestine, I am not worth it. You had better let me die, -dear.” His eyes sought the pistol longingly. “I am a miserable, broken -wretch, with no hope and no contentment left, and I shall lead you a -terrible life.” -</p> - -<p> -“No life with you could be terrible to me. To be near you is joy -enough. It was not your success I loved, it was you, and you are the -same still. I love you, Cyril, I love you.” -</p> - -<p> -The passion of the tone, the eyes shining into his, the trembling -hands laid upon his shoulders, stirred Cyril with a stronger emotion -than he had ever known, and words came to his lips,—echoes, perhaps, -of others heard long before in his childhood—he knew not how or -whence. -</p> - -<p> -“God do so to me and more also, Ernestine, if I ever forget what you -have done for me to-night. Dearest, you understand. Some women would -have upbraided me for despising their love, but you are not like that. -And you will have your reward. Politics will never again separate me -from you, at any rate.” He kissed her gently on the forehead, and -wrapped her cloak round her. “You must go back, dear, or you will be -missed. A curious little interlude in the evening’s entertainment, -isn’t it? Well, your coming here has saved me, such as I am.” -</p> - -<p> -Ernestine choked down her sobs as she clung to him. “You will live -because I want you,” she said. “Perhaps you can’t rule the world, -beloved, but you can make one woman very happy. You have done it -already, and she is grateful.” -</p> - -<p> -She went out, and found Philippa waiting anxiously in the passage. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s all right, Phil. We have saved him,” she said, holding the -girl’s hand tightly in hers as they passed down the steps and across -the courtyard. -</p> - -<p> -“But what had happened to him?” asked Philippa breathlessly, when they -were in the carriage again. -</p> - -<p> -“Something has given way in his brain. He will never be able to plan -again.” -</p> - -<p> -“He can’t plan? Oh, poor Uncle Cyril!” cried Philippa, appalled. -</p> - -<p> -“Phil, you must help me to keep it a secret—at any rate until after -we are married. I know they will part me from him if they can. Once I -am his wife I don’t care what happens. Only his real friends must know -of this terrible trouble, such as your father and the Chevalier -Goldberg. And we must keep Michael in a good temper. My child, you see -why he has come here? His manner in addressing you last night showed -that sufficiently. Is there any hope for him? You know how I should -rejoice to welcome you as a daughter.” -</p> - -<p> -“I would do anything else in the world for you and Uncle Cyril,” burst -from Philippa, “but not that. I don’t love him in the least. I don’t -even—like him,” she was about to say, but changed it, feebly enough, -into—“care for him.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is not your fault, Phil. I ought to be the first person to know -that love is not at one’s own command. But oh, dear child, if you -could abstain from refusing him until after the wedding is over! I -don’t mean that you should deceive him, of course, but if only you -could prevent his proposing to you——” -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll do what I can,” said Philippa doubtfully, but she felt that if -King Michael had determined to propose to her, it was probable that he -would do so, in spite of any obstacles she might put in his way. That -this intuition of hers was a correct one she discovered as soon as she -re-entered the assembly-room with the Queen. Her father was standing -not far from the cloakroom door, and stepped forward to meet her. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Phil, I have been looking for you everywhere! I could not think -what had become of you until the Prince of Arragon told me that he had -left you with her Majesty.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; I was seized with a sudden faintness, and Philippa was kind -enough to remain with me until I felt better,” said Ernestine -graciously, bestowing one of her rare smiles on Philippa as she turned -towards the Thracian consul, who was anxious to present a relative to -her. -</p> - -<p> -“Phil,” said Lord Caerleon, taking his daughter aside, “the King has -been speaking to me about you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, father!” exclaimed Philippa, in dismay. -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose I ought to feel honoured,” continued her father ruefully, -“but that youth riles me—there’s no other word for it. He asked to be -allowed to visit me to-morrow at the hotel, graciously intimating that -he considered me as in a sort of way a brother monarch, and therefore -felt able to dispense with strict etiquette. I guessed what he wanted, -and thought we might just as well settle matters without getting your -name mixed up with his, so I said I couldn’t think of giving him the -trouble. Thereupon he did you the honour to request me in so many -words to regard him as a suitor for your hand, this being merely -preliminary, as he explained, to a formal proposal through the proper -channels. I said I hadn’t had any conversation with you lately on such -subjects, but judging from the sentiments you expressed on the last -occasion, I couldn’t give him any hope. Upon that he informed me that -I wasn’t up to date. He is now a reformed character, father of his -country and so on, the condescending patron of everything that’s good. -I don’t want to laugh at any man’s reformation, Phil, but the fellow -takes himself too seriously. I told him I didn’t see that it was much -good bothering you about the matter, and he became very high and -mighty indeed. He reminded me that young ladies did not receive offers -of marriage from crowned heads every day, and intimated that such an -honour ought to be accepted in a proper spirit. In other words, he -warns you not to reject his offer without due consideration. I am -telling you about it because he insisted I should, and I thought he -might turn rusty and make some unpleasantness if I didn’t, but having -laid the proposal before you, I can now go with a good conscience and -tell him you refuse it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Wait, father, please!” cried Philippa, in an uncertain voice. “I—I -think I will take time to consider.” -</p> - -<p> -Her father turned and gazed at her. “Phil!” he said, with more sorrow -and disappointment in his voice than she had ever heard in it before. -</p> - -<p> -“I think it’s only proper, as he says,” went on Philippa, with a laugh -that was a little hysterical. Don’t you, father? I—I should not like -to be too hasty. -</p> - -<p> -“Phil, I wouldn’t insult you by imagining that you could be induced to -marry a man you didn’t love for the sake of a crown, but what in the -world are you driving at? You needn’t think anything of what I said -just now about the fellow’s making himself unpleasant to your uncle -and the Queen, for what harm could he do, after all?” Philippa -shuddered. Her father did not know what terrible harm King Michael -might do if he chose. “But at any rate, don’t give him a moral claim -upon you in this way. It’s quite unnecessary to be so tender of his -feelings.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, no moral claim,” said Philippa entreatingly. “You can tell him -you are perfectly certain that delay will make no change in my -feelings, but that if he wishes it, I will consent not to give him a -final answer until the day after the wedding. It’s—it’s due to his -position, father.” She laughed again. “I’m sure you can make him see -it in that light.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t make you out, Phil,” said Lord Caerleon doubtfully, as he -left her. Presently he returned, pulling at his moustache in a way -that showed him to be still puzzled. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Phil, I have given him your message, and he accepts it as -merely his due. I can swear I’ve done my best to choke him off, but he -won’t have it. I think he understands that he’s not to come hanging -about the hotel, setting people talking, but he may do what he can, -without making you conspicuous, to prepossess you in his favour—in -conversation and so on. He seems very well satisfied, and I hope you -are. I wish with all my heart you were safely engaged to—er—some -other fellow.” -</p> - -<p> -“Are you determining to turn me out of doors if I accept King Michael, -father? Don’t you think your way of receiving a king as a would-be -son-in-law is just a little—original?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Phil?” cried her father in distress, catching sight at last of -the tears in her eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, father, I’m so miserable—so frightened—I don’t know what to -do!” and Philippa laid her golden head on his shoulder, and sobbed -there comfortably, as if she had gone back ten years, and been a -little girl again. -</p> - -<p> -“Do you want me to get rid of the fellow for you, Phil? I’ll do it -like a shot. King or no king, I won’t have him making you cry with his -silly nonsense.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no, it’s not that. Lend me your handkerchief, father dear. This -lace thing is no good. Don’t you think mother would come home now?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m sure she would. I’ll go and ask her,” and poor Lord Caerleon went -away thoroughly puzzled. Hitherto nothing had ever interrupted the -perfect understanding between Philippa and himself, but now he was -realising miserably that his little daughter had become a woman, and -Lord Caerleon had always confessed that he did not understand women. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“Mansfield,” said Usk abruptly, when he and his friend were leaving -the Consulate in company a little later, “that idiot is after Philippa -again.” -</p> - -<p> -“What, that Thracian beast?” Mansfield’s language was far from choice, -but he was not without provocation. “Well, your father will soon kick -him out.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s what I thought, but there’s no chance of that now. She has -taken time to consider her answer, and we know what that means. I -thought I’d tell you myself, before—before you could hear it from any -one else.” Mansfield gasped, and Usk went on hurriedly, “I wouldn’t -have believed it, but the fellow told me himself. Perhaps it’s a lie.” -</p> - -<p> -“No fear!” was the sternly hopeless answer. “What would be the good, -when a word with your father would put you right at once? She has been -over-persuaded.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I know how it is. He has got round her with the notion that it’s -her duty to sacrifice herself to him for the sake of his rotten -kingdom, like a girl in a book. I’m awfully sorry, Mansfield—sick, -too.” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield answered only by an inarticulate grunt. -</p> - -<p> -“I wouldn’t have believed Phil was such an owl,” went on her brother. -“Every one knows that sort of arrangement is bound to end in an awful -smash. But never say die, old man; she may chuck him yet.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not she,” returned Mansfield, with a fixed despair. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch23"> -CHAPTER XXIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">MAN AND WIFE.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">This</span> is the irony of fate!” said Mansfield to himself the next -morning. The English mail had come in, and the city postman, going his -leisurely rounds on his white donkey, was engaged in distributing the -letters it brought. A few minutes before, he had placed in Mansfield’s -hands that which should have been his passport to paradise. The Right -Honourable Geoffrey Forfar wrote to say that one of his secretaries -had accepted an appointment under Government, and he had much pleasure -in fulfilling his promise with regard to the vacant post. Would -Mansfield kindly arrange to take up his new duties as soon as his -present employer could spare him? -</p> - -<p> -Mr Forfar would have been surprised to learn that his kindly letter -served but to inflict on its recipient torments worse than those of -Tantalus. If the offer had only arrived yesterday, Mansfield reflected -bitterly, he might have spoken to Philippa in time to forestall her -royal suitor—but no, it did not turn up until Philippa was beyond his -reach. That was how things always happened, he assured himself, for -misfortune was developing in him the usual touch of cynicism. For a -short time he had visions of accepting the post and returning to -England forthwith, throwing himself into his new work with an ardour -that carried all before it. He saw himself entering the House, backed -by Mr Forfar’s influence and the prestige of his own reputation as a -man with an unusual and practical knowledge of European politics, saw -himself, equally famous as a thinker and a debater, accepting office -and rising to giddy heights of power—and this was all undertaken for -the sake of convincing the faithless Philippa that the true lover whom -she had cast off to obtain a throne would have been able to give her -something more than the love she despised. Unfortunately for -Mansfield’s political future, his heart took fright instantly at the -idea of leaving Syria while Philippa remained there. He must be on the -spot, even if it was only to witness the complete destruction of his -hopes. It is possible, also, that those hopes were not yet quite so -absolutely dead as he imagined. -</p> - -<p> -“I won’t answer this at once,” he said, thrusting the letter into his -pocket, and turned to some notes which he was to write out for Cyril. -He had scarcely sat down when he was interrupted by the Chevalier, who -emerged from the inner room in a state of wild disorder. When he had -asked to see Cyril, Mansfield had observed that he appeared to be -labouring under great emotion, but now he seemed to have been tearing -both his hair and his clothes. He dropped into a chair opposite -Mansfield, and smote his forehead with his hands. -</p> - -<p> -“De finest brain in Europe, and de stronk defence off Zion!” he -murmured. -</p> - -<p> -“I beg your pardon?” said Mansfield, astonished. -</p> - -<p> -“You do not know? you hef not heard? All we hef done iss in fain, and -Israel may return to deir keptifity to-morrow.” -</p> - -<p> -“What has gone wrong?” Mansfield asked the question with great -anxiety. -</p> - -<p> -“Your master can plen no more; his brain iss inchured. And we, wid our -scheme on de point of fulfilment, are left desolate.” -</p> - -<p> -“That break-down the other day!” cried Mansfield. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, det must hef been de first menifestation off de melady. Ach, -Mortimer, my frient, I could always trust in you! While you lifed, -Zion was safe. And now you life still, but your mind iss dead. No, -no,” as Mansfield started up frantically, “dere iss no medness. He can -do eferythink but plen, but so can all de rest. Our head iss gone.” -</p> - -<p> -“And now that he can’t help you, you care no more about him?” -</p> - -<p> -“Hef I gifen you reasson to say det?” asked the Chevalier, with real -dignity. “Because I lament my country in peril, must I hef lost sight -off my frient? It iss de Queen det hess told me de frightful noose. -Ah, dere iss a woman! de Count hess much left still since he hess her. -She dessired to point out to me de risk. You see it? Efery nation and -efery statesman hess somethink against him. He hess played dem all off -against one anoder, and only his wits hef safed him again and again. -Now he iss powerless, and when dey find it out, dey will come about -him like birds off prey. A week ago de influence off de Syndicate, -exerted through me, would hef presserfed him from all annoyance, but -now de Syndicate iss split in two. Until we discofer how far de -disaffection extends, I dare not trust efen my broders. Your master -must not remain here, nor would he be safe in Europe—efen in America. -De Queen propoces det immediately upon deir merrich dey shell go to -dis estate off hers in de desert, where dey will be in safety until -efents hef defeloped demselfs. We shell soon see what frients he hess -left. I need not ask wheder you are true. Do me de fafour to beliefe -det I am so also, efen dough my nation hess profed ungrateful to its -benefector.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am sorry,” said Mansfield. “I had no business to say what I did.” -</p> - -<p> -“Det iss well. Trust me, and help me to do what I can for him, det iss -all I ask.” -</p> - -<p> -He went away, and Mansfield took Mr Forfar’s letter out of his pocket -again. “This settles it!” he said, and sitting down at the table, -dashed off a grateful refusal of the Prime Minister’s offer. As soon -as it was finished, he went out and posted it. -</p> - -<p> -Having thus burnt his boats and cut himself off from every hope of -Philippa, he felt that he had done all that could be expected of him, -and owed himself a reward. It is needless to say that the reward took -the shape of a sight of Philippa, and when he had dutifully attended -Cyril to the Queen’s house in the afternoon, he betook himself -forthwith to the Caerleons’ rooms in Spyridion’s hotel, where he was -able to watch Philippa pouring out tea, and to luxuriate in absolute -misery. The excitement of the night before had left Philippa white and -tired, and her hand shook as she lifted the teapot, but Mansfield -decided that her exhaustion was due to the mental struggle she must -have undergone before she could bring herself to contemplate marrying -King Michael, and he steeled his heart against her. Her father -attributed her obvious unhappiness to a very different cause, and when -Mansfield took his leave he walked a little way with him. -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose you heard nothing from Forfar by the mail, Mansfield?” he -asked. “I saw him just before we left England, and he hinted that -Jowell would probably go to the India Office, so that he would soon -need a new assistant secretary.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I heard from him,” replied Mansfield, his heart beginning to -beat with uncomfortable speed, “and he offered me the post. But I -refused it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Refused it!” cried Lord Caerleon, with unconcealed dismay. -</p> - -<p> -“You see,” Mansfield went on, “I—I felt there was no particular -reason why I should go back to England,” he looked straight at his -companion, “and it would take a great deal to make me leave Count -Mortimer in the present state of his affairs.” -</p> - -<p> -“But come, Mansfield—I have a right to ask, after what you said to me -early in the year—have you changed your mind?” -</p> - -<p> -“How dare you——” began Mansfield furiously, then his tone altered. -“I beg your pardon, I’m a sulky brute; but—well, imagine that you -were in my place, Lord Caerleon, forbidden to speak to Lady Phil, and -then finding that another fellow had stepped in and cut you out.” -</p> - -<p> -“But he has not cut you out. We are all on your side. Phil’s only -reason for taking time to consider her answer is that she may not hurt -the King’s feelings. I am certain she doesn’t care a rap for him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, at any rate, I’m not such a cad as to cut in and spoil the -other fellow’s game,” and Mansfield marched on with an air of superior -virtue which Lord Caerleon found extremely irritating. He could not -well say that he particularly wished to see the very thing done which -Mansfield regarded with such righteous disapprobation, but he felt -that he was being treated with scant justice. True, he had banished -Mansfield originally for his own good—here he stopped; was it not -rather because he did not want to lose his daughter? Still, it was not -his fault that this second suitor had appeared, and nothing had been -farther from his thoughts than to drive Philippa into a loveless -marriage by separating her from the man whom he now suspected that she -liked. It was hard to throw the onus of rejecting the King’s suit -entirely on Philippa and himself, and things would have been much -simpler if it could have been refused on the ground that she was -already engaged to some one else. However, since Mansfield chose to -consider that he had been ill-used, and could hardly be commanded to -propose to Philippa against his will, the plan was not practicable. -</p> - -<p> -Lord Caerleon made no further attempt to alter the course of events, -and Mansfield, grimly resolute, continued to torment himself with the -sight of Philippa and her royal suitor. King Michael was following -Prince Mirkovics’ advice, and endeavouring to enlist Philippa’s sense -of duty upon his side. Since his <i>coup d’état</i> of the summer, he had -developed an abnormal interest in affairs of State, and he recounted -his plans, hopes, fears, failures, successes, and aspirations to -Philippa at suitable length. The recital bored her extremely, but she -would not have been her mother’s daughter if she could have brought -herself to throw cold water on any man’s good intentions, and she -honestly did her best to sympathise with the King. Her task was not -made easier by Usk, who continued to regard his would-be -brother-in-law with unmitigated aversion. King Michael sought his -acquaintance in the most flattering way, and extended the same honour -to Mansfield and Mr Judson, never perceiving that his gracious -determination to put people at their ease had the invariable effect of -making them uncomfortable. The three Cambridge men were quite ready to -overlook his position, which was, after all, not his own fault; but he -could not forget it, and the consequence was that the friendship -languished, and that among themselves they accused him of “putting on -side,” and stigmatised him as “wretchedly bad form.” It is true that -Usk once expressed in private a wish that the King was his brother; -but only, as he explained immediately, that he might feel justified in -punching his head. -</p> - -<p> -While Philippa’s affairs were in this unsettled state, the time of her -uncle’s marriage was rapidly approaching. The wedding had been fixed -for New Year’s day, and it had been the secret design of the Chevalier -and his party that after the ceremony a deputation from the Jewish -provisional government should wait upon the newly married pair and -offer them the crown, if such it might be called, of Palestine. But -this was now recognised to be out of the question. When the sensation -caused by the appearance of the Yellow Pamphlet, and the subsequent -repudiation of Cyril by half the Jewish world, had a little subsided, -the journalists of the Continent held their breath for a time, -realising what they had done. The man whom they had helped to vilify -had never been known to forgive an insult, and the issue of that -<i>brutum fulmen</i>, the message framed by Mr Hicks and Paschics in order -to gain time, threw them into a state approaching panic. What blow had -Count Mortimer in preparation? -</p> - -<p> -But as the days passed on and still nothing happened, a sensation of -relief diffused itself visibly among Cyril’s opponents, while his -supporters became correspondingly dejected. Presently a brief message -from the Emperor of Pannonia, forwarded through the Chevalier’s -confidential agent in Vindobona, put the question in a nutshell. What -measures did Count Mortimer mean to take in order to re-establish his -predominant influence in the counsels of the Syndicate? Whether the -charges brought against him in the Yellow Pamphlet were true or false -did not signify in the least; but unless the Jews were unanimous in -preferring him to any other ruler, the Emperor could go no further in -recommending his selection by the Powers. While the question of the -answer to be returned to this intimation was being discussed between -Cyril and the Chevalier—the one in a frenzy of alarm and indecision, -the other in an agony of helplessness—the matter was taken out of -their hands. It became known throughout Europe that Count Mortimer’s -brain was affected, and that he was no longer to be feared. -</p> - -<p> -How the jealously guarded secret had leaked out could not at first be -discovered, but the report was afterwards traced to Don Ramon of -Arragon’s assistant, who had access to his case-books. He had been a -student of the University of Vindobona, and was therefore almost -inevitably an anti-Semite, and he had shared his discovery with -Colonel Czartoriski, with whom he had come in contact at Damascus. -Acting upon instructions from his mistress, Colonel Czartoriski -communicated the news to the press, and Anti-Semitism all over the -Continent went mad with joy. Nor were the professed enemies of Zion -alone in their exultation, for the Government papers (those of -Pannonia and Thracia alone excepted) took up the slanderous tale in -language equally bitter, if slightly more decorous. The man who had -known how to impose his will on Europe was helpless—might be knocked -down and jumped upon, metaphorically speaking—and there was no lack -of moralists to improve the occasion. The vilest calumnies, the most -outrageous accusations, were gravely detailed as matters of fact, the -attacks growing bolder as each historian, finding that the victim made -no sign, strove to outdo his neighbour. The statesmen who had smarted -under Cyril’s yoke added their quota of titbits of confidential -information, to be duly worked up by the fortunate journalist to whom -they were whispered, the result being generally a fable that -astonished no one more than the original narrator himself. In short, -the only wonder was that the political world could have been so long -held in subjection by a charlatan so abjectly worthless and -contemptible as Count Mortimer was shown to be. -</p> - -<p> -But while the storm was raging in Europe, and its echoes reached with -painful distinctness the ears of the little group of friends at -Damascus, there reached them also an intimation that behind all the -sound and fury there was a purpose that signified something. On the -morning of the 28th of December, General Banics paid an early visit, -first to Lord Caerleon and then to the Chevalier, bringing an urgent -request from Queen Ernestine that they would come to her at once. -Apprehensive of danger, they lost no time in complying, and as they -were ushered into the Queen’s presence, Ernestine came forward to meet -them in her impulsive way, holding out her hands. -</p> - -<p> -“I have sent for you,” she said, “because you are dear and faithful -friends of mine, and I can trust you to help me in the frightful -danger which is threatening the man we all love. You will not let them -separate me from him?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nefer, unless it iss your Machesty’s own dessire,” said the -Chevalier. -</p> - -<p> -“But we know that nothing could be further from the Queen’s wishes,” -said Lord Caerleon indignantly. “Command us, madame, for anything that -we can do.” -</p> - -<p> -“I knew I could rely upon you both.” She cast an encouraging glance at -the discomfited Chevalier. “Then please sit down, and let me tell you -what I have heard this morning from my dear old friend Princess -Soudaroff. She says she was afraid to telegraph, lest the message -should be stopped or the enemy discover that we had been warned, but -she writes in the greatest anxiety and haste. She is at present in -Paris, and her brother-in-law, Prince Soudaroff, had just paid her a -flying visit when she wrote. Naturally, as she says, they discussed -Count Mortimer’s misfortunes, and something that Prince Soudaroff let -fall gave her the idea that a plot was preparing against him. She -questioned him closely, and though he evaded her inquiries with the -most consummate skill, she is convinced that the Emperor Sigismund and -my own family are taking measures to prevent our marriage. What roused -her suspicions was a remark which escaped Prince Soudaroff about a -Hercynian ship of war suddenly ordered to the Levant, and she suggests -that they will attempt to kidnap the Count before New Year’s Day, and -convey him to some place of confinement on the plea that he is mad. -They will act in my interests, to save me from such an unfortunate -marriage, you see! But I won’t be saved from it. How shall we -checkmate them?” -</p> - -<p> -“Madame,” said the Chevalier, as she paused abruptly, her eyes bright -and her cheeks flushed, “de Goldberg millions hef profed demselfs off -little afail lately, but at least dey will suffice to buy de gerrison -off Damascus for a week. Efery men in it shell be your serfant, and -guard de Count.” -</p> - -<p> -“But is such a measure advisable?” asked Lord Caerleon. “The other -side can out-bribe us, and bring diplomatic pressure to bear as well. -How would you like to steal a march on them, madame? You are not -inclined to set an inordinate value upon wedding-dresses and -festivities?” -</p> - -<p> -“In comparison with the bridegroom?” Ernestine smiled. “No, indeed. If -it had not been for the wishes of my son and my faithful servants, I -would have chosen the quietest wedding possible.” -</p> - -<p> -“Under the circumstances, madame, his Majesty and your ladies will no -doubt waive their natural wishes. The time required by law for -publishing the notice of the intended marriage at the British -Consulate expires to-day. To-morrow, then——” -</p> - -<p> -“I see,” said the Queen, blushing brightly. -</p> - -<p> -“His Excellency Count Mortimer, madame,” said General Banics, -presenting himself at the door, and Cyril entered the room, his -unexpected appearance making the three conspirators look highly -confused. -</p> - -<p> -“What are you plotting against me?” he asked sharply. -</p> - -<p> -“Do you know that you have not wished me good morning?” asked -Ernestine, rising. “Our friends will excuse us for a moment, I know,” -and she made him a sign to follow her out into the verandah. After a -few minutes they returned, Ernestine flushed and smiling, with her -hand in his. -</p> - -<p> -“Caerleon, Chevalier,” said Cyril, “you have heard of the new danger -that threatens me, and you know that the Queen”—he raised her hand to -his lips—“would not refuse to share it. But to avoid complications, -and to forestall the enemy, she has consented to allow our marriage to -take place to-morrow instead of New Year’s Day.” -</p> - -<p> -“A good idea. Very sensible and prudent,” said Lord Caerleon heartily, -admiring the delicate tact with which Ernestine had contrived to make -the suggestion come from Cyril instead of herself. “We had decided -that it would be better for the marriage to take place at the -Consulate in any case, so that it will make no difference.” -</p> - -<p> -“I understand that Mr Judson can perform the service at the -Consulate,” said the Queen quickly. “I should not like a purely civil -marriage.” -</p> - -<p> -“Det iss all right,” said the Chevalier. “I hef talked to Colonel -Monckton a great deal about de metter. De merrich can take place et de -Consulate in his pressence, and nothink more will be wanted.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps,” said Lord Caerleon to his brother, rather doubtfully, “it -might be as well if you left for the desert immediately after the -ceremony. If there is any idea of kidnapping you, they might still -carry you off, and set the lawyers to work to declare the marriage -invalid.” -</p> - -<p> -“We will leave Damascus as soon as the ceremony is performed,” said -the Queen calmly. “When we are together and out of their reach they -can do nothing against us. The Emperor Sigismund has no jurisdiction -over me, and no court in the world would deny that Count Mortimer, an -Englishman born, could be legally married at a British Consulate. On -his side the marriage must stand, and if they declare it invalid on -mine—well, we will be married over and over again until they are -content to allow it to stand. But there must not be the slightest -suspicion of any flaw. You will see to that, messieurs?” She looked at -the three men. -</p> - -<p> -“There shall be none,” responded Lord Caerleon. -</p> - -<p> -“It will be better,” said Cyril, “to tell no one but Monckton of our -change of plan until the morning. With the best intentions in the -world, Phil and the young fellows could not help letting it be seen -that they had an important secret in charge, and the least slip might -ruin us. I suppose, Chevalier,”—he was fingering absently Princess -Soudaroff’s letter, which the Queen had asked him to read,—“it has -occurred to you that Vladimir Alexandrovitch had some object in giving -away his fellow-conspirators like this?” -</p> - -<p> -“You mean det he intended to let you hef a hint to escape, Count?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not necessarily. I think he has some other plan on hand—more -important to him, though not to the Emperor Sigismund—and he has -deliberately sacrificed his ally in order to divert your attention -from his own game.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what iss det?” cried the Chevalier distractedly. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, that you must not ask me. I could have told you once, I don’t -doubt, but now”—he shrugged his shoulders. “Think it out if you can, -Chevalier.” -</p> - -<p> -“It iss hopeless, Count. I gif it up. My aim now iss to see you safely -merried to her Machesty, and I can think of nothink else.” -</p> - -<p> -The three conspirators took their leave of the Queen, and departed to -put things in train for the next day’s ceremony. Lord Caerleon paid a -visit to Colonel Monckton, the British Consul, and bespoke his consent -to the change of date and his assistance in the necessary -arrangements. Cyril sent Paschics to look for Yeshua (the blind man -had returned to Damascus with the Queen and her escort), who was to -find his way to the sheikh of the Beni Ismail, and tell him that he -and his tribe would be needed to guard their sovereign and her husband -to Sitt Zeynab two days earlier than the time agreed upon. The -Chevalier, on his side, devised a little plan of his own for -hoodwinking the enemy, and having laid his train, devoted his -attention to procuring the tents and supplies for the journey. -</p> - -<p> -The next morning there was a kind of informal reception at the British -Consulate. The Chevalier took Mr Judson there to make final -arrangements with the Consul, and Lady Caerleon looked in to have a -talk with Mrs Monckton. Paschics appeared with a document which needed -signing, and an unfortunate accident led to the invasion of the house -by several other and more important guests. The Queen and her son, -with General Banics and M. Stefanovics in attendance, were going out -for a ride with Lord Caerleon, Philippa, and Usk, but just outside the -Consulate the Queen’s horse cast a shoe. It was only natural that her -Majesty and her companions should be invited into the house for a few -minutes; but it was certainly strange that Baroness von Hilfenstein, -Madame Stefanovics, and Fräulein von Staubach should have chosen that -particular time for calling upon Mrs Monckton in a body. Possibly, -however, they felt the need of some distraction after the shock they -had received when their mistress informed them that the exquisite -creation in grey and silver, fresh from a Parisian <i>atelier</i>, which -had arrived that morning, would not be worn on New Year’s day. -Curiously enough (Philippa said afterwards that the array of -coincidences in connection with this wedding surpassed those -associated with the name of Mr Wemmick), Cyril invited Mansfield to -take a stroll with him as far as the Consulate just at this time. -</p> - -<p> -“What’s this I hear about you from my brother, Mansfield?” he asked, -as they started; “that you have refused Forfar’s post?” -</p> - -<p> -“I prefer to stay with you, Count. I don’t want to change.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you can’t stay with me. Do you know where you are going at this -moment? You are going to see me married, which means that we must -part.” -</p> - -<p> -“But, Count——” gasped Mansfield, in dire dismay. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t wish to be unkind, but doesn’t it strike you that you would -be just a little <i>de trop</i> on the honeymoon trip? And really, you -know, it would be a perfect farce for me to drag two secretaries about -with me now.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you mean to keep Paschics, and kick me out?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Mansfield, don’t look at me as if I had pierced your young -heart to its depths. Paschics must stay with me. He has worked under -me more than twenty years, and asks nothing better than to go on as he -has done. It would be sheer cruelty to send him adrift at his age. But -you have your life before you, and I am not going to see you stranded -in the desert with me or any one else.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are not treating me well,” said Mansfield hoarsely. “I have not -deserved to be turned off at a moment’s notice like this. You do it -because you know how I—how fond—how much I think of you, and you -feel that you can treat me like a dog.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s right. Your way of taking it relieves me infinitely. Do you -know that your precipitate refusal of Forfar’s offer has given me a -great deal of trouble—most inconsiderate of you to bother a man in -this way just on the eve of his wedding. The Chevalier and I have put -our heads together, and he has found a berth for you——” -</p> - -<p> -“Hang the Chevalier!” cried Mansfield. Cyril went on, unmoved. -</p> - -<p> -“He wants an Englishman to act as his agent in superintending his -various model farms and gardens in Palestine. He doesn’t expect you to -see that he isn’t cheated, for that would be hopeless; but he thinks -you are capable of discovering whether the work is done or not, which -seems to be rather a moot question at present. It will be a life after -your own heart, with plenty of riding about. You will choose a spot -that suits you and build your house, and in a year or so I haven’t a -doubt you will bring a wife to inhabit it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why you should say that, I don’t know. You know as well as I do——” -</p> - -<p> -“Well?” for Mansfield faltered. -</p> - -<p> -“That Lady Phil will marry King Michael.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t you think you are taking things a little too much for granted?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know. I don’t care, anyhow. It seems I have to lose -everything I care about—first Lady Phil, then you.” -</p> - -<p> -Cyril made no answer. Perhaps he had no comfort to offer; perhaps no -time to offer it. They were entering the Consulate, and Mr Hicks, who -was lounging in the doorway, greeted them with portentous solemnity -and an almost imperceptible wink. The guests who had assembled in such -a casual way were gathered in one of the larger rooms, and Mr Judson, -wearing his surplice, was in readiness. Often as most of those present -had pictured this wedding to themselves, they had never anticipated -anything like the real scene—the large bare room, hastily decorated -with a collection of European nicknacks and Oriental draperies -gathered from all corners of the house, the bride wearing her -riding-habit and the bridegroom a tweed suit, and the motley -assemblage of spectators, in which King Michael stood side by side -with the Chevalier Goldberg, and the American journalist rubbed -shoulders with the Thracian Court officials. It was only fitting that -the pair whose history had at so many points touched that of the -Hebrew race should be united by the son of a Jewish convert; but the -irony of the occasion found its climax in the fact that the woman who -had risked so much in defence of the forms of her religion should be -debarred not only from the services of a clergyman of her own church, -but even from the use of a consecrated building, and should bear the -deprivation without a murmur. -</p> - -<p> -In an incredibly short space of time the service which seemed so brief -and meant so much was over, and Cyril and his wife were receiving the -congratulations of the rest. There was small scope for oratory in the -farewells. Mansfield’s sore heart was a little comforted by the grip -of Cyril’s hand as he passed him in the doorway, even though the -accompanying words were merely, “Don’t be a silly fool!” Another horse -had been brought round for the Queen’s use, and the riding-party made -a fresh start; but this time it included Cyril. Paschics and Dietrich -were to join their master outside the city, convoying Fräulein von -Staubach, who insisted upon her right to attend the Queen now that her -turn had come round. The men took off their hats as the party rode -away, but turned immediately to rebuke the ladies for shedding tears. -Such a display of pocket-handkerchiefs was calculated to attract -undesirable attention, they said, and Baroness von Hilfenstein and -Madame Stefanovics retreated into the inmost recesses of the house, to -guard against endangering the Queen’s safety by their uncontrollable -emotion. But the fugitives rode safely through the city and out at the -gate, meeting the sheikh as had been arranged, without being -challenged by a single official. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -That evening the yacht White Lady, lying in Beyrout roadstead, -suddenly hoisted English colours and the Thracian royal standard, and -put to sea, in company with the Thracian gunboat St Gabriel. It was -remarked as peculiar by curious observers on shore that the Hercynian -war-ship which had arrived that morning immediately slipped her cable -and followed them. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch24"> -CHAPTER XXIV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">“THE BITTER CLOSE OF ALL.”</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Phil</span>, I want a word or two with you.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m so glad, father. I’ve been longing for a talk. Let us come up to -the roof.” -</p> - -<p> -They mounted to the marble terrace, shaded by orange-trees in pots, -and Lord Caerleon began to pull off withered leaves as busily as if he -had had no other intention in coming. Suddenly he turned to his -daughter, who sat watching him patiently, the usual sparkle of fun -missing from her blue eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“Phil, the King wants your answer. You promised he should have it the -day after the wedding, and that is to-day.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think he ought to take a mean advantage of your having put -the wedding forward two days, do you, father? But perhaps it’s as well -to get it over.” -</p> - -<p> -“I—I hope you’ve thought what you’re doing, Phil?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it hasn’t needed very much thought. I have known all along what -I should say.” -</p> - -<p> -“Phil,” Lord Caerleon spoke with tremendous energy, “I am awfully -anxious about you. It’s not that I distrust your common-sense, for you -are old enough to judge for yourself, nor that I suspect you for a -moment of intending to marry for the sake of a crown. But I was -talking things over with your mother last night, and she is very much -cut up—afraid that your sense of duty will lead you to accept the -King. I don’t want to bias you unfairly—we have always prided -ourselves on leaving you as free as possible—but you may not have -thought what such a marriage would involve. I have tested the delights -of royalty, you know, and I felt that I could not stand it alone. With -your mother to help me I might have managed it, but—you know how -things fell out. I suppose it may be different when you are born to -it—I am sure I hope so for the sake of all royal personages—but I am -absolutely certain that my little girl could never support such a -burden and that of a loveless marriage at the same time. I am only -thinking of your happiness, Phil.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, father, I know that. But I’m not nearly as good as you and mother -think. I never dreamed of accepting the King.” -</p> - -<p> -“Phil, Phil! then why did you take time to consider his offer?” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t look so miserable, father. Can’t you really guess? It was just -after the Queen—Aunt Ernestine, I mean—and I had found out about -poor Uncle Cyril. She begged me to keep the King in a good temper, and -this was the only way of doing it. And it was quite successful, you -see. He has been on his best behaviour the whole time, and everything -has gone off well.” -</p> - -<p> -“And now?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, now,” Philippa shook herself uncomfortably,—“now I have to pay -the bill.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll settle matters with the King for you, Phil. It wasn’t like you -to do such a thing, and I shall be horribly ashamed, but your -intention was good, at any rate.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, father, I won’t put it upon you. I am the sinner, and I must bear -the penalty. Yes, I suppose it was rather like doing evil that good -might come, wasn’t it? You can’t think how wicked and miserable I have -felt, and Usk and—people—have been so horrid, and I couldn’t -explain. But you see how it was, don’t you? I would have done anything -to help Uncle Cyril.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I see, Phil. But I am more sorry than I can say. I am -afraid——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, father, don’t say you are disappointed in me, or you’ll break my -heart. I don’t care if all the whole world turn their backs upon me, -if my own people trust me still—indeed I don’t.” -</p> - -<p> -“Poor little Phil! I hope it mayn’t be as bad as that.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I can’t help it if it is. Please let the King come up here, -father, if he will have his answer. It’s a horrid thing to do, but it -has got to be done. Would you rather have an ambitious daughter -scheming for a throne, or a wicked flirt entangling the affections of -poor young men and then casting them aside?” -</p> - -<p> -Lord Caerleon’s smile was troubled as he went down the stairs, and -Philippa fairly shivered. She felt miserably that her hands were not -clean in the matter, and this unprecedented experience handicapped her -seriously as regarded the approaching interview. With the instinct of -self-protection, she straightened her tie as she heard footsteps -ascending the staircase, tucked away a curl that was straggling over -her brow, and did her best to look absolutely unapproachable, and even -rather indignant at being subjected to such an ordeal. Her blushes she -could not control, however, and King Michael, never a very close -observer, may be pardoned for reading in them, when he reached the -roof, an encouragement to his suit. -</p> - -<p> -“You have sent for me to tell me that you will share my throne, Lady -Phil?” he cried, with genuine delight and admiration in his tones. -</p> - -<p> -Philippa’s downcast eyes were raised suddenly, and met his with an -indignant flash. It was this young man’s misfortune that he could -never forget his throne. “No, certainly not—just the opposite,” she -replied promptly. -</p> - -<p> -“But you—you gave me hope.” The King was angry in his turn. -</p> - -<p> -“That I never did. It isn’t my fault if you took it.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why did you ask for time?” -</p> - -<p> -“I didn’t. You insisted I was not to give an answer at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you thought you would make a fool of me, Lady Phil?” -</p> - -<p> -It was on the tip of Philippa’s tongue to reply that no such process -was needed, but she choked back the retort. “I warned you I should not -change,” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“But your taking time to think gave me ground for hope, and all the -considerations I have urged in your hearing the last few days could -only influence you in my favour. Have you given them due thought?” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said Philippa, with sudden humility, “I haven’t, because it -would be no good. Nothing could ever make me marry you. The truth is -that I didn’t refuse you definitely because I thought you would make -yourself disagreeable to your mother and Uncle Cyril if I did. I -haven’t treated you well, and I am very sorry and very much ashamed.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are willing to take the responsibility of throwing me back into -my old way of life, and undoing all the good that the last few months -have effected in the kingdom? I suppose you know that I shall go to -the bad, and that my ruin and the ruin of Thracia will be on your -head?” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t marry you for the sake of your kingdom.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I presume that there is nothing left for me to do but to retire -as gracefully as I can.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, there is something else to do,” said Philippa sharply. “You -ought to learn to take a disappointment like a man, not like a baby.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pray continue, Lady Phil. You have the right to rebuke me.” -</p> - -<p> -The sarcastic tone roused Philippa’s anger. “I did treat you badly, -and I have told you I am sorry for it,” she cried. “You are very angry -with me, but it never seems to strike you how selfish you have been -all this time. You know that I don’t care a scrap for you, but you -have been trying to get me to marry you by making out that it would be -for the good of your kingdom. You know that I should be -miserable—perfectly miserable—but you don’t mind a bit.” -</p> - -<p> -“On my honour as a king, I would do my best to make you happy.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you couldn’t; how could you? You aren’t the right person. -Besides,” Philippa rushed on hastily, “even if I cared for you I -couldn’t bear to be a Queen. I want to be free, to be able to go about -and do as I like. It would kill me to be cooped up and never able to -get away from people.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that is my life, always.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you like it. You would be miserable if you hadn’t people for ever -hanging about and keeping an eye on you. But I have heard all about it -from my father, and though I suppose one could just bear it if one -loved a person very much, still—well, I don’t love you, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is a happy prospect for me, since you consider me unable to -inspire love, and yet think that love alone could induce a woman to -take up such a burden.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but you might find some one who liked it, some princess who was -born to that sort of thing. Besides, there’s no reason why another -person should not love you, though I don’t.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pardon me, Lady Phil—my selfishness?” -</p> - -<p> -“But you must cure that. Don’t talk about going to the bad and ruining -your kingdom because I refuse you. It’s a miserable, cowardly thing to -say. What has your kingdom got to do with me? It’s yours, not mine, -and you are responsible for it. Besides, you can’t pretend that all -the interest you have taken in it lately has been for my sake. You -know you find it interesting yourself. These last few months you have -been a real king, looking into things and forming your own opinion -about them, and your people are pleased. You couldn’t go back to your -old way of leaving everything to your Ministers if you wished. You are -far too fond of power.” -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed, Lady Phil, I believe you are right.” The King looked -surprised, and somewhat ashamed. “After what you have said I can’t -very well be so selfish as to entreat you again to make yourself -miserable for my sake, and I will try to feel glad that I am to be -miserable instead. I may be lonely, but at least you will be happy.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, no!” cried Philippa, her eyes filling with tears. “It’s too -late.” -</p> - -<p> -“Allow me to ask you one question,” said King Michael, judiciously -ignoring the tears. “Do you refuse me because you care for any one -else? I think I have the right to ask, for if I am so fortunate as to -be without a rival, there might be some hope for me in the future.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, no!” cried Philippa again. Then, her honest heart fearing that -the negative might convey a false impression, she added, in an agony -of blushes, “It isn’t fair—it is very unkind of you to ask, because -he has never said anything, but there is some one.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you. That was all I wanted to know,” said the King. He lifted -Philippa’s reluctant hand and kissed it, then took his leave gravely. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, he is a man after all!” said Philippa to herself, as he went -down the steps. She was too miserable to rise and look after him, or -she would have seen him stop in crossing the court, and address -Mansfield, who was driving the gold-fish to distraction by throwing -pebbles into the fountain. Wild horses could not have dragged -Mansfield from the hotel that morning. He had been bearing from the -Chevalier of the duties and emoluments of his new post, but his -interest had been so languid that the financier was half offended, and -had taken his departure without giving him an invitation to accompany -him to Jerusalem, as he had intended. It was a relief to Mansfield to -see him go, for he had only one wish, to be left alone. Philippa was -to make her decision to-day, and he must know the worst. As he sat -upon the edge of the fountain, and took half-hearted shots at the -gold-fish, he became aware that King Michael was approaching him, had -paused beside him. To triumph over his discomfiture, of course! -thought Mansfield, and refused to turn his head and look at his rival. -</p> - -<p> -“Mr Mansfield,” said the King, “I yield in your favour the match at -billiards which we were to decide this evening. It was foolish of me -to contest the point, for your success was never in doubt. Only,” his -tone was so significant that Mansfield glanced up in spite of himself, -“let me advise you never again to throw down your cue in disgust -before the end. It is not fair to—the game.” -</p> - -<p> -Their eyes met, and Mansfield read the meaning which underlay the -words. -</p> - -<p> -“You are a good fellow!” he said hastily. “I ought to have known that -your mother’s son couldn’t be a cad.” -</p> - -<p> -“Allow me to thank you in my mother’s name,” and King Michael went on -his way, lighting a cigarette with a hand which did not shake more -than a very little. Mansfield watched him out of sight, then, waking -as if from a dream, mounted the staircase four or five steps at a -time, and presented himself suddenly before Philippa. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ve been a regular beast, Lady Phil,” he cried. “Forgive me.” -</p> - -<p> -Philippa raised a tear-stained face with a little start. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh!” she said, “it’s you!” -</p> - -<p> -“You do forgive me, don’t you?” persisted Mansfield. -</p> - -<p> -“But what has it to do with me?” Philippa was on the defensive again. -</p> - -<p> -“I thought you were going to marry the King.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what has that to do with you?” with the faintest suspicion of a -smile about the corners of the mouth. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s because I love you. Oh, Phil, you know it, you have known it for -a long time. It nearly drove me mad to think I had lost you.” -</p> - -<p> -Philippa drew herself up. “But how do you know you haven’t?” she -asked. “And, besides, how can you lose a thing you have never had?” -</p> - -<p> -Mansfield turned pale, but recovered himself promptly. “Are you trying -to torment me because you know I care for you?” he demanded. -</p> - -<p> -“I think you are a little too fond of taking things for granted,” said -Philippa demurely, looking away from him. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, there shall be no doubt about it in future,” said Mansfield, -seizing her hands. “Look at me and tell me whether you care for me or -not. Answer me, Phil.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you are hurting my wrists! You are unkind! I—I——” -</p> - -<p> -“If you don’t care for me, it can’t hurt you to look at me and say so. -I will let you go the moment you do.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s very wrong of you to tempt me to tell a story,” said Philippa, -with a sigh. -</p> - -<p> -“By all means tell the truth, then.” -</p> - -<p> -“But then you won’t let me go. There! I knew it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you do care? Tell the truth, Phil.” -</p> - -<p> -“Just a little.” For one moment the blue eyes met Mansfield’s, then -they were hidden; but he was satisfied. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“Ugh! it is cold,” cried Usk, throwing his reins to a gorgeously -apparelled groom. “What a blessing to get in out of this beastly -wind!” -</p> - -<p> -It was the second of January, and the genial, if unseasonable, weather -of the past month had been succeeded by hard frosts and biting blasts, -most difficult to cope with in a summer city like Damascus. Usk and Mr -Judson dismounted from their horses and entered the hotel, stamping -vigorously to warm their frozen feet. -</p> - -<p> -“A cup of Phil’s hottest tea suggests itself as a suitable -restorative,” Usk went on. “After all, there are some advantages in -her choosing to sit over the stove with her young man instead of -facing the wintry wind. Come in, Judson. The family party is -assembled, you see. What!” with an instantaneous change of tone as his -eye fell upon Philippa’s dark-blue habit and Mansfield’s leggings, -“you unblushing pair of frauds, do you mean to say that you went out, -after all?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, we had a little ride on our own account,” said Philippa calmly. -</p> - -<p> -“Your society is always delightful, Usk, but sometimes it is slightly -wearing,” said Mansfield, who had endured a good deal at the hands of -his future brother-in-law during the last three days. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, you lazy beggar, I know now why you cried off going to Jerusalem -with the poor old Chevalier! It’s perfectly sickening to see Phil -demoralising you with her attentions when she won’t even give her only -and frozen brother a cup of tea.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sit still, Phil. I will pour out the tea,” said Lady Caerleon, with a -loving pat on her daughter’s shoulder. In Philippa’s love-story her -mother renewed her own youth, and in her overflowing happiness forgot -to curb the little caressing ways which she had spent her married life -in trying to repress as un-English. -</p> - -<p> -“I wonder we haven’t had a telegram from the Chevalier, or, at any -rate, from Hicks,” said Mansfield, jumping up to pour some more water -into the teapot for Lady Caerleon. “They both promised to let us know -how the transfer of power went off.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s a curious thing,” said Lord Caerleon; “but I met Monckton just -now, and he tells me that no telegrams have come from Jerusalem to-day -or yesterday, and no letters to-day. They hear that there has been a -heavy snowfall in the south, and the Jerusalem trains have not arrived -at Jaffa, so the post may be interrupted; but it seems queer that the -city should be altogether isolated.” -</p> - -<p> -“I hope poor old Goldberg hasn’t got snowed up on his journey,” -laughed Usk. “Hicks has a pretty fair idea of making himself -comfortable; but the Chevalier doesn’t know the ropes as he does. -Besides, it must be soothing to be able to turn an honest penny out of -one’s misfortunes by writing a column or two about them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps the Roumis have refused to budge, after all,” suggested Mr -Judson. “They are quite capable of holding on in spite of their -promises, and the provisional government have no means of making them -turn out.” -</p> - -<p> -“That would be a deadlock, indeed,” said Lord Caerleon. “We must -hope——” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, here’s the Chevalier himself!” cried Usk, and all eyes were -turned to the doorway, where the financier stood like a man in a -dream, travel-stained and bent, with disordered garments. -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Chevalier!” said Lord Caerleon, advancing and taking him by -the arm. “Come and sit down; you are ill—frozen, perhaps.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am not ill, but sick at heart. Yerushalem, de holy city, de choy -off de whole earth”—his voice rose into a cry of agony—“iss in de -hends off Scythia. O God——” he broke into Hebrew, “the heathen are -come into Thine inheritance.... Oh that Thou wouldst rend the heavens, -that Thou wouldst come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy -presence!” -</p> - -<p> -“Cyril’s warning!” cried Lady Caerleon. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” said the Chevalier heavily, “he warned me, but I did not see. -None off us saw. We are helpless widout him. O my broder, de cheriot -off Israel and de horsemen dereof! All our labour iss in fain. I hef -beggared myself for dis!” -</p> - -<p> -“But how did it happen?” urged Mr Judson. “How was it possible——” -</p> - -<p> -“Dey hed deir plens laid. Eferythink wass arranched beforehend. Dey -knoo det widout de Count we hed no head to metch Prince Soudaroff’s. -Efen de Armenians—de irreconcilables—hed been squared.” -</p> - -<p> -“But did you escape?” cried Lord Caerleon; “or were you warned in -time?” -</p> - -<p> -“I heard de noose yesterday efenink, Mr Hicks and I were delayed in -our chourney by de snow—we were fumink to think we hed missed de -great ceremony. Den, ess we approached de City on horsebeck, we were -met by Levinssohn, one off de profissional gofernment, who hed -escaped, and pauced to warn me, lest de enemy should get command of de -Goldberg millions by seizink me. He told us de story.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, yes, and what had happened?” cried everybody. -</p> - -<p> -“De transfer off power wass made yesterday mornink in proper form, de -Roumi gofernor hendink ofer to de consuls de charche off de Holy -Places, and to de profissional gofernment de control off de city and -de remainink troops. Dere wass great rechoicink—light and gledness, a -feast and a goot day. De Letins were celebratink de feast off de -Circumecision, de Greeks, busy preparink to fissit Bethlehem for deir -Christmas Day, were all widin doors. It iss not known how de -disturbance began. I cannot beliefe det my people—but dey hef bitter -memories to afenche, and dey hef disappointed me griefously off late. -At any rate, de Letins declare det de Chews broke in upon one off deir -serfices, and insulted de worshippers. De noose spread like wildfire, -de Letins poured from all deir churches and confents, and gadered in -de street before de Serai, now become de bureau off de profissional -gofernment. De members were all assembled et deir deliberations. -Suddenly dey found de buildink besieched, so det dey must needs -berricade demselfs in. De consuls, hearink de uproar, ordered de Roumi -troops to clear de street and quell de disturbance, but dey hed been -got at. Dey refuced to mofe except under de orders off de profissional -gofernment, and dose orders it wass impossible to obtain, on account -off de mob riotink between. De consuls, attemptink to use deir -influence, were insulted and derided. Den de Scythian consul propoced -a plen. ‘Dere are here’ said he, ‘two thousand or more Scythian and -Thracian pilgrims, who hef all done military serfice and are amenable -to discipline. In a quarter off an hour I can assemble dem from de -different confents where dey are quartered, and dey will ect ess -police under de orders off de consular body, armed wid sticks and such -oder weapons ess dey can improfice.’ De consuls were doubtful, and de -British consul propoced to arm de Chews instead, but de idea wass -scouted. Arm de wicked bloodthirsty Chews against de mild chentle -Christians—nefer! De crisis wass acute, and de consuls yielded. Den -appeared a marfel. De two thousand pilgrims were dere—and a thousand -more wid dem—and wonderful to relate, dere wass also de Scythian -Cheneral Adrianoff, on pilgrimache, two or three colonels and machors, -seferal captains, lieutenants, sub-lieutenants, all on -pilgrimache—officers for an army. De pilgrims assembled, profided wid -sticks by de monks. De Cheneral Adrianoff wass neturally put in -command off de force. ‘Shoulder arms!’ and beholt, efery stick wass a -rifle! Emmunition wass immediately forthcomink, and so wass a -machine-gun and its kerrich. De Cheneral Adrianoff marched out to -conquer. De street was quickly cleared, de Cheneral approaches to -release and reassure de members off de gofernment, when a tumult -arices amonk his own men. De Bishop Philaret off Tatarjé hess -discofered a plot on de part off de Chews to blow up de Church off de -Holy Sepulchre wid dynamite. All de Christians off efery sect and -church are transported wid rache. Perish de Chews! De pilgrims dessire -to tear de gofernment to pieces, de Cheneral Adrianoff places de -members under arrest to save dem from dese frients off order. A new -confusion! De Roumis hef been informed by de Bishop det de plot wass -directed also against de Haram-es-Sherif—de holy place off all Israel -from de beginnink!—and all de soldiers come runnink to put demselfs -under de orders off de Cheneral to fight against dose wretched Chews. -In fiew off de serious state of affairs, de Cheneral does not -hessitate a moment. He clears de streets, proclaims himself gofernor -off de city ess representink de Emperor off Scythia, and reliefes de -consuls off deir functions ess guardians off de Holy Places. De -British and Pannonian consuls protest; dey cannot ressist, for anoder -miracle hess heppened. Efery Greek or Scythian church and confent and -larche buildink hess become a fort. Cannon are mounted on deir walls, -de monks are soldiers, dere iss emmunition in plenty. To de -stupefection off de consuls, de Cheneral’s forces occupy efery -strategical point, dey command efery corner off de city. Scythia hess -been preparink de ground for many years, now she hess played her game, -and won.” -</p> - -<p> -“But this is monstrous, unheard-of!” cried Lord Caerleon. “It will -never be allowed to go on. England——” -</p> - -<p> -“England,” said the Chevalier bitterly, “will protest.” -</p> - -<p> -“But the rest of the Powers—Neustria, Hercynia——” -</p> - -<p> -“Neustria iss led by de noce by Scythia. Hercynia hess, no doubt, -receifed gretifyink assurances—her consul did not efen go through de -form off protestink. Pannonia and Magnagrecia will be coerced or -flettered into ecquiescence.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you think it is useless to struggle against this outrageous -usurpation?” -</p> - -<p> -“We shell make representations, doubtless. But do we wish to be -deprifed altogeder off de Land we hef bought? We must submit to -circumstances, until”—there was a cunning gleam in the Chevalier’s -eye—“we can alter dem. Det will be de task off de remainder off my -life—to return de poisson of dese reptiles upon deir own head. I tell -you”—he turned fiercely upon Mr Judson, who had made a deprecating -gesture—“I would conclude an alliance wid de Enemy off menkind -himself to get dis wronk redressed!” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Chevalier!” cried Lady Caerleon, “be patient. Can you not wait -upon God a little longer? Think how wonderfully He has furthered your -plans during the last few years—how the way of the Kings of the East -has been prepared in spite of what seemed insuperable obstacles.” -</p> - -<p> -“Kinks off de East!” cried the Chevalier. “A month ago we were de -kinks off de worrlt! Shell we rest contented wid a gofernment sittink -at Hebron or Nablûs, regulatink metters off commerce and land, when -de Holy City iss in de hends of idolaters, persecutors, creepink -things, and de sons off de apostate are gadered togeder to mock at -us?” -</p> - -<p> -“You are misjudging me, Chevalier,” remonstrated Mr Judson, against -whom the last sentence had been directed. “I feel the wrong done as -deeply as you do, although the study of prophecy had warned me that -some blow of the kind might be expected.” -</p> - -<p> -“At least leafe us our prophecies!” cried the Chevalier. “May we not -interpret dem in our own way, or must de renegades steal dem also?” -</p> - -<p> -“We have no wish to rob you of them; but you must not try to exclude -us Hebrew Christians from the heritage of Israel. Yours are the -adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the promises; but they -are ours, too. Don’t refuse our help. I think you have no idea of the -deep interest taken in the Jewish question in Evangelical circles in -England. Give us leave to do what we can to arouse these English -friends of Zion, and stimulate them to action. Believe me, when the -facts are fully known, there will be such a strong feeling throughout -the country, with regard to the action of Scythia, that the Government -will be forced to insist on her withdrawing from Jerusalem.” -</p> - -<p> -“Accept help from de apostate? Nefer, son off a traitor! I will unite -wid Christians, wid agnostics, wid Reformed Chews, wid de Adfersary -himself, in de cause off Zion, but not wid you. You hef no part in de -congregation off Israel.” -</p> - -<p> -“Come, Chevalier,” said Lady Caerleon, laying her hand on his clenched -fist, as he shook it furiously at Mr Judson, “you are over-excited. -Rest a little, and have a cup of tea,” she motioned the young people -away, “and then we will talk things over quietly, and see what can be -done.” -</p> - -<p> -“Have you thought what all this will mean to Uncle Cyril?” asked -Philippa of Mansfield, as they left the room together. He nodded -gravely. -</p> - -<p> -“I know. He came into my mind first thing. It’s awful.” -</p> - -<p> -“To see all his work undone, and to know that he can’t put it right!” -wailed Philippa, breaking down suddenly. “I think his heart will -break, or—or——” the more terrible fear remained unuttered. -</p> - -<p> -“Do you know,” said Mansfield diffidently, “I don’t think it will -break him altogether. It might have done once, but he has some one -else to think of now. He will have his wife to comfort and take care -of, and that helps a man, Phil.” -</p> - -<p> -“‘It is very good for strength, To know that some one needs you to be -strong,’” reflected Philippa. “Oh, dear!” she cried, with a watery -smile, “I’m quoting poetry again, just as Uncle Cyril told me not to.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -It is possible that Philippa’s anxiety might have been somewhat -relieved if she could have read a confidential letter from Queen -Ernestine to her mother, written some months later:— -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -“This answer to your loving letter, my dear sister, is for your own -eyes alone. It seems to me (I hope I am mistaken, and that I detect a -criticism where none was intended) that I can read between the lines -something that is not exactly a distrust of my husband, but a fear -lest his terrible trials may have rendered him less regardful of me. -In no case but yours would I condescend to notice such a suspicion; -but I like to think of you, the wife of Cyril’s beloved brother, as a -dear sister of my own, and I cannot bear that you should be in any -doubt as to my happiness. When my beloved’s trial came upon him, I -said to him (I am almost ashamed now to write it) that he must be -content, instead of ruling the world, to make one woman happy, and -this is what he does. Do you realise what that means? He bends all his -powers, his whole mind, to please a woman whose life has been so -desolate that for years it seemed the height of bliss, unattainable -bliss, to be near him, to belong to him. Do you wonder my joy is so -great that I look upon it with trembling? That such a man should -devote himself to ensure the happiness of one whose only claim is that -she loves him—it is wonderful! How can you say that I have given up -everything for him? I have done nothing—nothing. You would do far -more for your Carlino; why should you think it strange in me? -</p> - -<p> -“Besides, my sister, I have given up nothing that I care for. Court -life has had no attractions for me since I left girlhood behind, at -seventeen, and although Michael was quite willing—even desirous—that -I should return to Thracia, I can see that it is better not. It is -characteristic of him to wish to go his own way, and earn his own -experience, and a mother’s anxieties and counsel would quickly become -irksome to him. There is nothing to regret there, you see. I was -cradled in romanticism (alas! my education and my fate were sadly -incongruous), and now at last I am happy. I have the society of the -man I love and of a few faithful friends, the affectionate loyalty of -these poor Arabs, and freedom from the cares of civilisation and -state. The Arabs, indeed, have transferred their allegiance from -myself to Cyril, and I rejoice in the change. We are both studying -their language, for I am anxious to be able to do something to raise -the condition of the women and girls, but he has no need of anything -to bring him into close touch with the men. Under his direction they -are beginning to build themselves more permanent houses instead of -their wretched huts, as well as to repair the ruined walls of the -fortress in case of need. He is interested also in improving their -system of irrigation, so as to utilise much of the water that is at -present wasted, and says that he is a candidate for the honour of -making two bunches of dates grow where only one grew before. -</p> - -<p> -“Nor are we shut off altogether from the old life. You may have heard -that we sent poor Stefanovics (who found the desert insupportable) and -his wife back to Brutli, to serve as a means of communication with our -friends in the world, and superintend our arrangements for visitors, -and they do their work admirably. That good, droll Mr Hicks paid us a -visit before returning to America, and the Chevalier Goldberg intends -to brave the terrors of the desert before long. Our last visitor was -dear Fred Mansfield, whose affection for my husband brings the tears -to my eyes. I can see, however (is not this candid of me?), that he -has improved immensely since he has found himself in a more -responsible position. He has gained enormously in readiness and the -habit of command since he was removed from the shadow of Cyril’s -personality. His open-air life suits him, and he has earned golden -opinions from the Chevalier and his confidential agent. Please let -Phil hear this. Fred tells us that he hopes to visit England and bring -her back with him next year, and he showed us the plans for his house. -How I shall delight to see her again! -</p> - -<p> -“You hint at our visiting Europe. I am foolishly nervous, I dare say, -but I cannot feel that Cyril is safe anywhere outside the desert. I -have visions of treachery on the part of the Powers if they knew he -was within their reach. Still, if he wishes to make the attempt, he -will hear nothing against his plan from me, even should he decide to -visit Thracia <i>incognito</i>, as Michael has suggested. At present we are -planning a trip to Palmyra, which, with the help of the Arabs, we hope -to accomplish without difficulty, posing as English tourists—not for -the first time in our lives, you will remember. The opportunity will -be valuable, in allowing my husband to make acquaintance with the -sheikhs of other tribes than ours, who have shown a strong disposition -to invite him to become their head. -</p> - -<p> -“It is a curious thing that the Arabs refuse to believe in Cyril’s -illness for a moment. According to them, he has been treated with dire -ingratitude by the Jews, and to mark his displeasure has retired into -the desert, whence he will emerge at the head of an Arab host on the -occasion of some great crisis, and carry all before him. Oh that this -might indeed be the case! Day by day, as I pray for it, I vow upon my -knees that should he ever regain his old powers I will be no hindrance -to his schemes. These few months have had more happiness crowded into -them than I could ever have anticipated, and I will show that I also -can be unselfish. But alas! there is no hope. One terrible day—I have -told this to no one on earth but yourself—when the news of the -Scythian seizure of Jerusalem arrived, I thought he would have gone -out of his mind. He walked up and down the room for a long time, -muttering and moving his hands as if he was addressing an assembly, -then he turned suddenly to me, looking like his old self. ‘Paper, -Ernestine!’ he cried. ‘They thought I was done for, did they?’ I gave -him the paper, he sat down, burning with eagerness, and made a few -marks upon the first sheet—a kind of plan. Then he began to dig the -pen into the paper, and at last threw it down in despair. ‘It’s all -gone, Ernestine, but for a moment I saw the whole thing.’ He called -Paschics, and told him to write and advise the Chevalier to make the -best terms he could for a Jewish Legislature sitting at Nablûs, and -since then he has never once alluded, at least in my hearing, to the -affairs of Palestine. It is unspeakably sad. At ordinary times he -appears perfectly contented, rides with me, hunts with Banics and the -Arabs, plans improvements for the place, reads aloud to us in the -evenings, but when the mail comes in——! Ah, my dear sister, pray -that you may never know such sorrow as I endure then. He reads of all -that is going on—without him: he sees that he is forgotten where he -was once supreme. He goes up to the ruined colonnade, at the summit of -the palace, and spends hours there alone. Once I crept up after him; -he was gazing out over the desert as Napoleon looked out upon the sea -from the cliffs of St Helena. He does not know I saw him, for I dared -not disturb his mournful reverie. I am only too well aware that I -cannot comfort him, and he would not wish me to behold him in his -desolation. I can but pray for him, and pretend to notice nothing when -he returns, full of kindness, and apologises for his long absence. He -has been reading his letters, he says. On the subject of politics we -never open our lips to one another.—Believe me to be, my dear Nadia, -your loving sister, -</p> - -<p class="sign2"> -<span class="sc">Ernestine</span>.” -</p> - -</div> - -<p class="end"> -THE END. -</p> - - -<h2> -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES. -</h2> - -<p> -Sydney C. Grier was the pseudonym of Hilda Caroline Gregg. -</p> - -<p> -This book is part of the author’s “Balkan Series.” The full series, in -order, being: -</p> - -<div class="quote_o"><div class="quote_i"> -An Uncrowned King<br/> -A Crowned Queen<br/> -The Kings of the East<br/> -The Prince of the Captivity -</div></div> - -<p class="noindent"> -<b>Alterations to the text</b>: -</p> - -<p> -Puncuation corrections: missing periods, quotation mark pairing, etc. -</p> - -<p> -Note: minor spelling and hyphenization inconsistencies (<i>e.g.</i> -ascendency/ascendancy, anteroom/ante-room, by-the-bye/by the bye, -etc.) have been preserved. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter II] -</p> - -<p> -“the pleasure of your <i>accquaintance</i>” to <i>acquaintance</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter IV] -</p> - -<p> -“interested in <i>Ludswigsbad</i> and your letters” to <i>Ludwigsbad</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter VI] -</p> - -<p> -“<i>Sho</i> grasped the idea at once” to <i>She</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter VII] -</p> - -<p> -“If it did not <i>suceed</i> in saving” to <i>succeed</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter X] -</p> - -<p> -“Mansfield thought she was a <i>Kurgast</i>” to <i>Kurgäste</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter XI] -</p> - -<p> -“from his ecclesiastical lips was <i>doubless</i> a solemn curse” to -<i>doubtless</i>. -</p> - -<p class="end"> -[End of Text] -</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KINGS OF THE EAST ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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