AFFAIRS OF STATE

Being an Account of Certain Surprising Adventures Which

Befell an American Family in the Land of Windmills

BY

BURTON E. STEVENSON

AUTHOR OF "THE MARATHON MYSTERY, " "THE HOLLADAY CASE, " ETC. 

With Illustrations by F. VAUX WILSON

1906

TO G. H. T. :

OLD FRIEND

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

 I. THE WILES OF WOMANKIND

 II. THE ROLE OF GOOD ANGEL

 III. DISTINGUISHED ARRIVALS AT WEET-SUR-MER

 IV. AN ADVENTURE AND A RESCUE

 V. TELLIER TAKES A HAND

 VI. THE PATH GROWS CROOKED

 VII. AN APPEAL FOR AID

 VIII. PRIDE HAS A FALL

 IX. PELLETAN'S SKELETON

 X. AN INTRODUCTION AND A PROMENADE

 XI. THE PRINCE GAINS AN ALLY

 XII. EVENTS OF THE NIGHT

 XIII. THE SECOND PROMENADE

 XIV. A BEARDING OF THE LION

 XV. "BE BOLD, BE BOLD"

 XVI. A PRINCE AND HIS IDEALS

 XVII. THE DUCHESS TO THE RESCUE

XVIII. MAN'S PERFIDY

 XIX. AN AMERICAN OPINION OF EUROPEAN MORALS

 XX. THE DOWAGER'S BOMBSHELL

 XXI. PARDON

ILLUSTRATIONS

"EEF MONSIEUR PLEASE"

"IT WAS MY GREAT GOOD FORTUNE, " SAID THE STRANGER, BOWING, "TO BE OFSERVICE TO A COMPATRIOT"

"OH!" SHE CRIED, WITH A LITTLE START, "THERE HE IS NOW, ALMOST NEARENOUGH TO HEAR!"

"WHAT IS IT?" SHE DEMANDED. "DON'T YOU SEE WE ARE ALL WAITING?"

AFFAIRS OF STATE

CHAPTER I

The Wiles of Womankind

Archibald Rushford, tall, lean, the embodiment of energy, stood at thewindow, hands in pockets, and stared disgustedly out at the dreary vistaof sand-dunes and bathing-machines, closed in the distance by a stretchof gray sea mounting toward a horizon scarcely discernible through thedrifting mist which hung above the water. 

"Though why you wanted to come here at all, " he continued, presumablyaddressing two young ladies in the room behind him, "or why you want tostay, now you _are_ here, passes my comprehension. One might as well beburied alive, and be done with it. The sensations, I should imagine, are about the same. "

"Oh, come, dad!" protested one of the girls, laughing, "you know itisn't so bad as that! There's plenty of life--not just at this hour ofthe morning, perhaps, "--with a fleeting glance at the emptylandscape, --"but the hour is unfashionable. "

"As everything seasonable and sensible seems to be here, " put in herfather, grimly. 

"And such interesting life, too, " added the other girl. 

"Interesting! Bah! When I want to see monkeys and peacocks, I'll go to amenagerie. "

"But you never do go to the menagerie, at home, you know, dad. "

"No--because I don't care for monkeys or peacocks--in fact, Iparticularly detest them!"

"But lions, dad! There are lions--"

"In the menagerie at home, perhaps. "

"Yes, and in this one--bigger lions than you ever dreamed of, dad!--perfect monsters of lions!"

"Oh, no, there aren't, Susie, " dissented Rushford. "You don't know thespecies. You've mistaken a bray for a roar, just as a lot of peoplealways do, if the bray is only loud enough. Come, now, let me know theworst. How much longer do you propose to stay here?"

"Well, dad, you see the season won't be at its height for fully a monthyet--"

"A month!" echoed Rushford, in dismay. "Well, Susie, you and Nell may beable to stand it for a month, but long ere that I'll be dead--ossified, fossilised, dried up, and blown away! Maybe you girls enjoy it, though Ididn't think it of you--but what can _I_ do? I'm tired of readingday-before-yesterday's newspaper and of being two days behind themarket. Two days! Think what may have happened to steel since I'veheard from it! It's enough to drive a man mad!"

He got out a cigar, lighted it, and stood puffing it nervously, appalledat the vision his own words had conjured up. 

"But, dad, " Sue pointed out, coming to his side and taking his armcoaxingly, "you know it was just to get away from all that worry--fromthose horrid stocks and things--that you consented to come with us. "

"Don't call the stocks hard names, Susie. Don't go back on your bestfriends!" protested Rushford. "Don't forget what they've done for you!"

"But, dear, you remember how strongly Doctor Samuels insisted on yourtaking a rest; how necessary he said it was?"

"Oh, perfectly!" responded Rushford, drily. "I've suspected right alongthat Samuels took his orders from you. "

"From me, dad!" cried Sue, indignantly, but her eyes were shining in amost suspicious manner. "A man of his standing--"

"It doesn't matter, " broke in her father, with a wave of his arm. "I'mwilling to grant, for the sake of argument, that Samuels was perfectlysincere. But I still protest that there is no reason why we shouldconceal ourselves here. We haven't done anything--the police aren'tafter us--I can speak for myself, at least. "

"This seemed to be such a nice, quiet place for you, dad, " explainedNell, perching herself upon a table near the window and gazing pensivelyout at the shimmering water, which told that the sun was winning adecisive victory over the mist, and that the day would be a fine one. 

"For me!" repeated her father, turning and staring at her. "You don'tmean to say you chose this place on _my_ account!"

Nell nodded, but she winked at Susie. 

"And then, you know, " she added, "we have always wanted to get a glimpseof a real Dutch watering-place. "

"I don't believe this _is_ a real Dutch watering-place. Nobody herespeaks anything but French. Why, it's even got a French name!"

"Only two-thirds French, dad, " Sue corrected. 

"And everything is priced in francs. "

"That is true of all Europe, " asserted Nell, with superb aplomb. 

"Well, Dutch, French, or Hindoo, you've had your glimpse, haven't you?Suppose we move on and get a glimpse or two of something worth seeing. "

"Oh, but we've seen it all only from the outside! We've been like theaudience at a show--we haven't had any part in it. And it's so much moreinteresting behind the scenes!"

"It's dull enough from in front, heaven knows!" agreed Rushford. "If Ihad my way, I'd ring down the curtain and close the show up this minute. It's the worst I ever saw! And I very much doubt if a respectableAmerican family has any business behind the scenes!"

"You're jaundiced, dad, " laughed Sue. "You're looking at the placethrough a yellow film of prejudice. One must enter into the spirit ofthe thing!"

Rushford groaned. 

"I'm afraid I'm too set in my ways, Susie, " he said, dismally. "I'velived in America too long. You might as well ask me to dance thecan-can, and be done with it!"

"Besides, " continued Sue, "it's just as Nell says. We're on theoutside--we haven't got a foothold. There's something the matter. "

"Maybe they think I'm that Chicago cashier who got away with a million, not long ago. On second thought, though, I don't believe that wouldmake any difference. That fellow would find a very congenial circlehere. He wouldn't have any difficulty in getting behind the scenes!"

"Sue and I have been thinking it over, " said Nell, "and we've concludedthat it must be something about the hotel. We seem to have picked outthe wrong one. "

"The place _is_ empty, and that's a fact, " agreed Rushford. 

"It's unnaturally so, " said Sue. "Something's the matter with it. It'staboo for some reason. "

"Well, it's good enough for me, " remarked her father. "After all, thereisn't much difference in prisons! But I want to repeat, as emphaticallyas possible, that I can't keep on loafing here for a month and preservemy sanity. Don't you see how much whiter my hair's getting? I'm willingto do anything in reason to oblige you, and I fully realise theimportance of your sociological and ethnological studies--"

Sue's hand on his mouth stopped him. 

"Take a breath, dad, " she cautioned him. "Take a breath. Those weremighty long words. "

"As I was about to remark, " continued Rushford, calmly, taking the handaway, "I am, of course, a doting parent--who would not be with two suchchildren? But, candidly, I don't just see where I come in. I tell you, girls, I've got to have some excitement. "

"There's plenty of excitement at the Casino, dad. "

"Oh, yes--faro excitement; roulette excitement. I never cared for thatkind. I've always had the sense to keep out of sure-thing games, even onWall Street. "

"But the people--"

"The people! French apes in fancy waistcoats; Dutch dandies in corsets;women with painted cheeks and pencilled eyebrows whom you're ashamed tolook at!"

"Some of them are respectable, dad, " laughed Sue. 

"One would never suspect it!"

"Oh, yes, dad; some of them belong to the nobility. "

"That's no certificate of character--rather the reverse, if one maybelieve the papers. "

"Gossip, dad; nothing but gossip. And you know how you've always hatedgossip. You've told us never to believe it. "

"It may be; but one could believe anything of most of the women one seesaround here. My only chance for amusement is to get up a flirtation withsome of them. I don't think it would be difficult--they don't seem a bitshy. Only, " he added, with a sigh, "I'm getting too old. "

"Yes, dad; I'm afraid you are, " agreed Susie. "You wouldn't really enjoyit. "

 "'My days are in the yellow leaf; The flowers and fruits of love are gone; The worm, the canker, and the grief Are mine alone!'"

quoted Nell, in a solemn voice. 

"Don't you be too sure!" retorted her father, threateningly, wheelingaround upon her. "There's no telling what I may be driven to, if I'mkept imprisoned here much longer! 'Though I look old, '--"

"'Yet I am strong and lusty, '" finished Sue. "Of course you are, dad, and you don't look old, either. Why, " gazing up at him critically, "youdon't look a day over forty!"

"Don't try to bamboozle your Pa, Susie, " laughed Rushford. "I can seethrough you! You'll be trying to make me believe next that you want astepmother. "

"I would if it would make you any happier, dad. "

Her father gazed down for an instant into her pseudo-serious face, thencaught her in his arms and squeezed her. 

"What're you up to?" he demanded. "Trying to make a fool of your olddad? Why, Susie, own up, --you'd scratch out the eyes of the best womanin the world if she dared to look twice at me!"

"Of course I would!" admitted Susie, instantly. "You know as well as Ido, dad, that even the best woman in the world isn't good enough foryou. "

"Let's go across to the other hotel, dad, " suggested Nell, with anonchalance intended to conceal the fact that this was the point she andSusie had been aiming at from the very first. 

Her father released Susie and stared at his other daughter in amazement. 

"What on earth for?" he demanded. 

"Oh, everybody seems to be over there--you've noticed--"

"Yes, I've noticed that it's running over with the rag-tag and bob-tailof all Europe! If you think I'll butt into that Bedlam, my dear child, you're badly mistaken. I'd rather live with the freaks in a museum. "

"But it's so quiet here. "

"I'm glad of it! Besides, I thought you wanted quiet?"

"Only for your sake--don't you see, we're trying our best to please you. A moment ago, you said you wanted excitement. "

"I do; but it must be excitement with an object. I haven't got any usefor the infernal, purposeless chattering I hear all around me every timeI go out on the dyke. Damn a man, anyhow, who can't find anything betterto do than to run around to summer-resorts and flirt with other men'swives! I tell you, girls, I want to get back to New York!"

"Give us another month, dad!" pleaded Sue, catching his arm again, as hestamped up and down. "You know that you promised to stay with us twomonths, at the very least. We can't go around without a chaperon. "

Her father's face relaxed as he looked down at her, and he smiledgrimly. 

"So we get down to the real reason, at last, do we?" he queried. "Ithought all this solicitude for my health was a trifle unnatural. I'museful as a chaperon, am I? See here, girls, I can put in my time moreprofitably at the stock exchange, and have a heap more fun. I'll hire achaperon for you, or half a dozen, if you want them, and pull out forNew York. What do you say? I don't know the first principles of thebusiness, anyway. "

"Oh, yes, you do, dad!" protested Susie. "You're a perfectly idealchaperon. "

"I am? The ideal chaperon, then, must be one who never does anychaperoning!"

"That's it, exactly!" cried Nell, clapping her hands delightedly. "Howquickly you see things, dad!"

"So that's it!" and he stood for a moment looking darkly at hisoffspring. "Well, you girls are old enough to take care of yourselves. If you can't, it's high time you were learning how!"

"Oh, we're perfectly able to take care of ourselves, " Sue assured him. "You mustn't worry about us for a moment, dad. "

"I'm not likely to. But, in that case, why do you want me along at all?"

"Why, don't you see, dad, it's you who give us the odour ofrespectability. By ourselves, we should be social outcasts, impossible, not to be spoken to--except by men. It isn't convenable. "

"Oh, I see, " said Rushford. "The first great principle of Europeansociety seems to be, 'Think the worst of every one. '"

"Not precisely, dad; but no unmarried woman may venture outside thecircumference of the family circle. That's the great Europeanconvention--the basic principle of her social order. "

"A sort of 'tag, you're it, ' game, isn't it? The family circle is a kindof dead line--the ring of fire which keeps out the wild beasts. Stepover, and you're lost!"

"Of course, " said Nell, "it is only to unmarried women that the ruleapplies. "

"Oh, certainly, " assented her father. "Married women are allowed morelatitude--in fact, from such French novels as I've read, I should inferthat they usually swing clear around the circle! It's a reaction, Isuppose; a sort of compensation for the privations of their youth. Idon't like it. Let's go home!"

"But your promise, dad!" pleaded Sue, permitting the faintest suspicionof moisture to appear in her dark eyes. "And you know you really do needa vacation. "

Her father looked down at her, saw the moisture, and surrendered. 

"You're a humbug, " he said; "and this vacation business is another. Aman spends two or three months loafing around because somebody tells himhe's looking badly and ought to take a rest; and before he knows it, he's accumulated so much rust in his system that he never gets it allout again. His machinery creaks more or less for the rest of his life. The wise man postpones his vacation to the next world. "

"Well, let's call it a jaunt, " suggested Susie. "A jaunt somehow implieshurry and bustle, with plenty of exercise. "

"And I don't know which is the bigger fool, " pursued her father, notheeding her; "the fellow who takes a vacation every year on his ownhook, or the one who permits his daughters to drag him away from hiscomfortable home and his morning paper and the business which gives himhis interest in life, and maroon him in a desert of a Dutchwatering-place, where there's absolutely nothing for a self-respectingman to do but smoke himself to death and wait for a paper which nevercomes till day after to-morrow!"

"It sounds terribly involved, but I'll help you reason it out, dad, anytime you like, " said Susie, obligingly. "And you'll stay, won't you, dear?"

"Oh, I'll stay, since your heart's so set upon it. I'll try to bear upand find a diversion of some kind and not rust out any more than I canhelp. I might dig in the sand or make mud pies or play mumbly-peg. But Idraw the line at plunging into that whirlpool across the street. My bedhere is nearly as comfortable as the one at home, and the grub'sfirst-rate. "

"Very well, dad, " agreed Susie, instantly seizing the concession, butspeaking as though it were she who was making it, "we'll stay here, then. Only I _do_ wish there were a few more people, " she added, with asigh. "I hate to sit down in that big, empty dining-room. I imagine I'mat an Egyptian banquet, and that there are horrid, rattly skeletonssitting in all those high, covered chairs. "

"What you need is some fresh air, " said her father. "You girls get yourhats and go for a walk. You're growing morbid. If you think of skeletonsagain, I'll give you a liver pill. "

"Won't you come, dad?"

"No; you know you don't want me. Besides, I see the panjandrum whobrings the mail coming up the dyke down yonder. "

He stood gazing down the Digue until his womenkind reappeared, bedight, ready for the walk. 

"You'll do, " he said, looking them over critically. "In fact, my dears, if I wasn't afraid of making you conceited, I'd say I'd never seen twohandsomer girls in my life. "

"Now it's you who are blarneying, dad!" cried Susie, but she dimpledwith pleasure nevertheless, and so did Nell. 

"No I'm not, " retorted Rushford; "and I dare say there are plenty ofother men, even in this Dutch limbo, who have an eye for beauty; letthem break their hearts, if they have any, but keep your own heartswhole, my dears. "

They were laughing in earnest, now, as they looked up in his face, whichhad grown suddenly serious. 

"Why, dad, what ails you?" questioned Sue. "I think it is you who needthe pill!"

Rushford's face cleared; they were heart-whole thus far--there could beno doubt of that. 

"Perhaps I do, " he agreed. "Or perhaps it's only that I'm beginning tofeel the responsibilities of my position. "

"Your position?"

"As chaperon, " he explained. 

"Dear dad!" cried Susie, and squeezed his arm. "Do you suppose that aslong as we have you, either of us will ever think of another man?"

"I don't know, " said her father, dubiously. "I scarcely believe I'm sofascinating as all that. But I just wanted to remind you, girls, thatthere's plenty of nice boys at home--boys whom you can trust, throughand through--boys who are clean, and honest, and worth loving. If you_must_ lose your hearts--and I suppose it's inevitable, some day--pleasedo me the favour of choosing two of them. I'll sleep better at night andbreathe easier by day!"

CHAPTER II

The Rôle of Good Angel

Rushford waved them good-bye from the door as they sallied forth intothe bright sunlight, paused a moment to look after them admiringly, andthen turned slowly back into the hotel, smiling softly to himself. Hesauntered through the deserted vestibule, and its emptiness struck himas it had never done before. 

"Really, " he said to himself, "we seem to be the only patrons the househas got. I'll have to look over my bill. "

He went on to the desk and demanded his letters of the boy inresplendent uniform who presided there. 

"There are none, monsieur, " answered that individual, blandly. 

"What!" cried Rushford, his smile vanished in an instant. "Are yousure?"

The boy answered with a shrug and a significant gesture toward theletter-rack on the wall. It was visibly, incontestably empty. 

Rushford turned away in disgust. 

"Those fellows at the office are assuming altogether too muchresponsibility, " he muttered savagely, as he wandered on into thesmoking-room. "I told them I didn't want to be bothered with littlethings, but I certainly expected to hear from them once in a while. If Idon't look out, they'll reduce me to the status of a rubber stamp! I'llhave to stir them up, " and he gloomily extracted from the rack thenewly-arrived, two-days-old London paper, brought by the little ricketytrain which struggled through at uncertain and infrequent intervals fromZunderburg to Weet-sur-Mer, lighted a fresh cigar, and sat down to aperusal of the news. 

He proceeded in the most leisurely manner, for he knew that he hadplenty of time. Indeed, the paper once finished, the remainder of theday would stretch before him an empty wilderness--a waste as monotonousand bare as the beach he had grown so weary of gazing at. So he gavecareful and minute attention to every item. He was in the midst of along and wholly uninteresting account of a charity bazaar, which thePrincess of Wales had opened, and where the Duchess of Blank-Blank hadmade a tremendous hit and much money for a worthy cause, by selling herkisses for a guinea each, when his attention was attracted by a discreetshuffling of feet on the floor beside his chair. He looked up to seestanding there the little fat Alsatian-German-French proprietor of thehotel. 

"Why, hello, Pelletan, " he said. "Want to speak to me?"

"Eef monsieur please, " and Pelletan rubbed his chubby hands together invisible embarrassment. 

"All right; sit down. "

Monsieur Pelletan coughed deprecatingly and deposited his plump body onthe extreme edge of a chair. It was easy to see that he was muchdepressed--his usually rosy cheeks hung flaccid, his mustachios droopedlimply, his little black eyes were suffused and needed frequentwiping--a service performed by a hand that was none too steady. 

"Eet iss a matter of pusiness, monsieur, " he began, falteringly. "Youhaf perhaps perceive' t'at our custom hass fallen off. "

Rushford glanced about the deserted smoking-room. 

"No, " he said; "I haven't seen any to fall off. I've been wondering howyou managed to pay out. "

"Ah, monsieur, " cried Pelletan, wringing his hands, "t'at iss eet--I hafbeen paying out unt paying out until t'e las' franc iss gone. I wass atno time reech, monsieur; at t'is moment I am in ruins!"

And, indeed, he looked the part. 

"You mean you'll have to shut up shop?" inquired Rushford. 

"Eet preaks my heart to say eet, monsieur; but I fear eet will come tot'at, unless--"

"Unless what?" asked Rushford, eyeing him as he hesitated. 

"Unless I shall pe able to interes' monsieur--"

Rushford grunted and stared out of the window at the dunes, puffing hiscigar meditatively. He thought of the comfortable bed, of the admirablecuisine--he would hate to give them up. It would mean going to the otherhotel, and the mere idea made him shiver. Anything but that!

His host watched him in an agony of apprehension. 

"What does it cost a day to run this shebang?" asked the American atlast. 

Monsieur Pelletan, with feverish haste, produced a paper from hispocket. 

"I haf anticipate' monsieur's question; t'is statement will show heem. "

Rushford took it and glanced at the total. 

"Hmmmm. Four hundred and eighty francs--say a hundred dollars. "

"T'at, monsieur, " explained Pelletan, "iss based upon our presentcustom. As pusiness increase', so do t'e expense increase. "

"Of course. "

"But not in t'e same ratio as t'e receipts. A full house wins so much assix hundret francs t'e tay. "

"Yes, " assented Rushford, "a full house is a mighty nice thing. But nowyou seem to be holding only a bob-tail. "

"A pop-tail?"

"No matter--go ahead with the story. You say it costs you a hundreddollars a day to keep your doors open. What's the heaviest item?"

"T'e greates' item at present iss t'e chef. He iss a fery goot one--Ihaf feared to let heem go. "

"That was right. You'd better not let him go if you want to keep ushere. How many rooms have you?"

Pelletan produced a second slip of paper. 

"For t'at, also, I wass prepared, my tear Monsieur Rushford, " he said. "T'e tariff of charges iss also t'ere. "

Rushford looked it over with some care. Then he stared out across thesands again, the corners of his mouth twitching. Evidently the proposalappealed to his sense of humour. 

"See here, Pelletan, " he said, abruptly, turning back, "is there ahoodoo on the house, or what's the matter?"

"A--I peg monsieur's pardon, " stammered Pelletan. 

"How does it happen that the hotel over there is full and this one'sempty?"

"Eet iss t'is way, monsieur, " explained the Frenchman, eagerly. "Formany year, long pefore t'is new part off t'e house wass puilt, weenjoyed t'e confidence unt patronage of Hiss Highness, t'e Prince ofZeit-Zeit, who spent at least two month in efery season here. While t'ePrince wass here, we were crowded--oh, to t'e smalles' room!--efen atot'er times, we tid well, for he gafe t'e house a prestige. But lastvinter he die, unt hiss heir, hiss son, despite t'e care of heem whichwe haf taken, t'e anxieties he hass cause' us, yet which we hafcheerfully porne--t'at ingrate hass t'e pad taste to prefer t'e ot'erhouse! Our ot'er customers haf followed heem--like sheep! Eet iss ast'ough we had lost our star!"

"Your star?"

"In t'e guide-book off Monsieur Karl, " Pelletan explained. 

"Is that such a tragedy?"

"I haf always t'ought it t'e fery worst t'at could happen, " saidPelletan, "but t'is iss as pad. "

It was only by a supreme effort that Rushford managed to choke back thechuckle which rose in his throat. 

"Is Zeit-Zeit the little purblind, monkey-faced fellow who is wheeledaround in a big red chair every day?"

"T'e fery same, monsieur--a great Highness. "

Rushford made a grimace of disgust. 

"What's the matter with him?" he asked. "Does he only need a bath, or isit more than skin deep?"

"Eet iss an hereditary trait, monsieur. "

"Hereditary taint, you mean! You're better off without him; why, he'dinfect the whole house, Pelletan. "

Pelletan gazed at him aghast. 

"Monsieur is choking!" he said. 

"I'm in deadly earnest, but I don't expect you to understand, for you'vegot an hereditary taint, too, Pelletan, which shows itself principallyin your spine. "

Pelletan turned pale. 

"I assure you, monsieur, " he stammered, "I am fery--"

"No matter, " broke in Rushford. "All European inn-keepers have it, andit has never been known to result fatally, so don't worry. But why didyou think I'd take hold of this thing?"

"I haf heard so much, " explained Pelletan, "of t'e enterprise of t'eAmericans, t'at I t'ought perhaps you might--"

"Win back Zeit-Zeit? Not on your life! If he comes, I go! But I tell youwhat I'll do, Pelletan. I'll make you a proposition. "

"Proceed, monsieur, " and the other's face began to beam anticipatively. 

"For one month I'll pay all the expenses of this hostelry, rentincluded, and allow you one hundred francs a day for your services. Itake all the receipts. At the end of that time, I withdraw and leave youto your own devices. What do you say?"

Monsieur Pelletan reflected. At least, it was postponing the inevitablefor a month, and in a month what may not happen? Besides, at the end ofthe month, he would be richer by three thousand francs. 

"I accept, monsieur, " he said, with fervour. "I am t'ankful a t'ousandtime!"

"All right; I take possession at once. We can have a notary draw up aformal agreement. Now let's run over this schedule of prices, " and heturned to Pelletan's carefully prepared statement. 

"Fery well, monsieur. "

"I see you have two apartments de luxe at one hundred francs a day. Hereafter they will be two hundred francs. "

Pelletan gasped. 

"From t'at, off course, t'ere will be a tiscount?" he stammered. 

"Not a cent; not the tenth of a cent. Two hundred francs net. "

"But, monsieur, efen at t'e old price, we haf always gif a tiscount! Itiss only Americans who pay t'e full price. Ot'er people expec'--"

Rushford waved his hand. 

"I don't care what they expect. Besides, there's going to be one hotelin Europe where Americans get a square deal. If your compatriots don'twant to patronise my house, they can go to that low-down lunatic asylumacross the street. By the way, what's its name?"

"T'e Grand Hôtel Splendide, " answered Pelletan, glowing with delight athis companion's power of invective. 

"H--m, " said the latter; "the worse a hotel is, the bigger name itseems to have. But about the discount. Let me repeat for you, Pelletan, a business axiom. To give a discount is to admit that your goods are notworth the price you ask for them, and that you're willing to cheatanybody who doesn't know enough to beat you down. All the business ofEurope seems to be run in just that way, but ours won't be. Our goodsare worth the price!"

"But, " began Pelletan, humbly, "efen at Ostend--"

"This is not Ostend. This is Weet-sur-Mer--a place more home-like, morecomfortable, preferable in every way, and with greater naturaladvantages than Ostend ever had or ever will have. Only a fool would goto Ostend when he could come to Weet-sur-Mer and stop at the Grand HôtelRoyal. "

Pelletan rubbed his hands in delight. 

"You really t'ink so, monsieur?" he murmured. 

"No matter what I think. Besides, you can go back to your old schedule, if you want to, at the end of the month. But I'm fixing this newschedule to suit myself, and I don't want to be interrupted. Theseordinary apartments will be thirty to forty francs, according to size. Single rooms will be ten francs. Breakfast will be four francs, dinnerten francs--in a word, we double our income without increasing ourexpenses. That's the secret of all high finance, my friend. "

"But, monsieur, " stammered Pelletan, more and more astounded, "eef t'ereiss no one to pay, what does it matter?"

"There _will_ be some one to pay--leave that to me. You don't understandAmerican enterprise, Pelletan. I'm going to astonish you. Now mind onething--if Zeit-Zeit comes over here and wants an apartment, you're toshut him out--I won't have him in the house--not at any price!"

Pelletan grew pale at the thought. 

"Refuse t'e Prince of Zeit-Zeit!" he stammered. 

"Yes--if you let him in, I'll kick him out. And another thing--theservice has got to be first-class--the best in Europe--nothing gaudy, you understand, but a quiet elegance that will make us talked about. Doyou think you can accomplish it?"

"I vill do my pest, monsieur, " promised Pelletan. 

"The place, of course, I'll have to take as I find it, " went onRushford, with a glance around, "though it's littered up with gewgawsand dinkey furniture which ought to be made into a bonfire. If I had alittle more time, I'd re-decorate the whole house. Those imitationmarble pillars over there are an insult to the intelligence. "

"T'ey haf peen t'ought fery beautiful, monsieur, " murmured Pelletan, humbly. 

"Yes--I've noticed that Europeans have a weakness for imitations. It's adefect of character, I suppose. But there's one thing you _can_ do--andright away. Send that boy at the desk up to his room and tell him to ripall that gold braid off his coat. To look at him, you'd think he was amajor-general. "

Pelletan stared at his partner to see if he was in earnest. 

"Oh, I know it will be a deprivation, " said the American, a glint ofhumour in his eyes. "You can raise his wages a franc a day to make upfor it. "

"Fery well, monsieur, " and Pelletan crossed over to the desk and gavethe boy his commands. The latter dragged away up the stair with acountenance in which grief and joy struggled for the mastery. "Anyt'ingelse, monsieur?" asked the Frenchman, coming back. 

"No, I don't think of anything just at this moment. But you do your partand I'll do mine. Now suppose you go out and get the notary, while Iwork my brain a bit. "

Pelletan staggered rather than walked to the door, his head in hishands, fairly overwhelmed. A moment later, Rushford saw him hurryingdown the street. He got out a third cigar and settled back in his chairwith a chuckle of satisfaction. 

"Maybe I'll get some fun out of this thing, after all, " he said. "It'lloffer a little diversion, anyway. Now, how shall we begin to advertise?"

"M. Le Propriétaire, is he here?" inquired a voice, and Rushford lookedaround to see a man in resplendent uniform standing at the door. 

"That's me, I reckon, " he said. 

"This is my first day, " explained the man; "I will know monsieurhereafter. I have a telegram, " and he produced it. "Monsieur will makeacknowledgment here, " he added, and held out a narrow white slip ofpaper. 

Rushford signed his name mechanically, dropped a franc into the itchingpalm, and waited till the messenger went out. Then he looked at theaddress on the envelope. It was:

_Proprietor Grand Hôtel Royal, Weet-sur-Mer. _

"Well, " he said, "it's mine--I guess there's no question of that--I'mthe proprietor--pro tem, " and he tore the envelope open. A low whistleescaped him as he read the message. Then he slapped his leg and laughed. "It's a freak of the market, " he cried. "A freak of the market! And it'sjust my luck to be in on the ground floor!"

He folded the telegram and placed it carefully in his pocket. Then hefell again into a meditation punctuated by frequent chuckles. But atthe end of a very few minutes, Monsieur Pelletan was back again, with athin little notary in tow, and the necessary papers were soon drawn up. 

"You have only to sign, monsieur, " said the notary, after he hadfinished reading them aloud, and he handed his formidable pen toRushford. 

Monsieur Pelletan rubbed his hands together nervously as the Americanhesitated and looked at him. 

"It's not too late to draw out, " remarked Rushford. "If you're notsatisfied--"

"I haf no tesire to traw out, monsieur, " protested Pelletan, quickly. "Iam entirely satisfied!"

"I have one other condition to make, " added the American. 

"What iss eet, monsieur?" questioned Pelletan, looking at himapprehensively. 

"You understand I'm to be a silent partner in this thing. "

"A--?"

"A silent partner--in other words, nobody's to know I'm backing youunless I choose to tell them--absolutely no one. Do you agree?"

"Oh, gladly, monsieur!" cried Pelletan, with a deep breath of relief. After all, is not glory the next best thing to riches?

"And your friend?"

The notary nodded a solemn promise of secrecy. 

"All right, " and Rushford signed. Pelletan hastily affixed hissignature, and the thing was done. "Now, my friend, " continued theAmerican, "which is the swellest suite of rooms you've got in thehouse?"

"De luxe A, " responded Pelletan. "Monsieur wishes--"

"I wish you to get it ready at once--"

"Monsieur will occupy it himself, no toubt?"

"No, I won't; I'll stay right where I am. But between seven and eighto'clock to-morrow morning, there will arrive an English ship of war--"

"A sheep-of-t'e-war!" echoed Pelletan, growing pale. 

"Certainly, a ship of war, and from it there will disembark a man namedVernon and his suite of four or five people. You will give him apartmentA. "

Pelletan caught his breath. 

"Monsieur Vernon iss, I suppose, a friend?" he stammered. 

"No, " said Rushford, "I've never seen him. But we'll have to treat himwell. He's the head of the British foreign office, Pelletan; and one ofthe high nobility. Beside him, Zeit-Zeit will look like thirty cents!"

CHAPTER III

Distinguished arrivals at Weet-sur-Mer

Even at this unaccustomed hour of the morning, the beach was black withpeople. It was not to bathe that they had come, for a chill north windwas blowing; nor was it to promenade, for they were not promenading;indeed, it was the fashionable hour for neither of these things, and noone ever dreamed of doing them at any hour other than the fashionableone. It was rather the fashionable hour to turn painfully over in one'sbed, and ring the bell, and signify that coffee and rolls would beacceptable. 

This morning there had been scant time for such refreshment, or for thatpreliminary stretching which is so grateful to bodies wearied by latehours and too-rapid living. Instead, nearly all the sojourners atWeet-sur-Mer had arisen aching from their beds, had hurried forth to thebeach, and stood there now, facing unanimously seawards, staring towardthe dim horizon, only moving convulsively from time to time in theeffort to keep warm. Those who had glasses used them; those who hadnone, strained nature's binoculars to the limit of vision. From all ofwhich it will be seen that the notary had done his work well, and thatneither had Monsieur Pelletan been backward in spreading the great newsof the unparalleled occurrence which was about to happen. 

"He iss to arrive between t'e hours of seven unt eight, " he hadannounced. "Hiss Highness, pe it understood, Lord Vernon, t'e greatEnglishman. He comes in a special vessel--a sheep-of-t'e-war, " he addedwith a triumphant flourish. "He could pring mit' him t'e whole nafy ofEngland, if he wish'!" Ah, what an honour for Weet-sur-Mer! And what ablow for the Grand Hôtel Splendide across the way!

Yet Monsieur Pelletan did not in the least understand how it had come topass; he suspected his partner of some sort of clairvoyance, of somesupernatural power of compelling events, and his admiration for him haddeepened to awe. But into this question he did not permit himself toenter deeply; he was content to know that fame and prosperity werereturning with a rush to the Grand Hôtel Royal. Already there had been ascore of applicants for rooms; the corridors were again assuming thatair of liveliness and gaiety which had characterised them in thosegolden days when the August Prince of Zeit-Zeit had been his annualguest. He was no longer ashamed to meet the proprietor of the GrandHôtel Splendide face to face in the full day; he was a different personfrom the despairing individual of the day before; in a word, he was nolonger in ruins! He had been restored, as so many ruins are, by thehand of an American!

At this moment he held the centre of the stage, and it was easy to readin his bearing the consciousness that he deserved the limelight. A stripof crimson carpet had been stretched across the sand to the very water'sedge; on either side of it a dozen decorous footmen were aligned, andbetween them Monsieur Pelletan proudly marched, his head in air, hisback very straight, preceding a big, hooded invalid's chair. 

Immediately a murmur arose. 

"He is ill then!"

"Why the chair?"

"He is coming to take the baths. "

The murmur no doubt penetrated to the ears of the little Alsatian, buthe made no sign. He was aware that the envious eyes of the proprietor ofthe Grand Hôtel Splendide were upon him; he would show him that here wasa guest more majestic, more worthy of honour than even the Prince ofZeit-Zeit!--a Highness, in short, so extraordinary as to cause thatAugust personage to resemble, in some incomprehensible way, the sum ofone franc fifty centimes! Otherwise there would have been no carpet, forthe sand was hard and dry. Otherwise, too, perhaps, Monsieur Pelletanwould have been content to permit his major-domo to represent him at thewater's edge, for he was not accustomed to exposing himself thus to thesharp airs of the morning. His fat red cheeks and plump nose wereturning a dull purple--ah, how good would a glass of cognac taste!--buthe bore this discomfort with the greatest fortitude, for, after all, anoccasion such as this was worth some sacrifice. 

And, be it said, his was not the only purple nose in evidence. Therewere many men who stared straight before them, daring to look neither tothe right nor left; and many women who were thankful for the heavyveils they had had the forethought to put on. Even rouge, howevercunningly applied, cannot hide certain ugly lines in the face in theclear, cruel light of the morning!

Strange how the same breeze will give to some cheeks a dullrepulsiveness and to others an entrancing glow! A word to lovers: Wouldyou test your mistress's blood and spirit, persuade her to a walk somesharp day in winter; or, if she will not be persuaded, use a littleartifice. Then, after wind and frost have had their will of her for halfan hour, take a look at her. Are her cheeks glowing, are her eyesbright, is she having a good time? If not, take heed!

There were four cheeks upon the beach at Weet-sur-Mer that morningglowing as I would have your true love's glow; drawing men's eyes andwomen's, too--the one in admiration, the other in envy. Yes, envy!though more than one shivering fair spoke a low, slurring word about"those coarse Americans!"

Both Pelletan and the notary had been careful to respect Rushford's wishthat his connection with the hotel be kept to themselves; in all theirboastings, rejoicings, explanations, his name had not been whispered;and not even to his daughters had that gentleman confided the secret ofhis plan to get the excitement he had craved so badly. He had feared, perhaps, that they would not enter thoroughly into the spirit of thething--women, even American women, are sometimes strangely deficient inthe sense of humour. But they had both been struck by their host'simpressive obsequiousness--a very orgasm of servility, which Pelletanhad hitherto reserved for personages of the blood royal. 

"What ails the man?" Susie had asked at dinner the night before, hereyes on Monsieur Pelletan's writhing form. "He seems to have thestomach-ache. "

"He is probably fishing for a tip, " said Nell. "It seems to me thatI've seen those symptoms before in a less violent form. "

"Don't you tip him, " commanded their father. "I'll attend to all that, "and he beckoned to Pelletan with his finger and whispered a rapidsentence in his ear. 

"What did you say to him, dad?" inquired Sue, gazing in someastonishment after their host's retreating coat-tails. 

"I told him to go 'way back and sit down, " answered Rushford, goingcalmly on with his meal. 

"Dad, is it true that Lord Vernon is to arrive to-morrow morning?"

"I suppose so. "

"In a ship of war?"

"Yes--I've heard that, too. "

"You'll take us down to the beach, won't you, dad?"

"What! A free-born American citizen go toadying after the Englisharistocracy!"

"But we'll need a cicérone, dad. "

"What for, I'd like to know?"

"Oh, what are cicérones always for? To get us a good place, to be sure!"

So here he was, in the forefront of the crowd, with his womenkind besidehim, and no doubt the discerning reader has already guessed that it wasto their cheeks I referred some pages back. There were many grandesdames upon the beach that morning--some the real thing, a little plain, a little faded, rather touching to look upon--others, for the most partarticles de Paris, very tall and plump and even handsome, if one likesthe gorgeous type, with gowns created by the great costumers and paidfor heaven knows how! But I always think with a little warmth of prideand admiration of those two American girls standing there, wind-blownand radiant. Coarse, madame! Ah, what would you not give for a littleof that coarseness! After all, freshness is a woman's greatest charm, asyou very well know, madame, though you try your best to think otherwise;and, alas, you are fast losing yours! For, as you have found--as untoldthousands have found before you, and will yet find--one can't squanderone's youth and keep it, too! Aye, more than that. The sins of the nightstare at one from one's glass on the morrow, and will not be massagedaway. Take your baths, madame, in milk, or wine, or perfumed water;summon your masseuse, your beauty-doctor. Let them rub you and knead youand pinch you, coat you with cold cream or grease you with oil ofolives. Redden cheeks and lips, whiten hands and shoulders, polishnails, pencil eyebrows, squeeze in the waist, pad out the hips--swallow, at the last, that little tablet which you slip from the jewelled case atyour wrist. It is all in vain. You deceive no man nor woman. They lookinto your eyes and smile, but behind the smile there is a shudder!

Nell and Susie Rushford, with the wind playing in their hair and kissingtheir cheeks, that morning, were miracles of freshness; two divinemessages, two phantoms of delight, sent from the New World to the Old. 

 And one was dark, with tints of violet In hair and eyes, and one was blond as she Who rose--a second daybreak--from the sea, Gold-tressed and azure-eyed. 

Nell, the elder, was tall and fair, like her father, rather sedate, withnot quite the sparkle of Susie, two years her junior, the counterpart ofthe little mother whom she had never seen. And both were erect andbright-eyed as only American girls seem to know completely how to be;visibly healthy, happy, and pure-minded. I should like to pause and lookat them a moment longer, for I have always been a little in love withthem myself; I should like to add to the verses of our own dear poetcertain lines of Wordsworth, of Burns, of Byron--but you, dear reader, will recall them readily, especially if you belong, as I hope you do, tothe great and glorious fraternity of true lovers; if your heart burnsand your pulses leap at mention of a certain name, at sight of a dearface--

There came a sudden hum of excitement from the crowd. 

"Look, look!" cried Susie. "There it is!" and she clapped her glasses toher eyes again. 

Far out against the horizon appeared a smudge of smoke, which grew andspread until those with glasses could perceive beneath it the low, darklines of a man-of-war. It was true then! Some had permitted themselvesto doubt the story spread so industriously by Monsieur Pelletan and hisfriend, the notary--the proprietor of the Grand Hôtel Splendide hadcounselled scepticism. Now they could doubt no longer, and they drew adeep breath. A ship of war at Weet-sur-Mer!

Straight toward the beach she steamed, looming larger and ever larger;then her speed slackened, slackened, until at last she lay rollingquietly a quarter of a mile off-shore. A shrill piping came over thewater as the crew was mustered amidships and the boarding-stairslowered. 

"Well, he _must_ be a swell!" said Sue, "or they wouldn't take all thattrouble. There goes the boat. "

And splash it went into the water, the crew tumbled in, and two menslowly helped another down the stairs, while the crew stood atattention. Some baggage was lowered, then the oars dipped together and alittle spurt of foam appeared under the bow. 

"Why, it's like a moving-picture machine!" cried Susie, with a littlegasp of enjoyment. "Or a comic opera!" she added, wrestling with herglasses to get them focussed on the moving boat. "The hero's sitting inthe stern, " she announced. "He's all wrapped up and there's another manholding him. I can't see anything of him but his eyes, for he's got ahandkerchief or something over the lower part of his face. He must beawfully ill, poor fellow!"

"Probably got the grip, " observed her father, practically. "Wants tokeep out the damp air. I think he'd be better off at home in bed. "

"Oh, but then, " protested Nell--

"Then we shouldn't have this show, " said her father, and laughed grimlyat the thought that neither would fortune have smiled so promptly on theGrand Hôtel Royal. 

The oars flashed suddenly upright; two men sprang from the bow, with afine disregard of a wetting, and pulled the boat far in. Then thebemuffled figure was lifted tenderly and carried to the waiting chair, where Monsieur Pelletan was bowing with his head almost touching thecarpet. The invalid was started toward the hotel without delay, threemen accompanying him, under the leadership of Pelletan; the baggage washeaped on the beach and taken in charge by the hotel porters. A momentlater the boat shoved off. 

A few waited to watch it make its way back to the ship, whichimmediately steamed away toward the horizon; others followed theprocession headed by the invalid's chair; still others hurried ahead toconfer their patronage upon the Grand Hôtel Royal; but the greater parthastened back to their rooms to get something hot and bracing. From oneend to the other, the place was a-buzz with wagging tongues. Why shouldthe foreign secretary of the British Empire have chosen Weet-sur-Mer ashis abiding place? Merely because he was ill and wished to rest? Bah! Tobelieve that would be to show a mind the most credulous, would be toevince an ignorance of high diplomacy the most profound. Again, whyshould he have made the journey from England in a ship of war? Dependupon it, there was a mystery here; a mystery not to be solved in amoment even by such eminent amateurs as those assembled at Weet-sur-Mer. It would take time--it would take study. But it was worth it! There wassomething behind all this-something more than appeared on the surface--in a word, a Plot! And the best place to study it, --the only place, indeed, --was the Grand Hôtel Royal. 

So, instantly, there was a great packing of luggage, a despatching ofcouriers, an engaging of rooms, a settling of bills which drove theproprietor of the Splendide half mad with chagrin. He protested, heswore, he offered concessions the most unheard of--all in vain. His daywas over!

Rushford, his work as cicérone des dames accomplished, returnedleisurely to the hotel, while the girls started for their accustomedwalk. He smiled grimly to himself as he entered the office, the scenewas so different from that of yesterday. For the moment, all wasexcitement. Monsieur Pelletan and his assistants were busy attending tothe wants of their distinguished guest; down in the kitchen, the chefwas cursing the stupidity of the unfortunate menials under him andstriving madly to prove himself worthy the occasion--the greatest of hislife! Every moment, a porter toiled up to the door with a load ofluggage; every moment some one arrived demanding a room--and not onemurmured at the tariff! The lift groaned and creaked under theunaccustomed weights put upon it and moved more slowly than ever. Pelletan, as he hurried past, mopping his perspiring brow, had time onlyfor a single glance at his good angel--but what a glance! Such a glance, no doubt, Columbus caught from his lieutenants at the cry of "Land Ho!"

Rushford, leaning over the desk, watching the confusion with anamusement which had banished every trace of ennui, felt his arm touched. He turned and recognised the be-gilt messenger of the day before. 

"A second telegram for monsieur, " said that functionary, with an amiablegrin, and produced the message. 

There was no time for hesitation. Rushford took it, signed the blank, and fished up the expected tip. 

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave!" he murmured, and looked at theaddress on the little white envelope. It read:

 _M. Le Propriétaire, Grand Hôtel Royal, Weet-sur-Mer. _

"The plot thickens!" he murmured. "Well, it's really for me. Let's see, "and he tore it open. He whistled again as he read the message; then hecalled the nearest boy. "Tell Monsieur Pelletan to come here at once, "he said. "Tell him I must speak to him on a matter of importance. "

At the end of a moment, the little man puffed down the stair, exhausted, radiant!

"Iss eet not grand!" he cried. "What a change from yesterday! T'ough howyou haf accomplishe' eet, monsieur--"

"No matter, " interrupted Rushford. "Which is the next best of yourapartments, Pelletan?"

"T'e nex' best? Why, apartment B, monsieur. Eet iss t'e counterpart ofapartment A, only on t'e nort' side of t'e house instead of t'e sout'. "

"And it is still empty?"

"At two hundret francs t'e tay? Oh, yess, monsieur; only a Prince canafford eet now. "

"Well, you will prepare it at once--"

"Ah, monsieur himself will take eet! T'at iss just! I shall pe toohappy--"

"No, no; you've just said that only a Prince can afford it and it's mybusiness to produce him! Let's see--it's nearly nine--well, at teno'clock, there will arrive in a special train--"

Monsieur Pelletan had turned pale. 

"Een a special train?" he faltered. "What! Some one else?"

"Yes--at ten o'clock--"

"Who iss eet will arrive, monsieur?" questioned Pelletan faintly. 

"His Highness, Prince Frederick of Markeld, ambassador from the court ofSchloshold-Markheim, " answered Rushford, dwelling upon every word. "Wewill give him apartment B. "

CHAPTER IV

An Adventure and a Rescue

It was not until Rushford opened his paper an hour later that he fullyunderstood the remarkable situation of which the Grand Hôtel Royal had, by the merest chance, become the centre. 

 "It is extremely unfortunate [said the _Times_] that Lord Vernon should have been taken ill at just this time, when the question of the succession of Schloshold-Markheim is hanging in the balance. Lord Vernon is the only man in the cabinet capable of dealing with the situation, which is as delicate as can be imagined. On the one side are arrayed the sympathies of our reigning house and perhaps even our own honour; on the other, the plainly expressed desires of the German Emperor. 

 "The late Prince Christian left no direct heirs, so that, in any event, the succession must be through a collateral branch. The claims of the rivals, Prince George, of Schloshold, and Prince Ferdinand, of Markheim, are therefore evenly balanced. On one side of the scale, however, the German Emperor has thrown the weight of his influence. On the other side is the moral influence of practically all the rest of Europe, but this will scarcely be of any value to Prince Ferdinand unless he can enlist the active support of Great Britain, which, it may be, Lord Vernon, though reluctant to withhold, will find impossible to give. It is not to be denied that, from a disinterested view-point, Prince Ferdinand seems by far the more worthy of the two claimants. 

 "Lord Vernon is suffering with a very severe attack of influenza, which has been developing for some days, and which has, at last, become so serious that his physicians have commanded a complete rest for a week or ten days. One may well conceive Lord Vernon's reluctance to heed this advice, but he has very wisely decided to do so. The little seaside resort of Weet-sur-Mer, on the Dutch coast, has been selected as the place for his sojourn, and he will be taken there to-morrow on H. M. S. _Dauntless_. Sir John Scaddam, his physician, and two of his secretaries, Mr. Arthur Collins and Mr. George Blake, will accompany him, although work of any kind has been absolutely forbidden him for at least a week. It is believed that the bracing atmosphere of Weet-sur-Mer will effect a cure in that time. 

 "Weet-sur-Mer is comparatively little known, at least in England. It is really the old Dutch fishing-village of Weet-zurlindenhofen; but a number of years ago it was exploited as a watering-place and re-christened Weet-sur-Mer by some enthusiast more anxious to advertise the fact that one may bathe there than to observe the rules of etymology. It is rather out of the way, and the route by rail is so circuitous and uncertain that it was judged best to spare Lord Vernon the fatigue of such a journey by conveying him directly thither upon the _Dauntless_. He hopes to find there a quiet and seclusion which would be impossible at any of the larger resorts. 

 "We understand that Prince George is with the German Emperor at Berlin, and that Prince Ferdinand, who is at Markheim, has commissioned his cousin, Prince Frederick, of Markeld, to place his claims before our foreign office. His reception at this time can hardly fail to cause acute embarrassment. "

There was a half-column more of comment and veiled suggestion thatperhaps the wisest course for the foreign office to pursue, now thatLord Vernon's guiding hand was for the moment withdrawn, would be to letaffairs take their course; though it was difficult to see how this couldconsistently be done if Prince Frederick succeeded in gaining a formalaudience and placing his case before the government. Already, it seemed, the jingo papers were taunting the administration with undue trucklingto the wishes of Germany, with a lack of stamina and backbone inshort--with something like treachery toward Prince Ferdinand and treasontoward the royal family, with which the Prince was distantly allied. 

Rushford gave a long whistle of astonishment; then he laid the paper onhis knees and stared thoughtfully out across the sands for some minutes. 

"Of course, Markeld has followed Vernon here, " he said, at last. "Irather admire his pluck. And I'd like to be present at theinterview--it'll be interesting. Why, hello, Pelletan, " he added, as thelatter approached him humbly, as a slave approaches the Sultan. "Want tospeak to me?" "Eef monsieur please, " answered the little Frenchman, who was plainly labouring under deep excitement. 

"All right; what is it?"

"Wass monsieur serious in hees command t'at I exclude t'e Prince ofZeit-Zeit?"

"Never more serious in my life. He's barred! We take only humanbeings--not monstrosities. Has he applied?"

"Yess, monsieur; he tesires hees old apartment. "

"Which was that?"

"Apartment A, monsieur; he hass always had t'e pest in t'e house when hecome here mit' hees fat'er. "

"Well, apartment A's already taken; even if it were empty, he shouldn'thave it. Where's your nerve, Pelletan--here's your chance for revenge!"

"But to refuse a Prince!" murmured Pelletan. "Eet iss somet'ing unheardof!"

"It will make you famous! It's a big ad for the house! 'The Grand HôtelRoyal refuses to receive the Prince of Zeit-Zeit. ' Think what a stirthat will make! Besides, you have no choice--I require it!"

"Fery well, monsieur, " agreed Pelletan, with a gesture of despairingobedience. "T'ere iss one t'ing more--I haf an idea. "

"That's good; let's have it, " said Rushford, encouragingly. "There'snothing like ideas. "

"Monsieur will remember, " began Pelletan, in a voice carefully lowered, "t'at we agreed to touble t'e price of entertainment. "

"Yes--what of it? Anybody been kicking?"

"No--au contraire, monsieur--t'e house iss full--efery leetle room. "

"You see you don't need Zeit-Zeit; it's quite like the old times, isn'tit?"

"Yess--only petter, monsieur; far petter. Oh, eet iss wunderschön!"

"Well, go ahead; what's the idea?"

"Since t'e house iss full, " said Pelletan, impressively, "and t'ere aremany more asking for rooms--oh, temanding t'em--t'e Prince among t'enumber!--why may not we again touble t'e price?" and he leaned back inhis chair, looking triumphantly at his partner. But his face fell as thelatter shook his head. "No?" he asked. "Eet will not do?"

"No, " said Rushford, slowly; "I'm afraid it won't do. You see it wouldbe a kind of ex post facto proceeding--"

"A--I ton't quite comprehen', monsieur. "

"No matter--trust me--see what's happened since yesterday, " and hewaved his hand at the busy corridor. 

"Oh, eet iss kolossal!" cried Pelletan. "I shall nefer cease to atmiremonsieur. Perhaps, " he suggested timidly, "since he hass peen sosuccessful, monsieur may pe tempted to remain permanently. Surely hewould pe one great success! In a year--two year--we would eclipseOstend--monsieur himself hass said eet!"

"No, " laughed the other, "I don't think I'd care to remain. Though, ofcourse, " he added, "the possibility of great success is alwaysfascinating. "

"Oh, eet iss more t'an a possibility, " cried Pelletan. "Eet is acertainty. "

"A certainty is not so fascinating as a possibility, " the Americanpointed out, his eyes twinkling. 

"Unt t'en, " continued Pelletan, persuasively, fancying, no doubt, thathe saw some signs of yielding in his partner's face, "eef monsieurremains, he can haf t'e house done ofer to suit heem; he can t'row awayt'e furniture he does not like; he can paint out t'e marble columns; hecan cause all t'e servants to pe tressed to hees taste. He would makeone grand sensation! T'e house would pe t'e talk of Europe, tint wewould soon pe reech--oh, reech!" and the little Frenchman stretched hisarms wide to indicate the vast extent of the wealth that was awaitingthem. 

But Rushford shook his head. 

"No, Pelletan, " he said; "no, I really can't do it. It's utterlyimpossible, or your impassioned eloquence would certainly prevail. There's nothing I'd like better than to show the hotel-keepers of Europea thing or two--they are more conceited with less reason for being sothan any other class of men I know. But I've got to go back to Americabefore long to look after my business there. Besides, I don't reallyfeel that hotel-keeping is my lifework. I'm afraid it would pall upon meafter a time. But I tell you what I'll do, if you wish, Pelletan. I'lltear up the agreement and say no more about it. You may have all theprofits. "

"Oh!" cried the Frenchman, dazzled by this munificence, by the goldenvision which danced before his eyes. Then he hesitated. With hispartner's marvellous influence withdrawn, might not the whole wonderfulstructure come tumbling about his ears? It would be like pulling out thefoundation! What would prevent his guests from packing up and leavingto-morrow? "No, monsieur, " he said, slowly, at last, "I prefer eet aseet iss. "

"Very well, " and Rushford laughed again; it was not the first time hispartners in business had been afraid to do without him! "Let it be thatway, then. Have you got that agreement with you?"

"Yess, monsieur; eet iss here, " and he produced it from an innerpocket. 

"Let me have it a minute. "

Pelletan gave it to him with trembling hand. His partner opened it, gotout his fountain-pen, and changed a word in the contract. 

"There, " he said, "that's more fair, Pelletan. "

Pelletan paled as he looked at the paper and his eyes grew misty. Instead of one hundred francs daily, he would receive two hundred. Ah, these magnificent Americans!

The interview to which the _Times_ looked forward with so muchapprehension was, it seemed, indefinitely postponed. The Prince ofMarkeld had, indeed, immediately upon his arrival, caused his presenceto be formally announced to Lord Vernon, but the latter had respondedthat he was, for the present, under the orders of his physician, whoforbade him to see any one or to transact business of any kind. Whereatthe Prince had twisted his mustachios fiercely (with an accompaniment, no doubt, of sub voce profanity) and had proceeded to amuse himselfuntil luncheon with an exceedingly ugly bulldog he had brought with him. 

He had luncheon in his apartment, smoked a cigarette or two, despatcheda telegram describing the state of affairs to Prince Ferdinand, andthen, looking from his window and perceiving that all the world wasabroad, prepared for a walk along the beach. At the door, he happened tolook back and caught his dog's eyes fixed wistfully upon him. 

"Ah, Jax, old boy, " he said, "it is unfair to leave you shut up herewith only Glück for company. Like to come along?"

Jax wriggled his delight. 

"And you'll behave yourself?"

Jax promised as clearly as a dog could. 

"Very well, then, " and the Prince went down the stair, with Jax, half-delirious with joy, behind him. 

Now the Prince was a very good-looking fellow, erect and clean, asGerman noblemen have a way of being--besides, he was a Prince, acommander of favours from the world and women, not a mere suitor forthem as most poor mortals are--and more than one pair of eyes gazed athim languishingly from under pencilled brows as he strolled moodilyalong the beach, golden yellow in the sunlight; more than one crimsonmouth shaped itself to an entrancing smile; more than one sullied heartbeat high at thought of a brilliant future. 

But on this occasion, none of the sirens won an answering glance, forthe Prince was in no mood for flirtation--and, besides, he was used tosirens. So he strolled on, deep in thought. This affair of state, whichrested upon his shoulders, promised to go badly; if Lord Vernonpersisted in his refusal to see him, he was checkmated at the start, before he had opportunity to make a move. Delay meant ruin, and hiscousin had trusted everything to him. He knew very well that the Emperorwould not delay; that he would use every minute to strengthen hisposition; that he would compel events, not dance attendance on them. He, the Prince, must see Lord Vernon at any cost; he must demand anaudience; he must appeal to his patriotism, his sense of honour, thelove of fair play which every Englishman possesses; he must make refusalimpossible--

He paused and looked up, conscious of a sudden commotion on the beachjust ahead of him. Then he saw his dog dancing frantically about a younglady who held in her arms a little white spaniel, which she hadevidently just snatched up from annihilation. 

Markeld started forward with a leap, but at that instant a tall figureemerged from a hooded chair nearby, and with a quick and well-directedkick, sent the dog spinning. 

"Oh, thank you!" cried Susie Rushford, looking up into a very handsomeface. 

"It was my great good fortune, " said the stranger, bowing, "to be ofservice to a compatriot. "

"Oh, you are an American?"

"No; an Englishman; but at least we speak the same language! I don'tknow the word for it"

"Neither do I--compatriot will do. You were just in time!"

"And you did it very neatly, " added Nell, admiringly, glancing at thediscomfited Jax, who was looking about him dazedly. 

"Thank you, " and the stranger, checking the words which were evidentlyupon his lips, bowed again, turned quickly back to his chair, buriedhimself in its recesses, and retired behind a newspaper. 

"Well!" gasped Sue, meeting her sister's astonished eyes, "I mustsay--"

But what she must have said will remain forever a mystery, for just thenthe Prince of Markeld came hurrying up. 

"I hope there is no damage, " he said, speaking with just the slightestaccent. "He is my dog, " he added, seeing their questioning glance. "I amvery sorry. I was a little preoccupied and was not noticing him. He isusually a very good dog. I cannot understand why he should have attackedyours. "

"He isn't mine, " laughed Susie, patting the spaniel upon his silky head;"he just ran to me for refuge. "

"Evidently a most intelligent dog, " observed the Prince, gravely. 

"You think so?" asked Susie, her colour deepening just the faintest bit. "Ah, here is the owner, now, " she added, as a little faded old womancame panting up. 

"Oh, thank you, mademoiselle!" cried the newcomer, snatching the dogfrom Susie's arms. "Thank you! He was a bad boy--he run away!" and sheheld him close against her heart. 

"It was nothing, " protested Susie. "I am very glad I happened to be justhere. Though I don't suppose that either I or the dog was in danger ofbeing eaten, " she added to Markeld, as the little old woman trottedtremulously away. "Your dog doesn't look especially ferocious. "

"Still, I beg a thousand pardons, " repeated the Prince. "I should havekept my eye on him. Come here, Jax, " he called, "and make your apologiesto the ladies. "

Jax crawled up very humbly and Susie stooped and patted his head. 

"Poor Jax, " she said. "It wasn't your fault, I know. I'm sure thatlittle spaniel insulted you!"

Jax licked her hand gratefully, and the Prince looked on with anadmiration he did not attempt to conceal. 

"Would you like him?" he asked, eagerly. 

Susie started up with crimsoning cheeks. 

"No, thank you, " she said, and taking her sister's arm, she walked on, chin in air. 

The Prince gazed after her, wide-eyed, for a moment, then turnedresolutely and continued on his way. 

"Well, " began Nell, at the end of a minute, "he quite took my breathaway!"

"Which he?" queried Sue. 

"Both of them; but the first especially. That kick bespoke footballtraining. "

"And he has evidently kept in condition, " added Sue. "The owner of thedog wasn't a bad-looking fellow, either--interesting, too, I haven't adoubt, and I do like interesting people! But the nerve of him--offeringme his dog! I'm afraid we need a chaperon, after all, my dear. "

"Yes, " agreed Nell, "perhaps we do. But it would be an awful bother. "

They walked on to the end of the beach, then mounted to the Digue andstrolled slowly back toward the hotel, enjoying the breeze, the colour, the sunshine, the strange and varied life of the place. 

Stretching along the landward side of the dyke stood a row of littlehouses, green and pink and white, with tile roofs mounting steeplyupward, their red surfaces broken by innumerable dormers. These had oncebeen the homes of honest and industrious fishermen, but time had changedall that. They had been remodelled to suit the demands of business, andevery house had now on the lower floor an expensive little shop withmonsieur sitting complacently at the door and madame, fat and voluble, at the money-drawer, and on the floor above, a still more expensivesuite of rooms to let--rooms panelled in white and gold, resplendentwith rococo mouldings, and crowded with abominable furniture, intendedto be coquettish--gilt chairs, scalloped tables, embroideredlambrequins, ottomans smothered in plush and fringe, beds draped withcurtains until they were all but air-tight--in effect more French thanFrance. 

Here and there between the houses, a glimpse might be had of the lowcountry beyond, with its sluggish canal choked with rushes, a dingywindmill here and there, and stretching away on either side the flatmeadows crinkling with yellow grain, and the green pastures dotted withhuge black-and-white cattle. A narrow road, straight as a line inEuclid, and bordered by a row of trees each the counterpart of all theothers, mounted toward the horizon, leading, principally, to a low, yellow house about a mile away, displaying above its door theappropriate motto, "Lust en Rust. " There, either in the cool, vine-shaded garden, in the long, low-ceilinged dining-room, or in somesmaller and more ornate apartment, one might breakfast, dine, what not, in the fashion of the country--which, for the most part, meant thedrinking of a muddy liquid with an unpronounceable name and the eatingof wafelen and poffertjes, and of little cheeses calculated to appal thestrongest stomach. 

The shops and the landscape--the cosmopolitan crowd with its Babel ofmany tongues--the great hotels, built of stucco in the nouveau-richestyle so rasping to sensitive nerves--the striped awnings, the lowbalconies, the gaudy house-fronts--all these our heroines looked at andcommented on and revelled in with the joy of fresh and unspoiled youth. It was life they were tasting--strange, interesting, intoxicatinglife--and they drank deep of it. 

As they neared the hotel entrance, they saw coming from the otherdirection, pushed by two men, an invalid chair. They stood aside to letit pass, and its occupant, carefully wrapped in a great steamer-rug, glanced up at them with a quizzical light in his eyes. 

They shrank back together against the wall with a simultaneous gasp ofdismay, for the invalid was their athletic rescuer of an hour before. 

The chair went on to the desk, where it paused, while its occupant wrotea hasty sentence on a slip of paper, which he tore from his notebook. Amoment later, it was presented to Susie by one of his attendants. Shetook it mechanically, and, with a low bow, the messenger hurried back tothe chair. 

"What in the world, " she began dazedly; then she unfolded the paper andread:

"Lord Vernon will be deeply grateful if he is not mentioned inconnection with today's adventure. "

CHAPTER V

Tellier Takes a Hand

The Prince continued his walk to the limits of the beach, with Jaxtrotting humbly at his heels; then he returned slowly to the hotel andmounted to his apartment. 

"That will do, Glück, " he said, as he gave him his hat and gloves. "Don't let me be disturbed. "

And Glück, with his imperturbable mahogany face, silently withdrew tomount guard without the door. 

The Prince sat down, lighted a cigarette, and stared moodily out of thewindow, down upon the shifting crowd which still thronged the beach. Hishand, hanging inert by his side, became suddenly the receptacle for amoist nose. 

"Ah, Jax; and did she pat you on the head, old boy?" he asked. "And areyou properly proud?"

Jax wiggled his remnant of a tail. 

"Would you like to belong to her, Jax, and get patted every day? Yet shewouldn't take you--snapped me off short as that stump of yours when Ioffered you to her. Why was that, Jax?"

Jax couldn't say, not being familiar with the ways of fair Americans, and the Prince patted him softly on his nobbly crown. 

"Just the same, she was a beauty, Jax; slim, straight, full of fire--athoroughbred; and with a sense of humour, my dear, which you will findin not many women. Did you notice her cheeks, Jax, and her eyes? But ofcourse not; you were very properly grovelling before her. And I owe youeternal gratitude, old boy; but for you, I'd have stalked past withoutseeing her. That would have been a pity, wouldn't it?"

There was a knock at the door and Glück's head appeared. 

"I thought I told you, " began the Prince--

"Your Highness will pardon me, " explained Glück, quickly, "but there isa man here who insists that Your Highness will see him. "

"Who is he?"

"This is his card, Your Highness, " and Glück entered the room. "I havesent it back once, saying that Your Highness was not to be disturbed. Hereturned it, insisting--"

Markeld took the card, glanced at it, and read:

_"M. André Tellier, Paris. Agent du Service de Sûreté"_

Beneath this was a pencilled line--"Concerning the question of thesuccession. "

The Prince stared at it a moment in some astonishment, not unmixed withirritation. What could this fellow know concerning the succession? Itwas most probably simply an impertinence. The Paris police were famousfor impertinences. 

Glück started for the door; since his master's boyhood, he had watchedover him, attended him--he could read his countenance like an open book. The Prince glanced up. 

"Where are you going?" he demanded. 

"I go to tell the imbecile that Your Highness will not see him, "responded Glück, impassively, his hand on the knob. 

The Prince smiled. He had a great fondness for his old retainer. 

"Wait, " he said. "We must not permit ourselves to be governed by firstimpressions, nor swayed by prejudice. It is just possible that thisfellow has something to tell me which I ought to hear. I can't afford todisregard any chance. So inform M. Tellier that I will see him, " and helighted a fresh cigarette resignedly. 

As he watched the smoke turn gray in the sunlight, it suddenly occurredto him that, in some unaccountable manner, the question of thesuccession had receded somewhat into the background; it no longer seemedto him of such overwhelming consequence; at least, he had not beenthinking of it a moment before, but of something very different--

There appeared at the door a figure which drew a stare of surprise fromMarkeld, accustomed as he was to eccentric habiliment. It was arrayed ina long, mouse-gray frock coat and shiny black trousers; a hand gloved inlavender kid carried a top hat, while the other caressed, from time totime, the carefully-waxed mustachios and imperial adorning a countenancewhich was a singular mixture of craft and vanity. The little eyes werehalf-concealed under drooping, baggy lids, the nose was long and sharp, the lips very thin and severe, though at this moment parted in a smilemeant to be ingratiating. The figure entered and bowed profoundly, disclosing Glück's disgusted face in the doorway. 

"Monsieur Tellier?" asked the Prince. 

Tellier bowed again, and the Prince noticed the white line of scalpleading, with geometrical precision, from the brow to the bald spot onthe crown, and then on down the back of the head. It reminded him, somehow, of the Lake of Constance, with the Rhine flowing through it. 

"You have something to communicate?" he continued, repressing a smile. 

"Something of the first importance, Your Highness, " said the Frenchman;"otherwise I should not have taken the liberty of disturbing YourHighness. "

"Very well, " and the Prince motioned him to a chair. "Sit down. I shallbe glad to hear you. "

"It is something, " said the Frenchman, with a glance at the open door, "which should be communicated, if Your Highness please, in confidence. "

"Glück, shut the door, " commanded the Prince. "Now, my dear sir, proceed. "

"Your Highness is, of course, aware, " began the detective, sitting downwith a back very straight, and drooping his lids until his eyes werealmost closed, "that France is deeply interested in this question of thesuccession, and that its sympathies are wholly with Prince Ferdinand, the cousin of Your Highness, and whom, I understand, Your Highnessrepresents. "

Markeld nodded. 

"We should naturally expect France's sympathy, " he said. 

"France, " proclaimed Tellier, raising his chin proudly, "is always onthe side of justice and decency. "

"More especially, " continued the Prince, drily, "when the Emperor ofGermany happens to be on the other side. Come now, confess--if theEmperor were for us, you would be against us--is it not so?"

Tellier permitted the faintest shadow of a smile to flicker across hislips. 

"Your Highness speaks with a bluntness disconcerting, " he said, deprecatingly. 

"I wished merely to clear the air, " said the Prince, "and to prick atthe outset the bubble with which you were trying to dazzle me. Let meassure you that we thoroughly understand France's attitude in thismatter. She is on our side simply because she sees an opportunity ofhumiliating, through us, an old enemy. "

"'At least, " said Tellier, "Your Highness agrees that we are on yourside--the reasons for this attitude do not concern me. I only know thatwe are anxious to do all we can to help Your Highnesses cause. Consequently, when it was learned that Lord Vernon was coming to thisplace, the Department of State, fearing some duplicity, asked that acompetent man be sent here to--to--"

"Keep an eye out for developments, " said the Prince, seeing that theother hesitated for a word, "and to watch for an opportunity of forcingEngland's hand. "

"Precisely, Your Highness; and my superiors did me the honour ofselecting me for this delicate task. "

"A wise choice, I do not doubt, " said the Prince, gravely. That Tellierhad any important revelation to make he did not in the least believe;but there seemed a chance of extracting some amusement from thesituation--and time was hanging heavily on his hands--would hangheavily until the hour of the promenade to-morrow. 

"I hope to prove it so, Your Highness!" cried the detective, flushingwith pleasure at the compliment. "In fact, I think that I may say Ihave already proved it so!"

"Ah!" said the Prince, and lighted another cigarette. 

"I arrived soon after Your Highness; I took a wagon from Zunderburg, rather than lose precious time by waiting for the train of thisafternoon. I was very weary, for the journey from Paris is a trying one;but before seeking repose, indeed without even permitting myself tothink of my own fatigue, I ascertained that Lord Vernon occupiedapartment A de luxe, and Your Highness apartment B de luxe, in thishotel. "

"Indeed!" said the Prince. 

"I naturally took care at once to secure a room here, since it was ofthe first importance that I should be in a position to see everythingthat might occur. "

"Naturally, " agreed the Prince. 

"Though it was very difficult, since every room was taken. For anotherman, it would have been impossible. "

"But for you, I see, nothing is impossible, " observed the Prince. 

"Very few things, Your Highness, " agreed Tellier, modestly. "In thiscase I had but to speak a single word, " and he paused with an air oftriumph. 

"Wonderful!" cried the Prince, and clapped his hands softly. "Some day Imust get you to teach me that word. It must be very useful. Well, whatnext?"

"An hour's rest, " Tellier continued, "and I was myself again. I soonmade the acquaintance of a chamber-maid--a girl who keeps her eyesopen--and I learned many things--"

"It was not to tell me them that you came here, I trust, " interposed thePrince. "I care little for backstairs gossip. "

"Oh, not at all! As Your Highness says, they would, most probably, notinterest you. But to one in my profession, no fact is uninteresting; nooccurrence is too trivial to be noticed. "

"Well, get on to your story, then, " said the Prince, with someimpatience. 

"Just after luncheon today, Your Highness walked on the beach, " saidTellier, "accompanied by the dog yonder. "

Jax growled softly as he caught the Frenchman's eye, which pleased himno more than it had Glück. 

"That is true, " agreed the Prince. "What of it?"

"The dog attacked a small spaniel, which sought refuge with two ladies, one of whom picked it up. "

"All ancient history, I assure you, Monsieur Tellier. Yet, wait amoment. Do you happen to know who the ladies were?"

"They are sisters, " said Tellier. "Their name is Rushford; their fatheris a tall American, who incessantly smokes a cigar and reads anewspaper in the office of the hotel. If Your Highness wishes, I canmake further inquiries. "

"Not at all!" cried the Prince, violently. "I won't countenance suchimpertinence! Go on with the story. "

Tellier bowed to indicate the most implicit obedience. 

"It happened that I was near by, " he said, "at the moment of theencounter. I had taken my stand near a large beach-chair, which, forreasons, interested me. I was nonchalant, impassive; alert, withoutseeming to be so. Many of the women passing I had met upon theboulevards under circumstances the most peculiar; concerning many of themen I knew more than they would wish the world to know. Seeing mestanding there, some of them turned pale, others grew red with emotion. Some went by endeavouring to appear not to have seen me; others threwme appealing glances. Never, by the quiver of a lash, did I show that Irecognised them. I stood and waited--like the Sphinx. "

"For what?" inquired the Prince, whose sense of humour had returned tohim. 

"For the dénouement, Your Highness. I knew that, sooner or later, itwould come. I knew it could not escape me, Tellier--the evidence ofduplicity which I was seeking. "

"But, " objected the Prince, "what duplicity can there be? If Lord Vernonis ill--"

"Your Highness will pardon me for interrupting; but much depends uponthat 'if. ' If, on the other hand, the illness is only for the momentassumed--"

"Oh, nonsense!" cried Markeld. "What reason could he have for assumingillness? That would be childish!"

The Frenchman smiled a self-satisfied smile, as he softly caressed hisimperial, and his little eyes glowed with anticipated triumph. 

"Let us deal with the facts first, if Your Highness will permit, andwith reasons afterwards. I was, then, standing by the chair in theattitude which I have described, when your dog appeared and attacked thespaniel. As the young lady stooped and picked it up, your dog sprangagainst her, frightening her so that she cried aloud. "

"And you stood by without offering to assist her?" demanded the Prince, with some indignation. 

"There was no need, Your Highness, " responded Tellier, easily. "In thefirst place, she was, of course, in no real danger. In the second place, I perceived instantly that fate was playing into my hands. In fact, theincident could not have been more à propos if it had been arranged by myguardian angel. For from the chair beside which I was stationed a mansprang out and kicked the dog away. Your Highness must have remarked hisagility and strength--may even have seen his face. "

"No, " said the Prince. "I was not near enough to see it distinctly. "

"I saw it, Your Highness, very distinctly, and I assure you that it wasthat of a man in the full enjoyment of health. Even from his agility, Your Highness could doubtless judge whether the man was seriously ill. "

The Prince hitched about in his chair a little impatiently. He wasbeginning to find the Frenchman tedious. 

"Most certainly he was not seriously ill, " he agreed; "nor, I shouldsay, even slightly so. What is that to me? Pray have done with thismystery!"

Tellier's face was glowing with all a Frenchman's pride in a coup dethéâtre--his moment of triumph had arrived. 

"Of all the eyes which witnessed that episode, seemingly so slight andso unimportant, " he said, proudly, "mine were the only ones which sawits full significance. Your Highness will, no doubt, be surprised when Iinform you that this gentleman, so agile and so athletic, was no otherthan Lord Vernon!"

CHAPTER VI

The Path Grows Crooked

In the sitting-room of apartment A, in the south wing of the Grand HôtelRoyal, Lord Vernon was tramping nervously up and down while hiscompanions regarded him with evident anxiety. 

"I tell you fellows, " he was saying, "it can't be kept up--I thought sofrom the first, but all the rest of you seemed to think it would be soinfernally easy that I was ashamed to say anything. I knew something wassure to happen to give us away, and something has happened. What was Ito do? Sit there like a mummy and allow that dog to frighten those girlsto death? What the deuce are you laughing at, Collins?"

"I'm laughing at your tragic tone. No, you couldn't have satstill--though I don't suppose the young ladies were in any seriousdanger. They were pretty, no doubt?"

"Ah!" said Vernon, with a mental smacking of the lips at the entrancingpicture the words called up. 

"That, of course, made it doubly impossible to sit still. Did they knowyou?"

"Oh, no; never saw me before; hadn't the slightest suspicion that theywere talking to such a famous personage. They said they were Americans. "

"Then I don't see that any harm has been done. "

"Unfortunately, when I was coming back, all bundled up in my chair, weran right into them down here at the door, and they recognised meinstantly--I could tell that by their gasp of amazement as they shrankback against the wall. "

"Still, if you preserved a cold and haughty demeanour, they may haveconcluded they were mistaken. "

"Cold and haughty nothing!" broke in the third man. "I was there andI'll swear he winked. "

"No, I didn't wink, " laughed Vernon. "Though perhaps I should if I'ddared--they're mighty taking girls!"

"Well, what _did_ you do?" demanded Collins, with just a trace ofimpatience. 

Again Vernon laughed. 

"I sent 'em back a note asking 'em not to tell, " he said. 

Collins threw up his hands in horror and the third man grinnedsardonically. Vernon looked at them and kept on laughing. 

"You two fellows take it too seriously, " he added. "I don't believethey'll tell. "

"I thought you knew women better than that, " said Collins, reproachfully. 

"I do know them--better than any dried-up diplomat, at least, --and Ibelieve we can trust these two--for a few days, anyway. How much time dowe need?"

"A week, at the very least. Fancy asking a woman to keep a secret for aweek! And as for taking it too seriously, you know how much depends onit. "

"Yes, " observed Vernon, sarcastically, "you fellows seem to think thepeace of Europe depends on it. "

"I should say that would not be overstating it in the least, " saidCollins, with a solemnity almost religious. 

"Oh, nonsense; you diplomatic fellows make mountains out of molehills;you see a storm in every cloud; you imagine the lightning's going tostrike you every time it flashes! You're all nerves!"

"Anyway, you agreed--"

"Yes, I know I agreed, " interrupted Vernon, irritably, "and I was a foolto do it. "

"Besides, " added Blake, "we've got to play very close, since it happensthat Markeld is in this very hotel. We supposed, of course, that hewould go on to London. I must say that I think he showed exceedinglypoor taste in following us here. "

"Oh, I don't know, " said Vernon. "I think it was rather enterprising. Ionly wish we could treat the poor devil fairly. "

"Well, since he is here, " continued Blake, "there's only one thing foryou to do, and that is to stay under cover. "

"But, confound it!" protested Vernon, "I can't stay cooped up here inthese rooms all the time!"

"That's the only safe way, " observed Collins. "Suppose Markeld shouldfind out how the land lies! The fat would be in the fire for sure; andwe'd be in a mighty awkward position! Suppose the jingoes got hold ofit!" and he turned pale at the thought. 

"Well, I won't stay shut up, that's certain, " said Vernon, doggedly. "As for the jingoes, let them rave!"

"That's easy to say, " retorted Collins, with irony, "when some one elsehas to bear the brunt of it. "

Vernon snorted impatiently. 

"You may frighten yourself whenever you please, " he said, "but you can'tfrighten me. I've heard the cry of 'Wolf! Wolf!' entirely too often. "

"But the wolf came at last, " Blake pointed out. 

"Well, it isn't coming this time; and I don't care if it is. I repeat, categorically and imperatively, _I won't stay shut up!"_

"You agreed to obey our instructions, you know. "

"Every one has the right to rebel against a tyrant!"

"At least, " said Collins, yielding the ground grudgingly, "you mustremember always to keep on your sick-togs when you do go out, and to tryto look a little less scandalously healthy than you are. Now, if you'dkept on your wraps when you jumped out of the chair--"

"How was I to kick a dog with a rug around my legs? You fellows don'tgive me credit for what I did do. I'd just got into a most interestingconversation with those girls, when up came a fellow whom I knewinstinctively to be Markeld. "

He stopped as he caught the others' astounded gaze. 

"Yes, Markeld!" he repeated, defiantly. "I've an idea that he is theowner of the dog. I suppose I should have sent James to inquire who thedog belonged to before I ventured forth!"

"No matter, " said Collins, impatiently. "What did you do?"

"I was guilty of unpardonable rudeness, " answered Vernon. "I broke awayfrom those girls as though they had the plague, jumped into my chair, and buried myself behind my newspaper. They must have thought I'descaped from somewhere. "

"So Markeld didn't see you, it doesn't matter what they thought, "remarked Collins. 

"Oh, doesn't it?"

"Surely you're not going to run any further risks for the sake of a girlmore or less!"

"My dear Collins!" said Vernon, with chill politeness; "I have alwayssuspected that a course in diplomacy sucked the blood out of a man andsubstituted ice-water in its stead. Now I know it. Permit me to add thatyou have not seen the girl--either girl--though I don't suppose thatwould make the slightest difference. "

"May I inquire what you propose to do?" asked Collins, flushing alittle. 

"I propose to cultivate the acquaintance of the beautiful Americans inevery way I can. After all, what does it matter to me who rules over alittle twopenny duchy called Schloshold-Markheim?"

"I suppose your promise is of equal indifference to you!"

"Damn my promise! See here, Collins; don't push me too far; the wormwill turn. Of course, I'll keep my promise; but don't irritate me. I'mall on edge over this thing now--a little more, and I'll be capable ofdoing something--"

A tap at the door interrupted him, and he disappeared between twocurtains into the inner room, where an invalid chair, buried in wraps, stood by the window. Near it was a little table covered with medicinebottles, glasses, spoons--in a word, all the paraphernalia of prolongedand serious illness. 

Blake opened the door and took the card that was presented to him. 

"The Prince of Markeld, " he said, looking at it. "Ah, yes; you willtell His Highness that there has been no change in the condition of LordVernon, who thanks him for his kind inquiries. "

He closed the door and turned back into the room. 

"Now, what do you think that means?" he asked, of Collins. "That's thesecond time today. He's getting importunate. "

Collins stared out of the window gloomily. 

"Perhaps he suspects already, " he said. "I've been told he's a cleverfellow--in fact, he's proved it once or twice. "

"Suppose he does suspect--what shall we do?"

"Convince him to the contrary. Where's Scaddam?"

"In his room, I suppose. "

"Better send for him. "

"May I come out?" inquired a voice from the inner room. 

"Yes, come ahead, " called Collins, and Vernon reappeared. "Now, myfriend, " he continued rapidly, "you'd better go in and put on yourwar-togs. " Vernon groaned. "Put 'em on thick. I believe Markeld suspectsthe trick we're playing, and we've got to fool him--we've got to showhim what a sick man you are. "

"How _could_ he suspect?" demanded Vernon, incredulously. "Even if hesaw me, he couldn't recognise me--he doesn't know me. "

"Perhaps those girls have already given you away. "

"Nonsense! You fellows are afraid of your own shadows. He can'tsuspect!"

"Just the same, we've got to be prepared for emergencies. Have you gotplenty of pepper?"

Vernon groaned again. 

"Plenty! I tell you fellows I'll ruin my health if I keep this up muchlonger. I might easily burst a blood-vessel. People often do when theysneeze. "

"Well, we'll have to take the risk, " said Blake, with grim complacency. 

"Much risk you take! In fact, I saw you sprinkling pepper on myhandkerchief this morning, when there wasn't the slightest need of it. "

"Now, see here, " protested Collins, sharply, "what's the use of all thisargument? We've got to see this thing through, whether we like it ornot. I've sent for Scaddam, so he'll be on the scene in case ofemergencies--"

"You mean, if I break a blood-vessel?" inquired Vernon, politely. 

"Oh, break your grandmother! I tell you--"

There was a second tap on the door and Vernon again made a dive for theinner room. This time, a note was handed in. Collins closed the door, tore open the envelope nervously, and ran his eyes quickly over thecontents. 

"Come out here, you beggar, " he called, and Vernon reappeared on thethreshold. "Take a look at this, " he added, and held out the note. "Maybe you won't be so cocksure hereafter that diplomats are alwaysmaking mountains out of mole-hills. "

Vernon took the paper and read it slowly, his face growing blanker andmore blank as he proceeded. Then he went back to the beginning and readit aloud:

"The Prince of Markeld admiredgreatly Lord Vernon's recent promptand chivalrous action, which he had theprivilege of witnessing. He is sure, however, that His Lordship's illnesscannot be so serious as represented, andhopes that His Lordship will not persistin refusing him an audience. Such acourse would be neither ingenuous norfair. "

For a moment, no one spoke, then Blake gave vent to a low whistle. 

"Well, " he said, dazedly; "so the cat's out of the bag! What's to bedone?"

"There's only one thing that can be done, " Collins said sharply. "I'vealready pointed out what that is, " and he sat down at the table andwrote a rapid message. "How will this do? 'Lord Vernon will be pleasedto see the Prince of Markeld at five o'clock this afternoon. He has norecollection of having recently performed any prompt or chivalrousaction. The Prince has doubtless been misinformed. ' That gives us halfan hour--neither too much time, nor too little. "

"But that's folly!" protested Blake; "how can you carry it through?"

"Leave that to me. I've got out of tighter places than this one. And, "he added, turning to Vernon, "if you ever looked ill in your life, prepare to do it now. "

Vernon was looking dreamily over Markeld's note. 

"He uses adjectives well, doesn't he?" he asked. "'Such a course wouldbe neither ingenuous nor fair. ' 'Pon my word, I quite agree with him!"

"Remember, you're under orders, " said Collins, sternly. 

"Under reasonable orders, perhaps, " admitted Vernon, quietly, with alittle tightening of the muscles of the face. "I don't admit that eitheryou or Blake is infallible. What is it you propose to do?"

"We propose, in the first place, to send Markeld this note. "

Vernon took it and read it at a glance. 

"A note which is, of course, a lie, " he observed, dispassionately, as hehanded it back. 

"It is not a lie!" retorted Collins, flushing hotly. "It is, on thecontrary, the absolute truth. "

"There are many ways of lying, " remarked Vernon, still more coolly. "Itisn't so much the letter as the spirit which constitutes a lie. "

"This is scarcely the time, " put in Blake, "for a lecture upon ethics. "

"And it would, in any event, " added Vernon, "be entirely wasted upon thepresent audience. Well, what next?"

"I think you understand your part, " answered Collins, curtly. "The onlyquestion is, are you prepared to play it?"

Vernon hesitated for an instant, his hands trembling slightly. 

"I feel the veriest scoundrel, " he said, bitterly. "It sickens me--butyou've got me fast. "

"Yes, " agreed Collins, with a malicious grin, "we've got you fast. "

"Though not quite as fast as you think, perhaps, " added Vernon, quietly. "I warn you that I will break the bonds if they become toogalling. I see that I'm going to owe Prince Frederick a hearty apologybefore this thing is over. "

"Oh, I shan't interfere with your apology when the time conies, "retorted Collins. 

"I should hope not, " said Vernon, still more quietly; then he turned andentered the inner room. 

"You mustn't push him too hard, Arthur, " said Blake, in a low tone, "orhe'll kick over the traces. Remember, he is devilish high-spirited. Andhe won't lie. "

"It takes a firm hand to keep him under control; but I'll be careful. And he won't have to lie. It's confoundedly unfortunate Markeld couldn'thave left his dog at home! Just see how small a thing may affect thefate of nations!"

"Don't get philosophical, " advised Blake. "There isn't time. Are yougoing to send that note?"

Collins sealed the missive. 

"It's our only chance, " he said, decidedly. "Don't you see; we've got tobrazen this thing through. We're in a corner, and there's only one wayout. " He went to the door and opened it. "For the Prince of Markeld, " hesaid, as he handed the note to the man who stood outside. 

CHAPTER VII

An Appeal for Aid

One can easily guess with what delicious precipitation the MissesRushford, having read the note sent to them by Lord Vernon and havingrecovered somewhat from the paralysis of amazement into which it hadthrown them, hurried up the stair and sought the privacy of their ownapartment. Here, evidently, was a full-fledged mystery enacting undertheir very noses, no trumpery neighbourhood mystery, either, but one ofnational--aye, even international--importance! It made them gasp tothink of it; they were even a little frightened. By the touch of afinger the stage-door had been opened; they had been admitted behind thescenes--to the inside, as they had longed to be. And the experience waseven more interesting and exciting than they had dared to hope! Theywere playing a part, however humble, in the great drama of Europeanpolitics!

"But what can it mean?" Nell demanded, as she read the note for perhapsthe twentieth time. "What can it possibly mean? Why should Lord Vernonwish to appear ill when he isn't?"

"I don't suppose he's doing it for fun, " observed Susie, sagely. 

"No, of course not, " agreed Nell. "There isn't any fun in it that I cansee. But it seems a very remarkable course of action. Some great affairof state must depend upon it, " she added in a tone slightly awe-struck, for her imagination was beginning to be affected. "He seems awfullyyoung to hold such an important place, " she added. 

"These English statesmen always look younger than they are, " said Sue. "From his pictures, I always imagined that Chamberlain was acomparatively young man, and here I read somewhere the other day thathe's nearly seventy!"

"At any rate, " concluded Nell, "since it was for our sake Lord Vernonthrew off the mask, so to speak, it is only fair, on our part, to keepquiet about it. Why do you think he ran away so quickly? It was almostrude. "

"I thought it quite entirely rude, " asserted Sue. "But maybe he sawsomebody coming whom he wished to avoid. "

And then both gasped simultaneously:

"The owner of the dog!"

"Of course!"

"How dense we were!"

"But who is the owner of the dog? Not an Englishman!"

"No--a German, I should say. "

"Yes--did you notice his accent? And then he is tall and blond. "

"Distinguished looking; and with an air about him--an autocraticmanner--which makes me think he's a Somebody. He's evidently not used tobeing snubbed. "

"It's perfectly maddening!" exclaimed Nell, with brows most becominglywrinkled. "If we only knew something of English politics, we might beable to guess what it is all about. "

"Dad could see through it in a minute, " sighed Susie, "but that poordear will never have the chance, because, of course, we can't tell evenhim. And he likes this sort of thing, too; it would give him just theexcitement he's been sighing for!"

And yet fate willed that he was to have the chance, for half an hourlater, after a short conference with Monsieur Pelletan, a gentleman whomwe have met before in the apartment of Lord Vernon approached him wherehe sat in the smoking-room, drew up a chair, and sat down beside him. 

"This is Mr. Rushford, isn't it?" he asked. 

"Yes; that's my name, " and the American looked him over in somesurprise. 

"My name is Collins, " went on the other. "I am secretary to LordVernon. "

"Glad to know you, Mr. Collins, " and the American held out his hand. "Ihope Lord Vernon's getting along all right. "

"As well as could be expected, thank you; but there has been a littleunforeseen--er--complication--"

"Nothing serious, I hope?"

"Well, yes; to be quite frank, Mr. Rushford, I think it decidedlyserious. "

"I'm sorry to hear that, " said Rushford, with genuine feeling. "WeAmericans have always taken a special pride in Lord Vernon's career--hismother was an American girl, you know--and his death would be almost apersonal loss to us. "

"His death?" echoed Collins, staring. 

"There's no immediate danger, then? I'm glad of that. Still, if thecomplication is as serious as you think--"

"My dear sir, " broke in the Englishman, "you have misunderstood me. LordVernon's health is--er--quite satisfactory, all things considered. Thecomplication is in--er--a rather delicate affair of state, which--which--"

"Anything I can do?" asked Rushford, encouragingly, as the otherstammered and broke down. 

"Yes, there is, Mr. Rushford, " answered Collins, quickly, taking hiscourage in both hands. "Or, rather, there's something your daughters cando. "

"My daughters?" Rushford looked at him again, a growing suspicion in hiseyes. "I don't quite understand. You'll have to be more explicit, Mr. Collins. I don't see how my daughters can have anything to do with youraffairs of state. "

"I am going to be as explicit as I can, " Collins assured him, "but it'ssuch an infernally delicate matter that one hardly knows where to begin. Of course, what I have to tell you must be told in confidence. "

"All right, " said the American, with a little pucker of the brow whichtold that he did not wholly like Mr. Collins. 'Fire ahead. "

"First, if you don't mind, " said the Englishman, looking about him, "Ithink we'd better get out of this crowd. "

"Suppose we go up to my rooms, " suggested Rushford, rising. "We'll befree from interruption there, and can thresh the whole thing out. "

"Thank you, " assented Collins. "Of course, I understand, " he continued, in a louder voice, as they started toward the door, "that the questionof stocks is always a very complicated one, and very difficult for alayman to understand, but a man of your experience--"

The door of the elevator-car closed behind them, and he stopped. 

"Whose benefit was that for?" asked Rushford. 

"For the benefit of a French police spy, who was trying his best tooverhear our conversation. "

"A police spy? Did you know him?"

"I know his class; it's impossible to mistake it. They all lookalike--it's a type which even the comic opera has been unable toburlesque. You probably noticed him--all moustache, imperial, andlavender gloves. "

"Oh, him? Yes, I've seen him. And I've been rather itching to apply myboot to his coat-tails. I thought he was a cheap actor--a ten, twenty, thirty, as we say in America. Do you suppose Pelletan knows him?"

"Oh, undoubtedly! He's probably boarding him for nothing. These Frenchpolice have a way with them. "

Rushford bit his moustache savagely and resolved to have an explanationwith Monsieur Pelletan. 

The car stopped. 

"Here we are, " he said, stepping out into the corridor. "You see ourapartment is just over Lord Vernon's. I don't believe even a Frenchdetective can disturb us here, " and he locked the door after them asthey entered. "Besides, my daughters will be handy if we decide to callthem in. "

Yet, in spite of the plural pronoun, it was quite evident that he wasthe one who proposed to do the deciding. 

"Thank you, " said Collins, again. "I hope to show you the necessity ofcalling them in. In fact, the principal favour I want to ask of you isan introduction to them. They can, if they will, save Lord Vernon, andincidentally the government, a lot of trouble. "

Rushford looked at him with a little stare. 

"In what way?" he asked, motioning him to a chair. 

"It happens, " answered Collins, "that, by chance, they hold in theirhands the key to a very important affair of state--nothing less than thesuccession to Schloshold-Markheim. They could, if they wished, involvethe government in difficulties of the most serious nature. "

Rushford stared at him yet a moment. Then he settled back in his chair. 

"Have a cigar?" he asked. "No? You won't mind my smoking? I can thinkbetter when I smoke. Now let's have the story; I'm anxious to hear whatthose girls have been up to. I'm afraid they need a chaperon, afterall!"

CHAPTER VIII

Pride has a fall

Shortly before six o'clock that evening, the door of Lord Vernon'sapartment opened, and the Prince of Markeld appeared on the threshold, bowed out in the politest manner possible by Blake, Collins, and SirJohn. He crossed the corridor, paused irresolutely at the stairhead, then went on toward his own rooms, his head bent, his face expressingthe liveliest dissatisfaction: an expression which deepened to disgustwhen, on opening his door, he perceived Tellier awaiting him within. 

"He would come in, " explained Glück, after a glance at his master'scountenance. "He lied; he said Your Highness was expecting him. Shall Ithrow him out?"

"No, " said the Prince, "not yet, " and Glück retired to a convenientdistance, confident that his hour would yet arrive. 

The detective, apparently, had no uneasiness concerning the result ofthe interview, for his face was beaming with self-importance and hegreeted the Prince with a confidence born of certainty. His eyes askedthe question which his lips were too well-governed and discreet toarticulate. 

"Tellier, " began the Prince, abruptly, looking at him with a fieryglance, "you are either a knave or a fool--a fool, doubtless, since youseem too stupid to be a knave--and you very nearly made me appearanother!"

The detective's face dropped suddenly from triumph to humility. 

"I do not understand, " he faltered. "Does Your Highness mean--"

"I mean that that story of yours was a ridiculous lie!" responded thePrince, brutally, being, indeed, greatly overwrought. "How do I know, "he added, suddenly, "that you did not intentionally deceive me? I haveonly your word--what is that worth? How do I know that it was not atrick--a trick on the part of your government to involve me withEngland? That would be like you!" and his hands clenched and unclenchedin a most threatening manner. 

"I swear to Your Highness, " protested Tellier, his cheeks livid, hislips quivering convulsively, "that I told only the truth! On my heart, Iswear it--on my soul--on the grave of my mother. Otherwise, pardieu, would I have been so imprudent as to remain here awaiting the return ofYour Highness?"

The Prince's face relaxed a little as he looked at him. 

"No, " he agreed, grimly, after a moment. "I don't believe you would. Yes, you are a fool and not a knave. For I have just seen Lord Vernonwith my own eyes--he is truly ill--sneezing as though his head wouldburst, gasping for breath, his eyes running water, cursing even thefriends who nurse him! It was some one else who kicked my dog away. Youhave been deceived. "

Tellier was walking up and down the room, tugging at his imperial, athis hair, biting his nails, shaking his clenched hands at the ceiling ina very ecstasy of bewilderment. 

"Impossible!" he murmured, hoarsely. "Impossible!"

"How impossible!" cried the Prince, violently. "Do you presume tocontradict me? Do you dare to dispute my word when I tell you that Imyself have seen Lord Vernon; when I describe his condition to you? Hewas most courteous, though he could not speak above a whisper--hetreated me more kindly than I deserved, when one considers the wordingof that note I sent to him, for which I was glad to apologise! One couldsee he was in no condition to give me audience--to discuss business ofany kind! He could scarcely sit erect!"

"Oh, there is some knavery!" cried Tellier, his face purple. "I know it!I scent it!"

"You are, then, infallible, I suppose!" retorted the Prince. "Hisphysician assured me that in a week Lord Vernon would be muchbetter--nearly well; he suggested that for a week I do not press mybusiness. "

"But you did not agree!" screamed Tellier. "Your Highness did notagree!"

"Most certainly I agreed. Not to agree would have been to insult themyet a second time!"

"A week!" groaned Tellier, throwing up his hands, with a gesture ofdespair. "Then all is lost!"

"How lost?" demanded Markeld, red with anger. "In what way lost? Have acare of what you say!"

Tellier controlled himself by a mighty effort and managed to speak withsome approach to calmness. 

"The German Emperor will not waste a week, Your Highness. That is nothis way, as you very well know. He will be at work every hour--everyminute!"

"What can he accomplish, if the British foreign office will do nothing?Will he take the affair into his own hands? He will not dare!"

"He might dare, Your Highness; he has dared things more perilous thanthat. But how do we know the British foreign office will do nothing?"

"I tell you, " repeated the Prince, hotly, "that Lord Vernon is agentleman--something you do not seem to understand; that he is ill--something you seem to doubt!"

"In diplomacy, Your Highness, even a gentleman may sometimes lie, or, atleast, disguise the truth. Perhaps even before this, he has hinted tothe Emperor that he will not interfere, if he acts promptly--perhapsthis illness is merely a ruse to avoid a situation the most awkward. "

It was the Prince's turn to stride up and down, to pluck at hismoustache, to go red and white. 

"If I thought so!" he murmured hoarsely. "If I thought so!"

"There is some underhand work in progress, " cried Tellier, growing moreand more excited; "some trap, some piece of trickery--I know notwhat--but I am certain--I will find out!"

"If I thought so!" said the Prince again, and his face was not pleasantto look upon. 

"For I repeat to Your Highness that I could not have been mistaken. Itis impossible that I should have been mistaken. I saw Lord Vernon leapfrom his chair; I was as near it as I am to you at this moment; I sawhim return to it and hide himself behind his paper, when he saw youapproaching; I waited, and saw his lackeys come after him and lift himto the invalid chair. If I had not been certain before, I was certainthen! I followed him back to the hotel. Yes!" he added, with suddenexcitement, "and there was another circumstance which will confirm me!"

"Go on!" commanded Markeld, yielding somewhat before this torrent ofproof. 

"At the door he met the young ladies whom he had rescued--the Americans;they recognised him--I could see their look of astonishment atperceiving him in the chair of an invalid, buried in rugs. They staredafter him--the chair stopped--he wrote a few words on a piece of paperand sent it back to them. They read it with eyes even more astonished. "

"Did you, by any chance, read it also?" inquired the Prince, with adeceptive calmness. 

"No, Your Highness, " Tellier replied, simply, quite unconscious of hisdanger. "I saw no way of doing that, unfortunately. I thought ofsnatching it away, but that would have created a turmoil, which isalways to be avoided if possible. But Your Highness might easily gainpossession of the note--"

The Prince stopped him with a fierce gesture of repugnance. 

"Do you know what it is that you have the effrontery to propose to me?"he demanded. 

The Frenchman paused in mid-sentence and swallowed with difficulty, hisface very red. 

"I am certain, " he said, after a moment, "that those young ladies knowit was Lord Vernon who rescued them. They would no doubt confirm this, if Your Highness would inquire--"

The Prince strode to the door and flung it open. 

"Do not come back till you can speak without insulting me, " he said, sternly. 

"One moment, Your Highness!" cried Tellier. "But a moment! I haveanother proof. Oh, you are wrong not to believe me! You are wrong toyield to your anger!"

"The proof!" broke in the Prince, sharply, realising, perhaps, thejustice of the reproach. "The proof! What is it? Speak quickly!"

"It is this, Your Highness, " answered the detective, strivingdesperately to steady his voice, to speak intelligibly. "But an hourago, the secretary of Lord Vernon was in conference with the father ofthose young ladies. He approached him in the smoking-room; he introducedhimself; he sat down; he began a conversation. I should have overheardeverything, but that, unfortunately, he was more clever than I thought. He suspected me. They went together to Monsieur Rushford's apartment--Ifollowed, I listened at the keyhole; but they went on into an innerroom, and the outer door was locked, so I could not--"

The Prince, who had listened to all this with blazing eyes, suddenlyraised his arm with a furious gesture. 

"Glück!" he shouted. 

That faithful servitor appeared on the instant, his face alight withanticipation. 

"But if there should be a plot!" protested Tellier, hesitating, evenyet, on the threshold. 

"If there is a plot, " said the Prince, sternly, "someone shall sufferfor it, depend upon that! But against gentlemen, the proof must beconclusive. Glück, show him out, " and he shut the door upon the unhappyspy. 

"It would have been well, " observed Glück, calmly, coming back after amoment, "to have thrown him out in the first place. "

"I agree with you, " said his master. "You may do so whenever you findhim here again, my friend, " and for an instant Glück almost smiled. 

"Will Your Highness dine in your apartment tonight?" he asked. 

The Prince hesitated; then his face relaxed as at some pleasant thought. 

"No, Glück, " he said, "I will dine downstairs. Get my bath ready. "

CHAPTER IX

Pelletan's Skeleton

As he left the dining-room that evening, Rushford crooked an imperiousfinger at Monsieur Pelletan. 

"I want a word with you, " he said in his ear. 

"In private, monsieur?" asked the little Frenchman, with sometrepidation. 

"Yes, I think it would better be in private--that is, if you canaccomplish it in this bedlam. "

"Oh, I haf a place, monsieur, where no one will intrude, " and Pelletanled the way through the hotel office to a little door back of the desk. "T'is iss my--vat you call eet in English?--my sty, my kennel--"

"Your den. "

"Iss t'ere a difference?" asked Pelletan, fumbling with the lock. 

"A sty is for pigs and a kennel for dogs, " Rushford explained. "A denis for wild beasts. These niceties of the English language are not foryou, Pelletan. "

"Still, " persisted Pelletan, "a man iss no more a wild beast t'an he issa dog or a pig. "

"Not nearly so much so, very often, " agreed Rushford, heartily. "Youhave me there, Pelletan. Sty would undoubtedly be the right word in manycases. "

"Fery well, t'en, " said Pelletan, proudly, opening the door, "pehold mysty!" and he stood aside that his companion might enter. 

It was a little square box of a room jammed with such a litter ofbric-à-brac as is to be picked up only on the boulevards--trifles inBohemian glass, a lizard stuffed with straw, carved fragments of jadeand ivory, a Sèvres vase bearing the portrait of Du Barry, an Indianchibook, a pink-cheeked Dresden shepherdess, a sabre of the time ofNapoleon, a leering Hindoo idol, a hideous dragon in Japanese bronzegrimacing furiously at a Barye lion--all of them huddled togetherwithout order or arrangement, as they would have been in an auction roomor an antique shop. In one corner stood a low table of Italian mosaic, bearing a somewhat battered statuette of Saint Geneviève plying herdistaff, and the walls were fairly covered with photographs--photographs, for the most part, of women more anxious to display theircharms of person to an admiring world than to observe the rigour ofconvention. 

Rushford dropped into one of the two chairs, got out a cigar, lightedit, and sat for some moments looking around at this wilderness ofgimcracks. 

"Pelletan, you're a humbug, " he said at last. "You came to me yesterdayand said your last franc was gone. "

"Unt so it wass, monsieur. "

"But this collection ought to be worth something. "

"Monsieur means t'at it might pe sold?"

"Undoubtedly. "

"But monsieur does not know--does not understand. Tis--all t'is--iss mylife; eet iss here t'at I liff--not out t'ere, " with a gesture ofdisgust toward the door. "I could no more liff wit'out t'is t'an wit'outmy head!"

Rushford, looking at him curiously, saw that he was in deadly earnest. 

"Really, " he said, "you surprise me, Pelletan. I had never suspected inyou such depth of soul. "

"Besides, monsieur, " added Pelletan, leaning forward, "t'ese t'ings arenot all what t'ey seem--t'is dragon, par exemple, ees not off bronze, but off t'e plaster of Paris--yet I lofe eet none t'e less--more, perhaps, because off t'at fery fact. "

"And these--ah--females, " said Rushford, and waved his hand at theserried photographs, "I suppose even they are necessary to yourexistence. "

"I lofe to look at t'em, monsieur, " confessed Pelletan. 

"Personal acquaintances, perhaps. "

"Not all of t'em, monsieur; but t'ey haf about t'em t'e flavour offParis--off t'at tear Paris off which I tream each night; t'ey recall t'etays off my yout'!"

"Oh, are you a Parisian? I should never have suspected it. Youraccent--"

"I am off Elsass, monsieur. It wass, perhaps, for t'at reason t'at Parisso won my heart. "

"If I were as fond of the place as all that, " observed Rushford, laughing, "I'd have stayed there. "

"It proke my heart to leafe, " murmured Pelletan. "T'at is why I lofe allt'is, " and he motioned to the walls, and kissed his hand to avoluptuous siren with red hair. "T'at is Ernes tine. Tonight she willtake her part at t'e Alcazar; at t'e toor a friend will meet her untt'ey will go toget'er down t'e Champs-Elysées to t'e grand boulevard, where t'ey sit in front of Pousset's and trink t'eir wine unt eausucree. T'ey will watch t'e crowds, t'ey will greet t'eir friends, t'eywill exchange t'e tay's news. T'en t'ey will go to tinner--six or eightof t'em toget'er--een a leetle room at Maxime's, where t'ey can make somuch noise as pleases t'em--only I will not pe t'ere--in all t'at greatcity, nowhere will I pe! Unt I am missed, monsieur, no more t'an iss agrain of sand from t'e peach out yonder!"

His voice trembled and broke, and he ran his hands through his hair in avery agony of despair. 

"There, there, " said Rushford, soothingly, repressing an inclination tolaugh at the grotesque figure before him. "Don't take it so much toheart. I dare say they drink your health oftener than you imagine. "

"Do you really t'ink so, monsieur?" asked Pelletan, brightening. 

"And, depend upon it, you'll get back to them some day, " continued theAmerican. "Only stay here a year or two until you've made your fortune, as you're certain to do now. "

"Yess, monsieur, " agreed Pelletan, huskily. "T'anks to you!"

"In the meantime, " added Rushford, smiling, "keep the ladies, if youlike to look at them. Your little foibles are no affair of mine. What Iwanted to speak to you about was a matter of business. There's ablatant, detestable French spy in the house who has got to get out. Heeven had the impudence to ogle my girls at dinner this evening. Shall Ikick him out, or will you attend to the matter?"

Pelletan had grown paler at every word until he was fairly livid. 

"Iss eet Monsieur Tellier to whom monsieur refers?" he stammered. 

"I don't know his name, but he looks like a freak from the wax-works. He's got to go--he's nearly as bad as Zeit-Zeit. "

Pelletan mopped his shining forehead and groaned dismally. 

"What is it, man?" demanded the American. "Don't tell me that thisrascal has a hold on you!"

Pelletan groaned again, more dismally than before. 

"I was told this afternoon, " added Rushford, grimly, "that he wasprobably staying here at my expense. "

"Eet iss not so!" cried Pelletan, his eyes flashing. "I pay forheem--efery tay I charge myself mit' twenty franc for hees account. "

"But what on earth for?" demanded Rushford. "What have you done--robbeda bank or committed murder?"

Pelletan glanced around to assure himself that the door was tightlyclosed, then drew his chair nearer to his patron. 

"I haf a wife, " he said, slowly, in a sepulchral tone. 

"Well, what of it? Is that a crime in France? I could almost believeit!"

"I could not liff mit' her no longer, " continued Pelletan. "She wass ateufel! I leafe her!"

"Oh, that's it--so you ran away?"

"Yess, monsieur, I ran avay--avay from Paris--avay from France--It'ought efen of going to Amérique. "

"Was she so bad as all that?" asked Rushford, sympathetically. 

For answer, Pelletan went to the statue of Saint Geneviève, lifted it, and took from beneath it a photograph. 

"T'is iss she, monsieur, " he said, and handed the photograph toRushford. 

The latter took one look at it and passed it back. 

"Not guilty!" he said. "You have my profound sympathy, Pelletan. How didyou happen to get caught? You must have been exceedingly young!"

"I wass, monsieur, " admitted Pelletan, with a sigh. "I wass just fromt'e province--my head wass full of treams. Unt she wass petter-looking, t'en, monsieur; she wass almost slim. She wass a widow--unt besides shehad a leetle pâtisserie which her man had left her. "

"I see--avarice was your undoing. And you caught a tartar!"

"A teufel!" repeated Pelletan. "A fiend! Oh, what an end to t'e tream! Iworked--oh, how hard I worked--sweating at t'e ovens, efery hour of t'etwenty-four--for t'e ovens must not pe allowed to cool. She sat at t'emoney-drawer unt grows fat; I wass soon so weak t'at she tid nothesitate to--to--"

The little man's face was bathed in sweat at the memory of thatdegradation, which his tongue refused to describe. 

"I endured eet to t'e last moment, " he added, thickly. "T'en I fled!"

"You seem to have alighted on your feet, " remarked Rushford. 

"We had made a success of t'e pusiness, " Pelletan explained, "unt Ibrought mit me my share of t'e profits, which seemed only fair, since I, py my labour, had earned t'em. Unt t'en I took a lease of t'is place, unt did well until t'is year. T'at iss my whole history, monsieur. T'atiss why I dare not return to Paris, efen for a small visit in winterwhen pusiness here iss pad. Eef she so much as caught one leetle glimpseof me, she would murder me!" and he mopped his face again. 

"Still, " said the American, "I don't see where Tellier comes in. "

Pelletan carefully replaced the photograph under the statuette and thenreseated himself opposite his companion. 

"Tellier knows her, " he explained, simply. 

"Met her professionally, perhaps, " suggested Rushford. "Well, what ofit?"

"Eef I offend heem, he gifes her my attress!" continued Pelletan, hoarsely, and his forehead glistened again at the thought. "Het'reatened as much when he arrife here unt I tol' him t'e house wassfull. "

"Hm!" commented Rushford. "I see. All right; I'll stand by you. I daresay I can stomach Tellier for a day or two. "

Pelletan breathed a deep sigh of relief. 

"Tat iss kind, " he stammered; "I--I--"

"There, there, " and the American waved him to silence. "And you needn'tcharge yourself with his keep. But I hope you haven't any more skeletonsin the closet, my friend. "

"Skeletons, monsieur?"

"Such as Madame Pelletan. "

"Oh, " said the Frenchman, naively, "Madame Pelletan iss quite t'eopposite off a skeleton, monsieur!"

 * * * * *

Rushford paused at the hotel door and looked out along the Digue. It wasthronged with people hurrying toward the Casino, eager for the night'sexcitement. But the American turned in the opposite direction, andsauntered slowly along, breathing in the cool breeze from the ocean. Atlast he paused, and, leaning against the balustrade, stood gazing outacross the moonlit water, smiling to himself at thought of Pelletan'svicissitudes. 

He was roused by the sound of voices on the beach below him. He lookeddown mechanically, but for a moment saw no one. Then, deep in the shadowof the wall, he descried two figures walking slowly side by side. Onewas a man and the other a woman. They were talking in a French so rapidand idiomatic that Rushford could distinguish no word of it, exceptthat the man addressed his companion as Julie. 

There was something strangely familiar about the figure of the man, andas Rushford stared down at him, his vision seemed suddenly too clear andhe perceived that it was the French detective. 

"Tellier prosecutes his loves, " he murmured, smiling grimly to himself, and turned back toward the hotel. There he stopped, struck by a suddenthought. "Julie, " he repeated. "Julie--where have I heard that namerecently? Oh, I remember--Julie is our maid at the hotel. I wonder--"

He went back abruptly to the parapet and looked over, but Tellier andhis companion had disappeared. 

CHAPTER X

An Introduction and a Promenade

Warm and fair dawned the morning; and having, at its leisure, dulyarisen, bathed and breakfasted, the unemployed population ofWeet-sur-Mer, male and female, sallied forth to throng the beach andDigue, to inhale the fresh air, to shake off so far as possible theeffects of the evening's dissipations, and to exchange such toadstoolgrowths of gossip as had sprung up over night. 

To join this parade there presently came Lord Vernon, reclininglanguidly in his invalid chair, and muffled in many rugs; but his eyeswere eagerly alert and he gazed with evident anticipation down the longpromenade of the Digue. He was attended by Blake, Collins, and Sir John, all of them determined, no doubt, to prevent a second contretemps. ButSir John presently descried a learned fellow-Aesculapian and stopped fora chat with him; while Blake soon afterward succumbed to the glance andsmile of a red-cheeked English beauty. Collins, however, stuck grimly tohis post, being above--or below--such human weaknesses. 

"There they are!" cried Vernon, suddenly, with brightening eyes. 

"Who?" asked Collins, following his gaze. "Oh, the Rush ford girls. Isuppose it will be polite to show our gratitude. I think we owe them avote of thinks, don't you?"

"I certainly do, " agreed Vernon, straightening himself in his chair witha vigour which had nothing of the invalid about it. "Will you introduceme?"

"If I can snare them without being too intrusive, " assented Collins, who, since the success of his stratagem of the afternoon before, hadbeen in an unusually complaisant mood. 

But fate willed that they should be snared without any effort on hispart whatever, for just then a porter came by with a truck piled highwith luggage, and it and the invalid chair combined to form an impassefrom which there was no escaping. Not that either of the young ladiesdisplayed any very evident anxiety to escape. 

"Good-morning, " said Collins, in his best manner. "My lord, " hecontinued, turning to his companion, "these are the Misses Rushford, towhom we owe so much. I hope I may introduce Lord Vernon to you, " headded. 

Both of them were laughing as they took, in turn, the hand which Vernonrather eagerly held out. 

"I'm awfully glad to meet you, " he said, looking from one to the otherand trying to decide which was the prettier. "I feel that we _do_ oweyou a great deal. When Collins came back yesterday afternoon and told mewhat he'd had the impudence to ask you, I was--I was--"

"Very wrathy, to put it mildly, " said Collins. "But I took it meekly; itwas in a good cause. "

"And we didn't think it impudent at all, " said Sue. "Since we had causedall the trouble, it was only fair that we should bear a part of it. Besides, it wasn't by any means so difficult as Mr. Collins thought itwould be. "

"You don't mean that Markeld actually asked you! I didn't believe he'ddo that, despite Collins's prophecy. He seemed to have too much of highpoliteness about him. "

"I was sure he would, " put in Collins, triumphantly. "He couldn't affordto neglect such an obvious way of making certain, and he's much tooclever to have overlooked it. "

"You were quite right, Lord Vernon, " said Susie, very quietly, thoughthere was a dangerous sparkle in her eyes. "The Prince did not askus--but a French creature did--a detective--"

"One of his emissaries, " suggested Collins. "I know him--his name isTellier. "

"I have no reason to think him an emissary, " retorted Susie, curtly, beginning to dislike the secretary. "I don't in the least believe thePrince would choose such a one. Dad pointed him out to us in thedining-room last night--a thing of mustachios and eyes--just the kindone sees at the vaudeville, but which I hadn't the least idea existed inreal life. --Oh!" she cried, with a little start, "there he is now, almost near enough to hear!"

Collins swore softly between his teeth, for there, indeed, MonsieurTellier was, leaning with elaborate negligence against the balustrade, apparently intent upon the crowd below. His countenance was quiteinscrutable--calm as a summer day--which might mean much or nothing, forhe had an immense pride in keeping it always so. Vernon took him inwith a quick glance. 

"I recognise the type, " he said. "Can't we go on, Miss Rushford? Collinsmight form a rear guard. And James is blind, deaf, and dumb towardeverything that doesn't concern him, " he added, as she glanced at thestalwart footman behind the chair. "I'm very anxious to hear the story. But, of course, if it's asking too much--"

"It isn't, " answered Susie, promptly, and fell in beside the chair, while Collins and her sister followed at a distance of a few paces. "Now, I think, we can talk without fear of being overheard by MonsieurTellier. But there is really very little to tell. He sent up his cardjust before dinner yesterday evening; we sent it back. Then, beingpersistent and not easily snubbed, he sent up a note which asked 'Arethe Misses Rushford acquainted with the gentleman who came to theirassistance this afternoon?' To which the Misses Rushford added a line, 'They are not, ' and sent it back to him. It was too absurd. It remindedme of the agony column in the _Herald_. "

"The agony column?"

"Yes--'Will the lady dressed in blue, who took a Broadway caryesterday, '--and so on. "

"Oh, " said Vernon, with a smile. "Yes--we have the same thing inEngland. "

"And, after all, " continued Susie, "our reply was the exact and literaltruth--of a kind which, I should imagine, is well known to diplomats. "

The occupant of the chair had quite made up his mind that Susie was theprettier. 

"It is their favourite kind, " he assured her; "nothing delights themmore than to lie while telling the truth. "

"Them? But aren't you a diplomat?"

"There are many who doubt it. Perhaps they will doubt it more than everbefore we are out of this tangle. It's awfully good of you and yoursister to take an interest in it. "

"But of course we'd take an interest!"

"And keep a secret. "

"Ah--well, perhaps that _is_ a little unusual. "

"Especially after my rudeness, " he added. 

"Your rudeness?"

"In running away and hiding behind my paper. What did you think of me?"

"We didn't know what to think, " admitted Susie, candidly; "though, ofcourse, afterwards we were able to guess. "

"And I am pardoned?"

"Oh, quite; you had to escape, you know. It's a perfectly delightfulmuddle, isn't it? Dad understood it at once. "

"Did he?" The occupant of the chair moved a little uneasily. 

"Yes--we talked it over, you know, after Mr. Collins left. But then dadis up on politics and we are not. Only it's a little rough on thePrince of Markeld, don't you think?"

"Yes, it _is_ rough on him, but--well, it would be rougher to turn himdown--rougher on all concerned!"

"You'd have to turn him down? But there; I mustn't meddle with affairsof state!"

"Sentiment hasn't much show in the foreign office, " said Vernon, withsome bitterness; "not even the sentiment of friendship. We're trying tofind the easiest way out. "

Susie nodded, her eyes sparkling. This was a new and deliciousexperience, this weighing the fate of nations, as it were. She evenskipped a little, unconscious of Lord Vernon's eyes upon her glowingface. 

"Of course, " she agreed, judicially, "I suppose one must always try tofind the easiest way out. Only dad seemed to think--"

She hesitated. 

"Go ahead, " he encouraged her. "I don't doubt that your father wasentirely right. "

"Well, then, dad seemed to think that Prince Ferdinand is much thebetter of the two men. "

"There is no question of that, " assented Lord Vernon, gloomily. "But letme put a case, Miss Rushford. Suppose your best friend were set upon bythieves and just as you started to help him, another thief came upbehind you and, putting a pistol to your head, commanded you to standstill. What would you do?"

"I'd stand still, " laughed Sue. 

"Yes; but your friend can't see the thief behind you, and when he seesyou standing there, not offering to help him, he thinks you are a cowardand a traitor. Perhaps he tells you so in the most emphatic language athis command. "

"It would be a very difficult position, " agreed Sue, still laughing atthe picture presented by the words. "On second thought, I don't believeI'd stand still for long; I'd try to give my thief a knock-out blow andthen go help my friend. "

"But you would have to wait till your thief was off his guard. Well, that is pretty much the position that England is in, as I understand it. Prince Ferdinand is our friend, but we've got to wait till the man withthe pistol makes a false move. We're doing the best we can--and in themeantime, Prince Ferdinand's misguided friends are calling us hardnames. "

"But, " inquired Susie, "who is the man with the pistol? He must be apretty big fellow to be able to hold you prisoner, and yet I mustconfess that I'm like Prince Ferdinand--I can't perceive him, either. "

Lord Vernon hesitated a moment. 

"I'm afraid, Miss Rushford, " he said, slowly, at last, "that I can'ttell you, just yet. I'd like to, but if I did, I'd have all thesediplomatic sharps down on me in short order. I thought maybe you couldguess. "

"Oh, don't apologise!" cried Susie. "I hadn't any right to ask. Though, " she added, regretfully, "I'm not at all good at guessing. "

Lord Vernon smiled as he looked at her. 

"I don't think we'll have any more trouble, " he said. "Markeld and Ihave called a truce for a week, and by that time--"

He paused again, evidently on the verge of another indiscretion. Chancesaved him the necessity of going on, for at that moment a tall, militaryfigure loomed ahead, approached, hesitated, stopped, and uncovered. 

"I hope I see you better this morning, Lord Vernon, " said a pleasantvoice. 

"Why, yes, thank you, Your Highness, " answered Vernon, colouring alittle. "I feel much better. Let me introduce to you Miss Rushford, " headded, catching the other's admiring glance and interpreting it aright. "Miss Rushford, this is the Prince of Markeld. "

CHAPTER XI

The Prince Gains an Ally

So it presently came to pass that Susie Rushford found herself walkingon with the Prince of Markeld, while Nell took her place beside theinvalid's chair. Five minutes later, Vernon had revised his judgment anddecided that Nell was far the handsomer--she had the air, somehow, whichone associates with duchesses, but which, alas! is, in reality, soseldom theirs. She was just a little regal, just a little awe-inspiring, so that to win a smile impressed one as, in a way, an achievement. Vernon had won several before they had been long together, and felt hisheart growing strangely, deliciously warm within him. 

As to Sue--if we may pause to analyse her feelings--she, too, had beenfor the first moment impressed. The Prince was so visibly a Highness;every line of him expressed it, not consciously, but inevitably, fromthe blood out. So, after a glance or two, she walked along beside himrather humbly and very silent, not in the least as the proverbialAmerican girl should have done! Then she stole another glance at him andsaw that he was twisting his moustache in evident perplexity. 

"You may have perceived, " he said, at last, with that slight formalityof utterance which Sue thought very taking, "that I was most desirous ofmeeting you, Miss Rushford. "

"I believe I _did_ discern a sort of royal command in your eye, "assented Susie, feeling suddenly at ease with him. He was evidently amere man, even though he were a prince. 

"Yes, " he continued, "I felt that I owed you and your sister a morecomplete apology than it was possible for me to make yesterday withoutimpertinence. You see I am unaccompanied to-day. "

"Poor Jax!" laughed Susie. 

"I suspect, " the Prince continued, "that I somehow offended you when Ioffered you the dog. "

"Oh, you perceived it, did you?" and she flashed an ironic glance uponhim. 

"Yes--though I could not in the least guess in what the offenceconsisted. "

"My dear sir, " said Sue, tartly, "American girls are not in the habit ofaccepting gifts from utter strangers. "

"Not even from--from--"

He stopped, at a loss for a word which would express his meaning withoutabsurdity. 

"No, not even from Royal Highnesses, " she added, interpreting histhought. "Besides, you know, in America we haven't any. "

The Prince walked on in silence for a moment, his brow knit inmeditation. 

"Your last sentence explains it, " he said, at last. "You have inAmerica no class whose prerogative it is to bestow gifts, and, inconsequence, you do not accept them as a matter of course. With us agift is a conventional thing, like shaking hands. "

"I wasn't trying to explain it, " said Susie, with a little sigh ofdespair, "or to defend it--but let it go. " Then, with a flash ofmischief, --"Are you frequently called upon?"

"There are occasions almost every day which demand them of us, " answeredthe Prince, soberly, missing the glance. 

"Poor man! And the affair of yesterday was one of them? Forgive me if Iam rude; but it is all so new and interesting!"

"It seemed only right, " explained the Prince, "that I should compensateyou in some way for the annoyance I had caused you. "

The words were said so candidly and simply that the ironical smilefaded from Susie's lips and she was silent for a moment. 

"I think the American way the nicer, " she said at last, decisively. "AnAmerican would have considered an apology ample reparation. With us agift means something--it has a sentimental value. Besides, girls arenever permitted to accept gifts of value. Flowers are the only thingswhich may be given them. "

"Flowers!" repeated the Prince, eagerly, looking at her. 

"And only by their nearest, dearest friends, " added Susie, hastily. 

"Well, it is a very different point of view, " said the Prince, the lightfading from his face. "I have even heard that in America there areworkmen who consider a tip an insult. "

"It's unthinkable, isn't it? And yet, I'm proud to say, it's true. I mayadd that many Americans feel humiliated when they offer a tip to aman--it's like branding him with a badge of servility. "

"I must confess, " said the Prince, "that such an attitude seems to meabsurd. What other badge than that of servility shall the servant wear?"

"He need wear no badge, if he does his work honestly and well, " retortedSusie, hotly. "There is nothing disgraceful in service. "

"No, " agreed the Prince, with some hesitation, "perhaps not; nor, forthat matter, is there anything disgraceful in a badge. But I have notsaid what I wished to say, which was that I hope you believe my offencewas wholly unintentional and that you pardon me. "

"I am not vindictive, " answered Sue, smiling at his earnest tone, "andtherefore you are pardoned. But it seems unjust that Jax should sufferimprisonment. "

"Oh, he will get his outing, but with Glück, who is less absent-minded. Yesterday, I had much to occupy me. "

"And to-day?"

"Not so much. I am resting on my oars. "

"Yes, " said Susie, and contented herself with the monosyllable. She waskeenly on the alert; determined not to betray Lord Vernon's confidence, yet, at the same time, desirous of helping, in some way, her companion. She distinctly approved of him. Then, too, she had somehow got theimpression that the other side was not playing fairly, and her wholeAmerican spirit revolted against unfairness. 

"I should like to tell you about it, " he began, with a sudden burst ofconfidence. "But perhaps you know?"

"I know some of it. I can guess that it means a great deal to you. "

"It does--more than you can guess; I think. Not so much to me, personally, as to our people. I believe that I am speaking only theexact truth when I say that it will be much better for the people ofSchloshold-Markheim if our branch of the house is recognised and not theother. Our branch has been, in a way, for many years, progressive; theother is and always has been--well--conservative. "

He had the air of searching for a word that would not go beyond thetruth; Susie, glancing at him, decided that he had chosen one which fellfar short of it. 

"We have a certain claim of kinship and friendship upon England, " headded, "and we are very anxious to enlist her aid, even though we losethis time; for there may soon be another vacancy. The head of the otherbranch has no heir and is not well. "

He might have added that the August Prince George, of Schloshold, washovering on the verge of dissolution as the result of forty years'corruption--a corruption of which not all the waters of the Empirecould cleanse him; but there are some things which are better leftunsaid. 

"Who is it that is opposed to you in all this?" asked Sue. 

"The German Emperor, " said the Prince, simply. "He is not always insympathy with--ah--progress. "

"So he is the man with the pistol!" said Susie, thoughtfully. 

"The--I beg your pardon, " and the Prince looked at her in some surprise. 

"It is nothing, " said Susie, hastily, colouring under his eyes. "I wasmerely thinking aloud--thinking of a story. Pardon me. Will you tell mesome more?"

"There is not much more to tell. Only, we fear that if we are not givenan opportunity to present our claims this time, we may be forgotten thenext. Prince George might possibly try to name a successor--we have evenunderstood that he already considers doing so--that this, indeed, isthe price he has agreed to pay the Emperor for his support--though this, of course, is strictly entre nous. You see I am trusting you. "

"Thank you, " answered Susie, simply; but there was that in her voice andglance which told how she would deserve the confidence. And, on theinstant, a great yearning leaped warm into her heart. If she could helpthis people to the ruler they needed most; if she could somehow turn thescale, so delicately balanced! There would be a task worth doing; anachievement to be proud of all her life! And she trembled a little atthe thought that to her, Susie Rushford, fate had given such anopportunity!

But Markeld, apparently, had had enough of high politics, or perhaps hefound it difficult to keep his mind on them with Susie's dark eyeslooking up at him. He was no novice in womankind; he had known many, high and low; but there was in his companion something different, something appealing, something fresh, invigorating, which he had feltfrom the first, in a vague way, without quite understanding. Princes maybe outspoken when they please, and he was so at this moment. 

"I was glad of to-day's meeting not only that I might apologise, " hesaid, with a calmness which rather took his companion's breath away, "but because you interested me. I have heard much of American women, butall that I have heretofore been privileged to meet seemed to me toresent being called Americans. You and your sister, on the other hand, appear to be rather proud of it. "

"I don't know whether that is intended as a compliment or the reverse, "said Susie, "but it is undoubtedly true. "

"It was that which interested me, " he went on. "It indicated such anunspoiled point of view--a freshness which I fear the Old World islosing. "

"Thank you, " retorted Susie, gasping a little. "You have honoured us, Isee, with a very careful study. I can respond by saying that there is inyour manner a certain freshness which I do not like, " and she shot him afiery glance. At the moment, he was rather too evidently the Prince. 

"I am sorry you find me displeasing, " he said, looking at her gravely. Perhaps she was, at the moment, just the merest shade too evidently theAmerican girl. "I hope the impression is one which will change when youknow me better. "

"Am I to have that pleasure?"

"I intend to ask your father if I may call upon you. "

Susie gasped again. She felt that she was being swept beyond her depthby a current which she was powerless to resist; that she was beatingwith bare hands against a wall of incredible height and thickness--thewall of Old World convention, of class imperturbability. And she felt alittle frightened, for almost the first time in her life. 

"Do, " she said faintly, realising that her companion was waiting for herto speak. 

"I think that I shall like him, " he added. 

"Oh, do you know him?"

"'I was looking at him last night at dinner, " he explained, calmly. "Heseems a very interesting man. I looked at all of you a great deal--morethan was perhaps quite polite. I feared you had perceived it. "

"No, " murmured Susie, desperately, telling a white lie. 

"Tellier told me you were Americans--but I should have known it anyway. "

"Tellier!" she repeated, turning upon him fiercely, welcoming theopportunity to create a diversion. "Then he _was_ your emissary! And tothink that I defended you!"

"My emissary?" he stammered. "Defended me?"

"Yes, when--when--some one said you had sent him to us--"

"Sent him to you!" he cried, flushing darkly. "Do you mean to say thathe has been annoying you?"

"It was almost that. "

"Ah!" he said. "Ah!" and he grasped his stick in a way that boded illfor Monsieur Tellier. 

Susie, glancing up at him, thought it very fine. He was such a volcano, and there was such a fearful pleasure in stirring him up--in skippingover the thin crust with a lively consciousness of the boiling lavabeneath!

"Then you didn't send him?" she inquired, sweetly. 

"Send him! Miss Rushford, do you think for a moment that I would be sorude, so impertinent? Tell me you do not think so!"

"I _didn't_ think so, " said Sue, biting her lip, a little fearfully. "Ieven defended you, as I have said. But now--"

"But now--"

His eyes seemed to burn her; she dared not look up and meet them. Sheeven regretted that she had begun to play with fire. 

"But now, " he repeated, insistently, imperatively. 

"No, I don't think so now, " she said, with a little catch of the breath. Then she glanced up at him, and instantly looked away. He should not actso; every one would notice; it was very embarrassing!

"That is kind of you, " he said, in a low voice. 

"Though, " she added, reprovingly, glad to find a joint in his armour, "Iam surprised that you should discuss me in any way whatever with thatcreature!"

"You are right!" he agreed, flushing hotly. "You are quite right. Butthe temptation was very great, and I wanted to know so badly. I beg youto believe that I regretted it an instant later. I do not want that youshould think of me as like that!"

"Perhaps I would better not think of you at all, " ventured Sue. Ah, whata fascination there is in fire!

"That would be still more unbearable!" he protested; his eyes were verybright and he was bending down a little that he might the better see theface under the broad hat. 

"The view from here, I think, is very beautiful, " she remarked, incoherently. 

"No doubt, " agreed the Prince, but he didn't take the trouble to look atit. 

"He's a survival of the dark ages, " said Susie to herself, "when theyjust snatched up girls and ran off with them!" Then aloud, "Have youever been here before?"

"Never before. "

"Do you like it?"

"Oh, very much!" His eyes would have told her why; but she could guesswithout looking. 

"I suppose you usually go to one of the larger places?"

"It is one of the traditions of our family that at least a month must bespent at Ostend. "

"What a shame that the tradition should be broken!"

"On the contrary, I bless the circumstance that shattered it. Do youknow, Miss Rushford, I have never before realised what a tremendouslylucky fellow I am? I must pour a libation to the god of chance!"

"It's a goddess, isn't it?" she asked, and regretted the question thenext instant. 

"You are right, " he agreed, his eyes blazing. "A goddess! You havefound the word. A goddess! And such a goddess!"

Fortunately, they had reached the end of the promenade, and as theypaused at the balustrade, Nell and Lord Vernon joined them, saving Susiefrom a situation which had slipped entirely beyond her control. 

Evidently Nell, too, had been having her difficulties, for shetelegraphed her sister a desire to change places. So, on the homewardjourney, despite the very apparent unwillingness of the men, Sue walkedbeside the invalid chair and Nell accompanied the Prince; and while bothseemed gay enough--even unnaturally gay, perhaps--I dare say they foundthat the situation had lost a certain interest; for every danger has itsfascination, every hazard its piquancy. 

"I am not sure, " observed Susie, reflectively, as they went up the stairtogether, "that I approve of princes. They are too self-assured; theycarry things with too high a hand. They are evidently too muchaccustomed to having their own way. "

"It seems to be a characteristic of lords, also, " said Nell, with alittle sigh. 

"What they need is a vigorous calling down. Well, that ought not to beso difficult!" and the dark eyes snapped ominously. 

"Though, perhaps, it's hardly worth the trouble, " suggested Nell. 

"Perhaps not, " assented her sister; but half an hour later she waylaidher father to give him her commands. "Dad, " she said, "if the Prince ofMarkeld asks you for permission to call, you'll tell him he may. It'sjust one of these odious Old World customs. "

"So I judged, " smiled her father. "He seems a nice fellow, and so whenhe asked me ten minutes ago, I told him we'd be glad to see him. "

"Did--did he mention any particular time?" faltered Sue. 

"Why, yes, now I think of it, I believe he said something about thisevening. "

"Oh!" gasped Susie, and then closed her lips tightly together. "Well, "she said to herself, as she turned away, "he hasn't lost any time, to besure! I'm afraid he's worse than I thought!"

CHAPTER XII

Events of the Night

Life at Weet-sur-Mer, as at most other places of its class, swung in around prescribed by custom, as fixed and predestined as the courses ofthe stars. In the late morning occurred the promenade, taken as a briskconstitutional by a few, but by the great majority as a languid strolldesigned to create an appetite for luncheon. That meal was followed by aperiod of torpor, then every one sought the beach--the high, the low;the rich, the poor; the dowdy and the well-dressed; the virgin in whiteand the cocotte in scarlet; the thin and the obese; the French, theDutch, the Italian--yea, and the angular English, for Weet-sur-Merattracted a crowd as hybrid as its name! There they amused themselveseach after his own fashion, with dignity or abandon, as the case mightbe. They could not be said to mingle in the way that an American crowdwould have done under like circumstances--the elements of society in anaristocratic country are as incapable of mingling as oil and water. Theoil floated placidly on top, while the water disported itselfcontentedly beneath. 

The oil, to preserve the simile, consisted, in the first place, of anumber of self-important individuals stalking solemnly up and down, seemingly unconscious of the fact that they were not as solitary asCrusoe; and, in the second place, of certain solid, cohesive groups, presenting to the world a front as impenetrable and threatening as anyAustrian phalanx, and guarding in their midst two or three young girlswho must, at any hazard, be kept unspotted from the world. Strange tosay, the girls appeared contented, even happy; the position seemed tothem, no doubt, the normal one for them to occupy--and they could, ofcourse, look forward with certainty to the opening of the prison doorwhen a marriage should be arranged for them. They order this matterbetter in Europe; or, at least, differently, for there, as a discerningobserver has pointed out, marriage means always that a woman is takendown from the shelf, while with us, alas, too often! that she is placedupon it, never to be removed!

To this class, too, belonged certain obese women and emaciated mensitting, in couples, under the gay sunshades with which the beach wasbright. The women were dressed always in gowns which, however ornate, were not quite new, not quite fresh, not quite clean; and the blackcoats of the men were a little shiny at the elbow, a little faded at theseams. But madame still took care to preserve such figure as unkind fatehad left her; and monsieur still kept his moustaches waxed to a needle'spoint; and they sat there together, quite immovable, for hours at atime, staring drearily out toward the horizon, meditating, no doubt, over past glories, or arranging some coup by which their fortunes mightbe retrieved. Pride will slip from them gradually, as the years pass;madame will abandon her figure and monsieur his moustaches, and theywill end their days miserably in some second- or third-ratepension--even, perhaps, the Maison Vauquer!

The water was more interesting, being at once more natural and lively. With it there was no question of maintaining the equilibrium of itsposition; there was no need of air or artifice; there was none of thatheartburning with which the latest Pontifical Princess smilinglyswallows the insolence of the descendant (à la main gauche) of the GreatHenri, happy to have been noticed, even though to be noticed meantinevitably to be snubbed. There was a freedom about the water, an honestvulgarity, a quality as of Rabelais, refreshingly in contrast with thehot-house manners and morals of the haute noblesse. Madame need nothesitate to cross her legs, if she found that attitude comfortable;monsieur could at once remove coat, waist-coat, collar, cuffs, if hefound the weather warm. 

Families whose size testified to their bourgeois respectability, lolledin happy promiscuity upon the sands; the children constructed forts orcanals, the women tore some neighbour's reputation to pieces, the menlay back lazily and smoked and kept an eye out for the bathers. 

There were always many scores of them, belonging principally to thatstrange and tragic half-world which hangs suspended, like Mahomet'scoffin, between earth and heaven, or, at least, between mass and class, and which stretches out its tentacles and sucks nourishment from both. These with a regularity almost religious, spent an hour of every day, weather permitting, splashing in the gentle surf or posing on the beachin costumes more or less revealing, according to the contour of thewearer. The climax of the afternoon, the coup-de-théâtre which allawaited, was the appearance of Mlle. Paul, late of the Variétés. Thiswas such a masterpiece in its way that it is worth pausing a moment todescribe. 

Suddenly the door of her bathing-machine, which has been drawn just tothe water's edge, is flung open, and she appears on the threshold, wrapped in a white sheet with a red border, producing a toga-like effectnot ungraceful. She hesitates an instant, and casts a startled glanceover the crowd of onlookers, then trips modestly down the steps. With alittle frisson, she casts the sheet from her and stands revealed--well, perhaps not quite as Eve was to Adam, but so nearly so that thedifference is scarcely worth remarking. She glances down at her shapelylegs and then again at the entranced spectators. 

"C'est convenable, j'espère hein?" she murmurs, and her bald-headedcicisbeo, who has taken possession of her sheet, hastens to assure herthat all is well. 

Whereupon, her doubts thus happily set at rest, she wades out to thediving-board, mounts it leisurely, stands poised for an instant at theoutermost end, and then dives gracefully into the expectant billows. This she does at intervals for perhaps an hour, the supreme instant forthe onlookers being that in which her glowing body, shimmering whitethrough its single clinging garment, is outlined in mid-air against thesky. But finally Mademoiselle grows weary and returns to her machine, where the gallant and attentive gentleman previously referred topatiently awaits her--deus ex machina in more senses than one! The otherbathers gradually disappear and the crowd melts imperceptibly away. Theshow is over. 

But though all this was no doubt sufficiently diverting, Weet-sur-Merwas never gloriously, aggressively awake until the sun went down. Thediversions of the day depended wholly upon the weather--a dash of rain, a wind from the north, and, pouf! they were not thought of. 

Not so the festivities of the night. Nothing short of an earthquakecould interfere with them. It was for the night that most of thesojourners at Weet-sur-Mer existed; it was for them, in turn, that theplace itself existed! With these worthies, the first serious business ofthe day was dressing for dinner. As darkness came, a stir of lifethrilled through the place from end to end. Rows and clusters ofelectric lights, many-sized and many-coloured, flashed out at theCasino, in the hotels, along the Digue. Women donned their eveninggowns, thankful for handsome shoulders; got out their diamonds, realand paste, their rouge, cosmetics, what not; prepared to go forth andconquer, to play the old, old game which, by the calm light of themorning, seems so flat and savourless! Oh, what would it be without wineand lights and jewels and soft gowns, without warmth and music andperfume, without the suggestive, sensual darkness closing it in!

At the Casino presently spins the wheel of fortune--named in verymockery!--and it is there that one may gaze unrebuked into the mostalluring eyes, may see the reddest lips and whitest shoulders;--crème dela crème of all in that smaller room upstairs, arranged for those whosejaded appetites demand some extra tickling; where no wager may be laidfor less than a hundred francs, and for as much more as you please, monsieur, madame, provided only that you have it with you! Too bad thatthe immortal soul has no longer a money value, or how many wouldornament that crowded table in the course of an evening's play!

But there; let a single glimpse of this tawdry, perfumed, fevered hellsuffice us, even as it did Archibald Rushford on the first night of hisstay at Weet-sur-Mer, and let us go out, as he did, into the pure night, and stand uncovered under the bright stars until the cool breeze fromthe ocean has washed us clean again, and turning our backs forever uponthe Casino and its habitués, retrace our steps along the Digue to theGrand Hôtel Royal. 

In apartment A de luxe, a man with flushed face and rumpled hair wasstamping nervously up and down. It required a second glance to recognisein him that usually well-groomed and self-possessed individual known asLord Vernon. Two others were watching his movements with scarcelyconcealed anxiety--Collins leaning against the window with folded arms, Blake seated at a table with an open despatch-box before him. 

"Hang it all, fellows, " he was saying, "don't you see what a pickle itputs me in? I was a fool to fall in with the idea--I was actually sillyenough to think it would be fun!"

"Of course, " put in Collins, in his smoothest tone, "nobody couldforesee the presence of this American Diana. "

Vernon shot him a quick glance. 

"Be mighty careful what you say, my friend, " he warned him, "or I'llchuck the whole thing. "

"Oh, you can't do that!" protested Blake. "You've got to carry itthrough! You can't back out now!"

"Can't I?" said Vernon, with a grim little laugh. "Don't be too certain!Suppose she finds it out? Pretty figure I'll cut, won't I?"

"But how _can_ she find it out? In four or five days, you can tell herthe whole story--you'll figure as a sort of hero of romance--"

"Yes--penny-dreadful romance--backstairs romance. The more I think ofit, the less I like it. Diplomacy or no diplomacy, we're playing Markelda dirty trick--that's the only expression that describes it. He's a nicefellow and we ought to treat him fairly. "

Collins shrugged his shoulders as he turned away to the window andlighted a cigarette. 

"You said something of the same sort yesterday, I believe, " he remarked, negligently. 

"Yes--and I meant it then" as I mean it now. Markeld has the right toexpect decent treatment at our hands. "

"Rather late in the day to take that ground, " retorted Collins. 

"Late or not, I do take it, " answered Vernon, pausing an instant in hiswalk to emphasise the words. 

"I see, " said Collins, drily, "it's a sort of moral awakening--aquickening of conscience--the kind of thing we are all so proud ofdisplaying. Pity it didn't come before we started for this place. "

Vernon did not reply, only clasped and unclasped his hands nervously. 

Collins wheeled around upon him abruptly, his face very stern. 

"Come, " he demanded, "let's have it out, once for all. I'm sick of thisshilly-shally. Why can't you let Markeld take care of himself?"

"Because you're not playing fairly. "

"What do you mean by fairly?"

"I mean openly, honestly--as gentlemen should. "

"You forget that this is diplomacy--and that we don't live in the GoldenAge. We fight with such weapons as come to hand. It's the game. "

"Yes--as you understand it. A gang of cutthroats might say the samething. "

Collins flushed a little, but managed to keep his temper. 

"I understand it as all diplomats understand it. I take no advantagethat every diplomat would not take. "

"Then God save me from diplomats!" retorted Vernon. 

Collins flushed again, more deeply, and his eyes flashed with suddenfire. 

"Your words verge upon the insulting, " he said, after a moment. "I warnyou not to try my patience too far. Perhaps, after this, you will seefit to choose other company--company more in accord with your reallyabsurd ideals. But I would remind you of one thing--your career dependsupon this affair. If it succeeds, you succeed. If it fails through anyfault of yours, you are ruined. I assure you the fault will not beoverlooked nor extenuated. You will pay for it!"

Vernon looked at him without answering, but his glance was full ofmeaning. Then he turned and left the room. 

For a moment his companions stared after him--they had read his glancearight. 

"We'll have to look sharp, " said Collins, at last, "or he'll cause ustrouble--he's ripe for it, confound him! We'd better wire the homeoffice to hurry things up. "

"Yes, " agreed Blake, "there's no reasoning with a man in love. "

"Nor frightening him, " added Collins. "I'm afraid I made a mistaketaking that tack. I'll go down and get off a message. "

As he opened the door, he fancied that a figure melted into the shadowat the end of the hall. But his attention was distracted from it, for aninstant later, he heard a step on the stair, and the Prince of Markeldmounted from the floor below, passed him with the slightest possibleinclination of the head, and continued upward. Collins, staring afterhim, standing still as death, heard him enter the apartment of theRushfords. 

He remained a moment where he was, his heart heavy with foreboding, thenhe descended slowly to the office, his head bent, deep in thought. Sopreoccupied was he that he did not see the sleek face which leered athim from the shadow into which the dim figure had vanished. 

The spy listened a moment intently; then, with a tread soft as a cat's, mounted the stair to the floor above. 

 * * * * *

"Of course, dad, " Susie had said, in the early evening, "you will haveto stay at home to-night since the Prince is coming to see you. "

"Oh, it's not I he's coming to see, " rejoined Rushford, easily. "Infact, he'll probably be tickled to death to find me out. ''

"He's not going to find you out, " retorted Susie, firmly. "You're goingto stay right here. "

"Nonsense, my dear! Why, when I was courting your mother--"

"What has that to do with it?" demanded Sue, very crimson. "Do you meanto say that someone is courting someone around here?"

"Of course, every man may be mistaken at times. "

"Well, take my word for it, you're badly mistaken this time. "

"Oh!" said her father, with assumed astonishment. "Am I? Then what isall this about?"

"And even if they were, " continued Susie, a little unsteadily, "they doit differently from the American way. "

"How do they do it, for heaven's sake?"

"Why, dad, how should I know?"

"You seem to have considerable information on the subject. "

"I have enough information to know, " retorted Sue, with some heat, "that in Europe, a young man calls upon the head of the family, and notupon any of its younger female members. "

"I have always understood that Europe was behind the times, " observedher father, "but I never suspected it was as bad as that. However, Itake your word for it--I always do, you know. I suppose you and Nellwill have to stay in your rooms. "

"Oh, no, " said Sue, "we may be present, so long as our chaperon isthere. "

"So I'm to do some chaperoning at last, am I?" queried her father. "Thejob has ceased to be a sinecure. I suppose I'll have to do all thetalking, since young girls, of course, may only speak when spoken to andthen must answer with a yes or no. Really, my dear, you're settingyourself an exceedingly difficult part!"

"Where did you learn so much about it, dad?"

"I'm reasoning by deduction--all this follows from what you've alreadytold me. Well, I'll do my best to entertain this Dutchman. What does hetalk about? Wiener-wurst and sauerkraut?"

"Oh, no, " said Susie, with a reminiscent smile and a heightened colour;"he talks about things much more interesting than those. "

And, indeed, the first moments past, Rushford found the Prince anentertaining fellow, with a fund of anecdote and experience decidedlyunusual. But conversations of this sort are rarely worth recording; theless so in this instance, since the Prince had taken care to seathimself where he had a good view of the enchanting Susie, and thatvision more than once caused his thoughts to wander. Still, theydiscussed America and Europe, art, nature, the universe--none of whichhas anything to do with this story--everything, in short, except thewarm, palpitating human heart, with which we are principallyconcerned--and it was very late before the Prince finally arose to go. 

Sue whispered her thanks as she kissed her father good-night. 

"Good old daddy!" she said, and patted him on the cheek. "And it wasn'tsuch a trial, after all, was it?"

Her father looked down at her quizzically. 

"No, my dear, " he answered. "In fact, I rather enjoyed it. I fancy he'dbe a mighty interesting talker if there weren't any distractions around. Not that I blame him, " he added, hastily. "I was that way myself onceupon a time, " and he bent and kissed her tenderly again. 

Susie, before her glass, stared at herself long and earnestly, then tookdown her hair and proceeded to arrange it in various ways. At last, shegot out a diamond bracelet, placed it tiara-wise upon her head, andstudied the effect. She was thus engaged when an agitated tap at thedoor gave her a mighty start, and she had just time to snatch off thedecoration when Nell burst in, her face white with emotion. 

"Why, what is it, Nellie?" cried her sister, springing up. 

"I--I've lost it!" gasped Nell, sinking limply into a chair, andtrembling convulsively. "I'm sure--it's been stolen!"

"Lost it!" echoed Sue, reviewing in one quick mental flash Nell's mostvaluable possessions. "Not the diamond necklace!"

"Oh, Sue!" wailed Nell. "How can you be so mercenary? Oh, I wish it wasthe necklace! But it isn't! It's the note!"

It was Sue's turn to gasp, to turn pale, to sink into a chair. 

"The note!" she echoed, hoarsely. "Not Lord Vernon's!"

Nell nodded mutely, her face a study for the Tragic Muse. 

"But I thought you destroyed it, " said Sue. "You said you were goingto!"

"I know--but I didn't, " answered Nell, a faint tinge of pink in herpallid cheeks. "I--I didn't see the need of destroying it. I supposednobody knew, and I--I thought I'd keep it as a--a souvenir, you know. Ihad it in my desk. I am sure I locked it before I came down thisevening, but just now I found it open and the note gone. "

"Well, and what did you do then?"

"I looked all through the desk--I thought maybe it had slipped out ofsight somehow--but it hadn't--it wasn't there. Then I called the maid, Julie, and told her something had been stolen. She swore no one hadentered the room since I left it--that no one could have entered it. Ofcourse, I couldn't tell her about the note, so I sent her away and cameto you. I--I feel like a traitor. I don't know what to do!"

Susie went to her and put her arms about her and drew her close. 

"We can't do anything to-night, dear, " she said; "that's certain. To-morrow you must tell Lord Vernon. "

She felt Nell quiver at the words and drew her closer still, withintimate understanding. 

"I don't believe he will care so much, " she went on, comfortingly. "Perhaps the note isn't so important as we think. I suppose we shouldhave destroyed it at once. "

"Yes, " said Nell, drearily, "I suppose we should. But who could haveforeseen anything like this!"

"The best thing to do now is to go to bed, " added Sue, practically, andshe raised her sister and led her back to her room. "In the morning wecan make a thorough search for the note. Perhaps, after all, youoverlooked it. "

"I couldn't have overlooked it, " answered Nell. "I remember perfectlyplacing it in this drawer, " she continued, going to the desk and openingit, "here, just under this pile of note-paper. "

"Perhaps it slipped in between the sheets, " suggested Sue. 

"I thought of that, " said Nell, but nevertheless she began mechanicallyto open sheet after sheet. As she opened the third one, a little slip ofpaper fluttered to the floor. 

She sprang upon it with a cry of joy, opened it, glanced at it. 

"Thank God!" she said, thickly. "It's all right--it's--"

And she fell forward into Susie's arms. 

CHAPTER XIII

The Second Promenade

Again the sun rose clear and bright, and again, having dispelled themist and chill of the early morning, it lured forth for the inevitablepromenade such of the sojourners at Weet-sur-Mer as had managed to getto bed before dawn. Prince Markeld, descending with the earliest, leftnothing this time to chance, but took his station at the stairfoot, andwaited there with a patience really exemplary. From which it will beseen that Princes in love are much as other men. 

And presently, descending toward him, he descried the Misses Rushford;Susie radiant as the morning, Nell a trifle paler than her wont, butmore beautiful, if anything, because of it. The Prince hastened forwardto greet them. 

"Which way shall we go?" he asked, with the comfortable certainty ofincluding himself in their plans. "Good-morning, " he added, to theoccupant of an invalid chair which was standing just outside the door. 

"Good-morning, " replied Lord Vernon, his eyes on Nell's. "My outingyesterday was such a pleasant one that I was hoping it might berepeated. "

"Going or coming?" queried Sue, with a quizzical curve of the lips. 

"Both ways, " answered Vernon, promptly; but his eyes were still on Nell. 

Markeld also looked excellently satisfied. 

"Very well, " he said, in his autocratic way, "we will proceed as we didyesterday, " and he led Susie away. Strange to relate, she followed quitemeekly. Somehow, when the moment came, it seemed exceedingly difficultto snub him. 

"Do you know, " he was saying, "I fell quite in love with your fatherlast night. His point of view is so fresh and so full of humour. Though, " he added, "I must confess that sometimes I did not entirelyunderstand him. "

"Didn't you?" laughed Susie. "Dad _does_ use a good deal of slang. It'san American failing. "

"So I have heard. I know my aunt will like him, too--the Dowager Duchessof Markheim, you know. "

"No, " said Sue, a little faintly, "I didn't know. " She had never beforeconsidered the possibility of the Prince having any women relatives; herheart fell as she thought what dreadful creatures they would probablyprove to be. 

"My aunt is the head of the family, " explained the Prince, calmly, unconscious of his companion's perturbation. "She rules us with a rod ofiron. But you will like her and I know she will like you. She adoresanything with fire in it. "

"Oh, " said Susie, to herself, "and how does he know I've any fire inme?" But she judged it wisest not to utter the question aloud. 

"She worships spirit, " added the Prince. "She is very fond of quoting aline of your poet, Browning. 'What have I on earth to do, ' she willdemand, 'with the slothful, with the mawkish, the unmanly?' Sometimes, Ifear, she aims the adjectives at me. "

Susie felt her heart softening, for she liked that line, too. 

"I don't believe you deserve the adjectives, '' she said. 

"Do you not?" he asked, eagerly, with brightened eyes. 

"And I should like to meet your aunt, " she continued, hastily. 

"So you shall, most certainly, " he assented, instantly. "As soon as itcan be arranged. "

"Oh, does it have to be arranged?" inquired Susie, in some dismay. 

"Not in that sense--she is very democratic--she likes people for whatthey are. But until this question of the succession is concluded youwill readily understand that, through anxiety, she is not in the best ofhumours--not quite herself. "

"Is she, then, here?" asked Susie. 

"Here? Oh, no; she is at Markheim--at the post of duty. That is anotherreason--until this affair is settled, I cannot ask her to join me here. "

"You will ask her to do that?"

"Certainly; she can stop here very well on her way to Ostend. She wouldbe at Ostend now but for this affair. Perhaps that is another reason whyshe is ill-humoured. She is so fond of life and gaiety, and in summerMarkheim is rather dull. Besides, there is the tradition to maintain. "

"How do you know that she is in an ill-humour, " questioned Sue, "if youhave not seen her?"

"Oh, she writes to me--I had a letter from her this morning. I can seeshe is not well-pleased--quite the opposite, in fact!--at the way thingsare going. "

"And how are they going?"

"They seem to be going against us, " said the Prince, with a touch ofbitterness. 

"But how _can_ they be? I thought things were at a stand-still untilLord Vernon got--got well enough to take them up again. "

"So did I--that is what one would naturally suppose. Yet it seems thatan undercurrent has set in against us. I fear that I made a mistake, " headded, gloomily, "in agreeing with Lord Vernon not to proceed furtherfor a week, though, under the circumstances, I could scarcely refuse. Heseems well enough, " and he glanced around, "to hear what I have to say. "

"He _is_ well enough!" cried Sue, indignantly; and certainly at thatmoment, talking eagerly to Nell, that gentleman appeared quite thereverse of an invalid. "_I_ will speak to him--I am under no promise--Ibelieve--"

She stopped, fearing that she might say too much--after all, she couldnot betray Lord Vernon; she could only appeal to him, warn him. 

"Yes?" her companion encouraged her, his eyes on her face. 

"I believe that I can help you, " she concluded, a little lamely. "I wantto help--the people. Of course, we Americans believe that a people oughtto choose their own rulers--but where that isn't possible, the next bestthing is to give them the best available. I should be proud to help dothat!"

"But you are taking my word for it, " he protested. "You ought to hearthe other side. Perhaps they might convince you--"

"No, they wouldn't!" cried Susie. "Your word is all I need; you'veexplained things so clearly. "

"Thank you, " he said, in a vibrant voice, still looking at her. 

"Besides, " she added, with a glance upward, "dad agrees with you, andI've a great deal of faith in dad. "

"I shall be very glad of your help on any terms, " he said, refusing tobe cast down. 

"And you will tell me if anything unexpected happens? I may be able tohelp you more than you think. "

"Yes, " he promised, "I will tell you the moment I have any news. "

"You haven't any real news--about the undercurrent, I mean? You don't_really_ know--"

"No; it is just in the air; I do not know where the rumours come from, but my aunt has heard them also. There is a vague impression that weare losing. "

"But you shan't lose!" cried Susie. "You shan't lose; not even if I haveto--to--"

"Not even if you have to--?" prompted the Prince, eagerly, as shestammered and stopped. 

"To play my trump card, " she finished, with a little unsteady laugh. "Don't ask me what it is, but it's a good one!"

 * * * * *

Meanwhile, as she walked beside the invalid chair, Nell was making herconfession. 

"Lord Vernon, " she began, in a low voice, "for a time last night, Ifeared that I had utterly ruined your cause. "

He glanced up at her quickly. 

"In what way?" he asked. 

"You remember the note you wrote m--us the first day?"

"Perfectly, " he answered, noting the stammer, and understanding it, with a quick leap of the heart. 

"I should, no doubt, have destroyed it at once, but I thought it wouldbe perfectly safe in my desk. "

"And it was stolen? No matter, Miss Rushford. It isn't worth worryingabout. I'm sick of the whole affair, anyway--I shall rather welcome thecatastrophe. You've lost sleep over it, " he continued, looking at herkeenly. "It has made you almost ill! I shall never forgive myself!"

"Thank you, " she said, softly, her lips trembling, her eyes very bright. "It is beautiful of you to be so generous. But fortunately the note wasnot stolen. I found it afterwards among some note-paper, where it hadsomehow found its way. "

"And you destroyed it?"

"No, " she said, and took it from her bosom. "I thought I would betterrestore it to you, so that you yourself could destroy it. Here it is, "and she held it out to him with fingers not wholly steady. 

He took it, his eyes still on her face. 

"It has caused us enough trouble, " he said, and made as though to tearit into bits. 

But Nell laid her hand upon his arm. 

"Without looking at it?" she protested. 

"You are right, " he agreed, and opened it and glanced at the contents. 

His hands were trembling slightly as he folded it again. 

"On second thought, " he said, and there was a certain thickness in thewords which Nell was too agitated to notice, "I believe that I shallkeep it. It is the only souvenir I have, you know, of our firstmeeting. "

And he smiled up at her--such a smile as Meïamoun must have bent uponCleopatra as he drained the poisoned cup. 

CHAPTER XIV

A Bearding of the Lion

Susie Rushford was of that temperament which, so far from avoidingdifficulties, rather rushes to meet them, welcoming "each rebuff thatturns earth's smoothness rough, " to quote again from her favourite poet. 

So, when they reached the end of the promenade, it was she who commandeda change of partners and who took her place resolutely beside theinvalid chair. Perhaps Lord Vernon scented danger, or it may be that hemerely resented the change of companions: at any rate, as they startedback, he contented himself with a dignified silence. But Sue was not tobe so easily put off. 

"The Prince of Markeld has been telling me a few things about thesuccession, " she began, resolutely. "You will pardon me, Lord Vernon, when I say I don't think you're treating him quite fairly. "

"I don't think so myself, Miss Rushford, " returned the occupant of thechair, curtly. 

"His branch of the house seems to be really, in every way, the moredeserving. "

"I haven't the least doubt of it. "

"And the one which the people of Schloshold-Markheim prefer. "

"That, too, is very probably the case. We threshed all that outyesterday, didn't we?"

"Not so thoroughly as I should like to do, " said Susie. "I've beenthinking over the story you told me yesterday, and I believe I'veguessed who the man with the pistol is. "

"I thought very probably you would guess. "

"Did you? Then you won't mind telling me if I've guessed rightly. It'sthe German Emperor, isn't it?"

"It is. "

"Thank you. But I'm awfully obtuse, for I must confess that I haven'tas yet been able to perceive the pistol. "

"Haven't you? I thought you'd guess that, too. I had forgotten thatAmerican women aren't interested in public events. "

"Now you're growing sarcastic!" cried Susie. "You see, I never beforeknew how interesting they were, " she added, in self-defence. "I'm tryingto turn over a new leaf--"

"And you want my help?"

"I always like to understand things. Even as a child I hated riddles. And I think, too, that nations ought to be like individuals--only moreso--always ready, anxious even, to help their friends. "

"Even to the point of disregarding the pistol?"

"You'll have to show me the pistol. "

"I'll try to, Miss Rushford, " said Vernon, with the air of a man stakinghis last louis, "since you seem to doubt that it exists. Let us look atthe matter for a moment from the outside, without question of ourpersonal likes or dislikes. England, just at this moment, has her handsfull in South Africa, and it isn't in the least unlikely that the GermanEmperor would put a finger in that pie, if we gave him an excuse--agreat many of his advisers are trying to get him to interfere withoutwaiting for the excuse, but he's not quite willing to go that far. Soour business is not to give him any excuse--not even the veryslightest. Suppose we meddle in this affair of Schloshold-Markheim, which is really his dependency--don't you see, he might easily, andquite logically, claim that as a precedent for meddling in the affairsof the Transvaal, which we claim as our dependency. Now I hope that youperceive the pistol, and see, too, that it isn't in the least a toyaffair, but a very dangerous and effective weapon. "

"I do see, " said Susie, quickly. 

"Besides, " Vernon added, anxious to vindicate himself still further, since, after all, Susie was Nell's sister, "Schloshold-Markheim is avery insignificant corner of this earth; not so big, in fact, as many ofour English shires. Self-preservation is the first law of nations. Whyshould England imperil herself? You see, the whole question reducesitself to that old, heartless, but very sane doctrine of the greatestgood of the greatest number. "

"Why not say all that frankly to the Prince of Markeld?" suggested Sue. 

"Because, my dear young lady, before we can say anything, we have togive him a chance to say his say. And he would very probably statecertain truths which it would be very embarrassing for us to hear, andstill more embarrassing to answer. All Europe would be listening. We'rebetween the devil and the deep sea. "

"Well, and what are you going to do about it?" asked Susie, plump out. 

"We're going to wait, " said Lord Vernon, gloomily. 

"To wait?"

"Yes--until the sea subsides a little or the devil gets tired and goesaway and gives us a chance to escape. We dare neither fight the devilnor brave the ocean. Our hands are tied. "

Susie walked along a moment in silence, trying to distinguish the wrongand the right of this very intricate question. 

"All that you have been telling me may be true, " she said, at last; "Ihaven't the least doubt that it is true; but yet it doesn't quite excusetricking the Prince of Markeld as you are doing. "

"I know it doesn't, " admitted Vernon, instantly. "It doesn't excuse itin the least. I don't like it any more than you do, Miss Rushford. Butthe ways of diplomacy are devious past understanding; and then, again, when one has entered upon a line of action, it is sometimes very hardto change it or let go. It's like a hot iron or a charged wire--onenever realises one's mistake until it is too late. After all, a few dayswill end it. "

"A few days! Then the Prince was right!"

"Right?"

"He told me that an undercurrent of some sort seemed to be setting inagainst him. I warn you, Lord Vernon, that I have become his ally. "

"Even to the point of giving me away?" he inquired, half humourously, looking at her in evident enjoyment. 

"Even to the point of giving you away, if you don't play fairly, " sheanswered, in deadly earnest. "At your suggestion, he consented to atruce for a week--"

"It was Collins who suggested it. "

"No matter; it is all the same; the proposal came from your side. Onecan't honourably employ a truce in laying mines for one's enemy. "

Lord Vernon was looking straight ahead. There was now no trace ofamusement in his face. 

"You are quite right, Miss Rushford, " he said. "I release you from anyengagement with either me or Collins to keep our secret. Let me tellyou, I've protested more than once, but I'm no longer a free agent inregard to this thing, and I have to see it through. The very worstmoment of all was when Markeld came up to my rooms and apologised forsuspecting me. I tell you, I felt like a worm, and a particularly nastyone, at that. It will be my turn to apologise before long; and I won'tfeel quite easy in my conscience till I do. "

Susie had listened wide-eyed, and had stolen a glance, once or twice, athis set face. There could be no doubting his utter sincerity, and itsoftened her, as sincerity always softens a woman. 

"Of course, " she said, more gently, "I shan't give you away unless Isee that the Prince is being treated unfairly. Let things drift for aweek, since he has consented to a truce--don't do anything against him. "The words were spoken almost pleadingly. 

"Oh, it isn't I who will do anything, " retorted Lord Vernon, sharply. "I'm not quite such a cur as that. Don't you understand, MissRushford--the thing is out of my hands--is quite beyond my control. I'mnot the one responsible for the undercurrent, if there is one. Ifanything happens, it won't be through any act of mine--it will be inspite of me. "

"But I thought--"

"You thought the foreign secretary was the whole thing? Well, he isn't!There's a dozen other members of the cabinet, more or less, to mix in, and, when all's said, the premier has to approve, and after that theQueen. And all of us are more or less afraid of the press, to saynothing of the House of Commons, where the opposition is always tryingto put us in an awkward corner. So our motives are usually pretty mixed, and it's very rarely that we can do just as we'd like to do. "

"Then, " said Susie, slowly, "I think that I must tell the Prince. "

"Do so, by all means, " retorted her companion, a little impatiently. "Igive you full permission, if you care to take the responsibility. But, Iassure you, it's a heavy one. "

"Oh, not so awfully heavy!" said Susie, sceptically. "You have alreadytold me what a little place Schloshold-Markheim is. "

"It _is_ little; but so is the pivot that a great piece of machineryswings on. Collins said yesterday that the peace of Europe may hang uponthis question. I laughed at him then, but it's not at all impossiblethat he may be right. Of course, with a little thing like the peace ofEurope, every schoolgirl has the right to meddle! A million of humanbeings, more or less--what do they amount to? Let us slaughter them, maim them, outrage them, burn their houses, destroy their crops! Let usput great armies in the field, and fight great battles and think only ofthe glory! Don't look at the shapeless things beneath the hoofs of thehorses, nor think of the women waiting at home--waiting for the lists ofdead and missing! Let us release the spring that will set all this inmotion--it requires only a touch, the merest touch! And think, we shouldbe making history! Besides, our honour requires it! We must be jealousof our honour--it is of so much more importance than the peace ofEurope!"

And Vernon, having arrived at the hotel entrance, bade them good-bye andwas wheeled to the lift, leaving his companion rather breathless. 

CHAPTER XV

"Be Bold, Be Bold"

Lord Vernon, no doubt, would have spoken with less acerbity but for thefact that his nerves were jangling badly. The lift was started promptly, but it required all his self-control to remain seated in his chairduring the slow progress upward of the great machine of which MonsieurPelletan was so proud. Scarcely had the door of his apartment closedbehind him, when he threw aside the invalid wrappings with a perfectfury, sprang from his chair, and hastened into the inner room. Collinsand Blake were seated at a table there, labouring with a telegram incipher. 

"What's the matter now?" demanded Collins, sharply, as he looked up andsaw Vernon's disordered face. 

For answer, Vernon took from his pocket a folded paper and tossed it onthe table. 

Collins picked it up, opened it, and read its contents. 

"Well?" he said, looking up with a sigh of relief. "If this is the noteyou wrote those Rushford girls, I must say I think you've done a mightywise thing to get it back. It was a dangerous thing to have lyingaround. Have you had a quarrel?" and he grinned a little maliciously. 

"Collins, " said Vernon, coldly, "you have the poorest conception of goodtaste of any man I know, and I know some awful bounders. But I won'tquarrel with you now, for you'll be grinning on the other side of thatugly mouth of yours anyway in about a minute. Will you kindly examinethis piece of paper?" and he tore a leaf from his notebook. 

"Be Bold, Be Bold"

Collins, biting his lips until they bled, took it and looked it overwith frowning and puzzled countenance. 

"Well?" he asked, at last. 

"The note I sent the Misses Rushford, " said Vernon, quietly, "waswritten on a leaf from the notebook, which I tore out just as I did thatone you have in your hand, " and he sat down and stared out the window, across the gray dunes and the gray sea to the gray horizon. 

Collins, with compressed lips, held the two pieces of paper up to thelight and compared their texture. Then he got out a small pocketmagnifying glass and examined through it the writing on the note. 

"It's a tracing, " he said, at last, "and a mighty clever piece of work. The paper, too, is very like. "

"But it's not the same, " put in Vernon. 

"Oh, no, it's not the same. "

"Do you mean this is a forgery?" burst out Blake, hoarsely, snatchingup the note and staring at it. 

"Undoubtedly, " answered Collins, coolly, but his face was very dark. "The forger, clever as he was, could scarcely expect to be so fortunateas to duplicate the paper. And then, of course, he couldn't foresee thatit would be turned over to you. But he did very well. Now let's have thestory. "

"Miss Rushford had the note in her desk, " said Vernon, shortly. "Shemissed it last night and went to tell her sister of the theft. When shereturned to her room and began a systematic search, she found it slippedamong some note-paper in the drawer where she had placed it. Shereturned it to me this morning. "

"Without suspecting that it was a forgery?"

"Certainly. "

"And you didn't tell her?"

"No. "

Collins sat for a moment staring down at the note. 

"Which reminds me, " he remarked, at last, "that Markeld spent theevening with the Rushfords. "

"Well, what of it?" demanded Vernon, sharply, wheeling around. "What isit you mean to insinuate?"

"My dear sir, " answered Collins, suavely, "I insinuate nothing. I wasmerely remarking upon the coincidence. If I did not happen to know allthe circumstances, I might have been led to suggest that, as only oneMiss Rushford is devoted to you--"

Vernon sprang to his feet with such wrath in his face that Collinsstopped abruptly. 

"It was well you stopped, " said Vernon, savagely. "Another word, and byheaven--"

"Don't be a fool!" Collins broke in. "I'm not afraid of you nor yourthreats. This forgery, of course, is the work of that French spy--"

A servant tapped at the door and handed in a card. 

Collins took it, glanced at it, and looked up with a little smile ofsatisfaction. 

"It's Tellier, " he said. "I was expecting him; he was certain to come tous. Leave him to me, " and he went out, closing the door behind him. 

Monsieur Tellier was even more effulgent than usual. There was upon hisface a smile of supreme self-satisfaction. He had reason to believe thathe had achieved a good stroke, and he was resolved to make the most ofit. He had dreamed dreams and seen visions--one vision in particularwhich included within the same circumference himself and a certain frailfairy of the Robinière who had always regarded him with disdain. Now allthat was to be changed! So he greeted Collins with a self-assurance andaplomb quite removed from his ordinary manner. 

Collins confronted him with the card still between his fingers, andreturned his greeting with the utmost coldness. 

"You wished to see me?" he asked. 

"Pardon, " corrected Tellier, "it is Lord Vernon I wish to see. "

"Lord Vernon is ill and sees no one. "

Tellier gave his mustachios a supercilious twirl. 

"You still maintain that farce?" he queried. "I assure you that for meit has long since lost its novelty. "

Collins took a step toward the door. 

"Shall I show you out?" he asked. 

"No--not yet, " and Tellier smiled provokingly. 

"You would really better let me show you out, " said Collins, quietly. "In another moment, I shall probably kick you out. "

Tellier's face turned a deep purple and his white teeth gleamed behindhis moustache. 

"Have a care!" he said, hoarsely. "That expression will cost you dear!"

Collins smiled contemptuously. 

"Oh, " he retorted; "so it's blackmail! I might have known from yourappearance. Well, my dear sir, you have mistaken your men. You havenothing which we care to buy. You would better go. "

A purple vein stood out across Tellier's forehead, as he came a stepnearer. 

"Do not be too sure, monsieur, " he said. "You play a bold game, but itdoes not for an instant deceive me. Lord Vernon is no more ill than I. It is useless to deny it--I have that here which proves it--written withhis own hand--yes, pardie, written in my presence!" and with tremblingfingers he took from his pocketbook a folded slip of paper. 

"Indeed?" said Collins, with mild curiosity. "This is truly wonderful, "and he held out his hand. 

But Tellier drew back a step, unfolded the note and held it open betweenhis fingers. 

"You may read it, " he said, his eyes flashing with triumph. "But come nonearer. "

Collins leisurely got out his monocle, polished it with hishandkerchief, adjusted it, and scanned the note. 

"Really, " he said, "unless you can hold it a little steadier, I fear Ican't read it. "

Tellier steadied his hand by a mighty effort, and watched him, his eyesshining. But the face of the Englishman did not change--not in a singleline, not by the merest shadow. 

"Very interesting, no doubt, " said Collins, dropping his glass, "tothose who care for backstairs intrigue. Is it this note that you wish tosell?"

"Oh, not that, " corrected Tellier, with a little offended gesture, hisself-assurance back in an instant. "You mistake me--I am not of thatsort at all. On the other hand, it is friendship for you which hasbrought me here. I have no wish to injure you, monsieur, and youyourself, of course, perceive fully what a disaster it would be shouldthis note be placed in certain hands. "

"To what adventure does the note refer?" queried Collins. 

"It refers to the adventure of Lord Vernon with the two Americans on theafternoon of his arrival. He has, no doubt, mentioned it to you. "

"Lord Vernon has had no adventure since his arrival here, " retortedCollins, coldly. "But go ahead with your story. "

"As I was saying, " continued Tellier, "I am a poor man. I have my futureto consider--I cannot afford to throw away this opportunity which chancehas placed in my hands. I will be reasonable, however--I will not asktoo much--a hundred thousand francs--"

"Tellier, " Collins interrupted, with a gesture of weariness, "I have notthe least idea what you mean. But I do know that you have been hoaxed, that you are the victim of some deception, that somebody is making afool of you. A hundred thousand francs! And for that note! Why, man, youare mad or very, very drunk! We don't want the note. We have no concernin it!"

"No concern in it!" shrieked Tellier. "When it is written by LordVernon!"

"Lord Vernon did not write it, " retorted Collins, coolly. 

"I saw it--with my own eyes I saw it!"

"Then your eyes deceived you. Evidently you are not acquainted with LordVernon's writing, my friend. Shall I show you a sample? Wait. "

He went to a desk, got out a despatch-box, unlocked it, and ran rapidlythrough its contents, while Tellier watched him with bloodshot eyes. 

"This will do, " Collins said, at last. "A note to Monsieur Delcassé, with which you are perhaps familiar, since it has recently been madepublic. Look at it. "

Tellier almost snatched it--one glance was enough. There was absolutelyno resemblance between that tall, angular hand and the writing of thenote. He looked at the signature, at the seal--there could be nodoubting them. His lips were quivering, his fat cheeks hanging flaccid, as he handed the paper back. 

"You are playing with me, " he said, thickly. "What I have seen, I haveseen. What I know, I know. You cannot trick me. I will go to the Princeof Markeld--to Prince Ferdinand himself--"

"To whomever you please, " interrupted Collins, "only go at once, " andhe snatched open the door. 

Tellier hesitated an instant, glanced at the other's face, and went. 

And Collins, closing the door behind him, mopped the perspiration fromhis forehead. 

"Well done, my friend, " he said; "exceedingly well done!"

And with that, he turned back to the inner room. 

 * * * * *

"Dad, " began Susie Rushford, that evening, gently but firmly taking awaythe paper over which her father was engaged, "I wish you would devotethat massive brain of yours to this Schloshold-Markheim muddle for a fewmoments, and give me the benefit. It's quite beyond me, and I'm nearlyworried to death over it. I want your advice. Now, in the first place, why should Lord Vernon play off sick? It seems such a little thing todo. "

"'Tall oaks from little acorns grow, '" quoted her father. "This littlething may have big consequences. "

"I didn't mean little that way, " explained Susie. "I meant little in amoral way. "

"Well, my dear, " said her father, reflectively, "everything is fair inlove, war, and diplomacy. Your diplomat, when he is busy at his trade, seems to lose sight of fine moral distinctions. Even the greatest ofthem have sometimes stooped to acts decidedly small, and yet in privatelife they were doubtless honourable men. It's a good deal like apolitical campaign in the United States, where men who are usuallyhonest will lie about the other side, without any twinges ofconscience--there's even a loop-hole in the libel law for them to crawlthrough, made, it would seem, especially for their benefit. So, I think, we may pass up the moral objection. "

"But what does he hope to accomplish, dad?" persisted Susie. "What_can_ he accomplish by merely sitting still?"

"A great many things may be accomplished by sitting still, " said herfather, puffing his cigar reflectively. "It is one of those simplethings which are sometimes very difficult to do. I've found that out, more than once, in the course of my checkered career. "

"Now that we are through with precept, let us pass on to example, youdear old philosophical thing!" laughed Susie. "What should you say LordVernon hoped to accomplish in this instance?"

"It seems very plain, " said Rushford, "though, of course, I may bemistaken. But I fancy he believes that while he is playing 'possum here, Emperor William, who is not especially renowned for patience, willsettle the question of the succession without asking any one'sadvice--as, I must say, he seems to have a perfect right to do. In thatcase, it would, of course, be too late for England to interfere; shecould only express her regrets to Prince Ferdinand, and send hercongratulations to Prince George. So if Markeld doesn't get a chance tosay his little speech within the next two or three days, I don't believehe'll ever get a chance. "

Susie nodded thoughtfully. 

"The Prince ought to be able to reason that out for himself, oughtn'the?"

"I should think so, if he can see farther than his own nose. Were youthinking of going to his assistance? Take my advice, my dear, andrefrain. You and Nell are altogether too deep in it, as it is. "

Again Susie nodded. 

"Thank you, dear, " she said, and taking him by either ear, she kissedhim between the eyes. "Now, I think I'll go to bed. I've a mightyknotty problem on hand and I've got to work it out right away. "

"Can I help any more?"

"No, " and she shook her head decidedly. "This is one of those odiousproblems which a person has to work out alone. It reminds me of ourschool examinations, where we were on honour not to ask any help. Only, "she added, with a sigh, "this is far more serious. Good-night. "

"Good-night, " said her father, and watched her until the door closedbehind her. Then he turned again to his paper. 

Susie, alone in her own room, sat with her head in her hands, staringout across the moonlit beach. Away in the distance, she could see thelittle breakers washing white upon the sand; to the left stretched thelong, brilliant promenade of the Digue, ending in the glare of lightwhich marked the Casino. 

"The peace of Europe!" she murmured. 

"The peace of Europe! I wonder if he was merely trying to frighten me?"

And she shivered a little at the remembrance of Lord Vernon's words, asshe arose to go to bed. 

CHAPTER XVI

A Prince and His Ideals

By what process of telepathy the Dowager Duchess of Markheim, dwellingin one corner of that gloomy old fortress which had sheltered so manygenerations of the family, learned of the danger threatening her nephewit would be impossible to say. She had been skilled for many years intelling which way the wind was blowing; nay, more, in foreseeing fromwhich quarter it would presently blow; so perhaps the two or threecasual references to the American girls which she had gleaned from theletters which the Prince dutifully wrote her had been enough to awakenher suspicions. Or, it may be, that some one of the many persons atWeet-sur-Mer who had observed with interest the Prince's comings andgoings, deemed it a duty to society to send the duchess a discreet wordof warning. 

Any one who knew the duchess knew also that a single word would beall-sufficient. Her reputation for worldly astuteness surpassed that ofany other old woman in Europe, though it was, perhaps, not altogetherdeserved. Forty years before, she had been a healthy and happy girl, whose experience of the world had been confined to the family estatenear Gemünden. And the estate was a small one, for the family, though ofblood the bluest, was very poor. 

One tragedy had marked her early girlhood. She was curled up, oneevening, in the window-seat at the stairhead watching the moon rise overthe great trees of the park, when she heard loud voices in the hallbelow, and peeping down, saw her father strike another man heavilyacross the mouth. A sudden silence fell, and she stole away frightenedto her bed, where she sobbed herself to sleep. In the gray of themorning, her mother had awakened her, had carried her to a window, andknelt with her there, staring out toward the park and calling upon Godto have mercy. Through the streaming mist, there came presently towardthem two dim figures, carrying a third--what need to go on? After that, the house became a cloister. 

It chanced, one day when she was nearly twenty, that the eye of hercousin of Markheim fell upon her. He had never married; he had been toobusy with his pleasures. But he had arrived at an age when it wasnecessary to think of an heir; at an age, too, when the uneasyconsciousness began to grow within him that if he desired an heir, therewas no time to be lost. So he looked at his blooming cousin, noting theevidences of vigorous health which glowed in eye and lip and cheek. Heknew that the girl would have no dot, but he had reached a place wherehe was perfectly aware that if he wanted youth and beauty, he must takethem unadorned. So he made up his mind at once, and in due time themarriage was arranged. 

In pity, we will not dwell upon it. Those who saw the bride's face asshe entered the carriage with her husband will never forget itsexpression of horror, disgust, and abject fear. A year later, thedesired heir arrived, a microcephalous idiot, to whom a mercifulprovidence allowed but eighteen months of life; and in due time, theAugust Prince himself was gathered to his fathers. 

During her period of martyrdom, the duchess had pressed her cross to herbosom with the religious enthusiasm of a devotee hugging his barbedinstrument of torture. The consciousness that she was suffering for herfamily's sake as became a daughter of the Caesars was the only thingwhich enabled her to endure her shame and degradation. She donned herwidow's weeds with such depth of thankfulness as few mortals know, andsettled herself to the enjoyment of her position. 

She found it on the whole a good position, unassailable, with manydesirable perquisites. She decided, no doubt, that life owed her suchtremendous arrears of happiness that she could never hope to collectthem except by devoting her whole time to it; and devote her whole timeto it she did, in good earnest. The years, in their passage, erasedcertain lines from her face and restored the curves to herfigure--indeed, it came to be much more than a restoration!--but theycould not restore the colour to her hair nor the lightness to her heart. She looked at mankind from a cynical altitude of worldly wisdom; her witgrew keen and swift as d'Artagnan's rapier; her bon-mots had a way ofpassing into proverbs, or of being stolen by more distinguishedcontemporaries. She took her revenge upon society as completely as shecould, yet without bitterness. Indeed, it is probable that, could shehave ordered her life anew, she would not have ordered it differently. 

Such, then, was the Dowager Duchess of Markheim, as she sat gazingthoughtfully from her window, pondering the situation. She was fullyalive to the fact that American girls are always a menace to the peaceof noble families; besides, she was not at all satisfied with theprogress--or, rather, lack of progress--which the Prince had made in thedelicate negotiation entrusted to his hands. In a word, she decidedthat, from every point of view, it were wise for her to be herself uponthe scene--and so much nearer her beloved Ostend! Therefore, being ofthat superior order of woman who never has to make up her mind but once, she forthwith gave orders for the departure. 

It consequently happened, on the morning following the events narratedin the previous chapter, that there was another distinguished arrival atthe Grand Hôtel Royal, to the delight and despair of Monsieur Pelletan. 

"I shall need an apartment of at least five rooms, not higher than thesecond floor, " announced the duchess. 

"If Madame la Duchesse had only notified us of t'is honour!" protestedPelletan, with upraised hands. "I swear t'at I haff not'ing--not'ing--not one single apartment wort'y off madame--not efen one leetleroom up under t'e gutters. "

"Nonsense!" she interrupted, vigorously. "I have heard all that ahundred times at least. Which apartment has my nephew?"

"Madame's nephew?"

"Certainly, imbecile! Monsieur le Prince de Markeld. "

"Oh, " cried Pelletan. "Monsieur le Prince hass apartment B de luxe. "

"And so has twice as much room as he needs, of course. Well, take myluggage up there, wherever it is. At my age, one is beyond the reach ofscandal, even at a Dutch bathing-resort. Where is Monsieur le Prince?"

"Monsieur le Prince iss taking t'e promenade, " explained Pelletan. 

"Very well; I have my toilette to make. When he returns, send him up tome at once. Here, boy, apartment B, " and followed by her maid, shestarted up the stair, leaving Monsieur Pelletan staring, open-mouthed. 

"But t'ere iss a lift, madame!" he cried, regaining his breath. 

"A lift!" retorted the duchess. "At my age! What is the man thinking of!En avant, boy!" and she went on up the stair. 

 * * * * *

The watches of the night had not brought that final solution of theproblem which Susie Rushford had hoped for, and she did not know whetherto be glad or sorry when she found the Prince at the stairfoot awaitingher. There could be no doubt that he was wholly, undividedly glad--oneglance at his face told her that--and he greeted her in a way that senta little thrill to her heart. After all, she told herself, perhaps shewould better let things drift; one more day could make no difference. And there was no reason why she should take the affair more seriouslythan did the principal person concerned in it. 

Outside the door, as usual, was the invalid chair; and while Lord Vernondid not forget to say good-morning, it was not upon her his eyes rested. Nell, at least, was perplexed by no problems, and was unaffectedly gay. Susie almost envied her; and yet problems were interesting, too. 

And then there was Collins. As she acknowledged his bow, she was struckanew with the concentrated secretiveness of his appearance. There was anew look in his eyes this morning, a look as though he were watchingher, and it made her vaguely uneasy. But the feeling passed as theyturned eastward along the promenade, and she soon forgot all about him, for--quite exceptionally--her companion was talking of himself. 

"I do not want that you should exaggerate the importance of this littledispute, " he was saying. "Seen thus close at hand, it looms ratherlarge; but it really matters very little to the great world. Even I canget far enough away from it to see that. "

"And yet, " rejoined Susie, "I have heard it said that it might possiblyendanger the peace of Europe. "

The Prince smiled at the words as at an old acquaintance. 

"The peace of Europe, " he said, "is a kind of bugaboo which diplomatsuse to frighten each other with, and even to frighten themselves with. Ido not believe that the peace of Europe hangs on any such delicatebalance as they pretend. Though, of course, " he added, more gravely, "there are certain circumstances under which this question of thesuccession might become very unpleasant to the Powers. "

"Ah!" breathed Susie, who had been listening eagerly. "You admit that, then?"

"Admit it? Certainly--why not? But, intrinsically, it amounts to little. So it is with us Markelds--our lineage is as long as that of any housein Europe, and we hold our heads very high, but we are really of notmuch importance. We keep up a certain state, we live in a castle, if youwill; but we really do nothing worth while, principally, I suppose, because we are so poor. "

"So poor?" echoed Susie, open-eyed. 

"You are thinking of the apartment de luxe, " said the Prince, with asmile; "of the special train. But, do you not see, those are the verythings which make me poor. I have no use for seven rooms; in the specialtrain, I can occupy but a single seat. All the rest is waste, which doesme no good--rather the reverse, indeed, since it serves to impresspeople with an exaggerated idea of my importance and so pave the way forfresh extravagances. I did not mean that I am poor absolutely; I do notsuppose that I shall ever want for food and clothing and a place tosleep. It is only as a Prince that I am poor--that we Markelds are allpoor. "

"But one would think there were many things worth while which a man inyour position could do, " said Susie, earnestly, "even if you aren'trich. "

"Oh, " he explained, looking down at her with a laugh in his eyes, "Iwould not have you think that I am always wholly idle. I am colonel ofa dragoon regiment, and I inspect it, sometimes, or ride in front of itat a general review. I hunt. I attend various functions of the court. Ieven sometimes act as the representative of my house, as I am doingnow. "

"None of which, " said Susie, "except perhaps the last, is in the leastworth while. "

"I agree with you, unreservedly, " he assented; "but it is about whatmost men in my position do. "

"So I have heard, " said Sue, "but I never really believed it. I thoughtit an invention of the society reporters. "

"It is true, nevertheless. You see there is no incentive, for most ofus, to do anything else. Of course, we cannot work, nor engage intrade. "

"I don't admit the 'of course. ' But leaving that aside for the moment, aren't there any exceptions?"

"Yes--a few at whom the rest of us look rather askance. You see, thereis the tradition to be maintained. "

"The tradition?"

"Of royalty--of divine right. We must do nothing to spoil the tradition, or weaken it, or our people may find out that we are not reallynecessary, after all, just as the Americans have done. "

Susie glanced at him to see if he was in earnest; but he appeared to beentirely so. 

"Do the exceptions mind being looked askance at?" she questioned. 

"No, I do not think they mind in the least. Most of them are too busy topay any heed to what other people are thinking about them. Besides, thecause of the exception is usually a woman, who takes up most of theexception's leisure time. "

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand. "

"Let me explain. You see, when one of us marries a woman of his ownclass--'Prinzessen, Comtessen, Serene English Altessen, ' as Svengalicalled them--he usually gets a partner more--ah--hidebound, I think youcall it--than himself--a greater stickler for precedent and traditionand position and etiquette and elegant leisure, and all that sort ofthing. Whatever liberal ideas he may have had, he finds he must abandonor, at least, suppress, if there is to be peace between his wife andhim. It is only those who are so fortunate as to meet and win exactlythe right woman _out_ of their class who get the incentive. Youunderstand, now?"

"Yes, " said Susie, with a queer catch in her voice. "Yes, I think I do. "

"So, " he added, with a little bitter laugh, "you see why we others lookaskance at these exceptions. In the first place they have preferred tostep down out of their rank for a wife--that deals a blow at thetradition, and every blow weakens it; in the second place, they haveleft some noble lady husbandless, for your noble ladies seldom so farforget their rank as to marry out of it, though that may be because themen never permit them to--again an injury to us as a class; and, finally, they are mixing with the world, they are meeting other men faceto face, as equals, they are claiming no merit because of birth, noauthority because of rank; they are, perhaps, even working with theirhands. Whereas our business is to keep aloof from the world, to maintaina barrier of caste between ourselves and other men, for they must notsuspect that we are as imperfect as they--that we have the sameappetites and passions, the same defects and meannesses. Our business isto rule over them, to require their obedience because God so wills it. We tremble when we see the apostates cast aside their rank and descendinto the world's arena, for we fear that the people, finding them atclose view only human, may come at last to believe that the right bywhich we rule is not, after all, divine. Then they will tear down thebarrier of caste, strip us of the privileges of rank, and proclaim theabsurdity that all men are equal. And I might add, we are jealous of theexceptions, because they are happy. Marriages of state are seldom lovematches; the kind which furnish the incentives are always so. "

To all of which Susie had listened with bated breath, only glancing uponce or twice to study her companion's face. It was a lifting of thecurtain, a revelation of the heart, which left her deeply moved. 

"You don't seem to care for the tradition, " she said, at last. 

"Oh, yes, I do; it would be untrue to pretend otherwise. Only, it hasoccurred to me quite recently that merely to inherit a position is notquite enough. A man should try to deserve it"

"And you're going to try?" asked Susie, looking at him with somethingvery like adoration in her eyes. 

"I am going to try--yes, " he answered. "But I shall need help--I amafraid I should not make a success of it by myself. "

And then he fell silent, for they had reached the end of the promenade, where the others joined them. 

CHAPTER XVII

The Duchess to the Rescue

It may be that Lord Vernon had been so fortunate as to find a topic ofconversation equally absorbing; at any rate, Nell entered the hotel withher sister rather subdued and tremulous, and they mounted to their roomsin silence. A week before, they would probably have thrown themselvesinto each other's arms and kissed each other and cuddled each other andcried over each other, without precisely knowing why, or, at least, without troubling to put the reason into words. But the events of thepast few days had, imperceptibly, wrought a change in their relations. An impalpable veil had come between them, a subtle dissonance in pointof view. They were pledged, as it were, to rival interests. 

A woman who has no other confidante will, invariably, seek counsel andsympathy of her own reflected self; and if so it was in this case, foreach of our two heroines went straight to her room, and locked the door, and sat down before her glass, and, chin in hands, communed long andearnestly with the image pictured there, gazing deep into its eyes, andthinking unutterable thoughts, which completely defy transcription. 

At the same moment, to Archibald Rushford, sitting immersed in hismorning newspaper, wholly unsuspicious of all this, the Prince ofMarkeld's card was handed. It may be noted in passing that, with theinflux of patrons to the house, the American had found it necessary toretire to the privacy of his own apartment in order to enjoy the paperundisturbed. 

"All rights show him up, " he said, when he had glanced at the card; andalmost immediately the Prince himself appeared. 

Rushford started up with hand outstretched. 

"Glad to see you, Prince, " he said. "I was just figuring on looking youup and wondering how I'd better go about it--I didn't quite know whatthe etiquette of the thing was. "

The Prince laughed. 

"The etiquette is simple. " he answered. "You have only to come to mydoor and knock. "

"Refreshingly democratic!" and Rushford's eyes danced. "That wouldappeal to my countrymen. But my ignorance was natural enough. You see, we never have the chance, at home, to hobnob with Highnesses. That's thereason so many of us come abroad. But we're not the real thing--thegenuine, simon-pure American stays at home and looks after hisbusiness. "

"And no doubt gets along very well without Highnesses, " laughed Markeld, gripping the proffered fingers with a warmth which pleased their owner. The latter found himself admiring, too, the erect figure, the cleanface, the clear eyes; he told himself with pleasure that the Princelooked as well by daylight as by gaslight--a tribute to his youth andthe way he had employed it. 

"Sit down, won't you?" he asked cordially. 

"Yes, the people of the States manage to worry along some way withoutany nobility. In fact, they've rather got a prejudice against that sortof thing. You see, the only Highnesses they've had to judge by are thefortune-hunters who come over after our girls. Now I've always believedthat it isn't any fairer to judge European nobility by those specimensthan it is to judge us Americans by the expatriated idiots one findshere in Europe--it's like judging a bin of apples by the rotten ones. "

"You are doubtless right, " agreed the Prince, who had followed theseremarks with an anxiety almost painful. "And I am glad to hear youspeak in that way. I infer that you do not object to internationalmarriages. "

"Not at all, per se. Other things being equal, I see no reason why aHighness shouldn't make as good a husband as a plain American. There'sonly one reason for marriage, sir--mutual affection. Where that exists, nothing else matters. Where it doesn't exist--well, marriage becomessimply a convenient arrangement for perpetuating a family, or restoringits estates, or accomplishing some less laudable purpose. Butthere--shut me off--don't let me preach at you!"

"No, no, " protested the Prince. "All that you say interests medeeply--more deeply than you suspect. In fact, I hope to marry anAmerican girl myself. "

"Ah, " said Mr. Rushford, swallowing with sudden difficulty. "Oh! Youmean--"

"I mean that I wish to propose to you for the hand of your daughter, "explained the Prince, quite simply. 

Rushford was not a man easily astonished, but there was no denying hisamazement at this moment. Despite his playful words to Susie, he hadnever really suspected the direction in which events were trending;besides, the lightning-flash, even though expected, is always a shock. 

But the Prince bore his gaze imperturbably. 

"I do not wonder that you are surprised, " he said. "You have known me soshort a time. But we Markelds always know our own minds. I have thoughtthe matter over very carefully and I am sure that I am acting wisely. Whether you would act wisely in giving her to me is another question, for though I am a Prince, I am a very small one, though with incomesufficient, I trust, to maintain a wife at least comfortably. I shall beglad to send my solicitors to talk it over with you, and explainanything about me which you may care to know--"

Mr. Rushford's face had gradually relaxed during this harangue, until itwas positively smiling. 

"My dear sir, " he interrupted, "if there's anything about you I want toknow, I'll ask _you_. But that is hardly necessary as yet; for you'retaking hold of the matter by the wrong end. We of America don't give ourdaughters away, they choose their own husbands--subject, of course, totheir parents' approval. Now, my daughter--by the way, you haven'tspecified which one you're after. "

"It is Miss Sue that I want, " said the Prince. 

"Ah--Susie. Well, she's perfectly capable of choosing for herself, andwill probably insist upon doing so. Have you spoken to her on thesubject?"

"Oh, most certainly not!" stammered the Prince. 

"Well, suppose you take it up with her, " suggested Mr. Rushford, encouragingly. "If she wants you, it'll be all right with me. I may evensay that I'll be very glad to see you get her--I like you better than Iever imagined I should like a nobleman. "

The Prince was on his feet in an instant with outstretched hands. 

"Thank you, my dear sir!" he cried. "A thousand thanks! I have, then, your permission to speak to Miss Rushford?"

"My permission--yes. And my best wishes. And, Prince, " he added, as thelatter turned away, "don't worry about the matter of income. Susie willbe able to help you out a little. "

Whether the Prince heard or not I do not know, for, as he hurried fromthe room, he collided with Monsieur Pelletan, who clutched his coat ashe would have hastened past. 

"Oh, Monsieur le Prince!" gasped the little man. "I haf eferywhere beensearching for you. Madame la Duchesse de Markheim arrived some hoursago and awaits you wit' t'e greates' impatience. "

"Where is she?"

"She iss in monsieur's apartment. She insiste' t'at I--"

"Very well; I will go to her, " said the Prince, and bounded down thestair. A moment later, he was kissing his aunt's extended hand, whiteand soft as in the days of her maidenhood, though with an addedplumpness. "My dear aunt!" he cried. "I but this moment heard that youwere here. "

"You see I have made myself comfortable, my dear Fritz, " smiled the oldlady, her impatience forgotten the moment her eyes rested upon hishandsome face. "And I have not been lonesome--Monsieur Tellier has beenrelating to me a number of very interesting things. "

"Tellier!" The Prince started round as the detective arose, smirked, and bowed in his humblest manner. "I can't say that I congratulate youon your choice of a companion, madame!"

"Don't put on your grand manner with me, Fritz, " she protested, stilllaughing. "I am very glad that Monsieur Tellier sought me out. But whatis the matter with that creature of yours hovering in the background?"

The Prince turned and beheld Glück, evidently expecting orders toaccomplish an assault upon the detective's person. 

"Oh, " he explained, "I told Glück he might throw Tellier out the nexttime he tried to get in here. I'm afraid you'll have to wait a fewminutes, my friend, " he added, and Glück retired, visibly disappointed. 

"Let me tell you, " said the duchess, emphatically, as the door closedbehind him, "that your prejudice against Monsieur Tellier is whollyunwarranted and very foolish. He has discovered many things which youseem to have overlooked. "

"Perhaps, " admitted the Prince; "but he has discovered them in a waythat no gentleman could countenance. Which reminds me, " he added, suddenly turning a fiery countenance upon the unhappy Frenchman, "that Ihave an account of my own to settle with him. How dared you annoy--"

But the duchess held up her hand. 

"One moment, Fritz, " she interrupted, sternly. "Don't begin throwingstones until you are quite sure you are not yourself in a glass house. As I have said, Monsieur Tellier had many things of interest to relate. "

"Well, my dear aunt, " retorted the Prince, "now that he has relatedthem, I trust we may dispense with his company. I will settle my accountwith him another time. "

"First, " said the duchess, with cold irony, "tell me what progress youhave made with your embassy, Fritz!"

"Very little, I am sorry to say, madame. But in three days, Lord Vernonhas promised to consider the matter. "

"Three days! And do you imagine all the rest of the world will standstill at your command, Fritz, and wait for you? Are you another Joshua?"

The Prince flushed. There was no denying the justice of the taunt. 

"But that aside for the moment, " continued the duchess. "Tell mesomething of this American girl you have met here, and with whom youhave grown so fond of making the promenade. "

"I hope soon to have the pleasure of presenting her to you, madame, "said the Prince, flushing still more. "I believe you will find heradmirable. "

"Perhaps, " said the duchess, sceptically. "Is it really necessary thatI should meet her?"

"That, of course, will be as madame pleases. I thought you wouldnaturally wish to meet the woman whom it is my intention to marry. "

The duchess fairly jumped in her chair. 

"To marry!" she cried. "To marry! What nonsense!"

"You will see, " continued the Prince, calmly, "how unwise it was tobegin the conversation in the presence of this--gentleman. "

"No!" cried the duchess. "It was more than ever wise! Do you happen toknow who this woman is?"

"I refuse to discuss my affairs further, " said the Prince, "until we arealone. "

"But do you know who she is? She has no dot! Perhaps you will say thatis nothing, that you expected none, though it seems to me it is yourduty to repair the fortunes of our house. But it is even worse thanthat--she is the daughter of an inn-keeper. "

"I refuse to believe it, " answered the Prince, quietly. 

"Monsieur Tellier, relate to him--"

"If Tellier so much as moves a finger, I will kick him down the stairs, "added the Prince, still more calmly. 

"But he has the papers from the notary!"

"That is nothing to me. "

The duchess made a gesture of despair. 

"Yet, after all, " she cried, "that is a little thing beside this other. Look at this, " and she snatched a folded paper from the table at herelbow. "She is a traitor to you--she has been playing with you--she hasbeen assisting these Englishmen to deceive you! You who are such astickler for honour in women no less than men! Look at this!"

"What is this paper?" asked the Prince, making no motion to take it fromher eager hand. 

"It is a note which this impostor wrote to her and to her sister. "

"And obtained how?" he questioned, a little pale, but keeping himselfwell in hand. 

"Obtained by Monsieur Tellier, " replied the duchess. "It does not matterhow. "

"No, " said the Prince, "perhaps not; yet one can easily guess. Bybribing the chambermaid, perhaps; by forcing a lock; by rifling herdesk, examining her private papers. Oh, it is abominable!" and he turnedupon the Frenchman, fury in his eyes. 

"No, no, Monsieur le Prince!" protested Tellier. "It was none ofthese--I swear it! She left the note lying quite carelessly--"

But the Prince was upon him. With one hand at the back of his neck, hesteered him, sputtering, to the door. 

"Glück!" he cried, and pitched the Frenchman into the arms of thefaithful servant. The duchess, sitting within the room, caught thesound of a scuffle, of fierce swearing; then a succession of dull bumpssounded through the apartment. The Prince closed the door and turnedback to her. 

"But, my dear Fritz!" she protested. "It may be true that Tellier isabominable, yet sometimes one must use such instruments--surely, atthis moment, we are justified in using any instrument. I have paid him, thank heaven! You must listen to reason. You have been fooled--we haveall been fooled--they have been playing with us--laughing at us behindour backs for our simplicity--the girl as well as the others. "

"No!" he said, fiercely. "No!"

"Fritz, " she cried, her voice trembling, a mist before her eyes as shelooked at him, "you believe that I love you, do you not--oh, better thananything else in the world. You believe that I desire your happiness!But it must be happiness with honour, Fritz, as becomes a Markeld. Youhave your name to consider, your house. You know that I wouldrather--oh, a hundred times!--wound myself than wound you! You mustlisten, then, when I tell you that this girl is not worthy of you; whenI tell you that this note proves it!"

"Read it!" he commanded, in a hoarse voice. "Read it, then!"

"'Lord Vernon will be deeply grateful, '" she read, "'if he is notmentioned in connection with to-day's adventure. ' To-day'sadventure--when he kicked Jax away from her. Can you doubt? Can you beso stupid as to doubt? These Americans--they have no sense of honour!"

He turned to the window without answering, but his face was drawn andwhite. 

CHAPTER XVIII

Man's perfidy

To Archibald Rushford, sitting ruminant in his room, staring absentlyout at the dunes and the sea, his paper forgotten, there enteredpresently Susie--a rather subdued Susie, as he noted from the corner ofhis eye--who drew up a chair very close to his and sat down and proppedher chin in her hands and looked up at him. 

It came to him in a flash of revelation that, did she have a mother, itwas to her she would have gone at this moment, and not to him, and hiseyes were a little misty as he looked down at her. That she and hersister should have grown, motherless, to such sweet, triumphantwomanhood struck him in this instant as a kind of miracle--he had neverthought of it before. He had taken their beauty, their wit, theirsanity, as matters of course; he had never looked at them, clearly, fromthe outside; he had never quite thoroughly appreciated them. They hadcome this far, guideless, in the journey of life, and had done well andbravely; but now Susie, at least, had reached a point in the path whereshe needed help and counsel. She had come to him for it and he must giveher the best he had. 

"Dad, " she began, a little tremulously, "would you mind so _very_ muchif I should m-marry and live in Europe? Of course, " she added, hastily, to break the force of the blow, "you would come over very often and staywith us, and we would go over very often to see you. "

"So he _has_ spoken to you, has he?" laughed her father. "He told me hehadn't. "

"Spoken! You know about it? Oh, dad, what do you mean?"

"I mean that a certain William Frederick Albert, of Markeld--I believethat's his name--or most of it--was in here a while ago and had theimpudence to ask me to give you to him. "

"Oh!" gasped Susie, with flaming cheeks, and sank back in her chair andI dare say cried a little; but her father didn't see her, for his owneyes were full of tears. The moment passed, the tears were wipedaway--"Tell me about it, dad, " she said. 

"Tell you about it? I have told you!"

"About what he said. How did he look?"

"I dare say he looked about as he always does--a little pale around thegills, perhaps, as one usually does when one's performing an unpleasantduty!"

"Dad!"

"You don't mean to say you think he enjoyed it?"

"They--they always have to do it in Europe, " faltered Sue. 

"So I understand. But he said he hadn't told you. "

"He hasn't--he hasn't said a word. "

"Oh--_you_ just sort of scented it in the air, I suppose--sort of saw itcoming. "

"Every woman can tell when a man is in l-love with her, " explainedSusie, with dignity, but boggling a little at the crucial word. "Whatdid you tell him, dad?"

"I told him to take you and welcome. "

"Now, dad, you mustn't tease!"

"Well, then, I told him he'd better see you first, since you're theparty principally concerned. "

"But you like him?"

"Immensely!"

Susie's arms were about his neck, and her cheek was against his cheek, and a pearly tear plashed down upon his shirt-front. 

"Oh, you dear dad!" she cried. "I knew you'd like him!"

"He seems a pretty straight sort of fellow, " observed her father, "helooks clean, and he talks like a man. "

"And you won't mind so very much?"

"Not if it makes you happy, my dear. All girls have to marry sometime, Isuppose. You'll be rather farther away from me than I could wish, but Idare say the Prince will let me come over and stay in his castleoccasionally, and eat at the second table--"

"_Let_ you! Why, he'll _beg_ you to. Why couldn't you come over and livewith us, dad?"

"And die of ennui in a year? Not much. I'll go home and make some moremoney for you--you see, I'd never figured on having to finance aPrincess!"

"Dad, " very softly. 

"Well, what?"

"Do you know, I don't believe he suspects I'm to have any money. "

"Neither do I. That's one thing I like about him. "

"But you really might come and live with us, dad. "

"Oh, no, I mightn't. Besides, there's Nell--What!" he cried, interpreting the sudden pressure of her arms, "you don't mean that she'sgone and done it, too!"

"I don't know, dad, but Lord Vernon has been very attentive to her. Shehasn't told me anything; I'm only guessing. "

Her father gave a long, low whistle. 

"Well!" he said. "You've been hustling things up with a vengeance, Imust say! There must be something in the atmosphere. It'll be a littlelonely in that big New York house without you, Susie. "

"I know it will, dear dad. And if you say the word, I won't leaveyou--not for a long, long time. It will be a long time anyway, youknow--a year, at least--there will be so much to do. "

"And a year is quite long enough to keep two lovers apart. Youth goesfaster than you think, my dear. No, no; it'll be all right, Susie. Youdon't suppose I'm as selfish as all that!"

"No, dad; that's just what I'm afraid of; you're not selfish enough. It's I who am selfish. "

"Nonsense! Everybody in this world has a right to happiness, Susie; why, that's one of the foundation-stones of the Declaration of Independence. And, I take it, a woman's great chance of happiness is in marrying theman she loves. That's what every woman has a right to do, and nobody hasthe right to raise a finger to prevent her. I'll give you to Markeldwith a clear conscience, my dear, when the time comes, and bless youboth. That is, if you really love him. "

"Oh, dad!" she cried and hid her face; there is one light in the eyeswhich none but a lover may see!

"Quite sure?" he persisted. 

"Quite sure!" she said, softly. 

"You're sure you're not jumping in the dark; it isn't the Prince you'rein love with?"

"No, dad; it's the man. That seems an awfully bold thing for a girl tosay, doesn't it? But he--he's such a nice fellow!"

"Yes, I believe he is, " agreed her father. 

"He's been telling me about himself, you know; about what he wants to doin the world, " added Susie, looking up at him. 

"Has he?" and her father laughed. "The same old game--effective as ever!We all do it--why, I remember, Susie--"

He stopped suddenly, with a little tremor in his voice. 

"Yes, dad, " very softly. 

She was leaning forward on his knee, looking up at him. He put his armaround her and drew her close. 

"You're like your mother, Susie, " was all he dared trust himself to say, his arms tight around her. 

They sat so a moment, lost in memory, until a knock at the door broughtSusie to her feet. A page handed in a little package. 

"For Mademoiselle Rushford, " he said. 

"Thank you, " said Susie, and closed the door. "For me?" she repeated, asshe turned back into the room. "What do you suppose it is?"

"The quickest way to find out is to open it, my dear, " suggested herfather, drily. 

Susie ripped the paper off in an instant, and disclosed a little bookbound in flexible red leather. 

"'Who's Who, '" she read, looking at the title, and just then a card fellout. She stooped and picked it up. "Why, it's from that odious Frenchdetective! Listen, dad--'With the compliments of M. André Tellier, whois sure of Mademoiselle Rushford's gratitude. '"

"Send it back to him, " said her father. "Or here, give it to me--I'll godown and smash his face with it. I ought to have kicked him out of thehouse yesterday--I'd have done it but for Pelletan. "

"Wait a minute, dad; here's a page turned down. Maybe there's somethinghe wanted me to see. Oh, yes; it's about Lord Vernon--he meant the bookfor Nell--I'll call her, " and she started toward the open door into theinner room. 

"Wait, " said her father, instantly. "What about Vernon? Read it. "

She stopped, struck by the tone of his voice. 

"What do you mean, dad?" she asked, paling a little. "Surely, you don'tmean--"

"Read it, " he repeated, sternly. 

She opened the book with hands suddenly tremulous. 

"'Vernon, fifth earl of (created 1703), '" she read, in a low voice. "'George Henry Augustus Gardner, K. G. , K. T. , P. C. , F. R. S. , F. S. A. ; baronet 1628; Viscount Vernon, Baron Dalberry, 1710; ViscountCranford, 1712; Baron Vernon, 1829; trustee of Imperial Institute; borntenth of May, 1859; son of Lord Henry Augustus Gardner, M. P. , son offourth Earl and Mary, daughter of Richard Chaloner, Boston, U. S. A. ;married, Catherine--'"

"Married!" cried her father, and then restrained himself, though hisface turned crimson. "But go on--perhaps she's dead. "

"No, she isn't dead!" said Sue, reading a line or two farther. Then sheclosed the book. "I don't understand, " she said, dazedly. "I can'tunderstand. He didn't seem that kind of man at all, dad!"

"No, " said a hoarse voice from the door. "No, he didn't. "

"Nell! Nellie dear!" cried Sue, and in an instant her arms were abouther. 

"It--it doesn't matter, " said Nell, steadying herself against the door, striving to still a sudden convulsive shuddering. "I was a f-fool tothink he--he cared. Of course he--he was only amusing himself!" and thenher self-control suddenly gave way, and her head fell forward upon hersister's shoulder. But only for a moment; that high queenliness was noton the surface, merely, but in the heart, as well. "I think I'm gettingtired of Weet-sur-Mer, dad, " she said, quite steadily, with a wan littlesmile. "I seem to be hungering for New York again; wouldn't you like togo home?"

"We'll go, of course, at once, dad, " commanded Sue. "That's the onlything to do. Oh!" she cried, her eyes flashing, "I could murder such aman--cut him to pieces, inch by inch--and gloat over the deed!"

Rushford was very pale and his hands were trembling a little as hestarted for the door. 

"Yes, I'll order the trunks packed, " he said, incoherently. "I'll haveto hurry--I'll try to--"

Something in his voice caught Susie's ear; she turned her head andlooked at him. 

"Dad!" she called. 

He paused with his hand on the knob. 

"Dad, come here. "

He came back reluctantly. 

"We're to go away quietly, you know, without telling any one; there's tobe no fuss--we couldn't bear that--"

A tap on the door interrupted her. Rushford opened it. A man stoodwithout, a German with complexion like mahogany. He bowed silently andhanded in a note. Rushford took it and closed the door. 

"It's from Markeld, " he said, looking at the crest; "thought he hadn'tmade his case quite emphatic enough, I guess, " and he glanced at Susie'sblushing face and smiled. "Of course, we'll have to tell him, " he added, as he tore open the envelope and unfolded the sheet of paper itcontained. "He has a sort of right--"

He stopped. 

Susie saw his face turn gray again. . . . A great fear fell upon herheart--a cold, still fear that gripped her and left her shivering. 

"What is it, dad?" she asked quietly, through clenched teeth. 

"Nothing, " answered her father, looking at her vaguely. "It's nothing. It's--it's merely a matter of business, Susie. "

"Come, dad, " she said, still quietly, "don't try to deceive me. Tellme--no matter what it is, I can bear it. Do you think I haven't anypluck, dad?"

"Yes, I know you've got pluck, Susie, " he said. "We've simply made amistake, my dear, in believing these blackguards honourable men. Let'sthink no more about them. "

"Read what he says, dad. "

He hesitated still, but her eyes compelled him, and he read:

"'The Prince of Markeld begs to withdraw his proposal for the hand ofMiss Rushford. '"

"And that is all?"

"That is all, Susie. "

"It couldn't be!" she said, a little hoarsely. "His aunt ishere--Monsieur Pelletan told me--and she has pointed out to him thefolly of it! I was silly to think it could come true! But, oh--" and shedropped sobbing into a chair. 

Her father stood for a moment watching the heaving shoulders. Then, witha face hard as iron, he opened the door and closed it softly behind him. 

CHAPTER XIX

An American Opinion of European Morals

"I tell you fellows for the last time, " Lord Vernon was saying, "that wecan't keep this thing up any longer. Miss Rushford has served notice onme that she's going to tell, and dashed if I blame her. Besides, there'sthe note. "

"The note can't hurt us--I've extracted its sting. As for Miss Rushford, I might see her again, " suggested Collins, who had been pacing nervouslyup and down the room. 

"See her? Nonsense! You'll do nothing of the sort! What right have we tobother her? She'd probably send you about your business, anyway. She'sgot a heart--something that diplomats know nothing about and never takeinto account. "

"We didn't take it into account in your case, that's true!" retortedCollins, with covert irony. 

"No, you didn't!" said the other, wheeling short around upon him. "Nordid I take into account what a damned scoundrelly thing it was I waspersuaded into undertaking. I tell you, some of us will have to get downand eat dirt before this thing is over!"

"Pshaw!" and Collins smiled loftily. "Before a petty German princeling?"

Vernon turned red with anger at the words, but as he opened his mouth toreply, there came a sharp knock at the door. 

"Come in!" he shouted, before the others could draw breath. "No, I'm notgoing to hide!" he added, in answer to Collins's gesture. "That farce isfinished!"

The door opened and Monsieur Pelletan appeared on the threshold. 

"Monsieur le Prince de Markeld!" he announced, and bowed low, as thePrince advanced past him into the room. In the shadows of the hall, Glück's erect figure was dimly visible. 

For a moment no one spoke, but Vernon's face was flushing under theironical gaze bent upon it. 

"So, " said the Prince, at last. "It appears that you are not ill. Youhave been tricking me all the time!"

"Yes, " answered Vernon, not attempting for an instant to evade thequestion. "Tricking you--that is the word. I am glad she has told you. "

"Do you think it was quite the course for a gentleman to pursue?"continued the Prince, in a voice singularly even. 

"No, " said Vernon, quietly. "I do not. "

"Nor do I!" said the Prince. 

Again there was a moment's silence. It was Vernon who broke it. 

"When I went into this thing, " he began quite steadily, "I had nothought that it would result as it has. It seemed to me an innocentdeception, warranted by reasons of state. We could not, of course, foresee that you would follow us here, instead of going on to London. For some time I have found the rôle unbearable; but, until a moment ago, I fancied I might be able to explain to you the course I have taken. "

"Explain!" repeated the Prince, with bitter emphasis. 

"Now, of course, " went on Vernon, evenly, "I see that no explanationsare possible--that no apology, even, which I might make, would excuseme. I don't in the least believe in duelling--I have always thought thatI would be the last person in the world to be entangled in that way--butthis seems to be one of those situations which have no other solution. Iam quite willing, anxious even, to give you any satisfaction you maydemand. It is your right. "

"I agree with you, " said the Prince. "It is my right. My friends willwait upon you, " and he turned toward the door. 

"But this is folly!" protested Collins, his face very red. "We areliving on the verge of the twentieth century, gentlemen; not in theseventeenth. I won't countenance this madness for an instant. "

"Who asks you to countenance it?" demanded Vernon, sternly. "I repeat, Iam at the Prince's service. I am glad that it is within my power tooffer him this reparation. "

"Very well, " said the Prince, bowing, and again turned to the door; butVernon stopped him with a gesture. 

"Before you go, before I can meet you, even, " he said, quietly, "thereis a further explanation due you--"

"I have no wish to hear it, " the Prince broke in. 

"It is one which you must, nevertheless, listen to, " went on Vernon, coldly. "Confession would, perhaps, be a better word for it. MissRushford did not know the whole truth. "

"So!" said the Prince, with irony. "You acted unfairly, then, even withyour co-conspirators!"

Vernon flushed hotly, but kept himself in hand. 

"The retort is unworthy of you, " he said. "I assure you that MissRushford was not in any sense a co-conspirator. "

"Do you mean that she was ignorant of the deception you were playing?"demanded the Prince, quickly. 

"No; she was not ignorant of that; but she--"

The Prince held up his hand with an imperious gesture. 

"No more, " he said; "if this is the explanation--confession--what youwill--I repeat that I do not care to hear it. "

"This is not it. "

"It cannot, in any event, alter matters. "

"I have no wish that it should alter matters, Your Highness!" retortedVernon, proudly. "When I have offered you the greatest reparation in mypower, it is ungenerous that you should--"

Again a knock interrupted him. 

"Come in!" he called, recklessly. 

The door opened and Archibald Rushford entered. He closed the doorcarefully behind him and advanced to the middle of the room. 

Vernon started forward. 

"Why, how are you, Mr. Rushford?" he began, with outstretched hand. "I'mvery glad to see you. "

"Oh, you are?" inquired the American, keeping his own hands firmlybehind his back. "I suppose _you're_ glad to see me, too?" he added, turning to the Prince. 

"I know of no reason why I should avoid you, " returned the Prince, proudly. 

"Perhaps not, " assented Rushford, drily. "The standards of gentlemanlyconduct seem to be different in the Old World and in the New. I'm glad, however, that I've caught you two together. I suppose that little farceof pretended illness was played only for the benefit of outsiders!"

"I assure you, Mr. Rushford, " began Vernon quickly, but the Americanstopped him with a gesture. 

"I don't care to hear, " he said. "I care nothing for your two-by-fourconspiracies and intrigues. But, I repeat, I'm glad I caught both of youtogether. It enables me to tell, in the same breath, what I think ofboth of you, and I am very anxious to tell you, fully and completely, for I suppose you have been surrounded all your lives by toadies whowere afraid to tell you the truth about yourselves, or who were so likeyou that they couldn't see the truth--products of the same code ofmorals--a code truly European! In a word, then, I think you are bothblackguards--blackguards of the most nasty and contemptible kind--thekind that preys upon women! I may add that you have deeply shaken myfaith in human nature, for, to look at you, one would mistake you forgentlemen!"

The words were uttered quietly, evenly, deliberately; each one given itsfull value. There was a certain dignity in Rushford's aspect which madeinterruption impossible; but neither man offered to interrupt. ThePrince was biting his lips desperately; Vernon turned red and white andred again in evident amazement. 

"And having said this, " concluded the American, "as emphatically aspossible, I will very gladly leave you to yourselves. "

"Oh, no, you won't!" cried Vernon, fiercely, in a voice hoarse withemotion. "I, at least, demand an explanation. "

"An explanation?" and Rushford laughed, a little mocking laugh. "Can'tyour conscience give you an explanation? Or is it too deadened to dothat?"

"No!" said Vernon, boldly. "My conscience gives me no explanation, whichwould in any degree warrant the words you have used to me, and which Iam sure you will some day regret. It is true that my conduct here hasnot been wholly straightforward; but it is Prince Frederick I havewronged and not you in any degree. Your daughter--to whom, I presume, you referred--knew all--"

"All?" repeated Rushford, with irony. 

"Perhaps not all, but I had intended waiting upon you this afternoon andexplaining to you--"

"Oh! So you thought I was entitled to an explanation! Yes, my lord, itseems to me that your actions will require a great deal ofexplaining--more, certainly, than I have the patience to listen to. So Ipray you will spare me. I don't know anything in God's wide world morecontemptible than a married man who poses as single!"

"Married!" shrieked his lordship. "Poses! Oh!"

The door opened and Pelletan's head appeared. 

"I knocked, " he explained, obsequiously, "once--twice--and when noneanswered, Mees Rushford insiste'--"

"Miss Rushford!" cried Vernon. 

"Yes, monsieur, Mees Rushford, " and Pelletan stepped to one side, disclosing Sue. 

CHAPTER XX

The Dowager's Bombshell

She came no farther than the threshold and looked only at her father, though her eyes were shining with the consciousness of some one else'spresence in the room--some one whom she had not in the least expected tofind there. 

"Come, dad, " she said. "Don't waste your time here. They're not worthit, " and she held out her hand to him. 

But Vernon flung himself between them. 

"He shall not go, " he cried, "until he has heard me. It is all amistake--I see now where this detestable adventure in diplomacy has ledme. My dear sir, if I were what you think me, I should deserve everyword you have uttered to me--and more. But I am not married--I havenever been married--I had hoped--"

"Wait a minute, " interrupted Rushford. "Don't go too fast. Come here, Susie, and help me to understand. "

Could Sue, as she came forward, have seen the gaze which PrinceFrederick bent upon her, her heart might have relented a little towardhim; but she did not see--she had eyes only for her father. 

"Now go ahead, " said he, when he had his arm safely around her, "and becareful, sir, " he added. "We want the truth, the whole truth, andnothing but the truth. "

"That is what you shall have, " said Vernon, and passed his hand acrosshis forehead. 

"It occurs to me, " put in Collins, icily, "that the story is not whollyyours to tell. "

"It isn't?" cried Vernon, turning upon him fiercely. "I suppose I'm topermit myself to remain in this damnable position for the sake of a lotof third-rate diplomats in our foreign office! They can go hang, forall I care. I chuck the whole thing! Do you hear? Do you understand? Thewhole thing!"

Collins turned away with a shrug of despair. The situation had gotbeyond his control. 

"It is an explanation which I owe to the Prince of Markeld as well as toyourself, Mr. Rushford, " went on Vernon, more slowly, speaking calmly bya great effort, "and which I was just about to make to him when you camein. I am not Lord Vernon--I am merely his younger brother. I bear acertain resemblance to him, and a lot of paper-diplomats persuaded me toimpersonate him here in order to leave him free to carry out thenegotiations for the succession to Schloshold-Markheim without beingembarrassed by the representations of either side. I recall howhalf-heartedly he approved of the scheme, which had its origin in thefertile brain of Mr. Collins there. I see the reason now, though Ididn't suspect it then. As to the succession, Monsieur le Prince, forall I know, the whole thing may by this time be settled. Collins couldprobably tell you, if he would--"

"It is not settled, '' muttered Collins. 

"So you see, " went on Vernon without heeding him, "I have done you aneven greater wrong than you imagined. "

"Yes, " said the Prince, in a hoarse voice, "you have. "

"But settled or not, " said the other, "I wash my hands of it! I've hadenough!"

Rushford held out his hand with a quick gesture. 

"I beg your pardon, " he said, simply. "I see that I was not mistaken inmy first estimate of you, after all--I am very glad. "

"I was coming to you this afternoon, " added the Englishman, taking theoutstretched hand, eagerly, "to tell you that I am merely ViscountCranford and not Lord Vernon--a very insignificant fellow, not a greatone--and to ask for your daughter, Miss Nell. I ask you now. Thoughfirst let me make it clear to you that the title is of littleimportance. "

"The only title we Americans care about, " responded Rushford, slowly, "is that of gentleman. My daughter's husband need have no other--but hemust have that. We don't give our daughters away, sir, as I've alreadyexplained to--"

Susie pinched his arm viciously in an agony of alarm. Then she pulledhis head down to her, her eyes shining, and whispered a quick sentencein his ear. 

"Yes, that's it!" he nodded. "Nell is waiting for us--our apartment isjust up the stair. You'd better go tell her the story, young man! Knockat the door, make her admit you, make her listen! Oh, a lover shouldknow how--yes, I see you do! And God bless you!" he added, as Cranfordwrung his hand, flung open the door, and disappeared along the hall. 

"And we must go too, dad, " said Sue, in a low voice. "At once. Come. "

"Yes, " assented her father. "Yes--yet wait a minute, Susie, " and hestopped, his eyes on Markeld. "I'd hate to think I'd done any other manthe same injustice I did that young Englishman. Perhaps the Prince ofMarkeld has also an explanation. If so, I shall be very glad to hearit. "

Susie's hand trembled on her father's arm, and she caught her breathwith a little gasp; but she kept her eyes steadily on the floor--she hadpride enough for that. Oh, she rejoiced that she had pride enough forthat!

The Prince gazed at her a moment, then, with face ashy gray, he shookhis head. 

"I have none, " he said, in a low voice, and Susie shivered at the words. 

"But I have!" cried some one from the door; and, turning, they beheldthere on the threshold a handsome old lady, with hair snowy white, figure erect, face imperious--the Dowager Duchess of Markheim. Behindher, in the twilight of the hall, could be dimly seen the mustachios ofMonsieur Tellier, with Glück's face glaring at him. "I am not so proud, "she went on, advancing into the room. "I am quite willing to give myreasons for breaking off the match. Is this the girl?" she asked, abruptly. 

Susie looked at her with fiery eyes; their glances crossed; one almostexpected to see the sparks fly as of two blades meeting. 

"I am not hard-hearted, " continued the duchess, after a moment. "Butthere are certain affairs of state which must always take precedence ofany mere personal inclination. Did _I_ marry to please myself?" and hervoice shook a little. "By no means--it is no secret. Yet I was faithfulto my husband and to my house. I have never regretted it. Now all thatI have left to love is that boy yonder, and I intend to see that hemakes a match which is worthy of him. Yes, I love him--but he must notdegrade his name--not even for his happiness. It was solicitude for himthat brought me here--I feared--"

Her voice broke; perhaps she had a vision of that tragedy fifty yearsago, when, at her mother's side, she had stared out through the mists ofthe morning--

"But no matter, " she added, hastily. 

"May I ask, madame, " inquired Rushford, "how marriage with my daughterwould degrade your nephew?"

"It is impossible, in the first place, " she answered, readily, "that heshould marry the daughter of an inn-keeper. "

"Of an inn-keeper?" repeated Rushford, in a puzzled tone. 

"You are the proprietor of this inn, are you not?" demanded theduchess. "Tellier, here has the papers. Come forward, Tellier. "

"Oh, I understand, " and Rushford laughed, not pleasantly. "No, I didn'ttell you, Susie, " he added, catching his daughter's astonished glance. "It was merely an escapade of mine. I was bored, and so I arranged withPelletan to have a little fun by backing the hotel for a month--Pelletanhad reached the end of his resources. He'd have had to shut up shop, andI didn't want to move. I assure you, madame, that at home I am not aninn-keeper. If I was, I shouldn't be in the least ashamed of it, unlessI were a bad one. Suppose we pass on to the next count. "

There was a movement at the door and Nell came running to her father andthrew her arms about him. Cranford followed her and held out his hands. 

"Congratulate me, " he said, simply, but with shining face. 

"I do, " said Rushford, and kissed his daughter. "It seems we've gotyour difficulty happily settled, Nell; but we've another on hand whichseems considerably more complicated. Now, madame, if you will proceedwith the indictment. "

The duchess seemed a little shaken; after all, a man who could play withgreat hotels demanded some consideration!

"The second reason is even more serious, " she said, "at least, my nephewseemed to so consider it. He laughed at the first one; he is stillyoung; he still believes in the nonsense of the romancers. "

"Does he?" commented Rushford. "That's one point in his favour, certainly. So he would have married my daughter, would he, even though Idid keep a hotel! That was kind of him! What's the next count, madame?"

"It is that your daughter, while pretending to be his advocate, wasreally in the plot against him--a double traitor to him because posingas his friend. "

"In the plot?" cried Cranford. "But that's absurd! She was not in theplot!"

"Is it the head of the plot who is addressing me?" inquired the duchess, icily. "No doubt my nephew has already told you--"

The Prince stopped her. 

"The Viscount Cranford answers to me, " he said, briefly. 

The duchess paled as she looked at him. 

"Not that, Fritz!" she cried. "Not that!"

"Too late, madame, " he said. "My honour demands it. "

The duchess shivered, and her face seemed suddenly to shrink and age. Then she stood proudly upright. What honour demanded she would be thelast to evade. 

"Perhaps monsieur will deny, " she said, looking at Cranford, coldly, "that he wrote this note to her and her sister the very first day ofhis sojourn here?" and she held out to him the slip of paper. 

Cranford took it and read it at a glance, while Nell stared at it withstarting eyes. 

"No, " he said, "I don't deny that I wrote it; but--"

"And perhaps mademoiselle herself will deny that she asserted toMonsieur Tellier that she did not know her rescuer? Here are her words, "and she produced a second note. 

"I deny nothing, " said Susie, proudly, and she looked the duchessunflinchingly in the face. 

Cranford walked straight over to the Prince of Markeld. 

"Wasn't it Miss Rushford who told you?" he asked. 

"No, it was the note, " answered the Prince, fiercely. 

"Which Tellier stole from Miss Rushford's desk, " added Cranford, sternly, "leaving this tracing in its stead, " and he took from hispocketbook a slip of paper. "Such methods are doubtless characteristicof the Paris police, but they seem to me almost as unworthy as thoseemployed by us. "

"You are right, " agreed the Prince, his face livid. "That dog shall payfor it!"

"My nephew had nothing whatever to do with it, " broke in the duchess, sharply. "It was I who secured the note, who persuaded him to--"

But the Prince stopped her with a gesture. 

"Miss Rushford was not in the plot, " continued Cranford, earnestly. "Ihope you will believe me. That it should have come so near wrecking myown life was bad enough; that it should wreck another's--an innocentperson's--that would be frightful! She warned me explicitly that shewould no longer be a party to the deception, that she was going to tellyou--I thought she had told you. I remember well how warmly she spoke ofyour cause; how she detested the course I was pursuing--how she made meashamed of myself--ashamed to look at her. I suppose some mistakennotion of honour held her back from telling, since it was in her serviceand her sister's that I had disclosed myself--"

"A message for His Lordship, " said Pelletan from the door. 

Cranford took it. 

"You will pardon me, " he said. "It is marked urgent, " and he tore itopen. His face brightened as he read it. "Monsieur le Prince, " he said, warmly, turning to Markeld, "I congratulate you from the bottom of myheart!" and he handed him the message. 

Markeld took the paper and glanced at it, then, with beaming eyes, heldout his hand. And the duchess, looking on, grew suddenly young again!

"What is it?" she demanded. "Don't you see we are all waiting?"

"'Prince George, of Schloshold, has just died of an apoplexy, '" thePrince read. "'You will inform the Prince of Markeld that we willsupport his house to the limit of our power. Vernon, '"

"God be praised!" cried the duchess. "God be praised, " and she caught atthe door to keep herself from falling. "He was a bad man, " she added inanother tone. "Therefore he needs our prayers!"

"I give Monsieur le Prince the congratulations of France, " said an oilyvoice, and Monsieur Tellier bowed low. 

"Oh!" cried Nell, and shrank away from him. 

"Is that the scoundrel?" demanded Cranford. And he started across theroom. 

"One moment, " interposed the Prince, "don't soil your hands on him. Glück!" he called, raising his voice. 

And Glück appeared on the instant. 

His master indicated Tellier with the motion of a finger. 

It was wonderful to see how Glück's face brightened--almost into asmile--as he laid his hand on Tellier's shoulder. 

"Canaille!" hissed the latter, and shook the hand away. "Do not touchme--do not defile me with those dirty fingers. Oh, I will go! I have mytask accomplished! And you are fools, imbeciles--all--all--from that fatDutchman, who thinks his wife still living--"

But Glück was again upon him, this time not to be shaken off, and aninstant later he and his victim disappeared together into the shadows ofthe hall. 

"Just the same, " shrieked Tellier's voice hoarsely from the distance, "it was I who was right! In every detail! A veritable triumph! A successof--"

The voice sank into a gurgle and was still. 

Pelletan, his face livid, clutching blindly at the wall for support, stumbled forth into the hall, along the corridor, down the stair, untilat last he found Tellier, his face purple, rearranging his cravat beforea mirror in the hotel office. 

"Iss she not lifing?" he asked, huskily. 

"Living!" echoed Tellier, whirling upon him fiercely. "No, pig-head, shehas been dead these three years! But you are no more a pig-head thanthose others. Oh, they shall answer, they shall repay, they shall atone!I will have my revenge--"

But Pelletan did not stop to listen. He groped his way across the room, his eyes shining, his lips trembling, repeating over and over a singleword--

"Paris! Paris! Paris!"

Behind the desk he stumbled, through the little door, and dropped to hisknees before Saint Genevieve, the protector of the city which he loved. 

"You haf done eet!" he murmured, looking up at her with limpid eyes. "You haf seen how I suffered, unt you haf taken pity. Gott sie dank!Gott sie dank!"

CHAPTER XXI

Pardon

As Tellier's voice died away along the hall, a silence fell upon theroom which he had left--a silence from which the duchess was the firstto rouse herself. 

"Come, Fritz, " she said, "we must go. We have work to do, " and she heldout her hand to him. 

He took a step toward her, hesitated, stopped. 

"In a moment, madame, " said he. "Before I go, I have an apology to makeand a pardon to crave. "

"Of whom?" demanded the duchess. 

For answer, the Prince turned to Susie, so near that he almost touchedher--so near that she could see the trembling of his hands, thethrobbing of his heart. 

"Miss Rushford, " he said, in a voice low, carefully repressed, butvibrant with emotion, "I know that I have played the scoundrel; I knowthat I have no right whatever to address you; I know that I have doneeverything I could to forfeit your respect. Believe me, the cup isbitter--the more so, since I myself prepared it!"

His voice was trembling so that for the moment he could not go on. 

"No, no!" cried the duchess, from the door, "you wrong yourself, Fritz. It was I prepared it--it is I who am to blame!"

But he motioned her to silence. 

"It was I prepared it, " he repeated, "by my unjust suspicions andungentlemanly action. I shall drain it with what manhood I have. And Ihope, mademoiselle, that you will, in time, find it in your heart topardon me and to think of me with kindness. I can only repeat to youwhat I have already told your father--that I love you truly anddeeply--with my whole heart--as I shall always love you--always--Oh, ifI had not been a fool!"

The duchess, looking on from the door, felt a sudden wave of tendernesssweep over her. Perhaps she recalled her own youth--perhaps it was notquite the truth that she had never regretted--perhaps she was softenedby the emotions of the moment. She came to Susie and took her hand inhers. 

"Mademoiselle, " she said, softly, "I also ask pardon--you will not bearill-will against an old woman, who imagined that she was acting wisely. I feel that I am going to love you. You have spirit--you are worthy tobe even a Markeld. You must forgive that poor boy yonder. "

"I think I shall put him on probation, " said Susie, glancing up withbright eyes into the eager face beside her. 

The Prince sank to his knee, his face suddenly radiant with joy, caughther hand and covered it with kisses. 

"Six months, a year, ten years!" he cried. "I shall be content!"

"Ten years! Nonsense!" cried the duchess. "Ten days, mademoiselle. Youdo not love him if you make it an instant longer!"

"No, not ten days, madame, " corrected Susie, with a laugh that was halfa sob. "Let us say ten minutes!"