TEMPORAL POWER

A STUDY IN SUPREMACY

BY MARIE CORELLI

CONTENTS

I. THE KING'S PLEASAUNCE

II. MAJESTY CONSIDERS AND RESOLVES

III. A NATION OR A CHURCH?

IV. SEALED ORDERS

V. "IF I LOVED YOU!"

VI. SERGIUS THORD

VII. THE IDEALISTS

VIII. THE KING'S DOUBLE

IX. THE PREMIER'S SIGNET

X. THE ISLANDS

XI. "GLORIA--IN EXCELSIS!"

XII. A SEA PRINCESS

XIII. SECRET SERVICE

XIV. THE KING'S VETO

XV. "MORGANATIC" OR--?

XVI. THE PROFESSOR ADVISES

XVII. AN "HONOURABLE" STATESMAN

XVIII. ROYAL LOVERS

XIX. OF THE CORRUPTION OF THE STATE

XX. THE SCORN OF KINGS

XXI. AN INVITATION TO COURT

XXII. A FAIR DEBUTANTE

XXIII. THE KING'S DEFENDER

XXIV. A WOMAN'S REASON

XXV. "I SAY--'ROME'!"

XXVI. "ONE WAY--ONE WOMAN!"

XXVII. THE SONG OF FREEDOM

XXVIII. "FATE GIVES--THE KING!"

XXIX. THE COMRADE OF HIS FOES

XXX. KING AND SOCIALIST

XXXI. A VOTE FOR LOVE

XXXII. BETWEEN TWO PASSIONS

XXXIII. SAILING TO THE INFINITE

XXXIV. ABDICATION

CHAPTER I

THE KING'S PLEASAUNCE

"In the beginning, " so we are told, "God made the heavens and theearth. "

The statement is simple and terse; it is evidently intended to bewholly comprehensive. Its decisive, almost abrupt tone would seem toforbid either question or argument. The old-world narrator of thesublime event thus briefly chronicled was a poet of no mean quality, though moved by the natural conceit of man to give undue importance tothe earth as his own particular habitation. The perfect confidence withwhich he explains 'God' as making 'two great lights, the greater lightto rule the day, the lesser light to rule the night, ' is touching tothe verge of pathos; and the additional remark which he throws in, asit were casually, --'He made the stars also, ' cannot but move us toadmiration. How childlike the simplicity of the soul which could soventure to deal with the inexplicable and tremendous problem of theUniverse! How self-centred and sure the faith which could so arrangethe work of Infinite and Eternal forces to suit its own limitedintelligence! It is easy and natural to believe that 'God, ' or aneverlasting Power of Goodness and Beauty called by that name, 'createdthe heavens and the earth, ' but one is often tempted to think that analtogether different and rival element must have been concerned in themaking of Man. For the heavens and the earth are harmonious; man is adiscord. And not only is he a discord in himself, but he takes pleasurein producing and multiplying discords. Often, with the least possibleamount of education, and on the slightest provocation, he mentally setsHimself, and his trivial personal opinion on religion, morals, andgovernment, in direct opposition to the immutable laws of the Universe, and the attitude he assumes towards the mysterious Cause and OriginalSource of Life is nearly always one of three things; contradiction, negation, or defiance. From the first to the last he torments himselfwith inventions to outwit or subdue Nature, and in the end dies, utterly defeated. His civilizations, his dynasties, his laws, hismanners, his customs, are all doomed to destruction and oblivion ascompletely as an ant-hill which exists one night and is trodden downthe next. Forever and forever he works and plans in vain; forever andforever Nature, the visible and active Spirit of God, rises up andcrushes her puny rebel. 

There must be good reason for this ceaseless waste of human life, --thisconstant and steady obliteration of man's attempts, since there can beno Effect without Cause. It is, as if like children at a school, wewere set a certain sum to do, and because we blunder foolishly over itand add it up to a wrong total, it is again and again wiped off theblackboard, and again and again rewritten for our more carefulconsideration. Possibly the secret of our failure to conquer Naturelies in ourselves, and our own obstinate tendency to work in only onegroove of what we term 'advancement, '--namely our material self-interest. Possibly we might be victors if we would, even to the veryvanquishment of Death!

So many of us think, --and so thought one man of sovereign influence inthis world's affairs as, seated on the terrace of a Royal palacefronting seaward, he pondered his own life's problem for perhaps thethousandth time. 

"What is the use of thinking?" asked a wit at the court of Louis XVI. "It only intensifies the bad opinion you have of others, --or ofyourself!"

He found this saying true. Thinking is a pernicious habit in which verygreat personages are not supposed to indulge; and in his younger dayshe had avoided it. He had allowed the time to take him as it found him, and had gone with it unresistingly wherever it had led. It was the bestway; the wisest way; the way Solomon found most congenial, despite itsend in 'vanity and vexation of spirit. ' But with the passing of theyears a veil had been dropped over that path of roses, hiding italtogether from his sight; and another veil rose inch by inch beforehim, disclosing a new and less joyous prospect on which he was nottoo-well-pleased to look. 

The sea, stretching out in a broad shining expanse opposite to him, sparkled dancingly in the warm sunshine, and the snowy sails of manyyachts and pleasure-boats dipped now and again into the glitteringwaves like white birds skimming over the tiny flashing foam-crests. Dazzling and well-nigh blinding to his eyes were the burning glow andexquisite radiance of colour which seemed melted like gold and sapphireinto that bright half-circle of water and sky, --beautiful, and full ofa dream-like evanescent quality, such as marks all the loveliestscenes and impressions of our life on earth. There was a subtle scentof violets in the air, --and a gardener, cutting sheafs of narcissi fromthe edges of the velvety green banks which rolled away in smoothundulations upward from the terrace to the wider extent of the palacepleasaunce beyond, scattered such perfume with his snipping shears asmight have lured another Proserpine from Hell. Cluster after cluster ofwhite blooms, carefully selected for the adornment of the Royalapartments, he laid beside him on the grass, not presuming to look inthe direction where that other Workman in the ways of life sat silentand absorbed in thought. That other, in his own long-practised manner, feigned not to be aware of his dependant's proximity, --and in thisfashion they twain--human beings made of the same clay and relegated, to the same dust--gave sport to the Fates by playing at Sham withHeaven and themselves. Custom, law, and all the paraphernalia ofcivilization, had set the division and marked the boundary betweenthem, --had forbidden the lesser in world's rank to speak to thegreater, unless the greater began conversation, --had equally forbiddenthe greater to speak to the lesser lest such condescension shouldinflate the lesser's vanity so much as to make him obnoxious to hisfellows. Thus, --of two men, who, if left to nature would have beenmerely--men, and sincere enough at that, --man himself had made twopretenders, --the one as gardener, the other as--King! The whitenarcissi lying on the grass, and preparing to die sweetly, likesacrificed maiden-victims of the flower-world, could turn true facesto the God who made them, --but the men at that particular moment oftime had no real features ready for God's inspection, --only masks. 

"C'est mon metier d'être Roi!" So said one of the many dead and gonemartyrs on the rack of sovereignty. Alas, poor soul, thou would'st havebeen happier in any other 'métier' I warrant! For kingship is aprofession which cannot be abandoned for a change of humour, or castaside in light indifference and independence because a man is bored byit and would have something new. It is a routine and drudgery to whichsome few are born, for which they are prepared, to which they mustdevote their span of life, and in which they must die. "How shall wepass the day?" asked a weary Roman emperor, "I am even tired of killingmy enemies!"

'Even' that! And the strangest part of it is, that there are people whowould give all their freedom and peace of mind to occupy for a fewyears an uneasy throne, and who actually live under the delusion that amonarch is happy!

The gardener soon finished his task of cutting the narcissi, and thoughhe might not, without audacity, look at his Sovereign-master, hisSovereign-master looked at him, furtively, from under half-closedeyelids, watching him as he bound the blossoms together carefully, withthe view of giving as little trouble as possible to those whose duty itwould be to arrange them for the Royal pleasure. His work done, hewalked quickly, yet with a certain humble stealthiness, --thusadmitting his consciousness of that greater presence than his own, --down a broad garden walk beyond the terrace towards a private entranceto the palace, and there disappeared. 

The King was left alone, --or apparently so, for to speak truly, he wasnever alone. An equerry, a page-in-waiting, --or what was still morecommonplace as well as ominous, a detective, --lurked about him, evernear, ever ready to spring on any unknown intruder, or to answer hisslightest call. 

But to the limited extent of the solitude allowed to kings, this manwas alone, --alone for a brief space to consider, as he had informed hissecretary, certain documents awaiting his particular and privateperusal. 

The marble pavilion in which he sat had been built by his father, thelate King, for his own pleasure, when pleasure was more possible thanit is now. Its slender Ionic columns, its sculptured friezes, itspainted ceilings, all expressed a gaiety, grace and beauty gone fromthe world, perchance for ever. Open on three sides to the livingpicture of the ocean, crimson and white roses clambered about it, andtall plume-like mimosa shook fragrance from its golden blossoms downevery breath of wind. The costly table on which this particular Majestyof a nation occasionally wrote his letters, would, if sold, have kept alittle town in food for a year, --the rich furs at his feet would havebought bread for hundreds of starving families, --and every deliciousrose that nodded its dainty head towards him with the breeze would havegiven an hour's joy to a sick child. Socialists say this kind of thingwith wildly eloquent fervour, and blame all kings in passionaterhodomontade for the tables, the furs and the roses, --but they forget--it is not the sad and weary kings who care for these or any luxuries, --they would be far happier without them. It is the People who insist onhaving kings that should be blamed, --not the monarchs themselves. Aking is merely the people's Prisoner of State, --they chain him to athrone, --they make him clothe himself in sundry fantastic forms ofattire and exhibit his person thus decked out, for their pleasure, --they calculate, often with greed and grudging, how much it will cost tofeed him and keep him in proper state on the national premises, thatthey may use him at their will, --but they seldom or never seem toremember the fact that there is a Man behind the King!

It is not easy to govern nowadays, since there is no real autocracy, and no strong soul likely to create one. But the original idea ofsovereignty was grand and wise;--the strongest man and bravest, raisedaloft on shields and bucklers with warrior cries of approval from thepeople who voluntarily chose him as their leader in battle, --theirutmost Head of affairs. Progress has demolished this ideal, with manyothers equally fine and inspiring; and now all kings are so, by rightof descent merely. Whether they be infirm or palsied, weak or wise, sane or crazed, still are they as of old elected; only no more as theStrongest, but simply as the Sign-posts of a traditional bygoneauthority. This King however, here written of, was not deficient ineither mental or physical attributes. His outward look and bearingbetokened him as far more fit to be lifted in triumph on the shouldersof his battle-heroes, a real and visible Man, than to play a more orless cautiously inactive part in the modern dumb-show of Royalty. Well-built and muscular, with a compact head regally poised on broadshoulders, and finely formed features which indicated in their firmmodelling strong characteristics of pride, indomitable resolution andcourage, he had an air of rare and reposeful dignity which made himmuch more impressive as a personality than many of his fellow-sovereigns. His expression was neither foolish nor sensual, --his cleardark grey eyes were sane and steady in their regard and had no tricksof shiftiness. As an ordinary man of the people his appearance wouldhave been distinctive, --as a King, it was remarkable. 

He had of course been called handsome in his childhood, --what heir toa Throne ever lived that was not beautiful, to his nurse at least?--andin his early youth he had been grossly flattered for his cleverness aswell as his good looks. Every small attempt at witticism, --every poorjoke he could invent, adapt or repeat, was laughed at approvingly in achorus of admiration by smirking human creatures, male and female, whobowed and bobbed up and down before the lad like strange dolphinsdisporting themselves on dry land. Whereat he grew to despise thedolphins, and no wonder. When he was about seventeen or eighteen hebegan to ask odd questions of one of his preceptors, a learned andceremonious personage who, considering the extent of his certificatedwisdom, was yet so singularly servile of habit and disposition that hemight have won a success on the stage as Chief Toady in a burlesque ofCourt life. He was a pale, thin old man, with a wizened face set wellback amid wisps of white hair, and a scraggy throat which asserted itsworking muscles visibly whenever he spoke, laughed or took food. Hisway of shaking hands expressed his moral flabbiness in the generaldampness, looseness and limpness of the act, --not that he often shookhands with his pupil, for though that pupil was only a boy made ofordinary flesh and blood like other boys, he was nevertheless heir to aThrone, and in strict etiquette even friendly liberties were not to betoo frequently taken with such an Exalted little bit of humanity. Thelad himself, however, had a certain mischievous delight in making himperform this courtesy, and being young and vigorous, would oftensqueeze the old gentleman's hesitating fingers in his strong clasp soenergetically as to cause him the severest pain. Student of manyphilosophies as he was, the worthy pedagogue would have cried out, orsworn profane oaths in his agony, had it been any other than the 'Heir-Apparent' who thus made him wince with torture, --but as matters stood, he merely smiled--and bore it. The young rascal of a prince smiledtoo, --taking note of his obsequious hypocrisy, which served aninquiring mind with quite as good a field for logical speculation asany problem in Euclid. And he went on with his questions, --questions, which if not puzzling, were at least irritating enough to have securedhim a rap on the knuckles from his tutor's cane, had he been a grocer'slad instead of the eldest son of a Royal house. 

"Professor, " he said on one occasion, "What is man?"

"Man, " replied the professor sedately, "is an intelligent and reasoningbeing, evolved by natural processes of creation into his presentcondition of supremacy. "

"What is Supremacy?"

"The state of being above, or superior to, the rest of the animalcreation. "

"And is he so superior?"

"He is generally so admitted. "

"Is my father a man?"

"Assuredly! The question is superfluous. "

"What makes him a King?"

"Royal birth and the hereditary right to his great position. "

"Then if man is in a condition of supremacy over the rest of creation, a king is more than a man if he is allowed to rule men?"

"Sir, pardon me!--a king is not more than a man, but men choose him astheir ruler because he is worthy. "

"In what way is he worthy? Simply because he is born as I am, heir to athrone?"

"Precisely. "

"He might be an idiot or a cripple, a fool or a coward, --he would stillbe King?"

"Most indubitably. "

"So that if he were a madman, he would continue to hold supremacy overa nation, though his groom might be sane?"

"Your Royal Highness pursues the question with an unwise flippancy;"--remonstrated the professor with a pained, forced smile. "If an idiot ora madman were unfortunately born to a throne, a regency would beappointed to control state affairs, but the heir would, in spite ofnatural incapability, remain the lawful king. "

"A strange sovereignty!" said the young prince carelessly. "And a stillstranger patience in the people who would tolerate it! Yet over allmen, --kings, madmen, and idiots alike, --there is another ruling force, called God?"

"There is a force, " admitted the professor dubiously--"But in thepresent forward state of things it would not be safe to attempt toexplain the nature of that force, and for the benefit of the illiteratemasses we call it God. A national worship of something superior tothemselves has always been proved politic and necessary for the people. I have not at any time resolved myself as to why it should be so; butso it is. "

"Then man, despite his 'supremacy' must have something more supremethan himself to keep him in order, if it be only a fetish wherewith totickle his imagination?" suggested the prince with a touch of satire, --"Even kings must bow, or pretend to bow, to the King of kings?"

"Sir, you have expressed the fact with felicity;" replied the professorgravely--"His Majesty, your august father, attends public worship withpunctilious regularity, and you are accustomed to accompany him. It isa rule which you will find necessary to keep in practice, as an exampleto your subjects when you are called upon to reign. "

The young man raised his eyebrows deprecatingly, with a slight ironicalsmile, and dropped the subject. But the learned professor as in dutybound, reported the conversation to his pupil's father; with theadditional observation that he feared, he very humbly and respectfullyfeared, that the developing mind of the prince appeared undesirablydisposed towards discursive philosophies, which were wholly unnecessaryfor the position he was destined to occupy. Whereupon the King took hisson to task on the subject with a mingling of kindness and humour. 

"Do not turn philosopher!" he said--"For philosophy will not so muchcontent you with life, as with death! Philosophy will chill your bestimpulses and most generous enthusiasms, --it will make you over-cautiousand doubtful of your friends, --it will cause you to be indifferent towomen in the plural, but it will hand you over, a weak and helplessvictim to the _one_ woman, --when she comes, --as she is bound tocome. There is no one so hopelessly insane as a philosopher in love!Love women, but not _a_ woman!"

"In so doing I should follow the wisest of examples, --yours, Sir!"replied the prince with a familiarity more tender than audacious, forhis father was a man of fine presence and fascinating manner, and knewwell the extent of his power to charm and subjugate the fairer sex, --"But I have a fancy that love, --if it exists anywhere outside thedreams of the poets, --is unknown to kings. "

The monarch bent his brows frowningly, and his eyes were full of a deepand bitter melancholy. 

"You mistake!" he said slowly--"Love, --and by that name I mean a whollydifferent thing from Passion, --comes to kings as to commoners, --butwhereas the commoner may win it if he can, the king must reject it. Butit comes, --and leaves a blank in the proudest life when it goes!"

He turned away abruptly, and the conversation was not again resumed. But when he died, those who prepared his body for burial, found a goldchain round his neck, holding the small medallion portrait of a woman, and a curl of soft fair hair. Needless to say the portrait was not thatof the late Queen-Consort, who had died some years before her Royalspouse, nor was the hair hers, --but when they brought the relic to thenew King, he laid it back with his own hands on his father's lifelessbreast, and let it go into the grave with him. For, being no longer thecrowned Servant of the State, he had the right as a mere dead man, tothe possession of his love-secret. 

So at least thought his son and successor, who at times was given towondering whether if, like his father, he had such a secret he would beable to keep it as closely and as well. He thought not. It would bescarcely worth while. It can only be the greatest love that is alwayssilent, --and in the greatest, --that is, the ideal and self-renouncinglove, --he did not believe; though in his own life's experience he hadbeen given a proof that such love is possible to women, if not to men. When he was about twenty, he had loved, or had imagined he loved, agirl, --a pretty creature, who did not know him as a prince at all, butsimply as a college student. He used to walk with her hand in handthrough the fields by the river, and gather wild flowers for her towear in her little white bodice. She had shy soft eyes, and a timid, yet trusting look, full of tenderness and pathos. Moved by a romanticsense of honour and chivalry, he promised to marry her, and thereuponwrote an impulsive letter to his father informing him of his intention. Of course he was summoned home from college at once, --he was remindedof his high destiny--of the Throne that would be his if he lived tooccupy it, --of the great and serious responsibilities awaiting him, --and of how impossible it was that the Heir-Apparent to the Crown shouldmarry a commoner. 

"Why not?" he cried passionately--"If she be good and true she is asfit to be a queen as any woman royally born! She is a queen already inher own right!"

But while he was being argued with and controlled by all theauthorities concerned in king's business, his little sweetheart herselfput an end to the matter. Her parents told her all unpreparedly, andwith no doubt unnecessary harshness, the real position of the collegelad with whom she had wandered in the fields so confidingly; and in thebewilderment of her poor little broken heart and puzzled brain, shegave herself to the river by whose flowering banks she had sworn hermaiden vows, --though she knew it not, --to her future King; and so, drowning her life and love together, made a piteous exit from alldifficulty. Before she went forth to die, she wrote a farewell to herRoyal lover, posting the letter herself on her way to the river, and, by the merest chance he received it without a spy's intervention. Itwas but one line, scrawled in a round youthful hand, and blotted withmany tears. 

"Sir--my love!--forgive me!"

It would be unwise to say what that little scrap of ill-formed writingcost the heir to a throne when he heard how she had died, --or how heraged and swore and wept. It was the first Wrong forced on him asRight, by the laws of the realm; and he was young and generous andhonest, and not hardened to those laws then. Their iniquity andgodlessness appeared to him in plain ugly colours undisguised. Sincethat time he had perforce fallen into the habit and routine of hispredecessors, though he was not altogether so 'constitutional' asovereign as his father had been. He had something of the spirit of onewho had occupied his throne five hundred years before him; whenstrength and valour and wit and boldness, gave more kings to the worldthan came by heritage. He did unconventional things now and then; tothe grief of flunkeys, and the alarm of Court parasites. But hiskingdom was of the South, where hot blood is recognized and excused, and fiery temper more admired than censured, and where, --so far associal matters went, --his word, whether kind, cold, or capricious, wassufficient to lead in any direction that large flock of the silly sheepof fashion who only exist to eat, and to be eaten. Sometimes he longedto throw himself back into bygone centuries and stand as his earliestancestor stood, sword in hand, on a height overlooking the battle-field, watching the swaying rush of combat, --the glitter of spears andaxes--the sharp flight of arrows--the tossing banners, the grindingchariots, the flying dust and carnage of men! There was something tofight for in those days, --there was no careful binding up of wounds, --no provision for the sick or the mutilated, --nothing, nothing, but'Victory or Death!' How much grander, how much finer the old fierceways of war than now, when any soldier wounded, may write the detailsof his bayonet-scratch or bullet-hole to the cheap press, and thesurgeon prys about with Rontgen-ray paraphernalia and scalpel, todiscover how much or how little escape from dissolution a man's soulhas had in the shock of contest with his foe! Of a truth these arepaltry days!--and paltry days breed paltry men. Afraid of sickness, afraid of death, afraid of poverty, afraid of offences, afraid tothink, afraid to speak, Man in the present era of his boasted'progress' resembles nothing so much as a whipped child, --coweringunder the outstretched arm of Heaven and waiting in whimpering terrorfor the next fall of the scourge. And it is on this point especially, that the monarch who takes part in this unhesitating chronicle ofcertain thoughts and movements hidden out of sight, --yet deeply felt inthe under-silences of the time, --may claim to be unconventional;--hewas afraid of nothing, --not even of himself as King!

CHAPTER II

MAJESTY CONSIDERS AND RESOLVES

The little episode of his first love, combined with his ungovernablefury and despair at its tragic conclusion, had of course the naturalresult common in such a case, to the fate of all who are destined tooccupy thrones. A marriage was 'arranged' for him; and pressing reasonsof state were urged for the quick enforcement and carrying out of the'arrangement. ' The daughter of a neighbouring potentate was elected tothe honour of his alliance, --a beautiful girl with a pale, cold clear-cut face and brilliant eyes, whose smile penetrated the soul with anicy chill, and whose very movement, noiseless and graceful as it was, reminded one irresistibly of slowly drifting snow. She was attended tothe altar, as he was, by all the ministers and plenipotentiaries ofstate that could possibly be gathered together from the four quartersof the globe as witnesses to the immolation of two young human lives onthe grim sacrificial stone of a Dynasty; and both prince and princessaccepted their fate with mutually silent and civil resignation. Theirportraits, set facing each other with a silly smile, or taken in alinked arm-in-arm attitude against a palatial canvas background, appeared in every paper published throughout the world, and everyscribbler on the Press took special pains to inform the easily deludedpublic that the Royal union thus consummated was 'a romantic love-match. ' For the People still have heart and conscience, --the People, taken in the rough lump of humanity, still believe in love, in faith, in the dear sweetness of home affections. The politicians who makecapital out of popular emotion, know this well enough, --and are carefulto play the tune of their own personal interest upon the gamut ofNational Sentiment in every stump oration. For how terrible it would beif the People of any land learned to judge their preachers and teachersby the lines of fact alone! Inasmuch as fact would convincingly proveto them that their leaders prospered and grew rich, while they stayedpoor; and they might take to puzzling out reasons for this inadequacywhich would inevitably cause trouble. For this, and divers othermotives politic, the rosy veil of sentiment is always delicately flungmore or less over every new move on the national debating-ground, --andwhether marriageable princes and princesses love or loathe each other, still, when they come to wed, the words 'romantic love-match' must bethrown in by an obliging Press in order to satisfy the tender scruplesof a people who would certainly not abide the thought of a Royalmarriage contracted in mutual aversion. Thus much soundness and rightprinciple there is at least, in what some superfine persons call the'common' folk, --the folk whose innermost sense of truth andstraightforwardness, not even the proudest statesman dare outrage. 

But with what unuttered and unutterable scorn the youthful victims ofthe Royal pairing accepted the newspaper-assurances of the devotedtenderness they entertained for each other! With what weariedimpatience both prince and princess received the 'Wedding Odes' and'Epithalamiums, ' written by first-class and no-class versifiers for theoccasion! What shoals of these were cast aside unread, to occupy thedarkest dingiest corner of one of the Royal 'refuse' libraries! Thewriters of such things expected great honours, no doubt, each and everyman-jack of them, --but apart from the fact that the greatest literaturehas always lived without any official recognition or endowment fromkings, --being in itself the supremest sovereignty, --poets andrhymesters alike never seem to realize that no one is, or can be, sosickened by an 'Ode' as the man or woman to whom it is written!

The brilliant marriage ceremony concluded, the august bride andbridegroom took their departure, amid frantically cheering crowds, fora stately castle standing high among the mountains, a truly magnificentpile, which had been placed at their disposal for the 'honeymoon' byone of the wealthiest of the King's subjects, --and there, as soon asequerries, grooms-in-waiting, flunkeys, and every other sort of indoorand outdoor retainer would consent to leave them alone together, theRoyal wife came to her Royal husband, and asked to be allowed to speaka few words on the subject of their marriage, 'for the first and lasttime, ' said she, with a straight glance from the cold moonlight mysteryof her eyes. Beautiful at all times, her beauty was doubly enhanced bythe regal attitude and expression she unconsciously assumed as she madethe request, and the prince, critically studying her form and features, could not but regard himself as in some respects rather particularlyfavoured by the political and social machinery which had succeeded inpersuading so fair a creature to resign herself to the doubtful destinyof a throne. She had laid aside her magnificent bridal-robes of ivorysatin and cloth-of-gold, --and appeared before him in loose draperies offloating white, with her rich hair unbound and rippling to her knees. 

"May I speak?" she murmured, and her voice trembled. 

"Most assuredly!"--he replied, half smiling--"You do me too much honourby requesting the permission!"

As he spoke, he bowed profoundly, but she, raising her eyes, fixed themfull upon him with a strange look of mingled pride and pain. 

"Do not, " she said, "let us play at formalities! Let us be honest witheach other for to-night at least! All our life together must fromhenceforth be more or less of a masquerade, but let us for to-night beas true man and true woman, and frankly face the position into which wehave been thrust, not by ourselves, but by others. "

Profoundly astonished, the prince was silent. He had not thought thisgirl of nineteen possessed any force of character or any intellectualpower of reasoning. He had judged her as no doubt glad to become agreat princess and a possible future queen, and he had not given hercredit for any finer or higher feeling. 

"You know, "--she continued--"you must surely know--" here, despite thestrong restraint she put upon herself, her voice broke, and her slightfigure swayed in its white draperies as if about to fall. She looked athim with a sense of rising tears in her throat, --tears of which she wasashamed, --for she was full of a passionate emotion too strong forweeping--a contempt of herself and of him, too great for mere clamour. Was he so much of a man in the slow thick density of his brain shethought, as to have no instinctive perception of her utter misery? Hehastened to her and tried to take her hands, but she drew herself awayfrom him and sank down in a chair as if exhausted. 

"You are tired!" he said kindly--"The tedious ceremonial--the stillmore tedious congratulations, --and the fatiguing journey from thecapital to this place have been too much for your strength. You mustrest!"

"It is not that!"--she answered--"not that! I am not tired, --but--but--I cannot say my prayers tonight till you know my whole heart!"

A curious reverence and pity moved him. All day long he had been in astate of resentful irritation, --he had loathed himself for havingconsented to marry this girl without loving her, --he had brandedhimself inwardly as a liar and hypocrite when he had sworn his marriagevows 'before God, ' whereas if he truly believed in God, such vows takenuntruthfully were mere blasphemy;--and now she herself, a young thingtenderly brought up like a tropical flower in the enervating hot-houseatmosphere of Court life, yet had such a pure, deep consciousness ofGod in her, that she actually could not pray with the slightest blur ofa secret on her soul! He waited wonderingly. 

"I have plighted my faith to you before God's altar to-day, " she said, speaking more steadily, --"because after long and earnest thought, I sawthat there was no other way of satisfying the two nations to which webelong, and cementing the friendly relations between them. There is nowoman of Royal birth, --so it has been pointed out to me--who is sosuitable, from a political point of view, to be your wife as I. It isfor the sake of your Throne and country that you must marry--and I askGod to forgive me if I have done wrong in His sight by wedding yousimply for duty's sake. My father, your father, and all who areconnected with our two families desire our union, and have assured methat, it is right and good for me to give up my life to yours. Allwomen's lives must be martyred to the laws made by men, --or so it seemsto me, --I cannot expect to escape from the general doom apportioned tomy sex. I therefore accept the destiny which transfers me to you as apiece of human property for possession and command, --I accept itfreely, but I will not say gladly, because that would not be true. ForI do not love you, --I cannot love you! I want you to know that, and tofeel it, that you may not ask from me what I cannot give. "

There were no tears in her eyes; she looked at him straightly andsteadfastly. He, in his turn, met her gaze fully, --his face had paled alittle, and a shadow of pained regret and commiseration darkened hishandsome features. 

"You love someone else?" he asked, softly. 

She rose from her chair and confronted him, a glow of passionate prideflushing her cheeks and brow. 

"No!" she said--"I would not be a traitor to you in so much as athought! Had I loved anyone else I would never have married you, --no!--though you had been ten times a prince and king! No! You do notunderstand. I come to you heartwhole and passionless, without a singlelove-word chronicled in my girlhood's history, or a single incident youmay not know. I have never loved any man, because from my verychildhood I have hated and feared all men! I loathe their presence--their looks--their voices--their manners, --if one should touch my handin ordinary courtesy, my instincts are offended and revolted, and thesense of outrage remains with me for days. My mother knows of this, andsays I am 'unnatural, '--it may be so. But unnatural or not, it is thetruth; judge therefore the extent of the sacrifice I make to God andour two countries in giving myself to you!"

The prince stood amazed and confounded. Did she rave? Was she mad? Hestudied her with a curious, half-doubting scrutiny, and noted thecomposure of her attitude, the cold serenity of her expression, --therewas evidently no hysteria, no sur-excitation of nerves about this calmstatuesque beauty which in every line and curve of loveliness silentlymutinied against him, and despised him. Puzzled, yet fascinated, hesought in his mind for some clue to her meaning. 

"There are women" she went on--"to whom love, or what is called love, is necessary, --for whom marriage is the utmost good of existence. I amnot one of these. Had I my own choice I would live my life away fromall men, --I would let nothing of myself be theirs to claim, --I wouldgive all I am and all I have to God, who made me what I am. For trulyand honestly, without any affectation at all, I look upon marriage, notas an honour, but a degradation!"

Had she been less in earnest, he might have smiled at this, but herbeauty, intensified as it was by the fervour of her feeling, seemedtransfigured into something quite supernatural which for the momentdazzled him. 

"Am I to understand--" he began. 

She interrupted him by a swift gesture, while the rich colour sweptover her face in a warm wave. 

"Understand nothing"--she said, --"but this--that I do not love you, because I can love no man! For the rest I am your wife; and as yourwife I give myself to you and your nation wholly and in all things--save love!"

He advanced and took her hands in his. 

"This is a strange bargain!" he said, and gently kissed her. 

She answered nothing, --only a faint shiver trembled through her as sheendured the caress. For a moment or two he surveyed her in silence, --itwas a singular and novel experience for him, as a future king, to bethe lawful possessor of a woman's beauty, and yet with all hissovereignty to be unable to waken one thrill of tenderness in thefrozen soul imprisoned in such exquisite flesh and blood. He wasinclined to disbelieve her assertions, --surely he thought, there mustbe emotion, feeling, passion in this fair creature, who, though sheseemed a goddess newly descended from inaccessible heights of heavenwas still _only_ a woman? And upon the whole he was not ill-pleased with the curious revelation she had made of herself. Hepreferred the coldness of women to their volcanic eruptions, and wouldtake more pains to melt the snow of reserve than to add fuel to theflame of ardour. 

"You have been very frank with me, " he said at last, after a pause, ashe loosened her hands and moved a little apart from her--"And whetheryour physical and mental hatred of my sex is a defect in your nature, or an exceptional virtue, I shall not quarrel with it. I am myself notwithout faults; and the chiefest of these is one most common to allmen. I desire what I may not have, and covet what I do not possess. So!We understand each other!"

She raised her eyes--those beautiful deep eyes with the moonlightglamour in them, --and for an instant the shining Soul of her, pure andfearless, seemed to spring up and challenge to spiritual combat him whowas now her body's master. Then, bending her head with a graceful yetproud submission, she retired. 

From that time forth she never again spoke on this, or any othersubject of an intimate or personal nature, with her Royal spouse. Coldas an iceberg, pure as a diamond, she accepted both wifehood andmotherhood as martyrdom, with an evident contempt for its humiliation, and without one touch of love for either husband or children. She borethree sons, of whom the eldest, and heir to the throne was, at the timethis history begins, just twenty. The passing of the years had leftscarcely a trace upon her beauty, save to increase it from thesparkling luminance of a star to the glory of a full-orbed moon ofloveliness, --and she had easily won a triumph over all the other womenaround her, in the power she possessed to command and retain theadmiration of men. She was one of those brilliant creatures who, likethe Egyptian Cleopatra, never grow old, --for she was utterly exemptfrom the wasting of the nerves through emotion. Her eyes were alwaysbright and clear; her skin dazzling in its whiteness, save where theequably flowing blood flushed it with tenderest rose, --her figureremained svelte, lithe and graceful in all its outlines. Finely strung, yet strong as steel in her temperament, all thoughts, feelings andevents seemed to sweep over her without affecting or disturbing hermind's calm equipoise. She lived her life with extreme simplicity, regularity, and directness, thus driving to despair all would-bescandal-mongers; and though many gifted and famous men fell madly inlove with their great princess, and often, in the extremity of apassion which amounted to disloyalty, slew themselves for her sake, sheremained unmoved and pitiless. 

Her husband occasionally felt some compassion for the desperate fellowswho thus immolated themselves on the High Altar of her perfections, though it must be admitted that he received the news of their deathswith tolerable equanimity, knowing them to have been fools, and assuch, better out of the world than in it. During the first two or threeyears of his marriage he had himself been somewhat of theirdisposition, and as mere man, had tried by every means in his power towin the affection of his beautiful spouse, and to melt the icy barrierwhich she, despite their relations with each other, had resolutely keptup between herself and him. He had made the attempt, not because heactually loved her, but simply because he desired the satisfaction ofconquest. Finding the task hopeless, he resigned himself to his fate, and accepted her at the costly valuation she set upon herself; thoughfor pastime he would often pay court to certain ladies of easy virtue, with the vague idea that perhaps the spirit of jealousy might enterthat cold shrine of womanhood where no other demon could forceadmission, and wake up the passions slumbering within. But she appearednot to be at all aware of his many and open gallantries; and only atstray moments, when her frosty flashing glance fell upon him engaged insome casual flirtation, would a sudden smarting sense of injury makehim conscious of her contempt. 

But he could reasonably find no fault with her, save the fault of beingfaultless. She was a perfect hostess, and fulfilled all the duties ofher exalted position with admirable tact and foresight, --she was everbusy in the performance of good and charitable deeds, --she was anexcellent mother, and took the utmost personal care that her sonsshould be healthily nurtured and well brought up, --she never interferedin any matter of state or ceremony, --she simply seemed to move as astar moves, shining over the earth but having no part in it. Irresponsive as she was, she nevertheless compelled admiration, --herhusband himself admired her, but only as he would have admired a statueor a painting. For his was an impulsive and generous nature, and hismarriage had kept his heart empty of the warmth of love, and his homedevoid of the light of sympathy. Even his children had been born moreas the sons of the nation than his own, --he was not conscious of anyvery great affection for them, or interest in their lives. And he hadsought to kindle at many strange fires the heavenly love-beacon whichshould have flamed its living glory into his days; so it had naturallychanced that he had spent by far the larger portion of his time on thepersuasion of mere Whim, --and as vastly inferior women to his wife hadmade him spend it. 

But at this particular juncture, when the curtain is drawn up oncertain scenes and incidents in his life-drama, a change had beeneffected in his opinions and surroundings. For eighteen years after hismarriage, he had lived on the first step of the Throne as its nextheir; and when he passed that step and ascended the Throne itself, heseemed to have crossed a vast abyss of distance between the Old and theNew. Behind him the Past rolled away like a cloud vanishing, to be seenno more, --before him arose the dim vista of wavering and uncertainshadows, which no matter how they shifted and changed, --no matter howmany flashes of sunshine flickered through them, --were bound to closein the thick gloom of the inevitable end, --Death. This is what he waschiefly thinking of, seated alone in his garden-pavilion facing the seaon that brilliant southern summer morning, --this, --and with thethought came many others no less sad and dubious, --such as whether forexample, his eldest son might not already be eager for the crown?--whether even now, though he had only reigned three years, his peoplewere not more or less dissatisfied under his rule?

His father, the late King, had died suddenly, --so suddenly that therewas neither help nor hope for him among the hastily summonedphysicians. Stricken numb and speechless, he kept his anguished eyesfixed to the last upon his son, as one who should say--"Alas, and tothee also, falls this curse of a Crown!" Once dead, he was soonforgotten, --the pomp of the Royal obsequies merely made a gala-day forthe light-hearted Southern populace, who hailed the accession of theirnew King with as much gladness as a child, who, having broken one doll, straightway secures another as good, if not better. As Heir-Apparentthe succeeding sovereign had won great popularity, and was much moregenerally beloved than his father had been, --so that it was on an extrahigh wave of jubilation and acclamation that he and his beautifulconsort were borne to the Throne. 

Three years had passed since then; and so far his reign had beenuntroubled by much difficulty. Difficulty there was, but he was kept inignorance of it, --troubles were brooding, but he was not informed ofthem. Things likely to be disagreeable were not conveyed to his ears, --and matters which, had he been allowed to examine into them, might havearoused his indignation and interference, were diplomatically hushedup. He was known to possess much more than the limited intelligenceusually apportioned to kings; and certainly, as his tutor had said ofhim in his youth, he was dangerously "disposed towards discursivephilosophies. " He was likewise accredited with a conscience, which manydiplomats consider to be a wholly undesirable ingredient in the moralcomposition of a reigning monarch. Therefore, those who move a king, asin the game of chess, one square at a time and no more, --wereparticularly cautious as to the 'way' in which they moved him. He hadshown himself difficult to manage once or twice; and interested personscould not pursue their usual course of self-aggrandisement with him, ashe was not susceptible to flattery. He had a way of asking straightquestions, and what was still worse, expecting straight answers, suchas politicians never give. 

Nevertheless he had, up to the present, ruled his conduct very much onthe lines laid down by his predecessors, and during his brief reign hadbeen more or less content to passively act in all things as hisministers advised. He had bestowed honours on fools because hisministers considered it politic, --he had given his formal consent tothe imposition of certain taxes on his people, because his ministershad judged such taxes necessary, --in fact he had done everything hewas expected to do, and nothing that he was not expected to do. He hadnot taken any close personal thought as to whether such and such apolitical movement was, or was not, welcome to the spirit of thenation, nor had he weighed intimately in his own mind the variousprivate interests of the members of his Government, in passing, ormoving the rejection of, any important measure affecting the well-beingof the community at large. And he had lately, --perhaps through theobjectionable 'discursive philosophies' before mentioned, --come toconsider himself somewhat of a stuffed Dummy or figure-head; and towonder what would be the result, if with caution and prudence, he wereto act more on his own initiative, and speak as he often thought itwould be wise and well to speak? He was but forty-five years old, --inthe prime of life, in the plenitude of health and mental vigour, --washe to pass the rest of his days guarded by detectives, flunkeys andphysicians, with never an independent word or action throughout hiswhole career to mark him Man as well as Monarch? Nay, surely that wouldbe an insult to the God who made him! But the question which arose inhis mind and perplexed him was, How to begin? How, after passiveobedience, to commence resistance? How to break through the miserableconventionalism, the sordid commonplace of a king's surroundings? Forit is only in medieval fairy-tales that kings are permitted to bekingly. 

Yet, despite custom and usage, he was determined to make a newdeparture in the annals of modern sovereignty. Three years ofcontinuous slavery on the treadmill of the Throne had been sufficientto make him thirst for freedom, --freedom of speech, --freedom of action. He had tacitly submitted to a certain ministry because he had beenassured that the said ministry was popular, --but latterly, rumours ofdiscontent and grievance had reached him, --albeit indistinctly andincoherently, --and he began to be doubtful as to whether it might notbe the Press which supported the existing state of policy, rather thanthe People. The Press! He began to consider of what material this greatpower in his country was composed. Originally, the Press in allcountries, was intended to be the most magnificent institution of thecivilized world, --the voice of truth, of liberty, of justice--a voicewhich in its clamant utterances could neither be bribed nor biassed tocry out false news. Originally, such was meant to be its mission;--butnowadays, what, in all honesty and frankness, is the Press? What wasit, for example, to this king, who from personal knowledge, was able topractically estimate and enumerate the forces which controlled itthus:--Six, or at the most a dozen men, the proprietors and editors ofdifferent newspapers sold in cheap millions to the people. Most ofthese newspapers were formed into 'companies'; and the managers issued'shares' in the fashion of tea merchants and grocers. False news, if ofa duly sensational character, would sometimes send up the shares in themarket, --true information would equally, on occasion, send them down. These premises granted, might it not follow that for newspaperspeculators, the False would often prove more lucrative than the True?And, concerning the persons who wrote for these newspapers, --of whatcalling and election were they? Male and female, young and old, theywere generally of a semi-educated class lacking all distinctiveability, --men and women who were, on an average, desperately poor, anddesperately dissatisfied. To earn daily bread they naturally had toplease the editors set in authority over them; hence their expressedviews and opinions on any subject could only be counted as _nil_, being written, not independently, but under the absolute control oftheir employers. Thus meditating, the King summed up the total of hisown mental argument, and found that the vast sounding 'power of thePress' so far as his own dominion was concerned, resolved itself intothe mere trade monopoly of the aforesaid leading dozen men. What he nowproposed to himself to discover among other things, was, --how far andhow truly these dozen tradesmen voiced the mind of the People over whomhe was elected to reign? Here was a problem, and one not easy to solve. But what was very plain and paramount to his mind was this, --that hewas thoroughly sick and tired of being no more than a 'social' figurein the world's affairs. It was an effeminate part to play. It was time, he considered, that he should intelligently try his own strength, andtest the nation's quality. 

"If there is corruption in the state, " he said to himself, "I will findits centre! If I am fooled by my advisers then I will be fooled nolonger. With whatsoever brain and heart and reason and understandingthe Fates have endowed me, I will study the ways, the movements, thedesires of my people, and prove myself their friend, as well as theirking. Suppose they misunderstand me?--What matter!--Let the nationrise against me an' it will, so that I may, before I die, prove myselfworthy of the mere gift of manhood! To-day"--and, rising from hischair, he advanced a step or two and faced the sea and sky with anunconscious gesture of invocation; "To-day shall be the first day of myreal monarchy! To-day I begin to reign! The past is past, --for eighteenlong years as prince and heir to the throne I trifled away my timeamong the follies of the hour, and laughed at the easy purchase I couldmake of the assumed 'honour' of men and women; and I enjoyed theliberty and license of my position. Since then, for three years I havebeen the prisoner of my Parliament, --but now--now, and for the rest ofthe time granted to me on earth, I will live my life in the belief thatits riddle must surely meet with God's own explanation. To me it hasbecome evident that the laws of Nature make for Truth and Justice;while the laws of man are framed on deception and injustice. The twosets of laws contend one against the other, and the finite, afterfoolish and vain struggle, succumbs to the infinite, --better therefore, to begin with the infinite Order than strive with the finite Chaos! I, a mere earthly sovereign, rank myself on the side of the Infinite, --and will work for Truth and Justice with the revolving of Its giantwheel! My people have seen me crowned, --but my real Coronation is to-day--when I crown myself with my own resolve!"

His eyes flashed in the sunshine;--a rose shook its pink petals on theground at his feet. In one of the many pleasure-boats skimming acrossthe sea, a man was singing; and the words he sang floated distinctlyalong on the landward wind. 

 "Let me be thine, O love, But for an hour! I yield my heart and soul Into thy power, --Let me be thine, O Love of mine, But for an hour!"

The King listened, and a faint shadow darkened the proud light on hisface. 

"'But for an hour!'" he said half aloud--"Yes, --it would be enough!No woman's love lasts longer!"

CHAPTER III

A NATION OR A CHURCH?

An approaching step echoing on the marble terrace warned him that hewas no longer alone. He reseated himself at his writing-table, andfeigned to be deeply engrossed in perusing various documents, but aready smile greeted the intruder as soon as he perceived who it was, --one Sir Roger de Launay, his favourite equerry and intimate personalfriend. 

"Time's up, is it, Roger?" he queried lightly, --then as the equerrybowed in respectful silence--"And yet I have scarcely glanced at thesepapers! All the same, I have not been idle--I have been thinking. "

Sir Roger de Launay, a tall handsome man, with an indefinable air ofmingled good-nature and lassitude about him which suggested thepossibility of his politely urging even Death itself not to be so muchof a bore about its business, smiled doubtfully. "Is it a wiseprocedure, Sir?" he enquired--"Conducive to comfort I mean?"

The King laughed. 

"No--I cannot say that it is! But thought is a tonic which sometimesrestores a man's enfeebled self-respect. I was beginning to lose thatparticular condition of health and sanity, Roger!--my self-respect wasbecoming a flaccid muscle--a withering nerve;--but a little thought-exercise has convinced me that my mental sinews are yet on the wholestrong!"

Sir Roger offered no reply. His eyes expressed a certain languidwonderment; but duty being paramount with him, and his immediate errandbeing to remind his sovereign of an appointment then about due, hebegan to collect the writing materials scattered about on the table andput them together for convenient removal. The smile on the King's facedeepened as he watched him. 

"You do not answer me, De Launay, "--he resumed, "You think perhaps thatI am talking in parables, and that my mind has been persuaded into ametaphysical and rambling condition by an hour's contemplation of thesunlight on the sea! But come now!--have you not yourself felt alonging to break loose from the trammels of conventional routine, --tobe set free from the slavery of answering another's beck and call, --tobe something more than my attendant and friend----"

"Sir, more than your friend I have never desired to be!" said SirRoger, simply. 

The King extended his hand with impulsive quickness, and Sir Roger ashe clasped it, bent low and touched it with his lips. There was noparasitical homage in the act, for De Launay loved his sovereign with alove little known at courts; loyally, faithfully, and without aparticle of self-seeking. He had long recognized the nobility, truthand courage which graced and tempered the disposition of the master heserved, and knew him to be one, if not the only, monarch in the worldlikely to confer some lasting benefit on his people by his reign. 

"I tell you, " pursued the King, "that there is something in the mortalcomposition of every man which is beyond mortality, something whichclamours to be heard, and seen, and proved. We may call it conscience, intellect, spirit or soul, and attribute its existence, to God, as aspark of the Divine Essence, but whatever it is, it is in every one ofus; and there comes a moment in life when it must flame out, or bequenched forever. That moment has come to me, Roger, --that something inme must have its way!"

"Your Majesty no doubt desires the impossible!"--said Sir Roger with asmile, "All men do, --even kings!"

"'Even kings!'" echoed the monarch--"You may well say 'even' kings!What are kings? Simply the most wronged and miserable men on earth! Ido not myself put in a special claim for pity. My realm is small, andmy people are, for aught I can learn or am told of them, contented. Butother sovereigns who are my friends and neighbours, live, as it were, under the dagger's point, --with dynamite at their feet and pistols attheir heads, --all for no fault of their own, but for the faults of asystem which they did not formulate. Conspirators on the threshold--poison in the air, --as in Russia, for example!--where is the joy or thepride of being a King nowadays?"

"Talking of poison, " said Sir Roger blandly, as he placed the lastdocument of those he had collected, neatly in a leather case andstrapped it--"Your Majesty may perhaps feel inclined to defer givingthe promised audience to Monsignor Del Fords of the Society of Jesus?"

"By Heaven, I had forgotten him!" and the King rose. "This is what youcame to remind me of, Roger? He is here?"

De Launay bowed an assent. 

"Well! We have kept a messenger of Mother Church waiting our pleasure, --and not for the first time in the annals of history! But why do youassociate his name with poison?"

"Really, Sir, the connection is inexplicable, --unless it be the memoryof a religious lesson-book given to me in my childhood. It was anillustrated treasure, and one picture showed me the Almighty in thecharacter of an old gentleman seated placidly on a cloud, smiling;--while on the earth below, a priest, exactly resembling this Del Fortis, poured a spoonful of something, --poison--or it might have been boilinglead--down the throat of a heretic. I remember it impressed me verymuch with the goodness of God. "

He maintained a whimsical gravity as he spoke, and the King laughed. 

"De Launay, you are incorrigible! Come!--we will go within and see thisDel Fortis, and you shall remain present during the audience. That willgive you a chance to improve your present impression of him. Iunderstand he is a very brilliant and leading member of his Order, --likely to be the next Vicar-General. I know his errand, --the papersconcerning his business are there--, " and he waved his hand towards theleather case Sir Roger had just fastened--"Bring them with you!"

Sir Roger obeyed, and the King, stepping forth from the pavilion, walked slowly along the terrace, watching the sparkling sea, theflowering orange-trees lifting their slender tufts of exquisitelyscented bloom against the clear blue of the sky, the birds skimminglightly from point to point of foliage, and the white-sailed yachtsdipping gracefully as the ocean rose and fell with every wild sweetbreath of the scented wind. Pausing a moment, he presently took out afield-glass and looked through it at one of the finest and fairest ofthese pleasure-vessels, which, as he surveyed it, suddenly swung round, and began to scud away westward. 

"The Prince is on board?" he asked. 

"Yes, Sir, " replied De Launay--"His Royal Highness intends sailing asfar as The Islands, and remaining there till sunset. "

"Alone, as usual?"

"As usual, Sir, alone, save for his captain and crew. "

The King walked on in silence for a minute. Then he paused abruptly. 

"I do not like it, De Launay!"--he said decisively--"I do not like hisabnormal love of solitude. Books are all very well--poetry is in itsway excellent, --music, as we are told 'hath charms'--but the boy broodstoo much, and stays away too much from Court. What woman attracts him?"

Sir Roger's eyes opened wide as the King turned suddenly round upon himwith this question. 

"Woman, Sir? I know of none. The Prince is but twenty----"

"At twenty, " said the King, --"boys love--the wrong girl. At thirty theymarry--the wrong woman. At forty they meet the only true and fittingsoul's companion, --and cry for the moon till the end! My son is in thefirst stage, or I am much mistaken, --he loves--the wrong girl!"

He walked on, --and De Launay followed, with a vague sense of amusementand disquietude in his mind. What had come to his Royal master, hewondered? His ordinary manner had changed somewhat, --he spoke with lessthan the customary formality, and there was an expression of freedomand authority, combined with a touch of defiance in his face, that wasaltogether new to the observation of the faithful equerry. 

Arrived at the palace, and passing through one of the long and spaciouspainted corridors, lit by richly coloured mullioned windows from end toend, the King came face to face with a lady-in-waiting carrying a largecluster of Madonna lilies. She drew aside, with a deep reverence, toallow him to pass; but he stopped a moment, looking at the greatgorgeous white flowers faint with fragrance, and at the slight retiringfigure of the woman who held them. 

"Are these for the chapel, Madame?" he asked. 

"No, Sir! For the Queen. "

'For the Queen!' A quick sigh escaped him. He still stood, caught by asudden abstraction, looking at the dazzling whiteness of the snowyblooms, and thinking how fittingly they would companion his beautiful, cold, pure Queen Consort, who had never from her marriage day uttered aword of love to him, or given him a glance of tenderness. Their richodours crept into his warm blood, and the bitter old sense ofunfulfilled longing, longing for affection, for comprehension, for allthat he had not possessed in his otherwise brilliant life, vexed andsickened him. He turned away abruptly, and the lady-in-waiting, havingcurtsied once more profoundly, passed on with her glistening sheaf ofbloom and disappeared vision-like in a gleam of azure light fallingthrough one of the further and higher casements. The King watched herdisappear, the meditative line of sadness still puckering his brow, then, followed by his equerry, he entered a small private audiencechamber, where Sir Roger de Launay notified an attendant gentlemanusher that his Majesty was ready to receive Monsignor Del Fortis. 

During the brief interval occupied in waiting for his visitor'sapproach, the King selected certain papers from those which Sir Rogerhad brought from the garden pavilion and placed them in order on thetable. 

"For the past six months, " he said "I have had this Jesuit's namebefore me, and have been in twenty minds a month about granting orrefusing what his Society demands. The matter has been discussed in thePress, too, with the usual pros and cons of hesitation, but it is thePeople I am thinking of, the People! and I am just now in the humour tosatisfy a Nation rather than a Church!"

De Launay said nothing. His opinion was not asked. 

"It is a case in which the temporal overbalances the spiritual, "continued the King--"Which plainly proves that the spiritual must belacking in some essential point somewhere. For if the spiritual werealways truly of God, then would it always be the strongest. Thequestion which brings Monsignor Del Fortis here as special emissary ofthe Vicar-General of the Society of Jesus, is simply this: Whether orno a certain site in a particularly fertile tract of land belongingchiefly to the Crown, shall be granted to the Jesuits for the purposeof building thereon a church and monastery with schools attached. Itseems a reasonable request, set forth with an apparently religiousintention. Yet more than forty petitions have been sent in to me fromthe inhabitants of the towns and villages adjacent to the lands, imploring me to refuse the concession. By my faith, they plead aseloquently as though asking deliverance from the plague! It is acurious dilemma. If I grant the people's request I anger the priests;if I satisfy the priests I anger the people. "

"You mentioned a discussion in the Press, Sir--" hinted Sir Roger. 

"Oh, the Press is like a weathercock--it turns whichever way the windof speculation blows. One day it is 'for, ' another 'against. ' In thisparticular case it is diplomatically indifferent, except in one or twocases where papal money has found its way into the newspaper offices. "

At that moment the door was flung open, and Monsignor Del Fortis wasceremoniously ushered into the presence of his Majesty. At the firstglance it was evident that De Launay had reasonable cause forassociating the mediaeval priestly torturer pictured in his earlylesson-book with the unprepossessing personage now introduced. DelFortis was a dark, resentful-looking man of about sixty, tall and thin, with a long cadaverous face, very strongly pronounced features andsmall sinister eyes, over which the level brows almost met across thesharp bridge of nose. His close black garb buttoned to the chin, outlined his wiry angular limbs with an almost painful distinctness, and the lean right hand which he placed across his breast as he bowedprofoundly to the King, looked more like the shrunken hand of a corpsethan that of a living man. The King observed him attentively, but notwith favour; while thoughts, strange, and for him as a constitutionalmonarch audacious, began to move in the undercurrents of his mind, stirring him to unusual speech and action. Sir Roger, retiring to thefurthest end of the room stood with his back against the door, a fineupright soldierly figure, as motionless as though cast in bronze, though his eyes showed keen and sparkling life as they rested on hisRoyal master, watching his every gesture, as well as every slightestmovement on the part of his priestly visitor. 

"You are welcome, Monsignor Del Fortis, "--said the King, at lastbreaking silence. --"To save time and trouble, I may tell you that Ineed no explanation of the nature of your business. "

The Jesuit bowed with an excessive humility. 

"You wish me to grant to your Society, " continued the monarch--"thatportion of the Crown lands named in your petition, to be held in yourundisputed possession for a long term of years, --and in order tofacilitate my consent to this arrangement, your Vicar-General has sentyou here to furnish the full details of your building scheme. Am I sofar correct?"

The priest's dark secretive eyes glittered craftily a moment as heraised them to the open and tranquil countenance of the sovereign, --then once again he bowed profoundly. 

"Your Majesty has, with your customary care and patience, fully studiedthe object of my errand"--he replied in a clear thin, somewhat raspingvoice, which he endeavoured to make smooth and conciliatory--"But it isimpossible that your Majesty, immersed every day in the affairs ofstate, should have found time to personally go through the variouspapers formally submitted to your consideration. Therefore, the Vicar-General of our Order considered that if the present interview with yourMajesty could be obtained, I, as secretary and treasurer for theproposed new monastery, might be able to explain the spiritual, as wellas the material advantages to be gained by the use of the lands for thepurpose mentioned. "

He spoke slowly, enunciating each word with careful distinctness. 

"The spiritual part of the scheme is of course the most important toyou!"--said the King with a slight smile, --"But material advantagesare never entirely overlooked, even by holy men! Now I am merely a'temporal' sovereign; and as such, I wish to know how your plan willaffect the people of the neighbouring town and district. What are yourintentions towards them? Their welfare is my chief concern; and what Ihave to learn from you is, --How do you propose to benefit them bymaintaining a monastery, church and schools in their vicinity?"

Again Del Fortis gave a furtive glance upward. Seeing that the King'seyes were steadily fixed upon him, he quickly lowered his own, and gaveanswer in an evidently prepared manner. 

"Sir, the people of the district in question are untaught barbarians. It is more for their sakes, --more for the love of gathering the lostsheep into the fold, than for our own satisfaction, that we seek topitch our tents in the desert of their ignorance. They, and theirchildren, are the prey of heathenish modern doctrines, which alas!--are too prevalent throughout the whole world at this particular time, --and, as they are at present situated, no restraint is exercised uponthem for the better controlling of their natural and inherited vices. Unless the gentle hand of Mother Church is allowed to rescue these, herhapless and neglected ones; unless she has an opportunity afforded herof leading them out of the darkness of error into the light of eternalday--"

He broke off, his eloquence being interrupted by a gesture from theKing. 

"There is a Government school in the town, "--said the monarch, referring to one or two documents on the table before him. --"There isalso a Free Public Library, and a Free School of Art. Thus it does notseem that education is quite neglected. "

"Alas, Sir, such education is merely disastrous!" said Del Fortis, witha deep sigh, --"Like the fruit on the tree of knowledge in the Garden ofEden, it brings death to the soul!"

"You condemn the Government methods?" asked the King coldly. 

The Jesuit moved uneasily, and a dull flush reddened his pale skin. 

"Far be it from me, Sir, as a poor servant of the Church, to condemnlawful authorities, --yet we should not forget that the Government istemporal and changeable, --the Church is spiritual and changeless. Wecannot look for entire success in a scheme of popular education whichis not formulated under the guidance or the blessing of God!"

The King leaned forward a little in his chair, and surveyed himfixedly. 

"How do you know that it is not formulated under the guidance andblessing of God?" he asked suddenly--"Has the Almighty given you Hisspecial opinion and confidence on the matter?"

Monsignor Del Fortis started indignantly. 

"Sir! Your Majesty----"

De Launay made a step forward, but the King motioned him back. Accordingly he resumed his former position, but his equable temperamentwas for once seriously disturbed. He saw that his Royal master wasevidently bent on speaking his mind; and he knew well what a dangerousindulgence that is for all men who desire peace and quietness in theirlives. 

"I am aware of what you would say, " pursued the King--"You would saythat the Church--your Church--is the only establishment of the kindwhich receives direct inspiration from the Creator of Universes. But Ido not feel justified in limiting the control of the Almighty to onespecial orbit of Creed. You tell me that a government system ofeducation for the people is a purely temporal movement, and that, assuch, it is not blessed by the guidance of God. Yet the Pope seeks'temporal' power! It is explained to us of course that he seeks it inorder that he may unite it to the spiritual in his own person, --theoretically for the good of mankind, if practically for theadvancement of his own particular policy. But have you never thought, Monsignor, that the marked severance of what you call 'temporal' power, from what you equally call 'spiritual' power, is God's work? Inasmuchas nothing can be done without God's will; for even if there is a devil(which I am inclined to doubt) he owes his unhappy existence to God asmuch as I do!"

He smiled; but Del Fortis stood rigidly silent, his head bent, and onehand folded tight across his breast, an attitude Sir Roger de Launayalways viewed in every man with suspicion, as it suggested theconcealment of a weapon. 

"You will admit" pursued the King, "that the action of human thought isalways progressive. Unfortunately your Creed lags behind human thoughtin its onward march, thus causing the intelligent world to infer thatthere must be something wrong with its teaching. For if the Church hadalways been in all respects faithful to the teaching of her DivineMaster, she would be at this present time the supreme Conqueror ofNations. Yet she is doing no more nowadays than she did in the middleages, --she threatens, she intimidates, she persecutes all who dare touse for a reasonable purpose the brain God gave them, --but she does nothelp on or sympathize with the growing fraternity and civilization ofthe world. It is impossible not to recognize this. Yet I have aprofound respect for each and every minister of religion who honestlyendeavours to follow the counsels of Christ, "--here he paused, --thenadded with slow and marked emphasis--"in whose Holy Name I devoutlybelieve for the redemption of whatever there is in me worth redeeming;--nevertheless my first duty, even in Christ, is plainly to the peopleof the country over which I am elected to rule. "

The flickering shadow of a smile passed over the Jesuit's darkfeatures, but he still kept silence. 

"Therefore, " went on the King--"it is my unpleasant task to becompelled to inform you, Monsignor, that the inhabitants of thedistrict your Order seeks to take under its influence, have thestrongest objection to your presence among them. So strong indeed istheir aversion towards your Society, that they have petitioned me innumerous ways, (and with considerable eloquence, too, for 'untaughtbarbarians') to defend them from your visitation. Now, to speak truly, I find they have all the advantages which modern advancement and socialimprovement can give them, --they attend their places of public worshipin considerable numbers, and are on the whole decent, God-fearing, order-loving subjects to the Throne, --and more I do not desire for themor for myself. Criminal cases are very rare in the district, --and thepoor are more inclined to help than to defraud each other. All this isso far good, --and, I should imagine, --not displeasing to God. In anycase, as their merely temporal sovereign, I must decline to give yourOrder any control over them. "

"You refuse the concession of land, Sir?" said Del Fortis, in a voicethat trembled with restrained passion. 

"To satisfy those of my subjects who have appealed to me, I amcompelled to do so, " replied the King. 

"I pray your Majesty's pardon, but a portion of the land is held byprivate persons who are prepared to sell to us----"

A quick anger flashed in the King's eyes. 

"They shall sell to me if they sell at all, "--he said, --"I repeat, Monsignor, the fact that the law-abiding people of the place havesought their King's protection from priestly interference;--and, --byHeaven!--they shall have it!"

There was a sudden silence. Sir Roger de Launay drew a sharp breath, --his habitual languor of mind was completely dissipated, and he studiedthe inscrutable face of Del Fortis with deepening suspicion anddisfavour. Not that there was the slightest sign of wrath or dismay onthe priest's well-disciplined countenance;--on the contrary, a chillsmile illumined it as he spoke his next words with a serious, ifsomewhat forced composure. 

"Your Majesty is, without doubt, all powerful in your own particulardomain of society and politics, " he said--"But there is another Majestyhigher than yours, --that of the Church, before which dread andinfallible Tribunal even kings are brought to naught----"

"Monsignor Del Fortis, " interrupted the King, "We have not met thismorning, I presume, to indulge in a religious polemic! My power is, asyou very truly suggest, merely temporal--yours is spiritual. Yoursshould be the strongest! Go your way now to your Vicar-General with thestraight answer I have given you, --but if by your 'spiritual' power youcan persuade the people who now hate your Society, to love it, --todemand it, --to beg that you may be permitted to found a colony amongthem, --why, in that case, come to me again, and I will grant you theland. I am not prejudiced one way or the other, but I will not handover any of my subjects to the influence of priestcraft, so long asthey desire me to defend them from it. "

Del Fortis still smiled. 

"Pardon me, Sir, but we of the Society of Jesus are your subjects also, and we judge you to be a Christian and Catholic monarch----"

"As I am, most assuredly!" replied the King--"Christian and Catholicare words which, if I understand their meaning, please me well!'Christian' expresses a believer in and follower of Christ, --'Catholic'means universal, by which, I take it, is intended wide, universal loveand tolerance without sect, party, or prejudice. In this sense theChurch is not Catholic--it is merely the Roman sect. Nor are you trulymy subjects, since you have only one ruler, the Supreme Pontiff, --withwhom I am somewhat at variance. But, as I have said, we are not here toindulge in argument. You came to proffer a request; I have given you theonly answer I conceive fitting with my duty;--the matter is concluded. "

Del Fortis hesitated a moment, --then bowed low to the ground;--anon, lifting himself, raised one hand with an invocative gesture of profoundsolemnity. 

"I commend your Majesty to the mercy of God, that He may in His wisdom, guard your life and soften your heart towards the ministers of His HolyReligion, and bring you into the ways of righteousness and peace! Forthe rest, I will report your Majesty's decision to the Vicar-General. "

"Do so!"--rejoined the King--"And assure him that the decision isunalterable, --unless the inhabitants of the place concerned desire tohave it revoked. "

Again Del Fortis bowed. 

"I humbly take my leave of your Majesty!"

The monarch looked at him steadfastly as he made another salutation, and backed out of the presence-chamber. Sir Roger de Launay opened thedoor for him with alacrity, handing him over into the charge of anusher with the whispered caution to see him well off the Royalpremises; and then returning to his sovereign, stood "at attention. "The King noted his somewhat troubled aspect, and laughed. 

"What ails you, De Launay?" he asked--"You seem astonished that foronce I have spoken my mind?"

"Sir, to speak one's mind is always dangerous!"

"Dangerous--danger!--What idle words to make cowards of men! Danger--ofwhat? There is only one danger--death; and that is sure to come toevery man, whether he be a hero or a poltroon. "

"True, --but----"

"But--what? De Launay, if you love me, do not look at me with soexpostulatory an air! It does not become your inches! Now listen!--whenthe next press reporter comes nosing round for palace news, let him betold that the King has refused permission to the Jesuits to build onany portion of the Crown lands demanded for the purpose. Let this bemade known to Press and People--the sooner the better!"

"Sir, " murmured De Launay--"We live in strange times----"

"Why, there you speak most truly!" said the King, with emphasis--"We dolive in strange times--the very strangest perhaps, since Aeneas Sylviuswrote concerning Christendom. Do you remember the words he set down solong ago?--'It is a body without a head, --a republic without laws ormagistrates. The pope or the emperor may shine as lofty titles, assplendid images, --but they are unable to command, and no one iswilling to obey!' History thus repeats itself, De Launay;--and yet withall its past experience, the Roman Church does not seem to realize thatit is powerless against the attacks of intellectual common sense. Faithin God, --a high, perfect, pure faith in God, and a simple following ofthe Divine Teacher of God's command, Christ;--these things are wise andnecessary for all nations; but, to allow human beings to be coerced bysuperstition for political motives, under the disguise of religion, isan un-Christian business, and I for one will have no part in it!"

"You will lay yourself open to much serious misconstruction, Sir, " saidDe Launay. 

"Let us hope so, Roger!" rejoined the King with a smile--"For if I amnever misunderstood, I shall know myself to be a fool! Come, --do notlook so glum!--I want you to help me. "

"To help you, Sir?" exclaimed De Launay eagerly, --"With my life, ifyou demand it!"

The King rested one hand familiarly on his shoulder. 

"I would rather take my own life than yours, De Launay!" he said--"No, --whatever difficulties I get myself into, you shall not suffer! But--asI told you a while ago, --there is something in me that must have itsway. I am sick to death of conventionalities, --you must help me tobreak through them! You are right in saying that we live in strangetimes;--they are strange times!--and they may perchance be all thebetter for a strange King!"

CHAPTER IV

SEALED ORDERS

Some hours later on, Sir Roger de Launay, having left his Sovereign'spresence, and being off duty for a time, betook himself to certainapartments in the west wing of the palace, where the next most trustedpersonage to himself in the confidence of the King, had his domicile, --Professor von Glauben, resident physician to the Royal Household. Heinrich von Glauben was a man of somewhat extraordinary character andindividuality. In his youth he had made a sudden meteoric fame for hismarvellous skill and success in surgery, as also for his equallysurprising quickness and correctness in diagnosing obscure diseases andtracing them to their source. But, after creating a vast amount ofdiscussion and opposition among his confrères, and almost reaching thatbrilliant point of triumph when his originality and cleverness wereproved great enough to win him a host of enemies, he all at once threwup the game as it were, and, resigning the favourable opportunities ofincreasing distinction offered him in his native Germany, accepted thecomparatively retired and private position he now occupied. Some saidit was a disappointment in love which had caused his abrupt departurefrom the Fatherland, --others declared it was irritation at the severemanner in which his surgical successes had been handled by the medicalcritics, --but whatever the cause, it soon became evident that he hadturned his back on the country of his birth for ever, and that he wasapparently entirely satisfied with the lot he had chosen. His post wascertainly an easy and pleasant one, --the members of the Royal family towhich his services were attached were exceptionally healthy, as Royalfamilies go; and he was seldom in more than merely formal attendance, so that he had ample time and opportunity to pursue those deeper formsof physiological study which had excited the wrath and ridicule of hiscontemporaries, as well as to continue the writing of a book which heintended should make a stir in the world, and which he had entitled"The Moral and Political History of Hunger. "

"For, " said he--"Hunger is the primal civilizer, --the very keystoneand foundation of all progress. From the plain, prosy, earthy fact thatman is a hungry animal, and must eat, has sprung all the civilizationof the world! I shall demonstrate this in my book, beginning with thescriptural legend of Adam's greed for an apple. Adam was evidentlyhungry at the moment Eve tempted him. As soon as he had satisfied hisinner man, he thought of his outer, --and his next idea was, naturally, tailoring. From this simple conjunction of suggestions, combined withwhat 'God' would have to say to him concerning his food-experiment andfig-leaf apron, man has drawn all his religions, manners, customs andmorals. The proposition is self-evident, --but I intend to point it outwith somewhat emphasised clearness for the benefit of those persons whoare inclined to arrogate to themselves the possession of superiorwisdom. Neither brain nor soul has placed man in a position ofSupremacy, --merely Hunger and Nakedness!"

The Professor was now about fifty-five, but his exceptionally powerfulbuild and robust constitution gave him the grace in appearance of manyyears younger, though perhaps the extreme composure of his temperament, and the philosophic manner in which he viewed all circumstances, whether pleasing or disastrous, may have exercised the greatestinfluence in keeping his eyes clear and clean, and his countenance freeof unhandsome wrinkles. He was more like a soldier than a doctor, andwas proud of his resemblance to the earlier portraits of Bismarck. Tosee him in his own particular 'sanctum' surrounded by weird-lookingdiagrams of sundry parts of the human frame, mysterious phials andstoppered flasks containing various liquids and crystals, and all themodern appliances for closely examining the fearful yet beautifulsecrets of the living organism, was as if one should look upon a roughand burly giant engaged in some delicate manipulation of mosaics. YetVon Glauben's large hand was gentler than a woman's in its touch andgift of healing, --no surgeon alive could probe a wound more tenderly, or with less pain to the sufferer, --and the skill of that large handwas accompanied by the penetrative quality of the large benevolentbrain which guided it, --a brain that could encompass the whole circleof the world in its observant and affectionate compassion. 

"Ach!--who is there that can be angry with anyone?--impatient withanyone, --offended with anyone!" he was wont to say--"Everybody suffersso much and so undeservedly, that as far as my short life goes I haveonly time for pity--not condemnation!"

To this individual, as a kind of human calmative and tonic combined, Sir Roger de Launay was in the habit of going whenever he felt his owncustomary tranquillity at all disturbed. The two were great friends;--friends in their mutual love and service of the King, --friends in theirequally mutual but discreetly silent worship of the Queen, --and friendsin their very differences of opinion on men and matters in general. DeLaunay, being younger, was more hasty of judgment and quick in action;but Von Glauben too had been known to draw his sword with unexpectedrapidity on occasion, to the discomfiture of those who deemed him onlyat home with the scalpel. Just now, however, he was in a particularlynon-combative and philosophic mood; he was watching certain animalculaewriggling in a glass tube, the while he sat in a large easy-chair withslippered feet resting on another chair opposite, puffing clouds ofsmoke from a big meerschaum, --and he did not stir from his indolentattitude when De Launay entered, but merely looked up and smiledplacidly. 

"Sit down, Roger!" he said, --then, as De Launay obeyed the invitation, he pushed over a box of cigars, and added--"You look exceedingly tired, my friend! Something has bored you more than usual? Take a lesson fromthose interesting creatures!" and he pointed with the stem of his pipeto the bottled animalculae--"They are never bored, --never weary of doingmischief! They are just now living under the pleasing delusion that theglass tube they are in is a man, and that they are eating him up alive. Little devils! Nothing will exhaust their vitality till they havegorged themselves to death! Just like a great many human beings!"

"I am not in the mood for studying animalculae, " said De Launayirritably, as he lit a cigar. 

"No? But why not? They are really quite as interesting as ourselves!"

"Look here, Von Glauben, I want you to be serious--"

"My friend, I am always serious, " declared the Professor--"Even when Ilaugh, I laugh seriously. My laughter is as real as myself. "

"What would you think, "--pursued De Launay--"of a king who freelyexpressed his own opinions?"

"I should say he was a brave man, " answered the Professor; "He wouldcertainly deserve my respect, and he should have it. Even if the lawsof etiquette were not existent, I should feel justified in taking offmy hat to him. "

"Never from henceforth wear a hat at all then, " said De Launay--"Itwill save you the trouble of continually doffing it at every glimpse ofhis Majesty!"

Von Glauben drew his pipe from his mouth and gazed blankly at theceiling for a few moments in silence. "His Majesty?" he presentlymurmured--"Our Majesty?"

"Yes; our Majesty--our King"--replied De Launay--"For some inscrutablereason or other he has suddenly adopted the dangerous policy ofspeaking his mind. What now?"

"What now? Why nothing particular just now, --unless you have somethingto tell me. Which, judging from your entangled expression of eye, Ipresume you have. "

De Launay hesitated a moment. The Professor saw his hesitation. 

"Do not speak, my friend, if you think you are committing a breach ofconfidence, " he said composedly--"In the brief affairs of this life, itis better to keep trouble on your own mind than impart it to others. "

"Oh, there is no breach of confidence;" said De Launay, "The thing isas public as the day, or if it is not public already, it soon will bemade so. That is where the mischief comes in, --or so I think. Judge foryourself!" And in a few words he gave the gist of the interview whichhad taken place between the King and the emissary of the Jesuits thatmorning. 

"Nothing surprises me as a rule, "--said the Professor, when he hadheard all--"But if anything could prick the sense of astonishment anewin me, it would be to think that anyone, king or commoner, should takethe trouble to speak truth to a Jesuit. Why, the very essence of theircarefully composed and diplomatic creed, is to so disguise truth thatit shall be no more recognisable. Myself, I believe the Jesuits to bethe lineal descendants of those priests who served Bel and the Dragon. The art of conjuring and deception is in their very blood. It is forthe Jesuits that I have invented a beautiful new verb, --'Tohypocrise. ' It sounds well. Here is the present tense, --'I hypocrise, Thou hypocrisest, He hypocrises:--We hypocrise, You hypocrise, Theyhypocrise. ' Now hear the future. 'I shall hypocrise, Thou shalthypocrise, He shall hypocrise; We shall hypocrise, You shall hypocrise, They shall hypocrise. ' There is the whole art of Jesuitry for you, madegrammatically perfect!"

De Launay gave a gesture of impatience, and flung away the end of hishalf-smoked cigar. 

"Ach! That is a sign of temper, Roger!" said Von Glauben, shaking hishead--"To lift one's shoulders to the lobes of one's ears, and wastenearly the half of an exceedingly expensive and choice Havana, showsnervous irritation! You are angry, my friend--and with me!"

"No I am not, " replied De Launay, rising from his chair and beginningto pace the room--"But I do not profess to have your phlegmaticdisposition. I feel what I thought you would feel also, --that the Kingis exposing himself to unnecessary danger. And I know what you do notyet know, but what this letter will no doubt inform you, "--and he drewan envelope bearing the Royal seal from his pocket and handed it to theProfessor--"Namely, --that his Majesty is bent on rushing voluntarilyinto various other perils, unless perhaps, your warning or advice mayhinder him. Mine has no effect, --moreover I am bound to serve him ashe bids. "

"Equally am I also bound to serve him;"--said Von Glauben, "And gladlyand faithfully do I intend to perform my service wherever it may leadme!" Whereupon, shaking himself out of his recumbent position, like agreat lion rolling out of his lair, he stood upright, and breaking theseal of the envelope he held, read its contents through in silence. SirRoger stood opposite to him, watching his face in vain for any sign ofastonishment, regret or dismay. 

"We must do as he commands, "--he said simply as he finished reading theletter and folded it up for safe keeping--"There is no other way; notfor me at least. I shall most assuredly be at the appointed place, atthe appointed hour, and in the appointed manner. It will be a change;certainly lively, and possibly beneficial!"

"But the King's life--"

"Is in God's keeping!" said Von Glauben, --"Believe me, Roger, no harmcomes undeservedly to a brave man with a good conscience! It is a badconscience which invites mischief. I am a great believer in the law ofattraction. The good attracts the good, --the bad, the bad. That is whytruthful persons are generally lonely--because nearly all the world'sinhabitants are liars!"

"But the King--" again began Sir Roger. 

"The King is a man!" said Von Glauben, with a flash of pride in hiseyes--"Which is more than I will say for most kings! Who shall blamehim for asserting his manhood? Not I! Not you! Who shall blame him forseeking to know the real position of things in the country he governs?Not I! Not you! Our business is to guard and defend him--with our ownlives, if necessary, --we shall do that with a will, Roger, shall wenot?" And with an impulsive quickness of action, he took a sword from astand of weapons near him, drew it from its scabbard and kissing thehilt, held it out to De Launay who did the same--"That is understood!And for the rest, Roger my friend, take it all lightly and easily--as afarce!--as a bit of human comedy, with a great actor cast for the chiefrole. We are only supers, you and I, but we shall do well to stand nearthe wings in case of fire!"

He drew himself up to his great height and squared his shoulders, --thensmiled benevolently. 

"I believe it will be all very amusing, Roger; and that your fears forthe safety of his Majesty will be proved groundless. Remember, Courtlife is excessively dull, --truly the dullest form of existence onearth, --it is quite natural that he who is the most bored by it shoulddesire some break in the terrible monotony!"

"The monotony will certainly be broken with a vengeance, if the Kingcontinues in his present humour!"--said De Launay grimly. 

"Possibly! And let us hope the comfortable self-assurance andcomplacency of a certain successful Minister may be somewhat seriouslydisturbed!" rejoined Von Glauben, --"For myself, I assure you I seesport!"

"And I scent danger, "--said De Launay--"For if any mischance happen tothe King, the Prince is not ripe enough to rule. "

A slight shadow darkened the Professor's open countenance. He lookedfixedly at Sir Roger, who met his gaze with equal fixity. 

"The Prince, "--he said slowly--"is young--"

"And rash--" interposed De Launay. 

"No. Pardon me, my friend! Not rash. Merely honest. That is all! He isa very honest young man indeed. It is unfortunate that he is so; aploughman may be honest if he likes, but a prince--never!"

De Launay was silent. 

"I will now destroy a world"--continued Von Glauben, "Kings, emperors, popes, councillors and common folk, can all perish incontinently, --as--being myself for the present the free agent of the Deity concerned inthe matter, --I have something else to do than to look after them, "--andhe took up the glass vessel containing the animalculae he had beenwatching, and cast it with its contents into a small stove burningdimly at one end of the apartment, --"Gone are their ambitions andconfabulations for ever! How easy for the Creator to do the same thingwith us, Roger! Let us not talk of any special danger for the King orfor any man, seeing that we are all on the edge of an eternal volcano!"

De Launay stood absorbed for a moment, as if in deep thought. Thenrousing himself abruptly he said:--

"You will not see the King, and speak with him before to-morrow night?"

"Why should I?" queried the Professor. "His wish is a command which Imust obey. Besides, my good Roger, all the arguments in the world willnot turn a man from having his own way if he has once made up his ownmind. Advice from me on the present matter would be merely taken as animpertinence. Moreover I have no advice to give, --I rather approve ofthe plan!"

Sir Roger looked at him; and noting the humorous twinkle in his eyessmiled, though somewhat gravely. 

"I hope, with you, that the experiment may only prove an amusing one, "he said--"But life is not always a farce!"

"Not always, but often! When it is not a farce it is a tragedy. Andsuch a tragedy! My God! Horrible--monstrous--cruel beyond conception, and enough to make one believe in Hell and doubt Heaven!"

He spoke passionately, in a voice vibrating with strong emotion. DeLaunay glanced at him wonderingly, but did not speak. 

"When you see tender young children tortured by disease, " he went on, --"Fair and gentle women made the victims of outrage and brutality--strong men killed in their thousands to gain a little additional gold, an extra slice of empire, --then you see the tragic, the inexplicable, the crazy cruelty of putting into us this little pulse called Life. ButI try not to think of this--it is no use thinking!"

He paused, --then in his usual quiet tone said:

"To-morrow night, then, my friend?"

"To-morrow night, " rejoined De Launay, --"Unless you receive furtherinstructions from the King. "

At that moment the clear call of a trumpet echoing across thebattlements of the palace denoted the hour for changing the sentry. "Sunset already!" said Von Glauben, walking to the window and throwingback the heavy curtain which partially shaded it, "And yonder is PrinceHumphry's yacht on its homeward way. "

De Launay came and stood beside him, looking out. Before them the seaglistened with a thousand tints of lustrous opal in the light of thesinking sun, which, surrounded by mountainous heights of orange andpurple cloud, began to touch the water-line with a thousand arrowydarts of flame. The white-sailed vessel on which their eyes were fixed, came curtseying over the waves through a perfect arch of splendidcolour, like a fairy or phantom ship evoked from a poet's dream. 

"Absent all day, as he has been, " said De Launay, "his Royal Highnessis punctual to the promised hour of his return. "

"He is, as I told you, honest;" said Von Glauben, "and it is possiblehis honesty will be his misfortune. "

De Launay muttered something inaudible in answer, and turned to leavethe apartment. 

Von Glauben looked at him with an affectionate solicitude. 

"What a lucky thing it is you never married, Roger! Otherwise you wouldnow be going to tell your wife all about the King's plans! Then she, sweet creature, would go to confession, --and her confessor would tell abishop, --and a bishop would tell a cardinal, --and a cardinal wouldtell a confidential monsignor, --and the confidential monsignor wouldtell the Supreme Pontiff, --and so all the world would be ringing withthe news started by one little pretty wagging tongue of a woman!"

A faint flush coloured De Launay's bronzed cheek, but he laughed. 

"True! I am glad I have never married. I am still more glad--ofcircumstances"--he paused, --then went on, "which have so chanced to methat I shall never marry. " He paused again--then added--"I must begone, Von Glauben! I have to meet Prince Humphry at the quay with amessage from his Majesty. "

"Surely, " said the Professor, opening his eyes very wide, "The Princeis not to be included in our adventure?"

"By no means!" replied De Launay, --"But the King is not pleased withhis son's frequent absences from Court, and desires to speak with himon the matter. "

Von Glauben looked grave. 

"There will be some little trouble there, " he said, with a half sigh--"Ach! Who knows! Perhaps some great trouble!"

"Heaven forbid!" ejaculated Sir Roger, --"We live in times of peace. Wewant no dissension with either the King or the people. Till to-morrownight then?"

"Till to-morrow night!" responded Von Glauben, whereupon Sir Roger witha brief word of farewell, strode away. 

Left to himself, the Professor still stood at his window watching theapproach of the Prince's yacht, which came towards the shore with suchswift and stately motion through the portals of the sunset, over thesparkling water. 

"Unfortunate Humphry!" he muttered, --"What a secret he has entrusted mewith! And yet why do I call him unfortunate? There should be nothing toregret--and yet--! Well! The mischief was done before poor Heinrichvon Glauben was consulted; and if poor Heinrich were God and the Devilrolled into one strange Eternal Monster, he could not have preventedit! What is done, can never be undone!"

CHAPTER V

"IF I LOVED YOU!"

A singular pomp is sometimes associated with the announcement that myLord Pedigree, or Mister Nobody has 'had the honour of dining' withtheir Majesties the King and Queen. Outsiders read the thrilling linewith awe and envy, --and many of them are foolish enough to wish thatthey also were Lords Pedigree or Misters Nobody. As a matter of sad andsober fact, however, a dinner with royal personages is an extremelydull affair. 'Do not speak unless you are spoken to, ' is a rule which, however excellent and necessary in Court etiquette, is apt to utterlyquench conversation, and render the brightest spirits dull and inert. The silent and solemn movements of the Court flunkeys, --the painfulattitudes of those who are _not_ 'spoken to'; the eager yetlaboured smiles of those who _are_ 'spoken to ';--the melancholyefforts at gaiety--the dread of trespassing on tabooed subjects--thesethings tend to make all but the most independent and unfettered mindsshrink from such an ordeal as the 'honour' of dining with kings. Itmust, however, be conceded that the kings themselves are fully aware ofthe tediousness of their dinner parties, and would lighten the boredomif they could; but etiquette forbids. The particular monarch whosehumours are the subject of this 'plain unvarnished' history would haveliked nothing better than to be allowed to dine in simplicity and peacewithout his conversation being noted, and without having a flunkey athand to watch every morsel of food go into his mouth. He would haveliked to eat freely, talk freely, and conduct himself generally withthe ease of a private gentleman. 

All this being denied to him, he hated the dinner-hour as ardently ashe hated receiving illuminated addresses, and the freedom of cities. Yet all things costly and beautiful were combined to make his royaltable a picture which would have pleased the eyes and taste of aMarguerite de Valois. On the evening of the day on which he haddetermined, as he had said to himself, to 'begin to reign, ' it lookedmore than usually attractive. Some trifling chance had made the floraldecorations more tasteful--some amiable humour of the providence whichrules daily events, had ordained that two or three of the prettiestCourt ladies should be present;--Prince Humphry and his two brothers, Rupert and Cyprian, were at table, --and though conversation was slowand scant, the picturesqueness of the scene was not destroyed bysilence. The apartment which was used as a private dining-room whentheir Majesties had no guests save the members of their own household, was in itself a gem of art and architecture, --it had been designed andpainted from floor to ceiling by one of the most famous of the dead andgone masters, and its broad windows opened out on a white marble loggiafronting the ocean, where festoons of flowers clambered and hung, innatural tufts and trails of foliage and blossom, mingling their sweetodours with the fresh scent of the sea. Amid all the glow and delicacyof colour, the crowning perfection of the perfect environment was theQueen-Consort, lovelier in her middle-age than most women in theirteens. An exquisite figure of stateliness and dignity, robed in suchhues and adorned with such jewels as best suited her statuesque beauty, and attended by ladies of whose more youthful charms she was neverenvious, having indeed no cause for envy, she was a living defiance tothe ravages of time, and graced her royal husband's dinner-table withthe same indifferent ease as she graced his throne, unchanging in thedazzling light of her physical faultlessness. He, looking at her withmingled impatience and sadness, almost wished she would grow older inappearance with her years, and lose that perfect skin, white asalabaster, --that glittering but cold luminance of eye. For experiencehad taught him the worthlessness of beauty unaccompanied by tenderness, and fair faces had no longer the first attraction for him. His eldestson, Prince Humphry, bore a strong resemblance to himself, --he was talland slim, with a fine face, and a well-built muscular figure; the othertwo younger princes, Rupert and Cyprian, aged respectively eighteen andsixteen, were like their mother, --beautiful in form and feature, but asindifferent to all tenderness of thought and sentiment as they werefull of splendid health and vigour. And, despite the fact that thecomposition and surroundings of his household were, to all outwardappearances, as satisfactory as a man in his position could expect themto be, the King was intellectually and spiritually aware of theemptiness of the shell he called 'home. '

Love was lacking; his beautiful wife was the ice-wall against which allwaves of feeling froze as they fell into the stillness of death. Hissons had been born as the foals of a racing stud might be born, --merelyto continue the line of blood and succession. They were not the dearoffspring of passion or of tenderness. The coldness of their mother'snature was strongly engendered in them, and so far they had never shownany particular affection for their parents. The princes Rupert andCyprian thought of nothing all day but sports and games of skill; theystudied serious tasks unwillingly, and found their position as sons ofthe reigning monarch, irksome, and even ridiculous. They had caught theinfection of that diseased idea which in various exaggerated forms istending to become more or less universal, and to work great mischief tonations, --namely, that 'sport' is more important than policy, and thatall matters relating to 'sport, ' are more worth attention than wisdomin government. Of patriotism, or love of country they had none; andlaughed to scorn the grand old traditions and sentiments of nationalglory and honour, which had formerly inspired the poets of their landto many a wild and beautiful chant of battle or of victory. How to passthe day--how best to amuse themselves--this was their first thought onwaking every morning, --football, cricket, tennis and wrestling formedtheir chief subjects of conversation; and though they had professorsand tutors of the most qualified and certificated ability, they made nosecret of their utter contempt for all learning and literature. Theywere fine young animals; but did less with the brains bestowed uponthem than the working bee who makes provision of honey for the winter, or the swallow that builds its nest under warmly sheltered eaves. 

Prince Humphry, however, was of a different nature. From a shy, somewhat unmanageable boy, he had developed into a quiet, dreamy youth, fond of books, music, and romantic surroundings. He avoided the companyof his brothers whenever it was possible; their loud voices, boisterousspirits and perpetual chatter concerning the champions of this or thatrace or match, bored him infinitely, and he was at no pains to disguisehis boredom. During the last year he seemed to have grown up suddenlyinto full manhood, --he had begun to assert his privileges as Heir-Apparent, and to enjoy the freedom his position allowed him. Yet themanner of his enjoyment was somewhat singular for a young man whoformed a central figure in the circle of the land's Royalty, --he carednothing at all for the amusements and dissipations of the time; hemerely showed an abnormal love of solitude, which was highlyunflattering to fashionable society. It was on this subject that theKing had decided to speak with him, --and he watched him with closerattention than usual on this particular evening when his habit ofabsenting himself all day in his yacht had again excited comment. Itwas easy to see that the Prince had been annoyed by the message SirRoger de Launay had conveyed to him on his arrival home, --a message tothe effect that, as soon as dinner was concluded, he was required toattend his Majesty in private; and all through the stately and formalrepast, his evident irritation and impatience cast a shadow of vagueembarrassment over the royal party, --with the exception of the princesRupert and Cyprian, who were never embarrassed by anything, and whowere more apt to be amused than disquieted by the vexation of others. Welcome relief was at last given by the serving of coffee, --and theQueen and all her ladies adjourned to their own apartments. With theirdeparture the rest of the circle soon dispersed, there being no specialguests present; and at a sign from De Launay, Prince Humphryreluctantly followed his father into a small private smoking-roomadjacent to the open loggia, where the equerry, bowing low, left thetwo together. 

For a moment the King kept silence, while he chose a cigar from thesilver box on the table. Then, lighting it, he handed the boxcourteously to his son. 

"Will you smoke, Humphry?"

"Thanks, Sir, --no. "

The King seated himself; Prince Humphry remained standing. 

"You had a favourable wind for your expedition today;" said the monarchat last, beginning to smoke placidly--"I observe that The Islandsappear to have won special notice from you. What is the attraction? Theclimate or the scenery?"

The Prince was silent. 

"I like fine scenery myself, --" continued the King--"I also like achange of air. But variation in both is always desirable, --and forthis, it is unwise to go to the same place every day!"

Still the Prince said nothing. His father looked up and studied hisface attentively, but could guess nothing from its enigmaticalexpression. 

"You seem tongue-tied, Humphry!" he said--"Come, sit down! Let us talkthis out. Can you not trust me, your father, as a friend?"

"I wish I could!" answered the young man, half inaudibly. 

"And can you not?"

"No. You have never loved me!"

The King drew his cigar from his mouth, and flicking off a morsel ofash, looked at its end meditatively. 

"Well--no!--I cannot say honestly that I have. Love, --it is aridiculous word, Humphry, but it has a meaning on certain occasions!--love for the children of your mother is an impossibility!"

"Sir, I am not to blame for my mother's disposition. "

"True--very true. You are not to blame. But you exist. And that you doexist is a fact of national importance. Will you not sit down?"

"At your command, Sir!" and the Prince seated himself opposite hisfather, who having studied his cigar sufficiently, replaced it betweenhis lips and went on smoking for a few minutes before he spoke again. Then he resumed:--

"Your existence, I repeat, Humphry, is a fact of national importance. To you falls the Throne when I have done with it, and life has donewith me. Therefore, your conduct, --your mode of life--your example inmanners--concern, not me, so much as the nation. You say that youcannot trust me as a friend, because I have never loved you. Is notthis a somewhat childish remark on your part? We live in a verypractical age--love is not a necessary tie between human beings asthings go nowadays;--the closest bond of friendship rests on the basisof cash accounts. "

"I am perfectly aware of that!" said the Prince, fixing his fine darkeyes full on his father's face--"And yet, after all, love is such avital necessity, that I have only to look at you, in order to realizethe failure and mistake of trying to do without it!"

The King gave him a glance of whimsical surprise. 

"So!--you have begun to notice what I have known for years!" he saidlightly--"Clever young man! What fine fairy finger is pointing out toyou my deficiencies, while supplying your own? Do you learn to estimatethe priceless value of love while contemplating the romantic groves andwoodlands of The Islands? Do you read poetry there?--or write it? Ortalk it?"

Prince Humphry coloured, --then grew very pale. 

"When I misuse my time, Sir, " he said--"Surely it will then be needfulto catechise me on the manner in which I spend it, --but not till then!"

"Fairly put!" answered the King--"But I have an idea--it may be amistaken idea, --still I have it--that you _are_ misusing yourtime, Humphry! And this is the cause of our present little discussion. If I knew that you occupied yourself with the pleasures befitting yourage and rank, I should be more at ease. "

"What do you consider to be the pleasures befitting my age and rank?"asked the Prince with a touch of satire; "Making a fool of myselfgenerally?"

The King smiled. 

"Well!--it would be better to make a fool of yourself generally thanparticularly! Folly is not so harmful when spread like jam over a wholeslice of bread, --but it may cause a life-long sickness, if swallowed inone secret gulp of sweetness!"

The Prince moved uneasily. 

"You think I am catechising you, --and you resent it--but, my dear boy, let me again remind you that you are in a manner answerable to thenation for your actions; and especially to that particular section ofthe nation called Society. Society is the least and worst part of thewhole community--but it has to be considered by such servants of thepublic as ourselves. You know what James the First of England wroteconcerning the 'domestic regulations' on the conduct of a prince andfuture king? 'A king is set as one on a stage, whose smallest, actionsand gestures all the people gazinglie do behold; and, however just inthe discharge of his office, yet if his behaviour be light ordissolute, in indifferent actions, the people, who see but the outwardpart, conceive preoccupied conceits of the king's inward intention, which although with time, the trier of all truth, will evanish by theevidence of the contrarie effect, yet, _interim patitur justus_, and prejudged conceits will, in the meantime, breed contempt, themother of rebellion and disorder. ' Poor James of the 'goggle eyes andlarge hysterical heart' as Carlyle describes him! Do you not agree withhis estimate of a royal position?"

"I am not aware, Sir, that my behaviour can as yet be called light ordissolute;" replied the Prince coldly, with a touch of hauteur. 

"I do not call it so, Humphry"--said the King--"To the best of myknowledge, your conduct has always been most exemplary. But with allyour excessive decorum, you are mysterious. That is bad! Society willnot endure being kept in the dark, or outside the door of things, likea bad child! It wants to be in the room, and know everything andeverybody. And this reminds me of another point on which the goodEnglish James offers sound advice. 'Remember to be plaine and sensiblein your language; for besides, it is the tongue's office to be themessenger of the mind, it may be thought a point of imbecilitie ofspirit, in a king to speak obscurely, much more untrewly, as if hestood in awe of any in uttering his thoughts. ' That is precisely yourmood at the present moment, Humphry, --you stand 'in awe'--of me or ofsomeone else, --in 'uttering your thoughts. '"

"Pardon me, Sir, --I do not stand in awe of you or of anyone;" said thePrince composedly--"I simply do not choose to 'utter my thoughts' justnow. "

The King looked at him in surprise, and with a touch of admiration. Thedefiant air he had unconsciously assumed became him, --his handsome facewas pale, and his dark eyes coldly brilliant, like those of hisbeautiful mother, with the steel light of an inflexible resolve. 

"You do not choose?" said the King, after a pause--"You decline to giveany explanation of your long hours of absence?--your constant visits toThe Islands, and your neglect of those social duties which should keepyou at Court?"

"I decline to do so for the present, " replied the young man decisively;"I can see no harm in my preference for quietness rather than noise, --for scenes of nature rather than those of artificial folly. The Islandsare but two hours sail from this port, --little tufts of land set in thesea, where the coral-fishers dwell. They are beautiful in their naturaladornment of foliage and flower;--I go there to read--to dream--tothink of life as a better, purer thing than what you call 'society'would make it for me; you cannot blame me for this?"

The King was silent. 

"If it is your wish, "--went on the Prince--"that I should stay in thepalace more, I will obey you. If you desire me to be seen oftener inthe capital, I will endeavour to fulfil your command, though thestreets stifle me. But, for God's sake, do not make me a puppet on showbefore my time, --or marry me to a woman I hate, merely for the sake ofheirs to a wretched Throne!"

The King rose from his chair, and, walking towards the garden, threwthe rest of his cigar out among the foliage, where the burning morselshone like a stray glowworm in the green. Then he turned towards hisson;--his face was grave, almost stern. 

"You can go, Humphry!" he said;--"I have no more to say to you atpresent. You talk wildly and at random, as if you were, by some meansor other, voluntarily bent upon unfitting yourself for the position youare destined to occupy. You will do well, I think, to remain more inevidence at Court. You will also do well to be seen at some of thedifferent great social functions of the day. But I shall not coerceyou. Only--consider well what I have said!--and if you have a secret"--he paused, and then repeated with emphasis--"I say, if you have asecret of any kind, be advised, and confide in me before it is toolate! Otherwise you may find yourself betrayed unawares! Good-night!"

He walked away without throwing so much as a backward glance at thePrince, who stood amazed at the suddenness and decision with which hehad brought the conversation to a close; and it was not till his tallfigure had disappeared that the young man began to realize the doubtfulawkwardness of the attitude he had assumed towards one who, both asparent and king, had the most urgent claim in the world upon hisrespect and obedience. Impatient and angry with himself, he crossed theloggia and went out into the garden beyond. A young moon, slender as abent willow wand, gleamed in the clear heavens among hosts of starsmore brilliantly visible than itself, and the soft air, laden with theperfume of thousands of flowers, cooled his brain and calmed hisnerves. The musical low murmur of the sea, lapping against the shorebelow the palace walls, suggested a whole train of pleasing andpoetical fancies, and he strolled along the dewy grass paths, undertangles of scented shrubs and arching boughs of pine, giving himself upto such idyllic dreams of life and life's fairest possibilities, asonly youthful and imaginative souls can indulge in. He was troubled andvexed by his father's warning, but not sufficiently to pay serious heedto it. His 'secret' was safe so far;--and all he had to do, so heconsidered, was to exercise a little extra precaution. 

"There is only Von Glauben, "--he thought, "and he would never betrayme. Besides it is a mere question of another year--and then I can makeall the truth known. "

The lovely long-drawn warble of a nightingale broke the stillnessaround him with a divine persistence of passion. He listened, standingmotionless, his eyes lifted towards the dark boughs above him, fromwhence the golden notes dropped liquidly; and his heart beat quickly ashe thought of a voice sweeter than that of any heavenly-gifted bird, aface fairer than that of the fabled goddess who on such a night as thisdescended from her silver moon-car to enchant Endymion;--and hemurmured half aloud--

"Who would not risk a kingdom--ay! a thousand kingdoms!--for suchhappiness as I possess! It is a foolish, blind world nowadays, thatforgets the glory of its youth, --the glow, the breath, the tendernessof love!--all for amassing gold and power! I will not be of such aworld, nor with it;--I will not be like my father, the slave of pompand circumstance;--I will live an unfettered life--yes!--even if I haveto resign the throne for the sake of freedom, still I will be free!"

He strolled on, absorbed in romantic reverie, and the nightingale'ssong followed him through the winding woods down to the shore, wherethe waves made other music of their own, which harmonised with thedreamy fancies of his mind. 

Meanwhile, the King had sought his consort in her own apartments. Walking down the great corridor which led to these, the most beautifulrooms in the palace, he became aware of the silvery sound of stringedinstruments mingling with harmonious voices, --though he scarcely heededthe soft rush of melody which came thus wafted to his ears. He was fullof thoughts and schemes, --his son's refusal to confide in him had notseriously troubled him, because he knew he should, with patience, findout in good time all that the young Prince had declined to explain, --and his immediate interest was centred in his own immediate plans. 

On reaching the ante-room leading to the Queen's presence-chamber, hewas informed that her Majesty was listening to a concert in the rosery. Thither he went unattended, --and passing through a long suite ofsplendid rooms, each one more sumptuously adorned than the last, hepresently stepped out on the velvet greensward of one of the mostperfect rose gardens in the world--a garden walled entirely round withtall hedges of the clambering flowers which gave it its name, and whichwere trailed up on all sides, so as to form a ceiling or hanging canopyabove. In the centre of this floral hall, now in full blossom, afountain tossed up one tall column of silver spray; and at its upperend, against a background of the dainty white roses called "Felicitéperpétuelle" sat the Queen, in a high chair of carved ivory, surroundedby her ladies. Delicious music, performed by players and singers whowere hidden behind the trees, floated in voluptuous strains upon theair, and the King, looking at the exquisite grouping of fair women andflowers, lit by the coloured lamps which gleamed here and there amongthe thick foliage, wondered to himself how it chanced, that amidsurroundings which were calculated to move the senses to the mostrefined and delicate rapture, he himself could feel no quickeningpulse, no touch of admiration. These open-air renderings of music andsong were the Queen's favourite form of recreation;--at such timesalone would her proud face soften and her eyes grow languid with anunrevealed weight of dreams. But should her husband, or any one of hissex break in upon the charmed circle, her pleasure was at onceclouded, --and the cold hauteur of her beautiful features became againinflexibly frozen. Such was the case now, when perceiving the King, shewaved her hand as a sign for the music to cease; and with a glance ofsomething like wonderment at his intrusion, saluted him profoundly ashe entered the precincts of her garden Court. But for once he did notpause as usual, on his way to where she sat, --but lightly acknowledgingthe deep curtseys of the ladies in attendance, he advanced towards herand raising her hand in courtly homage to his lips, seated himselfcarelessly in a low chair at her feet. 

"Let the music go on!" he said; "I am here to listen. "

The Queen looked at him, --he met her eyes with an expression that shehad never seen on his face before. 

"Suffer me to have my way!" he said to her in a low tone--"Let yoursingers finish their programme; afterwards do me the favour to dismissyour women, for I must speak with you alone. "

She bent her head in acquiescence; and re-seated herself on her ivorythrone. The sign was given for the continuance of the music, and theKing, leaning back in his chair, half closed his eyes as he listeneddreamily to the harmonious throbbing of harps and violins around him, in the stillness of the languid southern night. His hand almost brushedagainst his wife's jewelled robes--the scent of the great lilies on herbreast was wafted to him with every breath of air, and he thought--"Allthis would be Paradise, --with any other woman!" And while he sothought, the clear tenor voice of one of the unseen singers rang out inhalf gay, half tender tones:

 If I loved you, and you loved me, How happy this little world would be-- The light of the day, the dancing hours, The skies, the trees, the birds and flowers, Would all be part of our perfect gladness;-- And never a note of pain or sadness Would jar life's beautiful melody If I loved you, and you loved me!

 'If I loved you!' Why, I scarcely know How if I did, the time would go!-- I should forget my dreary cares, My sordid toil, my long despairs, I should watch your smile, and kneel at your feet, And live my life in the love of you, Sweet!-- So mad, so glad, so proud I should be, If I loved you, and you loved me!

 'If you loved me!' Ah, nothing so strange As that could chance in this world of change!-- As well expect a planet to fall, Or a Queen to dwell in a beggar's hall-- But if you did, --romance and glory Might spring from our lives' united story, And angels might be less happy than we-- If I loved you and you loved me!

 'If I loved you and you loved me!' Alas, 't is a joy we shall never see! You are too fair--I am too cold;-- We shall drift along till we both grow old, Till we reach the grave, and gasping, die, Looking back on the days that have passed us by, When 'what might have been, ' can no longer be, -- When I lost you, and you lost me!

The song concluded abruptly, and with passion;--and the King, turningon his elbow, glanced with a touch of curiosity at the face of hisQueen. There was not a flicker of emotion on its fair cold calmness, --not a quiver on the beautiful lips, or a sigh to stir the quiet breaston which the lilies rested, white and waxen, and heavily odorous. Hewithdrew his gaze with a half smile at his own folly for imagining thatshe could be moved by a mere song to any expression of feeling, --evenfor a moment, --and allowed his glance to wander unreservedly over theforms and features of the other ladies in attendance who, conscious ofhis regard, dropped their eyelids and blushed softly, after the fashionapproved by the heroines of the melodramatic stage. Whereat he began tothink of the tiresome sameness of women generally; and their irritatinghabit of living always at two extremes, --either all ardour, or allcoldness. 

"Both are equally fatiguing to a man's mind, " he thought impatiently--"The only woman that is truly fascinating is the one who is never inthe same mind two days together. Fair on Monday, plain on Tuesday, sweet on Wednesday, sour on Thursday, tender on Friday, cold onSaturday, and in all moods at once on Sunday, --that being a day ofrest! I should adore such a woman as that if I ever met her, because Ishould never know her mind towards me!"

A soft serenade rendered by violins, with a harp accompaniment, wasfollowed by a gay mazurka, played by all the instruments together, --andthis finished the musical programme. 

The Queen rose, accepting the hand which the King extended to her, andmoved with him slowly across the rose-garden, her long snowy trainglistering with jewels, and held up from the greensward by a prettypage, who, in his picturesque costume of rose and gold, demurelyfollowed his Royal lady's footsteps, --and so amid the curtseyingladies-in-waiting and other attendants, they passed together into aprivate boudoir, at the threshold of which the Queen's train-bearerdropped his rich burden of perfumed velvet and gems, and bowing low, left their Majesties together. 

Shutting the door upon him with his own hand, the King drew a heavyportière across it, --and then walking round the room saw that everywindow was closed, --every nook secure. The Queen's boudoir was one ofthe most sacred corners in the whole palace, --no one, not even the mostintimate lady of the Court in personal attendance on her Majesty, daredenter it without special permission; and this being the case, the Queenherself was faintly moved to surprise at the extra precaution herhusband appeared to be taking to ensure privacy. She stood silentlywatching his movements till he came up to her, and bowing courteously, said:--

"I pray you, be seated, Madam! I will not detain you long. "

She obeyed his gesture, and sank down in a chair with that inimitablenoiseless grace which made every attitude of hers a study for anartist, and waited for his next words; while he, standing opposite toher, bent his eyes upon her face with a certain wistfulness and appeal. 

"I have never asked you a favour, " he began--"and--since the day wemarried, --I have never sought your sympathy. The years have come andgone, leaving no visible trace on either you or me, so far as outwardlooks go, --and if they have scarred and wrinkled us inwardly, only Godcan see those scars! But as time moves on with a man, --I know not howit is with a woman, --if he be not altogether a fool, he begins toconsider the way in which he has spent, or is spending his life, --whether he has been, or is yet likely to be of any use to the world helives in, --or if he is of less account than the blown froth of the sea, or the sand on the shore. Myriads and myriads of men and women are nomore than this--no more than midges or ants or worms;--but every nowand then in the course of centuries, one man does stand forth from themillion, --one heart does beat courageously enough to send the firm echoof its pulsations through a long vista of time, --one soul does so exaltand inspire the rest of the world by its great example that we are, through its force reminded of something divine, --something high andtrue in a low wilderness of shams!"

He paused; the Queen raised her beautiful eyes, and smiled strangely. 

"Have you only just now thought of this?" she said. 

He flushed, and bit his lip. 

"To be perfectly honest with you, Madam, I have thought of nothingworth thinking about for many years! Most men in my position wouldprobably make the same confession. Perhaps had you given me any greatwork to do for your sake I should have done it! Had _you_ inspiredme to achieve some great conquest, either for myself or others, Ishould no doubt have conquered! But I have lived for twenty-one yearsin your admirable company without being commanded by you to do anythingworthy of a king;--I am now about to command Myself!--in order to leavesome notable trace of my name in history. "

While he thus spoke, a faint flush coloured the Queen's cheeks, but itquickly died away, leaving her very pale. Her fingers strayed among thegreat jewels she wore, and toyed unconsciously with a ruby talisman cutin the shape of a heart, and encircled with diamonds. The King notedthe flash of the gems against the whiteness of her hand, and said:

"Your heart, Madam, is like the jewel you hold!--clear crimson, andfull of fire, --but it is not the fire of Heaven, though you mayperchance judge it to be so. Rather is it of hell!--(I pray you topardon me for the roughness of this suggestion!)--for one of the chiefcrimes of the devil is unconquerable hatred of the human race. Youshare Satan's aversion to man!--and strange indeed it is that even themost sympathetic companionship with your own sex cannot soften thataversion! However, we will not go into this;--the years have proved youtrue to your own temperament, and there is nothing to be said on thematter, either of blame or of praise. As I said, I have never asked afavour of you, nor have I sought the sympathy which it is not in yournature to give. I have not even claimed your obedience in anyparticular strictness of form; but that is my errand to you to-night, --indeed it is the sole object of this private interview, --to claim yourentire, your unfaltering, your implicit obedience!"

She raised her head haughtily. 

"To what commands, Sir?" she asked. 

"To those I have here written, --" and he handed her a paper folded intwo, which she took wonderingly, as he extended it. "Read thiscarefully!--and if you have any objections to urge, I am willing tolisten to you with patience, though scarcely to alter the conditionslaid down. "

He turned away, and walked slowly through the room, pausing a moment towhistle to a tiny bird swinging in a gilded cage, that perked up itspretty head at his call and twittered with pleasure. 

"So you respond to kindness, little one!" he said softly, --"You aremore Christ-like in that one grace than many a Christian!"

He started, as a light touch fell on his shoulder, and he saw the Queenstanding beside him. She held the paper he had given her in one hand, and as he looked at her enquiringly she touched it with her lips, andplaced it in her bosom. 

"I swear my obedience to your instructions, Sir!" she said, --"Do notfear to trust me!"

Gently he took her hands and kissed them. 

"I thank you!" he said simply. 

For a moment they confronted each other. The beautiful cold woman'seyes drooped under the somewhat sad and searching gaze of the man. 

"But--your life!--" she murmured. 

"My life!" He laughed and dropped her hands. "Would you care, Madam, ifI were dead? Would you shed any tears? Not you! Why should you? At thislate hour of time, when after twenty-one years passed in each other'sclose company we are no nearer to each other in heart and soul than ifthe sea murmuring yonder at the foot of these walls were stretching itswhole width between us! Besides--we are both past our youth! And, according to certain highly instructed scientists and philosophers, thesenses and affections grow numb with age. I do not believe this theorymyself--for the jejune love of youth is as a taper's flame to the greatand passionate tenderness of maturity, when the soul, and not the body, claims its due; when love is not dragged down to the vulgar level ofmere cohabitation, after the fashion of the animals in a farmyard, butrises to the best height of human sympathy and intelligentcomprehension. Who knows!--I may experience such a love as that yet, --and so may you!"

She was silent. 

"Talking of love, "--he went on--"May I ask whether our son, --or ratherthe nation's son, Humphry, --ever makes you his confidante?"

"Never!" she replied. 

"I thought not! We do not seem to be the kind of parents admired inmoral story-books, Madam! We are not the revered darlings of ourchildren. In fact, our children have the happy disposition of animalcubs, --once out of the nursing stage, they forget they ever hadparents. It is quite the natural and proper thing, born as they wereborn, --it would never do for them to have any over-filial regard forus. Imagine Humphry weeping for my death, or yours! What a grotesqueidea! And as for Rupert and Cyprian, --it is devoutly to be hoped thatwhen we die, our funerals may be well over before the great cricketmatches of the year come on, as otherwise they will curse us for havingleft the world at an inconvenient season!" He laughed. "How sentimenthas gone out nowadays, or how it seems to have gone out! Yet itslumbers in the heart of the nation, --and if it should ever awaken, --well!--it will be dangerous! I asked you about Humphry, because Iimagine he is entangled in some love-affair. If it should be agreeableto your humour to go with me across to The Islands one day this week, we may perhaps by chance discover the reason of his passion for thatparticular kind of scenery!"

The Queen's eyes opened wonderingly. 

"The Islands!" she repeated, --"The Islands? Why, only the coral-fisherslive there, --they have a community of their own, and are jealous of allstrangers. What should Humphry do there?"

"That is more than I can tell you, " answered the King, --"And it is morethan he will himself explain. Nevertheless, he is there nearly everyday, --some attraction draws him, but what, I cannot discover. IfHumphry were of the soul of me, as he is of the body of me, I shouldnot even try to fathom his secret, --but he is the nation's child--heirto its throne--and as such, it is necessary that we, for the nation'ssake, should guard him in the nation's interests. If you chance tolearn anything of the object of his constant sea-wanderings, I trustyou will find it coincident with your pleasure to inform me?"

"I shall most certainly obey you in this, Sir, as in all other things!"she replied. 

He moved a step or two towards her. 

"Good-night!" he said very gently, and detaching one of the lilies fromher corsage, took it in his own hand. "Good-night! This flower willremind me of you;--white and beautiful, with all the central gold deephidden!"

He looked at her intently, with a lingering look, half of tenderness, half of regret, and bowing in the courtliest fashion of homage, lefther presence. 

She remained alone, the velvet folds of her train flowing about herfeet, and the jewels on her breast flashing like faint sparks of flamein the subdued glow of the shaded lamplight. She was touched for thefirst time in her life by the consciousness of something infinitelynoble, and altogether above her in her husband's nature. Slowly shedrew out the paper he had given her from her bosom and read it throughagain--and yet once again. Almost unconsciously to herself a mistgathered in her eyes and softened into two bright tears, which droppeddown her fair cheeks, and lost themselves among her diamonds. 

"He is brave!" she murmured--"Braver than I thought he could ever be--"

She roused herself sharply from her abstraction. Emotions which werebeyond her own control had strangely affected her, and the humiliatingidea that her moods had for a moment escaped beyond her guidance madeher angry with herself for what she considered mere weakness. Andpassing quickly out of the boudoir, in the vague fear that solitudemight deepen the sense of impotence and failure which insinuated itselfslowly upon her, like a dull blight creeping through her heart andsoul, she rejoined her ladies, the same great Queen as ever, with thesame look of indifference on her face, the same chill smile, the sameperfection of loveliness, unwithered by any visible trace of sorrow orof passion. 

CHAPTER VI

SERGIUS THORD

The next day the heavens were clouded; and occasional volleys of heavythunder were mingled with the gusts of wind and rain which swept overthe city, and which lashed the fair southern sea into a dark semblanceof such angry waves as wear away northern coasts into bleak and rockybarrenness. It was disappointing weather to multitudes, for it was thefeast-day of one of the numerous saints whose names fill the calendarof the Roman Church, --and a great religious procession had beenorganized to march from the market-place to the Cathedral, in which twoor three hundred children and girls had been chosen to take part. Thefickle bursts of sunshine which every now and again broke through thelowering sky, decided the priests to carry out their programme in spiteof the threatening storm, in the hope that it would clear offcompletely with the afternoon. Accordingly, groups of little maidens, in white robes and veils, began to assemble with their flags andbanners at the appointed hour round the old market cross, which, --greyand crumbling at the summit, --bent over the streets like a witheredfinger, crook'd as it were, in feeble remonstrance at the passing oftime, --while glimpses of young faces beneath the snowy veils, andchatter of young voices, made brightness and music around its frowningand iron-bound base. Shortly before three o'clock the Cathedral bellsbegan to chime, and crowds of people made their way towards the sacrededifice in the laughing, pushing, gesticulating fashion of southerners, to whom a special service at the Church is like a new comedy at thetheatre, --women with coloured kerchiefs knotted over their hair oracross their bosoms--men, more or less roughly clad, yet all payingcompliment to the Saint's feast-day by some extra smart touch in theirattire, if it were only a pomegranate flower or orange-blossom stuck intheir hats, or behind their ears. It was a mixed crowd, all of theworking classes, who are proverbially called 'the common, ' as if thosewho work, are not a hundred times more noble than those who do nothing!A few carriages, containing some wealthy ladies of the nobility, who, to atone for their social sins, were in the habit of contributinglargely to the Church, passed every now and again through the crowd, but taken as a spectacle it was simply a 'popular' show, in which thechildren of the people took part, and where the people themselves wereevidently more amused than edified. 

While the bells were ringing the procession gradually formed;--a dozenor more priests leading, --incense-bearers and acolytes walking next, --and then the long train of little children and girls carrying theirsymbolic banners, following after. The way they had to walk was asteep, winding ascent, through tortuous streets, to the Cathedral, which stood in the centre of a great square on an eminence whichoverlooked the whole city, and as soon as they started they began tosing, --softly at first, then more clearly and sweetly, till graduallythe air grew full of melody, rising and falling on the capricious gustsof wind which tore at the gilded and emblazoned banners, and tossed thewhite veils of the maidens about like wreaths of drifting snow. Two menstanding on the Cathedral hill, watched the procession graduallyascending--one tall and heavily-built, with a dark leonine head mademore massive-looking by its profusion of thick and unmanageable hair--the other lean and narrow-shouldered, with a peaked reddish-auburnbeard, which he continually pulled and twitched at nervously as thoughits growth on his chin was more a matter of vexation than convenience. He was apparently not so much interested in the Church festival as hewas in his companion's face, for he was perpetually glancing up at thatbrooding countenance, which, half hidden as it was in wild hair andfurther concealed by thick moustache and beard, showed no expression atall, unless an occasional glimpse of full flashing eyes under the bushybrows, gave a sudden magnetic hint of something dangerous and not to betrifled with. 

"You do not believe anything you hear or read, Sergius Thord!" he said--"Will you twist your whole life into a crooked attitude of suspicionagainst all mankind?" He who was named Sergius Thord, lifted himselfslowly from the shoulders upwards, the action making his great heightand broad chest even more apparent than before. A gleam of white teethshone under his black moustache. 

"I do not twist my life into a crooked attitude, Johan Zegota, " hereplied. "If it is crooked, others have twisted it for me! Why should Ibelieve what I hear, since it is the fashion to lie? Why should Iaccept what I read, since it is the business of the press to deceivethe public? And why do you ask me foolish questions? You should bebetter instructed, seeing that your creed is the same as mine!"

"Have I ever denied it?" exclaimed Zegota warmly--"But I have said, andI say again that I believe the news is true, --and that these howlinghypocrites, --" this with an angry gesture of his hand towards the opensquare where the chanting priests who headed the procession were cominginto view--"have truly received an unlooked-for check from the King!"

Sergius Thord laid one hand heavily on his shoulder. 

"When the King--when any king--does anything useful in the world, thenyou may hang me with your own hands, Zegota! When did you ever hear, except in myths of the past, of a monarch who cared for his people morethan his crown? Tell me that! Tell me of any king who so truly lovedthe people he was called upon to govern, that he sacrificed his ownmoney, as well as his own time, to remedy their wrongs?--to save themfrom unjust government, to defend them from cruel taxation?--to seethat their bread was not taken from their mouths by foreigncompetition?--and to make it possible for them to live in the countryof their birth in peace and prosperity? Bah! There never was such aking! And that this man, --who has for three years left us to the mercyof the most accursed cheat and scoundrel minister that ever was inpower, --has now declared his opposition to the Jesuits', is more than Iwill or can believe. "

"If it were true?"--suggested Zegota, with a more than usually vicioustug at his beard. 

"If it were true, it would not alter my opinion, or set aside myintention, " replied Thord, --"I would admit that the King had done onegood deed before going to hell! Look! Here come the future traitressesof men--girls trained by priests to deceive their nearest and dearest!Poor children! They know nothing as yet of the uses to which theirlives are destined! If they could but die now, in their innocent faithand stupidity, how much better for all the world!"

As he spoke, the wind, swooping into the square, and accompanied by apattering gust of rain, fell like a fury upon the leaders of thereligious procession and tore one of the great banners out of the handsof the priest who held it, beating it against his head and face with somuch force that he fell backward to the ground under its weight, whilefrom a black cloud above, a flash of lightning gleamed, followed almostinstantaneously by a loud clap of thunder, which shook the square witha mighty reverberation like that of a bursting bomb. The childrenscreamed, --and ran towards the Cathedral pellmell; and for a fewmoments there ensued indescribable confusion, the priests, the people, and the white-veiled girls getting mixed together in a wild hurly-burly. Sergius Thord suddenly left his companion's side, and springingon a small handcart that stood empty near the centre of the square, histall figure rose up all at once like a dark apparition above the headsof the assembled crowd, and his voice, strong, clear, and vibratingwith passion, rang out like a deep alarm bell, through all the noise ofthe storm. 

"Whither are you going, O foolish people? To pray to God? Pray to Himhere, then, under the flash of His lightning!--in the roll of Histhunder!--beneath His cathedral-canopy of clouds! Pray to Him with allyour hearts, your brains, your reason, your intelligence, and leavemere lip-service and mockery to priests; and to these poor children, who, as yet, know no better than to obey tyrants! Would you find outGod? He is here--with me, --with you!--in the earth, in the sky, in thesun and storm! Whenever Truth declares a living fact, God speaks, --whenever we respond to that Truth, God hears! No church, no cathedralcontains His presence more than we shall find it here--with us--wherewe stand!"

The people heard, and a great silence fell upon them. All faces wereturned toward the speaker, and none appeared to heed the great drops offast-falling rain. One of the priests who was trying to marshal thescattered children into their former order, so that they might enterthe Cathedral in the manner arranged for the religious service, lookedup to see the cause of the sudden stillness, and muttered a curse underhis breath. But even while the oath escaped his lips, he gave thesignal for the sacred chanting to be resumed, and in another moment the'Litany of the Virgin' was started in stentorian tones by the leadersof the procession. Intimidated by the looks, as well as by the commandsof the priests, the girls and children joined in the chanting withtremulous voices, as they began to file through the Cathedral doors andenter the great nave. But a magnetic spell, stronger than anyinvocation of the Church, had fallen upon the crowd, and they all stoodas though caught in the invisible web of some enchanter, their facesturned upwards to where Thord's tall figure towered above them. Hiseyes glittered as he noted the sudden hush of attention whichprevailed, and lifting his rough cap from his head, he waved it towardsthe open door of the Cathedral, through which the grand strains of theorgan rolling out from within gave forth solemn invitation:--

"Sancta Dei Genitrix, Ora pro nobis!"

sang the children, as they passed in line under the ancient porch, carved with the figures of forgotten saints and bishops, whose stonecountenances had stared at similar scenes through the course of longcenturies. 

"Sancta Dei Genitrix, ora pro nobis!" echoed Sergius Thord--"Do youhear it, O men? Do you hear it, O women? What does it teach you? 'HolyMother of God!' Who was she? Was she not merely a woman to whom Goddescended? And what is the lesson she gives you? Plainly this--that menshould be as gods, and women as the mothers of gods! For every true andbrave man born into the world has God within him, --is made of God, andmust return to God! And every woman who gives birth to one such, true, brave man, has given a God-incarnated being to the world! 'Sancta DeiGenitrix!' Be all as mothers of gods, O women! Be as gods, O men! Be asgods in courage, in truth, in wisdom, in freedom! Suffer not devils tohave command of you! For devils there are, as there are gods;--evilthere is, as there is good. Fiends are born of women as gods are--andyet evil itself is of God, inasmuch as without God there can be neitherevil nor good. Let us help God, we His children, to conquer evil byconquering it in ourselves--and by refusing to give it power over us!So shall God show us all goodness, --all pity! So shall He cease toafflict His children; so will He cease to torture us with undeservedsorrows and devilish agonies, for which we are not to blame!"

He paused. The singing had ceased; the children's procession hadentered the Cathedral, and the doors still stood wide open. But thepeople remained outside, crowded in the square, and gatheringmomentarily in greater numbers. 

"Look you!" cried Sergius Thord--"The building which is called theSanctuary of God, stands open--why do you not all enter there? Withinare precious marbles, priceless pictures, jewels and relics--and agreat altar raised up by the gifts of wicked dead kings, who by moneysought to atone for their sins to the people. There are priests whofast and pray in public, and gratify all the lusts of appetite inprivate. There are poor and ignorant women who believe whatsoever thesepriests tell them--all this you can see if you go inside yonder. Why doyou not go? Why do you remain with me?"

A faint murmur, like the rising ripple of an angry sea, rose from thecrowd, but quickly died away again into silence. 

"Shall I tell you why you stay?" went on Thord, --"Because you know Iam your friend--and because you also know that the priests are yourenemies! Because you know that I tell you the truth, and that thepriests tell you lies! Because you feel that all the promises made toyou of happiness in Heaven cannot explain away to your satisfaction thecauses of your bitter suffering and poverty on earth! Because you aregradually learning that the chief business of priestcraft is to deceivethe people and keep them down, --down, always down in a state ofwretched ignorance. Learn, learn all you can, my brothers--take theonly good thing modern government gives you--Education! Education isthrown at us like a bone thrown to a dog, half picked by others andbarely nourishing--but take it, take it, friends, for in it you shallfind the marrow of vengeance on your tyrants and oppressors! Theeducation of the masses means the downfall of false creeds, --the ruinof all false priests! For it is only through the ignorance of the manythat tyrannical dominion is given into the hands of the few! Slavishsubmission to a corrupt government would be impossible if we allrefused to be slaves. O friends, O brothers, throw off your chains!Break down your prison doors! Some good you have done already--be braveand strong to do more! Press forward fearlessly and strive for libertyand justice! To-day we are told that the King has refused crown-landsto the Jesuits. Shall we be told to-morrow that the King has dismissedCarl Pérousse from office?"

A long wild shout told how this suggestion had gone straight home tothe throng. 

"Shall we be told this, I ask? No! Ten thousand times no! The refusalof the King to grant the priests any wider dominion over us is merelyan act of policy inspired by terror. The King is afraid! He fears thepeople will revolt against the Church, and so takes part with them lestthere should be trouble in the land, but he never seems to think theremay be another kind of revolt against himself! His refusal to concedemore place for the accursed practice of Jesuitry is so far good; buthis dismissal of Pérousse would be still better!"

A perfect hurricane of applause from the people gave emphatic testimonyto the truth of these words. 

"What is this man, Carl Pérousse?" he went on--"A man of the people--whose oaths were sworn to the people, --whom the people themselvesbrought into power because he promised to remain faithful to them! Heis false, --a traitor and political coward! A mere manufacturer ofkitchen goods, who through our folly was returned to this country'ssenate;--and through our still further credulity is now set in almostcomplete dominion over us. Well! We have suffered and are suffering forour misplaced belief in him;--the question is, how long shall wecontinue to suffer? How long are we to be governed by the schemes ofCarl Pérousse, the country's turncoat, --the trafficker in secret withJew speculators? It is for you to decide! It is for you to work outyour own salvation! It is for you to throw off tyranny, and showyourselves free men of reason and capacity! Just as the priests chantlong prayers to cover their own iniquity, so do the men of governmentmake long speeches to disguise their own corruption. You know youcannot believe their promises. Neither can you believe the press, forif this is not actually bought by Pérousse, it is bribed. And youcannot trust the King; for he is as a house divided against itselfwhich must fall! Slave of his own passions, and duped by women, what ishe but a burden to the State? Justice and power should be on the sideof kings, --but the days are come when self-interest and money can evenbuy a throne! O men, O women, rouse up your hearts and minds to workfor yourselves, to redress wrongs, --to save your country! Rouse up inyour thousands, and with your toil-worn hands pull down the pillars ofiniquity and vice that overshadow and darken the land! Fight againstthe insolent pride of wealth which strives to crush the poor; rouse, rouse your hearts!--open your eyes and see the evils which aregathering thick upon us!--and like the lightnings pent up in yonderclouds, leap forth in flame and thunder, and clear the air!"

A burst of frantic acclamation from the crowd followed this wildharangue, and while the loud roar of voices yet echoed aloft, a band ofarmed police came into view, marching steadily up from the lowerstreets of the city. Sergius Thord smiled as he saw them approach. 

"Yonder comes the Law!" he said--"A few poor constables, badly paid, who if they could find anything better to do than to interfere withtheir fellow-men would be glad of other occupation! Before they comeany nearer, disperse yourselves, my friends, and so save them trouble!Go all to your homes and think on my words;--or enter the Cathedraland pray, those who will--but let this place be as empty of you in fiveminutes as though you never had been here! Disperse, --and farewell! Weshall meet again!"

He leaped down from his position and disappeared, and in obedience tohis command the crowd began to melt away with almost miraculous speed. Before the police could reach the centre of the square, there were onlysome thirty or forty people left, and these were quietly entering theCathedral where the service for the saint whose feast day was beingcelebrated was now in full and solemn progress. 

For one instant, on the first step of the great porch, Sergius Thordand his companion, Johan Zegota, met, --but making a rapid sign to eachother with the left hand, they as quickly separated, --Zegota to enterthe Cathedral, Thord to walk rapidly down one of the narrowest and mostunfrequented streets to the lower precincts of the city. 

The afternoon grew darker, and the weather more depressing, and by thetime evening closed in, the rain was pouring persistently. The wind hadceased, and the thunder had long since died away, its force drenchedout by the weight of water in the clouds. The saint's day had endedbadly for all concerned;--many of the children who had taken part inthe procession had been carried home by their parents wet through, allthe pretty white frocks and veils of the little girls having beencompletely soaked and spoilt by the unkind elements. A drearier nighthad seldom gloomed over this fair city of the southern sea, and down inthe quarters of the poor, where men and women dwelt all huddledmiserably in overcrowded tenements, and sin and starvation kept hideouscompany together, the streets presented as dark and forbidding anaspect as the heavy skies blackly brooding above. Here and there a gas-lamp flared its light upon the drawn little face of some childcrouching asleep in a doorway, or on the pinched and painted featuresof some wretched outcast wending her way to the den she called 'home. 'The loud brutal laughter of drunken men was mingled with the wailing ofhalf-starved and fretful infants, and the mean, squalid houses swarmedwith the living spawn of every vice and lust in the calendar of crime. Deep in the heart of the so-called civilized, beautiful and luxuriouscity, this 'quarter of the poor, ' the cancer of the social body, throbbed and ate its destructive way slowly but surely on, and SergiusThord, who longed to lay a sharp knife against it and cut it out, forthe health of the whole community, was as powerless as Dante in hell tocure the evils he witnessed. Yet it was not too much to say that hewould have given his life to ease another's pain, --as swiftly and asreadily as he would have taken life without mercy, in the pursuit ofwhat he imagined to be a just vengeance. 

"How vain, after all, is my labour!" he thought--"How helpless I am tomove the self-centred powers of the Government and the Throne! Evenwere all these wretched multitudes to rise with me, and make havoc ofthe whole city, should we move so much as one step higher out of theGehenna of poverty and crime? Almost I doubt it!"

He walked on past dark open doorways, where some of the miserableinhabitants of the dens within, stood to inhale the fresh wet air ofthe rainy night. His tall form was familiar to most of them, --if theywere considered as wolves of humanity in the sight of the law, theywere all faithful dogs to him; doing as he bade, running where hecommanded, ready at any moment to assemble at any given point and burnand pillage, or rob and slay. There were no leaders in the politicalgovernment, --but this one leader of the massed poor could, had hechosen, have burned down the city. But he did not choose. He had a far-sighted, clear brain, --and though he had sworn to destroy abuseswherever he could find them, he moved always with caution; and hisplans were guided, not by impulse alone, but by earnest considerationfor the future. He was marked out by the police as a dangerousSocialist; and his movements were constantly tracked and dodged, but sofar, he had done nothing which could empower his arrest. He was a freesubject in a free country; and provided he created no open disturbancehe had as much liberty as a mission preacher to speak in the streets tothose who would stop to listen. He paused now in his walk at the doorof one house more than commonly dingy and tumble-down in appearance, where a man lounged outside in his shirt-sleeves, smoking. 

"Is all well with you, Matsin?" he asked gently. 

"All is well!" answered the man called Matsin, --"better than lastnight. The child is dead. "

"Dead!" echoed Thord, --"And the mother----"

"Asleep!" answered Matsin. "I gave her opium to save her from madness. She was hungry, too--the opium fed her and made her forget!"

Thord pushed him gently aside, and went into the house. There on thefloor lay the naked body of a dead child, so emaciated as to be almosta skeleton; and across it, holding it close with one arm, was stretcheda woman, half clothed, her face hidden in her unbound dark hair, breathing heavily in a drugged sleep. Great tears filled Thord's eyes. 

"God exists!" he said, --"And He can bear to look upon a sight likethis! If I were God, I should hate myself for letting such things be!"

"Perhaps He does hate Himself!" said the man Matsin, who had also comein, and now looked at the scene with sullen apathy--"That may be thecause of all our troubles! I don't understand the ways of God; or theways of man either. I have done no harm. I married the woman--and wehad that one child. I worked hard for both. I could not get sufficientmoney to keep us going; I did metal work--very well, so I was told. Butthey make it all abroad now by machinery--I cannot compete. They don'twant new designs they say--the old will serve. I do anything now that Ican--but it is difficult. You, too, --you starve with us!"

"I am poor, if that is what you mean, " said Thord, --"but take all Ihave to-night, Matsin--" and he emptied a small purse of silver coinsinto the man's hand. "Bury the poor little innocent one;--and comfortthe mother when she wakes. Comfort her!--love her!--she needs love! Iwill be back again to-morrow. "

He strode away quickly, and Matsin remained at his door turning overthe money in his hand. 

"He will sacrifice something he needs himself, for this, " he muttered. "Yet that is the man they say the King would hang if ever he got holdof him! By Heaven!--the King himself should hang first!"

Meanwhile Sergius Thord went on, slackening his pace a little as hecame near his own destination, a tall and narrow house at the end ofthe street, with a single light shining in one of the upper windows. There was a gas-lamp some few paces off, and under this stood a manreading, or trying to read, a newspaper by its flickering glare. Thordglanced at him with some suspicion--the stranger was too near his ownlodging for his pleasure, for he was always on his guard against spies. Approaching more closely, he saw that though the man was shabbilyattired in a rough pilot suit, much the worse for wear, he neverthelesshad the indefinable look and bearing of a gentleman. Acting on impulse, as he often did, Thord spoke to him. 

"A rough night for reading by lamplight, my friend!" he said. 

The man looked up, and smiled. 

"Yes, it is, rather! But I have only just got the evening paper. "

"Any special news?"

"No--only this--" and he pointed to a bold headline--"The King_versus_ The Jesuits. "

"Ah!" said Thord, and he studied the looks and bearing of the strangerwith increasing curiosity. "What do you think of it?"

"What do I think? May I ask, without offence, what _you_ think?"

"I think, " said Thord slowly, "that the King has for once in his lifedone a wise thing. "

"'For once in his life!'" repeated the stranger dubiously--"Then Ipresume your King is, generally speaking, a fool?"

"If you are a subject of his--" began Thord slowly----

"Thank Heaven, I am not! I am a mere wanderer--a literary loafer--astudent of men and manners. I read books, and I write them too, --thiswill perhaps explain the eccentricity of my behaviour in trying to readunder the lamplight in the rain!"

He smiled again, and the smile was irresistibly pleasant. Somethingabout him attracted Thord, and after a pause he asked:

"If you are, as you say, a wanderer and a stranger in this town, can Ibe of service to you?"

"You are very kind!" said the other, turning a pair of deep, dark, greymeditative eyes upon him, --"And I am infinitely obliged to you for thesuggestion. But I really want nothing. As a matter of fact, I amwaiting for two friends of mine who have just gone into one of the fouland filthy habitations here, to see what they can do for a suddenlybereaved family. The husband and father fell dead in the street beforeour eyes, --and those who picked him up said he was drunk, but it turnedout that he was merely starved, --_merely_!--you understand? Merelystarved! We found his home, --and the poor widow is wailing and weeping, and the children are crying for food. I confess myself quite unable tobear the sight, and so I have sent all the money I had about me to helpthem for to-night at least. By my faith, they are most hopelessly, incurably miserable!"

"Their lot is exceedingly common in these quarters, " said Thord, sorrowfully. "Day after day, night after night, men, women and childrentoil, suffer and die here without ever knowing what it is to have onehour of free fresh air, one day of rest and joy! Yet this is a greatcity, --and we live in a civilized country!" He smiled bitterly, thenadded--"You have done a good action; and you need no thanks, or I wouldthank you; for my life's work lies among these wretched poor, and I amfamiliar with their tragic histories. Good-night!"

"Pray do not go!" said the stranger suddenly--"I should like to talk toyou a little longer, if you have no objection. Is there not some placenear, where we can go out of this rain and have a glass of winetogether?"

Sergius Thord stood irresolute, --gazing at him, half in liking, half indistrust. 

"Sir, " he said at last, "I do not know you--and you do not know me. IfI told you my name, you would probably not seek my company!"

"Will you tell it?" suggested the stranger cheerfully--"Mine is atyour service--Pasquin Leroy. I fear my fame as an author has notreached your ears!"

Thord shook his head. 

"No. I have never heard of you. And probably you have never heard ofme. My name is Sergius Thord. "

"Sergius Thord!" echoed the stranger; "Now that is truly remarkable! Itis a happy coincidence that we should have met to-night. I have justseen your name in this very paper which you caught me reading--see!--the next heading under that concerning the King and the Jesuits--'Thord's Rabble. ' Are not you that same Thord?"

"I am!" said Thord proudly, his eyes shining as he took the paper andperused quickly the few flashy lines which described the crowd outsidethe Cathedral that afternoon, and set him down as a crazy Socialist, and disturber of the peace, "And the 'rabble' as this scribbling foolcalls it, is the greater part of this city's population. The King mayintimidate his Court; but I, Sergius Thord, with my 'rabble' canintimidate both Court and King!"

He drew himself up to his full majestic height--a noble figure of a manwith his fine heroic head and eagle-like glance of eye, --and he who hadcalled himself Pasquin Leroy, suddenly held out his hand. 

"Let me see more of you, Sergius Thord!" he said, --"You are the veryman for me! They say in this paper that you spoke to a great multitudeoutside the Cathedral this afternoon, and interfered with the religiousprocession; they also say you are the head of a Society called theRevolutionary Committee;--now let me work for you in some department of_that_ business!"

"Let you work for me?" echoed Thord astonished--"But how?"

"In this way--" replied the other--"I write Socialistic works, --and forthis cause have been expelled from my native home and surroundings. Ihave a little money--and some influence, --and I will devote both toyour Cause. Will you take me, and trust me?"

Thord caught his extended hand, and looked at him with a kind of fierceintentness. 

"You mean it?" he said in thrilling tones--"You mean it positively andtruly?"

"Positively and truly!" said Leroy--"If you are working to remedy thefrightful evils abounding in this wretched quarter of the poor, I willhelp you! If you are striving to destroy rank abuses, I ask nothingbetter than to employ my pen in your service. I will get work on thepress here--I will do all I can to aid your purposes and carry out yourintentions. I have no master, so am free to do as I like; and I willdevote myself to your service so long as you think I can be of any useto you. "

"Wait!" said Thord--"You must not be carried away by a sudden generousimpulse, simply because you have witnessed one scene of the continualmisery that is going on here daily. To belong to our Committee meansmuch more than you at present realize, and involves an oath which youmay not be willing to take! And what of the friends you spoke of?"

"They will do what I do, " replied Leroy--"They share my fortunes--likewise my opinions;--and here they come, --so they can speak forthemselves, " this, as two men emerged from a dark street on the left, and came full into the lamplight's flare--"Axel Regor, Max Graub--comehither! Fortune has singularly favoured us to-night! Let me present toyou my friend--" and he emphasized the word, "Sergius Thord!"

Both men started ever so slightly as the introduction was performed, and Thord looked at them with fresh touches of suspicion here and therelurking in his mind. But he was brave; and having once proceeded in agiven direction was not in the habit of turning back. He thereforesaluted both the new-comers with grave courtesy. 

"I trust you!" he then said curtly to Leroy, "and I think you will notbetray my trust. If you do, it will be the worse for you!"

His lips parted in a slight sinister smile, and the two who wererespectively called Axel Regor and Max Graub, exchanged anxiousglances. But Leroy showed no sign of hesitation or alarm. 

"Your warning is quite unnecessary, Sergius Thord, " he said, --"I pledgeyou my word with my friendship--and my word is my bond! I will alsohold myself responsible for my companions. "

Thord bent his head in silent recognition of this assurance. 

"Then follow me, if such is your desire, " he said--"Remember, there isyet time to go in another direction, and to see me no more; but if youonce do cast in your lot with mine the tie between us is indissoluble!"

He paused, as though expecting some recoil or hesitation on the part ofthose to whom he made this statement, but none came. He thereforestrode on, and they followed, till arriving at the door of the tall, narrow house, where the light in the highest window gleamed like asignal, he opened it with a small key and entered, holding it backcourteously for his three new companions to enter with him. They didso, and he closed the door. At the same moment the light wasextinguished in the upper window, and the outside of the house became amere wall of dense blackness in the driving rain. 

CHAPTER VII

THE IDEALISTS

Up a long uncarpeted flight of stairs, and into a large lofty room onthe second storey, Thord led the way for his newly-found disciples tofollow. It was very dark, and they had to feel the steps as they went, their guide offering neither explanation nor apology for the Cimmerianshades of gloom. Stumbling on hands and knees they spoke not a word;though once Max Graub uttered something like an oath in rough German;but a whisper from Leroy rebuked and silenced him, and they pursuedtheir difficult ascent until, arriving at the room mentioned, theyfound themselves in the company of about fifteen to twenty men, allsitting round a table under two flaring billiard lamps, suspendedcrookedly from the ceiling. As Thord entered, these men all rose, andgave him an expressive sign of greeting with the left hand, the samekind of gesture which had passed between him and Zegota on theCathedral steps in the morning. Zegota himself was one of their number. There was also another personage in the room who did not rise, and whogave no sign whatever. This was a woman, who sat in the embrasure of aclosed and shuttered window with her back to the whole company. It wasimpossible to say whether she was young or old, plain or handsome, forshe was enveloped in a long black cloak which draped her from shoulderto heel. All that could be distinguished of her was the white nape ofher neck, and a great twist of dead gold hair. Her presence awakenedthe liveliest interest in Pasquin Leroy, who found it impossible toavoid nudging his companions, and whispering--

"A woman! By Heaven, this drama becomes interesting!"

But Axel Regor and Max Graub were seemingly not disposed to levity, andthey offered no response to their lighter minded comrade beyond vaguehasty side-looks of alarm, which appeared to amuse him to an extentthat threatened to go beyond the limits of caution. Sergius Thord, however, saw nothing of their interchange of glances for the moment, --he had other business to settle. Addressing himself at once to the menassembled, he said. --

"Friends and brothers! I bring you three new associates! I have notsought them; they have sought me. On their own heads be theirdestinies! They offer their names to the Revolutionary Committee, andtheir services to our Cause!"

A low murmur of approbation from the company greeted this announcement. Johan Zegota advanced a little in front of all the rest. 

"Every man is welcome to serve us who will serve us faithfully, " hesaid. "But who are these new comrades, Sergius Thord? What are they?"

"That they must declare for themselves, " said Thord, taking a chair atthe head of the table which was evidently his accustomed place--"Putthem through their examination!"

He seated himself with the air of a king, his whole aspect betokeningan authority that would not be trifled with or gainsaid. 

"Gott in Himmel!"

This exclamation burst suddenly from the lips of the man called MaxGraub. 

"What ails you?" said Thord, turning full upon him his glittering eyesthat flashed ferocity from under their shaggy brows--"Are you afraid?"

"Afraid? Not I!" protested Graub--"But, gentlemen, think a moment! Youspeak of putting us--myself and my friends--through an examination! Whyshould you examine us? We are three poor adventurers--what can we haveto tell?"

"Much, I should imagine!" retorted Zegota--"Adventurers are not suchwithout adventures! Your white hairs testify to some experience oflife. "

"My white hairs--_my_ white hairs!" exclaimed Graub, when a touchfrom Axel Regor apparently recalled something to his mind for he beganto laugh--"True, gentlemen! Very true! I had forgotten! I have had someadventures and some experiences! My good friend there, Pasquin Leroy, has also had adventures and experiences, --so have we all! Myself, I ama poor German, grown old in the service of a bad king! I have beenkicked out of that service--Ach!--just for telling the truth; which isvery much the end of all truth telling, is it not? Tell lies, --andkings will reward you and make you rich and great!--but tell truth, and see what the kings will give you for it! Kicks, and no halfpence!Pardon! I interrupt this so pleasant meeting!"

All the men present looked at him curiously, but said nothing inresponse to his outburst. Johan Zegota, seating himself next to SergiusThord, opened a large parchment volume that lay on the table, andtaking up a pen addressed himself to Thord, saying--

"Will you ask the questions, or shall I?"

"You, by all means! Proceed in the usual manner. "

Whereupon Zegota began. --

"Stand forth, comrades!"

The three strangers advanced. 

"Your names? Each one answer separately, please!"

"Pasquin Leroy!"

"Axel Regor!"

"Max Graub!"

"Of what nationality, Pasquin Leroy?"

Leroy smiled. "Truly I claim none!" he said; "I was born a slave. "

"A slave!"

The words were repeated in tones of astonishment round the room. 

"Why, yes, a slave!" repeated Leroy quietly. "You have heard of blackslaves, --have you not heard of white ones too? There are countriesstill, where men purchase other men of their own blood and colour;--tyrannous governments, which force such men to work for them, chainedto one particular place till they die. I am one of those, --thoughescaped for the present. You can ask me more of my country if you will;but a slave has no country save that of his master. If you care at allfor my services, you will spare me further examination on thissubject!"

Zegota looked enquiringly at Thord. 

"We will pass that question, " said the latter, in a low tone. 

Zegota resumed--

"You, Axel Regor--are you a slave too?"

Axel Regor smiled languidly. 

"No! I am what is called a free-born subject of the realm. I do what Ilike, though not always how I like, or when I like!"

"And you, Max Graub?"

"German!" said that individual firmly; "German to the backbone--Socialist to the soul!--and an enemy of all ruling sovereigns, --particularly the one that rules _me_!"

Thord smiled darkly. 

"If you feel inclined to jest, Max Graub, I must warn you that jestingis not suited to the immediate moment. "

"Jesting! I never was more in earnest in my life!" declared Graub, --"Why have I left my native country? Merely because it is governed byKaiser Wilhelm!"

Thord smiled again. 

"The subject of nationality seems to excite all three of you, " he said, "and though we ask you the question _pro forma_, it is notabsolutely necessary that we should know from whence you come. Werequire your names, and your oath of fealty; but before bindingyourselves, I will read you our laws, and the rules of membership forthis society; rules to which, if you join us, you are expected toconform. "

"Suppose, for the sake of argument, " said Pasquin Leroy, --"that afterhearing the rules we found it wisest to draw back? Suppose my friends, --if not myself, --were disinclined to join your Society;--what wouldhappen?"

As he asked the question a curious silence fell upon the company, andall eyes were turned upon the speaker. There was a dead pause for amoment, and then Thord replied slowly and with emphasis:--

"Nothing would happen save this, --that you would be bound by a solemnoath never to reveal what you had heard or seen here to-night, and thatyou would from henceforth be tracked every day and hour of your life bythose who would take care that you kept your oath!"

"You see!" exclaimed Axel Regor excitedly, "There is danger----"

"Danger? Of what?" asked Pasquin Leroy coldly;--"Of death? Each one ofus, and all three of us would fully merit it, if we broke our word!Gentlemen both!"--and he addressed his two companions, "If you fearany harm may come to yourselves through joining this society, praywithdraw while there is yet time! My own mind is made up; I intend tobecome familiar with the work of the Revolutionary Committee, and toaid its cause by my personal service!"

A loud murmur of applause came from the company. Axel Regor and MaxGraub glanced at Leroy, and saw in his face that his decision wasunalterable. 

"Then we will work for the Cause, also, " said Max Graub resignedly. "What you determine upon, we shall do, shall we not, Axel?"

Axel Regor gave a brief assent. 

Sergius Thord looked at them all straightly and keenly. 

"You have finally decided?"

"We have!" replied Leroy. "We will enrol ourselves as your associatesat once. "

Whereupon Johan Zegota rose from his place, and unlocking an iron safewhich stood in one corner of the room, took out a roll of parchment andhanded it to Thord, who, unfolding it, read in a clear though low voicethe following:--

"We, the Revolutionary Committee, are organized as a Brotherhood, boundby all the ties of life, death, and our common humanity, to destroy theabuses, and redress the evils, which self-seeking and tyrannousGovernments impose upon the suffering poor. 

"_Firstly:_ We bind ourselves to resist all such laws as may inany degree interfere with the reasonable, intellectual, and spiritualfreedom of man or woman. 

"_Secondly:_ We swear to agitate against all forms of undue andexcessive taxation, which, while scarcely affecting the rich, make lifemore difficult and unendurable to the poor. 

"_Thirdly:_ We protest against the domination of priestcraft, andthe secret methods which are employed by the Church to obtain undueinfluence in Governmental matters. 

"_Fourthly:_ We are determined to stand firmly against theentrance of foreign competitors in the country's trade and business. All heads and ruling companies of firms employing foreigners instead ofnative workmen, are marked out by us as traitors, and are reserved fortraitors' punishment. 

"_Fifthly:_ We are sworn to exterminate the existing worthlessGovernment, and to replace it by a working body of capable andintelligent men, elected by the universal vote of the entire country. Such elections must take place freely and openly, and no secretinfluence shall be used to return any one person or party to power. Those attempting to sway opinion by bribery and corruption, will benamed to the public, and exposed to disgrace and possible death. 

"_Sixthly:_ We are resolved to unmask to the public the duplicity, treachery, and self-interested motives of the Secretary of State, CarlPérousse. 

"_Seventhly:_ We are sworn to bring about such changes as shallelevate a Republic to supreme power, and for this purpose are solemnlypledged to destroy the present Monarchy. "

"These, " said Sergius Thord, "are the principal objects of ourSociety's work. There are other points to be considered, but these aresufficient for the present. I will now read the rules, which eachmember of our Brotherhood must follow if he would serve us faithfully. "

He turned over another leaf of the parchment scroll he held, andcontinued, reading very slowly and distinctly:

"_Rule 1_. --Each member of the Revolutionary Committee shall swearfidelity to the Cause, and pledge himself to maintain inviolablesecrecy on all matters connected with his membership and his work forthe Society. 

"_Rule 2_. --No member shall track, follow, or enquire into themovements of any other member. 

"_Rule 3_. --Once in every month all members are expected to meettogether at a given place, decided upon by the Chief of the Committeeat the previous meeting, when business will be discussed, and lotsdrawn, to determine the choice of such members as may be fitted toperform such business. 

"_Rule_ 4. --No member shall be bound to give his address, or tostate where he travels, or when or how he goes, as in all respects savethat of his membership he is a free man. 

"_Rule_ 5. --In this same respect of his membership, he is boundto appear, or to otherwise report himself once a month at the meetingof the Committee. Should he fail to do so either by person, or byletter satisfactorily explaining his absence, he will be judged as atraitor, and dealt with accordingly. 

"_Rule_6. --In the event of any member being selected to performany deed involving personal danger or loss to himself, the rest of themembers are pledged to shelter him from the consequences of his act, and to provide him with all the necessaries of life, till his escapefrom harm is ensured and his safety guaranteed. "

"You have heard all now, " said Thord, as he laid aside the parchmentscroll; "Are you still willing to take the oath?"

"Entirely so!" rejoined Pasquin Leroy cheerfully; "You have but toadminister it. "

Here a man, who had been sitting in a dark corner apart from the table, with his head buried in his hands, suddenly looked up, showing a thin, fine, eager face, a pair of wild eyes, and a tumbled mass of dark curlyhair, plentifully sprinkled with grey. 

"Ah!" he cried, --"Now comes the tragic moment, when the spectators holdtheir breath, and the blue flame is turned on, and the man manages thelime-light so that its radiance shall fall on the face of the chiefactor--or Actress! And the bassoons and 'cellos grumble inaudiblenothings to the big drum! Administer the oath, Sergius Thord!"

A smile went the round of the company. 

"Have you only just wakened up from sleep, Paul Zouche?" asked Zegota. 

"I never sleep, " answered Zouche, pushing his hair back from hisforehead;--"Unless sleep compels me, by force, to yield to its coarseand commonplace persuasion. To lie down in a shirt and snore the hoursaway! Faugh! Can anything be more gross or vulgar! Time flies soquickly, and life is so short, that I cannot afford to waste any momentin such stupid unconsciousness. I can drink wine, make love, and killrascals--all these occupations are much more interesting than sleeping. Come, Sergius! Play the great trick of the evening! Administer theoath!"

A frowning line puckered Thord's brows, but the expression of vexationwas but momentary. Turning to Leroy again he said:

"You are quite ready?"

"Quite, " replied Leroy. 

"And your friends----?"

Leroy smiled. "They are ready also!"

There followed a pause. Then Thord called in a clear low tone--

"Lotys!"

The woman sitting in the embrasure of the window rose, and turninground fully confronted all the men. Her black cloak falling back oneither side, disclosed her figure robed in dead white, with a scarletsash binding her waist. Her face, pale and serene, was not beautiful;yet beauty was suggested in every feature. Her eyes seemed to be halfclosed in a drooping indifference under the white lids, which werefringed heavily with dark gold lashes. A sculptor might have said, thatwhatever claim to beauty she had was contained in the proud poise ofher throat, and the bounteous curve of her bosom, but though in amanner startled by her appearance, the three men who had chanced uponthis night's adventure were singularly disappointed in it. They hadsomehow expected that when that mysterious cloaked feminine figureturned round, a vision of dazzling beauty would be disclosed; and atthe first glance there was nothing whatever about this woman thatseemed particularly worthy of note. She was not young or old--possiblybetween twenty-eight or thirty. She was not tall or short; she wasmerely of the usual medium height, --so that altogether she was one ofthose provoking individuals, who not seldom deceive the eye at firstsight by those ordinary looks which veil an extraordinary personality. 

She stood like an automatic figure, rigid and silent, --till SergiusThord signed to his three new associates to advance. Then with amovement, rapid as a flash of lightning, she suddenly drew a daggerfrom her scarlet girdle, and held it out to them. Nerved as he was tomeet danger, Pasquin Leroy recoiled slightly, while his two companionsstarted as if to defend him. As she saw this, the woman raised herdrooping eyelids, and a pair of wonderful eyes shone forth, dark blueas iris-flowers, while a faint scornful smile lifted the corners of hermouth. But she said nothing. 

"There is no cause to fear!" said Sergius Thord, glancing with a touchof derision in his looks from one to the other, "Lotys is the witnessof all our vows! Swear now after me upon this drawn dagger which sheholds, --lay your right hands here upon the blade!"

Thus adjured, Pasquin Leroy approached, and placed his right hand uponthe shining steel. 

"I swear in the name of God, and in the presence of Lotys, that I willfaithfully work for the Cause of the Revolutionary Committee, --and thatI will adhere to its rules and obey its commands, till all shall bedone that is destined to be done! And may the death I deserve comesuddenly upon me if ever I break my vow!"

Slowly and emphatically Pasquin Leroy repeated this formula afterSergius Thord, and his two companions did the same, though perhaps lessaudibly. This ceremony performed, the woman called Lotys looked at themsteadfastly, and the smile that played on her lips changed from scornto sweetness. The dark blue iris-coloured eyes deepened in lustre, andflashed brilliantly from under their drowsy lids, --a rosy flush tintedthe clear paleness of her skin, and like a statue warming to life shebecame suddenly beautiful. 

"You have sworn bravely!" she said, in a low thrilling voice. "Now signand seal!"

As she spoke she lifted her bare left arm, and pricked it with thepoint of the dagger. A round, full drop of blood like a great rubywelled up on the white skin. All the men had risen from their places, and were gathered about her;--this 'taking of the oath' was evidentlythe dramatic event of their existence as a community. 

"The pen, Sergius!" she said. 

Thord approached with a white unused quill, and a vellum scroll onwhich the names of all the members of the Society were written inominous red. He handed these writing implements to Leroy. 

"Dip your pen here, " said Lotys, pointing to the crimson drop on herarm, and eyeing him still with the same half-sweet, half-doubtingsmile--"But when the quill is full, beware that you write notreachery!"

For one second Leroy appeared to hesitate. He was singularly unnervedby the glances of those dark blue eyes, which like searchlights seemedto penetrate into every nook and cranny of his soul. But hisrecklessness and love of adventure having led him so far, it was nowtoo late to retract or to reconsider the risks he might possibly berunning. He therefore took the quill and dipped it into the crimsondrop that welled from that soft white flesh. 

"This is the strangest ink I have ever used!" he said lightly, --"but--at your command, Madame----!"

"At my command, " rejoined Lotys, "your use of it shall make your oathindelible!"

He smiled, and wrote his name boldly 'Pasquin Leroy' and held out thepen for his companions to follow his example. 

"Ach Gott!" exclaimed Max Graub, as he dipped the pen anew into thevital fluid from a woman's veins--"I write my name, Madame, in words oflife, thanks to your condescension!"

"True!" she answered, --"And only by your own falsehood can you changethem into words of death!"

Signing his name 'Max Graub, ' he looked up and met her searching gaze. Something there was in the magnetic depth of her eyes that strangelyembarrassed him, for he stepped back hastily as though intimidated. Axel Regor took the pen from his hand, and wrote his name, or ratherscrawled it carelessly, almost impatiently, --showing neither hesitationnor repugnance to this unusual method of subscribing a document. 

"You are acting on compulsion!" said Lotys, addressing him in a lowtone; "Your compliance is in obedience to some other command than ours!And--you will do well to remain obedient!"

Axel Regor gave her an amazed glance, --but she paid no heed to it, andbinding her arm with her kerchief, let her long white sleeve fall overit. 

"So, you are enrolled among the sons of my blood!" she said, "So areyou bound to me and mine!" She moved to the further end of the tableand stood there looking round upon them all. Again the slow, sweet, half-disdainful smile irradiated her features. "Well, children!--whatelse remains to do? What next? What next can there be but drink--smoke--talk! Man's three most cherished amusements!"

She sat down, throwing back her heavy cloak on either side of her. Herhair had come partly unbound, and noticing a tress of it falling on hershoulder, she drew out the comb and let it fall altogether in a mass ofgold-brown, like the tint of a dull autumn leaf, flecked here and therewith amber. Catching it dexterously in one hand, she twisted it upagain in a loose knot, thrusting the comb carelessly through. 

"Drink--smoke--talk, Sergius!" she repeated, still smiling; "Shall Iring?"

Sergius Thord stood looking at her irresolutely, with the half-angry, half-pleading expression of a chidden child. 

"As you please, Lotys!" he answered. Whereupon she pressed an invisiblespring under the table, which set a bell ringing in some lower quarterof the house. 

"Pasquin Leroy, Axel Regor, Max Graub!" she said--"Take your placesfor to-night beside me--newcomers are always thus distinguished! Andall of you sit down! You are grouped at present like hungry wolveswaiting to spring. But you are not really hungry, except for somethingwhich is not food! And you are not waiting for anything except forpermission to talk! I give it to you--talk, children! Talk yourselveshoarse! It will do you good! And I will personate supreme wisdom bylistening to you in silence!"

A kind of shamed laugh went round the company, --then followed thescuffling of feet, and grating of chairs against the floor, andpresently the table was completely surrounded, the men sitting close uptogether, and Sergius Thord occupying his place at their head. 

When they were all seated, they formed a striking assembly ofdistinctly marked personalities. There were very few mean types amongthem, and the stupid, half-vague and languid expression of the modernloafer or 'do nothing' creature, who just for lack of useful work plotsmischief, was not to be seen on any of their countenances. A certainmoroseness and melancholy seemed to brood like a delayed storm amongthem, and to cloud the very atmosphere they breathed, but apart fromthis, intellectuality was the dominant spirit suggested by theiroutward looks and bearing. Plebeian faces and vulgar manners are, unfortunately, not rare in representative gatherings of men whoseopinions are allowed to sway the destinies of nations, and it wasstrange to see a group of individuals who were sworn to upset existinglaw and government so distinguished by refined and even nobleappearance. Their clothes were shabby, --their aspect certainlybetokened long suffering and contention with want and poverty, but theywere, taken all together, a set of men who, if they had been members ofa recognized parliament or senate, would have presented a finecollection of capable heads to an observant painter. As soon as theywere gathered round the table under the presidency of Sergius Thord atone end, and the tranquil tolerance of the mysterious Lotys at theother, they broke through the silence and reserve which they hadcarefully maintained till their three new comrades had beenirrecoverably enrolled among them, and conversation went on briskly. The topic of 'The King _versus_ the Jesuits' was one of the firstthey touched upon, Sergius Thord relating for the benefit of all hisassociates, how he had found Pasquin Leroy reading by lamplight thenewspaper which reported his Majesty's refusal to grant any portion ofCrown lands to the priests, and which also spoke of 'Thord's Rabble. '

"Here is the paper!" said Leroy, as he heard the narration; "Whoeverlikes to keep it can do so, as a memento of my introduction to thisSociety!"

And he tossed it lightly on the table. 

"Good!" exclaimed Paul Zouche; "Give it to me, and I will cherish it asa kind of birthday card! What a rag it is! 'Thord's Rabble' eh!Sergius, what have you been doing that this little flea of an editorshould jump out of his ink-pot and bite you? Does he hurt much?"

"Hurt!" Thord laughed aloud. "If I had money enough to pay the man tengolden coins a week where his present employer gives him five, he woulddance to any tune I whistled!"

"Is that so?" asked Leroy, with interest. 

"Do you not know that it is so?" rejoined Thord. "You tell me you writeSocialistic works--you should know something concerning the press. "

"Ah!" said Max Graub, nodding his head sagely, "He does know much, butnot all! It would need more penetration than even _he_ possesses, to know all! Alas!--my friend was never a popular writer!"

"Like myself!" exclaimed Zouche, "I am not popular, and I never shallbe. But I know how to make myself reputed as a great genius, and allthe very respectable literary men are beginning to recognize me assuch. Do you know why?"

"Because you drink more than is good for you, my poor Zouche!" saidLotys tranquilly; "That is one reason!"

"Hear her!" cried Zouche, --"Does she not always, like the Sphinx, propound enigmas! Lotys, --little, domineering Lotys, why in the name ofHeaven should I secure recognition as a poet, through drunkenness?"

"Because your vice kills your genius, " said Lotys; "Therefore you arequite safe! If you were less of a scamp you would be a great man, --perhaps the greatest in the country! That would never do! Your rivalswould never forgive you! But you are a hopeless rascal, incapable ofwinning much honour; and so you are compassionately recognized assomebody who might do something if he only would--that is all, myZouche! You are an excellent after-dinner topic with those who are moresuccessful than yourself; and that is the only fame you will ever win, believe me!"

"Now by all the gods and goddesses!" cried Paul--"I do protest----"

"After supper, Zouche!" interrupted Lotys, as the door of the roomopened, and a man entered, bearing a tray loaded with various eatables, jugs of beer, and bottles of spirituous liquors, --"Protest as much asyou like then, --but not just now!"

And with quick, deft hands she helped to set the board. None of the menoffered to assist her, and Leroy watching her, felt a sudden sense ofannoyance that this woman should seem, even for a moment, to be in theposition of a servant to them all. 

"Can I do nothing for you?" he said, in a low tone--"Why should youwait upon us?"

"Why indeed!" she answered--"Except that you are all by nature awkward, and do not know how to wait properly upon yourselves!"

Her eyes had a gleam of mischievous mockery in them; and Leroy wasconscious of an irritation which he could scarcely explain to himself. Decidedly, he thought, this Lotys was an unpleasant woman. She was'extremely plain, ' so he mentally declared, in a kind of inward huff, --though he was bound to concede that now and then she had a verybeautiful, almost inspired expression. After all, why should she notset out jugs and bottles, and loaves of bread, and hunks of ham andcheese before these men? She was probably in their pay! Scarcely hadthis idea flashed across his mind than he was ashamed of it. ThisLotys, whoever she might actually be, was no paid hireling; there wassomething in her every look and action that set her high above anysuspicion that she would accept the part of a salaried _comédienne_in the Socialist farce. Annoyed with himself, though he knew not why, he turned his gaze from her to the man who had brought in the supper, --a hunchback, who, notwithstanding his deformity, was powerfully built, and of a countenance which, marked as it was with the drawn patheticlook of long-continued physical suffering, was undeniably handsome. His large brown eyes, like those of a faithful dog, followed everymovement of Lotys with anxious and wistful affection, and Leroy, noticing this, began to wonder whether she was his wife or daughter?Or was she related in either of these ways to Sergius Thord? Hisreflections were interrupted by a slight touch from Max Graub who wasseated next to him. 

"Will you drink with these fellows?" said Graub, in a cautious whisper--"Expect to be ill, if you do!"

"You shall prescribe for me!" answered Leroy in the same low tone--"Ifaithfully promise to call in your assistance! But drink with them Imust, and will!"

Graub gave a short sigh and a shrug, and said no more. The hunchbackwas going the round of the table, filling tall glasses with lightBavarian beer. 

"Where is the little Pequita?" asked Zouche, addressing him--"Have yousent her to bed already, Sholto?"

Sholto looked timorously round till he met the bright reassuring glanceof Lotys, and then he replied hesitatingly--

"Yes!--no--I have not sent the little one to bed;--she returned fromher work at the theatre, tired out--quite tired out, poor child! Sheis asleep now. "

"Ha ha! A few years more, and she will not sleep!" said Zouche--"Oncein her teens--"

"Once in her teens, she leaves the theatre and comes to me, " saidLotys, "And you will see very little of her, Zouche, and you will knowless! That will do, Sholto! Good-night!"

"Good-night!" returned the hunchback--"I thank you, Madame!--I thankyou, gentlemen!"

And with a slight salutation, not devoid of grace, he left the room. 

Zouche was sulky, and pushing aside his glass of beer, poured out forhimself some strong spirit from a bottle instead. 

"You do not favour me to-night, Lotys, " he said irritably--"Youinterrupt and cross me in everything I say!"

"Is it not a woman's business to interrupt and cross a man?" queriedLotys, with a laugh, --"As I have told you before, Zouche, I will nothave Sholto worried!"

"Who worries him?" grumbled Zouche--"Not I!"

"Yes, you!--you worry him on his most sensitive point--his daughter, "said Lotys;--"Why can you not leave the child alone? Sholto is anEnglishman, " she explained, turning to Pasquin Leroy and his companions--"His history is a strange one enough. He is the rightful heir to alarge estate in England, but he was born deformed. His father hatedhim, and preferred the second son, who was straight and handsome. SoSholto disappeared. "

"Disappeared!" echoed Leroy--"You mean----"

"I mean that he left his father's house one morning, and neverreturned. The clothes he wore were found floating in the river near by, and it was concluded that he had been drowned while bathing. The secondson, therefore, inherited the property; and poor Sholto was scarcelymissed; certainly not mourned. Meanwhile he went away, and got on boarda Spanish trading boat bound for Cadiz. At Cadiz he found work, andalso something that sweetened work--love! He married a pretty Spanishgirl who adored him, and--as often happens when lovers rejoice too muchin their love--she died after a year's happiness. Sholto is all alonein the world with the little child his Spanish wife left him, Pequita. She is only eleven years old, but her gift of dancing is marvellous, and she gets employment at one of the cheap theatres here. If aninfluential manager could see her performance, she might coin money. "

"The influential manager would probably cheat her, " said Zouche, --"Things are best left alone. Sholto is content!"

"Are you content?" asked Johan Zegota, helping himself from the bottlethat stood near him. 

"I? Why, no! I should not be here if I were!"

"Discontent, then, is your chief bond of union?" said Axel Regor, beginning to take part in the conversation. 

"It is the very knot that ties us all together!" said Zouche withenthusiasm. --"Discontent is the mother of progress! Adam wasdiscontented with the garden of Eden, --and found a whole world outsideits gates!"

"He took Eve with him to keep up the sickness of dissatisfaction, " saidZegota; "There would certainly have been no progress without_her_!"

"Pardon, --Cain was the true Progressivist and Reformer, " put in Graub;"Some fine sentiment of the garden of Eden was in his blood, whichimpelled him to offer up a vegetable sacrifice to the Deity, whereasAbel had already committed murder by slaying lambs. According to thelegend, God preferred the 'savour' of the lambs, so perhaps, --whoknows!--the idea that the savour of Abel might be equally agreeable toDivine senses induced Cain to kill him as a special 'youngling. ' Thiswas a Progressive act, --a step beyond mere lambs!"

Everyone laughed, except Sergius Thord. He had fallen into a heavy, brooding silence, his head sunk on his breast, his wild hair fallingforward like a mane, and his right hand clenched and resting on thetable. 

"Sergius!" called Lotys. 

He did not answer. 

"He is in one of his far-away moods, "--said one of the men next to AxelRegor, --"It is best not to disturb him. "

Paul Zouche, however, had no such scruples. "Sergius!" he cried, --"Comeout of your cloud of meditation! Drink to the health of our three newcomrades!"

All the members of the company filled their glasses, and Thord, hearingthe noise and clatter, looked up with a wild stare. 

"What are you doing?" he asked slowly;--"I thought some one spoke ofCain killing Abel!"

"It was I, " said Graub--"I spoke of it--irreverently, I fear, --but thestory itself is irreverent. The notion that 'God, ' should like roastmeat is the height of blasphemy!"

Zouche burst into a violent fit of laughter. But Thord went on talkingin a low tone, as though to himself. 

"Cain killing Abel!" he repeated--"Always the same horrible story isrepeated through history--brother against brother, --blood crying outfor blood--life torn from the weak and helpless body--all for what? Fora little gold, --a passing trifle of power! Cain killing Abel! My God, art Thou not yet weary of the old eternal crime!"

He spoke in a semi-whisper which thrilled through the room. A momentaryhush prevailed, and then Lotys called again, her voice softened to acaressing sweetness. 

"Sergius!"

He started, and shook himself out of his reverie this time. Raising hishand, he passed it in a vague mechanical way across his brow as thoughsuddenly wakened from a dream. 

"Yes, yes! Let us drink to our three new comrades, " he said, and roseto his feet. "To your health, friends! And may you all stand firm inthe hour of trial!"

All the company sprang up and drained their glasses, and when the toastwas drunk and they were again seated, Pasquin Leroy asked if he mightbe allowed to return thanks. 

"I do not know, " he said with a courteous air, "whether it ispermissible for a newly-enrolled associate of this Brotherhood to makea speech on the first night of his membership, --but after the cordialwelcome I and my comrades, strangers as we are, have received at yourhands, I should like to say a few words--if, without breaking any rulesof the Order, I may do so. "

"Hear, hear!" shouted Zouche, who had been steadily drinking for thelast few moments, --"Speak on, man! Whoever heard of a dumb Socialist!Rant--rant! Rant and rave!--as I do, when the fit is on me! Do I not, Thord? Do I not move you even to tears?"

"And laughter!" put in Zegota. "Hold your tongue, Zouche! No other mancan talk at all, if you once begin!"

Zouche laughed, and drained his glass. 

"True!--my genius is of an absorbing quality! Silence, gentlemen!Silence for our new comrade! 'Pasquin' stands for the beginning of ajest--so we may hope he will be amusing, --'Leroy' stands for the king, and so we may expect him to be non-political!"

CHAPTER VIII

THE KING'S DOUBLE

As Leroy rose to speak, there was a little commotion. Max Graub upsethis glass, and seemed to be having a struggle under the table with AxelRegor. 

"What ails you?" said Leroy, glancing at his friends with an amazedair--"Are you quarrelling?"

"Quarrelling!" echoed Max Graub, "Why, no--but what man will have hisbeer upset without complaint? Tell me that!"

"You upset it!" said Regor angrily--"I did not. "

"You did!" retorted Graub, "and because I pushed you for it, you showedme a pistol in your pocket! I object to be shown a pistol. So I havetaken it away. Here it is!" and he laid the weapon on the table infront of him. 

A look of anger darkened Leroy's brows. 

"I was not aware you carried arms, " he said coldly. 

Sergius Thord noticed his annoyance. 

"There is nothing remarkable in that, my friend!" he interposed--"Weall carry arms, --there is not one of us at this table who has not aloaded pistol, --even Lotys is no exception to this rule. "

"Now by my word!" said Graub, "_I_ have no loaded pistol, --and Iwill swear Leroy is equally unarmed!"

"Entirely so!" said Leroy quietly--"I never suspect any man of evilintentions towards me. "

As he said this, Lotys leaned forward impulsively and stretched out herhand, --a beautiful hand, well-shaped and white as a white rose petal. 

"I like you for that!"--she said--"It is the natural attitude of abrave man!"

A slight colour warmed his bronzed skin as he took her hand, pressed itgently, and let it go again. Axel Regor looked up defiantly. 

"Well, I _do_ suspect every man of evil intentions!" he said, "Soyou may all just as well know the worst of me at once! My experience oflife has perhaps been exceptionally unpleasant; but it has taught methat as a rule no man is your friend till you have made it worth hiswhile!"

"By favours bestowed, or favours to come?" queried Thord, smiling, --"However, without any argument, Axel Regor, I am inclined to think youare right!"

"Then a weapon is permissible here?" asked Graub. 

"Not only permissible, but necessary, " replied Thord. "As members ofthis Brotherhood we live always prepared for some disaster, --always onour guard against treachery. Comrades!" and raising his voice headdressed the whole party. "Lay down your arms, all at once andtogether!"

In one instant, as if in obedience to a military order, the table waslined on either side with pistols. Beside these weapons, there was agoodly number of daggers, chiefly of the small kind such as are used inCorsica, encased in leather sheaths. Pasquin Leroy smiled as he sawLotys lay down one of those tiny but deadly weapons, together with asmall silver-mounted pistol. 

"Forewarned is forearmed!" he said gaily;--"Madame, if I ever offend, Ishall look to you for a happy dispatch! Gentlemen, I have still to makemy speech, and if you permit it, I will speak now, --unarmed as I am, --with all these little metal mouths ready to deal death upon me if Ihappen to make any observation which may displease you!"

"By Heaven! A brave man!" cried Zouche; "Thord, you have picked up atrump card! Speak, Pasquin Leroy! We will forgive you, even if youpraise the King!"

Leroy stood silent for a moment, as if thinking. His two companionslooked up at him once or twice in unquestionable alarm and wonderment, but he did not appear to be conscious of their observation. On thecontrary, some very deeply seated feeling seemed to be absorbing hissoul, --and it was perhaps this suppressed emotion which gave such arich vibrating force to his accents when he at last spoke. 

"Friends and Brothers!" he said;--"It is difficult for one who hasnever experienced the three-fold sense of Liberty, Equality andFraternity until to-night, to express in the right manner the sense ofgratitude which I, a complete stranger to you, feel for the readinessand cordiality of the welcome you have extended to me and mycompanions, accepting us without hesitation, as members of yourCommittee, and as associates in the work of the Cause you havedetermined to maintain. It is an Ideal Cause, --I need not tell youthat! To rescue and protect the poor from the tyranny of the rich andstrong, was the mission of Christ when He visited this earth; and itwould perhaps be unwise on my part, and discouraging to yourselves, toremind you that even He has failed! The strong, the selfish, and thecruel, still delight in oppressing their more helpless fellows, despitethe theories of Christianity. And it is perfectly natural that itshould be so, seeing that the Christian Church itself has become a meresystem of money-making and self-advancement. "

A burst of applause interrupted him. Eyes lightened with eagerenthusiasm, and every face was turned towards him. He went on:--

"To think of the great Founder of a great Creed, and then to considerwhat his pretended followers have made of Him and His teaching, issufficient to fill the soul with the sickness of despair andhumiliation! To remember that Christ came to teach all men the Gospelof love, --and to find them after eighteen hundred years stillpreferring the Gospel of hate, --is enough to make one doubt the truthof religion altogether! The Divine Socialist preached a creed too goodand pure for this world; and when we try to follow it, we are beatenback on all sides by the false conventionalities and customs of asacerdotal system grown old in self-seeking, not in self-sacrifice. Were Christ to come again, the first thing He would probably do wouldbe to destroy all the churches, saying: 'I never knew you: depart fromme ye that work iniquity!' But till He does come again, it rests withthe thinkers of the time to protest against wrongs and abuses, even ifthey cannot destroy them, --to expose falsehood, even if they cannotutterly undo its vicious work. Seeing, however, that the greatermajority of men are banded on the side of wealth and material self-interest, it is unfortunately only a few who remain to work for thecause of the poor, and for such equal rights of justice as you--as we--in our present Association claim to be most worthy of man's bestefforts. It may be asked by those outside such a Fraternity as ours, --'What do they want? What would they have that they cannot obtain?' Iwould answer that we want to see the end of a political system full ofbribery and corruption, --that we desire the disgrace and exposure ofsuch men as those, who, under the pretence of serving the country, merely line their own coffers out of the taxes they inflict upon thepeople;--and that if we see a king inclined to favour the overbearingdominance of a political party governed by financial considerationsalone, --a party which has no consideration for the wider needs of thewhole nation, we from our very hearts and souls desire the downfall ofthat king!"

A low, deep murmur responded to his words, --a sound like the snarl ofwolves, deep, fierce, and passionate. A close observer might perhapshave detected a sudden pallor on Leroy's face as he heard this ominousgrowl, and an involuntary clenching of the hand on the part of AxelRegor. Max Graub looked up. 

"Ah so, my friends! You hate the King?"

No answer was vouchsafed to this query. The interruption was evidentlyunwelcome, all eyes being still fixed on Leroy. He went on tranquilly:

"I repeat--that wherever and whenever a king--any king--voluntarily andknowingly, supports iniquity and false dealing in his ministers, helays himself open to suspicion, attack, and dethronement! I speak withparticular feeling on this point, because, apart from whatever may bethe thoughts and opinions of these who are assembled here to-night, Ihave a special reason of my own for hating the King! That reason ismarked on my countenance! I bear an extraordinary resemblance to him, --so great indeed, that I might be taken for his twin brother if he hadone! And I beg of you, my friends, to look at me long and well, thatyou make no error concerning me, for, being now your comrade, I do notwish to be mistaken for your enemy!"

He drew himself up, lifting his head with an air of indomitable prideand grace which well became him. An exclamation of surprise broke fromall present, and Sergius Thord bent forward to examine his featureswith close attention. Every man at the table did the same, but noneregarded him more earnestly or more searchingly than Lotys. Herwonderful eyes seemed to glow and burn with strange interior fires, asshe kept them steadily fixed upon his face. 

"Yes--you are strangely like the King!" she said--"That is, --so far asI am able to judge by his portraits and coins. I have never seen him. "

"I _have_ seen him, "--said Sergius Thord, "though only at adistance. And I wonder I did not notice the strange resemblance youbear to him before you called my attention to it. Are you in any wayrelated to him?"

"Related to him!" Leroy laughed aloud. "No! If the late King had anybastard sons, I am not one of them! But I pray you again all tocarefully note this hateful resemblance, --a resemblance I would fainrid me of--for it makes me seem a living copy of the man I mostdespise!"

There was a pause, --during which he stood quietly, submitting himselfto the fire of a hundred wondering, questioning, and inquisitorial eyeswithout flinching. 

"You are all satisfied?" he then asked; "You, Sergius Thord, --my chiefand commander, --you, and all here present are satisfied?"

"Satisfied?--Yes!" replied Thord; "But sorry that your personalityresembles that of a fool and a knave!"

A strange grimace distorted the countenance of Max Graub, but hequickly buried his nose and his expression together in a foaming glassof beer. 

"You cannot be so sorry for me as I am for myself!" said Leroy, "Andnow to finish the few words I have been trying to say. I thank you frommy heart for your welcome, and for the trust you have reposed in me andmy companions. I am proud to be one of you; and I promise that youshall all have reason to be glad that I am associated with your Cause!And to prove my good faith, I undertake to set about working for youwithout a day's delay; and towards this object, I give you my word thatbefore our next meeting something shall be done to shake the politicalstronghold of Carl Pérousse!"

Sergius Thord sprang up excitedly. 

"Do that, " he said, "and were you a thousand times more like the Kingthan you are, you shall be the first to command our service andhonour!"

Loud acclamation followed his words, and all the men gathered close upabout Leroy. He looked round upon them, half-smiling, half-serious. 

"But you must tell me what to do!" he said. "You must explain to me whyyou consider Pérousse a traitor, and how you think it best histreachery should be proved. For, remember, I am a stranger to this partof the country, and my accidental resemblance to the King does not makeme his subject!"

"True!" said Paul Zouche, --his eyes were feverishly bright and hischeeks flushed--"To be personally like a liar does not oblige one totell lies! To call oneself a poet does not enable one to write poetry!And to build a cathedral does not make one a saint! To know all thehighways and byways of the Pérousse policy, you must penetrate into thedepths and gutter-slushes of the great newspaper which is subsidised bythe party to that policy! And this is difficult--exceedingly difficult, let me assure you, my bold Pasquin! And if you can perform such a'pasquinade' as shall take you into these Holy of Holy purlieus ofmischief and money-making, you will deserve to be chief of theCommittee, instead of Sergius! Sergius talks--he will talk your headoff!--but he does nothing!"

"I do what I can, "--said Thord, patiently. "It is true I have no accessto the centres of diplomacy or journalism. But I hold the People in thehollow of my hand!"

He spoke with deep and concentrated feeling, and the power of his soullooked out eloquently from the darkening flash of his eyes. Leroystudied his features with undisguised interest. 

"If you thus hold the People, " he said, --"Why not bid them rise againstthe evil and tyranny of which they have cause to complain?"

Thord shook his head. 

"To rouse the People, " he replied, "would be worse than to rouse a herdof starving lions from their forest dens, and give them freedom to slayand devour! Nay!--the time is not yet! All gentle means must be tried;and if these fail--why then--!"

He broke off, but his clenched hand and expressive glance said therest. 

"Why do you not use the most powerful of all the weapons ever inventedfor the destruction of one's enemies--the Pen?" asked Max Graub. "Starta newspaper, for example, and gibbet your particular favourite CarlPérousse therein!"

"Bah! He would get up a libel case, and advertise himself a little moreby that method!" said Zegota contemptuously; "And besides, a newspaperneeds unlimited capital behind it. We have no rich friends. "

"Rich friends!" exclaimed Lotys suddenly; "Who speaks of them--whoneeds them? Rich friends expect you to toady to them; to lick theground under their feet; to fawn and flatter and lie, and be anythingbut honest men! The rich are the vulgar of this world;--no one who hasheart, or soul, or sense, would condescend to seek friendships amongthose whose only claim to precedence is the possession of a little moreyellow metal than their neighbours. "

"Nevertheless, they and their yellow metal are the raw material, whichGenius may as well use to pave its way through life, " said Zegota. "Lotys, you are too much of an idealist!"

"Idealist! And you call yourself a realist, poor child!" said Lotyswith a laugh; "I tell you I would sooner starve than accept favour orassistance from the merely rich!"

"Of course you would!" said Zouche, "And is not that precisely thereason why you are set in dominion over us all? We men are not sure ofourselves--but--Heaven knows why!--we are sure of You! I suppose it isbecause you are sure of yourself! For example, we men are such wretchedcreatures that we cannot go long without our food, --but you, woman, canfast all day, and scorn the very idea of hunger. We men cannot bearmuch pain, --but you, --woman, --can endure suffering of your own withoutcomplaint, while attending to our various lesser hurts and scratches. Wherefore, just because we feel you are above us in this and many otherthings, we have set you amongst us as a warning Figurehead, which criesshame upon us if we falter, and reminds us that you, a woman, can do, and probably will do, what we men cannot. Imagine it! You would bearall things for love's sake!--and, frankly speaking, we would bearnothing at all, except for our own immediate and particular pleasure. For that, of course, we would endure everything till we got it, andthen--pouf!--we would let it go again in sheer weariness and desire forsomething else! Is it not so, Sergius?"

"I am glad you know yourself so well!" said Thord gloomily. "Personally, I am not prepared to accept your theory. "

"Men are children!" said Lotys, still smiling; "And should be treatedas children always, by women! Come, little ones! To bed, all of you! Itis growing late, and the rain has ceased. "

She went to the window, and unbarring the shutters, opened it. Thestreets were wet and glistening below, but the clouds had cleared, anda pale watery moon shone out fitfully from the misty sky. 

"Say good-night, and part;" she continued. "It is time! This day monthwe will meet here again, --and our new comrades will then report whatprogress they have made in the matter of Carl Pérousse. "

"Tell me, " said Leroy, approaching her, "What would you do, Madame, ifyou had determined, on proving the corruption and falsehood of this atpresent highly-honoured servant of the State?"

"I should gain access to his chief tool, David Jost, by means of thePrime Minister's signet, " said Lotys, --"If I could get the signet!--which I cannot! Nor can you! But if I could, I should persuade Jost totalk freely, and so betray himself. He and Carl Pérousse move thePremier and the King whichever way they please. "

"Is that so--?" began Leroy, when he was answered by a dozen voices atonce:--

"The King is a fool!"

"The King is a slave!"

"The King accepts everything that is set before him as being rightlyand wisely ordained, --and never enquires into the justice of what isdone!"

"The King assumes to be the friend of the People, but if you ask him todo anything for the People, you only get the secretary's usual answer--'His Majesty regrets that it is impossible to take any action in thematter'!"

"Wait!--wait!--" said Leroy, with a gesture which called for a moment'ssilence; "The question is, --_Could_ the King do anything if hewould?"

"I will answer that!" said Lotys, her eyes flashing, her bosom heaving, and her whole figure instinct with pride and passion; "The King coulddo everything! The King could be a man if he chose, instead of a dummy!The King could cease to waste his time on fools and light women!--andthough he is, and must be a constitutional Monarch, he could so ruleall social matters as to make them the better, --not the worse for hisinfluence! There is nothing to prevent the King from doing his mostkingly duty!"

Leroy looked at her for a moment in silence. 

"Madame, if the King heard your words he might perhaps regret his manyfollies!" he said courteously;--"But where Society is proved worse, instead of better for a king's influence, is it not somewhat too lateto remedy the evil? What of the Queen?"

"The Queen is queen from necessity, not from choice!" said Lotys;--"Shehas never loved her husband. If she had loved him, perhaps he might, --through her, --have loved his people more!"

There was a note of pathos in her voice that was singularly tender andtouching. Anon, as if impatient with herself, she turned to SergiusThord. 

"We must disperse!" she said abruptly; "Daybreak will be upon us beforewe know it, and we have done no business at all this evening. To enrolthree new associates is a matter of fifteen minutes; the rest of ourtime has been wasted!"

"Do not say so, Madame!" interposed Max Graub, "You have three newfriends--three new 'sons of your blood, ' as you so poetically callthem, --though, truly, I for one am more fit to be your grandfather! Anddo you consider the time wasted that has been spent in improving andinstructing your newly-born children?"

Lotys turned upon him with a look of disdain. 

"You are a would-be jester;" she said coldly; "Old men love a jest, Iknow, but they should take care to make it at the right time, and inthe right place. They should not play with edge-tools such as I am, though I suppose, being a German, you think little or nothing ofwomen?"

"Madame!" protested Graub, "I think so much of women that I have nevermarried! Behold me, an unhappy bachelor! I have spared any one of yourbeautiful sex from the cruel martyrdom of having to endure my life-longcompany!"

She laughed--a pretty low laugh, and extended her hand with an air ofqueenly condescension. 

"You are amusing!" she said, --"And so I will not quarrel with you!Good-night!"

"Auf wiedersehn!" and Graub kissed the white hand he held. "I shallhope you will command me to be of service to you and yours, ere long!"

"In what way, I wonder, " she asked dubiously; "What can you do best?Write? Speak? Or organize meetings?"

"I think, " said Graub, speaking very deliberately, "that of all myvarious accomplishments, which are many--as I shall one day prove toyou--I can poison best!"

"Poison!"

The exclamation broke simultaneously from all the company. Graub lookedabout him with a triumphant air. 

"Ah so, --I know I shall be useful, " he said; "I can poison so verybeautifully and well! One little drop--one, little microbe ofmischief--and I can make all your enemies die of cholera, typhoid, bubonic plague, or what you please! I am what is called a Christianscientific poisoner--that is a doctor! You will find me a mostinvaluable member of this Brotherhood!"

He nodded his head wisely, and smiled. Sergius Thord laid one handheavily on his shoulder. 

"We shall find you useful, no doubt!" he said, "But mark me well, friend! Our mission is not to kill, but to save!--not to poison, but toheal! If we find that by the death of one traitor we can save the livesof thousands, why then that traitor must die. If we know that bykilling a king we destroy a country's abuses, that king is sent to hisaccount. But never without warning!--never without earnest pleadingthat he whom the laws of Truth condemn, may turn from the error of hisways and repent before it is too late. We are not murderers;--we aremerely the servants of justice. "

"Exactly!" put in Paul Zouche; "You understand? We try to be what Godis not, --just!"

"Blaspheme not, Zouche!" said Thord; "Justice is the very eye of God!--the very centre and foundation of the universe. "

Zouche laughed discordantly. 

"Excellent Sergius! Impulsive Sergius!--with big heart, big head and nologic! Prove to me this eternal justice! Where does it begin? In thecreation of worlds without end, all doomed to destruction, andtherefore perfectly futile in their existence? In the making of man, who lives his little day with the utmost difficulty, pain and struggle, and is then extinguished, to be heard of no more? The use of it, mySergius!--point out the use of it! No, --there is no man can answer methat! If I could see the Creator, I would ask Him the questionpersonally--but He hides Himself behind the great big pendulum He hasset swinging--tick--tock!--tick--tock! Life--Death!--Life--Death!--andnever a reason why the clock is set going! And so we shall never havejustice, --simply because there is none! It is not just or reasonable topropound a question to which there is no answer; it is not just orreasonable to endow man with all the thinking powers of brain, and allthe imaginative movements of mind, merely to turn him into a pinch ofdust afterwards. Every generation, every country strives to get justicedone, but cannot, --merely for the fact that God Himself has no idea ofit, and therefore it is naturally lacking in His creature, man. Ourgoverning-forces are plainly the elements. No Divine finger stops theearthquake from engulfing a village full of harmless inhabitants, simply because of the injustice of such utter destruction! See now!--look at the eyes of Lotys reproaching me! You would think they were theeyes of an angel, gazing at a devil in the sweet hope of plucking himout of hell!"

"Such a hope would be vain in your case, Zouche, " said Lotystranquilly; "You make your own hell, and you must live in it!Nevertheless, in some of the wild things you say, there is a grain oftruth. If I were God, I should be the most miserable of all beings, tolook upon all the misery I had myself created! I should be so sorry forthe world, that I should put an end to all hope of immortality by myown death. "

She made this strange remark with a simplicity and wistfulness whichwere in striking contrast to the awful profundity of the suggestion, and all her auditors, including the half-tipsy Zouche, were silent. 

"I should be so sorry!" she repeated; "For even as a mortal woman mypity for the suffering world almost breaks my heart;--but if I wereGod, I should have all the griefs of all the worlds I had made toanswer for, --and such an agony would surely kill me. Oh, --the pain, the tears, the mistakes, the sins, the anguish of humanity! All theseare frightful to me! I do not understand why such misery should exist!I think it must be that we have not enough love in the world; if weonly loved each other faithfully, God might love us more!"

Her eyes were wet; she caught her breath hard, and smiled a littledifficult smile. Something in her soul transfigured her face, and madeit for the moment exquisitely lovely, and the men around her gazed ather in evidently reverential silence. Suddenly she stretched out bothher hands:

"Good-night, children!"

One by one the would-be-fierce associates of the RevolutionaryCommittee bent low over those fair hands; and then quietly salutingSergius Thord, as quietly left the room, like schoolboys retiring froma class where the lessons had been more or less badly done. Paul Zouchewas not very steady on his feet, and two of his comrades assisted himto walk as he stumbled off, singing somewhat of a ribald rhyme in_mezza-voce_. Pasquin Leroy and his two friends were the last togo. Lotys looked at them all three meditatively. 

"You will be faithful?" she said. 

"Unto death!" answered Leroy. 

She came close up to him, placing one hand on his arm, and glancedmeaningly towards Sergius Thord, who was standing at the thresholdwatching Zouche stumbling down the dark stairs. 

"Sergius is a good man!" she said; "One of the mistaken geniuses ofthis world, --savage as a lion, yet simple as a child! Whoever, andwhatever you are, be true to him!"

"He is dear to you?" said Leroy on a sudden impulse, catching her hand;"He is more to you than most men?"

She snatched away her hand, and her eyes lightened first with wrath, then with laughter. 

"Dear to me!" she echoed, --"to Me? No one man on earth is dearer to methan another! All are alike in my estimation, --all the same barbaric, foolish babes and children--all to be loved and pitied alike! ButSergius Thord picked me out of the streets when I was no better than astray and starving dog, --and like a dog I serve him--faithfully! Nowgo!"

She stretched out her hand in an attitude of command, and there wasnothing for it but to obey. They therefore repeated their farewells, and in their turn, went out, one by one, down the tortuous staircase. Sholto, the hunchback, was below, and he let them out without a word, closing and barring the door carefully behind them. Once in the streetand under the misty moonlight, Pasquin Leroy nodded a carelessdismissal to his companions. 

"You will return alone?" enquired Max Graub. 

"Quite alone!" was the reply. 

"May I not follow you at a distance?" asked Axel Regor. 

Leroy smiled. "You forget! One of the rules we have just sworn toconform to, is--'No member shall track, follow or enquire into themovements of any other member. ' Go your ways! I will thank you both foryour services to-morrow. "

He turned away rapidly and disappeared. His two friends remained gazingsomewhat disconsolately after him. 

"Shall we go?" at last said Max Graub. 

"When you please, " replied Axel Regor irritably, --"The sooner thebetter for me! Here we are probably watched, --we had best go down tothe quay, and from thence----"

He did not finish his sentence, but Graub evidently understood itsconclusion--and they walked quickly away together in quite an oppositedirection to that in which Leroy had gone. 

Meanwhile, up in the now closed and darkened house they had left behindthem, Lotys stood looking at Sergius Thord, who had thrown himself intoa chair and sat with his elbows resting on the table, and his headburied in his hands. 

"You make no way, poor Sergius!" she said gently. "You work, you write, you speak to the people, but you make no way!"

He looked up fiercely. 

"I do make way!" he said; "How can you doubt it? A word from me, andthe massed millions would rise as one man!"

"And of what use would that be?" enquired Lotys. "The soldiers wouldfire on the people, and there would be riot and bloodshed, but noactual redress for wrong. You work vainly, Sergius!"

"If I could but kill the King!" he muttered. 

"Another king would succeed him, " she said. "And after all, if you onlyknew it, the King may be a miserable man enough--far more miserable, perhaps, than any of us imagine ourselves to be. No, Sergius!--I repeatit, you work vainly! You have made me the soul of an Ideal which youwill never realise? Tell me, what is it you yourself would have, out ofall your work and striving?"

He looked at her with great, earnest, burning eyes. 

"Power!" he said. "Power to change the mode of government; power to putdown the tyranny of priestcraft--power to relieve the oppressed, andreward the deserving--power to make of you, Lotys, a queen amongwomen!"

She smiled. 

"I am a queen among men, Sergius, and that suffices me! How often mustI tell you to do nothing for my sake, if it is for my sake only? I am avery simple, plain woman, past my youth, and without beauty--I deserveand demand nothing!"

He raised himself, and stretched out his arms towards her with agesture of entreaty. 

"You deserve all that a man can give you!" he said passionately. "Ilove you, Lotys! I have always loved you ever since I found you alittle forsaken child, shivering and weeping on the cold marble stepsof the Temesvar place in Buda. I love you!--you know I have alwaysloved you!--I have told you so a hundred times, --I love you as few menlove women!"

She regarded him compassionately, and with a touch of wistful sorrow inher eyes. Her black cloak fell away on either side of her in twoshadowy folds, disclosing her white-robed form and full bosom, like apearl in a dark shell. 

"Good-night, Sergius!" she said simply, and turned to go. 

He gave an exclamation of anger and pain. 

"That is all you say--'Good-night'!" he muttered. "A man gives you hisheart, and you set it aside with a cold word of farewell! And yet--andyet--you hold all my life!"

"I am sorry, Sergius, " she said, in a gentle voice; "very sorry that itis so. You have told me all this before; and I have answered you often, and always in the same way. I have no love to give you, save that whichis the result of duty and gratitude. I do not forget!--I know that yourescued me from starvation and death--though sometimes I questionwhether it would not have been better to have let me die. Life is worthvery little at its utmost best; nevertheless, I admit I have had acertain natural joy in living, and for that I have to thank you. I havetried to repay you by my service--"

"Do not speak of that, " he said hurriedly; "I have done nothing! Youare a genius in yourself, and would have made your way anywhere, --perhaps better without me. "

She smiled doubtfully. 

"I am not sure! The trick of oratory does not carry one very far, --notwhen one is a woman! Good-night again, Sergius! Try to rest, --you lookworn out. And do not think of winning power for my sake; what power Ineed I will win for myself!"

He made no answer, but watched her with jealous eyes, as she movedtowards the door. On the threshold she turned. 

"Those three new associates of yours--are they trustworthy, think you?"

He gave a gesture of indifference. 

"I do not know! Who is there we can absolutely trust save ourselves?That man, Leroy, is honest, --of that I am confident, --and he haspromised to be responsible for his friends. "

"Ah!" She paused a moment, then with another low breathed 'good-night'she left the room. 

He looked at the door as it closed behind her--at the chair she hadleft vacant. 

"Lotys!" he whispered. 

His whisper came hissing softly back to him in a fine echo on the emptyspace, and with a great sigh he rose, and began to turn out the flaringlamps above his head. 

"Power!--Power!" he muttered--"She could not resist it! She would neverbe swayed by gold, --but power! Her genius would rise to it--her beautywould grow to it like a rose unfolding in the sun! 'Past youth, andwithout beauty' as she says of herself! My God! Compare the tame pink-and-white prettiness of youth with the face of Lotys, --and thatprettiness becomes like a cheap advertisement on a hoarding or a match-box! Contrast the perfect features, eyes and hair of the newest social'beauty, '--with the magical expression, the glamour in the eyes ofLotys, --and perfection of feature becomes the rankest ugliness! Once ina hundred centuries a woman is born like Lotys, to drive men mad withdesire for the unattainable--to fire them with such ambition as shouldmake them emperors of the world, if they had but sufficient courage tosnatch their thrones--and yet, --to fill them with such sick despair attheir own incompetency and failure, as to turn them into mere childrencrying for love--for love!--only love! No matter whether worlds arelost, kings killed, and dynasties concluded, love!--only love!--andthen death!--as all sufficient for the life of a man! And only just solong as love is denied--just so long we can go on climbing towards theunreachable height of greatness, --then--once we touch love, down wefall, broken-hearted; but--we have had our day!"

The room was now in darkness, save for the glimmer of the pale moonthrough the window panes, and he opened the casement and looked out. There was a faint scent of the sea on the air, and he inhaled its saltyodour with a sense of refreshment. 

"All for Lotys!" he murmured. "Working for Lotys, plotting, planning, scheming for Lotys! The government intimidated, --the ministry castout, --the throne in peril, --the people in arms, --the city in a blaze, --Revolution and Anarchy doing their wild work broad-cast together, --all for Lotys! Always a woman in it! Search to the very depth of everypolitical imbroglio, --dig out the secret reason of every war that everwas begun or ended in the world, --and there we shall find the love orthe hate of a woman at the very core of the business! Some such secretshistory knows, and has chronicled, --and some will never be known, --butup to the present there is not even a religion in the world where aWoman is not made the beginning of a God!"

He smiled somewhat grimly at his own fanciful musings, and then, shutting the window, retired. The house was soon buried in profoundsilence and darkness, and over the city tuneful bells rang the half-hour after midnight. Four miles distant from the 'quarter of the poor, 'and high above the clustering houses of the whole magnificentmetropolis, the Royal palace towered whitely on its proud eminence inthe glimmer of the moon, a stately pile of turrets and pinnacles; andon the battlements the sentries walked, pacing to and fro in regularmarch, with regular changes, all through the night hours. Half aftermidnight! 'All's well!' Three-quarters, and still 'All's well' soundedwith the clash of steel and a tinkle of silvery chimes. One o'clockstruck, --and the drifting clouds in heaven cleared fully, showing manybrilliant stars in the western horizon, --and a sentry passing, asnoiselessly as his armour and accoutrements would permit, along thewalled battlement which protected and overshadowed the windows of theQueen's apartments, paused in his walk to look with an approving eye atthe clearing promise of the weather. As he did so, a tall figure, wrapped in a thick rain-cloak, suddenly made its unexpected appearancethrough a side door in the wall, and moved rapidly towards a turretwhich contained a secret passage leading to the Queen's boudoir, --aprivate stairway which was never used save by the Royal family. Thesentry gave a sharp warning cry. 

"Halt! Who goes there?"

The figure paused and turned, dropping its cloak. The pale moonlightfell slantwise on the features, disclosing them fully. 

"T is I! The King!"

The soldier recoiled amazed, --and quickly saluted. Before he couldrecover from his astonishment he was alone again. The battlement wasempty, and the door to the turret-stairs, --of which only the Kingpossessed the key, --was fast locked; and for the next hour or more thestartled sentry remained staring at the skies in a sort of meditativestupefaction, with the words still ringing like the shock of an alarm-bell in his ears:

"'T is I! The King!"

CHAPTER IX

THE PREMIER'S SIGNET

The next day the sun rose with joyous brightness in a sky clear ascrystal. Storm, wind, and rain had vanished like the flying phantoms ofan evil dream, and all the beautiful land sparkled with light and lifein its enlacing girdle of turquoise blue sea. The gardens of the Royalpalace, freshened by the downpour of the past night, wore their mostenchanting aspect, --roses, with leaves still wet, dropped their scentedpetals on the grass, --great lilies, with their snowy cups brimming withrain, hung heavily on their slim green stalks, and the air was full ofthe deliciously penetrating odour of the mimosa and sweetbriar. Downone special alley, where the white philadelphus, or 'mock orange' grewin thick bushes on either side, intermingled with ferns and sprucefirs, whose young green tips exhaled a pungent, healthy scent thatentered into the blood like wine and invigorated it, Sir Roger deLaunay was pacing to and fro with a swinging step which, notwithstanding its ease and soldierly regularity, suggested somethingof impatience, and on a rustic seat, above which great clusters of thephiladelphus-flowers hung like a canopy, sat Professor von Glauben, spectacles on nose, sorting a few letters which he had just taken fromhis pocket for the purpose of reading them over again carefully one byone. He was a very particular man as regarded his correspondence. Allletters that required answering he answered at once, --the others, as hehimself declared, 'answered themselves' in silence. 

"There is no end to the crop of fools in this world, " he was fond ofsaying;--"Glorious, precious fools! I love them all! They make lifeworth living--but sometimes I am disposed to draw the line at letter-writing fools. These persons chance to read a book--my book forexample, --that particularly clever one I wrote on the possibilities ofeternal life in this world. They at once snatch their pens and write tosay that they are specially deserving of this boon, and wish to livefor ever--will I tell them how? And these are the very creatures Iwill not tell how--because their perpetual existence would be a mistakeand a nuisance! The individuals whose lives are really valuable neverask anyone how to make them so. "

He looked over his letters now with a leisurely indifference. Themorning's post had brought him nothing of special importance. Heglanced from his reading now and again at De Launay marching up anddown, but said nothing till he had quite finished with his ownimmediate concerns. Then he removed his spectacles from his nose andput them by. 

"Left--Right--Left--Right--Left--Right! Roger, you remind me of mydrilling days on a certain flat and dusty ground at Coblentz! TheRhine!--the Rhine! Ah, the beautiful Rhine! So dirty--so dull--with itstoy castles, and its big, ugly factory chimneys, and its atrociouslybad wine! Roger, I beseech you to have mercy upon me, and leave offthat marching up and down, --it gets on my nerves!"

"I thought nothing ever got on your nerves, " answered Sir Roger, stopping abruptly--"You seem to take serious matters coolly enough!"

"Serious matters demand coolness, " replied Von Glauben. "We should onlylet steam out over trifles. Have you seen his Majesty this morning?"

"Yes. I am to see him again at noon. "

"When do you go off duty?"

"Not for a month, at least. "

"Much may happen in that month, " said the Professor sententiously;"_Your_ hair may grow white with the strangeness of your experiences!"

Sir Roger met his eyes, and they both laughed. 

"Though it is no laughing matter, " resumed Von Glauben. "Upon my soulas a German, --if I have any soul of that nationality, --I think it maybe a serious business!"

"You have come round to my opinion then, " said De Launay. "I told youfrom the first that it was serious!"

"The King does not think it so, " rejoined Von Glauben. "I was summonedto his presence early this morning, and found him in the fullest healthand highest spirits. "

"Why did he send for you then?" enquired De Launay. 

"To feel his pulse and look at his tongue! To make a little game of mebefore he stepped out of his dressing-gown! And I enjoyed it, ofcourse, --one must always enjoy Royal pleasantries! I think, Roger, hisMajesty wishes this entire affair treated as a pleasantry, --by us atany rate, however seriously he may regard it himself. "

De Launay was silent for a minute or two, then he said abruptly:

"The Premier is summoned to a private audience of the King at noon. "

"Ah!" And Von Glauben drew a cluster of the overhanging philadelphusflowers down to his nose and smelt them approvingly. 

"And"--went on De Launay, speaking more deliberately, "this afternoontheir Majesties sail to The Islands----"

Von Glauben jumped excitedly to his feet. 

"Not possible!"

Sir Roger looked at him with a dawning amusement beginning to twinklein his clear blue eyes. 

"Quite possible! So possible, that the Royal yacht is ordered to be inreadiness at three o'clock. Their Majesties and suite will dine onboard, in order to enjoy the return sail by moonlight. "

The Professor's countenance was a study. Anxiety and vexation struggledwith the shrewd kindness and humour of his natural expression, and hissuppressed feelings found vent in a smothered exclamation, whichsounded very much like the worst of blasphemous oaths used in direextremity by the soldiers of the Fatherland. 

"What ails you?" demanded De Launay; "You seem strangely upset for aman of cool nerve!"

"Upset? Who--what can upset me? Nothing! Roger, if I did not respectyou so much, I should call you an ass!"

Sir Roger laughed. 

"Call me an ass, by all means, " he said, "if it will relieve yourfeelings;--but in justice to me, let me know why you do so! What is myoffence? I give you a piece of commonplace information concerning themovements of the Court this afternoon, and you jump off your seat as ifan adder had bitten you. Why?"

"I have the gout, " said Von Glauben curtly. 

"Oh!" And again Sir Roger laughed. "That last must have been a sharptwinge!"

"It was--it was! Believe me, my excellent Roger, it was exceedinglysevere!" His brow smoothed, and he smiled. "See here, my dear friend!--you know, do you not, that boys will be boys, and men will be men?"

"Both are recognised platitudes, " replied Sir Roger, his eyes stilltwinkling merrily; "And both are frequently quoted to cover our variousfollies!"

"True, true! But I wish to weigh more particularly on the fact that menwill be men! I am a man, Roger, --not a boy!"

"Really! Well, upon my word, I should at this moment take you for a rawlad of about eighteen, --for you are blushing, Von Glauben!--actuallyblushing!"

The Professor drew out a handkerchief, and wiped his brow. 

"It is a warm morning, Roger, " he said, with a mildly reproachful air;"I suppose I am permitted to feel the heat?" He paused--then with asudden burst of impatience he exclaimed: "By the Emperor's head! It isof no use denying it--I am very much put out, Roger! I must get a boat, and slip off to The Islands at once!"

Sir Roger stared at him in complete amazement. 

"You? You want to slip off to The Islands? Why, Von Glauben----!"

"Yes--yes, --I know! You cannot possibly imagine what I want to go therefor! You wouldn't suppose, would you, that I had any special secrets--an old man like me;--for instance, you would not suspect me of any lovesecrets, eh?" And he made a ludicrous attempt to appear sentimental. "The fact is, Roger, --I have got into a little scrape over at TheIslands--" here he looked warmer and redder than ever;--"and I want totake precautions! You understand--I want to take care that the Kingdoes not hear of it--Gott in Himmel! What a block of a man you are tostand there staring open-mouthed at me! Were you never in loveyourself?

"In love? In love!--you, --Professor? Pray pardon me--but--in love? Am Ito understand that there is a lady in your case?"

"Yes!--that is it, " said Von Glauben, with an air of profound relief;"There is a lady in my case;--or my case, speaking professionally, isthat of a lady. And I shall get any sort of a sea-tub that isavailable, and go over to those accursed Islands without any delay!"

"If the King should send for you while you are absent--" began DeLaunay doubtfully. 

"He will not send. But if he should, what of it? I am known to besomewhat eccentric--particularly so in my love of hard work, fresh airand exercise--besides, he has not commanded my attendance. He will not, therefore, be surprised at my absence. I tell you, Roger, --I_must_ go! Who would have expected the King to take it into hishead to visit The Islands without a moment's warning! What a freak!"

"And here comes the reason of the freak, if I am not very muchmistaken, " said De Launay, lowering his voice as an approaching figureflung its lengthy shadow on the path, --"Prince Humphry!"

Von Glauben hastily drew back, De Launay also, to allow the Prince topass. He was walking slowly, and reading as he came. Looking up fromhis book he saw, them, and as they saluted him profoundly, bade themgood-day. 

"You are up betimes, Professor, " he said lightly; "I suppose yourscientific wisdom teaches you the advantage of the morning air. "

"Truly, Sir, it is more healthful than that of the evening, " answeredVon Glauben in somewhat doleful accents. --"For example, a sail acrossthe sea with the morning breeze, is better than the same sort ofexcursion in the glamour of the moon!"

Prince Humphry looked steadfastly at him, and evidently read somethingof a warning, or a suggestion, in his face, for he coloured slightlyand bit his lip. 

"Do you agree with that theory, Sir Roger, " he said, turning to DeLaunay. 

"I have not tested it, Sir, " replied the equerry, "But I imagine thatwhatever Professor von Glauben asserts must be true!"

The young man glanced quickly from one to the other, and then with acareless air turned over the pages of the book he held. 

"In the earlier ages of the world, " he said, --"men and women, I think, must have been happier than they are now, if this book may be believed. I find here written down--What is it, Professor? You have something tosay?"

"Pardon me, Sir, " said Von Glauben, --"But you said--'If this book maybe believed. ' I humbly venture to declare that no book may bebelieved!"

"Not even your own, when it is written?" queried the Prince with asmile; "You would not like the world to say so! Nay, but listen, Professor, --here is a thought very beautifully expressed--and it waswritten in an ancient language of the East, thousands of years beforewe, in our quarter of the world, ever dreamt of civilization. --'Of allthe sentiments, passions or virtues which in their divers turns affectthe life of a man, the influence and emotion of Love is surely thegreatest and highest. We do not here speak of the base and villainouscraving of bodily appetite; but of that pure desire of the unfetteredsoul which beholding perfection, straightway and naturally flies to thesame. This love doth so elevate and instruct a man, that he seekethnothing better than to be worthy of it, to attempt great deeds andvaliantly perform them, to confront foul abuses, and most potentlydestroy them, --and to esteem the powers and riches of this world asdross, weighed against this rare and fiery talisman. For it is a jewelwhich doth light up the heart, and make it strong to support all sorrowand ill fortune with cheerfulness, knowing that it is in itself of solasting a quality as to subjugate all things and events unto itscompelling sway. ' What think you of this? Sir Roger, there is a wholevolume of comprehension in your face! Give some word of it utterance!"

Sir Roger looked up. 

"There is nothing to say, Sir, " he replied; "Your ancient writer merelyexpresses a truth we are all conscious of. All poets, worthy the name, and all authors, save and except the coldest logicians, deem the worldwell lost for love. "

"More fools they!" said Von Glauben gruffly; "Love is a mere illusion, which is generally destroyed by one simple ceremony--Marriage!"

Prince Humphry smiled. 

"You have never tried the cure, Professor, " he said, "But I daresay youhave suffered from the disease! Will you walk with me?"

Von Glauben bowed a respectful assent; and the Prince, with a kindlynod of dismissal to De Launay, went on his way, the Professor by hisside. Sir Roger watched them as they disappeared, and saw, that at thefurthest end of the alley, when they were well out of ear-shot, theyappeared to engage in very close and confidential conversation. 

"I wonder, " he mused, "I wonder what it all means? Von Glauben isevidently mixed up in some affair that he wishes to keep secret fromthe King. Can it concern Prince Humphry? And The Islands! What can VonGlauben want over there?"

His brief meditation was interrupted by a soft voice calling. 

"Roger!"

He started, and at once advanced to meet the approaching intruder, hissister, Teresa de Launay, a pretty brunette, with dark sparkling eyes, one of the favourite ladies of honour in attendance on the Queen. 

"What were you dreaming about?" she asked, as he came near, "And whatis the Prince doing with old Von Glauben?"

"Two questions at once, Teresa!" he said, stooping his tall head tokiss her; "I cannot possibly answer both in a breath! But answer mejust one--What are you here for?"

"To summon _you_!" she answered. "The Queen desires you to waitupon her immediately. "

She fixed her bright eyes upon him as she spoke, and an involuntarysigh escaped her, as she noted the touch of pallor that came on hisface at her words. 

"Where is her Majesty?" he asked. 

"Here--close at hand--in the arbour. She spied you at a distancethrough the trees, and sent me to fetch you. "

"You had best return to her at once, and say that I am coming. "

His sister looked at him again, and hesitated--he gave a slight, vexedgesture of impatience, whereupon she hurried away, with flyingfootsteps as light as those of a fabled sylph of the woodlands. Hewatched her go, and for a moment an expression came into his eyes ofintense suffering--the look of a noble dog who is suddenly struckundeservedly by an unkind master. 

"She sends for me!" he muttered; "What for? To amuse herself by readingevery thought of my life with her cold eyes? Why can she not leave mealone?"

He walked on then, with a quiet, even pace, and presently reaching theend of the alley, came out on a soft stretch of greensward facing asmall ornamental lake and fountain. Here grew tall rushes, bamboos andflag-flowers--here, too, on the quiet lake floated water-lilies, whiteand pink, opening their starry hearts to the glory of the morning sun. A quaintly shaped, rustic arbour covered with jasmine, faced the pool, and here sat the Queen alone and unattended, save by Teresa de Launay, who drew a little apart as her brother, Sir Roger, approached, andrespectfully bent his head in the Royal presence. For quite a minute hestood thus in dumb attention, his eyes lowered, while the Queen glancedat him with a curious expression, half of doubt, half of commiseration. Suddenly, as if moved by a quick impulse, she rose--a stately, exquisite figure, looking even more beautiful in her simple morningrobe of white cashmere and lace, than in all the glory of her Courtattire, --and extended her hand. Humbly and reverentially he bent overit, and kissed the great jewel sparkling like a star on the centralfinger. As he then raised his eyes to her face she smiled;--that smileof hers, so dazzling, so sweet, and yet so cold, had sent many men totheir deaths, though she knew it not. 

"I see very little of you, Sir Roger, " she said slowly, "notwithstanding your close attendance on my lord the King. Yet I knowI can command your service!"

"Madam, " murmured De Launay, "my life----"

"Oh, no, " she rejoined quickly, "not your life! Your life, like mine, belongs to the King and the country. You must give all, or not at all!"

"Madam, I do give all!" he answered, with a look in his eyes of mingledpain and passion; "No man can give more!"

She surveyed him with a little meditative, almost amused air. 

"You have strong feelings, Sir Roger, " she said; "I wonder what it islike--to _feel_?"

"If I may dare to say so, Madam, I should wish you to experience thesensation, " he returned somewhat bitterly; "Sometimes we awaken toemotions too late--sometimes we never awaken. But I think it is wisestto experience the nature of a storm, in order to appreciate the valueof a calm!"

"You think so?" She smiled indulgently. "Storm and calm are to mealike! I am affected by neither. Life is so exceedingly trivial anaffair, and is so soon over, that I have never been able to understandwhy people should ever trouble themselves about anything in it. "

"You may not always be lacking in this comprehension, Madam, " said SirRoger, with a certain harshness in his tone, yet with the deepestrespect in his manner; "I take it that life and the world are but apreparation for something greater, and that we shall be forced to learnour lessons in this preparatory school before we leave it, whether welike it or no!"

The slight smile still lingered on her beautiful mouth, --she pulled aspray of jasmine down from the trailing clusters around her, and set itcarelessly among the folds of her lace. Sir Roger watched her withmoody eyes. Could he have followed his own inclination, he would havesnatched the flower from her dress and kissed it, in a kind of fiercedefiance before her very eyes. But what would be the result of such anact? Merely a little contemptuous lifting of the delicate brows--aslight frown on the fair forehead, and a calm gesture of dismissal. Nomore--no more than this; for just as she could not be moved to love, neither could she be moved to anger. The words of an old song rang inhis ears:--

 She laughs at the thought of love-- Pain she scorns, and sorrow she sets aside-- My heart she values less than her broidered glove, She would smile if I died!

"You are a man, Sir Roger de Launay, " she said after a pause, "And man-like, you propound any theory which at the moment happens to fit yourown particular humour. I am, however, entirely of your opinion thatthis life is only a term of preparation, and with this conviction Idesire to have as little to do with its vile and ugly side as I can. Itis possible to accept with gratitude the beautiful things of Nature, and reject the rest, is it not?"

"As you ask me the question point-blank, Madam, I say it is possible, --it can be done, --and you do it. But it is wrong!"

She raised her languid eyelids, showing no offence. 

"Wrong?"

"Wrong, Madam!" repeated Sir Roger bluntly; "It is wrong to shut fromyour sight, from your heart, from your soul the ugly side of Nature;--to shut your ears to the wants--the pains--the tortures--the screams--the tears, and groans of humanity! Oh, Madam, the ugly side has astrange beauty of its own that you dream not of! God makes ugliness ashe makes beauty; God created the volcano belching forth fire and moltenlava, as He created the simple stream bordered with meadow flowers! Whyshould you reject the ugly, the fierce, the rebellious side of things?Rather take it into your gracious thoughts and prayers, Madam, and helpto make it beautiful!"

He spoke with a force which surprised himself--he was carried away by apassion that seemed almost outside his own identity. She looked at himcuriously. 

"Does the King teach you to speak thus to me?" she asked. 

De Launay started, --the hot colour mounting to his cheeks and brow. 

"Madam!"

"Nay, no excuse! I understand! It is your own thought; but a thoughtwhich is no doubt suddenly inspired by the King's actions, " she went ontranquilly; "You are in his confidence. He is adopting new measures ofdomestic policy, in which, perchance, I may or may not be included--asit suits my pleasure! Who knows!" Again the little musing smile crossedher countenance. "It is of the King I wish to speak to you. "

She glanced around her, and saw that her lady-in-waiting, Teresa deLaunay, had discreetly wandered by herself to the edge of the water-lily pool, and was bending over it, a graceful, pensive figure in thenear distance, within call, but certainly not within hearing. 

"You are in his confidence, " she repeated, drawing a step nearer tohim, "and--so am I! You will not disclose his movements--nor shall I!But you are his close attendant and friend, --I am merely--his wife! Imake you responsible for his safety!"

"Madam, I pray you pardon me!" exclaimed De Launay; "His Majesty has awill of his own, --and his sacred life is not in my hands. I will defendhim to the utmost limit of human possibility, --but if he voluntarilyruns into danger, and disregards all warning, I, as his poor servant, am not to blame!"

Her eyes, brilliant and full of a compelling magnetism, dwelt upon himsteadfastly. 

"I repeat my command, " she said deliberately, "I make you responsible!You are a strong man and a brave one. If the King is rash, it is theduty of his servants to defend him from the consequences of hisrashness; particularly if that rashness leads him into danger for anoble purpose. Should any mischance befall him, let me never see yourface again! Die yourself, rather than let your King die!"

As she spoke these words she motioned him away with a grand gesture ofdismissal, and he retired back from her presence in a kind of stunnedamazement. Never before in all the days of her social sway as Crown-Princess, had she ever condescended to speak to him on any matter ofconfidence, --never during her three years of sovereignty as Queen-Consort had she apparently taken note, or cared to know any of theaffairs connected with the King, her husband. The mere fact that nowher interest was roused, moved De Launay to speechless wonderment. Hehardly dared raise his eyes to look at her, as she turned from him andwent slowly, with her usual noiseless, floating grace of movement, towards the water-lily pool, there to rejoin her attendant, Teresa deLaunay, who at the same time advanced to meet her Royal mistress. Amoment more, and Queen and lady of honour had disappeared together, andDe Launay was left alone. A little bird, swinging on a branch above hishead, piped a few tender notes to the green leaves and the sunlit sky, but beyond this, and the measured plash of the fountain, no sounddisturbed the stillness of the garden. 

"Upon my word, Roger de Launay, " he said bitterly to himself, "you arean ass sufficiently weighted with burdens! The love of a Queen, and thelife of a King are enough for one man's mind to carry with any degreeof safety! If it were not for the King, I think I should leave thiscountry and seek some other service--but I owe him much, --if only byreason of my own heart's folly!"

Impatient with himself, he strode away, straight across the lawn andback to the palace. Here he noticed just the slightest atmosphere ofuneasiness among some of the retainers of the Royal household, --a vagueimpression of flurry and confusion. Through various passages andcorridors, attendants and pages were either running about with extrahaste, or else strolling to and fro with extra slowness. As he turnedinto one of the ante-chambers, he suddenly confronted a tall, military-looking personage in plain civilian attire, whom he at once recognizedas the Chief of the Police. 

"Ah, Bernhoff!" he said lightly, "any storms brewing?"

"None that call for particular attention, Sir Roger, " replied theindividual addressed; "But I have been sent for by the King, and amhere awaiting his pleasure. "

Sir Roger showed no sign of surprise, and with a friendly nod passedon. He began to find the situation rather interesting. 

"After all, " he argued inwardly, "there is nothing to hinder the Kingfrom being a social autocrat, even if he cannot by the rules of theConstitution be a political one. And we should do well to remember thatpolitics are governed entirely by social influence. It is the samething all over the world--a deluded populace--a social movement whichelects a parliament and ministry--and then the result, --which is, thatthis or that party hold the reins of government, on whichever sidehappens to be most advantageous to the immediate social and financialwhim. The people are the grapes crushed into wine for their rulers'drinking; and the King is merely the wine-cup on the festal board. Ifhe once begins to be something more than that cup, there will be an endof revelry!"

His ideas were not without good foundation in fact. Throughout allhistory, where a strong man has ruled a nation, whether for good orill, he has left his mark; and where there has been no strong man, theannals of the time are vapid and uninteresting. Governments emanatefrom social influences. The social rule of the Roman Emperors bredathletes, heroes, and poets, merely because physical strength andcourage, combined with heroism and poetic perception were encouraged byRoman society. The social rule of England's Elizabeth had its result inthe brilliant attainments of the many great men who crowded her Court--the social rule of Victoria, until the death of the Prince Consort, bred gentle women and chivalrous men. In all these cases, the reigningmonarchs governed society, and society governed politics. Politics, indeed, can scarcely be considered apart from society, because on thenature and character of society depend the nature and character ofpolitics. If society is made up of corrupt women and unprincipled men, the spirit of political government will be as corrupt and unprincipledas they. If any King, beholding such a state of things, were tosuddenly cut himself clear of the corruption, and to make a straightroad for his own progress--clean and open--and elect to walk in it, society would follow his lead, and as a logical consequence politicswould become honourable. But no monarchs have the courage of theiropinions nowadays, --if only one sovereign of them all possessed suchcourage, he could move the world!

The long bright day unwound its sunny hours, crowned with blue skiesand fragrant winds, and the life and movement of the fair city by thesea was gay, incessant and ever-changing. There was some popularinterest and excitement going on down at the quay, for the usual idlecrowd had collected to see the Royal yacht being prepared for herafternoon's cruise. Though she was always kept ready for sailing, theKing's orders this time had been sudden and peremptory, and, consequently, all the men on board were exceptionally hard at workgetting things in immediate readiness. The fact that the Queen was toaccompany the King in the afternoon's trip to The Islands, where up tothe present she had never been, was a matter of lively comment, --herextraordinary beauty never failing to attract a large number of sight-seers. 

In the general excitement, no one saw Professor von Glauben quietlyenter a small and common sailing skiff, manned by two ordinaryfishermen of the shore, and scud away with the wind over the seatowards the west, where, in the distance on this clear day, a gleamingline of light showed where The Islands lay, glistening like emerald andpearl in the midst of the dark blue waste of water. His departure wasunnoticed, though as a rule the King's private physician commanded someattention, not only by reason of his confidential post in the Royalhousehold, but also on account of certain rumours which were circulatedthrough the country concerning his wonderful skill in effectingcomplete cures where all hope of recovery had been abandoned. It waswhispered, indeed, that he had discovered the 'Elixir of Life, ' butthat he would not allow its properties to be made known, lest as theScripture saith, man should 'take and eat and live for ever. ' It wasnot advisable--so the Professor was reported to have said--that all menshould live for ever, --but only a chosen few; and he, at present, wasapparently the privileged person who alone was fitted to make theselection of those few. For this and various other reasons, he wasgenerally looked at with considerable interest, but this morning, owingto the hurried preparations for the embarking of their Majesties onboard the Royal yacht, he managed to escape from even chancerecognition, --and he was well over the sea, and more than half-way tohis destination before the bells of the city struck noon. 

Punctual to that hour, a close carriage drove up to the palace. Itcontained no less a personage than the Prime Minister, the Marquis deLutera, --a dark, heavy man, with small furtive eyes, a ponderous jaw, and a curious air of seeming for ever on an irritable watch foroffences. His aspect was intellectual, yet always threatening; and hisfrigid manner was profoundly discouraging to all who sought to win hisattention or sympathy. He entered the palace now with an easy, not tosay assertive deportment, and as he ascended the broad staircase whichled to the King's private apartments, he met the Chief of the Policecoming down. This latter saluted him, but he barely acknowledged thecourtesy, so taken by surprise was he at the sight of thisadministrative functionary in the palace at so early an hour. However, it was impossible to ask any questions of him on the grand staircase, within hearing of the Royal lackeys; so he continued on his wayupstairs, with as much dignity as his heavily-moulded figure wouldpermit him to display, till he reached the upper landing known as the'King's Corridor, ' where Sir Roger de Launay was in waiting to conducthim to his sovereign's presence. To him the Marquis addressed thequestion:

"Bernhoff has been with the King?"

"Yes. For more than an hour. "

"Any robbery in the palace?"

De Launay smiled. 

"I think not! So far as I am permitted to be cognisant of events, thereis nothing wrong!"

The Marquis looked slightly perplexed. 

"The King is well?"

"Remarkably well--and in excellent humour! He is awaiting you, Marquis, --permit me to escort you to him!"

The carved and gilded doors of the Royal audience-chamber werethereupon flung back, and the Marquis entered, ushered in by De Launay. The doors closed again upon them both; and for some time there wasprofound silence in the King's corridor, no intruder venturing toapproach save two gentlemen-at-arms, who paced slowly up and down ateither end on guard. At the expiration of about an hour, Sir Roger cameout alone, and, glancing carelessly around him, strolled to the head ofthe grand staircase, and waited patiently there for quite anotherthirty minutes. At last the doors were flung open widely again, and theKing himself appeared, clad in easy yachting attire, and walking withone hand resting on the arm of the Marquis de Lutera, who, from hisexpression, seemed curiously perturbed. 

"Then you will not come with us, Marquis?" said the King, with an airof gaiety; "You are too much engrossed in the affairs of Government tobreak loose for an afternoon from politics for the sake of pleasure?Ah, well! You are a matchless worker! Renowned as you are for yourstudious observation of all that may tend to the advancement of thenation's interests--admired as you are for the complete sacrifice ofall your own advantages to the better welfare of the country, I willnot (though I might as your sovereign), command your attendance on thisoccasion! I know the affairs you have in hand are pressing andserious!"

"They will be more than usually so, Sir, " said the Marquis in a lowvoice; "for if you persist in maintaining your present attitude, theforeign controversy in which we are engaged can scarcely go on. Butyour action will be questioned by the Government!"

The King laughed. 

"Good! By all means question it, my dear Marquis! Prove me anunconstitutional monarch, if you like, and put Humphry on the throne inmy place, --but ask the People first! If they condemn me, I am satisfiedto be condemned! But the present political difference between ourselvesand a friendly nation must be arranged without offence. There does notexist at the moment any reasonable cause for fanning the dispute into aflame of war. "--He paused, then resumed--"You will not come with us?"

"Sir, if you will permit me to refuse the honour on this occasion----"

"The permission is granted!" replied the King, still smiling;"Farewell, Marquis! We are not in the habit of absenting ourselves fromour own country, after the fashion of certain of our Royal neighbours, who shall be nameless; and we conceive it our duty to make ourselvesacquainted with the habits and customs of all our subjects in allquarters of our realm. Hence our resolve to visit The Islands, which, to our shame be it said, we have neglected until now. We expect toderive both pleasure and instruction from the brief voyage!"

"Are the islanders aware of your intention, Sir?" enquired the Marquis. 

"Nay--to prepare them would have spoilt our pleasure!" replied theKing. "We will take them by surprise! We have heard of certaincountries, whose villages and towns have never seen the reigningsovereign, --and though we have been but three years on the throne, wehave resolved that no corner of our kingdom shall lack the sunlight ofour presence!" He gave a mirthful side-glance at De Launay. Then, extending his hand cordially, he added: "May all success attend yourefforts, Marquis, to smooth over this looming quarrel between ourselvesand our friendly trade-rivals! I, for one, would not have it gofurther. I shall see you again at the Council during the week. "

As the premier's hand met that of his Sovereign, the latter exclaimedsuddenly:

"Ah!--I thought I missed a customary friend from my finger; I haveforgotten my signet-ring! Will you lend me yours for to-day, Marquis?"

"Sir, if you will deign to wear it!" replied the Marquis readily, andat once slipping off the ring in question, he handed it to the King, who smilingly accepted it and put it on. 

"A fine sapphire!" he said approvingly; "Better, I think, than myruby!"

"Sir, your praise enhances its value, " said De Lutera bowingprofoundly; "I shall from henceforth esteem it priceless!"

"Well said!" returned the King, "And rightly too!--for diplomacy iswise in flattering a king to the last, even while meditating on hispossible downfall! Adieu, Marquis! When we next meet, I shall expectgood news!"

He descended the staircase, closely attended by De Launay, and passedat once into a larger room of audience, where some notable persons offoreign distinction were waiting to be received. On the way thither, however, he turned to Sir Roger for a moment, and held up the hand onwhich the Marquis de Lutera's signet flashed like a blue point offlame. 

"Behold the Premier's signet!" he said with a smile; "Methinks, foronce, it suits the King!"

CHAPTER X

THE ISLANDS

Surrounded by a boundless width of dark blue sea at all visible pointsof view, The Islands, lovely tufts of wooded rock, trees, and full-flowering meadowlands, were situated in such a happy position as to bewell out of all possibility of modern innovation or improvement. Theywere too small to contain much attraction for the curious tourist; andthough they were only a two-hours' sail from the mainland, the distancewas just sufficiently inconvenient to keep mere sight-seers away. Formore than a hundred years they had been almost exclusively left to thecoral-fishers, who had made their habitation there; and the quaint, small houses, and flowering vineyards and gardens, dotted about in themore fertile portions of the soil, had all been built and planned by aformer race of these hardy folk, who had handed their properties downfrom father to son. They were on the whole, a peaceable community. Coral-fishing was one of the chief industries of the country, and theislanders passed all their days in obtaining the precious product, cleansing, and preparing it for the market. They were understood to beextremely jealous of strangers and intruders, and to hold certainsocial traditions which had never been questioned or interfered with byany form of existing government, because in themselves they gave nocause for interference, being counted among the most orderly and law-abiding subjects of the realm. Very little interest was taken in theirdoings by the people of the mainland, --scarcely as much interest, perhaps, as is taken by Londoners in the inhabitants of Orkney orShetland. One or two scholars, a stray botanist here and there, or afew students fond of adventure, had visited the place now and again, and some of these had brought back enthusiastic accounts of theloveliness of the natural scenery, but where a whole country isbeautiful, little heed is given to one small corner of it, particularlyif that corner is difficult of access, necessitating a two hours' sailacross a not always calm sea. Vague reports were current that there wasa strange house on The Islands, built very curiously out of the timbersand spars of wrecked vessels. The owner of this abode was said to be aman of advanced age, whose history was unknown, but who many years agohad been cast ashore from a great shipwreck, and had been rescued andrevived by the coral-fishers, since when, he had lived among them, andworked with them. No one knew anything about him beyond that since hisadvent The Islands had been more cultivated, and their inhabitants moreprosperous; and that he was understood to be, in the language ordialect of the country, a 'life-philosopher. ' Whereat, hearing thesethings by chance now and then, or seeing a scrappy line or two in thedaily press when active reporters had no murders or suicides to enlargeupon, and wanted to 'fill up space, ' the gay aristocrats or 'smart set'of the metropolis laughed at their dinner-parties and balls, and askedone another inanely, "What is a 'life-philosopher'?"

In the same way, when a small volume of poetry, burning as lava, wildas a storm-wind, came floating out on the top of the seething soup ofcurrent literature, bearing the name of Paul Zouche, and it was saidthat this person was a poet, they questioned smilingly, "Is he dead?"for, naturally, they could not imagine these modern days were capableof giving birth to a living specimen of the _genus_ bard. Forthey, too, had their motor-cars from France and England;--they, too, had their gambling-dens secreted in private houses of high repute, --they, too, had their country-seats specially indicated as free to suchhouse-parties as wished to indulge in low intrigue and unbridledlicentiousness; they, too, weary of simple Christianity, had their ownspecial 'religions' of palmistry, crystal-gazing, fortune-telling bycards, and Esoteric 'faith-healing. ' The days were passing with them--as it passes with many of their 'set' in other countries, --in completeforgetfulness of all the nobler ambitions and emotions which lift Manabove the level of his companion Beast. For the time is now upon uswhen what has formerly been known as 'high' is of its own accordsinking to the low, and what has been called the 'low' is rising to thehigh. Strange times!--strange days!--when the tradesman can scorn theduchess on account of her 'dirty mind'--when a certain nobleman can getno honest labourers to work on his estate, because they suspect him of'rooking' young college lads;--and when a church in a seaport townstands empty every Sunday, with its bells ringing in vain, because thecongregation which should fill it, know that their so-called 'holy man'is a rascal! All over the world this rebellion against Falsehood, --thismovement towards Truth is felt, --all over the world the people aregrowing strong on their legs, and clear in their brains;--no longercramped and stunted starvelings, they are gradually developing intofull growth, and awaking to intelligent action. And wherever thedominion of priestcraft has been destroyed, there they are found attheir best and bravest, with a glimmering dawn of the true Christianspirit beginning to lighten their darkness, --a spirit which has no raceor sect, but is all-embracing, all-loving, and all-benevolent;--which'thinketh no evil, ' but is so nobly sufficing in its tenderness andpatience, as to persuade the obstinate, govern the unruly, and recoverthe lost, by the patient influence of its own example. On the reverseside of the medal, wherever we see priestcraft dominant, there we seeignorance and corruption, vice and hypocrisy, and such a low standardof morals and education as is calculated to keep the soul a slave inirons, with no possibility of any intellectual escape into the'glorious liberty of the free. '

The afternoon was one of exceptional brilliance and freshness, when, punctually at three o'clock, the Royal yacht hoisted sail, and dippedgracefully away from the quay with their Majesties on board, amid thecheers of an enthusiastic crowd. A poet might have sung of the scene infervid rhyme, so pretty and gay were all the surroundings, --the brightskies, the dancing sea, the flying flags and streamers, and the softmusic of the Court orchestra, a band of eight players on stringedinstruments, which accompanied the Royal party on their voyage ofpleasure. The Queen stood on deck, leaning against the mast, her eyesfixed on the shore, as the vessel swung round, and bore away towardsthe west;--the people, elbowing each other, and climbing up on eachother's shoulders and on the posts of the quay, merely to get a passingglimpse of her beauty, all loyally cheering and waving their hats andhandkerchiefs, were as indifferent to her sight and soul as an ant-heapin a garden walk. She had accustomed her mind to dwell on things beyondlife, and life itself had little interest for her. This was because shehad been set among the shams of worldly state and ceremonial from herearliest years, and being of a profound and thoughtful nature, hadgrown up to utterly despise the hollowness and hypocrisy of hersurroundings. In extenuation of the coldness of her temperament, it maybe said that her rooted aversion to men arose from having studied themtoo closely and accurately. In her marriage she had fulfilled, orthought she had fulfilled, a mere duty to the State--no more; and theeasy conduct of her husband during his apprenticeship to the throne asHeir-Apparent, had not tended in any way to show her anythingparticularly worthy of admiration or respect in his character. And soshe had gone on her chosen way, removed and apart from his, --and theyears had flown by, and now she was, --as she said to herself with alittle touch of contempt, --'old--for a woman!'--while the Kingremained 'young, --for a man! 'This was a mortifying reflection. True, her beauty was more perfect than in her youth, and there were no signsas yet of its decay. She knew well enough the extent of her charm, --sheknew how easily she could command homage wherever she went, --andknowing, she did not care. Or rather--she had not cared. Was itpossible she would ever care, and perhaps at a time when it was no usecaring? A certain irritability, quite foreign to her usual composure, fevered her blood, and it arose from one simple admission which she hadbeen forced to make to herself within the last few days, and this was, that her husband was as much her kingly superior in heart and mind ashe was in rank and power. She had never till now imagined him capableof performing a brave deed, or pursuing an independently noble courseof action. Throughout all the days of his married life he had followedthe ordinary routine of his business or pleasure with scarce a break, --in winter to his country seat on the most southern coast of hissouthern land, --in spring to the capital, --in full summer to somefashionable 'bath' or 'cure, '--in autumn to different great houses forthe purpose of shooting other people's game by their obsequiousinvitation, --and in the entire round he had never shown himself capableof much more than a flirtation with the prettiest or the most pushingnew beauty, or a daring ride on the latest invention for travelling atlightning speed. She had noticed a certain change in him since he hadascended the throne, but she had attributed this to the excessiveboredom of having to attend to State affairs. 

Now, however, all at once and without warning, this change haddeveloped into what was evidently likely to prove a completetransformation--and he had surprised her into an involuntary, and moreor less reluctant admiration of qualities which she had never hithertosuspected in him. She had consented to join him on this occasion in histrip to The Islands, in order to try and fathom the actual drift of hisintentions, --for his idea that their son, Prince Humphry, had yieldedto some particular feminine attraction there, piqued her curiosity evenmore than her interest. She turned away now from her observation of theshore, as it receded on the horizon and became a mere thin line oflight which vanished in its turn as the vessel curtsied onward; and shemoved to the place prepared for her accommodation--a sheltered cornerof the deck, covered by silken awnings, and supplied with luxuriousdeck chairs and footstools. Here two of her ladies were waiting toattend upon her, but none of the rougher sex she so heartily abhorred. As she seated herself among her cushions with her usual indolent grace, she raised her eyes and saw, standing at a respectful distance fromher, a distinguished personage who had but lately arrived at the Court, from England, --Sir Walter Langton, a daring traveller and explorer infar countries, --one who had earned high distinction at the point ofthe sword. He had been presented to her some evenings since, among acrowd of other notabilities, and she had, as was her usual custom withall men, scarcely given him a passing glance. Now as she regarded him, she suddenly decided, out of the merest whim, to call him to her side. She sent one of her ladies to him, charged with her invitation toapproach and take his seat near her. He hastened to obey, with somesurprise, and no little pleasure. He was a handsome man of about forty, sun-browned and keen of eye, with a grave intellectual face after thestyle of a Vandyk portrait, and a kindly smile; and he was happilydevoid of all that unbecoming officiousness and obsequiousness whichsome persons affect when in the presence of Royalty. He bowedprofoundly as the Queen received him, saying to him with a smile:--

"You are a stranger here, Sir Walter Langton!--I cannot allow you tofeel solitary in our company!"

"Is it possible for anyone to feel solitary when you are near, Madam?"returned Sir Walter gallantly, as he obeyed the gesture with which shemotioned him to be seated;--"You must be weary of hearing that evenyour silent presence is sufficient to fill space with melody and charm!And I am not altogether a stranger; I know this country well, though Ihave never till now had the honour of visiting its ruling sovereign. "

"It is very unlike England, " said the Queen, slowly unfurling her fanof soft white plumage and waving it to and fro. 

"Very unlike, indeed!" he agreed, and a musing tenderness darkened hisfine hazel eyes as he gazed out on the sparkling sea. 

"You like England best?" resumed the Queen. 

"Madam, I am an Englishman! To me there is no land so fair, or so muchworth living and dying for, as England!"

"Yet--I suppose, like all your countrymen, you are fond of change?"

"Yes--and no, Madam!" replied Langton. --"In truth, if I am to speakfrankly, it is only during the last thirty or forty years that mycountrymen have blotted their historical scutcheons by this fondnessfor change. Where travelling is necessary for the attainment of someworthy object, then it is wise and excellent, --but where it is only forthe purpose of distracting a self-satiated mind, it is of no avail, andindeed frequently does more harm than good. "

"Self-satiated!" repeated the Queen, --"Is not that a strange word?"

"It is the only compound expression I can use to describe thediscontented humour in which the upper classes of English society existto-day, " replied Sir Walter. "For many years the soul of England hasbeen held in chains by men whose thoughts are all of Self, --the honourof England has been attainted by women whose lives are moulded fromfirst to last on Self. To me, personally, England is everything, --Ihave no thought outside it--no wish beyond it. Yet I am as ashamed ofsome of its leaders of opinion to-day, as if I saw my own motherdragged in the dust and branded with infamy!"

"You speak of your Government?" began the Queen. 

"No, Madam, --I have no more quarrel with my country's presentGovernment than I could have with a child who is led into a ditch byits nurse. It is a weak and corrupted Government; and its actual rulersare vile and abandoned women. "

The Queen's eyes opened in a beautiful, startled wonderment;--thisman's clear, incisive manner of speech interested her. 

"Women!" she echoed, then smiled; "You speak strongly, Sir Walter! Ihave certainly heard of the 'advanced' women who push themselves somuch forward in your country, but I had no idea they were somischievous! Are they to be admired? Or pitied?"

"Pitied, Madam, --most sincerely pitied!" returned Sir Walter;--"Butsuch misguided simpletons as these are not the creatures who rule, orplay with, or poison the minds of the various members who compose ourGovernment. The 'advanced' women, poor souls, do nothing but talkplatitudes. They are perfectly harmless. They have no power to persuademen, because in nine cases out of ten, they have neither wit norbeauty. And without either of these two charms, Madam, it is difficultto put even a clever cobbler, much less a Prime Minister, into leadingstrings! No, --it is the spendthrift women of a corrupt society that Imean, --the women who possess beauty, and are conscious of it, --thewomen who have a mordant wit and use it for dangerous purposes--thewomen who give up their homes, their husbands, their children and theirreputations for the sake of villainous intrigue, and the feverishexcitement of speculative money-making;--with these--and with thestealthy spread of Romanism, --will come the ruin of my country!"

"So grave as all that!" said the Queen lightly;--"But, surely, SirWalter, if you see ruin and disaster threatening so great an Empire inthe far distance, you and other wise men of your land are able to staveit off?"

"Madam, I have no power!" he returned bitterly. "Those who have thoughtand worked, --those who are able to see what is coming by the light ofpast experience, are seldom listened to, or if they get a hearing, theyare not seldom ridiculed and 'laughed down. ' Till a strong man speaks, we must all remain dumb. There is no real Government in England atpresent, just as there is no real Church. The Government is made up ofdirectly self-interested speculators and financiers rather thandiplomatists, --the Church, for which our forefathers fought, isyielding to the bribery of Rome. It is a time of Sham, --sham politics, and sham religion! We have fallen upon evil days, --and unless thepeople rise, as it is to be hoped to God they will, serious dangerthreatens the glory and the honour of England!"

"Would you desire revolution and bloodshed, then?" enquired the Queen, becoming more and more interested as she saw that this Englishman didnot, like most of his sex, pass the moments in gazing at her inspeechless admiration, --"Surely not!"

"I would have revolution, Madam, but not bloodshed, " he replied;--"Ithink my countrymen are too well grounded in common-sense to care forany movement which could bring about internal dissension or riot, --but, at the same time, I believe their native sense of justice is greatenough to resist tyranny and wrong and falsehood, even to the death. Iwould have a revolution--yes--but a silent and bloodless one!"

"And how would you begin?" asked the Queen. 

"The People must begin, Madam!" he answered;--"All reforms must beginand end with the People only! For example, if the People would declineto attend any church where the incumbent is known to encouragepractices which are disloyal to the faith of the land, such disloyaltywould soon cease. If the majority of women would refuse to know, or toreceive, any woman of high position who had voluntarily disgracedherself, they would soon put a stop to the lax morality of the upperclasses. If our builders, artisans and mechanics would club together, and refuse to make guns or ships for our enemies in foreign countries, we should not run the risk of being one day hoisted with our ownpetard. In any case, the work of Revolution rests with the people, though it is quite true they need teachers to show them how to begin. "

"And are these teachers forthcoming?"

"I think so!" said Sir Walter meditatively. "Throughout all history, asfar back as we can trace it, whenever a serious reform has been neededin either society or government, there has always been found a leaderto head the movement. "

The Queen's beautiful eyes rested upon him with a certain curiosity. 

"What of your King?" she said. 

"Madam, he is my King!" he replied, --"And I serve him faithfully!"

She was silent. She began to wonder whether he had any private motiveto gain, any place he sought to fill, that he should assume such atouch-me-not air at this stray allusion to his Sovereign. 

"Lèse-majesté is so common nowadays!" she mused;--"It is such anordinary thing to hear vulgar _parvenus_ talk of their king as ifhe were a public-house companion of theirs, that it is somewhatremarkable to find one who speaks of his monarch with loyalty andrespect. I suppose, however, like everyone else, he has his own ends toserve!--Kings are the last persons in the world who can commandabsolute fidelity!"

She glanced dreamily over the sea, and perceiving a slight shade ofweariness on her face, Sir Walter discreetly rose, craving herpermission to retire to the saloon, where he had promised to join theKing. When he had left her, she turned to one of her ladies, theCountess Amabil, and remarked:

"A very personable gentleman, is he not?"

"Madam, " rejoined the Countess, who was very lovely in herself, and ofa bright and sociable disposition;--"I have often thought it would bemore pleasant and profitable for all of us if we had many suchpersonable gentlemen with us oftener!"

A slight frown of annoyance crossed the Queen's face. The Countess wasa very charming lady; very fascinating in her own way, but her decidedpredilection for the sterner sex often led her to touch on dangerousground with her Royal mistress. This time, however, she escaped thechilling retort her remark might possibly, on another occasion, havecalled down upon her. The Queen said nothing. She sat watching thesea, --and now and again took up her field-glass to study thepicturesque coast of The Islands, which was rapidly coming into view. Teresa de Launay, the second lady in attendance on her, was reading, and, seeing her quite absorbed in her book, the Queen presently askedher what it contained. 

"You have smiled twice over that book, Teresa, " she said kindly;--"Whatis it about?"

"Madam, it speaks of love!" replied Teresa, still smiling. 

"And love makes you smile?"

"I would rather smile than weep over it, Madam!" replied Teresa, with aslight colour warming her fair face;--"But as concerns this book, Ismile, because it is full of such foolish verses, --as light and sweet--and almost as cloying, --as French _fondants_!"

"Let me hear!" said the Queen; "Read me a few lines. "

"This one, called 'A Canzonet' is brief enough for your Majesty'simmediate consideration, " replied Teresa;--"It is just such a thing asa man might scribble in his note-book after a bout of champagne, whenhe is in love for ten minutes! He would not mean a word of it, --but itmight sound pretty by moonlight!" Whereupon she read aloud:--

 My Lady is pleased to smile, And the world is glad and gay; My Lady is pleased to weep;-- And it rains the livelong day!

 My Lady is pleased to hate, And I lose my life and my breath; My Lady is pleased to love, -- And I am the master of Death!

 I know that my Lady is Love, By the magical light about her; I know that my Lady is Life, For I cannot live without her!

"And you do not think any man would truly mean as much love as this?"queried the Queen. 

"Oh, Madam, you know he would not! If he had written such lines aboutthe joys of dining, or the flavour of an excellent cigar, they mightthen indeed be taken as an expression of his truest and deepestfeeling! But his 'Lady'! Bah! She is a mere myth, --a temporary peg tohang a stray emotion on!"

She laughed, and her laughter rippled merrily on the air. 

"I do not think the men who write so easily about love can ever trulyfeel it, " she went on;--"Those who really love must surely be quiteunable to express themselves. This man who sings about his 'Lady' beingpleased to do this or do that, was probably trying to obtain the goodgraces of some pretty housemaid or chorus girl!"

A slight contemptuous smile crossed the Queen's face; from herexpression it was evident that she agreed in the main with the opinionof her vivacious lady-in-waiting. Just at that moment the King and hissuite, with Sir Walter Langton and one or two other gentlemen, who hadbeen invited to join the party, came up from the saloon, and theconversation became general. 

"Have you seen Humphry at all to-day?" enquired the King aside of DeLaunay. "I sent him an early message asking him to join us, and wastold he had gone out riding. Is that true?"

"I have not seen his Royal Highness since the morning, Sir, " repliedthe equerry; "He then met me, --and Professor von Glauben also--in thegardens. He gave me no hint as to whether he knew of your intention tosail to The Islands this afternoon or not; he was reading, and withsome slight discussion on the subject of the book he was interested in, he and the Professor strolled away together. "

"But where is Von Glauben?" pursued the King; "I sent for him likewise, but he was absent. "

"I understood him to say that you had not commanded his attendanceagain to-day, Sir, " replied Sir Roger;--"He told me he had alreadywaited upon you. "

"Certainly I did not command his attendance when I saw him the firstthing this morning, " replied the King; "I summoned him then merely tosatisfy his scruples concerning my health and safety, as he seemed lastnight to have doubts of both!" He smiled, and his eyes twinkledhumourously. "Later on, I requested him to join us in this excursion, but his servant said he had gone out, leaving no word as to when hewould return. An eccentricity! I suppose he must be humoured!"

Sir Roger was silent. The King looked at him narrowly, and saw thatthere was something in his thoughts which he was not inclined to utter, and with wise tact and discretion forbore to press any more questionsupon him. It was not a suitable time for cross-examination, even of themost friendly kind; there were too many persons near at hand who mightbe disposed to listen and to form conjectures; moreover the favouringwind had so aided the Royal yacht in her swift course that The Islandswere now close at hand, and the harbour visible, the run across fromthe mainland having been accomplished under the usual two hours. 

The King scanned the coast through his glass with some interest. 

"We shall obtain amusement from this unprepared trip, " he said, addressing the friends who were gathered round him; "We have forbiddenany announcement of our visit here, and, therefore, we shall receive norecognition, or welcome. We shall have to take the people as we findthem!"

"Let us hope they will prove themselves agreeable, Sir, " said one ofthe suite, the Marquis Montala, a somewhat effeminate elegant-lookingman, with small delicate features and lazily amorous eyes, --"And thatthe women of the place will not be too alarmingly hideous. "

"Women are always women. " said the King gaily; "And you, Montala, ifyou cannot find a pretty one, will put up with an ugly one for themoment rather than have none at all! But beauty exists everywhere, andI daresay we shall find it in as good evidence here as in other partsof the kingdom. Our land is famous for its lovely women, "--and turningto Sir Walter Langton he added--"I think, Sir Walter, we can almostbeat your England in that one particular!"

"Some years ago, Sir, I should have accepted that challenge, " returnedSir Walter, "And with the deepest respect for your Majesty, I shouldhave ventured to deny the assertion that any country in the world couldsurpass England for the beauty of its women. But since the rage formasculine sports and masculine manners has taken hold of English girls, I am not at all disposed to defend them. They have, unhappily, lost allthe soft grace and modesty for which their grandmothers were renowned, and one begins to remark that their very shapes are no longer feminine. The beautiful full bosoms, admired by Gainsborough and Romney, arereplaced by an unbecoming flatness--the feet and hands are growinglarge and awkward, instead of being well-shaped, white and delicate--the skin is becoming coarse and rough of texture, and there is verylittle complexion to boast of, if we except the artificial make-up ofthe women of the town. Some few pretty and natural women remain in theheart of the forest and the country, but the contamination isspreading, and English women are no longer the models of womanhood forall the world. "

"Are you married, Sir Walter?" asked the King with a smile. 

"To no woman, Sir! I have married England--I love her and work for heronly!"

"You find that love sufficient to fill your heart?"

"Perhaps, " returned Sir Walter musingly--"perhaps if I speak personallyand selfishly--no! But when I argue the point logically, I find this--that if I had a wife she might probably occupy too much of my time, --certes, if I had children, I should be working for them and theirfuture welfare;--as it is, I give all my life and all my work to mycountry, and my King!"

"I hope you will meet with the reward you merit, " said the Queengently; "Kings are not always well served!"

"I seek no reward, " said Sir Walter simply; "The joy of work is alwaysits own guerdon. "

As he spoke the yacht ran into harbour, and with a loud warning cry thesailors flung out the first rope to a man on the pier, who stood gazingin open-mouthed wonder at their arrival. He seemed too stricken withamazement to move, for he failed to seize the rope, whereat, with anangry exclamation as the rope slipped back into the water, and theyacht bumped against the pier, a sailor sprang to land, and as it wasthrown a second time, seized it and made it fast to the capstan. A fewmore moments and the yacht was safely alongside, the native islanderremaining still motionless and staring. The captain of the Royal vesselstepped on shore and spoke to him. 

"Are there any men about here?"

The individual thus addressed shook his head in the negative. 

"Are you alone to keep the pier?"

The head nodded in the affirmative. A voice, emanating from a thicklybearded mouth was understood to growl forth something about 'no strangeboats being permitted to harbour there. ' Whereupon the Captain walkedup to the uncouth-looking figure, and said briefly. 

"We are here by the King's order! That vessel is the Royal yacht, andtheir Majesties are on board. "

For one instant the islander stared more wildly than ever, then with acry of amazement and evident alarm, ran away as fast as his legs couldcarry him and disappeared. The captain returned to the yacht andrelated his experience to Sir Roger de Launay. The King heard and wasamused. 

"It seems, Madam, " he said, turning to the Queen, "That we shall haveThe Islands to ourselves; but as our visit will be but brief, we shallno doubt find enough to interest us in the mere contemplation of thescenery without other human company than our own. Will you come?"

He extended his hand courteously to assist her across the gangway ofthe vessel, and in a few minutes the Royal party were landed, and theyacht was left to the stewards and servants, who soon had all hands atwork preparing the dinner which was to be served during the returnsail. 

CHAPTER XI

"GLORIA--IN EXCELSIS!"

The King and Queen, followed by their suite and their guests, walkedleisurely off the pier, and down a well-made road, sparkling withcrushed sea-shells and powdered coral, towards a group of tall treesand green grass which they perceived a little way ahead of them. Therewas a soothing quietness everywhere, --save for the singing of birds andthe soft ripple of the waves on the sandy shore, it was a silent land:

 "In which it seemed always afternoon-- All round the coast the languid air did swoon-- Breathing like one that hath a weary dream. "

The Queen paused once or twice to look around her; she was vaguelytouched and charmed by the still beauty of the scene. 

"It is very lovely!" she said, more to herself than to any of hercompanions; "The world must have looked something like this in thefirst days of creation, --so unspoilt and fresh and simple!"

The Countess Amabil, walking with Sir Walter Langton, glancedcoquettishly at her cavalier and smiled. 

"It is idyllic!" she said;--"A sort of Arcadia without Corydon orPhyllis! Do all the inhabitants go to sleep or disappear in thedaytime, I wonder?"

"Not all, I imagine, " replied Sir Walter; "For here comes one, though, judging from the slowness of his walk, he is in no haste to welcome hisKing!"

The personage he spoke of was indeed approaching, and all the membersof the Royal party watched his advance with considerable curiosity. Hewas tall and upright in bearing, but as he came nearer he was seen tobe a man of great age, with a countenance on which sorrow and sufferinghad left their indelible traces. There were furrows on that face whichtears had hollowed out for their swifter flowing, and the highintellectual brow bore lines and wrinkles of anxiety and pain, whichwere the soul's pen-marks of a tragic history. He was attired in simplefisherman's garb of rough blue homespun, and when he was within a fewpaces of the King, he raised his cap from his curly silver hair with anold-world grace and deferential courtesy. Sir Roger de Launay wentforward to meet him and to explain the situation. 

"His Majesty the King, " he said, "has wished to make a surprise visitto his people of The Islands, --and he is here in person with the Queen. Can you oblige him with an escort to the principal places of interest?"

The old man looked at him with a touch of amusement and derision. 

"There are no places here of interest to a King, " he said; "Unless apoor man's house may serve for his curious comment! I am not hisMajesty's subject--but I live under his protection and his laws, --and Iam willing to offer him a welcome, since there is no one else to doso!"

He spoke with a refined and cultured accent, and in his look andbearing evinced the breeding of a gentleman. 

"And your name?" asked Sir Roger courteously. 

"My name is Réné Ronsard, " he replied. "I was shipwrecked on this coastyears ago. Finding myself cast here by the will of God, here I haveremained!"

As he said this, Sir Roger remembered what he had casually heard attimes about the 'life-philosopher' who had built for himself a dwellingon The Islands out of the timbers of wrecked vessels. This must surelybe the man! Delighted at having thus come upon the very person mostlikely to provide some sort of diversion for their Majesties, andrequesting Ronsard to wait at a distance for a moment, he hastened backto the King and explained the position. Whereupon the monarch at onceadvanced with alacrity, and as he approached the venerable personagewho had offered him the only hospitality he was likely to receive inthis part of his realm, he extended his hand with a frank and kindlycordiality. Réné Ronsard accepted it with a slight but not over-obsequious salutation. 

"We owe you our thanks, " said the King, "for receiving us thus readily, and without notice; which is surely the truest form of hospitablekindness! That we are strangers here is entirely our own fault, due toour own neglect of our Island subjects; and it is for this that we havesought to know something of the place privately, before visiting itwith such public ceremonial and state as it deserves. We shall beindebted to you greatly if you will lend us your aid in thisintention. "

"Your Majesty is welcome to my service in whatever way it can be of useto you, " replied Ronsard slowly; "As you see, I am an old man and poor--I have lived here for well-nigh thirty years, making as little demandas possible upon the resources of either rough Nature or smoothcivilization to provide me with sustenance. There is poor attractionfor a king in such a simple home as mine!"

"More than all men living, a king has cause to love simplicity, "returned the monarch, as with his swift and keen glance he noted theold man's proud figure, fine worn features, and clear, though deeply-sunken eyes;--"for the glittering shows of ceremony are chieflyirksome to those who have to suffer their daily monotony. Let mepresent you to the Queen--she will thank you as I do, for your kindlyconsent to play the part of host to us to-day. "

"Nay, "--murmured Ronsard--"No thanks--no thanks!" Then, as the Kingsaid a few words to his fair Consort, and she received the old man'srespectful salutation in the cold, grave way which was her custom, heraised his eyes to her face, and started back with an involuntaryexclamation. 

"By Heaven!" he said suddenly and bluntly, "I never thought to see anywoman's beauty that could compare with that of my Gloria!"

He spoke more to himself than to any listener, but the King hearing hiswords, was immediately on the alert, and when the whole Royal partymoved on again, he, walking in a gracious and kindly way by the oldman's side, and skilfully keeping up the conversation at first on meregeneralities, said presently:--

"And that name of Gloria;--may I ask you who it is that bears sostrange an appellation?"

Ronsard looked at him somewhat doubtingly. 

"Your Majesty considers it strange? Had you ever seen her, you wouldthink it the only fitting name for her, " he answered, --"For she issurely the most glorious thing God ever made!"

"Your wife--or daughter?" gently hinted the King. 

The old man smiled bitterly. 

"Sir, I have never owned wife or child! For aught I know Gloria mayhave been born like the goddess Aphrodite, of the sunlight and the sea!No other parents have ever claimed her. "

He checked himself, and appeared disposed to change the subject. TheKing looked at him encouragingly. 

"May I not hear more of her?" he asked. 

Ronsard hesitated--then with a certain abruptness replied--

"Nay--I am sorry I spoke of her! There is nothing to tell. I have saidshe is beautiful--and beauty is always stimulating--even to Kings! Butyour Majesty will have no chance of seeing her, as she is absent fromhome to-day. "

The King smiled;--had the rumours of his many gallantries reached TheIslands then?--and was this 'life-philosopher' afraid that 'Gloria '--whoever she was--might succumb to his royal fascinations? The thoughtwas subtly flattering, but he disguised the touch of amusement he felt, and spoke his next words with a kindly and indulgent air. 

"Then, as I shall not see her, you may surely tell me of her? I am nobetrayer of confidence!"

A pale red tinged Ronsard's worn features--anon he said:--

"It is no question of confidence, Sir, --and there is no secret ormystery associated with the matter. Gloria was, like myself, cast upfrom the sea. I found her half-drowned, a helpless infant tied to afloating spar. It was on the other side of these Islands--among therocks where there is no landing-place. There is a little church on theheights up there, and every evening the men and boys practise theirsacred singing. It was sunset, and I was wandering by myself upon theshore, and in the church above me I heard them chant 'Gloria! Gloria!Gloria in excelsis Deo!' And while they were yet practising this line Icame upon the child, --lying like a strange lily, in a salt pool, --between two shafts of rock like fangs on either side of her, bound fastwith rope to a bit of ship's timber. I untied her little limbs, andrestored her to life; and all the time I was busy bringing her back tobreath and motion, the singing in the church above me was 'Gloria!' andever again 'Gloria!' So I gave her that name. That was nineteen yearsago. She is married now. "

"Married!" exclaimed the King, with a curious sense of mingled reliefand disappointment. "Then she has left you?"

"Oh, no, she has not left me!" replied Ronsard; "She stays with me tillher husband is ready to give her a home. He is very poor, and lives inhope of better days. Meanwhile poverty so far smiles upon them thatthey are happy;--and happiness, youth and beauty rarely go together. For once they have all met in the joyous life of my Gloria!"

"I should like to see her!" said the King, musingly; "You haveinterested me greatly in her history!"

The old man did not reply, but quickening his pace, moved on a littlein advance of the King and his suite, to open a gate in front of them, which guarded the approach to a long low house with carved gables andlattice windows, over which a wealth of roses and jasmine clambered inlong tresses of pink and white bloom. Smooth grass surrounded theplace, and tall pine trees towered in the background; and round thepillars of the broad verandah, which extended to the full length of thehouse front, clematis and honeysuckle twined in thick clusters, fillingthe air with delicate perfume. The Royal party murmured theiradmiration of this picturesque abode, while Ronsard, with a nimblenessremarkable for a man of his age, set chairs on the verandah and lawnfor his distinguished guests. Sir Walter Langton and the MarquisMontala strolled about the garden with some of the ladies, commentingon the simple yet exquisite taste displayed in its planting andarrangement; while the King and Queen listened with considerableinterest to the conversation of their venerable host. He was a man ofevident culture, and his description of the coral-fishing community, their habits and traditions, was both graphic and picturesque. 

"Are they all away to-day?" asked the King. 

"All the men on this side of The Islands--yes, Sir, " replied Ronsard;"And the women have enough to do inside their houses till theirhusbands return. With the evening and the moonlight, they will all beout in their fields and gardens, making merry with innocent dance andsong, for they are very happy folk--much happier than their neighbourson the mainland. "

"Are you acquainted with the people of the mainland, then?" enquiredthe King. 

"Sufficiently to know that they are dissatisfied;" returned Ronsardquietly, --"And that, deep down among the tangled grass and flowers ofthat brilliant pleasure-ground called Society, there is a fierce andstarving lion called the People, waiting for prey!"

His voice sank to a low and impressive tone, and for a moment hishearers looked astonished and disconcerted. He went on as though he hadnot seen the expression of their faces. 

"Here in The Islands there was the same discontent when I first came. Every man was in heart a Socialist, --every young boy was a buddingAnarchist. Wild ideas fired their brains. They sought Equality. No manshould be richer than another, they said. Equal lots, --equal lives. They had their own secret Society, connected with another similar oneacross the sea yonder. They were brave, clever and desperate, --moved bya burning sense of wrong, --wrong which they had not the skill toexplain, but which they felt. It was difficult to persuade or soothesuch men, for they were men of Nature, --not of Shams. But fierce andobstinate as they were, they were good to me when I was cast up fordead on their seashore. And I, in turn, have tried to be good to them. That is, I have tried to make them happy. For happiness is what we allwork for and seek for, --from the beginning to the end of life. We gofar afield for it, when it oftener lies at our very doors. Well!--theyare a peaceful community now, and have no evil intentions towardsanyone. They grudge no one his wealth--I think if the truth were known, they rather pity the rich man than envy him. So, at any rate, I havetaught them to do. But, formerly, they were, to say the least of it, dangerous!"

The King heard in silence, although the slightest quizzical lifting ofhis eyebrows appeared to imply that 'dangerous' was perhaps too stronga term by which to designate a handful of Socialistic coral-fishers. 

"It is curious, " went on Ronsard slowly, "how soon the sense of wrongand injustice infects a whole community. One malcontent makes a host ofmalcontents. This is a fact which many governments lose sight of. If Iwere the ruler of a country--"

Here he suddenly paused--then added with a touch of brusqueness--

"Pardon me, Sir; I have never known the formalities which apply toconversation with a king, and I am too old to learn now. No doubt Ispeak too boldly! To me you are no more than man; you should be more byetiquette--but by simple humanity you are not!"

The King smiled, well pleased. This independent commoner, with hisrough garb and rougher simplicity of speech, was a refreshing contrastto the obsequious personages by whom he was generally surrounded; andhe felt an irresistible desire to know more of the life andsurroundings of one who had gained a position of evident authorityamong the people of his own class. 

"Go on, my friend!" he said. "Honest expression of thought can offendnone but knaves and fools; and though there are some who say I have asmack of both, yet I flatter myself I am wholly neither of the twain!Continue what you were saying--if you were ruler of a country, whatwould you do?"

Réné Ronsard considered for a moment, and his furrowed brows set in apuzzled line. 

"I think, " he said slowly, at last, "I should choose my friends andconfidants among the leaders of the people. "

"And is not that precisely what we all do?" queried the King lightly;"Surely every monarch must count his friends among the members of theGovernment?"

"But the Government does not represent the actual people, Sir!" saidRonsard quietly. 

"No? Then what does it represent?" enquired the King, becoming amusedand interested in the discussion, and holding up his hand to warn backDe Launay, and the other members of his suite who were just comingtowards him from their tour of inspection through the garden--"Everymember of the Government is elected by the people, and returned by thepopular vote. What else would you have?"

"Ministers have not always the popular vote, " said Ronsard; "They areselected by the Premier. And if the Premier should happen to be shifty, treacherous or self-interested, he chooses such men as are most likelyto serve his own ends. And it can hardly be said, Sir, that the Peopletruly return the members of Government. For when the time comes for onesuch man to be elected, each candidate secures his own agent to bribethe people, and to work upon them as though they were so much softdough, to be kneaded into a political loaf for his private andparticular eating. Poor People! Poor hard-working millions! In the mainthey are all too busy earning the wherewithal to Live, to have any timeleft to Think--they are the easy prey of the party agent, except--except when they gather to the voice of a real leader, one who thoughnot in Government, governs!"

"And is there such an one?" enquired the King, while as he spoke hisglance fell suddenly, and with an unpleasant memory, on the flashingblue of the sapphire in the Premier's signet he wore; "Here, oranywhere?"

"Over there!" said Ronsard impressively, pointing across the landscapeseawards; "On the mainland there is not only one, but many! Women, --aswell as men. Writers, --as well as speakers. These are they whom Courtsneglect or ignore, --these are the consuming fire of thrones!" His oldeyes flashed, and as he turned them on the statuesque beauty of theQueen, she started, for they seemed to pierce into the very recesses ofher soul. "When Court and Fashion played their pranks once upon a timein France, there was a pen at work on the '_Contrat Social_'--thepen of one Rousseau! Who among the idle pleasure-loving aristocratsever thought that a mere Book would have helped to send them to thescaffold!" He clenched his hand almost unconsciously--then he spokemore quietly. "That is what I mean, when I say that if I were ruler ofa country, I should take special care to make friends with the people'schosen thinkers. Someone in authority"--and here he smiled quizzically--"should have given Rousseau an estate, and made him a marquis--_intime_! The leaders of an advancing Thought, --and not the leaders ofa fixed Government are the real representatives of the People!"

Something in this last sentence appeared to strike the King veryforcibly. 

"You are a philosopher, Réné Ronsard, " he said rising from his chair, and laying a hand kindly on his shoulder. "And so, in another way am I!If I understand you rightly, you would maintain that in many casesdiscontent and disorder are the fermentation in the mind of one man, who for some hidden personal motive works his thought through a wholekingdom; and you suggest that if that man once obtained what he wantedthere would be an end of trouble--at any rate for a time till the nextmalcontent turned up! Is not that so?"

"It is so, Sir, " replied Ronsard; "and I think it has always been so. In every era of strife and revolution, we shall find one dissatisfiedSoul--often a soul of genius and ambition--at the centre of thetrouble. "

"Probably you are right, " said the monarch indulgently; "But evidentlythe dissatisfied soul is not in _your_ body! You are no DonQuixote fighting a windmill of imaginary wrongs, are you?"

A dark red flush mounted to the old man's brow, and as it passed away, left him pale as death. 

"Sir, I have fought against wrongs in my time; but they were notimaginary. I might have still continued the combat but for Gloria!"

"Ah! She is your peace-offering to an unjust world?"

"No Sir; she is God's gift to a broken heart, " replied Ronsard gently. "The sea cast her up like a pearl into my life; and so for her sake Iresolved to live. For her only I made this little home--for her Imanaged to gain some control over the rough inhabitants of theseIslands, and encouraged in them the spirit of peace, mirth andgladness. I soothed their discontent, and tried to instil into themsomething of the Greek love of beauty and pleasure. But after all, mywork sprang from a personal, I may as well say a selfish motive--merelyto make the child I loved, happy!"

"Then do you not regret that she is married, and no longer yours tocherish entirely?"

"No, I regret nothing!" answered Ronsard; "For I am old and must soondie. I shall leave her in good and safe hands. "

The King looked at him thoughtfully, and seemed about to ask anotherquestion, then suddenly changing his mind, he turned to his Consort andsaid a few words to her in a low tone, whereupon as if in obedience toa command, she rose, and with all the gracious charm which she couldalways exert if she so pleased, she enquired of Ronsard if he wouldpermit them to see something of the interior of his house. 

"Madam, " replied Ronsard, with some embarrassment; "All I have is atyour service, but it is only a poor place. "

"No place is poor that has peace in it, " returned the Queen, with oneof those rare smiles of hers, which so swiftly subjugated the hearts ofmen. "Will you lead the way?"

Thus persuaded, Réné Ronsard could only bow a respectful assent, andobey the request, which from Royalty was tantamount to a command. Signing to the other members of the party, who had stood till now at alittle distance, the Queen bade them all accompany her. 

"The King will stay here till we return, " she said, "And Sir Roger willstay with him!"

With these words, and a flashing glance at De Launay, she steppedacross the lawn, followed by her ladies-in-waiting, with Sir WalterLangton and the other gentlemen; and in another moment the brilliantlittle group had disappeared behind the trailing roses and clematis, which hung in profusion from the oaken projections of the wide verandahround Ronsard's picturesque dwelling. Standing still for a moment, withSir Roger a pace behind him, the King watched them enter the house--then quickly turning round on his heel, faced his equerry with a broadsmile. 

"Now, De Launay, " he said, "let us find Von Glauben!"

Sir Roger started with surprise, and not a little apprehension. 

"Von Glauben, Sir?"

"Yes--Von Glauben! He is here! I saw his face two minutes ago, peeringthrough those trees!" And he pointed down a shadowy path, dark with theintertwisted gloom of untrained pine-boughs. "I am not dreaming, nor amI accustomed to imagine spectres! I am on the track of a mystery, Roger! There is a beautiful girl here named Gloria. The beautiful girlis married--possibly to a jealous husband, for she is apparently hiddenaway from all likely admirers, including myself! Now suppose VonGlauben is that husband!"

He broke off and laughed. Sir Roger de Launay laughed with him; theidea was too irresistibly droll. But the King was bent on mischief, anddetermined to lose no time in compassing it. 

"Come along!" he said. "If this tangled path holds a secret, it shallbe discovered before we are many minutes older! I am confident I sawVon Glauben; and what he can be doing here passes my comprehension!Follow me, Roger! If our worthy Professor has a wife, and his wife isbeautiful, we will pardon him for keeping her existence a secret fromus so long!"

He laughed again; and turning into the path he had previouslyindicated, began walking down it rapidly, Sir Roger following closely, and revolving in his own perplexed mind the scene of the morning, whenVon Glauben had expressed such a strong desire to get away to TheIslands, and had admitted that there was "a lady in the case. "

"Really, it is most extraordinary!" he thought. "The King no soonerdecides to break through conventional forms, than all things seemloosened from their moorings! A week ago, we were all apparently fixedin our orbits of exact routine and work--the King most fixed of all--but now, who can say what may happen next!"

At that moment the monarch turned round. 

"This path seems interminable, Roger, " he said; "It gets darker, closerand narrower. It thickens, in fact, like, the mystery we are probing!"

Sir Roger glanced about him. A straight band of trees hemmed them in oneither side, and the daylight filtered through their stems pallidly, while, as the King had said, there seemed to be no end to the path theywere following. They walked on swiftly, however, exchanging no furtherword, when suddenly an unexpected sound came sweeping up through theheavy branches. It was the rush and roar of the sea, --a surging, natural psalmody that filled the air, and quivered through the treeswith the measured beat of an almost human chorus. 

"This must be another way to the shore, " said the King, coming to astandstill; "And there must be rocks or caverns near. Hark how thewaves thunder and reverberate through some deep hollow!"

Sir Roger listened, and heard the boom of water rolling in and rollingout again, with the regularity and rhythm of an organ swell, but hecaught an echo of something else besides, which piqued his curiosityand provoked him to a touch of unusual excitement, --it was the sweetand apparently quickly suppressed sound of a woman's laughter. Heglanced at his Royal master, and saw at once that he, too, had sharpears for that silvery cadence of mirth, for his eyes flashed into asmile. 

"On, Roger, " he said softly; "We are close on the heels of theproblem!"

But they had only pressed forward a few steps when they were againbrought to a sudden pause. A voice, whose gruffly mellow accents werefamiliar to both of them, was speaking within evidently close range, and the King, with a warning look, motioned De Launay back a pace ortwo, himself withdrawing a little into the shadow of the trees. 

"Ach! Do not sing, my princess!" said the voice; "For if you open yourrosy mouth of music, all the birds of the air, and all the littlefishes of the sea will come to listen! And, who knows! Someone moredangerous than either a bird or a fish may listen also!"

The King grasped De Launay by the arm. 

"Was I not right?" he whispered. "There is no mistaking Von Glauben'saccent!"

Sir Roger looked, as he felt, utterly bewildered. In his own mind hefelt it very difficult to associate the Professor with a love affair. Yet things certainly seemed pointing to some entanglement of the sort. Suddenly the King held up an admonitory finger. 

"Listen!" he said. 

Another voice spoke, rich and clear, and sweet as honey. 

"Why should I not sing?" and there was a thrill of merriment in thedelicious accents. "You are so afraid of everything to-day! Why? Whyshould I stay here with nothing to do? Because you tell me the King isvisiting The Islands. What does that matter? What do I care for theKing? He is nothing to me!"

"You would be something, perhaps, to him if he saw you, " replied theguttural voice of Von Glauben. "It is safer to be out of his way. Youare a very wilful princess this afternoon! You must remember yourhusband is jealous!"

The King started. 

"Her husband! What the devil does Von Glauben know about her husband!"

De Launay was dumb. A nameless fear and dismay began to possess him. 

"My husband!" And the sweet voice laughed out again. "It would bestrange indeed for a poor sailor to be jealous of a king!"

"If the poor sailor had a beautiful wife he worshipped, and the Kingshould admire the wife, he might have cause to be jealous!" replied VonGlauben; "And with some ladies, a poor sailor would stand no chanceagainst a king! Why are you so rebellious, my princess, to-day? Have Inot brought a letter from your beloved which plainly asks you to keepout of the sight of the King? Have I not been an hour with you here, reading the most beautiful poetry of Heine?"

"That is why I want to sing, " said the sweet voice, with a touch ofwilfulness in its tone. "Listen! I will give you a reading of Heine inmusic!" And suddenly, rich and clear as a bell, a golden cadence ofnotes rang out with the words:

 "Ah, Hast thou forgotten, That I possessed thy heart?"

The King sprang lightly out of his hiding-place, and with De Launaymoved on slowly and cautiously through the trees. 

"Ach, mein Gott!" they heard Von Glauben exclaim--"That is a bird-callwhich will float on wings to the ears of the King!"

A soft laugh rippled on the air. 

"Dear friend and master, why are you so afraid?" asked the caressingwoman's voice again;--"We are quite hidden away from the Royalvisitors, --and though you have been peeping at the King through thetrees, and though you know he is actually in our garden, he will neverfind his way here! This is quite a secret little study and schoolroom, where you have taught me so much!--yes--so much!--and I am verygrateful! And whenever you come to see me you teach me something more--you are always good and kind!--and I would not anger you for the world!But what is the good of knowing and feeling beautiful things, if I maynot express them?"

"You do express them, --in yourself, --in your own existence andappearance!" said the Professor gruffly; "but that is a physiologicalaccident which I do not expect you to understand!"

There was a moment's silence. Then came a slight movement, as of quickfeet clambering among loose pebbles, and the voice rang out again. 

"There! Now I am in my rocky throne! Do you remember--Ah, no!--you knownothing about it, --but I will tell you the story! It was here, in thisvery place, that my husband first saw me!"

"Ach so!" murmured Von Glauben. "It is an excellent place to make afirst appearance! Eve herself could not have chosen more picturesquesurroundings to make a conquest of Adam!"

Apparently his mild sarcasm fell on unheeding ears. 

"He was walking slowly all alone on the shore, " went on the voice, dropping into a more plaintive and tender tone; "The sun had sunk, andone little star was sparkling in the sky. He looked up at the star--and--"

"Then he saw a woman's eye, " interpolated Von Glauben; "Which is alwaysmore attractive to weak man than an impossible-to-visit planet! Whatdoes Shakespeare say of women's eyes?

 'Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, Having some business, do entreat her eyes To twinkle in their spheres till they return. What if her eyes were there, they in her head? The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, As daylight doth a lamp; her eye in heaven Would through the airy regions stream so bright, That birds would sing and think it were not night!'

Ach! That is so!"

As the final words left his lips, a rich note of melody stirred theair, and a song in which words and music seemed thoroughly weldedtogether, rose vibratingly up to the quiet sky:

 "Here by the sea, My Love found me! Seagulls over the waves were swinging; Mermaids down in their caves were singing, -- And one little star in the rosy sky Sparkled above like an angel's eye! My Love found me, And I and he Plighted our troth eternally! Oh day of splendour, And self-surrender! The day when my Love found me!

 Here, by the sea, My King crown'd me! Wild ocean sang for my Coronation, With the jubilant voice of a mighty nation!-- 'Mid the towering rocks he set my throne, And made me forever and ever his own! My King crown'd me, And I and he Are one till the world shall cease to be! Oh sweet love story! Oh night of glory! The night when my King crown'd me!"

No language could ever describe the marvellous sweetness of the voicethat sung these lines; it was so full of exquisite triumph, tendernessand passion, that it seemed more supernatural than human. When the songceased, a great wave dashed on the shore, like a closing organ chord, and Von Glauben spoke. 

"There! You wanted your own way, my princess, and you have had it! Youhave sung like one of the seraphim;--do not be surprised if mortals aredrawn to listen. Sst! What is that?"

There was a pause. The King had inadvertently cracked a twig on one ofthe pine-boughs he was holding back in an endeavour to see thespeakers. But he now boldly pushed on, beckoning De Launay to followclose, and in another minute had emerged on a small sandy plateau, which led, by means of an ascending path, to a rocky eminence, encircled by huge boulders and rocky pinnacles, which somewhatresembled peaks of white coral, --and here, on a height above him, --withthe afternoon sun-glow bathing her in its full mellow radiance, sat avisibly enthroned goddess of the landscape, --a girl, or rather aperfect woman, more beautiful than any he had ever seen, or evenimagined. He stared up at her in dazzled wonder, half blinded by thebrightness of the sun and her almost equally blinding loveliness. 

"Gloria!" he exclaimed breathlessly, hardly conscious of his ownutterance; "You are Gloria!"

The fair vision rose, and came swiftly forward with an astonished lookin her bright deep eyes. 

"Yes!" she said, "I am Gloria!"

CHAPTER XII

A SEA PRINCESS

Scarcely had she thus declared herself, when the Bismarckian head andshoulders of Von Glauben appeared above the protecting boulders; andmoving with deliberate caution, the rest of his body came slowly after, till he stood fully declared in an attitude of military 'attention. ' Heshowed neither alarm nor confusion at seeing the King; on the contrary, the fixed, wooden expression of his countenance betokened some deeply-seated mental obstinacy, and he faced his Royal master with the utmostcomposure, lifting the slouched hat he wore with his usual stiff andsoldierly dignity, though carefully avoiding the amazed stare of hisfriend, Sir Roger de Launay. 

The King glanced him up and down with a smiling air of amusedcuriosity. 

"So this is how you pursue your scientific studies, Professor!" he saidlightly; "Well!"--and he turned his eyes, full of admiration, on thebeautiful creature who stood silently confronting him with all thatperfect ease which expresses a well-balanced mind, --"Wisdom is oftensymbolised to us as a marble goddess, --but when Pallas Athene takes sofair a shape of flesh and blood as this, who shall blame even a veteranphilosopher for sitting at her feet in worship!"

"Pardon me, Sir, " returned Von Glauben calmly; "There is no goddess ofWisdom here, so please you, but only a very simple and unworldly youngwoman. She is--" Here he hesitated a moment, then went on--"She ismerely the adopted child of a fisherman living on these Islands. "

"I am aware of that!" said the King still smiling. "Réné Ronsard is hisname. He is my host to-day; and he has told me something of her. But, certes, he did not mention that you had adopted her also!"

Von Glauben flushed vexedly. 

"Sir, " he stammered, "I could explain--"

"Another time!" interrupted the King, with a touch of asperity. "Meanwhile, present your--your pupil in the poesy of Heine, --to me!"

Thus commanded, the Professor, casting a vexed glance at De Launay, whodid not in the least comprehend his distress, went to the girl, whoduring their brief conversation had stood quietly looking from one tothe other with an expression of half-amused disdain on her lovelyfeatures. 

"Gloria, " he began reluctantly--then whispering in her ear, hemuttered--"I told you your voice would do mischief, and it has doneit!" Then aloud--"Gloria, --this--this is the King!"

She smiled, but did not change her erect and easy attitude. 

"The King is welcome!" she said simply. 

She had evidently no intention of saluting the monarch; and Sir Rogerde Launay gazed at her in mingled surprise and admiration. She wascertainly wonderfully beautiful. Her complexion had the soft cleartransparency of a pink sea-shell--her eyes, large and lustrous, were asdensely blue as the dark azure in the depths of a wave, --and her hair, of a warm bronze chestnut, caught back with a single band of red coral, seemed to have gathered in its rich curling clusters all the deepesttints of autumn leaves flecked with a golden touch of the sun. Herfigure, clad in a straight garment of rough white homespun, was themodel of perfect womanhood. She stood a little above the medium height, her fair head poised proudly on regal shoulders, while the curve of thefull bosom would have baffled the sculptural genius of a Phidias. Thewhole exquisite outline of her person was the expressed essence ofbeauty, from the lightest wave of her hair, down to her slender anklesand small feet; and the look that irradiated her noble features wasthat of child-like happiness and repose, --the untired expression of onewho had never known any other life than the innocent enjoyment bestowedupon her by God and divine Nature. Beautiful as his Queen-Consort wasand always had been, the King was forced to admit to himself that herewas a woman far more beautiful, --and as he looked upon her critically, he saw that there was a light and splendour about her which only thehappiness of Love can give. Her whole aspect was as of one upliftedinto a finer atmosphere than that of earth, --she seemed to exhalepurity from herself, as a rose exhales perfume, and her undisturbedserenity and dignity, when made aware of the Royal presence, wereevidently not the outcome of ill-breeding or discourtesy, but of mereself-respect and independence. He approached her with a strangehesitation, which for him was quite a new experience. 

"I am glad I have been fortunate enough to meet you!" he said gently;--"Some kindly fate guided my steps down the path which brought me tothis part of the shore, else I might have gone away without seeingyou!"

"That would have been no loss to your Majesty, " answered Gloriacalmly;--"For to see me, is of no use to anyone!"

"Would your husband say so?" hazarded the King with a smile. 

Her eyes flashed. 

"My husband would say what is right, " she replied. "He would knowbetter how to talk to you than I do!"

He had insensibly drawn nearer to her as he spoke; meanwhile VonGlauben, with a disconsolate air, had joined Sir Roger de Launay, who, by an enquiring look and anxious uplifting of his eyebrows, dumblyasked what was to be the upshot of this affair, --only to receive adismal shake of the head in reply. 

"Possibly I know your husband, " went on the King, anxious to continueconversation with so beautiful a creature. "If I do, and he is in mypersonal service, he shall not lack promotion! Will you tell me hisname?"

A startled look came into the girl's eyes, and a deep blush swept overher fair cheeks. 

"I dare not!" she said;--"He has forbidden me!"

"Forbidden you!" The King recoiled a step--a vague suspicion rankled inhis mind. "Then, though your King asks you a friendly question, yourefuse to answer it?"

Von Glauben here gripped Sir Roger so fiercely by the arm, that thelatter nearly cried out with pain. 

"She must not tell, " he muttered--"She must not--she will not!"

But Gloria was looking straight at her Royal questioner. 

"I have no King but my husband!" she said firmly. "I have sworn beforeGod to obey him in all things, and I will not break my vow!"

"Good girl! Wise girl!" exclaimed Von Glauben. "Ach, if all thebeautiful women so guarded their tongues and obeyed their husbands, what a happy world it would be!"

The King turned upon him. 

"True! But you are not bound by the confidences of marriage, Professor, --so that while in our service our will must be your law!You, therefore, can perhaps tell me the name of the fortunate man whohas wedded this fair lady?"

The Professor's countenance visibly reddened. 

"Sir, " he stammered--"With every respect for your Majesty, I wouldrather lose my much-to-be-appreciated post with you than betray myfriends!"

The King suddenly lost patience. 

"By Heaven!" he exclaimed, "Is my command to be slighted and set asideas if it were naught? Not while I am king of this country! What mysteryis here that I am not to know?"

Gloria laughed outright, and the pretty ripple of mirth, so unforcedand natural, diverted the monarch's irritation. 

"Oh, you are angry!" she said, her lovely eyes twinkling and sparklinglike diamonds:--"So! Then your Majesty is no more than a very commonman who loses temper when he cannot have his own way!" She laughedagain, and the King stared at her unoffended, --being spellbound, bothby her regal beauty, and her complete indifference to himself. "I willspeak like the prophets do in the Bible and say, 'Lo! there is nomystery, O King!' I am only poor Gloria, a sailor's wife, --and thesailor has a place on board your son the Crown Prince's yacht, and hedoes not want his master to know that he is married lest he lose thatplace! Is not that plain and clear, O King? And why should I disobey mybeloved in such a simple matter?"

The King was still in something of a fume. 

"There is no reason why you should disobey, " he said more quietly, butstill with vexation;--"But, equally, there is no reason why yourhusband should be dismissed from the Crown Prince's service, because hehas chosen to marry. If you tell me his name, I will make all thingseasy for him, for you, and your future. Can you not trust me?"

With wonderful grace and quickness Gloria suddenly sprang forward, caught the King's hand, kissed it, and then threw it lightly away fromher. 

"No!" she said, with a pretty defiance; "I kiss the hand of thecountry's King--but I have my own King to serve!"

And pausing for no more words, she turned away, sprang lightly up therocks as swiftly as a roe-deer, and disappeared. And from some hiddencorner, clear and full and sweet, her voice rang out above the peacefulplashing of the waves:

 "My King crown'd me! And I and he Are one till the world shall cease to be!"

Stricken dumb and confused by the suddenness of her action, and theswiftness of her departure, the King stood for a moment inert, gazingup the rocky height with the air of one who has seen a vision of heavenwithdrawn again into its native element. Some darkening doubt troubledhis mind, and it was with an altogether changed and stern countenancethat he confronted Von Glauben. 

"Last night, Professor, you were somewhat anxious for our health andsafety, " he said severely; "It is our turn now to be equally anxiousfor yours! We are of opinion that you, like ourselves, run some risk ofdanger by meddling in affairs which do not concern you! Silence!" This, as the Professor, deeply moved by his Royal master's evidentdispleasure, made an attempt to speak. "We will hear all you have tosay to-morrow. Meanwhile--follow your fair charge!" And he pointed upin the direction whither Gloria had vanished. "Her husband"--and heemphasized the word, --"whoever he is, appears to have entrusted hersafety to you;--see that you do not betray his trust, even though youhave betrayed mine!"

At this remark Von Glauben was visibly overcome. 

"Sir, you have never had reason to complain of any lack of loyalty inme to you and to your service, " he said with an earnest dignity whichbecame him well;--"In the matter of the poor child yonder, whose beautywould surely be a fatal snare to any man, there is much to be told, --which if told truly, will prove that I am merely the slave ofcircumstances which were not created by me, --and which it is possiblefor a faithful servant of your Majesty to regret! But a betrayer oftrust I have never been, and I beseech your Majesty to believe me whenI say that the acuteness of that undeserved reproach cuts me to theheart! I yield to no man in the respect and affection I entertain foryour Royal person, not even to De Launay here--who knows--who knows--"

He broke off, unable through strong emotion to proceed. 

"'Who knows'--What?" enquired the King, turning his steadfast eyes onSir Roger. 

"Nothing, Sir! Absolutely nothing!" replied the equerry, opening hiseyes as widely as their habitual langour would permit; "I am absolutelyignorant of everything concerning Von Glauben except that he is anhonest man! That I certainly do know!"

A slight smile cleared away something of the doubt and displeasure onthe King's face. Approaching the disconsolate Professor, he laid onehand on his shoulder and looked him steadily in the eyes. 

"By my faith, Von Glauben, if I thought positively that you could playme false in any matter, I would never believe a man again! Come!Forgive my hasty speech, and do not look so downcast! Honest I havealways known you to be, --and that you will prove your honesty, I do notdoubt! But--there is something in this affair which awakens gravesuspicion in my mind. For to-day I press no questions--but to-morrow Imust know all! You understand? _All_! Say this to the girl, Gloria, --say it to her husband also--as, of course, you know who herhusband is. If he serves on Prince Humphry's yacht, that is enough tosay that Humphry himself has probably seen her. Under all thecircumstances, I confess, my dear Von Glauben, that your presence hereis a riddle which needs explanation!"

"It shall be explained, Sir--" murmured the Professor. 

"Naturally! It must, of course be explained. But I hope you give mecredit for not being altogether a fool; and I have an idea that myson's frequent mysterious visits to The Islands have something to dowith this fair Gloria of Glorias!" Von Glauben started involuntarily. "You perhaps think it too? Or know it? Well, if it is so, I can hardlyblame him overmuch, --though I am sorry he should have selected a poorsailor's wife as a subject for his secret amours! I should havethought him possessed of more honour. However--to-morrow I shall lookto you for a full account of the matter. For the present, I excuseyour attendance, and permit you to remain with her whom you call'princess'!"

He stepped back, and, taking De Launay's arm, turned round at once, andwalked away back to Ronsard's house by the path he had followed withsuch eagerness and care. 

Von Glauben watched the two tall figures disappear, and then with atroubled look, began to climb slowly up the rocks in the directionwhere Gloria had gone. His reflections were not altogether asphilosophical as usual, because as he said to himself--"One can nevertell how a woman is going to meet misfortune! Sometimes she takes itwell; and then the men who have ruthlessly destroyed her happiness goon their way rejoicing; but more often she takes it ill, and there isthe devil to pay! Yet--Gloria is not like any ordinary woman--she is acarefully selected specimen of her sex, which a kindly Nature hasproduced as an example of what women were intended to be when they werefirst created. I wonder where she has hidden herself?"

Arriving at the summit of the ascent, he peered down towards the sea. Slopes of rank grass and sea-daisies tufted the rocks on this side, divided by certain deep hollows which the action of the waves hadhoneycombed here and there; and below the grass was the shore, powderedthickly with sand, of a fine, light, and sparkling colour, like golddust. Here in the full light of the sinking sun lay Gloria, her headpillowed against a rough stone, on the top of which a tall cluster ofdaisies, sometimes called moon-flowers, waved like white plumes. 

"Gloria!" called Von Glauben. 

She looked up, smiling. 

"Has Majesty gone?" she asked. 

"Gone for the present, " replied the Professor, beginning to put onefoot cautiously before the other down a roughly hewn stairway in theotherwise almost inaccessible cliff. "But, like the sun which issetting to-night, he will rise again to-morrow!"

"Shall I come and help you down?" enquired the girl, turning on herelbow as she lay, and lifting her lovely face, radiant as a flower, towards him. 

"Whether down or up, you shall never help me, my princess!" he replied. "When I can neither climb nor fall without the assistance of a woman'shand, I shall take a pistol and tell it to whisper in my ear--'Good-bye, Heinrich Von Glauben! You are all up--finish--gone!'"

Here, with a somewhat elephantine jump, he alighted beside her andthrew himself on the warm sand with a deep sigh of mingled exhaustionand relief. 

"You would be very wicked to put a pistol to your ear, " said Gloriaseverely;--"It is only a coward who shoots himself!"

"Ach so! And it is a brave man who shoots others! That is curious, isit not, princess? It is a little bit of man's morality; but we have notime to discuss it now. We have something more serious to consider, --your husband!"

She looked at him wonderingly. 

"My husband? Do you really think he will be very angry that the Kingsaw me?"

The Professor appeared to be considering the question; but in realityhe was studying the exquisite delicacy of the face turned so wistfullyupon him, and the lovely lines of the slim throat and rounded chin--"Sobeautiful a creature"--he was saying within himself--"And must she alsosuffer pain and disillusion like all the rest of her unfortunate sex!"Aloud he replied. 

"My princess, it is not for me to say he will be 'angry, '--for howcould he be angry with the one he loves to such adoration! He will besorry and troubled--it will put him into a great difficulty! Ach!--awhole nest of difficulties!"

"Why?" And Gloria's eyes filled with sudden tears. "I would not grievehim for the world! I cannot understand why it should matter at all, even if the King does find out that he is married. Are the rules sostrict for all the men who serve on board the Royal vessels?"

Von Glauben bit his lips to hide an involuntary smile. But he answeredher with quite a martinet air. 

"Yes, they are strict--very strict! Particularly so in the case of yourhusband. You see, my child--you do not perhaps quite understand--but heis a sort of superior officer on board; and in close personalattendance on the Crown Prince. "

"He did not tell me that!" said the girl a little anxiously; "Yetsurely it would not matter if he loses one place; can he not easily getanother?"

Von Glauben was looking at her with a grave, almost melancholyintentness. 

"Listen, my princess, --listen to your poor old friend, who means you somuch good, and no harm at all! Your husband--and I too, for thatmatter, --wished much to prevent the King from seeing you--for--for manyreasons. When I heard he was coming to The Islands, I resolved toarrive here before him, and so I did. I said nothing to Ronsard, noteven to warn him of the King's impending visit. I took you justquietly, as I have often done, for a walk, with a book to read and toexplain to you, because you tell me you want to study; though in myopinion you know quite enough--for a woman. I gave you a letter fromyour husband, and you know he asked you in that letter to avoid allpossibility of meeting with the King. Good! Well, now, what happens?You sing--and lo! his Majesty, like a fish on a hook, is drawn up open-mouthed to your feet! Now, who is to blame? You or I?"

A little perplexed line appeared on the girl's fair brows. "I am, Isuppose!" she said somewhat plaintively, --"But yet, even now, I do notunderstand. What is the King? He is nothing! He does nothing foranybody! People make petitions to him, and he never answers them--theytry to point out errors and abuses, and he takes no trouble to remedythem--he is no better than a wooden idol! He is not a real man, thoughhe looks like one. "

"Oh, you think he looks like one?" murmured Von Glauben; "That is tosay you are not altogether displeased with his appearance?"

Gloria's eyes darkened a moment with thought, --then flashed withlaughter. 

"No, " she said frankly--"He is more kingly than I thought a king couldbe. But he should not lose temper. That spoils all dignity!"

Von Glauben smiled. 

"Kings are but mortal, " he said, "and never to lose temper would beimpossible to any man. "

"It is such a waste of time!" declared Gloria--"Why should anyone loseself-control? It is like giving up a sword to an enemy. "

"That is one of Réné Ronsard's teachings, "--said the Professor--"It isexcellent in theory! But in practice I have seen Réné give way totemper himself, with considerable enjoyment of his own mentalthunderstorm. As for the King, he is generally a very equablepersonage; and he has one great virtue--that is courage. He is brave asa lion--perhaps braver than many lions!"

She raised her eyes enquiringly. 

"Has he proved it?"

Rather taken aback by the question, he stared at her solemnly. 

"Proved it? Well! He has had no chance. The country has been at peacefor many years--but if there should ever be a war----"

"Would he go and fight for the country?" enquired Gloria. 

"In person? No. He would not be allowed to do that. His life would beendangered----"

"Of course!" interrupted the girl with a touch of contempt; "But if hewould allow himself to be ruled by others in such a matter, I do notcall him brave!"

The Professor drew out his spectacles, and fixing them on his nose withmuch care, regarded her through them with bland and kindly interest. 

"Very simple and primitive reasoning, my princess!" he said; "And froman early historic point of view, your idea is correct. In the oldentimes kings went themselves to battle, and led their soldiers on tovictory in person. It was very fine; much finer than our modern ways ofwarfare. But it has perhaps never occurred to you that a king's lifenowadays is always in danger? He can do nothing more completelycourageous than to show himself in public!"

"Are kings then so hated?" she asked. 

"They are not loved, it must be confessed, " returned Von Glauben, taking off his spectacles again; "But that is quite their own fault. They seldom do anything to deserve the respect, --much less theaffection of their subjects. But this king--this man you have justseen--certainly deserves both. "

"Why, what has he done?" asked Gloria wonderingly. "I have heard peoplesay he is very wicked--that he takes other men's wives away from them--"

The Professor coughed discreetly. 

"My princess, let me suggest to you that he could scarcely take othermen's wives away from them, unless those wives were perfectly willingto go!"

She gave an impatient gesture. 

"Oh, there are weak women, no doubt; but then a king should know betterthan to put temptation in their way. If a man undertakes to be strong, he should also be honourable. Then, --what of the taxes the King imposeson the people? The sufferings of the poor over there on the mainlandare terrible!--I know all about them! I have heard Sergius Thord!"

The Professor gave an uncomfortable start. 

"You have heard Sergius Thord? Where?"

"Here!" And Gloria smiled at his expression of wonderment. "He hasspoken often to our people, and he is father Réné's friend. "

"And what does he talk about when he speaks here?" enquired VonGlauben. "When does he come, and how does he go?"

"Always at night, " answered Gloria; "He has a sailing skiff of his own, and on many an evening when the wind sets in our quarter, he arrivesquite suddenly, all alone, and in a moment, as if by magic, theIslanders all seem to know he is here. On the shore, or in the fieldshe assembles them round him, and tells them many things that are plainand true. I have heard him speak often of the shortness of life and itsmany sorrows, and he says we could all make each other happy for thelittle time we have to live, if we would. And I think he is right; itis only wicked and selfish people who make others unhappy!"

The Professor was silent. Gloria, watching him, wondered at hissomewhat perturbed expression. 

"Do you know the King very well?" she asked suddenly. "He seemed verycross with you!"

Von Glauben roused himself from a fit of momentary abstraction. 

"Yes, --he was cross!" he rejoined. "I, like your husband, am in hisservice--and I ought to have been on duty to-day. It will be all right, however--all right! But--" He paused for a moment, then went on--"Yousay that only wicked and selfish people make others unhappy. Now supposeyour husband were wicked and selfish enough to make _you_ unhappy;what would you say?"

A sweet smile shone in her eyes. 

"He could not make me unhappy!" she said. "He would not try! He lovesme, and he will always love me!"

"But, suppose, " persisted the Professor--"Just for the sake of argument--suppose he had deceived you?"

With a low cry she sprang up. 

"Impossible!" she exclaimed; "He is truth itself! He could not deceiveanyone!"

"Come and sit down again, " said Von Glauben tranquilly; "It isdisturbing to my mind to see you standing there pronouncing your faithin the integrity of man! No male creature deserves such implicit trust, and whenever a woman gives it, she invariably finds out her mistake!"

But Gloria stood still, The rich colour had faded from her cheeks--hereyes were dilated with alarm, and her breath came and went quickly. 

"You must explain, " she said hurriedly; "You must tell me what you meanby suggesting such a wicked thought to me as that my husband coulddeceive me! It is not right or kind of you, --it is cruel!"

The Professor scrambled up hastily out of his sandy nook, andapproaching her, took her hand very gently and respectfully in his ownand kissed it. 

"My dear--my princess--I was wrong! Forgive me!" he murmured, and therewas a little tremor in his voice; "But can you not understand thepossibility of a man loving a woman very much, and yet deceiving herfor her good?"

"It could never be for her good, " said Gloria firmly; "It would not befor mine! No lie ever lasts!"

Von Glauben looked at her with a sense of reverence and something likeawe. The after-glow of the sinking sun was burning low down upon thesea, and turning it to fiery crimson, and as she stood bathed in itssplendour, the white rocks towering above her, and the golden sandssparkling at her feet, she appeared like some newly descended angelexpressing the very truth of Heaven itself in her own presence onearth. As they stood thus, the sudden boom of a single cannon echoedclear across the waves. 

"There goes the King!" said Von Glauben; "Majesty departs for thepresent, having so far satisfied his curiosity! That gun is the signal. Child!"--and turning towards her again, he took both her hands in his, and spoke with emphatic gravity and kindness--"Remember that I am yourfriend always! Whatever chances to you, do not forget that you maycommand my service and devotion till death! In this strange life, wenever know from day to day what may happen to us, for constant changeis the law of Nature and the universe, --but after all, there issomething in the soul of a true man which does not change with theelements, --and that is--loyalty to a sworn faith! In my heart, I havesworn an oath of fealty to you, my beautiful little princess of thesea!--and it is a vow that shall never be broken! Do you understand?And will you remember?"

Her large dark blue eyes looked trustingly into his. 

"Indeed, I will never forget!" she said, with a touch of wistfulness inher accents; "But I do not know why you should be anxious for me--thereis nothing to fear for my happiness. I have all the love I care for inthe world!"

"And long may you keep it!" said the Professor earnestly; "Come! Itwill soon be time for me to leave you, and I must see Réné before I go. If you follow my advice, you will say nothing to him of having met theKing--not for the present, at any rate. "

She agreed to this, though with some little hesitation, --then theyascended the cliff, and walking by way of the pine-wood through whichthe King had come, arrived at Ronsard's house, to find the old manquite alone, and peacefully engaged in tying up the roses and jessamineon the pillars of his verandah. His worn face lighted up with animationand tenderness as Gloria approached him and threw her arms around hisneck, and to her he related the incident of the King and Queen'sunexpected visit, as a sort of accidental, uninteresting, and whollyunimportant occurrence. The Queen, he said, was very beautiful; but toocold in her manner, though she had certainly taken much interest inseeing the house and garden. 

"It was just as well you were absent, child, " he added--"Royalty bringsan atmosphere with it which is not wholesome. A king never knows whatit is to be an honest man!"

"Those are your old, discarded theories, Ronsard!" said Von Glauben, shaking his head;--"You said you would never return to them!"

"Aye!" rejoined Ronsard;--"I have tried to put away all my old thoughtsand dreams for her sake"--and his gaze rested lovingly on Gloria as, standing on tiptoe to reach a down-drooping rose, she gathered it andfastened it in her bosom. "There should only be peace and contentmentwhere _she_ dwells! But sometimes my life's long rebellion againstsham and injustice stirs in my blood, and I long to pull down theignorant people's idols of wood and straw, and set up men in place ofdummies!"

"A Mumbo-Jumbo of some kind has always been necessary in the world, myfriend, " said the Professor calmly; "Either in the shape of a deity ora king. A wood and straw Nonentity is better than an incarnated fleshlySelfishness. Will you give me supper before I leave?"

Ronsard smiled a cheery assent, and Gloria preceding them, and singingin a low tone to herself as she went, they all entered the housetogether. 

Meanwhile, the Royal yacht was scudding back to the mainland over crispwaters on the wings of a soft breeze, with a bright moon flying throughfleecy clouds above, and silvering the foam-crests of the waves below. There was music on board, --the King and Queen dined with their guests, --and laughter and gay converse intermingled with the sound of song. They talked of their day's experience--of the beauty of The Islands--ofRonsard, --his quaint house and quainter self, --so different to thepersons with whom they associated in their own exclusive and brilliantCourt 'set, ' and the pretty Countess Amabil flirting harmlessly withSir Walter Langton, suggested that a 'Flower Feast' or Carnival shouldbe held during the summer, for the surprise and benefit of theIslanders, who had never yet seen a Royal pageant of pleasure on theirshores. 

But Sir Roger de Launay, ever watching the Queen, saw that she was verypale, and more silent even than was her usual habit, and that her eyesevery now and again rested on the King, with something of wonder, aswell as fear. 

CHAPTER XIII

SECRET SERVICE

In one of the ultra-fashionable quarters of the brilliant andovercrowded metropolis which formed the nucleus and centre ofeverything notable or progressive in the King's dominions, there stooda large and aggressively-handsome house, over-decorated both outsideand in, and implying in its general appearance vulgarity, no less thanwealth. These two things go together very much nowadays; in fact onescarcely ever sees them apart. The fair, southern city of the sea wasnot behind other modern cities in luxury and self-aggrandisement, andthere were certain members of the population who made it their businessto show all they were worth in their domestic and home surroundings. One of the most flagrant money-exhibitors of this kind was a certainJew named David Jost. Jost was the sole proprietor of the mostinfluential newspaper in the kingdom, and the largest shareholder inthree other newspaper companies, all apparently differing in partyviews, but all in reality working into the same hands, and for the sameends. Jost and his companies virtually governed the Press; and what waseuphoniously termed 'public opinion' was the opinion of Jost. Shouldanything by chance happen to get into his own special journal, or intoany of the other journals connected with Jost, which Jost did notapprove of, or which might be damaging to Jost's social or financialinterests, the editor in charge was severely censured; if the faultoccurred again he was promptly dismissed. 'Public opinion' had to beformed on Jost's humour; otherwise it was no opinion at all. A fewother newspapers led a precarious existence in offering a daily feebleopposition to Jost; but they had not cash enough to carry on thequarrel. Jost secured all the advertisers, and as a natural consequenceof this, could well afford to be the 'voice of the people' ad libitum. He was immensely wealthy, openly vicious, and utterly unscrupulous; andmade brilliant speculative 'deals' in the unsuspecting natures of thosewho were led, by that bland and cheery demeanour which is generallyassociated with a large paunch, to consider him a 'good fellow' withhis 'heart in the right place. ' With regard to this last assertion, itmay be doubted whether he had a heart at all, in any place, right orwrong. He was certainly not given to sentiment. He had married formoney, and his wife had died in a mad-house. He was now anxious tomarry again for position; and while looking round the market for asufficiently perfect person of high-breeding, he patronized the theatrelargely, and 'protected' several ballet-girls and actresses. Everyoneknew that his life was black with villainy and intrigue of the mostshameless kind, yet everyone swore that he was a good man. Such is thevalue of a limitless money-bag!

It was very late in the evening of the day following that on which theKing had paid his unexpected visit to The Islands, --and David Jost hadjust returned from a comic opera-house, where he had supped in privatewith two or three painted heroines of the footlights. He was in anexcellent humour with himself. He had sprung a mine on the public; anda carefully-concocted rumour of war with a foreign power had sent upcertain stocks and shares in which he had considerable interest. Hesmiled, as he thought of the general uneasiness he was creating by afew headlines in his newspaper; and he enjoyed to the full the tranquilsense of having flung a bone of discord between two nations, in orderto watch them from his arm-chair fighting like dogs for it tooth andclaw, till one or the other gave in. 

"Lutera will have to thank me for this, " he said to himself; "And hewill owe me both a place and a title!"

He sat down at his desk in his warm and luxuriously-furnished study, --turned over a few letters, and then glanced up at the clock. Its handspointed to within a few minutes of midnight. Taking up a copy of hisown newspaper, he frowned slightly, as he saw that a certain leadingarticle in favour of the Jesuit settlement in the country had notappeared. 

"Crowded out, I suppose, for want of space, " he said; "I must see thatit goes in to-morrow. These Jesuits know a thing or two; and they arenot going to plank down a thousand pounds for nothing. They have paidfor their advertisement, and they must have it. They ought to have hadit to-day. Lutera must warn the King that it will not do to offend theChurch. There's a lot of loose cash lying idle in the Vatican, --we mayas well have some of it! His Majesty has acted most unwisely inrefusing to grant the religious Orders the land they want. He must bepersuaded to yield it to them by degrees, --in exchange of course forplenty of cash down, without loss of dignity!"

At that moment the door-bell rang softly, as if it were pulled withextreme caution. A servant answered it, and at once came to hismaster's room. 

"A gentleman to see you, sir, on business, " he said. 

Jost looked up. 

"On business? At this time of night? Say I cannot see him--tell him tocome again to-morrow!"

The servant withdrew, only to return again with a more urgentstatement. 

"The gentleman says he must see you, sir; he comes from the Premier. "

"From the Premier?"

"Yes, sir; his business is urgent, he says, and private. He sent in hiscard, sir. "

Here he handed over the card in question, a small, unobtrusive bit ofpasteboard, laid in solitary grandeur on a very large silver salver. 

David Jost took it up, and scanned it with some curiosity. "'PasquinLeroy'! H'm! Don't know the name at all. 'Urgent business; bear privatecredentials from the Marquis de Lutera'!" He paused again, considering, --then turned to the waiting attendant. "Show him in. ". 

"Yes, sir!"

Another moment and Pasquin Leroy entered, --but it was an altogetherdifferent Pasquin Leroy to the one that had recently enrolled himselfas an associate of Sergius Thord's Revolutionary Committee. _That_particular Pasquin had seemed somewhat of a dreamer and a visionary, with a peculiar and striking resemblance to the King; _this_Pasquin Leroy had all the alertness and sharpness common to a practisedjournalist, press-reporter or commercial traveller. Moreover, hiscountenance, adorned with a black mustache, and small pointed beard, wore a cold and concentrated air of business--and he confronted theJew millionaire without the slightest embarrassment or apology forhaving broken in upon his seclusion at so unseasonable an hour. He useda pince-nez, and was constantly putting it to his eyes, as thoughtroubled with short-sightedness. 

"I presume your matter cannot wait, sir, " said Jost, surveying himcoolly, without rising from his seat, --"but if it can--"

"It cannot!" returned Leroy, bluntly. 

Jost stared. 

"So! You come from the Marquis de Lutera?"

"I do. "

"Your credentials?"

Leroy stepped close up to him, and with a sudden movement, which wassomewhat startling, held up his right hand. 

"This signet is, I believe, familiar to you, --and it will be enough toprove that I come on confidential business which cannot be trusted towriting!"

Jost gazed at the flashing sapphire on the stranger's hand with a senseof deadly apprehension. He recognised the Premier's ring well enough;and he also knew that it would never have been sent to him in thismysterious way unless the matter in question was almost too desperatefor whispering within four walls. An uneasy sensation affected him; hepulled at his collar, looked round the room as though in search ofinspiration, and then finally bringing his small, swine-like eyes tobear on the neat soldierly figure before him, he said with a carelessair:

"You probably bring news for the Press affecting the present policy?"

"That remains to be seen!" replied Leroy imperturbably; "From aperfectly impartial standpoint, I should imagine that the presentpolicy may have to alter considerably!"

Jost recoiled. 

"Impossible! It cannot be altered!" he said roughly, --then suddenlyrecollecting himself, he assumed his usual indolent equanimity, andrising slowly, went to a side door in the room and threw it open. 

"Step in here, " he said; "We can talk without fear of interruption. Will you smoke?"

"With pleasure!" replied Leroy, accepting a cigar from the case Jostextended--then glancing with a slight smile at the broad, squat Jewishcountenance which had, in the last couple of minutes, lost something ofits habitual redness, he added--"I am glad you are disposed to discussmatters with me in a friendly, as well as in a confidential way. It ispossible my news may not be altogether agreeable to you;--but of courseyou would be more willing to suffer personally, than to jeopardise thehonour of Ministers. "

He uttered the last sentence more as a question than a statement. 

Jost shifted one foot against the other uneasily. 

"I am not so sure of that, " he said after a pause, during which he haddrawn himself up, and had endeavoured to look conscientious; "You see Ihave the public to consider! Ministers may fall; statesmen may bethrown out of office; but the Press is the same yesterday, to-day, andfor ever!"

"Except when a great Editor changes his opinions, " said Leroytranquilly, --"Which is, of course, always a point of reason andconscience, as well as of--advantage! In the present case I think--but--shall we not enter the sanctum of which you have so obligingly openedthe door? We can scarcely be too private when the King's name is inquestion!"

Jost opened his furtive eyes in amazement. 

"The King? What the devil has he to do with anything but his women andhis amusements?"

A very close observer might have seen a curious expression flicker overPasquin Leroy's face at these words, --an expression half of laughter, half of scorn, --but it was slight and evanescent, and his reply wasfrigidly courteous. 

"I really cannot inform you; but I am afraid his Majesty is departingsomewhat from his customary routine! He is, in fact, taking an active, instead of a passive part in national affairs. "

"Then he must be warned off the ground!" said Jost irritably; "He is aConstitutional monarch, and must obey the laws of the Constitution. "

"Precisely!" And Leroy looked carefully at the end of his cigar; "Butat present he appears to have an idea that the laws of the Constitutionare being tampered with by certain other kings;--for example, --thekings of finance!"

Jost muttered a half-inaudible oath. 

"Come this way, " he said impatiently;--"Bad news is best soon over!"

Leroy gave a careless nod of acquiescence, --then glancing round theroom, up at the clock, and down again to Jost's desk, strewn withletters and documents of every description, he smiled a little tohimself, and followed the all-powerful editor into the smalleradjoining apartment. The door closed behind them both, and Jost turnedthe key in the lock from within. 

For a long time all was very silent. Jost's valet and confidentialservant, sleepy and tired, waited in the hall to let his master'svisitor out, --and hearing no sound, ventured to look into the study nowand then, --but to no purpose. He knew the sanctity of that innerchamber beyond; he knew that when the Premier came to see the greatJost, --as he often did, --it was in that mysterious further room thatbusiness was transacted, and that it was as much as his place was worthto venture even to knock at the door. So, yawning heavily, he dozed onhis bench in the hall, --woke with a start and dozed again, --while theclock slowly ticked away the minutes till with a dull clang the hourstruck One. Then on again went the steady and wearisome tick-tick ofthe pendulum, for a quarter of an hour, half an hour, --and three-quarters, --till the utterly fatigued valet was about to knock down afew walking-sticks and umbrellas, and make a general noise of reminderto his master as to how the time was going, when, to his great relief, he heard the inner door open at last, and the voice of the mysteriousvisitor ring out in clear, precise accents. 

"Nothing will be done publicly, of course, --unless Parliament insistson an enquiry!" The speaker came towards the hall, and the valetsprang up from his bench, and stood ready to show the stranger out. 

Jost replied, and his accents were thick and unsteady. 

"Enquiry cannot be forced! The Marquis himself can burk any suchattempt. "

"But--if the King should insist?"

"He would be breaking all the rules of custom and precedent, " saidJost, --"And he would deserve to be dethroned!"

Pasquin Leroy laughed. 

"True! Good-night, Mr. Jost! Can I do anything for you in Moscow?" Thetwo men now came into the full light shed by the great lamp in thehall. Jost looked darkly red in the face--almost apoplectic; Leroy wasas cool, imperturbable and easy of manner as a practised detective orprofessional spy. 

"In Moscow, " Jost repeated--"You are going straight to Russia?"

"I think so. "

"I suppose you are in the secret service?"

"Exactly! A curious line of business, too, which the outside worldknows very little of. Ah!--if the excellent people--the masses as wecall them--knew what rogues had the ruling of their affairs in somecountries--not in this country, of course!" he added with a quizzicalsmile, --"but in some others, not very far away, I wonder how manyrevolutions would break out within six months! Good-night, Mr. Jost!"

"Good-night!" responded Jost briefly. "You will let me know any furtherdevelopments?"

"Most assuredly!"

The servant opened the door, and Pasquin Leroy slipped a gold coinworth a sovereign into his hand, whereupon, of course, the worthydomestic considered him to be a 'real gentleman. ' As soon as he hadpassed into the street, and the door was shut and barred for the night, Jost bade his man go to bed, a command which was gladly obeyed; and re-entering his study, passed all the time till the breaking of dawn inrummaging out letters and documents from various desks, drawers anddespatch-boxes, and burning them carefully one by one in the opengrate. While thus employed, he had a truly villainous aspect, --eachflame he kindled with each paper seemed to show up a more unpleasingexpression on his countenance, till at last, --when such matter wasdestroyed as he had at present determined on, --he drew himself up andstood for a moment surveying the pile of light black ashes, which wasall that was left of about a hundred or more incriminating paperwitnesses to certain matters in which he had more than a lawfulinterest. 

"It will be difficult now to trace my hand in the scheme!" he said tohimself, frowning heavily, as he considered various uncomfortablecontingencies arising out of his conversation with his late visitor. "If the thunderbolt falls, it will crush Carl Pérousse--not me. Yes! Itmeans ruin for him--ruin and disgrace--but for me--well! I shall findit as easy to damn Pérousse as it has been to support him, for hecannot involve me without adding tenfold to his own disaster! I thinkit will be safe enough for me--possibly not so safe for the Premier. However, I will write to him to-morrow, just to let him know I receivedhis messenger. "

In the meantime, while David Jost was thus cogitating unpleasant andeven dangerous possibilities, which were perhaps on the eve ofoccurring to himself and certain of his associates in politics andjournalism, Pasquin Leroy was hurrying along the city streets under thelight of a clear, though pallid and waning moon. Few wanderers wereabroad; the police walked their various rounds, and one or twomiserable women passed him, like flying ghosts in the thin air ofnight. His mind was in a turmoil of agitation; and the thoughts thatwere tossing rapidly through his brain one upon the other, were such ashe had never known before. He had fathomed a depth of rascality anddeception, which but a short month ago, he could scarcely have believedcapable of existence. The cruel injury and loss preparing for thousandsof innocent persons through the self-interested plotting of a few men, was almost incalculable, --and his blood burned with passionateindignation as he realized on what a verge of misery, bloodshed, disaster and crime the unthinking people of the country stood, pushedto the very edge of a fall by the shameless and unscrupulous designs ofa few financiers, playing their gambling game with the publicconfidence, --and cheating nations as callously as they would havecheated their partners at cards. 

"Thank God, it is not too late!" he murmured; "Not quite too late tosave the situation!--to rescue the people from long years of undeservedtaxation, loss of trade and general distress! It is a supreme task thathas been given me to accomplish!--but if there is any truth and rightin the laws of the Universe, I shall surely not be misjudged whileaccomplishing it!"

He quickened his pace;--and to avoid going up one of the longerthoroughfares which led to the citadel and palace, he decided to crossone of the many picturesque bridges, arched over certain inlets fromthe sea, and forming canals, where barges and other vessels might betowed up to the very doors of the warehouses which received theircargoes. But just as he was about to turn in the necessary direction, he halted abruptly at sight of two men, standing at the first corner inthe way of his advance, talking earnestly. He recognized them at onceas Sergius Thord and the half-inebriated poet, Paul Zouche. Withnoiseless step he moved cautiously into the broad stretch of blackshadow cast by the great façade of a block of buildings which occupiedhalf the length of the street in which he stood, and so managing toslip into the denser darkness of a doorway, was able to hear what theywere saying. The full, mellow, and persuasive tone of Thord's voice hadsomething in it of reproach. 

"You shame yourself, Zouche!" he said; "You shame me; you shame us all!Man, did God put a light of Genius in your soul merely to be quenchedby the cravings of a bestial body? What associate are you for us? Howcan you help us in the fulfilment of our ideal dream? By day you minglewith litterateurs, scientists, and philosophers, --report has it thatyou have even managed to stumble your way into my lady's boudoir;--butby night you wander like this, --insensate, furious, warped in soul, muddled in brain, and only the heart of you alive, --the poorunsatisfied heart--hungering and crying for what itself makesimpossible!"

Zouche broke into a harsh laugh. Turning up his head to the sky, hethrust back his wild hair, and showed his thin eager face andglittering eyes, outlined cameo-like by the paling radiance of themoon. 

"Well spoken, my Sergius!" he exclaimed. "You always speak well! Yourthoughts are of flame--your speech is of gold; the fire melts the ore!And then again you have a conscience! That is a strange possession!--quite useless in these days, like the remains of the tail we had whenwe were all happy apes in the primeval forest, pelting the Megatheriumor other such remarkable beasts with cocoanuts! It was a much betterlife, Sergius, believe me! A Conscience is merely a mentalAppendicitis! There should be a psychical surgeon with an airy lancetto cut it out. Not for me!--I was born perfect--without it!"

He laughed again, then with an abrupt change of manner he caught Thordviolently by the arm. 

"How can you speak of shame?" he said--"What shame is left in eitherman or woman nowadays? Naked to the very skin of foulness, they flaunta nudity of vice in every public thoroughfare! Your sentiments, mygrand Sergius, are those of an old world long passed away! You are areformer, a lover of truth--a hater of shams--and in the days when thepeople loved truth, --and wanted justice, --and fought for both, youwould have been great! But greatness is nowadays judged as 'madness'--truth as 'want of tact'--desire for justice is 'clamour for notoriety. 'Shame? There is no shame in anything, Sergius, but honesty! That is adisgrace to the century; for an honest man is always poor, and povertyis the worst of crimes. " He threw up his arms with a wild gesture, --"The worst of crimes! Do I not know it!"

Thord took him gently by the shoulder. 

"You talk, Zouche, as you always talk, at random, scarcely knowing, andcertainly not half meaning what you say. There is no real reason inyour rages against fate and fortune. Leave the accursed drink, and youmay still win the prize you covet--Fame. "

"Not I!" said Zouche scornfully, --"Fame in its original sense belongedalso to the growing-time of the world--when, proud of youth and theglow of life, the full-fledged man judged himself immortal. Fame now isadjudged to the biped-machine who drives a motor-car best, --or to thefortunate soap-boiler who dines with a king! Poetry is understood to bethe useful rhyme which announces the virtues of pills and boot-blacking! Mark you, Sergius!--my latest volume was 'graciously acceptedby the King'! Do you know what that means?"

"No, " replied Thord, a trifle coldly; "And if it were not that I knowyour strange vagaries, I should say you wronged your election as one ofus, to send any of your work to a crowned fool!"

Zouche laughed discordantly. 

"You would? No, you would not, my Sergius, if you knew the spirit inwhich I sent it! A spirit as wild, as reckless, as ranting, as defiantas ever devil indulged in! The humility of my presentation letter tohis Majesty was beautiful! The reply of the flunkey-secretary wasequally beautiful in smug courtesy: 'Sir, I am commanded by the King tothank you for the book of poems you have kindly sent for hisacceptance!' I say again, Thord, do you know what it means?"

"No; I only wish that instead of talking here, you would let me see yousafely home. "

"Home! I have no home! Since _she_ died--" He paused, and a greyshadow crossed his face like the hue of approaching sickness or death. "I killed her, poor child! Of course you know that! I neglected her, --deserted her--left her to die! Well! She is only one more added to thelist of countless women martyrs who have been tortured out of an unjustworld--and now--now I write verses to her memory!" He shivered as withcold, still clinging to Thord's arm. "But I did not tell you what greatgood comes of sending a book to the King! It means less to a writerthan to a boot-maker. For the boot-maker can put up a sign: 'SpecialFitter for the ease of His Majesty's Corns'--but if a poet should sayhis verse is 'accepted' by a monarch, the shrewd public take it at onceto be bad verse, and will have none of it! That is the case with mybook to-day!"

"Why did you send it?" asked Thord, with grave patience. "Your businesswith kings is to warn, not to flatter!"

"Just so!" cried Zouche; "And if His Most Gracious and Glorious hadbeen pleased to look inside the volume, he would have seen enough tostartle him! It was sent in hate, my Sergius, --not in humility, --justas the flunkey-secretary's answer was penned in derision, apingcourtesy! How you look, under this wan sky of night! Reproachful, yetpitying, as the eyes of Buddha are your eyes, my Sergius! You are afine fellow--your brain is a dome decorated with glorious ideals!--andyet you are like all of us, weak in one point, as Achilles in the heel. One thing could turn you from man into beast--and that would be ifLotys loved--not you--she never will love you--but another!"--Thordstarted back as though suddenly stabbed, and angrily shook off hiscompanion, who only laughed again, --a shrill, echoing laugh in whichthere was a note of madness and desolation. "Bah!" he exclaimed; "Youare a fool after all! You work for a woman as I did--once! But markyou!--do not kill her--as I did--once! Be patient! Watch the lightshine, even though it does not illumine your path; be glad that therose blooms for itself, if not for you! It will be difficult!--meanwhile you can live on hope--a bitter fruit to eat; but gnaw it tothe last rind, my Sergius! Hope that Lotys may melt in your fire, as asnowflake in the sun! Come! Now take the poor poet home, --the drunkenchild of inspiration--take him home to his garret in the slums--thepoet whose book has been accepted by the King!"

Pulling himself up from his semi-crouching position, he seized Thord'sarm again more tightly, and began to walk along unsteadily. Presentlyhe paused, smiling vacantly up at the gradually vanishing stars. 

"Lotys speaks to our followers on Saturday, " he said; "You know that?"

Thord bent his head in acquiescence. 

"You will be there, of course. I shall be there! What a voice she has!Whether we believe what she says or not, we must hear, --and hearing, wemust follow. Where shall we drink in the sweet Oracle this time?"

"At the People's Assembly Rooms, " responded Thord; "But remember, Zouche, she does not speak till nine o'clock. That means that you willbe unfit to listen!"

"You think so?" responded Zouche airily, and leaning on Thord hestumbled onward, the two passing close in front of the doorway wherePasquin Leroy stood concealed. "But I am more ready to understandwisdom when drunk, than when sober, my Sergius! You do not understand. I am a human eccentricity--the result of an _amour_ between afiend and an angel! Believe me! I will listen to Lotys with all mydevil-saintly soul, --you will listen to her with all your loving, longing heart--and with us two thus attentive, the opinions of the restof the audience will scarcely matter! How the street reels! How the oldmoon dances! So did she whirl pallidly when Antony clasped his EgyptianQueen, and lost Actium! Remember the fate of Antony, Sergius! Kingdomswould have been seized and controlled by men such as you are, longbefore now--if there had not always been a woman in the case--aCleopatra--or a Lotys!"

Still laughing foolishly, he reeled onwards, Sergius Thord half-supporting, half-leading him, with grave carefulness and brotherlycompassion. They were soon out of sight; and Pasquin Leroy, leaving hisdark hiding-place, crossed the bridge with an alert step, and mounted asteep street leading to the citadel. From gaps between the tall leaninghouses a glimpse of the sea, silvered by the dying moonlight, flashednow and again; and in the silence of the night the low ripple of smallwaves against the breakwater could be distinctly heard. A sense of holycalm impressed him as he paused a moment; and the words of an oldmonkish verse came back to him from some far-off depth of memory:

 Lord Christ, I would my soul were clear as air, With only Thy pure radiance falling through!

He caught his breath hard--there was a smarting sense as of tears inhis eyes. 

"So proudly throned, and so unloved!" he muttered. "Yet, --has not themisprisal and miscomprehension been merited? Whose is the blame? Notwith the People, who, despite the prophet's warning, 'still put theirtrust in princes'--but with the falsity and hollowness of the system!Sovereignty is like an old ship stuck fast in the docks, and unfit forsailing the wide seas--crusted with barnacles of custom and prejudice, --and in every gale of wind pulling and straining at a rusty chainanchor. But the spirit of Change is in the world; a hurrying movementthat has wings of fire, and might possibly be called Revolution! It isbetter that the torch should be lighted from the Throne than from theslums!"

He went on his way quickly, --till reaching the outer wall of thecitadel, he was challenged by a sentinel, to whom he gave the passwordin a low tone. The man drew back, satisfied, and Leroy went on, mounting from point to point of the cliff, till he reached a privategate leading into the wide park-lands which skirted the King's palace. Here stood a muffled and cloaked figure evidently watching for him; foras soon as he appeared the gate was noiselessly opened for hisadmittance, and he passed in at once. Then he and the person who hadawaited his coming, walked together through the scented woods of pineand rhododendrons, and talking in low and confidential voices, slowlydisappeared. 

CHAPTER XIV

THE KING'S VETO

The Marquis de Lutera was a heavy sleeper, and for some time had beengrowing stouter than was advisable for the dignity of a Prime Minister. He had been defeated of late years in one or two important measures;and his colleague, Carl Pérousse, had by gradual degrees succeeded inworming himself into such close connection with the rest of the membersof the Cabinet, that he, Lutera, felt himself being edged out, not onlyfrom political 'deals, ' but from the profits appertaining thereto. So, growing somewhat indifferent, as well as disgusted at the courseaffairs were taking, he had made up his mind to retire from office, assoon as he had carried through a certain Bill which, in its results, would have the effect of crippling the people of the country, whilehelping on his own interests to a considerable degree. At the immediatemoment he had a chance of looming large on the political horizon. CarlPérousse could not do anything of very great importance without him;they were both too deeply involved together in the same schemes. Inpoint of fact, if Pérousse could bring the Premier to a fall, thePremier could do the same by Pérousse. The two depended on each other;and Lutera, conscious that if Pérousse gained any fresh accession ofpower, it would be to his, Lutera's, advantage, was gradually preparingto gracefully resign his position in the younger and more ambitiousman's favour. But he was not altogether comfortable in his mind sincehis last interview with the King. The King had shown unusual signs ofself-will and obstinacy. He had presumed to give a command affectingthe national policy; and, moreover, he had threatened, if his commandwere not obeyed, to address Parliament himself on the subject in hand, from the Throne. Such an unaccustomed, unconstitutional idea was veryupsetting to the Premier's mind. It had cost him a sleepless night; andwhen he woke to a new day's work, he was in an extremely irritablehumour. He was doubtful how to act;--for to complain of the King wouldnot do; and to enlighten the members of the Cabinet as to his Majesty'sdeclared determination to dispose amicably of certain difficulties witha foreign power, which the Ministry had fully purposed fanning up intoa flame of war, might possibly awaken a storm of dissension anddiscussion. 

"We all want money!" said the Marquis gloomily, as he rose from histumbled bed to take his first breakfast, and read his early morningletters--"And to crush a small and insolent race, whose country is richin mineral product, is simply the act of squeezing an orange for thenecessary juice. Life would be lost, of course, but we are over-populated; and a good war would rid the country of many scamps andvagabonds. Widows and orphans could be provided for by nationalsubscriptions, invested as the Ministry think fit, and paid toapplicants after about twenty years' waiting!" He smiled sardonically. "The gain to ourselves would be incalculable; new wealth, new schemes, new openings for commerce and speculation in every way! And now theKing sets himself up as an obstacle to progress! If he were fond ofmoney, we could explain the whole big combine, and offer him a share;--but with a character such as he possesses, I doubt if it would work!With some monarchs whom I could name, it would be perfectly easy. Andyet, --for the three years he has been on the throne, he has beenpassive enough, --asking no questions, --signing such documents as he hasbeen told to sign, --uttering such speeches as have been written forhim, --and I was never more shocked and taken aback in my life thanyesterday morning, when he declared he had decided to think and act forhimself! Simply preposterous! An ordinary man who presumes to think andact for himself is always a danger to the community--but a king! GoodHeavens! We should have the old feudal system back again. "

He sipped his coffee leisurely, and opened a few letters; there werenone of very pressing importance. He was just about to glance throughthe morning's newspaper, when his man-servant entered bearing a notemarked 'Private and Immediate. ' He recognized the handwriting of DavidJost. 

"Anyone waiting for an answer?" he enquired. 

"No, Excellency. "

The man retired. The Marquis broke the large splotchy seal bearing thecoat-of-arms which Jost affected, but to which he had no more rightthan the man in the moon, and read what seemed to him more inexplicablethan the most confusing conundrum ever invented. 

"MY DEAR MARQUIS, --I received your confidential messenger last night, and explained the entire situation. He left for Moscow this morning, but will warn us of any further developments. Sorry matters look sograve for you. Should like a few minutes private chat when you canspare the time. --

"Yours truly, DAVID JOST. "

Over and over again the Marquis read this brief note, staring at itsevery word and utterly unable to understand its meaning. 

"What in the world is the fellow driving at!" he exclaimed angrily--"'My messenger'! 'Explained the entire situation'! The devil! 'Left forMoscow'! Upon my soul, this is maddening!" And he rang the bellsharply. 

"Who brought this note?" he asked, as his servant entered. 

"Mr. Jost's own man, Excellency. "

"Has he gone?"

"Yes, Excellency. "

"Wait!" And sitting down he wrote hastily the following lines:

"DEAR SIR, --Your letter is inexplicable. I sent no messenger to youlast night. If you have any explanation to offer, I shall be disengagedand alone till 11. 30 this morning. 

"Yours truly, --DE LUTERA. "

Folding, sealing, and addressing this, he marked it 'Private' and gaveit to his man. 

"Take this yourself, " he said, "and put it into Mr. Jost's own hands. Trust no one to deliver it. Ask to see him personally, and then give itto him. You understand?"

"Yes, Excellency. "

His note thus despatched, the Marquis threw himself down in his arm-chair, and again read Jost's mysterious communication. 

"Whatever messenger has passed himself off as coming from me, Jost musthave been crazy to receive him without credentials, " he said. "Theremust be a mistake somewhere!"

A vague alarm troubled him; he was not moved by conscientious scruples, but the idea that any of his secret moves should be 'explained' to astranger was, to say the least of it, annoying, and not conducive tothe tranquillity of his mind. A thousand awkward possibilitiessuggested themselves at once to his brain, and as he carried a somewhatexcitable disposition under his heavy and phlegmatic exterior, he fumedand fretted himself for the next half hour into an impatience whichonly found vent in the prosaic and everyday performance of dressinghimself. Ah!--if those who consider a Prime Minister great and exalted, could only see him as he pulls on his trousers, and fastens his shirtcollar, what a disillusion would be promptly effected! Especially if, like the Marquis de Lutera, he happened to be over-stout, and difficultto clothe! This particular example of Premiership was an ungainly man;his proud position could not make him handsome, nor lend true dignityto his deportment. Old Mother Nature has a way of marking herspecimens, if we will learn to recognize the signs she sets on certainparticular 'makes' of man. The Marquis de Lutera was 'made' to be astock-jobber, not a statesman. His bent was towards the material gainand good of himself, more than the advantage of his country. Hisreasoning was a slight variation of Falstaff's logical misprisal ofhonour. He argued; "If I am poor, then what is it to me that others arerich? If I am neglected, what do I care that the people are prosperous?Let me but secure and keep those certain millions of money which shallensure to me and my heritage a handsome endowment, not only for mylife, but for all lives connected with mine which come after me, --andmy 'patriotism' is satisfied!"

He had just finished insinuating himself by degrees into his morningcoat, when his servant entered. 

"Well!" he asked impatiently. 

"Mr. Jost is coming round at once, Excellency. He ordered his carriagedirectly he read your note. "

"He sent no answer?"

"None, Excellency. "

"When he arrives, show him into the library. "

"Yes, Excellency. "

The Marquis thereupon left his sleeping apartment, and descended to thelibrary himself. The sun was streaming brilliantly into the room, andthe windows, thrown wide open, showed a cheerful display of lawn andflower-garden, filled with palms and other semi-tropical shrubs, forthough the Premier's house was in the centre of the fashionable quarterof the city, it had the advantage of extensive and well-shaded grounds. A law had been passed in the late King's time against the felling oftrees, it having been scientifically proved that trees in a certainquantity, not only purify the air from disease germs affecting thehuman organization, but also save the crops from many noxious insect-pests and poisonous fungi. Having learned the lesson at last, that theAlmighty may be trusted to know His own business, and that trees areintended for wider purposes than mere timber, the regulations werestrict concerning them. No one could fell a tree on his own groundwithout, first of all, making a statement at the National Office ofAboriculture as to the causes for its removal; and only if these causeswere found satisfactory, could a stamped permission be obtained forcutting it down or 'lifting' it to other ground. The result of thissensible regulation was that in the hottest days of summer the city waskept cool and shady by the rich foliage branching out everywhere, andin some parts running into broad avenues and groves of great thicknessand beauty. The Marquis de Lutera's garden had an additional charm in abeautiful alley of orange trees, and the fragrance wafted into his roomfrom the delicious blossoms would have refreshed and charmed anyoneless troubled, worried and feverish, than he was at the time. But thismorning the very sunshine annoyed him;--never a great lover of Nature, the trees and flowers forming the outlook on which his heavy eyesrested were almost an affront. The tranquil beauty of an ever renewedand renewing Nature is always particularly offensive to an uneasyconscience and an exhausted mind. 

The sound of wheels grinding along the outer drive brought a faintgleam of satisfaction on his brooding features, and he turned sharplyround, as the door of the library was thrown open to admit Jost, whoseappearance, despite his jaunty manner, betokened evident confusion andalarm. 

"Good-morning, Mr. Jost!" said the Marquis stiffly, as his confidentialman ushered in the visitor, --then when the servant had retired andclosed the door, he added quickly--"Now what does this mean?"

Jost dropped into a chair, and pulling out a handkerchief wiped theperspiration from his brow. 

"I don't know!" he said helplessly; "I don't know what it means! I havetold you the truth! A man came to see me late last night, saying he wassent by you on urgent business. He said you wished me to explain theposition we held, and the amount of the interests we had at stake, asthere were grave discoveries pending, and complexities likely to ensue. He gave his name--there is his card!"

And with a semi-groan, he threw down the bit of pasteboard in question. 

The Marquis snatched it up. 

"'Pasquin Leroy'! I never heard the name in my life, " he said fiercely. "Jost, you have been done! You mean to tell me you were such a fool asto trust an entire stranger with the whole financial plan of campaign, and that you were credulous enough to believe that he came from me--me--De Lutera, --without any credentials?"

"Credentials!" exclaimed Jost; "Do you suppose I would have receivedhim at all had credentials been lacking? Not I! He brought me the mostsure and confidential sign of your trust that could be produced--yourown signet-ring!"

The Marquis staggered back, as though Jost's words had been so manydirect blows on the chest, --his countenance turned a livid white. 

"My signet-ring!" he repeated, --and almost unconsciously he looked atthe hand from which the great jewel was missing; "My signet!"--Then heforced a smile--"Jost, I repeat, you have been done!--doubly fooled!--no one could possibly have obtained my signet, --for at this verymoment it is on the hand of the King!"

Jost rose slowly out of his chair, his eyes protruding out of his head, his jaw almost dropping in the extremity of his amazement. 

"The King!"--he gasped--"The King!"

"Yes, man, the King!" repeated De Lutera impatiently, --"Only yesterdaymorning his Majesty, having mislaid his own ring for the moment, borrowed mine just before starting on his yachting cruise. How youstare! You have been fooled!--that is perfectly plain and evident!"

"The King!" repeated Jost stupidly--"Then the man who came to me lastnight--" He broke off, unable to find any words for the expression ofthe thoughts which began to terrify him. 

"Well!--the man who came to you last night, " echoed the Marquis, --"Hewas not the King, I suppose, was he?" And he laughed derisively. 

"No--he was not the King, " said Jost slowly; "I know _him_ wellenough! But it might have been someone in the King's service! For heknew, or said he knew, the King's intentions in a certain matteraffecting both you and Carl Pérousse, --and in a more distant way, myself--and warned me of a coming change in the policy. Ah!--it isnow your turn to stare, Marquis! You had best be on your guard, for ifthe person who came to me last night was not your messenger, he was theKing's spy! And, in that case, we are lost!"

The Marquis paced the room with long uneven strides, --his mind wasgreatly agitated, but he had no wish to show his perturbation tooopenly to one whom he considered as a mere tool in his service. 

"I know, " went on Jost emphatically, "that the ring he wore was yours!I noticed it particularly while I was talking to him. It would take along time and exceptional skill to make any imitation of that sapphire. There is no doubt that it was your signet!"

The Premier halted suddenly in his nervous walk. 

"You told him the whole scheme, you say?"

"I did. "

"And his reply?"

"Was, that the King had discovered it, and proposed insisting on anenquiry. "

"And then?"

"Well! Then he warned me to look out for myself, --as anyone connectedwith Carl Pérousse's financial deal would inevitably be ruined duringthe next few weeks. "

"Who is going to work the ruin?" asked the Marquis with a sneer; "Doyou not know that if the King dared to give an opinion on a nationalcrisis, he would be dethroned?"

"There are the People--" began Jost. 

"The People! Human emmets--born for crushing under the heel of power! Acouple of 'leaders' in your paper, Jost, can guide the fool-mob anyway!"

"That depends!" said Jost hesitatingly; "If what the fellow said lastnight be true--"

"It is not true!" said the Premier authoritatively. "We are going on inprecisely the same course as originally arranged. Neither King norPeople can interfere! Go home, and write an article about love ofcountry, Jost! You look in the humour for it!"

The Jew's expression was anything but amiable. 

"What is to be done about last night?" he asked sullenly. 

"Nothing at present. I am going to the palace at two o'clock--I shallsee the King, and find out whether my signet is lost, stolen orstrayed. Meanwhile, keep your own counsel! If you have been betrayedinto giving your confidence to a spy in the foreign service, as Iimagine--(for the King has never employed a spy, and is not likely todo so), and he makes known his information, it can be officiallydenied. The official denial of a Government, Jost, like charity, hasbefore now covered a multitude of sins!"

An instinctive disinclination for further conversation brought theinterview between them abruptly to a close, and Jost, full of asuspicious alarm, which he was ashamed to confess, drove off to hisnewspaper offices. The Premier, meantime, though harassed by secretanxiety, managed to display his usual frigid equanimity, when, afterJost's departure, his private secretary arrived at the customary time, to transact under his orders the correspondence and business of theday. This secretary, Eugène Silvano by name, was a quiet self-containedyoung man, highly ambitious, and keenly interested in the politicalsituation, and, though in the Premier's service, not altogether of hisway of thinking. He called the Marquis's attention now to a letter thathad missed careful reading on the previous day. It was from the Vicar-General of the Society of Jesus, expressing surprise and indignationthat the King should have refused the Society's request for such landas was required to be devoted to religious and educational purposes, and begging that the Premier would exert his influence with the monarchto persuade him to withdraw or mitigate his refusal. 

"I can do nothing;" said the Marquis irritably, --"the lands they wantbelong to the Crown. The King can dispose of them as he thinks best. "

The secretary set the letter aside. 

"Shall I reply to that effect?" he enquired. 

The Marquis nodded. 

"I know, " said Silvano presently with a slight hesitation, "that younever pay any attention to anonymous communications. Otherwise, thereis one here which might merit consideration. "

"What does it concern?"

"A revolutionary meeting, " replied Silvano, "where it appears thewoman, Lotys, is to speak. "

The Premier shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "You must enlighten me!Who is the woman Lotys?"

"Ah, that no one exactly knows!" replied the secretary. "A strangecharacter, without doubt, but--" He paused and spoke moreemphatically--"She has power!"

Lutera gave a gesture of irritation. 

"Bah! Over whom does she exercise it. Over one man or many?"

"Over one half the population at least, " responded Silvano, quietly, turning over a few papers without looking up. 

The Marquis stared at him, slightly amused. 

"Have you taken statistics of the lady's followers, " he asked; "Are youone of them yourself?"

Silvano raised his eyes, --clear dark eyes, deep-set and steady in theirglance. 

"Were I so, I should not be here;" he replied--"But I know how shespeaks; I know what she does! and from a purely political point of viewI think it unwise to ignore her. "

"What is this anonymous communication you speak of?" asked the Premier, after a pause. 

"Oh, it is brief enough, " answered Silvano unfolding a paper, and heread aloud:

"To the Marquis de Lutera, Premier. 

"Satisfy yourself that those who meet on Saturday night where Lotysspeaks, have already decided on your downfall!"

"Oracular!" said the Marquis carelessly;--"To decide is one thing--tofulfil the decision is another! Lotys, whoever she may be, can preachto her heart's content, for all I care! I am rather surprised, Silvano, that a man of your penetration and intelligence should attach anyimportance to revolutionary meetings, which are always going on more orless in every city under the sun. Why, it was but the other day, thepolice were sent to disperse a crowd which had gathered round thefanatic, Sergius Thord; only the people had sufficient sense todisperse themselves. A street-preacher or woman ranter is like a cheap-jack or a dispenser of quack medicines;--the mob gathers to suchpersons out of curiosity, not conviction. "

The secretary made no reply, and went on with other matters awaitinghis attention. 

At a few minutes before two o'clock the Marquis entered his carriage, and was driven to the palace. There he learned that the King wasreceiving, more or less unofficially, certain foreign ambassadors andnoblemen of repute in the Throne-room. A fine band was playing militarymusic in the great open quadrangle in front of the palace, wherepillars of rose-marble, straight as the stems of pine-trees, held upfabulous heraldic griffins, clasping between their paws the country'sshield. Flags were flying, --fountains flashing, --gay costumes gleamedhere and there, --and the atmosphere was full of brilliancy and gaiety, --yet the Marquis, on his way to the audience-chamber, was rendereduncomfortably aware of one of those mysterious impressions which aresometimes conveyed to us, we know not how, but which tend to prepare usfor surprise and disappointment. Some extra fibre of sensitiveness inhis nervous organization was acutely touched, for he actually fanciedhe saw slighting and indifferent looks on the faces of the variousflunkeys and retainers who bowed him along the different passages, orushered him up the state stairway, when--as a matter of fact, --all wasprecisely the same as usual, and it was only his own conscience thatgave imaginary hints of change. Arrived at the ante-chamber to theThrone-room, he was surprised to find Prince Humphry there, talkinganimatedly to the King's physician, Professor Von Glauben. The Princeseemed unusually excited; his face was flushed, and his eyesextraordinarily brilliant, and as he saw the Premier, he came forward, extending his hand, and almost preventing Lutera's profound bow anddeferential salutation. 

"Have you business with the King, Marquis?" enquired the young man witha light laugh. "If you have, you must do as I am doing, --wait hisMajesty's pleasure!"

The Premier lifted his eyebrows, smiled deprecatingly, and murmuringsomething about pressure of State affairs, shook hands with VonGlauben, whose countenance, as usual, presented an impenetrable mask tohis thoughts. 

"It is rather a new experience for me, " continued the Prince, "to betreated as a kind of petitioner on the King's favour, and kept inattendance, --but no matter!--novelty is always pleasing! I have beencooling my heels here for more than an hour. Von Glauben, too, has beenwaiting;--contrary to custom, he has not even been permitted to enquireafter his Majesty's health this morning!"

Lutera maintained his former expression of polite surprise, but saidnothing. Instinct warned him to be sparing of words lest he shouldbetray his own private anxiety. 

The Prince went on carelessly. 

"Majesty takes humours like other men, and must, more than other men, Isuppose, be humoured! Yet there is to my mind something unnatural in asystem which causes several human beings to be dependent on another'scaprice!"

"You will not say so, Sir, when you yourself are King, " observed theMarquis. 

"Long distant be the day!" returned the Prince. "Indeed, I hope it maynever be! I would rather be the simplest peasant ploughing the fields, and happy in my own way, than suffer the penalties and painssurrounding the possession of a Throne!"

"Only, " put in Von Glauben sententiously, "you would have to take intoconsideration, Sir, whether the peasant ploughing the fields is happyin his own way. I have made 'the peasant ploughing the fields' aspecial form of study, --and I have always found him a remarkablydiscontented, often ill-fed--and therefore unhealthy individual. "

"We are all discontented, if it comes to that!" said Prince Humphrywith a light laugh, --"Except myself! I am perfectly contented!"

"You have reason to be, Sir, " said Lutera, bowing low. 

"You are quite right, Marquis!--I have! More reason than perhaps youare aware of!"

His eyes lightened and flashed; he looked unusually handsome, and thePremier's shifty glance rested on him for a moment with a certaincuriosity. But he had not been accustomed to pay very much attention tothe words or actions of the Heir-Apparent, considering him to be a very'ordinary' young man, without either the brilliancy or the ambitionwhich should mark him out as worthy of his exalted station. And beforeany further conversation could take place, Sir Roger de Launay enteredthe room and announced to the Marquis that the King was ready toreceive him. Prince Humphry turning sharply round, faced the equerry. 

"I am still to wait?" he enquired, with a slight touch of hauteur. 

Sir Roger bowed respectfully. 

"Your instant desire to see the King, your father, Sir, wascommunicated to his Majesty at once, " he replied. "The present delay isby his Majesty's own orders. I much regret----"

"Regret nothing, my dear Sir Roger, " he said. "My patience does noteasily tire! Marquis, I trust your business will not take long?"

"I shall endeavour to make it as brief as possible, Sir, " replied thePremier deferentially as he withdrew. 

It was with a certain uneasiness, however, in his mind that he followedSir Roger to the Throne-room. There was no possibility of exchanging somuch as a word with the equerry; besides, De Launay was not a talkingman. Passing between the lines of attendants, pages, lords-in-waitingand others, he was conscious of a certain loss of his usual self-possession as he found himself at last in the presence of the King, --who, attired in brilliant uniform, was conversing graciously andfamiliarly with a select group of distinguished individuals whosecostume betokened them as envoys or visitors from foreign courts in thediplomatic service. Perceiving the Premier, however, he paused in hisconversation, and standing quite still awaited his approach. Then heextended his hand, with his usual kindly condescension. InstinctivelyLutera's eyes searched that hand, with the expression of a guilty soulsearching for a witness to its innocence. There shone the greatsapphire--his own signet--and to his excited fancy its blue glimmeremitted a witch-like glow of menace. Meanwhile the King was speaking. 

"You are just a few minutes late, Marquis!" he said; "Had you come alittle earlier, you would have met M. Pérousse, who has matters ofimport to discuss with you. " Here he moved aside from those immediatelyin hearing. "It is perhaps as well you should know I have 'vetoed' hiswar propositions. It will rest now with you, to call a Council to-morrow, --the next day, --or, --when you please!"

Completely taken aback, the Premier was silent for a moment, biting hislips to keep down the torrent of rage and disappointment thatthreatened to break out in violent and unguarded speech. 

"Sir!--Your Majesty! Pardon me, but surely you cannot fail tounderstand that in a Constitution like ours, the course decided upon byMinisters _cannot_ be vetoed by the King?"

The monarch smiled gravely. 

"'Cannot' is a weak word, Marquis! I do not include it in myvocabulary! I fully grant you that a plan of campaign decided upon byMinisters as you say, has _not_ been 'vetoed' by a reigningsovereign for at least a couple of centuries, --and the custom hasnaturally fallen into desuetude, --but if it should be found at anytime, --(I do not say it _has_ been found) that Ministers areengaged in a seriously mistaken policy, and are being misled by thedoubtful propositions of private financial speculators, so much as toconsider their own advantage more important and valuable than theprosperity of a country or the good of a people, --then a king who does_not_ veto the same is a worse criminal than those he tacitlysupports and encourages!"

Lutera turned a deadly white, --his eyes fell before the clear, straightgaze of his Sovereign, --but he said not a word. 

"A king's 'veto' has before now brought about a king's dethronement, "went on the monarch; "Should it do so in my case, I shall not greatlycare, --but if things trend that way, I shall lay my thoughts openlybefore the People for their judgment. They seldom or never hear theSovereign whom they pay to keep, speak to them on a matter gravelyaffecting their national destinies, --but they shall hear _me_, --ifnecessary!"

The Marquis moistened his dry lips, and essayed to pronounce a fewwords. 

"Your Majesty will run considerable risk----"

"Of being judged as something more than a mere dummy, " said the King--"Or a fool set on a throne to be fooled! True! But the risk can onlyinvolve life, --and life is immaterial when weighed in the balanceagainst Honour. By the way, Marquis, permit me to return to you thisvaluable gem";--Here drawing off the Premier's sapphire signet, hehanded it to him--"Almost I envy it! It is a fine stone!--and worthy ofits high service!"

"Your Majesty has increased its value by wearing it, " said Lutera, recovering a little of his strayed equanimity in his determination toprobe to the bottom of the mystery which perplexed his mind. "May Iask----"

"Anything in reason, my dear Marquis, " returned the King lightly, andsmiling as he spoke. "A thousand questions if you like!"

"One will suffice, " answered the Premier. "I had an unpleasant dreamlast night about this very ring----"

"Ah!" ejaculated the King; "Did you dream that I had dropped it in thesea on my way to The Islands yesterday?"

He spoke jestingly, yet with a kindly air, and Lutera gained courage tolook boldly up and straight into his eyes. 

"I did not dream that you had lost it, Sir, " he answered--"but that ithad been stolen from your hand, and used by a spy for unlawfulpurposes!"

A strange expression crossed the King's face, --a look of inwardillumination; he smiled, but there was a quiver of strong feeling underthe smile. Advancing a step, he laid his hand with a light, half-warning pressure on the Premier's shoulder. 

"Dreams always go by contraries, Marquis!" he said;--"I assure you, onmy honour as a king and a gentleman, that from the moment you lent itto me, till now, --when I return it to you, --_that ring has never leftmy finger_!"

CHAPTER XV

"MORGANATIC" OR--?

The Royal 'at home' was soon over. Many of those who had the felicityof breathing in the King's presence that afternoon remarked upon hisMajesty's evident good health and high spirits, while others as freelycommented on the unapproachableness and irritability of the Marquis deLutera. Sir Walter Langton, the great English traveller, who was takinghis leave of the Sovereign that day, being bound on an expedition tothe innermost recesses of Africa, was not altogether agreeablyimpressed by the Premier, whom he met on this occasion for the firstand only time. They had begun their acquaintance by talkinggeneralities, --but drifted by degrees into the dangerous circle ofpolitics, and were skirting round the edge of various criticalquestions of the day, when the Marquis said abruptly:

"An autocracy would not flourish in your country, I presume, SirWalter? The British people have been too long accustomed to sing thatthey 'never, never will be slaves. ' Your Government is really more orless of a Republic. "

"All Governments are so in these days, I imagine, " replied Langton. "Autocracy on the part of a monarch is nowhere endured, save inRussia, --and what is Russia? A huge volcano, smouldering with fire, andever threatening to break out in flame and engulf the Throne! Monarchswere not always wisdom personified in olden times, --and I venture toconsider them nowadays less wise and more careless than ever. Only areturn to almost barbaric ignorance and superstition would tolerate anycomplete monarchical authority in these present times of progress. Itis only the long serfdom of Russia that hinders the triumph of Libertythere, as elsewhere. "

The Marquis listened eagerly, and with evident satisfaction. 

"I agree with you!" he said. "You consider, then, that in no country, under any circumstances, could the people be expected to obey theirmonarch blindly?"

"Certainly not! Even Rome, with its visible spiritual Head andSovereign, has no real power. It imagines it has; but let it make anydecided step to ensnare the liberties of the people at large, and theresult would be somewhat astonishing! Personally--" and he smiledgravely--"I have often thought that my own country would be very muchbenefited by a couple of years existence under an autocrat--an autocratlike Cromwell, for example. A man strong and fierce, intelligent andcandid, --who would expose shams and destroy abuses, --who would have nomercy on either religious, social, or political fraud, and who wouldperform the part of the necessary hard broom for sweeping the Nationalhouse. But, unfortunately, we have no such man. You have, --in yourSergius Thord!"

The Premier heard this name with unconcealed amazement. 

"Sergius Thord! Why he is a mere fanatic----"

"Pardon me!" interrupted Sir Walter, --"so was Cromwell!"

"But, my dear sir!" remonstrated the Marquis smilingly, --"Is itpossible that you really consider Sergius Thord any sort of aninfluence in this country? If you do, I assure you you are greatlymistaken!"

"I think not, " responded Sir Walter quietly; "With every respect foryou, Marquis, I believe I am not mistaken! Books written by SergiusThord are circulating in their thousands all over the world--hisspeeches are reported not only here, but in journals which probably younever hear of, in far-off countries, --in short, his propaganda issimply enormous. He is a kind of new Rousseau, without, --so far as Ican learn, --Rousseau's private vices. He is a man I much wished to seeduring my stay here, but I have not had the opportunity of finding himout. He is an undoubted genius, --but I need not remind you, Marquis, that a man is never a prophet in his own country! The world's'celebrity' is always eyed with more or less suspicion as a strangesort of rogue or vagabond in his own native town or village!"

At that moment, the King, having concluded a conversation with certainof his guests, who were thereupon leaving the Throne-room, approachedthem. He had not spoken a word to the Premier since returning him hissignet-ring, but now he said:

"Marquis, I was almost forgetting a special request I have to make ofyou!"

"A request from you is a command, Sir!" replied Lutera withhypocritical deference and something of a covert sneer, which did notescape the quick observation of Sir Walter Langton. 

"In certain cases it should be so, " returned the King tranquilly; "Andin this you will probably make it so! I have received a volume of poemsby one Paul Zouche. His genius appears to me deserving ofencouragement. A grant of a hundred golden pieces a year will not betoo much for his hundred best poems. Will you see to this?"

The Marquis bowed. 

"I have never heard of the man in question, " he replied hesitatingly. 

"Probably not, " returned the King smiling;--"How often do Premiers readpoetry, or notice poets? Scarcely ever, if we may credit history! Butin this case----"

"I will make myself immediately acquainted with Paul Zouche, and informhim of your Majesty's gracious intention, " the Marquis hastened to say. 

"It is quite possible he may refuse the grant, " continued the King;"Sometimes--though seldom--poets are prouder than Prime Ministers!"

With a brief nod of dismissal he turned away, inviting Sir WalterLangton to accompany him, and there was nothing more for the Marquis todo, save to return even as he had come, with two pieces of informationpuzzling his brain, --one, that the King's 'veto' had stopped adeclaration of war, --unless, --which was a very remote contingency, --heand his party could persuade the people to go against the King, --theother, that some clever spy, with the assistance of a fraudulentimitation of his signet-ring, had become aware of the financialinterests involved in a private speculation depending on the intendedwar, which included himself, Carl Pérousse, and two or three othermembers of the Ministry. And, out of these two facts might possiblyarise a whole train of misfortune, ruin and disgrace to thoseconcerned. 

It was considerably past three o'clock in the afternoon when the King, retiring to his own private cabinet, desired Sir Roger de Launay toinform Prince Humphry that he was now prepared to receive him. SirRoger hesitated a moment before going to fulfil the command. The Kinglooked at him with an indulgent smile. 

"Things are moving too quickly, you think, Roger?" he queried. "Upon mysoul, I am beginning to find a new zest in life! I feel some twentyyears younger since I saw the face of the beautiful Gloria yesterday!We must promote her sailor husband, and bring his pearl of the sea toour Court!"

"It was on this very subject, Sir, that Von Glauben wished to see yourMajesty the first thing this morning, " said Sir Roger;--"But yourefused him so early an audience. Yet you will remember that yesterdayyou told him you wished for an explanation of his acquaintance withthis girl. He was ready and prepared to give it, but was prevented, --not only by your refusal to see him, --but also by the Prince. "

Drawing up a chair to the open window, the King seated himselfdeliberately, and lit a cigar. 

"Presumably the Prince knows more than the Professor!" he said calmly;"We will hear both, and give Royalty the precedence! Tell PrinceHumphry I am waiting for him. "

Sir Roger withdrew, and in another two or three minutes returned, throwing open the door and ushering in the Prince, who entered with aquick step, and brief, somewhat haughty salutation. Puffing leisurelyat his cigar, the King glanced his son up and down smilingly, but saidnot a word. The Prince stood waiting for his father to speak, till atlast, growing impatient and waiving ceremony, he began. 

"I came, Sir, to spare Von Glauben your reproaches, --which he does notmerit. You accused him yesterday, he tells me, of betraying your trust;he has neither betrayed your trust nor mine! I alone am to blame inthis matter!"

"In what matter?" enquired the King quietly. 

Prince Humphry coloured deeply, and then grew pale. There was a ray ofdefiance in the light of his fine eyes, but the tumult within his soulshowed itself only in an added composure of his features. 

"You wish me to speak plainly, I suppose, " he said;--"though you knowalready what I mean. I repeat, --I, and I alone, am to blame, --for--foranything that seemed strange to you yesterday, when you met Von Glaubenat The Islands. "

The King's serious face lightened with a gleam of laughter. 

"Nothing seemed very strange to me, Humphry, " he said, "except the onefact that I found Von Glauben, --whom I supposed to be studyingscientific problems, --engaged in studying a woman instead! A verybeautiful woman, too, who ought to be something better than a sailor'swife. And I do not understand, as yet, what he has to do with her, unless--" Here he paused and went on more slowly--"Unless he is, as Isuspect, acting for you in some way, and trying to tempt the faircreature with the prospect of a prince's admiration while the sailorhusband is out of the way! Remember, I know nothing--I merely hazard aguess. You are an habitué of The Islands;--though I learned, on enquiryof the interesting old gentleman who was good enough to be my host, Réné Ronsard, that nobody had ever seen you there. They had only seenyour yacht constantly cruising about the bay. This struck me ascurious, I must confess. Some of your men were well known, --particularly one, --the husband of the pretty girl I saw. Her name, itseems, is Gloria, --and I must admit that it entirely suits her. I canhardly imagine that if you have visited The Islands as often as youseem to have done, you can have escaped seeing her. She is toobeautiful to remain unknown to you--particularly if her husband is, asthey tell me, in your service. I asked her to give me his name, but sherefused it point-blank. I do not wish to accuse you of an amour, whichyou are perhaps quite innocent of--but certain things taken in theirconjunction look suspicious, --and I would remind you that honour inprinces, --as in all men, --should come before self-indulgence. "

"I entirely agree with you, Sir!" said the Prince, composedly; "And inthe present case honour has been my first thought, as it will be mylast. Gloria is my wife!"

"Your wife!" The King rose, his tall figure looking taller, his eyessparkling with anger from under their deep-set brows. "Your wife! Areyou mad, Humphry! You!----the Heir-Apparent to the Throne! You havemarried her!"

"I have!" replied the Prince, and the words now came coursing rapidlyfrom his lips in his excitement--"I love her! I love her with all myheart and soul!--and I have given her the only shield and safeguardlove in this world can give! I have married her in my own name--thename of our family, --which neither she nor any of the humble folk outyonder have ever heard--but she is wedded to me as fast as Church andLaw can make it, --and there is only one wrong connected with my vows toher--she does not know who I am. I have deceived her there, --but innothing else. Had I told her of my rank, she would never have marriedme. But now she is mine, --and for her sake I am willing to resign allpretension to the Throne in favour of my brother Rupert. Let it be so, I implore you! Let me live my own life of love and liberty in my ownway!"

Rigid as a statue the King stood, --his lips were set hard and his eyeslowered. Long buried thoughts rose up from the innermost recesses ofhis being, and rushed upon his brain in a deluge of remembrance andregret. What!--after all these years, had the ghost of his first love, the little self-slain maiden of his boyhood's dream, risen to avengeherself in the life of his son? The strangeness of the comparisonbetween himself as he was now, and the eager passionate youth he wasthen, smote him with a sense of sharp pain. Away in those far-off dayshe had believed in love as the chief glory of existence; he hadconsidered it as the poets would have us consider it, --a saving, binding, holding and immortal influence, which leads to all pure andholy things, even unto God Himself, the Highest and Holiest of all. When he lost that belief, how great was his loss!--when he ceased toexperience that pure idealistic emotion, how bitter became the monotonyof living! Rapidly the stream of memory swept over his innermost souland shook his nerves, and it was only through a strong effort of self-repression that at last, lifting up his eyes he fixed them on theflushed face of his son, and said in measured tones. 

"This is a very unexpected and very unhappy confession of yours, Humphry! You have acted most unwisely!--you have been disloyal to me, who am not only your father, but your King! You have proved yourselfunworthy of the nation's trust, --and you have deceived, more cruellythan you think, an innocent and too-confiding girl. I shall not disputethe legality of your marriage;--that would not be worth my while. Youhave no doubt taken every step to make it as binding as possible;--however, that is but a trifling matter in your case. You know that sucha marriage is, and can only be morganatic;--and as the immediateconsequence of your amazing folly, a suitable Royal alliance must bearranged for you at once. The nuptials can be celebrated with theattainment of your majority next year. "

He spoke coldly and calmly, but his heart was beating with mingledwrath and pain, and even while he thus pronounced her doom, theexquisite face of Gloria floated before him like the vision of aperfect innocence ruined and betrayed. He realised that he possibly hadan unusual character to reckon with in her, --and he had lately becomefully aware that there was as much determination and latent force inthe disposition of his son, as in the mother who had given him birth. Pale and composed, the young Prince heard him in absolute silence, andwhen he had finished, still waited a moment, lest any further wordshould fall from the lips of his parent and Sovereign. Then he spoke inquite as measured, cold and tranquil a manner as the King had done. 

"I need not remind you, Sir, that the days of tyranny are over. Youcannot force me into bigamy against my will!"

His father uttered a quick oath. 

"Bigamy! Who talks of bigamy?"

"You do, Sir! I have married a beautiful and innocent woman, --she is mylawful wife in the sight of God and man; yet you coolly propose to giveme a second wife under the 'morganatic' law, which, as I view it, ismerely a Royal excuse for bigamy! Now I have no wish to excuse myselffor marrying Gloria, --I consider she has honoured me far more than Ihave honoured her. She has given me all her youth, her life, her love, her beauty and her trust, and whatever I am worth in this world shallbe hers and hers only. I am quite prepared"--and he smiled somewhatsarcastically, --"to make it a test case, and appeal to the law of therealm. If that law tolerates a crime in princes, which it would punishin commoners, then I shall ask the People to judge me!"

"Indeed!" And the King surveyed him with a touch of ironical amusementand vague admiration for his audacity. "And suppose the people fail toappreciate the romance of the situation?"

"Then I shall resign my nationality;" said the young man coolly;"Because a country that legalises a wrong done to the innocent, is notworth belonging to! Concerning the Throne, --as I told you before--I amready to abandon it at once. I would rather lose all the kingdoms ofthe world than lose Gloria!"

There was a pause, during which the King took two or three slow pacesup and down the room. At last he turned and faced his son; his eyeswere softer--his look more kindly. 

"You are very much in love just now, Humphry!" he said; "And I do notwish to be too hard on you in this matter, for there can be no questionas to the extraordinary beauty of the girl you call your wife----"

"The girl who _is_ my wife, " interrupted the Prince decisively. 

"Very well; so let it be!" said his father calmly; "The girl who_is_ your wife--for the present! I will give you time--plenty oftime--to consider the position reasonably!"

"I have already considered it, " he declared. 

"No doubt! You think you have considered it. But if _you_ do notwant to meditate any further upon your marriage problem, you must allowme the leisure to do so, as one who has seen more of life than you, --asone who takes things philosophically--and also--as one who was young--once;--who loved--once;--and who had his own private dreams ofhappiness--once!" He rested a hand on his son's shoulder, and lookedhim full and fairly in the eyes. "Let me advise you, Humphry, to goabroad! Travel round the world for a year!"

The Prince was silent, --but his eyes did not flinch from his father'ssteady gaze. He seemed to be thinking rapidly; but his thoughts werenot betrayed by any movement or expression that could denote anxiety. He was alert, calm, and perfectly self-possessed. 

"I have no objection, " he said at last; "A year is soon past!"

"It is, " agreed the King, with a sense of relief at his ready assent;"But by the end of that time----"

"Things will be precisely as they are now, " said the Prince tranquilly;"Gloria will still be my wife, and I shall still be her husband!"

The King gave a gesture of annoyance. 

"Whatever the result, " he said, "she cannot, and will not be CrownPrincess!"

"She will not envy that destiny in my brother Rupert's wife, " saidPrince Humphry quietly; "Nor shall I envy my brother Rupert!"

"You talk like a fool, Humphry!" said the King impatiently; "You cannotresign your Heir-Apparency to the Throne, without giving a reason;--andso making known your marriage. "

"That is precisely what I wish to do, " returned the young man. "I haveno intention of keeping my marriage secret. I am proud of it! Gloria ismine--the joy of my soul--the very pulse of my life! Why should I hidemy heart's light under a cloud?"

His voice vibrated with tender feeling, --his handsome features weresoftened into finer beauty by the passion which invigorated him, andhis father looking at him, thought for a moment that so might the younggods of the fabled Parnassus have appeared in the height of theirsymbolic power and charm. His own eyes grew melancholy, as he studiedthis vigorous incarnation of ardent love and passionate resolve; and aslight sigh escaped him unconsciously. 

"You forget!" he said slowly, "you have, up to the present deceived thegirl. She does not know who you are. When she hears that you haveplayed a part, --that you are no sailor in the service of the CrownPrince, as you have apparently represented yourself to be, but theCrown Prince himself, what will she say to you? Perhaps she will hateyou for the deception, as much as she now loves you!"

A shadow darkened the young Prince's open countenance, but it soonpassed away. 

"She will never hate me!" he said, --"For when I do tell her the truth, it will be when I have resigned all the ridiculous pomp andcircumstance of my position for her sake----"

"Perhaps she will not let you resign it!" said the King; "She may be asunselfish as she is beautiful!"

There was a slight, very slight note of derision in his voice, and thePrince caught it up at once. 

"You wrong yourself, Sir, more than you wrong my wife by any lurkingmisjudgment of her, " he said, with singularly masterful and expressivedignity. "As her husband, and the guardian of her honour, I also claimher obedience. What I desire is her law!"

The King laughed a little forcedly. 

"Evidently you have found the miracle of the ages, Humphry!" he said;"A woman who obeys her master! Well! Let us talk no more of it. Youhave been guilty of an egregious folly, --but nothing can make yourmarriage otherwise than morganatic. And when the State considers aRoyal alliance for you advisable, you will be compelled to obey thecountry's wish, --or else resign the Throne. "

"I shall obey the country's wish most decidedly, " said the Prince, "unless it asks me to commit bigamy, --as you suggest, --in which case Ishall decline! Three or four Royal sinners of this class I know of, whofor all their pains have not succeeded in winning the attachment oftheir people, either for themselves or their heirs. Their people knowwhat they are, well enough, and despise their fraudulent position asheartily as I do! I am perfectly convinced that if it were put to thevote of the country, no people in the world would wish their futuremonarch to be a bigamist!"

"How you stick to a word and a phrase!" exclaimed the King irritably;"The morganatic rule does away with the very idea of bigamy!"

"How do you prove it, Sir?" queried the Prince. "Bigamy is the act ofcontracting a second marriage while the first partner is alive. It ispunished severely in commoners;--why should Royalty escape?"

The King began to laugh. This boy was developing 'discursivephilosophies' such as his own old tutor had abhorred. 

"Upon my life, I do not know, Humphry!" he declared; "You must ask thedeparted shades of those who made themselves responsible for kingshipin the first place. Personally, I do not come under the law. I haveonly married once myself!"

His son looked full at him;--and the intensity of that look affectedand unsteadied his usual calm nerves. But he was not one to shirk anunpleasant suggestion. 

"You would say, Humphry, if your filial respect permitted you, that myone marriage has been amplified in various other ways. Perfectly true!When women lie down and ask you to walk over them, you do it if you area man and a king! When, on the contrary, women show you that they donot care whether you are royal or the reverse, and despise you morethan admire you, you run after them for all you are worth! At least Ido! I always have done so. And, to a certain extent, it has beenamusing. But the limit is reached. I am growing old!" Here he took upthe cigar he had thrown aside when his son had first startled him bythe announcement of his marriage, and relighting it, began to smokepeaceably. "I am, as I say, growing old. I have never found what iscalled love. You have--or think you have! Enjoy your dream, Humphry--but--take my advice and go abroad! See whether travel does not work achange in you or, --in her!" He paused a moment, and while the Princestill regarded him fixedly, added; "Will you tell the Queen?"

"I will leave you to tell her, Sir, with your permission;" replied thePrince; "I cannot expect her sympathy. "

"Von Glauben, then, is the only person you have trusted with yourconfidence?"

"Von Glauben was no party to my marriage, Sir. I was married fullythree months before I told him. He was greatly vexed and troubled, --but when he saw Gloria, he was glad. "

"Glad!" echoed the King; "For what reason, pray?"

"I am afraid, Sir, " said the young man with a smile, "his gladness wasbut a part of his science! He said it was better for a prince to wed ahealthy and beautiful commoner, than the daughter of a hundredscrofulous kings!"

With a movement of intense indignation, the monarch sprang up from thechair in which he had just seated himself. 

"Now, by Heaven!" he exclaimed; "Von Glauben goes too far! He shallsuffer for this!"

"Why?" queried the Prince calmly; "You know that what he says isperfectly true. True? Why, there is scarcely a Royal house in the worldsave our own, without its hereditary curse of disease or insanity. Wepay more attention to the breeding of horses than the breeding ofkings!"

The plain candour and veracity of the statement, left no room fordenial. 

"You have seen Gloria, " went on the Prince; "You know she is the mostbeautiful creature your eyes ever rested upon! Von Glauben told me youwere stricken dumb, and almost stupefied at sight of her----"

"Damn Von Glauben!" said the King. 

His son smiled ever so slightly, but continued. 

"You have made yourself acquainted with her history--"

"Yes!" said the King; "That she is a foundling picked up from the sea--a castaway from a wreck!--no one knows who her father and mother were, and yet you, in your raving madness and folly of love, would make herCrown Princess and future Queen!"

The Prince went on unheedingly. 

"She is beautiful--and the simple method of her bringing up has lefther unspoilt and innocent. She is ignorant of the world's ways--because--" and his voice sank to a reverential tenderness--"God's ways aremore familiar to her!" He paused, but his father was silent; hetherefore went on. "She is healthy, strong, simple and true, --morefit for a throne, if such were her destiny, than any daughter of anyRoyal house I know of. Happy the nation that could call such a womantheir Queen!"

"As I have already told you, Humphry, " returned the King, "you are inlove!--with the love of a headstrong, passionate boy for a beautifuland credulous girl. I do not propose to discuss the subject further. You are willing to go abroad, you tell me, --then make your preparationsat once. I will select one or two necessary companions for you, and youcan start when you please. I would let Von Glauben accompany you, but--for the present--I cannot well spare him. Your intended voyage must bemade public, and in this way nothing will be known of the manner inwhich you have privately chosen to make a fool of yourself. I willexplain the situation to the Queen;--but beyond that I shall saynothing. Let me know by to-morrow how soon you can arrange yourdeparture. "

The Prince bowed composedly, and was about to retire, when the Kingcalled him back. 

"You do not ask my pardon, Humphry, for the offence you havecommitted?"

The young man flushed, and bit his lip. 

"Sir, I cannot ask pardon for what I do not consider is wrong! I havemarried the woman I love; and I intend to be faithful to her. Youmarried a woman you did not love--and the result, according to myviews, and also according to my experience of my mother and yourself, is more or less regrettable. If I have offended you, I sincerely begyour forgiveness, but you must first point out the nature of theoffence. Surely, it must be more gratifying to you to know that Iprefer to be a man of honour than a common seducer?"

The King looked at him, and his own eyes fell under his son's clearcandid gaze. 

"Enough! You may go!" he said briefly. 

The door opened and closed again;--he was gone. 

The King, left alone, fixed his eyes on the sparkling line of the sea, brightly blue, and the flower-bordered terrace in front of him. Lifewas becoming interesting;--the long burdensome monotony of years hadchanged into a variety of contrasting scenes and colours, --and intaking up the problem of human life as lived by others, more than aslived by himself, he had entered on a new path, untrodden byconventionalities, and leading, he knew not whither. But, having begunto walk in it, he was determined to go on--and to use each newexperience as a guide for the rest of his actions. His son's marriagewith a commoner--one who indeed was not only a commoner but afoundling--might after all lead to good, if properly taken in hand, --and he resolved not to make the worst of it, but rather to let thingstake their own natural course. 

"For love, " he said to himself somewhat bitterly, "in nine cases out often ends in satiety, --marriage, in separation by mutual consent! Letthe boy travel for a year, and forget, if he can, the fair face whichcaptivates him, --for it is a fair face, --and more than that, --Ihonestly believe it is the reflex of a fair soul!"

His eyes grew dreamy and absorbed; away on the horizon a little whitecloud, shaped like the outspread wings of a dove, hovered over the seajust where The Islands lay. 

"Yes! Let him see new scenes--strange lands, and varying customs; lethim hear modern opinions of life, instead of reading the philosophiesof Aurelius and Epictetus, and the poetry written ages ago by the deadwild souls of the past;--and so he will forget--and all will be well!While for Gloria herself, --and the old revolutionist Ronsard--we shalldoubtless find ways and means of consolation for them both!"

Thus he mused, --yet in the very midst of his thoughts the echoingmemory of a golden voice, round and rich with delight and triumph rangin his ears:

 "My King crown'd me! And I and he Are one till the world shall cease to be!"

CHAPTER XVI

THE PROFESSOR ADVISES

"I have discovered the secret of successful living, Professor, " said theKing, a couple of hours later as, walking in one of the many thicklywooded alleys of the palace grounds, he greeted Von Glauben, who hadbeen told to meet him there, and who had been waiting the Royalapproach with some little trepidation, --"It is this, --to draw astraight line of conduct, and walk in it, regardless of other people'scrooked curves!"

The Professor looked at him, and saw nothing but kindliness expressedin his eyes and smile, --therefore, taking courage he replied withoutembarrassment, --

"Truly, Sir, if a man is brave enough to do this, he may conquereverything but death, and even face this last enemy without muchalarm. "

"I agree with you!" replied the monarch; "And Humphry's line hascertainly been straight enough, taken from the point of his ownperspective! Do you not think so?"

Von Glauben hesitated a moment--then spoke out boldly. 

"Sir, as you now know all, I will frankly assure you that I think hisRoyal Highness has behaved honourably, and as a true man! Societypardons a prince for seducing innocence--but whether it will pardon himfor marrying it, is quite another question! And that is why I repeat, he has behaved well. Though when he first told me he was married, Isuffered a not-to-be-explained misery and horror; 'For, ' said he--'Ihave married an angel!' Which naturally I thought (deducting a certainquantity of the enthusiasm of youth for the statement) meant that hehad married a bouncing housemaid with large hands and feet. 'That iswell, ' I told him--'For divorce is now made easy in this country, andyou can easily return the celestial creature to her native element!' Atwhich I resigned myself to hear some oaths, for violent expletives arealways refreshing to the masculine brain-matter. But his Royal Highnessmaintained the good breeding which always distinguishes him, and merelyproceeded with his strange confession of romance, --which, as you, Sir, are now happily aware of it, I need not recapitulate. Your knowledge ofthe matter has lifted an enormous burden from my mind; Ach! Enormous!"

He gave a deep breath, and drew himself up to his full height--squaredhis shoulders, and then, as it were stood firm, as though waitingattack. 

The King laughed good-naturedly, and took him by the arm. 

"Tell me all you know, Von Glauben!" he said; "I am acquainted with thegist and upshot of the matter, --namely, Humphry's marriage; but I amwholly ignorant of the details. "

"There is little to tell, Sir, " said Von Glauben;--"Of the Prince'sconstant journeyings to The Islands we were all aware long ago; but thecause of those little voyages was not so apparent. To avoid thesuspicion with which a Royal visitor would be viewed, the Prince, itappears, assumed to be merely one of the junior officers on his ownyacht, --and under this disguise became known and much liked by theIslanders generally. He fell in love at first sight with the beautifulgirl your Majesty saw yesterday--Gloria; 'Glory-of-the-Sea'--as Isometimes call her, and they were married by the old parish priest inthe little church among the rocks--the very church where, as heradopted father, Ronsard, tells me, he heard the choristers singing a'Gloria in Excelsis' on the day he found her cast up on the shore. "

"Well!" said the King, seeing that he paused; "And is the marriagelegal, think you?"

"Perfectly so, Sir!" replied Von Glauben; "Registered by law, as wellas sanctified by church. The Prince tells me he married her in his ownname, --but no one, --not even the poor little priest who married them, --knew the surname of your Majesty's distinguished house, and I believe, --nay I am sure--" here he heaved an unconscious sigh, "it will bringa tragedy to the girl when she knows the true rank and title of herhusband!"

"How came _you_ to make her acquaintance? Tell me everything!--youknow I will not misjudge you!"

"Indeed, Sir, I hope you will not!" returned the Professor earnestly;--"For there was never a man more hopelessly involved than myself in thenet prepared for me by this romantic lover, who has the honour to beyour son. In the first place, directly I heard this confession ofmarriage, I was for telling you at once; but as he had bound me by myword of honour before he began the story, to keep his confidencesacred, I was unable to disburden myself of it. He said he wanted tosecure me as a friend for his wife. 'That, ' said I firmly, 'I willnever be! For there will be difficulty when all is known; and if itcomes to a struggle between a pretty fishwife and the good of a king--ach!--mein Gott!--I am not for the fishwife!'"

The King smiled; and Von Glauben went on. 

"Well, he assured me she was not a fishwife. I said 'What is she then?''I tell you, ' he replied, 'she is an angel! You will come and see her;you will pass as an old friend of her sailor husband; and when you haveseen her you will understand!' I was angry, and said I would not gowith him; but afterwards I thought perhaps it would be best if I did, as I might be able to advise him to some wise course. So I accompaniedhim one afternoon in the past autumn to The Islands (he was marriedlast summer) and saw the girl, --the 'Glory-of-the-Sea. ' And I mustconfess to your Majesty, my heart went down before her beauty andinnocence in absolute worship! And if you were to kill me for it, Icannot help it--I am now as devoted to her service as I am to yours!"

"Good!" said the King gently;--"Then you must help me to console her inHumphry's absence!"

Professor Von Glauben's eyes opened widely, with a vague look of alarm. 

"In his absence, Sir?"

"Yes! I am sending him abroad. He is quite willing to go, he tells me. His departure will make all things perfectly easy for us. The girl mustremain in her present ignorance as to the position of the man she hasreally married. The sailor she supposes him to be will accompany thePrince on his yacht, --and it must be arranged that he never returns!She is young, and will easily be consoled!"

Von Glauben was silent. 

"_You_ will not betray the Prince's identity with her lover, " wenton the King, "and no one else knows it. In fact, you will be the veryperson best qualified to tell her of his departure, and--in due time, of his fictitious death!"

They were walking slowly under the heavy shadow of crossed ilexboughs, --and Von Glauben came to a dead halt. 

"Sir, " he said, in rather unsteady accents; "With every respect foryour Majesty, I must altogether decline the task of breaking a pureheart, and ruining a young life! Moreover, if your Majesty, after allyour recent experiences, "--and he laid great emphasis on these lastwords, "thinks there is any ultimate good to be obtained by keeping upa lie, and practising a fraud, the lessons we have learned in theselatter days are wholly unavailing! You began this conversation with meby speaking of a straight line of conduct, which should avoid otherpeople's crooked curves. Is this your Majesty's idea of a straightline?"

He spoke with unguarded vehemence, but the King was not offended. Onthe contrary, he looked whimsically interested and amused. 

"My dear Von Glauben, you are not usually so inconsistent! Humphryhimself has kept up a lie, and practised a fraud on the girl----"

"Only for a time!" interrupted the Professor hastily. 

"Oh, we all do it 'only for a time. ' Everything--life itself--is 'onlyfor a time!' You know as well as I do that this absurd marriage cannever be acknowledged. I explained as much to Humphry; I told him hecould guard himself by the morganatic law, provided he would consent toa Royal alliance immediately--but the young fool swore it would bebigamy, and took himself off in a huff. "

"He was right! It would be bigamy;--it _is_ bigamy!", said theProfessor; "Call it by what name you like in Court parlance, the act ofhaving two wives is forbidden in this country. The wisest men have cometo the conclusion that one wife is enough!"

"Humphry's ideas being so absolutely childish, " went on the King, "itis necessary for him to expand them somewhat. That is why I shall sendhim abroad. You have a strong flavour of romance in your Teutoniccomposition, Von Glauben, --and I can quite sympathise with youradmiration for the 'Glory-of-the-Sea' as you call her. From a man'spoint of view, I admire her myself. But I know nothing of her moral ormental qualities; though from her flat refusal to give me her husband'sname yesterday, I judge her as wilful, --but most pretty women are that. And as for my line of conduct, it will, I assure you, be perfectly'straight, '--in the direction of my duty as a King, --apart altogetherfrom sentimental considerations! And in this, as in other things, --" hepaused and emphasised his words--"I rely on your honour and faithfulservice!"

The Professor made no reply. He was, thinking deeply. With a kind ofgrim scorn, he pointed out to himself that his imagination was heldcaptive by the mental image of a woman, whose eyes had expressed trustin him; and almost as tenderly as the lover in Tennyson's 'Maud' hecould have said that he 'would die, To save from some slight shame onesimple girl. ' Presently he braced himself up, and confronted his Royalmaster. 

"Sir, " he said very quietly, yet with perfect frankness; "YourMajesty must have the goodness to pardon me if I say you must not relyupon me at all in this matter! I will promise nothing, except to betrue to myself and my own sense of justice. I have given up my owncountry for conscience' sake--I can easily give up another which is notmy own, for the same reason. In the matter of this marriage or'mésalliance' as the worldly would call it, --I have nothing whatever todo. While the Prince asked me to keep his secret, I kept it. Now thathe has confided it to your Majesty, I am relieved and satisfied; andshall not in any way, by word or suggestion, interfere with yourMajesty's intentions. But, at the same time, I shall not assist them!For as regards the trusting girl who has been persuaded that she haswon a great love and complete happiness for all her life, --I have swornto be her friend;--and I must respectfully decline to be a party to anyfurther deception in her case. Knowing what I know of her character, which is a pure and grand one, I think it would be far better to tellher the whole truth, and let her be the arbiter of her own destiny. Shewill decide well and truly, I am sure!"

He ceased; the King was silent. Von Glauben studied his faceattentively. 

"You are a thinker, Sir, --a student and a philosopher. You are not oneof those kings who treat their kingship as a license for the freeexercise of intolerant humours and vicious practices. Were you nomonarch at all, you would still be a sane and thoughtful man. Take myhumble advice, Sir--for once put the unspoilt nature of a pure woman tothe test, and find out what a grand creature God intended woman to be, in her pristine simplicity and virtue! Send for Gloria to this Court;--tell her the truth!--and await the result with confidence!"

There was a pause. The King walked slowly up and down; at last hespoke. 

"You may be right! I do not say you are wrong. I will consider yoursuggestion. Certainly it would be the straightest course. But first acomplete explanation is due to the Queen. She must know all, --and ifher interest can be awakened by such a triviality as her son's love-affair--" and he smiled somewhat bitterly, --"perhaps she may agree toyour plan as the best way out of the difficulty. In any case"--here heextended his hand which the Professor deferentially bowed over--"Irespect your honesty and plain speaking, Professor! I have reason toapprove highly of sincerity, --wherever and however I find it, --at thepresent crisis of affairs. For the moment, I will only ask you to be onyour guard with Humphry;--and say as little as possible to him on thesubject of his marriage or intended departure from this country. Keepeverything as quiet as may be;--till--till we find a clear andsatisfactory course to follow, which shall inflict as little pain aspossible on all concerned. And now, a word with you on other matters. "

They walked on side by side, through the garden walks and ways, conversing earnestly, --and by and by penetrating into the deeperrecesses of the outlying woodlands, were soon hidden among the crossingand recrossing of the trees. Had they kept to the open ground, fromwhence the wide expanse of the sea could be viewed from end to end, their discussions might perhaps have been interrupted, and themselvessomewhat startled, --for they would have seen Prince Humphry's yacht, with every inch of canvas stretched to the utmost, flying rapidlybefore the wind like a wild white bird, winging its swift, straight wayto the west where the sun shot down Apollo-like shafts of gold on thegleaming purple coast-line of The Islands. 

CHAPTER XVII

AN "HONOURABLE" STATESMAN

It is not easy to trace the causes why it so often happens that semi-educated, and more or less shallow men rise suddenly to a height ofbrilliant power and influence in the working of a country's policy. Sometimes it is wealth that brings them to the front; sometimes thestrong support secretly given to them by others in the background, whohave their own motives to serve, and who require a publicrepresentative; but more often still it is sheer unscrupulousness, --orwhat may be described as 'walking over' all humane and honestconsiderations, --that places them in triumph at the helm of affairs. Torise from a statesman to be a Secretary of State augurs a certainamount of brain, though not necessarily of the highest quality; whileit certainly betokens a good deal of dash and impudence. Carl Pérousse, one of the most prominent among the political notabilities of Europe, had begun his career by small peddling transactions in iron and timbermanufactures; he came of a very plebeian stock, and had received only adesultory sort of education, picked up here and there in cheapprovincial schools. But he had a restless, domineering spirit ofambition. Ashamed of his plebeian origin, and embittered from hisearliest years by a sense of grudge against those who moved in thehighest and most influential circles of the time, the idea was alwaysin his mind that he would one day make himself an authority over thevery persons, who, in the rough and tumble working-days of his youngermanhood, would not so much as cast him a word or a look. He knew thatthe first thing necessary to attain for this purpose was money; and hehad, by steady and constant plod, managed to enlarge and expand all hisbusiness concerns into various, important companies, which he setafloat in all quarters of the world, --with the satisfactory result thatby the time his years had run well into the forties, he was one of thewealthiest men in the country. He had from the first taken everyopportunity to insinuate himself into politics; and in exact proportionto the money he made, so was his success in acquiring such covetedpositions in life as brought with them the masterful control of variousconflicting aims and interests. His individual influence had extendedby leaps and bounds till he had become only secondary in importance tothe Prime Minister himself; and he possessed a conveniently elasticconscience, which could be stretched at will to suit any party or anyset of principles. In personal appearance he was not prepossessing. Nature had branded him in her own special way 'Trickster, ' for thosewho cared to search for her trademark. He was tall and thin, with anarrow head and a deeply-lined, clean-shaven countenance, the coldimmovability of which was sometimes broken up by an unpleasant smile, that merely widened the pale set lips without softening them, anddisclosed a crooked row of smoke-coloured teeth, much decayed. He hadsmall eyes, furtively hidden under a somewhat restricted frontaldevelopment, --his brows were narrow, --his forehead ignoble andretreating. But despite a general badness, or what may be called a'smirchiness' of feature, he had learned to assume an air ofsuperiority, which by its sheer audacity prevented a casual observerfrom setting him down as the vulgarian he undoubtedly was; and hisamazing pluck, boldness and originality in devising ways and means ofsmothering popular discontent under various 'shows' of apparent publicprosperity, was immensely useful to all such 'statesmen, ' whosestatesmanship consisted in making as much money as possible forthemselves out of the pockets of their credulous countrymen. He wasseldom disturbed by opposing influences; and even now when he had justreturned from the palace with the full knowledge that the King wasabsolutely resolved on vetoing certain propositions he had set down incouncil for the somewhat arbitrary treatment of a certain half-tributary power which had latterly turned rebellious, he was moreamused than irritated. 

"I suppose his Majesty wants to distinguish himself by a melodramatic_coup d'état_" he said, leaning easily back in his chair, andstudying the tips of his carefully pared and polished finger-nails;--"Poor fool! I don't blame him for trying to do something more than walkabout his palace in different costumes at stated intervals, --but hewill find his 'veto' out of date. We shall put it to the country;--andI think I can answer for that!"

He smiled, as one who knows where and how to secure a triumph, and hisequanimity was not disturbed in the least by the unexpected arrival ofthe Premier, who was just then announced, and who, coming in his turnfrom the King's diplomatic reception, had taken the opportunity to calland see his colleague on his way home. 

"You seem fatigued, Marquis!" he said, as, rising to receive hisdistinguished guest, he placed a chair for him opposite his own. "Washis Majesty's conversazione more tedious than usual?"

Lutera looked at him with a dubious air. 

"No!--it was brief enough so far as I was immediately concerned, " hereplied;--"I do not suppose I stayed more than twenty minutes in theThrone-room altogether. I understand you have been told that ourproposed negotiations are to be vetoed?"

Pérousse smiled. 

"I have been told--yes!--but I have been told many things which I donot believe! The King certainly has the right of veto; but he dare notexercise it. "

"Dare not?" echoed the Marquis--"From his present unconstitutionalattitude it seems to me he dare do anything!"

"I tell you he dare not!" repeated Pérousse quietly;--"Unless he wishesto lose the Throne. I daresay if it came to that, we should get onquite as well--if not better--with a Republic!"

Lutera looked at him with an amazed and reluctant admiration. 

"_You_ talk of a Republic? You, --who are for ever making the mostloyal speeches in favour of the monarchy?"

"Why not?" queried Pérousse lightly;--"If the monarchy does not do asit is told, whip it like a naughty child and send it to bed. That hasbeen easily arranged before now in history!"

The Marquis sat silent, --thinking, or rather brooding heavily. Shouldhe, or should he not unburden himself of certain fears that oppressedhis mind? He cleared his throat of a troublesome huskiness and began, --

"If the purely business transactions in which you are engaged----"

"And you also, " put in Pérousse placidly. 

The Premier shifted his position uneasily and went on. 

"I say, if the purely business transactions of this affair werepublicly known----"

"As well expect Cabinet secrets to be posted on a hoarding in the openthoroughfare!" said Pérousse. "What afflicts you with these suddenpangs of distrust at your position? You have taken care to provide forall your own people! What more can you desire?"

Lutera hesitated; then he said slowly:--

"I think there is only one thing for me to do, --and that is to send inmy resignation at once!"

Carl Pérousse raised himself a little out of his chair, and opened hisnarrow eyes. 

"Send in your resignation!" he echoed; "On what grounds? Do me thekindness to remember, Marquis, that I am not yet quite ready to takeyour place!"

He smiled his disagreeable smile, --and the Marquis began to feelirritated. 

"Do not be too sure that you will ever have it to take, " he said withsome acerbity; "If the King should by any means come to know of yourfinancial deal----"

"You seem to be very suddenly afraid of the King!" interruptedPérousse; "Or else strange touches of those catch-word ideals 'Loyalty'and 'Patriotism' are troubling your mind! You speak of _my_financial deal, --is not yours as important? Review the position;--itis simply this;--for years and years the Ministry have been speculatingin office matters, --it is no new thing. Sometimes they have lost, andsometimes they have won; their losses have been replaced by theimposition of taxes on the people, --their gains they have very wiselysaid nothing about. In these latter days, however, the loss has beenconsiderably more than the gain. 'Patriotism, ' as stocks, has gonedown. 'Honour' will not pay the piper. We cannot increase taxation justat present; but by a war, we can clear out some of the uselesspopulation, and invest in contracts for supplies. The mob lovefighting, --and every small victory won, can be celebrated in beer andilluminations, to expand what is called 'the heart of the People. ' Itis a great 'heart, ' and always leaps to strong drink, --which is cheapenough, being so largely adulterated. The country we propose to subdueis rich, --and both you and I have large investments of land there. Withthe success which our arms are sure to obtain, we shall fill not onlythe State coffers (which have been somewhat emptied by ourpredecessors' peculations), but our own coffers as well. The King'vetoes' the war; then let us hear what the People say! Of course wemust work them up first; and then get their verdict while they are red-hot with patriotic excitement. The Press, ordered by Jost, can managethat! Put it to the country; (through Jost);--but do not talk ofresigning when we are on the brink of success! _I_ will carry thisthing through, despite the King's 'veto'!"

"Wait!" said the Marquis, drawing his chair closer to Pérousse, andspeaking in a low uneasy tone; "You do not know all! There is somesecret agency at work against us; and, among other things, I fear thata foreign spy has been inadvertently allowed to learn the mainspring ofour principal moves. Listen, and judge for yourself!"

And he related the story of David Jost's midnight experience, carefullyemphasising every point connected with his own signet-ring. As heproceeded with the narration, Pérousse's face grew livid, --once ortwice he clenched his hand nervously, but he said nothing till he hadheard all. 

"Your ring, you say, had never left the King's possession?"

"So the King himself assured me, this very afternoon. "

"Then someone must have passed off an imitation signet on David Jost, "continued Pérousse meditatively. "What name did the spy give?"

"Pasquin Leroy. "

Carl Pérousse opened a small memorandum book, and carefully wrote thename down within it. 

"Whatever David Jost has said, David Jost alone is answerable for!" hethen said calmly--"A Jew may be called a liar with impunity, andwhatever a Jew has asserted can be flatly denied. Remember, he is inour pay!"

"I doubt if he will consent to be made the scapegoat in this affair, "said Lutera; "Unless we can make it exceptionally to his advantage;--hehas the press at his command. "

"Give him a title!" returned Pérousse contemptuously; "These Jew press-men love nothing better!"

The Marquis smiled somewhat sardonically. 

"Jost, with a patent of nobility would cut rather an extraordinaryfigure!" he said; "Still he would probably make good use of it, --especially if he were to start a newspaper in London! They would accepthim as a great man there!"

Pérousse gave a careless nod; his thoughts were otherwise occupied. 

"This Pasquin Leroy has gone to Moscow?"

"According to his own words, he was leaving this morning. "

"I daresay that statement is a blind. I should not at all wonder if heis still in the city. I will get an exact description of him from Jost, and set Bernhoff on his track. "

"Do not forget, " said the Marquis impressively, "that he told Jost inapparently the most friendly and well-meaning manner possible, that theKing had discovered the whole plan of our financial campaign. He evenreported _me_ as being ready to resign in consequence----"

"Which apparently you are!" interpolated Pérousse with some sarcasm. 

"I certainly have my resignation in prospect, " returned Lutera coldly--"And, so far, this mysterious spy has seemingly probed my thoughts. Ifhe is as correct in his report concerning the King, it is impossible tosay what may be the consequence. "

"Why, what can the King do?" demanded Pérousse impatiently, and withscorn for the vacillating humour of his companion; "Granted that heknew everything from the beginning----"

"Including your large land purchases and contract concessions in thevery country you propose war with, " put in the Marquis, --"Say that heknew you had resolved on war, and had already started a company for thefabrication of the guns and other armaments, out of which you get theprincipal pickings--what then?"

"What then?" echoed Pérousse defiantly--"Why nothing! The King is aspowerless as a target in a field, set up for arrows to be aimed at! Hedare not divulge a State secret; he has no privilege of interferencewith politics; all he can do is to 'lead' fashionable society--a poorbusiness at best--and at present his lead is not particularly apparent. The King must do as We command!"

He rose and paced up and down with agitated steps. 

"To-day, when he told me he had resolved to 'veto' my propositions, Iaccepted his information without any manifestation of surprise. Imerely said it would have to be stated in the Senate, and that reasonswould have to be given. He agreed, and said that he himself wouldproclaim those reasons. I told him it was impossible!"

"And what was his reply?" asked the Marquis. 

"His reply was as absurd as his avowed intention. 'Hitherto it has beenimpossible, ' he said; 'But in Our reign we shall make it possible!' Hedeclined any further conversation with me, referring me to you and ourchief colleagues in the Cabinet. "

"Well?"

"Well! I pay no more attention to a King's sudden caprice than I do tothe veering of the wind! He will alter his mind in a few days, when theexigency of the matters in hand becomes apparent to him. In the sameway, he will revoke his decision about that grant of land to theJesuits. He must let them have their way. "

"What benefit do we get by favouring the Jesuits?" asked Lutera. 

"Jost gets a thousand a year for putting flattering notices of theschools, processions, festivals and such nonsense in his variousnewspapers; and our party secures the political support of the Vaticanin Europe, --which just now is very necessary. The Pope must give hisChristian benediction not only to our Educational system, but also tothe war!"

"Then the King has set himself in our way already, even in thismatter?"

"He has! Quite unaccountably and very foolishly. But we shall persuadehim still to be of our opinion. The ass that will not walk must bebeaten till he gallops! I have no anxiety whatever on any point; eventhe advent of Jost's spy, with an imitation of your signet on hisfinger appears to me quite melodramatic, and only helps to make thegeneral situation more interesting, --to me at least;--I am only sorryto see that you allow yourself to be so much concerned over thesetrifles!"

"I have my family to think of, " said the Marquis slowly; "My reputationas a statesman, and my honour as a minister are both at stake. "Pérousse smiled oddly, but said nothing. "If in any way my name becamea subject of popular animadversion, it would entirely ruin the positionI believe I have attained in history. I have always wished, --" andthere was a tinge of pathos in his voice--"my descendants to hold acertain pride in my career!"

Pérousse looked at him with grim amusement. 

"It is a curious and unpleasant fact that the 'descendants' of thesedays do not care a button for their ancestors, " he said; "Theygenerally try to forget them as fast as possible. What do thedescendants of Robespierre, (if there are any), care about him? Thedescendants of Wellington? The descendants of Beethoven or Lord Byron?Among the many numerous advantages attending the world-wide fame ofShakespeare is that he has left no descendants. If he had, his memorywould have been more vulgarised by _them, _ than by any Yankeekicker at his grave! One of the most remarkable features of thisprogressive age is the cheerful ease with which sons forget they everhad fathers! I am afraid, Marquis, you are not likely to escape thecommon doom!"

Lutera rose slowly, and prepared to take his departure. 

"I shall call a Cabinet Council for Monday, " he said; "This is Friday. You will find it convenient to attend?"

Pérousse, rising at the same time, assented smilingly. 

"You will see things in a better and clearer light by then, " he said. "Rely on me! I have not involved you thus far with any intention ofbringing you to loss or disaster. Whatever befalls you in this affairmust equally befall me; we are both in the same boat. We must carrythings through with a firm hand, and show no hesitation. As for theKing, his business is to be a Dummy; and as Dummy he must remain. "

Lutera made no reply. They shook hands, --not over cordially, --andparted; and as soon as Pérousse heard the wheels of the Premier'scarriage grinding away from his outer gate, he applied himselfvigorously to the handle of one of the numerous telephone wires fittedup near his desk, and after getting into communication with the quarterhe desired, requested General Bernhoff, Chief of the Police, to attendupon him instantly. Bernhoff's headquarters were close by, so that hehad but to wait barely a quarter of an hour before that personage, --thesame who had before been summoned to the presence of the King, --appeared. 

To him Pérousse handed a slip of paper, on which he had written thewords 'Pasquin Leroy. '

"Do you know that name?" he asked. 

General Bernhoff looked at it attentively. Only the keenest and closestobserver could have possibly detected the slight flicker of a smileunder the stiff waxed points of his military moustache, as he read it. He returned it carefully folded. 

"I fancy I have heard it!" he said cautiously; "In any case, I shallremember it. "

"Good! There is a man of that name in this city; trace him if you can!Take this note to Mr. David Jost"--and while he spoke he hastilyscrawled a few lines and addressed them--"and he will give you an exactpersonal description of him. He is reported to have left for Moscow, --but I discredit that statement. He is a foreign spy, engaged, webelieve, in the work of taking plans of our military defences, --he mustbe arrested, and dealt with rigorously at once. You understand?"

"Perfectly, " replied Bernhoff, accepting the note handed to him; "If heis to be discovered, I shall not fail to discover him!"

"And when you think you are on the track, let me have information atonce, " went on Pérousse; "But be well on your guard, and let no onelearn the object of your pursuit. Keep your own counsel!"

"I always do!" returned Bernhoff bluntly. "If I did not there might betrouble!"

Pérousse looked at him sharply, but seeing the wooden-likeimpassiveness of his countenance, forced a smile. 

"There might indeed!" he said; "Your tact and discretion, General, domuch to keep the city quiet. But this affair of Pasquin Leroy is aprivate matter. "

"Distinctly so!" agreed Bernhoff quietly; "I hold the positionentirely!"

He shortly afterwards withdrew, and Carl Pérousse, satisfied that hehad at any rate taken precautions to make known the existence of a spyin the city, if not to secure his arrest, turned to the crowdingbusiness on his hands with a sense of ease and refreshment. He mightnot have felt quite so self-assured and complacent, had he seen theworthy Bernhoff smiling broadly to himself as he strolled along thestreet, with the air of one enjoying a joke, the while he murmured, --

"Pasquin Leroy, --engaged in taking plans of the military defences--ishe? Ah!--a very dangerous amusement to indulge in! Engaged in takingplans!--Ah!--Yes!--Very good, --very good; excellent! Do I know thename? Yes! I fancy I might have heard it! Oh, yes, very good indeed--excellent! And this spy is probably still in the city? Yes!--Probably!Yes--I should imagine it quite likely!"

Still smiling, and apparently in the best of humours with himself andthe world at large, the General continued his easy stroll by the sea-fronted ways of the city, along the many picturesque terraces, and upflights of marble steps built somewhat in the fashion of the prettiestcorners of Monaco, till he reached the chief promenade and resort offashion, which being a broad avenue running immediately under and infront of the King's palace facing the sea, was in the late sunshine ofthe afternoon crowded with carriages and pedestrians. Here he took hisplace with the rest, saluting a fellow officer here, or a friendthere, --and stood bareheaded with the rest of the crowd, when a lightgracefully-shaped landau, drawn by four greys, and escorted bypostillions in the Royal liveries, passed like a triumphal car, enshrining the cold, changeless and statuesque beauty of the Queen, upon whom the public were never weary of gazing. She was a curiosity tothem--a living miracle in her unwithering loveliness; for, apparentlyunmoved by emotion herself, she roused all sorts of emotions in others. Bernhoff had seen her a thousand times, but never without a sense ofnew dazzlement. 

"Always the same Sphinx!" he thought now, with a slight frown shadingthe bluff good-nature of his usual expression; "She is a woman who willface Death as she faces Time, --with that cold smile of hers whichexpresses nothing but scorn of all life's little business!"

He proceeded meditatively on his way to the palace itself, where, ondemand, he was at once admitted to the private apartments of the King. 

CHAPTER XVIII

ROYAL LOVERS

Silver-white glamour of the moon, and velvet darkness of deep branchingfoliage held the quiet breadth of The Islands between them. Low on theshore the fantastic shapes of one or two tall cliffs were outlinedblack on the fine sparkling sand, --tiny waves rose from the bosom ofthe calm sea, and cuddling together in baby ripples made bubbles oftheir crests, and broke here and there among the pebbles with lowgurgles of laughter, and in the warm silence of the southern night thenightingales began to tune up their delicate fluty voices withdelicious tremors and pauses in the trying of their song. The under-scent of hidden violets among moss flowed potently upon the quiet air, mingled with strong pine-odours and the salt breath of the gentlyheaving sea, --and all the land seemed as lonely and as fair as thefabled Eden might have been, when the first two human mated creaturesknew it as their own. To every soul that loves for the first time, thevision of that Lost Paradise is granted; to every man and woman whoknow and feel the truth of the divine passion is vouchsafed a flashinggleam of glory from that Heaven which gives them to each other. For thevoluptuary--for the animal man, --who like his four-footed kindred isonly conscious of instinctive desire, this pure expansion of the heartand ennobling of the thought is as a sealed book, --a never-to-be-divulged mystery of joy, which, because he cannot experience it, he isunable to believe in. It is a glory-cloud in which the privileged onesare 'caught up and received out of sight. ' It transfuses the roughestelements into immortal influences, --it colours the earth with fairerhues, and fills the days with beauty; every hour is a gem of sweetthought set in the dreaming soul, and the lover, at certain times ofrapt ecstasy, would smile incredulously were he told that anyone livingcould be unhappy. For love goes back to the beginning of things, --tothe time when the world was new. It has its birth in that primevallight when 'the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of Godshouted for joy. ' If it is real, deep, passionate and disinterestedlove, it sees no difficulties and knows no disillusions. It is asufficient assurance of God to make life beautiful. But in these daysof the eld-time of nations, when all things are being mixed andprepared for casting into a new mould of world-formation, where we andour civilizations are not, and shall not be, --any more than theEgyptian Rameses is part of us now, --love in its pristine purity, faithand simplicity, is rare. Very little romance is left to hallow it; andit is doubtful whether the white moon, swinging like a silver lamp inheaven above the peaceful Islands, shed her glory anywhere on any suchlovers in the world, as the two who on this fair night of the southernspringtime, with arms entwined round each other, moved slowly up anddown on the velvet greensward outside Ronsard's cottage, --Gloria andher 'sailor' husband. 

Gloria was happy, --and her happiness made her doubly beautiful. Clad inher usual attire of white homespun, with her rich hair falling unboundover her shoulders in girl-fashion, and just kept back by a band ofwhite coral, she looked like a young goddess of the sea; her lustrous, starlike eyes gazed up into the tender responsive ones of the handsomestripling she had so trustfully wedded, and not a shadow of doubt orfear darkened the heaven of her confidence. She did not know howbeautiful she was, --she did not realise that her body was like one ofthe unfettered, graceful and perfectly-proportioned figures of womenleft to our wondering reverence by the Greek sculptors, --she had neverthought about herself at all, not even to compare her fair brilliancyof skin with the bronzed, weather-beaten faces of the fisher-folk amongwhom she dwelt. Resting her delicate classic head against theencircling arm of her lover and lord, her beauty seemed almostunearthly in its pure transparency of feature, outlined by the silverglimmer of the moonbeams; and the young man by her side, with hishandsome dark head, tall figure and distinguished bearing, looked thefitting mate for her fair, blossoming womanhood. No two lovers wereever more ideally matched in physical perfection; and as they movedslowly to and fro on the soft dark grass, brushing the dewy scent fromhanging rose-boughs that pushed out inviting tufts of white and pinkbloom here and there from the surrounding foliage, they would haveserved many a poet for some sweet idyll, or romance in rhyme, whichshould hold in its stanzas the magic of immortality. Yet there was ashade of uneasiness in the minds of both, --Prince Humphry was moresilent than usual, and seemed absorbed in thought; and Gloria, lookingtimidly up from time to time at the dark poetic face of her 'sailor'lover, felt with a woman's quick instinct that something was troublinghim, and remorsefully concluded that she was to blame, --that he hadheard of her having been seen by the King, and that he was evidentlyvexed by it. He had arrived that evening suddenly and unexpectedly; forshe and her 'little father, ' as she called Réné Ronsard, had just beguntheir frugal supper, when the Crown Prince's yacht swept into the bayand dropped anchor. Half an hour later he, the much-beloved 'juniorofficer' in the Crown Prince's service had appeared at the cottagedoor, greatly to their delight, for they did not expect to see him sosoon. They had supped together, and then Ronsard himself had gone tosuperintend a meeting at a small social club he had started for theamusement of the fisher-folk, wisely leaving the young wedded lovers tothemselves. And they had for a long time been very quiet, save for suchlittle words of love as came into tune with the interchange ofcaresses, --and after a pause of anxious inward thought, Gloria venturedon a timid query. 

"Dearest, --are you _very_ angry with me?"

He started, --and stopping in his walk, turned the fair face up betweenhis two hands, as one might lift a rose on its stem, and kissed ittenderly. 

"Angry? How can I ever be angry with you, Sweet? Besides what causehave I for anger?"

"I thought, perhaps--" murmured Gloria, "that if the Professor told youwhat I did yesterday, --when the King came--"

"He did tell me;" and the Prince still gazed down on that heavenlybeauty which was the light of the world to him. "He told me that yousang;--and that your golden voice was a musical magnet which drew hisMajesty to your feet! I am not surprised, --it was only natural! But Icould have wished it had not happened just yet; however, it hashappened, and we must make the best of it!"

"It was my fault, " said the girl penitently;--"I had the fancy to sing;and I _would_ sing, though the good Professor told me not to doso!"

The Prince was silent. He was bracing his mind to the inevitable. Hehad determined that on this very night Gloria should know the truth. For he was instinctively certain that if he went abroad, as his fatherwished him to do, some means would be taken to remove her altogetherfrom the country before his return; and his idea was to tell her all, and make her accompany him on his travels. As his wife, she was boundto obey him, he argued within himself; she should, she must go withhim! Unconsciously Gloria's next words supplied him with an opening tothe subject. 

"Why did you never tell me that the Professor was in the King'sservice?" she asked. "He seemed to know him quite well, --indeed, almostas a friend!"

"He is the King's physician, " answered the Prince abruptly; "And, therefore, he is very greatly in the King's confidence. "

He walked on, still keeping his arm round her, and seemed not to seethe half-frightened glance she gave him. 

"The King's physician!" she echoed;--"He does not seem a great personat all, --he is quite a simple old German man!"

Her lover smiled. 

"To be physician to the King, my Gloria, is not a very wonderfulhonour! It merely implies that the man so chosen is perhaps the ablestfencer with sickness and death; the greatness is in the simple oldGerman himself, not in the King's preference. Von Glauben is a goodman. "

"I know it;" said Gloria gently; "He is good, --and very kind. He saidhe would always be my friend, --but he was very strange in his manneryesterday, and almost I was vexed with him. Do you know what he said?He asked me what I should do if you--my husband, had deceived me? Canyou imagine such a thing?"

Now was the supreme moment. With a violently beating heart the Princehalted, and putting both arms round her waist, drew her up to him insuch a way that their eyes looked close into each other's, and theirlips were within kissing touch. 

"Yes, my sweetest one! I can imagine such a thing! Such a thing ispossible! Consider it to be true! Consider that I _have_ deceivedyou!"

She did not move from his clasp, but into her large, lovely trustingeyes came a look of grief and terror, and her face grew ashy pale. 

"In what way?" she whispered faintly; "Tell me! I--I--cannot believeit!"

"Gloria, --Gloria! My love, my darling! Do not tremble so! Do not fear!I have not deceived you in any evil way, --what I have done was for yourgood and mine; but now--now there is no longer any need of deception, --you may, and _shall_ know all the truth, my wife, my dearest inthe world! You shall know me as I truly am at last!"

She moved restlessly in his strong clasp, --she was trembling from headto foot, as if her blood was suddenly chilled. 

"As you truly are!" she echoed, with pale lips--"Are you not then whatI have believed you to be?"

And she made an effort to withdraw herself entirely from his embrace. But he held her fast. 

"I am your husband, Gloria!" he said, "and you are my wife! Nothing canalter that; nothing can change our love or disunite our lives. But I amnot the poor naval officer I have represented myself to be!--though Iam glad I adopted such a disguise, because by its aid I wooed and wonyour love! I am not in the service of the Crown Prince, --except in sofar as I serve my own needs! Why, how you tremble!"--and he held hercloser--"Do not be afraid, my darling! Lift up your eyes and look at mewith your own sweet trusting look, --do not turn away from me, becauseinstead of being the Prince's servant, I am the Prince himself!"

"The Prince!" And with a cry of utter desolation, Gloria wrenchedherself out of his arms, and stood apart, looking at him in wild alarmand bewilderment. "The Prince! You--you!--my husband! You, --the King'sson! And you have married _me_!--oh, how cruel of you!--how cruel!--how cruel!"

Covering her face with her hands, she broke into a low sobbing, --andthe Prince, cut to the heart by her distress, caught her again in hisarms. 

"Hush, Gloria!" he said, with an accent of authority, though his ownvoice was tremulous; "You must not grieve like this! You will break myheart! Do you not understand? Do you not see that all my life is boundup in you?--that I give it to you to do what you will with?--that Icare nothing for rank, state or throne without you?--that I will letall the world go rather than lose you? Gloria, do not weep so!--do notweep! Every tear of yours is a pang to me! What does it matter whetherI am prince or commoner? I love you!--we love each other!--we are onein the sight of Heaven!"

He held her passionately in his arms, kissing the soft clusters of hairthat fell against his breast, and whispering all the tenderest words ofendearment he could think of to console and soothe her anguish. Bydegrees she grew calmer, and her sobs gradually ceased. Dashing thetears from her eyes, she looked up, --her face white as marble. 

"You must not tell Ronsard!" she said in faint tones that shook withfear; "He would kill you!"

The Prince smiled indulgently; his only thought was for her, and solong as he could dry her tears, Ronsard's rage or pleasure was nothingto him. 

"He would kill you!" repeated Gloria, with wide open tear-wet eyes; "Hehates all kings, in his heart!--and if he knew that you--_you_--myhusband, --were what you say you are;--if he thought you had married meunder a disguise, only to leave me and never to want me any more----"

"Gloria, Gloria!" cried the Prince, in despair; "Why will you say suchthings! Never to want you any more! I want you all my life, and everymoment of that life! Gloria, you must listen to me--you must not turnfrom me at the very time I need you most! Are you not brave? Are younot true? Do you not love me?"

With a pathetic gesture she stretched out her hands to him. 

"Oh, yes, I love you!" she said; "I love you with all my heart! But youhave deceived me!--my dearest, you have deceived me! And if you hadonly told me the truth, I would never, --for your own sake, --havemarried you!"

"I know that!" said the Prince; "And that is why I determined to winyou under the mask of poverty! Now listen, my Princess and my Queen!--for you are both! I want all your help--all your love--all your trust!Do not be afraid of Ronsard; he will, he can do nothing to harm me! Youare my wife, Gloria, --you have promised before God to obey me! I claimyour obedience!"

She stood silent, looking at him, --pale and fair as an ivory statue ofPsyche, seen against the dark background of the heavily-branched trees. Her mind was stunned and confused; she had not yet grasped the fullconsciousness of her position, --but as he spoke, the old primitivelessons of faith, steadfastness of purpose, and unwavering love andtrust in God, which her adopted father had instilled into her fromchildhood, rose and asserted their sway over her startled, but unspoiltsoul. 

"You need not claim it!" she said, slowly; "It is yours always! I shalldo whatever you tell me, even if you command me to die for your sake!"

With a swift impulsive action, full of grace and spirit, he dropped onone knee and kissed her hand. 

"And so I pledge my faith to my Queen!" he said joyously. "Gloria! my'Glory-of-the-Sea'!--you will forgive me for having in this one thingmisled you? Think of me as your sailor lover still!--it is a muchharder thing to be a king's son than a simple, independent seafarer!Pity me for my position, and help me to make it endurable! Come nowwith me down to that rocky nook on the shore where I first saw you, --and I will tell you exactly how everything stands, --and how I trust toyour love for me and your courage, to clear away all the difficultiesbefore us. You do not love me less?"

"I could not love you less!" she replied slowly; "but I cannot think ofyou as quite the same!"

A shadow of pain darkened his face. 

"Gloria, " he said sadly; "If your love was as great as mine you wouldforgive!"

She stood a moment wavering and uncertain; their eyes were riveted oneach other in a strange spiritual attraction--her soft lips were alittle relaxed from their gravity as she steadfastly regarded him. Shewas embarrassed, conscious, and very pale; but he drank in gratefullythe wonder and shy worship of those pure eyes, --and waited. Suddenlyshe sprang to him and closed her arms about his neck, kissing him withsimple and loving tenderness. 

"I do forgive! Oh, I do forgive!" she murmured; "Because I love you, mydarling--because I love you! Whatever you wish I will do for yourlove's sake--believe me!--but I am frightened just now!--it is as if Idid not know you--as if someone had taken you suddenly a long way off!Give me a little time to recover my courage!--and to know"--here afaint smile trembled on her beautiful curved mouth--"to know, --and to_feel_, --that you are still my own!--even though the world may tryto part you from me!--still my very own!"

The warmth of passionate feeling in her face flushed it into a rose-glow that spread from chin to brow, --and clasping her to his breast, hegave her the speechless answer that love inscribes on eyes and lips, --then, keeping his arm tenderly about her, he led her gently into thepath through the pinewood, which wound down to their favourite haunt bythe sea. 

The moonlight had now increased in brilliancy, and illumined thelandscape with all the opulence, splendour and superabundance ofradiance common to the south, --the air was soft and balmy, and onegreat white cloud floating lazily under the silver orb, moved slowly tothe centre of the heavens, --the violet-blue of night falling around itlike an imperial robe of state. The two youthful figures passed underthe pine-boughs, which closed over them odorously in dark arches ofshadow, and wended their slow way down to the seashore, from whencethey could see the Royal yacht lying at anchor, every tapering line ofher fair proportions distinctly outlined against the sky, and all hermasts shining as if they had been washed with silver dew; and the Heir-Apparent to a throne was, --for once in the history of Heir-Apparents, --happy--happy in knowing that he was loved as princes seldom or neverare loved, --not for his power, not for his rank, but simply for himselfalone, by one of the most beautiful women in the world, who, --if sheknew neither the ways of a Court, nor the wiles of fashion, --hadsomething better than either of these, --the sanctity of truth and thestrength of innocence. 

Réné Ronsard, coming back from his pleasurable duties as host andchairman to his fishermen-friends, found the cottage deserted, andsmiled, as he sat himself down in the porch to smoke, and to wait forthe lover's return. 

"What a thing it is to be young!" he sighed, as he gazed meditativelyat the still beauty of the night around him;--"To be young, --and inlove with the right person! Hours go like moments--the grass is neverdamp--the air is never cold--there is never time enough to give all thekisses that are waiting to be given; and life is so beautiful, that weare almost able to understand why God created the universe! The rapturepasses very quickly, unfortunately--with some people;--but if I everprayed for anything--which I do not--I should pray that it might remainwith Gloria! It surely cannot offend the Supreme Being who isresponsible for our existence, to see one woman happy out of all thetortured millions of them! One exception to the universal rule wouldnot make much difference! The law that the strong should prey on theweak, nearly always prevails, --but it is possible to hope and believethat on rare occasions the strong may be magnanimous!"

He smoked on placidly, considering various points of philosophicmeditation, and by and by fell into a gentle doze. The doze deepenedinto a dream which grew sombre and terrible, --and in it he thought hesaw himself standing bareheaded on a raised platform above surgingmillions of people who all shouted with one terrific uproar of unison--"Regicide! Regicide!" He looked down upon his hands, and saw them redwith blood!--he looked up to the heavens, and they were flushed withthe same ominous hue. Blood!--blood!--the blood of kings, --the dust ofthrones!--and he, the cause! Choked and tormented with a parchingthirst, it seemed in the dream that he tried to speak, --and with allhis force he cried out--"For her sake I did it! For her sake!" But theclamour of the crowd drowned his voice, --and then it was as if thecoldness of death crept slowly over him, --slowly and cruelly, as thoughhis whole body were being enclosed within an iceberg, --and he sawGloria, the child of his love and care, laid out before him dead, --butrobed and crowned like a queen, and placed on a great golden bier ofstate, with purple velvet falling about her, and tall candles blazingat her head and feet. And voices sang in his ears--"Gloria! Gloria inexcelsis Deo!"--mingling with the muffled chanting of priests at somedistant altar; and he thought he made an attempt to touch the royalvelvet pall that draped her beautiful lifeless body, when he wasroughly thrust back by armed men with swords and bayonets who asked him"What do you here? Are you not her murderer?"--and he cried out wildly"No, no! Never could I have harmed the child of my love! Never could Ihurt a hair of her head, or cause her an hour's sorrow! She is all Ihad in the world!--I loved her!--I loved her! Let me see her!--let metouch her!--let me kiss her once again!" And then the scene suddenlychanged, --and it was found that Gloria was not dead at all, but walkingpeacefully alone in a garden of flowers, with lilies crowning her, andall the sunshine about her; and that the golden bier of state hadchanged into a ship at sea which was floating, floating westwardbearing some great message to a far country, and that all was well forhim and his darling. The troubled vision cleared from his brain, andhis sleep grew calmer; he breathed more easily, and flitting glimpsesof fair scenes passed before his dreaming eyes, --scenes in somepeaceful and beautiful world, where never a shadow of sorrow or troubledarkened the quiet contentment of happy and innocent lives. He smiledin his sleep, and heaved a deep sigh of pleasure, --and so, gentlyawoke, to feel a light touch on his shoulder, and to see Gloriastanding before him. A smile was on her face, --the fragrance of thewoodlands and the sea clung about her garments, --she held a few rosesin her hand, and there was something in her whole appearance thatstruck him as new, commanding, and more than ever beautiful. 

"You have returned alone?" he said wonderingly. 

"Yes. I have returned alone! I have much to tell you, dear! Let us goin!"

CHAPTER XIX

OF THE CORRUPTION OF THE STATE

The large gaunt building, which was dignified by the name of the'People's Assembly Rooms, ' stood in a dim unfashionable square of thecity which had once been entirely devoted to warehouses and storagecellars. It had originally served a useful purpose in providingtemporary shelter for foreign-made furniture, which was badlyconstructed and intrinsically worthless, --but which, being cheaplyimported and showy in appearance, was patronized by some of the uppermiddle-classes in preference to goods of their own home workmanship. Lately, however, the foreign import had fallen to almost less thannothing; and whether or no this was due to the secret machinations ofSergius Thord and his Revolutionary Committee, no one would have hadthe hardihood to assert. Foreign tradesmen, however, and foreignworkmen generally had certainly experienced a check in their inroadsupon home manufactures, and some of the larger business firms had beenso successfully intimidated as to set up prominent announcementsoutside their warehouses to the effect that "Only native workmen needapply. " Partly in consequence of the "slump" in foreign goods, the"Assembly Rooms, " as a mere building had for some time been shut up, and given over to dust and decay, till the owners of the propertydecided to let it out for popular concerts, meetings and dances, and somake some little money out of its bare whitewashed walls andcomfortless ugliness. The plan had succeeded fairly well, and the placewas beginning to be known as a convenient centre where thousands werewont to congregate, to enjoy cheap music and cheap entertainmentgenerally. It was a favourite vantage ground for the disaffected andradical classes of the metropolis to hold forth on their wrongs, realor imaginary, --and the capacities of the largest room or hall in thebuilding were put to their utmost extent to hold the enormous audiencesthat always assembled to hear the picturesque, passionate and strikingoratory of Sergius Thord. 

But there were one or two rare occasions when even Sergius Thord'sattractions as a speaker were thrown into the background, by theappearance of that mysterious personality known as Lotys, --concerningwhom a thousand extravagant stories were rife, none of which were true. It was rumoured among other things as wild and strange, that she wasthe illegitimate child of a certain great prince, whose amours werelegion--that she had been thrown out into the street to perish, deserted as an infant, and that Sergius Thord had rescued her from thatimpending fate of starvation and death, --and that it was by way ofvengeance for the treatment of her mother by the Exalted Personageinvolved, that she had thrown in her lot with the Revolutionary party, to aid their propaganda by her intellectual gifts, which were many. Shewas known to be very poor, --she lived in cheap rooms in a low quarterof the city; she was seldom or never seen in the public thoroughfares, --she appeared to have no women friends, and she certainly mixed in noform of social intercourse or entertainment. Yet her name was on thelips of the million, and her influence was felt far beyond the city'sradius. Even among some of the highest and wealthiest classes ofsociety this peculiar appellation of "Lotys, " carrying no surname withit, and spoken at haphazard had the effect of causing a sudden silence, and the interchange of questioning looks among those who heard it, andwho, without knowing who she was, or what her aims in life really were, voted her "dangerous. " Those among the superior classes who had by rarechance seen her, were unanimous in their verdict that she was notbeautiful, --"but!"--and the "but" spoke volumes. She was known topossess something much less common, and far more potent than beauty, --and that was a fascinating, compelling spiritual force, whichmagnetised into strange submission all who came within its influence, --and many there were who admitted, though with bated breath that 'An' ifshe chose' she could easily become a very great personage indeed. 

She herself was, or seemed to be, perfectly unconscious of the manydiscussions concerning her and her origin. She had her own secretsorrows, --her sad private history, which she shut close within her ownbreast, --but out of many griefs and poverty-stricken days of struggleand cruel environment, she had educated herself to a wonderful heightof moral self-control and almost stoical rectitude. Her nature was abroad and grand one, absolutely devoid of pettiness, and full of astrong, almost passionate sympathy with the wrongs of others, --and shehad formed herself on such firm, heroic lines of courage and truth andself-respect, that the meaner vices of her sex were absolutely unknownto her. Neither vanity, nor envy, nor malice, nor spleen disturbed thecalmly-flowing current of her blood, --her soul was absorbed in pity forhuman kind, and contemplation of its many woes, --and so living alone, and studiously apart from the more frivolous world, she had attained afinely tempered and deeply thoughtful disposition which gave herequally the courage of the hero and the resignation of the martyr. Shehad long put away out of her life all possibility of happiness forherself. She had, by her unwearying study of the masses of working, suffering men and women, come to the sorrowful conclusion that realhappiness could only be enjoyed by the extremely young, and theextremely thoughtless, --and that love was only another name for theselfish and often cruel and destructive instincts of animal desire. Shedid not resent these ugly facts, or passionately proclaim against thegloomy results of life such as were daily displayed to her, --she wasonly filled with a profound and ceaseless compassion for the evilswhich were impossible to cure. Her tireless love for the sick, thefeeble, the despairing, the broken-hearted and the dying, had raisedher to the height of an angel's quality among the very desperately poorand criminal classes;--the fiercest ruffians of the slums were docilein her presence and obedient to her command;--and many a bold plan ofrobbery, --many a wicked scheme of murder had been altogether foregoneand abandoned through the intervention of Lotys, whose intellectualacumen, swift to perceive the savage instinct, or motive for crime, wasequally swift to point out its uselessness as a means of satisfyingvengeance. No preacher could persuade a thief of the practicalingloriousness of thieving, as Lotys could, --and a prison chaplain, remonstrating with an assassin after his crime, was not half as muchuse to the State as Lotys, who could induce such an one to resign hismurderous intent altogether, before he had so much as possessed himselfof the necessary weapon. Thousands of people were absolutely under hermoral dominion, --and the power she exercised over them was so great, and yet so unobtrusive, that had she bidden the whole city rise inrevolt, she would most surely have been obeyed by the larger andfiercer half of its population. 

With the moneyed classes she had nothing in common, though she viewedthem with perhaps more pity than she did the very poor. An overplus ofcash in any one person's possession that had not been rightfully earnedby the work of brain or body, was to her an incongruity, and adefection from the laws of the universe;--show and ostentation shedespised, --and though she loved beautiful things, she found them, --asshe herself said, --much more in the everyday provisions of nature, than in the elaborate designs of art. When she passed the gay shops inthe principal thoroughfares she never paused to look in at thejewellers' windows, --but she would linger for many minutes studying thebeauty of the sprays of orchids and other delicate blossoms, arrangedin baskets and vases by the leading florists; while, --best delight ofall to her, was a solitary walk inland among the woods, where she couldgather violets and narcissi, and, as she expressed it 'feel themgrowing about her feet. ' She would have been an extraordinarypersonality as a man, --as a woman she was doubly remarkable, for to awoman's gentleness she added a force of will and brain which are notoften found even in the stronger sex. 

Mysterious as she was in her life and surroundings, enough was known ofher by the people at large, to bring a goodly concourse of them to theAssembly Rooms on the night when she was announced to speak on asubject of which the very title seemed questionable, namely, "On theCorruption of the State. " The police had been notified of the impendingmeeting, and a few stalwart emissaries of the law in plain clothesmixed with the in-pouring throng. The crowd, however, was veryorderly;--there was no pushing, no roughness, and no coarse language. All the members of Sergius Thord's Revolutionary Committee werepresent, but they came as stragglers, several and apart, --and amongthem Paul Zouche the poet, was perhaps the most noticeable. He hadaffected the picturesque in his appearance;--his hat was of theRembrandt character, and he had donned a very much worn, shortvelveteen jacket, whose dusty brown was relieved by the vivid touch ofa bright red tie. His hair was wild and bushy, and his eyes sparkledwith unwonted brilliancy, as he nodded to one or two of his associates, and gave a careless wave of the hand to Sergius Thord, who, enteringslowly, and as if with reluctance, took a seat at the very furthest endof the hall, where his massive figure showed least conspicuous amongthe surging throng. Keeping his head down in a pensive attitude ofthought, his eyes were, nevertheless, sharp to see every personentering who belonged to his own particular following, --and a ray ofsatisfaction lighted up his face, as he perceived his latest newassociate, Pasquin Leroy, quietly edge his way through the crowd, andsecure a seat in one of the obscurest and darkest corners of the badlylighted hall. He was followed by his comrades, Max Graub and AxelRegor, --and Thord felt a warm glow of contentment in the consciousnessthat these lately enrolled members of the Revolutionary Committee wereso far faithful to their bond. Signed and sealed in the blood of Lotys, they had responded to the magnetism of her name with the promptobedience of waves rising to the influence of the moon, --and Sergius, full of a thousand wild schemes for the regeneration of the People, wasmore happy to know them as subjects to her power, than as adherents tohis own cause. He was calmly cognisant of the presence of GeneralBernhoff, the well-known Chief of Police;--though he was rendered atrifle uneasy by observing that personage had seated himself as closelyas possible to the bench occupied by Leroy and his companions. A faintwonder crossed his mind as to whether the three, in their zeal for thenew Cause they had taken up, had by any means laid themselves open tosuspicion; but he was not a man given to fears; and he felt convincedin his own mind, from the close personal observation he had taken ofLeroy, and from the boldness of his speech on his enrolment as a memberof the Revolutionary Committee, that, whatever else he might prove tobe, he was certainly no coward. 

The hall filled quickly, till by and by it would have been impossibleto find standing room for a child. A student of human nature is neverlong in finding out the dominant characteristic of an audience, --whether its attitude be profane or reverent, rowdy or attentive, andthe bearing of the four or five thousand here assembled was remarkablechiefly for its seriousness and evident intensity of purpose. Theextreme orderliness of the manner in which the people found and tooktheir seats, --the entire absence of all fussy movement, fidgeting, staring, querulous changing of places, whispering or laughter, showedthat the crowd were there for a deeper purpose than mere curiosity. Thebulk of the assemblage was composed of men; very few women werepresent, and these few were all of the poor and hard-working classes. No female of even the lower middle ranks of life, with any faintpretence to 'fashion, ' would have been seen listening to "that dreadfulwoman, "--as Lotys was very often called by her own sex, --simply becauseof the extraordinary fascination she secretly exercised over men. Pasquin Leroy and his companions spoke now and then, guardedly, and inlow whispers, concerning the appearance and demeanour of the crowd, MaxGraub being particularly struck by the general physiognomy and type ofthe people present. 

"Plenty of good heads!" he said cautiously. "There are thinkers here--and thinkers are a very dangerous class!"

"There are many people who 'think' all their lives and 'do' nothing!"said Axel Regor languidly. 

"True, my friend! But their thought may lead, while, they themselvesremain passive, " joined in Pasquin Leroy sotto-voce;--"It is not at allimpossible that if Lotys bade these five thousand here assembled burndown the citadel, it would be done before daybreak!"

"I have no doubt at all of that, " said Graub. "One cannot forget thatthe Bastille was taken while the poor King Louis XVI. Was enjoying asupper-party and 'a little orange-flower-water refreshment' atVersailles!"

Leroy made an imperative sign of silence, for there was a faint stirand subdued hum of expectation in the crowd. Another moment, --and Lotysstepped quietly and alone on the bare platform. As she confronted heraudience, a low passionate sound, like the murmur of a rising storm, greeted her, --a sound that was not anything like the customary applauseor encouragement offered to a public speaker, but that suggestedextraordinary satisfaction and expectancy, which almost bordered onexultation. Pasquin Leroy, raising his eyes as she entered, wasstartled by an altogether new impression of her to that which he hadreceived on the night he first saw her. Her personality was somehowdifferent--her appearance more striking, brilliant and commanding. Attired in the same plain garment of dead white serge in which he hadpreviously seen her, with the same deep blood-red scarf crossing herleft shoulder and breast, --there was something to-night in this merecostume that seemed emblematic of a far deeper power than he had beenat first inclined to give her. A curious sensation began to affect hisnerves, --a sudden and overwhelming attraction, as though his very soulwere being drawn out of him by the calm irresistible dominance of thoseslumbrous dark-blue iris-coloured eyes, which had the merit ofappearing neither brilliant nor remarkable as eyes merely, but whichheld in their luminous depths that intellectual command whichrepresents the active and passionate life of the brain, beside whichall other life is poor and colourless. These eyes appeared to rest uponhim now from under their drooping sleepy white eyelids with aninexpressible tenderness and fascination, and he was suddenly remindedof Heinrich Heine's quaint love-fancy; "Behind her dreaming eyelids thesun has gone to rest; when she opens her eyes it will be day, and thebirds will be heard singing!" He began to realise depths in his ownnature which he had till now been almost unconscious of; he knewhimself to a certain extent, but by no means thoroughly; and awakeningas he was to the fact that other lives around him presented strangeriddles for consideration, he wondered whether after all, his own lifemight not perhaps prove one of the most complex among human conundrums?He had often meditated on the inaccessibility of ideal virtues, theuselessness of persuasion, the commonplace absurdity, as he hadthought, of trying to embody any lofty spiritual dream, --yet he washimself a man in whom spiritual forces were so strong that he waspersonally unaware of their overflow, because they were as much a partof him as his breathing capacity. True, he had never consciously testedthem, but they were existent in him nevertheless. 

He watched Lotys now, with an irritable, restless attention, --therewas a thrill of vague expectation in his soul as of new things to bedone, --changes to be made in the complex machinery of human nature, --and a great wonder, as well as a great calm, fell upon him as the firstclear steady tones of her voice chimed through the deep hush which hadprepared the way for her first words. Her voice was a remarkable one, vibrant, yet gentle, --ringing out forcefully, yet perfectly sweet. Shebegan very simply, --without any attempt at a majestic choice of words, or an impressive flow of oratory. She faced her audience quietly, --onebare rounded arm resting easily on a small uncovered deal table infront of her;--she had no 'notes' but her words were plainly theresult of deliberate and careful thinking-out of certain problemsneedful to be brought before the notice of the people. Her face wascolourless, --the dead gold hair rippling thickly away in loose clustersfrom the white brows, fell into their accustomed serpentine twistedknot at the nape of her neck; and the scarlet sash she wore, alonerelieved the statuesque white folds of her draperies; but as she spoke, something altogether superphysical seemed to exhale from her as heatexhales from fire--a strange essence of overpowering and compellingsweetness stole into the heavy heated air, and gave to the commonplacesurroundings and the poorly clothed crowd of people an atmosphere ofsacredness and beauty. This influence deepened steadily under therhythmic cadence of her voice, till every agitated soul, everyresentful and troubled heart in the throng was conscious of a suddeningathering of force and calm, of self-respect and self-reliance. Thegist of her intention was plainly to set people thinking forthemselves, and in this there could be no manner of doubt but that shesucceeded. Of the 'Corruption of the State' she spoke as a thingthoroughly recognised by the masses. 

"We know, --all of us, "--she said, in the concluding portion of heraddress, "that we have Ministers who personally care nothing for theprosperity or welfare of the country. We know--all of us, --that we havea bribed Press; whose business it is to say nothing that shall runcounter to Ministerial views. We know, --all of us, --that it is thisbribed Ministerial press which leads the ignorant, (who are not behindthe scenes, ) to wrong and false conclusions;--and that it is solelyupon these wrong and false conclusions of the wilfully misled million, that the Ministry itself rests for support. On one side the Press ismanipulated by the Jews; on the other by the Jesuits. There is nojournal in this country that will, or dare, publish the true reflex ofpopular opinion. Therefore the word 'free' cannot be applied to thatrecording-force of nations which we call Journalism; inasmuch as it isnow a merely purchased Chattle. We should remember, when we read'opinions of the Press, '--on any great movement or important change inpolicy, that we are merely accepting the opinions of the bound and paidSlave of Capitalists;--and we should take care to form our judgment forourselves, rather than from the Capitalist point of view. Were there astrong man to lead, --the shiftiness, treachery, and deliberate neglectpractised on the million by those who are now in office, could notpossibly last;--but where there is no strength, there must beweakness, --and where a long career of deceit has been followed, insteadof a course of plain dealing, failure in the end is inevitable. Withfailure comes disaster; and often something which augments disaster--Revolt. The people, weary of constant imposition, --of incessant delaysof the justice due to them, --as well as the unscrupulous breaking ofpromises solemnly pledged, --will--in the long run, take their own way, as they have done before in history, of securing instant ameliorationof those wrongs which their paid rulers fail to redress. Who will dareto say that, under such circumstances, it is ill for the people to act?Sometimes it is a greater Consciousness than their own that moves them;and the wronged and half-forgotten Cause of all worlds makes Hiscommand known through His creatures, who obey His impulse, --even as theatoms gathering in space cluster at His will into solar systems, andbring forth their burden of life!"

She paused, and leaning forward a little, her eyes poured out theirflashing searchlight as it seemed into the very souls of her hearers. 

"Dear friends!--dear children!" she said, and in her tone there was thetenderness of a great compassion, almost bordering on tears, --"What isit, think you all, that makes the age in which we live so sad, socolourless, so restless and devoid of hope and peace? It is not that weare the inhabitants of a less wonderful or less beautiful world, --it isnot as if the sun had ceased to shine, or the birds had forgotten howto sing! Triumphs of science, --triumphs of learning and discovery, these are all on the increase for our help and furtherance. With somuch gain in evident advancement, what is it we have lost?--what is itwe miss?--whence come the dreariness and emptiness and satiety, --theintolerable sense of the futility of life, even when life has most tooffer? Dear children, you are all so sad!--many of you so broken-hearted!--why is it?--how is it? Poverty alone is not the cause, --forit is quite possible to be poor, yet happy! True enough it is that inthese days you are ground down by the imposition of taxes, which tryall the strength of your earnings to pay; but even this is an evil youcould mitigate for yourselves, by strong and united public protest. Howis it that you do not realise your own strength? You are not like thepoor brutes of the field and forest, who lack the reason which wouldshow them how superior in physical force alone they are to theinsignificant biped who commands them. Could the ox understand his ownstrength, he would never be led to the slaughter-house;--he and hiskind would become a terror instead of a provision. You are not oxen, --yet often you are as patient, as dull, as blind and reasonless as they!You form clubs, societies, and trades-unions;--but in how many casesdo you not enter upon small and querulous differences which so weakenyour unity that presently it falls to pieces and has no more power init? This is what your tyrants in trade rely on and hope for; theconstant recurrence of quarrels and dissensions among yourselves. NoSociety lasts which tolerates conflicting argument or differingsentiments in itself. Why is it that the Jesuits, --whom you are allunanimous in hating, --are still the strongest political Brotherhood onthe face of the earth? Because they are bound to maintain in everyparticular the tenets of their Order. No matter how vile, or howreprehensibly false their theories, they are compelled to carry on thework and propaganda of their Union, despite all loss and sacrifice tothemselves. This is the secret of their force. Expelled from one land, they take root in another. Suppressed entirely by Pope Clement XIV. , in1773, they virtually ignored suppression, and took up theirheadquarters in Russia. The influence they exerted there still lies onthe serf population, like one of the many chains fastened to a Siberianexile's body. Yet they were driven from Russia in 1820, --from Hollandin 1816, --from Switzerland in 1847, and from Germany in 1872. Latterlythey have been expelled from France. Nevertheless, in spite of thesenumerous expulsions, and the universal odium in which they are held, --they still flourish; still are they able to maintain their twenty-twogenerals and their four Vicars;--and still all countries have, in theirturn, to deal with their impending or fulfilled invasion. Why is itthat a Society so criminal in historic annals, should yet remain as aforce in our advanced era of civilization? Simply, because it is of OneMind! Bent on evil, or good, --self-renunciation or self-aggrandisement, --it is still of One Mind! Friends, --were you like them, also of One Mind, your injuries, your oppressions, your taxations wouldnot last long! The remedy for all is easy, and rests with yourselves, --only yourselves! But some of you have lost heart--and other some havelost patience. You look round upon the squalid corners of this greatcity--you shudder at the cruelty of the daily life with which you haveto contend, --you enter poor rooms, which you are compelled to call'home, ' where the sick and dying, the newly-born and the dead arehuddled all together, --ten, and sometimes fifteen in one small den offour whitewashed walls;--and sickened and tired, you cry out 'Is lifeworth no more than this? Is God's scheme for the human race no morethan this? Then why were we born at all? Or, being born, why may we notdie at once, self-slain?' Ah, yes, dear friends!--you often feel likethis; we all of us often feel like this! But--it is not God who hasmade life thus hard for you, --it is yourselves! It is you who consentto be down-trodden, --it is you who resign your freewill, your thought, your originality of character, into the dominating power of others. True, --wealth controls affairs to a vast extent nowadays, --but there isa stronger power than wealth, and that is Soul! It is not thepossession of gold that has given the greatest men their position. Thisis a commercial age, we own, --and certainly, --because of the base anddegrading love of accumulation, --Intellectuality is for the momentoften set aside as something valueless--but whenever Intellectualitytruly asserts itself, there is at once made visible an acting force ofthe Divine, which is practically limitless and irresistible. Think foryourselves, friends!--do not let a hired Press think for you! Think foryourselves--judge for yourselves, and act for yourselves! By yourobservation of a statesman's life, you shall know his capabilities. Ifhe has once been a turncoat, he will be a turncoat again. If he hasbeen known to speculate privately in a forthcoming political crisis, which he alone knows of in advance----"

Here the speaker was interrupted by what sounded more like a snarl thana shout. "Pérousse! Pérousse!"

The name was hissed out, and tossed from one rank to another of theaudience, and one or two of the police present glanced enquiringlytowards Bernhoff their chief, --but he sat with folded arms andinscrutable demeanour, making no sign. Lotys raised her small, beautifully-shaped white hand to enjoin silence. She was obeyedinstantly. 

"I speak of no one man, " she said with deliberate emphasis; "I accuseno one man, --or any man! I say 'if' any man gambles with State policy, he is a traitor to the country! But such gambling is not a novelty inthe history of nations. It has been practised over and over again. Onlymark you all this one God's truth!--that whenever it _has_occurred--whenever the rulers of a State _are_ corrupt, --wheneversociety sinks into such moral defilement that it sees nothing better, nothing higher than the love of money, --then comes the downfall!--thenRuin and Anarchy set up their dominion, --and Heaven's rage rolls outupon the offenders, till their offence be cleansed away in rivers ofblood and tears!"

She waited a moment, --and changing her attitude, seemed as it were, toproject her thought into her audience, by the sudden passion of hercommanding gesture, and the flash of her deep luminous eyes. 

"We have heard of the Great Renunciation!" she said; "How God Himselftook human form, and came to this low little earth to prove how noblywe should live and die! But in our day, --we with our preachers andteachers, our press and our parliamentary orators, --our atheisticalstatesmen on all hands, have come upon the Great Obliteration!--theObliteration of God altogether in our ways of life! We push Him out, asif He were not. He is not in our Churches--He is not in our Laws--Heis not in our Commerce. Only when we are brought low by pain andsickness--when we are confronted by death itself--then we call out'God! God!' like cowards, praying for help from the Power we havenegatived all our lives! Here is the evil, O children all!--we haveforgotten Our Father! We arrange all our affairs in life without givingHim a thought! Our pleasures, our gains, our advantages, --arecalculated without consulting His good pleasure. He is last, or not atall, --when He should be first, and in everything! The end of this ismisery;--it must be so; it cannot by law be anything else. For what isGod? Who is God? God is a name merely, --but we give it to that Unseen, but ever working Force which rules the Universe! The coldest atheistthat ever breathed must own that somehow, --by some means or other, --the Universe _is_ ruled, --for if it were not, we should knownothing of it. Therefore, when we set aside, or leave out theconsciousness and acknowledgment of the Ruler, the ruling of ouraffairs must, of necessity, go wrong!

"I cannot preach to you--I cannot out of my own conscience recommend toyou one or the other form of faith as the way to peace and wisdom;--butI can and do Beseech you to remember the Note Dominant of this greatUniverse--the Note that sounds through high and low, --through small andgreat alike!--and that must and will in due course absorb all ourdiscords into Everlasting Harmony! Try not to put this fact out of yourlives, --that Justice and Order are the rule of the spheres; and thatwhenever we depart from these, even in the smallest contingency, confusion reigns. How hard it is to believe in Justice and Order, youwill tell me, --when the poor are not treated with the sameconsideration as the rich, --and when money will buy place and position!True! It is hard to believe, --but it is believable nevertheless. As thelungs and the heart are the life of the human body, so are Justice andOrder the life of the Universe, --and when these are pushed out ofplace, or become diseased in the composition of a human state orcommunity, then the life of that state or community is threatened;--andunless remedies are quickly to hand, it must end. You all know theposition of things among yourselves to-day;--you all know that there isno trust to be placed in Churches, Kings or Parliaments;--that theworld is in a state of ferment and unrest, --moving towards Change;--change imminent--change, possibly, disastrous! And if it is You whoknow, it is likewise You who must seize the hour as it approaches!--seize it as you would seize a robber by the throat, and demand itsbusiness;--search its heart;--deprive it of its weapons;--and learnfrom it its message! A message it may be of wild alarm--of tearing upold conventions;--of thrusting forth old abuses; a message full ofclamour and outcry--but whatever the uproar, doubt not that we shallhear the voice of the Forgotten God thundering in our ears at theclose! We shall have found our way closer to Him--and with penitenceand prayer, we shall ask to be forgiven for having wandered away fromHim so long!

"And will He not pardon? Yes, --He will, because He must! To Him we oweour existence;--He alone is responsible for our life, our probation, our progress, our striving through many errors towards Perfection! He, who sees all, must needs have pity for His creature Man! Out of theevolutions of a blind Time, He has made the poor weak human being, whoin the first days of his sojourn on earth had neither covering norhome. Less protected than the beasts of the forest, he found himselfcompelled to Think!--to think out his own means of shelter, --tocontrive his own weapons of defence. Slowly, and by painful degrees, from Savagery he has emerged to Civilization;--wherefore it is evidentthat his Maker meant Thought to be his first principle, and Action hissecond. He who does not work, shall not eat;--he who does not use allhis faculties for improvement, shall by and by have none to use. Injustice and corruption are amongst us, merely because we ourselveshave failed to resist their first inroads. Who is it that complains ofwrong? Let him hasten to his own amending, --and he will find a thousandhands, a thousand hearts ready to work with him! All Nature is on theside of health in the body, as of health in the State. All Naturefights against disease, --physical and moral. Therefore do not, --dearfriends and children!--sit idle and passive, submitting yourselves tobe deceived, as if you had no force to withstand deception! Show thatyou hate lies, and will have none of them, --show that you will not beimposed upon--and decline to be led or governed by party agents, whopersuade you to your own and your country's destruction! The voice ofthe People can no longer be heard in a purchased Press;--let it echoforth then, in stronger form than ephemeral print, which to-day isglanced at, and to-morrow is forgotten;--wherever and whenever you aregiven the chance to meet, and to speak, let your authority as theworkers, the ratepayers, and supporters of the State be heard; and donot You, without whom even the King could not keep his throne, consentto be set aside as the Unvalued Majority! Prove, by your own firmattitude that without You, nothing can be done! It is time, oh peopleof my heart!--it is time you spoke clearly! God is moving His thoughtthrough your souls--God stirs in you the fear, the discontent, thesuspicion that all is not well with your country;--and it is the Spiritof God which breathes in the warning note of the time--

 "'Hark to the voice of the time! The multitude think forthemselves, And weigh their condition each one; The drudge hasa spirit sublime, And whether he hammers or delves, He readswhen his labour is done; And learns, though he groan under poverty's ban, That freedom to Think, is the birthright of man!'

"Learn, " she continued, --as a low deep murmur of agreement ran throughthe room; "Learn to what strange uses God puts even such men of thisworld, whose sole existence has been for the cause of amassing money!They have acted as the merest machines, gathering in the millions;--gathering, gathering them in! For what purpose? Lo, they are smittendown in the prime of their lives, and the gold they have piled up is atonce scattered! Much of it becomes used for educational purposes;--andsome of these dead millionaires have, as it were thrown Education atthe heads of the people, and almost pauperised it. Far away in GreatBritain, a millionaire has recently made the Scottish Universityeducation 'free' to all students, --instead of, as it used to be, hardto get, and well worth working to win. Now, --through the wealth of oneman, it is turned into a pauper's allowance;--like offering thesmallest silver coin to a reduced gentleman. The pride, --the skill, --the self-renunciation, --the strong determination to succeed, which formfine character, and which taught the struggling student to win his ownUniversity education, are all wiped out;--there is no longer anynecessity for the practice of these manly and self-sustaining virtues. The harm that will be done is probably not yet perceivable; but it willbe incalculable. Education, turned into a kind of pauper's monopoly, will have widely different results to those just now imagined! But withall the contemptuous throwing out of the unneeded kitchen-waste ofmillionaires, --still Education is the thing to take at any price, andunder any circumstances;--because it alone is capable of giving power!It alone will 'put down the mighty from their seats, and exalt thehumble and the meek. ' It alone will give us the force to fight ourtaskmasters with their own weapons, and to place them where they shouldbe, coequal with us, but not superior, --considerate of us, but notcommanding us, --and above all things, bound to make their records ofsuch work as they do for the State--clean!"

A hurricane of applause interrupted her, --she waited till it subsided, then went on quietly. 

"There should be no scheming in the dark; no secret contracts for whichwe have to pay blindly;--no refusal to explain the way in which thepeople's hard-earned money is spent; and before foreign urbanities anddiplomacies and concessions are allowed to take up time in the Senate, it is necessary that the frightful and abounding evils of our ownland, --our own homes, --be considered. For this we purpose to demandredress, --and not only to demand it, but to obtain it! Ministers mayrefuse to hear us; but the Country's claims are greater than anyMinistry! A King's displeasure may cause court-parasites to tremble--but a People's Honour is more to be guarded than a thousand thrones!"

As she concluded with these words, she seemed to grow taller, nobler, more inspired and commanding, --and while the applause was yet shakingthe rafters of the hall, she left the platform. Shouts of "Lotys!Lotys!" rang out again and again with passionate bursts of cheering, --and in response to it she came back, and by a slight gesture commandedsilence. 

"Dear friends, I thank you all for listening to me!" she said simply, her rich voice trembling a little; "I speak only with a woman's impulseand unwisdom--just as I think and feel--and always out of my great lovefor you! As you all know, I have no interests to serve;--I am onlyLotys, your own poor friend, --one who works with you, and dwells amongyou, seeing and sharing your hard lives, and wishing with all my heartthat I could help you to be happier and freer! My life is at yourservice, --my love for you is all too great for any words to express, --and my gratitude for your faith and trust in me forms my dailythanksgiving! Now, dear children all, --for you are truly as children inyour patience, submission and obedience to bitter destiny!--I will askyou to disperse quietly without noise or confusion, or any trouble thatmay give to the paid men of law ungrateful work to do;--and in yourhomes, think of me!--remember my words!--and while you maintain orderby the steadiness and reasonableness of your difficult lives, stillavoid and resent that slavish obedience to the yoke fastened upon youby capitalists, --who have no other comfort to offer you in poverty thanthe workhouse; and no other remedy for the sins into which you arethrust by their neglect, than the prison! Take, and keep the rights ofyour humanity!--the right to think, --the right to speak, --the right toknow what is being done with the money you patiently earn for others;--and work, all together in unity. Put aside all petty differences, --allsmall rancours and jealousies; and even as a Ministry may unite todefraud and deceive you, so do you, the People, unite to expose thefraud, and reject the deception! There is no voice so resonant andconvincing as the voice of the public; there is no power on earth morestrong or more irresistible than the power of the People!"

She stood for one moment more, --silent; her eyes brilliant, her facebeautiful with inspired thought, --then with a quiet, half-deprecatorygesture, in response to the fresh outbreak of passionate cheering, sheretired from the platform. Pasquin Leroy, whose eyes had been rivetedon her from the first to the last word of her oration, now started asfrom a dream, and rose up half-unconsciously, passing his hand acrosshis brow, as though to exorcise some magnetic spell that had crept overhis brain. His face was flushed, his pulses were throbbing quickly. Hiscompanions, Max Graub and Axel Regor, looked at him inquisitively. Theaudience was beginning to file out of the hall in orderly groups. 

"What next?" said Graub; "Shall ye go?"

"I suppose so, " said Leroy, with a quick sigh, and forcing a smile;"But--I should have liked to speak with her----"

At that moment his shoulder was touched by a man he recognised as JohanZegota. He gave the sign of the Revolutionary Committee bond, to whichLeroy and his comrades responded. 

"Will you all three come over the way?" whispered Zegota cautiously;"We are entertaining Lotys to supper at the inn opposite, --the landlordis one of us. Thord saw you sitting here, and sent me to ask you tojoin us. "

"With pleasure, " assented Leroy; "We will come at once!"

Zegota nodded and disappeared. 

"So you will see the end of this escapade!" said Max Graub, a triflecrossly. "It would have been much better to go home!"

"You have enjoyed escapades in your time, have you not, my friend? Someeven quite recently?" returned Leroy gaily. "One or two more will nothurt you!"

They edged their way out among the quietly moving crowd, and happeningto push past General Bernhoff, that personage gave an almostimperceptible salute, which Leroy as imperceptibly returned. It wasclear that the Chief of Police was acquainted with Pasquin Leroy, the'spy' on whose track he had been sent by Carl Pérousse, and moreover, that he was evidently in no hurry to arrest him. At any rate he allowedhim to pass with his friends unmolested, out of the People's AssemblyRooms, and though he followed him across the road, 'shadowing him, ' asit were, into a large tavern, whose lighted windows betokened someentertainment within, he did not enter the hostelry himself, butcontented his immediate humour by walking past it to a considerabledistance off, and then slowly back again. By and by Max Graub came outand beckoned to him, and after a little earnest conversation Bernhoffwalked off altogether, the ring of his martial heels echoing for sometime along the pavement, even after he had disappeared. And from withinthe lighted tavern came the sound of a deep, harmonious, swingingchorus--

 "Way, make way!--for our banner is unfurled, Let each manstand by his neighbour! The thunder of our footsteps shall rollthrough the world, In the March of the Men of Labour!"

"Yes!" said Max Graub, pausing to listen ere re-entering the tavern--"If--and it is a great 'if'--if every man will stand by his neighbour, the thunder will be very loud, --and by all the deities that ever livedin the Heaven blue, it is a thunder that is likely to last some time!The possibility of standing by one's neighbour is the only doubtfulpoint!"

CHAPTER XX

THE SCORN OF KINGS

Inside the tavern, from whence the singing proceeded, there was astrange scene, --somewhat disorderly yet picturesque. Lotys, seated atthe head of a long supper-table, had been crowned by her admirers witha wreath of laurels, --and as she sat more or less silent, with a ratherweary expression on her face, she looked like the impersonation of aDaphne, exhausted by the speed of her flight from pursuing Apollo. Beside her, nestling close against her caressingly, was a little girlwith great black Spanish eyes, --eyes full of an appealing, half-frightened wistfulness, like those of a hunted animal. Lotys kept onearm round the child, and every now and again spoke to her some littlecaressing word. All the rest of the guests at the supper-board weremen, --and all of them members of the Revolutionary Committee. WhenPasquin Leroy and his friends entered, there was a general clapping ofhands, and the pale countenance of Lotys flushed a delicate rose-red, as she extended her hand to each. 

"You begin your career with us very well!" she said gently, her eyesresting musingly on Leroy; "I had not expected to see you to-night!"

"Madame, I had never heard you speak, " he answered; and as he addressedher, he pressed her hand with unconscious fervour, while his eloquenteyes dilated and darkened, as, moved by some complex emotion, shequickly withdrew her slender fingers from his clasp. "And I felt Ishould never know you truly as you are, till I saw you face the people. Now----"

He paused. She looked at him wonderingly, and her heart began to beatwith a strange quick thrill. It is not always easy to see the outlinesof a soul's development, or the inchoate formation of a great love, --and though everything in a certain sense moved her and appealed to herthat was outside herself, it was difficult to her to believe or toadmit that she, in her own person, might be the cause of an entirelynew set of thoughts and emotions in the mind of one man. Seeing he wassilent, she repeated softly and with a half smile. 

"'Now'?"

"Now, " continued Leroy quickly, and in a half-whisper; "I do know youpartly, --but I must know you more! You will give me the chance to dothat?"

His look said more than his words, and her face grew paler than before. She turned from him to the child at her side--

"Pequita, are you very tired?"

"No!" was the reply, given brightly, and with an upward glance of thedark eyes. 

"That is right! Pasquin Leroy my friend! this is Pequita, --the child wetold you of the other night, the only daughter of Sholto. She willdance for us presently, will you not, my little one?"

"Yes, indeed!" and the young face lighted up swiftly at the suggestion;while Leroy, taking the seat indicated to him at the supper-table, experienced a tumult of extraordinary sensations, --the chief one ofwhich was, that he felt himself to have been 'snubbed, ' very quietlybut effectually, by a woman who had succeeded, though he knew not how, in suddenly awakening in him a violent fever of excitement, to which hewas at present unable to give a name. Rallying himself, however, heglanced up and down the board smilingly, lifting his glass to saluteSergius Thord, who responded from his place at the bottom of thetable, --and very soon he regained his usual placidity, for he hadenormous strength of will, and kept an almost despotic tyranny over hisfeelings. His companions, Max Graub and Axel Regor, were separated fromhim, and from each other, at different sides of the table, and PaulZouche the poet, was almost immediately opposite to him. He was glad tosee that he was next but one to Lotys--the man between them being adesperado-looking fellow with a fierce moustache, and exceedinglygentle eyes, --who, as he afterwards discovered, was one of the greatestviolinists in the world, --the favourite of kings and Courts, --and yetfor all that, a prominent member of the Revolutionary Committee. Thesupper, which was of a simple, almost frugal character, was soonserved, and the landlord, in setting the first plate before Lotys, laidbeside it a knot of deep crimson roses, as an offering of homage andobedience from himself. She thanked him with a smile and glance, andtaking up the flowers, fastened them at her breast. Conversation nowbecame animated and general; and one of the men present, a delicate-looking young fellow, with a head resembling somewhat that of Keats, started a discussion by saying suddenly--

"Jost has sold out all his shares in that new mine that was started theother day. It looks as if he did not think, after all his newspaperpuffs, that the thing was going to work. "

"If Jost has sold, Pérousse will, " said his neighbour; "The two areconcerned together in the floating of the whole business. "

"And yet another piece of news!" put in Paul Zouche suddenly; "For ifwe talk of stocks and shares, we talk of money! What think you, myfriends! I, Paul Zouche, have been offered payment for my poems! Thisvery afternoon! Imagine! Will not the spheres fall? A poet to be paidfor his poems is as though one should offer the Creator a pecuniaryconsideration for creating the flowers!"

His face was flushed, and his eyes deliriously bright. 

"Listen, my Sergius!" he said; "Wonders never cease in this world; butthis is the most wonderful of all wonders! Out of the merest mischiefand monkeyish malice, the other day I sent my latest book of poems tothe King--"

"Shame! shame!" interrupted a dozen voices. "Against the rules, Paul!You have broken the bond!"

Paul Zouche laughed loudly. 

"How you yell, my baboons!" he cried; "How you screech about the rulesof your lair! Wait till you hear! You surely do not suppose I sent thebook out of any humility or loyalty, or desire for notice, do you? Isent it out of pure hate and scorn, to show him as a fool-Majesty, thatthere was something he could not do--something that should last when_he_ was forgotten!--a few burning lines that should, likevitriol, eat into his Throne and outlast it! I sent it some days ago, and got an acknowledgment from the flunkey who writes Majesty'sletters. But this afternoon I received a much more important document, --a letter from Eugène Silvano, secretary to our very honourable andtrustworthy Premier! He informs me in set terms, that his Majesty theKing has been pleased to appreciate my work as a poet, to the extent ofoffering me a hundred golden pieces a year for the term of my naturallife! Ha-ha! A hundred golden pieces a year! And thus they would fastenthis wild bird of Revolutionary song to a Royal cage, for a bit ofsugar! A hundred golden pieces a year! It means food and lodging--warmblankets to sleep in--but it means something else, --loss ofindependence!"

"Then you will not accept it?" said Pasquin Leroy, looking at him withinterest over the rim of the glass from which he was just sipping hiswine. 

"Accept it! I have already refused it! By swift return of post!"

Shouts of "Bravo! bravo!" echoed around him on all sides; men sprang upand shook hands with him and patted him on the back, and even over thedark face of Sergius Thord there passed a bright illumining smile. 

"Zouche, with all thy faults, thou art a brave man!" said the young manwith the Keats-like head, who was in reality confidential clerk to oneof the largest stockbrokers in the metropolis; "A thousand times betterto starve, than to accept Royal alms!"

"To your health, Zouche!" said Lotys, leaning forward, glass in hand. "Your refusal of the King's offered bounty is a greater tragedy thanany you have ever tried to write!"

"Hear her!" cried Zouche, exultant; "She knows exactly how to put it!For look you, there are the true elements of tragedy in a worn coat andscant food, while the thoughts that help nations to live or die areburning in one's brain! Then comes a King with a handful of gold--andgold would be useful--it always is! But--by Heaven! to pay a poet forhis poems is, as I said before, as if one were to meet the Deity on Hisway through space, scattering planets and solar systems at a touch, andthen to say--'Well done, God! We shall remunerate You for your creativepower as long as You shall last--so much per aeon!'"

Leroy laughed. 

"You wild soul!" he said; "Would you starve then, rather than accept aking's bounty?"

"I would!" answered Paul. "Look you, my brave Pasquin! Read back overall the centuries, and see the way in which these puppets we call kingshave rewarded the greatest thinkers of their times! Is it anywhererecorded that the antique virgin, Elizabeth of England, ever didanything for Shakespeare? True--he might have been 'graciouslypermitted' to act one of his sublime tragedies before her--by Heaven!--she was only fit to be his scrubbing woman, by intellectual comparison!Kings and Queens have always trembled in their shoes, and on theirthrones, before the might of the pen!--and it is natural therefore thatthey should ignore it as much as conveniently possible. A general, whose military tactics succeed in killing a hundred thousand innocentmen receives a peerage and a hundred thousand a year, --a speculator whosnatches territory and turns it into stock-jobbing material, is calledan 'Empire Builder'; but the man whose Thought destroys or moulds a newWorld, and raises up a new Civilization, is considered beneath acrowned Majesty's consideration! 'Beneath, ' by Heaven!--I, PaulZouche, may yet mount behind Majesty's chair, and with a single rhymesend his crown spinning into space! Meanwhile, I have flung back hishundred golden pieces, with as much force in the edge of my pen asthere would be in my hand if _you_ were his Majesty sitting there, and I flung them across the table now!"

Again Leroy laughed. His eyes flashed, but there was a certain regretand wistfulness in them. 

"You approve, of course?" he said, turning to Sergius Thord. 

Sergius looked for a moment at Zouche with an infinitely grave andkindly compassion. 

"I think Paul has acted bravely;" he then said slowly; "He has beentrue to the principles of our Order. And under the circumstances, itmust have been difficult for him to refuse what would have been acertain competence, --"

"Not difficult, Sergius!" exclaimed Zouche, "But purely triumphant!"

Thord smiled, --then went on--"You see, my friend, " and he addressedhimself now to Leroy; "Kings have scorned the power of the pen toolong! Those who possess that power are now taking vengeance forneglect. Thousands of pens all over the world to-day are digging thegrave of Royalty, and building up the throne of Democracy. Who is toblame? Royalty itself is to blame, for deliberately passing over theclaims of art and intellect, and giving preference to the claims ofmoney. The moneyed man is ever the friend of Majesty, --but thebrilliant man of letters is left out in the cold. Yet it is the man ofletters who chronicles the age, and who will do so, we may be sure, according to his own experience. As the King treats the essayist, theromancist or the historian, so will these recording scribes treat theKing!"

"It is possible, though, " suggested Leroy, "that the King meant well inhis offer to our friend Zouche?"

"Quite possible!" agreed Thord; "Only his offer of one hundred goldpieces a year to a man of intellect, is out of all proportion to thesalary he pays his cook!"

A slight flush reddened Leroy's bronzed cheek. Thord observed himattentively, and saw that his soul was absorbed by some deep-seatedintellectual irritation. He began to feel strangely drawn towards him;his eyes questioned the secret which he appeared to hold in his mind, but the quiet composure of the man's handsome face baffled enquiry. Meanwhile around the table the conversation grew louder and lessrestrained. The young stockbroker's clerk was holding forth eloquentlyconcerning the many occasions on which he had seen Carl Pérousse at hisemployer's office, carefully going into the closest questions offinancial losses or gains likely to result from certain politicalmoves, --and he remembered one day in particular, when, after purchasinga hundred thousand shares in a certain company, Pérousse had turnedsuddenly round on his broker with the cool remark--"If ever you breathea whisper about this transaction, I will shoot you dead!"

Whereat the broker had replied that it was not his custom to give awayhis clients' business, and that threats were unworthy of a statesman. Then Pérousse had become as friendly as he had been before menacing;and the two had gone out of the office and lunched together. And theconfidential clerk thus chattering his news, declared that his employerwas now evidently uneasy; and that from that uneasiness he augured asudden fluctuation or fall in what had lately seemed the most valuablestock in the market. 

"And you? Your news, Valdor, " cried one or two eager voices, whileseveral heads leaned forward in the direction of the fiercely-moustached man who sat next to Lotys. "Where have you been with yourfiddle? Do you arrive among us to-night infected by the pay, or thepurple of Royalty?"

Louis Valdor, by birth a Norseman, and by sympathies a cosmopolitan, looked up with a satiric smile in his dark eyes. 

"There is no purple left to infect a man with, in the modern slum ofRoyalty!" he said; "Tobacco-smoke, not incense, perfumes the palaces ofthe great nowadays--and card-playing is more appreciated than music!Yet I and my fiddle have made many long journeys lately, --and we havesent our messages of Heaven thrilling through the callous horrors ofHell! A few nights since, I played at the Russian Court--before thebeautiful Empress--cold as a stone--with her great diamonds flashing onher unhappy breast, --before the Emperor, whose furtive eyes gazedunseeingly before him, as though black Fate hovered in the air--beforewomen, whose lives are steeped in the lowest intrigue--before men, whose faces are as bearded masks, covering the wolf's snarl, --yes!--Iplayed before these, --played with all the chords of my heart vibratingto the violin, till at last a human sigh quivered from the lips of thestatuesque Empress, --till a frown crossed the brooding brow of herspouse--till the intriguing women shook off the spell with a laugh, andthe men did the same with an oath--and I was satisfied! I receivedneither 'pay, ' nor jewel of recognition, --I had played 'for the honour'of appearing before their Majesties!--but my bow was a wand to wake thelittle poisoned asp of despair that stings its way into the heart underevery Royal mantle of ermine, and that sufficed me!"

"Sometimes, " said Leroy, turning towards him; "I pity kings!"

"I' faith, so do I!" returned Valdor. "But only sometimes! And if youhad seen as much of them as I have, the 'sometimes' would be rare!"

"Yet you play before them?" put in Max Graub. 

"Because I must do so to satisfy the impresarios who advertise me tothe public, " said Valdor. "Alas!--why will the public be so foolish asto wish their favourite artist to play before kings and queens? Seldom, if ever, do these Royal people understand music, --still less do theyunderstand the musician! Believe me, I have been treated as the veriestscullion by these jacks-in-office; and that I still permit myself toplay before them is a duty I owe to this Brotherhood, --because itdeepens and sustains my bond with you all. There is no king on the faceof the earth who has dignity and nobleness of character enough tocommand my respect, --much less my reverence! I take nothing from kings, remember!--they dare not offer me money--they dare not insult me with ajewelled pin, such as they would give to a station-master who sees aRoyal train off. Only the other day, when I was summoned to play beforea certain Majesty, a lord-in-waiting addressed me when I arrived withthe insolent words--'You are late, Monsieur Valdor!--You have kept theKing waiting!' I replied--'Is that so? I regret it! But having kept hisMajesty waiting, I will no longer detain him; au revoir!' And Ireturned straightway to the carriage in which I had come. Majesty didwithout his music that evening, owing to the insolence of his flunkey-man! Whether I ever play before him again or not, is absolutelyimmaterial to me!"

"Tell me, " said Pasquin Leroy, pushing the flask of wine over to him ashe spoke; "What is it that makes kings so unloved? I hate them myself!--but let us analyse the reasons why. "

"Discuss--discuss!" cried Paul Zouche; "Why are kings hated? Let Thordanswer first!"

"Yes--yes! Let Thord answer first!" was echoed a dozen times. 

Thord, thus appealed to, looked up. His melancholy deep eyes weresombre, yet full of fire, --lonely eyes they were, yearning for love. 

"Why are kings hated?" he repeated; "Because today they are the effeterepresentatives of an effete system. I can quite imagine that if, as inolden times, kings had maintained a position of personal bravery, andpersonal influence on their subjects, they would have been as muchbeloved as they are now despised. But what we have to see and torecognise is this: in one land we hear of a sovereign who speculateshand-and-glove with low-born Jew contractors and tradesmen, --anothermonarch makes no secret of his desire to profit financially out of agambling hell started in his dominions, --another makes his domesticaffairs the subject of newspaper comment, --another is alwaysapostrophising the Almighty in public;--another is insane or stupid, --and so on through the whole gamut. Is it not natural that anintelligent People should resent the fact that their visibly governinghead is a gambler, or a voluptuary? Myself, I think the growingunpopularity of kings is the result of their incapability forkingship. "

"Now let me speak!" cried Paul Zouche excitedly; "There is another rootto the matter, --a root like that of a certain tropical orchid, whichaccording to superstition, is shaped like a man, and utters a shriekwhen it is pulled out of the earth! Pull out this screaming mystery, --hatred of kings! In the first place it is because they are hateful inthemselves, --because they have been brought up and educated to take animmeasurable and all-absorbing interest in their own identity, ratherthan in the lives, hopes and aims of their subjects. In the second--assoon as they occupy thrones, they become overbearing to their bestfriends. It is a well-known fact that the more loyal and faithful youare to a king, the more completely is he neglectful of you! 'Put notyour trust in princes, ' sang old David. He knew how untrustworthy theywere, being a king himself, and a pious one to boot! Thirdly andlastly, --they only give their own personal attention to theirconcubines, and leave all their honest and respectable subjects to bedealt with by servants and secretaries. Our King, for example, neversmiles so graciously as on Madame Vantine, the wife of Vantine thewine-grower;--and he buys Vantine's wines as well as his wife, whichbrings in a double profit to the firm!"

Leroy looked up. 

"Are you sure of that?"

Zouche met his eyes with a stare and a laugh. 

"Sure? Of course I am sure! By my faith, your resemblance to hisMajesty is somewhat striking to-night, my bold Leroy! The same straightbrows--the same inscrutable, woman-conquering smile! I studied hisportrait after the offer of the hundred golden pieces--and I swear youmight be his twin brother!"

"I told you so!" replied Leroy imperturbably;--"It is a hatefulresemblance! I wish I could rid myself of it. Still after all, there issomething unique in being countenanced like a King, and minded as aSocialist!"

"True!" put in Thord gently;--"I am satisfied, Pasquin Leroy, that youare an honest comrade!"

Leroy met his eyes with a grave smile, and touched his glass by way ofacknowledgement. 

"You do not ask me, " he said then, "whether I have been able to serveyour Cause in any way since last we met?"

"This is not our regular meeting, " said Johan Zegota; "We ask noquestions till the general monthly assembly. "

"I see!" And Leroy looked whimsically meditative--"Still, as we areall friends and brothers here, there is no harm in conveying to you thefact that I have so far moved, in the appointed way, that Carl Péroussehas ordered the discovery and arrest of one Pasquin Leroy, supposed tobe a spy on the military defences of the city!"

Lotys gave a little cry. 

"Not possible! So soon!"

"Quite possible, Madame, " said Leroy inclining his head towards herdeferentially. "I have lost no time in doing my duty!" And his eyesflashed upon her with a passionate, half-eager questioning. "I mustcarry out my Chief's commands!"

"But you are in danger, then?" said Sergius Thord, bending an anxiouslook of enquiry upon him. 

"Not more so than you, or any of my comrades are, " replied Leroy; "Ihave commenced my campaign--and I have no doubt you will hear someresults of it ere long!"

He spoke so quietly and firmly, yet with such an air of assurance andauthority, that something of an electric thrill passed through theentire company, and all eyes were fixed on him in mingled admirationand wonderment. 

"Of the 'Corruption of the State, ' concerning which our fair teacherhas spoken to-night, " he continued, with another quick glance at Lotys--"there can be no manner of doubt. But we should, I think, say the'Corruption of the Ministry' rather than of the State. It is notbecause a few stock-jobbers rule the Press and the Cabinet, that theState is necessarily corrupt. Remove the corruptors, --sweep the dirtfrom the house--and the State will be clean. "

"It will require a very long broom!" said Paul Zouche. "Take DavidJost, for example, --he is the fat Jew-spider of several newspaperwebs, --and to sweep him out is not so easy. His printed sheets are readby the million; and the million are deluded into believing him areliable authority!"

"Nothing so easy as to prove him unreliable, " said Leroy composedly;"And then----"

"Then the million will continue to read his journals out of sheercuriosity, to see how long a liar can go on lying!" said Zouche;--"Besides a Jew can turn his coat a dozen times a day; he has inheritedJoseph's 'coat of many colours' to suit many opinions. At present Jostsupports Pérousse, and calls him the greatest statesman living; but ifPérousse were once proved a fraud, Jost would pen a sublimely-conscientious leading article, beginning in this strain;--' We are nowat liberty to confess that we always had our doubts of M. Pérousse!'"

A murmur of angry laughter went round the board. 

"There was an article this evening in one of Jost's off-shootjournals, " went on Zouche, "which must have been paid for at aconsiderable cost. It chanted the praises of one Monsignor Del Fortis, --who, it appears, preached a sermon on 'National Education' the otherday, and told all the sleepy, yawning people how necessary it was tohave Roman Catholic schools in every town and village, in order thatsouls might be saved. The article ended by saying--'We hear on goodauthority that his Majesty the King has been pleased to grant aconsiderable portion of certain Crown lands to the Jesuit Order, forthe necessary building of a monastery and schools'----"

"That is a lie!" broke in Pasquin Leroy, with sudden vehemence. "TheKing is in many respects a scoundrel, but he does not go back on hisword!"

Axel Regor looked fixedly across at him, with a warning flash in thelight of his cold languid eyes. 

"But how do you know that the King has given his word?"

"It was in the paper, " said Leroy, more guardedly; "I was reading aboutit, as you know, on the very night I encountered Thord. "

"Ah! But you must recollect, my friend, that a statement in the papersis never true nowadays!" said Max Graub, with a laugh; "Whenever I readanything in the newspaper, unless it is an official telegram, I know itis a lie; and even official telegrams have been known to emanate fromunofficial sources!"

By this time supper was nearly over, and the landlord, clearing theremains of the heavier fare, set fruit and wine on the board. SergiusThord filled his glass, and made a sign to his companions to do thesame. Then he stood up. 

"To Lotys!" he said, his fine eyes darkening with the passion of histhought. "To Lotys, who inspires our best work, and helps us to retainour noblest ideals!"

All present sprang to their feet. 

"To Lotys!"

Pasquin Leroy fixed a straight glance on the subject of the toast, sitting quietly at the head of the table. 

"To Lotys!" he repeated; "And may she always be as merciful as she isstrong!"

She lifted her dark-blue slumbrous eyes, and met his keen scrutinizinglook. A very slight tremulous smile flickered across her lips. Sheinclined her head gently, and in the same mute fashion thanked themall. 

"Play to us, Valdor!" she then said; "And so make answer for me to ourfriends' good wishes!"

Valdor dived under the table, and brought up his violin case, which heunlocked with jealous tenderness, lifting his instrument as carefullyas though it were a sleeping child whom he feared to wake. Drawing thebow across the strings, he invoked a sweet plaintive sound, like thefirst sigh of the wind among the trees; then, without furtherpreliminary wandered off into a strange labyrinth of melody, wherein itseemed that the voices of women and angels clamoured one against theother, --the appeals of earth with the refusals of Heaven, --theloneliness of life with the fulness of immortality, --so, rising, falling, sobbing, praying, alternately, the music expostulated withhumanity in its throbbing chords, till it seemed as if some Divineinterposition could alone end the heart-searching argument. Every mansat motionless and mute, listening; Paul Zouche, with his head thrownback and eyes closed as in a dream, --Johan Zegota's hard, plain andcareworn face growing softer and quieter in its expression, --whileSergius Thord, leaning on one elbow, covered his brow with one hand toshade the lines of sorrow there. 

When Valdor ceased playing, there was a burst of applause. 

"You play before kings, --kings should be proud to hear you!" saidLeroy. 

"Ah! So they should, " responded Valdor promptly; "Only it happens thatthey are not! They treat me merely as a _laquais de place_, --justas they would treat Zouche, had he accepted his Sovereign's offer. Butthis I will admit, --that mediocre musicians always get on very wellwith Royal persons! I have heard a very great Majesty indeed praise acommon little American woman's abominable singing, as though she were aprima-donna, and saw him give a jewelled cigar-case to an amateurpianist, whose fingers rattled on the keyboard like bones on a tom-tom. But then the common little American woman invited his Majesty's 'chèresamies' to her house; and the amateur pianist was content to lose moneyto him at cards! Wheels within wheels, my friend! In a lesser degreethe stock-jobber who sets a little extra cash rolling on the Exchangeis called an 'Empire Builder. ' It is a curious world! But kings werenever known to be 'proud' of any really 'great' men in either art orliterature; on the contrary, they were always afraid of them, andalways will be! Among musicians, the only one who ever got decentlyhonoured by a monarch was Richard Wagner, --and the world swears that_his_ Royal patron was mad!"

Paul Zouche opened his eyes, filled his glass afresh, and tossed downthe liquor it contained at a gulp. 

"Before we have any more music, " he said, "and before the littlePequita gives us the dance which she has promised, --not to us, but toLotys--we ought to have prayers!"

A loud laugh answered this strange proposition. 

"I say we ought to have prayers!" repeated Zouche with semi-solemnearnestness, --"You talk of news, --news in telegram, --news in brief, --official scratchings for the day and hour, --and do you take no thoughtfor the fact that his Holiness the Pope is ill--perhaps dying?"

He stared wildly round upon them all; and a tolerant smile passed overthe face of the company. 

"Well, if that be so, Paul, " said a man next to him, "it is not to bewondered at. The Pope has arrived at a great age!"

"No age at all!--no age at all!" declared Zouche. "A saint of Godshould live longer than a pauper! What of the good old lady admitted tohospital the other day whose birth certificate proved her beyond doubtto be one hundred and twenty-one years old? The dear creature had notmarried;--nor has his Holiness the Pope, --the real cause of death isin neither of them! Why should he not live as long as his aged sister, possessing, as he does the keys of Heaven? He need not unlock thelittle golden door, even for himself, unless he likes. That is trueorthodoxy! Pasquin Leroy, you bold imitation of a king, more wine!"

Leroy filled the glass he held out to him. The glances of the companytold him Zouche was 'on, ' and that it was no good trying to stem theflow of his ideas, or check the inconsequential nature of his speech. Lotys had moved her chair a little back from the table, and with botharms encircling the child, Pequita, was talking to her in low andtender tones. 

"Brethren, let us pray!" cried Zouche; "For all we know, while we sithere carousing and drinking to the health of our incomparable Lotys, the soul of St. Peter's successor may be careering through Sphere-Forests, and over Planet-Oceans, up to its own specially built andparticularly furnished Heaven! There is only one Heaven, as we allknow, --and the space is limited, as it only holds the followers of St. Peter, the good disciple who denied Christ!"

"That is an exploded creed, Zouche, " said Thord quietly; "No man of anysense or reason believes such childish nonsense nowadays! The mostcasual student of astronomy knows better. "

"Astronomy! Fie, for shame!" And Zouche gave a mock-solemn shake of thehead; "A wicked science! A great heresy! What are God's Facts to theChurch Fallacies? Science proves that there are millions and millionsof solar systems, --millions and millions of worlds, no doubtinhabited;--yet the Church teaches that there is only one Heaven, specially reserved for good Roman Catholics; and that St. Peter and hissuccessors keep the keys of it. God, --the Deity--the Creator, --theSupreme Being, has evidently nothing at all to do with it. In fact, Heis probably outside it! And of a surety Christ, with His ideas ofhonesty and equality, could never possibly get into it!"

"There you are right!" said Valdor; "Your words remind me of aconversation I overheard once between a great writer of books and acertain Prince of the blood Royal. 'Life is a difficult problem!' saidthe Prince, smoking a fat cigar. 'To the student, it is, Sir, ' repliedthe author; 'But to the sensualist, it is no more than the mud-stye ofthe swine, --he noses the refuse and is happy! He has no need of theHigher life, and plainly the Higher life has no need of him. Ofcourse, ' he added with covert satire, 'your Highness believes in aHigher life?' 'Of course, of course!' responded the Royal creature, unconscious of any veiled sarcasm; 'We must be Christians beforeanything!' And that same evening this hypocritical Highness 'rooked' afoolish young fellow of over one thousand English pounds!"

"Perfectly natural!" said Zouche. "The fashionable estimate ofChristianity is to go to church o' Sundays, and say 'I believe in God, 'and to cheat at cards on all the other days of the week, as activetestimony to a stronger faith in the devil!"

"And with it all, Zouche, " said Lotys suddenly; "There is more good inhumanity than is apparent. "

"And more bad, beloved Lotys, " returned Paul. "Tout le deux se disent!But let us think of the Holy Father!--he who, after long years ofpatient and sublime credulity, is now, for all we know, bracing himselfto take the inevitable plunge into the dark waters of Eternity! Poorfrail old man! Who would not pity him! His earthly home has been sosmall and cosy and restricted, --he has been taken such tender care of--the faithful have fallen at his feet in such adoring thousands, --andnow--away from all this warmth and light and incense, and colour ofpictures and stained-glass windows, and white statuary and purplevelvets, and golden-fringed palanquins, --now--out into the cold he mustgo!--out into the darkness and mystery and silence!--where all theformer generations of the world, immense and endless, and all the oldreligions, are huddled away in the mist of the mouldered past!--outinto the thick blackness, where maybe the fiery heads of Bel and theDragon may lift themselves upward and leer at him!--or he may meet thefrightful menace of some monstrous Mexican deity, once worshipped withthe rites of blood!--out--out into the unknown, unimaginable Amazementmust the poor naked Soul go shuddering on the blast of death, to facehe truly knows not what!--but possibly he has such a pitiful blindtrust in good, that he may be re-transformed into some pleasant livingconsciousness that shall be more agreeable even than that of Pope ofRome! 'Mourir c'est rien, --mais souffrir!' That is the hard part of it!Let us all pray for the Pope, my friends!--he is an old man!"

"When you are silent, Zouche, " said Thord with a half smile; "We mayperhaps meditate upon him in our thoughts, --but not while you talk thusvolubly! You take up time--and Pequita is getting tired. "

"Yes, " said Lotys; "Pequita and I will go home, and there will be nodancing to-night. "

"No, Lotys! You will not be so cruel!" said Zouche, pushing his greyhair back from his brows, while his wild eyes glittered under thetangle, like the eyes of a beast in its lair; "Think for a moment! I donot come here and bore you with my poems, though I might very well doso! Some of them are worth hearing, I assure you;--even the King--curse him!--has condescended to think so, or else why should he offerme pay for them? Kings are not so ready to part with money, even whenit is Government money! In England once a Premier named Gladstone, gavetwo hundred and fifty pounds a year pension to the French Prince, Lucien Buonaparte, 'for his researches into Celtic literature'! Bah!There were many worthier native-born men who had worked harder on thesame subject, to choose from, --without giving good English money to aFrenchman! There is a case of your Order and Justice, Lotys! You spoketo-night of these two impossible things. Why will you touch on suchsubjects? You know there is no Order and no Justice anywhere! TheUniverse is a chance whirl of gas and atoms; though where the twomischiefs come from nobody knows! And why the devil we should be madethe prey of gas and atoms is a mystery which no Church can solve!"

As he said this, there was a slight movement of every head towardsLotys, and enquiring eyes looked suggestively at her. She saw the look, and responded to it. 

"You are wrong, Zouche!--I have always told you you are wrong, " shesaid emphatically, "It is in your own disordered thoughts that you seeno justice and no order, --but Order there is, and Justice there is, --and Compensation for all that seems to go wrong. There is anIntelligence at the core of Creation! It is not for us to measure thatIntelligence, or to set any limits to it. Our duty is to recognize it, and to set ourselves as much as possible in harmony with it. Do younever, in sane moments, study the progress of humanity? Do you not seethat while the brute creation remains stationary, (some specimens of iteven becoming extinct), man goes step by step to higher results? Thisis, or should be, sufficient proof that death is not the end for us. This world is only one link in our chain of intended experience. Ithink it depends on ourselves as to what we make of it. Thought is agreat power by which we mould ourselves and others; and we have noright to subvert that power to base uses, or to poison it by distrustof good, or disbelief in the Supreme Guidance. You would be a thousandtimes better as a man, Zouche, and far greater as a poet, if you couldbelieve in God!"

She spoke with eloquence and affectionate earnestness, and among allthe men there was a moment's silence. 

"Well, _you_ believe in Him;" said Zouche at last, "and I willcatch hold of your angel's robe as you pass into His Presence and sayto Him;--' Here comes poor Zouche, who wrote of beautiful things amongugly surroundings, and who, in order to be true to his friends, chosepoverty rather than the gold of a king!'"

Lotys smiled, very sweetly and indulgently. 

"Such a plea would stand you in good stead, Zouche! To be always trueto one's friends, and to persistently believe in beauty, is a very longstep towards Heaven!"

"I did not say I _believed_ in beauty, " said Zouche suddenly andobstinately;--"I dream it--I think it--but I do not see it! To me theworld is one Horror--nothing but a Grave into which we all must fall!The fairest face has a hideous skull behind it, --the dazzling blue ofthe sea covers devouring monsters in its depths--the green fields, thelovely woodlands, are full of vile worms and noxious beetles, --andspace itself swarms with thick-strewn worlds, --flaming comets, --blazingnebulae, --among which our earth is but a gnat's wing in a huge flame!Horrible!--horrible!" And he spoke with a kind of vehement fury. "Letus not think of it! Why should we insist on Truth? Let us have lies!--dear, sweet lies and fond delusions! Let us believe that men are allhonest, and women all loving!--that there are virgins and saints andangels, as well as bishops and curates, looking after us in this wildworld of terror, --oh, yes!--let us believe!--better the Pope's littleprivate snuggery of a Heaven, than the crushing truth which says 'OurGod is a consuming fire'! Knowledge deepens sorrow, --truth kills!--wemust--we must have a little love, and a few lies to lean upon!"

His voice faltered, --and a sudden ashy paleness overspread hisfeatures, --his head fell back helplessly, and he seemed transfixed andinsensible. Leroy and one or two of the others rose in alarm, thinkinghe had swooned, but Sergius Thord warned them back by a sign. Thelittle Pequita, slipping from the arms of Lotys, went softly up to him. 

"Paul! Dear Paul!" she said in her soft childish tones. 

Zouche stirred, and stretching out one hand, groped with it blindly inthe air. Pequita took it, warming it between her own little palms. 

"Paul!" she said; "Do wake up! You have been asleep such a long time!"

He opened his eyes. The grey pallor passed from his face; he lifted hishead and smiled. 

"So! There you are, Pequita!" he said gently; "Dear little one! Sobrave and cheerful in your hard life!"

He lifted her small brown hand, and kissed it. The feverish tension ofhis brain relaxed, --and two large tears welled up in his eyes, androlled down his cheeks. "Poor little girl!" he murmured weakly; "Poorlittle hard-working girl!"

All the men sat silent, watching the gradual softening of Zouche'sdrunken delirium by the mere gentle caress of the child; and PasquinLeroy was conscious of a curious tightening of the muscles of histhroat, and a straining compassion at his heart, which was more likeacute sympathy with the griefs and sins of humanity than any emotion hehad ever known. He saw that the thoughtful, pitiful eyes of Lotys werefull of tears, and he longed, in quite a foolish, almost boyishfashion, to take her in his arms and by a whispered word of tenderness, persuade those tears away. Yet he was a man of the world, and had seenand known enough. But had he known them humanly? Or only from the usualstandpoint of masculine egotism? As he thought this, a strain of sweetand solemn music stole through the room, --Louis Valdor had risen tohis feet, and holding the violin tenderly against his heart, wascoaxing out of its wooden cavity a plaintive request for sympathy andattention. Such delicious music thrilled upon the dead silence as mighthave fitted Shelley's exquisite lines. 

 "There the voluptuous nightingales, Are awake through all the broad noon-day, When one with bliss or sadness fails, And through the windless ivy-boughs Sick with sweet love, droops dying away On its mate's music-panting bosom; Another from the swinging blossom, Watching to catch the languid close Of the last strain; then lifts on high The wings of the weak melody, Till some new strain of feeling bear The song, and all the woods are mute; When there is heard through the dim air The rush of wings, and rising there Like many a lake-surrounded flute Sounds overflow the listener's brain, So sweet that joy is almost pain. "

"Thank God for music!" said Sergius Thord, as Valdor laid aside hisbow; "It exorcises the evil spirit from every modern Saul!"

"Sometimes!" responded Valdor; "But I have known cases where the evilspirit has been roused by music instead of suppressed. Art, likevirtue, has two sides!"

Zouche was still holding Pequita's hand. He looked ill and exhausted, like a man who had passed through a violent paroxysm of fever. 

"You are a good child, Pequita!" he was saying softly; "Try to bealways so!--it is difficult--but it is easier to a woman than to a man!Women have more of good in them than men!"

"How about the dance?" suggested Thord; "The hour is late, --close onmidnight--and Lotys must be tired. "

"Shall I dance now?" enquired Pequita. 

Lotys smiled and nodded. Four or five of the company at once got up, and helped to push aside the table. 

"Will you play for me, Monsieur Valdor?" asked the little girl, stillstanding by the side of Zouche. 

"Of course, my child! What shall it be? Something to suggest a fairyhopping over mushrooms in the moonlight?--or Shakespeare's Arielswinging on a cobweb from a bunch of may?"

Pequita considered, and for a moment did not reply, while Zouche, stillholding her little brown hand, kissed it again. 

"You are very fond of dancing?" asked Pasquin Leroy, looking at herdark face and big black eyes with increasing interest. 

She smiled frankly at him. 

"Yes! I would like to dance before the King!"

"Fie, fie, Pequita!" cried Johan Zegota, while murmurs of laughter andplayful cries of 'Shame, Shame' echoed through the room. 

"Why not?" said Pequita; "It would do me good, and my father too! Suchpoor, sad people come to the theatre where I dance, --they love to seeme, and I love to dance for them--but then--they too would be pleasedif I could dance at the Royal Opera, because they would know I couldthen earn enough money to make my father comfortable. "

"What a very matter-of-fact statement in favour of kings!" exclaimedMax Graub;--"Here is a child who does not care a button for a king asking; but she thinks he would be useful as a figure-head to dance to, --for idiotic Fashion, grouping itself idiotically around the figure-head, would want to see her dance also--and then--oh simpleconclusion!--she would be able to support her father! Truly, a king hasoften been put to worse uses!"

"I think, " said Pasquin Leroy, "I could manage to get you a trial atthe Royal Opera, Pequita! I know the manager. "

She looked up with a sudden blaze of light in her eyes, sprang towardshim, dropped on one knee with an exquisite grace, and kissed his hand. 

"Oh!--you will be goodness itself!" she cried;--"And I will begrateful--indeed I will!--so grateful!"

He was startled and amazed at her impulsive action, and taking herlittle hand, gently pressed it. 

"Poor child!" he said;--"You must not thank me till I succeed. It isvery little to do--but I will do all I can. "

"Someone else will be grateful too!" said Lotys in her rich thrillingvoice; and her eyes rested on him with that wonderful magneticsweetness which drew his soul out of him as by a spell; while Zouche, only partially understanding the conversation said slowly:--

"Pequita deserves all the good she can get; more than any of us. We donothing but try to support ourselves; and we talk a vast amount aboutsupporting others, --but Pequita works all the time and says nothing. And she is a genius--she does not know it, but she is. Give us theDagger Dance, Pequita! Then our friend Leroy can judge of you at yourbest, and make good report of you. "

Pequita looked at Lotys and received a sign of assent. She then noddedto Valdor. 

"You know what to play?"

Valdor nodded in return, and took up his violin. The company drew backtheir seats, and sat, or stood aside, from the centre of the room. Pequita disappeared for a moment, and returned divested of the plainrusty black frock she had worn, and merely clad in a short scarletpetticoat, with a low white calico bodice--her dark curls tumbling indisorder, and grasping in her right hand a brightly polished, unsheathed dagger. Valdor began to play, and with the first wild chordsthe childish figure swayed, circled, and leaped forward like a youngAmazon, the dagger brandished aloft, and gleaming here and there asthough it were a snaky twist of lightning. Very soon Pasquin Leroyfound himself watching the evolutions of the girl dancer withfascinated interest. Nothing so light, so delicate or so graceful hadhe ever seen as this little slight form bending to and fro, now glidingwith the grace of a swan on water--now leaping swiftly as a fawn, --while the attitudes she threw herself into, sometimes threatening, sometimes defiant, and often commanding, with the glittering steelweapon held firmly in her tiny hand, were each and all pictures ofyouthful pliancy and animation. As she swung and whirled, --sometimespirouetting so swiftly that her scarlet skirt looked like a mere redflower in the wind, --her bright eyes flashed, her dark hair tangleditself in still richer masses, and her lips, crimson as thepomegranate, were half parted with her panting breath. 

"Brava! Brava!" shouted the men, becoming more and more excited astheir eyes followed the flash of the dagger she held, now directedtowards them, now shaken aloft, and again waved threateningly from sideto side, or pointed at her own bosom, while her little feet twinkledover the floor in a maze of intricate and perfectly performed steps;--and "Brava!" cried Pasquin Leroy, as breathless, but still glowing andbright with her exertions, she suddenly out of her own impulse, droppedon one knee before him with the glittering dagger pointed straight athis heart!

"Would that please the King?" she asked, her pearly teeth gleaming intoa mischievous smile between the red lips. 

"If it did not, he would be a worse fool than even I take him for!"replied Leroy, as she sprang up again, and confronted him. "Here is alittle souvenir from me, child!--and if ever you do dance before hisMajesty, wear it for my sake!"

He took from his pocket a ring, in which was set a fine brilliant ofunusual size and lustre. 

She looked at it a moment as he held it out to her. 

"Oh, no, " she faltered, "I cannot take it--I cannot! Lotys dear, youknow I cannot!"

Lotys, thus appealed to, left her seat and came forward. Taking thering from Leroy's hand, she examined it a moment, then gently returnedit. 

"This is too great a temptation for Pequita, my friend, " she saidquietly, but firmly. "In duty bound, she would have to sell it in orderto help her poor father. She could not justly keep it. Let me be thearbiter in this matter. If you can carry out your suggestion, andobtain for her an engagement at the Royal Opera, then give it to her, but not till then! Do you not think I am right?"

She spoke so sweetly and persuasively, that Leroy was profoundlytouched. What he would have liked would have been to give the child aroll of gold pieces, --but he was playing a strange part, and the timeto act openly was not yet. 

"It shall be as you wish, Madame!" he said with courteous deference. "Pequita, the first time you dance before the King, this shall beyours!"

He put aside the jewel, and Pequita kissed his hand impulsively, --asimpulsively she kissed the lips of her friend Lotys--and then came thegeneral dispersal and break-up of the assembly. 

"Tell me;" said Sergius Thord, catching Leroy's hand in a close andfriendly grasp ere bidding him farewell; "Are you in very truth inpersonal danger on account of serving our Cause?"

"No!" replied Leroy frankly, returning the warm pressure; "And restassured that if I were, I would find means to elude it! I have managedto frighten Carl Pérousse, that is all--and Jost!"

"Jost!" echoed Sergius; "The Colossus of the Press? Surely it wouldtake more than one man to frighten him!"

Leroy laughed. 

"I grant you the Jewish centres of journalism are difficult to shake!But they all depend on stocks and shares!"

A touch on his arm caused him to turn round, --Paul Zouche confrontedboth him and Thord, with a solemn worn face, and lack-lustre eyes. 

"Good-night, friends!" he said; "I have not kicked at a king with myboot, but I have with my brain!--and the effort is exhausting! I amgoing home to bed. "

"Where is your home?" asked Leroy suddenly. 

Zouche looked mysterious. 

"In a palace, dear sir! A palace of golden air, peopled with wingeddreams! No money could purchase it;--no 'Empire Builder' could buildit!--it is mine and mine alone! And I pay no taxes!"

"Will you put this to some use for me?" said Leroy, holding out a goldpiece; "Simply as comrade and friend?"

Zouche stared at him. 

"You mean it?"

"Of course I mean it! Zouche, believe me, you are going to be thefashion! You will be able to do _me_ a good turn before long!"

Zouche took the gold piece, and as he took it, pressed the giver'shand. 

"You mean well!" he said tremulously; "You know--as Sergius does, thatI am poor, --often starving--often drunk--but you know also that thereis something _here_!"--and he touched his forehead meaningly. "Butto be the 'fashion'! Bah! I do not belong to the Trade-ocracy! Nobodybecomes the 'fashion' nowadays unless they have cheated theirneighbours by short weight and falsified accounts! Good-night! Youmight be the King from your looks;--but you have something better thankingship--Heart! Good-night, Pequita! You danced well! Good-night, Lotys! You spoke well! Everyone does everything well, except poorZouche!"

Pequita ran up to him. 

"Good-night, dear Paul!"

He stooped and kissed her gently. 

"Good-night, little one! If ever you show your twinkling feet at theOpera, _you_ will be the 'fashion'--and will you remember Paulthen?"

"Always--always!" said Pequita tenderly; "Father and Lotys and I willalways love you!"

Zouche gave a short laugh. 

"Always love me! Me! Well!--what strange things children will say, notknowing in the least what they mean!"

He gave a vague salute to the entire company, and walked out of thetavern with drooping head. Others followed him, --every man in going, shook hands with Lotys and Sergius Thord, --the lamps were extinguished, and the landlord standing in the porch of his tavern watched them allfile out, and bade them all a cordial farewell. Pequita's home was withher father in the house where Sergius Thord dwelt, and Lotys kissingher tenderly good-night, left her to Thord's care. 

"And who will see you home, Lotys?" enquired Thord. 

"May I for once have that honour?" asked Pasquin Leroy. His twocompanions stared in undisguised amazement, and there was a moment'ssilence. 

Then Lotys spoke. 

"You may!" she said simply. 

There was another silence while she put on her hat, and wrapped herselfin her long dark cloak. Then Thord took Pequita by the hand. 

"Good-night, Lotys!"

"Good-night, Sergius!"

Leroy turned to his two friends and spoke to them in a low tone. 

"Go your ways!" he said peremptorily; "I will join you later!"

Vain were their alarmed looks of remonstrance; and in another momentall the party had separated, and only Max Graub and Axel Regor remainedon the pavement outside the tavern, disconsolately watching two figuresdisappearing in the semi-shadowed moonlight--Pasquin Leroy and Lotys--walking closely side by side. 

"Was there ever such a drama as this?" muttered Graub, "He may lose hislife at any moment!"

"If he does, " responded Regor, "It will not be our fault. We do ourbest to guard him from the consequence of one folly, --and hestraightway runs into another! There is no help for it; we have swornto obey him, and we must keep our oath!"

They passed slowly along the street, too absorbed in their ownuncomfortable reflections for the interchange of many words. By therules of the Revolutionary Committee, they were not allowed 'to followor track any other member' so they were careful to walk in a reversedirection to that taken by their late comrades. The great bell of theCathedral boomed midnight as they climbed towards the citadel, and thepale moon peeping whitely through piled-up fleecy clouds, shed a silverglare upon the quiet sea. And down into the 'slums, ' down, and everdeeper, into the sad and cheerless 'Quarter of the Poor' Pasquin Leroywalked as though he trod lightly on a path of flowers, --his heartbeating high, and his soul fully awakened within him, thrilled, he knewnot why, to the heart's core by the soft low voice of Lotys, --and gladthat in the glimpses of the moonlight her eyes were occasionally liftedto his face, with something of a child's trust, if not of a woman'stenderness. 

CHAPTER XXI

AN INVITATION TO COURT

The spring was now advancing into full summer, and some time had passedsince the Socialist party had gathered under their leaders to the voiceof Lotys. Troublous days appeared to be impending for the Senate, andrumours of War, --war sometimes apparently imminent, and again suddenlyaverted, --had from time to time worried the public through the Press. But what was even more disturbing to the country, was the proposedinfliction of new, heavy and irritating taxes, which had begun toaffect the popular mind to the verge of revolt. Twice since Lotys hadspoken at the People's Assembly Rooms had Sergius Thord addressed hugemass meetings, which apparently the police had no orders to disperse, and his power over the multitude was increasing by leaps and bounds. Whenever he spoke, wherever he worked, the indefatigable Pasquin Leroywas constantly at his side, and he, in his turn began to be recognizedby the Revolutionary Committee as one of their most energetic members, --able, resolute, and above all, of an invaluably inscrutable and self-contained demeanour. His two comrades were not so effectual in theirassistance, and appeared to act merely in obedience to hisinstructions. Their attitude, however, suited everyone concerned aswell as, if not better than, if they had been overzealous. Owing towhat Leroy had stated concerning the possibility of his arrest as aspy, his name was never mentioned in public by one single member of theBrotherhood; and to the outside Socialist following, he thereforeappeared simply as one of the many who worked under Sergius Thord'scommand. Meanwhile, there were not lacking many other subjects forpopular concern and comment; all of which in their turn gave rise toanxious discussion and vague conjecture. A Cabinet Council had beenheld by the Premier, at which, without warning, the King had attendedpersonally, but the results were not made known to the public. Yet thegeneral impression was that his Majesty seemed to be perfectlyindifferent to the feelings or the well-being of his subjects; in fact, as some of them said with dismal shakings of the head, "It was all apart of the system; kings were not allowed to do anything even for thebenefit of their people. " And rising Socialism, ever growing stronger, and amassing in its ranks all the youthful and ambitious intellects ofthe time, agreed and swore that it was time for a Republic. Only by acomplete change of Government could the cruelly-increasing taxation beput down; and if Government was to be changed, why not the dummyfigure-head of Government as well?

Thus Rumour talked, sometimes in whispers--sometimes in shouts;--butthrough it all the life of the Court and fashion went on in the sameway, --the King continued to receive with apparent favour the mostsuccessful and most moneyed men from all parts of the world; the Queendrove or walked, or rode;--and the only prospective change in thesocial routine was the report that the Crown Prince was about to leavethe country for a tour round the world, and that he would start on hisjourney in his own yacht about the end of the month. The newspapersmade a great fuss in print over this projected tour; but the actualpeople were wholly indifferent to it. They had seen very little of theCrown Prince, --certainly not enough to give him their affection; andwhether he left the kingdom or stayed in it concerned them not at all. He had done nothing marked or decisive in his life to show eithertalent, originality of character, or resolution; and the many 'puffs'in the press concerning him, were scarcely read at all by the public, or if they were, they were not credited. The expression of an ordinaryworking-man with regard to his position was entirely typical of thegeneral popular sentiment;--"If he would only do something to prove hehad a will of his own, and a mind, he would perhaps be able to set theThrone more firmly on its legs than it is at present. "

How thoroughly the young man _had_ proved that he indeed possessed'a will of his own, ' was not yet disclosed to the outside critics ofhis life and conduct. Only the King and Queen, and Professor vonGlauben knew it;--for even Sir Roger de Launay had not been entrustedwith the story of his secret marriage. The Queen had received the newswith her usual characteristic immobility. A faint cold smile had partedher lips as she listened to the story of her son's romance, --and herreply to the King's brief explanation was almost as brief:--

"Nearly all the aristocracy marry music-hall women!" she said; "Oneshould therefore be grateful that a Crown Prince does not go lower inhis matrimonial choice than an innocent little peasant!"

"The marriage is useless, of course, " said the King; "It has satisfiedHumphry's exalted notions of honour; but it can never be acknowledgedor admitted. "

"Of course not!" she agreed languidly; "It certainly clears up themystery of The Islands, which you were so anxious to visit;--and Isuppose the next thing you will do is to marry him again to somedaughter of a Royal house?"

"Most assuredly!"

"As _you_ were married to _me?_" she said, raising her eyesto his face with that strange deep look which spoke eloquently of somemystery hidden in her soul. 

His cheeks burned with an involuntary flush. He bowed. 

"Precisely! As I married you!" he replied. 

"The experiment was hardly successful!" she said with her little coldsmile. "I fear you have often regretted it!"

He looked at her, studying her beauty intently, --and the remembrance ofanother face, far less fair of feature, but warm and impassioned by thelovely light of sympathy and tenderness, came between his eyes andhers, like a heavenly vision. 

"Had you loved me, " he said slowly, "I might never have known what itwas to need love!"

A slight tremor ran through her veins. There was a strange tone in hisvoice, --a soft cadence to which she was unaccustomed, --something thatsuggested a new emotion in his life, and a deeper experience. 

"I never loved anyone in my life!" she answered calmly--"And now thedays are past for loving. Humphry, however, has made up for my lack ofthe tender passion!"

She turned away indifferently, and appeared to dismiss the matteraltogether from her mind. The first time she saw her son, however, after hearing of his marriage, she looked at him curiously. 

"And so your wife is very lovely, Humphry!" she said with a slightlyderisive smile. 

He was not startled by the suddenness of her observation nor put out byit. 

"She is the loveliest woman I have ever seen, --not excepting yourself, "he replied. 

"It is a very foolish affair!" she continued composedly; "Butfortunately in our line of life such things are easily arranged;--andyour future will not be spoiled by it. I am glad you are going abroad, as you will very soon forget!"

The Prince regarded her steadfastly with something of grave wondermentas well as compassion, --but he made no reply, and with the briefestexcuse left her presence as soon as possible, in order to avoid furtherconversation on the subject. She, herself, however, found her mindcuriously perturbed and full of conjectures concerning her son'sidyllic love-story, in which all considerations for her as Queen andmother seemed omitted, --and where she, as it were, appeared to be shutoutside a lover's paradise, the delights of which she had neverexperienced. The King held many private conferences with her on thematter, in which sometimes Professor von Glauben was permitted toshare;--and the upshot of these numerous discussions resulted in ascheme which was as astonishing in its climax as it was unexpected. Over and over again it has been proved to nations as well as toindividuals, that the whole course of events may be changed by thefixed determination of one resolute mind; but it is not often that themoral force of a mere girl succeeds in competing with the authority ofkings and parliaments. But so it chanced on this occasion, and in thefollowing manner. 

One glorious early morning, the sun having risen without a cloud in thedeep blue of the sky, and the sea being as calm as an inland lake, theKing's yacht was seen to weigh anchor and steam away at her fullestspeed towards The Islands. Little or no preparation had been made forher short voyage; there was no Royal party on board, and the onlypassenger was Professor von Glauben. He sat solitary on deck in aluxurious chair, smoking his meerschaum pipe, and dubiously consideringthe difficult and peculiar situation in which he was placed. He made noattempt to calculate the possible success or failure of his mission--'for, ' said he very sagely, 'it all depends on a woman, and God aloneknows what a woman will do! Her ways are dark and wonderful, andaltogether beyond the limit of the comprehension of man!'

His journey was undertaken at the King's command; and equally by theKing's command he had been compelled to keep it a secret from PrinceHumphry. He had never been to The Islands since the King's 'surprisevisit' there, and he was of course not aware that Gloria now knew thereal rank and position of her supposed 'sailor' husband. He was atpresent charged to break the news to her, and bring her straightway tothe palace, there to confront both the King and Queen, and learn fromthem the true state of affairs. 

"It is a cruel ordeal, " he said, shaking his head sorrowfully; "Yet Imyself am a party to its being tried. For once in my life I have pinnedmy faith on the unspoilt soul of an unworldly woman. I wonder what willcome of it? It rests entirely with Gloria herself, and with no one elsein the world!"

As the yacht arrived at its destination and dropped anchor at somedistance from the pier, owing to the shallowness of the tide at thathour of the day, The Islands presented a fair aspect in the dancingbeams of the summer sunlight. Numbers of fruit trees were bursting intoblossom, --the apple, the cherry, the pink almond and the orange blossomall waved together and whispered sweetness to one another in the pureair, and the full-flowering mimosa perfumed every breath of wind. Fishermen were grouped here and there on the shore, mending or dryingtheir nets; and in the fields beyond could be perceived many workerspruning the hedges or guiding the plough. The vision of a perfectArcadia was presented to the eye; and so the Professor thought, asgetting into the boat lowered for him, he was rowed from the yacht tothe landing-place, and there dismissed the sailors, warning them thatat the first sound of his whistle they should swiftly come for himagain. 

"What a pity to spoil her peace of mind--her simplicity of life!" hethought, as he walked at a slow and reluctant pace towards Ronsard'scottage; "And I fear we shall have trouble with the old man! I wonderif his philosophy will stand hard wear and tear!"

The pretty, low timber-raftered house confronted him at the next bendin the road, and presented a charming aspect of tranquillity. The grassin front of it was smooth as velvet and emerald-green, and in one ofthe flower borders Ronsard himself was digging and planting. He lookedup as he heard the gate open, but did not attempt to interrupt hiswork;--and Von Glauben advanced towards him with a considerable senseof anxiety and insecurity in his mind. Anon he paused in the very actof greeting, as the old man turned his strong, deeply-furrowedcountenance upon him with a look of fierce indignation and scorn. 

"So! You are here!" he said; "Have you come to look upon the evil yourRoyal master has worked? Or to make dutiful obeisance to Gloria asCrown-Princess?"

Von Glauben was altogether taken aback. 

"Then--you know--?" he stammered. 

"Oh yes, I know!" responded Ronsard sternly and bitterly; "I knoweverything! There has been full confession! If the husband of my Gloriawere more prince than man, my knife would have slit his throat! But heis more man than prince!--and I have let him live--for her sake!"

"Well--that is so far good!" said Von Glauben, wiping the perspirationfrom his brow, and heaving a deep sigh of relief; "And as you fullycomprehend the situation, it saves me the trouble of explaining it! Youare a philosopher, Ronsard! Permit me to remind you of that fact! Youknow, like myself, that what is done, even if it is done foolishly, cannot be undone!"

"I know it! Who should know it so well as I!" and Ronsard set adelicate rose-tree roughly in the hole he had dug for it, and began tofiercely pile in the earth around it;--"Fate is fate, and there is nogainsaying it! The law of Compensation will always have its way! Lookyou, man!--and listen! I, Réné Ronsard, once killed a king!--and now inmy old age, the only creature I ever loved is tricked by the son of aking! It is just! So be it!"

He bent his white head over his digging again, and Von Glauben was fora moment silent, vaguely amazed and stupefied by this suddendeclaration of a past crime. 

"You should not say 'tricked, ' my friend!" he at last ventured toremark; "Prince Humphry is an honest lad;--he means to keep his word!"

Ronsard looked up, his eyes gleaming with fury. 

"Keep his word? Bah! How can he? Who in this wide realm will give himthe honourable liberty to keep his word? Will he acknowledge Gloria ashis wife before the nation?--she a foundling and a castaway? Will hemake her his future queen? Not he! He will forsake her, and live withanother woman, in sin which the law will sanctify!"

He went on planting the rose-tree, then, --dropping his spade, --tossedup his head and hands with a wild gesture. 

"What, and who is this God who so ordains our destiny!" he exclaimed;"For surely this is His work, --not mine! Hidden away from all the worldwith my life's secret buried in my soul, I, without wife, or childrenor friends, or any soul on earth to care whether I lived or died, wassent an angel comforter;--the child I rescued from the sea! 'Gloria, Gloria in excelsis Deo!' the choristers sang in the church when I foundher! I thought it true! With her, --in every action, in every thoughtand word, I strove, --and have faithfully striven, --to atone for my pastcrime;--for I was forced through others to kill that king! When provedguilty of the deed, I was told by my associates to assume madness, --amere matter of acting, --and, being adjudged as insane, I was sent withother criminals on a convict ship, bound for a certain coast-prison, where we were all to be kept for life. The ship was wrecked off therocks yonder, and it was reported that every soul on board went down, but I escaped--only I, --for what inscrutable reason God alone knows!Finding myself saved and free, I devoted my life to hard work, and todoing all the good I could think of to atone--to atone--always toatone! Then the child was sent to me; and I thought it was a sign thatmy penance was accepted; but no!--no!--the compensating curse falls, --not on me, --not on me, for if only so, I would welcome it--but on Her!--the child of my love--the heart of my heart!--on Her!"

He turned away his face, and a hard sob broke from his labouring chest. Von Glauben laid a gentle, protective hand on his shoulder. 

"Ronsard, be a man!" he said in a kind, firm voice; "This is the firsttime you have told me your true history--and--I shall respect yourconfidence! You have suffered much--equally you have loved much! Doubtnot that you are forgiven much. But why should you assume, or foreseeunhappiness for Gloria? Why talk of a curse where perhaps there is onlyan intended blessing? Is she unhappy, that you are thus moved?"

Ronsard furtively dashed away the tears from his eyes. 

"She? Gloria unhappy? No, --not yet! The delights of spring and summerhave met in her smile, --her eyes, her movements! It was she herself whotold me all! If he had told me, I would have killed him!"

"Eminently sensible!" said Von Glauben, recovering his usual phlegmaticcalm; "You would have killed the man she loves best in the world. Andso with perfect certainty you would have killed her as well, --andprobably yourself afterwards. A perfect slaughterhouse, like the lastscene in Hamlet, by the so admirable Shakespeare! It is better as itis. Life is really very pleasant!"

He sniffed the perfumed air, --listened with appreciation to thetrilling of a bird swinging on a bough of apple-blossom above him, andbegan to feel quite easy in his mind. Half his mission was done forhim, Prince Humphry having declared himself in his true colours. "Ialways said, " mused the Professor, "that he was a very honest youngman! And I think he will be honest to the end. " Aloud he asked:

"When did you know the truth?"

"Some days since, " replied Ronsard. "He--Gloria's husband--I can as yetcall him by no other name--came suddenly one evening;--the two went outtogether as usual, and then--then my child returned alone. She told meall, --of the disguise he had assumed--and of his real identity--and I--well! I think I was mad! I know I spoke and acted like a madman!"

"Nay, rather say like a philosopher!" murmured Von Glauben with ahumorous smile; "Remember, my good fellow, that there is no human beingwho loses self-control more easily and rapidly than he who proclaimsthe advantage of keeping it! And what did Gloria say to you?"

Ronsard looked up at the tranquil skies, and was for a moment silent. Then he answered. 

"Gloria is--just Gloria! There is no woman like her, --there never willbe any woman like her! She said nothing at all while I raged andswore;--she stood before me white and silent, --grand and calm, likesome great angel. Then when I cursed _him, _--she raised her hand, and like a queen she said: 'I forbid you to utter one word againsthim!' I stood before her mute and foolish. 'I forbid you!' She, --thechild I reared and nurtured--menaced me with her 'command' as though Iwere her slave and servant! You see I have lost her!--she is not mineany more--she is _his_--to be treated as he wills, and made thetoy of his pleasure! She does not know the world, but I know it! I knowthe misery that is in store for her! But there is yet time--and I willlive to avenge her wrong!"

"Possibly there will be no wrong to avenge, " said Von Glaubencomposedly; "But if there is, I have no doubt you would kill anotherking!" Ronsard turned pale and shuddered. "It is stupid work, killingkings, " went on the Professor; "It never does any good; and oftenincreases the evil it was intended to cure. Your studies in philosophymust have taught you that much at least! As for your losing Gloria, --you lost her in a sense when you gave her to her husband. It is no usecomplaining now, because you find he is not the man you took him for. The mischief is done. At any rate you are bound to admit that Gloriahas, so far, been perfectly happy; she will be happy still, I trulybelieve, for she has the secret of happiness in her own beautifulnature. And you, Ronsard, must make the best of things, and meet fatewith calmness. To-day, for instance, I am here by the King's command, --I bear his orders, --and I have come for Gloria. They want her at thePalace. "

Ronsard stepped out of his flower-border, and stood on the greenswardamazed, and indignantly suspicious. 

"They want her at the Palace!" he repeated; "Why? What for? To do herharm? To make her miserable? To insult and threaten her? No, she shallnot go!"

"Look here, my friend, " said the Professor with mild patience; "Youhave--for a philosopher--a most unpleasant habit of jumping to wrongconclusions! Please endeavour to compose the tumult in your soul, andlisten to me! The King has sent for Gloria, and I am instructed to takecharge of her, and escort her to the presence of their Majesties. Noinsult, no threat, no wrong is intended. I will bring her back againsafe to you immediately the audience is concluded. Be satisfied, Ronsard! For once 'put your trust in princes, ' for her husband will bethere, --and do you think he would suffer her to be insulted orwronged?"

Ronsard's sunken eyes looked wild, --his aged frame trembled violently, and he gave a hopeless gesture. 

"I do not know--I do not know!" he said incoherently; "I am an old man, and I have always found it a wicked world! But--if you give me yourword that she shall come to no harm, I will trust _you_!"

Silently Von Glauben took his hand and pressed it. Two or three minutespassed, weighted with unuttered and unutterable thoughts in the mindsof both men; and then, in a somewhat hushed voice, the Professor said:

"Ronsard, I am just now reminded of the tragic story of Rudolf ofAustria, who killed himself through the maddening sorrow of an ill-fated love! We, in our different lines of life should remember that, --and let no young innocent heart suffer through our follies--our ragesagainst fate--our conventions--our more or less idiotic laws ofrestraint and hypocrisy. The tragedy of Prince Rudolf and the unhappyMarie Vetsera whom he worshipped, was caused by the sin and thefalsehood of others, --not by the victims of the cruel catastrophe. Therefore, I say to you, my friend, be wise in time!--and control thenatural stormy tendency of your passions in this present affair. Iassure you, on my faith and honour as a man, that the King has a kindlyheart and a brave one, --together with a strong sense of justice. He isnot truly known to his people;--they only see him through the pens ofpress reporters, or the slavish descriptions of toadies and parasites. Then again, the Crown Prince is an honourable lad; and from what I knowof him, he is not likely to submit to conventional usages in matterswhich are close to his life and heart. Gloria herself is of such anexceptional character and disposition, that I think she may be safelyleft to arbitrate her own destiny----"

"And the Queen?" interrupted Ronsard suddenly;--"She, at any rate, as awoman, wife and mother, will be gentle?"

"Gentle, she certainly is, " said Von Glauben, with a slight sigh; "Butonly because she does not consider it worth while to be otherwise! Godhas put a stone in the place where her heart should be! However, --shewill have little to say, and still less to do with to-day's business. You tell me you will trust me; I promise you, you shall not repent yourtrust! But I must see Gloria herself. Where is she?"

Ronsard pointed towards the cottage. 

"She is in there, studying, " he said; "Books of the old time;--booksthat few read. She gets them all from Sergius Thord. How would it be, think you, if he knew?"

The pleasantly rubicund countenance of the Professor grew a shadepaler. 

"Sergius Thord--Sergius Thord?--H'm--h'm--let me see!--who is he? Ah! Iremember, --he is the Socialist lion, for ever roaring through thestreets and seeking whom he may devour! I daresay he is not withoutcleverness!"

"Cleverness!" echoed Ronsard; "That is a tame word! He has genius, andthe people swear by him. Since the proposed new taxation, and otherinjustices of the Government, he has gained adherents by manythousands. You, --whom I once took to be a mere German schoolmaster, afriend of the young 'sailor' whom my child so innocently wedded, --youwhom I now know to be the King's physician--surely you cannot live onthe mainland, and in the metropolis, without knowing of the power ofSergius Thord?"

"I know something--not much;" replied the Professor guardedly; "Butcome, my friend, _I_ have not deceived you! I was in very truth apoor 'German schoolmaster, ' once, --before I became a student ofmedicine and surgery. And that I am the King's physician, is merely oneof those accidental circumstances which occur in a world of chance. Butschoolmaster as I have been, I doubt if I would set our 'Glory-of-the-Sea' to study books recommended to her by Sergius Thord. The poetry ofHeine is more suitable to her age and sex. Let us break in upon hermeditations. " And he walked across the grass with one arm thrustthrough that of Ronsard; "For she must prepare herself. We ought to begone within an hour. "

They passed under the low, rose-covered porch into a wide square room, with raftered ceiling and deep carved oak ingle nook, --and here at thetable, with a quarto volume opened out before her, sat Gloria, restingher head on one fair hand, her rich hair falling about her in looseshining tresses, and her whole attitude expressive of the deepestabsorption in study. As they entered, she looked up and smiled, --thenrose, her hand still resting on the open book. 

"At last you have come again, dear Professor!" she said; "I began tothink you had grown weary in well-doing!"

Von Glauben stared at her, stricken speechless for a moment. Whatmysterious change had passed over the girl, investing her with such anair of regal authority? It was impossible to say. To all appearance shewas the same beautiful creature, clad in the same simple white homespungown, --yet were she Empress of half the habitable globe, she could nothave looked more environed with dignity, sweetness and delicatelygracious manner. He understood the desolating expression of Ronsard, --'You see I have lost her!--she is not mine any more--she is his!' Herecognised and was suddenly impressed by that fact;--she was 'his'--thewife of the Crown Prince and Heir-Apparent to the Throne;--andevidently with the knowledge of her position had arisen the pride oflove and the spirit of grace to support her honours worthily. And so, as Von Glauben met her eyes, which expressed their gentle wonder at hissilence, and as she extended her hand to him, he came slowly forwardand bowing low, respectfully kissed that hand. 

"Princess, " he said, in a voice that trembled ever so slightly; "Ishall never be weary in well-doing, --if you are good enough to call myservice and friendship for you by that name! I hesitated to comebefore, --because I thought--I feared--I did not know!--"

"I understand!" said Gloria tranquilly; "You did not think the Prince, my husband, would tell me the truth so soon! But I know all, and now--Iam glad to know it! Dearest, " and she moved swiftly to Ronsard who wasstanding silent in the doorway--"come in and sit down! You makeyourself so tired sometimes in the garden;" and she threw a loving armabout him. "You must rest; you look so pale!"

For all answer, he lifted the hand that hung about his neck, to hislips and kissed it tenderly. 

"They want you, Gloria!" he said tremulously; "They want you at thePalace. You must go to-day!"

She lifted her brilliant eyes enquiringly to Von Glauben, who respondedto the look by at once explaining his mission. He was there, he said, by the King's special command;--their Majesties had been informed oftheir son's marriage by their son himself; and they desired at once tosee and speak with their unknown daughter-in-law. The interview wouldbe private; his Royal Highness the Crown Prince would be present;--itmight last an hour, perhaps longer, --and he, Von Glauben, was entrustedto bring Gloria to the Palace, and escort her back to The Islands againwhen all was over. Thus, with elaborate and detailed courtesy, theProfessor unfolded the nature of his enterprise, while Gloria, stillkeeping one arm round Ronsard, heard and smiled. 

"I shall obey the King's command!" she said composedly; "Though, --having no word from the Prince, my husband, concerning this mandate, --Imight very well refuse to do so! But it may be as well that theirMajesties and their son's wife should plainly, and once for all, understand each other. Dear Professor, you look sadly troubled. Isthere some little convention, some special ceremonial of so-called'good manners, ' which you are commissioned to teach me, before I makemy appearance at Court under your escort?"

Her lovely lips smiled, --her eyes laughed, --she looked the veryincarnation of Beauty triumphant. Von Glauben's brain whirled, --he feltbewitched and dazzled. 

"I?--to teach you anything? No, my princess!--and please think howloyally I have called you 'Princess' from the beginning!--I have alwaystold you that you have a spiritual knowledge far surpassing allmaterial wisdom. Conventions and ceremonials are not for you, --youwill make fashion, not follow it! I am not troubled, save for yoursake, dear child!--for you know nothing of the world, and the ways ofthe Court may at first offend you--"

"The ways of Hell must have seemed dark to Proserpine, " said Ronsard inhis harsh, strong voice; "But Love gave her light!"

"A very just reminder!" said Von Glauben, well pleased;--"ConsiderGloria to be the new Proserpine to-day! And now she must forgive me forplaying the part of a tyrannical friend, and urging her to hasten herpreparations. "

Gloria bent down and kissed Ronsard gently. 

"Trust me, little father!" she whispered; "You have not taught me greatlessons of truth in vain!"

Aloud she said. 

"The King and Queen wish to see me and speak with me, --and I know thereason why! They desire to fully explain to me all that my husband hasalready told me, --which is that according to the rules made formonarchs, our marriage is inadmissible. Well!--I have my answer ready;and you, Professor, shall hear me give it! Wait but a few moments and Iwill come with you. "

She left the room. The two men looked at each other in silence. At lastVon Glauben said:--

"Ronsard, I think you will soon reap the reward of your 'life-philosophy' system! You have fed that girl from her childhood on strongintellectual food, and trained the mental muscles rather than thephysical ones. Upon my word, I believe you will see a good result!"

Ronsard, who had grown much calmer and quieter during the last fewminutes, raised himself a little from the chair into which he had sunkwith an air of fatigue, and looked dreamily towards the open latticewindow, where the roses hung in a curtain of crimson blossom. 

"If it be so, I shall praise God!" he said; "But the years have comeand gone with me so peacefully since I made my home on these quietshores, that the exercise of what I have presumed to call 'philosophy'has had no chance. Philosophy! It is well to preach it, --but when theblow of misfortune falls, who can practise it?"

"You can, " replied the Professor;--"I can! Gloria can! I think we allthree have clear brains. There is a tendency in the present age tooverlook and neglect the greatest power in the whole humancomposition, --the mental and psychical part of it. Now, in the presentcurious drama of events, we have a chance given to exercise it; and itwill be our own faults if we do not make our wills rule our destinies!"

"But the position is intolerable--impossible!" said Ronsard, rising andpacing the room with a fresh touch of agitation. "Nothing can do awaywith the fact that we--my child and I--have been cruelly deceived! Andnow there can be only one of two contingencies; Gloria must beacknowledged as the Prince's wife, --in which case he will be forced toresign all claim to the Throne;--or he must marry again, which makesher no wife at all. That is a disgrace which her pride would neversubmit to, nor mine;--for did I not kill a king?"

"Let me advise you for the future not to allude to that disagreeableincident!" said Von Glauben persuasively: "Exercise discretion, --as Ido! Observe that I do not ask you what king you killed;--I am ascareful on that matter as I am concerning the reasons for which Imyself left my native Fatherland! I make it a rule never to converse onpainful subjects. You tell me you have tried to atone; then believethat the atonement is made, and that Gloria is the sign of itsacceptance, and--happy augury!--here she comes. "

They both instinctively turned to confront the girl as she entered. Shehad changed her ordinary white homespun gown for another of the samekind, equally simple, but fresh and unworn; her glorious bronze-chestnut hair was unbound to its full rippling length, and was heldback by a band or fillet of curiously carved white coral, whichsurmounted the rich tresses somewhat in the fashion of a small crown, and she carried, thrown over one arm, the only kind of cloak she everwore, --a burnous-like wrap of the same white homespun as her dress, with a hood, which, as the Professor slowly took out his glasses andfixed them on his nose out of mere mechanical habit, to look at hermore closely, she drew over her head and shoulders, the soft foldsabout her exquisite face completing a classic picture of such radiantbeauty as is seldom seen nowadays among the increasingly imperfect andrepulsive specimens of female humanity which 'progress' combined withsensuality, produce for the 'advancement' of the race. 

"I have no Court dress, " she said smiling; "And if I had I should notwear it! The King and Queen shall see me as my husband sees me, --whatpleases him, must suffice to please them! I am quite ready!"

Von Glauben removed the spectacles he had needlessly put on. They weredim with a moisture which he furtively polished off, blinking his eyesmeanwhile as if the light hurt him. He was profoundly moved--thrilledto the very core of his soul by the simplicity, frankness and courageof this girl whose education was chiefly out of wild Nature's lesson-book, and who knew nothing of the artificial world of fashion. 

"And I, my princess, am at your service!" he said; "Ronsard, it is buta few hours that we shall be absent. To-night with the rising of themoon we shall return, and I doubt not with the Prince himself as chiefescort! Keep a good heart and have faith! All will be well!"

"All _shall_ be well if Love can make it so!" said Ronsard;--"Gloria--my child--!" He held out his wrinkled hands pathetically, unable to say more. She sank on her knees before him, and tenderlydrawing down those hands upon her head, pressed them closely there. 

"Your blessing, dearest!" she said; "Not in speech--but in thought!"

There was a moment's sacred silence;--then Gloria rose, and throwingher arms round the old man, the faithful protector of her infancy andgirlhood, kissed him tenderly. After that, she seemed to throw allseriousness to the winds, and running out under the roses of the porchmade two or three light dancing steps across the lawn. 

"Come!" she cried, her eyes sparkling, her face radiant with thegaiety of her inward spirit; "Come, Professor! This is not what we calla poet's day of dreams, --it is a Royal day of nonsense! Come!" and hereshe drew herself up with a stately air--"WE are prepared to confront theKing!"

The Professor caught the infection of her mirth, and quickly followedher; and within the next half-hour Réné Ronsard, climbing slowly to thesummit of one of the nearest rocks on the shore adjacent to hisdwelling, shaded his eyes from the dazzling sunlight on the sea, andstrained them to watch the magnificent Royal yacht steaming swiftlyover the tranquil blue water, with one slight figure clad in whiteleaning against the mast, a figure that waved its hand fondly towardsThe Islands, and of whom it might have been said:

 "Her gaze was glad past love's own singing of, And her face lovely past desire of love!"

CHAPTER XXII

A FAIR DÉBUTANTE

That same afternoon there was a mysterious commotion at the Palace, --whispers ran from lip to lip among the few who had seen her, that abeautiful woman, --lovelier than the Queen herself, --had, under the escortof the uncommunicative Professor von Glauben, passed into the presenceof the King and Queen, to receive the honour of a private audience. Who was she? What was she? Where did she come from? How wasshe dressed? This last question was answered first, being easiest todeal with. She was attired all in white, --'like a picture' said some--'like a statue' said others. No one, however, dared ask any directquestion concerning her, --her reception, whoever she was, being of astrictly guarded nature, and peremptory orders having been given toadmit no one to the Queen's presence-chamber, to which apartment shehad been taken by the King's physician. But such dazzling beauty ashers could not go altogether unnoticed by the most casual attendant, sentinel, or lord-in-waiting, and the very fact that special commandshad been issued to guard all the doors of entrance to the Royalapartments on either hand, during her visit, only served to pique andinflame the general curiosity. 

Meantime, --while lesser and inferior personages were commenting on thepossibility of the unknown fair one being concerned with some dramaticincident that might have to be included among the King's numerousgallantries, --the unconscious subject of their discussion was quietlyseated alone in an ante-room adjoining the Queen's apartments, waitingtill Professor von Glauben should announce that their Majesties wereready to receive her. She was not troubled or anxious, or in any wayill at ease. She looked curiously upon the splendid evidences of Royalstate, wealth and luxury which surrounded her, with artisticappreciation but no envy. She caught sight of her own face and figurein a tall mirror opposite to her, set in a silver frame; and shestudied herself quietly and critically with the calm knowledge thatthere was nothing to deplore or to regret in the way God and Nature hadbeen pleased to make her. She was not in the slightest degree vain, --but she knew that a healthy and quiet mind in a healthy and unspoiltbody, together form what is understood as the highest beauty, --andthat these two elements were not lacking in her. Moreover, she wasconscious of a great love warming her heart and strengthening hersoul, --and with this great motive-force to brace her nerves and addextra charm to her natural loveliness, she had no fear. She had enjoyedthe swift voyage across the sparkling sea, and the fresh air had madeher eyes doubly lustrous, her complexion even more than usually fairand brilliant. She did not permit herself to be rendered unhappy oranxious as to the possible attitude of the King and Queen towards her, --she was prepared for all contingencies, and had fully made up hermind what to say. Therefore, there was no need to fret over theposition, or to be timorously concerned because she was called upon toconfront those who by human law alone were made superior in rank to therest of mankind. 

"In God's sight all men are equal!" she said to herself: "The King is amere helpless babe at birth, dependant on others, --as he is a merehelpless corpse at death. It is only men's own foolish ideas andconventions of usage in life that make any difference!"

At that moment the Professor entered hurriedly, and impulsively seizingher hands in his own, kissed them and pressed them tenderly. His facewas flushed--he was evidently strongly excited. 

"Go in there now, Princess!" he whispered, pointing to the adjacentroom, of which the door stood ajar; "And may God be on your side!"

She rose up, and releasing her hands gently from his nervous grasp, smiled. 

"Do not be afraid!" she said; "You, too, are coming?"

"I follow you!" he replied. 

And to himself he said: "Ach, Gott in Himmel! Will she keep her sobeautiful calm? If she will--if she can--a throne would be well lostfor such a woman!"

And he watched her with an admiration amounting almost to fear, as shepassed before him and entered the Royal presence-chamber with a proudlight step, a grace of bearing and a supreme distinction, which, hadshe been there on a day of diplomatic receptions, would have made halfthe women accustomed to attend Court, look like the merest vulgarplebeians. 

The room she entered was very large and lofty. A dazzle of goldceiling, painted walls and mirrors flashed upon her eyes, with the hueof silken curtains and embroidered hangings, --the heavy perfume ofhundreds of flowers in tall crystal vases and wide gilded stands madethe air drowsy and odorous, and for a moment, Gloria, just fresh fromthe sweet breath of the sea, felt sickened and giddy, --but sherecovered quickly, and raised her eyes fearlessly to the two motionlessfigures, which, like idols set in a temple for worship, waited herapproach. The King, stiffly upright, and arrayed in military uniform, stood near the Queen, who was seated in a throne-like chair over-canopied with gold, --her trailing robes were of a pale azure huebordered with ermine, and touched here and there with silver, givingout reflexes of light, stolen as it seemed from the sea and sky, --andher beautiful face, with its clear-cut features and cold pallor, mighthave been carved out of ivory, for all the interest or emotionexpressed upon it. Gloria came straight towards her, then stopped. Withher erect supple form, proud head and fair features, she looked theliving embodiment of sovereign womanhood, --and the Queen, meeting thefull starry glance of her eyes, stirred among her Royal draperies, andraised herself with a slow graceful air of critical observation, inwhich there was a touch of languid wonder mingled with contempt. StillGloria stood motionless, --neither abashed nor intimidated, --she made nocurtsey or reverential salutation of any kind, and presently removingher gaze from the Queen, she turned to the King. 

"You sent for me, " she said; "And I have come. What do you want withme?"

The King smiled. What a dazzling Perfection was here, he thought! Asecond Una unarmed, and strong in the courage of innocence! But he wasacting a special part, and he determined to play it well andthoroughly. So he gave her no reply, but turned with a stiff air to VonGlauben. 

"Tell the girl to make her obeisance to the Queen!" he said. 

The Professor very reluctantly approached the 'Glory-of-the-Sea' withthis suggestion, cautiously whispered. Gloria obeyed at once. Movingswiftly to the Queen's chair, she bent low before her. 

"Madam!" she said, "I am told to kneel to you, because you are theQueen, --but it is not for that I do so. I kneel, because you are myhusband's mother!"

And raising the cold impassive hand covered with great gems, thatrested idly on the rich velvets so near to her touch, she gentlykissed it, --then rose up to her full height again. 

"Is it always like this here?" she asked, gazing around her. "Do youalways sit thus in a chair, dressed grandly and quite silent?"

The smile deepened on the King's face; the Queen, perforce moved atlast from her inertia, half rose with an air of amazement andindignation, and Von Glauben barely saved himself from laughingoutright. 

"You, " continued Gloria, fixing her bright glance on the King; "Youhave seen me before! You have spoken to me. Then why do you pretend notto know me now? Is that Court manners? If so, they are not good orkind!"

The King relaxed his formal attitude, and addressed his Consort in alow tone. 

"It is no use dealing with this girl in the conventional way, " he said;"She is a mere child at heart, simple and uneducated;--we must treather as such. Perhaps you will speak to her first?"

"No, Sir, I much prefer that you should do so, " she replied. "When Ihave heard her answers to you, it will be perhaps my turn!"

Thereupon the King advanced a step or two, and Gloria regarded himsteadfastly. Meeting the pure light of those lovely eyes, he lostsomething of his ordinary self-possession, --he was conscious of acertain sense of embarrassment and foolishness;--his very uniform, ablaze with gold and jewelled orders, seemed a clown's costume comparedwith the classic simplicity of Gloria's homespun garb, which might havefitly clothed a Greek goddess. Sensible of his nervous irritation, hehowever overcame it by an effort, and summoning all his dignity, he'graciously, ' as the newspaper parasites put it, extended his hand. Gloria smiled archly. 

"I kissed your hand the other day when you were cross!" she said; "Youwould like it kissed again? There!"

And with easy grace of gesture she pressed her lips lightly upon it. Itwould have needed something stronger than mere flesh and blood toresist the natural playfulness and charm of her action, combined withher unparalleled beauty, and the King, who was daily and hourly provingfor himself the power and intensity of that Spirit of Man which makesclamour for higher things than Man's conventionalities, became for themoment as helplessly overwhelmed and defeated by a woman's smile, awoman's eyes, as any hero of old times, whose conquests have beenreported to us in history as achieved for the sake of love and beauty. But he was compelled to disguise his thoughts, and to maintain anoutward expression of formality, particularly in the presence of hisQueen-Consort, --and he withdrew the hand that bore her soft kiss uponit with a well-simulated air of chill tolerance. Then he spoke gravely, in measured precise accents. 

"Gloria Ronsard, we have sent for you in all kindness, " he said; "outof a sincere wish to remedy any wrong which our son, the Crown Princehas, in the light folly and hot impulse of his youth, done to you inyour life. We are given to understand that there is a boy-and-girlattachment between you; that he won your attachment under a disguisedidentity, and that you were thus innocently deceived, --and that, inorder to satisfy his own honourable scruples, as well as your sense ofmaidenly virtue, he has, still under a disguise, gone through theceremony of marriage with you. Therefore, it seems that you now imagineyourself to be his lawful wife. This is a very natural mistake for agirl to make who is as young and inexperienced as you are, and I amsorry, --very sorry for the false position in which my son the CrownPrince has so thoughtlessly placed you. But, after very earnestconsideration, I, --and the Queen also, --think it much better for you toknow the truth at once, so that you may fully realize the situation, and then, by the exercise of a little common sense, spare yourself anyfurther delusion and pain. All we can do to repair the evil, you mayrest assured shall be done. But you must thoroughly understand that theCrown Prince, as heir to the Throne, cannot marry out of his ownstation. If he should presume to do so, through some mad and hot-headedimpulse, such a marriage is not admitted or agreed to by the nation. Thus you will see plainly that, though you have gone through themarriage ceremony with him, that counts as nothing in your case, --for, according to the law of the realm, and in the sight of the world, youare not, and cannot be his wife!"

Gloria raised her deep bright eyes and smiled. 

"No?" she said, and then was silent. 

The King regarded her with surprise, and a touch of anger. He hadexpected tears, passionate declamations, and reiterated assurances ofthe unalterable and indissoluble tie between herself and her lover, butthis little indifferently-queried "No?" upset all his calculations. 

"Have you nothing to say?" he asked, somewhat sternly. 

"What should I say?" she responded, still smiling; "You are the King;it is for you to speak!"

"She does not understand you, Sir, " interrupted the Queen coldly; "Yourwords are possibly too elaborate for her simple comprehension!"

Gloria turned a fearless beautiful glance upon her. 

"Pardon me, Madam, but I do understand!" she said; "I understand thatby the law of God I am your son's wife, and that by the law of theworld I am no wife! I abide by the law of God!"

There was a moment's dead silence. Professor von Glauben gave adiscreet cough to break it, and the King, reminded of his presenceturned towards him. 

"Has she no sense of the position?" he demanded. 

"Sir, I have every reason to believe that she grasps it thoroughly!"replied Von Glauben with a deferential bow. 

"Then why----"

But here he was again interrupted by the Queen. She, raising herself inher chair, her beautiful head and shoulders lifted statue-like from herenshrining draperies of azure and white, stretched forth a hand andbeckoned Gloria towards her. 

"Come here, child!" she said; then as Gloria advanced with evidentreluctance, she added; "Come closer--you must not be afraid of me!"

Gloria smiled. 

"Nay, Madam, trouble not yourself at all in that regard! I never wasafraid of anyone!"

A shadow of annoyance darkened the Queen's fair brows. 

"Since you have no fear, you may equally have no shame!" she said inicy-cold accents; "Therefore it is easy to understand why youdeliberately refuse to see the harm and cruelty done to our son, theCrown Prince, by his marriage with you, if such marriage were in theleast admissible, which fortunately for all concerned, it is not. He isdestined to occupy the Throne, and he must wed someone who is fit toshare it. Kings and princes may love where they choose, --but they canonly marry where they must! You are my son's first love;--the thoughtand memory of that may perhaps be a consolation to you, --but do notassume that you will be his last!"

Gloria drew back from her; her face had paled a little. 

"You can speak so!" she said sorrowfully; "You, --his mother! PoorQueen--poor woman! I am sorry for you!"

Without pausing to notice the crimson flush of vexation that flew overthe Queen's delicate face at her words, she turned, now with somehaughtiness, to the King. 

"Speak plainly!" she said; "What is it you want of me?"

Her flashing eyes, her proud look startled him--he moved back a step ortwo. Then he replied with as much firmness and dignity as he couldassume. 

"Nothing is wanted of you, my child, but obedience and loyalty! Resignall claim upon the Crown Prince as his wife; promise never to see himagain, or correspond with him, --and--you shall lose nothing by thesacrifice you make of your little love affair to the good of thecountry. "

"The good of the country!" echoed Gloria in thrilling tones. "Do_you_ know anything about it? You--who never go among your peopleexcept to hunt and shoot and amuse yourself generally? You, who permitwicked liars and spendthrifts to gamble with the people's money! Thegood of the country! If my life could only lift the burden of taxationfrom the country, I would lay it down gladly and freely! If I wereQueen, do you think I could be like her?" and she stretched forth herwhite arm to where the Queen, amazed, had risen from her seat, and nowstood erect, her rich robes trailing yards on the ground, and flashingat every point with jewels. "Do you think I could sit unmoved, clad inrich velvet and gems, while one single starving creature sought breadwithin my kingdom? Nay, I would sell everything I possessed and gobarefoot rather! I would be a sister, not a mere 'patroness' to thepoor;--I would never wear a single garment that had not been made forme by the workers of my own land;--and the 'good of the country' shouldbe 'good' indeed, not 'bad, ' as it is now!"

Breathless with the sudden rush of her thoughts into words, she stoodwith heaving bosom and sparkling eyes, the incarnation of eloquence andinspiration, and before the astonished monarch could speak, she wenton. 

"I am your son's wife! He loves me--he has wedded me honourably andlawfully. You wish me to disclaim that. I will not! From him and himalone, must come my dismissal from his heart, his life and his soul. Ifhe desires his marriage with me dissolved, let him tell me so himselfface to face, and before you and his mother! Then I shall be content tobe no more his wife. But not till then! I will promise nothing withouthis consent. He is my husband, --and to him I owe my first obedience. Iseek no honour, no rank, no wealth, --but I have won the greatesttreasure in this world, his love!--and that I will keep!"

A door opened at the further end of the room--a curtain was quietlypushed aside, and the Crown Prince entered. With a composed, almostformal demeanour, he saluted the King and Queen, and then going up toGloria, passed his arm around her waist, and held her fast. 

"When you have concluded your interview with my wife, Sir, --aninterview of which I had no previous knowledge, " he said quietly, addressing the King; "I shall be glad to have one of my own with her!"

The King answered him calmly enough. 

"Your wife, --as you call her, --is a very incorrigible young person, " hesaid. "The sooner she returns to her companions, the fisher-folk on TheIslands, the better! From her looks I imagined she might have sense;but I fear that is lacking to her composition! However, she isperfectly willing to consider her marriage with you dissolved, if youdesire it. I trust you _will_ desire it;--here, now, and at once, in my presence and that of the Queen, your mother;--and thus a veryunpleasant and unfortunate incident in your career will besatisfactorily closed!"

Prince Humphry smiled. 

"Dissolve the heavens and its stars into a cup of wine, and drink themall down at one gulp!" he said; "And then, perhaps, you may dissolve mymarriage with this lady! If you consider it illegal, put the questionto the Courts of Law;--to the Pope, who most strenuously supports thesanctity of the marriage-tie;--ask all who know anything of thesacrament, whether, when two people love each other, and are bound byholy matrimony to be as one, and are mutually resolved to so remain, any earthly power can part them! 'Those whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. ' Is that mere lip mockery, or is it a holybond?"

The King gave an impatient gesture. 

"There is no use in argument, " he said, "when argument has to becarried on with such children as yourselves. What cannot be done bypersuasion, must be done by force. I wished to act kindly andreasonably by both of you--and I had hoped better things from thisinterview, --but as matters have turned out, it may as well beconcluded. "

"Wait!" said Gloria, disengaging herself gently from her husband'sembrace; "I have something to say which ought to meet your wishes, eventhough it may not be all you desire. I will not promise to give up myhusband;--I will not promise never to see him, and never to write tohim--but I will swear to you one thing that should completely put yourfears and doubts of me at rest!"

Both the King and Queen looked at her wonderingly;--a brighter, moredelicate beauty seemed to invest her, --she stood very proudly upright, her small head lifted, --her rich hair glistening in the soft sunshinethat streamed in subdued tints through the high stained-glass windowsof the room, --her figure, slight and tall, was like that of the goddessdreamt of by Endymion. 

"You are so unhappy already, " she continued, turning to the Queen; "Youhave lost so much, and you need so much, that I should be sorry to addto your burden of grief! If I thought I could make you glad, --if Ithought I could make you see the world through my eyes, with all thepatient, loving human hearts about you, waiting for the sympathy younever give; I would come to you often, and try to find the warm pulseof you somewhere under all that splendour which you clothe yourself in, and which is as valueless to me as the dust on the common road! And ifI could show _you_" and here she fixed her steadfast glance uponthe King, --"where you might win friends instead of losing them, --if Icould persuade you to look and see where the fires of Revolution arebeginning to smoulder and kindle under your very Throne, --if I couldbear messages from you of compassion and tenderness to all thedisaffected and disloyal, I would ask you on my knees to let me be yourdaughter in affection, as I am by marriage; and I would unveil to youthe secrets of your own kingdom, which is slowly but steadily risingagainst you! But you judge me wrongly--you estimate me falsely, --andwhere I might have given aid, your own misconception of me makes meuseless! You consider me low-born and a mere peasant! How can you besure of that?--for truly I do not know who I am, or where I came from. For aught I can tell, the storm was my father, and the sea my mother, --but my parents may as easily have been Royal! You judge me half-educated, --and wholly unworthy to be your son's wife. Will the ladiesof your Court compete with me in learning? I am ready! What I hear oftheir attainments has not as yet commanded my respect or admiration, --and you yourself as King, do nothing to show that you care for eitherart or learning! I wonder, indeed, that you should even pause toconsider whether your son's wife is educated or not!"

Absolutely silent, the King kept his eyes upon her. He was experiencinga novel sensation which was altogether delightful to him, and moreinstructive than any essay or sermon. He, the ostensible ruler of thecountry, was face to face with a woman who had no fear of him, --no awefor his position, --no respect for his rank, but who simply spoke to himas though he had been any ordinary person. He saw a scarcelyperceptible smile on his son's handsome features, --he saw that VonGlauben's eyes twinkled, despite his carefully preserved seriousness ofdemeanour, and he realized the almost absurd powerlessness of hisauthority in such an embarrassing position. The assumption of a mutecontempt, such as was vaguely expressed by the Queen, appeared to himto be the best policy;--he therefore adopted that attitude, withouthowever producing the least visible effect. Gloria's face, softlyflushed with suppressed emotion, looked earnest and impassioned, butneither abashed nor afraid. 

"I have read many histories of kings, " she continued slowly; "Of theirtreacheries and cruelties; of their neglect of their people! Seldomhave they been truly great! The few who are reported as wise, lived andreigned so many ages ago, that we cannot tell whether their virtueswere indeed as admirable as described, --or whether their vices werenot condoned by a too-partial historian. A Throne has no attraction forme! The only sorrow I have ever known in my life, is the discovery thatthe man I love best in the world is a king's son! Would to God he werepoor and unrenowned as I thought him to be, when I married him!--for sowe should always have been happy. But now I have to think for him aswell as for myself;--his position is as hard as mine, --and we acceptour fate as a trial of our love. Love cannot be forced, --it must rootitself, and grow where it will. It has made us two as one;--one inthought, --one in hope, --one in faith! No earthly power can part us. Youwould marry him to another woman, and force him to commit a great sin'for the good of the country'? I tell you, if you do that, --if any kingor prince does that, --God's curse will surely fall upon the Throne, and all that do inherit it!"

She did not raise her voice, --she spoke in low thrilling accents, without excitement, but with measured force and calm. Then she beckonedthe Crown Prince to her side. He instantly obeyed her gesture. Takinghim by the hand, she advanced a little, and with him confronted boththe King and Queen. 

"Hear me, your Majesties both!" she said in clear, firm accents; "Andwhen you have heard, be satisfied as to 'the good of the country, ' andlet me depart to my own home in peace, away from all your crushing andmiserable conventions. I take your son by the hand, and even as I sworemy faith to him at the marriage altar, so I swear to you that he isfree to follow his own inclination;--his law is mine, --his will mypleasure, --and in everything I shall obey him, save in this one decree, which I make for myself in your Majesties' sovereign presence--thatnever, so help me God, will I claim or share my husband's rank as CrownPrince, or set foot within this palace, which is his home, again, tilla greater voice than that of any king, --the voice of the Nation itself, calls upon me to do so!"

This proud declaration was entirely unexpected; and both the King andQueen regarded the beautiful speaker in undisguised amazement. She, gently dropping the Prince's hand, met their eyes with a wistful pathosin her own. 

"Will that satisfy you?" she asked, a slight tremor shaking her voiceas she put the question. 

The King at once advanced, and now spoke frankly, and without anyceremony. 

"Assuredly! You are a brave girl! True to your love, and true to thecountry at one and the same time! But while I accept your vow, let mewarn you not to indulge in any lurking hope or feeling that the Nationwill ever recognize your marriage. Your own willingly-taken oath atthis moment practically makes it null and void, so far as the State isconcerned;--but perhaps it strengthens it as a bond of--youthfulpassion!"

An open admiration flashed in his bold fine eyes as he spoke, --andGloria grew pale. With an involuntary movement she turned towards theQueen. 

"You--Madam--you--Ah! No, --not you!--you are cruel!--you have not awoman's heart! My love--my husband!"

The Prince was at once beside her, and she clung to him trembling. 

"Take me away!" she whispered; "Take me away altogether--this placestifles me!"

He caught her in his strong young arms, and was about to lead her tothe door, when she suddenly appeared to remember something, andreleasing herself from his clasp, put him away from her with a faintsmile. 

"No, dearest! You must stay here;--stay here and make your father andmother understand all that I have said. Tell them I mean to keep myvow. You know how thoroughly I mean it! The Professor will take mehome!"

Then the Queen moved, and came towards her with her usual slownoiseless grace. 

"Let me thank you!" she said, with an air of gracious condescension;"You are a very good girl, and I am sure you will keep your word! Youare so beautiful that you are bound to do well; and I hope your futurelife will be a happy one!"

"I hope so, Madam!" replied Gloria slowly; "I think it will! If it isnot happier than yours, I shall indeed be unfortunate!"

The Queen drew back, offended; but the King, who had been whisperingaside to Von Glauben, now approached and said kindly. 

"You must not go away, my child, without some token of our regard. Wearthis for Our sake!"

He offered her a chain of gold bearing a simple yet exquisitelydesigned pendant of choice pearls. Her face crimsoned, and she pushedit disdainfully aside. 

"Keep it, Sir, for those whose love and faith can be purchased withjewelled toys! Mine cannot! You mean kindly no doubt, --but a gift fromyou is an offence, not an honour! Fare-you-well!"

Another moment and she was gone. Von Glauben, at a sign from the King, hastily followed her. Prince Humphry, who had remained almost entirelymute during the scene, now stood with folded arms opposite his Royalparents, still silent and rigid. The King watched him for a minute ortwo--then laid a hand gently on his arm. 

"We do not blame you over-much, Humphry!" he said; "She is a beautifulcreature, and more intelligent than I had imagined. Moreover she hasgreat calmness, as well as courage. "

Still the Prince said nothing. 

"You are satisfied, Madam, I presume?" went on the King addressing hisConsort;--"The girl could hardly make a more earnest vow of abnegationthan she has done. And when Humphry has travelled for a year and seenother lands, other manners, and other faces, we may look upon thisboyish incident in his career as finally closed. I think both you and Ican rest assured that there will be no further cause for anxiety?"

He put the question carelessly. The Queen bent her head inacquiescence, but her eyes were fixed upon her son, who still saidnothing. 

"We have not received any promise from Humphry himself, " she said;"Apparently he is not disposed to take a similar oath of loyalty!"

"Truly, Madam, you judge me rightly for once!" said the Prince, quietly; "I am certainly not disposed to do anything but to be masterof my own thoughts and actions. "

"Remain so, Humphry, by all means!" said the King indulgently. "Thepresent circumstances being so far favourable, we exact nothing morefrom you. Love will be love, and passion must have its way with boys ofyour age. I impose no further restriction upon you. The girl's own wordis to me sufficient bond for the preservation of your high position. All young men have their little secret love-affairs; we shall not blameyou for yours now, seeing, as we do, the satisfactory end of it insight! But I fear we are detaining you!" This with elaboratepoliteness. "If you wish to follow your fair _inamorata_, the wayis clear! You may retire!"

Without any haste, but with formal military stiffness the Princesaluted, --and turning slowly on his heel, left the presence-chamber. Alone, the King and his beautiful Queen-Consort looked questioningly atone another. 

"What think you, Madam, of the heroine of this strange love-story?" heasked with a touch of bitterness in his voice. "Does it not strike youthat even in this arid world of much deception, there may be after allsuch a thing as innocence?--such a treasure as true and trusting love?Were not the eyes of this girl Gloria, when lifted to your face, something like the eyes of a child who has just said its prayers toGod, --who fears nothing and loves all? Yet I doubt whether you weremoved!"

"Were you?" she asked indifferently, yet with a strange fluttering ather heart, which she could not herself comprehend. 

"I was!" he answered. "I confess it! I was profoundly touched to see agirl of such beauty and innocence confront us here, with no othershield against our formal and ridiculous conventionalities, save thepure strength of her own love for Humphry, and her complete trust inhim. It is easy to see that her life hangs on his will; it is not somuch her with whom we have to deal, as with him. What he says, she willevidently obey. If he tells her he has ceased to love her, she will diequite uncomplainingly; but so long as he does love her, she will live, and expand in beauty and intelligence on that love alone; and you maybe assured, Madam, that in that case, he will never wed another woman!Nor could I possibly blame him, for he is bound to find all--or mostwomen inferior to her!"

She regarded him wonderingly. 

"Your admiration of her is keen, Sir!" she said, amazed to find herselfsomewhat irritated. "Perhaps if she were not morganatically yourdaughter-in-law, you might be your son's rival?"

He turned upon her indignantly. 

"Madam, the days were, when you, as my wife, had it in your power toadmit no rivals to the kingdom of your own beauty! Since then, Iconfess, you have had many! But they have been worthless rivals all, --crazed with their own vanity and greed, and empty of truth and honour. A month or two before I came to the Throne, I was beginning to thinkthat women were viler than vermin, --I had grown utterly weary of theirbeauty, --weary--ay, sick to death of their alluring eyes, sensual lips, and too freely-offered caresses; the uncomely, hard-worked woman, earning bread for her half-starved children, seemed the only kind offeminine creature for which I could have any respect--but now--I amlearning that there _are_ good women who are fair to see, --womenwho have hearts to love and suffer, and who are true--ay--true as thesun in heaven to the one man they worship!"

"A man who is generally quite unworthy of them!" said the Queen with achill laugh; "Your eloquence, Sir, is very touching, and no doubt leadsfurther than I care to penetrate! The girl Gloria is certainlybeautiful, and no doubt very innocent and true at present, --but whenHumphry tires of her, as he surely will, for all men quickly tire ofthose that love them best, --she will no doubt sink into the ordinaryways of obtaining consolation. I know little concerning these amazinglygood women you speak of; and nothing concerning good men! But I quiteagree with you that many women are to be admired for their hard work. You see when once they do begin to work, men generally keep them atit!" She gathered up her rich train on one arm, and prepared to leavethe apartment. "If you think, " she continued, "as you now say, thatHumphry will never change his present sentiments, and never marry anyother woman, the girl's oath is a mere farce and of no avail!"

"On the contrary, it is of much avail, " said the King, "for she hassworn before us both never to claim any right to share in Humphry'sposition, till the nation itself asks her to do so. Now as the nationwill never know of the marriage at all, the 'call' will not beforthcoming. "

The Queen paused in the act of turning away. 

"If you were to die, " she said; "Humphry would be King. And as King, heis quite capable of making Gloria Queen!"

He looked at her very strangely. 

"Madam, in the event of my death, all things are possible!" he said; "Adying Sovereignty may give birth to a Republic!"

The Queen smiled. 

"Well, it is the most popular form of government nowadays, " sheresponded, carelessly moving slowly towards the door; "And perhaps themost satisfactory. I think if I were not a Queen, I should be arepublican!"

"And I, if I were not a King, " he responded, "should be a Socialist!Such are the strange contradictions of human nature! Permit me!" Heopened the door of the room for her to pass out, --and as she did so, she looked up full in his face. 

"Are you still interested in your new form of amusement?" she said;"And do you still expose yourself to danger and death?"

He bowed assent. 

"Still am I a fool in a new course of folly, Madam!" he answered with asmile, and a half sigh. "So many of my brother monarchs are waddedround like peaches in wool, with precautions for their safety, lestthey bruise at a touch, that I assure you I take the chances of dangerand death as exhilarating sport, compared to their guarded condition. But it is very good of you to assume such a gracious solicitude for mysafety!"

"Assume?" she said. Her voice had a slight tremor in it, --her eyeslooked soft and suffused with something like tears. Then, with herusual stately grace, she saluted him, and passed out. 

Struck at the unwonted expression in her face, he stood for a momentamazed. Then he gave vent to a low bitter laugh. 

"How strange it would be if she should love me now!" he murmured. "But--after all these years--too late! Too late!"

That night before the King retired to rest, Professor von Glaubenreported himself and his duty to his Majesty in the privacy of his ownapartments. He had, he stated, accompanied Gloria back to her home inThe Islands; and, he added somewhat hesitatingly, the Crown Prince hadreturned with her, and had there remained. He, the Professor, had leftthem together, being commanded by the Prince so to do. 

The King received this information with perfect equanimity. 

"The boy must have his way for the present, " he said. "His passion willsoon exhaust itself. All passion exhausts itself sooner or--later!"

"That depends very much on the depth or shallowness of its source, Sir, " replied the Professor. 

"True! But a boy!--a mere infant in experience! What can he know of thedepths in the heart and soul! Now a man of my age----"

He broke off abruptly, seeing Von Glauben's eyes fixed steadfastly uponhim, and the colour deepened in his cheek. Then he gave a slight laugh. 

"I tell you, Von Glauben, this little love-affair--this absurd toy-marriage is not worth thinking about. Humphry leaves the country at theend of this month, --he will remain absent a year, --and at theexpiration of that time we shall marry him in good earnest to aroyally-born bride. Meanwhile, let us not trouble ourselves about thissentimental episode, which is so rapidly drawing to its close. "

The Professor bowed respectfully and retired. But not to sleep. He hada glowing picture before his eyes, --a picture he could not forget, ofthe Crown Prince and Gloria standing with arms entwined about eachother under the rose-covered porch of Ronsard's cottage saying "Good-night" to him, while Ronsard himself, his tranquillity completelyrestored, and his former fears at rest, warmly shook his hand, and witha curious mingling of pride and deference thanked him for all hisfriendship--'all his goodness!'

"And no goodness at all is mine, " said the meditative Professor, "savethat of being as honest as I can to both sides! But there is somechange in the situation which I do not quite understand. There is somenew plan on foot I would swear! The Prince was too triumphant--Gloriatoo happy--Ronsard too satisfied! There is something in the wind!--butI cannot make out what it is!"

He pondered uneasily for a part of the night, reflecting that when hehad returned from The Islands in the King's yacht, he had met thePrince's own private vessel on her way thither, gliding over the waves, a mere ghostly bunch of white sails in the glimmering moon. He hadconcluded that it was under orders to embark the Prince for home againin the morning; and yet, though this was a perfectly natural andprobable surmise, he had been unable to rid himself altogether of adoubtful presentiment, to which he could give no name. By degrees, hefell into an uneasy slumber, in which he had many incompleted dreams, --one of which was that he found himself all alone on the wide oceanwhich stretched for thousands of miles beyond The Islands, --alone in asmall boat, endeavouring to row it towards the great Southern Continentthat lay afar off in the invisible distance, --where few but the mostadventurous travellers ever cared to wander. And as he pulled withweak, ineffectual oars against the mighty weight of the rollingbillows, he thought he heard the words of an old Irish song which heremembered having listened to, when as quite a young man he had paidhis first and last visit to the misty and romantic shores of Britain. 

 "Come o'er the sea _Cushla ma chree_!-- Mine through sunshine, storm and snows!-- Seasons may roll, But the true soul, Burns the same wherever it goes; Let fate frown on, so we love and part not, 'T is life where thou art, 't is death where thou art not! Then come o'er the sea, _Cushla ma chree_! Mine wherever the wild wind blows!"

Then waking with a violent start, he wondered what set of brain-cellshad been stirred to reproduce rhymes that he had, or so he deemed, longago forgotten. And still musing, he almost mechanically went on withthe wild ditty. 

 "Was not the sea Made for the free, Land for Courts and chains alone!-- Here we are slaves, But on the waves, Love and liberty are our own!"

"This will never do!" he exclaimed, leaping from his bed; "I am becominga mere driveller with advancing age!"

He went to the window and looked out. It was about six o'clock in themorning, --the sun was shining brightly into his room. Before him laythe sea, calm as a lake, and clear-sparkling as a diamond;--not a boatwas in sight;--not a single white sail on the distant horizon. And inthe freshness and stillness of the breaking day, the world looked butjust newly created. 

"How we fret and fume in our little span of life!" he murmured. "A fewyears hence, and for us all the troubles which we make for ourselveswill be ended! But the sun and the sea will shine on just the same--andLove, the supremest power on earth, will still govern mankind, whenthrones and kings and empires are no more!"

His thoughts were destined to bear quick fruition. The morning deepenedinto noon--and at that hour a sealed dispatch brought by a sailor, whogave no name and who departed as soon as he had delivered his packet, was handed to the King. It was from the Crown Prince, and ran brieflythus:--

"At your command, Sir, and by my own desire, I have left the countryover which you hold your sovereign dominion. Whither I travel, and how, is my own affair. I shall return no more _till the Nation demands myservice_, --whereof I shall doubtless hear should such a contingencyever arise. I leave you to deal with the situation as seems best toyour good pleasure and that of the Government, --but the life God hasgiven me can only be lived once, and to Him alone am I responsible forit. I am resolved therefore to live it to my own liking, --in honesty, faith and freedom. In accordance with this determination, Gloria, mywife, as in her sworn marriage-duty bound, goes with me. "

For one moment the King stood transfixed and astounded; a cloud ofanger darkened his brows. Crumpling up the document in his hand, he wasabout to fling it from him in a fury. What! This mere boy and girl hadbaffled the authority of a king! Anon, his anger cooled--hiscountenance cleared. Smoothing the paper out he read its contentsagain, --then smiled. 

"Well! Humphry has something of me in him after all!" he said. "He isnot entirely his mother! He has a heart, --a will, and a conscience, --all three generally lacking to sons of kings! Let me be honest withmyself! If he had given way to me, I should have despised him!--'butfor Love's sake he has opposed me; and by my soul!--I respect him!"

CHAPTER XXIII

THE KING'S DEFENDER

Rumour, we are told, has a million tongues, and they were soon all atwork, wagging out the news of the Crown Prince's mysterious departure. Each tongue told a different story, and none of the stories tallied. Noinformation was to be obtained at Court. There nothing was said, butthat the Prince, disliking the formal ceremony of a public departure, had privately set sail in his own yacht for his projected tour roundthe world. Nobody believed this; and the general impression soon gainedground that the young man had fallen into disgrace with his Royalparents, and had been sent away for a time till he should recognize theenormity of his youthful indiscretions. 

"Sent away--you understand!" said the society gossips; "To avoidfurther scandal!"

The Prince's younger brothers, Rupert and Cyprian, were often pliedwith questions by their intimates, but knowing nothing, and trulycaring less, they could give no explanation. Neither King nor Queenspoke a word on the subject; and Sir Roger de Launay, astonished andperplexed beyond measure as he was at this turn in affairs, dared notput any questions even to his friend Professor von Glauben who, as soonas the news of the Prince's departure was known, resolutely declined tospeak, so he said, "on what did not concern him. " Gradually, however, this excitement partially subsided to give place to other forms ofsocial commotion, which beginning in trifles, swiftly expanded tolarger and more serious development. The first of these was the suddenrise of a newspaper which had for many years subsisted with thegreatest difficulty in opposition to the many journals governed byDavid Jost. It happened in this manner. 

Several leading articles written in favour of a Jesuit settlement inthe country, had appeared constantly in Jost's largest and most widelycirculated newspaper, and the last of these 'leaders, ' had concludedwith the assertion that though his Majesty, the King, had at firstrefused the portion of Crown-lands needed by the Society for building, he had now 'graciously' re-considered the situation, and had beenpleased to revoke his previous decision. Whereat, the very next morningthe rival 'daily' had leaped into prominence by merely two headlines:

THE JESUIT SETTLEMENT STATEMENT BY HIS MAJESTY THE KING. 

And there, plainly set forth, was the Royal and authoritative refusalto grant the lands required, 'Because of the earnest petition of ourloving subjects against the said grant, '--and till 'our lovingsubjects'' objections were removed, the lands would be withheld. Thispublic announcement signed by the King in person, created the mostextraordinary sensation throughout the whole country. It was the onetopic at every social meeting; it was the one subject of every sermon. Preachers stormed and harangued in every pulpit, and Monsignor DelFortis, lifting up his harsh raucous voice in the Cathedral itself, addressed an enormous congregation one Sunday morning on the matter, and denounced the King, the Queen, and the mysteriously-departed CrownPrince in the most orthodox Christian manner, commending them to theflames of hell, and the mercy of a loving God at one and the samemoment. 

Meanwhile, the newspaper that had been permitted to publish the King'sstatement got its circulation up by tens of thousands, the more so ascertain brilliant and fiery articles on the political situation beganto appear therein signed by one Pasquin Leroy, a stranger to thereading public, but in whom the spirit of a modern 'Junius' appeared tohave entered for the purpose of warning, threatening and commanding. Ascathing and audacious attack upon Carl Pérousse, Secretary of State, in which the small darts of satire flew further than the sharpestarrows of assertion, was among the first of these, and Péroussehimself, maddened like a bull at the first prick of the toreador, bythe stinging truths the writer uttered, or rather suggested, lost notime in summoning General Bernhoff to a second interview. 

"Did I not tell you, " he said, pointing to the signature at the end ofthe offending article, "to 'shadow' that man, and arrest him as acommon spy?"

Bernhoff bowed stiffly. 

"You did! But it is difficult to arrest one who is not capable of beingarrested. I must be provided first with proofs of his guilt; and I mustalso obtain the King's order. "

"Proofs should be easy enough for you to obtain, " said Péroussefiercely; "And the King will sign any warrant he is told. At least, youcan surely find this rascal out?--where he lives, and what are hismeans of subsistence?"

"If he were here, I could, " responded Bernhoff calmly; "I have made allthe necessary preliminary enquiries. The man is a gentleman ofconsiderable wealth. He writes for his own amusement, and--from adistance. I advise you--" and here the General held up an obstinate-looking finger of warning; "I advise you, I say, to let him alone! Ican find no proof whatever that he is a spy. "

"Proof! I can give you enough--" began Pérousse hotly, then paused inconfusion. For what could he truly say? If he told the Chief of Policethat this Pasquin Leroy was believed to have counterfeited the PrimeMinister's signet, in order to obtain an interview with David Jost, whythen the Chief of Police would be informed once and for all that thePrime Minister was in confidential communication with the Jew-proprietor of a stock-jobbing newspaper! And that would never do! Itwould, at the least, be impolitic. Inwardly chafing with annoyance, heassumed an outward air of conscientious gravity. 

"You will regret it, General, I think, if you do not follow out mysuggestions respecting this man, " he said coldly; "He is writing forthe press in a strain which is plainly directed against the Government. Of course we statesmen pay little or no heed to modern journalism, butthe King, having taken the unusual, and as I consider it, unwise stepof proclaiming certain of his intentions in a newspaper which was, until his patronage, obscure and unsuccessful, the public attention hasbeen suddenly turned towards this particular journal; and what iswritten therein may possibly influence the masses as it would not havedone a few weeks ago. "

"I quite believe that!" said Bernhoff tersely; "But I cannot arrest aman for writing clever things. Literary talent is no proof ofdishonesty. "

Pérousse looked at him sharply. But there was no satire in Bernhoff'sfixed and glassy eye, and no expression whatever in his woodenly-composed countenance. 

"We entertain different opinions on the matter, it is evident!" hesaid; "You will at least grant that if he cannot be arrested, he can becarefully watched?"

"He _is_ carefully watched!" replied Bernhoff; "That is to say, asfar as _I_ can watch him!"

"Good!" and Pérousse smiled, somewhat relieved. "Then on the firstsuspicion of a treasonable act----"

"I shall arrest him--in the King's name, when the King signs thewarrant, " said Bernhoff; "But he is one of Sergius Thord's followers, and at the present juncture it might be unwise to touch any member ofthat particularly inflammable body. "

Pérousse frowned. 

"Sergius Thord ought to have been hanged or shot years ago----"

"Then why did not you hang or shoot him?" enquired Bernhoff. 

"I was not in office. "

"Why do you not hang or shoot him now?"

"Why? Because----"

"Because, " interrupted Bernhoff, again lifting his grim warning finger;"If you did, the city would be in a tumult and more than half thesoldiery would be on the side of the mob! By way of warning, M. Pérousse, I may as well tell you frankly, on the authority of myposition as Head of the Police, that the Government are on the edge ofa dangerous situation!"

Pérousse looked contemptuous. 

"Every Government in the world is on the edge of a dangerous situationnowadays!" he retorted;--"But any Government that yields to the mobproves itself a mere ministry of cowardice. "

"Yet the mob often wins, --not only by excess of numbers, but by sheerforce of--honesty!"--said Bernhoff sententiously; "It has been known tosweep away, and re-make political constitutions before now. "

"It has, "--agreed Pérousse, drawing pens and paper towards him, andfeigning to be busily occupied in the commencement of a letter--"But itwill not indulge itself in such amusements during _my_ time!"

"Ah! I wonder how long your time will last!" muttered Bernhoff tohimself as he withdrew--"Six months or six days? I would not bet on thelonger period!"

In good truth there was considerable reason for the General's dubiousoutlook on affairs. A political storm was brewing. A heavy tidal waveof discontent was sweeping the masses of the people stormily againstthe rocks of existing authority, and loud and bitter and incessant werethe complaints on all sides against the increased taxation levied uponevery rate-payer. Fiercest of all was the clamour made by the poor atthe increasing price of bread, the chief necessity of life; for theimposition of a heavy duty upon wheat and other cereals had made thecommon loaf of the peasant's daily fare almost an article of luxury. Stormy meetings were held in every quarter of the city, --protests weredrawn up and signed by thousands, --endless petitions were handed to theKing, --but no practical result came from these. His Majesty was'graciously pleased' to seem blind, deaf and wholly indifferent to theagitated condition of his subjects. Now and then a Government oratorwould mount the political rostrum and talk 'patriotism' for an hour orso, to a more or less sullen audience, informing them with much high-flown eloquence that, by responding to the Governmental demands andsupporting the Governmental measures, they were strengthening theresources of the country and completing the efficiency of both Army andNavy; but somehow, his hydraulic efforts at rousing the popularenthusiasm failed of effect. Whereas, whenever Sergius Thord spoke, thousands of throats roared acclamation, --and the very sight of Lotyspassing quietly down the poorer thoroughfares of the city wassufficient to bring out groups of men and women to their doors, wavingtheir hands to her, sending her wild kisses, --and almost kneelingbefore her in an ecstasy of trust and adoration. Thord himselfperceived that the situation was rapidly reaching a climax, and quietlyprepared himself to meet and cope with it. Two of the monthly businessmeetings of the Revolutionary Committee had been held since that onwhich Pasquin Leroy and his two friends had been enrolled as members ofthe Brotherhood, and at the last of these, Thord took Leroy into hisfull confidence, and gave him all the secret clues of the Revolutionaryorganization which honeycombed the metropolis from end to end. He hadtrusted the man in many ways and found him honest. One trifling proofof this was perhaps the main reason of Thord's further reliance uponhim; he had fulfilled his half-suggested promise to bring the sunshineof prosperity into the hard-working, and more or less sordid life ofthe little dancing-girl, Pequita. She had been sent for one morning bythe manager of the Royal Opera, who having seen the ease, grace, anddexterity of her performance, forthwith engaged her for the entireseason at a salary which when named to the amazed child, seemed like averitable shower of gold tumbling by rare chance out of the lap of DameFortune. The manager was a curt, cold business man, and she was afraidto ask him any questions, for when the words--"I am sure a kind friendhas spoken to you of me--" came timidly from her lips, he had shut upher confidence at once by the brief answer--

"No. You are mistaken. We accept no personal recommendations. We onlyemploy proved talent!"

All the same Pequita felt sure that she owed the sudden lifting of herown and her father's daily burden of life, to the unforgetting care andintercession of Leroy. Lotys was equally convinced of the same, andboth she and Sergius Thord highly appreciated their new associate'sunobtrusive way of doing good, as it were, by stealth. Pequita'sexquisite grace and agility had made her at once the fashion; the Operawas crowded nightly to see the 'wonderful child-dancer'; and valuablegifts and costly jewels were showered upon her, all of which shebrought to Lotys, who advised her how to dispose of them best, and putby the money for the comfort and care of her father in the event ofsickness, or the advance of age. Flattered and petted by the greatworld as she now was, Pequita never lost her head in the whirl of gaysplendour, but remained the same child-like, loving little creature, --her one idol her father, --her only confidante, Lotys, whose gentleadmonitions and constant watchfulness saved her from many a dangerouspitfall. As yet, she had not attained the wish she had expressed, todance before the King, --but she was told that at any time his Majestymight visit the Opera, and that steps would be taken to induce him todo so for the special purpose of witnessing her performance. So withthis half promise she was fain to be content, and to bear with thelaughing taunts of her 'Revolutionary' friends, who constantly teasedher and called her 'little traitor' because she sought the Royalfavour. 

Another event, which was correctly or incorrectly traced to Leroy'ssilently working influence, was the sudden meteoric blaze of PaulZouche into fame. How it happened, no one knew;--and _why_ ithappened was still more of a mystery, because by all its own tenets andtraditions the social world ought to have set itself dead against the'Psalm of Revolution, '--the title of the book of poems which createdsuch an amazing stir. But somehow, it got whispered about that the Kinghad attempted to 'patronise' the poet, and that the poet had veryindignantly resented the offered Royal condescension. Whereat, bydegrees, there arose in society circles a murmur of wonder at thepoet's 'pluck, ' wonder that deepened into admiration, with incessantdemand for his book, --and admiration soon expanded, with the aid of thebook, into a complete "craze. " Zouche's name was on every lip;invitations to great houses reached him every week;--his poems began tosell by thousands; yet with all this, the obstinacy of his erraticnature asserted itself as usual, undiminished, and Zouche withdrew fromthe shower of praise like a snail into its shell, --answered none of theflattering requests for 'the pleasure of his company, ' and handedwhatever money he made by his poems over to the funds of theRevolutionary Committee, only accepting as much out of it as would payfor his clothes, food, lodging, and--drink! But the more he turned hisback on Fame, the more hotly it pursued him;--his very churlishnesswas talked about as something remarkable and admirable, --and when itwas suggested that he was fonder of strong liquor than was altogetherseemly, people smiled and nodded at each other pleasantly, tapped theirforeheads meaningly and murmured: 'Genius! Genius!' as though that werea quality allied of divine necessity to alcoholism. 

These two things, --the advent of a new dancer at the Opera, and thefame of Paul Zouche, were the chief topics of 'Society' outside its owntawdry personal concern; but under all the light froth and spume of thepleasure-seeking, pleasure-loving whirl of fashion, a fierce tempestwas rising, and the first whistlings of the wind of revolt were alreadybeginning to pierce through the keyholes and crannies of the statelybuilding allotted to the business of Government;--so much so indeedthat one terrible night, all unexpectedly, a huge mob, some twentythousand strong, surrounded it, armed with every conceivable weaponfrom muskets to pickaxes, and shouted with horrid din for 'Bread andJustice!'--these being considered co-equal in the bewildered mind ofthe excited multitude. Likewise did they scream with protrusive energy:'Give us back our lost Trades!' being fully aware, despite theirdelirium, that these said 'lost Trades' were being sold off into'Trusts, ' wherein Ministers themselves held considerable shares, A two-sided clamour was also made for 'The King! The King!' one sideappealing, the other menacing, --the latter under the belief that hisMajesty equally had 'shares' in the bartered Trades, --the former in thehope that the country's Honour might still be saved with the help oftheir visible Head. 

Much difficulty was experienced in clearing this surging throng ofindignant humanity, for though the soldiery were called out to effectthe work, they were more than half-hearted in their business, havingconsiderable grievances of their own to avenge, --and when ordered tofire on the people, flatly refused to do so. Two persons howeversucceeded at last in calming and quelling the tumult. One was SergiusThord, --the other Lotys. Carl Pérousse, seized with an access of'nerves' within the cushioned luxury of his own private room in therecesses of the Government buildings, from whence he had watched thedemonstration, peered from one of the windows, and saw one half of thehuge mob melt swiftly away under the command of a tall, majestic-looking creature, whose massive form and leonine head appeared Ajax-like above the throng; and he watched the other half turn round inbrisk order, like a well-drilled army, and march off, singing loudlyand lustily, headed by a woman carried shoulder-high before them, whosewhite robes gleamed like a flag of truce in the glare of the torchesblazing around her;--and to his utter amazement, fear and disgust, heheard the very soldiers shouting her name: "Lotys! Lotys!" with ever-increasing and thunderous plaudits of admiration and homage. Often andoften had he heard that name, --often and often had he dismissed it fromhis thoughts with light masculine contempt. Often, too, had it come tothe ears of his colleague the Premier, who as has been shown, even inintimate converse with his own private secretary, feigned completeignorance of it. But it is well understood that politicians generally, and diplomatists always, assume to have no knowledge whateverconcerning those persons of whom they are most afraid. Yet just now itwas unpleasantly possible that "the stone which the builders rejected"might indirectly be the means of crushing the Ministry, andreorganizing the affairs of the country. His meditations on thisoccasion were interrupted by a touch on the shoulder from behind, and, looking up, he saw the Marquis de Lutera. 

"Almost a riot!" he said, forcing a pale smile, --"But not quite!"

"Say, rather, almost a revolution!" retorted the Marquis brusquely;--"Jesting is out of place. We are on the brink of a very seriousdisaster! The people are roused. To-night they threatened to burn downthese buildings over our heads, --to sack and destroy the King's Palace. The Socialist leader, Thord, alone saved the situation. "

"With the aid of his mistress?" suggested Pérousse with a sneer. 

"You mean the woman they call Lotys? I am not aware that she is hismistress. I should rather doubt it. The people would not make such asaint of her if she were. At any rate, whatever else she may be, she iscertainly dangerous;--and in a country less free than ours would beplaced under arrest. I must confess I never believed in her 'vogue'with the masses, until to-night. "

Pérousse was silent. The great square in front of the Governmentbuildings was now deserted, --save for the police and soldiery on guard;but away in the distance could still be heard faint echoes of singingand cheering from the broken-up sections of the crowd that had latelydisturbed the peace. 

"Have you seen the King lately?" enquired Lutera presently. 

"No. "

"By his absolute 'veto' against our propositions at the last CabinetCouncil, the impending war which would have been so useful to us, hasbeen quashed in embryo, " went on the Premier with a frown;--"This ofcourse you know! And he has the right to exercise his veto if he likes. But I scarcely expected you after all you said, to take the matter soeasily!"

Pérousse smiled, and shrugged his shoulders deprecatingly. 

"However, " continued the Marquis with latent contempt in his tone;--"Inow quite understand your complacent attitude! You have simply turnedyour 'Army Supplies Contract' into a 'Trust' Combine with othernations, --so you will not lose, but rather gain by the transaction!"

"I never intended to lose!" said Pérousse calmly; "I am not troubledwith scruples. One form of trade is as good as another. The primeobject of life nowadays is to make money!"

Lutera looked at him, but said nothing. 

"To amalgamate all the steel industries into one international Union, and get as many shares myself in the combine is not at all an unwiseproject, " went on Pérousse, --"For if our country is not to fight, other countries will;--and they will require guns and swords and allsuch accoutrements of war. Why should we not satisfy the demand andpocket the cash?"

Still the Marquis looked at him steadily. 

"Are you aware, "--he asked at last, "that Jost, to save his 'press'prestige, has turned informer against you?"

Pérousse sprang up, white with fury. 

"By Heaven, if he has dared!--"

"There is no 'if' in the case"--said Lutera very coldly--"He has, as hehimself says, 'done his duty. ' You must be pretty well cognisant ofwhat a Jew's notions of 'duty' are! They can be summed up in onesentence;--'to save his own pocket. ' Jost is driven to fury anddesperation by the sudden success of the rival newspaper, which hasbeen so prominently favoured by the King. The shares in his ownjournalistic concerns are going down rapidly, and he is determined--naturally enough--to take care of himself before anyone else. He hassold out of every company with which you have been, or are associated--and has--so I understand, --sent a complete list of your proposedfinancial 'deals, ' investments and other 'stock' to--"

He paused. 

"Well!" exclaimed Pérousse irascibly--"To whom?"

"To those whom it may concern, "--replied Lutera evasively--"I reallycan give you no exact information. I have said enough by way ofwarning!"

Pérousse looked at him heedfully, and what he saw in that dark broodingface was not of a quieting or satisfactory nature. 

"You are as deeply involved as I am--" he began. 

"Pardon!" and the Marquis drew himself up with some dignity--"I_was_ involved;--I am not now. I have also taken care of myself! Imay have been misled, but I shall let no one suffer for my errors. Ihave sent in my resignation. "

"Fool!" ejaculated Pérousse, forgetting all courtesy in the suddenaccess of rage that took possession of him at these words;--"Fool, Isay! At the very moment when you ought to stick to the ship, you desertit!"

"Are _you_ not ready to run to the helm?" enquired Lutera with asatiric smile; "Surely you can have no doubt but that his Majesty willcommand you to take office!"

With this, he turned on his heel, and left his colleague to a space ofvery disagreeable meditation. For the first time in his bold andunscrupulous career, Pérousse found himself in an awkward position. Ifit were indeed true that Jost and Lutera had thrown up the game, especially Jost, then he, Pérousse, was lost. He had made of Jost, notonly a tool, but a confidant. He had used him, and his great leadingnewspaper for his own political and financial purposes. He hadentrusted him with State secrets, in order to speculate thereon in allthe money-markets of the world. He had induced him to approach thePremier with crafty promises of support, and to inveigle him byinsidious degrees into the same dishonourable financial 'deal. ' So thatif this one man, --this fat, unscrupulous turncoat of a Jew, --chose tospeak out, he, Carl Pérousse, Secretary of State, would be the mostdisgraced and ruined Minister that ever attempted to defraud a nation!His brows grew moist with fever-heat, and his tongue parched, with thedry thirst of fear, as the gravity of the situation was gradually bornein upon him. He began to calculate contingencies and possibilities ofescape from the toils that seemed closing around him, --and much to hisirritation and embarrassment, he found that most of the ways leadingout of difficulty pointed first of all to, --the King. 

The King! The very personage whom he had called a Dummy, only bound todo as he was told! And now, if he could only persuade the King thathe, --the poor Secretary of State, --was a deeply-injured man, whoselife's effort had been solely directed towards 'the good of thecountry, ' yet who nevertheless was cruelly wronged and calumniated byhis enemies, all might yet be well. 

"Were he only like other monarchs whom I know, " he reflected. "I couldhave easily involved him in the Trades deal! Then the press could havebeen silenced, and the public fooled. With five or six hundred thousandshares in the biggest concerns, he would have been compelled to workunder me for the amalgamation of our Trades with the financial forcesof other countries, regardless of the rubbish talked by 'patriots' onthe loss of our position and prestige. But he is not fond of money, --he is not fond of money! Would that he were!--for so _I_ should bevirtually king of the King!"

Cogitating various problems on his return to his own house thatevening, he remembered that despite numerous protests and petitions, the King had, up to the present, paid no attention to the appeals ofhis people against the increasing inroads of taxation. The only twomeasures he had carried with a high and imperative hand, were first, --the 'vetoing' of an intended declaration of war, --and the refusal ofextensive lands to the Jesuits. The first was the more importantaction, as, while it had won the gratitude and friendship of apreviously hostile State, it had lost several 'noble' gamblers in thegriefs of nations, some millions of money. The check to the Jesuits wascomparatively trivial, yet it had already produced far-reachingeffects, and had offended the powers at the Vatican. But, beyond this, things remained apparently as they were; true, the Socialists weregrowing stronger;--but there was no evidence that the Government wasgrowing weaker. 

"After all, " thought Pérousse, as a result of his meditations; "thereis no immediate cause for anxiety. If Lutera has sent in hisresignation, it may not be accepted. That rests--like other things--with the King. " And a vague surprise affected him at this fact. "Curious!" he muttered, --"Very curious that he, who was a Nothing, should now be a Something! The change has taken place very rapidly, --and very strangely! I wonder what--or who--is moving him?"

But to this inward query he received no satisfactory reply. Themysterious upshot of the whole position was the same, --namely, thatsomehow, in the most unaccountable, inexplicable manner, the wind andweather of affairs had so veered round, that the security of Ministersand the stability of Government rested, not with themselves or thenature of their quarrels and discussions, but solely on one whom theywere accustomed to consider as a mere ornamental figure-head, --theKing. 

Some few days after the unexpected turbulent rising of the mob, it wasjudged advisable to give the people something in the way of a 'gala, 'or spectacle, in order to distract their attention from their owngrievances, and to draw them away from their Socialistic clubs andconventions, to the contemplation of a parade of Royal state andsplendour. The careful student of History cannot fail to note thatwhenever the rottenness and inadequacy of a Government are mostapparent, great 'shows' and Royal ceremonials are always resorted to, in order to divert the minds of the people from the bitterconsideration of a deficient Exchequer and a diminishing NationalHonour. The authorities who organize these State masquerades are wisein their generation. They know that the working-classes very seldomhave the leisure to think for themselves, and that they often lack theintelligent ability to foresee the difficulties and dangers menacingtheir country's welfare;--but that they are always ready, with thestrangest fatuity, patience, and good-nature, to take their wives andfamilies to see any new variation of a world's 'Punch and Judy' play, particularly if there is a savour of Royalty about it, accompanied by abrass band, well-equipped soldiers, and gilded coaches. Though theytake no part in the pageant, beyond consenting to be hustled and rudelydriven back by the police like intrusive sheep, out of the sacred wayof a Royal progress, they nevertheless have an instinctive (and verycorrect) idea that somehow or other it is all part of the 'fun' forwhich they have paid their money. There is no more actual reverence orrespect for the positive Person of Royalty in such a parade, than thereis for the Wonderful Performing Pig who takes part in a circus-procession through a country town. The public impression is simple, --That having to pay for the up-keep of a Throne, its splendours shouldbe occasionally 'trotted out' to see whether they are worth thenation's annual expenditure. 

Moved entirely by this plain and practical sentiment, the popularbreast was thrilled with some amount of interest and animation when itwas announced that his Majesty the King would, on a certain afternoon, go in state to lay the foundation-stone of the Grand National Theatre, which was the very latest pet project of various cogitating Jews andcautious millionaires. The Grand National Theatre was intended to'supply, ' according to a stock newspaper phrase, 'a long-felt want. ' Itwas to be a 'philanthropic' scheme, by which the 'Philanthropists'would receive excellent interest for their money. Ostensibly, it was toprovide the 'masses' with the highest form of dramatic entertainment atthe lowest cost;--but there were many intricate wheels within wheels inthe elaborate piece of stock-jobbing mechanism, by which the publicwould be caught and fooled--as usual--and the speculators thereinrendered triumphant. Sufficient funds were at hand to start thebuilding of the necessary edifice, and the King's 'gracious' consent tolay the first stone, with full state and ceremony, was hailed by thepromoters of the plan as of the happiest augury. For with such approvaland support openly given, all the Snob-world would follow the Royal'lead'--quite as infallibly as it did in the case of another monarchwho, persuaded to drink of a certain mineral spring, and likewise to'take shares' in its bottled waters, turned the said spring into a'paying concern' at once, thereby causing much rejoicing among theSemites. The 'mob' might certainly decline to imitate the Snob-world, --but, considering the recent riotous outbreak, it might be as well thatthe overbold and unwashen populace should be awed by the panoply andglory of earthly Majesty passing by in earthly splendour. 

Alas, poor Snob-world! How often has it thought the same thing! Howoften has it fancied that with show and glitter and brazen ostentationof mere purse-power, it can quell the rage for Justice, which, like aspark of God's own eternal Being, burns for ever in the soul of aPeople! Ah, that rage for Justice!--that divine fury and fever whichwith strong sweating and delirium shakes the body politic and cleansesit from accumulated sickly humours and pestilence! What would thenations be without its periodical and merciful visitations! Tearingdown old hypocrisies, --rooting up weedy abuses, --rending asunder rottenconventions, --what wonder if thrones and sceptres, and even the headsof kings get sometimes mixed into the general swift clearance of long-accumulated dirt and disorder! And vainly at such times does the Snob-world anxiously proffer golden pieces for the price of its life! Thereshall not then be millions enough in all the earth, to purchase thesafety of one proved Liar who has wilfully robbed his neighbour!

No hint of the underworkings of the people's thought, or the movementof the times was, however, apparent in the aspect of the gay multitudesthat poured along the principal thoroughfares of the metropolis on theday appointed for the ceremony in which the King had consented to takethe leading part. Poor and rich together, vied with one another tosecure the various best points of view from whence the Royal pageantcould be seen, winding down in glittering length from the Palace andCitadel, past the Cathedral, and so on to the great open square, where, surrounded by fluttering flags and streamers, a huge block of stonehung suspended by ropes from a crane, ready to be lowered at the Royaltouch, and fixed in its place by the Royal trowel, as the visible andsolid beginning of the stately fabric, which, according to pictorialmodels was to rise from this, its first foundation, into a temple ofart and architecture, devoted to Melpomene and Thalia. 

It was a glorious day, --the sun shone with vigorous heat and lustrefrom a cloudless sky, --the sea was calm as an inland pool--and peoplewore their lightest, brightest and most festive attire. Fair "society"dames, clad in the last capricious mode of ever-changing Fashion, andshading their delicate, and not always natural, complexions with airyparasols, filmy and finely-coloured as the petals of flowers, queenedit over the flocking crowds of pedestrians, as they were driven past intheir softly-cushioned carriages drawn by high-stepping horses;--allthe boudoirs and drawing-rooms of the most exclusive houses seemed tohave emptied their luxury-loving occupants into the streets, --and thewhole town was, for a few hours at any rate, apparently given over toholiday. As the long line of soldiery preceding the King's carriage, wound down from the Citadel, groups of people cheered, and waved hatsand handkerchiefs, --then, when his Majesty's own escort came into view, the cheering was redoubled, --and at last when the cumbrous, over-gilded, over-painted "Cinderella" State-coach appeared, and thefamiliar, but somewhat sternly-composed features of the King himselfwere perceived through the glass windows, a roar of acclamation, likethe thundering of a long wave on an extensive stretch of rock-boundcoast, echoed far and near, and again and again was repeated withincreased and ever-increasing clamour. Who, --hearing such anenthusiastic greeting--would or could have imagined for one moment thatthe King, who was the object and centre of these tremendous plaudits, was at the same time judged as an enemy and an obstruction to justiceby more than one half of the population! Yet it was so, --and so hasoften been. The populace will shout itself hoarse for any cause;whether it be a king going to be crowned, or a king going to beexecuted, the stimulus is the same, and the enthusiasm as passionate. It is merely the contagious hysteria of a moment that tickles theirlungs to expansion in noise;--but the real sentiment of admiration fora fine character which might perhaps have moved the subjects of RichardCoeur de Lion to cries of exultation, is generally non-existent. Andwhy? For no cause truly!--save that Lion-Hearts in kings no morepulsate through nations. 

By the time the Royal procession reached its destination the crowd hadlargely increased, and the press of people round the scene of theforthcoming function was great enough to be seriously embarrassing toboth the soldiery and the police. Slowly the gorgeous State-coachlumbered up to the entrance of the ground railed off for the ceremony, --and between a line of armed guards, the King alighted. Vociferouscheering again broke out on all sides, which his Majesty acknowledgedin the usual formal manner by a monotonous military salute performed atregular intervals. Received with obsequious deference by all thepersons concerned in the Grand National Theatre project, he conversedwith one or two, shook hands with others, and was just on the point ofaddressing a few of his usual suave compliments to some pretty womenwho had been invited to adorn the scene, when David Jost advancedsmilingly, evidently sure of a friendly recognition. For had not theKing, when Crown Prince and Heir-Apparent, hunted game in hispreserves?--yea, had he not even dined with him?--and had not he, Jost, written whole columns of vapid twaddle about the 'Royal smile' and the'Royal favour' till the outside public had sickened at every stroke ofhis flunkey pen? How came it, then, that his Majesty seemed on thisoccasion to have no recollection of him, and looked over and beyond himin the airiest way, as though he were a far-off Jew in Jerusalem, instead of being the assumptive-Orthodox proprietor of several Europeannewspapers published for the general misinformation and plunder ofgullible Christians? Dismayed at the Royal coldness of eye, Joststepped back with an uncomfortably crimson face; and one of the ladiespresent, personally knowing him, and seeing his discomfiture, venturedto call the King's attention to his presence and to make way for hisapproach, by murmuring gently, "Mr. Jost, Sir!"

"Ah, indeed!" said the monarch, with calm grey eyes still fixed onvacancy, --"I do not know anyone of that name! Permit me to admire thatexquisite arrangement of flowers!" and, smiling affably on theastonished and embarrassed lady, he led her aside, altogether away fromJost's vicinity. 

Stricken to the very dust of abasement by this direct "cut" so publiclyadministered, the crestfallen editor and proprietor of many journalsstood aghast for a moment, --then as various unbidden thoughts began tochase one another through his bewildered head, he was seized with aviolent trembling. He remembered every foolish, imprudent and disloyalremark he had made to the stranger named Pasquin Leroy who had calledupon him bearing the Premier's signet, --and reflecting that this veryPasquin Leroy was now, by some odd chance, a contributor of politicalleaders and other articles to the rival daily newspaper which hadpublished the King's official refusal of a grant of land to theJesuits, he writhed inwardly with impotent fury. For might not thisunknown man, Leroy, --if he were, --as he possibly was, --a friend of theKing's--go to the full length of declaring all he knew and all he hadlearned from Jost's own lips, concerning certain 'financial secrets, 'which if fully disclosed, would utterly dismember the Government andput the nation itself in peril? Might he not already even have informedthe King? With his little, swine-like eyes retreating under thecrinkling fat of his lowering brows, Jost, hot and cold by turns, wandered confusedly out of the 'exclusive' set of persons connectedwith the 'Grand National Theatre' scheme, who were now gathered roundthe suspended foundation-stone to which the King was approaching. Hepretended not to see the curious eyes that stared at him, or thesneering mouths that smiled at the open slight he had received. Pushinghis way through the crowd, he jostled against the thin black-garmentedfigure of a priest, --no other than Monsignor Del Fortis, who, with anaffable word of recognition, drew aside to allow him passage. Affectinghis usual 'company-manner' of tolerant good-nature, he forced himselfto speak to this 'holy' man, who, at any rate, had paid him good moneyin round sums for so-called 'articles' or rather puff-advertisements inhis paper concerning Church matters. 

"Good-day, Monsignor!" he said--"You are not often seen at a Royalpageant! How comes it that you, of all persons in the world havebrought yourself to witness the laying of the foundation-stone of aTheatre? Does not your calling forbid any patronage of the mimic Art?"

The priest's thin lips parted, showing a glimmer of wolfish teethbehind the pale stretched line of flesh. 

"Not by any means!" he replied suavely--"In the present levelling andamalgamation of social interests, the Church and Stage are drawing veryclosely together. "

"True!" said Jost, with a grin--"One might very well be taken for theother!"

Del Fortis looked at him meditatively. 

"This, " he said, waving his lean hand towards the centre of thebrilliant crowd where now the King stood, "is a kind of drama in itsway. And you, Mr. Jost, have just played one little scene in it!"

Jost reddened, and bit his lip. 

"I am also another actor on the boards, " continued Del Fortis smilingdarkly;--"if only as a spectator in the 'super' crowd. And othercomedians and tragedians are doubtless present, of whom we may hearanon!"

"The King has nasty humours sometimes, " said Jost shortly, looking downat the flower in his buttonhole, and absently flicking off one of itspetals with his fat forefinger--"He ought to be made to pay for them!"

"Ha, ha! Very good! Certainly!" and Del Fortis gave a piously-deprecating nod--"He ought to be made to pay! Especially when he hurtsthe feelings of his old friends! Are you going, Mr. Jost? Yes? What apity! But you no doubt have your reporters present?"

"Oh, there are plenty of them about, "--said Jost carelessly, "But Ishall condense all the account of these proceedings into a few lines. "

"Ha, --ha!" laughed Del Fortis, --"I understand! Revenge--revenge! But--in certain cases--the briefest description is sometimes the mostgraphic--and startling! Good-day!"

Jost returned the salute curtly, and went, --not to leave the scenealtogether, but merely to take up a position of vantage immediatelyabove and behind the surging crowd, where from a distance he couldwatch all that was going on. He saw the King lift his hand towards theropes and pulleys of the crane above him, --and as it was touched by theRoyal finger, the foundation stone was slowly lowered into the deepsocket prepared for it, where gold and silver coins of the year'scurrency had already been strewn. Then, with the aid of a silver trowelset in a handle of gold, and obsequiously presented by the managingdirector of the scheme, his Majesty dabbed in a little mortar, anddeclared in a loud voice that the stone was 'well and truly laid. ' Aburst of cheering greeted the announcement, and the band struck up thecountry's National Hymn, this being the usual sign that the ceremonywas at an end. Whereupon the King, shaking hands again cordially withthe various parties concerned, and again shedding the lustre of hissmile upon the various ladies with whom he had been conversing, madehis way very leisurely to his State equipage, which, with its sixmagnificently caparisoned horses, stood prepared for his departure, thedoor being already held open for him by one of the attendant powderedand gold-laced flunkeys. Sir Roger de Launay walked immediately behindhis Sovereign, and Professor von Glauben was close at hand, companionedby two of the gentlemen of the Royal Household. All at once a young manpushed himself out of the crowd nearest to the enclosure, --paused amoment irresolute, and then, with a single determined bound reached theKing's side. 

"Thief of the People's money! Take that!" he shouted, wildly, --and, brandishing aloft a glittering stiletto, he aimed it straight at themonarch's heart!

But the blow never reached its destination, for a woman, closely veiledin black, suddenly threw herself swiftly and adroitly between theKing's body and the descending blade, shielding his breast with bothher outstretched arms. The dagger struck her violently, piercing herflesh through the upper part of her right shoulder, and under the sheerforce of the blow, she fell senseless. 

The whole incident took place in less time than it could bebreathlessly told, --and even as she who had risked her life to save theKing's, sank bleeding to the ground, the police seized the assassinred-handed in his mad and criminal act, and wrenched the murderousweapon from his hand. He was a mere lad of eighteen or twenty, andseemed dazed, submitting to be bound and handcuffed without a word. TheKing, perfectly tranquil and unhurt, bared his head to the wild criesand hysterical cheering of the excited spectators to whom his narrowescape from death appeared a kind of miracle, moving them to franticparoxysms of passionate enthusiasm, and then bent anxiously down overthe prostrate form of his rescuer, endeavouring himself to raise herfrom the ground. A hundred hands at once proffered assistance;--SirRoger de Launay, pale to the lips with the shock of sick horror he hadexperienced at what might so easily have been a national catastrophe, assisted the police in forming a strong cordon round the person of hisbeloved Royal master, in order to guard him against any furtherpossible attack, --and Professor von Glauben, obeying the King's signal, knelt down by the unconscious woman's side to examine the extent of herinjury. Gently he turned back the close folds of her enveloping veil, --then gave a little start and cry:

"Gott in Himmel!" And he hastily drew down the veil again as the Kingapproached with the question--

"Is she dangerously hurt?"

"No, Sir!--I think not--I hope not--but--!"

And the Professor's eyes looked volumes of suggestion. Catching hisexpression, the King drew still nearer. 

"Uncover her face, --give her air!" he commanded. 

With a perplexed side-glance at Sir Roger de Launay, the Professorobeyed, --and the sunshine fell full on the white calm features andclosed eyelids of "the woman known as Lotys. " Her black dress wasdarkly stained and soaked with oozing blood--and the deep dull gold ofher hair was touched here and there with the same crimson hue;--butthere was a smile on her lips, and her face was as fair and placid asthough it had been smoothed out of all pain and trouble by the restfultouch of Death. Silently, and with a perfectly inscrutable demeanour, the King surveyed her for a moment. Then, raising his plumed hat withgrave grace and courtesy, he looked on all those who stood about him, soldiery, police and spectators. 

"Does anyone here present know this lady?" he demanded. 

A crowd of eager heads were pushed forward, and then a low murmurbegan, which deepened into a steady roar of delighted acclamation. 

"Lotys! Lotys!"

The name was caught up quickly and repeated from mouth to mouth--tillaway on the extreme outskirts of the crowd it was tossed back againwith shouts--"Lotys! Lotys!"

Swiftly the news ran like an electric current through the whole body ofthe populace, that it was Lotys, their own Lotys, their friend, theirfellow-worker, the idol of the poorer classes, that had saved the lifeof the King! Half-incredulous, half-admiring, the mob listened to thegrowing rumour, and the general excitement increased in intensity amongthem. David Jost, from his point of observation, caught the infection, and realizing at once the value of the dramatic "copy" for his paper, to be obtained out of such a situation, jumped into the nearest vehicleand was driven straight to his offices, there to send electric messagesof the news to every quarter of the world, and to endeavour by printedloyal outbursts of "gush" to turn the current of the King's displeasureagainst him into a more favourable direction. Meanwhile the Kinghimself gave orders that his wounded rescuer should be conveyed in oneof the Royal carriages straight to the Palace, and there attended byhis own physician. Professor von Glauben was entrusted with thecarrying-out of this command, --and the monarch, then entering his ownState-equipage, started on his homeward progress. 

Thundering cheers now greeted him at every step;--for an hour at leastthe populace went mad with rapture, shouting, singing and callingalternately for "The King!" and "Lotys!" with no respect of persons, orconsideration as to their differing motives and opposite stations inlife. Two facts only were clear to them, --first an attempt had beenmade to assassinate the King, --secondly, that Lotys had frustrated theattempt, and risked her own life to save that of the monarch. Thesewere enough to set fire to the passionate sentiments of a warm-blooded, restless Southern people, and they gave full sway to their feelingsaccordingly. So, amid deafening plaudits, the Royal procession wendedits way back to the Citadel, the State-coach moving at a snail's pacein order to allow the people to see the King for themselves, and makesure he was uninjured, as they cheered, and followed it in surgingthrongs to the very gates of the Palace, --while in another and reversedirection the wretched youth whose miserable effort to commit a dastardcrime had so fortunately failed, was marched off, under the guard of astrong body of police to the State-Prison, there to await his trial andcondemnation. A small crowd, hooting and cursing the criminal, pursuedhim as he went, and one personage, austere and dignified, alsofollowed, at a distance, as though curious to see the last of thewould-be murderer ere he was shut out from liberty, --and this wasMonsignor Del Fortis. 

CHAPTER XXIV

A WOMAN'S REASON

When Lotys recovered from her death-like swoon, she found herself on asofa among heaped-up soft cushions, in a small semi-darkened room hungwith draperies of rose satin, which were here and there drawn aside toshow exquisite groupings of Saxe china and rare miniatures on ivory;--the ceiling above her was a painted mirror, where Venus in her car offlowers, drawn by doves, was pictured floating across a crystal sea, --the floor was strewn with white bearskins, --the corners were filledwith palms and flowers. As she regarded these unaccustomed surroundingswonderingly, a firm hand was laid on her wrist, and a brusque voicesaid in her ear:--

"Lie still, if you please! You have been seriously hurt! You mustrest. "

She turned feebly towards the speaker, and saw a big burly man with abald head, seated at her side, who held a watch in one hand, and felther pulse with the other. She could not discern his features plainly, for his back was set to the already shaded light, and her own eyes wereweak and dim. 

"You are very kind!" she murmured--"I do not quite remember--Ah, yes!" and a quick flash of animation passed over her face--"I know now!The King! Is--is all well?"

"All is well, thanks to you!" replied the gruff voice--"You have savedhis life. "

"Thank God!"--and she closed her eyes again wearily, while two slowtears trickled from under the shut white lids--"Thank God!"

Professor von Glauben, placed in charge of her by the King's command, gently relinquished the small white hand he held, and steppingnoiselessly to a table near at hand, poured out from one of the variouslittle flasks set thereon, a cordial the properties of which were aloneknown to himself, and held the glass to her lips. 

"Drink this off at once!"--he said authoritatively, yet kindly. 

She obeyed. He then, turning aside with the empty glass, sat down andwatched her from a little distance. Soon a faint flush tinged her dead-white skin, and presently, with a deep sigh, she opened her eyes again. Then she became aware of a stiffness and smart in her right shoulder, and saw that it was tightly bandaged, and that the bodice of her dresswas cut away from it. Lying perfectly still, she gradually brought herstrong spirit of self-control to bear on the situation, and tried tocollect her scattered thoughts. Very few minutes sufficed her torecollect all that had happened, and as she realised more and morevividly that she was in some strange and luxurious abode where she hadno business or desire to be, she gathered all the forces of her mind toher aid, and with but a slight effort, sat upright. Professor vonGlauben came towards her with an exclamation of warning--but shemotioned him back with a very decided gesture. 

"Please do not trouble!" she said--"I am quite able to move--to stand--see!" And she rose to her feet, trembling a little, and steadyingherself by resting one hand on the edge of the sofa. "I do not know whoyou are, but I am sure you have been most kind to me! And if you woulddo me a still greater kindness, you will let me go away from here atonce!"

"Impossible, Madame!" declared the Professor, firmly--"His Majesty, theKing----"

"What of his Majesty, the King?" demanded Lotys with sudden hauteur--"Am I not mistress of my own actions?"

The Professor made an elaborate bow. 

"Most unquestionably you are, Madame!" he replied--"But you are alsofor the moment, a guest in the King's Palace; and having saved hislife, you will surely not withhold from him the courteous acceptance ofhis hospitality?"

"The King's Palace!" she echoed, and a little disdainful smile crossedher lips--"I, --Lotys, --in the King's Palace!" She moved a few steps, and drew herself proudly erect. "You, sir, are a servant of theKing's?"

"I am his Majesty's resident physician, at your service!" he said, withanother bow--"I have had the honour of attending to the wound you soheroically received in his defence, --and though it is not a dangerouswound, it is an exceedingly unpleasant one I assure you, --and willgive you a good deal of pain and trouble. Let me advise you veryearnestly to stay where you are, and rest--do not think of leaving thePalace to-night. "

She sighed restlessly. "I must not think of staying in it!" shereplied. "But I do not wish to seem churlish--or ungrateful for yourcare and kindness;--will you tell the King--" Here she broke offabruptly, and fixed her eyes searchingly on his face. "Strange!" shemurmured--"I seem to have seen you before, --or someone very like you!"

The Professor was troubled with a sudden fit of coughing which made himvery red in the face, and obliged him to turn away for a moment inorder to recover himself. Still struggling with that obstinate catch inhis throat he said:

"You were saying, Madame, that you wished me to tell the Kingsomething?"

"Yes!" said Lotys eagerly--"if you will be so good! Tell him that Ithank him for his courtesy;--but that I must go away from this Palace, --that I cannot--may not--stop in it an hour longer! He does not knowwho it is that saved his life, --if he did, he would not wish me toremain a moment under his roof! He would be as anxious and willing forme to leave as I am to go! Will you tell him this?"

"Madame, I will tell him, " replied the Professor deferentially, yetwith a slight smile--"But--if it will satisfy your scruples, or easeyour mind at all, --I may as well inform you that his Majesty does knowwho you are! The populace itself declared your name to him, with shoutsof acclamation. " She flushed a vivid red, then grew very pale. 

"If that be so, then he must also be aware that I am his sworn enemy!"she said, --"And, that in accordance with the principles I hold, Icannot possibly remain under his roof! Therefore I trust, sir, you willhave the kindness to provide me with a way of quick exit before mypresence here becomes too publicly reported. "

The Professor was slightly nonplussed. He considered for a moment; thenrapidly made up his mind. 

"Madame, I will do so!" he said--"That is, if you will permit me firstof all to announce your intention of leaving the Palace, to the King. Pardon me for suggesting that his Majesty can hardly regard as an enemya lady who has saved his life at the risk of her own. "

"I did not save it because he is the King, " she said curtly, "And youare at liberty to tell him so. Please make haste to inform him at onceof my desire to leave the Palace, --and say also, that if he considershe owes me any gratitude, he will show it by not detaining me. "

The Professor bowed and retired. Lotys, left alone, sat down for amoment in one of the luxuriously cushioned chairs, and pressed her lefthand hard over her eyes to try and still their throbbing ache. Herright arm was bound up and useless, --and the pain from the wound in hershoulder caused her acute agony, --but she had a will of iron, and shehad trained her mental forces to control, if not entirely to master, her physical weaknesses. She thought, not of her own suffering, but ofthe exciting incident in which mere impulse had led her to take somarked a share. It was by pure accident that she had joined the crowdassembled to see the King lay the foundation-stone of the proposed newTheatre. She had been as it were, entangled in the press of the people, and had got pushed towards the centre of the scene almost against herown volition. And while she had stood, --a passive and unwillingspectator of the pageant, --her attention had been singularly attractedtowards the uneasy and restless movements of the youth who hadafterwards attempted the assassination of the monarch. She had watchedhim narrowly; though she could not have explained why she did so, evento herself. He was a complete stranger to her, and yet, with her quickintuition, she had discerned a curious expression of anxiety and fearin his face, as though of the impending horror of a crime, --a lookwhich, because it was so strained and unnatural, had aroused hersuspicion. When she had sprung forward to shield the King, only oneidea had inspired her, --and that idea she would not now fully own evento herself, because it was so entirely, weakly feminine. Nevertheless, from woman's weakness has often sprung a hero's strength--and so it hadproved in this case. She did not, however, allow herself to dwell onthe instinctive impulse which had thrown her on the King's breast, ready to receive her own death-blow rather than that he should die; shepreferred to elude that question, and to consider her action solelyfrom the standpoint of those Socialistic theories with which she wasindissolubly associated. 

"Had I not frustrated the attempt, the crime would have been set downto us and our Brotherhood, " she said to herself, "Sergius--or PaulZouche--or I myself--or even Pasquin--yes, even he!--might, anddoubtless would, have been accused of instigating it. As it is, I thinkI have saved the situation. " She rose and walked slowly up and down theroom. "I wonder who is behind the wretched boy concerned in thisbusiness? He is too young to have determined on such a deed himself, --unless he is mad;--he must be a tool in the hands of others. "

Here spying her long black cloak hanging across a chair, she took it upand threw it round her, --her face was reflected back upon her from amirror set in the wall, round which a cluster of ivory cupidsclambered, --and she looked critically at her white drawn features, andthe disordered masses of her hair. Loosening these abundant locks, sheshook them down and gathered them into her one uncrippled hand, preparatory to twisting them into the usual knot at the back of herhead, the while she looked at the little sculptured _amorini_ setround the mirror, with a compassionate smile. 

"Such a number of mimic Loves where there is no real love!" she saidhalf aloud, --when the opening of a door, and the swaying movement of acurtain pushed aside, startled her; and still holding her rich hair upin her hand she turned quickly, --to find herself face to face with, --the King. 

There was an instant's dead silence. Dropping the silken gold weight ofher tresses to fall as they would, regardless of conventionalappearances, she stood erect, making all unconsciously to herself, apicture of statuesque and beauteous tragedy. Her plain black garments, --the long cloak enveloping her slight form, and the glorious tangle ofher unbound hair rippling loosely about her pale face, in which hereyes shone like blue flowers, made luminous by the sunlight of theinspired soul behind them, all gave her an almost supernatural air, --and made her seem as wholly unlike any other woman as a strange leaffrom an unexplored country is unlike the foliage common to one's nativeland. The King looked steadfastly upon her; she, meeting his gaze withequal steadfastness, felt her heart beating violently, though, as shewell knew, it was not with fear. She had no thought of Courtetiquette, --nor had she any reason to consider it, his Majesty havinghimself deliberately trespassed upon its rules by visiting her thusalone and unattended. She offered no reverence, --no salutation;--shesimply stood before him, quite silent, awaiting his pleasure, --thoughin her eyes there shone a dangerous brilliancy that was almostfeverish, and nervous tremors shook her from head to foot. The strangedumb spell between them relaxed at last. With a kind of effort whichexpressed itself in the extra rigidity and pallor of his fine features, the King spoke:

"Madame, I have come to thank you! Your noble act of heroism thisafternoon has saved my life. I do not say it is worth saving!--but theNation appears to think it is, --and in the name of the Nation, whoseservant I am, I offer you my personal gratitude--and service!"

He bowed low as he said these words gravely and courteously. Her eyesstill searched his face wistfully, with the eager plaintive expressionof a child looking for some precious treasure it has lost. She stroveto calm her throbbing pulses, --to quiet the hurrying blood in herveins, --to brace herself up to her usual impervious height of composureand self-control. 

"I need no thanks!" she answered briefly--"I have only done my duty!"

"Nay, Madame, is it quite consistent with your duty to shield fromdeath one so hated by your disciples and followers?" he asked, with atinge of melancholy in his accents--"You--as the famous Lotys--shouldhave helped to kill, not to save!"

She regarded him fearlessly. 

"You mistake!" she said--"As King, you should learn to know yoursubjects better! We are not murderers. We do not seek your life, --weseek to make you understand the need there is of honesty and justice. We live our lives among the poor; and we see those poor crushed downinto the dust by the rich, without hope and without help, --and weendeavour to rouse them to a sense of this Wrong, so that they may, bypersistence, obtain Right. We do not want the death of any man! Even toa traitor we give warning and time, ere we punish his treachery. Theunhappy wretch who attempted your life to-day was not of our party, orour teaching, thank God!"

"I am sure of that!" he said very gently, his face brightening with akind smile, --then, seeing her swerve, as though about to fall, hecaught her on one arm--"You are faint! You must not stand too long. Ifear you are suffering from the pain of that cruel wound inflicted onyou for my sake!"

"A little--" she managed to say, with white lips--"But it is nothing--it will soon pass----"

She sank helplessly into the chair he placed for her, and mutelywatched him as he walked to the window and threw it open, admitting thesweet, fresh, sea-scented air, and a flood of crimson radiance from thesetting sun. 

"I am informed that you wish to quit the Palace at once, " he said, averting his gaze from hers for a moment;--"Need I say how much Iregret this decision of yours? Both I and the Queen had hoped you wouldhave remained with us, under the care of our own physician, till youwere quite recovered. But I owe you too great a debt already to makeany further claim upon you--and I will not command you to stay, if youdesire to go. "

She lifted her head;--the faint colour was returning to her cheeks. 

"I thank you!" she said simply;--"I do indeed desire to go. Everymoment spent here is a moment wasted!"

"You think so?"--and, turning from the window where he stood, heconfronted her again;--"May I venture to suggest that you hardly dojustice to me, or to the situation? You have placed me under very greatobligations--surely you should endure my company long enough to tellme at least how I can in some measure show my personal recognition ofyour brave and self-sacrificing action!"

She looked at him in musing silence. A strange glow came into hereyes, --a deeper crimson flushed her cheek. 

"You can do nothing for me!" she said, after a long pause, "You are aKing--I, a poor commoner. I would not be indebted to you for all theworld! I am prouder of my 'common' estate than you are of your royalty!What are 'royal' rewards? Jewels, money, place, title! All valueless tome! If you would serve anyone, serve the People;--do something todeserve their trust! If you would show _me_ any personal recognition, as you say, for saving your life, make that life more noble!"

He heard her without offence, holding himself mute and motionless. Sherose from her seat, and approached him more closely. 

"Perhaps, after all, it is well that I was, --unconsciously and againstmy own volition, --brought here, " she said; "Perhaps it is God's willthat I should speak with you! For, as a rule none of your unknownsubjects can, or may speak with you!--you are so much hemmed in andringed round with slaves and parasites! In so far as this goes, you areto be pitied; though it rests with you to shake yourself free from thetoils of vulgar adulation. Your flatterers tell you nothing. They arecareful to keep you shut out of your own kingdom--to hide from youthings that are true, --things that you ought to know; they fool youwith false assurances of national tranquillity and content, --theypersuade you to play, like an over-grown child, with the toys ofluxury, --they lead you, a mere puppet, round and round in the clockworkroutine of a foolish and licentious society, --when you might be a Man!--up and doing man's work that should help you to regenerate andrevivify the whole country! I speak boldly--yes!--because I do not fearyou!--because I have no favours to gain from you, --because to me, --Lotys, --you, --the King--are nothing!"

Her voice, perfectly tranquil, even, and coldly sweet, had not a singlevibration of uncertainty or hesitation in it--and her words seemed tocut through the stillness of the room with clean incisiveness like thesweep of a sword-blade. Outside, the sea murmured and the leavesrustled, --the sun had sunk, leaving behind it a bright, pearly twilightsky, flecked with pink clouds like scattered rose-petals. 

He looked straight at her, --his clear dark grey eyes were filled withthe glowing fire of strongly suppressed feeling. Some hasty ejaculationsprang to his lips, but he checked it, and pacing once or twice up anddown, suddenly wheeled round, and again confronted her. 

"If, as a king, I fall so far short of kingliness, and am nothing toyou, "--he said deliberately; "Why did you shield me from the assassin'sdagger a while ago? Why not have let me perish?"

She shook back her gold hair, and regarded him almost defiantly. 

"I did not save you because you are the King!" she replied--"Be assuredof that!"

He was vaguely astonished. 

"Merely a humane sentiment then?" he said--"Just as you would havesaved a dog from drowning!"

A little smile crept reluctantly round the corners of her mouth. 

"There was another reason, " she began in a low tone, --then paused--"But--only a woman's reason!"

Something in her changing colour, --some delicate indefinable touch oftenderness and pathos, which softened her features and made them almostethereal, sent a curious thrill through his blood. 

"A woman's reason!" he echoed; "May I not hear it?"

Again she hesitated, --then, as if despising herself for her ownirresolution she spoke out bravely. 

"You may!"--she said--"There is nothing to conceal--nothing of which Iam ashamed! Besides, it is the true motive of the action which you arepleased to call 'heroic. ' I saved your life simply because--because youresemble in form and feature, in look and manner, the only man I love!"

A curious silence followed her words. The faint far whispering of theleaves on the trees outside seemed almost intrusively loud in such astillness, --the placid murmur of the sea against the cliff below thePalace became well-nigh suggestive of storm. Lotys was suddenlyconscious of an odd strained sense of terror, --she had spoken as freelyand frankly as she would have spoken to any one of her own associates, --and yet she felt that somehow she had been over-impulsive, and that ina thoughtless moment she had let slip some secret which placed her, weak and helpless, in the King's power. The King himself stoodimmovable as a figure of bronze, --his eyes resting upon her with a deepinsistence of purpose, as though he sought to wrest some furtherconfession from her soul. The tension between them was painful, --almostintolerable, --and though it lasted but a minute, that minute seemedweighted with the potentialities of years. Forcing herself to break thedumb spell, Lotys went on hurriedly and half desperately:--

"You may smile at this, " she said--"Men always jest with a woman'sheart, --a woman's folly! But folly or no, I will not have you draw anyfalse conclusions concerning me, --or flatter yourself that it wasloyalty to you, or honour for your position that made me your livingshield to-day. No!--for if you were not the exact counterpart of himwho is dearer to me than all the world beside, I think I should havelet you die! I think so--I do not know! Because, after all, you are notlike him in mind or heart; it is only your outward bearing, yourphysical features that resemble his! But, even so, I could not havelooked idly on, and seen his merest Resemblance slain! Now youunderstand! It is not for you, as King, that I have turned aside amurderer's weapon, --but solely because you have the face, the eyes, thesmile of one who is a thousand times greater and nobler than you, --who, though poor and uncrowned, is a true king in the grace and thought andgoodness of his actions, --who, all unlike you, personally attends tothe wants of the poor, instead of neglecting them, --and who recognises, and does his best to remedy, the many wrongs which afflict the peopleof this land!"

Her sweet voice thrilled with passion, --her cheeks glowed, --unconsciously she stretched out her uninjured hand with an eloquentgesture of pride and conviction. The King's figure, till now rigid andmotionless, stirred;--advancing a step, he took that hand before shecould withhold it, and raised it to his lips. 

"Madame, I am twice honoured!" he said, in accents that shook ever soslightly--"To resemble a good man even outwardly is something, --to wearin any degree the lineaments of one whom a brave and true woman honoursby her love is still more! You have made me very much your debtor"--here he gently relinquished the hand he had kissed--"but believe me, Ishall endeavour most faithfully to meet the claim you have upon mygratitude!" Here he paused, and drawing back, bowed courteously. "Theway for your departure is clear, " he continued;--"I have ordered acarriage to be in waiting at one of the private entrances to thePalace. Professor von Glauben, my physician, who has just attended you, will escort you to it. You will pass out quite unnoticed, --and be, --asyou desire it--again at full liberty. Let the memory of the King whoselife you saved trouble you no more, --except when you look upon hisbetter counterpart!--as then, perchance, you may think more kindly ofhim! For he has to suffer!--not so much for his own faults, as for thefaults of a system formulated by his ancestors. "

Her intense eyes glowed with a fire of enthusiasm as she lifted them tohis face. 

"Kingship would be a grand system, " she said, "if kings were true! AndAutocracy would be the best and noblest form of government in theworld, if autocrats could be found who were intellectual and honest atone and the same time!"

He looked at her observantly. 

"You think they are neither?"

"_I_ think? 'I' am nothing, --my opinions count for nothing! ButHistory gives evidence, and supplies proof of their incompetency. Agreat king, --good as well as great, --would be the salvation of thispresent time of the world!"

Still he kept his eyes upon her. 

"Go on!"--he said--"There is something in your mind which you wouldfain express to me more openly. You have eloquent features, Madame!--and your looks are the candid mirror of your thoughts. Speak, I beg ofyou!"

The light of a daring inward hope flashed in her face and inspired hervery attitude, as she stood before him, entirely regardless of herself. 

"Then, --since you give me leave, --I _will_ speak!" she said; "Forperhaps I shall never see you again--never have the chance to ask you, as a Man whom the mere accident of birth has made a king, to have morethought, more pity, more love for your subjects! Surely you should betheir guardian--their father--their protector? Surely you should notleave them to become the prey of unscrupulous financiers or intriguingChurchmen? Some say you are yourself involved in the cruel schemeswhich are slowly but steadily robbing this country's people of theirTrades, the lawful means of their subsistence; and that you approve, inthe main, of the private contracts which place our chief manufacturesand lines of traffic in the hands of foreign rivals. But I do notbelieve this. We--and by we, I mean the Revolutionary party--try hardnot to believe this! I admit to you, as faithfully as if I stood on mytrial before you, that much of the work to which we, as a party havepledged ourselves, consists in moving the destruction of the Monarchy, and the formation of a Republic. But why? Only because the Monarchy hasproved itself indifferent to the needs of the people, and deaf to theirprotestations against injustice! Thus we have conceived it likely thata Republic might help to mend matters, --if it were in power for atleast some twenty or thirty years, --but at the same time we know wellenough that if a King ruled over us who was indeed a King, --who wouldrefuse to be the tool of party speculators, and who could not be movedthis way or that by the tyrants of finance, the people would have farmore chance of equality and right under a Republic even! Only we cannotfind that king!--no country can! You, for instance, are no hero! Youwill not think for yourself, though you might; you only interestyourself in affairs that may redound to your personal and privatecredit; or in those which affect 'society, ' the most dissolute portionof the community, --and you have shown so little individuality inyourself or your actions, that your unexpected refusal to grant Crownlands to the Jesuits was scarcely believed in or accepted, otherwisethan as a caprice, till your own 'official' announcement. Even now wecan scarcely be brought to look upon it except as an impulse inspiredby fear! Herein, we do you, no doubt, a grave injustice; I, for one, honestly believe that you have refused these lands to the Priest-Politicians, out of earnest consideration for the future peace andwelfare of your subjects. "

"Nay, why believe even thus much of me?" he interrupted with a gravesmile; "May you not be misled by that Resemblance I bear, to one whois, in your eyes, so much my superior?"

A faint expression of offence darkened her face, and her browscontracted. 

"You are pleased to jest!" she said coldly; "As I said before, it isman's only way of turning aside, or concluding all argument with awoman! I am mistaken perhaps in the instinct which has led me to speakto you as openly as I have done, --and yet, --I know in my heart I can doyou no harm by telling you the truth, as others would never tell it toyou! Many times within this last two months the people have sent inpetitions to you against the heavy taxes with which your Government isafflicting them, and they can get no answer to their desperate appeals. Is it kingly--is it worthy of your post as Head of this realm, to turna deaf ear to the cries of those whose hard-earned money keeps you onthe Throne, housed in luxury, guarded from every possible evil, andhappily ignorant of the pangs of want and hunger? How can you, if youhave a heart, permit such an iniquitous act on the part of yourGovernment as the setting of a tax on bread?--the all in all of life tothe very poor! Have you ever seen young children crying for bread? Ihave! Have you ever seen strong men reduced to the shame of stealingbread, to feed their wives and infants? I have! I think of it as Istand here, surrounded by the luxury which is your daily lot, --andknowing what I know, I would strip these satin-draped walls, and selleverything of value around me if I possessed it, rather than know thatone woman or child starved within the city's precincts! Your Ministerstell you there is a deficiency in the Exchequer, --but you do not askwhy, or how the deficiency arose! You do not ask whether Ministersthemselves have not been trafficking and speculating with the country'smoney! For if deficiency there be, it has arisen out of theGovernment's mismanagement! The Government have had the people'smoney, --and have thrown it recklessly away. Therefore, they have noright to ask for more, to supply what they themselves have wilfullywasted. No right, I say!--no right to rob them of another coin! If Iwere a man, and a king like you, I would voluntarily resign more thanhalf my annual kingly income to help that deficit in the NationalExchequer till it had been replaced;--I would live poor, --and becontent to know that by my act I had won far more than many millions--adeathless, and beloved name of honour with my people!"

She paused. He said not a word. Suddenly she became conscious that herhair was unbound and falling loosely about her; she had almostforgotten this till now. A wave of colour swept over her face, --but shemastered her embarrassment, and gathering the long tresses together inher left hand, twisted them up slowly, and with an evident painfuleffort. The King watched her, a little smile hovering about his mouth. 

"If I might help you!" he said softly--"but--that is a task for myResemblance!"

She appeared not to hear him. A sudden determination moved her, and sheuttered her thought boldly and at all hazards. 

"If you do not, as the public report, approve of the financial schemesout of which your Ministers make their fortunes, to the utter ruin ofthe people in general, " she said slowly; "Dismiss Carl Pérousse fromoffice! So may you perchance avert a great national disaster!"

He permitted himself to smile indulgently. 

"Madame, you may ask much!--and however great your demands, I will domy utmost to meet and comply with them;--but like all your charmingsex, you forget that a king can seldom or never interfere with apolitical situation! It would be very unwise policy on my part todismiss M. Pérousse, seeing that he is already nominated as the nextPremier. "

"The next Premier!" Lotys echoed the words with a passionate scorn; "Ifthat is so, I give you an honest warning! The people will revolt, --noforce can hold them back or keep them in check! And if you shouldcommand your soldiery to fire on the populace, there must be bloodshedand crime!--on your head be the result! Oh, are you not, can you not besomething higher than even a king?--an honest man? Will you not openthe eyes of your mind to see the wickedness, falsehood and treachery ofthis vile Minister, who ministers only to his own ends?--who feignsincorruptibility in order to more easily corrupt others?--who assumesthe defence of outlying states, merely to hide the depredations he ismaking on home power? Nay, if you will not, you are not worth abeggar's blessing!--and I shall wonder to myself why God made of you soexact a copy of one whom I know to be a good man!"

Her breath came and went quickly, --her cheeks were flushed, and greattears stood in her eyes. But he seemed altogether unmoved. 

"I' faith, I shall wonder too!" he said very tranquilly; "Good men arescarce!--and to be the copy of one is excellent, though it may in somecases be misleading! Madame, I have heard you with patience, and--ifyou will permit me to say so--admiration! I honour your courage--yourfrankness--and--still more--your absolute independence. You speak ofwrongs to the People. If such wrongs indeed exist----"

"If!" interrupted Lotys with a whole world of meaning in theexpression. 

"I say, if they indeed exist, I will, as far as I may, --endeavour toremedy them. I, personally, have no hesitation in declaring to you thatI am not involved in the financial schemes to which you allude--thoughI know two or three of my fellow-sovereigns who are! But I do not caresufficiently for money to indulge in speculation. Nevertheless, let metell you, speculation is good, and even necessary in matters affectingnational finance, and I am confident--" here he smiled enigmatically, "that the country's honour is safe in the hands of M. Pérousse!"

At this she lifted her head proudly and looked at him, with eyes thatexpressed so magnificent a disdain, that had he been any other than theman he was, he might have quailed beneath the lightning flash of suchutter contempt. 

"You are confident that the country's honour is safe!" she repeatedbitterly; "I am confident that it is betrayed and shamed! And Historywill set a curse against the King who helped in its downfall!"

He regarded her with a vague, lingering gentleness. 

"You are harsh, Madame!" he said softly; "But you could not offend meif you tried! I quarrel with none of your sex! And you will, I hope, think better of me some day, --and not be sorry--as perhaps you are now--for having saved a life so worthless! Farewell!"

She offered no response. The silken portière rustled and swayed, --thedoor opened and shut again quietly--he was gone. Left alone, Lotysdropped wearily on the sofa, and burying her head in the soft cushions, gave way to an outburst of tears and sobbed like a tired and exhaustedchild. In this condition Professor von Glauben, entering presently, found her. But his sympathy, if he felt any, was outwardly very chilland formal. Another dose of his 'cordial, '--a careful examination andre-strapping of the wounded shoulder, --these summed up the whole of hisconsolation; and his precise cold manner did much to restore her to herself-possession. She thanked him in a few words for his professionalattention, without raising her eyes to his face, and quietly followedhim down a long narrow passage which terminated in a small private doorgiving egress to the Royal pleasure-grounds, --and here a hired closecarriage was waiting. Putting her carefully into this vehicle, theProfessor then delivered himself of his last instructions. 

"The driver has no orders beyond the citadel, Madame, " he explained. "His Majesty begged me to say that he has no desire to seem inquisitiveas to your place of residence. You will therefore please inform thecoachman yourself as to where you wish to be driven. And take care ofthat so-much-wounded shoulder!" he added, relapsing into a kinder andless formal tone;--"It will pain you, --but there will be noinflammation, not now I have treated it!--and it will heal quickly, that I will guarantee--I, who have had first care of it!"

She thanked him again in a low voice, --there was an uncomfortable lumpin her throat, and tears still trembled on her lashes. 

"Remember well, " said the Professor cheerily; "how very grateful we areto you! What we shall do for you some day, we do not yet know! Amonument in the public square, or a bust in the Cathedral? Ha, ha!Goodbye! You have the blessing of the nation with you!"

She shook her head deprecatingly, --she tried to smile, but she couldnot trust herself to speak. The carriage rolled swiftly down the broadavenue and soon disappeared, and the Professor, having watched the lastflash of its wheels vanish between the arching trees, executed a slowand somewhat solemn _pas-seul_ on the doorstep where it had lefthim. 

"Ach so!" he exclaimed, almost audibly; "The King's Comedy progresses!But it had nearly taken the form of Tragedy to-day--and now Tragedyitself has melted into sentiment, and tears, and passion! And with thisvery difficult kind of human mixture, the worst may happen!"

He re-entered the Palace and returned with some haste to the apartmentsof the King, whither he had been bidden. 

But on arriving there he was met by an attendant in the ante-room whoinformed him that his Majesty had retired to his private library anddesired to be left alone. 

CHAPTER XXV

"I SAY--'ROME'!"

The State prison was a gloomy fortress built on a wedge of rock thatjutted far out into the ocean. It stood full-fronted to the north, andhad opposed its massive walls and huge battlements to every sort ofstorm for many centuries. It was a relic of mediaeval days, whentorture no less than death, was the daily practice of the law, and whenpersons were punished as cruelly for light offences as for the greatestcrimes. It was completely honeycombed with dungeons and subterraneanpassages, which led to the sea, --and in one of the darkest and deepestof these underground cells, the wretched youth who had attempted thelife of the King, was placed under the charge of two armed warders, whomarched up and down outside the heavily-barred door, keeping closewatch and guard. Neither they nor anyone else had exchanged a word withthe prisoner since his arrest. He had given them no trouble. He hadbeen carefully searched, but nothing of an incriminating nature hadbeen found upon him, --nothing to point to any possible instigator ofhis dastard crime. He had entered the dungeon allotted to him withalmost a cheerful air, --he had muttered half-inaudible thanks for thebread and water which had been passed to him through the grating; andhe had seated himself upon the cold bench, hewn out of the stone wall, with a resignation that might have easily passed for pleasure. As thetime wore on, however, and the reality of his position began to pressmore consciously upon his senses, the warders heard him sigh deeply, and move restlessly, and once he gave a cry like that of a woundedanimal, exclaiming:--

"For Thy sake, Lord Christ! For Thy sake I strove--for Thy sake, and inThy service! Thou wilt not leave me here to perish!"

He had been brought to the prison immediately after his murderousattack, and the time had then been about four in the afternoon. It wasnow night; and all over the city the joy-bells were clashing out musicfrom the Cathedral towers, to express the popular thanksgiving for themiraculous escape and safety of the King. The echo of the chimes whichhad been ringing ever since sunset, was caught by the sea and thrownback again upon the air, so that it partially drowned the melancholyclang of the prison bell, which in its turn, tolled forth the drearypassing of the time for those to whom liberty had become the merestshadow of a dream. As it struck nine, a priest presented himself to theSuperintendent of the prison, bearing a 'permit' from General Bernhoff, Head of the Police, to visit and 'confess' the prisoner. He was led tothe cell and admitted at once. At the noise of a stranger's entrance, the criminal raised himself from the sunken attitude into which he hadfallen on his stone bench, and watched, by the light of the dim lampset in the wall, the approach of his tall, gaunt, black-garmentedvisitor with evident horror and fear. When, --with the removal of theshovel hat and thick muffler which had helped to disguise thatvisitor's personality, --the features of Monsignor Del Fortis weredisclosed, he sprang forward and threw himself on his knees. 

"Mercy!--Mercy!" he moaned--"Have pity on me, in the name of God!"

Del Fortis looked down upon him with contempt, as though he were someloathsome reptile writhing at his feet. "Silence!" he said, in a harshwhisper--"Remember, we are watched here! Get up!--why do you kneel to_me_? I have nothing to do with you, beyond such office as theChurch enjoins!" And a cold smile darkened, rather than lightened hisfeatures. "I am sent to administer 'spiritual consolation' to you!"

Slowly the prisoner struggled up to a standing posture, and pressingboth hands to his head, he stared wildly before him. 

"'Spiritual consolation'!" he muttered-"'Spiritual'?" A faint dullvacuous smile flickered over his face, and he shuddered. "I understand!You come to prepare my soul for Heaven!"

Del Fortis gave him a sinister look. 

"That depends on yourself!" he replied curtly--"The Church can speedyou either way, --to Heaven, or--Hell!"

The prisoner's hands clenched involuntarily with a gesture of despair. 

"I know that!" he said sullenly--"The Church can save or kill! What ofit? I am now beyond even the power of the Church!"

Del Fortis seated himself on the stone bench. 

"Come here!" he said--"Sit down beside me!"

The prisoner obeyed. 

"Look at this!"--and he drew an ebony and silver crucifix from hisbreast--"Fix your eyes upon it, and try, my son, "--here he raised hisvoice a little--"try to conquer your thoughts of things temporal, andlift them to the things which are eternal! For things temporal doquickly vanish and disperse, but things eternal shall endure for ever!Humble your soul before God, and beseech Him with me, to mercifullycleanse the dark stain of sin upon your soul!" Here he began mumbling aLatin prayer, and while engaged in this, he caught the prisoner's handin a close grip. "Act--act with me!" he said firmly. "Fool!--Play apart, as I do! Bend your head close to mine--assume shame and sorroweven if you cannot feel it! And listen to me well! _You havefailed_!"

"I know it!"

The reply came thick and low. 

"Why did you make the attempt at all? Who persuaded you?"

The wretched youth lifted his head, and showed a wild white face, inwhich the piteous eyes, starting from their sockets, looked blind withterror. 

"Who persuaded me?" he replied mechanically--"No one! No single one, --but many!"

Del Fortis gripped him firmly by the wrist. 

"You lie!" he snarled--"How dare you utter such a calumny! Who wereyou? What were you? A miserable starveling--picked up from the streetsand saved from penury, --housed and sheltered in our College, --taughtand trained and given paid employment by us, --what have _you_ tosay of 'persuasion'?--you, who owe your very life to us, and to ourcharity!"

Roused by this attack, the prisoner, wrenching his hand away from thepriest's cruel grasp, sprang upright. 

"Wait--wait!" he said breathlessly--"You do not understand! You forget!All my life I have been under One great influence--all my life I havebeen taught to dream One great Dream! When I talk of 'persuasion, ' Ionly mean the persuasion of that force which has surrounded me asclosely as the air I breathe!--that spirit which is bound to enter intoall who work for you, or with you! Oh no!--neither you nor any memberof your Order ever seek openly to 'persuade' any man to any act, whether good or evil--your Rule is much wiser than that!--much moresubtle! You issue no actual commands--your power comes chiefly bysuggestion! And _with_ you, --working _for_ you--I have thoughtday and night, night and day, of the glory of Rome!--the dominion ofRome!--the triumph of Rome! I have learned, under you, to wish for it, to pray for it, to desire it more than my own life!--do you, can you blameme for that? You dare not call it a sin;--for your Order represents it asa virtue that condones all sin!"

Del Fortis was silent, watching him with a kind of curious contempt. 

"It grew to be part of me, this Dream!" went on the lad, his eyes nowshining with a feverish brilliancy--"And I began to see wonderfulvisions, and to hear voices calling me in the daytime, --voices that noone else heard! Once in the College chapel I saw the Blessed Virgin'spicture smile! I was copying documents for the Vatican then, --and Ithought of the Holy Father, --how he was imprisoned in Rome, when heshould be Emperor of all the Emperors, --King of all the Kings! Iremembered how it was that he had no temporal power, --though all thepowers of the earth should be subservient to him!--and my heart beatalmost to bursting, and my brain seemed on fire!--but the BlessedVirgin's picture still smiled;--and I knelt down before it and sworethat I, --even I, would help to give the whole world back to Rome, evenif I died for it!"

He caught his breath with a kind of sob, and looked appealingly at DelFortis, who, fingering the crucifix he held, sat immovable. 

"And then--and then" he went on, "I heard enough, --while at work inthe monastery with you and the brethren, --to strengthen and fire myresolution. I learned that all kings are, in these days, the enemies ofthe Church. I learned that they were all united in one resolve; andthat, --to deprive the Holy Father of temporal power! Then I set myselfto study kings. Each, and all of those who sit on thrones to-day passedbefore my view;--all selfish, money-seeking, sensual men!--not onegood, true soul among them! Demons they seemed to me, --bent ondepriving God's Evangelist in Rome of his Sacred and SupremeSovereignty! It made me mad!--and I would have killed all kings, couldI have done so with a single thought! Then came a day when you preachedopenly in the Cathedral against this one King, who should by right havegone to his account this very afternoon!--you told the people how hehad refused lands to the Church, --and how by this wicked act he hadstopped the progress of religious education, and had put himself, as itwere, in the way of Christ who said: 'Suffer little children to comeunto Me!' And my dreams of the glory of Rome again took shape--I saw inmy mind all the children, --the poor little children of the world, gathered to the knee of the Holy Father, and brought up to obey him andhim only!--I remembered my oath before the Blessed Virgin's picture, and all my soul cried out: 'Death to the crowned Tyrant! Death!' Foryou said--and I believed it--that all who opposed the Holy Father'swill, were opposed to the will of God!--and over and over again I saidin my heart: 'Death to the tyrant! Death!' And the words went with melike the response of a litany, --till--till--I saw him before me to-day--a pampered fool, surrounded by women!--a blazoned liar!--and then--"He paused, smiling foolishly; and shaking his head with a slow movementto and fro, he added--"The dagger should have struck home!--it wasaimed surely--aimed strongly!--but that woman came between--why did shecome? They said she was Lotys!--ha ha!--Lotys, the Revolutionarysybil!--Lotys, the Socialist!--but that could not be, --Lotys is asgreat an enemy of kings as I am!"

"And an enemy of the Church as well!" said Del Fortis harshly--"Betweenthe Church and Socialism, all Thrones stand on a cracking earth, devoured by fire! But make no mistake about it!--the woman was Lotys!Socialist and Revolutionary as she may be, she has saved the life ofthe King. This is so far fortunate--for you! And it is much to be hopedthat she herself is not slain by your dagger thrust;--death is far tooeasy and light a punishment for her and her associates! We trust it mayplease a merciful God to visit her with more lingering calamity!"

As he said this, he piously kissed the crucifix he held, keeping hisshallow dark eyes fixed on the prisoner with the expression of a catwatching a mouse. The half-crazed youth, absorbed in the ideas of hisown dementia, still smiled to himself vaguely, and nervously plucked athis fingers, till Del Fortis, growing impatient and forgetting for themoment that they stood in a prison cell, the interior of which mightpossibly be seen and watched from many points of observation unknown tothem, went up to him and shook him roughly by the arm. 

"Attention!" he said angrily--"Rouse yourself and hear me! You talklike a fool or a madman, --yet you are neither--neither, youunderstand?--neither idiot-born nor suddenly crazed;--so, when on yourtrial do not feign to be what you are not! Such ideas as you haveexpressed, though they may have their foundation in a desire for good, are evil in their results--yet even out of evil good may come! Thepower of Rome--the glory of Rome--the dominion of Rome! Rome, supremeMistress of the world! Would you help the Church to win this greatvictory? Then now is your chance! God has given you--you, His poorinstrument, --the means to effectually aid His conquest, --to Him be allthe praise and thanksgiving! It rests with you to accept His messageand perform His work!"

The high-flown, melodramatic intensity with which he pronounced thesewords, had the desired effect on the stunned and bewildered, weak mindof the unfortunate lad so addressed. His eyes sparkled--his cheeksflushed, --and he looked eagerly up into the face of his priestlyhypnotizer. 

"Yes--yes!" he said quickly in a breathless whisper--"But how?--tellme how! I will work--oh, I will work--for Rome, for God, for theBlessed Virgin!--I will do all that I can!--but how--how? Will theHoly Father send an angel to take me out of this prison, so that I maybe free to help God?"

Del Fortis surveyed him with a kind of grim derision, A slight noiselike the slipping-back or slipping-to of a grating, startled him, andhe looked about him on all sides, moved by a sudden nervousapprehension. But the massive walls of the cell, oozing with damp andslime, had apparently no aperture or outlet anywhere, not even a slitin the masonry for the admission of daylight. Satisfied with his hastyexamination, he took his credulous victim by the arm, and led him backto the rough stone bench where they had first begun to converse. 

"Kneel down here before me!"--he said--"Kneel, as if you were repeatingall the sins of your life to me in your last confession! Kneel, I say!"

Feebly, and with trembling limbs, the lad obeyed. 

"Now, " continued Del Fortis, holding up the crucifix before him--"Tryto follow my words and understand them! To-morrow, or the next day, youwill be taken before a judge and tried for your attempted crime. Do yourealise that?"

"I do!" The answer came hesitatingly, and with a faint moan. 

"Have you thought what you intend to say when you are asked yourreasons for attacking the King? Do you mean to tell judge and jury thestory of what you call your 'persuasion' to dream of the dominion ofRome?"

"Yes--yes!" replied the lad, looking up with an eager light on hisface--"Yes, I will tell them all, --just as I have told you! Then theywill know, --they will see that it was a good thought of mine--it wouldhave been a good sin! I will speak to them of the wicked wrongs done toyou and your Holy Order, --of the cruelty which the Christian Apostle inRome has to suffer at the hands of kings--and they will acknowledge meto be right and just;--they will know I am as a man inspired by God towork for the Church, the bride of Christ, and to make her Queen of allthe world!"

He stopped suddenly, intimidated by the cruel glare of the wolfish eyesabove him. 

"You will say nothing of all this!" and Del Fortis shook the crucifixin his face as though it were a threatening weapon; "You will say onlywhat _I_ choose, --only what _I_ command! And if you do not swearto speak as I tell you, I will kill you!--here and now--with my own hands!"

Uttering a half-smothered cry, the wretched youth recoiled in terror. 

"You will kill me? You--_you_?" he gasped--"No--no!--you couldnot do that! you could not, --you are a holy man! I--I am not afraidthat you will hurt me! I have done nothing to offend you, --I havealways been obedient to you, --I have been your slave--your dog to fetchand carry!--and you should remember, --yes!--you should remember thatmy mother was rich, --and that because she too felt the call of God, she gave all her money to the Church, and left me thrown upon thestreets to starve! But the Church rescued me--the Church did notforget! And I am ready to serve the Church in all and every possibleway, --I have done my best, even now!"

He spoke with all the passionate self-persuasion of a fanatic, and DelFortis judged it wisest to control his own fierce inward impatience anddeal with him more restrainedly. 

"That is true enough!" he said in milder accents;--"You are ready toserve the Church, --I do not doubt it;--but you do not serve it in theright way. No earthly good is gained to us by the killing of kings!Their conversion and obedience is what we seek. This king you wouldhave slain is a baptised son of the Church; but beyond attending massregularly in his private chapel, which he does for the mere sake ofappearances, he is an atheist, condemned to the fires of Hell. Nevertheless, no advantage to us could possibly be obtained by hisdeath. Much can be done for us by you--yes, _you_!--and much willdepend on the answers to the questions asked you at your trial. Givethose answers as _I_ shall bid you, and you will win a triumph forthe cause of Rome!"

The prisoner's eyes glittered feverishly, --full of the delirium ofbigotry, he caught the lean, cold hand that held the crucifix, andkissed it fervently. 

"Command me!" he muttered--"Command!--and in the name of the BlessedVirgin, I will obey!"

"Hear then, and attend closely to my words, " went on Del Fortis, enunciating his sentences in a low distinct voice--"When you arebrought before the judge, you will be accused of an attempt toassassinate the King. Make no denial of it, --admit it at once, andexpress contrition. You will then be asked if any person or personsinstigated you to commit the crime. To this say 'yes'!"

"Say 'yes'!" repeated the lad--"But that will not be true!"

"Fool, does it matter!" ejaculated Del Fortis, almost savagely--"Haveyou not sworn to speak as I command you? What is it to you whether itis true or false?"

A slight shiver passed through the prisoner's limbs--but he was silent. 

"Say"--went on his pitiless instructor--"that you were enticed andpersuaded to commit the wicked deed by the teachings of the Socialist, Sergius Thord, and his followers. Say that the woman Lotys knew of yourintention, --and saved the life of the King at the last moment, throughfear, lest her own seditious schemes should be discovered and herselfpunished. Say, --that because you were young and weak andimpressionable, she chose you out to attempt the assassination. Do youhear?"

"I hear!" The reply came thickly and almost inaudibly. "But must I tellthese lies? I have never spoken to Sergius Thord in my life!--nor tothe woman Lotys;--I know nothing of them or their followers, except bythe public talk;--why should I harm the innocent? Let me tell thetruth, I pray of you!--let me speak as my heart dictates!--let me pleadfor the Holy Father--for you--for your Order--for the Church!--"

He broke off as Del Fortis caught him by both hands in an angry grip. 

"Do not dare to speak one word of the Church!" he said, "Or of us, --orof our Order! Let not a single syllable escape your lips concerningyour connection with us and our Society!--or we shall find means tomake you regret it! Beware of betraying yourself! When you are oncebefore the Court of Law, remember you know nothing of Us, our Work, orour Creed!"

Utterly bewildered and mystified, the unhappy youth rocked himself toand fro, clasping and unclasping his hands in a kind of nervousparoxysm. 

"Oh why, why will you bid me to do this?" he moaned--"You know thereare times when I cannot be answerable for myself! How can I tell what Ishall do when I am brought face to face with my accusers?--when I seeall the dreadful eyes of the people turned upon me? How can I deny allknowledge of those who brought me up, and nurtured and educated me? Ifthey ask me of my home, is it not with you?--under your sufferance andcharity? If they seek to know my means of subsistence, is it notthrough you that I receive the copying-work for which I am paid? Youwould not have me repudiate all this, would you? I should be worse thana dog in sheer ingratitude if I did not bear open testimony to all theChurch has done for me!"

"Be, not worse than a dog, but faithful as a dog in obedience!"responded Del Fortis impressively--"And, for once, speak of the Churchwith the indifference of an atheist, --or with such marked coldness as awise man speaks of the woman he secretly adores! Hold the Church and Ustoo sacred for any mention in a Court of criminal law! But serve theChurch by involving the Socialist and Revolutionary party! Think of themagnificent results which will spring from this act, --and nerveyourself to tell a lie in order to support a truth!"

Rising unsteadily from his knees, the prisoner stood upright. By theflicker of the dim lamp, he looked deadly pale, and his limbs totteredas though shaken by an ague fit. 

"What good will come of it?" he queried dully--"What good _can_come of it?"

"Great and lasting good will come of it!"--replied Del Fortis--"And itwill come quickly too;--in this way, for by fastening the accusation ofundue influence on Sergius Thord and his companions, you will obtainGovernment restriction, if not total suppression of the Socialistparty. This is what we need! The Socialists are growing too strong--toopowerful in every country, --and we are on the brink of trouble throughtheir accursed and atheistical demonstrations. There will soon beserious disturbances in the political arena--possibly an overthrow ofthe Government, and a general election--and if Sergius Thord has thechance of advancing himself as a deputy, he will be elected above allothers by an overpowering majority of the lower classes. _You_ canprevent this!--you can prevent it by a single falsehood, which in thiscase will be more pleasing to God than a thousand mischievousveracities! Will you do it? Yes or No?"

The miserable lad looked helplessly around him, his weak frametrembling as with palsy, and his uncertain fingers plucking at eachother with that involuntary movement of the muscles which indicates adisordered brain. 

"Will you, or will you not?" reiterated Del Fortis in a whisper thathissed through the close precincts of the cell like the warning of asnake about to sting--"Answer me!"

"Suppose I say I will not!"--stammered the poor wretch, with tremblinglips and appealing eyes--"Suppose I say I will not falsely accuse theinnocent, even for the sake of the Church----?"

"Then, " said Del Fortis slowly, rising and moving towards him;--"Youhad best accept the only alternative--this!"

And he took from his breast pocket a small phial, full of clear, colourless fluid, and showed it to him--"Take it!--and so make a quickand quiet end! For, if you betray you connection with Us by so much asa look, --a sign, or a syllable, --your mode of exit from this world maybe slower, less decent, and more painful!"

The miserable boy wrung his hands in agony, and such a cry of despairbroke from his lips as might have moved anyone less cruelly made ofspiritual adamant than the determined servant of the cruellest'religious' Order known. The dull harsh clang of the prison bell struckten. The 'priest' had been an hour at the work of 'confessing' hispenitent, --and his patience was well-nigh exhausted. 

"Swear you will attribute your intended assassination of the King, tothe influence of the Socialists!" he said with fierce imperativeness--"Or with this--end all your difficulties to-night! It is a gentlequietus!--and you ought to thank me for it! It is better than solitaryimprisonment for life! I will give you absolution for taking it--provided I see you swallow it before I go!--and I will declare to theChurch that I left you shrived of your sins, and clean! Half an hourafter I leave you, you will sleep!--and wake--in Heaven! Make yourchoice!"

The last words had scarcely left his lips when the cell door wassuddenly thrown open, and a blaze of light poured in. Dazzled by thestrong and sudden glare, Del Fortis recoiled, and still holding thephial of poison in his hand, stumbled back against the half-faintingform of the poor crazed creature he had been terrorising, as a dozenarmed men silently entered the dungeon and ranged themselves in order, six on one side and six on the other, while, in their midst one manadvanced, throwing back his dark military cloak as he came, anddisplaying a mass of jewelled orders and insignia on his brilliantuniform. Del Fortis uttered a fierce oath. 

"The King!" he muttered, under his breath--"The King!"

"Ay, the King!" and a glance of supreme scorn swept over him from headto foot, as the monarch's clear dark grey eyes flashed with the glitterof cold steel in the luminance of the torches which were carried byattendants behind him; "Monsignor Del Fortis! You stand convicted ofthe offence of unlawfully tampering with the conscience of a prisonerof State! We have heard your every word--and have obtained a bird's-eyeview of your policy!--so that, --if necessary, --we will Ourselves bearwitness against you! For the present, --you will be detained in thisfortress until our further pleasure!"

For one moment Del Fortis appeared to be literally contorted in everymuscle by his excess of rage. His features grew livid, --his eyes becamealmost blood-red, and his teeth met on his drawn-in under-lip in asmile of intense malignity. Baffled again!--and by this 'king, '--thecrowned Dummy, --who had cast aside all former precedent, and instead ofamusing himself with card-playing and sensual intrigue, after theaccepted fashion of most modern sovereigns, had presumed to interfere, not only with the Church, but with the Government, and now, as itseemed, had acted as a spy on the very secrets of a so-called prison'confession'! The utter impossibility of escaping from the net intowhich his own words had betrayed him, stood plainly before his mind andhalf-choked him with impotent fury, --till--all suddenly a thoughtcrossed his brain like a flash of fire, and with a strong effort, herecovered his self-possession. Crossing his arms meekly on his breast, he bowed with a silent and profound affectation of humility, as one whois bent under the Royal displeasure, yet resigned to the Royalcommand, --then with a rapid movement he lifted the poison-phial he hadheld concealed, to his lips. His action was at once perceived. Two orthree of the armed guards threw themselves upon him and, after a briefstruggle, wrenched the flask from his hand, but not till he hadsucceeded in swallowing its contents. Breathing quickly, yet smilingimperturbably, he stood upright and calm. 

"God's will and mine--not your Majesty's--be done!" he said. "In halfan hour--or less--Mother Church may add to her list of martyrs the nameof Andrea Del Fortis!--who died rather than sacrifice the dignity ofhis calling to the tyranny of a king!"

A slight convulsion passed over his features, --he staggered backward. The King, horror-stricken, signed to the prison warders standing by, tosupport him. He muttered a word of thanks, as they caught him by botharms. 

"Take me where I can die quietly!" he said to them, "It will soon beover! I shall give you little trouble!"

A cold, weak, trembling hand clasped his. It was the hand of the King'swretched assassin. 

"Let me go with you!" he cried--"Let me die with you! You have beencruel to me!--but you could not have meant it!--you were once kind!"

Del Fortis thrust him aside. 

"Curse you!" he said thickly--"You are the cause--you--you are thecause of this damned mischief! You!--God!--to think of it!--you devil'sspawn!--you cur!"

His voice failed him, and he reeled heavily against the sturdy form ofone of the warders who held him--his lips were flecked with blood andfoam. Shocked and appalled, no less at his words, than at the fiendishcontortion of his features, the King drew near. 

"Curse not a fellow-mortal, unhappy priest, in thine own passagetowards the final judgment!" he said in grave accents--"The blessing ofthis poor misguided creature may help thee more than even a king's freepardon!"

And he extended his hand;--but with all the force of his now strugglingand convulsed body, Del Fortis beat it back, and raised himself by analmost superhuman effort. 

"Pardon! Who talks of pardon!" he cried, with a strong voice--"I do notneed it--I do not seek it! I have worked for the Church--I die for theChurch! For every one that says 'The King!'--I say, 'Rome'!"

He drew himself stiffly upright; his dark eyes glittered; his face, though deadly pale, scarcely looked like the face of a dying man. 

"I say, 'Rome'!" he repeated, in a harsh whisper;--"Over all theworld!--over all the kingdoms of the world, and in defiance of allkings--'Rome'!"

He fell back, --not dead, --but insensible, in the stupor which precedesdeath;--and was quickly borne out of the cell and carried to the prisoninfirmary, there to receive medical aid, though that could only nowavail to soothe the approaching agonies of dissolution. 

The King stood mute and motionless, lost in thought, a heavy darknessbrooding on his features. How strange the impulse that had led him tobe the mover and witness of this scene! By merest chance he had learnedthat Del Fortis had applied for permission to 'confess' the would-bedestroyer of his life, --the life which Lotys had saved, --and acting--ashe had lately accustomed himself to do--on a sudden first idea orinstinct, he had summoned General Bernhoff to escort him to the prison, and make the way easy for him to watch and overhear the interviewbetween priest and penitent, --himself unobserved. And from so slight anincident had sprung a tragedy, --which might have results as yetundreamed-of!

And while he yet mused upon this, General Bernhoff venturedrespectfully to approach him, and ask if it was now his pleasure toreturn to the Palace? He roused himself, --and with a heavy sigh lookedround on the damp and dismal cell in which he stood, and at thecrouching, fear-stricken form of the semi-crazed and now violentlyweeping lad who had attempted his life. 

"Take that poor wretch away from here!" he said in hushed tones--"Givehim light, and warmth, and food! His evil desires spring from anunsound brain;--I would have him dealt with mercifully! Guard him withall necessary and firm restraint, --but do not brutalise his body morethan Rome has brutalised his soul!"

With that he turned away, --and his armed guard and attendants followedhim. 

That self-same midnight a requiem mass was sung in a certain chapelbefore a silent gathering of black-robed stern-featured men, who prayed"For the repose of the soul of our dear brother, Andrea Del Fortis, servant of God, and martyr to the cause of truth and justice, --whodeparted this life suddenly, in the performance of his sacred duties. "In the newspapers next day, the death of this same martyr and shininglight of the Church was recorded with much paid-for regret and press-eulogy as 'due to heart-failure' and his body being claimed by theJesuit brotherhood, it was buried with great pomp and solemncircumstance, several of the Catholic societies and congregationsfollowing it to the grave. One week after the funeral, --for no otherostensible cause whatever, save the offence of openly publishing hisofficial refusal of a grant of Crown lands to the Jesuits, --the HolyFather, the Evangelist and Infallible Apostle enthroned in St. Peter'sChair, launched against the King who had dared to deny his wish andoppose his will, the once terrible, but now futile ban ofexcommunication; and the Royal son of the Church who had honestlyconsidered the good of his people more than the advancement ofpriestcraft, stood outside the sacred pale, --barred by a so-called'Christian' creed, from the mercy of God and the hope of Heaven. 

CHAPTER XXVI

"ONE WAY, --ONE WOMAN!"

For several days after the foregoing events, the editors andproprietors of newspapers had more than enough 'copy' to keep thembusy. The narrow escape of the King from assassination, followed by hisexcommunication from the Church, worked a curious effect on the mindsof the populace, who were somewhat bewildered and uncertain as to thepossible undercurrent of political meaning flowing beneath theconjunction of these two events; and their feelings were intensified bythe announcement that the youth who had attempted the monarch's life, --being proved as suffering from hereditary brain disease, --had receiveda free pardon, and was placed in a suitable home for the treatment ofsuch cases, under careful restraint and medical supervision. The tideof popular opinion was now divided into two ways, --for, and againsttheir Sovereign-ruler. By far the larger half were against;--but theban pronounced upon him by the Pope had the effect of making even thisdisaffected portion inclined to consider him more favourably, --seeingthat the Church's punishment had fallen upon him, apparently because hehad done his duty, as a king, by granting the earnest petitions ofthousands of his subjects. David Jost, who had always made a point offlattering Royalty in all its forms, now let his pen go with a completepassion of toadyism, such as disgraced certain writers in Great Britainduring the reigns of the pernicious and vicious Georges, --and, seeingthe continued success of the rival journal which the King hadpersonally favoured, he trimmed his sails to the Court breeze, anddropped the Church party as though it had burned his fingers. But hefound various channels on which he had previously relied forinformation, rigorously closed to him. He had written many times to theMarquis de Lutera to ask if the report of his having sent in hisresignation was correct, --but he had received no answer. He had calledover and over again on Carl Pérousse, hoping to obtain a few minutes'conversation with him, but had been denied an interview. Cogitatingupon these changes, --which imported much, --and wishing over and overagain that he had been born an Englishman, so that by the insidiousflattery of Royalty he might obtain a peerage, --as a certain Jewassociate of his concerned in the same business in London, had recentlysucceeded in doing, --he decided that the wisest course to follow wasto continue to 'butter' the King;--hence he laid it on with a thickbrush, wherever the grease of hypocrisy could show off best. But workas he would, the 'shares' in his journalistic concerns were steadilygoing down, --none of his numerous magazines or 'half-penny rags, ' paidso well as they had hitherto done; while the one paper which had latelybeen so prominently used by the King, continued to prosper, the publichaving now learned to accept with avidity and eagerness the brilliantarticles which bore the signature of Pasquin Leroy, as though they weresomewhat of a new political gospel. The charm of mystery intensifiedthis new writer's reputation. He was never seen in 'fashionable'society, --no 'fashionable' person appeared to know him, --and thegeneral impression was that he resided altogether out of the country. Only the members of the Revolutionary Committee were aware that he wasone of them, and recognised his work as part of the carrying out of hissworn bond. He had grown to be almost the right hand of Sergius Thord;wherever Thord sought supporters, he helped to obtain them, --whereverthe sick and needy, the desolate and distressed, required aid, hesomehow managed to secure it, --and next to Thord, --and of course Lotys, --he was the idol of the Socialist centre. He never spoke in public, --he seldom appeared at mass meetings; but his influence was always felt;and he made himself and his work almost a necessity to the Cause. Theaction of Lotys in saving the life of the King, had createdconsiderable discussion among the Revolutionists, not unmixed withanger. When she first appeared among them after the incident, with herarm in a sling, she was greeted with mingled cheers and groans, toneither of which she paid the slightest attention. She took her seat atthe head of the Committee table as usual, with her customaryindifference and grace, and appeared deaf to the conflicting murmursaround her, --till, as they grew louder and more complaining andinsistent, she raised her head and sent the lightning flash of her blueeyes down the double line of men with a sweeping scorn that instantlysilenced them. 

"What do you seek from me?" she demanded;--"Why do you clamour likebabes for something you cannot get, --my obedience?"

They looked shamefacedly at one another, --then at Sergius Thord andPasquin Leroy, who sat side by side at the lower end of the table. MaxGraub and Axel Regor, Leroy's two comrades, were for once absent; butthey had sent suitable and satisfactory excuses. Thord's brows wereheavy and lowering, --his eyes were wild and unrestful, and his attitudeand expression were such as caused Leroy to watch him with a littlemore than his usual close attention. Seeing that his companionsexpected him to answer Lotys before them all, he spoke with evidenteffort. 

"You make a difficult demand upon us, Lotys, " he said slowly, "if youwish us to explain the stormy nature of our greeting to you thisevening. You might surely have understood it without a question! For weare compelled to blame you;--you who have never till now deservedblame, --for the folly of your action in exposing your own life to savethat of the King! The one is valuable to us--the other is nothing tous! Besides, you have trespassed against the Seventh Rule of our Order--which solemnly pledges us to 'destroy the present monarchy'!"

"Ah!" said Lotys, "And is it part of the oath that the monarchy shouldbe destroyed by murder without warning? You know it is not! You knowthat there is nothing more dastardly, more cowardly, more utterlyloathsome and contemptible than to kill a man defenceless and unarmed!We speak of a Monarchy, not a King;--not one single individual, --for ifhe were killed, he has three sons to come after him. You have called methe Soul of an Ideal--good! But I am not, and will not be the Soul of aMurder-Committee!"

"Well spoken!" said Johan Zegota, looking up from some papers which he, as secretary to the Society, had been docketing for the convenience ofThord's perusal; "But do not forget, brave Lotys, that the very nextmeeting we hold is the annual one, in which we draw lots for the 'happydispatch' of traitors and false rulers; and that this year the name ofthe King is among them!"

Lotys grew a shade paler, but she replied at once and dauntlessly. 

"I do not forget it! But if lots are cast and traitors doomed, --it ispart of our procedure to give any such doomed man six months' steadyand repeated warning, that he may have time to repent of his mistakesand remedy them, so that haply he may still be spared;--and also thathe may take heed to arm himself, that he do not die defenceless. Had Inot saved the King, his death would have been set down to us, and ourwork! Any one of you might have been accused of influencing the crazyboy who attempted the deed, --and it is quite possible our meetingswould have been suppressed, and all our work fatally hindered, --if notentirely stopped. Foolish children! You should thank me, not blame me!--but you are blind children all, and cannot even see where you havebeen faithfully served by your faithfullest friend!"

At these words a new light appeared to break on the minds of allpresent--a light that was reflected in their eager and animated faces. The knotted line of Thord's brooding brows smoothed itself graduallyaway. 

"Was that indeed your thought, Lotys, " he asked gently, almosttenderly--"Was it for our sakes and for us alone, that you saved theKing?"

At that instant Pasquin Leroy turned his eyes, which till now had beenintent on watching Thord, to the other end of the table where the fine, compact woman's head, framed in its autumn-gold hair, was silhouettedagainst the dark background of the wall behind her like a cameo. Hisgaze met hers, --and a vague look of fear and pain flashed over herface, as a faint touch of colour reddened her cheeks. 

"I am not accustomed to repeat my words, Sergius Thord!" she answeredcoldly; "I have said my say!"

Looks were exchanged, and there was a silence. 

"If we doubt Lotys, we doubt the very spirit of ourselves!" saidPasquin Leroy, his rich voice thrilling with unwonted emotion;"Sergius--and comrades all! If you will hear me, and believe me, --youmay take my word for it, she has run the risk of death for Us!--and hassaved Us from false accusation, and Government interference! To wrongLotys by so much as a thought, is to wrong the truest woman God evermade!"

A wild shout answered him, --and moved by one impulse, the whole body ofmen rose to their feet and drank "to the health and honour of Lotys!"with acclamation, many of them afterwards coming round to where shesat, and kneeling to kiss her hand and ask her pardon for theirmomentary doubt of her, in the excitement and enthusiasm of theirsouls. But Lotys herself sat very silent, --almost as silent as SergiusThord, who, though he drank the toast, remained moody and abstracted. 

When the company dispersed that night, each man present was carefullyreminded by the secretary, Johan Zegota, that unless the most seriousillness or misfortune intervened, every one must attend the nextmeeting, as it was the yearly "Day of Fate. " Pasquin Leroy was toldthat his two friends, Max Graub and Axel Regor must be with him, and hewillingly made himself surety for their attendance. 

"But, " said he, as he gave the promise, "what is the Day of Fate?"

Johan Zegota pointed a thin finger delicately at his heart. 

"The Day of Fate, " he said, "is the day of punishment, --or Decision ofDeaths. The names of several persons who have been found guilty oftreachery, --or who otherwise do injury to the people by the manner oftheir life and conduct, are written down on slips of paper, which arefolded up and put in one receptacle, together with two or three hundredblanks. They must be all men's names, --we never make war on women. Against some of these names, --a Red Cross is placed. Whosoever draws aname, and finds the red cross against it, is bound to kill, within sixmonths after due warning, the man therein mentioned. If he fortunatelydraws a blank then he is free for a year at least, --in spite of thefatal sign, --from the unpleasant duty of despatching a fellow mortalto the next world"--and here Zegota smiled quite cheerfully; "But if hedraws a Name, --and at the same time sees the red cross against it, thenhe is bound by his oath to us to--_do his duty_!"

Leroy nodded, and appeared in no wise dismayed at the ominoussuggestion implied. 

"How if our friend Zouche were to draw the fatal sign, " he said; "Wouldhe perform his allotted task, think you?"

"Most thoroughly!" replied Zegota, still smiling. 

And with that, they separated. 

Meanwhile, during the constant change and interchange of conflictingrumours, some of which appeared to have foundation in fact, and otherswhich rapidly dispersed themselves as fiction, there could be no doubtwhatever of the growing unpopularity of the Government in power. Littleby little, drop by drop, there oozed out the secrets of the "PéroussePolicy, " which was merely another name for Pérousse Self-aggrandisement. Little by little, certain facts were at firstwhispered, and then more loudly talked about, as to the nature of hisfinancial speculations; and it was soon openly stated that in theformation of some of the larger companies, which were beginning to berun on the Gargantuan lines of the "American Trust" idea, he hadenormous shares, --though these "Trusts" had been frequently denouncedas a means of enslaving the country, and ruining certain trade-interests which he was in office to protect. Accusations began to beguardedly thrown out against him in the Senate, which he parried offwith the cool and audacious skill of an expert fencer, knowing that forthe immediate moment at least, he had a "majority" under his thumb. This majority was composed of persons who had unfortunately becomeinvolved in his toils, and were, therefore, naturally afraid of him;--yet it was evident, even to a superficial student of events, that ifonce the innuendoes against his probity as a statesman could beveraciously proved, this sense of intimidation among his supporterswould be removed, and like the props set against a decaying house, their withdrawal would result in the ruin of the building. It waspretty well known that the Marquis de Lutera had sent in hisresignation, but it was not at all certain whether the King was of amind to accept it. 

Things were in abeyance, --political and social matters whirled giddilytowards chaos and confusion; and the numerous hurried Cabinet Councilsthat were convened, boded some perturbation among the governing headsof the State. From each and all of these meetings Ministers came awaymore gloomy and despondent in manner, --some shook their headssorrowfully and spoke of "the King's folly, "--others with considerableindignation flung out sudden invectives against "the King'sinsolence!"--and between the two appellations, it was not easy tomeasure exactly the nature of the conduct which had deserved them. Forthe King himself made no alteration whatever in the outward characterof his daily routine; he transacted business in the morning, lunched, sometimes with his family, sometimes with friends; drove in theafternoon, and showed himself punctiliously at different theatres onceor twice in the evenings of the week. The only change more observantpersons began to notice in his conduct was, that he had drawn the lineof demarcation very strongly between those persons who by rank andworth, and nobility of life, merited his attention, and those who bymere Push and Pocket, sought to win his favour by that servile flatteryand obsequiousness which are the trademarks of the plebeian andvulgarian. Quietly but firmly, he dropped the acquaintance of Jewsharks, lying in wait among the dirty pools of speculation;--with easeand absoluteness he 'let go' one by one, certain ladies of particularlyelastic virtue, who fondly dreamed that they 'managed' him; and amongthese, to her infinite rage and despair, went Madame Vantine, wife ofVantine the winegrower, a yellow-haired, sensual "_femelled'homme_, " whose extravagance in clothes, and reckless indecency inconversation, combined with the King's amused notice, and the super-excellence of her husband's wines, had for a brief period made her 'therage' among a certain set of exceedingly dissolute individuals. 

In place of this kind of riff-raff of "_nouveaux riches_, " andplutocrats, he began by degrees to form around himself a totallydifferent _entourage_, --though he was careful to make his variouschanges slowly, so that they should not be too freely noticed andcommented upon. Great nobles, whether possessed of vast wealth andestates, or altogether landless, were summoned to take their rightfulpositions at the Court, where Vantine the wine-grower, and Jost theJew, no more obtained admittance;--men of science, letters andlearning, were sought out and honoured in various ways, their wives anddaughters receiving special marks of the Royal attention and favour;and round the icy and statuesque beauty of the Queen soon gathered abrilliant bevy of the real world of women, not the half-world of the'_femme galante_' which having long held sway over the CrownPrince while Heir-Apparent to the Throne, judged itself almost as anecessary, and even becoming, appendage to his larger responsibilityand state as King. These excellent changes, beneficial and elevating tothe social atmosphere generally, could not of course be effectedwithout considerable trouble and heart-burning, in the directions wherecertain persons had received their dismissal from such favour as theyhad previously held at Court. The dismissed ones thirsted with a desirefor vengeance, and took every opportunity to inflame the passions oftheir own particular set against the King, some of them openlydeclaring their readiness to side with the Revolutionary party, andhelp it to power. But over the seething volcano of discontent, the tideof fashion moved as usual, to all outward appearances tranquil, andabsorbed in trivialities of the latest description; and though manytalked, few dreamed that the mind of the country, growing morecompressed in thought, and inflammable in nature every day, was rapidlybecoming like a huge magazine of gunpowder or dynamite, which at aspark would explode into that periodically recurring fire-of-cleansingcalled Revolution. 

Weighted with many thoughts, Sir Roger de Launay, whose taciturn andeasy temperament disinclined him for argument and kept him aloof fromdiscussion whenever he could avoid it, sat alone one evening in his ownroom which adjoined the King's library, writing a few special lettersfor his Majesty which were of too friendly a nature to be dealt with inthe curt official manner of the private secretary. Once or twice he hadrisen and drawn aside the dividing curtain between himself and theKing's apartment to see if his Royal master had entered; but the roomremained empty, though it was long past eleven at night. He lookedevery now and again at a small clock which ticked with a quickintrusive cheerfulness on his desk, --then with a slight sigh resumedhis work. Letter after letter was written and sealed, and he wasgetting to the end of his correspondence, when a tap at the doordisturbed him, and his sister Teresa, the Queen's lady-in-waiting, entered. 

"Is the King within?" she asked softly, moving almost on tiptoe as shecame. 

Sir Roger shook his head. 

"He has been absent for some time, " he replied, --then after a pause--"But what are you here for, Teresa? This is not your department!" andhe took her hand kindly, noticing with some concern that there weretears in her large dark eyes;--"Is anything wrong?"

"Nothing! That is, --nothing that I have any right to imagine--or toguess. But--" and here she seemed a little confused--"I am commandedby the Queen to summon you to her presence if, --if the King has notreturned!"

He rose at once, looking perplexed. Teresa watched him anxiously, andthe expression of his face did not tend to reassure her. 

"Roger, " she began timidly--"Would you not tell me, --might I not knowsomething of this mystery? Might I not be trusted?"

His languid eyes flashed with a sudden tenderness, as from his greatand stately height he looked down upon her pretty shrinking figure. 

"Poor little Teresa!" he murmured playfully; "What is the matter? Whatmystery are you talking about?"

"_You_ know--you must know!" answered Teresa, clasping her handswith a gesture of entreaty; "There is something wrong, I am sure! Whyis the King so often absent--when all the household suppose him to bewith the Queen?--or in his private library there?" and she pointed tothe curtained-off Royal sanctum beyond;

"Why does the Queen herself give it out that he is with her, when he isnot? Why does he enter the Queen's corridor sometimes quite late atnight by the private battlement-stair? Does it not seem very strange?And since he was so nearly assassinated, his absences have been morefrequent than ever!"

Sir Roger pulled his long fair moustache meditatively between hisfingers. 

"When you were a little girl, Teresa, you must have been told the storyof Blue-beard;" he said; "Now take my advice!--and do not try to openforbidden doors with your tiny golden key of curiosity!"

Teresa's cheeks flushed a pretty rose pink. 

"I am not curious;" she said, with an air of hauteur; "And indeed I amfar too loyal to say anything to anyone but to you, of what seems sonew and strange. Besides--the Queen has forbidden me--only it is justbecause of the Queen--" here she stopped hesitatingly. 

"Because of the Queen?" echoed Sir Roger; "Why?"

"She is unhappy!" said Teresa. 

A smile, --somewhat bitter, --crossed De Launay's face. 

"Unhappy!" he repeated; "She! You mistake her, little girl! She doesnot know what it is to be unhappy; nothing so weak and slight as poorhumanity affects the shining iceberg of her soul! For it _is_ aniceberg, Teresa! The sun shines on it all day, fierce and hot, andnever moves or melts one glittering particle!"

He spoke with a concentrated passion of melancholy, and Teresa trembleda little. She knew, as no one else did, the intense and despairing lovethat had corroded her brother's life ever since the Queen had beenbrought home to the kingdom in all her exquisite maiden beauty, asbride of the Heir-Apparent. Such love terrified her; she did notunderstand it. She knew it was hopeless, --she felt it was disloyal, --and yet--it was love!--and her brother was one of the truest andnoblest of gentlemen, devoted to the King's service, and incapable of amean or a treacherous act. The position was quite incomprehensible toher, for she was not thoughtful enough to analyse it, --and she had noexperience of the tender passion herself, to aid her in sympatheticallyconsidering its many moods, sorrows, and inexplicable martyrdoms ofmind-torture. She contented herself now with repeating her formerassertion. 

"She is unhappy, --I am sure she is! You may call her an iceberg, if youlike, Roger!--men have such odd names for the women they are unable tounderstand! But I have seen the iceberg shed tears very often lately!"

He looked at her, surprised. 

"You have? Then we may expect the Pallas Athene to weep in marble?Well! What did you say, Teresa? That her Majesty commanded my presence, if the King had not returned?"

Teresa nodded assent. She was a little worried--her brother's facelooked worn and pale, and he seemed moved beyond himself. She watchedhim nervously as he pushed aside the dividing curtain, and looked intothe adjoining room. It was still vacant. The window stood open, and theline of the sea, glittering in the moon, shone far off like a string ofjewels, --while the perfume of heliotrope and lilies came floating indeliciously on the cool night-breeze. Satisfied that there was as yetno sign of his Royal master, he turned back again, --and stooping histall head, kissed the charming girl, whose anxious and timid looksbetrayed her inward anxiety. 

"I am ready, Teresa!" he said cheerfully; "Lead the way!"

She glided quickly on before him, along an inner passage leading to theQueen's apartments. Arriving at one particular door, she opened itnoiselessly, and with a warning finger laid on her lips, went insoftly, --Sir Roger following. The light of rose-shaded waxen taperswhich were reflected a dozen times in the silver-framed mirrors thatrose up to the ceiling from banks of flowers below, shed a fairy-likeradiance on the figure of the Queen, who, seated at a reading-table, with one hand buried in the loosened waves of her hair, seemed absorbedin the close study of a book. A straight white robe of thick creamysatin flowed round her perfect form, --it was slightly open at thethroat, and softened with a drifting snow of lace, in which one or twogreat jewels sparkled. As Sir Roger approached her with his usualformal salute, --she turned swiftly round with an air of scarcely-concealed impatience. 

"Where is the King?" she demanded. 

Startled at the sudden peremptory manner of her question, Sir Rogerhesitated, --for the moment taken quite aback. 

"Did I not tell you, " she went on, in the same imperious tone; "that Imade you responsible for his safety? Yet--though you were by his sideat the time--you could not shield him from attempted assassination!That was left, --to a woman!"

Her breast heaved--her eyes flashed glorious lightning, --she lookedaltogether transformed. 

Had a thunder-bolt fallen through the painted ceiling at Sir Roger'sfeet, he could scarcely have been more astounded. 

"Madam!" he stammered, --and then as the light of her eyes swept overhim, with a concentration of scorn and passion such as he had neverseen in them, he grew deadly pale. 

"Who, and what is this woman?" she went on; "Why was it given to_her_ to save the King's life, while you stood by? Why was shebrought to the Palace to be attended like some princess, --and thentaken away secretly before I could see her? Lotys is her name--I knowit by heart!"

Like twinkling stars, the jewels in her lace scintillated with thequick panting of her breath. 

"The King is absent, "--she continued--"as usual;--but why are you notwith him, also as usual? Answer me!"

"Madam, " said De Launay, slowly; "For some few days past his Majestyhas absolutely forbidden me to attend him. To carry out _your_commands I should be forced to disobey _his_!"

She looked at him in a suppressed passion of enquiry. 

"Then--is he alone?" she asked. 

"Madam, I regret to say--he is quite alone!"

She rose, and paced once up and down the room, a superb figure ofmingled rage and pride, and humiliation, all comingled. Her eyeslighted on Teresa, who had timorously withdrawn to a corner of theapartment where she stood apparently busied in arranging some blossomsthat had fallen too far out of the crystal vase in which they were set. 

"Teresa, you can leave us!" she said suddenly; "I will speak to SirRoger alone. "

With a nervous glance at her brother, who stood mute, his head slightlybent, himself immovable as a figure of stone, Teresa curtseyed andwithdrew. 

The Queen stood haughtily erect, --her white robes trailing around her, --her exquisite face transfigured into a far grander beauty than hadever been seen upon it, by some pent-up emotion which to Sir Roger waswell-nigh inexplicable. His heart beat thickly; he could almost hearits heavy pulsations, and he kept his eyes lowered, lest she shouldread too clearly in them the adoration of a lifetime. 

"Sir Roger, speak plainly, " she said, "and speak the truth! Some littletime ago you said it was wrong for me to shut out from my sight, myheart, my soul, the ugly side of Nature. I have remedied that fault! Iam looking at the ugly side of Nature now, --in myself! The rebelliousside--the passionate, fierce, betrayed side! I trusted you with thesafety of the King!"

"Madam, he _is_ safe!" said Sir Roger quietly;--"I can guaranteeupon my life that he is with those who will defend him far morethoroughly than I could ever do! It is better to have a hundredprotectors than one!"

"Oh, I know what you would imply!" she answered, impatiently; "Iunderstand, thus far, from what he himself has told me. But--there issomething else, something else! Something that portends far closer andmore intimate danger to him--"

She paused, apparently uncertain how to go on, and moving back to herchair, sat down. 

"If you are the man I have imagined you to be, " she continued, indeliberate accents; "You perfectly know--you perfectly understand whatI mean!"

Sir Roger raised his head and looked her bravely in the eyes. 

"You would imply, Madam, that one, who like myself has been consciousof a great passion for many years, should be able to recognise thesigns of it in others! Your Majesty is right! Once you expressed to mea wonder as to what it was like 'to feel. ' If that experience has cometo you now, I cannot but rejoice, --even while I grieve to think thatyou must endure pain at the discovery. Yet it is only from the piercedearth that the flowers can bloom, --and it may be you will have moremercy for others, when you yourself are wounded!"

She was silent. 

He drew a step nearer. 

"You wish me to speak plainly?" he continued in a lower tone. "You giveme leave to express the lurking thought which is in your own heart?"

She gave a slight inclination of her head, and he went on. 

"You assume danger for the King, --but not danger from the knife of theassassin--or from the schemes of revolutionists! You judge him--as Ido--to be in the grasp of the greatest Force which exists in theuniverse! The force against which there is, and can be no opposition!--a force, which if it once binds even a king--makes of him a life-prisoner, and turns mere 'temporal power' to nothingness; upsettingthrones, destroying kingdoms, and beating down the very Church itselfin the way of its desires--and that force is--Love!"

She started violently, --then controlled herself. 

"You waste your eloquence!" she said coldly; "What you speak of, I donot understand. I do not believe in Love!"

"Or jealousy?"

The words sprang from his lips almost unconsciously, and like amagnificent animal who has been suddenly stung, she sprang upright. 

"How dare you!" she said in low, vibrating accents--"How dare you!"

Sir Roger's breath came quick and fast, --but he was a strong man with astrong will, and he maintained his attitude of quiet resolution. 

"Madam!--My Queen!--forgive me!" he said; "But as your humblest friend--your faithful servant!--let me have my say with you now--and then--ifyou will--condemn me to perpetual silence! You despise Love, you say!Yes--because you have only seen its poor imitations! The King's lightgallantries, --his sins of body, which in many cases are not sins ofmind, have disgusted you with its very name! The King has loved--orcan love--so you think, --many, or any, women! Ah! No--no! Pardon me, dearest Majesty! A man's desire may lead him through devious ways bothvile and vicious, --but a man's _love_ leads only one way to onewoman! Believe it! For even so, I have loved one woman these manyyears!--and even so--I greatly fear--the King loves one woman now!"

Rigid as a figure of marble, she looked at him. He met her eyes calmly. 

"Your Majesty asked me for the truth;" he said; "I have spoken it!"

Her lips parted in a cold, strained little smile. 

"And--you--think, " she said slowly; "that I--I am what you call'jealous' of this 'one woman'? Had jealousy been in my nature, it wouldhave been provoked sufficiently often since my marriage!"

"Madam, " responded Sir Roger humbly; "If I may dare to say so to yourMajesty, it is not possible to a noble woman to be jealous of a man'smere humours of desire! But of Love--Love, the crown, the glory andsupremacy of life, --who, with a human heart and human blood, would notbe jealous? Who would not give kingdoms, thrones, ay, Heaven itself, ifit were not in itself Heaven, for its rapturous oblivion of sorrow, andits full measure of joy!"

A dead silence fell between them, only disturbed by a small silverchime in the distance, striking midnight. 

The Queen again seated herself, and drew her book towards her. Thenraising her lovely unfathomable eyes, she looked at the tall statelyfigure of the man before her with a slight touch of pity and pathos. 

"Possibly you may be right, " she said slowly, "Possibly wrong! But I donot doubt that you yourself personally 'feel' all that you express, --and--that you are faithful!"

Here she extended her hand. Sir Roger bowed low over it, and kissed itsdelicate smoothness with careful coldness. As she withdrew it again, she said in a low dreamy, half questioning tone:

"The woman's name is Lotys?"

Silently Sir Roger bent his head in assent. 

"A man's love leads only one way--to one woman! And in this particularcase that woman is--Lotys!" she said, with a little musing scorn, as ofherself, --"Strange!"

She laid her hand on the bell which at a touch would summon back herlady-in-waiting. "You have served me well, Sir Roger, albeit somewhatroughly----"

He gave a low exclamation of regret. 

"Roughly, Madam?"

A smile, sudden and sweet, which transfigured her usually passionlessfeatures into an almost angelic loveliness, lit up her mouth and eyes. 

"Yes--roughly! But no matter! I pardon you freely! Good-night!"

"Good-night to your Majesty!" And as he stepped backward from herpresence, she rang for Teresa, who at once entered. 

"Our excommunication from the Church sits lightly upon us, Sir Roger, does it not?" said the Queen then, almost playfully; "You must knowthat we say our prayers as of old, and we still believe God hears us!"

"Surely, Madam, " he replied, "God must hear all prayers when they arepure and honest!"

"Truly, I think so, " she responded, laying one hand tenderly onTeresa's hair, as the girl caressingly knelt beside her. "And--so, despite lack of priestcraft, --we shall continue to pray, --in theseuncertain and dangerous times, --that all may be well for the country, --the people, and--the King! Good-night!"

Again Sir Roger bowed, and this time altogether withdrew. He was strungup to a pitch of intense excitement; the brief interview had been amost trying one for him, --though there was a warm glow at his heart, assuring him that he had done well. His suspicion that the King hadadmired, and had sought out Lotys since the day she saved him fromassassination, had a very strong foundation in fact;--much strongerindeed than was at present requisite to admit or to declare. But thewhole matter was a source of the greatest anxiety to De Launay, who, inhis strong love for his Royal master, found it often difficult toconceal his apprehension, --and who was in a large measure relieved tofeel that the Queen had guessed something of it, and shared in hissentiments. He now re-entered his room, and on doing so at onceperceived that the King had returned. But his Majesty was busy writing, and did not raise his head from his papers, even when Sir Rogernoiselessly entered and laid some letters on the table. His completeabstraction in his work was a sign that he did not wish to be disturbedor spoken to;--and Sir Roger, taking the hint, retired again insilence. 

CHAPTER XXVII

THE SONG OF FREEDOM

Revolution! The flame-winged Fury that swoops down on a people like asudden visitation of God, with the movement of a storm, and thedevastation of a plague in one! Who shall say how, or where, the seedis sown that springs so swiftly to such thick harvest! Who can traceits beginnings--and who can predict its end! Tragic and terrible as itswork has always seemed to the miserable and muddle-headed human units, whose faults and follies, whose dissoluteness and neglect of thehighest interests of the people, are chiefly to blame for the birth ofthis Monster, it is nevertheless Divine Law, that, when any part ofGod's Universe-House is deliberately made foul by the dwellers in it, then must it be cleansed, --and Revolution is the burning of therubbish, --the huge bonfire in which old abuses blazon their destructionto an amazed and terror-stricken world. Yet there have been moments, orperiods, in history, when the threatening conflagration could have beenstayed and turned back from its course, --when the useless shedding ofblood might have been foregone--when the fierce passions of the peoplemight have been soothed and pacified, and when Justice might have beennobly done and catastrophe averted, if there had been but one braveman, --one only!--and that man a King! But in nearly all the convulsivethroes of nations, kings have proved themselves the weakest, tamest, most cowardly and ineffectual of all the heads of the time--ready andwilling enough to sacrifice the lives of thousands of brave and devotedmen to their own cause, but never prepared to sacrifice themselves. Hence the cause of the triumph of Democracy over effete Autocracy. Kings may not be more than men, --but, certes, they should never beless. They should not practise vices of which the very day-labourerwhom they employ, would be ashamed; nor should they flaunt their loveof sensuality and intrigue in the faces of their subjects as a 'Royalexample' and distinctive 'lead' to vulgar licentiousness. The loftierthe position, the greater the responsibility;--and a monarch whovoluntarily lowers the social standard in his realm has lost moreadherents than could possibly be slain in his defence on the field ofhonour. 

The King who plays his part as the hero of this narrative, was nowfully aware in his own mind and conscience of the thousands ofopportunities he had missed and wasted on his way to the Throne whenHeir-Apparent. Since the day of his 'real coronation, ' when as he hadexpressed it to his thoughts, he had 'crowned himself with his ownresolve, ' he had studied men, manners, persons and events, to deep andserious purpose. He had learned much, and discovered more. He had been, in a moral sense, conquered by his son, Prince Humphry, who had proveda match for him in his determined and honourable marriage for love, andlove only, --though born heir to all the conventions and hypocrisies ofa Throne. He, --in his day, --had lacked the courage and truth that thisboy had shown. And now, by certain means known best to himself, he hadfathomed an intricate network of deception and infamy among thegoverning heads of the State. He had convinced himself in many ways ofthe unblushing dishonesty and fraudulent self-service of Carl Pérousse. And--yet--with all this information stored carefully up in his brainhe, to all appearances, took no advantage of it, and did nothingremarkable, --save the one act which had been so much talked about--therefusal of land in his possession to the Jesuits for a 'religious' (andpolitical) settlement. This independent course of procedure hadresulted in his excommunication from the Church. Of his 'veto' againstan intended war, scarcely anything was known. Only the Government wereaware of the part he had taken in that matter, --the Government and--theMoney-market! But the time was now ripe for further movement; and inthe deep and almost passionate interest he had recently learned to takein the affairs of the actual People, he was in no humour forhesitation. 

He had mapped out in his brain a certain plan of action, and he wasdetermined to go through with it. The more so, as now a new and closeinterest had incorporated itself with his life, --an emotion so deep andtender and overwhelming, that he scarcely dared to own it to himself, --scarcely ventured to believe that he, deprived of true love so long, should now be truly loved for himself, at last! But on this he seldomallowed his mind to dwell, --except when quite alone, --in the deepsilences of night;--when he gave his soul up to the secret sweetnesswhich had begun to purify and ennoble his innermost nature, --when hesaw visioned before him a face, --warm with the passion of a love sogrand and unselfish that it drew near to a likeness of the Divine;--alove that asked nothing, and gave everything, with the beneficent gloryof the sunlight bestowing splendour on the earth. His lonely moments, which were few, were all the time he devoted to this brooding luxury ofmeditation, and though his heart beat like a boy's, and his eyes grewdim with tenderness, as in fancy he dreamed of joy that might be, andthat yet still more surely might never be his, --his determined mind, braced and bent to action, never faltered for a second in the newconceptions he had formed of his duty to his people, who, as he nowconsidered, had been too long and too cruelly deceived. 

Hence, something like an earthquake shock sent its tremor through thecountry, when two things were suddenly announced without warning, asthe apparent results of the various Cabinet Councils held latterly sooften, and in such haste. The first was, that not only had his Majestyaccepted the resignation of the Marquis de Lutera as Premier, but thathe had decided--provided the selection was entirely agreeable to theGovernment--to ask M. Carl Pérousse to form a Ministry in his place. The second piece of intelligence, and one that was received with muchmore favour than the first, by all classes and conditions of persons, was that the Government had issued a decree for the complete expulsionof the Jesuits from the country. By a certain named date, and within amonth, every Jesuit must have left the King's dominions, or else musttake the risk of a year's imprisonment followed by compulsorybanishment. 

Much uproar and discussion did this mandate excite among the clericalparties of Europe, --much indignation did it breed within that Holy ofHolies situate at the Vatican, --which, having launched forth the ban ofexcommunication, had no further thunderbolts left to throw at the headof the recreant and abandoned Royalty whose 'temporal power' soinsolently superseded the spiritual. But the country breathed freely;relieved from a dangerous and mischievous incubus. The educationalauthorities gave fervent thanks to Heaven for sparing them from longdreaded interference;--and when it was known that the excommunicatedKing was the chief mover in this firm and liberating act, a silent waveof passionate gratitude and approval ran through the multitudes of thepeople, who would almost have assembled under the Palace walls andoffered a grand demonstration to their monarch, who had so boldlycarried the war into the enemy's country and won the victory, had theynot been held back and checked from their purpose by the counter-feeling of their disgust at his Majesty's apparently forthcoming choiceof Carl Pérousse as Prime Minister. 

Swayed this way and that, the people were divided more absolutely thanbefore into those two sections which always become very dangerous whenstrongly marked out as distinctly separated, --the Classes and theMasses. The comfortable wedge of Trade, which, --calling itself theMiddle-class, --had up to the present kept things firm, now splitasunder likewise, --the wealthy plutocrats clinging willy-nilly to theClasses, to whom they did not legitimately belong; and the men ofmoderate income throwing in their lot with the Masses, whose wrongsthey sympathetically felt somewhat resembled their own. For taxationhad ground them down to that particularly fine powder, which whenapplied to the rocks of convention and usage, proves to be of asomewhat blasting quality. They had paid as much on their earnings andtheir goods as they could or would pay;--more indeed than they had anyreasonable right to pay, --and being sick of Government mismanagement, and also of what they still regarded as the King's indifference totheir needs, they were prepared to make a dash for liberty. Theexpulsion of the Jesuits they naturally looked upon as a suitableretaliation on Rome for the excommunication of the Royal Family; butbeyond the intense relief it gave to all, it could not be considered asaffecting or materially altering the political situation. So, like thedividing waves of the Red Sea, which rolled up on either side to permitthe passage of Moses and his followers--the Classes and the Massespiled themselves up in opposite billowy sections to allow Sergius Thordand the Revolutionary party to pass triumphantly through their midst, adding thousands of adherents to their forces from both sides;--whilethey were prepared to let the full weight of the billows engulf theKing, if, like Pharaoh and his chariots, he assumed too much, orproceeded too far. 

Professor von Glauben, seated in his own sanctum, and engaged in thecontinuance of his "Political History of Hunger, " found many points inthe immediate situation which considerably interested him and moved himto philosophical meditation. 

"For, --take the feeling of the People as it now is, " he said tohimself; "It starts in Hunger! The taxes, --the uncomfortable visit ofthe tax-gatherer! The price of the loaf, --concerning which the baker, or the baker-ess, politely tells the customer that it is costly, because of the Government tax on corn; then from the bread, it ismarvellous how the little clue winds upward through the spider-webs ofTrade. The butcher's meat is dearer, --for says he--'The tax on cornmakes it necessary for me to increase the price of meat. ' There is nological reason given, --the fact simply _is_! So that Hungercommences the warfare, --Hunger of Soul, as well as Hunger of body. 'Whystarve my thought?' says Soul. 'Why tax my bread?' says Body. Thesetiresome questions continue to be asked, and never answered, --butanswers are clamoured for, and the people complain--and then one fierceday the gods hear them grumble, and begin to grumble back! Ach! Then itis thunder with a vengeance! Now in my own so-beloved Fatherland, therehas been this double grumbling for a long time. And that the storm willburst, in spite of the so-excellently-advertising Kaiser is evident!Hoch!--or _Ach_? Which should it be to salute the Kaiser! I knownot at all, --but I admit it is clever of him to put up a specialHoarding-announcement for the private view of the Almighty God, eachtime he addresses his troops! And he will come in for a chapter of myhistory--for he also is Hungry!--he would fain eat a little of the loafof Britain!--yes!--he will fit into my work very well for theinstruction of the helpless unborn generations!"

He wrote on for a while, and then laid down his pen. His eyes grewdreamy, and his rough features softened. 

"What has become of the child, I wonder!" he mused; "Where has shegone, the 'Glory-of-the-Sea'! I would give all I have to look upon herbeautiful face again;--and Ronsard--he, poor soul--silent as a stone, weakening day after day in the grasp of relentless age, --would diehappy, --if I would let him! But I do not intend to give him thatsatisfaction. He shall live! As I often tell him, my science is of noavail if I cannot keep a man going, till at least a hundred and oddyears are past. Barring accidents, or self-slaughter, of course!" Herehe became somewhat abstracted in his meditations. "The old fellow isbrave enough, --brave as a lion, and strong too for his years;--I haveseen him handle a pair of oars and take down a sail as I could never doit, --and--he has accepted a strange and difficult situation heroically. 'You must not be involved in any trouble by a knowledge of ourmovements. ' So Prince Humphry said, when I saw him last, --though I didnot then understand the real drift of his meaning. And time goes on--and time seems wearisome without any tidings of those we love!"

A tap at the door disturbed his mental soliloquy, and in answer to his'Come in, ' Sir Roger de Launay entered. 

"Sorry to interrupt work, Professor!" he said briefly; "The King goesto the Opera this evening, and desires you to be of the party. "

"Good! I shall obey with more pleasure than I have obeyed some of hisMajesty's recent instructions!" And the Professor pushed aside hismanuscript to look through his spectacled eyes at the tall equerry'shandsome face and figure. "You have a healthy appearance, Roger! Yourcomplexion speaks of an admirable digestion!"

De Launay smiled. 

"You think so? Well! Your professional approval is worth having!" Hepaused, then went on; "The party will be a pleasant one to-night. TheKing is in high spirits. "

"Ah!" And Von Glauben's monosyllable spoke volumes. 

"Perhaps he ought not to be?" suggested Sir Roger with a slight touchof anxiety. 

"I do not know--I cannot tell! This is the way of it, Roger--see!" Andtaking off his spectacles, he polished them with due solemnity. "If Iwere a King, and ruled over a country swarming with dissatisfiedsubjects, --if I had a fox for a Premier, --and was in love with a womanwho could not possibly be my wife, --I should not be in high spirits!"

"Nor I!" said De Launay curtly. "But the fox is not Premier yet. Do youthink he ever will be?"

Von Glauben shrugged his shoulders. 

"He is bound to be, I presume. What else remains to do? Upseteverything? Government, deputies and all?"

"Just that!" responded Sir Roger. "The People will do it, if the Kingdoes not. "

"The King will do anything he is asked to do--now--" said the Professorsignificantly; "If the right person asks him!"

"You forget--she does not know--" Here checking himself abruptly, SirRoger walked to the window and looked out. It was a fair and peacefulafternoon, --the ocean heaved placidly, covered with innumerablewavelets, over which the seabirds flew and darted, their wings shininglike silver and diamonds as they dipped and circled up and down andround the edges of the rocky coast. Far off, a faint rim of amethystunder a slowly sailing white cloud could be recognized as the firstline of the shore of The Islands. 

"Do you ever go and see the beautiful 'Gloria' girl now?" asked SirRoger suddenly. "The King has never mentioned her since the day we sawher. And you have never explained the mystery of your acquaintance withher, --nor whether it is true that Prince Humphry was speciallyattracted by her. I shrewdly suspect----"

"What?"

"That he has been sent off, out of harm's way!"

"You are right, " said the Professor gravely; "That is exactly theposition! He has been sent off out of harm's way!"

"I heard, " went on De Launay, "that the girl--or some girl ofremarkable beauty had been seen here--actually here in the Palace--before the Prince left! And such an odd way he left, too--scuttling offin his own yacht without--so far as I have ever heard--any farewells, or preparation, or suitable companions to go with him. Still one hearssuch extraordinary stories----"

"True!--one does!" agreed the Professor; "And after proper experience, one hears without listening!"

De Launay looked at him curiously. 

"The girl was certainly beautiful, " he proceeded meditatively; "And heradopted father, --Réné Ronsard, --was not that his name?--was a quaintold fellow. A republican, too!--fiery as a new Danton! Well! The King'scuriosity is apparently satisfied on that score, --but"--here he beganto laugh--"I shall never forget your face, Von Glauben, when he caughtyou on The Islands that day!--never! Like an overgrown boy, discoveredwith his fingers in a jam-pot!"

"Thank you!" said the Professor imperturbably; "I can assure you thatthe jam was excellent--and that I still remember its flavour!"

Sir Roger laughed again, but with great good-humour, --then he becamesuddenly serious. 

"The King goes out alone very often now?" he said. 

"Very often, " assented the Professor. 

"Are we right in allowing him to do so?"

"Allowing him! Who is to forbid him?"

"Is he safe, do you think?"

"Safer, it would seem, my friend, than when laying a foundation-stone, with ourselves and all his suite around him!" responded the Professor. "Besides, it is too late now to count the possible risks of theadventure he has entered upon. He knows the position, and estimates thecost at its correct value. He has made himself the ruler of his owndestiny; we are only his servants. Personally, I have no fear, --save ofone fatality. "

"And that?"

"Is what kills many strong men off in their middle-age, " said VonGlauben; "A disease for which there is no possible cure at that specialtime of life, --Love! The love of boys is like a taste for greengooseberries, --it soon passes, leaving a disordered stomach and ageneral disrelish for acid fruit ever afterwards;--the love of the man-about-town between the twenties and thirties is the love of self;--butthe love of a Man, after the Self-and-Clothes Period has passed, is thelove of the full-grown human creature clamouring for its mate, --itsmate in Soul even more than in Body. There is no gainsaying it--nochecking it--no pacifying it; it is a most disastrous business, provocative of all manner of evils, --and to a king who has always beenaccustomed to have his own way, it means Victory or Death!"

Sir Roger gazed at him perplexedly, --his tone was so solemn and full ofearnest meaning. 

"You, for example, " continued the Professor dictatorially, fixing hiskeen piercing eyes full upon him; "You are a curious subject, --a verycurious subject! You live on a Dream; it is a good life--an excellentlife! It has the advantage, your Dream, of never becoming a reality, --therefore you will always love, --and while you always love, you willalways keep young. Your lot is an exceedingly enviable one, my friend!You need not frown, --I am old enough--and let us hope wise enough--toguess your secret--to admire it from a purely philosophic point ofview--and to respect it!"

Sir Roger held his peace. 

"But, " continued the Professor, "His Majesty is not the manner of manwho would consent to subsist, like you, on an idle phantasy. If heloves--he must possess; it is the regal way!"

"He will never succeed in the direction _you_ mean!" said SirRoger emphatically. 

"Never!" agreed Von Glauben with a profound shake of his head; "Strangeas it may seem, his case is quite as hopeless as yours!"

The door opened and closed abruptly, --and there followed silence. VonGlauben looked up to find himself alone. He smiled tolerantly. 

"Poor Roger!" he murmured; "He lives the life of a martyr by choice!Some men do--and like it! They need not do it;--there is not the leastnecessity in the world for their deliberately sticking a knife intotheir hearts and walking about with it in a kind of idiot rapture. Itmust hurt;--but they seem to enjoy it! Just as some women become nuns, and flagellate themselves, --and then when they are writhing from theirown self-inflicted stripes, they dream they are the 'brides of Christ, 'entirely forgetting the extremely irreligious fact that to have so many'brides' the good Christ Himself might possibly be troubled, and wouldsurely occupy an inconvenient position, even in Heaven! Each man, --eachwoman, --makes for himself or herself a little groove or pet sorrow, inwhich to trot round and round and bemoan life; the secret of the wholebemoaning being that he or she cannot have precisely the thing he orshe wants. That is all! Such a trifle! Church, State, Prayer and Power--it can all be summed up in one line--'I have not the thing I want--give it to me!'"

He resumed his writing, and did not interrupt it again till it was timeto join the Royal party at the Opera. 

That evening was one destined to be long remembered in the annals ofthe kingdom. The beautiful Opera-house, a marvel of art andarchitecture, was brilliantly full; all the fairest women and mostdistinguished men occupying the boxes and stalls, while round andround, in a seemingly never-ending galaxy of faces, and crowded in thetiers of balconies above, a mixed audience had gathered, made up ofvarious sections of the populace which filled the space well up to thefurthest galleries. The attraction that had drawn so large an audiencetogether was not contained in the magnetic personality of either theKing or Queen, for those exalted individuals had only announced theirintention of being present just two hours before the curtain rose. Moreover, when their Majesties entered the Royal box, accompanied bytheir two younger sons, Rupert and Cyprian, and attended by theirpersonal suite, their appearance created very little sensation. Thefact that it was the first time the King had showed himself openly inpublic since his excommunication from the Church, caused perhaps acouple of hundred persons to raise their eyes inquisitively towards himin a kind of half-morbid, half-languid curiosity, but in these daysthe sentiment of Self is so strong, that it is only a minority of morethoughtful individuals that ever trouble themselves seriously toconsider the annoyances or griefs which their fellow-mortals have toendure, often alone and undefended. 

The interest of the public on this particular occasion was centred inthe new Opera, which had only been given three times before, and inwhich the little dancer, Pequita, played the part of a child-heroine. The _libretto_ was the work of Paul Zouche, and the music by oneof the greatest violinists in the world, Louis Valdor. The plot wasslight enough;--yet, described in exquisite verse, and scatteredthroughout with the daintiest songs and dances, it merited aconsiderably higher place in musical records than such works asMeyerbeer's "Dinorah, " or Verdi's "Rigoletto. " The thread on which thepearls of poesy and harmony were strung, was the story of a wanderingfiddler, who, accompanied by his only child (the part played byPequita), travels from city to city earning a scant livelihood by hisown playing and his daughter's dancing. Chance or fate leads them tothrow in their fortunes with a band of enthusiastic adventurers, who, headed by a young hare-brained patriot, elected as their leader, havedetermined to storm the Vatican, and demand the person of the Pope, that they may convey him to America, there to convene an assemblage ofall true Christians (or 'New Christians'), and found a new and moreChrist-like Church. Their expedition fails, --as naturally so wild ascheme would be bound to do, --but though they cannot succeed incapturing the Pope, they secure a large following of the Italianpopulace, who join with them in singing "The Song of Freedom, " which, with Paul Zouche's words, and Valdor's music was the great _chefd'oevre_ of the Opera, rousing the listeners to a pitch of somethinglike frenzy. In this, --the last great scene, --Pequita, dancing the'Dagger Dance, ' is supposed to infect the people with that fervourwhich moves them to sing "The Freedom Chorus, " and the curtain comesdown upon a brilliant stage, crowded with enthusiasts and patriots, ready to fight and die for the glory of their country. A love-interestis given to the piece by the passion of the wandering fiddler-hero fora girl whose wealth places her above his reach; and who in the endsacrifices all worldly advantage that she may share his uncertainfortunes for love's sake only. 

Such was the story, --which, wedded to wild and passionate music, hadtaken the public by storm on its first representation, not only onaccount of its own merit, but because it gave their new favourite, Pequita, many opportunities for showing off her exquisite grace as adancer. She, while preparing for the stage on this special night, hadbeen told that her wish was about to be granted--that she would now, atlast, really dance before the King;--and her heart beat high, and therich colour reddened in her soft childish face, as she donned herscarlet skirts with more than her usual care, and knotted back herraven curls with a great glowing damask rose, such as Spanish beautiesfasten behind tiny shell-like ears to emphasise the perfection of theircontour. Her thoughts flew to her kindest friend, Pasquin Leroy;--sheremembered the starry diamond in the ring he had wished to give her, and how he had said, 'Pequita, the first time you dance before theKing, this shall be yours!'

Where was he now, she wondered? She would have given anything to knowhis place of abode, just to send him word that the King was to be atthe Opera that night, and ask him too, to come and see her in hertriumph! But she had no time to study ways and means for sending amessage to him, either through Sholto, her father, who always waitedpatiently for her behind the scenes, --or through Paul Zouche, who, though as _librettist_ of the opera, and as a poet of new andrising fame, was treated by everyone with the greatest deference, stillmade a special point of appearing in the shabbiest clothes, andlounging near the side-wings like a sort of disgraced tramp all thetime the performance was in progress. Neither of them knew Leroy'saddress;--they only met him or saw him, when he himself chose to comeamong them. Besides, --the sound of the National Hymn played by theorchestra, warned her that the King had arrived; and that she must holdherself in readiness for her part and think of nothing else. 

The blaze of light in the Opera-house seemed more dazzling than usualto the child, when her cue was called, --and as she sprang from thewings and bounded towards the footlights, amid the loud roar ofapplause which she was now accustomed to receive nightly, she raisedher eyes towards the Royal box, half-frightened, half-expectant. Herheart sank as she saw that the King had partially turned away from thestage, and was chatting carelessly with some person or persons behindhim, and that only a statuesque woman with a pale face, great eyes, anda crown of diamonds, regarded her steadily with a high-bred air ofchill indifference, which was sufficient to turn the little warmbeating heart of her into stone. A handsome youth stared down upon hersmiling, --his eyes sleepily amorous, --it was the elder of the King'stwo younger sons, Prince Rupert. She hated his expression, beautifulthough his features were, --and hated herself for having to dance beforehim. Poor little Pequita! It was her first experience of the insult agirl-child can be made to feel through the look of a budding youngprofligate. On and on she danced, giddily whirling;--the thoughts inher brain circling as rapidly as her movements. Why would not the Kinglook at her, --she thought? Why was he so indifferent, even when hissubjects sought most to please him? At the end of the second act of theOpera a great fatigue and lassitude overcame her, and a look of blackresentment clouded her pretty face. 

"What ails you?" said Zouche, sauntering up to her as she stood behindthe wings; "You look like a small thunder-cloud!"

She gave an unmistakable gesture in the direction of that quarter ofthe theatre where the Royal box was situated. 

"I hate him!" she said, with a stamp of her little foot. 

"The King? So do I!" And Zouche lit a cigarette and stuck it betweenhis lips by way of a stop-gap to a threatening violent expletive; "Aninsolent, pampered, flattered fool! Yet you wanted to dance before him;and now you've done it! The fact will serve you as a kind ofadvertisement! That is all!"

"I do not want to be advertised through _his_ favour!" And Pequitaclosed her tiny teeth on her scarlet under-lip in suppressed anger;"But I have not danced before him yet! I _will_!"

Zouche looked at her sleepily. He was not drunk--though he had, --ofcourse, --been drinking. 

"You have not danced before him? Then what have you been doing?"

"Walking!" answered Pequita, with a fierce little laugh, her colourcoming and going with all the quick wavering hue of irritated andirritable Spanish blood, "I have, as they say 'walked across thestage. ' I shall dance presently!"

He smiled, flicking a little ash off his cigarette. 

"You are a curious child!" he said; "By and by you will want severelykeeping in order!"

Pequita laughed again, and shook back her long curls defiantly. 

"Who is that cold woman with a face like a mask and the crown ofdiamonds, that sits beside the King?"

It was Zouche's turn to laugh now, and he did so with a keen sense ofenjoyment. 

"Upon my word!" he exclaimed; "A little experience of the world hasgiven you what newspaper men call 'local colour. ' The 'cold woman withthe face like a mask, ' is the Queen!"

Pequita made a little grimace of scorn. 

"And who is the leering boy?"

"Prince Rupert. "

"The Crown Prince?"

"No. The Crown Prince is travelling abroad. He went away verymysteriously, --no one knows where he has gone, or when he will comeback. "

"I am not surprised!" said Pequita; "With such a father and mother, andsuch impudent-looking brothers, no wonder he wanted to get away!"

Zouche had another fit of laughter. He had never seen the little girlin such a temper. He tried to assume gravity. 

"Pequita, you are naughty! The flatteries of the great world arespoiling you!"

"Bah!" said Pequita, with a contemptuous wave of her small brown hands. "The flatteries of the great world! To what do they lead? To_that_!" and she made another eloquent sign towards the Royalbox;--"I would rather dance for you and Lotys, and Sergius Thord, andPasquin Leroy, than all the Kings of the world together! What I do hereis for my father's sake--_you_ know that!"

"I know!" and Zouche smoked on, and shook his wild head sentimentally, --murmuring in a _sotto-voce_:

 "What I do _here_, is for the need of gold, -- What I do _there_, is for sweet love's sake only; Love, ever timid _there_, doth _here_ grow bold, -- And wins such triumph as but leaves me lonely!"

"Is that yours?" said Pequita with a sudden smile. 

"Mine, or Shakespeare's, " answered Zouche indolently; "Does it matterwhich?"

Pequita laughed, and her cue being just then called, again she boundedon to the stage; but this time she played her part, as the stock phrasegoes, 'to the gallery, ' and did not once turn her eyes towards theplace where the King sat withdrawn into the shadow of his box, givingno sign of applause. She, however, had caught sight of Sergius Thordand some of her Revolutionary friends seated 'among the gods, ' and thatwas enough inspiration for her. Something, --a quite indefinablesomething, --a touch of personal or spiritual magnetism, had been firedin her young soul; and gradually as the Opera went on, her fellow-players became infected by it. Some of them gave her odd, half-laughingglances now and then, --being more or less amazed at the unusual vigourwith which she sang, in her pure childish soprano, the few strophes ofrecitative and light song attached to her part;--the very prima-donnaherself caught fire, --and the distinguished tenor, who had travelledall the way from Buda Pesth in haste, so that he might 'create' thechief rôle in the work of his friend Valdor, began to feel that therewas something more in operatic singing than the mere inflation of thechest, and the careful production of perfectly-rounded notes. Valdorhimself played the various violin solos which occurred frequentlythroughout the piece, and never failed to evoke a storm of rapturousplaudits, --and many were the half-indignant glances of the audiencetowards the Royal shrine of draped satin, gilding, and electric light, wherein the King, like an idol, sat, --undemonstrative, and apparentlymore bored than satisfied. There was a general feeling that he ought tohave shown, --by his personal applause in public, --a proper appreciationof the many gifted artists playing that evening, especially in the caseof Louis Valdor, the composer of the Opera itself. But he sat inert, only occasionally glancing at the stage, and anon carelessly turningaway from it to converse with the members of his suite. 

The piece went on;--and more and more the passion of Pequita's pent-uplittle soul communicated itself to the other performers, --till theyfound themselves almost unconsciously obeying her 'lead. ' At last camethe grand final act, --where, in accordance with the progress of thestory, the bold band of 'New Christians' are fought back from the gatesof the Vatican by the Papal Guard; and the Roman populace, roused toenthusiasm, gather round their defeated ranks to defend and to aid themwith sympathy and support in their combat, --breaking forth all togetherat last in the triumphant 'Song of Freedom. ' Truly grand and majesticwas this same song, --pulsating with truth and passion, --breathing withthe very essence of liberty, --an echo of the heart and soul of strongnations who struggle, even unto death, for the lawful rights ofhumanity denied to them by the tyrants in place and power. As thesuperb roll and swell of the glorious music poured through the crowdedhouse, there was an almost unconscious movement among the audience, --the people in the gallery rose _en masse_, and at the close of thefirst verse, responded to it by a mighty cheer, which reverberatedthrough and through the immense building like thunder. The occupants ofthe stalls and boxes exchanged wondering and half-frightened looks, --then as the cheer subsided, settled themselves again to listen, more orless spell-bound, as the second verse began. Just before this hadmerged into its accompanying splendid and soul-awakening chorus, --Pequita, --having obtained the consent of the manager to execute her'Dagger Dance' in the middle of the song, instead of at the end, --suddenly sprang towards the footlights in a pirouette of extravagantand exquisite velocity--while, --checked by a sign from the conductor, the singers ceased. Without music, in an absolute stillness as ofdeath, the girl swung herself to and fro, like a bell-flower in thebreeze, --anon she sprang and leaped like a scarlet flame--and againsank into a slow and voluptuous motion, as of a fairy who dreaminglyglides on tiptoe over a field of flowers. Then, on a sudden, while thefascinated spectators watched her breathlessly, --she seemed to wakefrom sleep, --and running forward wildly, began to toss and whirl herscarlet skirts, her black curls streaming, her dark eyes flashing withmingled defiance and scorn, while drawing from her breast an unsheatheddagger, she flung it in the air, caught it dexterously by the hiltagain, twisted and turned it in every possible way, --now beckoning, nowrepelling, now defending, --and lastly threatening, with a passionateintensity of action that was well-nigh irresistible. 

Caught by the marvellous subtlety of her performance, quite one halfthe audience now rose instinctively, all eyes being fixed on thestrange evolutions of this whirling, flying thing that seemed possessedby the very devil of dancing! The King at last attracted, leanedslightly forward from his box with a tolerant smile, --the Queen's facewas as usual, immovable, --the Princes Rupert and Cyprian stared, open-mouthed--while over the whole brilliant scene that remarkable silencebrooded, like the sultry pause before the breaking of a storm. Triumphant, reckless, panting, --scarcely knowing what she did in herexcitement, --Pequita, suddenly running backward, with the lightness ofthistle-down flying before the wind, snatched the flag of the countryfrom a super standing by, and dancing forward again, waved it aloft, till with a final abandonment of herself to the humour of the moment, she sprang with a single bound towards the Royal box, and there--theyouthful incarnation of living, breathing passion, fury, patriotism, and exultation in one, --dropped on one knee, the flag waving behindher, the dagger pointed straight upward, full at the King!

A great roar, --like that of hundreds of famished wild beasts, --answeredthis gesture; mingled with acclamations, --and when 'The Song ofFreedom' again burst out from the singers on the stage, the whole massof people joined in the chorus with a kind of melodious madness. Shoutsof 'Pequita! Pequita!' rang out on all sides, --then 'Valdor! Valdor!'--and then, --all suddenly, --a stentorian voice cried 'Sergius Thord!'At that word the house became a chaos. Men in the gallery, seized bysome extraordinary impulse of doing they knew not what, and going theyknew not whither, leaped over each other's shoulders, and began toclimb down by the pillars of the balconies to the stalls, --and auniversal panic and rush ensued. Terrified women hurried from thestalls and boxes in spite of warning, and got mixed with the maddenedcrowd, a section of which, pouring out of the Opera-house cameincontinently upon the King's carriage in waiting, --and forthwith, without any reflection as to the why or the wherefore, smashed it toatoms! Then, singing again 'The Song of Freedom, '--the people, pouringout from all the doors, formed into a huge battalion, and started on amarch of devastation and plunder. 

Sergius Thord, grasping the situation from the first, rushed out of theOpera-house in all haste, anxious to avert a catastrophe, but he wastoo late to stop the frenzied crowd, --nothing could, or would havestopped them at that particular moment. The fire had been too longsmouldering in their souls; and Pequita, like a little spark of fury, had set it in a blaze. Through private ways and back streets, the Kingand Queen and their sons, escorted by the alarmed manager, escaped fromthe Opera unhurt, --and drove back unobserved to the Palace in a commonfiacre--and a vast multitude, waiting to see them come out by the usualdoors, and finding they did not come, vented their rage and disgust bytearing up and smashing everything within their reach. Then, remembering in good time, despite their excitement, that the manager ofthe Opera had done nothing to deserve injury to himself or hisproperty, they paused in this work of destruction, and with the suddencaprice of children, gave out ringing cheers for him and for Pequita;--while their uncertainty as to what to do next was settled for them byPaul Zouche, who, mounting on one of the pedestals which supported thecolumns of the entrance to the Opera, where his wild head, glitteringeyes and eager face looked scarcely human, cried out:

"Damnation to Carl Pérousse! Why do you idle here, my friends, when youmight be busy! If you want Freedom, seek it from him who is to be yournew Prime Minister!"

A prolonged yell of savage approval answered him, --and like an angrytide, the crowd swept on and on, gathering strength and force as itwent, and pouring through the streets with fierce clamour of shouting, and clash of hastily collected weapons, --on and on to the great square, in the centre of which stood the statue of the late King, and where thehouse of Carl Pérousse occupied the most prominent position. And themoon, coming suddenly out of a cloud, stared whitely down upon theturbulent scene, --one too often witnessed in history, when, as Carlylesays, 'a Nation of men is suddenly hurled beyond the limits. ForNature, as green as she looks, rests everywhere on dread foundations, and Pan, to whose music the Nymphs dance, has a cry in him that candrive all men distracted!'

In such distraction, and with such wild cry, the night of Pequita'slong-looked-for dance before the King swept stormily on towards day. 

CHAPTER XXVIII

"FATE GIVES--THE KING!"

News of this fresh and more violent disturbance among the peoplebrought the soldiery out in hot haste, who galloped down to the sceneof excitement, only to find the mounted police before them, headed byGeneral Bernhoff, who careering to and fro, cool and composed, forbade, 'in the name of the King!' any attempt to drive the mob out of thesquare. Swaying uneasily round and round, the populace yelled andgroaned, and cheered and hissed; not knowing exactly whereunto theywere so wildly moved, but evidently waiting for a fresh 'lead. ' Thehouse of Carl Pérousse, with its handsome exterior and stately marbleportico, offered itself as a tempting target to the more excitableroughs, and a stone sent crashing through one of the windows would havecertainly been the signal for a general onslaught had not a man'sfigure suddenly climbed the pedestal which supported the statue of thelate King in the centre of the square, and lifted its living visibleidentity against the frowning cold stone image of the dead. A cry wentup from thousands of throats--'Sergius Thord!'--followed by anextraordinary clamour of passionate plaudits, as the excited peoplerecognised the grand head and commanding aspect of their own particularApostle of Liberty. He, --stretching out his hands with a gesture ofmingled authority and entreaty, --pacified the raging sea ofcontradictory and conflicting voices as if by magic, --and the horridclamour died down into a dull roar, which in its turn subsided intosilence. 

"Friends and brothers!" he cried; "Be calm! Be patient! What spiritpossesses you to thus destroy the chances of your own peace! What isyour aim? Justice? Ay--justice!--but how can you gain this by beingyourselves unjust? Will you remedy Wrong by injuring Right? Nay--thismust not be!--this cannot be, with _you_, whose passion forliberty is noble, --whose love for truth is fixed and resolute, --and whoseek no more than is by human right your own! This sudden tempest, bywhich your souls are tossed, is like an angry gust upon the sea, whichwrecks great vessels and drowns brave men;--be something more than thesemblance of the capricious wind which destroys without having reasonto know why it is bent on destruction! What are you here for? Whatwould you do?"

A confused shouting answered him, in which cries of 'Pérousse!' and'The King!' were most prominent. 

Sergius Thord looked round upon the seething mass below him, with astrange sense of power and of triumph. He--even he--who could claim tobe no more than a poor Thinker, speaker and writer, --had won thesethousands to his command!--he had them here, willing to obey hislightest word, --ready to follow his signal wheresoever it might takethem! His eyes glowed, --and the light of a great and earnestinspiration illumined his strong features. 

"You call for Carl Pérousse!" he said; "Yonder he dwells!--in the regalhouse he has built for himself out of the sweating work of the poor!" Afierce yell from the populace and an attempt at a rush, was againstopped by the speaker's uplifted hand; "Wait, friends--wait! Think fora moment of the result of action, before you act! Suppose you pulleddown that palace of fraud; suppose your strong hands righteously rentit asunder;--suppose you set fire to its walls, --suppose you draggedout the robber from his cave and slew him here, before sunrise--whatthen? You would make of him a martyr!--and the hypocritical liars ofthe present policy, who are involved with him in his financialschemes, --would chant his praises in every newspaper, and laud hisvirtues in every sermon! Nay, we should probably hear of a special'Memorial Service' being held in our great Cathedral to sanctify thecorpse of the vilest stock-jobbing rascal that ever cheated thegallows! Be wiser than that, my friends! Do not soil your hands eitherwith the body of Carl Pérousse or his ill-gotten dwelling. What we wantfor him is Disgrace, not Death! Death is far too easy! An innocentchild may die; do not give to a false-hearted knave the simple exitcommon to the brave and true! Disgrace!--disgrace! Shame, confusion, and the curse of the country, --let these be your vengeance on the manwho seeks to clutch the reins of government!--the man who would drivethe people like whipped horses to their ruin!"

Another roar answered him, but this time it was mingled with murmurs ofdissatisfaction. Thord caught these up, and at once responded to them. 

"I hear you, O People! I hear the clamour of your hearts and souls, which is almost too strong to find expression in speech! You cannotwait, you would tell me! You would have Pérousse dragged out here, --youwould tear him to pieces among you, if you could, and carry thefragments of him to the King, to prove what a people can do with avillain proposed to them as their Prime Minister!" Loud and ferociousshouts answered these words, and he went on; "I know--I understand!--and I sympathise! But even as I know you, you know me! Believe me now, therefore, and hear my promise! I swear to you before you all"--andhere he extended both arms with a solemn and impressive gesture--"thatthis month shall not be ended before the dishonesty of Carl Pérousse ispublicly and flagrantly known at every street corner, --in every townand province of the land!--and before the most high God, I take my oathto you, the People, --that he shall never be the governing head of thecountry!"

A hurricane of applause answered him--a tempest of shouting that seemedto surge and sway through the air and down to the earth again like thebeating of a powerful wind. 

"Give me your trust, O People!" he cried, carried beyond himself withthe excitement and fervour of the scene--"Give me yourselves!"

Another roar replied to this adjuration. He stood triumphant;--thepeople pressing up around him, --some weeping--some kneeling at hisfeet--some climbing to kiss his hand. A few angry voices in thedistance cried out--'The King!'--and he turned at once on the word. 

"Who needs the King?" he demanded; "Who calls for him? What is he tous? What has he ever been? Look back on his career!--see him as Heir-Apparent to the Throne, wasting his time with dishonest associates, --dealing with speculators and turf gamblers--involving himself in debt--and pandering to vile women, who still hold him in their grasp, and whoin their turn rule the country by their caprice, and drain the Royalcoffers by their licentious extravagance! Now look on him as the King, --a tool in the hands of financiers--a speculator among speculators--steeped to the very eyes in the love of money, and despising all menwho do not bear the open blazon of wealth upon them, --what has he donefor the people? Nothing! What will he ever do for the People? Nothing!Flattered by self-seekers--stuffed with eulogy by a paid Press--hisname made a byword and a mockery by the very women with whom heconsorts, what should we do with him in Our work! Let him alone!--lethim be! Let him eat and drink as suits his nature--and die of thepoison his own vices breed in his blood!--we want naught of him, or hisheirs! When the time ripens to its full fruition, we, the People, cando without a Throne!"

At this, thousands of hats and handkerchiefs were tossed in the air, --thousands of voices cheered to the very echo, and to relieve theirfeelings still more completely the vast crowd once more took up 'TheSong of Freedom' and began singing it in unison steadily and grandly, with all that resistless force and passion which springs from deep-seated emotion in the soul. And while they were singing, Thord, glancing rapidly about him, saw Johan Zegota close at hand, and to hisstill greater satisfaction, Pasquin Leroy; and beckoning them both tohis side whispered his brief orders, which were at once comprehended. The day was breaking; and in the purple east a line of crimson showedwhere the sun would presently rise. A few minutes' quick organisationworked by Leroy and Zegota, and some few other of their comradessufficed to break up the mob into three sections, and in perfect orderthey stood blocked for a moment, like the three wings of a great army. Then once more Thord addressed them:

"People, you have heard my vow! If before the end of the month CarlPérousse is not ejected with contempt from office, I will ask my deathat your hands! A meeting will be convened next week at the People'sAssembly Rooms where we shall make arrangements to approach the King. If the King refuses to receive us, we shall find means to make him doso! He _shall_ hear us! He is our paid servant, and he is bound toserve us faithfully, --or the Throne shall be a thing of the past, to belooked back upon with regret that we, a great and free people, evertolerated its vice and tyranny!"

Here he waited to let the storm of plaudits subside, --and thencontinued: "Now part, all of you friends!--go your ways, --and keeporder for yourselves with vigilance! The soldiery are here, but theydare not fire!--the police are here, but they dare not arrest! Givethem no cause even to say that it would have been well to do either!Let the spiritual force of your determined minds, --fixed on a noble andjust purpose, over-rule mere temporal authority; let none have to blameyou for murder or violence, --take no life, --shed no blood; but let yourconquest of the Government, --your capture of the Throne, --be a gloriousmoral victory, outweighing any battle gained only by brute force andrapine!"

He was answered by a strenuous cheer; and then the three great sectionsof the multitude began to move. Out of the square in perfect order theymarched, --still singing; one huge mass of people being headed byPasquin Leroy, the other by Johan Zegota, --the third by Sergius Thordhimself. The soldiery, seeing there was no cause for interference, withdrew, --the police dispersed, and once again an outbreak of populardisorder was checked and for a time withheld. 

But this second riot had startled the metropolis in good earnest. Everyone became fully alive to the danger and increasing force of thedisaffected community, --and the Government, --lately grown inert anddilatory in the transaction of business, --began seriously to considerways and means of pacifying general clamour and public dissatisfaction. None of the members of the Cabinet were much surprised, therefore, whenthey each received a summons from the King to wait upon him at thePalace that day week, --'to discuss affairs of national urgency, ' andthe general impression appeared to be, that though Carl Péroussedismissed the 'street rowdyism, ' as he called it, with contempt, andspoke of 'disloyal traitors opposed to the Government, ' he wasnevertheless riding for a fall; and that his chances of obtaining thePremiership were scarcely so sure as they had hitherto seemed. 

Meanwhile, Pequita, whose childish rage against the King for notnoticing her dancing or applauding it, had been the trifling cause ofthe sudden volcanic eruption of the public mind, became more than everthe idol of the hour. The night after the riot, the Opera-house wascrowded to suffocation, --and the stage was covered with flowers. Amongthe countless bouquets offered to the triumphant little dancer, cameone which was not thrown from the audience, but was brought to her by amessenger; it was a great cluster of scarlet carnations, and attachedto it was a tiny velvet case, containing the ring promised to her byPasquin Leroy, when, as he had said, she 'should dance before theKing. ' A small card accompanied it on which was written 'Pequita, fromPasquin!' Turning to Lotys, who, in the event of further turbulence, had accompanied her to the Opera that night to take care of her, andwho sat grave, pale, and thoughtful, in one of the dressing-rooms nearthe stage, the child eagerly showed her the jewel, exclaiming:

"See! He has kept his promise!"

And Lotys, --sighing even while she smiled, --answered:

"Yes, dear! He would not be the brave man he is, if he ever broke hisword!"

Whereat Pequita slipped the ring on her friend's finger, kissing herand whispering:

"Take care of it for me! Wear it for me! For tonight, at least!"

Lotys assented, --though with a little reluctance, --and it was onlywhile Pequita was away from her, performing her part on the stage, thatthis strange lonely woman bent her face down on the hand adorned withthe star-like gem and kissed it, --tears standing in her eyes as shemurmured:

"My love--my love! If you only knew!"

And then the hot colour surged into her cheeks for sheer shame ofherself that she should love!--she--no longer in her youth, --andutterly unconscious that there was, or could be any beauty in her deeplustrous eyes, white skin, and dull gold hair. What had she to do withthe thoughts of passion?--she whose life was devoted to the sick andneedy, --and who had no right to think of anything else but how sheshould aid them best, so long as that life should last! She knew wellenough that love of a great, jealous, and almost savage kind, was hersif she chose to claim it--the love of Sergius Thord, who worshipped herboth as a woman and an Intellect; but she could not contemplate him asher lover, having grown up to consider him more as a sort of paternalguardian and friend. In fact, she had thoroughly resigned herself tothink of nothing but work for the remainder of her days, and toentirely forego the love and tenderness which most women, even thepoorest, have the natural right to win; and now slowly, --almostunconsciously to herself, --Love had stolen into her soul and takenpossession of it;--secret love for the man, who brave almost torecklessness, had joined his fortunes in with Sergius Thord and hiscompanions, and had assisted the work of pushing matters so farforward, that the wrongs done to the poor, and the numerous injusticesof the law, which for years had been accumulating, and had become partand parcel of the governing system of the country, now stood a fairchance of being remedied. She, with her quick woman's instinct, hadperceived that where Sergius Thord, in his dreamy idealism, halted andwas uncertain of results, Pasquin Leroy stepped into the breach and wonthe victory. And, like all courageous women, she admired a courageousman. Not that Thord lacked courage, --he had plenty of the physicalbrute force known as such, --but he had also a peculiar anduncomfortable quality of rousing desires, both in himself and otherswhich he had not the means of gratifying. 

Thus Lotys foresaw that, unless by some miraculous chance he obtainedboth place and power, and a share in the ruling of things, there wasevery possibility of a split in the Revolutionary Committee, --one halfbeing inclined to indulge in the criminal and wholly wasteful spirit ofAnarchy, --the other disposed to throw in its lot with the Liberal orRadical side of politics. And she began to regard Pasquin Leroy, withhis even temperament, cool imperturbability, intellectual daring, andliterary ability, as the link which kept them all together, and gavepractical force to the often brooding and fantastic day-dreams ofThord, who, though he made plans night and day for the greater freedomand relief of the People from unjust coercion, had not succeeded inobtaining as yet sufficient power to carry them into execution. 

It was evident, however, to the whole country that the times were in aferment, --that the Government was growing more unpopular, and that CarlPérousse, the chief hinge on which Governmental force turned, was undera cloud of the gravest suspicion. Meetings, more or less stormy incharacter, were held everywhere by every shade of party in politics, --and strong protests against his being nominated as Premier were dailysent to the King. But to the surprise of many, and the annoyance ofmost, his Majesty gave no sign. The newspapers burst into rampantargument, --every little editor issued his Jovian 'opinion' on the graveissues at stake;--David Jost kept his Hebraic colours flying for theKing, --judging that to flatter Royalty was always a safe course formost Jews;--while in the rival journal, brilliant essays, leaders andsatires on the political situation, combined with point-blankaccusations against the Secretary of State, (which that distinguishedpersonage always failed to notice, ) flew from the pen of the mysteriouswriter, Pasquin Leroy, and occupied constant public attention. Unlikethe realm of Britain, --where the 'golden youth' enfeeble theirintellects by the perusal of such poor and slangy journalism that theyhave lost both the art and wit to comprehend brilliant politicalwriting, --the inhabitants of this particular corner of the sunny southwere always ready to worship genius wherever even the smallest glimmerof it appeared, --and the admiration Leroy's writings excited was fastbecoming universal, though for the most part these writings wereextremely inflammable in nature, and rated both King and Court soundly. But with the usual indifference of Royalty to 'genius' generally, theKing, when asked if he had taken note of certain articles dealing veryfreely with both him and his social conduct, declared he had neverheard of them, or of their writer!

"I never, " he said with an odd smile, "pay any attention to cleverliterature! I should be establishing a precedent which would beinconvenient and disagreeable to my fellow sovereigns!"

The time went on; the King met his Ministers on the day he had summonedthem in private council, --and on the other hand Sergius Thord conveneda mighty mass-meeting for the purpose of carrying a resolution formedto address his Majesty on the impending question of the Premiership. From the King's council, the heads of Government came away in haste, despair and confusion; from the mass-meeting whole regiments marchedthrough the streets in triumphant and satisfied order. 

After these events there came a night, when the sweet progress of calmweather was broken up by cloud and storm, --and when heavy thunderboomed over the city at long dull intervals, like the grinding andpounding of artillery, without any rain to cool the heated ether, whichwas now and again torn asunder by flashes of lightning. There wasevidently a raging tempest far out at sea, though the land onlyreceived suggestions of this by the occasional rearing up of huge darkgreen billows which broke against the tall cliffs, plumed with mimosaand myrtle, that guarded the coast. Heavy scents of flowers were in theair--heavy heat weighed down the atmosphere, --and there was a languorin the slow footsteps of the men, who, singly, or in groups, arrived atthe door of Sergius Thord's house to fulfil the dread compact bindingupon them all in regard to the 'Day of Fate. ' Pasquin Leroy and his twocompanions were among the first to arrive, and to make their way up thedark steep stairs to the Committee room, where, when they entered, theyfound the usual aspect of things strangely altered. The table no longeroccupied its position in the middle of the floor; it was set on araised platform entirely draped with black. Large candelabra, holdingsix lights each, occupied either end, --and in the centre one solitaryred lamp was placed, shedding its flare over a large bronze vesselshaped like a funeral urn. The rest of the room was in darkness, --andwith the gathering groups of men, who moved silently and spoke inwhispers, it presented a solemn and eerie spectacle. 

"Ah! You have now arrived, " said Max Graub, in a cautious sotto voce toLeroy, "at the end of your adventures! Behold the number Thirteen! Sixlights at one end, six lights at the other, --that is twelve; and in thecentre the Thirteenth--the red Eye looking into the sepulchral urn! Itis all up with us!"

Leroy said nothing, --but the face of the man called Axel Regor grewsuddenly very pale. He drew Leroy a little aside. 

"This is no laughing matter!" he said very earnestly; "Let me standnear you--let me keep close at your side all the evening!"

Leroy smiled and pressed his hand. 

"My dear fellow!" he said; "Have no fear! Or if you have fear, do notshow it! You stand in precisely the same danger as myself, or as any ofus; you may draw the fatal Signal!--but if you do, I promise you I willvolunteer myself in your place. "

"_You_!" said Regor with a volume of meaning in the utterance;"You would stand in my place?"

"Why, of course!" replied Leroy cheerily; "Life is not such a wonderfulbusiness, that death for a friend's sake is not better!"

Regor looked at him, and a speechless devotion filled and softened hiseyes. Certain words spoken to him by a woman he loved echoed throughhis brain, and he murmured:

"Nay, by the God above us, if death is in question, _I_ will dierather than let _you_ die!"

"That will depend on my humour!" said Leroy, still smiling; "You willrequire my permission to enter into combat with the last enemy beforehe offers challenge!"

Max Graub here approached them with a warning finger laid on his lips. 

"Hush--sh--sh!" he said; "Think as much as you like, --but talk aslittle as you can! I assure you this is a most uncomfortable business!--and here comes the axis of the revolving wheel!"

They made way, --as did all the men grouped together in the room, --forthe entrance of Sergius Thord and Lotys. These two came in together;and with a silent salute which included the whole Committee, ascendedthe raised platform. Lotys was deadly pale; and the white dress shewore, with its scarlet sash, accentuated that paleness. She appearedfor once to move under the dominance of some greater will than herown, --she moved slowly, and her head was bent, --and even to PasquinLeroy as she passed him, her faint smile of recognition was both sadand cold. Once on the platform, she seated herself at the lower end ofthe funereally-draped table; and leaning her head on one hand, seemedlost in thought. Thord took his place at the opposite end, --whereuponJohan Zegota moving stealthily to the door, closed it, locked it, andput the key in his pocket. Then he in turn mounted the platform, andbegan in a clear but low voice to call the roll of the members of theCommittee. 

Each man answered to his name in the same guarded tone; all without asingle exception were present;--and Zegota, having completed thecatalogue, turned to Thord for further instructions. The rest of thecompany then seated themselves, --finding their chairs with some littledifficulty in the semi-darkness. When the noise of their shuffling feethad ceased, Thord rose and advanced to the front of the platform. 

"Friends, " he said slowly; "You are here to-night to determine by thehand of Chance, or Destiny, which of certain traitors among manythousands, shall meet with the punishment his treachery deserves. Inthe list of those who are to-night marked down for death is CarlPérousse;--happy the man that draws _that_ name and is able toserve as the liberator to his country! Another, is the Jew, DavidJost, --because it has been chiefly at his persuasion that the heads ofthe Government have been tempted to gamble for their own personalmotives with the secrets of State policy. Another, is the Marquis deLutera;--who though he has, possibly through fear, resigned office, isto blame for having made his own private fortune, --as well as thefortunes of all the members of his family, --out of the injuries andtaxations inflicted on the People. To his suggestion we owe the cruelprice of bread, --the tax on corn, a necessity of life;--on his policyrests the responsibility of opening our Trades to such an over-excessof Foreign Competition and Supply that our native work and our nativeinterests are paralysed by the strain. To him, --as well as to CarlPérousse, we owe the ridiculous urbanities of such extreme foreigndiplomacies as expose our secret forces of war to our rivals;--from himemanates the courteous and almost servile attention with which wefoolishly exhibit our naval and military defences to our enemies. Weassume that a Minister who graciously permits a foreign arsenal to copyour guns--a foreign dockyard to copy and to emulate our ships, --is atraitor to the prosperity and continued power of the country. Two ofthe great leaders in Trade are named on the Death-list;--one because, in spite of many warnings, he employs foreign workmen only; the other, because he 'sweats' native labour. The removal of all these personswill be a boon to the country--the clearing of a plague of rats fromthe national House and Exchequer! Lastly, the King is named;--because, --though he has rescued the system of National Education from Jesuitinterference and threatening priestly dominance, he has turned a deafear to other equally pressing petitions of his People, --and alsobecause he does nothing to either influence or guide society to itsbest and highest ends. Under his rule, learning is set at naught--Art, Science and Literature, the three saving graces which make for thepeace, prosperity and fraternity of nations, --are rendered valueless, because no example is set which would give them their rightfulprominence, --and wine, cards and women are substituted, --the three evilfates between which the honour of the Throne is brought into contempt. We should know and remember that Lotys, when she lately saved the lifeof the King, did, --as she herself can tell you, --plead personally withhim to save the people from the despotic government of Carl Pérousseand his pernicious 'majority';--but though she rescued the monarch atthe risk of her own much more valuable existence--and equally at therisk of being misunderstood and condemned by this very Society to whichher heart and soul are pledged, --he refused to even consider herentreaty. Therefore, we may be satisfied that he has been warned;--butit would seem that the warning is of no avail;--and whosoever to-nightdraws the name of the King must be swift and sure in his business!"

There was a deep pause. Suddenly Max Graub rose, his bulky form andgreat height giving him an almost Titanesque appearance in the gloom ofthe chamber. Raising one hand as a signal, he asked permission tospeak, which was instantly accorded. 

"To my chief, Sergius Thord, and my comrades, " he said with a slightmilitary salutation; "I wish to explain what perhaps they have alreadydiscovered, --that I am a poor and uncouth German, --not altogetherconversant with your language, --and considerably bewildered by yoursocial ethics;--so that if I do not entirely understand things as Ishould, you will perhaps pardon my ignorance, which includes otherdrawbacks of my disposition. But when death is in question, I am alwaysmuch interested, --having spent all my days in trying to find out waysand means of combating man's chief enemy on his own ground. Because, --though I fully admit the usefulness of death as a cleanser and solvent;and as a means of clearing off hopelessly-useless persons, I am not atall sure that it is an advisable way to get rid of the healthy and thepromising. I speak as a physician merely, --with an eye to what iscalled the 'stock' of the human race; and what I now want to know isthis: On what scientific, ethical, or religious grounds, do you wish toget rid of the King? Science, ethics, and religion being only in thepresent day so many forms of carefully ministering to one's Self, andone's own particular humour, you will understand that I mean, --asconcerns the 'happy dispatch' of this same King, --what good will it doto you?"

There was a silence. No one vouchsafed any explanation. After aconsiderable pause, Thord replied. 

"It will do us no good. But it will show the country that we exist torevenge injustice!"

"But--is the King unjust?"

"Can you ask it?" replied Thord with a certain grave patience. "Duringyour association with us, have you not learned?--and do you not know?"

"Sit down, Graub!" interrupted Pasquin Leroy suddenly; "I know theKing's ways well enough, --and I can swear upon my honour that hedeserves the worst that can be done to him!"

A murmur of sullen approval ran through the room, and somewhat loweringglances were cast at the audacious Graub, who had, by his few words, created the very undesirable impression that he wished, in some remoteway, to interfere with the Committee solemnities in progress, and todefend the King from attack. He sat down again looking more or lesscrushed and baffled, --and Thord went on. 

"We have little time to spend together to-night, and none to waste. Leteach man come forward now, and take his chance, --remembering, --lest hiscourage fail him, --that whatever work is given him to do, thisCommittee are sworn to stand by him as their associate and comrade!--todefend him, --even at the risk of their own lives!--and to sharecompletely in the consequences of whatever act he may be called upon toperform in the faithful following of his duty! Friends, repeat with meall together, the Vow of Fealty!"

At once every man rose, --and all lifting their right hands on highrepeated in steady tones the following formula after their Chief, --

"We swear in the name of God, and by the eternal glory of Freedom! Thatwhosoever among us this night shall draw the Red Cross Signal whichdestines him to take from life, a life proved unworthy, --shall be to usa sacred person, and an object of defence and continued protection! Weguarantee to shield him at all times and under all circumstances;--wepromise to fight for him against the utmost combined power of the law;--we are prepared to maintain an inviolate silence concerning hismovements, his actions and their ultimate result, --even to thesufferance of imprisonment, punishment and death for his sake! And maythe curse of the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth be upon us andour children, and our children's children, if we break this vow. Amen!"

The stern and impressive intensity with which these words were spokensent a slight tremor along even such steel-like nerves as those ofPasquin Leroy, though he repeated the formula after Sergius Thord withthe attentive care of a child saying a lesson. At its conclusion, however, a sudden thought flashed through his brain which brought awonderful smile to his lips, and a rare light in his eyes, and touchingthe arm of Axel Regor, he whispered. 

"Could anything be more protective to me, --_as you know me_, --thanthis Vow of Fealty? By my faith, a right loyal vow!"

The man he so questioned looked at him doubtfully. He did notunderstand. He himself had repeated the vow mechanically and withoutthought, being occupied in serious and uncomfortable meditation as towhat possible dangerous lengths the evening's business might becarried. And, accustomed as he now was to the varying and brilliantmoods of one whom he had proved to be of most varying and brilliantintelligence, his brain was not quick enough to follow the lightning-like speed of the chain of ideas, --all moving in a perfectly organisedplan, --conceived by this daring, scheming and original brain, which hadbeen so lately roused to its own powers and set in thinking, workingorder. He therefore merely expressed his mind's bewilderment by awarning glance mingled with alarm, which caused Leroy to smile again, --but the scene which was being enacted, now demanded their closestattention, and they had no further opportunity of exchanging so much asa word. 

The Vow of Fealty being duly sworn, Sergius Thord stood aside, and madeway for Lotys, who, rising from her seat, lifted the funeral urn fromthe table and held it out towards the men. She made a strange and weirdpicture standing thus, --her white arms gleaming like sculptured ivoryagainst the dark bronze of the metal vase, --her gold hair touched witha blood-like hue from the reflection of the red lamp behind her, --andher face, --infinitely mournful and resigned, --wearing the expression ofone who, forced to behold evil, has no active part in it. As she tookup her position in the front of the platform, Thord again spoke. 

"Let each man now advance and draw his fate! Whosoever receives a blankis exempt for another year;--whosoever draws the name of a victim mustbe prepared to do his duty!"

This order was at once obeyed. Each man rose separately and approachingLotys, saluted her first, and then drew a folded paper from the vesselshe held. But they moved forward reluctantly, --and most of their faceswere very pale. When Pasquin Leroy's turn came to draw, he raised hiseyes to the woman's countenance above him and marvelled at its coldfixity. She seemed scarcely to be herself, --and it was plainly evidentthat the part she was forced to play in the evening's drama was a mostreluctant one. 

At last all the lots were taken, and Johan Zegota lit up the gas-burners in the centre of the room. A sigh of relief came from the lipsof many of the men who, on opening their papers found a blank insteadof a name. But Leroy, unfolding his, sat in dumb amazement, --feeling, and not for the first time either, that surely God, or some specialProvidence, is always on the side of a strong man's just aim, fulfilling it to entire accomplishment. For to him was assigned the RedCross, marked with the name of 'The King!' The words of Sergius Thord, uttered that very night, rushed back on his mind;--"Whosoever draws thename of the King must be swift and sure in his business!"

His heart beat high; he occupied at that moment a position no man inall the world had ever occupied before;--he was the centre of a dramasuch as had never before been enacted, --he had the greatest move toplay on the chess-board of life that could possibly be desired;--andthe greatest chance to prove himself the Man he was, that had ever beengiven to one of his quality. His brain whirled, --his pulses throbbed, --his eyes rested on Lotys with a passionate longing; something of thegod-like as well as the heroic warmed his soul, --for Danger and Deathstood as intimately close to him as Safety and Victory! What a strange, what a marvellous card he held in the game of life!--and yet one falsemove might mean ruin and annihilation! As in a dream he saw the membersof the Committee go up, one by one, to Sergius Thord, who, as each laidtheir open papers before him, declared their contents. When PaulZouche's paper was declared he was found to have drawn Carl Pérousse, whereat he smiled grimly; and retired to his seat, walking ratherunsteadily. Max Graub had drawn a blank, --so had Axel Regor, --so hadLouis Valdor and many others. 

At last it came to Leroy's turn, and as he walked up to the platformand ascended it, there was a look on his face which attracted theinstant attention of all present. His eyes were singularly bright, --hislithe handsome figure seemed taller and more erect, --he bore himselfwith a proud, even grand air, --and Lotys, moved at last from her chilland melancholy apathy, gazed at him as he approached, with eyes inwhich a profound sadness was mingled with the dark tenderness of manypassionate thoughts and dreams. He laid down his paper before Thord, who, taking it up read aloud:

"Our friend and comrade, Pasquin Leroy, has received the Red CrossSignal. "

Then pausing before uttering his next words he raised his voice alittle, so that he might be heard by everyone in the room, and addedslowly:

"To Pasquin Leroy, Fate gives--the King!"

A low murmur of deep applause ran through the room. Max Graub and AxelRegor sprang up with a kind of smothered cry, but Leroy stoodimmovable. Instead of returning to his seat as the others had done, heremained standing on the platform in front of the Committee table, between Lotys and Sergius Thord. A strange smile rested on his lips, --his attitude was inexplicable. Surveying all the men's faces which weregrouped before him in a kind of chiaro-oscuro, he studied them for amoment, and then turned his head towards Thord. 

"Sergius, --so far, I have served you well! Destiny has now chosen meout for even a greater service! May I speak a few words?"

Thord assented, --but a sudden sense of inquietude stirred in him as hesaw that Lotys had half risen, that her lips quivered, and that greattears stood in her eyes. 

"She grieves!" he thought, sullenly, in his strange and confused way ofbalancing justice and injustice--"She grieves that the worthless lifeof the King she saved, is now to be taken by a righteous hand!"

Meanwhile Leroy faced the assembly. 

"Comrades!" he said; "This is the first time I have assisted in the workof your Day of Fate, --the first time I have recognised how entirelyProvidence moves _with_ you and _for_ you in the ruling of yourdestinies! And because it is the first time, our Chief permits me toaddress you with the same fraternal liberty which was allowed to me onthe night I became enrolled among you, as one of you! Since then, Ihave done my best to serve you--" here he was interrupted by applause--"and so far as it has been humanly possible, I have endeavoured tocarry out your views and desires because, --though many of them springfrom pure idealism, and are, I fear, impossible of realisation in thisworld, --they contain the seed of much useful and necessary reform inmany institutions of this country. I have--as I promised you--shakenthe stronghold of Carl Pérousse;"--again the applause broke out, nonethe less earnest because it was restrained. "I have destroyed thepress-power and prestige of that knavish Jew-speculator in false news, David Jost; and wherever the wishes of this Society could be fulfilled, Ihave honestly sought to fulfil them. On this night, of all nights in theyear, I should like to feel, and to know, that you acknowledge me asyour true comrade and faithful friend!"

At this, the whole of the company gave vent to an outburst of cheering. 

"Do you doubt our love, that you ask of it?--or our gratitude that youseek to have it expressed?" said Thord, leaning forward to clasp hishand;--"Surely you know you have given new life and impetus to ourwork!--and that you have gained fresh triumph for our Cause!"

Leroy smiled, --but though returning his grasp cordially, he saidnothing to him in person by way of reply, evidently preferring ratherto address the whole community than one, even though that one was hisacknowledged Chief. 

"I thank you all!" he said in response to the acclamations around him. "I thank you for so heartily acknowledging me as your fellow-worker! Ithank you for giving me your confidence and employing my services!Tonight--the most important night of my destiny--Fate has determinedthat I shall perform the greatest task of all you have ever allotted tome; and that with swiftness and sureness in the business I shall killthe King! He is my marked victim! I am his chosen assassin!" Hereinterrupting himself with a bright smile, he said: "Will someonerestrain my two friends, Max Graub and Axel Regor from springing out oftheir seats? They are both extremely envious of the task which has beenallotted to me!--both are disappointed that it did not fall to them toperform, --but I am not in the humour for arguing so nice a point ofhonour with them just now!"

A laugh went round the company, and the two delinquents thus called toorder, and who had really been seeking in quite a wild and aimless way, to scramble out of their seats and make for the platform, resumed theirplaces with heads bent low, lest those around them should see thedeadly pallor of their countenances. Leroy resumed. 

"I rejoice, friends and comrades, that I have been elected to the hightask of removing from the Throne one who has long been unworthy of it!--one who has wasted his opportunities both in youth and middle-age, --and who, by his own fault in a great measure, has lost much of the loveand confidence of his people! I am glad and proud to be the one chosento put an end to the career of a monarch whose vices and follies--whichmight have suited a gambler and profligate--are entirely unbecoming tothe Sovereign Ruler of a great Realm! I shall have no fear in carryingout my appointed duty to the letter! I here declare my acceptance ofwhatever punishment may be visited on one who removes from life a Kingwho brings kingliness into contempt! And, --as our Chief, Sergius Thord, suggested to-night, --I shall be swift and sure in the business!--thereshall be no delay!"

Here, as he spoke he drew a pistol from his pocket and turned themuzzle towards himself, --at which unexpected action there was a hastymovement of surprise, terror and confusion among the company. 

"Gentlemen all! Friends! Brothers!--as you have been, --and are to me, --by the binding of our compact in the name of Lotys! It is thedetermination of destiny, --as it is your desire, --that I should killthe King! You have resolved upon it. You are sure that his death willbenefit the country. You have decided not to take into considerationany of his possible good qualities, or to pity any of the probablesorrows and difficulties besetting him in the uneasy position he iscompelled to occupy. You are quite certain among yourselves, thatsomehow or other his removal will bring about that ideal condition ofsociety which many philosophers have written of, and which manyreformers have desired, but which has till now, proved itself incapableof being realised. The King's death, you think, will better allexisting conditions, and you wish me to fulfil not only the call ofdestiny, but your own desire. Be it so! I am ready to obey! I will killthe King at once!--here and now! I _am_ the King!"

CHAPTER XXIX

THE COMRADE OF HIS FOES

This bold declaration, boldly spoken, had the startling effect of asudden and sharp flash of lightning in dense darkness. Amazement andutter stupefaction held every man for the moment paralysed. Had avolcano suddenly opened beneath their feet and belched forth its floodsof fire and lava, it could not have rendered them more helplesslystricken and speechless. 

"I _am_ the King!"

The words appeared to blaze on the air before them, --like thehandwriting on the wall at Belshazzar's feast. The King! He, --theirfriend, their advocate, he--Pasquin Leroy, --the most obedient, the mostdaring and energetic of all the workers in their Cause--he--even he--was the King! Was it, --could it be possible! Their eyes--all riveted infearful fascination upon him as he stood before them wholly at theirmercy, but cool, dauntless, and smilingly ready to die, --had the wilduncomprehending stare of delirium;--the silence in the room wasintense, breathless and terrible. Suddenly, like a lion roused, SergiusThord, with a half-savage movement, sprang forward and seized himroughly by the arm. 

"You, --you are the King?" he said; "You, --Pasquin Leroy?" andstruggling for breath, his words almost choked him. "_You_! Enemyin the guise of friend! You have fooled us! You have deceived us--you--!"

"Take care, Sergius!" said the monarch smiling, as he gently disengagedhimself from the fierce hand that clutched him; "This pistol isloaded, --not to shoot you with!--but myself!--at your command! It wouldbe unfortunate if it went off and killed the wrong man by accident!"

His indomitable courage was irresistible; and Thord, relaxing hisgrasp, fell back in something like awe. And then the spell of horrorand amazement that had struck the rest of the assemblage dumb, brokeall at once into a sort of wild-beast clamour. Every man 'rushed' forthe platform--and Max Graub and Axel Regor, taking swift and consciouspossession of their true personalities as Professor von Glauben and SirRoger de Launay, fought silently and determinedly to keep back thecrowding hands that threatened instant violence to the person of theirRoyal master. 

A complete hubbub and confusion reigned;--cries of "Traitor!" and"Spy!" were hurled from one voice to another; but before a singlemember of the Committee could reach the spot where stood the undauntedSovereign whom they had so lately idolised as their friend and helper, and whom they were now ready to tear to pieces, Lotys flung herself infront of him, while at the same moment she snatched the pistol he heldfrom his hand, and fired it harmlessly into the air. The loud report--the flash of fire, --startled all the men, who gaped upon her, thunderstruck. 

"Through me!" she cried, her blue eyes flashing glorious menace;"Through me your shots! Through me your daggers! On me your destroyinghands! Through my body alone shall you reach this King! Stand back allof you! What would you do? King or commoner, he is your comrade andassociate! Sovereign or servant, he is the bravest man among you! Touchhim who dare! Remember your Vow of Fealty!"

Transfigured into an almost sublime beauty by the fervour of heremotion, she looked the supreme incarnation of inspired womanhood, andthe infuriated men fell back, dismayed and completely overwhelmed bythe strong conviction of her words, and the amazing situation in whichthey found themselves. 

It was true!--he, the King, --whom they had accepted and known asPasquin Leroy, --was verily their own comrade! He had proved himself athousand times their friend and helper!--they had sworn to defend himat the cost of their own lives, if need be, --to shelter and protect himin all circumstances, and to accept all the consequences of whateverdanger he might run in the performance of his duty. His duty now, --according to the fatal drawing of lots, --was that he should kill theKing; and he had declared himself ready to fulfil the task by killinghimself! But--as he was their comrade--they were bound in honour toguard his life!

These bewildering and maddening thoughts coursed like fire through thebrain of Sergius Thord, --the while his eyes, grown suddenly dark andbloodshot, rested wonderingly on the tall upright figure of themonarch, standing quietly face to face with the blood-thirstyRevolutionary Committee, entirely unmoved by their fierce and loweringlooks, and on Lotys, white, beautiful and breathless, kneeling at hisfeet! A crushing sense of impotence and failure rushed over his soullike a storm wave, --his brain grew thick with the hurrying confusion, and a great cry, like that of a wounded animal, broke from his lips. 

"My God! My God! All my life's work lost--in a single moment!"

The King heard. Gently, and with careful courtesy, raising Lotys fromthe position in which she had thrown herself to guard him from attackfor the second time, he pressed her hands tenderly in his own. 

"Trust me!" he whispered; "Have no fear! Not a man among them willtouch me now!"

With a slight gesture he signed her back to the chair she hadpreviously occupied. She sank into it, trembling from head to foot, buther eyes feverishly brilliant and watchful, were widely open and alert, ready to note the least movement or look that indicated further danger. Then the King addressed himself to Thord. 

"Sergius, I am entirely in your hands! I wait your word of command! Youare armed, --all my companions here are armed also! But Lotys hasdeprived me of the only weapon I possessed, --though there are plentymore in the room to be had on loan. What say you? Shall I kill theKing? Or will you?"

Thord was silent. A strong shudder shook his frame. The King laid afirm hand on his shoulder. 

"Friend!" he said in a low voice; "Believe me, I am your friend morethan ever!--you never had, and never will have a truer one than I! Allyour life's work lost, you say? Nay, not so! It is gained! Youconquered the People before I knew you, --and now you have conquered thePeople's King!"

Slowly Thord raised his great, dark, passionate eyes, clouded blackwith thoughts which could find no adequate expression. The look in themwent straight to the monarch's heart. Baffled ambition, --the hunger ofgreatness, --the desire to do something that should raise his soul abovesuch common ruck of human emmets as make of the earth the merest ant-hill whereon to eat and breed and die;--all this pent-up emotion swamluminously in the fierce bright orbs, which like mirrors, reflected thepicture of the troubled mind within. The suppressed power of the man, who, apart from his confused notions of 'liberty, equality, andfraternity' could resort to the sternest and most self-endangeringmeasures for destroying what he considered the abuses of the law, hadmoved the King, while disguised as Pasquin Leroy, to the profoundestadmiration for his bold character;--but perhaps he was never more movedthan at this supreme moment, when, hopelessly entangled in a net ofmost unexpected weaving, the redoubtable Socialist had to confesshimself vanquished by the simple friendship and service of the verymonarchy he sought to destroy. 

"Sergius, " said the King again, --"Trust me! Trust me as your Sovereign, with the same trust that you gave to me as your comrade, Pasquin! For Iam still your comrade, remember! Nothing can undo the oath that bindsme to you and to the People! I have not become one of you to betrayyou; but to serve you! Our present position is certainly a strangeone!--for by the tenets you hold, we should be sworn opponents, insteadof, as we are, sworn friends! Political agitators would have set us oneagainst the other for their own selfish ends; as matters stand, we areunited in the People's Cause; and I may perhaps do you more good livingthan dead! Give me a chance to serve you even better than I have doneas yet! Still, --if you judge my death would be an advantage to thecountry, --you have but to say the word! I have sworn, --and I am readyto carry out the full accomplishment of my vow! Do you understand? Youare, by the rules of this Committee my Chief!--there are no kings here;and I am good soldier enough to obey orders! It is for you to speak!--straightly, plainly, and at once, --to the Committee, --and to me!"

"Before God, you are brave!" muttered Thord, gazing at him in reluctantadmiration. "So brave, that it is almost impossible to believe that youcan be a King!"

He smiled. 

"Speak! Speak, my friend!" he urged; "Our comrades are watching ourconference like famished tigers! Give them food!"

Thus adjured, Thord advanced, and confronted the murmuring, gesticulating crowd of men, some of whom were wrathfully expostulatingwith Johan Zegota, because he declined to unlock the door of the roomand let them out, till he had received his Chief's commands to do so. Others were grouped round Paul Zouche, who had sat apparently strickenimmovable in his chair ever since the King had declared his identity;and others showed themselves somewhat inclined to 'hustle' Sir Roger deLaunay and Professor von Glauben, who guarded the approach to theplatform like sentinels, --though they were discreet enough to show noweapons of defence. 

"Comrades!"

The rich, deep voice of their leader thrilled through the room, andbrought them all to silence and attention. 

"Comrades!" said Thord slowly, --his accents vibrating with the deepestemotion. "I desire and command you all to be satisfied that no wronghas been done to you! I ask you all to understand, fully and surely, that no wrong is intended to you! The man whom we have loved, --the manwho has served us faithfully as Pasquin Leroy, --is still the same man, though the King! Rank cannot alter his proved friendship and service, --nor kingship break his bond! He is one of us, --signed and sealed in theblood of Lotys;--and as one of us he must, and will remain! Have Ispoken truly?" he added, turning to the King, "or is there more that Ishould say?"

Before any reply could be given a hubbub of voices cried:--

"Explain! Confess! Bind him to his oath!"

Whereat the King, stepping forward a pace or two, confronted his would-be doubters and detractors with a dauntless composure. 

"Explain? Confess? Friends, I will do both! but for binding me to myoath, there is no need, --for it is too strong a compact of faith andfriendship ever to be broken! Would you have me remind _you_ ofyour Vow of Fealty pronounced so solemnly this evening? Did you notswear that 'Whosoever among us this night shall draw the Red CrossSignal which destines him to take from life a life proved unworthy, shall be to us a sacred person, and an object of defence and continuedprotection'? As Pasquin Leroy, this vow applied to me, --as King, I askno better or stronger pledge of loyalty!"

All eyes were fixed upon him as he spoke. For some moments there was adead silence. 

This silence was presently broken by a murmur of conflicting wonder, impatience and uncertainty, --deepening as it ran, --and then, --as thefull situation became more and more apparent, coupled with the smilingand heroic calm of the monarch who had thus placed himself voluntarilyin the hands of his sworn enemies, all their struggling passions weresuddenly merged in one great wave of natural and human admiration for abrave man and a burst of impetuous cheering broke impulsively fromevery lip. Once started, the infection caught on like a fever, --andagain and yet again the excited Revolutionists cheered 'for the King!'--till they made the room echo. 

The tumult was extraordinary. Lotys sat silent, with clasped hands, hereyes dilated with feverish watchfulness and excitement, --the tempest ofemotion in her own poor tortured soul, being of such a character whichno words, no tears, no exclamations could possibly relieve. The memoryof her interview with the King in his own Palace flashed across herlike a scene limned in fire. She had no power to think--she was simplystunned and overwhelmed, --and held only one idea in her mind, and thatwas to save him at all costs, even at the sacrifice of her own life. Thord, carried away from his very self by the force of such a'Revolution' as he had never planned or anticipated, stood more in theattitude of one who was trying to think, rather than of one who wasthinking. 

"For the King!" cried Johan Zegota, suddenly giving vent to thefeelings he had long kept in check, --feelings which had made him agreater admirer of the so-called "Pasquin Leroy" than of Thordhimself;--"For our sworn comrade, the King!"

Again the cheers broke out, to be redoubled in intensity when LouisValdor added his voice to the rest and exclaimed:

"For the first real King I have ever known!"

Then the excitement rose to its zenith, --and amidst the tempest ofapplause, the King himself stood quiet, watching the turbulence withthe thoughtful eyes of a student who seeks to unravel some difficultproblem. Raising his hand gently, he, by this gesture created immediatesilence, --and so, in this hush remained for an instant, leaningslightly against the Committee Table, draped as it was in its funerealblack, --the lights at either end of it, and the red lamp in its centreflinging an unearthly radiance on his fine composed features. Long, long afterwards, his faithful servants, Sir Roger de Launay andHeinrich von Glauben retained a mental picture of him in thatattitude, --the dauntless smile upon his lips, --the dreamful look in hiseyes, --resting, as it seemed against a prepared funeral-bier, with thewatch-lights burning for burial, --and the face of Lotys, pale as amarble mask, yet wearing an expression of mingled triumph and agony, shining near him like a star amid the gloom, while the tall form ofSergius Thord in the background loomed large, --a shadow of impendingevil. 

After a pause, he spoke. 

"Comrades! I thank you for the expressed renewal of your trust in me. In my heart and soul, as a man, I am one of you and with you;--eventhough fate has made me a king! You demand an explanation--aconfession. You shall have both! When I enrolled myself as a member ofyour Committee, I did so in all honesty and honour, --wishing todiscover the object of your Cause, and prepared to aid it if I found itworthy. When I sealed my compact with you in the blood of Lotys, theAngel of our Covenant, "--here the cheering again broke out, --and Lotys, turning aside, endeavoured to restrain the tears that threatened tofall;--then, as silence was restored, he resumed;--"When as I say, Idid this, --you will remember that on being asked of my origin andcountry, I answered that I was a slave. I spoke truly! There is nogreater slave in all the length and breadth of the world than a king!Bound by the chains of convention and custom, he is coerced moreviolently than any prisoner, --his lightest word is misunderstood--hissmallest action is misconstrued, --his very looks are made the subjectof comment--and whether he walks or stands, --sits to give wearisomeaudience, or lies down to forget his sorrows in sleep, he shouldassuredly be an object of the deepest pity and consideration, insteadof being as he often is, a target for the arrows of slander, --a pivotround which to move the wheel of social evil and misrule! The name ofFreedom sounds sweet in your ears, my friends!--how sweet it is--howdear it is, we all know! You are ready to fight for it--to die for it!Then remember, all of you, that it is a glory utterly unknown to aking! Were he to take sword in hand and do battle for it unto thedeath, he could never obtain it;--he might win it for his country, butnever for himself! Nothing so glorious as Liberty!--you cry! True!--butkings are prisoners from the moment they ascend thrones! And you neverset them free, save in the way you suggested this evening;" and hesmiled, "which way is still open to you--and--to me! But while you taketime to consider whether I shall or shall not fulfil the duty which thedrawing of lots on this Day of Fate has assigned to me, --whether you, on your parts, will or will not maintain the Vow of Fealty which we allhave sworn together, --I will freely declare to you the motives whichled me to depart from the conventional rule and formality of a merely'Royal' existence, and to become as a Man among men, --for once at leastin the history of modern sovereigns!"

He paused, --every eye was fixed upon him; and the stillness was sointense that the lightest breath might be heard. 

"I came to the Throne three years ago, " he resumed, "and I accepted itsresponsibilities with reluctance. As Heir-Apparent, you all know, orthink you know, my career; for some of you have very freely expressedyour convictions concerning it! It was discreditable, --according to theopinions formed and expressed by this Committee. No doubt it was! Letany man among you occupy my place;--and be surrounded by the sametemptations, --and then comport himself wisely--if he can! Such an onewould need to be either god or hero; and I profess to be neither. But Ido not wish to palliate or deny the errors of the past. The present ismy concern, --the present time, and the present People. Great changesare fermenting in the world; and of these changes, especially of thosedirectly affecting our own country, I became actively conscious, shortly after I ascended the Throne. I heard of disaffections, --disloyalties; I gathered that the Ministry were suspected of personalself-aggrandisement. I learned that a disastrous policy was on footrespecting National Education--in which priestcraft would be givenevery advantage, and Jesuitry obtain undue influence over the minds ofthe rising generation. I heard, --I studied, --and finding that I couldget no true answer on any point at issue from anyone of my supposed'reliable' ministers, I resolved to discover things for myself. I foundout that the disaffected portion of the metropolis was chiefly underthe influence of Sergius Thord--and accordingly I placed myself in hisway, and became enrolled among you as 'Pasquin Leroy'; his swornassociate. I am his sworn associate still! I am proud that he shouldcall me friend;--and even as we have worked already for the People, sowe will work still--together!"

No restraint could have availed to check the wild plaudits that brokeout afresh at these words. Still thoughtfully and with grave kindnesscontemplating all the eager and excited faces upturned to him, the Kingwent on. 

"You know nearly all the rest. As Pasquin Leroy, I discovered all theshameful speculations with the public money, carried on by CarlPérousse, --and found that so far, at any rate, your accusations againsthim were founded in fact. At the first threatening suspicion ofpossible condemnation the Marquis de Lutera resigned, --thus evidencinghis guilty participation in the intended plunder. A false statementprinted by David Jost, stating that I, --the King, --had revoked mydecision concerning the refusal of land to the Jesuits, caused me toannounce the truth of my own action myself, in the rival newspaper. Ofmy excommunication from the Church it is unnecessary to speak; a man isnot injured in God's sight by that merely earthly ban. Among otherthings"--and he smiled, --"I found myself curiously possessed of ataste for literature!--and proved, that whereas some few monarchs of myacquaintance cannot be quite sure of their spelling, I could, at apinch, make myself fairly well understood by the general public, as askilled writer of polemics against myself!--as well as against theSecretary of State. This, so far as I personally am concerned, has beenthe humorous side of my little drama of disguise!--for sometimes I havehad serious thoughts of appearing as a rival to our friend, PaulZouche, in the lists of literary Fame!"

A murmur of wondering laughter ran round the room, --and all heads wereturned to one corner, as the King, with the kindly smile still lightingup his eyes and lips, called:

"Zouche, are you there? Do you hear me?"

Zouche did hear. He had been sitting in a state of semi-stupor all theevening, --his chaotic mind utterly confused and bewildered by theevents which had taken place;--but now, on being called, his usualaudacious and irrepressible spirit came to his aid, and he answered:

"O King, I hear! O King, your Majesty would make the deaf to hear, andthe dumb to speak! And if there is anything to be done to me forabominating you, O King, who had the impudence to offer me a hundredgold pieces a year for my poems, I, O King, will submit to the utmostterrors of the law!"

A burst of laughter long and loud, relieved the pent-up feelings of thecompany. The King laughed as heartily as the rest, and over thebrooding features of Thord himself came the shadow of a smile. 

"We will settle our accounts together later on, Zouche!" said themonarch gaily; "Meanwhile, I beg you to continue your harmlessabomination of me at your leisure!"

Another laugh went round, and then the King resuming his speechcontinued:

"I have played two parts at once, --Revolutionist and King! But bothparts are after all but two sides of the same nature. When I first cameamong you, I bade you all look at me well, --I asked you to note theresemblance I bore to the ruling Sovereign. I called myself 'the livingcopy of the man I most despise. ' That was quite true! For there is noone I despise more utterly than myself, --when I think what I might havedone with my million opportunities, and how much time I have wasted!You all scrutinised me closely;--and I did not flinch! You all acceptedmy service, --and I have served you well! I have noted every one of yourdesires. Where possible, I have sought to fulfil them. Every accusationyou have brought against the Ministry has been sifted to the bottom, and proved down to the hilt. My publicly-proclaimed decision tonominate Carl Pérousse as Premier was merely thrown out as a test totry the temper and quality of the nation. That test has answered itspurpose well! But there is no need for fear, --Carl Pérousse will neverbe nominated to anything but disgrace! All his schemes are in my hand, --I hold complete documentary proofs of his dishonesty and guilt; andthe very day which you have chosen as that on which to appeal to theKing against the choice of him as Prime Minister, will see himdenounced by myself in person to the Government. "

A storm of applause greeted this welcome announcement. For a moment allthe men went mad with excitement, shouting, stamping and singing, --while again and yet again the cry: 'For the King!' echoed round andround in tempestuous cheering. 

Sergius Thord gazed blankly at the Scene with a strange sense of beingthe dreaming witness of some marvellous drama enacted altogether awayfrom the earth. He could hot yet bring himself to realise that by sucha simple method as the independent working of one individualintelligence, all his own followers had been swept round to loyalty andlove for a monarch, whom previously, though without knowing him, theyhad hated--and sworn to destroy! Yet, in very truth, all the hatredsand envys, --all the slanders and cruelties of the members of the humanrace towards each other, spring from ignorance; and when disaffectedpersons hate a king, they do so mostly because they do not know him, and because they can form no true opinion of his qualities or thevarious difficulties of his position. If the Anarchist, bent on thedestruction of some person in authority, only had the culture andknowledge to recognise how much that person already suffers, by beingin all probability forced to fulfil duties for which he has no heart ormind, he would stay his murderous hand, and pity rather than condemn. For the removal of one ruler only means the installation of another, --and the wild and often gifted souls of reformers, stumbling throughdarkness after some great Ideal which resolves itself into a shadow anddelusion the nearer one approaches to it, need to be tenderly dealtwith from the standpoint of plainest simplicity and truth, --so thatthey may feel the sympathetic touch of human love and care emanatingfrom those very quarters which they seek to assail. This had been theself-imposed mission of the King who had played the part of 'PasquinLeroy';--and thus, fearing nothing, doubting nothing, and relyingsimply on his own strength, discretion, and determination, he hadgained a moral victory over the passions of his secret foes such as hehad never himself anticipated. When silence was again restored, heproceeded:

"The various suggestions made in my presence during the time I havebeen a member of this Committee, will all be carried out. The presentGovernment will naturally oppose every measure, --but I, --backed by suchsupporters as I have now won, --will elect a new Government--a newMinistry. When I began this bloodless campaign of my own, the presentMinistry were on the edge of war. Determined to provoke hostilitieswith a peaceful Power, they were ready even with arms and ammunition, manufactured by a 'Company, ' of which Pérousse was the director andchief shareholder! Contracts for army supplies were being secretlytendered; and one was already secretly accepted and arranged for, --inwhich Carl Pérousse and the Marquis de Lutera were to derive enormousinterest;--the head of the concern being David Jost. This plan wasconcocted with devilish ingenuity, --for, if the war had actually brokenout, the supplies of our army would have been of the worst possiblekind, in order to give the best possible profit to the contractors; andJost, with his newspaper influence, would have satisfied the publicmind by printing constant reiterations of the completeness andexcellence of the supplies, and the entire contentment and jubilationof the men! But I awoke to my responsibilities in time to checkmatethis move. I forbade the provocation intended;--I stopped the war. Inthis matter at least--much loss of life, much heavy expenditure, andmuch ill-will among other nations has been happily spared to us. Forthe rest, --everything you have been working for shall be granted, --ifyou yourselves will help me to realise your own plans! I want you inyour thousands!--ay, in your tens of thousands! I want you all on myside! With you, --the representatives of the otherwise unvoiced People, --I will enforce all the measures which you have discussed before me, showing good and adequate reason why they should be carried. The taxesyou complain of shall be instantly removed;--and for the more speedyreplenishment of the National Exchequer, I gladly resign one half myrevenues from all sources whatsoever for the space of five years; orlonger, if considered desirable. But I want your aid! Will you allstand by me?"

A mighty shout answered him. 

"To the death!"

He turned to Thord. 

"Sergius, " he said, "my task is finished--my confession made! The nextOrder of this meeting must come from you!"

Thord looked at him amazedly. 

"From me? Are you not the King?"

"Only so long as the People desire it!" replied the monarch gently;"And are you not the representative of the People?"

Thord's chest heaved. Burning tears stood in his eyes. The strangenessof the situation--the deliberate coolness and resolve with which thissovereign ruler of a powerful kingdom laid his life trustingly in hishands, was too much for his nerve. 

"Lotys!" he said huskily; "Lotys!"

She rose at once and came to him, moving ghostlike in her whitedraperies, her eyes shining--her lips tremulous. 

"Lotys, " he said, "The King is in our hands! You saved his life once--will you save it again?"

She raised her bent head, and the old courageous light flashed in herface, transfiguring its every feature. 

"It is not for me to save!" she replied in clear firm tones; "It is foryou--and for all of us, --to defend!"

A ringing cheer answered her. Sergius Thord slowly advanced, and as hedid so, the King, seeing his movement frankly held out his hand. For amoment the Socialist Chief hesitated--then suddenly yielding to hisoverpowering impulse, caught that hand and raised his dark eyes full tothe monarch's face. 

"You have conquered me!" he said, "But only by your qualities as a man--not by your authority as a king! You have won my honour--my respect--my gratitude--my friendship--and with these, so long as you arefaithful to our Cause, take my allegiance! More I cannot say--more Iwill not promise!"

"I need no more!" responded the King cheerily, enclosing his hand in awarm clasp. "We are friends and fellow-workers, Sergius!--we can neverbe rivals!"

As he spoke, his glance fell on Lotys. She shrank from the swiftpassion of his gaze, --and her eyelids drooped half-swooningly over thebright star-windows of her own too ardent soul. Abruptly turning fromboth her and Thord, the King again addressed the company:

"One word more, my friends! It is arranged that you, with all yourthousands of the People are to convene together in one great multitude, and march to the Palace to demand justice from the King. There is nowno need to do this, --for the King himself is one of you!--the King onlylives and reigns that justice in all respects may be done! I willtherefore ask you to change your plan;--and instead of marching to thePalace, march with me to the House of Government. You would havedemanded justice from the King; the King himself will go with you todemand justice for the People!"

A wild shout answered him; and he knew as he looked on the faces of hishearers that he had them all in his power as the servants of his will. 

"And now, gentlemen, " he proceeded; "I should perhaps make some excusesfor my two friends, known to you as Max Graub and Axel Regor. I toldyou I would be responsible for their conduct, and, so far as they havebeen permitted to go, they have behaved well! I must, however, injustice to them, assure you that whereas I became a member of yourCommittee gladly, they followed my example reluctantly, and only out offidelity and obedience to me. They have lived in the shadow of theThrone, --and have learned to pity, --and I think, --to love itsoccupant! Because they know, --as you have never known, --the heavyburden which a king puts on with his crown! They have, however, intheir way, served you under my orders, and under my orders willcontinue to serve you still. Max Graub, or, to give him his right name, Heinrich von Glauben, has a high reputation in this country for hislearning, apart from his position as Household Physician to our Court;--Axel Regor is my very good friend Sir Roger de Launay, who is amiableenough to support the monotony of his duty as one of my equerries inwaiting. Now you know us as we are! But after all, nothing is changed, save our names and the titles we bear; we are the same men, the samefriends, the same comrades!--and so I trust we shall remain!"

The cheering broke out again, and Sir Roger de Launay, who was quite asoverwhelmed with astonishment at the courage and coolness of his Royalmaster as any Revolutionist present, joined in it with a will, as didVon Glauben. 

"One favour I have to ask of you, " proceeded the King, "and it is this:If you exempt me to-night from killing the King;" and he smiled, --"youmust also exempt all the members of the Revolutionary Committee fromany similar task allotted to them by having drawn the fatal Signal! Ourfriend, Zouche, for instance, has drawn the name of Carl Pérousse. NowI want Zouche for better work than that of killing a rascal!"

Loud cheers answered him, and Zouche rising from his place advanced alittle. 

"Majesty!" he cried, "You are right! I hand your Majesty's intendedPremier over to you with the greatest, pleasure in the world! Apartfrom the fact of your being the King, I am compelled to admit that youhave common sense!"

Laughter and cheers resounded through the room again, and the Kingquietly turning round, extinguished the red lamp on the table. Thethirteenth light was quenched; the Day of Fate was ended. As theominous crimson flare sank out, a sudden silence prevailed, and theKing fixed his eyes on Lotys. 

"From you, Madame, must come my final exoneration! If you still condemnme as a King, I shall be indeed unfortunate! If you still think well ofme as a man, I shall be proud! I have to thank you, not only for mylife, but for having helped me to make that life valuable! As PasquinLeroy, I have sought to serve you, --as King, I seek to serve youstill!"

The silence continued. Every man present watched the visible emotionwhich swept every vestige of colour from the face of Lotys, and madeher eyes so feverishly bright. Every man gazed at her as she rose fromher chair and came forward a little to the front of the platform. Itwas with a strong effort that she raised her eyes to those of the King, and in that one glance between them, the lightning flash of aresistless love tore the veil of secrecy from their souls. But shespoke out bravely. 

"I thank your Majesty!" she said; "I thank you for all you have donefor us as our comrade and associate, --for all you will yet do for us asour comrade and associate still! It is better to be a brave man than aweak King--but it is best to be a strong man and a strong king bothtogether! You have disproved the thoughts I had of you as King! Youhave ratified--" here she paused, while the colour suddenly sprang toher cheeks, and her breath came pantingly and quick, --"and strengthenedthe thoughts I had of you as our Pasquin!" Her eyes softened withtears, though she smiled. "We have believed in you; we believe in youstill! All is as it was, --save in the one thing new, --that where wewere banded together against the King, we are now united for, and withthe King!"

These words were all that were needed to reawaken and confirm theenthusiasm of the Revolutionists, whose 'revolutionary' measures werenow accepted and sworn to by the Crowned Head of the Realm. Thereupon, they gave themselves up to the wildest cheering. 

"Comrades!" cried Paul Zouche, in the midst of the uproar; "There isone point you seem to have missed! The King, --God bless him!--doesn'tsee it, --Thord, glowering like an owl in his ivy-bush of hair, doesn'tsee it! It is only left to me to perceive the chief result of thisevening's disclosures!"

All the men laughed. 

"What is it, Zouche?" demanded Louis Valdor. 

"Ay! What is it?" echoed Zegota. 

"Speak, Zouche!" said the King; "Whatever strange conclusion yourpoetic brain discovers, doubt not but that we shall accept it, --from !"

"Accept it? I should think so!" cried Zouche; "You are bound to acceptit whether you like it or not; there is no other way out of it!"

"Well, what is it?" repeated Zegota impatiently; "Declare it!"

"It is this;" said Zouche, "Simply this, --that, with the King as ourcomrade and associate, the Revolutionary Committee is no use! It isfinished! There can be no longer a Revolutionary Committee!"

"That is true!" said the King; "It may henceforth be known as a newParliament!"

Cheer after cheer echoed through the crowded room, and while the noisewas at its height a knocking was heard outside and Sholto, thehunchback father of Pequita, demanded admittance. Zegota unlocked thedoor, and in a few minutes the situation was explained to theastonished landlord of the Revolutionary Committee quarters. Overwhelmed at the news, and full of gratitude for the kindness shownto his child, which he now knew had emanated from the King in person, he would have knelt to kiss the Royal hand, had not the monarchprevented him. 

"No, my good Sholto!" he said gently; "Enough of such humility weariesme in the monotonous routine of Court life; and were it not for customand prejudice, I would suffer no self-respecting man to abase himselfbefore me, simply because my profession is that of King! Tell Pequitathat I would not look at her, or applaud her dancing the other night, because I wished her to hate the King and to love Pasquin!--but now youmust ask her for me, to love them both!"

Sholto bowed low, profoundly overcome. Was this the King against whomthey had all been in league?--this simple, unaffected man, who seemedso much at home and at one with them all? Amazed and bewildered, he, bygeneral invitation, mixed with the rest of the men, for each of whomthe King had a kind and appreciative word, or a fresh pledge of hisgood faith and intention towards them and the reforms they sought toeffect. Von Glauben was surrounded by a group of those among whom hehad made himself popular; and a hundred eager questions were asked ofboth him and De Launay, who were ready enough to eulogise the daring oftheir Royal master, and the determination with which he had resolved onmaking his secret foes his open friends. 

"After all, " said Zegota deprecatingly, "it is not so much the King whomwe were against, as the Government. "

"Ah! You forget, no doubt, " said Von Glauben, "that the King--any King--is usually a Dummy in the hands of Government, unless, as in thepresent instance, he chooses to become a living Personality forhimself!"

"The King has created an autocracy!" said Louis Valdor; "and it willlast for his lifetime. But after----!"

"After him, --if his eldest son, Prince Humphry, comes to the Throne, --the autocracy will be continued;" said Von Glauben decisively; "For heis a young man who is singularly fond of having his own way!"

The conversation now became general; and the big, bare, common roomassumed in a few minutes almost the aspect of a Royal levée. This wascurious enough, --and furnished food for meditation to Professor vonGlauben, who was considerably excited by the dramatic dénouement of theDay of Fate, --a climax for which neither he nor Sir Roger had been inthe least prepared. He said something of it to Sir Roger who waswatching Lotys. 

"You look at the woman, " he said; "I look at the man! Do you think thisdrama is finished?"

"Not yet!" answered De Launay curtly; "Nor is the danger over!"

The hum of talk continued; and the good feeling of friendship and unityof the assemblage was intensified with every cordial handshake. Whenthe time came to break up, someone suggested that a carriage should besent for to convey the King and his two companions to the Palace. Whereat the monarch laughed aloud and right joyously. 

"By my faith!" he exclaimed; "You, my friends, would actually pamper mealready, by offering me a luxury which you yourselves do not propose toenjoy! Ah, my friends, here comes in the mischief of the monarchicalsystem! What of your 'Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity'? Do I ask tohave anything different to yourselves? Can I not walk, even as you do?Have I not walked to, and from these meetings often? And even so, Ipurpose to walk now! If you are true Revolutionists--as I am--do notreverse your own theories! You complain, --and justly, --that a king isover-flattered; do not then flatter him yourselves by insisting on suchconvenience for him as he does not even demand at your hands!"

"You take us too literally, Sir, " said Louis Valdor; "EvenRevolutionists owe respect to their chief!"

"Sergius Thord is your Chief, my friend!" replied the monarch; "And, from a Revolutionary point of view, mine! But you have never thought ofsending _him_ anywhere in a carriage! Ah!--what children we are!What slaves of convention! 'Liberty, Equality and Fraternity' have beenthe ideals of ages;--yet despite them, we are always ready to follow aLeader, --and form ourselves into one body under a Head!"

"Provided the Head has brains in it!" said Zouche. "But otherwise--"

"You cut it off!" laughed the monarch--"and quite right too!"

They now began to separate. The hunchback Sholto explained that it waslong after midnight, and that he had already put out all the lights inthe basement. 

Whereupon the King, turning to Sergius Thord said: "Farewell for themoment, Sergius! Come to me at the Palace with the whole plan of themeeting you are now organising; I shall hold myself ready to fall inwith your plans! Gather your thousands, and--leave the rest to me!"

Thord clasped his extended hand, --and was moved by a curious instinctto bend down low over it after the fashion of a courtier, butrestrained himself almost by force. The men began to move; one afterthe other bade good-night to the King--then to Thord, and last toLotys, who, drawing on her cloak, prepared to leave also. 

"I will see you safely down the stairs, " said the King smilingly, toher. "It is not the first time I have done so! How now, Zouche?"

Paul Zouche stood before him, his eyes full of a strange mingled pathosand scorn. 

"I have to thank your Majesty, " he said slowly, "for something I do notin the least value, --Fame! It has come too late! Had it been my portionthree years ago, the woman I loved would have been proud of me, and Ishould have been happy! She is dead now--and nothing matters!"

The King was silent. There was something both solemn and pitiful aboutthis wreck of manhood which was still kept alive by the fire of genius. 

"With one word you might have saved me--and her!" he went on. "When youcame to the Throne, --and all the wretched versifiers in the kingdomwere scribbling twaddle in the way of 'Coronation odes' and medleys, Iwrote 'The Song of Freedom' for your glory! All the people of the landknow that song now!--but you might have known it then! For now it istoo late!--too late to call her back;--too late to give me peace!"

He paused;--then--without another word--turned, and went out. 

"Poor Zouche!" said the King gently; "I accept his reproach andunderstand it! He is right! The recognition of his genius is one of thethousand chances I have missed! But, as God lives, I will miss nomore!"

A great quietude fell on the house as the Revolutionary Committeedispersed. The last to leave was the King, his two friends, and Lotys. Lotys declined all escort somewhat imperatively, refusing to allowSergius Thord to see her to her own home. 

"I must be alone!" she said; "Do you not understand! I want to think--Iwant to realise our change of position. I cannot talk to you, Sergius, --no--not till to-morrow--you must let me be!"

He drew back, chilled and hurt by her tone, but forbore to press hiscompany on her. With another farewell to the King, he stood at the topof the long dark winding stair watching the group descend, --first VonGlauben, next De Launay, --thirdly, the King, --and lastly, Lotys. 

"Good-night!" he called, as her white robes vanished in the gloom. 

"Good-night!" she answered tremulously, as she disappeared. 

And he, returning to the empty room, stared vacantly at the tabledraped with black, and the funeral urn set upon it, --stared at theempty chairs and bare walls, and listened as it were, to the midnightsilence, --realising that he as Chief of the Revolutionary Committee, was no longer a chief but a servant!--and that the power he sought--that power which he had endeavoured to attain in order that he mightmake of Lotys, as he had said, 'a queen among women!' was only to bewon through, --the King! The King knew all his secret plans and hisaims, --he held the clue to the whole network of his Revolutionaryorganisation, --and the only chance he now had of ever arriving at thehighest goal of his ambition was in the King's hands! Thus was he, --Socialist and Revolutionist, --made subject to the Throne; the veryrules he had drawn up for himself and his Committee making itimpossible that he could be otherwise than loyal, to a monarch who wasat the same time his comrade!

Meanwhile, in the thick darkness of the hall below, while Von Glaubenand De Launay were groping their way to the door which was cautiouslyheld open by Sholto, Lotys, moving with hesitating steps down thestairs, felt rather than saw a head turned back upon her, --a flash ofeyes in the darkness, and heard her name breathed softly:

"Lotys!"

She grew dizzy and uncertain of her footing; she could not answer. Suddenly a strong arm caught her, --she was drawn into a close, fierce, jealous clasp; warm lips caressed her hair, her brow, her eyes; and avoice whispered in her ear:

"You love me, Lotys! You love me! Hush!--do not deny it--you cannotdeny it!--you know it, as I know it!--you have told me you love me!You love me, my Love! You love me!"

Another moment--and the King passed quietly out of the door with abland 'Good-night' to Sholto, and joining his two companions, raisedhis hat to Lotys with a courteous salutation. 

"Good-night, Madame!"

She stood in the doorway, shuddering violently from head to foot, --watching his tall figure disappear in the shadows of the street. Thenstretching out her hands blindly, she gave a faint cry, and murmuringsomething inarticulate to the alarmed Sholto, fell senseless at hisfeet. 

CHAPTER XXX

KING AND SOCIALIST

To many persons of the servile or flunkey habit, the idea that a kingshould ever comport himself as an ordinary, --or extraordinary, --man, seems more or less preposterous; while to conceive him as endowed withdash, spirit, and a love of adventure is judged almost as absurd andimpossible. The only potentate that ever appears, in legendary lore, tohave indulged himself to his heart's content in the sport of adopting adisguise and going about unrecognised among his subjects, is the wittyand delightful hero of the 'Arabian Nights' Entertainment, ' CaliphHaroun Alraschid, who, as Tennyson describes him, had

 "Deep eyes, laughter-stirred With merriment of kingly pride; Sole star of all that place and time, I saw him in his golden prime. The good Haroun Alraschid!"

We accept Haroun; and acknowledge him to have been wise in the purportof his wanderings through the streets of the city, --gaining newexperience with every hour, and studying the needs and complaints ofhis people for himself;--but if we should be told of a modern monarchdoing likewise in our own day, we should mount on the stiff hobby-horseof our ridiculous conventionality, and accuse him of having brought thedignity of the Throne into contempt. Yet nothing perhaps can be morecontemptible than a monarch who is too surrounded by flunkeyism to be aMan, --and, on the other hand, nothing could be more beneficial than thefeeling that perhaps a monarch may be so much of a man after all thatno one can be quite certain as to his whereabouts. It would be well ifsome rowdy 'clubs' could be restrained by the idea that the Sovereignof the Realm might step in unexpectedly, --or if the 'slums' couldscarcely be able to tell when he might not be among their inmates, disguised as one of them, studying and knowing more in a day than hisministers would tell him in several years. It is generally admittedthat no man is fit for a profession till he has thoroughly mastered itspossibilities, --yet it is not too much to declare that in theprofession of Sovereignty the few who practise it, have mastered it toso little purpose, that they are almost entirely blind to the singularadvantages which they might obtain, not only for themselves, but forthe entire world, if they chose to put forth their own individuality, and, instead of wasting their time on the scheming and self-seekingsections of Society, elected to try their powers on the working andtrade communities of the nation. But throughout all history, thevarious careers of kings and emperors contain instructive lessons ofLost Opportunity. Allowing for the differences of climate andtemperament, it may be taken for granted that no people of any countryare constitutionally able to rise above a certain height of enthusiasm;and that when the high-water mark is reached, their enthusiasm cools, and a reaction invariably sets in. For this cause a monarch shouldnever rely too much on the plaudits of the mob in a time of conquest, or public festival of jubilation. He should look upon such acclamationas the mere rising of a wave, which must in due time sink again, --andif he would know his people thoroughly, he should study that sameshouting mob, not when it is affected by hysteria, but during itseveryday level condition of stubborn and patient toil. So will heperhaps be able to lay his finger on the sore places of life, and tofind out where the seed of mischief is planted, before it begins togrow. But he must give an individual interest to such work; noinformation must be obtained or given through this person or thatperson, --for the old maxim that 'if you want anything done, do ityourself' applies to kings as well as to all other classes of men. 

That the old adage had been amply practised by one king at least, wassoon known throughout the capital of the country over which the monarchhere written of held dominion. Somehow, and by some means or other, thestory oozed out bit by bit and in guarded whispers, that the King had'trapped' Carl Pérousse, as well as several other defaultingministers, --and that, strange and incredible as it appeared, he himselfwas the very 'Pasquin Leroy' whose political polemics had created sucha stir. Once started, the rumour flew;--some disbelieved it;--otherslistened, with ears stretched wide, greedy for more detail, --butpresently the scattered threads of gossip became woven into aconsecutive web of certainty so far as one point, at least, wasconcerned, --and this was, that the King would personally address hisParliament during the ensuing week on matters of national safety andimportance. Such an announcement was altogether unprecedented, andexcited the whole country's attention. Plenty of discussion there was, as to whether the King had any right to so address the members of theGovernment, --and some oracular journals were of the opinion that he wasacting in an 'unconstitutional manner. ' On the other hand, it wasdiscovered and proved that there was no actual law forbidding theSovereign to speak when any question of urgency appeared to call forhis expressed opinion. 

While this affair was being contested and argued, a considerablesensation was created by the news that the Marquis de Lutera hadsuddenly left the country, --ostensibly for his health, which, everyonewas assured, had completely broken down. People shook their headsominously, and wondered when the King would give M. Pérousse the taskof forming a new Ministry, --while they watched with deepening interestthe progress of the various Government debates, which were carried onin the usual way, following the lines laid down by the absent Premier, Marquis de Lutera. Carl Pérousse, confronted by a thousanddifficulties, maintained his usual equable and audacious attitude, scouting with scorn the rumour that the Socialist writer, 'PasquinLeroy' was merely a disguise adopted by the King himself, --and he wasas cool and imperturbable as ever when one morning David Jost succeededin finding him at home, and obtaining an audience. 

"It was the King!" burst out Jost, as soon as he found himself alonewith his ally; "It was the King himself who wore Lutera's signet, andcame to me disguised so well that his own father would not have knownhim! The King himself, I say! And I told him everything!"

"More fool you!" returned Pérousse quietly; "However, fools generallyhave to pay the price of their folly!"

"And knaves!" said Jost furiously; "But there is a power which cannotbe controlled, even by kings or statesmen--and that is--the pen!"

"And do you think you can use the pen?" queried Pérousse indolently;"Excellent Shylock, you know you cannot! You can pay others to use itfor you! That is all!"

"I can make short work of _you_ at any rate!" said Jost, hislittle eyes sparkling with rage; "For I see plainly enough now thateven if our plans had succeeded, you would have left me in the lurch!"

"Of course!" smiled Pérousse; "Are you so simple in the world's ways asnot to be able to realise that such Jew pressmen as you are only madefor the use of politicians? We drop you, when we have done with you! Goto London, Jost! Start a paper there! It is the very place for you! Geta Cardinal to back you up, with funds to be used for the 'conversion'of England! Or give a hundred thousand pounds to a hospital! You canbecome naturalised as an Englishman if you like; any country does for aJew! And you will be a power of the realm in no time! They manage thesesort of things capitally there!"

"By God!" said Jost; "I could kill you!"

"What for?" demanded Pérousse; "Because you think I am going to beproved a political fraud? Wait and see! If the King denounces me, I amprepared to denounce the King!"

Jost stared, then laughed aloud. 

"Denounce the King! You are bold! But you make up your sum with thewrong numerals this time! The King holds the complete list of yourspeculations in his hand, --he has got them through the agency of theRevolutionary Committee, to which your stockbroker's confidential clerkbelongs! You fool! All your schemes--all your 'companies' are known tohim root and branch--and you say you will 'denounce' him! If you do, it will be a real comedy!--the case of a thief denouncing the officerwho has caught him red-handed in the act of thieving!"

With this parting shot, he made a violent exit. Pérousse left alone, dismissed him, with all other harassments from his mind; for beingentirely without a conscience, he had very little care as to theresults of the King's reported intentions. He was preparing a brilliantspeech, which he intended to deliver if occasion demanded; and on hisown coolness, mendacity and pluck, he staked his future. 

"If I fail, " he said to himself; "I will go to the United States, andend by becoming President! There are many such plans open to a man ofresources!"

During the ensuing few days there were some extra gaieties at thePalace, --and the King and Queen were seen daily in public. Everywhere, they were greeted with frantic outbursts of cheering, and the recentriotous outbreaks seemed altogether forgotten. The Opera was crowdednightly, and undeterred by the fear of any fresh manifestations ofpopular discontent, their Majesties were again present. This time theKing was the first to lead off the applause that hailed Pequita'sdancing. And how her little feet flew!--how her eyes sparkled withrapture--how the dark curls tossed, and the cherry lips smiled! To herthe King remained Pasquin!--a kind of monarch in a fairy tale, whoscattered benefits at a touch, and sunshine with a glance, and whodeserved all the love and loyalty of every subject in the kingdom! Butshe had never had any idea of 'Revolution, ' poor child!--save such arevolving of chance and circumstance as should enable her father tolive in comfort, without anxiety for his latter days. And perhaps atthe bottom of all political or religious fanaticism we should find anequally simple root of cause for the effect. 

The day at last came when Sergius Thord held his mighty 'mass meeting, 'convened in the Cathedral square, --all ready for marching orders. Nointerference was offered either from soldiery or police; and the peoplecame pouring up from every quarter of the city in their thousands andtens of thousands. By noon, the tall lace-like spire of the Cathedraltowered above a vast sea of human heads, which from a distance lookedlike swarming bees; and as the bells struck the hour, Thord, mountingthe steps of a monument erected to certain heroes who had long agofallen in battle, was greeted with a roar of acclamation like thethunder of heaven's own artillery. But even while the multitude stillshouted and cheered, the sight of another figure, which quietlyascended to the same position, caused a sudden hush, --a graduallydeepening silence of amazement and awe, --and then finally swiftrecognition. 

"The King!" cried a voice. 

"Pasquin Leroy!" shouted another, who was answered by yells and shrieksof derision. 

"The King!" was again the cry. And as the vast crowd circled round andround, its million eyes wonderingly upturned, Sergius Thord suddenlylifted his cap and waved it:

"Ay! The King!" His voice rang over the heads of the people with a richthrill of command. "The King, who here declares himself the friend ofour Cause! The King, who is with us to-day of his own will, at his ownrequest, by his own choice!--without escort, --unarmed--defenceless! TheKing! The King who has resolved to go with us, and demand justice forhis overtaxed and suffering subjects! The King, who is one with us!--who seeks no greater kingliness than that of being loved and trusted byhis People!"

The surprise of this announcement was so truly overpowering, that forthe moment the mighty mass of men stood inert; then, --as the situationflashed upon them, such a thunder of cheering broke out as seemed tomake the very earth rock and the houses in the square tremble. The Kinghimself, standing by Thord, grew pale as he heard it, and his eyes weresuffused with something like tears. 

"By Heaven!" he murmured; "The love of this people is worth having!"

"Did you ever doubt it?" queried Thord slowly, eyeing him with a touchof wonder not unmixed with jealousy; "There is only one power whichkeeps a king on his throne--the confidence of the nation! You hadnearly lost that! For though there is nothing so easy to win, there isnothing so easy to lose!"

"True!" said the monarch, his eyes still resting tenderly on theexcited multitude below him. "I have deserved little at the people'shands--but perhaps--when I am gone--" he paused abruptly, then with asmile added--"Give us our marching orders, Sergius!"

Thord obeyed, --and very soon, under his command, the huge multitudearranged itself in blocks, or regiments, perfectly organised indifferent companies, and entirely prepared to keep order. Dividing intoequal lines they made way quickly and with enthusiasm as they perceivedthe King's charger, which, richly caparisoned, had been brought for hisMajesty at Thord's own earnest request. 

When all was ready, the King sprang into the saddle, and gathering thereins in one hand, sat for a moment bare-headed, the people surginground him with repeated outbursts of applause. Without a weapon, --without a single man of his own household to bear him company, --withoutany armed escort, --he remained there enthroned;--the centre, --not of'society, '--but of the People, who gathered round him as their visibleHead, with as much shouting and enthusiasm and worship, as if he had, in his own person, made the conquest, single-handed, of a hundrednations! Never, in his most gorgeous apparel, --never, even when robedand crowned in state, had he looked so noble; never had he seemed soworthy of the highest honour, reverence and admiration, as now! At asignal from Thord, who led the way on foot, the thousands of the citybegan to march to the House of Government, all gathering round oneprincipal figure, that of their King. A group of workmen constitutedthemselves his body-guard, protecting his proudly-stepping chargerfrom so much as a stone that might startle it or check its progress, and thus--liberated from the protection of flunkeys and flatterers, --the monarch, surrounded by his true subjects advanced together as oneBody, to challenge and overthrow a fraudulent Ministry, whose measureshad been drawn up and passed, not for the good of the country, but forthe financial advantage and protection of themselves. 

Never was such a wondrous sight seen, as that almost interminableprocession through the broad thoroughfares of the city, headed by aSocialist, and centred by a King! No Royal ceremonial, overburdenedwith snobbish conventionalities and hypocritical parade, ever presentedso splendid and imposing a sight as that concentrated mass of theactual people, --the working muscle and sinew of the land's common weal, marching in steady and triumphant order, --surging like the billows ofthe sea around that brave ship, their Sovereign, cheering him to theecho, and waving around him the flags of the country, while he, stillbare-headed, rode dauntless in their midst looking every inch a king!--more kingly indeed than he had ever seemed, and more established in theaffections of his subjects than any living monarch of the time. So washe brought with ceaseless acclamation to the Government House, where, as all knew, he purposed denouncing Carl Pérousse;--and thus did heassert in his own person that a king, supported by a nation, is morepowerful than any government built up by mere party agency!

And even so, at his best and bravest, two women looked upon him andloved him! One, from the outskirts of the great crowd where, shroudedclose in her veil, she waited tremblingly near the Governmentbuildings, and saw him alight from his charger, and enter there, amidthe wild shoutings of the populace, --the other, from a high window inthe Royal Palace, where she leaned watching the crowd, --the sunlightcatching the diamonds at her breast and sparkling in her proud coldeyes. And over the whole city rang the continuous and exultant cry:

"The King! The King!"

And perhaps only one soul, prophetic in instinct, foresaw any terror inthe triumph!--only one voice, low and tremulous and weighted with tearsand prayers, murmured:

"Ah, dear God! Would he were not a King!"

CHAPTER XXXI

A VOTE FOR LOVE

Next day it was known through the length and breadth of the city thatthe King, so long judged as a political Dummy, had proved himself aliving, acting authority. Every journal in city and province led offits news under the one chief heading, --'The King's Speech. ' The Kinghad spoken;--and with no uncertain voice. Cool, brilliant in wording, concise in statement, --cuttingly correct in facts, convincing inargument, his unexpected denouncement of Carl Pérousse, and thePérousse 'majority, ' swept the Government off their feet by its daringcourage, and still more daring veracity. Documentary evidence of thedishonourable speculations with the public money which had been sofreely indulged in by the Secretary of State, aided and abetted by thePremier, was handed by the King in person to the authorities whosebusiness it was to examine such proofs, --the dishonourable measuresused to retain the 'majority' were fully exposed, and the whole Housestood thunderstruck and mentally paralysed, under the straightaccusation and merciless condemnation launched at their own laxtolerance of such iniquitous practices, by their reigning monarch. Withperfect dignity and impressive calm, the King quietly demanded whetherM. Carl Pérousse would be pleased to explain his actions? Whether hehad anything to say in response to the charges brought against him? Tothis last query, after a dead silence, during which every eye was fixedon the defaulting Minister, who, in the course of the Royal speech hadseen every bulwark of his own intended defence torn away from him, Pérousse, with an ashy white countenance answered:

"Nothing!"

And the silence around him continued; a silence more expressive thanany outspoken word of scorn. 

But more surprises were in store for the Ministry, which found itselfthus suddenly overthrown. The King announced the marriage of his son, the Crown Prince, to 'a daughter of the People'! Boldly, and with anardent passion of truth lighting up every feature of his handsomecountenance, he stated this overwhelming piece of news in a perfectlymatter-of-fact way, adding, that in consequence of the step taken, --astep which he did not himself in any way regret, --the Crown Princeasked to be allowed to resign the Throne in favour of his brotherRupert. 

"Unless, " continued his Majesty, "the Nation should be proved ready toaccept the wife he has chosen. It is needless to add that my son hasmarried without my consent, and this is the reason of his presentabsence from the country. If the Nation accepts his wife, he willreturn to the Nation; if not, I am bound to say, knowing his mind, thatthere is nothing to be done, but to declare Prince Rupert Heir to theThrone. This, however, I personally desire may be left to theconsideration and vote of the people!"

And when the House rose on that astonishing afternoon, they knew theywere no longer a House, --they knew the Government was entirelyoverthrown, and that there would be a new Ministry and a GeneralElection. They had to realise also, that their 'Bills' for imposingfresh taxes on the people were mere waste paper, --and they heardlikewise with redoubled amazement that the King had decided to resignhalf his revenues for the space of five years, to assist the deficit inthe National Exchequer. 

At the conclusion of the whole unprecedented scene, they saw the Kingreceived, as it were, into the arms of a frenzied crowd, numbering manytens of thousands, which spread round all the Government buildings, andpoured itself in thick streams through every street and thoroughfare, and they had to accept the fact that their 'majority' was reduced to aminority so infinitesimal, amid the greater wave of popular resolve, that it was not worth counting. 

Carl Pérousse, leaving the House by a private door of egress, shamed, disgraced and crestfallen as he was, dared not trust the verysight of himself to such an overwhelming multitude, and managed bylucky chance to escape unobserved. He was assisted in this manoeuvre byGeneral Bernhoff. The Chief of the Police perceived him slinkingcautiously along the side-wall of an alley where the crowd had notpenetrated, and helped him into a passing cab that he might be drivenrapidly and safely to his home. 

"You will no doubt excuse me"--said the General with a slight smile--"for not having acted more rigorously in the matter of the suspected'Pasquin Leroy'! I am afraid I should never have summed up sufficientimpudence to ask the King to sign a warrant against himself!"

Pérousse muttered an inarticulate oath by way of reply. He realisedfully that the game for him was lost. His speech of defence, socarefully prepared had been useless, for he could not have uttered itin the face of the damnatory evidence against him pronounced by theKing, and verified by his own public actions. Yet his audacity had not, in the main, deserted him. He knew that, owing to his proveddefalcations and fraudulent use of the public money, his own propertywould be confiscated to the Crown, --but he had always kept himself wellprepared for emergencies, and had invested in foreign securities undervarious assumed names. Turning his attention to America, he felt prettysure he could do something there, --but so far as his own country wasconcerned, he submitted to the inevitable, feeling that his day wasdone. 

"The Jew is always triumphant!" he said, as he opened Jost's newspapernext morning, and read a full account of the proceedings in the House, described with all the 'colour' and gush of Jost's most melodramaticreporter. "There is no doubt a 'leader' on my 'unhappy position' as afallen, but once trusted Minister!"

He was right; there was! A gravely-reproachful, sternly-commiserating'leader, ' wherein the apparently impeccable and highly conscientiouswriter 'deplored' the laxity of those who supported M. Carl Pérousse inhis 'regrettable' scheme of self-aggrandisement. 

"The rascal!" ejaculated Pérousse, as he read. "If I ever get a freshstart in the United States or South Africa, I'll put him on a gridiron, and roast him to slow music!"

Meanwhile the whole country went mad over the King. No man was ever soidolised; no man was ever made the centre of more hero-worship. In allthe excitement of a General Election, the wave of loyalty rose to itsextremest height, and no candidate that was not ready to follow thelines of reform laid down by the monarch, had a ghost of a chance ofbeing returned as a deputy. With the abolition of the tax on bread, thepopular jubilation increased; bonfires were lit on every hill, --rocketsflared up star-like from every rocky point upon the coast, and theNation gave itself entirely up to joy. 

All the long dormant sentiment of the multitude was roused to a fever-heat by the story of Prince Humphry's marriage, and he too, next to hisfather, became a veritable hero of romance in the eyes of the people, for whom Love, and all pertaining to love-matters form the mostinteresting part of life. Following his announcement in the House, theKing issued a 'manifesto, ' setting forth the facts of his son's unionwith 'One Gloria Ronsard, of The Islands, ' and requesting the vote ofthe people for, or against, the Prince as Heir-Apparent to the Throne. 

The result of this bold and candid reliance on the Nation was one whichcould never have been foreseen by so-called 'diplomatic' statesmen, whoare accustomed to juggle with simple facts, and who strive to cover upand conceal the too distinct plainness of truth. An electric thrill ofchivalrous enthusiasm pulsated through the entire country; and theunanimous vote of the people was returned to the King in entire favourof the Crown Prince and his chosen bride. Perhaps no one was moreastonished at this than the King himself. He had been prepared forconsiderable friction; he had been quite sure of opposition on the partof 'Society, ' but, Society, moved for once from its usual selfishnessby the boldness and daring of a heroic king, had ranked itself entirelyon his side, and was ready and even anxious to accept in Prince Humphrya new kind of 'Cophetua, ' even if he had chosen to wed a beggar-maid!And it so chanced that there were many persons who had seen Gloria, --and among these was Sergius Thord, He had not only seen her, but knownher;--he had studied her character and qualities, --and was aware thatshe possessed one of the most pure and beautiful of womanly souls;--andthough taken by surprise at the discovery that the young 'sailor' shehad wedded was no other than the Crown Prince, yet, after theexperience he had personally gone through with one 'Pasquin Leroy, ' hecould scarcely feel that any news, even of the most wonderful kind, wasso wonderful after all! So that, as soon as he learned the truth, hebrought all his enormous 'following' into unanimity as regarded thePrince's romantic love-story; and ere long there was not one in themetropolis at least, who did not consider the marriage a good thing, and likely to weld even more closely together the harmoniousrelationship between people and Throne. 

And so it chanced, that even while the General Election was still goingon all over the country, an incessant popular clamour was made for theinstant return of the Prince to his native land. The papers teemed withsuggestions as to the 'welcoming home' of the young hero of romance andhis bride, and Professor von Glauben, mentally giddy with the whirl ofevents, was nevertheless triumphantly elated. 

"Now that you know everything, " he said to Sir Roger de Launay, "I hopeyou are satisfied! My 'jam-pot' that you spoke of, has turned out to bea special Sweetmeat for the whole nation!"

"I am very much surprised, I confess!" said Sir Roger slowly; "I shouldhardly have thought such a love-story possible in these modern days. And I should certainly never have given the nation credit for so muchsentiment!"

"A nation is always sentimental!" declared the Professor; "What does aGovernment exist for? Merely to keep national sentiment in order. Ministers know well enough, that despite the various 'Bills' brought infor material advantage and improvement, they have always to deal withthe imaginative aspiration of the populace, rather than theirconception of logic. For truly, the masses have no logic at all; theywill not stop to count the cost of an Army, but they will shoutthemselves hoarse at the sight of the Flag! The Flag is the Sentiment;the Army is the Fact. The King has secured all the votes of the nationon a question of Sentiment only, --but there is this pleasant scientific'fact underlying the sentiment, --Gloria is fit to be the mother ofkings! And that is what I will not say of any royally-born woman Iknow!"

Sir Roger was silent. 

"Consider our present Queen as a mother only!" he went on; "Beautifuland impassive as a snow-peak with the snow shining upon it! What of hersons? The Crown Prince is the best of them, --but he has only been savedfrom inherited mischief by his love for Gloria. The other two boys, Rupert and Cyprian, will probably be selfish libertines!"

Sir Roger opened his eyes in astonishment. 

"Why do you say that?" he asked; "They are harmless lads enough!Cricket and football are enough to make them happy. "

"For the present, no doubt!" agreed Von Glauben; "But it sometimeshappens that the young human animal who expends all his brains onkicking a football, is quite likely to expend another sort of forcewhen he grows up, in morally kicking other things! At least, that ishow I regard it. The over-cultivation of physical strength leads tomental callousness and brutality. These are scientific points whichrequire discussion, --not with you, --but with a scientist. Nothingshould be overdone. Too much enervation and lack of athleticism leadsto moral deterioration certainly, --but so does too much 'sport' as theycall it. There is a happy medium to be obtained on both sides, buthuman beings generally miss it. Prince Humphry, born of a beautiful, introspective, selfish--yes, I repeat it!--selfish mother, would, if hehad married a hard-natured, cold and conventional wife, probably havebeen the most indifferent, casual, and careless sovereign that everreigned; but, united as he is to a trusting, warm-hearted, loving, womanly woman like Gloria, he will probably make himself the idol ofthe Nation. "

"Not more so than his father is!" said Sir Roger, with a smile. 

"Ach so! That would be difficult, I grant you!" agreed the Professor;"As I told you, Roger, at the beginning of this drama in which we haveboth played our little parts; no harm ever came undeservedly to a braveman with a good conscience!"

"True! And no harm has come to the King--as yet!" said Sir Rogerthoughtfully. "But I sometimes fear one man----!"

"Sergius Thord?" suggested Von Glauben; "To speak honestly, so do I!But I watch him--I watch him closely! He loves Lotys, as a tiger lovesits mate, --and if he should ever suspect----!"

"Hush!" said Roger quickly; "Do not speak of it! I assure you I amalways on guard!"

"Good! So am I! But Thord is too busy just now climbing the hill tolook either backward or aside. When he reaches the summit, it ispossible he may see the whole landscape at a glance!"

"He will reach the summit very soon!" said De Launay; "His election asdeputy for the city, is certain. From the moment he announced himselfas candidate, there has been no opposition. "

"He will be returned by an overwhelming majority, " said the Professor;"And he will gain all the power he has been working for. Also, with thepower, he will obtain all the difficulty, responsibility, disappointment and bitterness. Power is a dangerous possession, unlessit is accompanied by a cool head; and in that our friend Sergius Thordis lacking. He is a creature of impulse--and a savage creature too!--ahalf-educated genius, --than which nothing in the shape of humanity ismore desperately difficult to manage!"

"Lotys can manage him!" said Sir Roger. 

"That depends!" And the Professor rubbed his nose irritably. "Women areexcellent diplomatists up to a certain point, but their limit isreached when they fall in love! Passion and enthusiasm transform theminto quite as absurd fools as--men!"

Sir Roger smiled, and changed the subject. 

But in a few days, what had been foreshadowed in their conversationcame true. One of the chief results of the General Election was thetriumphal return of Sergius Thord as Deputy for the Metropolis by anenormous majority; and in the evening of the day on which the pollingwas declared, great crowds assembled beneath the windows of his house, --that house so long known as the quarters of the RevolutionaryCommittee, --roaring themselves hoarse with acclamation. He was, ofcourse, called out before them to speak, --and he yielded to theclamorous demand, as perforce he was bound to do, but strangely enough, with extreme reluctance. 

A certain vague weariness depressed his spirits; his undisputedelection as one of the most important Government-representatives of thepeople, lacked the savour of the triumph he had expected;--and like allthose who have worked for years to win a coveted post and succeed atlast in winning it, he was filled with the fatal satiety ofaccomplishment. Power, --temporal power, --was after all not so great asit had seemed! He had climbed--he had striven; but all the joy wascontained in the climbing and the striving. Now that he had gained hispoint there seemed nothing left to prick afresh his flagging ambition. Nevertheless, he succeeded in addressing his enthusiastic followers andworshippers with something of his old fervour and fire, --sufficientlywell, at any rate, to satisfy them, and send them off with renewedshouts of exultation, expressive of their continued reliance on hiscourage and ability. But, when left alone at last, his heart suddenlyfailed him. 

"What is the use of it!" he thought wearily; "True, I now represent thecity, --I lead its opinions--I am its mouth-piece for the State, --andthe wrongs and injuries done to the million are mine to bring beforethe Government; and my business it will be to force remedial measuresfor the same. But what then? There will be, there must be, constantdiscussion, argument, contradiction, --for there are always conflictingopinions in every aspect of human affairs, --and it will be my work toput down all contradiction, --all opposition, --and to carry the People'sCause with a firm hand. Yet--after all, if I succeed, it will be theKing's doing, --not mine! To him I partly owe my present power; thepower I had before, was _all_ my own!"

Sullen and silent he brooded on the changes in his fortunes with novery satisfied mind. While he could not, as a brave man, refuse hisrespect and homage to the monarch who had quietly made himself completemaster of the 'Revolutionary' organisation, and who had succeeded inturning thousands of disaffected persons into ardent Loyalists, he wasnevertheless troubled by a lurking suspicion that Lotys had secretlyknown and favoured the King's scheme. Vaguely ashamed in his own mindof the idea, he yet found himself giving way to it now and again, as heremembered how she had defended his life, --not once but twice, --and howshe had often frankly declared her admiration for the unselfishness, heroism, and tireless energy of the so-called 'Pasquin Leroy. ' Aftermuch perplexed meditation, he came at last to one resolve. 

"She must be my wife!" he said, his eyes gleaming with a sudden fire ofpassion and determination combined; "If, --as she says, --she does notlove me, she must learn to love me! Then, all will be well! With her, it is possible I may reach still greater heights; without her, I can donothing!"

Meantime, while the results of the Election to what was now called 'TheRoyal Government, ' were being daily recorded in all parts of the world, and the King himself, from a selection of the ablest and mosthonourably-proved men of the time, was forming a new Ministry, the newsof these radical changes in the kingdom's affairs, spreading rapidlyeverywhere by cable, as news always spreads nowadays, reached a certainfar corner in one of the most beautiful provinces of India, --a cornerscarcely known to the conventional traveller, --where, in a wondrouspalace, lent to them by one of the most civilised and kindly ofOriental potentates, --a palace surrounded by gardens that might havebeen a true copy of the fabled Eden, Prince Humphry and the fair'Gloria' of his life, were passing a happy, 'hidden-away' time ofperfect repose. 

The evening on which they learned that their own nation demanded theirreturn was 'like the night of Al-Kadir, better than a thousand months. 'All day long the heat had been intense, --and they had remained indoorsenjoying the coolness of marble courts and corridors, and plashingfountains, --but with the sunset a soft breeze had sprung up, andGloria, passing into the shadiest corner of the gardens, had laidherself down in a silken hammock swung between two broad sycamoretrees, and there, gently swaying to and fro, she watched her husbandreading the various European journals that had arrived for his host bythat day's mail. Beautiful always, she had grown lovelier than ever inthese halcyon days of rest, when 'Love took up the harp of Life andsmote on all the chords with might; Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, pass'd in music out of sight. ' To her native grace she nowunited a distinctive dignity which added to her always gracious andqueenly charm, and never had she looked more exquisite than now, whenrocking gently in the suspended network of woven turquoise silk fringedwith silver, she rested her head against cushions of the same delicatehue, and turned her expressive eyes enquiringly towards her husband, --wondering what kept him so silent, and what was the cause of the littleline of anxiety which furrowed his brow. Clad in a loose diaphanousrobe of white, with a simple band of silver clasping it round hersupple form, her rich hair caught carelessly back with a knot ofscarlet passion-flowers, she looked a creature too fair for earth, abeing all divine; and the Prince presently turning his glances towardsher, evidently thought so, from the adoring tenderness with which hebent over her and kissed the ripe, red, smiling lips which pouted sodeliciously to take the offered caress. 

"They want us back, my Gloria!" he said; "The Nation asks for me--andfor _you_!"

She raised herself a little on one arm. 

"Do they know all?"

"Yes! The King, my father, has announced everything concerning ourmarriage, not only to the Government, but by special 'manifesto' to thePeople. I did not think he would be so brave!"

"Or so true!" said Gloria, her eyes darkening and deepening with theintensity of her thought. "Let me read this strange news, Humphry!"

He gave her the papers, --and a few tears sparkled on her lashes likediamonds and fell, as with a beating heart she read of the completetriumph of the King over the Socialist and Revolutionary party, --of hismarch with the multitude to the Government House, --of his bolddenunciation of Carl Pérousse, ending in the utter overthrow of afraudulent Ministry, --and of his determination to renounce for fiveyears, one half his royal revenues in order to personally assist thedeficit in the National Exchequer. 

"He is, in very truth a King!" she said, looking up with flushed cheeksand sparkling eyes, --"Surely the noblest in the world!"

Prince Humphry's face expressed wonderment as well as admiration. 

"I have been utterly mistaken in him, "--he confessed, --"Or else, something has greatly changed his ideas. I should never have deemed himcapable of running so much risk of his position, or of showing so muchheroism, candour and self-sacrifice. All my life I have been accustomedto see him more or less indifferent to everything but his own pleasure, and more or less careless of the griefs of others; but now it seems asif he had kept himself back on purpose, only to declare his truecharacter more openly and boldly in the end!"

Gloria read on, with eagerness and interest, till she came to theKing's 'manifesto' regarding his son's marriage with 'a daughter of thePeople. ' She pointed to this expression with the tapering, rosy pointof her delicate little finger. 

"That is me!" she said; "I _am_ a daughter of the People! I amproud of the name!"

"You are my wife!" said the Prince; "And you are Crown Princess of therealm!"

She looked meditative. 

"I am not sure I like that title so well!" she said surveying himarchly under the shadow of her long lashes; "Indeed--if _you_ werenot Crown Prince, --I should not like it at all!"

Prince Humphry smiled, and tenderly touched the scarlet passion-flowersin her hair. 

"But as I am Crown Prince, you will try to put up with it, my Gloria!"and he kissed her again. "We must return home, Sweetheart!--and asspeedily as possible, --though I am sorry our restful honey-time isover!"

Gloria looked wistfully around her, --over the long smooth undulatinglawns, the thickets of myrtle and orange, the lovely deep groves oftrees, and away to the peaks of the distant dark blue hills, over whicha great golden moon was slowly rising. 

"I am sorry too!" she said; "I could live always like this, in peacewith you, far, far away from all the world! Hark!"

She held up her hand to invite attention, as the delicious warble of anightingale, or 'bul-bul' broke the heated silence into liquid melody. Her lover-husband took that little uplifted hand, and drawing it in hisown, kissed it fondly, --and so for a moment they were very quiet, whilethe little brown bird of music poured from its palpitating throat acadence of heart-moving song. Gradually, the golden splendour of theIndian moonlight widened through the trees, enveloping them in itsclear luminous radiance; and the two beautiful human creatures, gazinginto each other's eyes with all the unspeakable rapture of a perfectlove, touched that wondrous height of pure mutual passion which makesthings temporal seem very far off, and things eternal very near. 

"If life could always be like this, " murmured Gloria; "We should surelyunderstand God better! We should feel that He truly loved us, andwished us to love each other! Ah, if only all the world were as happyas I am!"

"You will help to make a great part of it so, my beloved!" said thePrince; "You will bring with you into our kingdom, comfort for thesorrowful, aid to the poor, sympathy for the lonely, thought for all!You will forget nothing that calls for your remembrance, my Sweet! Andone nation at least, will know what it is to have a true woman's loveto light up the darkness of a Throne!"

That night a cable message was sent by the Prince to his father, stating his intention to return home immediately. The Orientalpotentate who had generously placed his palace at the Royal lovers'disposal, and had religiously preserved the secret of their identityand whereabouts, being himself much fascinated and interested by theromance of their story, now commanded festivals and illuminations fortheir entertainment before their departure, and within a fortnight ofthe despatch of his message, the Prince's yacht had left the mysticshores of the East, and started on its homeward journey. 

The news that the Crown Prince was returning with his bride, set allthe country in a flutter of excitement, and the General Election beingconcluded, and the meeting of the new Government being deferred untilafter the Heir-Apparent's return, the people of every city and town andprovince set themselves busily to work to prepare suitable festivitiesfor the homecoming of the Royal pair. At The Islands especially thespirit of enthusiasm was complete--all sorts of ideas for fêtes andsports, and bonfires and illuminations, exercised the minds of thesimple fisher-folk, who were wild with joy at the singular destiny thathad befallen their 'waif of the sea' as they were wont to call thebeautiful girl who had grown up among them, --and the aged Réné Ronsardwas made the centre of their interest and attention, --even of theiradulation. But Ronsard had grown very listless of late. His age beganto tell heavily upon him, and the news that Gloria was returning in alltriumph as Crown Princess, moved him but little. 

"She would have been happier as a simple sailor's wife!" he averred, when Professor von Glauben, who visited him constantly, sought to rousehim from the apathy into which he appeared to have sunk. "The greaterthe position, the heavier the burden!--the more outwardly brilliant theappearance of life, the deeper its secret bitterness!"

"But Gloria has Love with her, my friend!" urged the Professor; "AndLove makes the bitterest things sweet!"

Ronsard's aged eyes sparkled faintly. 

"Ay, Love!" he echoed; "A dream--a delusion--and a snare! Unless it bea love strong enough to drag one down to death!--and then it is thestrongest power in the world! It is a terror and a martyrdom, --and innothing shall its desire be thwarted! If It calls--even kings obey!"

CHAPTER XXXII

BETWEEN TWO PASSIONS

Slowly, and with hesitating steps, Sergius Thord mounted the longflight of stairs leading to the quiet attic which Lotys called 'home. 'Here she lived; here she had chosen to live ever since Thord had madeher, as he said, the 'Soul of the Revolutionary Ideal. ' Here, since theKing had conquered the Revolutionary Ideal altogether, and had made ita Loyalist centre, did she dwell still, though she had now somethoughts of yielding to the child Pequita's earnest pleading, andtaking up her abode with her and her father, in a pretty little housein the suburbs which, since Pequita's success as _premièredanseuse_ at the Opera, Sholto had been able to afford, and to lookupon as something like a comfortable dwelling-place. For with theelection of Thord to the dignity of a Deputy, had, of course, come thenecessity of resigning his old quarters where his 'Revolutionary'meetings had been held, --and he now resided in a more 'respectable'quarter of the city, in such sober, yet distinctive fashion as becameone who was a friend of the King's, and who was likely to be a Ministersome day, when he had further proved his political mettle. So thatSholto had no longer any need to try and eke out a scanty subsistenceby letting rooms to revolutionists and 'suspects' generally, --and Thordhimself had helped him to make a change for the better, as had also theKing. 

But Lotys had not as yet moved. She had lived so long among thedesperately poor, who were accustomed to go to her for sympathy andaid, that she could not contemplate leaving so many sick and sufferingand sorrowful ones alone to fight their bitter battle. So had she said, at least, to Thord, when he had endeavoured to persuade her toestablish herself in greater comfort, and in a part of the city whichhad a 'better-class' reputation. She had listened to his suggestionswith a somewhat melancholy smile. 

"Once, --and not so very long ago, --for you there was no such thing asthe 'better-class, ' Sergius!" she said; "You were wont to declare thatrich and poor alike were all one family in the sight of God!"

"I have not altered my opinion, " said Thord, a slight flush colouringhis cheek; "But--you are a woman--and as a woman should have everycare and tenderness. "

"So should my still poorer sisters, " she replied; "And it is for thosewho have least comfort, that comfort should be provided. I am perfectlywell and happy where I am!"

Remembering her fixed ideas on this point, there was an uneasy sense oftrouble in Thord's mind as he ventured again on what he feared would bea fruitless errand. 

"If I could command her!" he thought, chafing inwardly at his ownimpotence to persuade or lead this woman, whose character and will wereso much more self-contained and strong than his own. "If I could onlyexercise some authority over her! But I cannot. What small debt ofgratitude she owed me as a child, has long been cleared by her constantwork and the assistance she has given to me, --and unless she willconsent to be my wife, I know I shall lose her altogether. For she willnever submit to live on money that she has not earned. "

Arrived at the summit of the staircase he had been climbing, he knockedat the first door which faced him on the uppermost landing. 

"Come in!" said the low, sweet voice that had thrilled and comforted somany human souls; and entering as he was bidden, he saw Lotys seated ina low chair near the window, rocking a tiny infant, so waxen-like andmeagre, that it looked more like a corpse than a living child. 

"The mother died last night, " she said gently, in response to his lookof interrogation; "She had been struggling against want and sicknessfor a long time. God was merciful in taking her at last! The father hasto go out all day in search of work, --often a vain search; so I do whatI can for this poor little one!"

And she bent over the forlorn waif of humanity, kissing its pale smallface, and pressing it soothingly to her warm, full breast. She lookedquite beautiful in that Madonna-like attitude of protection and love, --her gold hair drooping against the slim whiteness of her throat, --herdeep blue eyes full of that tenderness for the defenceless and weak, which is the loveliest of all womanly expressions. 

Sergius Thord drew a chair opposite to her, and sat down. 

"You are always doing good, Lotys!" he said, with a slight tremor inhis voice; "There is no day in your life without its record of help tothe helpless!"

She shook her head deprecatingly, and went on caressing and soothingthe tiny babe in silence. 

After a pause, he spoke again. 

"I have come to you, Lotys, to ask you many things!"

She looked up with a little smile. 

"Do you need advice, Sergius? Nay, surely not!--you have passed beyondit--you are a great man!"

He moved impatiently. 

"Great? What do you mean? I am Deputy for the city, it is true--butthat is not the height of my ambition; it is only a step towards it. "

"To what do you aspire?" she queried. "A place in the Ministry? Youwill get that if you wait long enough! And then--will you besatisfied?"

"No--I shall never be satisfied--never till--"

He broke off and shifted his position. His fierce eyes rested tenderlyupon her as she sat holding the motherless infant caressingly in herarms. 

"You have heard the latest news?" he asked presently, "That CarlPérousse has left the country?"

"No, I have not heard that, " said Lotys; "But why was he allowed to gowithout being punished for his dishonesty?"

"To punish him, would have involved the punishment of many moreassociated with him, " replied Thord; "His estates are confiscated;--theopportunity was given him to escape, in order to avoid furtherMinisterial scandals, --and he has taken the chance afforded him!"

She was silent. 

"Jost too has gone, " pursued Thord; "He has sold his paper to his chiefrival. So that now both journals are amalgamated under one head, andwork for the same cause--our cause, and the King's. "

Lotys looked up with a slight smile. 

"It is the same old system then?" she said. "For whereas before therewas one newspaper subsidised by a fraudulent Ministry, there are nowtwo, subsidised by the Royal Government;--with which the Socialistparty is united!"

He frowned. 

"You mistake! We shall subsidise no newspaper whatever. We shall notpursue any such mistaken policy. "

"Believe me, you will be compelled to do so, Sergius!" she declared, still smiling; "Or some other force will step in! Do you not see thatpolitics always revolve in the same monotonous round? You have calledme the Soul of an Ideal, --but even when I worked my hardest with you, Iknew it was an Ideal that could never be realised! But the practice ofyour theories led me among the poor, where I felt I could be useful, --and for this reason I conjoined what brains I had, what strength I had, with yours. Yet, no matter how men talk of 'Revolution, ' any and everyform of government is bound to run on the old eternal lines, whether itbe Imperial, Socialistic or Republican. Men are always the samechildren--never satisfied, --ever clamouring for change, --tired of onetoy and crying for another, --so on and on, --till the end! I wouldrather save a life"--and she glanced pityingly down upon the sleepinginfant she held-"than upset a throne!"

"I quite believe that;" said Sergius slowly; "You are a woman, mostwomanly! If you could only learn to love----"

He paused, startled at the sudden rush of colour that spread over hercheeks and brow; but it was a wave of crimson that soon died away, leaving her very pale. 

"Love is not for me, Sergius!" she said; "I am no longer young. Besides, the days of romance never existed for me at all, and now it istoo late. I have grown too much into the habit of looking upon men aspoor little emmets, clambering up and down the same tiny hill ofearth, --their passions, their ambitions, their emotions, theirfightings and conquests, their panoply and pride, do not interest me, though they move me to pity; I seem to stand alone, looking beyond, straight through the glorious world of Nature, up to the infinitespaces above, searching for God!"

"Yet you care for that waif?" said Thord with a gesture towards thechild she held. 

"Because it is helpless, " she answered; "only that! If it ever lives togrow up and be a man, it will forget that a woman ever held it, orcherished it so! No wild beast of the forest--no treacherous serpent ofthe jungle, is more cruel in its inherited nature, than man when hedeals with woman;--as lover, he betrays her, --as wife, he neglectsher, --as mother, he forgets her!"

"You have a bad opinion of my sex!" said Thord, half angrily; "Wouldyou say thus much of the King?"

She started, then controlled herself. 

"The King is brave, --but beyond exceptional courage, I do not think hediffers from other men. "

"Have you seen him lately?"

"No. "

The answer came coldly, and with evident resentment at the query. Thordhesitated a minute or two, looking at her yearningly; then he suddenlylaid his hand on her arm. 

"Lotys!" he said in a half-whisper; "If you would only love me! If youwould be my wife!"

She raised her dark-blue pensive eyes. 

"My poor Sergius! With all your triumphs, do you still hanker for awayside weed? Alas!--the weed has tough roots that cannot be pulled upto please you! I would make you happy if I could, dear friend!--but inthe way you ask, I cannot!"

His heart beat thickly. 

"Why?"

"Why? Ask why the rain will not melt marble into snow! I love you, Sergius--but not with such love as you demand. And I would not be yourwife for all the world!"

He restrained himself with difficulty. 

"Again--why?"

She gave a slight movement of impatience. 

"In the first place, because we should not agree. In the second place, because I abhor the very idea of marriage. I see, day by day, whatmarriage means, even among the poor--the wreck of illusions--the deathof ideals--the despairing monotony of a mere struggle to live--"

"I shall not be poor now;" said Thord; "All my work would be to makeyou happy, Lotys! I would surround you with every grace and luxury--with love, with worship, with tenderness! With your intelligence andfascination you would be honoured, --famous!"

He broke off, interrupted by her gesture of annoyance. 

"Let me hear no more of this, Sergius!" she said. "You were very goodto me when I was a castaway child, and I do not forget it. But you mustnot urge a claim upon me to which I cannot respond. I have given someof the best years of my life to assist your work, to win you yourfollowers, --and to advance what I have always recognised as an exalted, though impossible creed--but now, for the rest of the time left to me, I must have my own way!"

He sprang up suddenly and confronted her. 

"My God!" he cried. "Is it possible you do not understand! All my work--all my plans--all my scheming and plotting has been for you--to makeyou happy! To give you high place and power! Without you, what do Icare for the world? What do I care whether men are rich or poor--whether they starve or die! It is you I want to serve--you! It is foryour sake I have desired to win honour and position. Have pity on me, Lotys! Have pity! I have seen you grow up to womanhood--I have lovedevery inch of your stature--every hair of the gold on your head--everyglance of your eyes--every bright flash of your intelligent spirit! Oh, I have loved you, and love you, Lotys, as no man ever loved woman!Everything I have attempted--everything I have done, has been that youmight think me worthier of love. For the Country and the People I carenothing--nothing! I only care for you!"

She rose, holding the sleeping child to her like a shield. Her featuresseemed to have grown rigid with an inflexible coldness. 

"So then, " she said, "You are no better than the men you have blamed!You confess yourself as false to the People as the Minister you havedisplaced! You have served their Cause, --not because you love them, butsimply because you love Me!--and you would force me to become yourwife, not because you love Me, so much as you love Yourself! Self aloneis at the core of your social creed! Why, you are not a whit higherthan the vulgarest millionaire that ever stole a people's Trade tofurther his own ends!"

"Lotys! Lotys!" he cried, stung to the quick; "You judge me wrongly--byHeaven, you do!"

"I judge you only by your own words;" she answered steadily; "Theycondemn you more than I do. I thought you were sincere in your love forthe People! I thought your work was all for them, --not for me! I judgedthat you sought to gain authority in order to remedy their manywrongs;--but if, after all, you have been fighting your way to powermerely to make yourself, as you thought, more acceptable to me as ahusband, you have deceived me in the honesty of your intentions asgrossly as you have deceived the King!"

"The King!" he cried; "The King!"

She flashed a proud and passionate glance upon him--and then--hesuddenly found himself alone. She had left the room; and though he knewthere was only one wall, one door between them, he dared not follow. 

Glancing around him at the simple furniture of the chamber he stood in, which, though only an attic, was bright and fresh and sweet, withbunches of wildflowers set here and there in simple and cheap crystalvases, he sighed heavily. The poor and 'obscure' life was perhaps, after all, the highest, holiest and best! All at once his eyes lightedon one large cluster of flowers that were neither wild nor common, aknot of rare roses and magnificent orchids, tied together with a goldenribbon. He looked at them jealously, and his soul was assailed bysudden resentment and suspicion. His face changed, his teeth closedhard on his under lip, and he clenched his hand unconsciously. 

"If it is so--if it should be so!" he muttered; "There may be yetanother and more complete Day of Fate!"

He left the room then, descending the stairs more rapidly than he hadclimbed them, and as he went out of the house and up the street, hestumbled against Paul Zouche. 

"Whither away, brave Deputy?" cried this irresponsible being; "Whitheraway? To rescue the poor and the afflicted?--or to stop the King frompoaching on your own preserves?"

With a force of which he was himself unconscious, he gripped Zouche bythe arm. 

"What do you mean?" he whispered thickly;--"Speak! What do you know?"

Zouche laughed stupidly. 

"What do I know?" he echoed; "Why, what should I know, blockhead, savewhat all who have eyes to see, know as well as I do! Sergius, yourgrasp is none of the lightest; let me go!" Then as the other's handfell from his arm, he continued. "It is you who are the blind manleading the blind! You--who like all thick-skulled reformers, can neverperceive what goes on under your own nose! But what does it matter?What does anything matter? I told you long ago she would never loveyou; I knew long ago that she loved his Majesty, 'Pasquin Leroy!'"

"Curse you!" said Thord suddenly, in such low infuriated accents thatthe oath sounded more like a wild beast's snarl. "Why did you not tellme? Why did you not warn me?"

Zouche shrugged his shoulders, and began to sidle aimlessly along theroadway. 

"You would not have believed me!" he said; "Nobody believes anythingthat is unpleasant to themselves! If you had not some suspicion in yourown mind, you would not believe me now! I am foolish--you are wise! Iam a poet--you are a reformer! I am drunk--you are sober! And with itall, Lotys is the only one who keeps her head clear. Lotys was alwaysthe creature of common-sense among us; she understood you--sheunderstood me--and better than either of us--she understood the King!"

"No, no!" whispered Thord, more to himself than his companion; "Shecould not--she could not have known!"

"Now you look as Nature meant you to look!" exclaimed Zouche, staringwildly at him; "Savage as a bear;--pitiless as a snake! God! What mencan become when they are baulked of their desires! But it is no use, mySergius!--you have gained power in one direction, but you have lost itin another! You cannot have your cake, and eat it!" Here he reeledagainst the wall, --then straightening himself with a curious effort atdignity, he continued: "Leave her alone, Sergius! Leave Lotys in peace!She is a good soul! Let her love where she will and how she will, --shehas the right to choose her lover, --the right!--by Heaven!--it is aright denied to no woman! And if she has chosen the King, she is onlyone of many who have done the same!"

With a smothered sound between a curse and a groan, Thord suddenlywheeled round away from him and left him. Vaguely surprised, yet toostupefied to realise that his rambling words might have worked seriousmischief, Zouche gazed blinkingly on his retreating figure. 

"The same old story!" he muttered, with a foolish laugh; "Always awoman in it! He has won leadership and power, --he has secured thefriendship of a King, --but if the King is his rival in matters of love--ah!--that is a worse danger for the Throne than the spread ofSocialism!"

He rambled off unthinkingly, and gave the only part of him whichremained still active, his poetic instinct, up to the composition of adelicate love-song, which he wrote between two taverns and severaldrinks. 

Late in the afternoon--just after sundown--a small close brougham droveup to the corner of the street where stood the tenement house, --dividedinto several separate flats, --in which the attic where Lotys dwelt wasone of the most solitary and removed portions. The King alighted fromthe carriage unobserved, and ascended the stairs on which SergiusThord's steps had echoed but a few hours gone by. Knocking at the dooras Sergius had done, he was in the same way bidden to enter, but as hedid so, Lotys, who was seated within, quite alone, started up with afaint cry of terror. 

"You here!" she exclaimed in trembling accents; "Oh, why, why have youcome! Sir, I beg of you to leave this place!--at once, before there isany chance of your being seen; your Majesty should surely know----!"

"Majesty me no majesties, Lotys!" said the King, lightly; "I have beenforbidden this little shrine too long! Why should I not come to seeyou? Are you not known as an angel of comfort to the sorrowful and thelonely?--and will you not impart such consolation to me, as I may, inmy many griefs deserve? Nay, Lotys, Lotys! No tears!--no tears, dearestof women! To see you weep is the only thing that could possibly unmanme, and make even 'Pasquin Leroy' lose his nerve!"

He approached her, and sought to take her hand, but she turned awayfrom him, and he saw her bosom heave with a passion of repressedweeping. 

"Lotys!" he then said, with exceeding gentleness; "What is this? Whyare you unhappy? I have written to you every day since that night whenyour lips clung to mine for one glad moment, --I have poured out my soulto you with more or less eloquence, and surely with passion!--every dayI have prayed you to receive me, and yet you have vouchsafed no replyto one who is by your own confession 'the only man you love'! Ah, Lotys!--you will not now deny that sweet betrayal of your heart! Do youknow that was the happiest day of my life?--the day on which I wasthreatened by Death, and saved by Love!"

His mellow voice thrilled with its underlying tenderness;--he caughther hand and kissed it; but she was silent. 

With all the yearning passion which had been pent up in him for manymonths, he studied the pure outlines of her brow and throat--thefalling sunlight glow of her hair--the deep azure glory of the pityingeyes, half veiled beneath their golden lashes, and just now sparklingwith tears. 

"All my life, " he said softly, still holding her hand; "I have longedfor love! All my life I have lacked it! Can you imagine, then, what itwas to me, Lotys, when I heard you say you loved my Resemblance, --thepoor Pasquin Leroy!--and even so I knew you loved me? When you praisedme as Pasquin, and cursed me as King, how my heart burned with desireto clasp you in my arms, and tell you all the truth of my disguise! Butto hear you speak as you did of me, so unconsciously, so tenderly, sobravely, was the sweetest gladness I have ever known! I felt myself aking at last, in very deed and truth!--and it was for the love of you, and because of your love for me, that I determined to do all I couldfor my son Humphry, and the woman of his choice! For, finding myselfloved, I swore that he should not be deprived of love. I have done whatI could to ensure his happiness; but after all, it is your doing, andthe result of your influence! You are the sole centre of my good deeds, Lotys!--you have been my star of destiny from the very first day I sawyou!--from the moment when I signed my bond with you in your own pureblood, I loved you! And I know that you loved me!"

She turned her eyes slowly upon him, --what eyes!--tearless now, andglittering with the burning fever of the sad and suffering soul behindthem. 

"You forget!" she said in hushed, trembling accents; "You are theKing!"

He lifted her hand to his lips again, and pressed its cool small palmagainst his brows. 

"What then, my dearest? Must the King, because he is King, go throughlife unloved?"

"Unless the King is loved with honour, " said Lotys in the same hushedvoice; "He must go unloved!"

He dropped her hand and looked at her. She was very pale--her breathcame and went quickly, but her eyes were fixed upon him steadily, --andthough her whole heart cried out for his sympathy and tenderness, shedid not flinch. 

"Lotys!" he said; "Are you so cold, so frozen in an ice-wall ofconventionality that you cannot warm to passion--not even to thatpassion which every pulse of you is ready to return? What do you wantof me? Lover's oaths? Vows of constancy? Oh, beloved woman as you are, do you not understand that you have entered into my very heart ofhearts--that you hold my whole life in your possession? You--not I--arethe ruling power of this country! What you say, that I will do! Whatyou command, that will I obey! While you live, I will live--when youdie, I will die! Through you I have learned the value of sovereignty, --the good that can be done to a country by honest work in kingship, --through you I have won back my disaffected subjects to loyalty;--it isall you--only you! And if you blamed me once as a worthless king, youshall never have cause to so blame me again! But you must help me, --youmust help me with your love!"

She strove to control the beating of her heart, as she looked upon himand listened to his pleading. She resolutely shut her soul to thepersuasive music of his voice, the light of his eyes, the tenderness ofhis smile. 

"What of the Queen?" she said. 

He started back, as though he had been stung. 

"The Queen!" he repeated, mechanically--"The Queen!"

"Ay, the Queen!" said Lotys. "She is your wife--the mother of yoursons! She has never loved you, you would say, --you have never lovedher. But you are her husband! Would you make me your mistress?"

Her voice was calm. She put the plain question point-blank, without anote of hesitation. His face paled suddenly. 

"Lotys!" he said, and stretched out his hands towards her; "Lotys, Ilove you!"

A change passed over her, --rapid and transfiguring as a sudden radiancefrom heaven. With an impulsive gesture, beautiful in its wildabandonment, she cast herself at his feet. 

"And I love you!" she said. "I love you with every breath of my body, every pulse of my heart! I love you with the entire passion of my life!I love you with all the love pent up in my poor starved soul sincechildhood until now!--I love you more than woman ever loved eitherlover or husband! I love you, my lord and King!--but even as I loveyou, I honour you! No selfish thought of mine shall ever tarnish thesmallest jewel in your Crown! Oh, my beloved! My Royal soul of courage!What do you take me for? Should I be worthy of your thought if Idragged you down? Should I be Lotys, --if, like some light woman who canbe bought for a few jewels, --I gave myself to you in that fever ofdesire which men mistake for love? Ah, no!--ten thousand times no! Ilove you! Look at me, --can you not see how my soul cries out for you?How my lips hunger for your kisses--how I long, ah, God! for all thetenderness which I know is in your heart for me, --I, so lonely, weary, and robbed of all the dearest joys of life!--but I will not shame youby my love, my best and dearest! I will not set you one degree lower inthe thoughts of the People, who now idolise you and know you as thebrave, true man you are! My love for you would be poor indeed, if Icould not sacrifice myself altogether for your sake, --you, who are myKing!"

He heard her, --his whole soul was shaken by the passion of her words. 

"Lotys!" he said, --and again--"Lotys!"

He drew her up from her kneeling attitude, and gathering her close inhis arms, kissed her tenderly, reverently--as a man might kiss the lipsof the dead. 

"Must it be so, Lotys?" he whispered; "Must we dwell always apart?"

Her eyes, beautiful with a passion of the highest and holiest love, looked full into his. 

"Always apart, yet always together, my beloved!" she answered;"Together in thought, in soul, in aspiration!--in the hope andconfidence that God sees us, and knows that we seek to live purely inHis sight! Oh, my King, you would not have it otherwise! You would nothave our love defiled! How common and easy it would be for me to givemyself to you!--as other women are only too ready to give themselves, --to take your tenderness, your care, your admiration, --to demand yourconstant attendance on my lightest humour!--to bring you shame by mypersistent companionship!--to cause an open slander, and allow thefinger of scorn to be pointed at you!--to see your honour made amockery of, by base, persons who would judge you as one, who, notwithstanding his brave espousal of the People's Cause, was yet aslave to the caprice of a woman! Think something more of me than this!Do not put me on the level of such women as once brought your name intocontempt! They did not love you!--they loved themselves! But I--I loveyou! Oh, my dearest lord, if self were concerned at all in this greatlove of my heart, I would not suffer your arms to rest about me now!--I would not let your lips touch mine!--but it is for the last time, beloved!--the last time! And so I put my hands here on your heart--I kissyour lips--I say with all my soul in the prayer--God bless you!--Godkeep you!--God save you, my King! Though I shall live apart from you allmy days, my spirit is one with yours! God will know that truth when wemeet--on the other side of Death!"

Her tears fell fast, and he bent over her, torn by a tempest ofconflicting emotions, and kissing the soft hair that lay looselyruffled against his breast. 

"Then it shall be so, Lotys!" he murmured, at last. "Your wish is mylaw!--it shall be as you command! I will fulfil such duties as I mustin this world, --and the knowledge of your love for me, --your trust inme, --shall keep me high in the People's honour! Old follies shall beswept away--old sins atoned for;--and when we meet, as you say, on theother side of Death, God will perchance give us all that we have longedfor in this world--all that we have lost!"

His voice shook, --he could not further rely on his self-control. 

"I will not tempt you, Lotys!" he whispered--"I dare not tempt myself!God bless you!"

He put her gently from him, and stood for a moment irresolute. All thehope he had indulged in of a sweeter joy than any he had ever known, was lost, --and yet--he knew he had no right to press upon her a lovewhich, to her, could only mean dishonour. 

"Good-bye, Lotys!" he said, huskily; "My one love in this world and thenext! Good-bye!"

She gazed at him with her whole soul in her eyes, --then suddenly, andwith the tenderest grace in the world, dropped on her knees and kissedhis hand. 

"God save your Majesty!" she said, with a poor little effort at smilingthrough her tears; "For many and many a long and happy year, when Lotysis no more!"

With a half cry he snatched her up in his arms and pressed her to hisheart, showering kisses on her lips, her eyes, her hair, her littlehands!--then, with a movement as abrupt as it was passion-stricken, puther quickly from him and left her. 

She listened with straining ears to the quick firm echo of hisfootsteps departing from her, and echoing down the stairs. She caughtthe ring of his tread on the pavement outside. She heard the grindingroll of the wheels of his carriage as he was rapidly driven away. Hehad gone! As she realised this, her courage suddenly failed her, andsinking down beside the chair in which he had for a moment sat, shelaid her head upon it, and wept long and bitterly. Her conscience toldher that she had done well, but her heart--the starving woman's heart, --was all unsatisfied, and clamoured for its dearest right--love! Andshe had of her own will, her own choice, put love aside, --the mostprecious, the most desired love in the world!--she had sent it away outof her life for ever! True, she could call it back, if she chose with aword--but she knew that for the sake of a king, and a country's honour, she would not so call it back! She might have said with one of the mosthuman of poets:

 "Will someone say, then why not ill for good? Why took ye notyour pastime? To that man My word shall answer, since I knew the Right And did it. " [Footnote: Tennyson ]

A shadowy form moving uncertainly to and fro near the corner of thestreet, appeared to spring forward and to falter back again, as theKing, hurriedly departing, glanced up and down the street once or twiceas though in doubt or questioning, and then walked to his brougham. Thesoft hues of a twilight sky, in which the stars were beginning toappear, fell on his face and showed it ashy pale; but he was absorbedin his own sad and bitter thoughts, --lost in his own inwardcontemplation of the love which consumed him, --and he saw nothing ofthat hidden watcher in the semi-gloom, gazing at him with such fierceeyes of hate as might have intimidated even the bravest man. He enteredhis carriage and was rapidly driven away, and the shadow, --no otherthan Sergius Thord, --stumbling forward, --his brain on fire, and aloaded pistol in his hand, --had hardly realised his presence before hewas gone. 

"Why did I not kill him?" he muttered, amazed at his own hesitation;"He stood here, close to me! It would have been so easy!"

He remained another moment or two gazing around him at the streets, atthe roofs, at the sky, as though in a wondering dream, --then all atonce, it seemed as if every cell in his brain had suddenly becomesuperhumanly active. His eyes flashed fury, --and turning swiftly intothe house which the King had just left, he ran madly up the stairs asthough impelled by a whirlwind, and burst without bidding, straightinto the room where Lotys still knelt, weeping. At the noise of hisentrance she started up, the tears wet on her face. 

"Sergius!" she cried. 

He looked at her, breathing heavily. 

"Yes, --Sergius!" he said, his voice sounding thick and husky, andunlike itself. "I am Sergius! Or I was Sergius, before you made of me anameless devil! And you--you are Lotys!--you are weeping for the loverwho has just parted from you! You are Lotys--the mistress of the King!"

She made him no answer. Drawing herself up to her full height, sheflashed upon him a look of utter scorn, and maintained a contemptuoussilence. 

"Mistress of the King!" he repeated, speaking in hard gasps; "You, --Lotys, --have come to this! You, --the spotless Angel of our Cause!You!--why, --I sicken at the sight of you! Oh, you fulfil thoroughly themission of your sex!--which is to dupe and betray men! You were thetraitor all along! You knew the real identity of 'Pasquin Leroy'! Hewas your lover from the first, --and to him you handed the secrets ofthe Committee, and played Us into his hands! It was well done--cleverly done!--woman's work in all its best cunning!--but treacherydoes not always pay!"

Amazed and indignant, she boldly confronted him. 

"You must be mad, Sergius! What do you mean? What sudden accusationsare these? You know they are false--why do you utter them?"

He sprang towards her, and seized her roughly by the arm. 

"How do I know they are false?" he said. "Prove to me they are false!Who saved the King's life? You! And why? Because you knew he was'Pasquin Leroy'! How was it he gained such swift ascendancy over allour Committee, and led the work and swayed the men, --and made of me histool and servant? Through you again! And why? Because you knew he wasthe King! Why have you scorned me--turned from me--thrust me from yourside--denied my love, --though I have loved and cared for you fromchildhood! Why, I say? Because you love the King!"

She stood perfectly still, --unmoved by his frantic manner--by the glareof his bloodshot eyes, and his irrepressible agony of rage andjealousy. Quietly she glanced him up and down. 

"You are right!" she said tranquilly; "I do love the King!"

A horrible oath broke from his lips, and for a moment his face grewcrimson with the rising blood that threatened to choke the channels ofhis brain. An anxious pity softened her face. 

"Sergius!" she said gently, "You are not yourself--you rave--you do notknow what you say! What has maddened you? What have I done? You know mylife is free--I have a right to do with it as I will, and even as mylife is free, so is my love! I cannot love where I am bidden--I mustlove where Love itself calls!"

He stood still, staring at her. He seemed to have lost the power ofspeech. 

"You have insulted me almost beyond pardon!" she went on. "Youraccusations are all lies! I love the King, --but I am not the King'smistress! I would no more be his mistress than I would be your wife!"

Slowly, slowly, his hand got at something in his pocket and clutched italmost unconsciously. Slowly, slowly, he raised that hand, stillclutching that something, --and his lips parted in a breathless way, showing the wolfish glimmer of white teeth within. 

"You--love--the King!" he said in deliberate accents. "And you dare--you dare to tell me so?"

She raised her golden head with a beautiful defiance and courage. 

"I love the King!" she said--"And I dare to tell you so!"

With a lightning quickness of movement the hand that had been gropingafter an unseen evil now came out into the light, with a sudden sharpcrash, and flame of fire!

A faint cry tore the air. 

"Ah--Sergius!--Sergius! Oh--God!"

And Lotys staggered back--stunned, deafened--sick, dizzy----

"Death, death!" she thought, wildly; "This is death!"

And, with a last desperate rallying of her sinking force, as everymemory of her life swept over her brain in that supreme moment, shesprang at her murderer and wrenched the weapon from his hand, clutchingit hard and fast in her own. 

"Say--say I did it--myself--!" she gasped, in short quick sobs ofpain; "Tell the King--I did it myself--myself! Sergius--save your ownlife!--I--forgive!"

She reeled, and with a choking cry fell back heavily--dead! Her haircame unbound with her fall, and shook itself round her in a gold wave, as though to hide the horror of the oozing blood that trickled from herlips and breast. 

With a horrid sense of unreality Thord stared upon the evil he haddone. He gazed stupidly around him. He listened for someone to come andexplain to him what had happened. But up in that remote attic, therewas no one to hear either a pistol-shot or a cry. There was only onething to be understood and learnt by heart, --that Lotys, once living, was now dead! Dead! How came she dead? That was what he could notdetermine. The heat of his wild fury had passed, --leaving him cold andpassive as a stone. 

"Lotys!"

He whispered the name. Horrible! How she looked, --with all that blood!--all that golden hair!

'Tell the King I did it myself!' Yes--the King would have to be told--something! Stooping, he tried to detach the pistol from the lifelesshand, but the fingers, though still warm were tightened on the weapon, and he dared not unclasp them. He was afraid! He stood up again, andlooked around him. His glance fell on the knot of regal flowers he hadnoticed in the morning, --the great roses, --the voluptuous orchids--tiedwith their golden ribbon. He took them hastily and flung them downbeside her, --then watched a little trickling stream of blood running, running towards one of the whitest and purest of the roses. It reachedit, stained it, --and presently drowned it in a little pool. Horrified, he covered his eyes, and staggered backward against the door. Theevening was growing dark, --through the small high window he could seethe stars beginning to shine as usual. As usual, --though Lotys wasdead! That seemed strange! Putting one hand behind him, he cautiouslyopened the door, still keeping his guarded gaze on that huddled heap ofclothes, and blood, and glittering hair which had been Lotys. 

"I must get home, " he muttered. "I have business to attend to--asDeputy to the city, there is much to do--much to do for the People!The People! My God! And Lotys dead!"

A kind of hysteric laughter threatened him. He pressed his mouth hardwith his hand to choke back this strange, struggling passion. 

"Lotys! Lotys is dead! There she lies! Someone, I know not who, killedher! No, --no! She has killed herself, --she said so! There she lies, poor Lotys! She will never speak to the People--never comfort them, --never teach them any more--never hold little motherless infants in herarms and console them, --never smile on the sorrowful, or cheer thesick--never! 'I love the King!' she said, --and she died for saying it!One should not love kings! 'Tell the King I did it myself!' Yes, Lotys!--lie still--be at peace--the King shall know--soon enough!"

Still muttering uneasily to himself, he went out, always movingbackwards--and with a last look at that fallen breathless form ofmurdered woman, shut the door stealthily behind him. 

Then, stumbling giddily down the stairs, he wandered, blind and halfcrazed, into the darkening night. 

CHAPTER XXXIII

SAILING TO THE INFINITE

Great calamities always come suddenly. With the swiftness of lightningthey descend upon the world, often in the very midst of fancied peaceand security, --and the farcical, grinning, sneering apes of humanity, for whom even the idea of a God has but furnished food for lewdjesting, are scattered into terror-stricken hordes, who are forced torealise for the first time in their lives, that whether they believe inOmnipotence or no, an evident Law of Justice exists, which may not beoutraged with impunity. Sometimes this Law works strangely, --one mightalmost say obliquely. It sweeps away persons whom we have judged asuseful to the community, and allows those to remain whom we considerunnecessary. But 'we, '--all important 'we, '--are not allowed to longassert or maintain our petty opinions against this unknown undeterminedForce which makes havoc of all our best and most carefully conceivedarrangements. For example, we are not given any practical reason whyChrist, --the Divine Man, --was taken from the world in His youthfulmanhood, instead of being permitted to live to a great age for thefurther benefit, teaching, and sanctification of His disciples andfollowers. Pure, sinless, noble, and truly of God, He was tortured andcrucified as though He were the worst of criminals. And apart from theChurch's explanation of this great Mystery, we may take it as a lessonthat misfortune is like everything else, two-sided;--it falls equallyupon the ungodly and the godly, --with merely this difference--that whenit falls on the ungodly it is, as we are reluctantly forced to admit, 'the act of God'--but when it falls on the godly, it is generally theproved and evident work of Man. 

In this last way, and for no fault at all of her own, had cruel deathbefallen Lotys. Such as her career had been, it was unmarked by so muchas a shadow of selfishness or wickedness. From the first day of herlife, sorrow had elected her for its own. She had never known father ormother;--cast out as an infant in the street, and picked up by SergiusThord, she had secured no other protector for her infancy and youth, than the brooding, introspective man, who was destined in the end to beher murderer. As a child, she had been passionately grateful to him;she had learned all she could from the books he gave her to study, andwith a quick brain, and a keen sense of observation, she had become aproficient in literature, so much so indeed, that more than one halfthe Revolutionary treatises and other propaganda which he had sent outto different quarters of the globe, were from her pen. Her one idea hadbeen to please and to serve him, --to show her gratitude for his care ofher, and to prove herself useful to him in all his aims. As she grewup, however, she quickly discerned that his affection for her wasdeepening into the passion of a lover; whereupon she had at oncewithdrawn from his personal charge, and had made up her mind to livealone and independently. She desired, so she told him, to subsist onher own earnings, --and he who could do nothing successfully withouther, was only too glad to give her the rightful share of such financialresults as accrued from the various workings of the RevolutionaryCommittee, --results which were sometimes considerable, though neveropulent. And so she had worked on, finding her best happiness insuccouring the poor, and nursing the sick. Her girlhood had passedwithout either joy or love, --her womanhood had been bare of all thehappiness that should have graced it. The people had learned to loveher, it is true, --but this more or less distantly felt affection wasfar from being the intimate and near love for which she had so oftenlonged. When at last this love had come to her, --when in 'PasquinLeroy' she thought she had found the true companion of her life andheart, --when he had constantly accompanied her by his own choice, onher errands of mercy among the poor; and had aided the sick and thedistressed by his own sympathy and tenderness, she had almost allowedherself to dream of possible happiness. This dream had been encouragedmore than ever, after she had saved the King from assassination. 'Pasquin Leroy' had then become her closest comrade, --always at hand, and ever ready to fulfil her slightest behest;--while from his ardentand eloquent glances, --the occasional lingering pressure of his hand, and the hastily murmured words of tenderness which she could notmisunderstand, she knew that he loved her. But when he had disclosedhis real identity to be that of the King himself, all her fair hopeshad vanished!--and her spirit had shrunk and fallen under the blow. Worse than all, --when she learned that this great and exaltedPersonage, despite his throned dignity, did still continue to entertaina passion for herself, the knowledge was almost crushing in its effectupon her mind. Pure in soul and body, she would have chosen death anytime rather than dishonour; and in the recent developments of eventsshe had sometimes grown to consider death as good, and even desirable. Now death had come to her through the very hand that had first aidedher to live! And so had she fulfilled the common lot of women, whichis, taken in the aggregate, to be wronged and slain (morally, when notphysically) by the very men they have most unselfishly sought to serve!

The heavy night passed away, and all through its slow hours themurdered creature lay weltering in her blood, and shrouded in herhair, --looked at by the pitiless stars and the cold moon, as they shedtheir beams in turn through the high attic window. Morning broke; andthe sun shot its first rays down upon the dead, --upon the fixed whitecountenance, and on the little hand grown icy cold, but clenched withiron grip upon the pistol which had been so bravely snatched in thatlast moment of life with the unselfish thought of averting suspicionfrom the true murderer. With the full break of day, the mistress of thehouse going to arouse her lodgers, came up the stairs with a brightface, cheerfully singing, for her usual morning chat with Lotys was oneof her principal pleasures. Knocking at the door, and receiving noanswer, she turned the handle and pushed it open, --then, with apiercing scream of horror, she rushed away, calling wildly for help, and sending frantic cries down the street. 

"Lotys! Lotys! Lotys is dead!"

The news flew. The houses poured out their poverty-stricken occupantsfrom garret to basement; and presently the street was blocked with astupefied, grief-stricken crowd. A doctor who had been hastilysummoned, lifted the poor corpse of her whose life had been all loveand pity, and laid it upon the simple truckle-bed, where the livingLotys had slept, contented with poverty for many years; and after closeand careful examination pronounced it to be a case of suicide. The wordcreated consternation among all the people. 

"Suicide!" they murmured uneasily; "Why should she kill herself? We allloved her!"

Ay! They all loved her!--and only now when she was gone did theyrealise how great that love had been, or how much her thought andtenderness for them all, had been interwoven with their lives! They hadnever stopped to think of the weariness and emptiness of her own life, or of the longing she herself might have had for the love and care sheso freely gave to others. By and by, as the terrible news was borne inupon them more convincingly, some began to weep and wail, others tokneel and pray, others to recall little kindnesses, thoughtful deeds, unselfish tendernesses, and patient endurances of the dead woman who, friendless herself, had been their truest friend. 

"Who will tell Sergius Thord?" asked a man in the crowd; "Who willbreak the news to him?"

There was an awe-stricken silence. No one volunteered such heart-rending service. 

"Who will tell the King?" suddenly exclaimed a harsh voice, that ofPaul Zouche, who in his habit of hardly ever going to bed, had seen thecrowd gather, and had quickly joined it. "Lotys saved his life! Heshould be told!"

His face, always remarkable in its thin, eager, intellectual aspect, looked ghastly, and his eyes no longer feverish in their brilliancy, were humanised by the dew of tears. 

"The King!"

The weeping people looked at one another. The King had now become apart of their life and interest, --he was one with them, not apart fromthem as once he had been; therefore he must have known how Lotys hadloved them. Yes, --someone should surely tell the King!

"The King must be informed of this, " went on Zouche; "If there is noone else to take the news to him, --I will!"

And before any answer could be given, or any suggestion made, he wasgone. 

Meanwhile, no person volunteered to fetch Sergius Thord. Every man whoknew him, dreaded the task of telling him that Lotys was dead, self-slain. Some poor, but tender-hearted women sorrowfully prepared thecorpse for burial, removing the bloodstained clothes with gentle hands, smoothing out and parting on either side the glorious waves of hair, while with the greatest care and difficulty they succeeded by slowdegrees in removing the pistol so tightly clenched in the dead hand. While engaged in this sad duty, they found a sealed paper marked 'MyLast Wish, ' and this they put aside till Thord should come. Then theyrobed her in white, and laid white flowers upon her breast; and so camein turns by groups of tens and twenties to kneel beside her and kissher hands and say prayers, and weep for the loss of one who had neveruttered a harsh word to any poor or sorrowful person, but whose missionhad been peace and healing, love and resignation, and submission to herown hard fate until the end!

Meantime Zouche, who had never been near any Royal precincts before, walked boldly to the Palace. All irresolution had left him;--his stepwas firm, his manner self-contained, and only his eyes betrayed thedeep and bitter sorrow of his soul. He was allowed to pass the sentinelat the outer gates, but at the inner portico of the Palace he wasdenied admittance. He maintained his composure, however, and handed inhis written name. 

"If I cannot see the King, I must see Sir Roger de Launay!" he said. 

At this the men in authority glanced at one another, and began tounbend;--if this shabby, untidy being knew Sir Roger de Launay, he wasperhaps someone of importance. After a brief consultation together, they asked him to wait while a messenger was despatched to Sir Roger. 

Zouche, with a curious air of passive toleration sat quietly on thechair they offered, and waited several minutes glancing meanwhile atthe display of splendour and luxury about him with an indifferencebordering on contempt. 

"All this magnificence, " he mused; "all this wealth cannot purchaseback a life, or bring comfort to a stricken heart! Nor can it vie witha poet's rhyme, which, often unvalued, and always unpaid for, sometimesoutlasts a thousand thrones!"

Here, seeing the tall figure of Sir Roger de Launay coming between himand the light, he rose and advanced a step or two. 

"Why, Zouche, " said Sir Roger kindly, greeting him with a smile; "Youare up betimes! They tell me you want to see the King. Is it not asomewhat early call? His Majesty has only just left his sleeping-apartment, and is busy writing urgent letters. Will you entrust me withyour message?"

Paul Zouche looked at him fixedly. 

"My message is from Lotys!" he said deliberately; "And it must bedelivered to the King in person!"

Vaguely alarmed, Sir Roger recoiled a step. 

"You bring ill news?" he whispered. 

"I do not know whether it will prove ill or well;" answered Zouchewearily; "But such news as I have, must be told to his Majesty alone. "

Sir Roger paused a moment, hesitating; then he said:

"If that is so--if that must be so, --then come with me!"

He led the way, and Zouche followed. Entering the King's privatelibrary where the King himself sat at his writing-desk, Sir Rogerannounced the unexpected visitor, adding in a low tone that he came'from Lotys!'

The King started up, and threw down his pen. 

"From Lotys!" he echoed, while through his mind there flew a suddensweet hope that after all the star was willing to fall!--the flower wasready to be gathered!--and that the woman who had sent him away fromher the day before, had a heart too full of love to remain obdurate tothe pleadings of her kingly lover!--"Paul Zouche, with a message fromLotys? Let him come in!"

Whereupon Zouche, bidden to enter, did so, and stood in the Royalpresence unabashed, but quite silent. An ominous presentiment creptcoldly through the monarch's warm veins, as he saw the dreary painexpressed on the features of the man, who had so persistently scornedhim and his offered bounty, --and with a slight, but imperative sign, hedismissed Sir Roger de Launay, who retired reluctantly, full offorebodings. 

"Now Zouche, " he said gently; "What do you seek of me? What is yourmessage?"

Zouche looked full at him. 

"As King, " he answered, "I seek nothing from you! As comrade"--and hisaccents faltered--"I would fain break bad news to you gently--I wouldspare you as much as possible--and give you time to face the blow, --for I know you loved her! Lotys----"

The monarch's heart almost stood still. What was this hesitating tone--these great tears in Zouche's eyes?

"Lotys!" he repeated slowly, and in a faint whisper; "Yes, yes--go on!Go on, comrade! Lotys?"

"Lotys is dead!"

An awful stillness followed the words. Stiff and rigid the King sat, asthough stricken by sudden paralysis, giving no sign. Minute afterminute slipped away, --and he uttered not a word, nor did he raise hiseyes from the fixed study of the carpet at his feet. 

"Lotys is dead!" went on Zouche, speaking in a slow monotonous way. "This morning, the first thing--they found her. She had killed herself. The pistol was in her hand. And they are laying her out with flowers, --like a bride, or a queen, --and you can go and see her at rest so, --forthe last time, --if you will! This is my message! It is a message fromthe dead!"

Still the King spoke not a word; nor did he lift his eyes from hisbrooding observation of the ground. 

"To be a great King, as you are, " said Zouche; "And yet to be unable tokeep alive a love when you have won it, is a hard thing! She must havekilled herself for your sake!"

No answer was vouchsafed to him. He began to feel a strange pity forthat solemn, upright figure, sitting there inflexibly silent, --and heapproached it a little nearer. 

"Comrade!" he said softly; "I have hated you as a King! Yes, I havealways hated you!--even when I found you had played the part of'Pasquin Leroy, ' and had worked for our Cause, and had helped to makewhat is now called my 'fame'! I hated you, --because through it all, andwhatever you did for me, or for others, it seemed to me you had neverknown hunger and cold and want!--never known what it was to have lovesnatched away from you! I watched the growth of your passion for Lotys--I knew she loved you!--and had you indeed been the poor writer andthinker you assumed to be, all might have been well for you both! Butwhen you declared yourself to be King, what could there be for such awoman but death? She would never have chosen dishonour! She has takenthe straight way out of trouble, but--but she has left _you_alone! And I am sorry for you! I know what it is--to be left alone! Youhave a palace here, adorned with all the luxuries that wealth can buy, and yet you are alone in it! I too have a palace, --a palace ofthought, furnished with ideals and dreams which no wealth can buy; andI am alone in it too! I killed the woman who loved me best; and youhave done the same, in your way! It is the usual trick of men, --tokill the women who love them best, and then to be sorry for everafterwards!"

He drew still nearer--then very slowly, very hesitatingly, dropped onone knee, and ventured to kiss the monarch's passive hand. 

"My comrade! My King! I am sorry for you now!"

For answer, his own hand was suddenly caught in a fierce convulsivegrip, and the King rose stiffly erect. His features were grey anddrawn, his lips were bloodless, his eyes glittering, as with fever. Stricken to the heart as he was, he yet forced himself to find voiceand utterance. 

"Speak again, Zouche! Speak those horrible, horrible words again! Makeme feel them to be true! Lotys is dead!"

Zouche, with something like fear for the visible, yet stronglysuppressed anguish of the man before him, sighed drearily as herepeated----

"Lotys is dead! It is God's way--to kill all beautiful things, just aswe have learned to love them! She, --Lotys, --used to talk of Justiceand Order, --poor soul!--she never found either! Yet she believed inGod!"

The King's stern face never relaxed in its frozen rigidity of woe. Onlyhis lips moved mutteringly. 

"Dead! Lotys! My God!--my God! To rise to such a height of hope andgood--and then--to fall so low! Lotys gone from me!--and with her goesall!"

Then a sudden delirious hurry seemed to take possession of him. 

"Go now, Zouche!" he said impatiently--"Go back to the place where shelies--and tell her I am coming! I must--I will see her again! And Iwill see you again, Zouche!--you too!" He forced a pale smile--"Yes, poor poet! I will see you and speak with you of this--you shall writefor her a dirge!--a threnody of passion and regret that shall make thewhole world weep! Poor Zouche!--you have had a hard life--well may youwonder why God made us men! And Lotys is dead!"

He rang the bell on his desk violently. Sir Roger de Launay at oncereturned, --but started back at the sight of his Royal master's alteredcountenance. 

"Have the kindness, De Launay"--said the King hurriedly, not heedinghis dismayed looks--"to place a carriage at the disposal of our friendZouche! He has much business to do;--sad news to bear to all thequarters of the city--he will tell you of it, --as he has just told me!Lotys, --you know her!--Lotys, who saved my life at the risk of herown, --Lotys is dead!"

Sir Roger recoiled with an ejaculation of horror and pity. 

"It is sudden--and--and strange!" continued the King, still speaking inthe same rapid manner, and beginning to push aside the various lettersand documents on his table--"It is a kind of darkness fallen withoutwarning!--but--such tragedies always do happen thus--unpreparedly!Lotys was a grand creature, --a noble and self-sacrificing woman--thepoor will miss her--yes--the poor will miss her greatly!----"

He broke off, and with a speechless gesture of agonised entreaty, intimated that he must be left alone. De Launay hustled Zouche out ofthe apartment in a kind of impotent fury. 

"Why have you brought the King such news?" he demanded--"It will killhim!"

"He has killed _her_!" returned Zouche, grimly--"If he had nevercrossed her path, she would have been alive now! Why should not a Kingsuffer like other men? He does the same foolish things, --he has hisprivate loves and hatreds in the same foolish manner, --why should heescape punishment for his follies? It is only in suffering that hegrows human, --stripped by grief and pain of his outward pomp andtemporal power, he even becomes lovable! God save us from this baubleof 'power'! It is what Sergius Thord has worked for all his life!--itis what this King claims over his subjects--and yet--both monarch andreformer would give it all for the life of one woman back again! Lookyou, the King has had a dozen or more mistresses, and Heaven knows howmany bastards--but he has only loved once! And it is well that heshould learn what real love means, --Sorrow always, and Death often!"

That afternoon the whole city knew of the tragic end of Lotys. Nothingelse was thought of, nothing else talked of. Thousands gathered to lookup at the house where her body lay, stiffening in the cold grasp ofdeath, and a strong body of police were summoned to guard all theapproaches to the premises, in order to prevent a threatening 'crush'and disaster among the increasing crowd, every member of which soughtto look for the last time on the face of her who had unselfishly servedthem and loved them in their hours of bitterest need. The sight ofSergius Thord passing through their midst, with bent head, and ashy, distraught countenance, had not pacified the clamorous grief of thepeople, nor had it elicited such an outburst of sympathy for him as onemight have thought would have been forthcoming. An idea had gottenabroad that since his election as Deputy for the city, he had eitherneglected or set aside the woman who had assisted him to gain hisposition. It was a wrong idea, of course, --but the trifling fact of hishaving taken up his abode in a more 'aristocratic' part of themetropolis, while Lotys had still remained in the 'quarter of thepoor, ' was sufficient to give it ground in the minds of the ignorant, who are always more or less suspicious of even their best friends. Hadthey made a more ominous guess, --had they imagined that Sergius Thordwas the actual murderer of the woman they had idolised, there wouldhave been no remembrance whatever of the work he had done to aid themin the various reforms now being made for their benefit;--they wouldhave torn him to pieces without a moment's mercy. The rough justice ofthe mob is a terrible thing! It knows nothing of legal phraseology orcourtesy--it merely sees an evil deed done, and straightway proceeds topunish the evil-doer, regardless of consequences. Happily for the sakeof peace and order, however, no thought of the truth, no suspicion ofthe real cause of the tragedy occurred to any one person among thesorrow-stricken multitude. A faint, half-sobbing cheer went up for theKing, as his private brougham was recognised, making its way slowlythrough the press of people, --and it was with a kind of silent awe, that they watched his tall figure alight and pass into the house wherelay the dead. Sergius Thord had already entered there, --the King andhis new Deputy would meet! And with uneasy movements, rambling up anddown, talking of Lotys, of her gentleness, patience and never-wearyingsympathy for all the suffering and the lonely, the crowds collected, dispersed, and collected again, --every soul among them heavilyweighted and depressed by the grief and the mystery of death, whichthough occurring every day, still seems the strangest of fates to everymortal born into the world. 

Meantime, the King with slow reluctant tread, ascended into the room ofdeath. Sergius Thord stood there, --but his brooding face and bulkyform might have been but a mote of dust in a sunbeam for the littleheed the stricken monarch took of him. His whole sight, his whole soulwere concentrated on the white recumbent statue with the autumn-goldhair, which was couched in front of him, strewn with flowers. That wasLotys--or rather, that had been Lotys! It was now a very beautiful, still, smiling Thing, --its eyes were shut, but the eyelashes laydelicately on the pallid cheeks like little fringes of dark gold, tenderly slumbrous. Those eyelashes matched the hair--the soft, silkenhair--so fine--so lustrous, so warm and bright!--the hair was surelyyet living! With a shuddering sigh, the King bent over the piteoussight, --and stooping lower and lower still, touched with tremblinglips the small, crossed hands. 

As he did this, his arm was caught roughly, and Thord thrust him aside. 

"Do not touch her!" he muttered hoarsely--"Let her rest in peace!"

Slowly the King raised his face. It was ashen grey and stricken old. The dark, clear, grey eyes were sunken and dim, --the light of hope, ambition, love and endeavour, was quenched in them for ever. 

"Was she unhappy, that she killed herself?" he asked, in a hushedvoice. 

Thord drew back, shuddering. Those sad, lustreless eyes of hisSovereign seemed to pierce his soul! He--the murderer of Lotys--couldnot face them! A vague whirl of thoughts tormented his brain, --he hadheard it said that a murdered person's corpse would bleed in thepresence of the murderer, --would the dead body of Lotys bleed now, hewondered dully, if he waited long enough? If so--the King would know!He started guiltily, as once more the sad, questioning voice broke onhis ears. 

"Was she unhappy, think you? You knew her better than I!"

Huskily, and with dry lips, Thord forced an answer. 

"Nay, it is possible your Majesty knew her best!"

Again the sunken melancholy eyes searched his face. 

"She was endowed with genius, --rich in every good gift of womanhood! Iwould have given my life for hers--my kingdom to spare her a moment'ssorrow!" went on the King; "But she would have nothing from me--nothing!"

"Nothing, --not even love!" said Thord recklessly. 

"That she had, whether she would or no!"--replied the King, slowly, --"That she will have, till time itself shall end!"

Thord was silent. A passion of mingled fury and remorse consumed him, --his heart was beating rapidly, --there were great pulsations in hisbrain like heavy hammer-strokes, --he was afraid of himself, lest on asavage impulse he should leap like a beast of prey on this gravecomposed figure, --this King, --who was his acknowledged ruler, --and killhim, even as he had killed Lotys! And then, --he thought of the People!--the People by whose great force and strong justice he had sworn toabide!--the People who had worshipped and applauded him, --the Peoplewho, if they ever knew the truth of him and his crime, would snatch himup and tear his body to atoms, as surely as he stood branded withMurder in God's sight this day! With a powerful effort he rallied hisforces, and drawing from his breast the small folded paper which hadbeen found on the body of Lotys, and which was inscribed with the words'My Last Wish, ' he held it out to the King. 

"Then your Majesty will perhaps grant her the burial she here demands?"he said--"It is a strange request!--but not difficult to gratify!"

Taking the paper, the monarch touched it tenderly with his lips beforeopening it. In all the blind stupefaction of his own grief, he wasstruck by the fact that there was something strained and unnaturalabout Thord's appearance, --something wild and forced even in hisexpression of sorrow. He studied his face closely, but to no purpose;--there was no clue to the mystery packed within the harsh lines ofthose dark, fierce features, --he seemed no more and no less than thesame brooding, leonine creature that had mercilessly planned the deathsof men in his own Revolutionary Committee. There was no touch ofsoftness in his eyes, --no tears, even at the sight of Lotys smilingcoldly in her flower-strewn shroud. And now, unfolding her lastmessage, the King beheld it thus expressed:

"To THOSE WHO SHALL FIND ME DEAD

"I pray you of your gentle love and charity, not to bury my body in theearth, but in the sea. For I most earnestly desire no mark, orremembrance of the place where my sorrows, with my mortal remains, shall be rendered back to nature; and kinder than the worms in themould are the wild waves of the ocean which I have ever loved! Andthere, --at least to my own thoughts, --if any spiritual part of meremains to watch my will performed, --shall I be best pleased and mostgrateful to be given my last rest. LOTYS. "

This document had been written and signed some years back, and had, therefore, nothing to do with any idea of immediate departure from theworld, or premeditated suicide. And once again the King lookedsearchingly at Thord, as he returned him the paper. 

"Her will shall be performed!" he said--"And in a manner befitting hermemory, --befitting the love borne to her by a People--and--a King!"

He paused, --then went on softly. 

"To you Sergius, my friend and comrade!--to you will be entrusted thetask of committing this sweet casket of a sweeter soul to the mercy ofthe waves!--you, the guardian of her childhood, the defender of herwomanhood, the protector of her life----"

"O God! No more--no more!" cried Thord, suddenly falling on his kneesby the couch of the dead--"No more--in mercy! I will do all--all! Butleave me with her now!--leave me alone with her, this last littlewhile!"

And breaking into great sobs, he buried his head among the death-flowers in an utter abandonment of despair. 

Silently the King watched him for a little space. Then he turned hiseyes towards the pale form of the woman he had loved, and who hadtaught him the noblest and most selfless part of love, sleeping herlast sleep, with a fixed sweet smile upon her face. 

"We shall meet again, my Lotys!" he whispered--"On the other side ofDeath!"

And so, --with the quiet air of one who knows a quick way out ofdifficulty, he departed. 

Some five days later, a strange and solemn spectacle was witnessed bythousands of spectators from all the shores and quays of the sea-girtcity. A ship set sail for the Land of the Infinite!--a silent passengerwent forth on a voyage to the borders of the Unknown! Coffined instate, --with a purple velvet pall trailing its rich folds over thecasket which enshrined her perished mortality, --and with flowers ofevery imaginable rareness, or wildness, scattered about it, --the bodyof Lotys was, with no religious or formal ceremony, placed on the deckof a sailing-brig, and sent out to the waves for burial. So SergiusThord had willed it; so Sergius Thord had planned it. He had purchasedthe vessel for this one purpose, and with his own hands he had strewnthe deck with blossoms, till it looked like a floating garden offairyland. Garlands of roses trailed from the mast, --wreaths from everyformer member of the now extinct 'Revolutionary Committee' were heapedin profusion about the coffin which lay in the centre of the deck, --thesails were white as snow, and one of them bore, the name 'Lotys' uponit, in letters of gold. It was arranged that the brig should be towedfrom the harbour, and out to sea for about a couple of miles, --and whenthere, should be cut free and set loose to the wind and tide to meetits fate of certain wreckage in the tossing billows beyond. In strangecontrast to this floating funeral were the brilliant flags and gaystreamers which were already being put up along the streets and quays, as the first signs of the city's welcome to the Crown Prince and hisbride, who were expected to arrive home somewhere within the next tendays. Eager crowds watched the unique ceremony, unknown save in oldViking days, of sending forth a dead voyager to sail the pitiless seas;and countless numbers of small boats attended the funeral vessel in along flotilla, --escorting it out to that verge where the ocean openedwidely to the wider horizon, and spread its high road of silver wavesinvitingly out to the approaching silent adventurer. Comments ranfreely from lip to lip, --Sergius Thord had been seen, pale as death, laying flowers on the deck to the last, --the King, --yes!--the Kinghimself had sent a wreath, as a token of remembrance, to the obsequiesof the woman who had saved his life, --the purple velvet pall, with itsglittering fringes of gold, had been the gift of the city of whichThord was the lately-elected Deputy, --Louis Valdor had sent thatgarland of violets, --the great wreath of roses which lay at the head ofthe coffin, was the offering of the famous little dancer, Pequita, who, it was said, now lay sick of a fever brought on by grief and frettingfor the loss of her best friend, --and rich and poor alike had vied withone another in assisting the weird beauty of this exceptional andstrange burial, in which no sexton was employed but the wild wind, which would in due time scoop a hollow in the sea, and whirl down intofathomless deeps all that remained of a loving woman, with theofferings of a People's love around her!

From the Palace windows the Queen watched the weird pageant, withstraining eyes, and a sense of relief at her heart. This unknown rivalof hers, --this Lotys--was dead! Her body would soon be drifting out onthe wild waste of waters, to be caught by the first storm and sunk inthe depths of eternal silence. She was glad!--almost she could havesung for joy! The colour mantled on her fair cheeks, --she lookedyounger and more beautiful than ever. She had learned her long-neglected lesson, --the lesson of, 'how to love. ' And to herself shehumbly confessed the truth--that she loved no other than her husband!The King had now become the centre of her heart, as he had become thecentre of his People's trust. And she watched the vessel bearing thecorpse of Lotys, gliding, gliding over the waves--she tracked thecircling concourse of boats that went with it--and waited, withquickened breath and eager eyes, till she saw a sudden pause in theprocession--when, riding lightly on a shining wave, the funeral-shipseemed to stop for an instant--and then, with a bird-like dip forward, scurried out with full, bulging sails to the open sea! The crowdingspectators began to break up and disperse--the flotilla of attendantboats turned back to shore--the dead woman who had held such magneticinfluence over the King, was gone!--gone for ever into the waterycaverns of endless death!

It was with a light heart that the Queen at last rose from her watch atthe window, and prepared to array herself for the return of hersovereign lord. Her eyes sparkled, her lips smiled; she looked the veryincarnation of love and tenderness. The snow-peak had melted at last, and underneath the ice, love's late violets had begun to bloom! Sheglanced once more out at the sea, where the vanishing death-ship nowseemed but a speck on the far horizon, and saw a bank of solemn purpleclouds darkening the golden sunset line, --clouds that rose up thicklyand swiftly, like magic mountains conjured into sudden existence bysome witch in a fairy tale. A gust of wind shook the lattice--andmoaned faintly through the chinks of the door. 

"There will be a storm to-night!" she said musingly, her eyes followingthe dispersing crowds, as they poured along the terrace from the shore, or climbed up from the quays to the higher streets of the town:--"Therewill be a storm!--and the woman who was called Lotys, will know nothingof it! The vessel she sails in will be crushed like a shell in theteeth of the blast, and her body will sink like a stone in the angrysea! So will she sleep--so does her brief power over the King come toan end!"

Turning, she smiled at her lady-in-waiting, Teresa de Launay, who hadalso watched the sea funeral of Lotys with wondering and often tear-filled eyes. 

"How the people must have loved her!" the girl murmured softly; "Nopoor person or child came to these strange obsequies without flowers!--many wept--and some swear there is no happiness at all for them now, without Lotys! She must have been a sweet, unselfish woman!"

The Queen was silent. 

"Since she saved the life of our lord the King, I have often thought ofher!" went on Teresa--"I have even hoped to see her! Dearest Madam, would you not have been glad to thank her once before she died?"

The Queen's face hardened. 

"She only did her duty!" was the cold answer--"Every subject in therealm would be proud to have the chance of being the King's defender!"

At that moment the door opened, and Sir Roger de Launay entered, --thendrew back in some surprise and hesitation. 

"I crave your pardon, Madam!" he said, bowing low--"I thought the Kingwas here!"

"Truly the King should be here by now, "--replied the Queen gently--"Buthe is doubtless detained among the people, who wait upon his footsteps, as though he were a demi-god!" She smiled happily. "He went out to seeyonder strange funeral pageant--and left no word of the hour of hisreturn. "

Sir Roger looked perplexed. The Queen noticed his expression ofanxiety. 

"Stay but a moment, Sir Roger, " she added--"Now I remember, he bade meat sunset, go to my own room and fetch a packet I would find from himthere, --he may be waiting for me now!"

She retired, the radiant smile still upon her face, and Sir Rogerlooked at his sister with concern for her tearful eyes. 

"Weeping, Teresa?" he said--"What is the trouble?"

"Nothing!" she answered quickly--"Only a presentiment of evil! Thatfuneral-ship has made me sad!"

Sir Roger said nothing for the moment. He was too preoccupied with hisown forebodings to give much heed to hers. He walked to the window. 

"There will be a storm to-night!" he said. "Look at those great clouds!They are big with thunder and with rain!"

"Yes!" murmured Teresa--"There will be a storm--Madam!"

She turned with a cry to feel the Queen's grip on her shoulder--to seethe Queen, white as marble, with blazing eyes, possessed by a veryfrenzy of grief and terror. A tragic picture of despairing Majesty, sheconfronted the startled De Launay with an open paper in her hand. 

"Where is the King?" she demanded, in accents that quivered with fearand passion. "From you, Sir Roger de Launay, must come the answer! Toyou, his friend and servant, I trusted his safety! And of you I askagain--Where is the King?"

Stupefied and stunned, Sir Roger stared helplessly at this enragedsplendour of womanhood, this embodied wrath of royalty. 

"Madam!" he stammered, --"I know nothing--save that the King has beensorely stricken by a great sorrow--"

She looked at him with flashing eyes. 

"Sorrow for what?--for whom?"

De Launay gazed at her amazedly;--why did she ask of what she knew sowell?

"Madam, to answer that is not within my province!"

She was silent, breathing quickly. Great tears gathered on her lashes, but did not fall. 

"When saw you his Majesty last?"

"But three hours since, Madam! He bade me leave him alone, saying hewould walk a while in the further grounds away from the sight of thesea. He had no mind, he said, to look upon the passing away of Lotys!"

A strange grey pallor crept over the Queen's face. She stood proudlyerect, yet tottered as though about to fall. Teresa de Launay ran toher in terror. 

"Dearest Madam!" cried the trembling girl--"Be comforted! Be patient!The King will come!"

"He will never come!" said the Queen in a low choked voice;--"Neveragain--never, never again! I feel--I know--that I have lost him forever! He has gone--but where?--O God!--where!"

"Madam!" said Sir Roger, shaken to the soul by the sight of hersuppressed agony--"That paper in your hand--"

"This paper, " she said, with a convulsive effort at calmness, "makes meRegent till the return of my son, the Crown Prince--and--at the sametime--bids me farewell! Farewell!--and why farewell? Oh, faithlessservant!" and she advanced a step, fixing her burning eyes on thestricken De Launay--"I thought you loved me!"

His face flushed--his lips quivered. 

"As God lives, Madam, I yield to no one in my love and service of you!"

"Then find the King!" and she stretched out her arm with a gesture ofauthority--"Bring back to me my husband!--the one man of the world!--the one man I have learned to love! Follow the King!--whether on landor sea, whether alive or dead, --in heaven or hell, follow him! Yourplace is not with me--but by your master's side! If you know notwhither he has fled, make it your business to learn!--and never let mesee your face again till _his_ face shines beside yours, likesunshine against darkness!--till his eyes, his smile make gladnesswhere your presence without him is a mocking misery! Out of my sight!And nevermore return again, save in your duty and attendance on theKing!"

"Madam, --Madam!" exclaimed Teresa--"Would you condemn my brother to alasting banishment? What if the King were dead?"

"Dead!" The word left the Queen's lips in a sharp sob of pain--"TheKing cannot die!--he is too strong--too bold and brave! He has metdeath ere now and conquered it! Dead? No--that is not possible--thatcould not be!"

She turned again upon Sir Roger, standing mute and pale, a very statueof despair. 

"I give you a high mission!" she said--"Fulfil it!"

He started from his unhappy reverie. 

"Be sure that I will do so!" he said--"I will--as your Majesty bids me--follow the King! And--till the King returns with me--I also say farewell!"

Catching his sister in his arms, he kissed her with a murmuredblessing--and profoundly saluting the woman for whose love's sake hisvery life was now demanded, he left the room. 

"Roger, Roger!" cried Teresa in an anguish, as the sound of hisfootsteps died away--"Come back! Come back!"

And falling on her knees by the Queen's side, she burst into wildweeping. 

"If the King has gone for ever, my brother is gone too, " she sobbed--"Oh, dearest Majesty, have you no heart?"

"None!" said the Queen with a strained smile, while the slow, hot tearsbegan to fall from her aching eyes--"None! What heart I had is gone! Itfollows the King!"

CHAPTER XXXIV

ABDICATION

A great storm was gathering. The heavy purple clouds which had arisenin the west at sunset, when all that was mortal of Lotys had been sentforth to a lonely burial in the sea, had gradually spread over thewhole sky, darkening in hue as they moved, and rolling together in hugeopaque masses, which presently began to close in and become denser asthe night advanced. By and by a wild wind awoke, as it were, from thevery cavities of ocean, and the waves began to hiss warnings all alongthe coast, and to rise higher and higher over each other's shoulders asthe gale steadily increased. Réné Ronsard, sitting in his cottage, feeble and somewhat ailing, heard the beginnings of the tempest withlong-accustomed ears. He was depressed in spirit, yet not altogethersolitary, for he had with him a kindly companion in Professor vonGlauben. The Professor had been one of the many who had attended thestrange funeral-pageant of the afternoon, not only out of interest in, and regret for, the fate of the woman whose unique character he hadadmired, and whose difficult position he had pitied; but also becausehe had suffered from an unpleasant presentiment to which he could giveno name. If he could have described his forebodings at all, he wouldhave said they were more or less connected with the King, --but how orwhy, he would not have been able to explain, save that since the deathof Lotys, his Sovereign master had no longer looked the same man. Stricken as with a blight, and grown suddenly old, his manner andappearance were as of one devoured by a secret despair, --a corrodingdisease, --of which the end could only be disastrous. Overcome by thepain and distress of being the constant witness of a sorrow which hefelt to the heart, yet could not relieve, the Professor, on returningfrom the scene of Lotys's impressive funeral, had put ashore on TheIslands, instead of going back to the mainland. He had soughtpermission from the King to remain with Ronsard for the night, --and thepermission had been readily, almost eagerly granted. The King, indeed, had seemed glad to be relieved of the too anxious solicitude of hisphysician, who, he knew, was well aware of the concealed agony of mindwhich tortured and well-nigh maddened him, --and the Professor, keenlyobservant, was equally conscious that, under the immediatecircumstances, his attendance might seem more of an intrusion than aduty. 

"De Launay was not far wrong when he prophesied danger for the King asthe result of his beginning to think for himself;" he mused--"Yet ithas come--this danger--in a different way to that in which we expectedit! It is a bold move for the ruler of a country to make personalexamination into the needs of his people, --but it is seldom that, whileengaged in such a task, the ruler himself becomes ruled, by a strongerforce than even his own temporal power!"

And now, sitting with old Réné Ronsard, by a fire which had beenkindled on this somewhat chilly night for his better comfort, he was, despite the impression of sadness and disaster which hung upon his mindas darkly as the clouds were hanging in heaven, doing his best to rouseboth himself and his companion to greater cheerfulness. The wind, shaking the lattice, and now and then screaming dismally under thedoor, did not inspire him to gaiety, but his thoughts were principallyfor Ronsard, who was inclined to yield to an overpowering despondency. 

"This will never do, Ronsard!" he said after a pause, during which hehad noticed a tear or two steal slowly down the old man's furrowedcheek; "What sort of a welcome will such a face as yours be to ourCrown Princess Gloria? She will soon be here; think of it! And what atriumphant entry she will make, acclaimed by the whole nation!"

"I shall not be wanted in her life!" said Ronsard, slowly. "After all, I am nothing to her, and have no claim upon her. I found her, as a poorman may by chance find a rare jewel, --that the jewel is afterwardsfound worthy to be set in a king's crown, is not the business of thatsame poor man. He who merely hews a diamond out of the mine, is not themaker of the diamond!"

"Gloria loves you!" said the Professor; "And she will love you always!"

Ronsard smiled faintly. 

"My friend, I understand, and I accept the law of change!" he said. "Tome, as to all, it must come! The old must die, and the young succeedthem. As for me, I shall be glad to go--the sooner the better, I trulythink, for then none will taunt my Gloria with the simple manner of herbringing up;--none will remember aught, save her exceeding beauty, orblame her that the sun and sea were her only known parents. And if wecredit legend, hers is not the first birth of loveliness from the bosomof the waves!"

Here the wind, tearing round the rafters, rattled and roared for aspace like a demon threatening the whole construction of the house, andthen went galloping away with a shriek among the pines down to theshore. 

"A wild night!" said the Professor, with a slight shiver. "Alas! poorLotys!--poor 'Soul of an Ideal' as Sergius Thord called her, --her frailmortal tenement will soon be drawn down to the depths in such a stormas this!"

"I never saw her!" said Ronsard musingly; "Thord I have seen often. Lotys was to me a name merely, --but I knew it was a name to conjurewith--a name beloved of the People. Gloria longed to see her, --she hadheard of her often. "

"She was a psychological phenomenon, " said the Professor slowly; "And Iadmit that her composition baffled me. No one have I ever seen at alllike her. She was beautiful without any of the accepted essentials ofbeauty--and it is precisely such a woman as that who possesses the mostdangerous fascination over men--not over boys--but over men. She had aloving, passionate, feminine heart, with a masculine brain, --the twotogether are bound to constitute what is called Genius. The only thingI cannot understand is the unexpected weakness she displayed incommitting suicide. That I should never have thought of her. On thecontrary, I should have imagined, knowing as much of her as I did, thatthe greater the sorrow, the greater the fight she would have madeagainst it. "

A silence fell between them, filled by the thundering noise of thewind. 

"Where is Thord?" asked Ronsard presently. 

"I do not know. The last I saw of him was on board the vessel that boreher coffin;--he was laying flowers on the deck. He was not, I think, inany of the smaller boats that accompanied it; he must have returnedwith the crowd on shore. He has his duties as Deputy for the city now, we must remember!"

Ronsard's eyes flashed with a glimmer of satire in the firelight. 

"If it had not been for Lotys, he would not be a Deputy, or anythingelse, --save perchance a Communist or an Anarchist!" he said; "he usedto be one of the fiercest malcontents in all the country when I firstcame here. Many and many is the time I have heard him threaten to killthe King!"

"Ah!" said the Professor meaningly, the while he bent his eyes on theflickering fire. 

Again a silence fell. The wind roared and screamed around the building, and in the pauses of the gale, the minutes seemed weighted with astrange dread. Every tick of the clock sounded heavy and long, even tothe equable-minded Professor. The storm outside was growing louder andeven louder, and his thoughts, despite himself, turned to the ocean-wildernesses over which Prince Humphry's home-returning vessel must benow on its way--while that other solitary barque, unhelmed andunmanned, whose sail bore the name of 'Lotys' was also voyaging, but ina darker direction, down to death and oblivion, carrying with it, as hefeared, all the love and heart of a King! Suddenly a loud knocking atthe door startled them; and as Ronsard rose from his chair, amazed atthe noise and Von Glauben did the same with more alacrity, a man withwind blown hair and excited gestures burst into the little room. 

"Ronsard!" he cried; "The King--the King!"

He paused, gasping for breath. Ronsard looked at him wonderingly. Hisclothes were saturated with sea-water, --his face was pale--and his eyesexpressed some fear that his tongue seemed incapable of uttering. Hewas one of the coral-fishers of the coast, and Ronsard knew him well. 

"What ails you, man?" he asked; "What say you of the King?"

Holding the door of the cottage open with some difficulty, the coral-fisher pointed to the sky overhead. It was flecked with great masses ofwhite cloud, through which the moon appeared to roll rapidly like aball of yellow fire. The wind howled furiously, and the pines in thenear distance could be seen bending to and fro like reeds in itsbreath, while the roar of the sea beyond the rocks was fierce anddeafening. 

"It is all storm!" cried the man, excitedly; "The billows are runningmountains high!--there is no chance for him!"

"No chance for whom?" demanded Von Glauben, impatiently; "What wouldyou tell us? Speak plainly!"

"It was the King!" said the coral-fisher again, trying to expresshimself more collectedly--"I saw his face lit up by the after-glow ofthe sky--white--white as the foam on the wave! Listen! When the body ofthe woman Lotys was borne away on that vessel, a man came to me out ofthe thickest of the crowd (I was on one of the furthest quays)--andoffered me a purse of gold to take him out to sea--and to steer him insuch a way that we should meet the funeral barque just as she was cutadrift and sent forth to be wrecked in the ocean. I did not know himthen. He kept his face hidden, --he spoke low, and he was evidently introuble. I thought he was a lover of the dead woman, and sought perhapsto comfort himself by looking at her coffin for the last time. So Iconsented to do what he asked. I had my sailing skiff, and we went atonce. The wind was strong; we sailed swiftly--and at the appointedplace--" He paused to take breath. Ronsard seized him by the arm. 

"Quick! Go on--what next?"

"At the appointed place when the vessel stopped, --when her ropes werecut and she afterwards sprang out to sea, I, by his orders, ran myskiff close beside her as she came, --and before I knew how it happened, my passenger sprang aboard her--Ay!--with a spring as light and sure asthe flight of a bird! 'Farewell!' he said, and flung me the promisedgold; 'May all be prosperous with you and yours!' And then the windswooped down and bore the ship a mile or more ere I could follow it;but the strong light in the west fell full upon the man's face--and Isaw--I knew it was the King!"

"Gott in Himmel! May you for ever be confounded and mistaken!"exclaimed Von Glauben, --"I left the King in his own grounds but an hourbefore I myself started to witness this accursed sea-funeral!"

"I say it was the King!" repeated the man emphatically. "I would swearit was the King! And the vessel going out to meet the storm tonight, holds the living, as well as the dead!"

With a sudden movement, as active as it was decided, old Ronsard wentto a corner in the room and drew out a thick coil of rope with an ironhook at the end, and slinging it round his waist with the alertquickness of youth, made for the open door. 

"Where is your skiff?" he demanded. 

"Ashore down yonder;" answered the coral-fisher; "But you--what are yougoing to do? You cannot sail her in such a night as this!"

"I will adventure!" said Ronsard. "If, as you say, it was the King, Iwill save him if he can be saved! Once a King's life was nothing to me;now it is something! The tide veers round these Islands, and the vesselon which they have placed the body of Lotys, can scarcely drift awayfrom the circle till morning, unless the waves are too strong for it--"

"They are too strong!" cried the coral-fisher; "Ronsard, believe me!There is no rain to soften or abate the wind--and the sea grows greaterwith every breath of the rising gale!"

"I care nothing!" replied Ronsard; "Let be! If you are afraid, I willgo alone!"

At these words, the Professor suddenly awoke to the situation. 

"What would you attempt, Ronsard?" he exclaimed; "You can do nothing!You are weak and ailing!--there is no force in you to combat with theelements on such a night as this--"

"There _is_ force!" said Ronsard; "The force of my thirst foratonement! Let me be, for God's sake! Let me do something useful in mylife!--let me try to save the King! If I die, so much the better. "

"Then I will go with you!" said Von Glauben, desperately. 

Ronsard shook his head. 

"You? No, my friend! You will not! You will remain to welcome Gloria--to tell her that I loved her to the last!--that I did my best!"

He seemed to have grown young in an instant, --his eyes flashed withalertness and vigour, and instead of an old decaying man, full of caresand despondencies, he seemed like a bold adventurer, before whom a newland of promise opens. Von Glauben looked at him, and in a moment madeup his mind. He turned to the coral-fisher. 

"What think you truly of the night, my friend? Is it for life or deathwe go?"

"Death! Certain death!" answered the man; "It is madness to set sail insuch a storm as this!"

"You are married, no doubt? And little ones eat your earnings? Ach so!Then you shall not be asked to go with us. Ronsard, I am ready! I canpull an oar and manage a sail, and I am not afraid of death bydrowning! For Gloria's sake, let me go with you!"

"For Gloria's sake, stay here!" cried Ronsard; and with an abruptmovement he escaped Von Glauben's hold, and ran with all the speed of aboy out of the cottage into the garden beyond. 

Von Glauben rushed after him, but found himself in the thicket ofpines, trapped and hemmed in by the darkness of their stems andbranches. The wind was so fierce and strong, that he could scarcelykeep his feet, --every now and again the moon flew out of a great cloud-pinnacle and glared on the scene, but not with sufficient clearness toshow him his way. Yet he knew the place well--often had he and Gloriatrodden that path down to the sea, and yet to-night it seemed allunfamiliar. How the sea roared! Like a thousand lions clamouring forprey! Against the rocks the rising billows hissed and screamed, rattling backward among stones and shells with the grinding noise ofartillery wagons being hastily dragged off a lost field of battle. 

"Ronsard!" he called as loudly as he could, and again "Ronsard!" buthis voice, big and stentorian though it was, made but the feeblest wailin the loud shriek of the wind. Yet he stumbled on and on, and by slowand difficult degrees found his way down to the foot of the high rockswhich formed a pinnacled wall between him and the sea, --the rocks hehad so often climbed with Gloria, and of which she had sung in suchmatchless tones of triumph and tenderness. 

 Here, by the sea. My King crown'd me! Wild ocean sang for my Coronation, With the jubilant voice of a mighty nation!

The memory of this song came back to his ears in a ringing echo, amidthe howling of the boisterous wind, which now blew harder and harder, scattering masses of blown froth from the waves in his face, withflying sand and light shells, and torn-up weed. Scarcely able to standagainst it, he paused to get his breath, realising that it would beworse than useless to climb the rocks in the teeth of such a gale, ortry to reach the old accustomed winding way down to the shore. Heendeavoured to collect his scattered wits;--if the ceaseless onslaughtof the storm would only have allowed him to think coherently, hefancied he might have found another and easier path to lead him in thedirection whither Ronsard, in his mad, but heroic impulse, had gone. But the gale was so terrific, and the booming of the great waves on theother side of the rocky barrier so awful, that it seemed as if thewater must be rolling in like a solid wall, bent on breaking down thecoast, and grinding it to powder. His heart ached heavily;--tears roseto his eyes. 

"What a grain of dust I am in this world of storm!" he ejaculated;"Here I stand, --a strong man, utterly useless! Powerless to save thelife I would die to serve! But maybe the story is not true!--the mancan easily have been mistaken! Surely the King would not give up allfor the sake of one woman's love!"

But though he said this to himself, he knew that such things have been;indeed, that they are common enough throughout all history. He had notstudied humanity to so little purpose as not to be aware that there arecertain phases of the passion of love which make havoc of a man'swisest and best intentions; and that even as Marc Antony lost all forCleopatra's smile, and Harry the Eighth upset a Church for a woman'swhim, so in modern days the same old story repeats itself; and nomatter how great and famous the position of a king or an emperor, hemay yet court and obtain his own ruin and disaster, ay, lose his veryThrone for love;--deeming it well lost!

Restless, miserable and troubled by the confusion of his thoughts, which seemed to run wild with the wild wind and the thundering sea, theunhappy Professor retraced his steps to the cottage, hoping againsthope that Ronsard, physically unable to cope with the storm, would havereturned, baffled in his reckless attempt to put forth a boat to sea. But the little home was silent and deserted. There was the old man'sempty chair;--the clock against the wall ticked the minutes away with acomfortable persistence which was aggravating to the nerves; the firewas still bright. Before entering, Von Glauben looked up and downeverywhere outside, but there was no sign of any living creature. 

Nothing remained for him to do but to resign himself passively towhatsoever calamity the Omnipotent Forces above him chose to inflict, --and utterly weary, baffled and helpless, he sank into Ronsard's vacantchair, unconscious that tears were rolling down his face from theexcess of his anxiety and exhaustion. The shrieking of the wind, theoccasional glare of the moonlight through the rattling lattice windows, and the apparent rocking of the very rafters above him thrilled himinto new and ever recurring sensations of fear--yet he was no coward, and had often prided himself on having 'nerves of steel and sinews ofiron. ' Presently, he began to see quaint faces and figures in theglowing embers of the fire; old scraps of song and legend haunted him;fragments of Heine, mixed up with long-winded philosophical phrases ofSchopenhauer, began to make absurd contradictions and glaring contrastsin his mind, while he listened to the awful noises of the storm; andthe steady ticking of the clock on the wall worried him to such analmost childish degree, that had he not thought how often he had seenGloria winding up that clock and setting it to the right hour, he couldalmost have torn it down and broken it to pieces. By and by, however, tired Nature had her way, and utterly heavy and worn out in mind andbody, and weary of the disturbed and incoherent thoughts in his brain, he lay back and closed his eyes. He would rest a little while, he saidto himself, and 'wait. ' And so he gradually fell asleep, and in hissleep wrote, so he imagined, a whole eloquent chapter of his 'PoliticalHistory of Hunger' in which he described Sergius Thord as a despot, who, after proving false to the cause of the People, and grinding themdown by unlimited taxation such as no Government had ever beforeinflicted, seized the rightful king of the country, and sent him awayto be drowned in company with a woman of the People, whose body wasfastened to his by ropes and iron chains, in the fashion of 'LesNoyades' of Nantes. And he thought that the King rejoiced in his doom, and said strange words like those of the poet who sang of a similarstory:

 "For never a man like me Shall die like me till the whole world dies, I shall drown with her, laughing for love, and she Mix with me, touching me, lips and eyes!"

Meanwhile, Ronsard, true to the instinct within him, had fulfilled hisintention and had put out to sea. The fisherman who had brought thetidings which had moved him to this desperate act, was too much of ahero in himself to let the old man venture forth alone, --and so, following him down to the shore, had, despite all commands andentreaties to the contrary, insisted on going with him. The sailingskiff he owned was a strong boat, stoutly built, --and at first itseemed as if their efforts to ride the mountainous billows would becrowned with success. Old Rene had a true genius for the management ofa sail; his watchfulness never flagged:--his strenuous exertions wouldhave done credit to a man less than half his age. With delicateprecision he guided the ropes, as a jockey might have guided the reinsof a racehorse, and the vessel rose and fell lightly over the greatwaves, with such ease and rapidity, that the man who accompanied himand took the helm, an experienced sailor himself, began to feelconfident that after all the voyage might not be altogether futile. 

"The sea may be calmer further out from land!" he shouted to Rene, whonodded a quiet aquiescence, while he kept his eyes earnestly fixed onthe horizon, which the occasional brightness of the moon showed up likea line of fretted silver. Everywhere he scanned the waves for a glimpseof the fatal vessel bearing Death--and perhaps Life--on board; but overthe whole expanse of the undulating hills and valleys of wild water, there was no speck of a boat to be seen save their own. They swept onand on, the wind aiding them with savage violence--when suddenly theman at the helm shouted excitedly:

"Ronsard! See yonder! There she sails!"

With an exclamation of joy, Ronsard sprang up, and looking, saw withinwhat seemed an apparently short distance, the drifting funeral-barquehe sought. So far she seemed intact; her sails were bellying out fullto the wind, and she was rising and plunging bravely over the greatbreakers, which rolled on in interminable array, one over the other, --with rugged foam-crests that sprang like fountains to the sky. A fiveor ten minutes' run with the wind would surely bring them alongside, --and Ronsard turned with an eager will to his work once more. Over theheads of the monstrous waves, rising with their hills, sinking in theirvalleys, he guided the few yielding planks that were between him anddestruction, trimming the straining sail to the ferocious wind, andever keeping his eyes fixed on the vessel which was the object of hissearch, --the sole aim and end of his reckless voyage, and which seemednow to recede, and then to almost disappear, the more earnestly hestrove to reach it. 

"To save the King!" he muttered--"To save--not to kill! For Gloria'ssake!--to save the King!"

A capricious gust from the beating wings of the storm swooped down uponhim sideways, as he twisted the ropes and tugged at them in a herculeaneffort to balance the plunging boat and keep her upright, --and in theloud serpent-like hiss of the waves around him, he did not hear hiscompanion's wild warning cry--a cry of despair and farewell in one! Atoppling dark-green mass of water, moving on shoreward, lifted itselfquite suddenly, as it were, to its full height, as though to stare atthe puny human creatures who thus had dared to oppose the fury of theelements, and then, leaping forward like a devouring monster, brokeover their frail skiff, sweeping the sail off like a strip of ribbon, snapping the mast and rolling over and over them with a thousand headsof foam that, spouting upwards, again fell into dark cavernous deeps, covering and dragging down everything on the surface with a tumult androar! It passed on thundering, --but left a blank behind it. Skiff andmen had vanished, --and not a trace of the wreck floated on the angrywaves!

For one blinding second, Ronsard, buffeting the wild waves, saw theface of Gloria, --that best-beloved fair face, --angelic, pitying, lovingto the last, --shine on him like a star in the darkness!--the next hewas whelmed into the silence of the million dead worlds beneath thesea! So at last he paid his life's full debt. So, at last his atonementwas fulfilled. If it was true, --as he had in an unguarded momentconfessed, --that he had once killed a King, then the resistless Law ofCompensation had worked its way with him, --inasmuch as he had beenforced to render up what he cherished most, --the love of Gloria, --tothe son of a King, and had ended his days in an effort to save the lifeof a King! For the rest, whatever the real nature of his long-hiddensecret, --whatever the extent of the torture he had suffered in hisconscience, his earthly punishment was over; and the story of his pastcrime would never be known to the living world of men. One sinner, --onesufferer among many millions, he was but a floating straw on the vastwhirlpools of Time, --and whether he prayed for pardon and obtained it, whether he had worked out his own salvation or had lost it, may not beknown of him, or of any of us, till God makes up the sum of life, inwhich perchance none of even the smallest numerals shall be foundmissing!

Wilder grew the night, and more tempestuous the sea, while the skybecame a mountainous landscape of black and white clouds fitfullyillumined by the moon, which appeared to run over their fleecypinnacles and sable plains like some scared white creature pursued byinvisible foes: The vessel on which the corpse of Lotys lay, palled inpurple, and decked with flowers, flew over the waves, to all seemingwith the same hunted rapidity as the moon rushed through the heavens, --and so far, though her masts bent reed-like in the wind, and her sailsstrained at their cordage, she had come to no harm. Tossed about as shewas, rudderless and solitary, there was something almost miraculous inthe way she had weathered a storm in which many a well-guided ship mustinevitably have gone down. The purple pall with its heavy fringe ofgold, that shrouded the coffin she carried, was drenched through andthrough by the sea, and the flowers on the deck were beaten and drownedin the salt spray that dashed over them. 

But amid all the ruined blossoms of earth, by the side of the dead, andfull-fronted to the tempest, stood one living man, for whom life had nocharm, and death no terror--the King! What had been reported of him wastrue--he had resigned his Throne and left his kingdom for the sake ofadventuring forth on this great voyage of Discovery, --this swift andstormy sail with Lotys to the Land of the Unknown! Whether it was amadness, or a sick dream that fevered his blood, he knew not--but oncethe woman he loved was dead, every hope, every ambition in him diedtoo--and he felt himself to be a mere corpse of clay, unwillinglydragged about by a passionate soul that longed, and strove, and foughtin its shell for larger freedom. All his life, so to speak, save forthe last few months, he had been a prisoner;--he had never, as he hadhimself declared, known the sweetness of liberty;--but for the sake ofLotys, --had she lived, --he would have been content to still wear thechains of monarchy, and would have endeavoured to accomplish such goodas he might, and make such reforms as could possibly benefit hiscountry. But, after all, it is only a 'possibility 'that any reformswill avail to satisfy any people long; and he was philosopher andstudent enough to know that whatsoever good one may endeavour to do forthe wider happiness and satisfaction of the multitude, they are aslikely as not to turn and cry out--"Thy good is our evil! Thy love tous is but thine own serving!"--and so turn and rend their bestbenefactors. With the loss of Lotys, he lost the one mainspring offaith and enthusiasm which would have helped him to match himselfagainst his destiny and do battle with it. A great weariness seizedupon him, --a longing for some wider scope of action than such futilework as that of governing, or attempting to govern, a handful of unitswhose momentary Order was bound, in a certain period of time to lapseinto Disorder--then into Order again, and so on till the end of all. 

Hence his resolve to sail the seas with Lotys to that 'other side ofDeath' of which she had spoken, --that 'other side' which an inwardinstinct told him was not Death, but Life! He could not of himselfanalyse the emotions which moved him. He could not take the measure ofhis grief; it was too wide and too painful. He might have said withHeine: "Go, prepare me a bier of strong wood, longer than the bridge atMayence, and bring twelve giants stronger than the vigorous St. Christopher of Cologne Cathedral on the Rhine;--they will carry thecoffin and fling it in the sea, --so large a coffin needs a large grave!Would you know why the bier must be so long and large? With myself, Ilay there at the same time all my love and my sorrow!"

Sovereignty, --a throne, --a kingdom, --even an Empire--seemed poorwithout love to grace them. Had he never known the pure ideal passion, he would still have missed it;--but having known it--having felt itspower environing him day and night with a holy and spiritualtenderness, he could not but follow it when it was withdrawn--followit, ay, even into the realms of blackest night! Like the 'Pilgrim ofLove, ' delineated by one of the greatest painters in the world, herecked nothing of the darkness closing in, --of the pain andbewilderment of the road, which could only lead to interminable, inexplicable mystery;--he felt the hand of the great Angel upon him--the Angel of Love whom alone he cared to serve, --and if Love's way ledto Death, why then Death would be surely as sweet as Love! A great andalmost divine calm had taken possession of him from the moment he hadfulfilled his intention of boarding the ship which carried away fromhim all that was mortal of the woman he had secretly idolised. The wildturbulence of Nature around him had only intensified his perfectcontent. He had pleased himself by taking care of the sleeping Lotys--such tender care! He had tried to shield her coffin from the onslaughtsof the fierce waves; he had protected many of the funeral flowers fromdestruction, and had lifted the gold fringe of the purple pall many andmany a time out of the drenching spray cast over it. There was astrange delight in doing this. Lotys knew! That was his chiefreflection. And 'on the other side of Death, ' as she had said, theywould meet--and to that 'other side' they were sailing together withall the speed Heaven's own forces could give to their journey. Oh, that'other side'! What brightness, what peace, what glory, what mutualcomprehension, what deep and perfect and undisturbed love would befound there! He smiled as he watched the swollen and angry sea, --therising billows shouldering each other and bearing each other down;--howmuch grander, how much more spiritual and near to God, he thought, wasthis conflict of the elements, than the petty wars of men!--theirdesires of conquest, their greed of gold, their thirst for temporalpower!

"My Lotys!" he said aloud; "You knew the world! You knew the littlenessof worldly ambition! You knew that there is only one thing worth livingand dying for, and that is Love! Your heart was all love, my Lotys!Deprived of love for yourself, you gave all you had to those who neededit, and when you found my love for you might do me harm in the People'shonour, you sacrificed your life! Alas, my Lotys! If you could but haverealised that through you, and the love of you, I a King, who had longmissed my vocation, could alone be truly worthy of sovereignty!"

He laid his hand on her coffin with a tender touch, as though to sootheits quiet occupant. 

"My beloved!" he said, "We shall meet very soon!--very soon now! 'onthe other side of death'--and God will understand, --and be pitiful!"

The storm now seemed to be at its height. The monstrous waves, as theyarose to combat the frail vessel in her swift career, made a bellowingclamour, and once or twice the ship reeled and staggered, as thoughabout to lurch forward and go under. But the King felt no fear, --nohorror of his approaching fate. He watched the wild scene withinterest, even with appreciation, --as an artist or painter might watchthe changes in a landscape which he purposes immortalising. His pastlife appeared to him like a picture in a magic crystal, --blurred anduncertain, --a mist of shapes without decided meaning or colour. Hethought of the beautiful cold Queen, his wife, --and wondered whethershe would weep for his loss. 

"Not she!"--and he almost smiled at the idea--"Perhaps there will be aballad written about it--and she will listen, unchanged, unmoved--asshe listened that night when her minstrels sang:

 'We shall drift along till we both grow old-- Looking back on the days that have passed us by, When "what might have been, " can no longer be, -- When I lost you and you lost me!'

That was a quaint song--and a true one! She will not weep!"

Then he went over in memory the various scenes of his life--brilliant, useless, and without results--when he was Heir-Apparent;--he thought ofhis two young sons, Rupert and Cyprian, who were as indifferent to himas young foals to their sire, --and anon, his mind turned more tenderlyto his eldest-born, Prince Humphry, and the fair girl he had so boldlywedded, --the happy twain, who, returning homeward, would find theThrone ready for their occupancy, and a whole nation waiting to welcomethem. 

"God bless them both!" he said aloud, lifting his calm eyes to the wildheavens--"They have the one shield and buckler against all misfortune--Love! And I thank God that I have not the sin upon my conscience ofhaving broken that shield away from them; or of having forced theiryoung lives asunder! Wiser than I, they took their own way and keptit!--may they so keep it always!"

Then a thought of 'the People' came to him--the People who had latterlytaken to idolising him, and making of him a hero greater than anymonarch whose deeds have ever been glorified since history began. 

"They will forget!" he said--"Nowadays Nations have short memories!Battles and conquests, defeats and victories pass over the nationalmind as rapidly and changefully as the clouds are flying over the skyto-night!--the People remember neither their disgraces nor theirtriumphs in the life of individual Self which absorbs each little unit. Their idolatry of one monarch quickly changes to their idolatry ofanother! I shall perhaps be regretted for six months as my father was--and then--consigned with my ancestors to oblivion! Nothing so beautifulor so gladdening to the heart of a Monarch as the love of his People!--but--at the same time--nothing so changeable or uncertain as suchlove!--nothing so purely temporal! And nothing so desperately sad, soirremediably tragic as the death of kings!"

Rapidly he reviewed the situation--the new Ministry, the new Governmentmembers were elected--and business would begin again immediately afterthe Crown Prince's return. All the reforms he had been prepared tocarry out, would be effected, --and then would come the new King'sCoronation. What a dazzling picture of resplendent beauty would be seenin Gloria, robed and crowned! His heart beat rapidly at the merecontemplation of it. For himself he had no thought--save to realisethat the strange manner of his disappearance from his kingdom wouldprobably only awaken a sense of resentment in 'society, ' and a vaguesuperstition among the masses, who would for a long time cling to thebelief that he was not dead, but that like King Arthur he had only goneto the 'island valley of Avillion' to "heal him of his grievouswound, "--from which deep vale of rest he would return, rejoicing in hisstrength again. Sergius Thord would know the truth--for to SergiusThord he had written the truth. And the letter would reach him thisvery night--this night of his last earthly voyage. 

"When his great sorrow has abated, " he said, "he too will forget! Hehas all his work to do--all his career to make--and he will make itwell and nobly! Even for his sake, and for his future, it is well thatI am gone--for if he ever came to know, --if he were to guess evenremotely, through Zouche's ravings, or some other means, the reason whyLotys killed herself, he would hate me, --and with justice! He lovesthe People--he will serve their Cause better than I!"

The moon stared whitely out of a cloud just then, --and to hisamazement and awe, he suddenly perceived the black shadow of a manlifting itself slowly, slowly from the hold of the ship, like a massivebulk, or ghost in the gloom. Unable to imagine what this might be, orhow any other human creature save himself would venture to sail withthe dead on a voyage whose end could be but destruction, he advanced astep towards that looming shape, and started back with a cry, as herecognised the very man he had been thinking of--Sergius Thord!

"Sergius!" he cried aghast. 

"King!" and Thord looked scarcely human in the pale fleeting moonbeams, as he too stared in half-maddened wonder at the face and form of acompanion on this dread journey such as he had never expected to see. "What do you here in the midst of the sea and the storm? You should beat home!--playing the fool in your Palace!--giving audiences on yourthrone!--you--you have no right to die with Lotys, whom I loved!"

"With Lotys whom you loved!" echoed the King; "You loved her--true! ButI loved her more!"

"You lie!" said Thord, furiously; "No man--no King, --no Emperor of allthe world, could ever have loved Lotys as I loved her! These greatwaves waiting to devour us--dead and living together--are not moreinsatiate in their passion for us than I in my passion for Lotys! Iloved her!--and when she scorned me--when she rejected me, --when sheopenly confessed that she loved you--the King--what remained for herbut death! Death, rather than dishonour at your Royal hands, Sir!" Andhe laughed fiercely--a laugh with the ring of madness in it. "I rescuedher as a child from starvation and misery--and so I may say I gave herher life. What I gave, I took again--I had the right to take it! Iwould not see her shamed by you--dishonoured by you--branded by you!--Idid the only thing left to me to save her from you--I killed her!"

With a loud cry the King, no longer so much king as man, with everypassion roused, sprang at him. 

"You killed her? Oh, treacherous devil! They said she killed herself!"

"Hands off!" cried Thord, suddenly pointing a pistol at him; "I willshoot you as readily as I shot her if you touch me! She killed herselfyou think? Oh, yes--in a strange way! Her last words were: 'Say I didit myself! Tell the King I did it myself!' A lie! All women are fond oflying. But her lie was to protect Me! Her last thought was for mydefence, --not yours! Her last wish was to save Me, not you!--Kingthough you are--lover though you craved to be! I say I murdered her!This is my Day of Fate, --the day on which it seems that Heaven itselfhas drawn lots with me to kill a King! Why did I ever relax my hate ofyou? It was inborn in me--a part of me, --my very life, the utmostportion of my work! I called you friend;--I curse myself that I everdid so!--for from the first you were my enemy--my rival in the love ofLotys! What did I care for the People? What did you? We were both atone in the love of the same woman! And now I am here to die with heralone! Alone, I say--do you hear me? I will be alone with her to thelast--you shall not share with us in our sea burial! I will die besideher, --all, all alone!--and drift out with her to the darkness of thegrave, to meet my fate with her--always with her, --whether her spiritlead me to Hell or to Heaven!"

His insensate frenzy was so desperate, so terrible, that by its veryforce the strange mental composure of the King became intensified. Quietly folding his arms, he took his stand by the coffin of the deadin silence. The dashing spray that leaped at the masts of the vessel, --the wind that scooped up the billows into higher and higher pinnaclesof emerald green, might have been soundless and powerless, for all heseemed to hear or to heed. 

"Why are you with us?" cried Thord again--"How came you on this ship, where I thought I had hidden myself alone with her, voyaging to Death?Could you not have left her to me?--you who have a throne and kingdom--I, to whom she was all my life!"

"I came--as you have come"--answered the King--"to die with her--orrather not to die, but to find Life with her! She loved me!"

With a savage curse, Thord raised the pistol he held. The King lookedhim full in the eyes. 

"Take good aim, Sergius!" he said tranquilly--"For here between us liesLotys--the silent witness of your deed! Go hence, if you must, with twomurders on your soul! There is no escape from death for either you orme, take it how we may;--and I care not at all how I meet it, whetherat your hands or in the waves of the sea! Give me the same death yougave to Lotys! I ask no better end! For so at least shall we meet morequickly!"

Half choked with his fury, Thord looked at him with fixed and glassyeyes. He was jealous of death!--jealous that death should of itselfseem to reunite Lotys and the man she had loved more closely together!Standing erect by the purple pall that covered the one woman of theworld to them both, the King looked 'every inch a king, '--theincarnation of pride, love, resolve and courage. With a sudden wild-beast cry, Thord sprang at him and caught his arm with one hand, thepistol grasped in the other. 

"Too near!" he gasped; "You shall not stand too near her!--you shallnot die so close to her!--you shall not have the barest chance ofresting where she sleeps!"

He fell back, as the King's calm eyes regarded him steadfastly, imperiously, almost commandingly, without a trace of fear. He trembled. 

"Do not look so!" he muttered; "I cannot kill you!--not if you lookso!--"

Raising the pistol, he took apparent aim. The King stood unmoved, onlymurmuring softly to himself: 'On the other side of Death, my Lotys!--On the other side!'

There was a loud report, a crash in his ears--then--as he staggeredback, stunned by the shock, he saw that he was untouched, unhurt. Thordhad turned the pistol against his own breast, and reeling backward, with a last supreme effort, dragged his sinking body to the vessel'sedge. 

"God save your Majesty!" he cried wildly; "Tell Lotys I did it myself!God knows that is true!"

The wild waves, clambering up over the deck rushed at him, and anenormous foam-crested billow, higher and stronger than all the rest, beat at the mast of the vessel and snapped it in twain. It came down, dragging the sail with it in a tangle of cordage, and with that sailthe name of 'Lotys' inscribed upon it was whirled furiously out to sea. The body of the vessel, now netted in a mass of ropes and rigging, began to roll helplessly in the trough of the waves, and the corpse ofThord, sinking under it as it plunged, was swept away like a leaf inthe storm! Gone, his wild heart and wilder brain!--gone his restlessambition, --gone his unsatisfied love--his fierce passions, hisglimmerings of a noble nature which if trained and guided, might haveworked to noblest ends. Like many would-be leaders of men, he could notlead himself--like many who seek to control law, and revolutionise theworld, he had been unable to master his own desperate soul. He was notthe first, --he will not be the last, --who for purely personal ends hassought to 'serve the People'! The disinterested, the impersonal andunselfish Leader has yet to come, --and if he ever does come, it is morethan probable that those for whom he gives his life, will be the firstto crucify his soul, and cry 'Thou hast a devil!'

Death was now sole commander of the ocean that night! And the King of amere little earth-country, realised to the full that he stoodirrevocably face to face with the last great Enemy of Empires. Yetnever had he looked more truly imperial, --never more superbly theincarnation of life! A mighty exultation began to stir within him--aconsciousness that he, despite all the terrors of the grave, wouldstill come forth the conqueror! The waves, leaping at him, werefriends, not foes, --the moon shedding ghostly glamours on the waterywilderness, smiled as though she knew that he would soon be a partakerin the secrets of all Nature, and solve the mystery of existence, --there was a singing in his ears as of voices triumphant, which swelledwith the passion of a mighty anthem, --and with the quietest mind andcalmest brain he found himself musing on life and death as if he werealready a witness apart, of their strange phenomena. Thord's appearanceon the same ship in which he and Lotys were passengers, seemed to himquite simple and natural, --Thord's death moved him to a certain gravecompassion, --but the whole swift circumstance had been so dreamlike, that he had no time to think of it, or regret it, --and the only activeconsciousness his mind held was that he and Lotys were journeying to'the other side';--that 'other side' which he now felt so near andsure, that he could almost declare he saw the living presence of thewoman he loved arisen from the dead and standing near him!

The ocean widened out interminably, and he saw, looking ahead, a greatheap of gigantic billows, leaping, sparkling, tossing, climbing overeach other in the fitful light of the moon, like huge sea-monsterswaiting to devour and engulf him. He smiled as he felt the yieldingcraft on which he stood swirl towards those breakers, and begin to partasunder, --so would he have smiled on a battlefield facing his foes, andfronted with fiery cannon! The glory of Empire, --the splendour ofSovereignty, --the pride and panoply of Temporal Power! How infinitelytrivial seemed all these compared with the mighty force of a resistlesslove! How slight the boasted 'supremacy' of man with his laws andcreeds, matched against the wrath of the conflicting sea, --the sure andswift approach of inexorable Death! Under the depths of the ocean whichthis ruler of a kingdom traversed for the last time, lay a lostContinent, --fallen dynasties--forgotten civilisations, wonderful andendless--kings and queens and heroes once famous--and now as blottedout of memory as though they had never been!

 "If thou could'st see a thousand fathoms down, Thou would'st behold 'mid rock and shingle brown-- The shapeless wreck of temple, tower and town, -- The bones of Empires sleeping their last sleep, Their names as dead as if they never bore Crown or dominion!"

With keen and watchful eyes he measured the swiftly lessening distancebetween him and the glittering, tumbling whirlpool of waves--he feltthe weight of the wind bearing against the drifting vessel--the end wasvery near! Standing by the dead Lotys, he prayed silently--prayedstrangely, --in words borrowed from no Church formula, but as they came, straight from his heart--prayed that God might not be a Dream--thatLove might not be a Snare--and Death might not be an End! So do we allpray when the last dread moment of dissolution comes--when no priest'sassurance can comfort us--and when the greatest King in the world isbut a poor ordinary human soul, ignorant and forlorn, shuddering on theverge of eternal Judgment!

A mountainous billow broke over the deck, half stunning him with theshock of its cold onslaught, and sweeping the coffin of Lotys almostover the edge of the vessel. He threw himself beside that drearycasket, fastening his own body with strong rope knotted many times, toits heavy leaden mass, resolved to sink with it painlessly, and withouta struggle. So, --in perfect passiveness, --he awaited his end. Suddenly, --as if a bell had chimed in the distance, or a voice had sungsome old familiar song in his ears, --he saw, clearly visioned in allthe flying spray of the tempest a face!--not the face of Lotys--but asoft, childish, piteous little countenance, framed in curling tendrilsof hair, with trusting sweet eyes, raised to his own in holiest, simplest confidence! So pure, so fair a face!--so pathetically loving!--where had he seen it before? All at once he remembered, --and sprang upwith a sharp cry of pain. Why, why had this frail ghost of the pastflown out of the darkness of sea and storm to confront him now? Theghost of his first young love!--the clinging, fond, credulous creaturewho had gone to her death uncomplainingly for his sake--with only theone little cry of farewell--'My love! Forgive me!' Why should he thinkof her?--why should he see her before him at this supreme moment whenDeath stared him in the face, and his spirit hovered on the edge ofInfinity? "Vengeance is mine!--I will repay, saith the Lord!" His firstlove!--so lightly won--so cruelly betrayed! Tears rushed to his eyes, --he thought of the wrong done to a perfectly pure and blameless life--awrong he had forgotten in all these years--till now!

"Oh God!" he cried aloud--"Forgive me! Forgive my weakness, myselfishness, my many wasted years! Let not her face forever comebetween thy redeeming Angel, Lotys, and my soul!"

The tumultuous breakers rushing now with a great swoop at the vessel, snatched and tore at him. He nerved himself to look again, --once again, and for the last time, across the great wilderness of warring waters!The moon now shone brightly, --the clouds were parting on either side ofher, rolling up in huge masses, white and glistening as Alpine peaks ofsnow--the wind had not lessened, and the fury of the sea was stillunabated. But the fair childish face had vanished, --and only the clearsalt spray dashed in his eyes and blinded them, --only the salt wavesclambered round him, drawing him towards them in a cold embrace!

"'On the other side, ' my Lotys!" he said--"God be merciful to us both!--'on the other side'!"

For one moment the breaking vessel paused shudderingly on the edge ofthe seething whirlpool of waves, which, meeting in a centre of tidalcommotion, leaped at her, and began steadily to suck her down. For onemoment the moonbeams fell purely on the calm upturned face of the King, who like others allied to him in kingship throughout history, hadesteemed mere sovereignty valueless at the cost of Love! For kings, --though surrounded with flatterers and sycophants who seek to make themimagine themselves somewhat more than human, --are but men, with allmen's vain sins and passions, mad weaknesses and wild dreams; and whenthey love, they love as foolishly as commoners, --and when they die, asdie they must, there is no difference in the actual way of death thanis known to a pauper. More gold and purple on the one side, --more strawand sackcloth on the other, --but the solemnity and equality of Deathitself, is the same in both. And as this dying King well knew, thePeople care little who governs them, provided bread is cheap, andlabour well paid. He is greatest who gives them most, --and he is themost applauded who allows them the most liberty of action! Thepersonality, the complex nature, the character, the temptations, themind-sufferings of a King, as man merely, are less than nothing to themultitude who run to follow and to cheer him. If he were once tocomplain, he would be condemned;--and if he asked from his crowdingflatterers the bread of sympathy, they would give him but a stone!

The moon smiled--the stars flashed fitfully through the clouds, --andall through the length and breadth of ocean there seemed to come thesound of a great psalmody, rising and filling the air. It surged on theKing's ears, as with hands clasped on the drenched lilies strewn overthe sleeping Lotys, he welcomed the coming Unveiling of the Beyond! Andthen--the waters rose up, and caught living and dead together, anddragged them down with a triumphal rush and roar, --down, down to thatgrand Unconsciousness, --that sublime Pause in the chain of existence, --that longer Sleep, from which we shall wake refreshed and strongagain, --ready to learn Where we have failed, Why we have loved, and Howwe have lost. But of things temporal there shall be no duration, --neither Sovereignty nor Supremacy, nor Power; only Love, which makesweak the strongest, and governs the proudest;--and of things eternal weknow naught save that Love, always Love, is still the centre of theUniverse, and that even to redeem the sins of the world, God Himselfcould find no surer way than through Love, born of Woman into Life. 

 * * * * *

Days passed, --and angry Ocean gradually smoothed out its frowningfurrows, spreading a surface darkly-blue and peaceful, under acloudless arch of sky. And one night, --when the moon, like a golden cupin heaven, emptied her sparkling wine of radiance over the gentlyheaving waves, a fair ship speeding swiftly with all the force of steamand sail, with flags fluttering from every mast, and sounds of musicechoing from her lighted saloons, came flying over the billows like aglorious white-winged bird soaring to its home on an errand of joy. Onher deck stood Gloria, --happily ignorant of all calamity, --watchingwith dreamy, thoughtful eyes the lessening lengths of sea between herand the land she loved. The Crown Prince, her husband, --now King, though he knew it not, --stood beside her;--his handsome face brightenedby a smile which expressed his heart's elation, his soul's deep peaceand inward content. Naught knew these wedded lovers of the strangereception awaiting them; of the half-mourning, half-rejoicing people, --of national flags suddenly veiled in crape, --of black funeral-streamersset distractedly amidst gay bridal garlands;--of a widowed Queen, broken-hearted and despairing, weeping vainly for the love she had solong misprized, and had learned too late to value, --of a Crownresigned, --of the lost Majesty and hero of a nation's idolatry;--ofthe death of Ronsard, and the inexplicable disappearance of the famousSocialist leader, Sergius Thord, --and of all the strange and tragichistory of vanished lives, even to that of Sir Roger de Launay whom noman ever saw again, --which it fell to their faithful friend, Heinrichvon Glauben to relate, with passionate grief and many tears. They knewnothing. They only saw home and the future before them, shining inbright hues of hope and promise; for Love was with them, --and throughLove alone--love for the nation, love for the people, love for eachother, --they purposed, God willing, to faithfully fulfil whateverdestiny might be theirs, whether fortunate or disastrous! Thus minded, they could see no evil in the world, --no mischief, --no ominouscrossings of Fate, --they had all earth and all heaven in each other!And the gay ship bearing them onward, danced over the smiling, singing, siren waves, as if she too had a human heart to feel and rejoice!--andin her swift course swept lightly over the very spot, now tranquil andradiant, where but a short while since, the body of Lotys had gonedown, companioned by the King. Gloria leaning over the deck-rail lookeddreamily into the sparkling water. 

"The storm we met has left no trace!" she said; "It was but a passinghurricane!"

Her husband came to her side, and they stood together in silence. Sweetharmonies floating upwards from the saloon below, where a company ofmusicians and singers were stationed to charm the evenings of the Royalpair with 'sounds more dulcet than Heaven's own dulcimers' held themattentive. The tender tones of an undetermined melody rose and fell onthe quiet air, --they listened, drawing closer and closer to each other, till it seemed as if but one heart beat between them, --as if but oneSoul aspired, --Archangel-like, --from their two lives to Heaven! AndGloria, with a sigh of perfect happiness, murmured softly, --

"How beautiful the night! How calm the sea!"

So sped they onward, --with Love to steer them; with Love to bring themsafely through the brief cloud of sorrow and wonder hanging over thekingdom to which they wended, --with Love to guide their lives throughall difficulty and danger, and to give them all the good that Lovealone can give! For whether the days be dark or bright, --whethertempest fills the air, or sunshine illumines the sky, --whether we arefollowed with fair blessing from friends, or pursued with the hate, envy and slander of injurious foes, --whether we drown by choice intempestuous waters of passion, or float securely to the shores ofpeace, --whether our ships are bound for Death or for Life, we are safein the hands of Love! And in the midst of what the world deems stormand wreckage, we can gaze into the deeper depths of God's meaning withtrustful eyes, and sail on our voyage fearlessly, --on, even to theGrave and beyond it!--for with Love at the helm, how beautiful is theNight!--how calm the Sea!

THE END