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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10397-0.txt b/10397-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f6f85cb --- /dev/null +++ b/10397-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6497 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10397 *** + +AFFAIRS OF STATE + +Being an Account of Certain Surprising Adventures Which + +Befell an American Family in the Land of Windmills + +BY + +BURTON E. STEVENSON + +AUTHOR OF "THE MARATHON MYSTERY," "THE HOLLADAY CASE," ETC. + +With Illustrations by F. VAUX WILSON + +1906 + + + + +TO G. H. T.: + +OLD FRIEND + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE WILES OF WOMANKIND + + II. THE ROLE OF GOOD ANGEL + + III. DISTINGUISHED ARRIVALS AT WEET-SUR-MER + + IV. AN ADVENTURE AND A RESCUE + + V. TELLIER TAKES A HAND + + VI. THE PATH GROWS CROOKED + + VII. AN APPEAL FOR AID + + VIII. PRIDE HAS A FALL + + IX. PELLETAN'S SKELETON + + X. AN INTRODUCTION AND A PROMENADE + + XI. THE PRINCE GAINS AN ALLY + + XII. EVENTS OF THE NIGHT + + XIII. THE SECOND PROMENADE + + XIV. A BEARDING OF THE LION + + XV. "BE BOLD, BE BOLD" + + XVI. A PRINCE AND HIS IDEALS + + XVII. THE DUCHESS TO THE RESCUE + +XVIII. MAN'S PERFIDY + + XIX. AN AMERICAN OPINION OF EUROPEAN MORALS + + XX. THE DOWAGER'S BOMBSHELL + + XXI. PARDON + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"EEF MONSIEUR PLEASE" + +"IT WAS MY GREAT GOOD FORTUNE," SAID THE STRANGER, BOWING, "TO BE OF +SERVICE TO A COMPATRIOT" + +"OH!" SHE CRIED, WITH A LITTLE START, "THERE HE IS NOW, ALMOST NEAR +ENOUGH TO HEAR!" + +"WHAT IS IT?" SHE DEMANDED. "DON'T YOU SEE WE ARE ALL WAITING?" + + + + +AFFAIRS OF STATE + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +The Wiles of Womankind + +Archibald Rushford, tall, lean, the embodiment of energy, stood at the +window, hands in pockets, and stared disgustedly out at the dreary vista +of sand-dunes and bathing-machines, closed in the distance by a stretch +of gray sea mounting toward a horizon scarcely discernible through the +drifting mist which hung above the water. + +"Though why you wanted to come here at all," he continued, presumably +addressing two young ladies in the room behind him, "or why you want to +stay, now you _are_ here, passes my comprehension. One might as well be +buried alive, and be done with it. The sensations, I should imagine, +are about the same." + +"Oh, come, dad!" protested one of the girls, laughing, "you know it +isn't so bad as that! There's plenty of life--not just at this hour of +the morning, perhaps,"--with a fleeting glance at the empty +landscape,--"but the hour is unfashionable." + +"As everything seasonable and sensible seems to be here," put in her +father, grimly. + +"And such interesting life, too," added the other girl. + +"Interesting! Bah! When I want to see monkeys and peacocks, I'll go to a +menagerie." + +"But you never do go to the menagerie, at home, you know, dad." + +"No--because I don't care for monkeys or peacocks--in fact, I +particularly detest them!" + +"But lions, dad! There are lions--" + +"In the menagerie at home, perhaps." + +"Yes, and in this one--bigger lions than you ever dreamed of, +dad!--perfect monsters of lions!" + +"Oh, no, there aren't, Susie," dissented Rushford. "You don't know the +species. You've mistaken a bray for a roar, just as a lot of people +always do, if the bray is only loud enough. Come, now, let me know the +worst. How much longer do you propose to stay here?" + +"Well, dad, you see the season won't be at its height for fully a month +yet--" + +"A month!" echoed Rushford, in dismay. "Well, Susie, you and Nell may be +able to stand it for a month, but long ere that I'll be dead--ossified, +fossilised, dried up, and blown away! Maybe you girls enjoy it, though I +didn't think it of you--but what can _I_ do? I'm tired of reading +day-before-yesterday's newspaper and of being two days behind the +market. Two days! Think what may have happened to steel since I've +heard from it! It's enough to drive a man mad!" + +He got out a cigar, lighted it, and stood puffing it nervously, appalled +at the vision his own words had conjured up. + +"But, dad," Sue pointed out, coming to his side and taking his arm +coaxingly, "you know it was just to get away from all that worry--from +those horrid stocks and things--that you consented to come with us." + +"Don't call the stocks hard names, Susie. Don't go back on your best +friends!" protested Rushford. "Don't forget what they've done for you!" + +"But, dear, you remember how strongly Doctor Samuels insisted on your +taking a rest; how necessary he said it was?" + +"Oh, perfectly!" responded Rushford, drily. "I've suspected right along +that Samuels took his orders from you." + +"From me, dad!" cried Sue, indignantly, but her eyes were shining in a +most suspicious manner. "A man of his standing--" + +"It doesn't matter," broke in her father, with a wave of his arm. "I'm +willing to grant, for the sake of argument, that Samuels was perfectly +sincere. But I still protest that there is no reason why we should +conceal ourselves here. We haven't done anything--the police aren't +after us--I can speak for myself, at least." + +"This seemed to be such a nice, quiet place for you, dad," explained +Nell, perching herself upon a table near the window and gazing pensively +out at the shimmering water, which told that the sun was winning a +decisive victory over the mist, and that the day would be a fine one. + +"For me!" repeated her father, turning and staring at her. "You don't +mean to say you chose this place on _my_ account!" + +Nell nodded, but she winked at Susie. + +"And then, you know," she added, "we have always wanted to get a glimpse +of a real Dutch watering-place." + +"I don't believe this _is_ a real Dutch watering-place. Nobody here +speaks anything but French. Why, it's even got a French name!" + +"Only two-thirds French, dad," Sue corrected. + +"And everything is priced in francs." + +"That is true of all Europe," asserted Nell, with superb aplomb. + +"Well, Dutch, French, or Hindoo, you've had your glimpse, haven't you? +Suppose we move on and get a glimpse or two of something worth seeing." + +"Oh, but we've seen it all only from the outside! We've been like the +audience at a show--we haven't had any part in it. And it's so much more +interesting behind the scenes!" + +"It's dull enough from in front, heaven knows!" agreed Rushford. "If I +had my way, I'd ring down the curtain and close the show up this minute. +It's the worst I ever saw! And I very much doubt if a respectable +American family has any business behind the scenes!" + +"You're jaundiced, dad," laughed Sue. "You're looking at the place +through a yellow film of prejudice. One must enter into the spirit of +the thing!" + +Rushford groaned. + +"I'm afraid I'm too set in my ways, Susie," he said, dismally. "I've +lived in America too long. You might as well ask me to dance the +can-can, and be done with it!" + +"Besides," continued Sue, "it's just as Nell says. We're on the +outside--we haven't got a foothold. There's something the matter." + +"Maybe they think I'm that Chicago cashier who got away with a million, +not long ago. On second thought, though, I don't believe that would +make any difference. That fellow would find a very congenial circle +here. He wouldn't have any difficulty in getting behind the scenes!" + +"Sue and I have been thinking it over," said Nell, "and we've concluded +that it must be something about the hotel. We seem to have picked out +the wrong one." + +"The place _is_ empty, and that's a fact," agreed Rushford. + +"It's unnaturally so," said Sue. "Something's the matter with it. It's +taboo for some reason." + +"Well, it's good enough for me," remarked her father. "After all, there +isn't much difference in prisons! But I want to repeat, as emphatically +as possible, that I can't keep on loafing here for a month and preserve +my sanity. Don't you see how much whiter my hair's getting? I'm willing +to do anything in reason to oblige you, and I fully realise the +importance of your sociological and ethnological studies--" + +Sue's hand on his mouth stopped him. + +"Take a breath, dad," she cautioned him. "Take a breath. Those were +mighty long words." + +"As I was about to remark," continued Rushford, calmly, taking the hand +away, "I am, of course, a doting parent--who would not be with two such +children? But, candidly, I don't just see where I come in. I tell you, +girls, I've got to have some excitement." + +"There's plenty of excitement at the Casino, dad." + +"Oh, yes--faro excitement; roulette excitement. I never cared for that +kind. I've always had the sense to keep out of sure-thing games, even on +Wall Street." + +"But the people--" + +"The people! French apes in fancy waistcoats; Dutch dandies in corsets; +women with painted cheeks and pencilled eyebrows whom you're ashamed to +look at!" + +"Some of them are respectable, dad," laughed Sue. + +"One would never suspect it!" + +"Oh, yes, dad; some of them belong to the nobility." + +"That's no certificate of character--rather the reverse, if one may +believe the papers." + +"Gossip, dad; nothing but gossip. And you know how you've always hated +gossip. You've told us never to believe it." + +"It may be; but one could believe anything of most of the women one sees +around here. My only chance for amusement is to get up a flirtation with +some of them. I don't think it would be difficult--they don't seem a bit +shy. Only," he added, with a sigh, "I'm getting too old." + +"Yes, dad; I'm afraid you are," agreed Susie. "You wouldn't really enjoy +it." + + "'My days are in the yellow leaf; + The flowers and fruits of love are gone; + The worm, the canker, and the grief + Are mine alone!'" + +quoted Nell, in a solemn voice. + +"Don't you be too sure!" retorted her father, threateningly, wheeling +around upon her. "There's no telling what I may be driven to, if I'm +kept imprisoned here much longer! 'Though I look old,'--" + +"'Yet I am strong and lusty,'" finished Sue. "Of course you are, dad, +and you don't look old, either. Why," gazing up at him critically, "you +don't look a day over forty!" + +"Don't try to bamboozle your Pa, Susie," laughed Rushford. "I can see +through you! You'll be trying to make me believe next that you want a +stepmother." + +"I would if it would make you any happier, dad." + +Her father gazed down for an instant into her pseudo-serious face, then +caught her in his arms and squeezed her. + +"What're you up to?" he demanded. "Trying to make a fool of your old +dad? Why, Susie, own up,--you'd scratch out the eyes of the best woman +in the world if she dared to look twice at me!" + +"Of course I would!" admitted Susie, instantly. "You know as well as I +do, dad, that even the best woman in the world isn't good enough for +you." + +"Let's go across to the other hotel, dad," suggested Nell, with a +nonchalance intended to conceal the fact that this was the point she and +Susie had been aiming at from the very first. + +Her father released Susie and stared at his other daughter in amazement. + +"What on earth for?" he demanded. + +"Oh, everybody seems to be over there--you've noticed--" + +"Yes, I've noticed that it's running over with the rag-tag and bob-tail +of all Europe! If you think I'll butt into that Bedlam, my dear child, +you're badly mistaken. I'd rather live with the freaks in a museum." + +"But it's so quiet here." + +"I'm glad of it! Besides, I thought you wanted quiet?" + +"Only for your sake--don't you see, we're trying our best to please you. +A moment ago, you said you wanted excitement." + +"I do; but it must be excitement with an object. I haven't got any use +for the infernal, purposeless chattering I hear all around me every time +I go out on the dyke. Damn a man, anyhow, who can't find anything better +to do than to run around to summer-resorts and flirt with other men's +wives! I tell you, girls, I want to get back to New York!" + +"Give us another month, dad!" pleaded Sue, catching his arm again, as he +stamped up and down. "You know that you promised to stay with us two +months, at the very least. We can't go around without a chaperon." + +Her father's face relaxed as he looked down at her, and he smiled +grimly. + +"So we get down to the real reason, at last, do we?" he queried. "I +thought all this solicitude for my health was a trifle unnatural. I'm +useful as a chaperon, am I? See here, girls, I can put in my time more +profitably at the stock exchange, and have a heap more fun. I'll hire a +chaperon for you, or half a dozen, if you want them, and pull out for +New York. What do you say? I don't know the first principles of the +business, anyway." + +"Oh, yes, you do, dad!" protested Susie. "You're a perfectly ideal +chaperon." + +"I am? The ideal chaperon, then, must be one who never does any +chaperoning!" + +"That's it, exactly!" cried Nell, clapping her hands delightedly. "How +quickly you see things, dad!" + +"So that's it!" and he stood for a moment looking darkly at his +offspring. "Well, you girls are old enough to take care of yourselves. +If you can't, it's high time you were learning how!" + +"Oh, we're perfectly able to take care of ourselves," Sue assured him. +"You mustn't worry about us for a moment, dad." + +"I'm not likely to. But, in that case, why do you want me along at all?" + +"Why, don't you see, dad, it's you who give us the odour of +respectability. By ourselves, we should be social outcasts, impossible, +not to be spoken to--except by men. It isn't convenable." + +"Oh, I see," said Rushford. "The first great principle of European +society seems to be, 'Think the worst of every one.'" + +"Not precisely, dad; but no unmarried woman may venture outside the +circumference of the family circle. That's the great European +convention--the basic principle of her social order." + +"A sort of 'tag, you're it,' game, isn't it? The family circle is a kind +of dead line--the ring of fire which keeps out the wild beasts. Step +over, and you're lost!" + +"Of course," said Nell, "it is only to unmarried women that the rule +applies." + +"Oh, certainly," assented her father. "Married women are allowed more +latitude--in fact, from such French novels as I've read, I should infer +that they usually swing clear around the circle! It's a reaction, I +suppose; a sort of compensation for the privations of their youth. I +don't like it. Let's go home!" + +"But your promise, dad!" pleaded Sue, permitting the faintest suspicion +of moisture to appear in her dark eyes. "And you know you really do need +a vacation." + +Her father looked down at her, saw the moisture, and surrendered. + +"You're a humbug," he said; "and this vacation business is another. A +man spends two or three months loafing around because somebody tells him +he's looking badly and ought to take a rest; and before he knows it, +he's accumulated so much rust in his system that he never gets it all +out again. His machinery creaks more or less for the rest of his life. +The wise man postpones his vacation to the next world." + +"Well, let's call it a jaunt," suggested Susie. "A jaunt somehow implies +hurry and bustle, with plenty of exercise." + +"And I don't know which is the bigger fool," pursued her father, not +heeding her; "the fellow who takes a vacation every year on his own +hook, or the one who permits his daughters to drag him away from his +comfortable home and his morning paper and the business which gives him +his interest in life, and maroon him in a desert of a Dutch +watering-place, where there's absolutely nothing for a self-respecting +man to do but smoke himself to death and wait for a paper which never +comes till day after to-morrow!" + +"It sounds terribly involved, but I'll help you reason it out, dad, any +time you like," said Susie, obligingly. "And you'll stay, won't you, +dear?" + +"Oh, I'll stay, since your heart's so set upon it. I'll try to bear up +and find a diversion of some kind and not rust out any more than I can +help. I might dig in the sand or make mud pies or play mumbly-peg. But I +draw the line at plunging into that whirlpool across the street. My bed +here is nearly as comfortable as the one at home, and the grub's +first-rate." + +"Very well, dad," agreed Susie, instantly seizing the concession, but +speaking as though it were she who was making it, "we'll stay here, +then. Only I _do_ wish there were a few more people," she added, with a +sigh. "I hate to sit down in that big, empty dining-room. I imagine I'm +at an Egyptian banquet, and that there are horrid, rattly skeletons +sitting in all those high, covered chairs." + +"What you need is some fresh air," said her father. "You girls get your +hats and go for a walk. You're growing morbid. If you think of skeletons +again, I'll give you a liver pill." + +"Won't you come, dad?" + +"No; you know you don't want me. Besides, I see the panjandrum who +brings the mail coming up the dyke down yonder." + +He stood gazing down the Digue until his womenkind reappeared, bedight, +ready for the walk. + +"You'll do," he said, looking them over critically. "In fact, my dears, +if I wasn't afraid of making you conceited, I'd say I'd never seen two +handsomer girls in my life." + +"Now it's you who are blarneying, dad!" cried Susie, but she dimpled +with pleasure nevertheless, and so did Nell. + +"No I'm not," retorted Rushford; "and I dare say there are plenty of +other men, even in this Dutch limbo, who have an eye for beauty; let +them break their hearts, if they have any, but keep your own hearts +whole, my dears." + +They were laughing in earnest, now, as they looked up in his face, which +had grown suddenly serious. + +"Why, dad, what ails you?" questioned Sue. "I think it is you who need +the pill!" + +Rushford's face cleared; they were heart-whole thus far--there could be +no doubt of that. + +"Perhaps I do," he agreed. "Or perhaps it's only that I'm beginning to +feel the responsibilities of my position." + +"Your position?" + +"As chaperon," he explained. + +"Dear dad!" cried Susie, and squeezed his arm. "Do you suppose that as +long as we have you, either of us will ever think of another man?" + +"I don't know," said her father, dubiously. "I scarcely believe I'm so +fascinating as all that. But I just wanted to remind you, girls, that +there's plenty of nice boys at home--boys whom you can trust, through +and through--boys who are clean, and honest, and worth loving. If you +_must_ lose your hearts--and I suppose it's inevitable, some day--please +do me the favour of choosing two of them. I'll sleep better at night and +breathe easier by day!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +The Rôle of Good Angel + +Rushford waved them good-bye from the door as they sallied forth into +the bright sunlight, paused a moment to look after them admiringly, and +then turned slowly back into the hotel, smiling softly to himself. He +sauntered through the deserted vestibule, and its emptiness struck him +as it had never done before. + +"Really," he said to himself, "we seem to be the only patrons the house +has got. I'll have to look over my bill." + +He went on to the desk and demanded his letters of the boy in +resplendent uniform who presided there. + +"There are none, monsieur," answered that individual, blandly. + +"What!" cried Rushford, his smile vanished in an instant. "Are you +sure?" + +The boy answered with a shrug and a significant gesture toward the +letter-rack on the wall. It was visibly, incontestably empty. + +Rushford turned away in disgust. + +"Those fellows at the office are assuming altogether too much +responsibility," he muttered savagely, as he wandered on into the +smoking-room. "I told them I didn't want to be bothered with little +things, but I certainly expected to hear from them once in a while. If I +don't look out, they'll reduce me to the status of a rubber stamp! I'll +have to stir them up," and he gloomily extracted from the rack the +newly-arrived, two-days-old London paper, brought by the little rickety +train which struggled through at uncertain and infrequent intervals from +Zunderburg to Weet-sur-Mer, lighted a fresh cigar, and sat down to a +perusal of the news. + +He proceeded in the most leisurely manner, for he knew that he had +plenty of time. Indeed, the paper once finished, the remainder of the +day would stretch before him an empty wilderness--a waste as monotonous +and bare as the beach he had grown so weary of gazing at. So he gave +careful and minute attention to every item. He was in the midst of a +long and wholly uninteresting account of a charity bazaar, which the +Princess of Wales had opened, and where the Duchess of Blank-Blank had +made a tremendous hit and much money for a worthy cause, by selling her +kisses for a guinea each, when his attention was attracted by a discreet +shuffling of feet on the floor beside his chair. He looked up to see +standing there the little fat Alsatian-German-French proprietor of the +hotel. + +"Why, hello, Pelletan," he said. "Want to speak to me?" + +"Eef monsieur please," and Pelletan rubbed his chubby hands together in +visible embarrassment. + +"All right; sit down." + +Monsieur Pelletan coughed deprecatingly and deposited his plump body on +the extreme edge of a chair. It was easy to see that he was much +depressed--his usually rosy cheeks hung flaccid, his mustachios drooped +limply, his little black eyes were suffused and needed frequent +wiping--a service performed by a hand that was none too steady. + +"Eet iss a matter of pusiness, monsieur," he began, falteringly. "You +haf perhaps perceive' t'at our custom hass fallen off." + +Rushford glanced about the deserted smoking-room. + +"No," he said; "I haven't seen any to fall off. I've been wondering how +you managed to pay out." + +"Ah, monsieur," cried Pelletan, wringing his hands, "t'at iss eet--I haf +been paying out unt paying out until t'e las' franc iss gone. I wass at +no time reech, monsieur; at t'is moment I am in ruins!" + +And, indeed, he looked the part. + +"You mean you'll have to shut up shop?" inquired Rushford. + +"Eet preaks my heart to say eet, monsieur; but I fear eet will come to +t'at, unless--" + +"Unless what?" asked Rushford, eyeing him as he hesitated. + +"Unless I shall pe able to interes' monsieur--" + +Rushford grunted and stared out of the window at the dunes, puffing his +cigar meditatively. He thought of the comfortable bed, of the admirable +cuisine--he would hate to give them up. It would mean going to the other +hotel, and the mere idea made him shiver. Anything but that! + +His host watched him in an agony of apprehension. + +"What does it cost a day to run this shebang?" asked the American at +last. + +Monsieur Pelletan, with feverish haste, produced a paper from his +pocket. + +"I haf anticipate' monsieur's question; t'is statement will show heem." + +Rushford took it and glanced at the total. + +"Hmmmm. Four hundred and eighty francs--say a hundred dollars." + +"T'at, monsieur," explained Pelletan, "iss based upon our present +custom. As pusiness increase', so do t'e expense increase." + +"Of course." + +"But not in t'e same ratio as t'e receipts. A full house wins so much as +six hundret francs t'e tay." + +"Yes," assented Rushford, "a full house is a mighty nice thing. But now +you seem to be holding only a bob-tail." + +"A pop-tail?" + +"No matter--go ahead with the story. You say it costs you a hundred +dollars a day to keep your doors open. What's the heaviest item?" + +"T'e greates' item at present iss t'e chef. He iss a fery goot one--I +haf feared to let heem go." + +"That was right. You'd better not let him go if you want to keep us +here. How many rooms have you?" + +Pelletan produced a second slip of paper. + +"For t'at, also, I wass prepared, my tear Monsieur Rushford," he said. +"T'e tariff of charges iss also t'ere." + +Rushford looked it over with some care. Then he stared out across the +sands again, the corners of his mouth twitching. Evidently the proposal +appealed to his sense of humour. + +"See here, Pelletan," he said, abruptly, turning back, "is there a +hoodoo on the house, or what's the matter?" + +"A--I peg monsieur's pardon," stammered Pelletan. + +"How does it happen that the hotel over there is full and this one's +empty?" + +"Eet iss t'is way, monsieur," explained the Frenchman, eagerly. "For +many year, long pefore t'is new part off t'e house wass puilt, we +enjoyed t'e confidence unt patronage of Hiss Highness, t'e Prince of +Zeit-Zeit, who spent at least two month in efery season here. While t'e +Prince wass here, we were crowded--oh, to t'e smalles' room!--efen at +ot'er times, we tid well, for he gafe t'e house a prestige. But last +vinter he die, unt hiss heir, hiss son, despite t'e care of heem which +we haf taken, t'e anxieties he hass cause' us, yet which we haf +cheerfully porne--t'at ingrate hass t'e pad taste to prefer t'e ot'er +house! Our ot'er customers haf followed heem--like sheep! Eet iss as +t'ough we had lost our star!" + +"Your star?" + +"In t'e guide-book off Monsieur Karl," Pelletan explained. + +"Is that such a tragedy?" + +"I haf always t'ought it t'e fery worst t'at could happen," said +Pelletan, "but t'is iss as pad." + +It was only by a supreme effort that Rushford managed to choke back the +chuckle which rose in his throat. + +"Is Zeit-Zeit the little purblind, monkey-faced fellow who is wheeled +around in a big red chair every day?" + +"T'e fery same, monsieur--a great Highness." + +Rushford made a grimace of disgust. + +"What's the matter with him?" he asked. "Does he only need a bath, or is +it more than skin deep?" + +"Eet iss an hereditary trait, monsieur." + +"Hereditary taint, you mean! You're better off without him; why, he'd +infect the whole house, Pelletan." + +Pelletan gazed at him aghast. + +"Monsieur is choking!" he said. + +"I'm in deadly earnest, but I don't expect you to understand, for you've +got an hereditary taint, too, Pelletan, which shows itself principally +in your spine." + +Pelletan turned pale. + +"I assure you, monsieur," he stammered, "I am fery--" + +"No matter," broke in Rushford. "All European inn-keepers have it, and +it has never been known to result fatally, so don't worry. But why did +you think I'd take hold of this thing?" + +"I haf heard so much," explained Pelletan, "of t'e enterprise of t'e +Americans, t'at I t'ought perhaps you might--" + +"Win back Zeit-Zeit? Not on your life! If he comes, I go! But I tell you +what I'll do, Pelletan. I'll make you a proposition." + +"Proceed, monsieur," and the other's face began to beam anticipatively. + +"For one month I'll pay all the expenses of this hostelry, rent +included, and allow you one hundred francs a day for your services. I +take all the receipts. At the end of that time, I withdraw and leave you +to your own devices. What do you say?" + +Monsieur Pelletan reflected. At least, it was postponing the inevitable +for a month, and in a month what may not happen? Besides, at the end of +the month, he would be richer by three thousand francs. + +"I accept, monsieur," he said, with fervour. "I am t'ankful a t'ousand +time!" + +"All right; I take possession at once. We can have a notary draw up a +formal agreement. Now let's run over this schedule of prices," and he +turned to Pelletan's carefully prepared statement. + +"Fery well, monsieur." + +"I see you have two apartments de luxe at one hundred francs a day. +Hereafter they will be two hundred francs." + +Pelletan gasped. + +"From t'at, off course, t'ere will be a tiscount?" he stammered. + +"Not a cent; not the tenth of a cent. Two hundred francs net." + +"But, monsieur, efen at t'e old price, we haf always gif a tiscount! It +iss only Americans who pay t'e full price. Ot'er people expec'--" + +Rushford waved his hand. + +"I don't care what they expect. Besides, there's going to be one hotel +in Europe where Americans get a square deal. If your compatriots don't +want to patronise my house, they can go to that low-down lunatic asylum +across the street. By the way, what's its name?" + +"T'e Grand Hôtel Splendide," answered Pelletan, glowing with delight at +his companion's power of invective. + +"H--m," said the latter; "the worse a hotel is, the bigger name it +seems to have. But about the discount. Let me repeat for you, Pelletan, +a business axiom. To give a discount is to admit that your goods are not +worth the price you ask for them, and that you're willing to cheat +anybody who doesn't know enough to beat you down. All the business of +Europe seems to be run in just that way, but ours won't be. Our goods +are worth the price!" + +"But," began Pelletan, humbly, "efen at Ostend--" + +"This is not Ostend. This is Weet-sur-Mer--a place more home-like, more +comfortable, preferable in every way, and with greater natural +advantages than Ostend ever had or ever will have. Only a fool would go +to Ostend when he could come to Weet-sur-Mer and stop at the Grand Hôtel +Royal." + +Pelletan rubbed his hands in delight. + +"You really t'ink so, monsieur?" he murmured. + +"No matter what I think. Besides, you can go back to your old schedule, +if you want to, at the end of the month. But I'm fixing this new +schedule to suit myself, and I don't want to be interrupted. These +ordinary apartments will be thirty to forty francs, according to size. +Single rooms will be ten francs. Breakfast will be four francs, dinner +ten francs--in a word, we double our income without increasing our +expenses. That's the secret of all high finance, my friend." + +"But, monsieur," stammered Pelletan, more and more astounded, "eef t'ere +iss no one to pay, what does it matter?" + +"There _will_ be some one to pay--leave that to me. You don't understand +American enterprise, Pelletan. I'm going to astonish you. Now mind one +thing--if Zeit-Zeit comes over here and wants an apartment, you're to +shut him out--I won't have him in the house--not at any price!" + +Pelletan grew pale at the thought. + +"Refuse t'e Prince of Zeit-Zeit!" he stammered. + +"Yes--if you let him in, I'll kick him out. And another thing--the +service has got to be first-class--the best in Europe--nothing gaudy, +you understand, but a quiet elegance that will make us talked about. Do +you think you can accomplish it?" + +"I vill do my pest, monsieur," promised Pelletan. + +"The place, of course, I'll have to take as I find it," went on +Rushford, with a glance around, "though it's littered up with gewgaws +and dinkey furniture which ought to be made into a bonfire. If I had a +little more time, I'd re-decorate the whole house. Those imitation +marble pillars over there are an insult to the intelligence." + +"T'ey haf peen t'ought fery beautiful, monsieur," murmured Pelletan, +humbly. + +"Yes--I've noticed that Europeans have a weakness for imitations. It's a +defect of character, I suppose. But there's one thing you _can_ do--and +right away. Send that boy at the desk up to his room and tell him to rip +all that gold braid off his coat. To look at him, you'd think he was a +major-general." + +Pelletan stared at his partner to see if he was in earnest. + +"Oh, I know it will be a deprivation," said the American, a glint of +humour in his eyes. "You can raise his wages a franc a day to make up +for it." + +"Fery well, monsieur," and Pelletan crossed over to the desk and gave +the boy his commands. The latter dragged away up the stair with a +countenance in which grief and joy struggled for the mastery. "Anyt'ing +else, monsieur?" asked the Frenchman, coming back. + +"No, I don't think of anything just at this moment. But you do your part +and I'll do mine. Now suppose you go out and get the notary, while I +work my brain a bit." + +Pelletan staggered rather than walked to the door, his head in his +hands, fairly overwhelmed. A moment later, Rushford saw him hurrying +down the street. He got out a third cigar and settled back in his chair +with a chuckle of satisfaction. + +"Maybe I'll get some fun out of this thing, after all," he said. "It'll +offer a little diversion, anyway. Now, how shall we begin to advertise?" + +"M. le Propriétaire, is he here?" inquired a voice, and Rushford looked +around to see a man in resplendent uniform standing at the door. + +"That's me, I reckon," he said. + +"This is my first day," explained the man; "I will know monsieur +hereafter. I have a telegram," and he produced it. "Monsieur will make +acknowledgment here," he added, and held out a narrow white slip of +paper. + +Rushford signed his name mechanically, dropped a franc into the itching +palm, and waited till the messenger went out. Then he looked at the +address on the envelope. It was: + +_Proprietor Grand Hôtel Royal, Weet-sur-Mer._ + +"Well," he said, "it's mine--I guess there's no question of that--I'm +the proprietor--pro tem," and he tore the envelope open. A low whistle +escaped him as he read the message. Then he slapped his leg and laughed. +"It's a freak of the market," he cried. "A freak of the market! And it's +just my luck to be in on the ground floor!" + +He folded the telegram and placed it carefully in his pocket. Then he +fell again into a meditation punctuated by frequent chuckles. But at +the end of a very few minutes, Monsieur Pelletan was back again, with a +thin little notary in tow, and the necessary papers were soon drawn up. + +"You have only to sign, monsieur," said the notary, after he had +finished reading them aloud, and he handed his formidable pen to +Rushford. + +Monsieur Pelletan rubbed his hands together nervously as the American +hesitated and looked at him. + +"It's not too late to draw out," remarked Rushford. "If you're not +satisfied--" + +"I haf no tesire to traw out, monsieur," protested Pelletan, quickly. "I +am entirely satisfied!" + +"I have one other condition to make," added the American. + +"What iss eet, monsieur?" questioned Pelletan, looking at him +apprehensively. + +"You understand I'm to be a silent partner in this thing." + +"A--?" + +"A silent partner--in other words, nobody's to know I'm backing you +unless I choose to tell them--absolutely no one. Do you agree?" + +"Oh, gladly, monsieur!" cried Pelletan, with a deep breath of relief. +After all, is not glory the next best thing to riches? + +"And your friend?" + +The notary nodded a solemn promise of secrecy. + +"All right," and Rushford signed. Pelletan hastily affixed his +signature, and the thing was done. "Now, my friend," continued the +American, "which is the swellest suite of rooms you've got in the +house?" + +"De luxe A," responded Pelletan. "Monsieur wishes--" + +"I wish you to get it ready at once--" + +"Monsieur will occupy it himself, no toubt?" + +"No, I won't; I'll stay right where I am. But between seven and eight +o'clock to-morrow morning, there will arrive an English ship of war--" + +"A sheep-of-t'e-war!" echoed Pelletan, growing pale. + +"Certainly, a ship of war, and from it there will disembark a man named +Vernon and his suite of four or five people. You will give him apartment +A." + +Pelletan caught his breath. + +"Monsieur Vernon iss, I suppose, a friend?" he stammered. + +"No," said Rushford, "I've never seen him. But we'll have to treat him +well. He's the head of the British foreign office, Pelletan; and one of +the high nobility. Beside him, Zeit-Zeit will look like thirty cents!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Distinguished arrivals at Weet-sur-Mer + +Even at this unaccustomed hour of the morning, the beach was black with +people. It was not to bathe that they had come, for a chill north wind +was blowing; nor was it to promenade, for they were not promenading; +indeed, it was the fashionable hour for neither of these things, and no +one ever dreamed of doing them at any hour other than the fashionable +one. It was rather the fashionable hour to turn painfully over in one's +bed, and ring the bell, and signify that coffee and rolls would be +acceptable. + +This morning there had been scant time for such refreshment, or for that +preliminary stretching which is so grateful to bodies wearied by late +hours and too-rapid living. Instead, nearly all the sojourners at +Weet-sur-Mer had arisen aching from their beds, had hurried forth to the +beach, and stood there now, facing unanimously seawards, staring toward +the dim horizon, only moving convulsively from time to time in the +effort to keep warm. Those who had glasses used them; those who had +none, strained nature's binoculars to the limit of vision. From all of +which it will be seen that the notary had done his work well, and that +neither had Monsieur Pelletan been backward in spreading the great news +of the unparalleled occurrence which was about to happen. + +"He iss to arrive between t'e hours of seven unt eight," he had +announced. "Hiss Highness, pe it understood, Lord Vernon, t'e great +Englishman. He comes in a special vessel--a sheep-of-t'e-war," he added +with a triumphant flourish. "He could pring mit' him t'e whole nafy of +England, if he wish'!" Ah, what an honour for Weet-sur-Mer! And what a +blow for the Grand Hôtel Splendide across the way! + +Yet Monsieur Pelletan did not in the least understand how it had come to +pass; he suspected his partner of some sort of clairvoyance, of some +supernatural power of compelling events, and his admiration for him had +deepened to awe. But into this question he did not permit himself to +enter deeply; he was content to know that fame and prosperity were +returning with a rush to the Grand Hôtel Royal. Already there had been a +score of applicants for rooms; the corridors were again assuming that +air of liveliness and gaiety which had characterised them in those +golden days when the August Prince of Zeit-Zeit had been his annual +guest. He was no longer ashamed to meet the proprietor of the Grand +Hôtel Splendide face to face in the full day; he was a different person +from the despairing individual of the day before; in a word, he was no +longer in ruins! He had been restored, as so many ruins are, by the +hand of an American! + +At this moment he held the centre of the stage, and it was easy to read +in his bearing the consciousness that he deserved the limelight. A strip +of crimson carpet had been stretched across the sand to the very water's +edge; on either side of it a dozen decorous footmen were aligned, and +between them Monsieur Pelletan proudly marched, his head in air, his +back very straight, preceding a big, hooded invalid's chair. + +Immediately a murmur arose. + +"He is ill then!" + +"Why the chair?" + +"He is coming to take the baths." + +The murmur no doubt penetrated to the ears of the little Alsatian, but +he made no sign. He was aware that the envious eyes of the proprietor of +the Grand Hôtel Splendide were upon him; he would show him that here was +a guest more majestic, more worthy of honour than even the Prince of +Zeit-Zeit!--a Highness, in short, so extraordinary as to cause that +August personage to resemble, in some incomprehensible way, the sum of +one franc fifty centimes! Otherwise there would have been no carpet, for +the sand was hard and dry. Otherwise, too, perhaps, Monsieur Pelletan +would have been content to permit his major-domo to represent him at the +water's edge, for he was not accustomed to exposing himself thus to the +sharp airs of the morning. His fat red cheeks and plump nose were +turning a dull purple--ah, how good would a glass of cognac taste!--but +he bore this discomfort with the greatest fortitude, for, after all, an +occasion such as this was worth some sacrifice. + +And, be it said, his was not the only purple nose in evidence. There +were many men who stared straight before them, daring to look neither to +the right nor left; and many women who were thankful for the heavy +veils they had had the forethought to put on. Even rouge, however +cunningly applied, cannot hide certain ugly lines in the face in the +clear, cruel light of the morning! + +Strange how the same breeze will give to some cheeks a dull +repulsiveness and to others an entrancing glow! A word to lovers: Would +you test your mistress's blood and spirit, persuade her to a walk some +sharp day in winter; or, if she will not be persuaded, use a little +artifice. Then, after wind and frost have had their will of her for half +an hour, take a look at her. Are her cheeks glowing, are her eyes +bright, is she having a good time? If not, take heed! + +There were four cheeks upon the beach at Weet-sur-Mer that morning +glowing as I would have your true love's glow; drawing men's eyes and +women's, too--the one in admiration, the other in envy. Yes, envy! +though more than one shivering fair spoke a low, slurring word about +"those coarse Americans!" + +Both Pelletan and the notary had been careful to respect Rushford's wish +that his connection with the hotel be kept to themselves; in all their +boastings, rejoicings, explanations, his name had not been whispered; +and not even to his daughters had that gentleman confided the secret of +his plan to get the excitement he had craved so badly. He had feared, +perhaps, that they would not enter thoroughly into the spirit of the +thing--women, even American women, are sometimes strangely deficient in +the sense of humour. But they had both been struck by their host's +impressive obsequiousness--a very orgasm of servility, which Pelletan +had hitherto reserved for personages of the blood royal. + +"What ails the man?" Susie had asked at dinner the night before, her +eyes on Monsieur Pelletan's writhing form. "He seems to have the +stomach-ache." + +"He is probably fishing for a tip," said Nell. "It seems to me that +I've seen those symptoms before in a less violent form." + +"Don't you tip him," commanded their father. "I'll attend to all that," +and he beckoned to Pelletan with his finger and whispered a rapid +sentence in his ear. + +"What did you say to him, dad?" inquired Sue, gazing in some +astonishment after their host's retreating coat-tails. + +"I told him to go 'way back and sit down," answered Rushford, going +calmly on with his meal. + +"Dad, is it true that Lord Vernon is to arrive to-morrow morning?" + +"I suppose so." + +"In a ship of war?" + +"Yes--I've heard that, too." + +"You'll take us down to the beach, won't you, dad?" + +"What! A free-born American citizen go toadying after the English +aristocracy!" + +"But we'll need a cicérone, dad." + +"What for, I'd like to know?" + +"Oh, what are cicérones always for? To get us a good place, to be sure!" + +So here he was, in the forefront of the crowd, with his womenkind beside +him, and no doubt the discerning reader has already guessed that it was +to their cheeks I referred some pages back. There were many grandes +dames upon the beach that morning--some the real thing, a little plain, +a little faded, rather touching to look upon--others, for the most part +articles de Paris, very tall and plump and even handsome, if one likes +the gorgeous type, with gowns created by the great costumers and paid +for heaven knows how! But I always think with a little warmth of pride +and admiration of those two American girls standing there, wind-blown +and radiant. Coarse, madame! Ah, what would you not give for a little +of that coarseness! After all, freshness is a woman's greatest charm, as +you very well know, madame, though you try your best to think otherwise; +and, alas, you are fast losing yours! For, as you have found--as untold +thousands have found before you, and will yet find--one can't squander +one's youth and keep it, too! Aye, more than that. The sins of the night +stare at one from one's glass on the morrow, and will not be massaged +away. Take your baths, madame, in milk, or wine, or perfumed water; +summon your masseuse, your beauty-doctor. Let them rub you and knead you +and pinch you, coat you with cold cream or grease you with oil of +olives. Redden cheeks and lips, whiten hands and shoulders, polish +nails, pencil eyebrows, squeeze in the waist, pad out the hips--swallow, +at the last, that little tablet which you slip from the jewelled case at +your wrist. It is all in vain. You deceive no man nor woman. They look +into your eyes and smile, but behind the smile there is a shudder! + +Nell and Susie Rushford, with the wind playing in their hair and kissing +their cheeks, that morning, were miracles of freshness; two divine +messages, two phantoms of delight, sent from the New World to the Old. + + And one was dark, with tints of violet + In hair and eyes, and one was blond as she + Who rose--a second daybreak--from the sea, + Gold-tressed and azure-eyed. + +Nell, the elder, was tall and fair, like her father, rather sedate, with +not quite the sparkle of Susie, two years her junior, the counterpart of +the little mother whom she had never seen. And both were erect and +bright-eyed as only American girls seem to know completely how to be; +visibly healthy, happy, and pure-minded. I should like to pause and look +at them a moment longer, for I have always been a little in love with +them myself; I should like to add to the verses of our own dear poet +certain lines of Wordsworth, of Burns, of Byron--but you, dear reader, +will recall them readily, especially if you belong, as I hope you do, to +the great and glorious fraternity of true lovers; if your heart burns +and your pulses leap at mention of a certain name, at sight of a dear +face-- + +There came a sudden hum of excitement from the crowd. + +"Look, look!" cried Susie. "There it is!" and she clapped her glasses to +her eyes again. + +Far out against the horizon appeared a smudge of smoke, which grew and +spread until those with glasses could perceive beneath it the low, dark +lines of a man-of-war. It was true then! Some had permitted themselves +to doubt the story spread so industriously by Monsieur Pelletan and his +friend, the notary--the proprietor of the Grand Hôtel Splendide had +counselled scepticism. Now they could doubt no longer, and they drew a +deep breath. A ship of war at Weet-sur-Mer! + +Straight toward the beach she steamed, looming larger and ever larger; +then her speed slackened, slackened, until at last she lay rolling +quietly a quarter of a mile off-shore. A shrill piping came over the +water as the crew was mustered amidships and the boarding-stairs +lowered. + +"Well, he _must_ be a swell!" said Sue, "or they wouldn't take all that +trouble. There goes the boat." + +And splash it went into the water, the crew tumbled in, and two men +slowly helped another down the stairs, while the crew stood at +attention. Some baggage was lowered, then the oars dipped together and a +little spurt of foam appeared under the bow. + +"Why, it's like a moving-picture machine!" cried Susie, with a little +gasp of enjoyment. "Or a comic opera!" she added, wrestling with her +glasses to get them focussed on the moving boat. "The hero's sitting in +the stern," she announced. "He's all wrapped up and there's another man +holding him. I can't see anything of him but his eyes, for he's got a +handkerchief or something over the lower part of his face. He must be +awfully ill, poor fellow!" + +"Probably got the grip," observed her father, practically. "Wants to +keep out the damp air. I think he'd be better off at home in bed." + +"Oh, but then," protested Nell-- + +"Then we shouldn't have this show," said her father, and laughed grimly +at the thought that neither would fortune have smiled so promptly on the +Grand Hôtel Royal. + +The oars flashed suddenly upright; two men sprang from the bow, with a +fine disregard of a wetting, and pulled the boat far in. Then the +bemuffled figure was lifted tenderly and carried to the waiting chair, +where Monsieur Pelletan was bowing with his head almost touching the +carpet. The invalid was started toward the hotel without delay, three +men accompanying him, under the leadership of Pelletan; the baggage was +heaped on the beach and taken in charge by the hotel porters. A moment +later the boat shoved off. + +A few waited to watch it make its way back to the ship, which +immediately steamed away toward the horizon; others followed the +procession headed by the invalid's chair; still others hurried ahead to +confer their patronage upon the Grand Hôtel Royal; but the greater part +hastened back to their rooms to get something hot and bracing. From one +end to the other, the place was a-buzz with wagging tongues. Why should +the foreign secretary of the British Empire have chosen Weet-sur-Mer as +his abiding place? Merely because he was ill and wished to rest? Bah! To +believe that would be to show a mind the most credulous, would be to +evince an ignorance of high diplomacy the most profound. Again, why +should he have made the journey from England in a ship of war? Depend +upon it, there was a mystery here; a mystery not to be solved in a +moment even by such eminent amateurs as those assembled at Weet-sur-Mer. +It would take time--it would take study. But it was worth it! There was +something behind all this-something more than appeared on the surface +--in a word, a Plot! And the best place to study it,--the only place, +indeed,--was the Grand Hôtel Royal. + +So, instantly, there was a great packing of luggage, a despatching of +couriers, an engaging of rooms, a settling of bills which drove the +proprietor of the Splendide half mad with chagrin. He protested, he +swore, he offered concessions the most unheard of--all in vain. His day +was over! + +Rushford, his work as cicérone des dames accomplished, returned +leisurely to the hotel, while the girls started for their accustomed +walk. He smiled grimly to himself as he entered the office, the scene +was so different from that of yesterday. For the moment, all was +excitement. Monsieur Pelletan and his assistants were busy attending to +the wants of their distinguished guest; down in the kitchen, the chef +was cursing the stupidity of the unfortunate menials under him and +striving madly to prove himself worthy the occasion--the greatest of his +life! Every moment, a porter toiled up to the door with a load of +luggage; every moment some one arrived demanding a room--and not one +murmured at the tariff! The lift groaned and creaked under the +unaccustomed weights put upon it and moved more slowly than ever. +Pelletan, as he hurried past, mopping his perspiring brow, had time only +for a single glance at his good angel--but what a glance! Such a glance, +no doubt, Columbus caught from his lieutenants at the cry of "Land Ho!" + +Rushford, leaning over the desk, watching the confusion with an +amusement which had banished every trace of ennui, felt his arm touched. +He turned and recognised the be-gilt messenger of the day before. + +"A second telegram for monsieur," said that functionary, with an amiable +grin, and produced the message. + +There was no time for hesitation. Rushford took it, signed the blank, +and fished up the expected tip. + +"Oh, what a tangled web we weave!" he murmured, and looked at the +address on the little white envelope. It read: + + _M. le Propriétaire, + + Grand Hôtel Royal, + + Weet-sur-Mer._ + +"The plot thickens!" he murmured. "Well, it's really for me. Let's see," +and he tore it open. He whistled again as he read the message; then he +called the nearest boy. "Tell Monsieur Pelletan to come here at once," +he said. "Tell him I must speak to him on a matter of importance." + +At the end of a moment, the little man puffed down the stair, exhausted, +radiant! + +"Iss eet not grand!" he cried. "What a change from yesterday! T'ough how +you haf accomplishe' eet, monsieur--" + +"No matter," interrupted Rushford. "Which is the next best of your +apartments, Pelletan?" + +"T'e nex' best? Why, apartment B, monsieur. Eet iss t'e counterpart of +apartment A, only on t'e nort' side of t'e house instead of t'e sout'." + +"And it is still empty?" + +"At two hundret francs t'e tay? Oh, yess, monsieur; only a Prince can +afford eet now." + +"Well, you will prepare it at once--" + +"Ah, monsieur himself will take eet! T'at iss just! I shall pe too +happy--" + +"No, no; you've just said that only a Prince can afford it and it's my +business to produce him! Let's see--it's nearly nine--well, at ten +o'clock, there will arrive in a special train--" + +Monsieur Pelletan had turned pale. + +"Een a special train?" he faltered. "What! Some one else?" + +"Yes--at ten o'clock--" + +"Who iss eet will arrive, monsieur?" questioned Pelletan faintly. + +"His Highness, Prince Frederick of Markeld, ambassador from the court of +Schloshold-Markheim," answered Rushford, dwelling upon every word. "We +will give him apartment B." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +An Adventure and a Rescue + +It was not until Rushford opened his paper an hour later that he fully +understood the remarkable situation of which the Grand Hôtel Royal had, +by the merest chance, become the centre. + + "It is extremely unfortunate [said + the _Times_] that Lord Vernon should + have been taken ill at just this time, + when the question of the succession of + Schloshold-Markheim is hanging in the + balance. Lord Vernon is the only man + in the cabinet capable of dealing with + the situation, which is as delicate as can + be imagined. On the one side are arrayed + the sympathies of our reigning + house and perhaps even our own + honour; on the other, the plainly expressed + desires of the German Emperor. + + "The late Prince Christian left no direct + heirs, so that, in any event, the succession + must be through a collateral + branch. The claims of the rivals, Prince + George, of Schloshold, and Prince + Ferdinand, of Markheim, are therefore + evenly balanced. On one side of the + scale, however, the German Emperor + has thrown the weight of his influence. + On the other side is the moral influence + of practically all the rest of Europe, but + this will scarcely be of any value to + Prince Ferdinand unless he can enlist + the active support of Great Britain, + which, it may be, Lord Vernon, though + reluctant to withhold, will find impossible + to give. It is not to be denied that, + from a disinterested view-point, Prince + Ferdinand seems by far the more worthy + of the two claimants. + + "Lord Vernon is suffering with a + very severe attack of influenza, which + has been developing for some days, and + which has, at last, become so serious that + his physicians have commanded a complete + rest for a week or ten days. One + may well conceive Lord Vernon's reluctance + to heed this advice, but he has + very wisely decided to do so. The little + seaside resort of Weet-sur-Mer, on the + Dutch coast, has been selected as the + place for his sojourn, and he will be + taken there to-morrow on H. M. S. + _Dauntless_. Sir John Scaddam, his + physician, and two of his secretaries, + Mr. Arthur Collins and Mr. George + Blake, will accompany him, although + work of any kind has been absolutely + forbidden him for at least a week. It is + believed that the bracing atmosphere of + Weet-sur-Mer will effect a cure in that + time. + + "Weet-sur-Mer is comparatively little + known, at least in England. It is really + the old Dutch fishing-village of Weet-zurlindenhofen; + but a number of years + ago it was exploited as a watering-place + and re-christened Weet-sur-Mer by + some enthusiast more anxious to advertise + the fact that one may bathe there + than to observe the rules of etymology. + It is rather out of the way, and the route + by rail is so circuitous and uncertain + that it was judged best to spare Lord + Vernon the fatigue of such a journey by + conveying him directly thither upon the + _Dauntless_. He hopes to find there a + quiet and seclusion which would be impossible + at any of the larger resorts. + + "We understand that Prince George + is with the German Emperor at Berlin, + and that Prince Ferdinand, who is at + Markheim, has commissioned his + cousin, Prince Frederick, of Markeld, to + place his claims before our foreign office. + His reception at this time can + hardly fail to cause acute embarrassment." + +There was a half-column more of comment and veiled suggestion that +perhaps the wisest course for the foreign office to pursue, now that +Lord Vernon's guiding hand was for the moment withdrawn, would be to let +affairs take their course; though it was difficult to see how this could +consistently be done if Prince Frederick succeeded in gaining a formal +audience and placing his case before the government. Already, it seemed, +the jingo papers were taunting the administration with undue truckling +to the wishes of Germany, with a lack of stamina and backbone in +short--with something like treachery toward Prince Ferdinand and treason +toward the royal family, with which the Prince was distantly allied. + +Rushford gave a long whistle of astonishment; then he laid the paper on +his knees and stared thoughtfully out across the sands for some minutes. + +"Of course, Markeld has followed Vernon here," he said, at last. "I +rather admire his pluck. And I'd like to be present at the +interview--it'll be interesting. Why, hello, Pelletan," he added, as the +latter approached him humbly, as a slave approaches the Sultan. "Want to +speak to me?" "Eef monsieur please," answered the little Frenchman, +who was plainly labouring under deep excitement. + +"All right; what is it?" + +"Wass monsieur serious in hees command t'at I exclude t'e Prince of +Zeit-Zeit?" + +"Never more serious in my life. He's barred! We take only human +beings--not monstrosities. Has he applied?" + +"Yess, monsieur; he tesires hees old apartment." + +"Which was that?" + +"Apartment A, monsieur; he hass always had t'e pest in t'e house when he +come here mit' hees fat'er." + +"Well, apartment A's already taken; even if it were empty, he shouldn't +have it. Where's your nerve, Pelletan--here's your chance for revenge!" + +"But to refuse a Prince!" murmured Pelletan. "Eet iss somet'ing unheard +of!" + +"It will make you famous! It's a big ad for the house! 'The Grand Hôtel +Royal refuses to receive the Prince of Zeit-Zeit.' Think what a stir +that will make! Besides, you have no choice--I require it!" + +"Fery well, monsieur," agreed Pelletan, with a gesture of despairing +obedience. "T'ere iss one t'ing more--I haf an idea." + +"That's good; let's have it," said Rushford, encouragingly. "There's +nothing like ideas." + +"Monsieur will remember," began Pelletan, in a voice carefully lowered, +"t'at we agreed to touble t'e price of entertainment." + +"Yes--what of it? Anybody been kicking?" + +"No--au contraire, monsieur--t'e house iss full--efery leetle room." + +"You see you don't need Zeit-Zeit; it's quite like the old times, isn't +it?" + +"Yess--only petter, monsieur; far petter. Oh, eet iss wunderschön!" + +"Well, go ahead; what's the idea?" + +"Since t'e house iss full," said Pelletan, impressively, "and t'ere are +many more asking for rooms--oh, temanding t'em--t'e Prince among t'e +number!--why may not we again touble t'e price?" and he leaned back in +his chair, looking triumphantly at his partner. But his face fell as the +latter shook his head. "No?" he asked. "Eet will not do?" + +"No," said Rushford, slowly; "I'm afraid it won't do. You see it would +be a kind of ex post facto proceeding--" + +"A--I ton't quite comprehen', monsieur." + +"No matter--trust me--see what's happened since yesterday," and he +waved his hand at the busy corridor. + +"Oh, eet iss kolossal!" cried Pelletan. "I shall nefer cease to atmire +monsieur. Perhaps," he suggested timidly, "since he hass peen so +successful, monsieur may pe tempted to remain permanently. Surely he +would pe one great success! In a year--two year--we would eclipse +Ostend--monsieur himself hass said eet!" + +"No," laughed the other, "I don't think I'd care to remain. Though, of +course," he added, "the possibility of great success is always +fascinating." + +"Oh, eet iss more t'an a possibility," cried Pelletan. "Eet is a +certainty." + +"A certainty is not so fascinating as a possibility," the American +pointed out, his eyes twinkling. + +"Unt t'en," continued Pelletan, persuasively, fancying, no doubt, that +he saw some signs of yielding in his partner's face, "eef monsieur +remains, he can haf t'e house done ofer to suit heem; he can t'row away +t'e furniture he does not like; he can paint out t'e marble columns; he +can cause all t'e servants to pe tressed to hees taste. He would make +one grand sensation! T'e house would pe t'e talk of Europe, tint we +would soon pe reech--oh, reech!" and the little Frenchman stretched his +arms wide to indicate the vast extent of the wealth that was awaiting +them. + +But Rushford shook his head. + +"No, Pelletan," he said; "no, I really can't do it. It's utterly +impossible, or your impassioned eloquence would certainly prevail. +There's nothing I'd like better than to show the hotel-keepers of Europe +a thing or two--they are more conceited with less reason for being so +than any other class of men I know. But I've got to go back to America +before long to look after my business there. Besides, I don't really +feel that hotel-keeping is my lifework. I'm afraid it would pall upon me +after a time. But I tell you what I'll do, if you wish, Pelletan. I'll +tear up the agreement and say no more about it. You may have all the +profits." + +"Oh!" cried the Frenchman, dazzled by this munificence, by the golden +vision which danced before his eyes. Then he hesitated. With his +partner's marvellous influence withdrawn, might not the whole wonderful +structure come tumbling about his ears? It would be like pulling out the +foundation! What would prevent his guests from packing up and leaving +to-morrow? "No, monsieur," he said, slowly, at last, "I prefer eet as +eet iss." + +"Very well," and Rushford laughed again; it was not the first time his +partners in business had been afraid to do without him! "Let it be that +way, then. Have you got that agreement with you?" + +"Yess, monsieur; eet iss here," and he produced it from an inner +pocket. + +"Let me have it a minute." + +Pelletan gave it to him with trembling hand. His partner opened it, got +out his fountain-pen, and changed a word in the contract. + +"There," he said, "that's more fair, Pelletan." + +Pelletan paled as he looked at the paper and his eyes grew misty. +Instead of one hundred francs daily, he would receive two hundred. Ah, +these magnificent Americans! + +The interview to which the _Times_ looked forward with so much +apprehension was, it seemed, indefinitely postponed. The Prince of +Markeld had, indeed, immediately upon his arrival, caused his presence +to be formally announced to Lord Vernon, but the latter had responded +that he was, for the present, under the orders of his physician, who +forbade him to see any one or to transact business of any kind. Whereat +the Prince had twisted his mustachios fiercely (with an accompaniment, +no doubt, of sub voce profanity) and had proceeded to amuse himself +until luncheon with an exceedingly ugly bulldog he had brought with him. + +He had luncheon in his apartment, smoked a cigarette or two, despatched +a telegram describing the state of affairs to Prince Ferdinand, and +then, looking from his window and perceiving that all the world was +abroad, prepared for a walk along the beach. At the door, he happened to +look back and caught his dog's eyes fixed wistfully upon him. + +"Ah, Jax, old boy," he said, "it is unfair to leave you shut up here +with only Glück for company. Like to come along?" + +Jax wriggled his delight. + +"And you'll behave yourself?" + +Jax promised as clearly as a dog could. + +"Very well, then," and the Prince went down the stair, with Jax, +half-delirious with joy, behind him. + +Now the Prince was a very good-looking fellow, erect and clean, as +German noblemen have a way of being--besides, he was a Prince, a +commander of favours from the world and women, not a mere suitor for +them as most poor mortals are--and more than one pair of eyes gazed at +him languishingly from under pencilled brows as he strolled moodily +along the beach, golden yellow in the sunlight; more than one crimson +mouth shaped itself to an entrancing smile; more than one sullied heart +beat high at thought of a brilliant future. + +But on this occasion, none of the sirens won an answering glance, for +the Prince was in no mood for flirtation--and, besides, he was used to +sirens. So he strolled on, deep in thought. This affair of state, which +rested upon his shoulders, promised to go badly; if Lord Vernon +persisted in his refusal to see him, he was checkmated at the start, +before he had opportunity to make a move. Delay meant ruin, and his +cousin had trusted everything to him. He knew very well that the Emperor +would not delay; that he would use every minute to strengthen his +position; that he would compel events, not dance attendance on them. He, +the Prince, must see Lord Vernon at any cost; he must demand an +audience; he must appeal to his patriotism, his sense of honour, the +love of fair play which every Englishman possesses; he must make refusal +impossible-- + +He paused and looked up, conscious of a sudden commotion on the beach +just ahead of him. Then he saw his dog dancing frantically about a young +lady who held in her arms a little white spaniel, which she had +evidently just snatched up from annihilation. + +Markeld started forward with a leap, but at that instant a tall figure +emerged from a hooded chair nearby, and with a quick and well-directed +kick, sent the dog spinning. + +"Oh, thank you!" cried Susie Rushford, looking up into a very handsome +face. + +"It was my great good fortune," said the stranger, bowing, "to be of +service to a compatriot." + +"Oh, you are an American?" + +"No; an Englishman; but at least we speak the same language! I don't +know the word for it" + +"Neither do I--compatriot will do. You were just in time!" + +"And you did it very neatly," added Nell, admiringly, glancing at the +discomfited Jax, who was looking about him dazedly. + +"Thank you," and the stranger, checking the words which were evidently +upon his lips, bowed again, turned quickly back to his chair, buried +himself in its recesses, and retired behind a newspaper. + +"Well!" gasped Sue, meeting her sister's astonished eyes, "I must +say--" + +But what she must have said will remain forever a mystery, for just then +the Prince of Markeld came hurrying up. + +"I hope there is no damage," he said, speaking with just the slightest +accent. "He is my dog," he added, seeing their questioning glance. "I am +very sorry. I was a little preoccupied and was not noticing him. He is +usually a very good dog. I cannot understand why he should have attacked +yours." + +"He isn't mine," laughed Susie, patting the spaniel upon his silky head; +"he just ran to me for refuge." + +"Evidently a most intelligent dog," observed the Prince, gravely. + +"You think so?" asked Susie, her colour deepening just the faintest bit. +"Ah, here is the owner, now," she added, as a little faded old woman +came panting up. + +"Oh, thank you, mademoiselle!" cried the newcomer, snatching the dog +from Susie's arms. "Thank you! He was a bad boy--he run away!" and she +held him close against her heart. + +"It was nothing," protested Susie. "I am very glad I happened to be just +here. Though I don't suppose that either I or the dog was in danger of +being eaten," she added to Markeld, as the little old woman trotted +tremulously away. "Your dog doesn't look especially ferocious." + +"Still, I beg a thousand pardons," repeated the Prince. "I should have +kept my eye on him. Come here, Jax," he called, "and make your apologies +to the ladies." + +Jax crawled up very humbly and Susie stooped and patted his head. + +"Poor Jax," she said. "It wasn't your fault, I know. I'm sure that +little spaniel insulted you!" + +Jax licked her hand gratefully, and the Prince looked on with an +admiration he did not attempt to conceal. + +"Would you like him?" he asked, eagerly. + +Susie started up with crimsoning cheeks. + +"No, thank you," she said, and taking her sister's arm, she walked on, +chin in air. + +The Prince gazed after her, wide-eyed, for a moment, then turned +resolutely and continued on his way. + +"Well," began Nell, at the end of a minute, "he quite took my breath +away!" + +"Which he?" queried Sue. + +"Both of them; but the first especially. That kick bespoke football +training." + +"And he has evidently kept in condition," added Sue. "The owner of the +dog wasn't a bad-looking fellow, either--interesting, too, I haven't a +doubt, and I do like interesting people! But the nerve of him--offering +me his dog! I'm afraid we need a chaperon, after all, my dear." + +"Yes," agreed Nell, "perhaps we do. But it would be an awful bother." + +They walked on to the end of the beach, then mounted to the Digue and +strolled slowly back toward the hotel, enjoying the breeze, the colour, +the sunshine, the strange and varied life of the place. + +Stretching along the landward side of the dyke stood a row of little +houses, green and pink and white, with tile roofs mounting steeply +upward, their red surfaces broken by innumerable dormers. These had once +been the homes of honest and industrious fishermen, but time had changed +all that. They had been remodelled to suit the demands of business, and +every house had now on the lower floor an expensive little shop with +monsieur sitting complacently at the door and madame, fat and voluble, +at the money-drawer, and on the floor above, a still more expensive +suite of rooms to let--rooms panelled in white and gold, resplendent +with rococo mouldings, and crowded with abominable furniture, intended +to be coquettish--gilt chairs, scalloped tables, embroidered +lambrequins, ottomans smothered in plush and fringe, beds draped with +curtains until they were all but air-tight--in effect more French than +France. + +Here and there between the houses, a glimpse might be had of the low +country beyond, with its sluggish canal choked with rushes, a dingy +windmill here and there, and stretching away on either side the flat +meadows crinkling with yellow grain, and the green pastures dotted with +huge black-and-white cattle. A narrow road, straight as a line in +Euclid, and bordered by a row of trees each the counterpart of all the +others, mounted toward the horizon, leading, principally, to a low, +yellow house about a mile away, displaying above its door the +appropriate motto, "Lust en Rust." There, either in the cool, +vine-shaded garden, in the long, low-ceilinged dining-room, or in some +smaller and more ornate apartment, one might breakfast, dine, what not, +in the fashion of the country--which, for the most part, meant the +drinking of a muddy liquid with an unpronounceable name and the eating +of wafelen and poffertjes, and of little cheeses calculated to appal the +strongest stomach. + +The shops and the landscape--the cosmopolitan crowd with its Babel of +many tongues--the great hotels, built of stucco in the nouveau-riche +style so rasping to sensitive nerves--the striped awnings, the low +balconies, the gaudy house-fronts--all these our heroines looked at and +commented on and revelled in with the joy of fresh and unspoiled youth. +It was life they were tasting--strange, interesting, intoxicating +life--and they drank deep of it. + +As they neared the hotel entrance, they saw coming from the other +direction, pushed by two men, an invalid chair. They stood aside to let +it pass, and its occupant, carefully wrapped in a great steamer-rug, +glanced up at them with a quizzical light in his eyes. + +They shrank back together against the wall with a simultaneous gasp of +dismay, for the invalid was their athletic rescuer of an hour before. + +The chair went on to the desk, where it paused, while its occupant wrote +a hasty sentence on a slip of paper, which he tore from his notebook. A +moment later, it was presented to Susie by one of his attendants. She +took it mechanically, and, with a low bow, the messenger hurried back to +the chair. + +"What in the world," she began dazedly; then she unfolded the paper and +read: + +"Lord Vernon will be deeply grateful if he is not mentioned in +connection with today's adventure." + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +Tellier Takes a Hand + +The Prince continued his walk to the limits of the beach, with Jax +trotting humbly at his heels; then he returned slowly to the hotel and +mounted to his apartment. + +"That will do, Glück," he said, as he gave him his hat and gloves. +"Don't let me be disturbed." + +And Glück, with his imperturbable mahogany face, silently withdrew to +mount guard without the door. + +The Prince sat down, lighted a cigarette, and stared moodily out of the +window, down upon the shifting crowd which still thronged the beach. His +hand, hanging inert by his side, became suddenly the receptacle for a +moist nose. + +"Ah, Jax; and did she pat you on the head, old boy?" he asked. "And are +you properly proud?" + +Jax wiggled his remnant of a tail. + +"Would you like to belong to her, Jax, and get patted every day? Yet she +wouldn't take you--snapped me off short as that stump of yours when I +offered you to her. Why was that, Jax?" + +Jax couldn't say, not being familiar with the ways of fair Americans, +and the Prince patted him softly on his nobbly crown. + +"Just the same, she was a beauty, Jax; slim, straight, full of fire--a +thoroughbred; and with a sense of humour, my dear, which you will find +in not many women. Did you notice her cheeks, Jax, and her eyes? But of +course not; you were very properly grovelling before her. And I owe you +eternal gratitude, old boy; but for you, I'd have stalked past without +seeing her. That would have been a pity, wouldn't it?" + +There was a knock at the door and Glück's head appeared. + +"I thought I told you," began the Prince-- + +"Your Highness will pardon me," explained Glück, quickly, "but there is +a man here who insists that Your Highness will see him." + +"Who is he?" + +"This is his card, Your Highness," and Glück entered the room. "I have +sent it back once, saying that Your Highness was not to be disturbed. He +returned it, insisting--" + +Markeld took the card, glanced at it, and read: + +_"M. André Tellier, Paris. Agent du Service de Sûreté"_ + +Beneath this was a pencilled line--"Concerning the question of the +succession." + +The Prince stared at it a moment in some astonishment, not unmixed with +irritation. What could this fellow know concerning the succession? It +was most probably simply an impertinence. The Paris police were famous +for impertinences. + +Glück started for the door; since his master's boyhood, he had watched +over him, attended him--he could read his countenance like an open book. +The Prince glanced up. + +"Where are you going?" he demanded. + +"I go to tell the imbecile that Your Highness will not see him," +responded Glück, impassively, his hand on the knob. + +The Prince smiled. He had a great fondness for his old retainer. + +"Wait," he said. "We must not permit ourselves to be governed by first +impressions, nor swayed by prejudice. It is just possible that this +fellow has something to tell me which I ought to hear. I can't afford to +disregard any chance. So inform M. Tellier that I will see him," and he +lighted a fresh cigarette resignedly. + +As he watched the smoke turn gray in the sunlight, it suddenly occurred +to him that, in some unaccountable manner, the question of the +succession had receded somewhat into the background; it no longer seemed +to him of such overwhelming consequence; at least, he had not been +thinking of it a moment before, but of something very different-- + +There appeared at the door a figure which drew a stare of surprise from +Markeld, accustomed as he was to eccentric habiliment. It was arrayed in +a long, mouse-gray frock coat and shiny black trousers; a hand gloved in +lavender kid carried a top hat, while the other caressed, from time to +time, the carefully-waxed mustachios and imperial adorning a countenance +which was a singular mixture of craft and vanity. The little eyes were +half-concealed under drooping, baggy lids, the nose was long and sharp, +the lips very thin and severe, though at this moment parted in a smile +meant to be ingratiating. The figure entered and bowed profoundly, +disclosing Glück's disgusted face in the doorway. + +"Monsieur Tellier?" asked the Prince. + +Tellier bowed again, and the Prince noticed the white line of scalp +leading, with geometrical precision, from the brow to the bald spot on +the crown, and then on down the back of the head. It reminded him, +somehow, of the Lake of Constance, with the Rhine flowing through it. + +"You have something to communicate?" he continued, repressing a smile. + +"Something of the first importance, Your Highness," said the Frenchman; +"otherwise I should not have taken the liberty of disturbing Your +Highness." + +"Very well," and the Prince motioned him to a chair. "Sit down. I shall +be glad to hear you." + +"It is something," said the Frenchman, with a glance at the open door, +"which should be communicated, if Your Highness please, in confidence." + +"Glück, shut the door," commanded the Prince. "Now, my dear sir, +proceed." + +"Your Highness is, of course, aware," began the detective, sitting down +with a back very straight, and drooping his lids until his eyes were +almost closed, "that France is deeply interested in this question of the +succession, and that its sympathies are wholly with Prince Ferdinand, +the cousin of Your Highness, and whom, I understand, Your Highness +represents." + +Markeld nodded. + +"We should naturally expect France's sympathy," he said. + +"France," proclaimed Tellier, raising his chin proudly, "is always on +the side of justice and decency." + +"More especially," continued the Prince, drily, "when the Emperor of +Germany happens to be on the other side. Come now, confess--if the +Emperor were for us, you would be against us--is it not so?" + +Tellier permitted the faintest shadow of a smile to flicker across his +lips. + +"Your Highness speaks with a bluntness disconcerting," he said, +deprecatingly. + +"I wished merely to clear the air," said the Prince, "and to prick at +the outset the bubble with which you were trying to dazzle me. Let me +assure you that we thoroughly understand France's attitude in this +matter. She is on our side simply because she sees an opportunity of +humiliating, through us, an old enemy." + +"'At least," said Tellier, "Your Highness agrees that we are on your +side--the reasons for this attitude do not concern me. I only know that +we are anxious to do all we can to help Your Highnesses cause. +Consequently, when it was learned that Lord Vernon was coming to this +place, the Department of State, fearing some duplicity, asked that a +competent man be sent here to--to--" + +"Keep an eye out for developments," said the Prince, seeing that the +other hesitated for a word, "and to watch for an opportunity of forcing +England's hand." + +"Precisely, Your Highness; and my superiors did me the honour of +selecting me for this delicate task." + +"A wise choice, I do not doubt," said the Prince, gravely. That Tellier +had any important revelation to make he did not in the least believe; +but there seemed a chance of extracting some amusement from the +situation--and time was hanging heavily on his hands--would hang +heavily until the hour of the promenade to-morrow. + +"I hope to prove it so, Your Highness!" cried the detective, flushing +with pleasure at the compliment. "In fact, I think that I may say I +have already proved it so!" + +"Ah!" said the Prince, and lighted another cigarette. + +"I arrived soon after Your Highness; I took a wagon from Zunderburg, +rather than lose precious time by waiting for the train of this +afternoon. I was very weary, for the journey from Paris is a trying one; +but before seeking repose, indeed without even permitting myself to +think of my own fatigue, I ascertained that Lord Vernon occupied +apartment A de luxe, and Your Highness apartment B de luxe, in this +hotel." + +"Indeed!" said the Prince. + +"I naturally took care at once to secure a room here, since it was of +the first importance that I should be in a position to see everything +that might occur." + +"Naturally," agreed the Prince. + +"Though it was very difficult, since every room was taken. For another +man, it would have been impossible." + +"But for you, I see, nothing is impossible," observed the Prince. + +"Very few things, Your Highness," agreed Tellier, modestly. "In this +case I had but to speak a single word," and he paused with an air of +triumph. + +"Wonderful!" cried the Prince, and clapped his hands softly. "Some day I +must get you to teach me that word. It must be very useful. Well, what +next?" + +"An hour's rest," Tellier continued, "and I was myself again. I soon +made the acquaintance of a chamber-maid--a girl who keeps her eyes +open--and I learned many things--" + +"It was not to tell me them that you came here, I trust," interposed the +Prince. "I care little for backstairs gossip." + +"Oh, not at all! As Your Highness says, they would, most probably, not +interest you. But to one in my profession, no fact is uninteresting; no +occurrence is too trivial to be noticed." + +"Well, get on to your story, then," said the Prince, with some +impatience. + +"Just after luncheon today, Your Highness walked on the beach," said +Tellier, "accompanied by the dog yonder." + +Jax growled softly as he caught the Frenchman's eye, which pleased him +no more than it had Glück. + +"That is true," agreed the Prince. "What of it?" + +"The dog attacked a small spaniel, which sought refuge with two ladies, +one of whom picked it up." + +"All ancient history, I assure you, Monsieur Tellier. Yet, wait a +moment. Do you happen to know who the ladies were?" + +"They are sisters," said Tellier. "Their name is Rushford; their father +is a tall American, who incessantly smokes a cigar and reads a +newspaper in the office of the hotel. If Your Highness wishes, I can +make further inquiries." + +"Not at all!" cried the Prince, violently. "I won't countenance such +impertinence! Go on with the story." + +Tellier bowed to indicate the most implicit obedience. + +"It happened that I was near by," he said, "at the moment of the +encounter. I had taken my stand near a large beach-chair, which, for +reasons, interested me. I was nonchalant, impassive; alert, without +seeming to be so. Many of the women passing I had met upon the +boulevards under circumstances the most peculiar; concerning many of the +men I knew more than they would wish the world to know. Seeing me +standing there, some of them turned pale, others grew red with emotion. +Some went by endeavouring to appear not to have seen me; others threw +me appealing glances. Never, by the quiver of a lash, did I show that I +recognised them. I stood and waited--like the Sphinx." + +"For what?" inquired the Prince, whose sense of humour had returned to +him. + +"For the dénouement, Your Highness. I knew that, sooner or later, it +would come. I knew it could not escape me, Tellier--the evidence of +duplicity which I was seeking." + +"But," objected the Prince, "what duplicity can there be? If Lord Vernon +is ill--" + +"Your Highness will pardon me for interrupting; but much depends upon +that 'if.' If, on the other hand, the illness is only for the moment +assumed--" + +"Oh, nonsense!" cried Markeld. "What reason could he have for assuming +illness? That would be childish!" + +The Frenchman smiled a self-satisfied smile, as he softly caressed his +imperial, and his little eyes glowed with anticipated triumph. + +"Let us deal with the facts first, if Your Highness will permit, and +with reasons afterwards. I was, then, standing by the chair in the +attitude which I have described, when your dog appeared and attacked the +spaniel. As the young lady stooped and picked it up, your dog sprang +against her, frightening her so that she cried aloud." + +"And you stood by without offering to assist her?" demanded the Prince, +with some indignation. + +"There was no need, Your Highness," responded Tellier, easily. "In the +first place, she was, of course, in no real danger. In the second place, +I perceived instantly that fate was playing into my hands. In fact, the +incident could not have been more à propos if it had been arranged by my +guardian angel. For from the chair beside which I was stationed a man +sprang out and kicked the dog away. Your Highness must have remarked his +agility and strength--may even have seen his face." + +"No," said the Prince. "I was not near enough to see it distinctly." + +"I saw it, Your Highness, very distinctly, and I assure you that it was +that of a man in the full enjoyment of health. Even from his agility, +Your Highness could doubtless judge whether the man was seriously ill." + +The Prince hitched about in his chair a little impatiently. He was +beginning to find the Frenchman tedious. + +"Most certainly he was not seriously ill," he agreed; "nor, I should +say, even slightly so. What is that to me? Pray have done with this +mystery!" + +Tellier's face was glowing with all a Frenchman's pride in a coup de +théâtre--his moment of triumph had arrived. + +"Of all the eyes which witnessed that episode, seemingly so slight and +so unimportant," he said, proudly, "mine were the only ones which saw +its full significance. Your Highness will, no doubt, be surprised when I +inform you that this gentleman, so agile and so athletic, was no other +than Lord Vernon!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +The Path Grows Crooked + +In the sitting-room of apartment A, in the south wing of the Grand Hôtel +Royal, Lord Vernon was tramping nervously up and down while his +companions regarded him with evident anxiety. + +"I tell you fellows," he was saying, "it can't be kept up--I thought so +from the first, but all the rest of you seemed to think it would be so +infernally easy that I was ashamed to say anything. I knew something was +sure to happen to give us away, and something has happened. What was I +to do? Sit there like a mummy and allow that dog to frighten those girls +to death? What the deuce are you laughing at, Collins?" + +"I'm laughing at your tragic tone. No, you couldn't have sat +still--though I don't suppose the young ladies were in any serious +danger. They were pretty, no doubt?" + +"Ah!" said Vernon, with a mental smacking of the lips at the entrancing +picture the words called up. + +"That, of course, made it doubly impossible to sit still. Did they know +you?" + +"Oh, no; never saw me before; hadn't the slightest suspicion that they +were talking to such a famous personage. They said they were Americans." + +"Then I don't see that any harm has been done." + +"Unfortunately, when I was coming back, all bundled up in my chair, we +ran right into them down here at the door, and they recognised me +instantly--I could tell that by their gasp of amazement as they shrank +back against the wall." + +"Still, if you preserved a cold and haughty demeanour, they may have +concluded they were mistaken." + +"Cold and haughty nothing!" broke in the third man. "I was there and +I'll swear he winked." + +"No, I didn't wink," laughed Vernon. "Though perhaps I should if I'd +dared--they're mighty taking girls!" + +"Well, what _did_ you do?" demanded Collins, with just a trace of +impatience. + +Again Vernon laughed. + +"I sent 'em back a note asking 'em not to tell," he said. + +Collins threw up his hands in horror and the third man grinned +sardonically. Vernon looked at them and kept on laughing. + +"You two fellows take it too seriously," he added. "I don't believe +they'll tell." + +"I thought you knew women better than that," said Collins, +reproachfully. + +"I do know them--better than any dried-up diplomat, at least,--and I +believe we can trust these two--for a few days, anyway. How much time do +we need?" + +"A week, at the very least. Fancy asking a woman to keep a secret for a +week! And as for taking it too seriously, you know how much depends on +it." + +"Yes," observed Vernon, sarcastically, "you fellows seem to think the +peace of Europe depends on it." + +"I should say that would not be overstating it in the least," said +Collins, with a solemnity almost religious. + +"Oh, nonsense; you diplomatic fellows make mountains out of molehills; +you see a storm in every cloud; you imagine the lightning's going to +strike you every time it flashes! You're all nerves!" + +"Anyway, you agreed--" + +"Yes, I know I agreed," interrupted Vernon, irritably, "and I was a fool +to do it." + +"Besides," added Blake, "we've got to play very close, since it happens +that Markeld is in this very hotel. We supposed, of course, that he +would go on to London. I must say that I think he showed exceedingly +poor taste in following us here." + +"Oh, I don't know," said Vernon. "I think it was rather enterprising. I +only wish we could treat the poor devil fairly." + +"Well, since he is here," continued Blake, "there's only one thing for +you to do, and that is to stay under cover." + +"But, confound it!" protested Vernon, "I can't stay cooped up here in +these rooms all the time!" + +"That's the only safe way," observed Collins. "Suppose Markeld should +find out how the land lies! The fat would be in the fire for sure; and +we'd be in a mighty awkward position! Suppose the jingoes got hold of +it!" and he turned pale at the thought. + +"Well, I won't stay shut up, that's certain," said Vernon, doggedly. +"As for the jingoes, let them rave!" + +"That's easy to say," retorted Collins, with irony, "when some one else +has to bear the brunt of it." + +Vernon snorted impatiently. + +"You may frighten yourself whenever you please," he said, "but you can't +frighten me. I've heard the cry of 'Wolf! Wolf!' entirely too often." + +"But the wolf came at last," Blake pointed out. + +"Well, it isn't coming this time; and I don't care if it is. I repeat, +categorically and imperatively, _I won't stay shut up!"_ + +"You agreed to obey our instructions, you know." + +"Every one has the right to rebel against a tyrant!" + +"At least," said Collins, yielding the ground grudgingly, "you must +remember always to keep on your sick-togs when you do go out, and to try +to look a little less scandalously healthy than you are. Now, if you'd +kept on your wraps when you jumped out of the chair--" + +"How was I to kick a dog with a rug around my legs? You fellows don't +give me credit for what I did do. I'd just got into a most interesting +conversation with those girls, when up came a fellow whom I knew +instinctively to be Markeld." + +He stopped as he caught the others' astounded gaze. + +"Yes, Markeld!" he repeated, defiantly. "I've an idea that he is the +owner of the dog. I suppose I should have sent James to inquire who the +dog belonged to before I ventured forth!" + +"No matter," said Collins, impatiently. "What did you do?" + +"I was guilty of unpardonable rudeness," answered Vernon. "I broke away +from those girls as though they had the plague, jumped into my chair, +and buried myself behind my newspaper. They must have thought I'd +escaped from somewhere." + +"So Markeld didn't see you, it doesn't matter what they thought," +remarked Collins. + +"Oh, doesn't it?" + +"Surely you're not going to run any further risks for the sake of a girl +more or less!" + +"My dear Collins!" said Vernon, with chill politeness; "I have always +suspected that a course in diplomacy sucked the blood out of a man and +substituted ice-water in its stead. Now I know it. Permit me to add that +you have not seen the girl--either girl--though I don't suppose that +would make the slightest difference." + +"May I inquire what you propose to do?" asked Collins, flushing a +little. + +"I propose to cultivate the acquaintance of the beautiful Americans in +every way I can. After all, what does it matter to me who rules over a +little twopenny duchy called Schloshold-Markheim?" + +"I suppose your promise is of equal indifference to you!" + +"Damn my promise! See here, Collins; don't push me too far; the worm +will turn. Of course, I'll keep my promise; but don't irritate me. I'm +all on edge over this thing now--a little more, and I'll be capable of +doing something--" + +A tap at the door interrupted him, and he disappeared between two +curtains into the inner room, where an invalid chair, buried in wraps, +stood by the window. Near it was a little table covered with medicine +bottles, glasses, spoons--in a word, all the paraphernalia of prolonged +and serious illness. + +Blake opened the door and took the card that was presented to him. + +"The Prince of Markeld," he said, looking at it. "Ah, yes; you will +tell His Highness that there has been no change in the condition of Lord +Vernon, who thanks him for his kind inquiries." + +He closed the door and turned back into the room. + +"Now, what do you think that means?" he asked, of Collins. "That's the +second time today. He's getting importunate." + +Collins stared out of the window gloomily. + +"Perhaps he suspects already," he said. "I've been told he's a clever +fellow--in fact, he's proved it once or twice." + +"Suppose he does suspect--what shall we do?" + +"Convince him to the contrary. Where's Scaddam?" + +"In his room, I suppose." + +"Better send for him." + +"May I come out?" inquired a voice from the inner room. + +"Yes, come ahead," called Collins, and Vernon reappeared. "Now, my +friend," he continued rapidly, "you'd better go in and put on your +war-togs." Vernon groaned. "Put 'em on thick. I believe Markeld suspects +the trick we're playing, and we've got to fool him--we've got to show +him what a sick man you are." + +"How _could_ he suspect?" demanded Vernon, incredulously. "Even if he +saw me, he couldn't recognise me--he doesn't know me." + +"Perhaps those girls have already given you away." + +"Nonsense! You fellows are afraid of your own shadows. He can't +suspect!" + +"Just the same, we've got to be prepared for emergencies. Have you got +plenty of pepper?" + +Vernon groaned again. + +"Plenty! I tell you fellows I'll ruin my health if I keep this up much +longer. I might easily burst a blood-vessel. People often do when they +sneeze." + +"Well, we'll have to take the risk," said Blake, with grim complacency. + +"Much risk you take! In fact, I saw you sprinkling pepper on my +handkerchief this morning, when there wasn't the slightest need of it." + +"Now, see here," protested Collins, sharply, "what's the use of all this +argument? We've got to see this thing through, whether we like it or +not. I've sent for Scaddam, so he'll be on the scene in case of +emergencies--" + +"You mean, if I break a blood-vessel?" inquired Vernon, politely. + +"Oh, break your grandmother! I tell you--" + +There was a second tap on the door and Vernon again made a dive for the +inner room. This time, a note was handed in. Collins closed the door, +tore open the envelope nervously, and ran his eyes quickly over the +contents. + +"Come out here, you beggar," he called, and Vernon reappeared on the +threshold. "Take a look at this," he added, and held out the note. +"Maybe you won't be so cocksure hereafter that diplomats are always +making mountains out of mole-hills." + +Vernon took the paper and read it slowly, his face growing blanker and +more blank as he proceeded. Then he went back to the beginning and read +it aloud: + +"The Prince of Markeld admired +greatly Lord Vernon's recent prompt +and chivalrous action, which he had the +privilege of witnessing. He is sure, +however, that His Lordship's illness +cannot be so serious as represented, and +hopes that His Lordship will not persist +in refusing him an audience. Such a +course would be neither ingenuous nor +fair." + +For a moment, no one spoke, then Blake gave vent to a low whistle. + +"Well," he said, dazedly; "so the cat's out of the bag! What's to be +done?" + +"There's only one thing that can be done," Collins said sharply. "I've +already pointed out what that is," and he sat down at the table and +wrote a rapid message. "How will this do? 'Lord Vernon will be pleased +to see the Prince of Markeld at five o'clock this afternoon. He has no +recollection of having recently performed any prompt or chivalrous +action. The Prince has doubtless been misinformed.' That gives us half +an hour--neither too much time, nor too little." + +"But that's folly!" protested Blake; "how can you carry it through?" + +"Leave that to me. I've got out of tighter places than this one. And," +he added, turning to Vernon, "if you ever looked ill in your life, +prepare to do it now." + +Vernon was looking dreamily over Markeld's note. + +"He uses adjectives well, doesn't he?" he asked. "'Such a course would +be neither ingenuous nor fair.' 'Pon my word, I quite agree with him!" + +"Remember, you're under orders," said Collins, sternly. + +"Under reasonable orders, perhaps," admitted Vernon, quietly, with a +little tightening of the muscles of the face. "I don't admit that either +you or Blake is infallible. What is it you propose to do?" + +"We propose, in the first place, to send Markeld this note." + +Vernon took it and read it at a glance. + +"A note which is, of course, a lie," he observed, dispassionately, as he +handed it back. + +"It is not a lie!" retorted Collins, flushing hotly. "It is, on the +contrary, the absolute truth." + +"There are many ways of lying," remarked Vernon, still more coolly. "It +isn't so much the letter as the spirit which constitutes a lie." + +"This is scarcely the time," put in Blake, "for a lecture upon ethics." + +"And it would, in any event," added Vernon, "be entirely wasted upon the +present audience. Well, what next?" + +"I think you understand your part," answered Collins, curtly. "The only +question is, are you prepared to play it?" + +Vernon hesitated for an instant, his hands trembling slightly. + +"I feel the veriest scoundrel," he said, bitterly. "It sickens me--but +you've got me fast." + +"Yes," agreed Collins, with a malicious grin, "we've got you fast." + +"Though not quite as fast as you think, perhaps," added Vernon, +quietly. "I warn you that I will break the bonds if they become too +galling. I see that I'm going to owe Prince Frederick a hearty apology +before this thing is over." + +"Oh, I shan't interfere with your apology when the time conies," +retorted Collins. + +"I should hope not," said Vernon, still more quietly; then he turned and +entered the inner room. + +"You mustn't push him too hard, Arthur," said Blake, in a low tone, "or +he'll kick over the traces. Remember, he is devilish high-spirited. And +he won't lie." + +"It takes a firm hand to keep him under control; but I'll be careful. +And he won't have to lie. It's confoundedly unfortunate Markeld couldn't +have left his dog at home! Just see how small a thing may affect the +fate of nations!" + +"Don't get philosophical," advised Blake. "There isn't time. Are you +going to send that note?" + +Collins sealed the missive. + +"It's our only chance," he said, decidedly. "Don't you see; we've got to +brazen this thing through. We're in a corner, and there's only one way +out." He went to the door and opened it. "For the Prince of Markeld," he +said, as he handed the note to the man who stood outside. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +An Appeal for Aid + +One can easily guess with what delicious precipitation the Misses +Rushford, having read the note sent to them by Lord Vernon and having +recovered somewhat from the paralysis of amazement into which it had +thrown them, hurried up the stair and sought the privacy of their own +apartment. Here, evidently, was a full-fledged mystery enacting under +their very noses, no trumpery neighbourhood mystery, either, but one of +national--aye, even international--importance! It made them gasp to +think of it; they were even a little frightened. By the touch of a +finger the stage-door had been opened; they had been admitted behind the +scenes--to the inside, as they had longed to be. And the experience was +even more interesting and exciting than they had dared to hope! They +were playing a part, however humble, in the great drama of European +politics! + +"But what can it mean?" Nell demanded, as she read the note for perhaps +the twentieth time. "What can it possibly mean? Why should Lord Vernon +wish to appear ill when he isn't?" + +"I don't suppose he's doing it for fun," observed Susie, sagely. + +"No, of course not," agreed Nell. "There isn't any fun in it that I can +see. But it seems a very remarkable course of action. Some great affair +of state must depend upon it," she added in a tone slightly awe-struck, +for her imagination was beginning to be affected. "He seems awfully +young to hold such an important place," she added. + +"These English statesmen always look younger than they are," said Sue. +"From his pictures, I always imagined that Chamberlain was a +comparatively young man, and here I read somewhere the other day that +he's nearly seventy!" + +"At any rate," concluded Nell, "since it was for our sake Lord Vernon +threw off the mask, so to speak, it is only fair, on our part, to keep +quiet about it. Why do you think he ran away so quickly? It was almost +rude." + +"I thought it quite entirely rude," asserted Sue. "But maybe he saw +somebody coming whom he wished to avoid." + +And then both gasped simultaneously: + +"The owner of the dog!" + +"Of course!" + +"How dense we were!" + +"But who is the owner of the dog? Not an Englishman!" + +"No--a German, I should say." + +"Yes--did you notice his accent? And then he is tall and blond." + +"Distinguished looking; and with an air about him--an autocratic +manner--which makes me think he's a Somebody. He's evidently not used to +being snubbed." + +"It's perfectly maddening!" exclaimed Nell, with brows most becomingly +wrinkled. "If we only knew something of English politics, we might be +able to guess what it is all about." + +"Dad could see through it in a minute," sighed Susie, "but that poor +dear will never have the chance, because, of course, we can't tell even +him. And he likes this sort of thing, too; it would give him just the +excitement he's been sighing for!" + +And yet fate willed that he was to have the chance, for half an hour +later, after a short conference with Monsieur Pelletan, a gentleman whom +we have met before in the apartment of Lord Vernon approached him where +he sat in the smoking-room, drew up a chair, and sat down beside him. + +"This is Mr. Rushford, isn't it?" he asked. + +"Yes; that's my name," and the American looked him over in some +surprise. + +"My name is Collins," went on the other. "I am secretary to Lord +Vernon." + +"Glad to know you, Mr. Collins," and the American held out his hand. "I +hope Lord Vernon's getting along all right." + +"As well as could be expected, thank you; but there has been a little +unforeseen--er--complication--" + +"Nothing serious, I hope?" + +"Well, yes; to be quite frank, Mr. Rushford, I think it decidedly +serious." + +"I'm sorry to hear that," said Rushford, with genuine feeling. "We +Americans have always taken a special pride in Lord Vernon's career--his +mother was an American girl, you know--and his death would be almost a +personal loss to us." + +"His death?" echoed Collins, staring. + +"There's no immediate danger, then? I'm glad of that. Still, if the +complication is as serious as you think--" + +"My dear sir," broke in the Englishman, "you have misunderstood me. Lord +Vernon's health is--er--quite satisfactory, all things considered. The +complication is in--er--a rather delicate affair of state, +which--which--" + +"Anything I can do?" asked Rushford, encouragingly, as the other +stammered and broke down. + +"Yes, there is, Mr. Rushford," answered Collins, quickly, taking his +courage in both hands. "Or, rather, there's something your daughters can +do." + +"My daughters?" Rushford looked at him again, a growing suspicion in his +eyes. "I don't quite understand. You'll have to be more explicit, Mr. +Collins. I don't see how my daughters can have anything to do with your +affairs of state." + +"I am going to be as explicit as I can," Collins assured him, "but it's +such an infernally delicate matter that one hardly knows where to begin. +Of course, what I have to tell you must be told in confidence." + +"All right," said the American, with a little pucker of the brow which +told that he did not wholly like Mr. Collins. 'Fire ahead." + +"First, if you don't mind," said the Englishman, looking about him, "I +think we'd better get out of this crowd." + +"Suppose we go up to my rooms," suggested Rushford, rising. "We'll be +free from interruption there, and can thresh the whole thing out." + +"Thank you," assented Collins. "Of course, I understand," he continued, +in a louder voice, as they started toward the door, "that the question +of stocks is always a very complicated one, and very difficult for a +layman to understand, but a man of your experience--" + +The door of the elevator-car closed behind them, and he stopped. + +"Whose benefit was that for?" asked Rushford. + +"For the benefit of a French police spy, who was trying his best to +overhear our conversation." + +"A police spy? Did you know him?" + +"I know his class; it's impossible to mistake it. They all look +alike--it's a type which even the comic opera has been unable to +burlesque. You probably noticed him--all moustache, imperial, and +lavender gloves." + +"Oh, him? Yes, I've seen him. And I've been rather itching to apply my +boot to his coat-tails. I thought he was a cheap actor--a ten, twenty, +thirty, as we say in America. Do you suppose Pelletan knows him?" + +"Oh, undoubtedly! He's probably boarding him for nothing. These French +police have a way with them." + +Rushford bit his moustache savagely and resolved to have an explanation +with Monsieur Pelletan. + +The car stopped. + +"Here we are," he said, stepping out into the corridor. "You see our +apartment is just over Lord Vernon's. I don't believe even a French +detective can disturb us here," and he locked the door after them as +they entered. "Besides, my daughters will be handy if we decide to call +them in." + +Yet, in spite of the plural pronoun, it was quite evident that he was +the one who proposed to do the deciding. + +"Thank you," said Collins, again. "I hope to show you the necessity of +calling them in. In fact, the principal favour I want to ask of you is +an introduction to them. They can, if they will, save Lord Vernon, and +incidentally the government, a lot of trouble." + +Rushford looked at him with a little stare. + +"In what way?" he asked, motioning him to a chair. + +"It happens," answered Collins, "that, by chance, they hold in their +hands the key to a very important affair of state--nothing less than the +succession to Schloshold-Markheim. They could, if they wished, involve +the government in difficulties of the most serious nature." + +Rushford stared at him yet a moment. Then he settled back in his chair. + +"Have a cigar?" he asked. "No? You won't mind my smoking? I can think +better when I smoke. Now let's have the story; I'm anxious to hear what +those girls have been up to. I'm afraid they need a chaperon, after +all!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Pride has a fall + +Shortly before six o'clock that evening, the door of Lord Vernon's +apartment opened, and the Prince of Markeld appeared on the threshold, +bowed out in the politest manner possible by Blake, Collins, and Sir +John. He crossed the corridor, paused irresolutely at the stairhead, +then went on toward his own rooms, his head bent, his face expressing +the liveliest dissatisfaction: an expression which deepened to disgust +when, on opening his door, he perceived Tellier awaiting him within. + +"He would come in," explained Glück, after a glance at his master's +countenance. "He lied; he said Your Highness was expecting him. Shall I +throw him out?" + +"No," said the Prince, "not yet," and Glück retired to a convenient +distance, confident that his hour would yet arrive. + +The detective, apparently, had no uneasiness concerning the result of +the interview, for his face was beaming with self-importance and he +greeted the Prince with a confidence born of certainty. His eyes asked +the question which his lips were too well-governed and discreet to +articulate. + +"Tellier," began the Prince, abruptly, looking at him with a fiery +glance, "you are either a knave or a fool--a fool, doubtless, since you +seem too stupid to be a knave--and you very nearly made me appear +another!" + +The detective's face dropped suddenly from triumph to humility. + +"I do not understand," he faltered. "Does Your Highness mean--" + +"I mean that that story of yours was a ridiculous lie!" responded the +Prince, brutally, being, indeed, greatly overwrought. "How do I know," +he added, suddenly, "that you did not intentionally deceive me? I have +only your word--what is that worth? How do I know that it was not a +trick--a trick on the part of your government to involve me with +England? That would be like you!" and his hands clenched and unclenched +in a most threatening manner. + +"I swear to Your Highness," protested Tellier, his cheeks livid, his +lips quivering convulsively, "that I told only the truth! On my heart, I +swear it--on my soul--on the grave of my mother. Otherwise, pardieu, +would I have been so imprudent as to remain here awaiting the return of +Your Highness?" + +The Prince's face relaxed a little as he looked at him. + +"No," he agreed, grimly, after a moment. "I don't believe you would. +Yes, you are a fool and not a knave. For I have just seen Lord Vernon +with my own eyes--he is truly ill--sneezing as though his head would +burst, gasping for breath, his eyes running water, cursing even the +friends who nurse him! It was some one else who kicked my dog away. You +have been deceived." + +Tellier was walking up and down the room, tugging at his imperial, at +his hair, biting his nails, shaking his clenched hands at the ceiling in +a very ecstasy of bewilderment. + +"Impossible!" he murmured, hoarsely. "Impossible!" + +"How impossible!" cried the Prince, violently. "Do you presume to +contradict me? Do you dare to dispute my word when I tell you that I +myself have seen Lord Vernon; when I describe his condition to you? He +was most courteous, though he could not speak above a whisper--he +treated me more kindly than I deserved, when one considers the wording +of that note I sent to him, for which I was glad to apologise! One could +see he was in no condition to give me audience--to discuss business of +any kind! He could scarcely sit erect!" + +"Oh, there is some knavery!" cried Tellier, his face purple. "I know it! +I scent it!" + +"You are, then, infallible, I suppose!" retorted the Prince. "His +physician assured me that in a week Lord Vernon would be much +better--nearly well; he suggested that for a week I do not press my +business." + +"But you did not agree!" screamed Tellier. "Your Highness did not +agree!" + +"Most certainly I agreed. Not to agree would have been to insult them +yet a second time!" + +"A week!" groaned Tellier, throwing up his hands, with a gesture of +despair. "Then all is lost!" + +"How lost?" demanded Markeld, red with anger. "In what way lost? Have a +care of what you say!" + +Tellier controlled himself by a mighty effort and managed to speak with +some approach to calmness. + +"The German Emperor will not waste a week, Your Highness. That is not +his way, as you very well know. He will be at work every hour--every +minute!" + +"What can he accomplish, if the British foreign office will do nothing? +Will he take the affair into his own hands? He will not dare!" + +"He might dare, Your Highness; he has dared things more perilous than +that. But how do we know the British foreign office will do nothing?" + +"I tell you," repeated the Prince, hotly, "that Lord Vernon is a +gentleman--something you do not seem to understand; that he is ill-- +something you seem to doubt!" + +"In diplomacy, Your Highness, even a gentleman may sometimes lie, or, at +least, disguise the truth. Perhaps even before this, he has hinted to +the Emperor that he will not interfere, if he acts promptly--perhaps +this illness is merely a ruse to avoid a situation the most awkward." + +It was the Prince's turn to stride up and down, to pluck at his +moustache, to go red and white. + +"If I thought so!" he murmured hoarsely. "If I thought so!" + +"There is some underhand work in progress," cried Tellier, growing more +and more excited; "some trap, some piece of trickery--I know not +what--but I am certain--I will find out!" + +"If I thought so!" said the Prince again, and his face was not pleasant +to look upon. + +"For I repeat to Your Highness that I could not have been mistaken. It +is impossible that I should have been mistaken. I saw Lord Vernon leap +from his chair; I was as near it as I am to you at this moment; I saw +him return to it and hide himself behind his paper, when he saw you +approaching; I waited, and saw his lackeys come after him and lift him +to the invalid chair. If I had not been certain before, I was certain +then! I followed him back to the hotel. Yes!" he added, with sudden +excitement, "and there was another circumstance which will confirm me!" + +"Go on!" commanded Markeld, yielding somewhat before this torrent of +proof. + +"At the door he met the young ladies whom he had rescued--the Americans; +they recognised him--I could see their look of astonishment at +perceiving him in the chair of an invalid, buried in rugs. They stared +after him--the chair stopped--he wrote a few words on a piece of paper +and sent it back to them. They read it with eyes even more astonished." + +"Did you, by any chance, read it also?" inquired the Prince, with a +deceptive calmness. + +"No, Your Highness," Tellier replied, simply, quite unconscious of his +danger. "I saw no way of doing that, unfortunately. I thought of +snatching it away, but that would have created a turmoil, which is +always to be avoided if possible. But Your Highness might easily gain +possession of the note--" + +The Prince stopped him with a fierce gesture of repugnance. + +"Do you know what it is that you have the effrontery to propose to me?" +he demanded. + +The Frenchman paused in mid-sentence and swallowed with difficulty, his +face very red. + +"I am certain," he said, after a moment, "that those young ladies know +it was Lord Vernon who rescued them. They would no doubt confirm this, +if Your Highness would inquire--" + +The Prince strode to the door and flung it open. + +"Do not come back till you can speak without insulting me," he said, +sternly. + +"One moment, Your Highness!" cried Tellier. "But a moment! I have +another proof. Oh, you are wrong not to believe me! You are wrong to +yield to your anger!" + +"The proof!" broke in the Prince, sharply, realising, perhaps, the +justice of the reproach. "The proof! What is it? Speak quickly!" + +"It is this, Your Highness," answered the detective, striving +desperately to steady his voice, to speak intelligibly. "But an hour +ago, the secretary of Lord Vernon was in conference with the father of +those young ladies. He approached him in the smoking-room; he introduced +himself; he sat down; he began a conversation. I should have overheard +everything, but that, unfortunately, he was more clever than I thought. +He suspected me. They went together to Monsieur Rushford's apartment--I +followed, I listened at the keyhole; but they went on into an inner +room, and the outer door was locked, so I could not--" + +The Prince, who had listened to all this with blazing eyes, suddenly +raised his arm with a furious gesture. + +"Glück!" he shouted. + +That faithful servitor appeared on the instant, his face alight with +anticipation. + +"But if there should be a plot!" protested Tellier, hesitating, even +yet, on the threshold. + +"If there is a plot," said the Prince, sternly, "someone shall suffer +for it, depend upon that! But against gentlemen, the proof must be +conclusive. Glück, show him out," and he shut the door upon the unhappy +spy. + +"It would have been well," observed Glück, calmly, coming back after a +moment, "to have thrown him out in the first place." + +"I agree with you," said his master. "You may do so whenever you find +him here again, my friend," and for an instant Glück almost smiled. + +"Will Your Highness dine in your apartment tonight?" he asked. + +The Prince hesitated; then his face relaxed as at some pleasant thought. + +"No, Glück," he said, "I will dine downstairs. Get my bath ready." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +Pelletan's Skeleton + +As he left the dining-room that evening, Rushford crooked an imperious +finger at Monsieur Pelletan. + +"I want a word with you," he said in his ear. + +"In private, monsieur?" asked the little Frenchman, with some +trepidation. + +"Yes, I think it would better be in private--that is, if you can +accomplish it in this bedlam." + +"Oh, I haf a place, monsieur, where no one will intrude," and Pelletan +led the way through the hotel office to a little door back of the desk. +"T'is iss my--vat you call eet in English?--my sty, my kennel--" + +"Your den." + +"Iss t'ere a difference?" asked Pelletan, fumbling with the lock. + +"A sty is for pigs and a kennel for dogs," Rushford explained. "A den +is for wild beasts. These niceties of the English language are not for +you, Pelletan." + +"Still," persisted Pelletan, "a man iss no more a wild beast t'an he iss +a dog or a pig." + +"Not nearly so much so, very often," agreed Rushford, heartily. "You +have me there, Pelletan. Sty would undoubtedly be the right word in many +cases." + +"Fery well, t'en," said Pelletan, proudly, opening the door, "pehold my +sty!" and he stood aside that his companion might enter. + +It was a little square box of a room jammed with such a litter of +bric-à -brac as is to be picked up only on the boulevards--trifles in +Bohemian glass, a lizard stuffed with straw, carved fragments of jade +and ivory, a Sèvres vase bearing the portrait of Du Barry, an Indian +chibook, a pink-cheeked Dresden shepherdess, a sabre of the time of +Napoleon, a leering Hindoo idol, a hideous dragon in Japanese bronze +grimacing furiously at a Barye lion--all of them huddled together +without order or arrangement, as they would have been in an auction room +or an antique shop. In one corner stood a low table of Italian mosaic, +bearing a somewhat battered statuette of Saint Geneviève plying her +distaff, and the walls were fairly covered with photographs-- +photographs, for the most part, of women more anxious to display their +charms of person to an admiring world than to observe the rigour of +convention. + +Rushford dropped into one of the two chairs, got out a cigar, lighted +it, and sat for some moments looking around at this wilderness of +gimcracks. + +"Pelletan, you're a humbug," he said at last. "You came to me yesterday +and said your last franc was gone." + +"Unt so it wass, monsieur." + +"But this collection ought to be worth something." + +"Monsieur means t'at it might pe sold?" + +"Undoubtedly." + +"But monsieur does not know--does not understand. Tis--all t'is--iss my +life; eet iss here t'at I liff--not out t'ere," with a gesture of +disgust toward the door. "I could no more liff wit'out t'is t'an wit'out +my head!" + +Rushford, looking at him curiously, saw that he was in deadly earnest. + +"Really," he said, "you surprise me, Pelletan. I had never suspected in +you such depth of soul." + +"Besides, monsieur," added Pelletan, leaning forward, "t'ese t'ings are +not all what t'ey seem--t'is dragon, par exemple, ees not off bronze, +but off t'e plaster of Paris--yet I lofe eet none t'e less--more, +perhaps, because off t'at fery fact." + +"And these--ah--females," said Rushford, and waved his hand at the +serried photographs, "I suppose even they are necessary to your +existence." + +"I lofe to look at t'em, monsieur," confessed Pelletan. + +"Personal acquaintances, perhaps." + +"Not all of t'em, monsieur; but t'ey haf about t'em t'e flavour off +Paris--off t'at tear Paris off which I tream each night; t'ey recall t'e +tays off my yout'!" + +"Oh, are you a Parisian? I should never have suspected it. Your +accent--" + +"I am off Elsass, monsieur. It wass, perhaps, for t'at reason t'at Paris +so won my heart." + +"If I were as fond of the place as all that," observed Rushford, +laughing, "I'd have stayed there." + +"It proke my heart to leafe," murmured Pelletan. "T'at is why I lofe all +t'is," and he motioned to the walls, and kissed his hand to a +voluptuous siren with red hair. "T'at is Ernes tine. Tonight she will +take her part at t'e Alcazar; at t'e toor a friend will meet her unt +t'ey will go toget'er down t'e Champs-Elysées to t'e grand boulevard, +where t'ey sit in front of Pousset's and trink t'eir wine unt eau +sucree. T'ey will watch t'e crowds, t'ey will greet t'eir friends, t'ey +will exchange t'e tay's news. T'en t'ey will go to tinner--six or eight +of t'em toget'er--een a leetle room at Maxime's, where t'ey can make so +much noise as pleases t'em--only I will not pe t'ere--in all t'at great +city, nowhere will I pe! Unt I am missed, monsieur, no more t'an iss a +grain of sand from t'e peach out yonder!" + +His voice trembled and broke, and he ran his hands through his hair in a +very agony of despair. + +"There, there," said Rushford, soothingly, repressing an inclination to +laugh at the grotesque figure before him. "Don't take it so much to +heart. I dare say they drink your health oftener than you imagine." + +"Do you really t'ink so, monsieur?" asked Pelletan, brightening. + +"And, depend upon it, you'll get back to them some day," continued the +American. "Only stay here a year or two until you've made your fortune, +as you're certain to do now." + +"Yess, monsieur," agreed Pelletan, huskily. "T'anks to you!" + +"In the meantime," added Rushford, smiling, "keep the ladies, if you +like to look at them. Your little foibles are no affair of mine. What I +wanted to speak to you about was a matter of business. There's a +blatant, detestable French spy in the house who has got to get out. He +even had the impudence to ogle my girls at dinner this evening. Shall I +kick him out, or will you attend to the matter?" + +Pelletan had grown paler at every word until he was fairly livid. + +"Iss eet Monsieur Tellier to whom monsieur refers?" he stammered. + +"I don't know his name, but he looks like a freak from the wax-works. +He's got to go--he's nearly as bad as Zeit-Zeit." + +Pelletan mopped his shining forehead and groaned dismally. + +"What is it, man?" demanded the American. "Don't tell me that this +rascal has a hold on you!" + +Pelletan groaned again, more dismally than before. + +"I was told this afternoon," added Rushford, grimly, "that he was +probably staying here at my expense." + +"Eet iss not so!" cried Pelletan, his eyes flashing. "I pay for +heem--efery tay I charge myself mit' twenty franc for hees account." + +"But what on earth for?" demanded Rushford. "What have you done--robbed +a bank or committed murder?" + +Pelletan glanced around to assure himself that the door was tightly +closed, then drew his chair nearer to his patron. + +"I haf a wife," he said, slowly, in a sepulchral tone. + +"Well, what of it? Is that a crime in France? I could almost believe +it!" + +"I could not liff mit' her no longer," continued Pelletan. "She wass a +teufel! I leafe her!" + +"Oh, that's it--so you ran away?" + +"Yess, monsieur, I ran avay--avay from Paris--avay from France--I +t'ought efen of going to Amérique." + +"Was she so bad as all that?" asked Rushford, sympathetically. + +For answer, Pelletan went to the statue of Saint Geneviève, lifted it, +and took from beneath it a photograph. + +"T'is iss she, monsieur," he said, and handed the photograph to +Rushford. + +The latter took one look at it and passed it back. + +"Not guilty!" he said. "You have my profound sympathy, Pelletan. How did +you happen to get caught? You must have been exceedingly young!" + +"I wass, monsieur," admitted Pelletan, with a sigh. "I wass just from +t'e province--my head wass full of treams. Unt she wass petter-looking, +t'en, monsieur; she wass almost slim. She wass a widow--unt besides she +had a leetle pâtisserie which her man had left her." + +"I see--avarice was your undoing. And you caught a tartar!" + +"A teufel!" repeated Pelletan. "A fiend! Oh, what an end to t'e tream! I +worked--oh, how hard I worked--sweating at t'e ovens, efery hour of t'e +twenty-four--for t'e ovens must not pe allowed to cool. She sat at t'e +money-drawer unt grows fat; I wass soon so weak t'at she tid not +hesitate to--to--" + +The little man's face was bathed in sweat at the memory of that +degradation, which his tongue refused to describe. + +"I endured eet to t'e last moment," he added, thickly. "T'en I fled!" + +"You seem to have alighted on your feet," remarked Rushford. + +"We had made a success of t'e pusiness," Pelletan explained, "unt I +brought mit me my share of t'e profits, which seemed only fair, since I, +py my labour, had earned t'em. Unt t'en I took a lease of t'is place, +unt did well until t'is year. T'at iss my whole history, monsieur. T'at +iss why I dare not return to Paris, efen for a small visit in winter +when pusiness here iss pad. Eef she so much as caught one leetle glimpse +of me, she would murder me!" and he mopped his face again. + +"Still," said the American, "I don't see where Tellier comes in." + +Pelletan carefully replaced the photograph under the statuette and then +reseated himself opposite his companion. + +"Tellier knows her," he explained, simply. + +"Met her professionally, perhaps," suggested Rushford. "Well, what of +it?" + +"Eef I offend heem, he gifes her my attress!" continued Pelletan, +hoarsely, and his forehead glistened again at the thought. "He +t'reatened as much when he arrife here unt I tol' him t'e house wass +full." + +"Hm!" commented Rushford. "I see. All right; I'll stand by you. I dare +say I can stomach Tellier for a day or two." + +Pelletan breathed a deep sigh of relief. + +"Tat iss kind," he stammered; "I--I--" + +"There, there," and the American waved him to silence. "And you needn't +charge yourself with his keep. But I hope you haven't any more skeletons +in the closet, my friend." + +"Skeletons, monsieur?" + +"Such as Madame Pelletan." + +"Oh," said the Frenchman, naively, "Madame Pelletan iss quite t'e +opposite off a skeleton, monsieur!" + + * * * * * + +Rushford paused at the hotel door and looked out along the Digue. It was +thronged with people hurrying toward the Casino, eager for the night's +excitement. But the American turned in the opposite direction, and +sauntered slowly along, breathing in the cool breeze from the ocean. At +last he paused, and, leaning against the balustrade, stood gazing out +across the moonlit water, smiling to himself at thought of Pelletan's +vicissitudes. + +He was roused by the sound of voices on the beach below him. He looked +down mechanically, but for a moment saw no one. Then, deep in the shadow +of the wall, he descried two figures walking slowly side by side. One +was a man and the other a woman. They were talking in a French so rapid +and idiomatic that Rushford could distinguish no word of it, except +that the man addressed his companion as Julie. + +There was something strangely familiar about the figure of the man, and +as Rushford stared down at him, his vision seemed suddenly too clear and +he perceived that it was the French detective. + +"Tellier prosecutes his loves," he murmured, smiling grimly to himself, +and turned back toward the hotel. There he stopped, struck by a sudden +thought. "Julie," he repeated. "Julie--where have I heard that name +recently? Oh, I remember--Julie is our maid at the hotel. I wonder--" + +He went back abruptly to the parapet and looked over, but Tellier and +his companion had disappeared. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +An Introduction and a Promenade + +Warm and fair dawned the morning; and having, at its leisure, duly +arisen, bathed and breakfasted, the unemployed population of +Weet-sur-Mer, male and female, sallied forth to throng the beach and +Digue, to inhale the fresh air, to shake off so far as possible the +effects of the evening's dissipations, and to exchange such toadstool +growths of gossip as had sprung up over night. + +To join this parade there presently came Lord Vernon, reclining +languidly in his invalid chair, and muffled in many rugs; but his eyes +were eagerly alert and he gazed with evident anticipation down the long +promenade of the Digue. He was attended by Blake, Collins, and Sir John, +all of them determined, no doubt, to prevent a second contretemps. But +Sir John presently descried a learned fellow-Aesculapian and stopped for +a chat with him; while Blake soon afterward succumbed to the glance and +smile of a red-cheeked English beauty. Collins, however, stuck grimly to +his post, being above--or below--such human weaknesses. + +"There they are!" cried Vernon, suddenly, with brightening eyes. + +"Who?" asked Collins, following his gaze. "Oh, the Rush ford girls. I +suppose it will be polite to show our gratitude. I think we owe them a +vote of thinks, don't you?" + +"I certainly do," agreed Vernon, straightening himself in his chair with +a vigour which had nothing of the invalid about it. "Will you introduce +me?" + +"If I can snare them without being too intrusive," assented Collins, +who, since the success of his stratagem of the afternoon before, had +been in an unusually complaisant mood. + +But fate willed that they should be snared without any effort on his +part whatever, for just then a porter came by with a truck piled high +with luggage, and it and the invalid chair combined to form an impasse +from which there was no escaping. Not that either of the young ladies +displayed any very evident anxiety to escape. + +"Good-morning," said Collins, in his best manner. "My lord," he +continued, turning to his companion, "these are the Misses Rushford, to +whom we owe so much. I hope I may introduce Lord Vernon to you," he +added. + +Both of them were laughing as they took, in turn, the hand which Vernon +rather eagerly held out. + +"I'm awfully glad to meet you," he said, looking from one to the other +and trying to decide which was the prettier. "I feel that we _do_ owe +you a great deal. When Collins came back yesterday afternoon and told me +what he'd had the impudence to ask you, I was--I was--" + +"Very wrathy, to put it mildly," said Collins. "But I took it meekly; it +was in a good cause." + +"And we didn't think it impudent at all," said Sue. "Since we had caused +all the trouble, it was only fair that we should bear a part of it. +Besides, it wasn't by any means so difficult as Mr. Collins thought it +would be." + +"You don't mean that Markeld actually asked you! I didn't believe he'd +do that, despite Collins's prophecy. He seemed to have too much of high +politeness about him." + +"I was sure he would," put in Collins, triumphantly. "He couldn't afford +to neglect such an obvious way of making certain, and he's much too +clever to have overlooked it." + +"You were quite right, Lord Vernon," said Susie, very quietly, though +there was a dangerous sparkle in her eyes. "The Prince did not ask +us--but a French creature did--a detective--" + +"One of his emissaries," suggested Collins. "I know him--his name is +Tellier." + +"I have no reason to think him an emissary," retorted Susie, curtly, +beginning to dislike the secretary. "I don't in the least believe the +Prince would choose such a one. Dad pointed him out to us in the +dining-room last night--a thing of mustachios and eyes--just the kind +one sees at the vaudeville, but which I hadn't the least idea existed in +real life.--Oh!" she cried, with a little start, "there he is now, +almost near enough to hear!" + +Collins swore softly between his teeth, for there, indeed, Monsieur +Tellier was, leaning with elaborate negligence against the balustrade, +apparently intent upon the crowd below. His countenance was quite +inscrutable--calm as a summer day--which might mean much or nothing, for +he had an immense pride in keeping it always so. Vernon took him in +with a quick glance. + +"I recognise the type," he said. "Can't we go on, Miss Rushford? Collins +might form a rear guard. And James is blind, deaf, and dumb toward +everything that doesn't concern him," he added, as she glanced at the +stalwart footman behind the chair. "I'm very anxious to hear the story. +But, of course, if it's asking too much--" + +"It isn't," answered Susie, promptly, and fell in beside the chair, +while Collins and her sister followed at a distance of a few paces. +"Now, I think, we can talk without fear of being overheard by Monsieur +Tellier. But there is really very little to tell. He sent up his card +just before dinner yesterday evening; we sent it back. Then, being +persistent and not easily snubbed, he sent up a note which asked 'Are +the Misses Rushford acquainted with the gentleman who came to their +assistance this afternoon?' To which the Misses Rushford added a line, +'They are not,' and sent it back to him. It was too absurd. It reminded +me of the agony column in the _Herald_." + +"The agony column?" + +"Yes--'Will the lady dressed in blue, who took a Broadway car +yesterday,'--and so on." + +"Oh," said Vernon, with a smile. "Yes--we have the same thing in +England." + +"And, after all," continued Susie, "our reply was the exact and literal +truth--of a kind which, I should imagine, is well known to diplomats." + +The occupant of the chair had quite made up his mind that Susie was the +prettier. + +"It is their favourite kind," he assured her; "nothing delights them +more than to lie while telling the truth." + +"Them? But aren't you a diplomat?" + +"There are many who doubt it. Perhaps they will doubt it more than ever +before we are out of this tangle. It's awfully good of you and your +sister to take an interest in it." + +"But of course we'd take an interest!" + +"And keep a secret." + +"Ah--well, perhaps that _is_ a little unusual." + +"Especially after my rudeness," he added. + +"Your rudeness?" + +"In running away and hiding behind my paper. What did you think of me?" + +"We didn't know what to think," admitted Susie, candidly; "though, of +course, afterwards we were able to guess." + +"And I am pardoned?" + +"Oh, quite; you had to escape, you know. It's a perfectly delightful +muddle, isn't it? Dad understood it at once." + +"Did he?" The occupant of the chair moved a little uneasily. + +"Yes--we talked it over, you know, after Mr. Collins left. But then dad +is up on politics and we are not. Only it's a little rough on the +Prince of Markeld, don't you think?" + +"Yes, it _is_ rough on him, but--well, it would be rougher to turn him +down--rougher on all concerned!" + +"You'd have to turn him down? But there; I mustn't meddle with affairs +of state!" + +"Sentiment hasn't much show in the foreign office," said Vernon, with +some bitterness; "not even the sentiment of friendship. We're trying to +find the easiest way out." + +Susie nodded, her eyes sparkling. This was a new and delicious +experience, this weighing the fate of nations, as it were. She even +skipped a little, unconscious of Lord Vernon's eyes upon her glowing +face. + +"Of course," she agreed, judicially, "I suppose one must always try to +find the easiest way out. Only dad seemed to think--" + +She hesitated. + +"Go ahead," he encouraged her. "I don't doubt that your father was +entirely right." + +"Well, then, dad seemed to think that Prince Ferdinand is much the +better of the two men." + +"There is no question of that," assented Lord Vernon, gloomily. "But let +me put a case, Miss Rushford. Suppose your best friend were set upon by +thieves and just as you started to help him, another thief came up +behind you and, putting a pistol to your head, commanded you to stand +still. What would you do?" + +"I'd stand still," laughed Sue. + +"Yes; but your friend can't see the thief behind you, and when he sees +you standing there, not offering to help him, he thinks you are a coward +and a traitor. Perhaps he tells you so in the most emphatic language at +his command." + +"It would be a very difficult position," agreed Sue, still laughing at +the picture presented by the words. "On second thought, I don't believe +I'd stand still for long; I'd try to give my thief a knock-out blow and +then go help my friend." + +"But you would have to wait till your thief was off his guard. Well, +that is pretty much the position that England is in, as I understand it. +Prince Ferdinand is our friend, but we've got to wait till the man with +the pistol makes a false move. We're doing the best we can--and in the +meantime, Prince Ferdinand's misguided friends are calling us hard +names." + +"But," inquired Susie, "who is the man with the pistol? He must be a +pretty big fellow to be able to hold you prisoner, and yet I must +confess that I'm like Prince Ferdinand--I can't perceive him, either." + +Lord Vernon hesitated a moment. + +"I'm afraid, Miss Rushford," he said, slowly, at last, "that I can't +tell you, just yet. I'd like to, but if I did, I'd have all these +diplomatic sharps down on me in short order. I thought maybe you could +guess." + +"Oh, don't apologise!" cried Susie. "I hadn't any right to ask. +Though," she added, regretfully, "I'm not at all good at guessing." + +Lord Vernon smiled as he looked at her. + +"I don't think we'll have any more trouble," he said. "Markeld and I +have called a truce for a week, and by that time--" + +He paused again, evidently on the verge of another indiscretion. Chance +saved him the necessity of going on, for at that moment a tall, military +figure loomed ahead, approached, hesitated, stopped, and uncovered. + +"I hope I see you better this morning, Lord Vernon," said a pleasant +voice. + +"Why, yes, thank you, Your Highness," answered Vernon, colouring a +little. "I feel much better. Let me introduce to you Miss Rushford," he +added, catching the other's admiring glance and interpreting it aright. +"Miss Rushford, this is the Prince of Markeld." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +The Prince Gains an Ally + +So it presently came to pass that Susie Rushford found herself walking +on with the Prince of Markeld, while Nell took her place beside the +invalid's chair. Five minutes later, Vernon had revised his judgment and +decided that Nell was far the handsomer--she had the air, somehow, which +one associates with duchesses, but which, alas! is, in reality, so +seldom theirs. She was just a little regal, just a little awe-inspiring, +so that to win a smile impressed one as, in a way, an achievement. +Vernon had won several before they had been long together, and felt his +heart growing strangely, deliciously warm within him. + +As to Sue--if we may pause to analyse her feelings--she, too, had been +for the first moment impressed. The Prince was so visibly a Highness; +every line of him expressed it, not consciously, but inevitably, from +the blood out. So, after a glance or two, she walked along beside him +rather humbly and very silent, not in the least as the proverbial +American girl should have done! Then she stole another glance at him and +saw that he was twisting his moustache in evident perplexity. + +"You may have perceived," he said, at last, with that slight formality +of utterance which Sue thought very taking, "that I was most desirous of +meeting you, Miss Rushford." + +"I believe I _did_ discern a sort of royal command in your eye," +assented Susie, feeling suddenly at ease with him. He was evidently a +mere man, even though he were a prince. + +"Yes," he continued, "I felt that I owed you and your sister a more +complete apology than it was possible for me to make yesterday without +impertinence. You see I am unaccompanied to-day." + +"Poor Jax!" laughed Susie. + +"I suspect," the Prince continued, "that I somehow offended you when I +offered you the dog." + +"Oh, you perceived it, did you?" and she flashed an ironic glance upon +him. + +"Yes--though I could not in the least guess in what the offence +consisted." + +"My dear sir," said Sue, tartly, "American girls are not in the habit of +accepting gifts from utter strangers." + +"Not even from--from--" + +He stopped, at a loss for a word which would express his meaning without +absurdity. + +"No, not even from Royal Highnesses," she added, interpreting his +thought. "Besides, you know, in America we haven't any." + +The Prince walked on in silence for a moment, his brow knit in +meditation. + +"Your last sentence explains it," he said, at last. "You have in +America no class whose prerogative it is to bestow gifts, and, in +consequence, you do not accept them as a matter of course. With us a +gift is a conventional thing, like shaking hands." + +"I wasn't trying to explain it," said Susie, with a little sigh of +despair, "or to defend it--but let it go." Then, with a flash of +mischief,--"Are you frequently called upon?" + +"There are occasions almost every day which demand them of us," answered +the Prince, soberly, missing the glance. + +"Poor man! And the affair of yesterday was one of them? Forgive me if I +am rude; but it is all so new and interesting!" + +"It seemed only right," explained the Prince, "that I should compensate +you in some way for the annoyance I had caused you." + +The words were said so candidly and simply that the ironical smile +faded from Susie's lips and she was silent for a moment. + +"I think the American way the nicer," she said at last, decisively. "An +American would have considered an apology ample reparation. With us a +gift means something--it has a sentimental value. Besides, girls are +never permitted to accept gifts of value. Flowers are the only things +which may be given them." + +"Flowers!" repeated the Prince, eagerly, looking at her. + +"And only by their nearest, dearest friends," added Susie, hastily. + +"Well, it is a very different point of view," said the Prince, the light +fading from his face. "I have even heard that in America there are +workmen who consider a tip an insult." + +"It's unthinkable, isn't it? And yet, I'm proud to say, it's true. I may +add that many Americans feel humiliated when they offer a tip to a +man--it's like branding him with a badge of servility." + +"I must confess," said the Prince, "that such an attitude seems to me +absurd. What other badge than that of servility shall the servant wear?" + +"He need wear no badge, if he does his work honestly and well," retorted +Susie, hotly. "There is nothing disgraceful in service." + +"No," agreed the Prince, with some hesitation, "perhaps not; nor, for +that matter, is there anything disgraceful in a badge. But I have not +said what I wished to say, which was that I hope you believe my offence +was wholly unintentional and that you pardon me." + +"I am not vindictive," answered Sue, smiling at his earnest tone, "and +therefore you are pardoned. But it seems unjust that Jax should suffer +imprisonment." + +"Oh, he will get his outing, but with Glück, who is less absent-minded. +Yesterday, I had much to occupy me." + +"And to-day?" + +"Not so much. I am resting on my oars." + +"Yes," said Susie, and contented herself with the monosyllable. She was +keenly on the alert; determined not to betray Lord Vernon's confidence, +yet, at the same time, desirous of helping, in some way, her companion. +She distinctly approved of him. Then, too, she had somehow got the +impression that the other side was not playing fairly, and her whole +American spirit revolted against unfairness. + +"I should like to tell you about it," he began, with a sudden burst of +confidence. "But perhaps you know?" + +"I know some of it. I can guess that it means a great deal to you." + +"It does--more than you can guess; I think. Not so much to me, +personally, as to our people. I believe that I am speaking only the +exact truth when I say that it will be much better for the people of +Schloshold-Markheim if our branch of the house is recognised and not the +other. Our branch has been, in a way, for many years, progressive; the +other is and always has been--well--conservative." + +He had the air of searching for a word that would not go beyond the +truth; Susie, glancing at him, decided that he had chosen one which fell +far short of it. + +"We have a certain claim of kinship and friendship upon England," he +added, "and we are very anxious to enlist her aid, even though we lose +this time; for there may soon be another vacancy. The head of the other +branch has no heir and is not well." + +He might have added that the August Prince George, of Schloshold, was +hovering on the verge of dissolution as the result of forty years' +corruption--a corruption of which not all the waters of the Empire +could cleanse him; but there are some things which are better left +unsaid. + +"Who is it that is opposed to you in all this?" asked Sue. + +"The German Emperor," said the Prince, simply. "He is not always in +sympathy with--ah--progress." + +"So he is the man with the pistol!" said Susie, thoughtfully. + +"The--I beg your pardon," and the Prince looked at her in some surprise. + +"It is nothing," said Susie, hastily, colouring under his eyes. "I was +merely thinking aloud--thinking of a story. Pardon me. Will you tell me +some more?" + +"There is not much more to tell. Only, we fear that if we are not given +an opportunity to present our claims this time, we may be forgotten the +next. Prince George might possibly try to name a successor--we have even +understood that he already considers doing so--that this, indeed, is +the price he has agreed to pay the Emperor for his support--though this, +of course, is strictly entre nous. You see I am trusting you." + +"Thank you," answered Susie, simply; but there was that in her voice and +glance which told how she would deserve the confidence. And, on the +instant, a great yearning leaped warm into her heart. If she could help +this people to the ruler they needed most; if she could somehow turn the +scale, so delicately balanced! There would be a task worth doing; an +achievement to be proud of all her life! And she trembled a little at +the thought that to her, Susie Rushford, fate had given such an +opportunity! + +But Markeld, apparently, had had enough of high politics, or perhaps he +found it difficult to keep his mind on them with Susie's dark eyes +looking up at him. He was no novice in womankind; he had known many, +high and low; but there was in his companion something different, +something appealing, something fresh, invigorating, which he had felt +from the first, in a vague way, without quite understanding. Princes may +be outspoken when they please, and he was so at this moment. + +"I was glad of to-day's meeting not only that I might apologise," he +said, with a calmness which rather took his companion's breath away, +"but because you interested me. I have heard much of American women, but +all that I have heretofore been privileged to meet seemed to me to +resent being called Americans. You and your sister, on the other hand, +appear to be rather proud of it." + +"I don't know whether that is intended as a compliment or the reverse," +said Susie, "but it is undoubtedly true." + +"It was that which interested me," he went on. "It indicated such an +unspoiled point of view--a freshness which I fear the Old World is +losing." + +"Thank you," retorted Susie, gasping a little. "You have honoured us, I +see, with a very careful study. I can respond by saying that there is in +your manner a certain freshness which I do not like," and she shot him a +fiery glance. At the moment, he was rather too evidently the Prince. + +"I am sorry you find me displeasing," he said, looking at her gravely. +Perhaps she was, at the moment, just the merest shade too evidently the +American girl. "I hope the impression is one which will change when you +know me better." + +"Am I to have that pleasure?" + +"I intend to ask your father if I may call upon you." + +Susie gasped again. She felt that she was being swept beyond her depth +by a current which she was powerless to resist; that she was beating +with bare hands against a wall of incredible height and thickness--the +wall of Old World convention, of class imperturbability. And she felt a +little frightened, for almost the first time in her life. + +"Do," she said faintly, realising that her companion was waiting for her +to speak. + +"I think that I shall like him," he added. + +"Oh, do you know him?" + +"'I was looking at him last night at dinner," he explained, calmly. "He +seems a very interesting man. I looked at all of you a great deal--more +than was perhaps quite polite. I feared you had perceived it." + +"No," murmured Susie, desperately, telling a white lie. + +"Tellier told me you were Americans--but I should have known it anyway." + +"Tellier!" she repeated, turning upon him fiercely, welcoming the +opportunity to create a diversion. "Then he _was_ your emissary! And to +think that I defended you!" + +"My emissary?" he stammered. "Defended me?" + +"Yes, when--when--some one said you had sent him to us--" + +"Sent him to you!" he cried, flushing darkly. "Do you mean to say that +he has been annoying you?" + +"It was almost that." + +"Ah!" he said. "Ah!" and he grasped his stick in a way that boded ill +for Monsieur Tellier. + +Susie, glancing up at him, thought it very fine. He was such a volcano, +and there was such a fearful pleasure in stirring him up--in skipping +over the thin crust with a lively consciousness of the boiling lava +beneath! + +"Then you didn't send him?" she inquired, sweetly. + +"Send him! Miss Rushford, do you think for a moment that I would be so +rude, so impertinent? Tell me you do not think so!" + +"I _didn't_ think so," said Sue, biting her lip, a little fearfully. "I +even defended you, as I have said. But now--" + +"But now--" + +His eyes seemed to burn her; she dared not look up and meet them. She +even regretted that she had begun to play with fire. + +"But now," he repeated, insistently, imperatively. + +"No, I don't think so now," she said, with a little catch of the breath. +Then she glanced up at him, and instantly looked away. He should not act +so; every one would notice; it was very embarrassing! + +"That is kind of you," he said, in a low voice. + +"Though," she added, reprovingly, glad to find a joint in his armour, "I +am surprised that you should discuss me in any way whatever with that +creature!" + +"You are right!" he agreed, flushing hotly. "You are quite right. But +the temptation was very great, and I wanted to know so badly. I beg you +to believe that I regretted it an instant later. I do not want that you +should think of me as like that!" + +"Perhaps I would better not think of you at all," ventured Sue. Ah, what +a fascination there is in fire! + +"That would be still more unbearable!" he protested; his eyes were very +bright and he was bending down a little that he might the better see the +face under the broad hat. + +"The view from here, I think, is very beautiful," she remarked, +incoherently. + +"No doubt," agreed the Prince, but he didn't take the trouble to look at +it. + +"He's a survival of the dark ages," said Susie to herself, "when they +just snatched up girls and ran off with them!" Then aloud, "Have you +ever been here before?" + +"Never before." + +"Do you like it?" + +"Oh, very much!" His eyes would have told her why; but she could guess +without looking. + +"I suppose you usually go to one of the larger places?" + +"It is one of the traditions of our family that at least a month must be +spent at Ostend." + +"What a shame that the tradition should be broken!" + +"On the contrary, I bless the circumstance that shattered it. Do you +know, Miss Rushford, I have never before realised what a tremendously +lucky fellow I am? I must pour a libation to the god of chance!" + +"It's a goddess, isn't it?" she asked, and regretted the question the +next instant. + +"You are right," he agreed, his eyes blazing. "A goddess! You have +found the word. A goddess! And such a goddess!" + +Fortunately, they had reached the end of the promenade, and as they +paused at the balustrade, Nell and Lord Vernon joined them, saving Susie +from a situation which had slipped entirely beyond her control. + +Evidently Nell, too, had been having her difficulties, for she +telegraphed her sister a desire to change places. So, on the homeward +journey, despite the very apparent unwillingness of the men, Sue walked +beside the invalid chair and Nell accompanied the Prince; and while both +seemed gay enough--even unnaturally gay, perhaps--I dare say they found +that the situation had lost a certain interest; for every danger has its +fascination, every hazard its piquancy. + +"I am not sure," observed Susie, reflectively, as they went up the stair +together, "that I approve of princes. They are too self-assured; they +carry things with too high a hand. They are evidently too much +accustomed to having their own way." + +"It seems to be a characteristic of lords, also," said Nell, with a +little sigh. + +"What they need is a vigorous calling down. Well, that ought not to be +so difficult!" and the dark eyes snapped ominously. + +"Though, perhaps, it's hardly worth the trouble," suggested Nell. + +"Perhaps not," assented her sister; but half an hour later she waylaid +her father to give him her commands. "Dad," she said, "if the Prince of +Markeld asks you for permission to call, you'll tell him he may. It's +just one of these odious Old World customs." + +"So I judged," smiled her father. "He seems a nice fellow, and so when +he asked me ten minutes ago, I told him we'd be glad to see him." + +"Did--did he mention any particular time?" faltered Sue. + +"Why, yes, now I think of it, I believe he said something about this +evening." + +"Oh!" gasped Susie, and then closed her lips tightly together. "Well," +she said to herself, as she turned away, "he hasn't lost any time, to be +sure! I'm afraid he's worse than I thought!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +Events of the Night + +Life at Weet-sur-Mer, as at most other places of its class, swung in a +round prescribed by custom, as fixed and predestined as the courses of +the stars. In the late morning occurred the promenade, taken as a brisk +constitutional by a few, but by the great majority as a languid stroll +designed to create an appetite for luncheon. That meal was followed by a +period of torpor, then every one sought the beach--the high, the low; +the rich, the poor; the dowdy and the well-dressed; the virgin in white +and the cocotte in scarlet; the thin and the obese; the French, the +Dutch, the Italian--yea, and the angular English, for Weet-sur-Mer +attracted a crowd as hybrid as its name! There they amused themselves +each after his own fashion, with dignity or abandon, as the case might +be. They could not be said to mingle in the way that an American crowd +would have done under like circumstances--the elements of society in an +aristocratic country are as incapable of mingling as oil and water. The +oil floated placidly on top, while the water disported itself +contentedly beneath. + +The oil, to preserve the simile, consisted, in the first place, of a +number of self-important individuals stalking solemnly up and down, +seemingly unconscious of the fact that they were not as solitary as +Crusoe; and, in the second place, of certain solid, cohesive groups, +presenting to the world a front as impenetrable and threatening as any +Austrian phalanx, and guarding in their midst two or three young girls +who must, at any hazard, be kept unspotted from the world. Strange to +say, the girls appeared contented, even happy; the position seemed to +them, no doubt, the normal one for them to occupy--and they could, of +course, look forward with certainty to the opening of the prison door +when a marriage should be arranged for them. They order this matter +better in Europe; or, at least, differently, for there, as a discerning +observer has pointed out, marriage means always that a woman is taken +down from the shelf, while with us, alas, too often! that she is placed +upon it, never to be removed! + +To this class, too, belonged certain obese women and emaciated men +sitting, in couples, under the gay sunshades with which the beach was +bright. The women were dressed always in gowns which, however ornate, +were not quite new, not quite fresh, not quite clean; and the black +coats of the men were a little shiny at the elbow, a little faded at the +seams. But madame still took care to preserve such figure as unkind fate +had left her; and monsieur still kept his moustaches waxed to a needle's +point; and they sat there together, quite immovable, for hours at a +time, staring drearily out toward the horizon, meditating, no doubt, +over past glories, or arranging some coup by which their fortunes might +be retrieved. Pride will slip from them gradually, as the years pass; +madame will abandon her figure and monsieur his moustaches, and they +will end their days miserably in some second- or third-rate +pension--even, perhaps, the Maison Vauquer! + +The water was more interesting, being at once more natural and lively. +With it there was no question of maintaining the equilibrium of its +position; there was no need of air or artifice; there was none of that +heartburning with which the latest Pontifical Princess smilingly +swallows the insolence of the descendant (à la main gauche) of the Great +Henri, happy to have been noticed, even though to be noticed meant +inevitably to be snubbed. There was a freedom about the water, an honest +vulgarity, a quality as of Rabelais, refreshingly in contrast with the +hot-house manners and morals of the haute noblesse. Madame need not +hesitate to cross her legs, if she found that attitude comfortable; +monsieur could at once remove coat, waist-coat, collar, cuffs, if he +found the weather warm. + +Families whose size testified to their bourgeois respectability, lolled +in happy promiscuity upon the sands; the children constructed forts or +canals, the women tore some neighbour's reputation to pieces, the men +lay back lazily and smoked and kept an eye out for the bathers. + +There were always many scores of them, belonging principally to that +strange and tragic half-world which hangs suspended, like Mahomet's +coffin, between earth and heaven, or, at least, between mass and class, +and which stretches out its tentacles and sucks nourishment from both. +These with a regularity almost religious, spent an hour of every day, +weather permitting, splashing in the gentle surf or posing on the beach +in costumes more or less revealing, according to the contour of the +wearer. The climax of the afternoon, the coup-de-théâtre which all +awaited, was the appearance of Mlle. Paul, late of the Variétés. This +was such a masterpiece in its way that it is worth pausing a moment to +describe. + +Suddenly the door of her bathing-machine, which has been drawn just to +the water's edge, is flung open, and she appears on the threshold, +wrapped in a white sheet with a red border, producing a toga-like effect +not ungraceful. She hesitates an instant, and casts a startled glance +over the crowd of onlookers, then trips modestly down the steps. With a +little frisson, she casts the sheet from her and stands revealed--well, +perhaps not quite as Eve was to Adam, but so nearly so that the +difference is scarcely worth remarking. She glances down at her shapely +legs and then again at the entranced spectators. + +"C'est convenable, j'espère hein?" she murmurs, and her bald-headed +cicisbeo, who has taken possession of her sheet, hastens to assure her +that all is well. + +Whereupon, her doubts thus happily set at rest, she wades out to the +diving-board, mounts it leisurely, stands poised for an instant at the +outermost end, and then dives gracefully into the expectant billows. +This she does at intervals for perhaps an hour, the supreme instant for +the onlookers being that in which her glowing body, shimmering white +through its single clinging garment, is outlined in mid-air against the +sky. But finally Mademoiselle grows weary and returns to her machine, +where the gallant and attentive gentleman previously referred to +patiently awaits her--deus ex machina in more senses than one! The other +bathers gradually disappear and the crowd melts imperceptibly away. The +show is over. + +But though all this was no doubt sufficiently diverting, Weet-sur-Mer +was never gloriously, aggressively awake until the sun went down. The +diversions of the day depended wholly upon the weather--a dash of rain, +a wind from the north, and, pouf! they were not thought of. + +Not so the festivities of the night. Nothing short of an earthquake +could interfere with them. It was for the night that most of the +sojourners at Weet-sur-Mer existed; it was for them, in turn, that the +place itself existed! With these worthies, the first serious business of +the day was dressing for dinner. As darkness came, a stir of life +thrilled through the place from end to end. Rows and clusters of +electric lights, many-sized and many-coloured, flashed out at the +Casino, in the hotels, along the Digue. Women donned their evening +gowns, thankful for handsome shoulders; got out their diamonds, real +and paste, their rouge, cosmetics, what not; prepared to go forth and +conquer, to play the old, old game which, by the calm light of the +morning, seems so flat and savourless! Oh, what would it be without wine +and lights and jewels and soft gowns, without warmth and music and +perfume, without the suggestive, sensual darkness closing it in! + +At the Casino presently spins the wheel of fortune--named in very +mockery!--and it is there that one may gaze unrebuked into the most +alluring eyes, may see the reddest lips and whitest shoulders;--crème de +la crème of all in that smaller room upstairs, arranged for those whose +jaded appetites demand some extra tickling; where no wager may be laid +for less than a hundred francs, and for as much more as you please, +monsieur, madame, provided only that you have it with you! Too bad that +the immortal soul has no longer a money value, or how many would +ornament that crowded table in the course of an evening's play! + +But there; let a single glimpse of this tawdry, perfumed, fevered hell +suffice us, even as it did Archibald Rushford on the first night of his +stay at Weet-sur-Mer, and let us go out, as he did, into the pure night, +and stand uncovered under the bright stars until the cool breeze from +the ocean has washed us clean again, and turning our backs forever upon +the Casino and its habitués, retrace our steps along the Digue to the +Grand Hôtel Royal. + +In apartment A de luxe, a man with flushed face and rumpled hair was +stamping nervously up and down. It required a second glance to recognise +in him that usually well-groomed and self-possessed individual known as +Lord Vernon. Two others were watching his movements with scarcely +concealed anxiety--Collins leaning against the window with folded arms, +Blake seated at a table with an open despatch-box before him. + +"Hang it all, fellows," he was saying, "don't you see what a pickle it +puts me in? I was a fool to fall in with the idea--I was actually silly +enough to think it would be fun!" + +"Of course," put in Collins, in his smoothest tone, "nobody could +foresee the presence of this American Diana." + +Vernon shot him a quick glance. + +"Be mighty careful what you say, my friend," he warned him, "or I'll +chuck the whole thing." + +"Oh, you can't do that!" protested Blake. "You've got to carry it +through! You can't back out now!" + +"Can't I?" said Vernon, with a grim little laugh. "Don't be too certain! +Suppose she finds it out? Pretty figure I'll cut, won't I?" + +"But how _can_ she find it out? In four or five days, you can tell her +the whole story--you'll figure as a sort of hero of romance--" + +"Yes--penny-dreadful romance--backstairs romance. The more I think of +it, the less I like it. Diplomacy or no diplomacy, we're playing Markeld +a dirty trick--that's the only expression that describes it. He's a nice +fellow and we ought to treat him fairly." + +Collins shrugged his shoulders as he turned away to the window and +lighted a cigarette. + +"You said something of the same sort yesterday, I believe," he remarked, +negligently. + +"Yes--and I meant it then" as I mean it now. Markeld has the right to +expect decent treatment at our hands." + +"Rather late in the day to take that ground," retorted Collins. + +"Late or not, I do take it," answered Vernon, pausing an instant in his +walk to emphasise the words. + +"I see," said Collins, drily, "it's a sort of moral awakening--a +quickening of conscience--the kind of thing we are all so proud of +displaying. Pity it didn't come before we started for this place." + +Vernon did not reply, only clasped and unclasped his hands nervously. + +Collins wheeled around upon him abruptly, his face very stern. + +"Come," he demanded, "let's have it out, once for all. I'm sick of this +shilly-shally. Why can't you let Markeld take care of himself?" + +"Because you're not playing fairly." + +"What do you mean by fairly?" + +"I mean openly, honestly--as gentlemen should." + +"You forget that this is diplomacy--and that we don't live in the Golden +Age. We fight with such weapons as come to hand. It's the game." + +"Yes--as you understand it. A gang of cutthroats might say the same +thing." + +Collins flushed a little, but managed to keep his temper. + +"I understand it as all diplomats understand it. I take no advantage +that every diplomat would not take." + +"Then God save me from diplomats!" retorted Vernon. + +Collins flushed again, more deeply, and his eyes flashed with sudden +fire. + +"Your words verge upon the insulting," he said, after a moment. "I warn +you not to try my patience too far. Perhaps, after this, you will see +fit to choose other company--company more in accord with your really +absurd ideals. But I would remind you of one thing--your career depends +upon this affair. If it succeeds, you succeed. If it fails through any +fault of yours, you are ruined. I assure you the fault will not be +overlooked nor extenuated. You will pay for it!" + +Vernon looked at him without answering, but his glance was full of +meaning. Then he turned and left the room. + +For a moment his companions stared after him--they had read his glance +aright. + +"We'll have to look sharp," said Collins, at last, "or he'll cause us +trouble--he's ripe for it, confound him! We'd better wire the home +office to hurry things up." + +"Yes," agreed Blake, "there's no reasoning with a man in love." + +"Nor frightening him," added Collins. "I'm afraid I made a mistake +taking that tack. I'll go down and get off a message." + +As he opened the door, he fancied that a figure melted into the shadow +at the end of the hall. But his attention was distracted from it, for an +instant later, he heard a step on the stair, and the Prince of Markeld +mounted from the floor below, passed him with the slightest possible +inclination of the head, and continued upward. Collins, staring after +him, standing still as death, heard him enter the apartment of the +Rushfords. + +He remained a moment where he was, his heart heavy with foreboding, then +he descended slowly to the office, his head bent, deep in thought. So +preoccupied was he that he did not see the sleek face which leered at +him from the shadow into which the dim figure had vanished. + +The spy listened a moment intently; then, with a tread soft as a cat's, +mounted the stair to the floor above. + + * * * * * + +"Of course, dad," Susie had said, in the early evening, "you will have +to stay at home to-night since the Prince is coming to see you." + +"Oh, it's not I he's coming to see," rejoined Rushford, easily. "In +fact, he'll probably be tickled to death to find me out.'' + +"He's not going to find you out," retorted Susie, firmly. "You're going +to stay right here." + +"Nonsense, my dear! Why, when I was courting your mother--" + +"What has that to do with it?" demanded Sue, very crimson. "Do you mean +to say that someone is courting someone around here?" + +"Of course, every man may be mistaken at times." + +"Well, take my word for it, you're badly mistaken this time." + +"Oh!" said her father, with assumed astonishment. "Am I? Then what is +all this about?" + +"And even if they were," continued Susie, a little unsteadily, "they do +it differently from the American way." + +"How do they do it, for heaven's sake?" + +"Why, dad, how should I know?" + +"You seem to have considerable information on the subject." + +"I have enough information to know," retorted Sue, with some heat, +"that in Europe, a young man calls upon the head of the family, and not +upon any of its younger female members." + +"I have always understood that Europe was behind the times," observed +her father, "but I never suspected it was as bad as that. However, I +take your word for it--I always do, you know. I suppose you and Nell +will have to stay in your rooms." + +"Oh, no," said Sue, "we may be present, so long as our chaperon is +there." + +"So I'm to do some chaperoning at last, am I?" queried her father. "The +job has ceased to be a sinecure. I suppose I'll have to do all the +talking, since young girls, of course, may only speak when spoken to and +then must answer with a yes or no. Really, my dear, you're setting +yourself an exceedingly difficult part!" + +"Where did you learn so much about it, dad?" + +"I'm reasoning by deduction--all this follows from what you've already +told me. Well, I'll do my best to entertain this Dutchman. What does he +talk about? Wiener-wurst and sauerkraut?" + +"Oh, no," said Susie, with a reminiscent smile and a heightened colour; +"he talks about things much more interesting than those." + +And, indeed, the first moments past, Rushford found the Prince an +entertaining fellow, with a fund of anecdote and experience decidedly +unusual. But conversations of this sort are rarely worth recording; the +less so in this instance, since the Prince had taken care to seat +himself where he had a good view of the enchanting Susie, and that +vision more than once caused his thoughts to wander. Still, they +discussed America and Europe, art, nature, the universe--none of which +has anything to do with this story--everything, in short, except the +warm, palpitating human heart, with which we are principally +concerned--and it was very late before the Prince finally arose to go. + +Sue whispered her thanks as she kissed her father good-night. + +"Good old daddy!" she said, and patted him on the cheek. "And it wasn't +such a trial, after all, was it?" + +Her father looked down at her quizzically. + +"No, my dear," he answered. "In fact, I rather enjoyed it. I fancy he'd +be a mighty interesting talker if there weren't any distractions around. +Not that I blame him," he added, hastily. "I was that way myself once +upon a time," and he bent and kissed her tenderly again. + +Susie, before her glass, stared at herself long and earnestly, then took +down her hair and proceeded to arrange it in various ways. At last, she +got out a diamond bracelet, placed it tiara-wise upon her head, and +studied the effect. She was thus engaged when an agitated tap at the +door gave her a mighty start, and she had just time to snatch off the +decoration when Nell burst in, her face white with emotion. + +"Why, what is it, Nellie?" cried her sister, springing up. + +"I--I've lost it!" gasped Nell, sinking limply into a chair, and +trembling convulsively. "I'm sure--it's been stolen!" + +"Lost it!" echoed Sue, reviewing in one quick mental flash Nell's most +valuable possessions. "Not the diamond necklace!" + +"Oh, Sue!" wailed Nell. "How can you be so mercenary? Oh, I wish it was +the necklace! But it isn't! It's the note!" + +It was Sue's turn to gasp, to turn pale, to sink into a chair. + +"The note!" she echoed, hoarsely. "Not Lord Vernon's!" + +Nell nodded mutely, her face a study for the Tragic Muse. + +"But I thought you destroyed it," said Sue. "You said you were going +to!" + +"I know--but I didn't," answered Nell, a faint tinge of pink in her +pallid cheeks. "I--I didn't see the need of destroying it. I supposed +nobody knew, and I--I thought I'd keep it as a--a souvenir, you know. I +had it in my desk. I am sure I locked it before I came down this +evening, but just now I found it open and the note gone." + +"Well, and what did you do then?" + +"I looked all through the desk--I thought maybe it had slipped out of +sight somehow--but it hadn't--it wasn't there. Then I called the maid, +Julie, and told her something had been stolen. She swore no one had +entered the room since I left it--that no one could have entered it. Of +course, I couldn't tell her about the note, so I sent her away and came +to you. I--I feel like a traitor. I don't know what to do!" + +Susie went to her and put her arms about her and drew her close. + +"We can't do anything to-night, dear," she said; "that's certain. +To-morrow you must tell Lord Vernon." + +She felt Nell quiver at the words and drew her closer still, with +intimate understanding. + +"I don't believe he will care so much," she went on, comfortingly. +"Perhaps the note isn't so important as we think. I suppose we should +have destroyed it at once." + +"Yes," said Nell, drearily, "I suppose we should. But who could have +foreseen anything like this!" + +"The best thing to do now is to go to bed," added Sue, practically, and +she raised her sister and led her back to her room. "In the morning we +can make a thorough search for the note. Perhaps, after all, you +overlooked it." + +"I couldn't have overlooked it," answered Nell. "I remember perfectly +placing it in this drawer," she continued, going to the desk and opening +it, "here, just under this pile of note-paper." + +"Perhaps it slipped in between the sheets," suggested Sue. + +"I thought of that," said Nell, but nevertheless she began mechanically +to open sheet after sheet. As she opened the third one, a little slip of +paper fluttered to the floor. + +She sprang upon it with a cry of joy, opened it, glanced at it. + +"Thank God!" she said, thickly. "It's all right--it's--" + +And she fell forward into Susie's arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +The Second Promenade + +Again the sun rose clear and bright, and again, having dispelled the +mist and chill of the early morning, it lured forth for the inevitable +promenade such of the sojourners at Weet-sur-Mer as had managed to get +to bed before dawn. Prince Markeld, descending with the earliest, left +nothing this time to chance, but took his station at the stairfoot, and +waited there with a patience really exemplary. From which it will be +seen that Princes in love are much as other men. + +And presently, descending toward him, he descried the Misses Rushford; +Susie radiant as the morning, Nell a trifle paler than her wont, but +more beautiful, if anything, because of it. The Prince hastened forward +to greet them. + +"Which way shall we go?" he asked, with the comfortable certainty of +including himself in their plans. "Good-morning," he added, to the +occupant of an invalid chair which was standing just outside the door. + +"Good-morning," replied Lord Vernon, his eyes on Nell's. "My outing +yesterday was such a pleasant one that I was hoping it might be +repeated." + +"Going or coming?" queried Sue, with a quizzical curve of the lips. + +"Both ways," answered Vernon, promptly; but his eyes were still on Nell. + +Markeld also looked excellently satisfied. + +"Very well," he said, in his autocratic way, "we will proceed as we did +yesterday," and he led Susie away. Strange to relate, she followed quite +meekly. Somehow, when the moment came, it seemed exceedingly difficult +to snub him. + +"Do you know," he was saying, "I fell quite in love with your father +last night. His point of view is so fresh and so full of humour. +Though," he added, "I must confess that sometimes I did not entirely +understand him." + +"Didn't you?" laughed Susie. "Dad _does_ use a good deal of slang. It's +an American failing." + +"So I have heard. I know my aunt will like him, too--the Dowager Duchess +of Markheim, you know." + +"No," said Sue, a little faintly, "I didn't know." She had never before +considered the possibility of the Prince having any women relatives; her +heart fell as she thought what dreadful creatures they would probably +prove to be. + +"My aunt is the head of the family," explained the Prince, calmly, +unconscious of his companion's perturbation. "She rules us with a rod of +iron. But you will like her and I know she will like you. She adores +anything with fire in it." + +"Oh," said Susie, to herself, "and how does he know I've any fire in +me?" But she judged it wisest not to utter the question aloud. + +"She worships spirit," added the Prince. "She is very fond of quoting a +line of your poet, Browning. 'What have I on earth to do,' she will +demand, 'with the slothful, with the mawkish, the unmanly?' Sometimes, I +fear, she aims the adjectives at me." + +Susie felt her heart softening, for she liked that line, too. + +"I don't believe you deserve the adjectives,'' she said. + +"Do you not?" he asked, eagerly, with brightened eyes. + +"And I should like to meet your aunt," she continued, hastily. + +"So you shall, most certainly," he assented, instantly. "As soon as it +can be arranged." + +"Oh, does it have to be arranged?" inquired Susie, in some dismay. + +"Not in that sense--she is very democratic--she likes people for what +they are. But until this question of the succession is concluded you +will readily understand that, through anxiety, she is not in the best of +humours--not quite herself." + +"Is she, then, here?" asked Susie. + +"Here? Oh, no; she is at Markheim--at the post of duty. That is another +reason--until this affair is settled, I cannot ask her to join me here." + +"You will ask her to do that?" + +"Certainly; she can stop here very well on her way to Ostend. She would +be at Ostend now but for this affair. Perhaps that is another reason why +she is ill-humoured. She is so fond of life and gaiety, and in summer +Markheim is rather dull. Besides, there is the tradition to maintain." + +"How do you know that she is in an ill-humour," questioned Sue, "if you +have not seen her?" + +"Oh, she writes to me--I had a letter from her this morning. I can see +she is not well-pleased--quite the opposite, in fact!--at the way things +are going." + +"And how are they going?" + +"They seem to be going against us," said the Prince, with a touch of +bitterness. + +"But how _can_ they be? I thought things were at a stand-still until +Lord Vernon got--got well enough to take them up again." + +"So did I--that is what one would naturally suppose. Yet it seems that +an undercurrent has set in against us. I fear that I made a mistake," he +added, gloomily, "in agreeing with Lord Vernon not to proceed further +for a week, though, under the circumstances, I could scarcely refuse. He +seems well enough," and he glanced around, "to hear what I have to say." + +"He _is_ well enough!" cried Sue, indignantly; and certainly at that +moment, talking eagerly to Nell, that gentleman appeared quite the +reverse of an invalid. "_I_ will speak to him--I am under no promise--I +believe--" + +She stopped, fearing that she might say too much--after all, she could +not betray Lord Vernon; she could only appeal to him, warn him. + +"Yes?" her companion encouraged her, his eyes on her face. + +"I believe that I can help you," she concluded, a little lamely. "I want +to help--the people. Of course, we Americans believe that a people ought +to choose their own rulers--but where that isn't possible, the next best +thing is to give them the best available. I should be proud to help do +that!" + +"But you are taking my word for it," he protested. "You ought to hear +the other side. Perhaps they might convince you--" + +"No, they wouldn't!" cried Susie. "Your word is all I need; you've +explained things so clearly." + +"Thank you," he said, in a vibrant voice, still looking at her. + +"Besides," she added, with a glance upward, "dad agrees with you, and +I've a great deal of faith in dad." + +"I shall be very glad of your help on any terms," he said, refusing to +be cast down. + +"And you will tell me if anything unexpected happens? I may be able to +help you more than you think." + +"Yes," he promised, "I will tell you the moment I have any news." + +"You haven't any real news--about the undercurrent, I mean? You don't +_really_ know--" + +"No; it is just in the air; I do not know where the rumours come from, +but my aunt has heard them also. There is a vague impression that we +are losing." + +"But you shan't lose!" cried Susie. "You shan't lose; not even if I have +to--to--" + +"Not even if you have to--?" prompted the Prince, eagerly, as she +stammered and stopped. + +"To play my trump card," she finished, with a little unsteady laugh. +"Don't ask me what it is, but it's a good one!" + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile, as she walked beside the invalid chair, Nell was making her +confession. + +"Lord Vernon," she began, in a low voice, "for a time last night, I +feared that I had utterly ruined your cause." + +He glanced up at her quickly. + +"In what way?" he asked. + +"You remember the note you wrote m--us the first day?" + +"Perfectly," he answered, noting the stammer, and understanding it, +with a quick leap of the heart. + +"I should, no doubt, have destroyed it at once, but I thought it would +be perfectly safe in my desk." + +"And it was stolen? No matter, Miss Rushford. It isn't worth worrying +about. I'm sick of the whole affair, anyway--I shall rather welcome the +catastrophe. You've lost sleep over it," he continued, looking at her +keenly. "It has made you almost ill! I shall never forgive myself!" + +"Thank you," she said, softly, her lips trembling, her eyes very bright. +"It is beautiful of you to be so generous. But fortunately the note was +not stolen. I found it afterwards among some note-paper, where it had +somehow found its way." + +"And you destroyed it?" + +"No," she said, and took it from her bosom. "I thought I would better +restore it to you, so that you yourself could destroy it. Here it is," +and she held it out to him with fingers not wholly steady. + +He took it, his eyes still on her face. + +"It has caused us enough trouble," he said, and made as though to tear +it into bits. + +But Nell laid her hand upon his arm. + +"Without looking at it?" she protested. + +"You are right," he agreed, and opened it and glanced at the contents. + +His hands were trembling slightly as he folded it again. + +"On second thought," he said, and there was a certain thickness in the +words which Nell was too agitated to notice, "I believe that I shall +keep it. It is the only souvenir I have, you know, of our first +meeting." + +And he smiled up at her--such a smile as Meïamoun must have bent upon +Cleopatra as he drained the poisoned cup. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +A Bearding of the Lion + +Susie Rushford was of that temperament which, so far from avoiding +difficulties, rather rushes to meet them, welcoming "each rebuff that +turns earth's smoothness rough," to quote again from her favourite poet. + +So, when they reached the end of the promenade, it was she who commanded +a change of partners and who took her place resolutely beside the +invalid chair. Perhaps Lord Vernon scented danger, or it may be that he +merely resented the change of companions: at any rate, as they started +back, he contented himself with a dignified silence. But Sue was not to +be so easily put off. + +"The Prince of Markeld has been telling me a few things about the +succession," she began, resolutely. "You will pardon me, Lord Vernon, +when I say I don't think you're treating him quite fairly." + +"I don't think so myself, Miss Rushford," returned the occupant of the +chair, curtly. + +"His branch of the house seems to be really, in every way, the more +deserving." + +"I haven't the least doubt of it." + +"And the one which the people of Schloshold-Markheim prefer." + +"That, too, is very probably the case. We threshed all that out +yesterday, didn't we?" + +"Not so thoroughly as I should like to do," said Susie. "I've been +thinking over the story you told me yesterday, and I believe I've +guessed who the man with the pistol is." + +"I thought very probably you would guess." + +"Did you? Then you won't mind telling me if I've guessed rightly. It's +the German Emperor, isn't it?" + +"It is." + +"Thank you. But I'm awfully obtuse, for I must confess that I haven't +as yet been able to perceive the pistol." + +"Haven't you? I thought you'd guess that, too. I had forgotten that +American women aren't interested in public events." + +"Now you're growing sarcastic!" cried Susie. "You see, I never before +knew how interesting they were," she added, in self-defence. "I'm trying +to turn over a new leaf--" + +"And you want my help?" + +"I always like to understand things. Even as a child I hated riddles. +And I think, too, that nations ought to be like individuals--only more +so--always ready, anxious even, to help their friends." + +"Even to the point of disregarding the pistol?" + +"You'll have to show me the pistol." + +"I'll try to, Miss Rushford," said Vernon, with the air of a man staking +his last louis, "since you seem to doubt that it exists. Let us look at +the matter for a moment from the outside, without question of our +personal likes or dislikes. England, just at this moment, has her hands +full in South Africa, and it isn't in the least unlikely that the German +Emperor would put a finger in that pie, if we gave him an excuse--a +great many of his advisers are trying to get him to interfere without +waiting for the excuse, but he's not quite willing to go that far. So +our business is not to give him any excuse--not even the very +slightest. Suppose we meddle in this affair of Schloshold-Markheim, +which is really his dependency--don't you see, he might easily, and +quite logically, claim that as a precedent for meddling in the affairs +of the Transvaal, which we claim as our dependency. Now I hope that you +perceive the pistol, and see, too, that it isn't in the least a toy +affair, but a very dangerous and effective weapon." + +"I do see," said Susie, quickly. + +"Besides," Vernon added, anxious to vindicate himself still further, +since, after all, Susie was Nell's sister, "Schloshold-Markheim is a +very insignificant corner of this earth; not so big, in fact, as many of +our English shires. Self-preservation is the first law of nations. Why +should England imperil herself? You see, the whole question reduces +itself to that old, heartless, but very sane doctrine of the greatest +good of the greatest number." + +"Why not say all that frankly to the Prince of Markeld?" suggested Sue. + +"Because, my dear young lady, before we can say anything, we have to +give him a chance to say his say. And he would very probably state +certain truths which it would be very embarrassing for us to hear, and +still more embarrassing to answer. All Europe would be listening. We're +between the devil and the deep sea." + +"Well, and what are you going to do about it?" asked Susie, plump out. + +"We're going to wait," said Lord Vernon, gloomily. + +"To wait?" + +"Yes--until the sea subsides a little or the devil gets tired and goes +away and gives us a chance to escape. We dare neither fight the devil +nor brave the ocean. Our hands are tied." + +Susie walked along a moment in silence, trying to distinguish the wrong +and the right of this very intricate question. + +"All that you have been telling me may be true," she said, at last; "I +haven't the least doubt that it is true; but yet it doesn't quite excuse +tricking the Prince of Markeld as you are doing." + +"I know it doesn't," admitted Vernon, instantly. "It doesn't excuse it +in the least. I don't like it any more than you do, Miss Rushford. But +the ways of diplomacy are devious past understanding; and then, again, +when one has entered upon a line of action, it is sometimes very hard +to change it or let go. It's like a hot iron or a charged wire--one +never realises one's mistake until it is too late. After all, a few days +will end it." + +"A few days! Then the Prince was right!" + +"Right?" + +"He told me that an undercurrent of some sort seemed to be setting in +against him. I warn you, Lord Vernon, that I have become his ally." + +"Even to the point of giving me away?" he inquired, half humourously, +looking at her in evident enjoyment. + +"Even to the point of giving you away, if you don't play fairly," she +answered, in deadly earnest. "At your suggestion, he consented to a +truce for a week--" + +"It was Collins who suggested it." + +"No matter; it is all the same; the proposal came from your side. One +can't honourably employ a truce in laying mines for one's enemy." + +Lord Vernon was looking straight ahead. There was now no trace of +amusement in his face. + +"You are quite right, Miss Rushford," he said. "I release you from any +engagement with either me or Collins to keep our secret. Let me tell +you, I've protested more than once, but I'm no longer a free agent in +regard to this thing, and I have to see it through. The very worst +moment of all was when Markeld came up to my rooms and apologised for +suspecting me. I tell you, I felt like a worm, and a particularly nasty +one, at that. It will be my turn to apologise before long; and I won't +feel quite easy in my conscience till I do." + +Susie had listened wide-eyed, and had stolen a glance, once or twice, at +his set face. There could be no doubting his utter sincerity, and it +softened her, as sincerity always softens a woman. + +"Of course," she said, more gently, "I shan't give you away unless I +see that the Prince is being treated unfairly. Let things drift for a +week, since he has consented to a truce--don't do anything against him." +The words were spoken almost pleadingly. + +"Oh, it isn't I who will do anything," retorted Lord Vernon, sharply. +"I'm not quite such a cur as that. Don't you understand, Miss +Rushford--the thing is out of my hands--is quite beyond my control. I'm +not the one responsible for the undercurrent, if there is one. If +anything happens, it won't be through any act of mine--it will be in +spite of me." + +"But I thought--" + +"You thought the foreign secretary was the whole thing? Well, he isn't! +There's a dozen other members of the cabinet, more or less, to mix in, +and, when all's said, the premier has to approve, and after that the +Queen. And all of us are more or less afraid of the press, to say +nothing of the House of Commons, where the opposition is always trying +to put us in an awkward corner. So our motives are usually pretty mixed, +and it's very rarely that we can do just as we'd like to do." + +"Then," said Susie, slowly, "I think that I must tell the Prince." + +"Do so, by all means," retorted her companion, a little impatiently. "I +give you full permission, if you care to take the responsibility. But, I +assure you, it's a heavy one." + +"Oh, not so awfully heavy!" said Susie, sceptically. "You have already +told me what a little place Schloshold-Markheim is." + +"It _is_ little; but so is the pivot that a great piece of machinery +swings on. Collins said yesterday that the peace of Europe may hang upon +this question. I laughed at him then, but it's not at all impossible +that he may be right. Of course, with a little thing like the peace of +Europe, every schoolgirl has the right to meddle! A million of human +beings, more or less--what do they amount to? Let us slaughter them, +maim them, outrage them, burn their houses, destroy their crops! Let us +put great armies in the field, and fight great battles and think only of +the glory! Don't look at the shapeless things beneath the hoofs of the +horses, nor think of the women waiting at home--waiting for the lists of +dead and missing! Let us release the spring that will set all this in +motion--it requires only a touch, the merest touch! And think, we should +be making history! Besides, our honour requires it! We must be jealous +of our honour--it is of so much more importance than the peace of +Europe!" + +And Vernon, having arrived at the hotel entrance, bade them good-bye and +was wheeled to the lift, leaving his companion rather breathless. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +"Be Bold, Be Bold" + +Lord Vernon, no doubt, would have spoken with less acerbity but for the +fact that his nerves were jangling badly. The lift was started promptly, +but it required all his self-control to remain seated in his chair +during the slow progress upward of the great machine of which Monsieur +Pelletan was so proud. Scarcely had the door of his apartment closed +behind him, when he threw aside the invalid wrappings with a perfect +fury, sprang from his chair, and hastened into the inner room. Collins +and Blake were seated at a table there, labouring with a telegram in +cipher. + +"What's the matter now?" demanded Collins, sharply, as he looked up and +saw Vernon's disordered face. + +For answer, Vernon took from his pocket a folded paper and tossed it on +the table. + +Collins picked it up, opened it, and read its contents. + +"Well?" he said, looking up with a sigh of relief. "If this is the note +you wrote those Rushford girls, I must say I think you've done a mighty +wise thing to get it back. It was a dangerous thing to have lying +around. Have you had a quarrel?" and he grinned a little maliciously. + +"Collins," said Vernon, coldly, "you have the poorest conception of good +taste of any man I know, and I know some awful bounders. But I won't +quarrel with you now, for you'll be grinning on the other side of that +ugly mouth of yours anyway in about a minute. Will you kindly examine +this piece of paper?" and he tore a leaf from his notebook. + +"Be Bold, Be Bold" + +Collins, biting his lips until they bled, took it and looked it over +with frowning and puzzled countenance. + +"Well?" he asked, at last. + +"The note I sent the Misses Rushford," said Vernon, quietly, "was +written on a leaf from the notebook, which I tore out just as I did that +one you have in your hand," and he sat down and stared out the window, +across the gray dunes and the gray sea to the gray horizon. + +Collins, with compressed lips, held the two pieces of paper up to the +light and compared their texture. Then he got out a small pocket +magnifying glass and examined through it the writing on the note. + +"It's a tracing," he said, at last, "and a mighty clever piece of work. +The paper, too, is very like." + +"But it's not the same," put in Vernon. + +"Oh, no, it's not the same." + +"Do you mean this is a forgery?" burst out Blake, hoarsely, snatching +up the note and staring at it. + +"Undoubtedly," answered Collins, coolly, but his face was very dark. +"The forger, clever as he was, could scarcely expect to be so fortunate +as to duplicate the paper. And then, of course, he couldn't foresee that +it would be turned over to you. But he did very well. Now let's have the +story." + +"Miss Rushford had the note in her desk," said Vernon, shortly. "She +missed it last night and went to tell her sister of the theft. When she +returned to her room and began a systematic search, she found it slipped +among some note-paper in the drawer where she had placed it. She +returned it to me this morning." + +"Without suspecting that it was a forgery?" + +"Certainly." + +"And you didn't tell her?" + +"No." + +Collins sat for a moment staring down at the note. + +"Which reminds me," he remarked, at last, "that Markeld spent the +evening with the Rushfords." + +"Well, what of it?" demanded Vernon, sharply, wheeling around. "What is +it you mean to insinuate?" + +"My dear sir," answered Collins, suavely, "I insinuate nothing. I was +merely remarking upon the coincidence. If I did not happen to know all +the circumstances, I might have been led to suggest that, as only one +Miss Rushford is devoted to you--" + +Vernon sprang to his feet with such wrath in his face that Collins +stopped abruptly. + +"It was well you stopped," said Vernon, savagely. "Another word, and by +heaven--" + +"Don't be a fool!" Collins broke in. "I'm not afraid of you nor your +threats. This forgery, of course, is the work of that French spy--" + +A servant tapped at the door and handed in a card. + +Collins took it, glanced at it, and looked up with a little smile of +satisfaction. + +"It's Tellier," he said. "I was expecting him; he was certain to come to +us. Leave him to me," and he went out, closing the door behind him. + +Monsieur Tellier was even more effulgent than usual. There was upon his +face a smile of supreme self-satisfaction. He had reason to believe that +he had achieved a good stroke, and he was resolved to make the most of +it. He had dreamed dreams and seen visions--one vision in particular +which included within the same circumference himself and a certain frail +fairy of the Robinière who had always regarded him with disdain. Now all +that was to be changed! So he greeted Collins with a self-assurance and +aplomb quite removed from his ordinary manner. + +Collins confronted him with the card still between his fingers, and +returned his greeting with the utmost coldness. + +"You wished to see me?" he asked. + +"Pardon," corrected Tellier, "it is Lord Vernon I wish to see." + +"Lord Vernon is ill and sees no one." + +Tellier gave his mustachios a supercilious twirl. + +"You still maintain that farce?" he queried. "I assure you that for me +it has long since lost its novelty." + +Collins took a step toward the door. + +"Shall I show you out?" he asked. + +"No--not yet," and Tellier smiled provokingly. + +"You would really better let me show you out," said Collins, quietly. +"In another moment, I shall probably kick you out." + +Tellier's face turned a deep purple and his white teeth gleamed behind +his moustache. + +"Have a care!" he said, hoarsely. "That expression will cost you dear!" + +Collins smiled contemptuously. + +"Oh," he retorted; "so it's blackmail! I might have known from your +appearance. Well, my dear sir, you have mistaken your men. You have +nothing which we care to buy. You would better go." + +A purple vein stood out across Tellier's forehead, as he came a step +nearer. + +"Do not be too sure, monsieur," he said. "You play a bold game, but it +does not for an instant deceive me. Lord Vernon is no more ill than I. +It is useless to deny it--I have that here which proves it--written with +his own hand--yes, pardie, written in my presence!" and with trembling +fingers he took from his pocketbook a folded slip of paper. + +"Indeed?" said Collins, with mild curiosity. "This is truly wonderful," +and he held out his hand. + +But Tellier drew back a step, unfolded the note and held it open between +his fingers. + +"You may read it," he said, his eyes flashing with triumph. "But come no +nearer." + +Collins leisurely got out his monocle, polished it with his +handkerchief, adjusted it, and scanned the note. + +"Really," he said, "unless you can hold it a little steadier, I fear I +can't read it." + +Tellier steadied his hand by a mighty effort, and watched him, his eyes +shining. But the face of the Englishman did not change--not in a single +line, not by the merest shadow. + +"Very interesting, no doubt," said Collins, dropping his glass, "to +those who care for backstairs intrigue. Is it this note that you wish to +sell?" + +"Oh, not that," corrected Tellier, with a little offended gesture, his +self-assurance back in an instant. "You mistake me--I am not of that +sort at all. On the other hand, it is friendship for you which has +brought me here. I have no wish to injure you, monsieur, and you +yourself, of course, perceive fully what a disaster it would be should +this note be placed in certain hands." + +"To what adventure does the note refer?" queried Collins. + +"It refers to the adventure of Lord Vernon with the two Americans on the +afternoon of his arrival. He has, no doubt, mentioned it to you." + +"Lord Vernon has had no adventure since his arrival here," retorted +Collins, coldly. "But go ahead with your story." + +"As I was saying," continued Tellier, "I am a poor man. I have my future +to consider--I cannot afford to throw away this opportunity which chance +has placed in my hands. I will be reasonable, however--I will not ask +too much--a hundred thousand francs--" + +"Tellier," Collins interrupted, with a gesture of weariness, "I have not +the least idea what you mean. But I do know that you have been hoaxed, +that you are the victim of some deception, that somebody is making a +fool of you. A hundred thousand francs! And for that note! Why, man, you +are mad or very, very drunk! We don't want the note. We have no concern +in it!" + +"No concern in it!" shrieked Tellier. "When it is written by Lord +Vernon!" + +"Lord Vernon did not write it," retorted Collins, coolly. + +"I saw it--with my own eyes I saw it!" + +"Then your eyes deceived you. Evidently you are not acquainted with Lord +Vernon's writing, my friend. Shall I show you a sample? Wait." + +He went to a desk, got out a despatch-box, unlocked it, and ran rapidly +through its contents, while Tellier watched him with bloodshot eyes. + +"This will do," Collins said, at last. "A note to Monsieur Delcassé, +with which you are perhaps familiar, since it has recently been made +public. Look at it." + +Tellier almost snatched it--one glance was enough. There was absolutely +no resemblance between that tall, angular hand and the writing of the +note. He looked at the signature, at the seal--there could be no +doubting them. His lips were quivering, his fat cheeks hanging flaccid, +as he handed the paper back. + +"You are playing with me," he said, thickly. "What I have seen, I have +seen. What I know, I know. You cannot trick me. I will go to the Prince +of Markeld--to Prince Ferdinand himself--" + +"To whomever you please," interrupted Collins, "only go at once," and +he snatched open the door. + +Tellier hesitated an instant, glanced at the other's face, and went. + +And Collins, closing the door behind him, mopped the perspiration from +his forehead. + +"Well done, my friend," he said; "exceedingly well done!" + +And with that, he turned back to the inner room. + + * * * * * + +"Dad," began Susie Rushford, that evening, gently but firmly taking away +the paper over which her father was engaged, "I wish you would devote +that massive brain of yours to this Schloshold-Markheim muddle for a few +moments, and give me the benefit. It's quite beyond me, and I'm nearly +worried to death over it. I want your advice. Now, in the first place, +why should Lord Vernon play off sick? It seems such a little thing to +do." + +"'Tall oaks from little acorns grow,'" quoted her father. "This little +thing may have big consequences." + +"I didn't mean little that way," explained Susie. "I meant little in a +moral way." + +"Well, my dear," said her father, reflectively, "everything is fair in +love, war, and diplomacy. Your diplomat, when he is busy at his trade, +seems to lose sight of fine moral distinctions. Even the greatest of +them have sometimes stooped to acts decidedly small, and yet in private +life they were doubtless honourable men. It's a good deal like a +political campaign in the United States, where men who are usually +honest will lie about the other side, without any twinges of +conscience--there's even a loop-hole in the libel law for them to crawl +through, made, it would seem, especially for their benefit. So, I think, +we may pass up the moral objection." + +"But what does he hope to accomplish, dad?" persisted Susie. "What +_can_ he accomplish by merely sitting still?" + +"A great many things may be accomplished by sitting still," said her +father, puffing his cigar reflectively. "It is one of those simple +things which are sometimes very difficult to do. I've found that out, +more than once, in the course of my checkered career." + +"Now that we are through with precept, let us pass on to example, you +dear old philosophical thing!" laughed Susie. "What should you say Lord +Vernon hoped to accomplish in this instance?" + +"It seems very plain," said Rushford, "though, of course, I may be +mistaken. But I fancy he believes that while he is playing 'possum here, +Emperor William, who is not especially renowned for patience, will +settle the question of the succession without asking any one's +advice--as, I must say, he seems to have a perfect right to do. In that +case, it would, of course, be too late for England to interfere; she +could only express her regrets to Prince Ferdinand, and send her +congratulations to Prince George. So if Markeld doesn't get a chance to +say his little speech within the next two or three days, I don't believe +he'll ever get a chance." + +Susie nodded thoughtfully. + +"The Prince ought to be able to reason that out for himself, oughtn't +he?" + +"I should think so, if he can see farther than his own nose. Were you +thinking of going to his assistance? Take my advice, my dear, and +refrain. You and Nell are altogether too deep in it, as it is." + +Again Susie nodded. + +"Thank you, dear," she said, and taking him by either ear, she kissed +him between the eyes. "Now, I think I'll go to bed. I've a mighty +knotty problem on hand and I've got to work it out right away." + +"Can I help any more?" + +"No," and she shook her head decidedly. "This is one of those odious +problems which a person has to work out alone. It reminds me of our +school examinations, where we were on honour not to ask any help. Only," +she added, with a sigh, "this is far more serious. Good-night." + +"Good-night," said her father, and watched her until the door closed +behind her. Then he turned again to his paper. + +Susie, alone in her own room, sat with her head in her hands, staring +out across the moonlit beach. Away in the distance, she could see the +little breakers washing white upon the sand; to the left stretched the +long, brilliant promenade of the Digue, ending in the glare of light +which marked the Casino. + +"The peace of Europe!" she murmured. + +"The peace of Europe! I wonder if he was merely trying to frighten me?" + +And she shivered a little at the remembrance of Lord Vernon's words, as +she arose to go to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +A Prince and His Ideals + +By what process of telepathy the Dowager Duchess of Markheim, dwelling +in one corner of that gloomy old fortress which had sheltered so many +generations of the family, learned of the danger threatening her nephew +it would be impossible to say. She had been skilled for many years in +telling which way the wind was blowing; nay, more, in foreseeing from +which quarter it would presently blow; so perhaps the two or three +casual references to the American girls which she had gleaned from the +letters which the Prince dutifully wrote her had been enough to awaken +her suspicions. Or, it may be, that some one of the many persons at +Weet-sur-Mer who had observed with interest the Prince's comings and +goings, deemed it a duty to society to send the duchess a discreet word +of warning. + +Any one who knew the duchess knew also that a single word would be +all-sufficient. Her reputation for worldly astuteness surpassed that of +any other old woman in Europe, though it was, perhaps, not altogether +deserved. Forty years before, she had been a healthy and happy girl, +whose experience of the world had been confined to the family estate +near Gemünden. And the estate was a small one, for the family, though of +blood the bluest, was very poor. + +One tragedy had marked her early girlhood. She was curled up, one +evening, in the window-seat at the stairhead watching the moon rise over +the great trees of the park, when she heard loud voices in the hall +below, and peeping down, saw her father strike another man heavily +across the mouth. A sudden silence fell, and she stole away frightened +to her bed, where she sobbed herself to sleep. In the gray of the +morning, her mother had awakened her, had carried her to a window, and +knelt with her there, staring out toward the park and calling upon God +to have mercy. Through the streaming mist, there came presently toward +them two dim figures, carrying a third--what need to go on? After that, +the house became a cloister. + +It chanced, one day when she was nearly twenty, that the eye of her +cousin of Markheim fell upon her. He had never married; he had been too +busy with his pleasures. But he had arrived at an age when it was +necessary to think of an heir; at an age, too, when the uneasy +consciousness began to grow within him that if he desired an heir, there +was no time to be lost. So he looked at his blooming cousin, noting the +evidences of vigorous health which glowed in eye and lip and cheek. He +knew that the girl would have no dot, but he had reached a place where +he was perfectly aware that if he wanted youth and beauty, he must take +them unadorned. So he made up his mind at once, and in due time the +marriage was arranged. + +In pity, we will not dwell upon it. Those who saw the bride's face as +she entered the carriage with her husband will never forget its +expression of horror, disgust, and abject fear. A year later, the +desired heir arrived, a microcephalous idiot, to whom a merciful +providence allowed but eighteen months of life; and in due time, the +August Prince himself was gathered to his fathers. + +During her period of martyrdom, the duchess had pressed her cross to her +bosom with the religious enthusiasm of a devotee hugging his barbed +instrument of torture. The consciousness that she was suffering for her +family's sake as became a daughter of the Caesars was the only thing +which enabled her to endure her shame and degradation. She donned her +widow's weeds with such depth of thankfulness as few mortals know, and +settled herself to the enjoyment of her position. + +She found it on the whole a good position, unassailable, with many +desirable perquisites. She decided, no doubt, that life owed her such +tremendous arrears of happiness that she could never hope to collect +them except by devoting her whole time to it; and devote her whole time +to it she did, in good earnest. The years, in their passage, erased +certain lines from her face and restored the curves to her +figure--indeed, it came to be much more than a restoration!--but they +could not restore the colour to her hair nor the lightness to her heart. +She looked at mankind from a cynical altitude of worldly wisdom; her wit +grew keen and swift as d'Artagnan's rapier; her bon-mots had a way of +passing into proverbs, or of being stolen by more distinguished +contemporaries. She took her revenge upon society as completely as she +could, yet without bitterness. Indeed, it is probable that, could she +have ordered her life anew, she would not have ordered it differently. + +Such, then, was the Dowager Duchess of Markheim, as she sat gazing +thoughtfully from her window, pondering the situation. She was fully +alive to the fact that American girls are always a menace to the peace +of noble families; besides, she was not at all satisfied with the +progress--or, rather, lack of progress--which the Prince had made in the +delicate negotiation entrusted to his hands. In a word, she decided +that, from every point of view, it were wise for her to be herself upon +the scene--and so much nearer her beloved Ostend! Therefore, being of +that superior order of woman who never has to make up her mind but once, +she forthwith gave orders for the departure. + +It consequently happened, on the morning following the events narrated +in the previous chapter, that there was another distinguished arrival at +the Grand Hôtel Royal, to the delight and despair of Monsieur Pelletan. + +"I shall need an apartment of at least five rooms, not higher than the +second floor," announced the duchess. + +"If Madame la Duchesse had only notified us of t'is honour!" protested +Pelletan, with upraised hands. "I swear t'at I haff not'ing-- +not'ing--not one single apartment wort'y off madame--not efen one leetle +room up under t'e gutters." + +"Nonsense!" she interrupted, vigorously. "I have heard all that a +hundred times at least. Which apartment has my nephew?" + +"Madame's nephew?" + +"Certainly, imbecile! Monsieur le Prince de Markeld." + +"Oh," cried Pelletan. "Monsieur le Prince hass apartment B de luxe." + +"And so has twice as much room as he needs, of course. Well, take my +luggage up there, wherever it is. At my age, one is beyond the reach of +scandal, even at a Dutch bathing-resort. Where is Monsieur le Prince?" + +"Monsieur le Prince iss taking t'e promenade," explained Pelletan. + +"Very well; I have my toilette to make. When he returns, send him up to +me at once. Here, boy, apartment B," and followed by her maid, she +started up the stair, leaving Monsieur Pelletan staring, open-mouthed. + +"But t'ere iss a lift, madame!" he cried, regaining his breath. + +"A lift!" retorted the duchess. "At my age! What is the man thinking of! +En avant, boy!" and she went on up the stair. + + * * * * * + +The watches of the night had not brought that final solution of the +problem which Susie Rushford had hoped for, and she did not know whether +to be glad or sorry when she found the Prince at the stairfoot awaiting +her. There could be no doubt that he was wholly, undividedly glad--one +glance at his face told her that--and he greeted her in a way that sent +a little thrill to her heart. After all, she told herself, perhaps she +would better let things drift; one more day could make no difference. +And there was no reason why she should take the affair more seriously +than did the principal person concerned in it. + +Outside the door, as usual, was the invalid chair; and while Lord Vernon +did not forget to say good-morning, it was not upon her his eyes rested. +Nell, at least, was perplexed by no problems, and was unaffectedly gay. +Susie almost envied her; and yet problems were interesting, too. + +And then there was Collins. As she acknowledged his bow, she was struck +anew with the concentrated secretiveness of his appearance. There was a +new look in his eyes this morning, a look as though he were watching +her, and it made her vaguely uneasy. But the feeling passed as they +turned eastward along the promenade, and she soon forgot all about him, +for--quite exceptionally--her companion was talking of himself. + +"I do not want that you should exaggerate the importance of this little +dispute," he was saying. "Seen thus close at hand, it looms rather +large; but it really matters very little to the great world. Even I can +get far enough away from it to see that." + +"And yet," rejoined Susie, "I have heard it said that it might possibly +endanger the peace of Europe." + +The Prince smiled at the words as at an old acquaintance. + +"The peace of Europe," he said, "is a kind of bugaboo which diplomats +use to frighten each other with, and even to frighten themselves with. I +do not believe that the peace of Europe hangs on any such delicate +balance as they pretend. Though, of course," he added, more gravely, +"there are certain circumstances under which this question of the +succession might become very unpleasant to the Powers." + +"Ah!" breathed Susie, who had been listening eagerly. "You admit that, +then?" + +"Admit it? Certainly--why not? But, intrinsically, it amounts to little. +So it is with us Markelds--our lineage is as long as that of any house +in Europe, and we hold our heads very high, but we are really of not +much importance. We keep up a certain state, we live in a castle, if you +will; but we really do nothing worth while, principally, I suppose, +because we are so poor." + +"So poor?" echoed Susie, open-eyed. + +"You are thinking of the apartment de luxe," said the Prince, with a +smile; "of the special train. But, do you not see, those are the very +things which make me poor. I have no use for seven rooms; in the special +train, I can occupy but a single seat. All the rest is waste, which does +me no good--rather the reverse, indeed, since it serves to impress +people with an exaggerated idea of my importance and so pave the way for +fresh extravagances. I did not mean that I am poor absolutely; I do not +suppose that I shall ever want for food and clothing and a place to +sleep. It is only as a Prince that I am poor--that we Markelds are all +poor." + +"But one would think there were many things worth while which a man in +your position could do," said Susie, earnestly, "even if you aren't +rich." + +"Oh," he explained, looking down at her with a laugh in his eyes, "I +would not have you think that I am always wholly idle. I am colonel of +a dragoon regiment, and I inspect it, sometimes, or ride in front of it +at a general review. I hunt. I attend various functions of the court. I +even sometimes act as the representative of my house, as I am doing +now." + +"None of which," said Susie, "except perhaps the last, is in the least +worth while." + +"I agree with you, unreservedly," he assented; "but it is about what +most men in my position do." + +"So I have heard," said Sue, "but I never really believed it. I thought +it an invention of the society reporters." + +"It is true, nevertheless. You see there is no incentive, for most of +us, to do anything else. Of course, we cannot work, nor engage in +trade." + +"I don't admit the 'of course.' But leaving that aside for the moment, +aren't there any exceptions?" + +"Yes--a few at whom the rest of us look rather askance. You see, there +is the tradition to be maintained." + +"The tradition?" + +"Of royalty--of divine right. We must do nothing to spoil the tradition, +or weaken it, or our people may find out that we are not really +necessary, after all, just as the Americans have done." + +Susie glanced at him to see if he was in earnest; but he appeared to be +entirely so. + +"Do the exceptions mind being looked askance at?" she questioned. + +"No, I do not think they mind in the least. Most of them are too busy to +pay any heed to what other people are thinking about them. Besides, the +cause of the exception is usually a woman, who takes up most of the +exception's leisure time." + +"I'm afraid I don't quite understand." + +"Let me explain. You see, when one of us marries a woman of his own +class--'Prinzessen, Comtessen, Serene English Altessen,' as Svengali +called them--he usually gets a partner more--ah--hidebound, I think you +call it--than himself--a greater stickler for precedent and tradition +and position and etiquette and elegant leisure, and all that sort of +thing. Whatever liberal ideas he may have had, he finds he must abandon +or, at least, suppress, if there is to be peace between his wife and +him. It is only those who are so fortunate as to meet and win exactly +the right woman _out_ of their class who get the incentive. You +understand, now?" + +"Yes," said Susie, with a queer catch in her voice. "Yes, I think I do." + +"So," he added, with a little bitter laugh, "you see why we others look +askance at these exceptions. In the first place they have preferred to +step down out of their rank for a wife--that deals a blow at the +tradition, and every blow weakens it; in the second place, they have +left some noble lady husbandless, for your noble ladies seldom so far +forget their rank as to marry out of it, though that may be because the +men never permit them to--again an injury to us as a class; and, +finally, they are mixing with the world, they are meeting other men face +to face, as equals, they are claiming no merit because of birth, no +authority because of rank; they are, perhaps, even working with their +hands. Whereas our business is to keep aloof from the world, to maintain +a barrier of caste between ourselves and other men, for they must not +suspect that we are as imperfect as they--that we have the same +appetites and passions, the same defects and meannesses. Our business is +to rule over them, to require their obedience because God so wills it. +We tremble when we see the apostates cast aside their rank and descend +into the world's arena, for we fear that the people, finding them at +close view only human, may come at last to believe that the right by +which we rule is not, after all, divine. Then they will tear down the +barrier of caste, strip us of the privileges of rank, and proclaim the +absurdity that all men are equal. And I might add, we are jealous of the +exceptions, because they are happy. Marriages of state are seldom love +matches; the kind which furnish the incentives are always so." + +To all of which Susie had listened with bated breath, only glancing up +once or twice to study her companion's face. It was a lifting of the +curtain, a revelation of the heart, which left her deeply moved. + +"You don't seem to care for the tradition," she said, at last. + +"Oh, yes, I do; it would be untrue to pretend otherwise. Only, it has +occurred to me quite recently that merely to inherit a position is not +quite enough. A man should try to deserve it" + +"And you're going to try?" asked Susie, looking at him with something +very like adoration in her eyes. + +"I am going to try--yes," he answered. "But I shall need help--I am +afraid I should not make a success of it by myself." + +And then he fell silent, for they had reached the end of the promenade, +where the others joined them. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +The Duchess to the Rescue + +It may be that Lord Vernon had been so fortunate as to find a topic of +conversation equally absorbing; at any rate, Nell entered the hotel with +her sister rather subdued and tremulous, and they mounted to their rooms +in silence. A week before, they would probably have thrown themselves +into each other's arms and kissed each other and cuddled each other and +cried over each other, without precisely knowing why, or, at least, +without troubling to put the reason into words. But the events of the +past few days had, imperceptibly, wrought a change in their relations. +An impalpable veil had come between them, a subtle dissonance in point +of view. They were pledged, as it were, to rival interests. + +A woman who has no other confidante will, invariably, seek counsel and +sympathy of her own reflected self; and if so it was in this case, for +each of our two heroines went straight to her room, and locked the door, +and sat down before her glass, and, chin in hands, communed long and +earnestly with the image pictured there, gazing deep into its eyes, and +thinking unutterable thoughts, which completely defy transcription. + +At the same moment, to Archibald Rushford, sitting immersed in his +morning newspaper, wholly unsuspicious of all this, the Prince of +Markeld's card was handed. It may be noted in passing that, with the +influx of patrons to the house, the American had found it necessary to +retire to the privacy of his own apartment in order to enjoy the paper +undisturbed. + +"All rights show him up," he said, when he had glanced at the card; and +almost immediately the Prince himself appeared. + +Rushford started up with hand outstretched. + +"Glad to see you, Prince," he said. "I was just figuring on looking you +up and wondering how I'd better go about it--I didn't quite know what +the etiquette of the thing was." + +The Prince laughed. + +"The etiquette is simple." he answered. "You have only to come to my +door and knock." + +"Refreshingly democratic!" and Rushford's eyes danced. "That would +appeal to my countrymen. But my ignorance was natural enough. You see, +we never have the chance, at home, to hobnob with Highnesses. That's the +reason so many of us come abroad. But we're not the real thing--the +genuine, simon-pure American stays at home and looks after his +business." + +"And no doubt gets along very well without Highnesses," laughed Markeld, +gripping the proffered fingers with a warmth which pleased their owner. +The latter found himself admiring, too, the erect figure, the clean +face, the clear eyes; he told himself with pleasure that the Prince +looked as well by daylight as by gaslight--a tribute to his youth and +the way he had employed it. + +"Sit down, won't you?" he asked cordially. + +"Yes, the people of the States manage to worry along some way without +any nobility. In fact, they've rather got a prejudice against that sort +of thing. You see, the only Highnesses they've had to judge by are the +fortune-hunters who come over after our girls. Now I've always believed +that it isn't any fairer to judge European nobility by those specimens +than it is to judge us Americans by the expatriated idiots one finds +here in Europe--it's like judging a bin of apples by the rotten ones." + +"You are doubtless right," agreed the Prince, who had followed these +remarks with an anxiety almost painful. "And I am glad to hear you +speak in that way. I infer that you do not object to international +marriages." + +"Not at all, per se. Other things being equal, I see no reason why a +Highness shouldn't make as good a husband as a plain American. There's +only one reason for marriage, sir--mutual affection. Where that exists, +nothing else matters. Where it doesn't exist--well, marriage becomes +simply a convenient arrangement for perpetuating a family, or restoring +its estates, or accomplishing some less laudable purpose. But +there--shut me off--don't let me preach at you!" + +"No, no," protested the Prince. "All that you say interests me +deeply--more deeply than you suspect. In fact, I hope to marry an +American girl myself." + +"Ah," said Mr. Rushford, swallowing with sudden difficulty. "Oh! You +mean--" + +"I mean that I wish to propose to you for the hand of your daughter," +explained the Prince, quite simply. + +Rushford was not a man easily astonished, but there was no denying his +amazement at this moment. Despite his playful words to Susie, he had +never really suspected the direction in which events were trending; +besides, the lightning-flash, even though expected, is always a shock. + +But the Prince bore his gaze imperturbably. + +"I do not wonder that you are surprised," he said. "You have known me so +short a time. But we Markelds always know our own minds. I have thought +the matter over very carefully and I am sure that I am acting wisely. +Whether you would act wisely in giving her to me is another question, +for though I am a Prince, I am a very small one, though with income +sufficient, I trust, to maintain a wife at least comfortably. I shall be +glad to send my solicitors to talk it over with you, and explain +anything about me which you may care to know--" + +Mr. Rushford's face had gradually relaxed during this harangue, until it +was positively smiling. + +"My dear sir," he interrupted, "if there's anything about you I want to +know, I'll ask _you_. But that is hardly necessary as yet; for you're +taking hold of the matter by the wrong end. We of America don't give our +daughters away, they choose their own husbands--subject, of course, to +their parents' approval. Now, my daughter--by the way, you haven't +specified which one you're after." + +"It is Miss Sue that I want," said the Prince. + +"Ah--Susie. Well, she's perfectly capable of choosing for herself, and +will probably insist upon doing so. Have you spoken to her on the +subject?" + +"Oh, most certainly not!" stammered the Prince. + +"Well, suppose you take it up with her," suggested Mr. Rushford, +encouragingly. "If she wants you, it'll be all right with me. I may even +say that I'll be very glad to see you get her--I like you better than I +ever imagined I should like a nobleman." + +The Prince was on his feet in an instant with outstretched hands. + +"Thank you, my dear sir!" he cried. "A thousand thanks! I have, then, +your permission to speak to Miss Rushford?" + +"My permission--yes. And my best wishes. And, Prince," he added, as the +latter turned away, "don't worry about the matter of income. Susie will +be able to help you out a little." + +Whether the Prince heard or not I do not know, for, as he hurried from +the room, he collided with Monsieur Pelletan, who clutched his coat as +he would have hastened past. + +"Oh, Monsieur le Prince!" gasped the little man. "I haf eferywhere been +searching for you. Madame la Duchesse de Markheim arrived some hours +ago and awaits you wit' t'e greates' impatience." + +"Where is she?" + +"She iss in monsieur's apartment. She insiste' t'at I--" + +"Very well; I will go to her," said the Prince, and bounded down the +stair. A moment later, he was kissing his aunt's extended hand, white +and soft as in the days of her maidenhood, though with an added +plumpness. "My dear aunt!" he cried. "I but this moment heard that you +were here." + +"You see I have made myself comfortable, my dear Fritz," smiled the old +lady, her impatience forgotten the moment her eyes rested upon his +handsome face. "And I have not been lonesome--Monsieur Tellier has been +relating to me a number of very interesting things." + +"Tellier!" The Prince started round as the detective arose, smirked, +and bowed in his humblest manner. "I can't say that I congratulate you +on your choice of a companion, madame!" + +"Don't put on your grand manner with me, Fritz," she protested, still +laughing. "I am very glad that Monsieur Tellier sought me out. But what +is the matter with that creature of yours hovering in the background?" + +The Prince turned and beheld Glück, evidently expecting orders to +accomplish an assault upon the detective's person. + +"Oh," he explained, "I told Glück he might throw Tellier out the next +time he tried to get in here. I'm afraid you'll have to wait a few +minutes, my friend," he added, and Glück retired, visibly disappointed. + +"Let me tell you," said the duchess, emphatically, as the door closed +behind him, "that your prejudice against Monsieur Tellier is wholly +unwarranted and very foolish. He has discovered many things which you +seem to have overlooked." + +"Perhaps," admitted the Prince; "but he has discovered them in a way +that no gentleman could countenance. Which reminds me," he added, +suddenly turning a fiery countenance upon the unhappy Frenchman, "that I +have an account of my own to settle with him. How dared you annoy--" + +But the duchess held up her hand. + +"One moment, Fritz," she interrupted, sternly. "Don't begin throwing +stones until you are quite sure you are not yourself in a glass house. +As I have said, Monsieur Tellier had many things of interest to relate." + +"Well, my dear aunt," retorted the Prince, "now that he has related +them, I trust we may dispense with his company. I will settle my account +with him another time." + +"First," said the duchess, with cold irony, "tell me what progress you +have made with your embassy, Fritz!" + +"Very little, I am sorry to say, madame. But in three days, Lord Vernon +has promised to consider the matter." + +"Three days! And do you imagine all the rest of the world will stand +still at your command, Fritz, and wait for you? Are you another Joshua?" + +The Prince flushed. There was no denying the justice of the taunt. + +"But that aside for the moment," continued the duchess. "Tell me +something of this American girl you have met here, and with whom you +have grown so fond of making the promenade." + +"I hope soon to have the pleasure of presenting her to you, madame," +said the Prince, flushing still more. "I believe you will find her +admirable." + +"Perhaps," said the duchess, sceptically. "Is it really necessary that +I should meet her?" + +"That, of course, will be as madame pleases. I thought you would +naturally wish to meet the woman whom it is my intention to marry." + +The duchess fairly jumped in her chair. + +"To marry!" she cried. "To marry! What nonsense!" + +"You will see," continued the Prince, calmly, "how unwise it was to +begin the conversation in the presence of this--gentleman." + +"No!" cried the duchess. "It was more than ever wise! Do you happen to +know who this woman is?" + +"I refuse to discuss my affairs further," said the Prince, "until we are +alone." + +"But do you know who she is? She has no dot! Perhaps you will say that +is nothing, that you expected none, though it seems to me it is your +duty to repair the fortunes of our house. But it is even worse than +that--she is the daughter of an inn-keeper." + +"I refuse to believe it," answered the Prince, quietly. + +"Monsieur Tellier, relate to him--" + +"If Tellier so much as moves a finger, I will kick him down the stairs," +added the Prince, still more calmly. + +"But he has the papers from the notary!" + +"That is nothing to me." + +The duchess made a gesture of despair. + +"Yet, after all," she cried, "that is a little thing beside this other. +Look at this," and she snatched a folded paper from the table at her +elbow. "She is a traitor to you--she has been playing with you--she has +been assisting these Englishmen to deceive you! You who are such a +stickler for honour in women no less than men! Look at this!" + +"What is this paper?" asked the Prince, making no motion to take it from +her eager hand. + +"It is a note which this impostor wrote to her and to her sister." + +"And obtained how?" he questioned, a little pale, but keeping himself +well in hand. + +"Obtained by Monsieur Tellier," replied the duchess. "It does not matter +how." + +"No," said the Prince, "perhaps not; yet one can easily guess. By +bribing the chambermaid, perhaps; by forcing a lock; by rifling her +desk, examining her private papers. Oh, it is abominable!" and he turned +upon the Frenchman, fury in his eyes. + +"No, no, Monsieur le Prince!" protested Tellier. "It was none of +these--I swear it! She left the note lying quite carelessly--" + +But the Prince was upon him. With one hand at the back of his neck, he +steered him, sputtering, to the door. + +"Glück!" he cried, and pitched the Frenchman into the arms of the +faithful servant. The duchess, sitting within the room, caught the +sound of a scuffle, of fierce swearing; then a succession of dull bumps +sounded through the apartment. The Prince closed the door and turned +back to her. + +"But, my dear Fritz!" she protested. "It may be true that Tellier is +abominable, yet sometimes one must use such instruments--surely, at +this moment, we are justified in using any instrument. I have paid him, +thank heaven! You must listen to reason. You have been fooled--we have +all been fooled--they have been playing with us--laughing at us behind +our backs for our simplicity--the girl as well as the others." + +"No!" he said, fiercely. "No!" + +"Fritz," she cried, her voice trembling, a mist before her eyes as she +looked at him, "you believe that I love you, do you not--oh, better than +anything else in the world. You believe that I desire your happiness! +But it must be happiness with honour, Fritz, as becomes a Markeld. You +have your name to consider, your house. You know that I would +rather--oh, a hundred times!--wound myself than wound you! You must +listen, then, when I tell you that this girl is not worthy of you; when +I tell you that this note proves it!" + +"Read it!" he commanded, in a hoarse voice. "Read it, then!" + +"'Lord Vernon will be deeply grateful,'" she read, "'if he is not +mentioned in connection with to-day's adventure.' To-day's +adventure--when he kicked Jax away from her. Can you doubt? Can you be +so stupid as to doubt? These Americans--they have no sense of honour!" + +He turned to the window without answering, but his face was drawn and +white. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +Man's perfidy + +To Archibald Rushford, sitting ruminant in his room, staring absently +out at the dunes and the sea, his paper forgotten, there entered +presently Susie--a rather subdued Susie, as he noted from the corner of +his eye--who drew up a chair very close to his and sat down and propped +her chin in her hands and looked up at him. + +It came to him in a flash of revelation that, did she have a mother, it +was to her she would have gone at this moment, and not to him, and his +eyes were a little misty as he looked down at her. That she and her +sister should have grown, motherless, to such sweet, triumphant +womanhood struck him in this instant as a kind of miracle--he had never +thought of it before. He had taken their beauty, their wit, their +sanity, as matters of course; he had never looked at them, clearly, from +the outside; he had never quite thoroughly appreciated them. They had +come this far, guideless, in the journey of life, and had done well and +bravely; but now Susie, at least, had reached a point in the path where +she needed help and counsel. She had come to him for it and he must give +her the best he had. + +"Dad," she began, a little tremulously, "would you mind so _very_ much +if I should m-marry and live in Europe? Of course," she added, hastily, +to break the force of the blow, "you would come over very often and stay +with us, and we would go over very often to see you." + +"So he _has_ spoken to you, has he?" laughed her father. "He told me he +hadn't." + +"Spoken! You know about it? Oh, dad, what do you mean?" + +"I mean that a certain William Frederick Albert, of Markeld--I believe +that's his name--or most of it--was in here a while ago and had the +impudence to ask me to give you to him." + +"Oh!" gasped Susie, with flaming cheeks, and sank back in her chair and +I dare say cried a little; but her father didn't see her, for his own +eyes were full of tears. The moment passed, the tears were wiped +away--"Tell me about it, dad," she said. + +"Tell you about it? I have told you!" + +"About what he said. How did he look?" + +"I dare say he looked about as he always does--a little pale around the +gills, perhaps, as one usually does when one's performing an unpleasant +duty!" + +"Dad!" + +"You don't mean to say you think he enjoyed it?" + +"They--they always have to do it in Europe," faltered Sue. + +"So I understand. But he said he hadn't told you." + +"He hasn't--he hasn't said a word." + +"Oh--_you_ just sort of scented it in the air, I suppose--sort of saw it +coming." + +"Every woman can tell when a man is in l-love with her," explained +Susie, with dignity, but boggling a little at the crucial word. "What +did you tell him, dad?" + +"I told him to take you and welcome." + +"Now, dad, you mustn't tease!" + +"Well, then, I told him he'd better see you first, since you're the +party principally concerned." + +"But you like him?" + +"Immensely!" + +Susie's arms were about his neck, and her cheek was against his cheek, +and a pearly tear plashed down upon his shirt-front. + +"Oh, you dear dad!" she cried. "I knew you'd like him!" + +"He seems a pretty straight sort of fellow," observed her father, "he +looks clean, and he talks like a man." + +"And you won't mind so very much?" + +"Not if it makes you happy, my dear. All girls have to marry sometime, I +suppose. You'll be rather farther away from me than I could wish, but I +dare say the Prince will let me come over and stay in his castle +occasionally, and eat at the second table--" + +"_Let_ you! Why, he'll _beg_ you to. Why couldn't you come over and live +with us, dad?" + +"And die of ennui in a year? Not much. I'll go home and make some more +money for you--you see, I'd never figured on having to finance a +Princess!" + +"Dad," very softly. + +"Well, what?" + +"Do you know, I don't believe he suspects I'm to have any money." + +"Neither do I. That's one thing I like about him." + +"But you really might come and live with us, dad." + +"Oh, no, I mightn't. Besides, there's Nell--What!" he cried, +interpreting the sudden pressure of her arms, "you don't mean that she's +gone and done it, too!" + +"I don't know, dad, but Lord Vernon has been very attentive to her. She +hasn't told me anything; I'm only guessing." + +Her father gave a long, low whistle. + +"Well!" he said. "You've been hustling things up with a vengeance, I +must say! There must be something in the atmosphere. It'll be a little +lonely in that big New York house without you, Susie." + +"I know it will, dear dad. And if you say the word, I won't leave +you--not for a long, long time. It will be a long time anyway, you +know--a year, at least--there will be so much to do." + +"And a year is quite long enough to keep two lovers apart. Youth goes +faster than you think, my dear. No, no; it'll be all right, Susie. You +don't suppose I'm as selfish as all that!" + +"No, dad; that's just what I'm afraid of; you're not selfish enough. +It's I who am selfish." + +"Nonsense! Everybody in this world has a right to happiness, Susie; why, +that's one of the foundation-stones of the Declaration of Independence. +And, I take it, a woman's great chance of happiness is in marrying the +man she loves. That's what every woman has a right to do, and nobody has +the right to raise a finger to prevent her. I'll give you to Markeld +with a clear conscience, my dear, when the time comes, and bless you +both. That is, if you really love him." + +"Oh, dad!" she cried and hid her face; there is one light in the eyes +which none but a lover may see! + +"Quite sure?" he persisted. + +"Quite sure!" she said, softly. + +"You're sure you're not jumping in the dark; it isn't the Prince you're +in love with?" + +"No, dad; it's the man. That seems an awfully bold thing for a girl to +say, doesn't it? But he--he's such a nice fellow!" + +"Yes, I believe he is," agreed her father. + +"He's been telling me about himself, you know; about what he wants to do +in the world," added Susie, looking up at him. + +"Has he?" and her father laughed. "The same old game--effective as ever! +We all do it--why, I remember, Susie--" + +He stopped suddenly, with a little tremor in his voice. + +"Yes, dad," very softly. + +She was leaning forward on his knee, looking up at him. He put his arm +around her and drew her close. + +"You're like your mother, Susie," was all he dared trust himself to say, +his arms tight around her. + +They sat so a moment, lost in memory, until a knock at the door brought +Susie to her feet. A page handed in a little package. + +"For Mademoiselle Rushford," he said. + +"Thank you," said Susie, and closed the door. "For me?" she repeated, as +she turned back into the room. "What do you suppose it is?" + +"The quickest way to find out is to open it, my dear," suggested her +father, drily. + +Susie ripped the paper off in an instant, and disclosed a little book +bound in flexible red leather. + +"'Who's Who,'" she read, looking at the title, and just then a card fell +out. She stooped and picked it up. "Why, it's from that odious French +detective! Listen, dad--'With the compliments of M. André Tellier, who +is sure of Mademoiselle Rushford's gratitude.'" + +"Send it back to him," said her father. "Or here, give it to me--I'll go +down and smash his face with it. I ought to have kicked him out of the +house yesterday--I'd have done it but for Pelletan." + +"Wait a minute, dad; here's a page turned down. Maybe there's something +he wanted me to see. Oh, yes; it's about Lord Vernon--he meant the book +for Nell--I'll call her," and she started toward the open door into the +inner room. + +"Wait," said her father, instantly. "What about Vernon? Read it." + +She stopped, struck by the tone of his voice. + +"What do you mean, dad?" she asked, paling a little. "Surely, you don't +mean--" + +"Read it," he repeated, sternly. + +She opened the book with hands suddenly tremulous. + +"'Vernon, fifth earl of (created 1703),'" she read, in a low voice. +"'George Henry Augustus Gardner, K. G., K. T., P. C., F. R. S., F. S. +A.; baronet 1628; Viscount Vernon, Baron Dalberry, 1710; Viscount +Cranford, 1712; Baron Vernon, 1829; trustee of Imperial Institute; born +tenth of May, 1859; son of Lord Henry Augustus Gardner, M. P., son of +fourth Earl and Mary, daughter of Richard Chaloner, Boston, U. S. A.; +married, Catherine--'" + +"Married!" cried her father, and then restrained himself, though his +face turned crimson. "But go on--perhaps she's dead." + +"No, she isn't dead!" said Sue, reading a line or two farther. Then she +closed the book. "I don't understand," she said, dazedly. "I can't +understand. He didn't seem that kind of man at all, dad!" + +"No," said a hoarse voice from the door. "No, he didn't." + +"Nell! Nellie dear!" cried Sue, and in an instant her arms were about +her. + +"It--it doesn't matter," said Nell, steadying herself against the door, +striving to still a sudden convulsive shuddering. "I was a f-fool to +think he--he cared. Of course he--he was only amusing himself!" and then +her self-control suddenly gave way, and her head fell forward upon her +sister's shoulder. But only for a moment; that high queenliness was not +on the surface, merely, but in the heart, as well. "I think I'm getting +tired of Weet-sur-Mer, dad," she said, quite steadily, with a wan little +smile. "I seem to be hungering for New York again; wouldn't you like to +go home?" + +"We'll go, of course, at once, dad," commanded Sue. "That's the only +thing to do. Oh!" she cried, her eyes flashing, "I could murder such a +man--cut him to pieces, inch by inch--and gloat over the deed!" + +Rushford was very pale and his hands were trembling a little as he +started for the door. + +"Yes, I'll order the trunks packed," he said, incoherently. "I'll have +to hurry--I'll try to--" + +Something in his voice caught Susie's ear; she turned her head and +looked at him. + +"Dad!" she called. + +He paused with his hand on the knob. + +"Dad, come here." + +He came back reluctantly. + +"We're to go away quietly, you know, without telling any one; there's to +be no fuss--we couldn't bear that--" + +A tap on the door interrupted her. Rushford opened it. A man stood +without, a German with complexion like mahogany. He bowed silently and +handed in a note. Rushford took it and closed the door. + +"It's from Markeld," he said, looking at the crest; "thought he hadn't +made his case quite emphatic enough, I guess," and he glanced at Susie's +blushing face and smiled. "Of course, we'll have to tell him," he added, +as he tore open the envelope and unfolded the sheet of paper it +contained. "He has a sort of right--" + +He stopped. + +Susie saw his face turn gray again.... A great fear fell upon her +heart--a cold, still fear that gripped her and left her shivering. + +"What is it, dad?" she asked quietly, through clenched teeth. + +"Nothing," answered her father, looking at her vaguely. "It's nothing. +It's--it's merely a matter of business, Susie." + +"Come, dad," she said, still quietly, "don't try to deceive me. Tell +me--no matter what it is, I can bear it. Do you think I haven't any +pluck, dad?" + +"Yes, I know you've got pluck, Susie," he said. "We've simply made a +mistake, my dear, in believing these blackguards honourable men. Let's +think no more about them." + +"Read what he says, dad." + +He hesitated still, but her eyes compelled him, and he read: + +"'The Prince of Markeld begs to withdraw his proposal for the hand of +Miss Rushford.'" + +"And that is all?" + +"That is all, Susie." + +"It couldn't be!" she said, a little hoarsely. "His aunt is +here--Monsieur Pelletan told me--and she has pointed out to him the +folly of it! I was silly to think it could come true! But, oh--" and she +dropped sobbing into a chair. + +Her father stood for a moment watching the heaving shoulders. Then, with +a face hard as iron, he opened the door and closed it softly behind him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +An American Opinion of European Morals + +"I tell you fellows for the last time," Lord Vernon was saying, "that we +can't keep this thing up any longer. Miss Rushford has served notice on +me that she's going to tell, and dashed if I blame her. Besides, there's +the note." + +"The note can't hurt us--I've extracted its sting. As for Miss Rushford, +I might see her again," suggested Collins, who had been pacing nervously +up and down the room. + +"See her? Nonsense! You'll do nothing of the sort! What right have we to +bother her? She'd probably send you about your business, anyway. She's +got a heart--something that diplomats know nothing about and never take +into account." + +"We didn't take it into account in your case, that's true!" retorted +Collins, with covert irony. + +"No, you didn't!" said the other, wheeling short around upon him. "Nor +did I take into account what a damned scoundrelly thing it was I was +persuaded into undertaking. I tell you, some of us will have to get down +and eat dirt before this thing is over!" + +"Pshaw!" and Collins smiled loftily. "Before a petty German princeling?" + +Vernon turned red with anger at the words, but as he opened his mouth to +reply, there came a sharp knock at the door. + +"Come in!" he shouted, before the others could draw breath. "No, I'm not +going to hide!" he added, in answer to Collins's gesture. "That farce is +finished!" + +The door opened and Monsieur Pelletan appeared on the threshold. + +"Monsieur le Prince de Markeld!" he announced, and bowed low, as the +Prince advanced past him into the room. In the shadows of the hall, +Glück's erect figure was dimly visible. + +For a moment no one spoke, but Vernon's face was flushing under the +ironical gaze bent upon it. + +"So," said the Prince, at last. "It appears that you are not ill. You +have been tricking me all the time!" + +"Yes," answered Vernon, not attempting for an instant to evade the +question. "Tricking you--that is the word. I am glad she has told you." + +"Do you think it was quite the course for a gentleman to pursue?" +continued the Prince, in a voice singularly even. + +"No," said Vernon, quietly. "I do not." + +"Nor do I!" said the Prince. + +Again there was a moment's silence. It was Vernon who broke it. + +"When I went into this thing," he began quite steadily, "I had no +thought that it would result as it has. It seemed to me an innocent +deception, warranted by reasons of state. We could not, of course, +foresee that you would follow us here, instead of going on to London. +For some time I have found the rôle unbearable; but, until a moment ago, +I fancied I might be able to explain to you the course I have taken." + +"Explain!" repeated the Prince, with bitter emphasis. + +"Now, of course," went on Vernon, evenly, "I see that no explanations +are possible--that no apology, even, which I might make, would excuse +me. I don't in the least believe in duelling--I have always thought that +I would be the last person in the world to be entangled in that way--but +this seems to be one of those situations which have no other solution. I +am quite willing, anxious even, to give you any satisfaction you may +demand. It is your right." + +"I agree with you," said the Prince. "It is my right. My friends will +wait upon you," and he turned toward the door. + +"But this is folly!" protested Collins, his face very red. "We are +living on the verge of the twentieth century, gentlemen; not in the +seventeenth. I won't countenance this madness for an instant." + +"Who asks you to countenance it?" demanded Vernon, sternly. "I repeat, I +am at the Prince's service. I am glad that it is within my power to +offer him this reparation." + +"Very well," said the Prince, bowing, and again turned to the door; but +Vernon stopped him with a gesture. + +"Before you go, before I can meet you, even," he said, quietly, "there +is a further explanation due you--" + +"I have no wish to hear it," the Prince broke in. + +"It is one which you must, nevertheless, listen to," went on Vernon, +coldly. "Confession would, perhaps, be a better word for it. Miss +Rushford did not know the whole truth." + +"So!" said the Prince, with irony. "You acted unfairly, then, even with +your co-conspirators!" + +Vernon flushed hotly, but kept himself in hand. + +"The retort is unworthy of you," he said. "I assure you that Miss +Rushford was not in any sense a co-conspirator." + +"Do you mean that she was ignorant of the deception you were playing?" +demanded the Prince, quickly. + +"No; she was not ignorant of that; but she--" + +The Prince held up his hand with an imperious gesture. + +"No more," he said; "if this is the explanation--confession--what you +will--I repeat that I do not care to hear it." + +"This is not it." + +"It cannot, in any event, alter matters." + +"I have no wish that it should alter matters, Your Highness!" retorted +Vernon, proudly. "When I have offered you the greatest reparation in my +power, it is ungenerous that you should--" + +Again a knock interrupted him. + +"Come in!" he called, recklessly. + +The door opened and Archibald Rushford entered. He closed the door +carefully behind him and advanced to the middle of the room. + +Vernon started forward. + +"Why, how are you, Mr. Rushford?" he began, with outstretched hand. "I'm +very glad to see you." + +"Oh, you are?" inquired the American, keeping his own hands firmly +behind his back. "I suppose _you're_ glad to see me, too?" he added, +turning to the Prince. + +"I know of no reason why I should avoid you," returned the Prince, +proudly. + +"Perhaps not," assented Rushford, drily. "The standards of gentlemanly +conduct seem to be different in the Old World and in the New. I'm glad, +however, that I've caught you two together. I suppose that little farce +of pretended illness was played only for the benefit of outsiders!" + +"I assure you, Mr. Rushford," began Vernon quickly, but the American +stopped him with a gesture. + +"I don't care to hear," he said. "I care nothing for your two-by-four +conspiracies and intrigues. But, I repeat, I'm glad I caught both of you +together. It enables me to tell, in the same breath, what I think of +both of you, and I am very anxious to tell you, fully and completely, +for I suppose you have been surrounded all your lives by toadies who +were afraid to tell you the truth about yourselves, or who were so like +you that they couldn't see the truth--products of the same code of +morals--a code truly European! In a word, then, I think you are both +blackguards--blackguards of the most nasty and contemptible kind--the +kind that preys upon women! I may add that you have deeply shaken my +faith in human nature, for, to look at you, one would mistake you for +gentlemen!" + +The words were uttered quietly, evenly, deliberately; each one given its +full value. There was a certain dignity in Rushford's aspect which made +interruption impossible; but neither man offered to interrupt. The +Prince was biting his lips desperately; Vernon turned red and white and +red again in evident amazement. + +"And having said this," concluded the American, "as emphatically as +possible, I will very gladly leave you to yourselves." + +"Oh, no, you won't!" cried Vernon, fiercely, in a voice hoarse with +emotion. "I, at least, demand an explanation." + +"An explanation?" and Rushford laughed, a little mocking laugh. "Can't +your conscience give you an explanation? Or is it too deadened to do +that?" + +"No!" said Vernon, boldly. "My conscience gives me no explanation, which +would in any degree warrant the words you have used to me, and which I +am sure you will some day regret. It is true that my conduct here has +not been wholly straightforward; but it is Prince Frederick I have +wronged and not you in any degree. Your daughter--to whom, I presume, +you referred--knew all--" + +"All?" repeated Rushford, with irony. + +"Perhaps not all, but I had intended waiting upon you this afternoon and +explaining to you--" + +"Oh! So you thought I was entitled to an explanation! Yes, my lord, it +seems to me that your actions will require a great deal of +explaining--more, certainly, than I have the patience to listen to. So I +pray you will spare me. I don't know anything in God's wide world more +contemptible than a married man who poses as single!" + +"Married!" shrieked his lordship. "Poses! Oh!" + +The door opened and Pelletan's head appeared. + +"I knocked," he explained, obsequiously, "once--twice--and when none +answered, Mees Rushford insiste'--" + +"Miss Rushford!" cried Vernon. + +"Yes, monsieur, Mees Rushford," and Pelletan stepped to one side, +disclosing Sue. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +The Dowager's Bombshell + +She came no farther than the threshold and looked only at her father, +though her eyes were shining with the consciousness of some one else's +presence in the room--some one whom she had not in the least expected to +find there. + +"Come, dad," she said. "Don't waste your time here. They're not worth +it," and she held out her hand to him. + +But Vernon flung himself between them. + +"He shall not go," he cried, "until he has heard me. It is all a +mistake--I see now where this detestable adventure in diplomacy has led +me. My dear sir, if I were what you think me, I should deserve every +word you have uttered to me--and more. But I am not married--I have +never been married--I had hoped--" + +"Wait a minute," interrupted Rushford. "Don't go too fast. Come here, +Susie, and help me to understand." + +Could Sue, as she came forward, have seen the gaze which Prince +Frederick bent upon her, her heart might have relented a little toward +him; but she did not see--she had eyes only for her father. + +"Now go ahead," said he, when he had his arm safely around her, "and be +careful, sir," he added. "We want the truth, the whole truth, and +nothing but the truth." + +"That is what you shall have," said Vernon, and passed his hand across +his forehead. + +"It occurs to me," put in Collins, icily, "that the story is not wholly +yours to tell." + +"It isn't?" cried Vernon, turning upon him fiercely. "I suppose I'm to +permit myself to remain in this damnable position for the sake of a lot +of third-rate diplomats in our foreign office! They can go hang, for +all I care. I chuck the whole thing! Do you hear? Do you understand? The +whole thing!" + +Collins turned away with a shrug of despair. The situation had got +beyond his control. + +"It is an explanation which I owe to the Prince of Markeld as well as to +yourself, Mr. Rushford," went on Vernon, more slowly, speaking calmly by +a great effort, "and which I was just about to make to him when you came +in. I am not Lord Vernon--I am merely his younger brother. I bear a +certain resemblance to him, and a lot of paper-diplomats persuaded me to +impersonate him here in order to leave him free to carry out the +negotiations for the succession to Schloshold-Markheim without being +embarrassed by the representations of either side. I recall how +half-heartedly he approved of the scheme, which had its origin in the +fertile brain of Mr. Collins there. I see the reason now, though I +didn't suspect it then. As to the succession, Monsieur le Prince, for +all I know, the whole thing may by this time be settled. Collins could +probably tell you, if he would--" + +"It is not settled,'' muttered Collins. + +"So you see," went on Vernon without heeding him, "I have done you an +even greater wrong than you imagined." + +"Yes," said the Prince, in a hoarse voice, "you have." + +"But settled or not," said the other, "I wash my hands of it! I've had +enough!" + +Rushford held out his hand with a quick gesture. + +"I beg your pardon," he said, simply. "I see that I was not mistaken in +my first estimate of you, after all--I am very glad." + +"I was coming to you this afternoon," added the Englishman, taking the +outstretched hand, eagerly, "to tell you that I am merely Viscount +Cranford and not Lord Vernon--a very insignificant fellow, not a great +one--and to ask for your daughter, Miss Nell. I ask you now. Though +first let me make it clear to you that the title is of little +importance." + +"The only title we Americans care about," responded Rushford, slowly, +"is that of gentleman. My daughter's husband need have no other--but he +must have that. We don't give our daughters away, sir, as I've already +explained to--" + +Susie pinched his arm viciously in an agony of alarm. Then she pulled +his head down to her, her eyes shining, and whispered a quick sentence +in his ear. + +"Yes, that's it!" he nodded. "Nell is waiting for us--our apartment is +just up the stair. You'd better go tell her the story, young man! Knock +at the door, make her admit you, make her listen! Oh, a lover should +know how--yes, I see you do! And God bless you!" he added, as Cranford +wrung his hand, flung open the door, and disappeared along the hall. + +"And we must go too, dad," said Sue, in a low voice. "At once. Come." + +"Yes," assented her father. "Yes--yet wait a minute, Susie," and he +stopped, his eyes on Markeld. "I'd hate to think I'd done any other man +the same injustice I did that young Englishman. Perhaps the Prince of +Markeld has also an explanation. If so, I shall be very glad to hear +it." + +Susie's hand trembled on her father's arm, and she caught her breath +with a little gasp; but she kept her eyes steadily on the floor--she had +pride enough for that. Oh, she rejoiced that she had pride enough for +that! + +The Prince gazed at her a moment, then, with face ashy gray, he shook +his head. + +"I have none," he said, in a low voice, and Susie shivered at the words. + +"But I have!" cried some one from the door; and, turning, they beheld +there on the threshold a handsome old lady, with hair snowy white, +figure erect, face imperious--the Dowager Duchess of Markheim. Behind +her, in the twilight of the hall, could be dimly seen the mustachios of +Monsieur Tellier, with Glück's face glaring at him. "I am not so proud," +she went on, advancing into the room. "I am quite willing to give my +reasons for breaking off the match. Is this the girl?" she asked, +abruptly. + +Susie looked at her with fiery eyes; their glances crossed; one almost +expected to see the sparks fly as of two blades meeting. + +"I am not hard-hearted," continued the duchess, after a moment. "But +there are certain affairs of state which must always take precedence of +any mere personal inclination. Did _I_ marry to please myself?" and her +voice shook a little. "By no means--it is no secret. Yet I was faithful +to my husband and to my house. I have never regretted it. Now all that +I have left to love is that boy yonder, and I intend to see that he +makes a match which is worthy of him. Yes, I love him--but he must not +degrade his name--not even for his happiness. It was solicitude for him +that brought me here--I feared--" + +Her voice broke; perhaps she had a vision of that tragedy fifty years +ago, when, at her mother's side, she had stared out through the mists of +the morning-- + +"But no matter," she added, hastily. + +"May I ask, madame," inquired Rushford, "how marriage with my daughter +would degrade your nephew?" + +"It is impossible, in the first place," she answered, readily, "that he +should marry the daughter of an inn-keeper." + +"Of an inn-keeper?" repeated Rushford, in a puzzled tone. + +"You are the proprietor of this inn, are you not?" demanded the +duchess. "Tellier, here has the papers. Come forward, Tellier." + +"Oh, I understand," and Rushford laughed, not pleasantly. "No, I didn't +tell you, Susie," he added, catching his daughter's astonished glance. +"It was merely an escapade of mine. I was bored, and so I arranged with +Pelletan to have a little fun by backing the hotel for a month--Pelletan +had reached the end of his resources. He'd have had to shut up shop, and +I didn't want to move. I assure you, madame, that at home I am not an +inn-keeper. If I was, I shouldn't be in the least ashamed of it, unless +I were a bad one. Suppose we pass on to the next count." + +There was a movement at the door and Nell came running to her father and +threw her arms about him. Cranford followed her and held out his hands. + +"Congratulate me," he said, simply, but with shining face. + +"I do," said Rushford, and kissed his daughter. "It seems we've got +your difficulty happily settled, Nell; but we've another on hand which +seems considerably more complicated. Now, madame, if you will proceed +with the indictment." + +The duchess seemed a little shaken; after all, a man who could play with +great hotels demanded some consideration! + +"The second reason is even more serious," she said, "at least, my nephew +seemed to so consider it. He laughed at the first one; he is still +young; he still believes in the nonsense of the romancers." + +"Does he?" commented Rushford. "That's one point in his favour, +certainly. So he would have married my daughter, would he, even though I +did keep a hotel! That was kind of him! What's the next count, madame?" + +"It is that your daughter, while pretending to be his advocate, was +really in the plot against him--a double traitor to him because posing +as his friend." + +"In the plot?" cried Cranford. "But that's absurd! She was not in the +plot!" + +"Is it the head of the plot who is addressing me?" inquired the duchess, +icily. "No doubt my nephew has already told you--" + +The Prince stopped her. + +"The Viscount Cranford answers to me," he said, briefly. + +The duchess paled as she looked at him. + +"Not that, Fritz!" she cried. "Not that!" + +"Too late, madame," he said. "My honour demands it." + +The duchess shivered, and her face seemed suddenly to shrink and age. +Then she stood proudly upright. What honour demanded she would be the +last to evade. + +"Perhaps monsieur will deny," she said, looking at Cranford, coldly, +"that he wrote this note to her and her sister the very first day of +his sojourn here?" and she held out to him the slip of paper. + +Cranford took it and read it at a glance, while Nell stared at it with +starting eyes. + +"No," he said, "I don't deny that I wrote it; but--" + +"And perhaps mademoiselle herself will deny that she asserted to +Monsieur Tellier that she did not know her rescuer? Here are her words," +and she produced a second note. + +"I deny nothing," said Susie, proudly, and she looked the duchess +unflinchingly in the face. + +Cranford walked straight over to the Prince of Markeld. + +"Wasn't it Miss Rushford who told you?" he asked. + +"No, it was the note," answered the Prince, fiercely. + +"Which Tellier stole from Miss Rushford's desk," added Cranford, +sternly, "leaving this tracing in its stead," and he took from his +pocketbook a slip of paper. "Such methods are doubtless characteristic +of the Paris police, but they seem to me almost as unworthy as those +employed by us." + +"You are right," agreed the Prince, his face livid. "That dog shall pay +for it!" + +"My nephew had nothing whatever to do with it," broke in the duchess, +sharply. "It was I who secured the note, who persuaded him to--" + +But the Prince stopped her with a gesture. + +"Miss Rushford was not in the plot," continued Cranford, earnestly. "I +hope you will believe me. That it should have come so near wrecking my +own life was bad enough; that it should wreck another's--an innocent +person's--that would be frightful! She warned me explicitly that she +would no longer be a party to the deception, that she was going to tell +you--I thought she had told you. I remember well how warmly she spoke of +your cause; how she detested the course I was pursuing--how she made me +ashamed of myself--ashamed to look at her. I suppose some mistaken +notion of honour held her back from telling, since it was in her service +and her sister's that I had disclosed myself--" + +"A message for His Lordship," said Pelletan from the door. + +Cranford took it. + +"You will pardon me," he said. "It is marked urgent," and he tore it +open. His face brightened as he read it. "Monsieur le Prince," he said, +warmly, turning to Markeld, "I congratulate you from the bottom of my +heart!" and he handed him the message. + +Markeld took the paper and glanced at it, then, with beaming eyes, held +out his hand. And the duchess, looking on, grew suddenly young again! + +"What is it?" she demanded. "Don't you see we are all waiting?" + +"'Prince George, of Schloshold, has just died of an apoplexy,'" the +Prince read. "'You will inform the Prince of Markeld that we will +support his house to the limit of our power. Vernon,'" + +"God be praised!" cried the duchess. "God be praised," and she caught at +the door to keep herself from falling. "He was a bad man," she added in +another tone. "Therefore he needs our prayers!" + +"I give Monsieur le Prince the congratulations of France," said an oily +voice, and Monsieur Tellier bowed low. + +"Oh!" cried Nell, and shrank away from him. + +"Is that the scoundrel?" demanded Cranford. And he started across the +room. + +"One moment," interposed the Prince, "don't soil your hands on him. +Glück!" he called, raising his voice. + +And Glück appeared on the instant. + +His master indicated Tellier with the motion of a finger. + +It was wonderful to see how Glück's face brightened--almost into a +smile--as he laid his hand on Tellier's shoulder. + +"Canaille!" hissed the latter, and shook the hand away. "Do not touch +me--do not defile me with those dirty fingers. Oh, I will go! I have my +task accomplished! And you are fools, imbeciles--all--all--from that fat +Dutchman, who thinks his wife still living--" + +But Glück was again upon him, this time not to be shaken off, and an +instant later he and his victim disappeared together into the shadows of +the hall. + +"Just the same," shrieked Tellier's voice hoarsely from the distance, +"it was I who was right! In every detail! A veritable triumph! A success +of--" + +The voice sank into a gurgle and was still. + +Pelletan, his face livid, clutching blindly at the wall for support, +stumbled forth into the hall, along the corridor, down the stair, until +at last he found Tellier, his face purple, rearranging his cravat before +a mirror in the hotel office. + +"Iss she not lifing?" he asked, huskily. + +"Living!" echoed Tellier, whirling upon him fiercely. "No, pig-head, she +has been dead these three years! But you are no more a pig-head than +those others. Oh, they shall answer, they shall repay, they shall atone! +I will have my revenge--" + +But Pelletan did not stop to listen. He groped his way across the room, +his eyes shining, his lips trembling, repeating over and over a single +word-- + +"Paris! Paris! Paris!" + +Behind the desk he stumbled, through the little door, and dropped to his +knees before Saint Genevieve, the protector of the city which he loved. + +"You haf done eet!" he murmured, looking up at her with limpid eyes. +"You haf seen how I suffered, unt you haf taken pity. Gott sie dank! +Gott sie dank!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +Pardon + +As Tellier's voice died away along the hall, a silence fell upon the +room which he had left--a silence from which the duchess was the first +to rouse herself. + +"Come, Fritz," she said, "we must go. We have work to do," and she held +out her hand to him. + +He took a step toward her, hesitated, stopped. + +"In a moment, madame," said he. "Before I go, I have an apology to make +and a pardon to crave." + +"Of whom?" demanded the duchess. + +For answer, the Prince turned to Susie, so near that he almost touched +her--so near that she could see the trembling of his hands, the +throbbing of his heart. + +"Miss Rushford," he said, in a voice low, carefully repressed, but +vibrant with emotion, "I know that I have played the scoundrel; I know +that I have no right whatever to address you; I know that I have done +everything I could to forfeit your respect. Believe me, the cup is +bitter--the more so, since I myself prepared it!" + +His voice was trembling so that for the moment he could not go on. + +"No, no!" cried the duchess, from the door, "you wrong yourself, Fritz. +It was I prepared it--it is I who am to blame!" + +But he motioned her to silence. + +"It was I prepared it," he repeated, "by my unjust suspicions and +ungentlemanly action. I shall drain it with what manhood I have. And I +hope, mademoiselle, that you will, in time, find it in your heart to +pardon me and to think of me with kindness. I can only repeat to you +what I have already told your father--that I love you truly and +deeply--with my whole heart--as I shall always love you--always--Oh, if +I had not been a fool!" + +The duchess, looking on from the door, felt a sudden wave of tenderness +sweep over her. Perhaps she recalled her own youth--perhaps it was not +quite the truth that she had never regretted--perhaps she was softened +by the emotions of the moment. She came to Susie and took her hand in +hers. + +"Mademoiselle," she said, softly, "I also ask pardon--you will not bear +ill-will against an old woman, who imagined that she was acting wisely. +I feel that I am going to love you. You have spirit--you are worthy to +be even a Markeld. You must forgive that poor boy yonder." + +"I think I shall put him on probation," said Susie, glancing up with +bright eyes into the eager face beside her. + +The Prince sank to his knee, his face suddenly radiant with joy, caught +her hand and covered it with kisses. + +"Six months, a year, ten years!" he cried. "I shall be content!" + +"Ten years! Nonsense!" cried the duchess. "Ten days, mademoiselle. You +do not love him if you make it an instant longer!" + +"No, not ten days, madame," corrected Susie, with a laugh that was half +a sob. "Let us say ten minutes!" + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10397 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a243620 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10397 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10397) diff --git a/old/10397-8.txt b/old/10397-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b6bfbe2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10397-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6922 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Affairs of State, by Burton E. Stevenson + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Affairs of State + +Author: Burton E. Stevenson + +Release Date: December 7, 2003 [eBook #10397] + +Language: English + +Chatacter set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AFFAIRS OF STATE*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, L. Barber, and Project Gutenberg +Distributed Proofreaders + + + +AFFAIRS OF STATE + +Being an Account of Certain Surprising Adventures Which + +Befell an American Family in the Land of Windmills + +BY + +BURTON E. STEVENSON + +AUTHOR OF "THE MARATHON MYSTERY," "THE HOLLADAY CASE," ETC. + +With Illustrations by F. VAUX WILSON + +1906 + + + + +TO G. H. T.: + +OLD FRIEND + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE WILES OF WOMANKIND + + II. THE ROLE OF GOOD ANGEL + + III. DISTINGUISHED ARRIVALS AT WEET-SUR-MER + + IV. AN ADVENTURE AND A RESCUE + + V. TELLIER TAKES A HAND + + VI. THE PATH GROWS CROOKED + + VII. AN APPEAL FOR AID + + VIII. PRIDE HAS A FALL + + IX. PELLETAN'S SKELETON + + X. AN INTRODUCTION AND A PROMENADE + + XI. THE PRINCE GAINS AN ALLY + + XII. EVENTS OF THE NIGHT + + XIII. THE SECOND PROMENADE + + XIV. A BEARDING OF THE LION + + XV. "BE BOLD, BE BOLD" + + XVI. A PRINCE AND HIS IDEALS + + XVII. THE DUCHESS TO THE RESCUE + +XVIII. MAN'S PERFIDY + + XIX. AN AMERICAN OPINION OF EUROPEAN MORALS + + XX. THE DOWAGER'S BOMBSHELL + + XXI. PARDON + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"EEF MONSIEUR PLEASE" + +"IT WAS MY GREAT GOOD FORTUNE," SAID THE STRANGER, BOWING, "TO BE OF +SERVICE TO A COMPATRIOT" + +"OH!" SHE CRIED, WITH A LITTLE START, "THERE HE IS NOW, ALMOST NEAR +ENOUGH TO HEAR!" + +"WHAT IS IT?" SHE DEMANDED. "DON'T YOU SEE WE ARE ALL WAITING?" + + + + +AFFAIRS OF STATE + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +The Wiles of Womankind + +Archibald Rushford, tall, lean, the embodiment of energy, stood at the +window, hands in pockets, and stared disgustedly out at the dreary vista +of sand-dunes and bathing-machines, closed in the distance by a stretch +of gray sea mounting toward a horizon scarcely discernible through the +drifting mist which hung above the water. + +"Though why you wanted to come here at all," he continued, presumably +addressing two young ladies in the room behind him, "or why you want to +stay, now you _are_ here, passes my comprehension. One might as well be +buried alive, and be done with it. The sensations, I should imagine, +are about the same." + +"Oh, come, dad!" protested one of the girls, laughing, "you know it +isn't so bad as that! There's plenty of life--not just at this hour of +the morning, perhaps,"--with a fleeting glance at the empty +landscape,--"but the hour is unfashionable." + +"As everything seasonable and sensible seems to be here," put in her +father, grimly. + +"And such interesting life, too," added the other girl. + +"Interesting! Bah! When I want to see monkeys and peacocks, I'll go to a +menagerie." + +"But you never do go to the menagerie, at home, you know, dad." + +"No--because I don't care for monkeys or peacocks--in fact, I +particularly detest them!" + +"But lions, dad! There are lions--" + +"In the menagerie at home, perhaps." + +"Yes, and in this one--bigger lions than you ever dreamed of, +dad!--perfect monsters of lions!" + +"Oh, no, there aren't, Susie," dissented Rushford. "You don't know the +species. You've mistaken a bray for a roar, just as a lot of people +always do, if the bray is only loud enough. Come, now, let me know the +worst. How much longer do you propose to stay here?" + +"Well, dad, you see the season won't be at its height for fully a month +yet--" + +"A month!" echoed Rushford, in dismay. "Well, Susie, you and Nell may be +able to stand it for a month, but long ere that I'll be dead--ossified, +fossilised, dried up, and blown away! Maybe you girls enjoy it, though I +didn't think it of you--but what can _I_ do? I'm tired of reading +day-before-yesterday's newspaper and of being two days behind the +market. Two days! Think what may have happened to steel since I've +heard from it! It's enough to drive a man mad!" + +He got out a cigar, lighted it, and stood puffing it nervously, appalled +at the vision his own words had conjured up. + +"But, dad," Sue pointed out, coming to his side and taking his arm +coaxingly, "you know it was just to get away from all that worry--from +those horrid stocks and things--that you consented to come with us." + +"Don't call the stocks hard names, Susie. Don't go back on your best +friends!" protested Rushford. "Don't forget what they've done for you!" + +"But, dear, you remember how strongly Doctor Samuels insisted on your +taking a rest; how necessary he said it was?" + +"Oh, perfectly!" responded Rushford, drily. "I've suspected right along +that Samuels took his orders from you." + +"From me, dad!" cried Sue, indignantly, but her eyes were shining in a +most suspicious manner. "A man of his standing--" + +"It doesn't matter," broke in her father, with a wave of his arm. "I'm +willing to grant, for the sake of argument, that Samuels was perfectly +sincere. But I still protest that there is no reason why we should +conceal ourselves here. We haven't done anything--the police aren't +after us--I can speak for myself, at least." + +"This seemed to be such a nice, quiet place for you, dad," explained +Nell, perching herself upon a table near the window and gazing pensively +out at the shimmering water, which told that the sun was winning a +decisive victory over the mist, and that the day would be a fine one. + +"For me!" repeated her father, turning and staring at her. "You don't +mean to say you chose this place on _my_ account!" + +Nell nodded, but she winked at Susie. + +"And then, you know," she added, "we have always wanted to get a glimpse +of a real Dutch watering-place." + +"I don't believe this _is_ a real Dutch watering-place. Nobody here +speaks anything but French. Why, it's even got a French name!" + +"Only two-thirds French, dad," Sue corrected. + +"And everything is priced in francs." + +"That is true of all Europe," asserted Nell, with superb aplomb. + +"Well, Dutch, French, or Hindoo, you've had your glimpse, haven't you? +Suppose we move on and get a glimpse or two of something worth seeing." + +"Oh, but we've seen it all only from the outside! We've been like the +audience at a show--we haven't had any part in it. And it's so much more +interesting behind the scenes!" + +"It's dull enough from in front, heaven knows!" agreed Rushford. "If I +had my way, I'd ring down the curtain and close the show up this minute. +It's the worst I ever saw! And I very much doubt if a respectable +American family has any business behind the scenes!" + +"You're jaundiced, dad," laughed Sue. "You're looking at the place +through a yellow film of prejudice. One must enter into the spirit of +the thing!" + +Rushford groaned. + +"I'm afraid I'm too set in my ways, Susie," he said, dismally. "I've +lived in America too long. You might as well ask me to dance the +can-can, and be done with it!" + +"Besides," continued Sue, "it's just as Nell says. We're on the +outside--we haven't got a foothold. There's something the matter." + +"Maybe they think I'm that Chicago cashier who got away with a million, +not long ago. On second thought, though, I don't believe that would +make any difference. That fellow would find a very congenial circle +here. He wouldn't have any difficulty in getting behind the scenes!" + +"Sue and I have been thinking it over," said Nell, "and we've concluded +that it must be something about the hotel. We seem to have picked out +the wrong one." + +"The place _is_ empty, and that's a fact," agreed Rushford. + +"It's unnaturally so," said Sue. "Something's the matter with it. It's +taboo for some reason." + +"Well, it's good enough for me," remarked her father. "After all, there +isn't much difference in prisons! But I want to repeat, as emphatically +as possible, that I can't keep on loafing here for a month and preserve +my sanity. Don't you see how much whiter my hair's getting? I'm willing +to do anything in reason to oblige you, and I fully realise the +importance of your sociological and ethnological studies--" + +Sue's hand on his mouth stopped him. + +"Take a breath, dad," she cautioned him. "Take a breath. Those were +mighty long words." + +"As I was about to remark," continued Rushford, calmly, taking the hand +away, "I am, of course, a doting parent--who would not be with two such +children? But, candidly, I don't just see where I come in. I tell you, +girls, I've got to have some excitement." + +"There's plenty of excitement at the Casino, dad." + +"Oh, yes--faro excitement; roulette excitement. I never cared for that +kind. I've always had the sense to keep out of sure-thing games, even on +Wall Street." + +"But the people--" + +"The people! French apes in fancy waistcoats; Dutch dandies in corsets; +women with painted cheeks and pencilled eyebrows whom you're ashamed to +look at!" + +"Some of them are respectable, dad," laughed Sue. + +"One would never suspect it!" + +"Oh, yes, dad; some of them belong to the nobility." + +"That's no certificate of character--rather the reverse, if one may +believe the papers." + +"Gossip, dad; nothing but gossip. And you know how you've always hated +gossip. You've told us never to believe it." + +"It may be; but one could believe anything of most of the women one sees +around here. My only chance for amusement is to get up a flirtation with +some of them. I don't think it would be difficult--they don't seem a bit +shy. Only," he added, with a sigh, "I'm getting too old." + +"Yes, dad; I'm afraid you are," agreed Susie. "You wouldn't really enjoy +it." + + "'My days are in the yellow leaf; + The flowers and fruits of love are gone; + The worm, the canker, and the grief + Are mine alone!'" + +quoted Nell, in a solemn voice. + +"Don't you be too sure!" retorted her father, threateningly, wheeling +around upon her. "There's no telling what I may be driven to, if I'm +kept imprisoned here much longer! 'Though I look old,'--" + +"'Yet I am strong and lusty,'" finished Sue. "Of course you are, dad, +and you don't look old, either. Why," gazing up at him critically, "you +don't look a day over forty!" + +"Don't try to bamboozle your Pa, Susie," laughed Rushford. "I can see +through you! You'll be trying to make me believe next that you want a +stepmother." + +"I would if it would make you any happier, dad." + +Her father gazed down for an instant into her pseudo-serious face, then +caught her in his arms and squeezed her. + +"What're you up to?" he demanded. "Trying to make a fool of your old +dad? Why, Susie, own up,--you'd scratch out the eyes of the best woman +in the world if she dared to look twice at me!" + +"Of course I would!" admitted Susie, instantly. "You know as well as I +do, dad, that even the best woman in the world isn't good enough for +you." + +"Let's go across to the other hotel, dad," suggested Nell, with a +nonchalance intended to conceal the fact that this was the point she and +Susie had been aiming at from the very first. + +Her father released Susie and stared at his other daughter in amazement. + +"What on earth for?" he demanded. + +"Oh, everybody seems to be over there--you've noticed--" + +"Yes, I've noticed that it's running over with the rag-tag and bob-tail +of all Europe! If you think I'll butt into that Bedlam, my dear child, +you're badly mistaken. I'd rather live with the freaks in a museum." + +"But it's so quiet here." + +"I'm glad of it! Besides, I thought you wanted quiet?" + +"Only for your sake--don't you see, we're trying our best to please you. +A moment ago, you said you wanted excitement." + +"I do; but it must be excitement with an object. I haven't got any use +for the infernal, purposeless chattering I hear all around me every time +I go out on the dyke. Damn a man, anyhow, who can't find anything better +to do than to run around to summer-resorts and flirt with other men's +wives! I tell you, girls, I want to get back to New York!" + +"Give us another month, dad!" pleaded Sue, catching his arm again, as he +stamped up and down. "You know that you promised to stay with us two +months, at the very least. We can't go around without a chaperon." + +Her father's face relaxed as he looked down at her, and he smiled +grimly. + +"So we get down to the real reason, at last, do we?" he queried. "I +thought all this solicitude for my health was a trifle unnatural. I'm +useful as a chaperon, am I? See here, girls, I can put in my time more +profitably at the stock exchange, and have a heap more fun. I'll hire a +chaperon for you, or half a dozen, if you want them, and pull out for +New York. What do you say? I don't know the first principles of the +business, anyway." + +"Oh, yes, you do, dad!" protested Susie. "You're a perfectly ideal +chaperon." + +"I am? The ideal chaperon, then, must be one who never does any +chaperoning!" + +"That's it, exactly!" cried Nell, clapping her hands delightedly. "How +quickly you see things, dad!" + +"So that's it!" and he stood for a moment looking darkly at his +offspring. "Well, you girls are old enough to take care of yourselves. +If you can't, it's high time you were learning how!" + +"Oh, we're perfectly able to take care of ourselves," Sue assured him. +"You mustn't worry about us for a moment, dad." + +"I'm not likely to. But, in that case, why do you want me along at all?" + +"Why, don't you see, dad, it's you who give us the odour of +respectability. By ourselves, we should be social outcasts, impossible, +not to be spoken to--except by men. It isn't convenable." + +"Oh, I see," said Rushford. "The first great principle of European +society seems to be, 'Think the worst of every one.'" + +"Not precisely, dad; but no unmarried woman may venture outside the +circumference of the family circle. That's the great European +convention--the basic principle of her social order." + +"A sort of 'tag, you're it,' game, isn't it? The family circle is a kind +of dead line--the ring of fire which keeps out the wild beasts. Step +over, and you're lost!" + +"Of course," said Nell, "it is only to unmarried women that the rule +applies." + +"Oh, certainly," assented her father. "Married women are allowed more +latitude--in fact, from such French novels as I've read, I should infer +that they usually swing clear around the circle! It's a reaction, I +suppose; a sort of compensation for the privations of their youth. I +don't like it. Let's go home!" + +"But your promise, dad!" pleaded Sue, permitting the faintest suspicion +of moisture to appear in her dark eyes. "And you know you really do need +a vacation." + +Her father looked down at her, saw the moisture, and surrendered. + +"You're a humbug," he said; "and this vacation business is another. A +man spends two or three months loafing around because somebody tells him +he's looking badly and ought to take a rest; and before he knows it, +he's accumulated so much rust in his system that he never gets it all +out again. His machinery creaks more or less for the rest of his life. +The wise man postpones his vacation to the next world." + +"Well, let's call it a jaunt," suggested Susie. "A jaunt somehow implies +hurry and bustle, with plenty of exercise." + +"And I don't know which is the bigger fool," pursued her father, not +heeding her; "the fellow who takes a vacation every year on his own +hook, or the one who permits his daughters to drag him away from his +comfortable home and his morning paper and the business which gives him +his interest in life, and maroon him in a desert of a Dutch +watering-place, where there's absolutely nothing for a self-respecting +man to do but smoke himself to death and wait for a paper which never +comes till day after to-morrow!" + +"It sounds terribly involved, but I'll help you reason it out, dad, any +time you like," said Susie, obligingly. "And you'll stay, won't you, +dear?" + +"Oh, I'll stay, since your heart's so set upon it. I'll try to bear up +and find a diversion of some kind and not rust out any more than I can +help. I might dig in the sand or make mud pies or play mumbly-peg. But I +draw the line at plunging into that whirlpool across the street. My bed +here is nearly as comfortable as the one at home, and the grub's +first-rate." + +"Very well, dad," agreed Susie, instantly seizing the concession, but +speaking as though it were she who was making it, "we'll stay here, +then. Only I _do_ wish there were a few more people," she added, with a +sigh. "I hate to sit down in that big, empty dining-room. I imagine I'm +at an Egyptian banquet, and that there are horrid, rattly skeletons +sitting in all those high, covered chairs." + +"What you need is some fresh air," said her father. "You girls get your +hats and go for a walk. You're growing morbid. If you think of skeletons +again, I'll give you a liver pill." + +"Won't you come, dad?" + +"No; you know you don't want me. Besides, I see the panjandrum who +brings the mail coming up the dyke down yonder." + +He stood gazing down the Digue until his womenkind reappeared, bedight, +ready for the walk. + +"You'll do," he said, looking them over critically. "In fact, my dears, +if I wasn't afraid of making you conceited, I'd say I'd never seen two +handsomer girls in my life." + +"Now it's you who are blarneying, dad!" cried Susie, but she dimpled +with pleasure nevertheless, and so did Nell. + +"No I'm not," retorted Rushford; "and I dare say there are plenty of +other men, even in this Dutch limbo, who have an eye for beauty; let +them break their hearts, if they have any, but keep your own hearts +whole, my dears." + +They were laughing in earnest, now, as they looked up in his face, which +had grown suddenly serious. + +"Why, dad, what ails you?" questioned Sue. "I think it is you who need +the pill!" + +Rushford's face cleared; they were heart-whole thus far--there could be +no doubt of that. + +"Perhaps I do," he agreed. "Or perhaps it's only that I'm beginning to +feel the responsibilities of my position." + +"Your position?" + +"As chaperon," he explained. + +"Dear dad!" cried Susie, and squeezed his arm. "Do you suppose that as +long as we have you, either of us will ever think of another man?" + +"I don't know," said her father, dubiously. "I scarcely believe I'm so +fascinating as all that. But I just wanted to remind you, girls, that +there's plenty of nice boys at home--boys whom you can trust, through +and through--boys who are clean, and honest, and worth loving. If you +_must_ lose your hearts--and I suppose it's inevitable, some day--please +do me the favour of choosing two of them. I'll sleep better at night and +breathe easier by day!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +The Rôle of Good Angel + +Rushford waved them good-bye from the door as they sallied forth into +the bright sunlight, paused a moment to look after them admiringly, and +then turned slowly back into the hotel, smiling softly to himself. He +sauntered through the deserted vestibule, and its emptiness struck him +as it had never done before. + +"Really," he said to himself, "we seem to be the only patrons the house +has got. I'll have to look over my bill." + +He went on to the desk and demanded his letters of the boy in +resplendent uniform who presided there. + +"There are none, monsieur," answered that individual, blandly. + +"What!" cried Rushford, his smile vanished in an instant. "Are you +sure?" + +The boy answered with a shrug and a significant gesture toward the +letter-rack on the wall. It was visibly, incontestably empty. + +Rushford turned away in disgust. + +"Those fellows at the office are assuming altogether too much +responsibility," he muttered savagely, as he wandered on into the +smoking-room. "I told them I didn't want to be bothered with little +things, but I certainly expected to hear from them once in a while. If I +don't look out, they'll reduce me to the status of a rubber stamp! I'll +have to stir them up," and he gloomily extracted from the rack the +newly-arrived, two-days-old London paper, brought by the little rickety +train which struggled through at uncertain and infrequent intervals from +Zunderburg to Weet-sur-Mer, lighted a fresh cigar, and sat down to a +perusal of the news. + +He proceeded in the most leisurely manner, for he knew that he had +plenty of time. Indeed, the paper once finished, the remainder of the +day would stretch before him an empty wilderness--a waste as monotonous +and bare as the beach he had grown so weary of gazing at. So he gave +careful and minute attention to every item. He was in the midst of a +long and wholly uninteresting account of a charity bazaar, which the +Princess of Wales had opened, and where the Duchess of Blank-Blank had +made a tremendous hit and much money for a worthy cause, by selling her +kisses for a guinea each, when his attention was attracted by a discreet +shuffling of feet on the floor beside his chair. He looked up to see +standing there the little fat Alsatian-German-French proprietor of the +hotel. + +"Why, hello, Pelletan," he said. "Want to speak to me?" + +"Eef monsieur please," and Pelletan rubbed his chubby hands together in +visible embarrassment. + +"All right; sit down." + +Monsieur Pelletan coughed deprecatingly and deposited his plump body on +the extreme edge of a chair. It was easy to see that he was much +depressed--his usually rosy cheeks hung flaccid, his mustachios drooped +limply, his little black eyes were suffused and needed frequent +wiping--a service performed by a hand that was none too steady. + +"Eet iss a matter of pusiness, monsieur," he began, falteringly. "You +haf perhaps perceive' t'at our custom hass fallen off." + +Rushford glanced about the deserted smoking-room. + +"No," he said; "I haven't seen any to fall off. I've been wondering how +you managed to pay out." + +"Ah, monsieur," cried Pelletan, wringing his hands, "t'at iss eet--I haf +been paying out unt paying out until t'e las' franc iss gone. I wass at +no time reech, monsieur; at t'is moment I am in ruins!" + +And, indeed, he looked the part. + +"You mean you'll have to shut up shop?" inquired Rushford. + +"Eet preaks my heart to say eet, monsieur; but I fear eet will come to +t'at, unless--" + +"Unless what?" asked Rushford, eyeing him as he hesitated. + +"Unless I shall pe able to interes' monsieur--" + +Rushford grunted and stared out of the window at the dunes, puffing his +cigar meditatively. He thought of the comfortable bed, of the admirable +cuisine--he would hate to give them up. It would mean going to the other +hotel, and the mere idea made him shiver. Anything but that! + +His host watched him in an agony of apprehension. + +"What does it cost a day to run this shebang?" asked the American at +last. + +Monsieur Pelletan, with feverish haste, produced a paper from his +pocket. + +"I haf anticipate' monsieur's question; t'is statement will show heem." + +Rushford took it and glanced at the total. + +"Hmmmm. Four hundred and eighty francs--say a hundred dollars." + +"T'at, monsieur," explained Pelletan, "iss based upon our present +custom. As pusiness increase', so do t'e expense increase." + +"Of course." + +"But not in t'e same ratio as t'e receipts. A full house wins so much as +six hundret francs t'e tay." + +"Yes," assented Rushford, "a full house is a mighty nice thing. But now +you seem to be holding only a bob-tail." + +"A pop-tail?" + +"No matter--go ahead with the story. You say it costs you a hundred +dollars a day to keep your doors open. What's the heaviest item?" + +"T'e greates' item at present iss t'e chef. He iss a fery goot one--I +haf feared to let heem go." + +"That was right. You'd better not let him go if you want to keep us +here. How many rooms have you?" + +Pelletan produced a second slip of paper. + +"For t'at, also, I wass prepared, my tear Monsieur Rushford," he said. +"T'e tariff of charges iss also t'ere." + +Rushford looked it over with some care. Then he stared out across the +sands again, the corners of his mouth twitching. Evidently the proposal +appealed to his sense of humour. + +"See here, Pelletan," he said, abruptly, turning back, "is there a +hoodoo on the house, or what's the matter?" + +"A--I peg monsieur's pardon," stammered Pelletan. + +"How does it happen that the hotel over there is full and this one's +empty?" + +"Eet iss t'is way, monsieur," explained the Frenchman, eagerly. "For +many year, long pefore t'is new part off t'e house wass puilt, we +enjoyed t'e confidence unt patronage of Hiss Highness, t'e Prince of +Zeit-Zeit, who spent at least two month in efery season here. While t'e +Prince wass here, we were crowded--oh, to t'e smalles' room!--efen at +ot'er times, we tid well, for he gafe t'e house a prestige. But last +vinter he die, unt hiss heir, hiss son, despite t'e care of heem which +we haf taken, t'e anxieties he hass cause' us, yet which we haf +cheerfully porne--t'at ingrate hass t'e pad taste to prefer t'e ot'er +house! Our ot'er customers haf followed heem--like sheep! Eet iss as +t'ough we had lost our star!" + +"Your star?" + +"In t'e guide-book off Monsieur Karl," Pelletan explained. + +"Is that such a tragedy?" + +"I haf always t'ought it t'e fery worst t'at could happen," said +Pelletan, "but t'is iss as pad." + +It was only by a supreme effort that Rushford managed to choke back the +chuckle which rose in his throat. + +"Is Zeit-Zeit the little purblind, monkey-faced fellow who is wheeled +around in a big red chair every day?" + +"T'e fery same, monsieur--a great Highness." + +Rushford made a grimace of disgust. + +"What's the matter with him?" he asked. "Does he only need a bath, or is +it more than skin deep?" + +"Eet iss an hereditary trait, monsieur." + +"Hereditary taint, you mean! You're better off without him; why, he'd +infect the whole house, Pelletan." + +Pelletan gazed at him aghast. + +"Monsieur is choking!" he said. + +"I'm in deadly earnest, but I don't expect you to understand, for you've +got an hereditary taint, too, Pelletan, which shows itself principally +in your spine." + +Pelletan turned pale. + +"I assure you, monsieur," he stammered, "I am fery--" + +"No matter," broke in Rushford. "All European inn-keepers have it, and +it has never been known to result fatally, so don't worry. But why did +you think I'd take hold of this thing?" + +"I haf heard so much," explained Pelletan, "of t'e enterprise of t'e +Americans, t'at I t'ought perhaps you might--" + +"Win back Zeit-Zeit? Not on your life! If he comes, I go! But I tell you +what I'll do, Pelletan. I'll make you a proposition." + +"Proceed, monsieur," and the other's face began to beam anticipatively. + +"For one month I'll pay all the expenses of this hostelry, rent +included, and allow you one hundred francs a day for your services. I +take all the receipts. At the end of that time, I withdraw and leave you +to your own devices. What do you say?" + +Monsieur Pelletan reflected. At least, it was postponing the inevitable +for a month, and in a month what may not happen? Besides, at the end of +the month, he would be richer by three thousand francs. + +"I accept, monsieur," he said, with fervour. "I am t'ankful a t'ousand +time!" + +"All right; I take possession at once. We can have a notary draw up a +formal agreement. Now let's run over this schedule of prices," and he +turned to Pelletan's carefully prepared statement. + +"Fery well, monsieur." + +"I see you have two apartments de luxe at one hundred francs a day. +Hereafter they will be two hundred francs." + +Pelletan gasped. + +"From t'at, off course, t'ere will be a tiscount?" he stammered. + +"Not a cent; not the tenth of a cent. Two hundred francs net." + +"But, monsieur, efen at t'e old price, we haf always gif a tiscount! It +iss only Americans who pay t'e full price. Ot'er people expec'--" + +Rushford waved his hand. + +"I don't care what they expect. Besides, there's going to be one hotel +in Europe where Americans get a square deal. If your compatriots don't +want to patronise my house, they can go to that low-down lunatic asylum +across the street. By the way, what's its name?" + +"T'e Grand Hôtel Splendide," answered Pelletan, glowing with delight at +his companion's power of invective. + +"H--m," said the latter; "the worse a hotel is, the bigger name it +seems to have. But about the discount. Let me repeat for you, Pelletan, +a business axiom. To give a discount is to admit that your goods are not +worth the price you ask for them, and that you're willing to cheat +anybody who doesn't know enough to beat you down. All the business of +Europe seems to be run in just that way, but ours won't be. Our goods +are worth the price!" + +"But," began Pelletan, humbly, "efen at Ostend--" + +"This is not Ostend. This is Weet-sur-Mer--a place more home-like, more +comfortable, preferable in every way, and with greater natural +advantages than Ostend ever had or ever will have. Only a fool would go +to Ostend when he could come to Weet-sur-Mer and stop at the Grand Hôtel +Royal." + +Pelletan rubbed his hands in delight. + +"You really t'ink so, monsieur?" he murmured. + +"No matter what I think. Besides, you can go back to your old schedule, +if you want to, at the end of the month. But I'm fixing this new +schedule to suit myself, and I don't want to be interrupted. These +ordinary apartments will be thirty to forty francs, according to size. +Single rooms will be ten francs. Breakfast will be four francs, dinner +ten francs--in a word, we double our income without increasing our +expenses. That's the secret of all high finance, my friend." + +"But, monsieur," stammered Pelletan, more and more astounded, "eef t'ere +iss no one to pay, what does it matter?" + +"There _will_ be some one to pay--leave that to me. You don't understand +American enterprise, Pelletan. I'm going to astonish you. Now mind one +thing--if Zeit-Zeit comes over here and wants an apartment, you're to +shut him out--I won't have him in the house--not at any price!" + +Pelletan grew pale at the thought. + +"Refuse t'e Prince of Zeit-Zeit!" he stammered. + +"Yes--if you let him in, I'll kick him out. And another thing--the +service has got to be first-class--the best in Europe--nothing gaudy, +you understand, but a quiet elegance that will make us talked about. Do +you think you can accomplish it?" + +"I vill do my pest, monsieur," promised Pelletan. + +"The place, of course, I'll have to take as I find it," went on +Rushford, with a glance around, "though it's littered up with gewgaws +and dinkey furniture which ought to be made into a bonfire. If I had a +little more time, I'd re-decorate the whole house. Those imitation +marble pillars over there are an insult to the intelligence." + +"T'ey haf peen t'ought fery beautiful, monsieur," murmured Pelletan, +humbly. + +"Yes--I've noticed that Europeans have a weakness for imitations. It's a +defect of character, I suppose. But there's one thing you _can_ do--and +right away. Send that boy at the desk up to his room and tell him to rip +all that gold braid off his coat. To look at him, you'd think he was a +major-general." + +Pelletan stared at his partner to see if he was in earnest. + +"Oh, I know it will be a deprivation," said the American, a glint of +humour in his eyes. "You can raise his wages a franc a day to make up +for it." + +"Fery well, monsieur," and Pelletan crossed over to the desk and gave +the boy his commands. The latter dragged away up the stair with a +countenance in which grief and joy struggled for the mastery. "Anyt'ing +else, monsieur?" asked the Frenchman, coming back. + +"No, I don't think of anything just at this moment. But you do your part +and I'll do mine. Now suppose you go out and get the notary, while I +work my brain a bit." + +Pelletan staggered rather than walked to the door, his head in his +hands, fairly overwhelmed. A moment later, Rushford saw him hurrying +down the street. He got out a third cigar and settled back in his chair +with a chuckle of satisfaction. + +"Maybe I'll get some fun out of this thing, after all," he said. "It'll +offer a little diversion, anyway. Now, how shall we begin to advertise?" + +"M. le Propriétaire, is he here?" inquired a voice, and Rushford looked +around to see a man in resplendent uniform standing at the door. + +"That's me, I reckon," he said. + +"This is my first day," explained the man; "I will know monsieur +hereafter. I have a telegram," and he produced it. "Monsieur will make +acknowledgment here," he added, and held out a narrow white slip of +paper. + +Rushford signed his name mechanically, dropped a franc into the itching +palm, and waited till the messenger went out. Then he looked at the +address on the envelope. It was: + +_Proprietor Grand Hôtel Royal, Weet-sur-Mer._ + +"Well," he said, "it's mine--I guess there's no question of that--I'm +the proprietor--pro tem," and he tore the envelope open. A low whistle +escaped him as he read the message. Then he slapped his leg and laughed. +"It's a freak of the market," he cried. "A freak of the market! And it's +just my luck to be in on the ground floor!" + +He folded the telegram and placed it carefully in his pocket. Then he +fell again into a meditation punctuated by frequent chuckles. But at +the end of a very few minutes, Monsieur Pelletan was back again, with a +thin little notary in tow, and the necessary papers were soon drawn up. + +"You have only to sign, monsieur," said the notary, after he had +finished reading them aloud, and he handed his formidable pen to +Rushford. + +Monsieur Pelletan rubbed his hands together nervously as the American +hesitated and looked at him. + +"It's not too late to draw out," remarked Rushford. "If you're not +satisfied--" + +"I haf no tesire to traw out, monsieur," protested Pelletan, quickly. "I +am entirely satisfied!" + +"I have one other condition to make," added the American. + +"What iss eet, monsieur?" questioned Pelletan, looking at him +apprehensively. + +"You understand I'm to be a silent partner in this thing." + +"A--?" + +"A silent partner--in other words, nobody's to know I'm backing you +unless I choose to tell them--absolutely no one. Do you agree?" + +"Oh, gladly, monsieur!" cried Pelletan, with a deep breath of relief. +After all, is not glory the next best thing to riches? + +"And your friend?" + +The notary nodded a solemn promise of secrecy. + +"All right," and Rushford signed. Pelletan hastily affixed his +signature, and the thing was done. "Now, my friend," continued the +American, "which is the swellest suite of rooms you've got in the +house?" + +"De luxe A," responded Pelletan. "Monsieur wishes--" + +"I wish you to get it ready at once--" + +"Monsieur will occupy it himself, no toubt?" + +"No, I won't; I'll stay right where I am. But between seven and eight +o'clock to-morrow morning, there will arrive an English ship of war--" + +"A sheep-of-t'e-war!" echoed Pelletan, growing pale. + +"Certainly, a ship of war, and from it there will disembark a man named +Vernon and his suite of four or five people. You will give him apartment +A." + +Pelletan caught his breath. + +"Monsieur Vernon iss, I suppose, a friend?" he stammered. + +"No," said Rushford, "I've never seen him. But we'll have to treat him +well. He's the head of the British foreign office, Pelletan; and one of +the high nobility. Beside him, Zeit-Zeit will look like thirty cents!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Distinguished arrivals at Weet-sur-Mer + +Even at this unaccustomed hour of the morning, the beach was black with +people. It was not to bathe that they had come, for a chill north wind +was blowing; nor was it to promenade, for they were not promenading; +indeed, it was the fashionable hour for neither of these things, and no +one ever dreamed of doing them at any hour other than the fashionable +one. It was rather the fashionable hour to turn painfully over in one's +bed, and ring the bell, and signify that coffee and rolls would be +acceptable. + +This morning there had been scant time for such refreshment, or for that +preliminary stretching which is so grateful to bodies wearied by late +hours and too-rapid living. Instead, nearly all the sojourners at +Weet-sur-Mer had arisen aching from their beds, had hurried forth to the +beach, and stood there now, facing unanimously seawards, staring toward +the dim horizon, only moving convulsively from time to time in the +effort to keep warm. Those who had glasses used them; those who had +none, strained nature's binoculars to the limit of vision. From all of +which it will be seen that the notary had done his work well, and that +neither had Monsieur Pelletan been backward in spreading the great news +of the unparalleled occurrence which was about to happen. + +"He iss to arrive between t'e hours of seven unt eight," he had +announced. "Hiss Highness, pe it understood, Lord Vernon, t'e great +Englishman. He comes in a special vessel--a sheep-of-t'e-war," he added +with a triumphant flourish. "He could pring mit' him t'e whole nafy of +England, if he wish'!" Ah, what an honour for Weet-sur-Mer! And what a +blow for the Grand Hôtel Splendide across the way! + +Yet Monsieur Pelletan did not in the least understand how it had come to +pass; he suspected his partner of some sort of clairvoyance, of some +supernatural power of compelling events, and his admiration for him had +deepened to awe. But into this question he did not permit himself to +enter deeply; he was content to know that fame and prosperity were +returning with a rush to the Grand Hôtel Royal. Already there had been a +score of applicants for rooms; the corridors were again assuming that +air of liveliness and gaiety which had characterised them in those +golden days when the August Prince of Zeit-Zeit had been his annual +guest. He was no longer ashamed to meet the proprietor of the Grand +Hôtel Splendide face to face in the full day; he was a different person +from the despairing individual of the day before; in a word, he was no +longer in ruins! He had been restored, as so many ruins are, by the +hand of an American! + +At this moment he held the centre of the stage, and it was easy to read +in his bearing the consciousness that he deserved the limelight. A strip +of crimson carpet had been stretched across the sand to the very water's +edge; on either side of it a dozen decorous footmen were aligned, and +between them Monsieur Pelletan proudly marched, his head in air, his +back very straight, preceding a big, hooded invalid's chair. + +Immediately a murmur arose. + +"He is ill then!" + +"Why the chair?" + +"He is coming to take the baths." + +The murmur no doubt penetrated to the ears of the little Alsatian, but +he made no sign. He was aware that the envious eyes of the proprietor of +the Grand Hôtel Splendide were upon him; he would show him that here was +a guest more majestic, more worthy of honour than even the Prince of +Zeit-Zeit!--a Highness, in short, so extraordinary as to cause that +August personage to resemble, in some incomprehensible way, the sum of +one franc fifty centimes! Otherwise there would have been no carpet, for +the sand was hard and dry. Otherwise, too, perhaps, Monsieur Pelletan +would have been content to permit his major-domo to represent him at the +water's edge, for he was not accustomed to exposing himself thus to the +sharp airs of the morning. His fat red cheeks and plump nose were +turning a dull purple--ah, how good would a glass of cognac taste!--but +he bore this discomfort with the greatest fortitude, for, after all, an +occasion such as this was worth some sacrifice. + +And, be it said, his was not the only purple nose in evidence. There +were many men who stared straight before them, daring to look neither to +the right nor left; and many women who were thankful for the heavy +veils they had had the forethought to put on. Even rouge, however +cunningly applied, cannot hide certain ugly lines in the face in the +clear, cruel light of the morning! + +Strange how the same breeze will give to some cheeks a dull +repulsiveness and to others an entrancing glow! A word to lovers: Would +you test your mistress's blood and spirit, persuade her to a walk some +sharp day in winter; or, if she will not be persuaded, use a little +artifice. Then, after wind and frost have had their will of her for half +an hour, take a look at her. Are her cheeks glowing, are her eyes +bright, is she having a good time? If not, take heed! + +There were four cheeks upon the beach at Weet-sur-Mer that morning +glowing as I would have your true love's glow; drawing men's eyes and +women's, too--the one in admiration, the other in envy. Yes, envy! +though more than one shivering fair spoke a low, slurring word about +"those coarse Americans!" + +Both Pelletan and the notary had been careful to respect Rushford's wish +that his connection with the hotel be kept to themselves; in all their +boastings, rejoicings, explanations, his name had not been whispered; +and not even to his daughters had that gentleman confided the secret of +his plan to get the excitement he had craved so badly. He had feared, +perhaps, that they would not enter thoroughly into the spirit of the +thing--women, even American women, are sometimes strangely deficient in +the sense of humour. But they had both been struck by their host's +impressive obsequiousness--a very orgasm of servility, which Pelletan +had hitherto reserved for personages of the blood royal. + +"What ails the man?" Susie had asked at dinner the night before, her +eyes on Monsieur Pelletan's writhing form. "He seems to have the +stomach-ache." + +"He is probably fishing for a tip," said Nell. "It seems to me that +I've seen those symptoms before in a less violent form." + +"Don't you tip him," commanded their father. "I'll attend to all that," +and he beckoned to Pelletan with his finger and whispered a rapid +sentence in his ear. + +"What did you say to him, dad?" inquired Sue, gazing in some +astonishment after their host's retreating coat-tails. + +"I told him to go 'way back and sit down," answered Rushford, going +calmly on with his meal. + +"Dad, is it true that Lord Vernon is to arrive to-morrow morning?" + +"I suppose so." + +"In a ship of war?" + +"Yes--I've heard that, too." + +"You'll take us down to the beach, won't you, dad?" + +"What! A free-born American citizen go toadying after the English +aristocracy!" + +"But we'll need a cicérone, dad." + +"What for, I'd like to know?" + +"Oh, what are cicérones always for? To get us a good place, to be sure!" + +So here he was, in the forefront of the crowd, with his womenkind beside +him, and no doubt the discerning reader has already guessed that it was +to their cheeks I referred some pages back. There were many grandes +dames upon the beach that morning--some the real thing, a little plain, +a little faded, rather touching to look upon--others, for the most part +articles de Paris, very tall and plump and even handsome, if one likes +the gorgeous type, with gowns created by the great costumers and paid +for heaven knows how! But I always think with a little warmth of pride +and admiration of those two American girls standing there, wind-blown +and radiant. Coarse, madame! Ah, what would you not give for a little +of that coarseness! After all, freshness is a woman's greatest charm, as +you very well know, madame, though you try your best to think otherwise; +and, alas, you are fast losing yours! For, as you have found--as untold +thousands have found before you, and will yet find--one can't squander +one's youth and keep it, too! Aye, more than that. The sins of the night +stare at one from one's glass on the morrow, and will not be massaged +away. Take your baths, madame, in milk, or wine, or perfumed water; +summon your masseuse, your beauty-doctor. Let them rub you and knead you +and pinch you, coat you with cold cream or grease you with oil of +olives. Redden cheeks and lips, whiten hands and shoulders, polish +nails, pencil eyebrows, squeeze in the waist, pad out the hips--swallow, +at the last, that little tablet which you slip from the jewelled case at +your wrist. It is all in vain. You deceive no man nor woman. They look +into your eyes and smile, but behind the smile there is a shudder! + +Nell and Susie Rushford, with the wind playing in their hair and kissing +their cheeks, that morning, were miracles of freshness; two divine +messages, two phantoms of delight, sent from the New World to the Old. + + And one was dark, with tints of violet + In hair and eyes, and one was blond as she + Who rose--a second daybreak--from the sea, + Gold-tressed and azure-eyed. + +Nell, the elder, was tall and fair, like her father, rather sedate, with +not quite the sparkle of Susie, two years her junior, the counterpart of +the little mother whom she had never seen. And both were erect and +bright-eyed as only American girls seem to know completely how to be; +visibly healthy, happy, and pure-minded. I should like to pause and look +at them a moment longer, for I have always been a little in love with +them myself; I should like to add to the verses of our own dear poet +certain lines of Wordsworth, of Burns, of Byron--but you, dear reader, +will recall them readily, especially if you belong, as I hope you do, to +the great and glorious fraternity of true lovers; if your heart burns +and your pulses leap at mention of a certain name, at sight of a dear +face-- + +There came a sudden hum of excitement from the crowd. + +"Look, look!" cried Susie. "There it is!" and she clapped her glasses to +her eyes again. + +Far out against the horizon appeared a smudge of smoke, which grew and +spread until those with glasses could perceive beneath it the low, dark +lines of a man-of-war. It was true then! Some had permitted themselves +to doubt the story spread so industriously by Monsieur Pelletan and his +friend, the notary--the proprietor of the Grand Hôtel Splendide had +counselled scepticism. Now they could doubt no longer, and they drew a +deep breath. A ship of war at Weet-sur-Mer! + +Straight toward the beach she steamed, looming larger and ever larger; +then her speed slackened, slackened, until at last she lay rolling +quietly a quarter of a mile off-shore. A shrill piping came over the +water as the crew was mustered amidships and the boarding-stairs +lowered. + +"Well, he _must_ be a swell!" said Sue, "or they wouldn't take all that +trouble. There goes the boat." + +And splash it went into the water, the crew tumbled in, and two men +slowly helped another down the stairs, while the crew stood at +attention. Some baggage was lowered, then the oars dipped together and a +little spurt of foam appeared under the bow. + +"Why, it's like a moving-picture machine!" cried Susie, with a little +gasp of enjoyment. "Or a comic opera!" she added, wrestling with her +glasses to get them focussed on the moving boat. "The hero's sitting in +the stern," she announced. "He's all wrapped up and there's another man +holding him. I can't see anything of him but his eyes, for he's got a +handkerchief or something over the lower part of his face. He must be +awfully ill, poor fellow!" + +"Probably got the grip," observed her father, practically. "Wants to +keep out the damp air. I think he'd be better off at home in bed." + +"Oh, but then," protested Nell-- + +"Then we shouldn't have this show," said her father, and laughed grimly +at the thought that neither would fortune have smiled so promptly on the +Grand Hôtel Royal. + +The oars flashed suddenly upright; two men sprang from the bow, with a +fine disregard of a wetting, and pulled the boat far in. Then the +bemuffled figure was lifted tenderly and carried to the waiting chair, +where Monsieur Pelletan was bowing with his head almost touching the +carpet. The invalid was started toward the hotel without delay, three +men accompanying him, under the leadership of Pelletan; the baggage was +heaped on the beach and taken in charge by the hotel porters. A moment +later the boat shoved off. + +A few waited to watch it make its way back to the ship, which +immediately steamed away toward the horizon; others followed the +procession headed by the invalid's chair; still others hurried ahead to +confer their patronage upon the Grand Hôtel Royal; but the greater part +hastened back to their rooms to get something hot and bracing. From one +end to the other, the place was a-buzz with wagging tongues. Why should +the foreign secretary of the British Empire have chosen Weet-sur-Mer as +his abiding place? Merely because he was ill and wished to rest? Bah! To +believe that would be to show a mind the most credulous, would be to +evince an ignorance of high diplomacy the most profound. Again, why +should he have made the journey from England in a ship of war? Depend +upon it, there was a mystery here; a mystery not to be solved in a +moment even by such eminent amateurs as those assembled at Weet-sur-Mer. +It would take time--it would take study. But it was worth it! There was +something behind all this-something more than appeared on the surface +--in a word, a Plot! And the best place to study it,--the only place, +indeed,--was the Grand Hôtel Royal. + +So, instantly, there was a great packing of luggage, a despatching of +couriers, an engaging of rooms, a settling of bills which drove the +proprietor of the Splendide half mad with chagrin. He protested, he +swore, he offered concessions the most unheard of--all in vain. His day +was over! + +Rushford, his work as cicérone des dames accomplished, returned +leisurely to the hotel, while the girls started for their accustomed +walk. He smiled grimly to himself as he entered the office, the scene +was so different from that of yesterday. For the moment, all was +excitement. Monsieur Pelletan and his assistants were busy attending to +the wants of their distinguished guest; down in the kitchen, the chef +was cursing the stupidity of the unfortunate menials under him and +striving madly to prove himself worthy the occasion--the greatest of his +life! Every moment, a porter toiled up to the door with a load of +luggage; every moment some one arrived demanding a room--and not one +murmured at the tariff! The lift groaned and creaked under the +unaccustomed weights put upon it and moved more slowly than ever. +Pelletan, as he hurried past, mopping his perspiring brow, had time only +for a single glance at his good angel--but what a glance! Such a glance, +no doubt, Columbus caught from his lieutenants at the cry of "Land Ho!" + +Rushford, leaning over the desk, watching the confusion with an +amusement which had banished every trace of ennui, felt his arm touched. +He turned and recognised the be-gilt messenger of the day before. + +"A second telegram for monsieur," said that functionary, with an amiable +grin, and produced the message. + +There was no time for hesitation. Rushford took it, signed the blank, +and fished up the expected tip. + +"Oh, what a tangled web we weave!" he murmured, and looked at the +address on the little white envelope. It read: + + _M. le Propriétaire, + + Grand Hôtel Royal, + + Weet-sur-Mer._ + +"The plot thickens!" he murmured. "Well, it's really for me. Let's see," +and he tore it open. He whistled again as he read the message; then he +called the nearest boy. "Tell Monsieur Pelletan to come here at once," +he said. "Tell him I must speak to him on a matter of importance." + +At the end of a moment, the little man puffed down the stair, exhausted, +radiant! + +"Iss eet not grand!" he cried. "What a change from yesterday! T'ough how +you haf accomplishe' eet, monsieur--" + +"No matter," interrupted Rushford. "Which is the next best of your +apartments, Pelletan?" + +"T'e nex' best? Why, apartment B, monsieur. Eet iss t'e counterpart of +apartment A, only on t'e nort' side of t'e house instead of t'e sout'." + +"And it is still empty?" + +"At two hundret francs t'e tay? Oh, yess, monsieur; only a Prince can +afford eet now." + +"Well, you will prepare it at once--" + +"Ah, monsieur himself will take eet! T'at iss just! I shall pe too +happy--" + +"No, no; you've just said that only a Prince can afford it and it's my +business to produce him! Let's see--it's nearly nine--well, at ten +o'clock, there will arrive in a special train--" + +Monsieur Pelletan had turned pale. + +"Een a special train?" he faltered. "What! Some one else?" + +"Yes--at ten o'clock--" + +"Who iss eet will arrive, monsieur?" questioned Pelletan faintly. + +"His Highness, Prince Frederick of Markeld, ambassador from the court of +Schloshold-Markheim," answered Rushford, dwelling upon every word. "We +will give him apartment B." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +An Adventure and a Rescue + +It was not until Rushford opened his paper an hour later that he fully +understood the remarkable situation of which the Grand Hôtel Royal had, +by the merest chance, become the centre. + + "It is extremely unfortunate [said + the _Times_] that Lord Vernon should + have been taken ill at just this time, + when the question of the succession of + Schloshold-Markheim is hanging in the + balance. Lord Vernon is the only man + in the cabinet capable of dealing with + the situation, which is as delicate as can + be imagined. On the one side are arrayed + the sympathies of our reigning + house and perhaps even our own + honour; on the other, the plainly expressed + desires of the German Emperor. + + "The late Prince Christian left no direct + heirs, so that, in any event, the succession + must be through a collateral + branch. The claims of the rivals, Prince + George, of Schloshold, and Prince + Ferdinand, of Markheim, are therefore + evenly balanced. On one side of the + scale, however, the German Emperor + has thrown the weight of his influence. + On the other side is the moral influence + of practically all the rest of Europe, but + this will scarcely be of any value to + Prince Ferdinand unless he can enlist + the active support of Great Britain, + which, it may be, Lord Vernon, though + reluctant to withhold, will find impossible + to give. It is not to be denied that, + from a disinterested view-point, Prince + Ferdinand seems by far the more worthy + of the two claimants. + + "Lord Vernon is suffering with a + very severe attack of influenza, which + has been developing for some days, and + which has, at last, become so serious that + his physicians have commanded a complete + rest for a week or ten days. One + may well conceive Lord Vernon's reluctance + to heed this advice, but he has + very wisely decided to do so. The little + seaside resort of Weet-sur-Mer, on the + Dutch coast, has been selected as the + place for his sojourn, and he will be + taken there to-morrow on H. M. S. + _Dauntless_. Sir John Scaddam, his + physician, and two of his secretaries, + Mr. Arthur Collins and Mr. George + Blake, will accompany him, although + work of any kind has been absolutely + forbidden him for at least a week. It is + believed that the bracing atmosphere of + Weet-sur-Mer will effect a cure in that + time. + + "Weet-sur-Mer is comparatively little + known, at least in England. It is really + the old Dutch fishing-village of Weet-zurlindenhofen; + but a number of years + ago it was exploited as a watering-place + and re-christened Weet-sur-Mer by + some enthusiast more anxious to advertise + the fact that one may bathe there + than to observe the rules of etymology. + It is rather out of the way, and the route + by rail is so circuitous and uncertain + that it was judged best to spare Lord + Vernon the fatigue of such a journey by + conveying him directly thither upon the + _Dauntless_. He hopes to find there a + quiet and seclusion which would be impossible + at any of the larger resorts. + + "We understand that Prince George + is with the German Emperor at Berlin, + and that Prince Ferdinand, who is at + Markheim, has commissioned his + cousin, Prince Frederick, of Markeld, to + place his claims before our foreign office. + His reception at this time can + hardly fail to cause acute embarrassment." + +There was a half-column more of comment and veiled suggestion that +perhaps the wisest course for the foreign office to pursue, now that +Lord Vernon's guiding hand was for the moment withdrawn, would be to let +affairs take their course; though it was difficult to see how this could +consistently be done if Prince Frederick succeeded in gaining a formal +audience and placing his case before the government. Already, it seemed, +the jingo papers were taunting the administration with undue truckling +to the wishes of Germany, with a lack of stamina and backbone in +short--with something like treachery toward Prince Ferdinand and treason +toward the royal family, with which the Prince was distantly allied. + +Rushford gave a long whistle of astonishment; then he laid the paper on +his knees and stared thoughtfully out across the sands for some minutes. + +"Of course, Markeld has followed Vernon here," he said, at last. "I +rather admire his pluck. And I'd like to be present at the +interview--it'll be interesting. Why, hello, Pelletan," he added, as the +latter approached him humbly, as a slave approaches the Sultan. "Want to +speak to me?" "Eef monsieur please," answered the little Frenchman, +who was plainly labouring under deep excitement. + +"All right; what is it?" + +"Wass monsieur serious in hees command t'at I exclude t'e Prince of +Zeit-Zeit?" + +"Never more serious in my life. He's barred! We take only human +beings--not monstrosities. Has he applied?" + +"Yess, monsieur; he tesires hees old apartment." + +"Which was that?" + +"Apartment A, monsieur; he hass always had t'e pest in t'e house when he +come here mit' hees fat'er." + +"Well, apartment A's already taken; even if it were empty, he shouldn't +have it. Where's your nerve, Pelletan--here's your chance for revenge!" + +"But to refuse a Prince!" murmured Pelletan. "Eet iss somet'ing unheard +of!" + +"It will make you famous! It's a big ad for the house! 'The Grand Hôtel +Royal refuses to receive the Prince of Zeit-Zeit.' Think what a stir +that will make! Besides, you have no choice--I require it!" + +"Fery well, monsieur," agreed Pelletan, with a gesture of despairing +obedience. "T'ere iss one t'ing more--I haf an idea." + +"That's good; let's have it," said Rushford, encouragingly. "There's +nothing like ideas." + +"Monsieur will remember," began Pelletan, in a voice carefully lowered, +"t'at we agreed to touble t'e price of entertainment." + +"Yes--what of it? Anybody been kicking?" + +"No--au contraire, monsieur--t'e house iss full--efery leetle room." + +"You see you don't need Zeit-Zeit; it's quite like the old times, isn't +it?" + +"Yess--only petter, monsieur; far petter. Oh, eet iss wunderschön!" + +"Well, go ahead; what's the idea?" + +"Since t'e house iss full," said Pelletan, impressively, "and t'ere are +many more asking for rooms--oh, temanding t'em--t'e Prince among t'e +number!--why may not we again touble t'e price?" and he leaned back in +his chair, looking triumphantly at his partner. But his face fell as the +latter shook his head. "No?" he asked. "Eet will not do?" + +"No," said Rushford, slowly; "I'm afraid it won't do. You see it would +be a kind of ex post facto proceeding--" + +"A--I ton't quite comprehen', monsieur." + +"No matter--trust me--see what's happened since yesterday," and he +waved his hand at the busy corridor. + +"Oh, eet iss kolossal!" cried Pelletan. "I shall nefer cease to atmire +monsieur. Perhaps," he suggested timidly, "since he hass peen so +successful, monsieur may pe tempted to remain permanently. Surely he +would pe one great success! In a year--two year--we would eclipse +Ostend--monsieur himself hass said eet!" + +"No," laughed the other, "I don't think I'd care to remain. Though, of +course," he added, "the possibility of great success is always +fascinating." + +"Oh, eet iss more t'an a possibility," cried Pelletan. "Eet is a +certainty." + +"A certainty is not so fascinating as a possibility," the American +pointed out, his eyes twinkling. + +"Unt t'en," continued Pelletan, persuasively, fancying, no doubt, that +he saw some signs of yielding in his partner's face, "eef monsieur +remains, he can haf t'e house done ofer to suit heem; he can t'row away +t'e furniture he does not like; he can paint out t'e marble columns; he +can cause all t'e servants to pe tressed to hees taste. He would make +one grand sensation! T'e house would pe t'e talk of Europe, tint we +would soon pe reech--oh, reech!" and the little Frenchman stretched his +arms wide to indicate the vast extent of the wealth that was awaiting +them. + +But Rushford shook his head. + +"No, Pelletan," he said; "no, I really can't do it. It's utterly +impossible, or your impassioned eloquence would certainly prevail. +There's nothing I'd like better than to show the hotel-keepers of Europe +a thing or two--they are more conceited with less reason for being so +than any other class of men I know. But I've got to go back to America +before long to look after my business there. Besides, I don't really +feel that hotel-keeping is my lifework. I'm afraid it would pall upon me +after a time. But I tell you what I'll do, if you wish, Pelletan. I'll +tear up the agreement and say no more about it. You may have all the +profits." + +"Oh!" cried the Frenchman, dazzled by this munificence, by the golden +vision which danced before his eyes. Then he hesitated. With his +partner's marvellous influence withdrawn, might not the whole wonderful +structure come tumbling about his ears? It would be like pulling out the +foundation! What would prevent his guests from packing up and leaving +to-morrow? "No, monsieur," he said, slowly, at last, "I prefer eet as +eet iss." + +"Very well," and Rushford laughed again; it was not the first time his +partners in business had been afraid to do without him! "Let it be that +way, then. Have you got that agreement with you?" + +"Yess, monsieur; eet iss here," and he produced it from an inner +pocket. + +"Let me have it a minute." + +Pelletan gave it to him with trembling hand. His partner opened it, got +out his fountain-pen, and changed a word in the contract. + +"There," he said, "that's more fair, Pelletan." + +Pelletan paled as he looked at the paper and his eyes grew misty. +Instead of one hundred francs daily, he would receive two hundred. Ah, +these magnificent Americans! + +The interview to which the _Times_ looked forward with so much +apprehension was, it seemed, indefinitely postponed. The Prince of +Markeld had, indeed, immediately upon his arrival, caused his presence +to be formally announced to Lord Vernon, but the latter had responded +that he was, for the present, under the orders of his physician, who +forbade him to see any one or to transact business of any kind. Whereat +the Prince had twisted his mustachios fiercely (with an accompaniment, +no doubt, of sub voce profanity) and had proceeded to amuse himself +until luncheon with an exceedingly ugly bulldog he had brought with him. + +He had luncheon in his apartment, smoked a cigarette or two, despatched +a telegram describing the state of affairs to Prince Ferdinand, and +then, looking from his window and perceiving that all the world was +abroad, prepared for a walk along the beach. At the door, he happened to +look back and caught his dog's eyes fixed wistfully upon him. + +"Ah, Jax, old boy," he said, "it is unfair to leave you shut up here +with only Glück for company. Like to come along?" + +Jax wriggled his delight. + +"And you'll behave yourself?" + +Jax promised as clearly as a dog could. + +"Very well, then," and the Prince went down the stair, with Jax, +half-delirious with joy, behind him. + +Now the Prince was a very good-looking fellow, erect and clean, as +German noblemen have a way of being--besides, he was a Prince, a +commander of favours from the world and women, not a mere suitor for +them as most poor mortals are--and more than one pair of eyes gazed at +him languishingly from under pencilled brows as he strolled moodily +along the beach, golden yellow in the sunlight; more than one crimson +mouth shaped itself to an entrancing smile; more than one sullied heart +beat high at thought of a brilliant future. + +But on this occasion, none of the sirens won an answering glance, for +the Prince was in no mood for flirtation--and, besides, he was used to +sirens. So he strolled on, deep in thought. This affair of state, which +rested upon his shoulders, promised to go badly; if Lord Vernon +persisted in his refusal to see him, he was checkmated at the start, +before he had opportunity to make a move. Delay meant ruin, and his +cousin had trusted everything to him. He knew very well that the Emperor +would not delay; that he would use every minute to strengthen his +position; that he would compel events, not dance attendance on them. He, +the Prince, must see Lord Vernon at any cost; he must demand an +audience; he must appeal to his patriotism, his sense of honour, the +love of fair play which every Englishman possesses; he must make refusal +impossible-- + +He paused and looked up, conscious of a sudden commotion on the beach +just ahead of him. Then he saw his dog dancing frantically about a young +lady who held in her arms a little white spaniel, which she had +evidently just snatched up from annihilation. + +Markeld started forward with a leap, but at that instant a tall figure +emerged from a hooded chair nearby, and with a quick and well-directed +kick, sent the dog spinning. + +"Oh, thank you!" cried Susie Rushford, looking up into a very handsome +face. + +"It was my great good fortune," said the stranger, bowing, "to be of +service to a compatriot." + +"Oh, you are an American?" + +"No; an Englishman; but at least we speak the same language! I don't +know the word for it" + +"Neither do I--compatriot will do. You were just in time!" + +"And you did it very neatly," added Nell, admiringly, glancing at the +discomfited Jax, who was looking about him dazedly. + +"Thank you," and the stranger, checking the words which were evidently +upon his lips, bowed again, turned quickly back to his chair, buried +himself in its recesses, and retired behind a newspaper. + +"Well!" gasped Sue, meeting her sister's astonished eyes, "I must +say--" + +But what she must have said will remain forever a mystery, for just then +the Prince of Markeld came hurrying up. + +"I hope there is no damage," he said, speaking with just the slightest +accent. "He is my dog," he added, seeing their questioning glance. "I am +very sorry. I was a little preoccupied and was not noticing him. He is +usually a very good dog. I cannot understand why he should have attacked +yours." + +"He isn't mine," laughed Susie, patting the spaniel upon his silky head; +"he just ran to me for refuge." + +"Evidently a most intelligent dog," observed the Prince, gravely. + +"You think so?" asked Susie, her colour deepening just the faintest bit. +"Ah, here is the owner, now," she added, as a little faded old woman +came panting up. + +"Oh, thank you, mademoiselle!" cried the newcomer, snatching the dog +from Susie's arms. "Thank you! He was a bad boy--he run away!" and she +held him close against her heart. + +"It was nothing," protested Susie. "I am very glad I happened to be just +here. Though I don't suppose that either I or the dog was in danger of +being eaten," she added to Markeld, as the little old woman trotted +tremulously away. "Your dog doesn't look especially ferocious." + +"Still, I beg a thousand pardons," repeated the Prince. "I should have +kept my eye on him. Come here, Jax," he called, "and make your apologies +to the ladies." + +Jax crawled up very humbly and Susie stooped and patted his head. + +"Poor Jax," she said. "It wasn't your fault, I know. I'm sure that +little spaniel insulted you!" + +Jax licked her hand gratefully, and the Prince looked on with an +admiration he did not attempt to conceal. + +"Would you like him?" he asked, eagerly. + +Susie started up with crimsoning cheeks. + +"No, thank you," she said, and taking her sister's arm, she walked on, +chin in air. + +The Prince gazed after her, wide-eyed, for a moment, then turned +resolutely and continued on his way. + +"Well," began Nell, at the end of a minute, "he quite took my breath +away!" + +"Which he?" queried Sue. + +"Both of them; but the first especially. That kick bespoke football +training." + +"And he has evidently kept in condition," added Sue. "The owner of the +dog wasn't a bad-looking fellow, either--interesting, too, I haven't a +doubt, and I do like interesting people! But the nerve of him--offering +me his dog! I'm afraid we need a chaperon, after all, my dear." + +"Yes," agreed Nell, "perhaps we do. But it would be an awful bother." + +They walked on to the end of the beach, then mounted to the Digue and +strolled slowly back toward the hotel, enjoying the breeze, the colour, +the sunshine, the strange and varied life of the place. + +Stretching along the landward side of the dyke stood a row of little +houses, green and pink and white, with tile roofs mounting steeply +upward, their red surfaces broken by innumerable dormers. These had once +been the homes of honest and industrious fishermen, but time had changed +all that. They had been remodelled to suit the demands of business, and +every house had now on the lower floor an expensive little shop with +monsieur sitting complacently at the door and madame, fat and voluble, +at the money-drawer, and on the floor above, a still more expensive +suite of rooms to let--rooms panelled in white and gold, resplendent +with rococo mouldings, and crowded with abominable furniture, intended +to be coquettish--gilt chairs, scalloped tables, embroidered +lambrequins, ottomans smothered in plush and fringe, beds draped with +curtains until they were all but air-tight--in effect more French than +France. + +Here and there between the houses, a glimpse might be had of the low +country beyond, with its sluggish canal choked with rushes, a dingy +windmill here and there, and stretching away on either side the flat +meadows crinkling with yellow grain, and the green pastures dotted with +huge black-and-white cattle. A narrow road, straight as a line in +Euclid, and bordered by a row of trees each the counterpart of all the +others, mounted toward the horizon, leading, principally, to a low, +yellow house about a mile away, displaying above its door the +appropriate motto, "Lust en Rust." There, either in the cool, +vine-shaded garden, in the long, low-ceilinged dining-room, or in some +smaller and more ornate apartment, one might breakfast, dine, what not, +in the fashion of the country--which, for the most part, meant the +drinking of a muddy liquid with an unpronounceable name and the eating +of wafelen and poffertjes, and of little cheeses calculated to appal the +strongest stomach. + +The shops and the landscape--the cosmopolitan crowd with its Babel of +many tongues--the great hotels, built of stucco in the nouveau-riche +style so rasping to sensitive nerves--the striped awnings, the low +balconies, the gaudy house-fronts--all these our heroines looked at and +commented on and revelled in with the joy of fresh and unspoiled youth. +It was life they were tasting--strange, interesting, intoxicating +life--and they drank deep of it. + +As they neared the hotel entrance, they saw coming from the other +direction, pushed by two men, an invalid chair. They stood aside to let +it pass, and its occupant, carefully wrapped in a great steamer-rug, +glanced up at them with a quizzical light in his eyes. + +They shrank back together against the wall with a simultaneous gasp of +dismay, for the invalid was their athletic rescuer of an hour before. + +The chair went on to the desk, where it paused, while its occupant wrote +a hasty sentence on a slip of paper, which he tore from his notebook. A +moment later, it was presented to Susie by one of his attendants. She +took it mechanically, and, with a low bow, the messenger hurried back to +the chair. + +"What in the world," she began dazedly; then she unfolded the paper and +read: + +"Lord Vernon will be deeply grateful if he is not mentioned in +connection with today's adventure." + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +Tellier Takes a Hand + +The Prince continued his walk to the limits of the beach, with Jax +trotting humbly at his heels; then he returned slowly to the hotel and +mounted to his apartment. + +"That will do, Glück," he said, as he gave him his hat and gloves. +"Don't let me be disturbed." + +And Glück, with his imperturbable mahogany face, silently withdrew to +mount guard without the door. + +The Prince sat down, lighted a cigarette, and stared moodily out of the +window, down upon the shifting crowd which still thronged the beach. His +hand, hanging inert by his side, became suddenly the receptacle for a +moist nose. + +"Ah, Jax; and did she pat you on the head, old boy?" he asked. "And are +you properly proud?" + +Jax wiggled his remnant of a tail. + +"Would you like to belong to her, Jax, and get patted every day? Yet she +wouldn't take you--snapped me off short as that stump of yours when I +offered you to her. Why was that, Jax?" + +Jax couldn't say, not being familiar with the ways of fair Americans, +and the Prince patted him softly on his nobbly crown. + +"Just the same, she was a beauty, Jax; slim, straight, full of fire--a +thoroughbred; and with a sense of humour, my dear, which you will find +in not many women. Did you notice her cheeks, Jax, and her eyes? But of +course not; you were very properly grovelling before her. And I owe you +eternal gratitude, old boy; but for you, I'd have stalked past without +seeing her. That would have been a pity, wouldn't it?" + +There was a knock at the door and Glück's head appeared. + +"I thought I told you," began the Prince-- + +"Your Highness will pardon me," explained Glück, quickly, "but there is +a man here who insists that Your Highness will see him." + +"Who is he?" + +"This is his card, Your Highness," and Glück entered the room. "I have +sent it back once, saying that Your Highness was not to be disturbed. He +returned it, insisting--" + +Markeld took the card, glanced at it, and read: + +_"M. André Tellier, Paris. Agent du Service de Sûreté"_ + +Beneath this was a pencilled line--"Concerning the question of the +succession." + +The Prince stared at it a moment in some astonishment, not unmixed with +irritation. What could this fellow know concerning the succession? It +was most probably simply an impertinence. The Paris police were famous +for impertinences. + +Glück started for the door; since his master's boyhood, he had watched +over him, attended him--he could read his countenance like an open book. +The Prince glanced up. + +"Where are you going?" he demanded. + +"I go to tell the imbecile that Your Highness will not see him," +responded Glück, impassively, his hand on the knob. + +The Prince smiled. He had a great fondness for his old retainer. + +"Wait," he said. "We must not permit ourselves to be governed by first +impressions, nor swayed by prejudice. It is just possible that this +fellow has something to tell me which I ought to hear. I can't afford to +disregard any chance. So inform M. Tellier that I will see him," and he +lighted a fresh cigarette resignedly. + +As he watched the smoke turn gray in the sunlight, it suddenly occurred +to him that, in some unaccountable manner, the question of the +succession had receded somewhat into the background; it no longer seemed +to him of such overwhelming consequence; at least, he had not been +thinking of it a moment before, but of something very different-- + +There appeared at the door a figure which drew a stare of surprise from +Markeld, accustomed as he was to eccentric habiliment. It was arrayed in +a long, mouse-gray frock coat and shiny black trousers; a hand gloved in +lavender kid carried a top hat, while the other caressed, from time to +time, the carefully-waxed mustachios and imperial adorning a countenance +which was a singular mixture of craft and vanity. The little eyes were +half-concealed under drooping, baggy lids, the nose was long and sharp, +the lips very thin and severe, though at this moment parted in a smile +meant to be ingratiating. The figure entered and bowed profoundly, +disclosing Glück's disgusted face in the doorway. + +"Monsieur Tellier?" asked the Prince. + +Tellier bowed again, and the Prince noticed the white line of scalp +leading, with geometrical precision, from the brow to the bald spot on +the crown, and then on down the back of the head. It reminded him, +somehow, of the Lake of Constance, with the Rhine flowing through it. + +"You have something to communicate?" he continued, repressing a smile. + +"Something of the first importance, Your Highness," said the Frenchman; +"otherwise I should not have taken the liberty of disturbing Your +Highness." + +"Very well," and the Prince motioned him to a chair. "Sit down. I shall +be glad to hear you." + +"It is something," said the Frenchman, with a glance at the open door, +"which should be communicated, if Your Highness please, in confidence." + +"Glück, shut the door," commanded the Prince. "Now, my dear sir, +proceed." + +"Your Highness is, of course, aware," began the detective, sitting down +with a back very straight, and drooping his lids until his eyes were +almost closed, "that France is deeply interested in this question of the +succession, and that its sympathies are wholly with Prince Ferdinand, +the cousin of Your Highness, and whom, I understand, Your Highness +represents." + +Markeld nodded. + +"We should naturally expect France's sympathy," he said. + +"France," proclaimed Tellier, raising his chin proudly, "is always on +the side of justice and decency." + +"More especially," continued the Prince, drily, "when the Emperor of +Germany happens to be on the other side. Come now, confess--if the +Emperor were for us, you would be against us--is it not so?" + +Tellier permitted the faintest shadow of a smile to flicker across his +lips. + +"Your Highness speaks with a bluntness disconcerting," he said, +deprecatingly. + +"I wished merely to clear the air," said the Prince, "and to prick at +the outset the bubble with which you were trying to dazzle me. Let me +assure you that we thoroughly understand France's attitude in this +matter. She is on our side simply because she sees an opportunity of +humiliating, through us, an old enemy." + +"'At least," said Tellier, "Your Highness agrees that we are on your +side--the reasons for this attitude do not concern me. I only know that +we are anxious to do all we can to help Your Highnesses cause. +Consequently, when it was learned that Lord Vernon was coming to this +place, the Department of State, fearing some duplicity, asked that a +competent man be sent here to--to--" + +"Keep an eye out for developments," said the Prince, seeing that the +other hesitated for a word, "and to watch for an opportunity of forcing +England's hand." + +"Precisely, Your Highness; and my superiors did me the honour of +selecting me for this delicate task." + +"A wise choice, I do not doubt," said the Prince, gravely. That Tellier +had any important revelation to make he did not in the least believe; +but there seemed a chance of extracting some amusement from the +situation--and time was hanging heavily on his hands--would hang +heavily until the hour of the promenade to-morrow. + +"I hope to prove it so, Your Highness!" cried the detective, flushing +with pleasure at the compliment. "In fact, I think that I may say I +have already proved it so!" + +"Ah!" said the Prince, and lighted another cigarette. + +"I arrived soon after Your Highness; I took a wagon from Zunderburg, +rather than lose precious time by waiting for the train of this +afternoon. I was very weary, for the journey from Paris is a trying one; +but before seeking repose, indeed without even permitting myself to +think of my own fatigue, I ascertained that Lord Vernon occupied +apartment A de luxe, and Your Highness apartment B de luxe, in this +hotel." + +"Indeed!" said the Prince. + +"I naturally took care at once to secure a room here, since it was of +the first importance that I should be in a position to see everything +that might occur." + +"Naturally," agreed the Prince. + +"Though it was very difficult, since every room was taken. For another +man, it would have been impossible." + +"But for you, I see, nothing is impossible," observed the Prince. + +"Very few things, Your Highness," agreed Tellier, modestly. "In this +case I had but to speak a single word," and he paused with an air of +triumph. + +"Wonderful!" cried the Prince, and clapped his hands softly. "Some day I +must get you to teach me that word. It must be very useful. Well, what +next?" + +"An hour's rest," Tellier continued, "and I was myself again. I soon +made the acquaintance of a chamber-maid--a girl who keeps her eyes +open--and I learned many things--" + +"It was not to tell me them that you came here, I trust," interposed the +Prince. "I care little for backstairs gossip." + +"Oh, not at all! As Your Highness says, they would, most probably, not +interest you. But to one in my profession, no fact is uninteresting; no +occurrence is too trivial to be noticed." + +"Well, get on to your story, then," said the Prince, with some +impatience. + +"Just after luncheon today, Your Highness walked on the beach," said +Tellier, "accompanied by the dog yonder." + +Jax growled softly as he caught the Frenchman's eye, which pleased him +no more than it had Glück. + +"That is true," agreed the Prince. "What of it?" + +"The dog attacked a small spaniel, which sought refuge with two ladies, +one of whom picked it up." + +"All ancient history, I assure you, Monsieur Tellier. Yet, wait a +moment. Do you happen to know who the ladies were?" + +"They are sisters," said Tellier. "Their name is Rushford; their father +is a tall American, who incessantly smokes a cigar and reads a +newspaper in the office of the hotel. If Your Highness wishes, I can +make further inquiries." + +"Not at all!" cried the Prince, violently. "I won't countenance such +impertinence! Go on with the story." + +Tellier bowed to indicate the most implicit obedience. + +"It happened that I was near by," he said, "at the moment of the +encounter. I had taken my stand near a large beach-chair, which, for +reasons, interested me. I was nonchalant, impassive; alert, without +seeming to be so. Many of the women passing I had met upon the +boulevards under circumstances the most peculiar; concerning many of the +men I knew more than they would wish the world to know. Seeing me +standing there, some of them turned pale, others grew red with emotion. +Some went by endeavouring to appear not to have seen me; others threw +me appealing glances. Never, by the quiver of a lash, did I show that I +recognised them. I stood and waited--like the Sphinx." + +"For what?" inquired the Prince, whose sense of humour had returned to +him. + +"For the dénouement, Your Highness. I knew that, sooner or later, it +would come. I knew it could not escape me, Tellier--the evidence of +duplicity which I was seeking." + +"But," objected the Prince, "what duplicity can there be? If Lord Vernon +is ill--" + +"Your Highness will pardon me for interrupting; but much depends upon +that 'if.' If, on the other hand, the illness is only for the moment +assumed--" + +"Oh, nonsense!" cried Markeld. "What reason could he have for assuming +illness? That would be childish!" + +The Frenchman smiled a self-satisfied smile, as he softly caressed his +imperial, and his little eyes glowed with anticipated triumph. + +"Let us deal with the facts first, if Your Highness will permit, and +with reasons afterwards. I was, then, standing by the chair in the +attitude which I have described, when your dog appeared and attacked the +spaniel. As the young lady stooped and picked it up, your dog sprang +against her, frightening her so that she cried aloud." + +"And you stood by without offering to assist her?" demanded the Prince, +with some indignation. + +"There was no need, Your Highness," responded Tellier, easily. "In the +first place, she was, of course, in no real danger. In the second place, +I perceived instantly that fate was playing into my hands. In fact, the +incident could not have been more à propos if it had been arranged by my +guardian angel. For from the chair beside which I was stationed a man +sprang out and kicked the dog away. Your Highness must have remarked his +agility and strength--may even have seen his face." + +"No," said the Prince. "I was not near enough to see it distinctly." + +"I saw it, Your Highness, very distinctly, and I assure you that it was +that of a man in the full enjoyment of health. Even from his agility, +Your Highness could doubtless judge whether the man was seriously ill." + +The Prince hitched about in his chair a little impatiently. He was +beginning to find the Frenchman tedious. + +"Most certainly he was not seriously ill," he agreed; "nor, I should +say, even slightly so. What is that to me? Pray have done with this +mystery!" + +Tellier's face was glowing with all a Frenchman's pride in a coup de +théâtre--his moment of triumph had arrived. + +"Of all the eyes which witnessed that episode, seemingly so slight and +so unimportant," he said, proudly, "mine were the only ones which saw +its full significance. Your Highness will, no doubt, be surprised when I +inform you that this gentleman, so agile and so athletic, was no other +than Lord Vernon!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +The Path Grows Crooked + +In the sitting-room of apartment A, in the south wing of the Grand Hôtel +Royal, Lord Vernon was tramping nervously up and down while his +companions regarded him with evident anxiety. + +"I tell you fellows," he was saying, "it can't be kept up--I thought so +from the first, but all the rest of you seemed to think it would be so +infernally easy that I was ashamed to say anything. I knew something was +sure to happen to give us away, and something has happened. What was I +to do? Sit there like a mummy and allow that dog to frighten those girls +to death? What the deuce are you laughing at, Collins?" + +"I'm laughing at your tragic tone. No, you couldn't have sat +still--though I don't suppose the young ladies were in any serious +danger. They were pretty, no doubt?" + +"Ah!" said Vernon, with a mental smacking of the lips at the entrancing +picture the words called up. + +"That, of course, made it doubly impossible to sit still. Did they know +you?" + +"Oh, no; never saw me before; hadn't the slightest suspicion that they +were talking to such a famous personage. They said they were Americans." + +"Then I don't see that any harm has been done." + +"Unfortunately, when I was coming back, all bundled up in my chair, we +ran right into them down here at the door, and they recognised me +instantly--I could tell that by their gasp of amazement as they shrank +back against the wall." + +"Still, if you preserved a cold and haughty demeanour, they may have +concluded they were mistaken." + +"Cold and haughty nothing!" broke in the third man. "I was there and +I'll swear he winked." + +"No, I didn't wink," laughed Vernon. "Though perhaps I should if I'd +dared--they're mighty taking girls!" + +"Well, what _did_ you do?" demanded Collins, with just a trace of +impatience. + +Again Vernon laughed. + +"I sent 'em back a note asking 'em not to tell," he said. + +Collins threw up his hands in horror and the third man grinned +sardonically. Vernon looked at them and kept on laughing. + +"You two fellows take it too seriously," he added. "I don't believe +they'll tell." + +"I thought you knew women better than that," said Collins, +reproachfully. + +"I do know them--better than any dried-up diplomat, at least,--and I +believe we can trust these two--for a few days, anyway. How much time do +we need?" + +"A week, at the very least. Fancy asking a woman to keep a secret for a +week! And as for taking it too seriously, you know how much depends on +it." + +"Yes," observed Vernon, sarcastically, "you fellows seem to think the +peace of Europe depends on it." + +"I should say that would not be overstating it in the least," said +Collins, with a solemnity almost religious. + +"Oh, nonsense; you diplomatic fellows make mountains out of molehills; +you see a storm in every cloud; you imagine the lightning's going to +strike you every time it flashes! You're all nerves!" + +"Anyway, you agreed--" + +"Yes, I know I agreed," interrupted Vernon, irritably, "and I was a fool +to do it." + +"Besides," added Blake, "we've got to play very close, since it happens +that Markeld is in this very hotel. We supposed, of course, that he +would go on to London. I must say that I think he showed exceedingly +poor taste in following us here." + +"Oh, I don't know," said Vernon. "I think it was rather enterprising. I +only wish we could treat the poor devil fairly." + +"Well, since he is here," continued Blake, "there's only one thing for +you to do, and that is to stay under cover." + +"But, confound it!" protested Vernon, "I can't stay cooped up here in +these rooms all the time!" + +"That's the only safe way," observed Collins. "Suppose Markeld should +find out how the land lies! The fat would be in the fire for sure; and +we'd be in a mighty awkward position! Suppose the jingoes got hold of +it!" and he turned pale at the thought. + +"Well, I won't stay shut up, that's certain," said Vernon, doggedly. +"As for the jingoes, let them rave!" + +"That's easy to say," retorted Collins, with irony, "when some one else +has to bear the brunt of it." + +Vernon snorted impatiently. + +"You may frighten yourself whenever you please," he said, "but you can't +frighten me. I've heard the cry of 'Wolf! Wolf!' entirely too often." + +"But the wolf came at last," Blake pointed out. + +"Well, it isn't coming this time; and I don't care if it is. I repeat, +categorically and imperatively, _I won't stay shut up!"_ + +"You agreed to obey our instructions, you know." + +"Every one has the right to rebel against a tyrant!" + +"At least," said Collins, yielding the ground grudgingly, "you must +remember always to keep on your sick-togs when you do go out, and to try +to look a little less scandalously healthy than you are. Now, if you'd +kept on your wraps when you jumped out of the chair--" + +"How was I to kick a dog with a rug around my legs? You fellows don't +give me credit for what I did do. I'd just got into a most interesting +conversation with those girls, when up came a fellow whom I knew +instinctively to be Markeld." + +He stopped as he caught the others' astounded gaze. + +"Yes, Markeld!" he repeated, defiantly. "I've an idea that he is the +owner of the dog. I suppose I should have sent James to inquire who the +dog belonged to before I ventured forth!" + +"No matter," said Collins, impatiently. "What did you do?" + +"I was guilty of unpardonable rudeness," answered Vernon. "I broke away +from those girls as though they had the plague, jumped into my chair, +and buried myself behind my newspaper. They must have thought I'd +escaped from somewhere." + +"So Markeld didn't see you, it doesn't matter what they thought," +remarked Collins. + +"Oh, doesn't it?" + +"Surely you're not going to run any further risks for the sake of a girl +more or less!" + +"My dear Collins!" said Vernon, with chill politeness; "I have always +suspected that a course in diplomacy sucked the blood out of a man and +substituted ice-water in its stead. Now I know it. Permit me to add that +you have not seen the girl--either girl--though I don't suppose that +would make the slightest difference." + +"May I inquire what you propose to do?" asked Collins, flushing a +little. + +"I propose to cultivate the acquaintance of the beautiful Americans in +every way I can. After all, what does it matter to me who rules over a +little twopenny duchy called Schloshold-Markheim?" + +"I suppose your promise is of equal indifference to you!" + +"Damn my promise! See here, Collins; don't push me too far; the worm +will turn. Of course, I'll keep my promise; but don't irritate me. I'm +all on edge over this thing now--a little more, and I'll be capable of +doing something--" + +A tap at the door interrupted him, and he disappeared between two +curtains into the inner room, where an invalid chair, buried in wraps, +stood by the window. Near it was a little table covered with medicine +bottles, glasses, spoons--in a word, all the paraphernalia of prolonged +and serious illness. + +Blake opened the door and took the card that was presented to him. + +"The Prince of Markeld," he said, looking at it. "Ah, yes; you will +tell His Highness that there has been no change in the condition of Lord +Vernon, who thanks him for his kind inquiries." + +He closed the door and turned back into the room. + +"Now, what do you think that means?" he asked, of Collins. "That's the +second time today. He's getting importunate." + +Collins stared out of the window gloomily. + +"Perhaps he suspects already," he said. "I've been told he's a clever +fellow--in fact, he's proved it once or twice." + +"Suppose he does suspect--what shall we do?" + +"Convince him to the contrary. Where's Scaddam?" + +"In his room, I suppose." + +"Better send for him." + +"May I come out?" inquired a voice from the inner room. + +"Yes, come ahead," called Collins, and Vernon reappeared. "Now, my +friend," he continued rapidly, "you'd better go in and put on your +war-togs." Vernon groaned. "Put 'em on thick. I believe Markeld suspects +the trick we're playing, and we've got to fool him--we've got to show +him what a sick man you are." + +"How _could_ he suspect?" demanded Vernon, incredulously. "Even if he +saw me, he couldn't recognise me--he doesn't know me." + +"Perhaps those girls have already given you away." + +"Nonsense! You fellows are afraid of your own shadows. He can't +suspect!" + +"Just the same, we've got to be prepared for emergencies. Have you got +plenty of pepper?" + +Vernon groaned again. + +"Plenty! I tell you fellows I'll ruin my health if I keep this up much +longer. I might easily burst a blood-vessel. People often do when they +sneeze." + +"Well, we'll have to take the risk," said Blake, with grim complacency. + +"Much risk you take! In fact, I saw you sprinkling pepper on my +handkerchief this morning, when there wasn't the slightest need of it." + +"Now, see here," protested Collins, sharply, "what's the use of all this +argument? We've got to see this thing through, whether we like it or +not. I've sent for Scaddam, so he'll be on the scene in case of +emergencies--" + +"You mean, if I break a blood-vessel?" inquired Vernon, politely. + +"Oh, break your grandmother! I tell you--" + +There was a second tap on the door and Vernon again made a dive for the +inner room. This time, a note was handed in. Collins closed the door, +tore open the envelope nervously, and ran his eyes quickly over the +contents. + +"Come out here, you beggar," he called, and Vernon reappeared on the +threshold. "Take a look at this," he added, and held out the note. +"Maybe you won't be so cocksure hereafter that diplomats are always +making mountains out of mole-hills." + +Vernon took the paper and read it slowly, his face growing blanker and +more blank as he proceeded. Then he went back to the beginning and read +it aloud: + +"The Prince of Markeld admired +greatly Lord Vernon's recent prompt +and chivalrous action, which he had the +privilege of witnessing. He is sure, +however, that His Lordship's illness +cannot be so serious as represented, and +hopes that His Lordship will not persist +in refusing him an audience. Such a +course would be neither ingenuous nor +fair." + +For a moment, no one spoke, then Blake gave vent to a low whistle. + +"Well," he said, dazedly; "so the cat's out of the bag! What's to be +done?" + +"There's only one thing that can be done," Collins said sharply. "I've +already pointed out what that is," and he sat down at the table and +wrote a rapid message. "How will this do? 'Lord Vernon will be pleased +to see the Prince of Markeld at five o'clock this afternoon. He has no +recollection of having recently performed any prompt or chivalrous +action. The Prince has doubtless been misinformed.' That gives us half +an hour--neither too much time, nor too little." + +"But that's folly!" protested Blake; "how can you carry it through?" + +"Leave that to me. I've got out of tighter places than this one. And," +he added, turning to Vernon, "if you ever looked ill in your life, +prepare to do it now." + +Vernon was looking dreamily over Markeld's note. + +"He uses adjectives well, doesn't he?" he asked. "'Such a course would +be neither ingenuous nor fair.' 'Pon my word, I quite agree with him!" + +"Remember, you're under orders," said Collins, sternly. + +"Under reasonable orders, perhaps," admitted Vernon, quietly, with a +little tightening of the muscles of the face. "I don't admit that either +you or Blake is infallible. What is it you propose to do?" + +"We propose, in the first place, to send Markeld this note." + +Vernon took it and read it at a glance. + +"A note which is, of course, a lie," he observed, dispassionately, as he +handed it back. + +"It is not a lie!" retorted Collins, flushing hotly. "It is, on the +contrary, the absolute truth." + +"There are many ways of lying," remarked Vernon, still more coolly. "It +isn't so much the letter as the spirit which constitutes a lie." + +"This is scarcely the time," put in Blake, "for a lecture upon ethics." + +"And it would, in any event," added Vernon, "be entirely wasted upon the +present audience. Well, what next?" + +"I think you understand your part," answered Collins, curtly. "The only +question is, are you prepared to play it?" + +Vernon hesitated for an instant, his hands trembling slightly. + +"I feel the veriest scoundrel," he said, bitterly. "It sickens me--but +you've got me fast." + +"Yes," agreed Collins, with a malicious grin, "we've got you fast." + +"Though not quite as fast as you think, perhaps," added Vernon, +quietly. "I warn you that I will break the bonds if they become too +galling. I see that I'm going to owe Prince Frederick a hearty apology +before this thing is over." + +"Oh, I shan't interfere with your apology when the time conies," +retorted Collins. + +"I should hope not," said Vernon, still more quietly; then he turned and +entered the inner room. + +"You mustn't push him too hard, Arthur," said Blake, in a low tone, "or +he'll kick over the traces. Remember, he is devilish high-spirited. And +he won't lie." + +"It takes a firm hand to keep him under control; but I'll be careful. +And he won't have to lie. It's confoundedly unfortunate Markeld couldn't +have left his dog at home! Just see how small a thing may affect the +fate of nations!" + +"Don't get philosophical," advised Blake. "There isn't time. Are you +going to send that note?" + +Collins sealed the missive. + +"It's our only chance," he said, decidedly. "Don't you see; we've got to +brazen this thing through. We're in a corner, and there's only one way +out." He went to the door and opened it. "For the Prince of Markeld," he +said, as he handed the note to the man who stood outside. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +An Appeal for Aid + +One can easily guess with what delicious precipitation the Misses +Rushford, having read the note sent to them by Lord Vernon and having +recovered somewhat from the paralysis of amazement into which it had +thrown them, hurried up the stair and sought the privacy of their own +apartment. Here, evidently, was a full-fledged mystery enacting under +their very noses, no trumpery neighbourhood mystery, either, but one of +national--aye, even international--importance! It made them gasp to +think of it; they were even a little frightened. By the touch of a +finger the stage-door had been opened; they had been admitted behind the +scenes--to the inside, as they had longed to be. And the experience was +even more interesting and exciting than they had dared to hope! They +were playing a part, however humble, in the great drama of European +politics! + +"But what can it mean?" Nell demanded, as she read the note for perhaps +the twentieth time. "What can it possibly mean? Why should Lord Vernon +wish to appear ill when he isn't?" + +"I don't suppose he's doing it for fun," observed Susie, sagely. + +"No, of course not," agreed Nell. "There isn't any fun in it that I can +see. But it seems a very remarkable course of action. Some great affair +of state must depend upon it," she added in a tone slightly awe-struck, +for her imagination was beginning to be affected. "He seems awfully +young to hold such an important place," she added. + +"These English statesmen always look younger than they are," said Sue. +"From his pictures, I always imagined that Chamberlain was a +comparatively young man, and here I read somewhere the other day that +he's nearly seventy!" + +"At any rate," concluded Nell, "since it was for our sake Lord Vernon +threw off the mask, so to speak, it is only fair, on our part, to keep +quiet about it. Why do you think he ran away so quickly? It was almost +rude." + +"I thought it quite entirely rude," asserted Sue. "But maybe he saw +somebody coming whom he wished to avoid." + +And then both gasped simultaneously: + +"The owner of the dog!" + +"Of course!" + +"How dense we were!" + +"But who is the owner of the dog? Not an Englishman!" + +"No--a German, I should say." + +"Yes--did you notice his accent? And then he is tall and blond." + +"Distinguished looking; and with an air about him--an autocratic +manner--which makes me think he's a Somebody. He's evidently not used to +being snubbed." + +"It's perfectly maddening!" exclaimed Nell, with brows most becomingly +wrinkled. "If we only knew something of English politics, we might be +able to guess what it is all about." + +"Dad could see through it in a minute," sighed Susie, "but that poor +dear will never have the chance, because, of course, we can't tell even +him. And he likes this sort of thing, too; it would give him just the +excitement he's been sighing for!" + +And yet fate willed that he was to have the chance, for half an hour +later, after a short conference with Monsieur Pelletan, a gentleman whom +we have met before in the apartment of Lord Vernon approached him where +he sat in the smoking-room, drew up a chair, and sat down beside him. + +"This is Mr. Rushford, isn't it?" he asked. + +"Yes; that's my name," and the American looked him over in some +surprise. + +"My name is Collins," went on the other. "I am secretary to Lord +Vernon." + +"Glad to know you, Mr. Collins," and the American held out his hand. "I +hope Lord Vernon's getting along all right." + +"As well as could be expected, thank you; but there has been a little +unforeseen--er--complication--" + +"Nothing serious, I hope?" + +"Well, yes; to be quite frank, Mr. Rushford, I think it decidedly +serious." + +"I'm sorry to hear that," said Rushford, with genuine feeling. "We +Americans have always taken a special pride in Lord Vernon's career--his +mother was an American girl, you know--and his death would be almost a +personal loss to us." + +"His death?" echoed Collins, staring. + +"There's no immediate danger, then? I'm glad of that. Still, if the +complication is as serious as you think--" + +"My dear sir," broke in the Englishman, "you have misunderstood me. Lord +Vernon's health is--er--quite satisfactory, all things considered. The +complication is in--er--a rather delicate affair of state, +which--which--" + +"Anything I can do?" asked Rushford, encouragingly, as the other +stammered and broke down. + +"Yes, there is, Mr. Rushford," answered Collins, quickly, taking his +courage in both hands. "Or, rather, there's something your daughters can +do." + +"My daughters?" Rushford looked at him again, a growing suspicion in his +eyes. "I don't quite understand. You'll have to be more explicit, Mr. +Collins. I don't see how my daughters can have anything to do with your +affairs of state." + +"I am going to be as explicit as I can," Collins assured him, "but it's +such an infernally delicate matter that one hardly knows where to begin. +Of course, what I have to tell you must be told in confidence." + +"All right," said the American, with a little pucker of the brow which +told that he did not wholly like Mr. Collins. 'Fire ahead." + +"First, if you don't mind," said the Englishman, looking about him, "I +think we'd better get out of this crowd." + +"Suppose we go up to my rooms," suggested Rushford, rising. "We'll be +free from interruption there, and can thresh the whole thing out." + +"Thank you," assented Collins. "Of course, I understand," he continued, +in a louder voice, as they started toward the door, "that the question +of stocks is always a very complicated one, and very difficult for a +layman to understand, but a man of your experience--" + +The door of the elevator-car closed behind them, and he stopped. + +"Whose benefit was that for?" asked Rushford. + +"For the benefit of a French police spy, who was trying his best to +overhear our conversation." + +"A police spy? Did you know him?" + +"I know his class; it's impossible to mistake it. They all look +alike--it's a type which even the comic opera has been unable to +burlesque. You probably noticed him--all moustache, imperial, and +lavender gloves." + +"Oh, him? Yes, I've seen him. And I've been rather itching to apply my +boot to his coat-tails. I thought he was a cheap actor--a ten, twenty, +thirty, as we say in America. Do you suppose Pelletan knows him?" + +"Oh, undoubtedly! He's probably boarding him for nothing. These French +police have a way with them." + +Rushford bit his moustache savagely and resolved to have an explanation +with Monsieur Pelletan. + +The car stopped. + +"Here we are," he said, stepping out into the corridor. "You see our +apartment is just over Lord Vernon's. I don't believe even a French +detective can disturb us here," and he locked the door after them as +they entered. "Besides, my daughters will be handy if we decide to call +them in." + +Yet, in spite of the plural pronoun, it was quite evident that he was +the one who proposed to do the deciding. + +"Thank you," said Collins, again. "I hope to show you the necessity of +calling them in. In fact, the principal favour I want to ask of you is +an introduction to them. They can, if they will, save Lord Vernon, and +incidentally the government, a lot of trouble." + +Rushford looked at him with a little stare. + +"In what way?" he asked, motioning him to a chair. + +"It happens," answered Collins, "that, by chance, they hold in their +hands the key to a very important affair of state--nothing less than the +succession to Schloshold-Markheim. They could, if they wished, involve +the government in difficulties of the most serious nature." + +Rushford stared at him yet a moment. Then he settled back in his chair. + +"Have a cigar?" he asked. "No? You won't mind my smoking? I can think +better when I smoke. Now let's have the story; I'm anxious to hear what +those girls have been up to. I'm afraid they need a chaperon, after +all!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Pride has a fall + +Shortly before six o'clock that evening, the door of Lord Vernon's +apartment opened, and the Prince of Markeld appeared on the threshold, +bowed out in the politest manner possible by Blake, Collins, and Sir +John. He crossed the corridor, paused irresolutely at the stairhead, +then went on toward his own rooms, his head bent, his face expressing +the liveliest dissatisfaction: an expression which deepened to disgust +when, on opening his door, he perceived Tellier awaiting him within. + +"He would come in," explained Glück, after a glance at his master's +countenance. "He lied; he said Your Highness was expecting him. Shall I +throw him out?" + +"No," said the Prince, "not yet," and Glück retired to a convenient +distance, confident that his hour would yet arrive. + +The detective, apparently, had no uneasiness concerning the result of +the interview, for his face was beaming with self-importance and he +greeted the Prince with a confidence born of certainty. His eyes asked +the question which his lips were too well-governed and discreet to +articulate. + +"Tellier," began the Prince, abruptly, looking at him with a fiery +glance, "you are either a knave or a fool--a fool, doubtless, since you +seem too stupid to be a knave--and you very nearly made me appear +another!" + +The detective's face dropped suddenly from triumph to humility. + +"I do not understand," he faltered. "Does Your Highness mean--" + +"I mean that that story of yours was a ridiculous lie!" responded the +Prince, brutally, being, indeed, greatly overwrought. "How do I know," +he added, suddenly, "that you did not intentionally deceive me? I have +only your word--what is that worth? How do I know that it was not a +trick--a trick on the part of your government to involve me with +England? That would be like you!" and his hands clenched and unclenched +in a most threatening manner. + +"I swear to Your Highness," protested Tellier, his cheeks livid, his +lips quivering convulsively, "that I told only the truth! On my heart, I +swear it--on my soul--on the grave of my mother. Otherwise, pardieu, +would I have been so imprudent as to remain here awaiting the return of +Your Highness?" + +The Prince's face relaxed a little as he looked at him. + +"No," he agreed, grimly, after a moment. "I don't believe you would. +Yes, you are a fool and not a knave. For I have just seen Lord Vernon +with my own eyes--he is truly ill--sneezing as though his head would +burst, gasping for breath, his eyes running water, cursing even the +friends who nurse him! It was some one else who kicked my dog away. You +have been deceived." + +Tellier was walking up and down the room, tugging at his imperial, at +his hair, biting his nails, shaking his clenched hands at the ceiling in +a very ecstasy of bewilderment. + +"Impossible!" he murmured, hoarsely. "Impossible!" + +"How impossible!" cried the Prince, violently. "Do you presume to +contradict me? Do you dare to dispute my word when I tell you that I +myself have seen Lord Vernon; when I describe his condition to you? He +was most courteous, though he could not speak above a whisper--he +treated me more kindly than I deserved, when one considers the wording +of that note I sent to him, for which I was glad to apologise! One could +see he was in no condition to give me audience--to discuss business of +any kind! He could scarcely sit erect!" + +"Oh, there is some knavery!" cried Tellier, his face purple. "I know it! +I scent it!" + +"You are, then, infallible, I suppose!" retorted the Prince. "His +physician assured me that in a week Lord Vernon would be much +better--nearly well; he suggested that for a week I do not press my +business." + +"But you did not agree!" screamed Tellier. "Your Highness did not +agree!" + +"Most certainly I agreed. Not to agree would have been to insult them +yet a second time!" + +"A week!" groaned Tellier, throwing up his hands, with a gesture of +despair. "Then all is lost!" + +"How lost?" demanded Markeld, red with anger. "In what way lost? Have a +care of what you say!" + +Tellier controlled himself by a mighty effort and managed to speak with +some approach to calmness. + +"The German Emperor will not waste a week, Your Highness. That is not +his way, as you very well know. He will be at work every hour--every +minute!" + +"What can he accomplish, if the British foreign office will do nothing? +Will he take the affair into his own hands? He will not dare!" + +"He might dare, Your Highness; he has dared things more perilous than +that. But how do we know the British foreign office will do nothing?" + +"I tell you," repeated the Prince, hotly, "that Lord Vernon is a +gentleman--something you do not seem to understand; that he is ill-- +something you seem to doubt!" + +"In diplomacy, Your Highness, even a gentleman may sometimes lie, or, at +least, disguise the truth. Perhaps even before this, he has hinted to +the Emperor that he will not interfere, if he acts promptly--perhaps +this illness is merely a ruse to avoid a situation the most awkward." + +It was the Prince's turn to stride up and down, to pluck at his +moustache, to go red and white. + +"If I thought so!" he murmured hoarsely. "If I thought so!" + +"There is some underhand work in progress," cried Tellier, growing more +and more excited; "some trap, some piece of trickery--I know not +what--but I am certain--I will find out!" + +"If I thought so!" said the Prince again, and his face was not pleasant +to look upon. + +"For I repeat to Your Highness that I could not have been mistaken. It +is impossible that I should have been mistaken. I saw Lord Vernon leap +from his chair; I was as near it as I am to you at this moment; I saw +him return to it and hide himself behind his paper, when he saw you +approaching; I waited, and saw his lackeys come after him and lift him +to the invalid chair. If I had not been certain before, I was certain +then! I followed him back to the hotel. Yes!" he added, with sudden +excitement, "and there was another circumstance which will confirm me!" + +"Go on!" commanded Markeld, yielding somewhat before this torrent of +proof. + +"At the door he met the young ladies whom he had rescued--the Americans; +they recognised him--I could see their look of astonishment at +perceiving him in the chair of an invalid, buried in rugs. They stared +after him--the chair stopped--he wrote a few words on a piece of paper +and sent it back to them. They read it with eyes even more astonished." + +"Did you, by any chance, read it also?" inquired the Prince, with a +deceptive calmness. + +"No, Your Highness," Tellier replied, simply, quite unconscious of his +danger. "I saw no way of doing that, unfortunately. I thought of +snatching it away, but that would have created a turmoil, which is +always to be avoided if possible. But Your Highness might easily gain +possession of the note--" + +The Prince stopped him with a fierce gesture of repugnance. + +"Do you know what it is that you have the effrontery to propose to me?" +he demanded. + +The Frenchman paused in mid-sentence and swallowed with difficulty, his +face very red. + +"I am certain," he said, after a moment, "that those young ladies know +it was Lord Vernon who rescued them. They would no doubt confirm this, +if Your Highness would inquire--" + +The Prince strode to the door and flung it open. + +"Do not come back till you can speak without insulting me," he said, +sternly. + +"One moment, Your Highness!" cried Tellier. "But a moment! I have +another proof. Oh, you are wrong not to believe me! You are wrong to +yield to your anger!" + +"The proof!" broke in the Prince, sharply, realising, perhaps, the +justice of the reproach. "The proof! What is it? Speak quickly!" + +"It is this, Your Highness," answered the detective, striving +desperately to steady his voice, to speak intelligibly. "But an hour +ago, the secretary of Lord Vernon was in conference with the father of +those young ladies. He approached him in the smoking-room; he introduced +himself; he sat down; he began a conversation. I should have overheard +everything, but that, unfortunately, he was more clever than I thought. +He suspected me. They went together to Monsieur Rushford's apartment--I +followed, I listened at the keyhole; but they went on into an inner +room, and the outer door was locked, so I could not--" + +The Prince, who had listened to all this with blazing eyes, suddenly +raised his arm with a furious gesture. + +"Glück!" he shouted. + +That faithful servitor appeared on the instant, his face alight with +anticipation. + +"But if there should be a plot!" protested Tellier, hesitating, even +yet, on the threshold. + +"If there is a plot," said the Prince, sternly, "someone shall suffer +for it, depend upon that! But against gentlemen, the proof must be +conclusive. Glück, show him out," and he shut the door upon the unhappy +spy. + +"It would have been well," observed Glück, calmly, coming back after a +moment, "to have thrown him out in the first place." + +"I agree with you," said his master. "You may do so whenever you find +him here again, my friend," and for an instant Glück almost smiled. + +"Will Your Highness dine in your apartment tonight?" he asked. + +The Prince hesitated; then his face relaxed as at some pleasant thought. + +"No, Glück," he said, "I will dine downstairs. Get my bath ready." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +Pelletan's Skeleton + +As he left the dining-room that evening, Rushford crooked an imperious +finger at Monsieur Pelletan. + +"I want a word with you," he said in his ear. + +"In private, monsieur?" asked the little Frenchman, with some +trepidation. + +"Yes, I think it would better be in private--that is, if you can +accomplish it in this bedlam." + +"Oh, I haf a place, monsieur, where no one will intrude," and Pelletan +led the way through the hotel office to a little door back of the desk. +"T'is iss my--vat you call eet in English?--my sty, my kennel--" + +"Your den." + +"Iss t'ere a difference?" asked Pelletan, fumbling with the lock. + +"A sty is for pigs and a kennel for dogs," Rushford explained. "A den +is for wild beasts. These niceties of the English language are not for +you, Pelletan." + +"Still," persisted Pelletan, "a man iss no more a wild beast t'an he iss +a dog or a pig." + +"Not nearly so much so, very often," agreed Rushford, heartily. "You +have me there, Pelletan. Sty would undoubtedly be the right word in many +cases." + +"Fery well, t'en," said Pelletan, proudly, opening the door, "pehold my +sty!" and he stood aside that his companion might enter. + +It was a little square box of a room jammed with such a litter of +bric-à-brac as is to be picked up only on the boulevards--trifles in +Bohemian glass, a lizard stuffed with straw, carved fragments of jade +and ivory, a Sèvres vase bearing the portrait of Du Barry, an Indian +chibook, a pink-cheeked Dresden shepherdess, a sabre of the time of +Napoleon, a leering Hindoo idol, a hideous dragon in Japanese bronze +grimacing furiously at a Barye lion--all of them huddled together +without order or arrangement, as they would have been in an auction room +or an antique shop. In one corner stood a low table of Italian mosaic, +bearing a somewhat battered statuette of Saint Geneviève plying her +distaff, and the walls were fairly covered with photographs-- +photographs, for the most part, of women more anxious to display their +charms of person to an admiring world than to observe the rigour of +convention. + +Rushford dropped into one of the two chairs, got out a cigar, lighted +it, and sat for some moments looking around at this wilderness of +gimcracks. + +"Pelletan, you're a humbug," he said at last. "You came to me yesterday +and said your last franc was gone." + +"Unt so it wass, monsieur." + +"But this collection ought to be worth something." + +"Monsieur means t'at it might pe sold?" + +"Undoubtedly." + +"But monsieur does not know--does not understand. Tis--all t'is--iss my +life; eet iss here t'at I liff--not out t'ere," with a gesture of +disgust toward the door. "I could no more liff wit'out t'is t'an wit'out +my head!" + +Rushford, looking at him curiously, saw that he was in deadly earnest. + +"Really," he said, "you surprise me, Pelletan. I had never suspected in +you such depth of soul." + +"Besides, monsieur," added Pelletan, leaning forward, "t'ese t'ings are +not all what t'ey seem--t'is dragon, par exemple, ees not off bronze, +but off t'e plaster of Paris--yet I lofe eet none t'e less--more, +perhaps, because off t'at fery fact." + +"And these--ah--females," said Rushford, and waved his hand at the +serried photographs, "I suppose even they are necessary to your +existence." + +"I lofe to look at t'em, monsieur," confessed Pelletan. + +"Personal acquaintances, perhaps." + +"Not all of t'em, monsieur; but t'ey haf about t'em t'e flavour off +Paris--off t'at tear Paris off which I tream each night; t'ey recall t'e +tays off my yout'!" + +"Oh, are you a Parisian? I should never have suspected it. Your +accent--" + +"I am off Elsass, monsieur. It wass, perhaps, for t'at reason t'at Paris +so won my heart." + +"If I were as fond of the place as all that," observed Rushford, +laughing, "I'd have stayed there." + +"It proke my heart to leafe," murmured Pelletan. "T'at is why I lofe all +t'is," and he motioned to the walls, and kissed his hand to a +voluptuous siren with red hair. "T'at is Ernes tine. Tonight she will +take her part at t'e Alcazar; at t'e toor a friend will meet her unt +t'ey will go toget'er down t'e Champs-Elysées to t'e grand boulevard, +where t'ey sit in front of Pousset's and trink t'eir wine unt eau +sucree. T'ey will watch t'e crowds, t'ey will greet t'eir friends, t'ey +will exchange t'e tay's news. T'en t'ey will go to tinner--six or eight +of t'em toget'er--een a leetle room at Maxime's, where t'ey can make so +much noise as pleases t'em--only I will not pe t'ere--in all t'at great +city, nowhere will I pe! Unt I am missed, monsieur, no more t'an iss a +grain of sand from t'e peach out yonder!" + +His voice trembled and broke, and he ran his hands through his hair in a +very agony of despair. + +"There, there," said Rushford, soothingly, repressing an inclination to +laugh at the grotesque figure before him. "Don't take it so much to +heart. I dare say they drink your health oftener than you imagine." + +"Do you really t'ink so, monsieur?" asked Pelletan, brightening. + +"And, depend upon it, you'll get back to them some day," continued the +American. "Only stay here a year or two until you've made your fortune, +as you're certain to do now." + +"Yess, monsieur," agreed Pelletan, huskily. "T'anks to you!" + +"In the meantime," added Rushford, smiling, "keep the ladies, if you +like to look at them. Your little foibles are no affair of mine. What I +wanted to speak to you about was a matter of business. There's a +blatant, detestable French spy in the house who has got to get out. He +even had the impudence to ogle my girls at dinner this evening. Shall I +kick him out, or will you attend to the matter?" + +Pelletan had grown paler at every word until he was fairly livid. + +"Iss eet Monsieur Tellier to whom monsieur refers?" he stammered. + +"I don't know his name, but he looks like a freak from the wax-works. +He's got to go--he's nearly as bad as Zeit-Zeit." + +Pelletan mopped his shining forehead and groaned dismally. + +"What is it, man?" demanded the American. "Don't tell me that this +rascal has a hold on you!" + +Pelletan groaned again, more dismally than before. + +"I was told this afternoon," added Rushford, grimly, "that he was +probably staying here at my expense." + +"Eet iss not so!" cried Pelletan, his eyes flashing. "I pay for +heem--efery tay I charge myself mit' twenty franc for hees account." + +"But what on earth for?" demanded Rushford. "What have you done--robbed +a bank or committed murder?" + +Pelletan glanced around to assure himself that the door was tightly +closed, then drew his chair nearer to his patron. + +"I haf a wife," he said, slowly, in a sepulchral tone. + +"Well, what of it? Is that a crime in France? I could almost believe +it!" + +"I could not liff mit' her no longer," continued Pelletan. "She wass a +teufel! I leafe her!" + +"Oh, that's it--so you ran away?" + +"Yess, monsieur, I ran avay--avay from Paris--avay from France--I +t'ought efen of going to Amérique." + +"Was she so bad as all that?" asked Rushford, sympathetically. + +For answer, Pelletan went to the statue of Saint Geneviève, lifted it, +and took from beneath it a photograph. + +"T'is iss she, monsieur," he said, and handed the photograph to +Rushford. + +The latter took one look at it and passed it back. + +"Not guilty!" he said. "You have my profound sympathy, Pelletan. How did +you happen to get caught? You must have been exceedingly young!" + +"I wass, monsieur," admitted Pelletan, with a sigh. "I wass just from +t'e province--my head wass full of treams. Unt she wass petter-looking, +t'en, monsieur; she wass almost slim. She wass a widow--unt besides she +had a leetle pâtisserie which her man had left her." + +"I see--avarice was your undoing. And you caught a tartar!" + +"A teufel!" repeated Pelletan. "A fiend! Oh, what an end to t'e tream! I +worked--oh, how hard I worked--sweating at t'e ovens, efery hour of t'e +twenty-four--for t'e ovens must not pe allowed to cool. She sat at t'e +money-drawer unt grows fat; I wass soon so weak t'at she tid not +hesitate to--to--" + +The little man's face was bathed in sweat at the memory of that +degradation, which his tongue refused to describe. + +"I endured eet to t'e last moment," he added, thickly. "T'en I fled!" + +"You seem to have alighted on your feet," remarked Rushford. + +"We had made a success of t'e pusiness," Pelletan explained, "unt I +brought mit me my share of t'e profits, which seemed only fair, since I, +py my labour, had earned t'em. Unt t'en I took a lease of t'is place, +unt did well until t'is year. T'at iss my whole history, monsieur. T'at +iss why I dare not return to Paris, efen for a small visit in winter +when pusiness here iss pad. Eef she so much as caught one leetle glimpse +of me, she would murder me!" and he mopped his face again. + +"Still," said the American, "I don't see where Tellier comes in." + +Pelletan carefully replaced the photograph under the statuette and then +reseated himself opposite his companion. + +"Tellier knows her," he explained, simply. + +"Met her professionally, perhaps," suggested Rushford. "Well, what of +it?" + +"Eef I offend heem, he gifes her my attress!" continued Pelletan, +hoarsely, and his forehead glistened again at the thought. "He +t'reatened as much when he arrife here unt I tol' him t'e house wass +full." + +"Hm!" commented Rushford. "I see. All right; I'll stand by you. I dare +say I can stomach Tellier for a day or two." + +Pelletan breathed a deep sigh of relief. + +"Tat iss kind," he stammered; "I--I--" + +"There, there," and the American waved him to silence. "And you needn't +charge yourself with his keep. But I hope you haven't any more skeletons +in the closet, my friend." + +"Skeletons, monsieur?" + +"Such as Madame Pelletan." + +"Oh," said the Frenchman, naively, "Madame Pelletan iss quite t'e +opposite off a skeleton, monsieur!" + + * * * * * + +Rushford paused at the hotel door and looked out along the Digue. It was +thronged with people hurrying toward the Casino, eager for the night's +excitement. But the American turned in the opposite direction, and +sauntered slowly along, breathing in the cool breeze from the ocean. At +last he paused, and, leaning against the balustrade, stood gazing out +across the moonlit water, smiling to himself at thought of Pelletan's +vicissitudes. + +He was roused by the sound of voices on the beach below him. He looked +down mechanically, but for a moment saw no one. Then, deep in the shadow +of the wall, he descried two figures walking slowly side by side. One +was a man and the other a woman. They were talking in a French so rapid +and idiomatic that Rushford could distinguish no word of it, except +that the man addressed his companion as Julie. + +There was something strangely familiar about the figure of the man, and +as Rushford stared down at him, his vision seemed suddenly too clear and +he perceived that it was the French detective. + +"Tellier prosecutes his loves," he murmured, smiling grimly to himself, +and turned back toward the hotel. There he stopped, struck by a sudden +thought. "Julie," he repeated. "Julie--where have I heard that name +recently? Oh, I remember--Julie is our maid at the hotel. I wonder--" + +He went back abruptly to the parapet and looked over, but Tellier and +his companion had disappeared. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +An Introduction and a Promenade + +Warm and fair dawned the morning; and having, at its leisure, duly +arisen, bathed and breakfasted, the unemployed population of +Weet-sur-Mer, male and female, sallied forth to throng the beach and +Digue, to inhale the fresh air, to shake off so far as possible the +effects of the evening's dissipations, and to exchange such toadstool +growths of gossip as had sprung up over night. + +To join this parade there presently came Lord Vernon, reclining +languidly in his invalid chair, and muffled in many rugs; but his eyes +were eagerly alert and he gazed with evident anticipation down the long +promenade of the Digue. He was attended by Blake, Collins, and Sir John, +all of them determined, no doubt, to prevent a second contretemps. But +Sir John presently descried a learned fellow-Aesculapian and stopped for +a chat with him; while Blake soon afterward succumbed to the glance and +smile of a red-cheeked English beauty. Collins, however, stuck grimly to +his post, being above--or below--such human weaknesses. + +"There they are!" cried Vernon, suddenly, with brightening eyes. + +"Who?" asked Collins, following his gaze. "Oh, the Rush ford girls. I +suppose it will be polite to show our gratitude. I think we owe them a +vote of thinks, don't you?" + +"I certainly do," agreed Vernon, straightening himself in his chair with +a vigour which had nothing of the invalid about it. "Will you introduce +me?" + +"If I can snare them without being too intrusive," assented Collins, +who, since the success of his stratagem of the afternoon before, had +been in an unusually complaisant mood. + +But fate willed that they should be snared without any effort on his +part whatever, for just then a porter came by with a truck piled high +with luggage, and it and the invalid chair combined to form an impasse +from which there was no escaping. Not that either of the young ladies +displayed any very evident anxiety to escape. + +"Good-morning," said Collins, in his best manner. "My lord," he +continued, turning to his companion, "these are the Misses Rushford, to +whom we owe so much. I hope I may introduce Lord Vernon to you," he +added. + +Both of them were laughing as they took, in turn, the hand which Vernon +rather eagerly held out. + +"I'm awfully glad to meet you," he said, looking from one to the other +and trying to decide which was the prettier. "I feel that we _do_ owe +you a great deal. When Collins came back yesterday afternoon and told me +what he'd had the impudence to ask you, I was--I was--" + +"Very wrathy, to put it mildly," said Collins. "But I took it meekly; it +was in a good cause." + +"And we didn't think it impudent at all," said Sue. "Since we had caused +all the trouble, it was only fair that we should bear a part of it. +Besides, it wasn't by any means so difficult as Mr. Collins thought it +would be." + +"You don't mean that Markeld actually asked you! I didn't believe he'd +do that, despite Collins's prophecy. He seemed to have too much of high +politeness about him." + +"I was sure he would," put in Collins, triumphantly. "He couldn't afford +to neglect such an obvious way of making certain, and he's much too +clever to have overlooked it." + +"You were quite right, Lord Vernon," said Susie, very quietly, though +there was a dangerous sparkle in her eyes. "The Prince did not ask +us--but a French creature did--a detective--" + +"One of his emissaries," suggested Collins. "I know him--his name is +Tellier." + +"I have no reason to think him an emissary," retorted Susie, curtly, +beginning to dislike the secretary. "I don't in the least believe the +Prince would choose such a one. Dad pointed him out to us in the +dining-room last night--a thing of mustachios and eyes--just the kind +one sees at the vaudeville, but which I hadn't the least idea existed in +real life.--Oh!" she cried, with a little start, "there he is now, +almost near enough to hear!" + +Collins swore softly between his teeth, for there, indeed, Monsieur +Tellier was, leaning with elaborate negligence against the balustrade, +apparently intent upon the crowd below. His countenance was quite +inscrutable--calm as a summer day--which might mean much or nothing, for +he had an immense pride in keeping it always so. Vernon took him in +with a quick glance. + +"I recognise the type," he said. "Can't we go on, Miss Rushford? Collins +might form a rear guard. And James is blind, deaf, and dumb toward +everything that doesn't concern him," he added, as she glanced at the +stalwart footman behind the chair. "I'm very anxious to hear the story. +But, of course, if it's asking too much--" + +"It isn't," answered Susie, promptly, and fell in beside the chair, +while Collins and her sister followed at a distance of a few paces. +"Now, I think, we can talk without fear of being overheard by Monsieur +Tellier. But there is really very little to tell. He sent up his card +just before dinner yesterday evening; we sent it back. Then, being +persistent and not easily snubbed, he sent up a note which asked 'Are +the Misses Rushford acquainted with the gentleman who came to their +assistance this afternoon?' To which the Misses Rushford added a line, +'They are not,' and sent it back to him. It was too absurd. It reminded +me of the agony column in the _Herald_." + +"The agony column?" + +"Yes--'Will the lady dressed in blue, who took a Broadway car +yesterday,'--and so on." + +"Oh," said Vernon, with a smile. "Yes--we have the same thing in +England." + +"And, after all," continued Susie, "our reply was the exact and literal +truth--of a kind which, I should imagine, is well known to diplomats." + +The occupant of the chair had quite made up his mind that Susie was the +prettier. + +"It is their favourite kind," he assured her; "nothing delights them +more than to lie while telling the truth." + +"Them? But aren't you a diplomat?" + +"There are many who doubt it. Perhaps they will doubt it more than ever +before we are out of this tangle. It's awfully good of you and your +sister to take an interest in it." + +"But of course we'd take an interest!" + +"And keep a secret." + +"Ah--well, perhaps that _is_ a little unusual." + +"Especially after my rudeness," he added. + +"Your rudeness?" + +"In running away and hiding behind my paper. What did you think of me?" + +"We didn't know what to think," admitted Susie, candidly; "though, of +course, afterwards we were able to guess." + +"And I am pardoned?" + +"Oh, quite; you had to escape, you know. It's a perfectly delightful +muddle, isn't it? Dad understood it at once." + +"Did he?" The occupant of the chair moved a little uneasily. + +"Yes--we talked it over, you know, after Mr. Collins left. But then dad +is up on politics and we are not. Only it's a little rough on the +Prince of Markeld, don't you think?" + +"Yes, it _is_ rough on him, but--well, it would be rougher to turn him +down--rougher on all concerned!" + +"You'd have to turn him down? But there; I mustn't meddle with affairs +of state!" + +"Sentiment hasn't much show in the foreign office," said Vernon, with +some bitterness; "not even the sentiment of friendship. We're trying to +find the easiest way out." + +Susie nodded, her eyes sparkling. This was a new and delicious +experience, this weighing the fate of nations, as it were. She even +skipped a little, unconscious of Lord Vernon's eyes upon her glowing +face. + +"Of course," she agreed, judicially, "I suppose one must always try to +find the easiest way out. Only dad seemed to think--" + +She hesitated. + +"Go ahead," he encouraged her. "I don't doubt that your father was +entirely right." + +"Well, then, dad seemed to think that Prince Ferdinand is much the +better of the two men." + +"There is no question of that," assented Lord Vernon, gloomily. "But let +me put a case, Miss Rushford. Suppose your best friend were set upon by +thieves and just as you started to help him, another thief came up +behind you and, putting a pistol to your head, commanded you to stand +still. What would you do?" + +"I'd stand still," laughed Sue. + +"Yes; but your friend can't see the thief behind you, and when he sees +you standing there, not offering to help him, he thinks you are a coward +and a traitor. Perhaps he tells you so in the most emphatic language at +his command." + +"It would be a very difficult position," agreed Sue, still laughing at +the picture presented by the words. "On second thought, I don't believe +I'd stand still for long; I'd try to give my thief a knock-out blow and +then go help my friend." + +"But you would have to wait till your thief was off his guard. Well, +that is pretty much the position that England is in, as I understand it. +Prince Ferdinand is our friend, but we've got to wait till the man with +the pistol makes a false move. We're doing the best we can--and in the +meantime, Prince Ferdinand's misguided friends are calling us hard +names." + +"But," inquired Susie, "who is the man with the pistol? He must be a +pretty big fellow to be able to hold you prisoner, and yet I must +confess that I'm like Prince Ferdinand--I can't perceive him, either." + +Lord Vernon hesitated a moment. + +"I'm afraid, Miss Rushford," he said, slowly, at last, "that I can't +tell you, just yet. I'd like to, but if I did, I'd have all these +diplomatic sharps down on me in short order. I thought maybe you could +guess." + +"Oh, don't apologise!" cried Susie. "I hadn't any right to ask. +Though," she added, regretfully, "I'm not at all good at guessing." + +Lord Vernon smiled as he looked at her. + +"I don't think we'll have any more trouble," he said. "Markeld and I +have called a truce for a week, and by that time--" + +He paused again, evidently on the verge of another indiscretion. Chance +saved him the necessity of going on, for at that moment a tall, military +figure loomed ahead, approached, hesitated, stopped, and uncovered. + +"I hope I see you better this morning, Lord Vernon," said a pleasant +voice. + +"Why, yes, thank you, Your Highness," answered Vernon, colouring a +little. "I feel much better. Let me introduce to you Miss Rushford," he +added, catching the other's admiring glance and interpreting it aright. +"Miss Rushford, this is the Prince of Markeld." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +The Prince Gains an Ally + +So it presently came to pass that Susie Rushford found herself walking +on with the Prince of Markeld, while Nell took her place beside the +invalid's chair. Five minutes later, Vernon had revised his judgment and +decided that Nell was far the handsomer--she had the air, somehow, which +one associates with duchesses, but which, alas! is, in reality, so +seldom theirs. She was just a little regal, just a little awe-inspiring, +so that to win a smile impressed one as, in a way, an achievement. +Vernon had won several before they had been long together, and felt his +heart growing strangely, deliciously warm within him. + +As to Sue--if we may pause to analyse her feelings--she, too, had been +for the first moment impressed. The Prince was so visibly a Highness; +every line of him expressed it, not consciously, but inevitably, from +the blood out. So, after a glance or two, she walked along beside him +rather humbly and very silent, not in the least as the proverbial +American girl should have done! Then she stole another glance at him and +saw that he was twisting his moustache in evident perplexity. + +"You may have perceived," he said, at last, with that slight formality +of utterance which Sue thought very taking, "that I was most desirous of +meeting you, Miss Rushford." + +"I believe I _did_ discern a sort of royal command in your eye," +assented Susie, feeling suddenly at ease with him. He was evidently a +mere man, even though he were a prince. + +"Yes," he continued, "I felt that I owed you and your sister a more +complete apology than it was possible for me to make yesterday without +impertinence. You see I am unaccompanied to-day." + +"Poor Jax!" laughed Susie. + +"I suspect," the Prince continued, "that I somehow offended you when I +offered you the dog." + +"Oh, you perceived it, did you?" and she flashed an ironic glance upon +him. + +"Yes--though I could not in the least guess in what the offence +consisted." + +"My dear sir," said Sue, tartly, "American girls are not in the habit of +accepting gifts from utter strangers." + +"Not even from--from--" + +He stopped, at a loss for a word which would express his meaning without +absurdity. + +"No, not even from Royal Highnesses," she added, interpreting his +thought. "Besides, you know, in America we haven't any." + +The Prince walked on in silence for a moment, his brow knit in +meditation. + +"Your last sentence explains it," he said, at last. "You have in +America no class whose prerogative it is to bestow gifts, and, in +consequence, you do not accept them as a matter of course. With us a +gift is a conventional thing, like shaking hands." + +"I wasn't trying to explain it," said Susie, with a little sigh of +despair, "or to defend it--but let it go." Then, with a flash of +mischief,--"Are you frequently called upon?" + +"There are occasions almost every day which demand them of us," answered +the Prince, soberly, missing the glance. + +"Poor man! And the affair of yesterday was one of them? Forgive me if I +am rude; but it is all so new and interesting!" + +"It seemed only right," explained the Prince, "that I should compensate +you in some way for the annoyance I had caused you." + +The words were said so candidly and simply that the ironical smile +faded from Susie's lips and she was silent for a moment. + +"I think the American way the nicer," she said at last, decisively. "An +American would have considered an apology ample reparation. With us a +gift means something--it has a sentimental value. Besides, girls are +never permitted to accept gifts of value. Flowers are the only things +which may be given them." + +"Flowers!" repeated the Prince, eagerly, looking at her. + +"And only by their nearest, dearest friends," added Susie, hastily. + +"Well, it is a very different point of view," said the Prince, the light +fading from his face. "I have even heard that in America there are +workmen who consider a tip an insult." + +"It's unthinkable, isn't it? And yet, I'm proud to say, it's true. I may +add that many Americans feel humiliated when they offer a tip to a +man--it's like branding him with a badge of servility." + +"I must confess," said the Prince, "that such an attitude seems to me +absurd. What other badge than that of servility shall the servant wear?" + +"He need wear no badge, if he does his work honestly and well," retorted +Susie, hotly. "There is nothing disgraceful in service." + +"No," agreed the Prince, with some hesitation, "perhaps not; nor, for +that matter, is there anything disgraceful in a badge. But I have not +said what I wished to say, which was that I hope you believe my offence +was wholly unintentional and that you pardon me." + +"I am not vindictive," answered Sue, smiling at his earnest tone, "and +therefore you are pardoned. But it seems unjust that Jax should suffer +imprisonment." + +"Oh, he will get his outing, but with Glück, who is less absent-minded. +Yesterday, I had much to occupy me." + +"And to-day?" + +"Not so much. I am resting on my oars." + +"Yes," said Susie, and contented herself with the monosyllable. She was +keenly on the alert; determined not to betray Lord Vernon's confidence, +yet, at the same time, desirous of helping, in some way, her companion. +She distinctly approved of him. Then, too, she had somehow got the +impression that the other side was not playing fairly, and her whole +American spirit revolted against unfairness. + +"I should like to tell you about it," he began, with a sudden burst of +confidence. "But perhaps you know?" + +"I know some of it. I can guess that it means a great deal to you." + +"It does--more than you can guess; I think. Not so much to me, +personally, as to our people. I believe that I am speaking only the +exact truth when I say that it will be much better for the people of +Schloshold-Markheim if our branch of the house is recognised and not the +other. Our branch has been, in a way, for many years, progressive; the +other is and always has been--well--conservative." + +He had the air of searching for a word that would not go beyond the +truth; Susie, glancing at him, decided that he had chosen one which fell +far short of it. + +"We have a certain claim of kinship and friendship upon England," he +added, "and we are very anxious to enlist her aid, even though we lose +this time; for there may soon be another vacancy. The head of the other +branch has no heir and is not well." + +He might have added that the August Prince George, of Schloshold, was +hovering on the verge of dissolution as the result of forty years' +corruption--a corruption of which not all the waters of the Empire +could cleanse him; but there are some things which are better left +unsaid. + +"Who is it that is opposed to you in all this?" asked Sue. + +"The German Emperor," said the Prince, simply. "He is not always in +sympathy with--ah--progress." + +"So he is the man with the pistol!" said Susie, thoughtfully. + +"The--I beg your pardon," and the Prince looked at her in some surprise. + +"It is nothing," said Susie, hastily, colouring under his eyes. "I was +merely thinking aloud--thinking of a story. Pardon me. Will you tell me +some more?" + +"There is not much more to tell. Only, we fear that if we are not given +an opportunity to present our claims this time, we may be forgotten the +next. Prince George might possibly try to name a successor--we have even +understood that he already considers doing so--that this, indeed, is +the price he has agreed to pay the Emperor for his support--though this, +of course, is strictly entre nous. You see I am trusting you." + +"Thank you," answered Susie, simply; but there was that in her voice and +glance which told how she would deserve the confidence. And, on the +instant, a great yearning leaped warm into her heart. If she could help +this people to the ruler they needed most; if she could somehow turn the +scale, so delicately balanced! There would be a task worth doing; an +achievement to be proud of all her life! And she trembled a little at +the thought that to her, Susie Rushford, fate had given such an +opportunity! + +But Markeld, apparently, had had enough of high politics, or perhaps he +found it difficult to keep his mind on them with Susie's dark eyes +looking up at him. He was no novice in womankind; he had known many, +high and low; but there was in his companion something different, +something appealing, something fresh, invigorating, which he had felt +from the first, in a vague way, without quite understanding. Princes may +be outspoken when they please, and he was so at this moment. + +"I was glad of to-day's meeting not only that I might apologise," he +said, with a calmness which rather took his companion's breath away, +"but because you interested me. I have heard much of American women, but +all that I have heretofore been privileged to meet seemed to me to +resent being called Americans. You and your sister, on the other hand, +appear to be rather proud of it." + +"I don't know whether that is intended as a compliment or the reverse," +said Susie, "but it is undoubtedly true." + +"It was that which interested me," he went on. "It indicated such an +unspoiled point of view--a freshness which I fear the Old World is +losing." + +"Thank you," retorted Susie, gasping a little. "You have honoured us, I +see, with a very careful study. I can respond by saying that there is in +your manner a certain freshness which I do not like," and she shot him a +fiery glance. At the moment, he was rather too evidently the Prince. + +"I am sorry you find me displeasing," he said, looking at her gravely. +Perhaps she was, at the moment, just the merest shade too evidently the +American girl. "I hope the impression is one which will change when you +know me better." + +"Am I to have that pleasure?" + +"I intend to ask your father if I may call upon you." + +Susie gasped again. She felt that she was being swept beyond her depth +by a current which she was powerless to resist; that she was beating +with bare hands against a wall of incredible height and thickness--the +wall of Old World convention, of class imperturbability. And she felt a +little frightened, for almost the first time in her life. + +"Do," she said faintly, realising that her companion was waiting for her +to speak. + +"I think that I shall like him," he added. + +"Oh, do you know him?" + +"'I was looking at him last night at dinner," he explained, calmly. "He +seems a very interesting man. I looked at all of you a great deal--more +than was perhaps quite polite. I feared you had perceived it." + +"No," murmured Susie, desperately, telling a white lie. + +"Tellier told me you were Americans--but I should have known it anyway." + +"Tellier!" she repeated, turning upon him fiercely, welcoming the +opportunity to create a diversion. "Then he _was_ your emissary! And to +think that I defended you!" + +"My emissary?" he stammered. "Defended me?" + +"Yes, when--when--some one said you had sent him to us--" + +"Sent him to you!" he cried, flushing darkly. "Do you mean to say that +he has been annoying you?" + +"It was almost that." + +"Ah!" he said. "Ah!" and he grasped his stick in a way that boded ill +for Monsieur Tellier. + +Susie, glancing up at him, thought it very fine. He was such a volcano, +and there was such a fearful pleasure in stirring him up--in skipping +over the thin crust with a lively consciousness of the boiling lava +beneath! + +"Then you didn't send him?" she inquired, sweetly. + +"Send him! Miss Rushford, do you think for a moment that I would be so +rude, so impertinent? Tell me you do not think so!" + +"I _didn't_ think so," said Sue, biting her lip, a little fearfully. "I +even defended you, as I have said. But now--" + +"But now--" + +His eyes seemed to burn her; she dared not look up and meet them. She +even regretted that she had begun to play with fire. + +"But now," he repeated, insistently, imperatively. + +"No, I don't think so now," she said, with a little catch of the breath. +Then she glanced up at him, and instantly looked away. He should not act +so; every one would notice; it was very embarrassing! + +"That is kind of you," he said, in a low voice. + +"Though," she added, reprovingly, glad to find a joint in his armour, "I +am surprised that you should discuss me in any way whatever with that +creature!" + +"You are right!" he agreed, flushing hotly. "You are quite right. But +the temptation was very great, and I wanted to know so badly. I beg you +to believe that I regretted it an instant later. I do not want that you +should think of me as like that!" + +"Perhaps I would better not think of you at all," ventured Sue. Ah, what +a fascination there is in fire! + +"That would be still more unbearable!" he protested; his eyes were very +bright and he was bending down a little that he might the better see the +face under the broad hat. + +"The view from here, I think, is very beautiful," she remarked, +incoherently. + +"No doubt," agreed the Prince, but he didn't take the trouble to look at +it. + +"He's a survival of the dark ages," said Susie to herself, "when they +just snatched up girls and ran off with them!" Then aloud, "Have you +ever been here before?" + +"Never before." + +"Do you like it?" + +"Oh, very much!" His eyes would have told her why; but she could guess +without looking. + +"I suppose you usually go to one of the larger places?" + +"It is one of the traditions of our family that at least a month must be +spent at Ostend." + +"What a shame that the tradition should be broken!" + +"On the contrary, I bless the circumstance that shattered it. Do you +know, Miss Rushford, I have never before realised what a tremendously +lucky fellow I am? I must pour a libation to the god of chance!" + +"It's a goddess, isn't it?" she asked, and regretted the question the +next instant. + +"You are right," he agreed, his eyes blazing. "A goddess! You have +found the word. A goddess! And such a goddess!" + +Fortunately, they had reached the end of the promenade, and as they +paused at the balustrade, Nell and Lord Vernon joined them, saving Susie +from a situation which had slipped entirely beyond her control. + +Evidently Nell, too, had been having her difficulties, for she +telegraphed her sister a desire to change places. So, on the homeward +journey, despite the very apparent unwillingness of the men, Sue walked +beside the invalid chair and Nell accompanied the Prince; and while both +seemed gay enough--even unnaturally gay, perhaps--I dare say they found +that the situation had lost a certain interest; for every danger has its +fascination, every hazard its piquancy. + +"I am not sure," observed Susie, reflectively, as they went up the stair +together, "that I approve of princes. They are too self-assured; they +carry things with too high a hand. They are evidently too much +accustomed to having their own way." + +"It seems to be a characteristic of lords, also," said Nell, with a +little sigh. + +"What they need is a vigorous calling down. Well, that ought not to be +so difficult!" and the dark eyes snapped ominously. + +"Though, perhaps, it's hardly worth the trouble," suggested Nell. + +"Perhaps not," assented her sister; but half an hour later she waylaid +her father to give him her commands. "Dad," she said, "if the Prince of +Markeld asks you for permission to call, you'll tell him he may. It's +just one of these odious Old World customs." + +"So I judged," smiled her father. "He seems a nice fellow, and so when +he asked me ten minutes ago, I told him we'd be glad to see him." + +"Did--did he mention any particular time?" faltered Sue. + +"Why, yes, now I think of it, I believe he said something about this +evening." + +"Oh!" gasped Susie, and then closed her lips tightly together. "Well," +she said to herself, as she turned away, "he hasn't lost any time, to be +sure! I'm afraid he's worse than I thought!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +Events of the Night + +Life at Weet-sur-Mer, as at most other places of its class, swung in a +round prescribed by custom, as fixed and predestined as the courses of +the stars. In the late morning occurred the promenade, taken as a brisk +constitutional by a few, but by the great majority as a languid stroll +designed to create an appetite for luncheon. That meal was followed by a +period of torpor, then every one sought the beach--the high, the low; +the rich, the poor; the dowdy and the well-dressed; the virgin in white +and the cocotte in scarlet; the thin and the obese; the French, the +Dutch, the Italian--yea, and the angular English, for Weet-sur-Mer +attracted a crowd as hybrid as its name! There they amused themselves +each after his own fashion, with dignity or abandon, as the case might +be. They could not be said to mingle in the way that an American crowd +would have done under like circumstances--the elements of society in an +aristocratic country are as incapable of mingling as oil and water. The +oil floated placidly on top, while the water disported itself +contentedly beneath. + +The oil, to preserve the simile, consisted, in the first place, of a +number of self-important individuals stalking solemnly up and down, +seemingly unconscious of the fact that they were not as solitary as +Crusoe; and, in the second place, of certain solid, cohesive groups, +presenting to the world a front as impenetrable and threatening as any +Austrian phalanx, and guarding in their midst two or three young girls +who must, at any hazard, be kept unspotted from the world. Strange to +say, the girls appeared contented, even happy; the position seemed to +them, no doubt, the normal one for them to occupy--and they could, of +course, look forward with certainty to the opening of the prison door +when a marriage should be arranged for them. They order this matter +better in Europe; or, at least, differently, for there, as a discerning +observer has pointed out, marriage means always that a woman is taken +down from the shelf, while with us, alas, too often! that she is placed +upon it, never to be removed! + +To this class, too, belonged certain obese women and emaciated men +sitting, in couples, under the gay sunshades with which the beach was +bright. The women were dressed always in gowns which, however ornate, +were not quite new, not quite fresh, not quite clean; and the black +coats of the men were a little shiny at the elbow, a little faded at the +seams. But madame still took care to preserve such figure as unkind fate +had left her; and monsieur still kept his moustaches waxed to a needle's +point; and they sat there together, quite immovable, for hours at a +time, staring drearily out toward the horizon, meditating, no doubt, +over past glories, or arranging some coup by which their fortunes might +be retrieved. Pride will slip from them gradually, as the years pass; +madame will abandon her figure and monsieur his moustaches, and they +will end their days miserably in some second- or third-rate +pension--even, perhaps, the Maison Vauquer! + +The water was more interesting, being at once more natural and lively. +With it there was no question of maintaining the equilibrium of its +position; there was no need of air or artifice; there was none of that +heartburning with which the latest Pontifical Princess smilingly +swallows the insolence of the descendant (à la main gauche) of the Great +Henri, happy to have been noticed, even though to be noticed meant +inevitably to be snubbed. There was a freedom about the water, an honest +vulgarity, a quality as of Rabelais, refreshingly in contrast with the +hot-house manners and morals of the haute noblesse. Madame need not +hesitate to cross her legs, if she found that attitude comfortable; +monsieur could at once remove coat, waist-coat, collar, cuffs, if he +found the weather warm. + +Families whose size testified to their bourgeois respectability, lolled +in happy promiscuity upon the sands; the children constructed forts or +canals, the women tore some neighbour's reputation to pieces, the men +lay back lazily and smoked and kept an eye out for the bathers. + +There were always many scores of them, belonging principally to that +strange and tragic half-world which hangs suspended, like Mahomet's +coffin, between earth and heaven, or, at least, between mass and class, +and which stretches out its tentacles and sucks nourishment from both. +These with a regularity almost religious, spent an hour of every day, +weather permitting, splashing in the gentle surf or posing on the beach +in costumes more or less revealing, according to the contour of the +wearer. The climax of the afternoon, the coup-de-théâtre which all +awaited, was the appearance of Mlle. Paul, late of the Variétés. This +was such a masterpiece in its way that it is worth pausing a moment to +describe. + +Suddenly the door of her bathing-machine, which has been drawn just to +the water's edge, is flung open, and she appears on the threshold, +wrapped in a white sheet with a red border, producing a toga-like effect +not ungraceful. She hesitates an instant, and casts a startled glance +over the crowd of onlookers, then trips modestly down the steps. With a +little frisson, she casts the sheet from her and stands revealed--well, +perhaps not quite as Eve was to Adam, but so nearly so that the +difference is scarcely worth remarking. She glances down at her shapely +legs and then again at the entranced spectators. + +"C'est convenable, j'espère hein?" she murmurs, and her bald-headed +cicisbeo, who has taken possession of her sheet, hastens to assure her +that all is well. + +Whereupon, her doubts thus happily set at rest, she wades out to the +diving-board, mounts it leisurely, stands poised for an instant at the +outermost end, and then dives gracefully into the expectant billows. +This she does at intervals for perhaps an hour, the supreme instant for +the onlookers being that in which her glowing body, shimmering white +through its single clinging garment, is outlined in mid-air against the +sky. But finally Mademoiselle grows weary and returns to her machine, +where the gallant and attentive gentleman previously referred to +patiently awaits her--deus ex machina in more senses than one! The other +bathers gradually disappear and the crowd melts imperceptibly away. The +show is over. + +But though all this was no doubt sufficiently diverting, Weet-sur-Mer +was never gloriously, aggressively awake until the sun went down. The +diversions of the day depended wholly upon the weather--a dash of rain, +a wind from the north, and, pouf! they were not thought of. + +Not so the festivities of the night. Nothing short of an earthquake +could interfere with them. It was for the night that most of the +sojourners at Weet-sur-Mer existed; it was for them, in turn, that the +place itself existed! With these worthies, the first serious business of +the day was dressing for dinner. As darkness came, a stir of life +thrilled through the place from end to end. Rows and clusters of +electric lights, many-sized and many-coloured, flashed out at the +Casino, in the hotels, along the Digue. Women donned their evening +gowns, thankful for handsome shoulders; got out their diamonds, real +and paste, their rouge, cosmetics, what not; prepared to go forth and +conquer, to play the old, old game which, by the calm light of the +morning, seems so flat and savourless! Oh, what would it be without wine +and lights and jewels and soft gowns, without warmth and music and +perfume, without the suggestive, sensual darkness closing it in! + +At the Casino presently spins the wheel of fortune--named in very +mockery!--and it is there that one may gaze unrebuked into the most +alluring eyes, may see the reddest lips and whitest shoulders;--crème de +la crème of all in that smaller room upstairs, arranged for those whose +jaded appetites demand some extra tickling; where no wager may be laid +for less than a hundred francs, and for as much more as you please, +monsieur, madame, provided only that you have it with you! Too bad that +the immortal soul has no longer a money value, or how many would +ornament that crowded table in the course of an evening's play! + +But there; let a single glimpse of this tawdry, perfumed, fevered hell +suffice us, even as it did Archibald Rushford on the first night of his +stay at Weet-sur-Mer, and let us go out, as he did, into the pure night, +and stand uncovered under the bright stars until the cool breeze from +the ocean has washed us clean again, and turning our backs forever upon +the Casino and its habitués, retrace our steps along the Digue to the +Grand Hôtel Royal. + +In apartment A de luxe, a man with flushed face and rumpled hair was +stamping nervously up and down. It required a second glance to recognise +in him that usually well-groomed and self-possessed individual known as +Lord Vernon. Two others were watching his movements with scarcely +concealed anxiety--Collins leaning against the window with folded arms, +Blake seated at a table with an open despatch-box before him. + +"Hang it all, fellows," he was saying, "don't you see what a pickle it +puts me in? I was a fool to fall in with the idea--I was actually silly +enough to think it would be fun!" + +"Of course," put in Collins, in his smoothest tone, "nobody could +foresee the presence of this American Diana." + +Vernon shot him a quick glance. + +"Be mighty careful what you say, my friend," he warned him, "or I'll +chuck the whole thing." + +"Oh, you can't do that!" protested Blake. "You've got to carry it +through! You can't back out now!" + +"Can't I?" said Vernon, with a grim little laugh. "Don't be too certain! +Suppose she finds it out? Pretty figure I'll cut, won't I?" + +"But how _can_ she find it out? In four or five days, you can tell her +the whole story--you'll figure as a sort of hero of romance--" + +"Yes--penny-dreadful romance--backstairs romance. The more I think of +it, the less I like it. Diplomacy or no diplomacy, we're playing Markeld +a dirty trick--that's the only expression that describes it. He's a nice +fellow and we ought to treat him fairly." + +Collins shrugged his shoulders as he turned away to the window and +lighted a cigarette. + +"You said something of the same sort yesterday, I believe," he remarked, +negligently. + +"Yes--and I meant it then" as I mean it now. Markeld has the right to +expect decent treatment at our hands." + +"Rather late in the day to take that ground," retorted Collins. + +"Late or not, I do take it," answered Vernon, pausing an instant in his +walk to emphasise the words. + +"I see," said Collins, drily, "it's a sort of moral awakening--a +quickening of conscience--the kind of thing we are all so proud of +displaying. Pity it didn't come before we started for this place." + +Vernon did not reply, only clasped and unclasped his hands nervously. + +Collins wheeled around upon him abruptly, his face very stern. + +"Come," he demanded, "let's have it out, once for all. I'm sick of this +shilly-shally. Why can't you let Markeld take care of himself?" + +"Because you're not playing fairly." + +"What do you mean by fairly?" + +"I mean openly, honestly--as gentlemen should." + +"You forget that this is diplomacy--and that we don't live in the Golden +Age. We fight with such weapons as come to hand. It's the game." + +"Yes--as you understand it. A gang of cutthroats might say the same +thing." + +Collins flushed a little, but managed to keep his temper. + +"I understand it as all diplomats understand it. I take no advantage +that every diplomat would not take." + +"Then God save me from diplomats!" retorted Vernon. + +Collins flushed again, more deeply, and his eyes flashed with sudden +fire. + +"Your words verge upon the insulting," he said, after a moment. "I warn +you not to try my patience too far. Perhaps, after this, you will see +fit to choose other company--company more in accord with your really +absurd ideals. But I would remind you of one thing--your career depends +upon this affair. If it succeeds, you succeed. If it fails through any +fault of yours, you are ruined. I assure you the fault will not be +overlooked nor extenuated. You will pay for it!" + +Vernon looked at him without answering, but his glance was full of +meaning. Then he turned and left the room. + +For a moment his companions stared after him--they had read his glance +aright. + +"We'll have to look sharp," said Collins, at last, "or he'll cause us +trouble--he's ripe for it, confound him! We'd better wire the home +office to hurry things up." + +"Yes," agreed Blake, "there's no reasoning with a man in love." + +"Nor frightening him," added Collins. "I'm afraid I made a mistake +taking that tack. I'll go down and get off a message." + +As he opened the door, he fancied that a figure melted into the shadow +at the end of the hall. But his attention was distracted from it, for an +instant later, he heard a step on the stair, and the Prince of Markeld +mounted from the floor below, passed him with the slightest possible +inclination of the head, and continued upward. Collins, staring after +him, standing still as death, heard him enter the apartment of the +Rushfords. + +He remained a moment where he was, his heart heavy with foreboding, then +he descended slowly to the office, his head bent, deep in thought. So +preoccupied was he that he did not see the sleek face which leered at +him from the shadow into which the dim figure had vanished. + +The spy listened a moment intently; then, with a tread soft as a cat's, +mounted the stair to the floor above. + + * * * * * + +"Of course, dad," Susie had said, in the early evening, "you will have +to stay at home to-night since the Prince is coming to see you." + +"Oh, it's not I he's coming to see," rejoined Rushford, easily. "In +fact, he'll probably be tickled to death to find me out.'' + +"He's not going to find you out," retorted Susie, firmly. "You're going +to stay right here." + +"Nonsense, my dear! Why, when I was courting your mother--" + +"What has that to do with it?" demanded Sue, very crimson. "Do you mean +to say that someone is courting someone around here?" + +"Of course, every man may be mistaken at times." + +"Well, take my word for it, you're badly mistaken this time." + +"Oh!" said her father, with assumed astonishment. "Am I? Then what is +all this about?" + +"And even if they were," continued Susie, a little unsteadily, "they do +it differently from the American way." + +"How do they do it, for heaven's sake?" + +"Why, dad, how should I know?" + +"You seem to have considerable information on the subject." + +"I have enough information to know," retorted Sue, with some heat, +"that in Europe, a young man calls upon the head of the family, and not +upon any of its younger female members." + +"I have always understood that Europe was behind the times," observed +her father, "but I never suspected it was as bad as that. However, I +take your word for it--I always do, you know. I suppose you and Nell +will have to stay in your rooms." + +"Oh, no," said Sue, "we may be present, so long as our chaperon is +there." + +"So I'm to do some chaperoning at last, am I?" queried her father. "The +job has ceased to be a sinecure. I suppose I'll have to do all the +talking, since young girls, of course, may only speak when spoken to and +then must answer with a yes or no. Really, my dear, you're setting +yourself an exceedingly difficult part!" + +"Where did you learn so much about it, dad?" + +"I'm reasoning by deduction--all this follows from what you've already +told me. Well, I'll do my best to entertain this Dutchman. What does he +talk about? Wiener-wurst and sauerkraut?" + +"Oh, no," said Susie, with a reminiscent smile and a heightened colour; +"he talks about things much more interesting than those." + +And, indeed, the first moments past, Rushford found the Prince an +entertaining fellow, with a fund of anecdote and experience decidedly +unusual. But conversations of this sort are rarely worth recording; the +less so in this instance, since the Prince had taken care to seat +himself where he had a good view of the enchanting Susie, and that +vision more than once caused his thoughts to wander. Still, they +discussed America and Europe, art, nature, the universe--none of which +has anything to do with this story--everything, in short, except the +warm, palpitating human heart, with which we are principally +concerned--and it was very late before the Prince finally arose to go. + +Sue whispered her thanks as she kissed her father good-night. + +"Good old daddy!" she said, and patted him on the cheek. "And it wasn't +such a trial, after all, was it?" + +Her father looked down at her quizzically. + +"No, my dear," he answered. "In fact, I rather enjoyed it. I fancy he'd +be a mighty interesting talker if there weren't any distractions around. +Not that I blame him," he added, hastily. "I was that way myself once +upon a time," and he bent and kissed her tenderly again. + +Susie, before her glass, stared at herself long and earnestly, then took +down her hair and proceeded to arrange it in various ways. At last, she +got out a diamond bracelet, placed it tiara-wise upon her head, and +studied the effect. She was thus engaged when an agitated tap at the +door gave her a mighty start, and she had just time to snatch off the +decoration when Nell burst in, her face white with emotion. + +"Why, what is it, Nellie?" cried her sister, springing up. + +"I--I've lost it!" gasped Nell, sinking limply into a chair, and +trembling convulsively. "I'm sure--it's been stolen!" + +"Lost it!" echoed Sue, reviewing in one quick mental flash Nell's most +valuable possessions. "Not the diamond necklace!" + +"Oh, Sue!" wailed Nell. "How can you be so mercenary? Oh, I wish it was +the necklace! But it isn't! It's the note!" + +It was Sue's turn to gasp, to turn pale, to sink into a chair. + +"The note!" she echoed, hoarsely. "Not Lord Vernon's!" + +Nell nodded mutely, her face a study for the Tragic Muse. + +"But I thought you destroyed it," said Sue. "You said you were going +to!" + +"I know--but I didn't," answered Nell, a faint tinge of pink in her +pallid cheeks. "I--I didn't see the need of destroying it. I supposed +nobody knew, and I--I thought I'd keep it as a--a souvenir, you know. I +had it in my desk. I am sure I locked it before I came down this +evening, but just now I found it open and the note gone." + +"Well, and what did you do then?" + +"I looked all through the desk--I thought maybe it had slipped out of +sight somehow--but it hadn't--it wasn't there. Then I called the maid, +Julie, and told her something had been stolen. She swore no one had +entered the room since I left it--that no one could have entered it. Of +course, I couldn't tell her about the note, so I sent her away and came +to you. I--I feel like a traitor. I don't know what to do!" + +Susie went to her and put her arms about her and drew her close. + +"We can't do anything to-night, dear," she said; "that's certain. +To-morrow you must tell Lord Vernon." + +She felt Nell quiver at the words and drew her closer still, with +intimate understanding. + +"I don't believe he will care so much," she went on, comfortingly. +"Perhaps the note isn't so important as we think. I suppose we should +have destroyed it at once." + +"Yes," said Nell, drearily, "I suppose we should. But who could have +foreseen anything like this!" + +"The best thing to do now is to go to bed," added Sue, practically, and +she raised her sister and led her back to her room. "In the morning we +can make a thorough search for the note. Perhaps, after all, you +overlooked it." + +"I couldn't have overlooked it," answered Nell. "I remember perfectly +placing it in this drawer," she continued, going to the desk and opening +it, "here, just under this pile of note-paper." + +"Perhaps it slipped in between the sheets," suggested Sue. + +"I thought of that," said Nell, but nevertheless she began mechanically +to open sheet after sheet. As she opened the third one, a little slip of +paper fluttered to the floor. + +She sprang upon it with a cry of joy, opened it, glanced at it. + +"Thank God!" she said, thickly. "It's all right--it's--" + +And she fell forward into Susie's arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +The Second Promenade + +Again the sun rose clear and bright, and again, having dispelled the +mist and chill of the early morning, it lured forth for the inevitable +promenade such of the sojourners at Weet-sur-Mer as had managed to get +to bed before dawn. Prince Markeld, descending with the earliest, left +nothing this time to chance, but took his station at the stairfoot, and +waited there with a patience really exemplary. From which it will be +seen that Princes in love are much as other men. + +And presently, descending toward him, he descried the Misses Rushford; +Susie radiant as the morning, Nell a trifle paler than her wont, but +more beautiful, if anything, because of it. The Prince hastened forward +to greet them. + +"Which way shall we go?" he asked, with the comfortable certainty of +including himself in their plans. "Good-morning," he added, to the +occupant of an invalid chair which was standing just outside the door. + +"Good-morning," replied Lord Vernon, his eyes on Nell's. "My outing +yesterday was such a pleasant one that I was hoping it might be +repeated." + +"Going or coming?" queried Sue, with a quizzical curve of the lips. + +"Both ways," answered Vernon, promptly; but his eyes were still on Nell. + +Markeld also looked excellently satisfied. + +"Very well," he said, in his autocratic way, "we will proceed as we did +yesterday," and he led Susie away. Strange to relate, she followed quite +meekly. Somehow, when the moment came, it seemed exceedingly difficult +to snub him. + +"Do you know," he was saying, "I fell quite in love with your father +last night. His point of view is so fresh and so full of humour. +Though," he added, "I must confess that sometimes I did not entirely +understand him." + +"Didn't you?" laughed Susie. "Dad _does_ use a good deal of slang. It's +an American failing." + +"So I have heard. I know my aunt will like him, too--the Dowager Duchess +of Markheim, you know." + +"No," said Sue, a little faintly, "I didn't know." She had never before +considered the possibility of the Prince having any women relatives; her +heart fell as she thought what dreadful creatures they would probably +prove to be. + +"My aunt is the head of the family," explained the Prince, calmly, +unconscious of his companion's perturbation. "She rules us with a rod of +iron. But you will like her and I know she will like you. She adores +anything with fire in it." + +"Oh," said Susie, to herself, "and how does he know I've any fire in +me?" But she judged it wisest not to utter the question aloud. + +"She worships spirit," added the Prince. "She is very fond of quoting a +line of your poet, Browning. 'What have I on earth to do,' she will +demand, 'with the slothful, with the mawkish, the unmanly?' Sometimes, I +fear, she aims the adjectives at me." + +Susie felt her heart softening, for she liked that line, too. + +"I don't believe you deserve the adjectives,'' she said. + +"Do you not?" he asked, eagerly, with brightened eyes. + +"And I should like to meet your aunt," she continued, hastily. + +"So you shall, most certainly," he assented, instantly. "As soon as it +can be arranged." + +"Oh, does it have to be arranged?" inquired Susie, in some dismay. + +"Not in that sense--she is very democratic--she likes people for what +they are. But until this question of the succession is concluded you +will readily understand that, through anxiety, she is not in the best of +humours--not quite herself." + +"Is she, then, here?" asked Susie. + +"Here? Oh, no; she is at Markheim--at the post of duty. That is another +reason--until this affair is settled, I cannot ask her to join me here." + +"You will ask her to do that?" + +"Certainly; she can stop here very well on her way to Ostend. She would +be at Ostend now but for this affair. Perhaps that is another reason why +she is ill-humoured. She is so fond of life and gaiety, and in summer +Markheim is rather dull. Besides, there is the tradition to maintain." + +"How do you know that she is in an ill-humour," questioned Sue, "if you +have not seen her?" + +"Oh, she writes to me--I had a letter from her this morning. I can see +she is not well-pleased--quite the opposite, in fact!--at the way things +are going." + +"And how are they going?" + +"They seem to be going against us," said the Prince, with a touch of +bitterness. + +"But how _can_ they be? I thought things were at a stand-still until +Lord Vernon got--got well enough to take them up again." + +"So did I--that is what one would naturally suppose. Yet it seems that +an undercurrent has set in against us. I fear that I made a mistake," he +added, gloomily, "in agreeing with Lord Vernon not to proceed further +for a week, though, under the circumstances, I could scarcely refuse. He +seems well enough," and he glanced around, "to hear what I have to say." + +"He _is_ well enough!" cried Sue, indignantly; and certainly at that +moment, talking eagerly to Nell, that gentleman appeared quite the +reverse of an invalid. "_I_ will speak to him--I am under no promise--I +believe--" + +She stopped, fearing that she might say too much--after all, she could +not betray Lord Vernon; she could only appeal to him, warn him. + +"Yes?" her companion encouraged her, his eyes on her face. + +"I believe that I can help you," she concluded, a little lamely. "I want +to help--the people. Of course, we Americans believe that a people ought +to choose their own rulers--but where that isn't possible, the next best +thing is to give them the best available. I should be proud to help do +that!" + +"But you are taking my word for it," he protested. "You ought to hear +the other side. Perhaps they might convince you--" + +"No, they wouldn't!" cried Susie. "Your word is all I need; you've +explained things so clearly." + +"Thank you," he said, in a vibrant voice, still looking at her. + +"Besides," she added, with a glance upward, "dad agrees with you, and +I've a great deal of faith in dad." + +"I shall be very glad of your help on any terms," he said, refusing to +be cast down. + +"And you will tell me if anything unexpected happens? I may be able to +help you more than you think." + +"Yes," he promised, "I will tell you the moment I have any news." + +"You haven't any real news--about the undercurrent, I mean? You don't +_really_ know--" + +"No; it is just in the air; I do not know where the rumours come from, +but my aunt has heard them also. There is a vague impression that we +are losing." + +"But you shan't lose!" cried Susie. "You shan't lose; not even if I have +to--to--" + +"Not even if you have to--?" prompted the Prince, eagerly, as she +stammered and stopped. + +"To play my trump card," she finished, with a little unsteady laugh. +"Don't ask me what it is, but it's a good one!" + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile, as she walked beside the invalid chair, Nell was making her +confession. + +"Lord Vernon," she began, in a low voice, "for a time last night, I +feared that I had utterly ruined your cause." + +He glanced up at her quickly. + +"In what way?" he asked. + +"You remember the note you wrote m--us the first day?" + +"Perfectly," he answered, noting the stammer, and understanding it, +with a quick leap of the heart. + +"I should, no doubt, have destroyed it at once, but I thought it would +be perfectly safe in my desk." + +"And it was stolen? No matter, Miss Rushford. It isn't worth worrying +about. I'm sick of the whole affair, anyway--I shall rather welcome the +catastrophe. You've lost sleep over it," he continued, looking at her +keenly. "It has made you almost ill! I shall never forgive myself!" + +"Thank you," she said, softly, her lips trembling, her eyes very bright. +"It is beautiful of you to be so generous. But fortunately the note was +not stolen. I found it afterwards among some note-paper, where it had +somehow found its way." + +"And you destroyed it?" + +"No," she said, and took it from her bosom. "I thought I would better +restore it to you, so that you yourself could destroy it. Here it is," +and she held it out to him with fingers not wholly steady. + +He took it, his eyes still on her face. + +"It has caused us enough trouble," he said, and made as though to tear +it into bits. + +But Nell laid her hand upon his arm. + +"Without looking at it?" she protested. + +"You are right," he agreed, and opened it and glanced at the contents. + +His hands were trembling slightly as he folded it again. + +"On second thought," he said, and there was a certain thickness in the +words which Nell was too agitated to notice, "I believe that I shall +keep it. It is the only souvenir I have, you know, of our first +meeting." + +And he smiled up at her--such a smile as Meïamoun must have bent upon +Cleopatra as he drained the poisoned cup. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +A Bearding of the Lion + +Susie Rushford was of that temperament which, so far from avoiding +difficulties, rather rushes to meet them, welcoming "each rebuff that +turns earth's smoothness rough," to quote again from her favourite poet. + +So, when they reached the end of the promenade, it was she who commanded +a change of partners and who took her place resolutely beside the +invalid chair. Perhaps Lord Vernon scented danger, or it may be that he +merely resented the change of companions: at any rate, as they started +back, he contented himself with a dignified silence. But Sue was not to +be so easily put off. + +"The Prince of Markeld has been telling me a few things about the +succession," she began, resolutely. "You will pardon me, Lord Vernon, +when I say I don't think you're treating him quite fairly." + +"I don't think so myself, Miss Rushford," returned the occupant of the +chair, curtly. + +"His branch of the house seems to be really, in every way, the more +deserving." + +"I haven't the least doubt of it." + +"And the one which the people of Schloshold-Markheim prefer." + +"That, too, is very probably the case. We threshed all that out +yesterday, didn't we?" + +"Not so thoroughly as I should like to do," said Susie. "I've been +thinking over the story you told me yesterday, and I believe I've +guessed who the man with the pistol is." + +"I thought very probably you would guess." + +"Did you? Then you won't mind telling me if I've guessed rightly. It's +the German Emperor, isn't it?" + +"It is." + +"Thank you. But I'm awfully obtuse, for I must confess that I haven't +as yet been able to perceive the pistol." + +"Haven't you? I thought you'd guess that, too. I had forgotten that +American women aren't interested in public events." + +"Now you're growing sarcastic!" cried Susie. "You see, I never before +knew how interesting they were," she added, in self-defence. "I'm trying +to turn over a new leaf--" + +"And you want my help?" + +"I always like to understand things. Even as a child I hated riddles. +And I think, too, that nations ought to be like individuals--only more +so--always ready, anxious even, to help their friends." + +"Even to the point of disregarding the pistol?" + +"You'll have to show me the pistol." + +"I'll try to, Miss Rushford," said Vernon, with the air of a man staking +his last louis, "since you seem to doubt that it exists. Let us look at +the matter for a moment from the outside, without question of our +personal likes or dislikes. England, just at this moment, has her hands +full in South Africa, and it isn't in the least unlikely that the German +Emperor would put a finger in that pie, if we gave him an excuse--a +great many of his advisers are trying to get him to interfere without +waiting for the excuse, but he's not quite willing to go that far. So +our business is not to give him any excuse--not even the very +slightest. Suppose we meddle in this affair of Schloshold-Markheim, +which is really his dependency--don't you see, he might easily, and +quite logically, claim that as a precedent for meddling in the affairs +of the Transvaal, which we claim as our dependency. Now I hope that you +perceive the pistol, and see, too, that it isn't in the least a toy +affair, but a very dangerous and effective weapon." + +"I do see," said Susie, quickly. + +"Besides," Vernon added, anxious to vindicate himself still further, +since, after all, Susie was Nell's sister, "Schloshold-Markheim is a +very insignificant corner of this earth; not so big, in fact, as many of +our English shires. Self-preservation is the first law of nations. Why +should England imperil herself? You see, the whole question reduces +itself to that old, heartless, but very sane doctrine of the greatest +good of the greatest number." + +"Why not say all that frankly to the Prince of Markeld?" suggested Sue. + +"Because, my dear young lady, before we can say anything, we have to +give him a chance to say his say. And he would very probably state +certain truths which it would be very embarrassing for us to hear, and +still more embarrassing to answer. All Europe would be listening. We're +between the devil and the deep sea." + +"Well, and what are you going to do about it?" asked Susie, plump out. + +"We're going to wait," said Lord Vernon, gloomily. + +"To wait?" + +"Yes--until the sea subsides a little or the devil gets tired and goes +away and gives us a chance to escape. We dare neither fight the devil +nor brave the ocean. Our hands are tied." + +Susie walked along a moment in silence, trying to distinguish the wrong +and the right of this very intricate question. + +"All that you have been telling me may be true," she said, at last; "I +haven't the least doubt that it is true; but yet it doesn't quite excuse +tricking the Prince of Markeld as you are doing." + +"I know it doesn't," admitted Vernon, instantly. "It doesn't excuse it +in the least. I don't like it any more than you do, Miss Rushford. But +the ways of diplomacy are devious past understanding; and then, again, +when one has entered upon a line of action, it is sometimes very hard +to change it or let go. It's like a hot iron or a charged wire--one +never realises one's mistake until it is too late. After all, a few days +will end it." + +"A few days! Then the Prince was right!" + +"Right?" + +"He told me that an undercurrent of some sort seemed to be setting in +against him. I warn you, Lord Vernon, that I have become his ally." + +"Even to the point of giving me away?" he inquired, half humourously, +looking at her in evident enjoyment. + +"Even to the point of giving you away, if you don't play fairly," she +answered, in deadly earnest. "At your suggestion, he consented to a +truce for a week--" + +"It was Collins who suggested it." + +"No matter; it is all the same; the proposal came from your side. One +can't honourably employ a truce in laying mines for one's enemy." + +Lord Vernon was looking straight ahead. There was now no trace of +amusement in his face. + +"You are quite right, Miss Rushford," he said. "I release you from any +engagement with either me or Collins to keep our secret. Let me tell +you, I've protested more than once, but I'm no longer a free agent in +regard to this thing, and I have to see it through. The very worst +moment of all was when Markeld came up to my rooms and apologised for +suspecting me. I tell you, I felt like a worm, and a particularly nasty +one, at that. It will be my turn to apologise before long; and I won't +feel quite easy in my conscience till I do." + +Susie had listened wide-eyed, and had stolen a glance, once or twice, at +his set face. There could be no doubting his utter sincerity, and it +softened her, as sincerity always softens a woman. + +"Of course," she said, more gently, "I shan't give you away unless I +see that the Prince is being treated unfairly. Let things drift for a +week, since he has consented to a truce--don't do anything against him." +The words were spoken almost pleadingly. + +"Oh, it isn't I who will do anything," retorted Lord Vernon, sharply. +"I'm not quite such a cur as that. Don't you understand, Miss +Rushford--the thing is out of my hands--is quite beyond my control. I'm +not the one responsible for the undercurrent, if there is one. If +anything happens, it won't be through any act of mine--it will be in +spite of me." + +"But I thought--" + +"You thought the foreign secretary was the whole thing? Well, he isn't! +There's a dozen other members of the cabinet, more or less, to mix in, +and, when all's said, the premier has to approve, and after that the +Queen. And all of us are more or less afraid of the press, to say +nothing of the House of Commons, where the opposition is always trying +to put us in an awkward corner. So our motives are usually pretty mixed, +and it's very rarely that we can do just as we'd like to do." + +"Then," said Susie, slowly, "I think that I must tell the Prince." + +"Do so, by all means," retorted her companion, a little impatiently. "I +give you full permission, if you care to take the responsibility. But, I +assure you, it's a heavy one." + +"Oh, not so awfully heavy!" said Susie, sceptically. "You have already +told me what a little place Schloshold-Markheim is." + +"It _is_ little; but so is the pivot that a great piece of machinery +swings on. Collins said yesterday that the peace of Europe may hang upon +this question. I laughed at him then, but it's not at all impossible +that he may be right. Of course, with a little thing like the peace of +Europe, every schoolgirl has the right to meddle! A million of human +beings, more or less--what do they amount to? Let us slaughter them, +maim them, outrage them, burn their houses, destroy their crops! Let us +put great armies in the field, and fight great battles and think only of +the glory! Don't look at the shapeless things beneath the hoofs of the +horses, nor think of the women waiting at home--waiting for the lists of +dead and missing! Let us release the spring that will set all this in +motion--it requires only a touch, the merest touch! And think, we should +be making history! Besides, our honour requires it! We must be jealous +of our honour--it is of so much more importance than the peace of +Europe!" + +And Vernon, having arrived at the hotel entrance, bade them good-bye and +was wheeled to the lift, leaving his companion rather breathless. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +"Be Bold, Be Bold" + +Lord Vernon, no doubt, would have spoken with less acerbity but for the +fact that his nerves were jangling badly. The lift was started promptly, +but it required all his self-control to remain seated in his chair +during the slow progress upward of the great machine of which Monsieur +Pelletan was so proud. Scarcely had the door of his apartment closed +behind him, when he threw aside the invalid wrappings with a perfect +fury, sprang from his chair, and hastened into the inner room. Collins +and Blake were seated at a table there, labouring with a telegram in +cipher. + +"What's the matter now?" demanded Collins, sharply, as he looked up and +saw Vernon's disordered face. + +For answer, Vernon took from his pocket a folded paper and tossed it on +the table. + +Collins picked it up, opened it, and read its contents. + +"Well?" he said, looking up with a sigh of relief. "If this is the note +you wrote those Rushford girls, I must say I think you've done a mighty +wise thing to get it back. It was a dangerous thing to have lying +around. Have you had a quarrel?" and he grinned a little maliciously. + +"Collins," said Vernon, coldly, "you have the poorest conception of good +taste of any man I know, and I know some awful bounders. But I won't +quarrel with you now, for you'll be grinning on the other side of that +ugly mouth of yours anyway in about a minute. Will you kindly examine +this piece of paper?" and he tore a leaf from his notebook. + +"Be Bold, Be Bold" + +Collins, biting his lips until they bled, took it and looked it over +with frowning and puzzled countenance. + +"Well?" he asked, at last. + +"The note I sent the Misses Rushford," said Vernon, quietly, "was +written on a leaf from the notebook, which I tore out just as I did that +one you have in your hand," and he sat down and stared out the window, +across the gray dunes and the gray sea to the gray horizon. + +Collins, with compressed lips, held the two pieces of paper up to the +light and compared their texture. Then he got out a small pocket +magnifying glass and examined through it the writing on the note. + +"It's a tracing," he said, at last, "and a mighty clever piece of work. +The paper, too, is very like." + +"But it's not the same," put in Vernon. + +"Oh, no, it's not the same." + +"Do you mean this is a forgery?" burst out Blake, hoarsely, snatching +up the note and staring at it. + +"Undoubtedly," answered Collins, coolly, but his face was very dark. +"The forger, clever as he was, could scarcely expect to be so fortunate +as to duplicate the paper. And then, of course, he couldn't foresee that +it would be turned over to you. But he did very well. Now let's have the +story." + +"Miss Rushford had the note in her desk," said Vernon, shortly. "She +missed it last night and went to tell her sister of the theft. When she +returned to her room and began a systematic search, she found it slipped +among some note-paper in the drawer where she had placed it. She +returned it to me this morning." + +"Without suspecting that it was a forgery?" + +"Certainly." + +"And you didn't tell her?" + +"No." + +Collins sat for a moment staring down at the note. + +"Which reminds me," he remarked, at last, "that Markeld spent the +evening with the Rushfords." + +"Well, what of it?" demanded Vernon, sharply, wheeling around. "What is +it you mean to insinuate?" + +"My dear sir," answered Collins, suavely, "I insinuate nothing. I was +merely remarking upon the coincidence. If I did not happen to know all +the circumstances, I might have been led to suggest that, as only one +Miss Rushford is devoted to you--" + +Vernon sprang to his feet with such wrath in his face that Collins +stopped abruptly. + +"It was well you stopped," said Vernon, savagely. "Another word, and by +heaven--" + +"Don't be a fool!" Collins broke in. "I'm not afraid of you nor your +threats. This forgery, of course, is the work of that French spy--" + +A servant tapped at the door and handed in a card. + +Collins took it, glanced at it, and looked up with a little smile of +satisfaction. + +"It's Tellier," he said. "I was expecting him; he was certain to come to +us. Leave him to me," and he went out, closing the door behind him. + +Monsieur Tellier was even more effulgent than usual. There was upon his +face a smile of supreme self-satisfaction. He had reason to believe that +he had achieved a good stroke, and he was resolved to make the most of +it. He had dreamed dreams and seen visions--one vision in particular +which included within the same circumference himself and a certain frail +fairy of the Robinière who had always regarded him with disdain. Now all +that was to be changed! So he greeted Collins with a self-assurance and +aplomb quite removed from his ordinary manner. + +Collins confronted him with the card still between his fingers, and +returned his greeting with the utmost coldness. + +"You wished to see me?" he asked. + +"Pardon," corrected Tellier, "it is Lord Vernon I wish to see." + +"Lord Vernon is ill and sees no one." + +Tellier gave his mustachios a supercilious twirl. + +"You still maintain that farce?" he queried. "I assure you that for me +it has long since lost its novelty." + +Collins took a step toward the door. + +"Shall I show you out?" he asked. + +"No--not yet," and Tellier smiled provokingly. + +"You would really better let me show you out," said Collins, quietly. +"In another moment, I shall probably kick you out." + +Tellier's face turned a deep purple and his white teeth gleamed behind +his moustache. + +"Have a care!" he said, hoarsely. "That expression will cost you dear!" + +Collins smiled contemptuously. + +"Oh," he retorted; "so it's blackmail! I might have known from your +appearance. Well, my dear sir, you have mistaken your men. You have +nothing which we care to buy. You would better go." + +A purple vein stood out across Tellier's forehead, as he came a step +nearer. + +"Do not be too sure, monsieur," he said. "You play a bold game, but it +does not for an instant deceive me. Lord Vernon is no more ill than I. +It is useless to deny it--I have that here which proves it--written with +his own hand--yes, pardie, written in my presence!" and with trembling +fingers he took from his pocketbook a folded slip of paper. + +"Indeed?" said Collins, with mild curiosity. "This is truly wonderful," +and he held out his hand. + +But Tellier drew back a step, unfolded the note and held it open between +his fingers. + +"You may read it," he said, his eyes flashing with triumph. "But come no +nearer." + +Collins leisurely got out his monocle, polished it with his +handkerchief, adjusted it, and scanned the note. + +"Really," he said, "unless you can hold it a little steadier, I fear I +can't read it." + +Tellier steadied his hand by a mighty effort, and watched him, his eyes +shining. But the face of the Englishman did not change--not in a single +line, not by the merest shadow. + +"Very interesting, no doubt," said Collins, dropping his glass, "to +those who care for backstairs intrigue. Is it this note that you wish to +sell?" + +"Oh, not that," corrected Tellier, with a little offended gesture, his +self-assurance back in an instant. "You mistake me--I am not of that +sort at all. On the other hand, it is friendship for you which has +brought me here. I have no wish to injure you, monsieur, and you +yourself, of course, perceive fully what a disaster it would be should +this note be placed in certain hands." + +"To what adventure does the note refer?" queried Collins. + +"It refers to the adventure of Lord Vernon with the two Americans on the +afternoon of his arrival. He has, no doubt, mentioned it to you." + +"Lord Vernon has had no adventure since his arrival here," retorted +Collins, coldly. "But go ahead with your story." + +"As I was saying," continued Tellier, "I am a poor man. I have my future +to consider--I cannot afford to throw away this opportunity which chance +has placed in my hands. I will be reasonable, however--I will not ask +too much--a hundred thousand francs--" + +"Tellier," Collins interrupted, with a gesture of weariness, "I have not +the least idea what you mean. But I do know that you have been hoaxed, +that you are the victim of some deception, that somebody is making a +fool of you. A hundred thousand francs! And for that note! Why, man, you +are mad or very, very drunk! We don't want the note. We have no concern +in it!" + +"No concern in it!" shrieked Tellier. "When it is written by Lord +Vernon!" + +"Lord Vernon did not write it," retorted Collins, coolly. + +"I saw it--with my own eyes I saw it!" + +"Then your eyes deceived you. Evidently you are not acquainted with Lord +Vernon's writing, my friend. Shall I show you a sample? Wait." + +He went to a desk, got out a despatch-box, unlocked it, and ran rapidly +through its contents, while Tellier watched him with bloodshot eyes. + +"This will do," Collins said, at last. "A note to Monsieur Delcassé, +with which you are perhaps familiar, since it has recently been made +public. Look at it." + +Tellier almost snatched it--one glance was enough. There was absolutely +no resemblance between that tall, angular hand and the writing of the +note. He looked at the signature, at the seal--there could be no +doubting them. His lips were quivering, his fat cheeks hanging flaccid, +as he handed the paper back. + +"You are playing with me," he said, thickly. "What I have seen, I have +seen. What I know, I know. You cannot trick me. I will go to the Prince +of Markeld--to Prince Ferdinand himself--" + +"To whomever you please," interrupted Collins, "only go at once," and +he snatched open the door. + +Tellier hesitated an instant, glanced at the other's face, and went. + +And Collins, closing the door behind him, mopped the perspiration from +his forehead. + +"Well done, my friend," he said; "exceedingly well done!" + +And with that, he turned back to the inner room. + + * * * * * + +"Dad," began Susie Rushford, that evening, gently but firmly taking away +the paper over which her father was engaged, "I wish you would devote +that massive brain of yours to this Schloshold-Markheim muddle for a few +moments, and give me the benefit. It's quite beyond me, and I'm nearly +worried to death over it. I want your advice. Now, in the first place, +why should Lord Vernon play off sick? It seems such a little thing to +do." + +"'Tall oaks from little acorns grow,'" quoted her father. "This little +thing may have big consequences." + +"I didn't mean little that way," explained Susie. "I meant little in a +moral way." + +"Well, my dear," said her father, reflectively, "everything is fair in +love, war, and diplomacy. Your diplomat, when he is busy at his trade, +seems to lose sight of fine moral distinctions. Even the greatest of +them have sometimes stooped to acts decidedly small, and yet in private +life they were doubtless honourable men. It's a good deal like a +political campaign in the United States, where men who are usually +honest will lie about the other side, without any twinges of +conscience--there's even a loop-hole in the libel law for them to crawl +through, made, it would seem, especially for their benefit. So, I think, +we may pass up the moral objection." + +"But what does he hope to accomplish, dad?" persisted Susie. "What +_can_ he accomplish by merely sitting still?" + +"A great many things may be accomplished by sitting still," said her +father, puffing his cigar reflectively. "It is one of those simple +things which are sometimes very difficult to do. I've found that out, +more than once, in the course of my checkered career." + +"Now that we are through with precept, let us pass on to example, you +dear old philosophical thing!" laughed Susie. "What should you say Lord +Vernon hoped to accomplish in this instance?" + +"It seems very plain," said Rushford, "though, of course, I may be +mistaken. But I fancy he believes that while he is playing 'possum here, +Emperor William, who is not especially renowned for patience, will +settle the question of the succession without asking any one's +advice--as, I must say, he seems to have a perfect right to do. In that +case, it would, of course, be too late for England to interfere; she +could only express her regrets to Prince Ferdinand, and send her +congratulations to Prince George. So if Markeld doesn't get a chance to +say his little speech within the next two or three days, I don't believe +he'll ever get a chance." + +Susie nodded thoughtfully. + +"The Prince ought to be able to reason that out for himself, oughtn't +he?" + +"I should think so, if he can see farther than his own nose. Were you +thinking of going to his assistance? Take my advice, my dear, and +refrain. You and Nell are altogether too deep in it, as it is." + +Again Susie nodded. + +"Thank you, dear," she said, and taking him by either ear, she kissed +him between the eyes. "Now, I think I'll go to bed. I've a mighty +knotty problem on hand and I've got to work it out right away." + +"Can I help any more?" + +"No," and she shook her head decidedly. "This is one of those odious +problems which a person has to work out alone. It reminds me of our +school examinations, where we were on honour not to ask any help. Only," +she added, with a sigh, "this is far more serious. Good-night." + +"Good-night," said her father, and watched her until the door closed +behind her. Then he turned again to his paper. + +Susie, alone in her own room, sat with her head in her hands, staring +out across the moonlit beach. Away in the distance, she could see the +little breakers washing white upon the sand; to the left stretched the +long, brilliant promenade of the Digue, ending in the glare of light +which marked the Casino. + +"The peace of Europe!" she murmured. + +"The peace of Europe! I wonder if he was merely trying to frighten me?" + +And she shivered a little at the remembrance of Lord Vernon's words, as +she arose to go to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +A Prince and His Ideals + +By what process of telepathy the Dowager Duchess of Markheim, dwelling +in one corner of that gloomy old fortress which had sheltered so many +generations of the family, learned of the danger threatening her nephew +it would be impossible to say. She had been skilled for many years in +telling which way the wind was blowing; nay, more, in foreseeing from +which quarter it would presently blow; so perhaps the two or three +casual references to the American girls which she had gleaned from the +letters which the Prince dutifully wrote her had been enough to awaken +her suspicions. Or, it may be, that some one of the many persons at +Weet-sur-Mer who had observed with interest the Prince's comings and +goings, deemed it a duty to society to send the duchess a discreet word +of warning. + +Any one who knew the duchess knew also that a single word would be +all-sufficient. Her reputation for worldly astuteness surpassed that of +any other old woman in Europe, though it was, perhaps, not altogether +deserved. Forty years before, she had been a healthy and happy girl, +whose experience of the world had been confined to the family estate +near Gemünden. And the estate was a small one, for the family, though of +blood the bluest, was very poor. + +One tragedy had marked her early girlhood. She was curled up, one +evening, in the window-seat at the stairhead watching the moon rise over +the great trees of the park, when she heard loud voices in the hall +below, and peeping down, saw her father strike another man heavily +across the mouth. A sudden silence fell, and she stole away frightened +to her bed, where she sobbed herself to sleep. In the gray of the +morning, her mother had awakened her, had carried her to a window, and +knelt with her there, staring out toward the park and calling upon God +to have mercy. Through the streaming mist, there came presently toward +them two dim figures, carrying a third--what need to go on? After that, +the house became a cloister. + +It chanced, one day when she was nearly twenty, that the eye of her +cousin of Markheim fell upon her. He had never married; he had been too +busy with his pleasures. But he had arrived at an age when it was +necessary to think of an heir; at an age, too, when the uneasy +consciousness began to grow within him that if he desired an heir, there +was no time to be lost. So he looked at his blooming cousin, noting the +evidences of vigorous health which glowed in eye and lip and cheek. He +knew that the girl would have no dot, but he had reached a place where +he was perfectly aware that if he wanted youth and beauty, he must take +them unadorned. So he made up his mind at once, and in due time the +marriage was arranged. + +In pity, we will not dwell upon it. Those who saw the bride's face as +she entered the carriage with her husband will never forget its +expression of horror, disgust, and abject fear. A year later, the +desired heir arrived, a microcephalous idiot, to whom a merciful +providence allowed but eighteen months of life; and in due time, the +August Prince himself was gathered to his fathers. + +During her period of martyrdom, the duchess had pressed her cross to her +bosom with the religious enthusiasm of a devotee hugging his barbed +instrument of torture. The consciousness that she was suffering for her +family's sake as became a daughter of the Caesars was the only thing +which enabled her to endure her shame and degradation. She donned her +widow's weeds with such depth of thankfulness as few mortals know, and +settled herself to the enjoyment of her position. + +She found it on the whole a good position, unassailable, with many +desirable perquisites. She decided, no doubt, that life owed her such +tremendous arrears of happiness that she could never hope to collect +them except by devoting her whole time to it; and devote her whole time +to it she did, in good earnest. The years, in their passage, erased +certain lines from her face and restored the curves to her +figure--indeed, it came to be much more than a restoration!--but they +could not restore the colour to her hair nor the lightness to her heart. +She looked at mankind from a cynical altitude of worldly wisdom; her wit +grew keen and swift as d'Artagnan's rapier; her bon-mots had a way of +passing into proverbs, or of being stolen by more distinguished +contemporaries. She took her revenge upon society as completely as she +could, yet without bitterness. Indeed, it is probable that, could she +have ordered her life anew, she would not have ordered it differently. + +Such, then, was the Dowager Duchess of Markheim, as she sat gazing +thoughtfully from her window, pondering the situation. She was fully +alive to the fact that American girls are always a menace to the peace +of noble families; besides, she was not at all satisfied with the +progress--or, rather, lack of progress--which the Prince had made in the +delicate negotiation entrusted to his hands. In a word, she decided +that, from every point of view, it were wise for her to be herself upon +the scene--and so much nearer her beloved Ostend! Therefore, being of +that superior order of woman who never has to make up her mind but once, +she forthwith gave orders for the departure. + +It consequently happened, on the morning following the events narrated +in the previous chapter, that there was another distinguished arrival at +the Grand Hôtel Royal, to the delight and despair of Monsieur Pelletan. + +"I shall need an apartment of at least five rooms, not higher than the +second floor," announced the duchess. + +"If Madame la Duchesse had only notified us of t'is honour!" protested +Pelletan, with upraised hands. "I swear t'at I haff not'ing-- +not'ing--not one single apartment wort'y off madame--not efen one leetle +room up under t'e gutters." + +"Nonsense!" she interrupted, vigorously. "I have heard all that a +hundred times at least. Which apartment has my nephew?" + +"Madame's nephew?" + +"Certainly, imbecile! Monsieur le Prince de Markeld." + +"Oh," cried Pelletan. "Monsieur le Prince hass apartment B de luxe." + +"And so has twice as much room as he needs, of course. Well, take my +luggage up there, wherever it is. At my age, one is beyond the reach of +scandal, even at a Dutch bathing-resort. Where is Monsieur le Prince?" + +"Monsieur le Prince iss taking t'e promenade," explained Pelletan. + +"Very well; I have my toilette to make. When he returns, send him up to +me at once. Here, boy, apartment B," and followed by her maid, she +started up the stair, leaving Monsieur Pelletan staring, open-mouthed. + +"But t'ere iss a lift, madame!" he cried, regaining his breath. + +"A lift!" retorted the duchess. "At my age! What is the man thinking of! +En avant, boy!" and she went on up the stair. + + * * * * * + +The watches of the night had not brought that final solution of the +problem which Susie Rushford had hoped for, and she did not know whether +to be glad or sorry when she found the Prince at the stairfoot awaiting +her. There could be no doubt that he was wholly, undividedly glad--one +glance at his face told her that--and he greeted her in a way that sent +a little thrill to her heart. After all, she told herself, perhaps she +would better let things drift; one more day could make no difference. +And there was no reason why she should take the affair more seriously +than did the principal person concerned in it. + +Outside the door, as usual, was the invalid chair; and while Lord Vernon +did not forget to say good-morning, it was not upon her his eyes rested. +Nell, at least, was perplexed by no problems, and was unaffectedly gay. +Susie almost envied her; and yet problems were interesting, too. + +And then there was Collins. As she acknowledged his bow, she was struck +anew with the concentrated secretiveness of his appearance. There was a +new look in his eyes this morning, a look as though he were watching +her, and it made her vaguely uneasy. But the feeling passed as they +turned eastward along the promenade, and she soon forgot all about him, +for--quite exceptionally--her companion was talking of himself. + +"I do not want that you should exaggerate the importance of this little +dispute," he was saying. "Seen thus close at hand, it looms rather +large; but it really matters very little to the great world. Even I can +get far enough away from it to see that." + +"And yet," rejoined Susie, "I have heard it said that it might possibly +endanger the peace of Europe." + +The Prince smiled at the words as at an old acquaintance. + +"The peace of Europe," he said, "is a kind of bugaboo which diplomats +use to frighten each other with, and even to frighten themselves with. I +do not believe that the peace of Europe hangs on any such delicate +balance as they pretend. Though, of course," he added, more gravely, +"there are certain circumstances under which this question of the +succession might become very unpleasant to the Powers." + +"Ah!" breathed Susie, who had been listening eagerly. "You admit that, +then?" + +"Admit it? Certainly--why not? But, intrinsically, it amounts to little. +So it is with us Markelds--our lineage is as long as that of any house +in Europe, and we hold our heads very high, but we are really of not +much importance. We keep up a certain state, we live in a castle, if you +will; but we really do nothing worth while, principally, I suppose, +because we are so poor." + +"So poor?" echoed Susie, open-eyed. + +"You are thinking of the apartment de luxe," said the Prince, with a +smile; "of the special train. But, do you not see, those are the very +things which make me poor. I have no use for seven rooms; in the special +train, I can occupy but a single seat. All the rest is waste, which does +me no good--rather the reverse, indeed, since it serves to impress +people with an exaggerated idea of my importance and so pave the way for +fresh extravagances. I did not mean that I am poor absolutely; I do not +suppose that I shall ever want for food and clothing and a place to +sleep. It is only as a Prince that I am poor--that we Markelds are all +poor." + +"But one would think there were many things worth while which a man in +your position could do," said Susie, earnestly, "even if you aren't +rich." + +"Oh," he explained, looking down at her with a laugh in his eyes, "I +would not have you think that I am always wholly idle. I am colonel of +a dragoon regiment, and I inspect it, sometimes, or ride in front of it +at a general review. I hunt. I attend various functions of the court. I +even sometimes act as the representative of my house, as I am doing +now." + +"None of which," said Susie, "except perhaps the last, is in the least +worth while." + +"I agree with you, unreservedly," he assented; "but it is about what +most men in my position do." + +"So I have heard," said Sue, "but I never really believed it. I thought +it an invention of the society reporters." + +"It is true, nevertheless. You see there is no incentive, for most of +us, to do anything else. Of course, we cannot work, nor engage in +trade." + +"I don't admit the 'of course.' But leaving that aside for the moment, +aren't there any exceptions?" + +"Yes--a few at whom the rest of us look rather askance. You see, there +is the tradition to be maintained." + +"The tradition?" + +"Of royalty--of divine right. We must do nothing to spoil the tradition, +or weaken it, or our people may find out that we are not really +necessary, after all, just as the Americans have done." + +Susie glanced at him to see if he was in earnest; but he appeared to be +entirely so. + +"Do the exceptions mind being looked askance at?" she questioned. + +"No, I do not think they mind in the least. Most of them are too busy to +pay any heed to what other people are thinking about them. Besides, the +cause of the exception is usually a woman, who takes up most of the +exception's leisure time." + +"I'm afraid I don't quite understand." + +"Let me explain. You see, when one of us marries a woman of his own +class--'Prinzessen, Comtessen, Serene English Altessen,' as Svengali +called them--he usually gets a partner more--ah--hidebound, I think you +call it--than himself--a greater stickler for precedent and tradition +and position and etiquette and elegant leisure, and all that sort of +thing. Whatever liberal ideas he may have had, he finds he must abandon +or, at least, suppress, if there is to be peace between his wife and +him. It is only those who are so fortunate as to meet and win exactly +the right woman _out_ of their class who get the incentive. You +understand, now?" + +"Yes," said Susie, with a queer catch in her voice. "Yes, I think I do." + +"So," he added, with a little bitter laugh, "you see why we others look +askance at these exceptions. In the first place they have preferred to +step down out of their rank for a wife--that deals a blow at the +tradition, and every blow weakens it; in the second place, they have +left some noble lady husbandless, for your noble ladies seldom so far +forget their rank as to marry out of it, though that may be because the +men never permit them to--again an injury to us as a class; and, +finally, they are mixing with the world, they are meeting other men face +to face, as equals, they are claiming no merit because of birth, no +authority because of rank; they are, perhaps, even working with their +hands. Whereas our business is to keep aloof from the world, to maintain +a barrier of caste between ourselves and other men, for they must not +suspect that we are as imperfect as they--that we have the same +appetites and passions, the same defects and meannesses. Our business is +to rule over them, to require their obedience because God so wills it. +We tremble when we see the apostates cast aside their rank and descend +into the world's arena, for we fear that the people, finding them at +close view only human, may come at last to believe that the right by +which we rule is not, after all, divine. Then they will tear down the +barrier of caste, strip us of the privileges of rank, and proclaim the +absurdity that all men are equal. And I might add, we are jealous of the +exceptions, because they are happy. Marriages of state are seldom love +matches; the kind which furnish the incentives are always so." + +To all of which Susie had listened with bated breath, only glancing up +once or twice to study her companion's face. It was a lifting of the +curtain, a revelation of the heart, which left her deeply moved. + +"You don't seem to care for the tradition," she said, at last. + +"Oh, yes, I do; it would be untrue to pretend otherwise. Only, it has +occurred to me quite recently that merely to inherit a position is not +quite enough. A man should try to deserve it" + +"And you're going to try?" asked Susie, looking at him with something +very like adoration in her eyes. + +"I am going to try--yes," he answered. "But I shall need help--I am +afraid I should not make a success of it by myself." + +And then he fell silent, for they had reached the end of the promenade, +where the others joined them. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +The Duchess to the Rescue + +It may be that Lord Vernon had been so fortunate as to find a topic of +conversation equally absorbing; at any rate, Nell entered the hotel with +her sister rather subdued and tremulous, and they mounted to their rooms +in silence. A week before, they would probably have thrown themselves +into each other's arms and kissed each other and cuddled each other and +cried over each other, without precisely knowing why, or, at least, +without troubling to put the reason into words. But the events of the +past few days had, imperceptibly, wrought a change in their relations. +An impalpable veil had come between them, a subtle dissonance in point +of view. They were pledged, as it were, to rival interests. + +A woman who has no other confidante will, invariably, seek counsel and +sympathy of her own reflected self; and if so it was in this case, for +each of our two heroines went straight to her room, and locked the door, +and sat down before her glass, and, chin in hands, communed long and +earnestly with the image pictured there, gazing deep into its eyes, and +thinking unutterable thoughts, which completely defy transcription. + +At the same moment, to Archibald Rushford, sitting immersed in his +morning newspaper, wholly unsuspicious of all this, the Prince of +Markeld's card was handed. It may be noted in passing that, with the +influx of patrons to the house, the American had found it necessary to +retire to the privacy of his own apartment in order to enjoy the paper +undisturbed. + +"All rights show him up," he said, when he had glanced at the card; and +almost immediately the Prince himself appeared. + +Rushford started up with hand outstretched. + +"Glad to see you, Prince," he said. "I was just figuring on looking you +up and wondering how I'd better go about it--I didn't quite know what +the etiquette of the thing was." + +The Prince laughed. + +"The etiquette is simple." he answered. "You have only to come to my +door and knock." + +"Refreshingly democratic!" and Rushford's eyes danced. "That would +appeal to my countrymen. But my ignorance was natural enough. You see, +we never have the chance, at home, to hobnob with Highnesses. That's the +reason so many of us come abroad. But we're not the real thing--the +genuine, simon-pure American stays at home and looks after his +business." + +"And no doubt gets along very well without Highnesses," laughed Markeld, +gripping the proffered fingers with a warmth which pleased their owner. +The latter found himself admiring, too, the erect figure, the clean +face, the clear eyes; he told himself with pleasure that the Prince +looked as well by daylight as by gaslight--a tribute to his youth and +the way he had employed it. + +"Sit down, won't you?" he asked cordially. + +"Yes, the people of the States manage to worry along some way without +any nobility. In fact, they've rather got a prejudice against that sort +of thing. You see, the only Highnesses they've had to judge by are the +fortune-hunters who come over after our girls. Now I've always believed +that it isn't any fairer to judge European nobility by those specimens +than it is to judge us Americans by the expatriated idiots one finds +here in Europe--it's like judging a bin of apples by the rotten ones." + +"You are doubtless right," agreed the Prince, who had followed these +remarks with an anxiety almost painful. "And I am glad to hear you +speak in that way. I infer that you do not object to international +marriages." + +"Not at all, per se. Other things being equal, I see no reason why a +Highness shouldn't make as good a husband as a plain American. There's +only one reason for marriage, sir--mutual affection. Where that exists, +nothing else matters. Where it doesn't exist--well, marriage becomes +simply a convenient arrangement for perpetuating a family, or restoring +its estates, or accomplishing some less laudable purpose. But +there--shut me off--don't let me preach at you!" + +"No, no," protested the Prince. "All that you say interests me +deeply--more deeply than you suspect. In fact, I hope to marry an +American girl myself." + +"Ah," said Mr. Rushford, swallowing with sudden difficulty. "Oh! You +mean--" + +"I mean that I wish to propose to you for the hand of your daughter," +explained the Prince, quite simply. + +Rushford was not a man easily astonished, but there was no denying his +amazement at this moment. Despite his playful words to Susie, he had +never really suspected the direction in which events were trending; +besides, the lightning-flash, even though expected, is always a shock. + +But the Prince bore his gaze imperturbably. + +"I do not wonder that you are surprised," he said. "You have known me so +short a time. But we Markelds always know our own minds. I have thought +the matter over very carefully and I am sure that I am acting wisely. +Whether you would act wisely in giving her to me is another question, +for though I am a Prince, I am a very small one, though with income +sufficient, I trust, to maintain a wife at least comfortably. I shall be +glad to send my solicitors to talk it over with you, and explain +anything about me which you may care to know--" + +Mr. Rushford's face had gradually relaxed during this harangue, until it +was positively smiling. + +"My dear sir," he interrupted, "if there's anything about you I want to +know, I'll ask _you_. But that is hardly necessary as yet; for you're +taking hold of the matter by the wrong end. We of America don't give our +daughters away, they choose their own husbands--subject, of course, to +their parents' approval. Now, my daughter--by the way, you haven't +specified which one you're after." + +"It is Miss Sue that I want," said the Prince. + +"Ah--Susie. Well, she's perfectly capable of choosing for herself, and +will probably insist upon doing so. Have you spoken to her on the +subject?" + +"Oh, most certainly not!" stammered the Prince. + +"Well, suppose you take it up with her," suggested Mr. Rushford, +encouragingly. "If she wants you, it'll be all right with me. I may even +say that I'll be very glad to see you get her--I like you better than I +ever imagined I should like a nobleman." + +The Prince was on his feet in an instant with outstretched hands. + +"Thank you, my dear sir!" he cried. "A thousand thanks! I have, then, +your permission to speak to Miss Rushford?" + +"My permission--yes. And my best wishes. And, Prince," he added, as the +latter turned away, "don't worry about the matter of income. Susie will +be able to help you out a little." + +Whether the Prince heard or not I do not know, for, as he hurried from +the room, he collided with Monsieur Pelletan, who clutched his coat as +he would have hastened past. + +"Oh, Monsieur le Prince!" gasped the little man. "I haf eferywhere been +searching for you. Madame la Duchesse de Markheim arrived some hours +ago and awaits you wit' t'e greates' impatience." + +"Where is she?" + +"She iss in monsieur's apartment. She insiste' t'at I--" + +"Very well; I will go to her," said the Prince, and bounded down the +stair. A moment later, he was kissing his aunt's extended hand, white +and soft as in the days of her maidenhood, though with an added +plumpness. "My dear aunt!" he cried. "I but this moment heard that you +were here." + +"You see I have made myself comfortable, my dear Fritz," smiled the old +lady, her impatience forgotten the moment her eyes rested upon his +handsome face. "And I have not been lonesome--Monsieur Tellier has been +relating to me a number of very interesting things." + +"Tellier!" The Prince started round as the detective arose, smirked, +and bowed in his humblest manner. "I can't say that I congratulate you +on your choice of a companion, madame!" + +"Don't put on your grand manner with me, Fritz," she protested, still +laughing. "I am very glad that Monsieur Tellier sought me out. But what +is the matter with that creature of yours hovering in the background?" + +The Prince turned and beheld Glück, evidently expecting orders to +accomplish an assault upon the detective's person. + +"Oh," he explained, "I told Glück he might throw Tellier out the next +time he tried to get in here. I'm afraid you'll have to wait a few +minutes, my friend," he added, and Glück retired, visibly disappointed. + +"Let me tell you," said the duchess, emphatically, as the door closed +behind him, "that your prejudice against Monsieur Tellier is wholly +unwarranted and very foolish. He has discovered many things which you +seem to have overlooked." + +"Perhaps," admitted the Prince; "but he has discovered them in a way +that no gentleman could countenance. Which reminds me," he added, +suddenly turning a fiery countenance upon the unhappy Frenchman, "that I +have an account of my own to settle with him. How dared you annoy--" + +But the duchess held up her hand. + +"One moment, Fritz," she interrupted, sternly. "Don't begin throwing +stones until you are quite sure you are not yourself in a glass house. +As I have said, Monsieur Tellier had many things of interest to relate." + +"Well, my dear aunt," retorted the Prince, "now that he has related +them, I trust we may dispense with his company. I will settle my account +with him another time." + +"First," said the duchess, with cold irony, "tell me what progress you +have made with your embassy, Fritz!" + +"Very little, I am sorry to say, madame. But in three days, Lord Vernon +has promised to consider the matter." + +"Three days! And do you imagine all the rest of the world will stand +still at your command, Fritz, and wait for you? Are you another Joshua?" + +The Prince flushed. There was no denying the justice of the taunt. + +"But that aside for the moment," continued the duchess. "Tell me +something of this American girl you have met here, and with whom you +have grown so fond of making the promenade." + +"I hope soon to have the pleasure of presenting her to you, madame," +said the Prince, flushing still more. "I believe you will find her +admirable." + +"Perhaps," said the duchess, sceptically. "Is it really necessary that +I should meet her?" + +"That, of course, will be as madame pleases. I thought you would +naturally wish to meet the woman whom it is my intention to marry." + +The duchess fairly jumped in her chair. + +"To marry!" she cried. "To marry! What nonsense!" + +"You will see," continued the Prince, calmly, "how unwise it was to +begin the conversation in the presence of this--gentleman." + +"No!" cried the duchess. "It was more than ever wise! Do you happen to +know who this woman is?" + +"I refuse to discuss my affairs further," said the Prince, "until we are +alone." + +"But do you know who she is? She has no dot! Perhaps you will say that +is nothing, that you expected none, though it seems to me it is your +duty to repair the fortunes of our house. But it is even worse than +that--she is the daughter of an inn-keeper." + +"I refuse to believe it," answered the Prince, quietly. + +"Monsieur Tellier, relate to him--" + +"If Tellier so much as moves a finger, I will kick him down the stairs," +added the Prince, still more calmly. + +"But he has the papers from the notary!" + +"That is nothing to me." + +The duchess made a gesture of despair. + +"Yet, after all," she cried, "that is a little thing beside this other. +Look at this," and she snatched a folded paper from the table at her +elbow. "She is a traitor to you--she has been playing with you--she has +been assisting these Englishmen to deceive you! You who are such a +stickler for honour in women no less than men! Look at this!" + +"What is this paper?" asked the Prince, making no motion to take it from +her eager hand. + +"It is a note which this impostor wrote to her and to her sister." + +"And obtained how?" he questioned, a little pale, but keeping himself +well in hand. + +"Obtained by Monsieur Tellier," replied the duchess. "It does not matter +how." + +"No," said the Prince, "perhaps not; yet one can easily guess. By +bribing the chambermaid, perhaps; by forcing a lock; by rifling her +desk, examining her private papers. Oh, it is abominable!" and he turned +upon the Frenchman, fury in his eyes. + +"No, no, Monsieur le Prince!" protested Tellier. "It was none of +these--I swear it! She left the note lying quite carelessly--" + +But the Prince was upon him. With one hand at the back of his neck, he +steered him, sputtering, to the door. + +"Glück!" he cried, and pitched the Frenchman into the arms of the +faithful servant. The duchess, sitting within the room, caught the +sound of a scuffle, of fierce swearing; then a succession of dull bumps +sounded through the apartment. The Prince closed the door and turned +back to her. + +"But, my dear Fritz!" she protested. "It may be true that Tellier is +abominable, yet sometimes one must use such instruments--surely, at +this moment, we are justified in using any instrument. I have paid him, +thank heaven! You must listen to reason. You have been fooled--we have +all been fooled--they have been playing with us--laughing at us behind +our backs for our simplicity--the girl as well as the others." + +"No!" he said, fiercely. "No!" + +"Fritz," she cried, her voice trembling, a mist before her eyes as she +looked at him, "you believe that I love you, do you not--oh, better than +anything else in the world. You believe that I desire your happiness! +But it must be happiness with honour, Fritz, as becomes a Markeld. You +have your name to consider, your house. You know that I would +rather--oh, a hundred times!--wound myself than wound you! You must +listen, then, when I tell you that this girl is not worthy of you; when +I tell you that this note proves it!" + +"Read it!" he commanded, in a hoarse voice. "Read it, then!" + +"'Lord Vernon will be deeply grateful,'" she read, "'if he is not +mentioned in connection with to-day's adventure.' To-day's +adventure--when he kicked Jax away from her. Can you doubt? Can you be +so stupid as to doubt? These Americans--they have no sense of honour!" + +He turned to the window without answering, but his face was drawn and +white. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +Man's perfidy + +To Archibald Rushford, sitting ruminant in his room, staring absently +out at the dunes and the sea, his paper forgotten, there entered +presently Susie--a rather subdued Susie, as he noted from the corner of +his eye--who drew up a chair very close to his and sat down and propped +her chin in her hands and looked up at him. + +It came to him in a flash of revelation that, did she have a mother, it +was to her she would have gone at this moment, and not to him, and his +eyes were a little misty as he looked down at her. That she and her +sister should have grown, motherless, to such sweet, triumphant +womanhood struck him in this instant as a kind of miracle--he had never +thought of it before. He had taken their beauty, their wit, their +sanity, as matters of course; he had never looked at them, clearly, from +the outside; he had never quite thoroughly appreciated them. They had +come this far, guideless, in the journey of life, and had done well and +bravely; but now Susie, at least, had reached a point in the path where +she needed help and counsel. She had come to him for it and he must give +her the best he had. + +"Dad," she began, a little tremulously, "would you mind so _very_ much +if I should m-marry and live in Europe? Of course," she added, hastily, +to break the force of the blow, "you would come over very often and stay +with us, and we would go over very often to see you." + +"So he _has_ spoken to you, has he?" laughed her father. "He told me he +hadn't." + +"Spoken! You know about it? Oh, dad, what do you mean?" + +"I mean that a certain William Frederick Albert, of Markeld--I believe +that's his name--or most of it--was in here a while ago and had the +impudence to ask me to give you to him." + +"Oh!" gasped Susie, with flaming cheeks, and sank back in her chair and +I dare say cried a little; but her father didn't see her, for his own +eyes were full of tears. The moment passed, the tears were wiped +away--"Tell me about it, dad," she said. + +"Tell you about it? I have told you!" + +"About what he said. How did he look?" + +"I dare say he looked about as he always does--a little pale around the +gills, perhaps, as one usually does when one's performing an unpleasant +duty!" + +"Dad!" + +"You don't mean to say you think he enjoyed it?" + +"They--they always have to do it in Europe," faltered Sue. + +"So I understand. But he said he hadn't told you." + +"He hasn't--he hasn't said a word." + +"Oh--_you_ just sort of scented it in the air, I suppose--sort of saw it +coming." + +"Every woman can tell when a man is in l-love with her," explained +Susie, with dignity, but boggling a little at the crucial word. "What +did you tell him, dad?" + +"I told him to take you and welcome." + +"Now, dad, you mustn't tease!" + +"Well, then, I told him he'd better see you first, since you're the +party principally concerned." + +"But you like him?" + +"Immensely!" + +Susie's arms were about his neck, and her cheek was against his cheek, +and a pearly tear plashed down upon his shirt-front. + +"Oh, you dear dad!" she cried. "I knew you'd like him!" + +"He seems a pretty straight sort of fellow," observed her father, "he +looks clean, and he talks like a man." + +"And you won't mind so very much?" + +"Not if it makes you happy, my dear. All girls have to marry sometime, I +suppose. You'll be rather farther away from me than I could wish, but I +dare say the Prince will let me come over and stay in his castle +occasionally, and eat at the second table--" + +"_Let_ you! Why, he'll _beg_ you to. Why couldn't you come over and live +with us, dad?" + +"And die of ennui in a year? Not much. I'll go home and make some more +money for you--you see, I'd never figured on having to finance a +Princess!" + +"Dad," very softly. + +"Well, what?" + +"Do you know, I don't believe he suspects I'm to have any money." + +"Neither do I. That's one thing I like about him." + +"But you really might come and live with us, dad." + +"Oh, no, I mightn't. Besides, there's Nell--What!" he cried, +interpreting the sudden pressure of her arms, "you don't mean that she's +gone and done it, too!" + +"I don't know, dad, but Lord Vernon has been very attentive to her. She +hasn't told me anything; I'm only guessing." + +Her father gave a long, low whistle. + +"Well!" he said. "You've been hustling things up with a vengeance, I +must say! There must be something in the atmosphere. It'll be a little +lonely in that big New York house without you, Susie." + +"I know it will, dear dad. And if you say the word, I won't leave +you--not for a long, long time. It will be a long time anyway, you +know--a year, at least--there will be so much to do." + +"And a year is quite long enough to keep two lovers apart. Youth goes +faster than you think, my dear. No, no; it'll be all right, Susie. You +don't suppose I'm as selfish as all that!" + +"No, dad; that's just what I'm afraid of; you're not selfish enough. +It's I who am selfish." + +"Nonsense! Everybody in this world has a right to happiness, Susie; why, +that's one of the foundation-stones of the Declaration of Independence. +And, I take it, a woman's great chance of happiness is in marrying the +man she loves. That's what every woman has a right to do, and nobody has +the right to raise a finger to prevent her. I'll give you to Markeld +with a clear conscience, my dear, when the time comes, and bless you +both. That is, if you really love him." + +"Oh, dad!" she cried and hid her face; there is one light in the eyes +which none but a lover may see! + +"Quite sure?" he persisted. + +"Quite sure!" she said, softly. + +"You're sure you're not jumping in the dark; it isn't the Prince you're +in love with?" + +"No, dad; it's the man. That seems an awfully bold thing for a girl to +say, doesn't it? But he--he's such a nice fellow!" + +"Yes, I believe he is," agreed her father. + +"He's been telling me about himself, you know; about what he wants to do +in the world," added Susie, looking up at him. + +"Has he?" and her father laughed. "The same old game--effective as ever! +We all do it--why, I remember, Susie--" + +He stopped suddenly, with a little tremor in his voice. + +"Yes, dad," very softly. + +She was leaning forward on his knee, looking up at him. He put his arm +around her and drew her close. + +"You're like your mother, Susie," was all he dared trust himself to say, +his arms tight around her. + +They sat so a moment, lost in memory, until a knock at the door brought +Susie to her feet. A page handed in a little package. + +"For Mademoiselle Rushford," he said. + +"Thank you," said Susie, and closed the door. "For me?" she repeated, as +she turned back into the room. "What do you suppose it is?" + +"The quickest way to find out is to open it, my dear," suggested her +father, drily. + +Susie ripped the paper off in an instant, and disclosed a little book +bound in flexible red leather. + +"'Who's Who,'" she read, looking at the title, and just then a card fell +out. She stooped and picked it up. "Why, it's from that odious French +detective! Listen, dad--'With the compliments of M. André Tellier, who +is sure of Mademoiselle Rushford's gratitude.'" + +"Send it back to him," said her father. "Or here, give it to me--I'll go +down and smash his face with it. I ought to have kicked him out of the +house yesterday--I'd have done it but for Pelletan." + +"Wait a minute, dad; here's a page turned down. Maybe there's something +he wanted me to see. Oh, yes; it's about Lord Vernon--he meant the book +for Nell--I'll call her," and she started toward the open door into the +inner room. + +"Wait," said her father, instantly. "What about Vernon? Read it." + +She stopped, struck by the tone of his voice. + +"What do you mean, dad?" she asked, paling a little. "Surely, you don't +mean--" + +"Read it," he repeated, sternly. + +She opened the book with hands suddenly tremulous. + +"'Vernon, fifth earl of (created 1703),'" she read, in a low voice. +"'George Henry Augustus Gardner, K. G., K. T., P. C., F. R. S., F. S. +A.; baronet 1628; Viscount Vernon, Baron Dalberry, 1710; Viscount +Cranford, 1712; Baron Vernon, 1829; trustee of Imperial Institute; born +tenth of May, 1859; son of Lord Henry Augustus Gardner, M. P., son of +fourth Earl and Mary, daughter of Richard Chaloner, Boston, U. S. A.; +married, Catherine--'" + +"Married!" cried her father, and then restrained himself, though his +face turned crimson. "But go on--perhaps she's dead." + +"No, she isn't dead!" said Sue, reading a line or two farther. Then she +closed the book. "I don't understand," she said, dazedly. "I can't +understand. He didn't seem that kind of man at all, dad!" + +"No," said a hoarse voice from the door. "No, he didn't." + +"Nell! Nellie dear!" cried Sue, and in an instant her arms were about +her. + +"It--it doesn't matter," said Nell, steadying herself against the door, +striving to still a sudden convulsive shuddering. "I was a f-fool to +think he--he cared. Of course he--he was only amusing himself!" and then +her self-control suddenly gave way, and her head fell forward upon her +sister's shoulder. But only for a moment; that high queenliness was not +on the surface, merely, but in the heart, as well. "I think I'm getting +tired of Weet-sur-Mer, dad," she said, quite steadily, with a wan little +smile. "I seem to be hungering for New York again; wouldn't you like to +go home?" + +"We'll go, of course, at once, dad," commanded Sue. "That's the only +thing to do. Oh!" she cried, her eyes flashing, "I could murder such a +man--cut him to pieces, inch by inch--and gloat over the deed!" + +Rushford was very pale and his hands were trembling a little as he +started for the door. + +"Yes, I'll order the trunks packed," he said, incoherently. "I'll have +to hurry--I'll try to--" + +Something in his voice caught Susie's ear; she turned her head and +looked at him. + +"Dad!" she called. + +He paused with his hand on the knob. + +"Dad, come here." + +He came back reluctantly. + +"We're to go away quietly, you know, without telling any one; there's to +be no fuss--we couldn't bear that--" + +A tap on the door interrupted her. Rushford opened it. A man stood +without, a German with complexion like mahogany. He bowed silently and +handed in a note. Rushford took it and closed the door. + +"It's from Markeld," he said, looking at the crest; "thought he hadn't +made his case quite emphatic enough, I guess," and he glanced at Susie's +blushing face and smiled. "Of course, we'll have to tell him," he added, +as he tore open the envelope and unfolded the sheet of paper it +contained. "He has a sort of right--" + +He stopped. + +Susie saw his face turn gray again.... A great fear fell upon her +heart--a cold, still fear that gripped her and left her shivering. + +"What is it, dad?" she asked quietly, through clenched teeth. + +"Nothing," answered her father, looking at her vaguely. "It's nothing. +It's--it's merely a matter of business, Susie." + +"Come, dad," she said, still quietly, "don't try to deceive me. Tell +me--no matter what it is, I can bear it. Do you think I haven't any +pluck, dad?" + +"Yes, I know you've got pluck, Susie," he said. "We've simply made a +mistake, my dear, in believing these blackguards honourable men. Let's +think no more about them." + +"Read what he says, dad." + +He hesitated still, but her eyes compelled him, and he read: + +"'The Prince of Markeld begs to withdraw his proposal for the hand of +Miss Rushford.'" + +"And that is all?" + +"That is all, Susie." + +"It couldn't be!" she said, a little hoarsely. "His aunt is +here--Monsieur Pelletan told me--and she has pointed out to him the +folly of it! I was silly to think it could come true! But, oh--" and she +dropped sobbing into a chair. + +Her father stood for a moment watching the heaving shoulders. Then, with +a face hard as iron, he opened the door and closed it softly behind him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +An American Opinion of European Morals + +"I tell you fellows for the last time," Lord Vernon was saying, "that we +can't keep this thing up any longer. Miss Rushford has served notice on +me that she's going to tell, and dashed if I blame her. Besides, there's +the note." + +"The note can't hurt us--I've extracted its sting. As for Miss Rushford, +I might see her again," suggested Collins, who had been pacing nervously +up and down the room. + +"See her? Nonsense! You'll do nothing of the sort! What right have we to +bother her? She'd probably send you about your business, anyway. She's +got a heart--something that diplomats know nothing about and never take +into account." + +"We didn't take it into account in your case, that's true!" retorted +Collins, with covert irony. + +"No, you didn't!" said the other, wheeling short around upon him. "Nor +did I take into account what a damned scoundrelly thing it was I was +persuaded into undertaking. I tell you, some of us will have to get down +and eat dirt before this thing is over!" + +"Pshaw!" and Collins smiled loftily. "Before a petty German princeling?" + +Vernon turned red with anger at the words, but as he opened his mouth to +reply, there came a sharp knock at the door. + +"Come in!" he shouted, before the others could draw breath. "No, I'm not +going to hide!" he added, in answer to Collins's gesture. "That farce is +finished!" + +The door opened and Monsieur Pelletan appeared on the threshold. + +"Monsieur le Prince de Markeld!" he announced, and bowed low, as the +Prince advanced past him into the room. In the shadows of the hall, +Glück's erect figure was dimly visible. + +For a moment no one spoke, but Vernon's face was flushing under the +ironical gaze bent upon it. + +"So," said the Prince, at last. "It appears that you are not ill. You +have been tricking me all the time!" + +"Yes," answered Vernon, not attempting for an instant to evade the +question. "Tricking you--that is the word. I am glad she has told you." + +"Do you think it was quite the course for a gentleman to pursue?" +continued the Prince, in a voice singularly even. + +"No," said Vernon, quietly. "I do not." + +"Nor do I!" said the Prince. + +Again there was a moment's silence. It was Vernon who broke it. + +"When I went into this thing," he began quite steadily, "I had no +thought that it would result as it has. It seemed to me an innocent +deception, warranted by reasons of state. We could not, of course, +foresee that you would follow us here, instead of going on to London. +For some time I have found the rôle unbearable; but, until a moment ago, +I fancied I might be able to explain to you the course I have taken." + +"Explain!" repeated the Prince, with bitter emphasis. + +"Now, of course," went on Vernon, evenly, "I see that no explanations +are possible--that no apology, even, which I might make, would excuse +me. I don't in the least believe in duelling--I have always thought that +I would be the last person in the world to be entangled in that way--but +this seems to be one of those situations which have no other solution. I +am quite willing, anxious even, to give you any satisfaction you may +demand. It is your right." + +"I agree with you," said the Prince. "It is my right. My friends will +wait upon you," and he turned toward the door. + +"But this is folly!" protested Collins, his face very red. "We are +living on the verge of the twentieth century, gentlemen; not in the +seventeenth. I won't countenance this madness for an instant." + +"Who asks you to countenance it?" demanded Vernon, sternly. "I repeat, I +am at the Prince's service. I am glad that it is within my power to +offer him this reparation." + +"Very well," said the Prince, bowing, and again turned to the door; but +Vernon stopped him with a gesture. + +"Before you go, before I can meet you, even," he said, quietly, "there +is a further explanation due you--" + +"I have no wish to hear it," the Prince broke in. + +"It is one which you must, nevertheless, listen to," went on Vernon, +coldly. "Confession would, perhaps, be a better word for it. Miss +Rushford did not know the whole truth." + +"So!" said the Prince, with irony. "You acted unfairly, then, even with +your co-conspirators!" + +Vernon flushed hotly, but kept himself in hand. + +"The retort is unworthy of you," he said. "I assure you that Miss +Rushford was not in any sense a co-conspirator." + +"Do you mean that she was ignorant of the deception you were playing?" +demanded the Prince, quickly. + +"No; she was not ignorant of that; but she--" + +The Prince held up his hand with an imperious gesture. + +"No more," he said; "if this is the explanation--confession--what you +will--I repeat that I do not care to hear it." + +"This is not it." + +"It cannot, in any event, alter matters." + +"I have no wish that it should alter matters, Your Highness!" retorted +Vernon, proudly. "When I have offered you the greatest reparation in my +power, it is ungenerous that you should--" + +Again a knock interrupted him. + +"Come in!" he called, recklessly. + +The door opened and Archibald Rushford entered. He closed the door +carefully behind him and advanced to the middle of the room. + +Vernon started forward. + +"Why, how are you, Mr. Rushford?" he began, with outstretched hand. "I'm +very glad to see you." + +"Oh, you are?" inquired the American, keeping his own hands firmly +behind his back. "I suppose _you're_ glad to see me, too?" he added, +turning to the Prince. + +"I know of no reason why I should avoid you," returned the Prince, +proudly. + +"Perhaps not," assented Rushford, drily. "The standards of gentlemanly +conduct seem to be different in the Old World and in the New. I'm glad, +however, that I've caught you two together. I suppose that little farce +of pretended illness was played only for the benefit of outsiders!" + +"I assure you, Mr. Rushford," began Vernon quickly, but the American +stopped him with a gesture. + +"I don't care to hear," he said. "I care nothing for your two-by-four +conspiracies and intrigues. But, I repeat, I'm glad I caught both of you +together. It enables me to tell, in the same breath, what I think of +both of you, and I am very anxious to tell you, fully and completely, +for I suppose you have been surrounded all your lives by toadies who +were afraid to tell you the truth about yourselves, or who were so like +you that they couldn't see the truth--products of the same code of +morals--a code truly European! In a word, then, I think you are both +blackguards--blackguards of the most nasty and contemptible kind--the +kind that preys upon women! I may add that you have deeply shaken my +faith in human nature, for, to look at you, one would mistake you for +gentlemen!" + +The words were uttered quietly, evenly, deliberately; each one given its +full value. There was a certain dignity in Rushford's aspect which made +interruption impossible; but neither man offered to interrupt. The +Prince was biting his lips desperately; Vernon turned red and white and +red again in evident amazement. + +"And having said this," concluded the American, "as emphatically as +possible, I will very gladly leave you to yourselves." + +"Oh, no, you won't!" cried Vernon, fiercely, in a voice hoarse with +emotion. "I, at least, demand an explanation." + +"An explanation?" and Rushford laughed, a little mocking laugh. "Can't +your conscience give you an explanation? Or is it too deadened to do +that?" + +"No!" said Vernon, boldly. "My conscience gives me no explanation, which +would in any degree warrant the words you have used to me, and which I +am sure you will some day regret. It is true that my conduct here has +not been wholly straightforward; but it is Prince Frederick I have +wronged and not you in any degree. Your daughter--to whom, I presume, +you referred--knew all--" + +"All?" repeated Rushford, with irony. + +"Perhaps not all, but I had intended waiting upon you this afternoon and +explaining to you--" + +"Oh! So you thought I was entitled to an explanation! Yes, my lord, it +seems to me that your actions will require a great deal of +explaining--more, certainly, than I have the patience to listen to. So I +pray you will spare me. I don't know anything in God's wide world more +contemptible than a married man who poses as single!" + +"Married!" shrieked his lordship. "Poses! Oh!" + +The door opened and Pelletan's head appeared. + +"I knocked," he explained, obsequiously, "once--twice--and when none +answered, Mees Rushford insiste'--" + +"Miss Rushford!" cried Vernon. + +"Yes, monsieur, Mees Rushford," and Pelletan stepped to one side, +disclosing Sue. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +The Dowager's Bombshell + +She came no farther than the threshold and looked only at her father, +though her eyes were shining with the consciousness of some one else's +presence in the room--some one whom she had not in the least expected to +find there. + +"Come, dad," she said. "Don't waste your time here. They're not worth +it," and she held out her hand to him. + +But Vernon flung himself between them. + +"He shall not go," he cried, "until he has heard me. It is all a +mistake--I see now where this detestable adventure in diplomacy has led +me. My dear sir, if I were what you think me, I should deserve every +word you have uttered to me--and more. But I am not married--I have +never been married--I had hoped--" + +"Wait a minute," interrupted Rushford. "Don't go too fast. Come here, +Susie, and help me to understand." + +Could Sue, as she came forward, have seen the gaze which Prince +Frederick bent upon her, her heart might have relented a little toward +him; but she did not see--she had eyes only for her father. + +"Now go ahead," said he, when he had his arm safely around her, "and be +careful, sir," he added. "We want the truth, the whole truth, and +nothing but the truth." + +"That is what you shall have," said Vernon, and passed his hand across +his forehead. + +"It occurs to me," put in Collins, icily, "that the story is not wholly +yours to tell." + +"It isn't?" cried Vernon, turning upon him fiercely. "I suppose I'm to +permit myself to remain in this damnable position for the sake of a lot +of third-rate diplomats in our foreign office! They can go hang, for +all I care. I chuck the whole thing! Do you hear? Do you understand? The +whole thing!" + +Collins turned away with a shrug of despair. The situation had got +beyond his control. + +"It is an explanation which I owe to the Prince of Markeld as well as to +yourself, Mr. Rushford," went on Vernon, more slowly, speaking calmly by +a great effort, "and which I was just about to make to him when you came +in. I am not Lord Vernon--I am merely his younger brother. I bear a +certain resemblance to him, and a lot of paper-diplomats persuaded me to +impersonate him here in order to leave him free to carry out the +negotiations for the succession to Schloshold-Markheim without being +embarrassed by the representations of either side. I recall how +half-heartedly he approved of the scheme, which had its origin in the +fertile brain of Mr. Collins there. I see the reason now, though I +didn't suspect it then. As to the succession, Monsieur le Prince, for +all I know, the whole thing may by this time be settled. Collins could +probably tell you, if he would--" + +"It is not settled,'' muttered Collins. + +"So you see," went on Vernon without heeding him, "I have done you an +even greater wrong than you imagined." + +"Yes," said the Prince, in a hoarse voice, "you have." + +"But settled or not," said the other, "I wash my hands of it! I've had +enough!" + +Rushford held out his hand with a quick gesture. + +"I beg your pardon," he said, simply. "I see that I was not mistaken in +my first estimate of you, after all--I am very glad." + +"I was coming to you this afternoon," added the Englishman, taking the +outstretched hand, eagerly, "to tell you that I am merely Viscount +Cranford and not Lord Vernon--a very insignificant fellow, not a great +one--and to ask for your daughter, Miss Nell. I ask you now. Though +first let me make it clear to you that the title is of little +importance." + +"The only title we Americans care about," responded Rushford, slowly, +"is that of gentleman. My daughter's husband need have no other--but he +must have that. We don't give our daughters away, sir, as I've already +explained to--" + +Susie pinched his arm viciously in an agony of alarm. Then she pulled +his head down to her, her eyes shining, and whispered a quick sentence +in his ear. + +"Yes, that's it!" he nodded. "Nell is waiting for us--our apartment is +just up the stair. You'd better go tell her the story, young man! Knock +at the door, make her admit you, make her listen! Oh, a lover should +know how--yes, I see you do! And God bless you!" he added, as Cranford +wrung his hand, flung open the door, and disappeared along the hall. + +"And we must go too, dad," said Sue, in a low voice. "At once. Come." + +"Yes," assented her father. "Yes--yet wait a minute, Susie," and he +stopped, his eyes on Markeld. "I'd hate to think I'd done any other man +the same injustice I did that young Englishman. Perhaps the Prince of +Markeld has also an explanation. If so, I shall be very glad to hear +it." + +Susie's hand trembled on her father's arm, and she caught her breath +with a little gasp; but she kept her eyes steadily on the floor--she had +pride enough for that. Oh, she rejoiced that she had pride enough for +that! + +The Prince gazed at her a moment, then, with face ashy gray, he shook +his head. + +"I have none," he said, in a low voice, and Susie shivered at the words. + +"But I have!" cried some one from the door; and, turning, they beheld +there on the threshold a handsome old lady, with hair snowy white, +figure erect, face imperious--the Dowager Duchess of Markheim. Behind +her, in the twilight of the hall, could be dimly seen the mustachios of +Monsieur Tellier, with Glück's face glaring at him. "I am not so proud," +she went on, advancing into the room. "I am quite willing to give my +reasons for breaking off the match. Is this the girl?" she asked, +abruptly. + +Susie looked at her with fiery eyes; their glances crossed; one almost +expected to see the sparks fly as of two blades meeting. + +"I am not hard-hearted," continued the duchess, after a moment. "But +there are certain affairs of state which must always take precedence of +any mere personal inclination. Did _I_ marry to please myself?" and her +voice shook a little. "By no means--it is no secret. Yet I was faithful +to my husband and to my house. I have never regretted it. Now all that +I have left to love is that boy yonder, and I intend to see that he +makes a match which is worthy of him. Yes, I love him--but he must not +degrade his name--not even for his happiness. It was solicitude for him +that brought me here--I feared--" + +Her voice broke; perhaps she had a vision of that tragedy fifty years +ago, when, at her mother's side, she had stared out through the mists of +the morning-- + +"But no matter," she added, hastily. + +"May I ask, madame," inquired Rushford, "how marriage with my daughter +would degrade your nephew?" + +"It is impossible, in the first place," she answered, readily, "that he +should marry the daughter of an inn-keeper." + +"Of an inn-keeper?" repeated Rushford, in a puzzled tone. + +"You are the proprietor of this inn, are you not?" demanded the +duchess. "Tellier, here has the papers. Come forward, Tellier." + +"Oh, I understand," and Rushford laughed, not pleasantly. "No, I didn't +tell you, Susie," he added, catching his daughter's astonished glance. +"It was merely an escapade of mine. I was bored, and so I arranged with +Pelletan to have a little fun by backing the hotel for a month--Pelletan +had reached the end of his resources. He'd have had to shut up shop, and +I didn't want to move. I assure you, madame, that at home I am not an +inn-keeper. If I was, I shouldn't be in the least ashamed of it, unless +I were a bad one. Suppose we pass on to the next count." + +There was a movement at the door and Nell came running to her father and +threw her arms about him. Cranford followed her and held out his hands. + +"Congratulate me," he said, simply, but with shining face. + +"I do," said Rushford, and kissed his daughter. "It seems we've got +your difficulty happily settled, Nell; but we've another on hand which +seems considerably more complicated. Now, madame, if you will proceed +with the indictment." + +The duchess seemed a little shaken; after all, a man who could play with +great hotels demanded some consideration! + +"The second reason is even more serious," she said, "at least, my nephew +seemed to so consider it. He laughed at the first one; he is still +young; he still believes in the nonsense of the romancers." + +"Does he?" commented Rushford. "That's one point in his favour, +certainly. So he would have married my daughter, would he, even though I +did keep a hotel! That was kind of him! What's the next count, madame?" + +"It is that your daughter, while pretending to be his advocate, was +really in the plot against him--a double traitor to him because posing +as his friend." + +"In the plot?" cried Cranford. "But that's absurd! She was not in the +plot!" + +"Is it the head of the plot who is addressing me?" inquired the duchess, +icily. "No doubt my nephew has already told you--" + +The Prince stopped her. + +"The Viscount Cranford answers to me," he said, briefly. + +The duchess paled as she looked at him. + +"Not that, Fritz!" she cried. "Not that!" + +"Too late, madame," he said. "My honour demands it." + +The duchess shivered, and her face seemed suddenly to shrink and age. +Then she stood proudly upright. What honour demanded she would be the +last to evade. + +"Perhaps monsieur will deny," she said, looking at Cranford, coldly, +"that he wrote this note to her and her sister the very first day of +his sojourn here?" and she held out to him the slip of paper. + +Cranford took it and read it at a glance, while Nell stared at it with +starting eyes. + +"No," he said, "I don't deny that I wrote it; but--" + +"And perhaps mademoiselle herself will deny that she asserted to +Monsieur Tellier that she did not know her rescuer? Here are her words," +and she produced a second note. + +"I deny nothing," said Susie, proudly, and she looked the duchess +unflinchingly in the face. + +Cranford walked straight over to the Prince of Markeld. + +"Wasn't it Miss Rushford who told you?" he asked. + +"No, it was the note," answered the Prince, fiercely. + +"Which Tellier stole from Miss Rushford's desk," added Cranford, +sternly, "leaving this tracing in its stead," and he took from his +pocketbook a slip of paper. "Such methods are doubtless characteristic +of the Paris police, but they seem to me almost as unworthy as those +employed by us." + +"You are right," agreed the Prince, his face livid. "That dog shall pay +for it!" + +"My nephew had nothing whatever to do with it," broke in the duchess, +sharply. "It was I who secured the note, who persuaded him to--" + +But the Prince stopped her with a gesture. + +"Miss Rushford was not in the plot," continued Cranford, earnestly. "I +hope you will believe me. That it should have come so near wrecking my +own life was bad enough; that it should wreck another's--an innocent +person's--that would be frightful! She warned me explicitly that she +would no longer be a party to the deception, that she was going to tell +you--I thought she had told you. I remember well how warmly she spoke of +your cause; how she detested the course I was pursuing--how she made me +ashamed of myself--ashamed to look at her. I suppose some mistaken +notion of honour held her back from telling, since it was in her service +and her sister's that I had disclosed myself--" + +"A message for His Lordship," said Pelletan from the door. + +Cranford took it. + +"You will pardon me," he said. "It is marked urgent," and he tore it +open. His face brightened as he read it. "Monsieur le Prince," he said, +warmly, turning to Markeld, "I congratulate you from the bottom of my +heart!" and he handed him the message. + +Markeld took the paper and glanced at it, then, with beaming eyes, held +out his hand. And the duchess, looking on, grew suddenly young again! + +"What is it?" she demanded. "Don't you see we are all waiting?" + +"'Prince George, of Schloshold, has just died of an apoplexy,'" the +Prince read. "'You will inform the Prince of Markeld that we will +support his house to the limit of our power. Vernon,'" + +"God be praised!" cried the duchess. "God be praised," and she caught at +the door to keep herself from falling. "He was a bad man," she added in +another tone. "Therefore he needs our prayers!" + +"I give Monsieur le Prince the congratulations of France," said an oily +voice, and Monsieur Tellier bowed low. + +"Oh!" cried Nell, and shrank away from him. + +"Is that the scoundrel?" demanded Cranford. And he started across the +room. + +"One moment," interposed the Prince, "don't soil your hands on him. +Glück!" he called, raising his voice. + +And Glück appeared on the instant. + +His master indicated Tellier with the motion of a finger. + +It was wonderful to see how Glück's face brightened--almost into a +smile--as he laid his hand on Tellier's shoulder. + +"Canaille!" hissed the latter, and shook the hand away. "Do not touch +me--do not defile me with those dirty fingers. Oh, I will go! I have my +task accomplished! And you are fools, imbeciles--all--all--from that fat +Dutchman, who thinks his wife still living--" + +But Glück was again upon him, this time not to be shaken off, and an +instant later he and his victim disappeared together into the shadows of +the hall. + +"Just the same," shrieked Tellier's voice hoarsely from the distance, +"it was I who was right! In every detail! A veritable triumph! A success +of--" + +The voice sank into a gurgle and was still. + +Pelletan, his face livid, clutching blindly at the wall for support, +stumbled forth into the hall, along the corridor, down the stair, until +at last he found Tellier, his face purple, rearranging his cravat before +a mirror in the hotel office. + +"Iss she not lifing?" he asked, huskily. + +"Living!" echoed Tellier, whirling upon him fiercely. "No, pig-head, she +has been dead these three years! But you are no more a pig-head than +those others. Oh, they shall answer, they shall repay, they shall atone! +I will have my revenge--" + +But Pelletan did not stop to listen. He groped his way across the room, +his eyes shining, his lips trembling, repeating over and over a single +word-- + +"Paris! Paris! Paris!" + +Behind the desk he stumbled, through the little door, and dropped to his +knees before Saint Genevieve, the protector of the city which he loved. + +"You haf done eet!" he murmured, looking up at her with limpid eyes. +"You haf seen how I suffered, unt you haf taken pity. Gott sie dank! +Gott sie dank!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +Pardon + +As Tellier's voice died away along the hall, a silence fell upon the +room which he had left--a silence from which the duchess was the first +to rouse herself. + +"Come, Fritz," she said, "we must go. We have work to do," and she held +out her hand to him. + +He took a step toward her, hesitated, stopped. + +"In a moment, madame," said he. "Before I go, I have an apology to make +and a pardon to crave." + +"Of whom?" demanded the duchess. + +For answer, the Prince turned to Susie, so near that he almost touched +her--so near that she could see the trembling of his hands, the +throbbing of his heart. + +"Miss Rushford," he said, in a voice low, carefully repressed, but +vibrant with emotion, "I know that I have played the scoundrel; I know +that I have no right whatever to address you; I know that I have done +everything I could to forfeit your respect. Believe me, the cup is +bitter--the more so, since I myself prepared it!" + +His voice was trembling so that for the moment he could not go on. + +"No, no!" cried the duchess, from the door, "you wrong yourself, Fritz. +It was I prepared it--it is I who am to blame!" + +But he motioned her to silence. + +"It was I prepared it," he repeated, "by my unjust suspicions and +ungentlemanly action. I shall drain it with what manhood I have. And I +hope, mademoiselle, that you will, in time, find it in your heart to +pardon me and to think of me with kindness. I can only repeat to you +what I have already told your father--that I love you truly and +deeply--with my whole heart--as I shall always love you--always--Oh, if +I had not been a fool!" + +The duchess, looking on from the door, felt a sudden wave of tenderness +sweep over her. Perhaps she recalled her own youth--perhaps it was not +quite the truth that she had never regretted--perhaps she was softened +by the emotions of the moment. She came to Susie and took her hand in +hers. + +"Mademoiselle," she said, softly, "I also ask pardon--you will not bear +ill-will against an old woman, who imagined that she was acting wisely. +I feel that I am going to love you. You have spirit--you are worthy to +be even a Markeld. You must forgive that poor boy yonder." + +"I think I shall put him on probation," said Susie, glancing up with +bright eyes into the eager face beside her. + +The Prince sank to his knee, his face suddenly radiant with joy, caught +her hand and covered it with kisses. + +"Six months, a year, ten years!" he cried. "I shall be content!" + +"Ten years! Nonsense!" cried the duchess. "Ten days, mademoiselle. You +do not love him if you make it an instant longer!" + +"No, not ten days, madame," corrected Susie, with a laugh that was half +a sob. "Let us say ten minutes!" + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AFFAIRS OF STATE*** + + +******* This file should be named 10397-8.txt or 10397-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/3/9/10397 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** diff --git a/old/10397-8.zip b/old/10397-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8979ffb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10397-8.zip diff --git a/old/10397.txt b/old/10397.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..badb442 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10397.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6922 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Affairs of State, by Burton E. Stevenson + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Affairs of State + +Author: Burton E. Stevenson + +Release Date: December 7, 2003 [eBook #10397] + +Language: English + +Chatacter set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AFFAIRS OF STATE*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, L. Barber, and Project Gutenberg +Distributed Proofreaders + + + +AFFAIRS OF STATE + +Being an Account of Certain Surprising Adventures Which + +Befell an American Family in the Land of Windmills + +BY + +BURTON E. STEVENSON + +AUTHOR OF "THE MARATHON MYSTERY," "THE HOLLADAY CASE," ETC. + +With Illustrations by F. VAUX WILSON + +1906 + + + + +TO G. H. T.: + +OLD FRIEND + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE WILES OF WOMANKIND + + II. THE ROLE OF GOOD ANGEL + + III. DISTINGUISHED ARRIVALS AT WEET-SUR-MER + + IV. AN ADVENTURE AND A RESCUE + + V. TELLIER TAKES A HAND + + VI. THE PATH GROWS CROOKED + + VII. AN APPEAL FOR AID + + VIII. PRIDE HAS A FALL + + IX. PELLETAN'S SKELETON + + X. AN INTRODUCTION AND A PROMENADE + + XI. THE PRINCE GAINS AN ALLY + + XII. EVENTS OF THE NIGHT + + XIII. THE SECOND PROMENADE + + XIV. A BEARDING OF THE LION + + XV. "BE BOLD, BE BOLD" + + XVI. A PRINCE AND HIS IDEALS + + XVII. THE DUCHESS TO THE RESCUE + +XVIII. MAN'S PERFIDY + + XIX. AN AMERICAN OPINION OF EUROPEAN MORALS + + XX. THE DOWAGER'S BOMBSHELL + + XXI. PARDON + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"EEF MONSIEUR PLEASE" + +"IT WAS MY GREAT GOOD FORTUNE," SAID THE STRANGER, BOWING, "TO BE OF +SERVICE TO A COMPATRIOT" + +"OH!" SHE CRIED, WITH A LITTLE START, "THERE HE IS NOW, ALMOST NEAR +ENOUGH TO HEAR!" + +"WHAT IS IT?" SHE DEMANDED. "DON'T YOU SEE WE ARE ALL WAITING?" + + + + +AFFAIRS OF STATE + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +The Wiles of Womankind + +Archibald Rushford, tall, lean, the embodiment of energy, stood at the +window, hands in pockets, and stared disgustedly out at the dreary vista +of sand-dunes and bathing-machines, closed in the distance by a stretch +of gray sea mounting toward a horizon scarcely discernible through the +drifting mist which hung above the water. + +"Though why you wanted to come here at all," he continued, presumably +addressing two young ladies in the room behind him, "or why you want to +stay, now you _are_ here, passes my comprehension. One might as well be +buried alive, and be done with it. The sensations, I should imagine, +are about the same." + +"Oh, come, dad!" protested one of the girls, laughing, "you know it +isn't so bad as that! There's plenty of life--not just at this hour of +the morning, perhaps,"--with a fleeting glance at the empty +landscape,--"but the hour is unfashionable." + +"As everything seasonable and sensible seems to be here," put in her +father, grimly. + +"And such interesting life, too," added the other girl. + +"Interesting! Bah! When I want to see monkeys and peacocks, I'll go to a +menagerie." + +"But you never do go to the menagerie, at home, you know, dad." + +"No--because I don't care for monkeys or peacocks--in fact, I +particularly detest them!" + +"But lions, dad! There are lions--" + +"In the menagerie at home, perhaps." + +"Yes, and in this one--bigger lions than you ever dreamed of, +dad!--perfect monsters of lions!" + +"Oh, no, there aren't, Susie," dissented Rushford. "You don't know the +species. You've mistaken a bray for a roar, just as a lot of people +always do, if the bray is only loud enough. Come, now, let me know the +worst. How much longer do you propose to stay here?" + +"Well, dad, you see the season won't be at its height for fully a month +yet--" + +"A month!" echoed Rushford, in dismay. "Well, Susie, you and Nell may be +able to stand it for a month, but long ere that I'll be dead--ossified, +fossilised, dried up, and blown away! Maybe you girls enjoy it, though I +didn't think it of you--but what can _I_ do? I'm tired of reading +day-before-yesterday's newspaper and of being two days behind the +market. Two days! Think what may have happened to steel since I've +heard from it! It's enough to drive a man mad!" + +He got out a cigar, lighted it, and stood puffing it nervously, appalled +at the vision his own words had conjured up. + +"But, dad," Sue pointed out, coming to his side and taking his arm +coaxingly, "you know it was just to get away from all that worry--from +those horrid stocks and things--that you consented to come with us." + +"Don't call the stocks hard names, Susie. Don't go back on your best +friends!" protested Rushford. "Don't forget what they've done for you!" + +"But, dear, you remember how strongly Doctor Samuels insisted on your +taking a rest; how necessary he said it was?" + +"Oh, perfectly!" responded Rushford, drily. "I've suspected right along +that Samuels took his orders from you." + +"From me, dad!" cried Sue, indignantly, but her eyes were shining in a +most suspicious manner. "A man of his standing--" + +"It doesn't matter," broke in her father, with a wave of his arm. "I'm +willing to grant, for the sake of argument, that Samuels was perfectly +sincere. But I still protest that there is no reason why we should +conceal ourselves here. We haven't done anything--the police aren't +after us--I can speak for myself, at least." + +"This seemed to be such a nice, quiet place for you, dad," explained +Nell, perching herself upon a table near the window and gazing pensively +out at the shimmering water, which told that the sun was winning a +decisive victory over the mist, and that the day would be a fine one. + +"For me!" repeated her father, turning and staring at her. "You don't +mean to say you chose this place on _my_ account!" + +Nell nodded, but she winked at Susie. + +"And then, you know," she added, "we have always wanted to get a glimpse +of a real Dutch watering-place." + +"I don't believe this _is_ a real Dutch watering-place. Nobody here +speaks anything but French. Why, it's even got a French name!" + +"Only two-thirds French, dad," Sue corrected. + +"And everything is priced in francs." + +"That is true of all Europe," asserted Nell, with superb aplomb. + +"Well, Dutch, French, or Hindoo, you've had your glimpse, haven't you? +Suppose we move on and get a glimpse or two of something worth seeing." + +"Oh, but we've seen it all only from the outside! We've been like the +audience at a show--we haven't had any part in it. And it's so much more +interesting behind the scenes!" + +"It's dull enough from in front, heaven knows!" agreed Rushford. "If I +had my way, I'd ring down the curtain and close the show up this minute. +It's the worst I ever saw! And I very much doubt if a respectable +American family has any business behind the scenes!" + +"You're jaundiced, dad," laughed Sue. "You're looking at the place +through a yellow film of prejudice. One must enter into the spirit of +the thing!" + +Rushford groaned. + +"I'm afraid I'm too set in my ways, Susie," he said, dismally. "I've +lived in America too long. You might as well ask me to dance the +can-can, and be done with it!" + +"Besides," continued Sue, "it's just as Nell says. We're on the +outside--we haven't got a foothold. There's something the matter." + +"Maybe they think I'm that Chicago cashier who got away with a million, +not long ago. On second thought, though, I don't believe that would +make any difference. That fellow would find a very congenial circle +here. He wouldn't have any difficulty in getting behind the scenes!" + +"Sue and I have been thinking it over," said Nell, "and we've concluded +that it must be something about the hotel. We seem to have picked out +the wrong one." + +"The place _is_ empty, and that's a fact," agreed Rushford. + +"It's unnaturally so," said Sue. "Something's the matter with it. It's +taboo for some reason." + +"Well, it's good enough for me," remarked her father. "After all, there +isn't much difference in prisons! But I want to repeat, as emphatically +as possible, that I can't keep on loafing here for a month and preserve +my sanity. Don't you see how much whiter my hair's getting? I'm willing +to do anything in reason to oblige you, and I fully realise the +importance of your sociological and ethnological studies--" + +Sue's hand on his mouth stopped him. + +"Take a breath, dad," she cautioned him. "Take a breath. Those were +mighty long words." + +"As I was about to remark," continued Rushford, calmly, taking the hand +away, "I am, of course, a doting parent--who would not be with two such +children? But, candidly, I don't just see where I come in. I tell you, +girls, I've got to have some excitement." + +"There's plenty of excitement at the Casino, dad." + +"Oh, yes--faro excitement; roulette excitement. I never cared for that +kind. I've always had the sense to keep out of sure-thing games, even on +Wall Street." + +"But the people--" + +"The people! French apes in fancy waistcoats; Dutch dandies in corsets; +women with painted cheeks and pencilled eyebrows whom you're ashamed to +look at!" + +"Some of them are respectable, dad," laughed Sue. + +"One would never suspect it!" + +"Oh, yes, dad; some of them belong to the nobility." + +"That's no certificate of character--rather the reverse, if one may +believe the papers." + +"Gossip, dad; nothing but gossip. And you know how you've always hated +gossip. You've told us never to believe it." + +"It may be; but one could believe anything of most of the women one sees +around here. My only chance for amusement is to get up a flirtation with +some of them. I don't think it would be difficult--they don't seem a bit +shy. Only," he added, with a sigh, "I'm getting too old." + +"Yes, dad; I'm afraid you are," agreed Susie. "You wouldn't really enjoy +it." + + "'My days are in the yellow leaf; + The flowers and fruits of love are gone; + The worm, the canker, and the grief + Are mine alone!'" + +quoted Nell, in a solemn voice. + +"Don't you be too sure!" retorted her father, threateningly, wheeling +around upon her. "There's no telling what I may be driven to, if I'm +kept imprisoned here much longer! 'Though I look old,'--" + +"'Yet I am strong and lusty,'" finished Sue. "Of course you are, dad, +and you don't look old, either. Why," gazing up at him critically, "you +don't look a day over forty!" + +"Don't try to bamboozle your Pa, Susie," laughed Rushford. "I can see +through you! You'll be trying to make me believe next that you want a +stepmother." + +"I would if it would make you any happier, dad." + +Her father gazed down for an instant into her pseudo-serious face, then +caught her in his arms and squeezed her. + +"What're you up to?" he demanded. "Trying to make a fool of your old +dad? Why, Susie, own up,--you'd scratch out the eyes of the best woman +in the world if she dared to look twice at me!" + +"Of course I would!" admitted Susie, instantly. "You know as well as I +do, dad, that even the best woman in the world isn't good enough for +you." + +"Let's go across to the other hotel, dad," suggested Nell, with a +nonchalance intended to conceal the fact that this was the point she and +Susie had been aiming at from the very first. + +Her father released Susie and stared at his other daughter in amazement. + +"What on earth for?" he demanded. + +"Oh, everybody seems to be over there--you've noticed--" + +"Yes, I've noticed that it's running over with the rag-tag and bob-tail +of all Europe! If you think I'll butt into that Bedlam, my dear child, +you're badly mistaken. I'd rather live with the freaks in a museum." + +"But it's so quiet here." + +"I'm glad of it! Besides, I thought you wanted quiet?" + +"Only for your sake--don't you see, we're trying our best to please you. +A moment ago, you said you wanted excitement." + +"I do; but it must be excitement with an object. I haven't got any use +for the infernal, purposeless chattering I hear all around me every time +I go out on the dyke. Damn a man, anyhow, who can't find anything better +to do than to run around to summer-resorts and flirt with other men's +wives! I tell you, girls, I want to get back to New York!" + +"Give us another month, dad!" pleaded Sue, catching his arm again, as he +stamped up and down. "You know that you promised to stay with us two +months, at the very least. We can't go around without a chaperon." + +Her father's face relaxed as he looked down at her, and he smiled +grimly. + +"So we get down to the real reason, at last, do we?" he queried. "I +thought all this solicitude for my health was a trifle unnatural. I'm +useful as a chaperon, am I? See here, girls, I can put in my time more +profitably at the stock exchange, and have a heap more fun. I'll hire a +chaperon for you, or half a dozen, if you want them, and pull out for +New York. What do you say? I don't know the first principles of the +business, anyway." + +"Oh, yes, you do, dad!" protested Susie. "You're a perfectly ideal +chaperon." + +"I am? The ideal chaperon, then, must be one who never does any +chaperoning!" + +"That's it, exactly!" cried Nell, clapping her hands delightedly. "How +quickly you see things, dad!" + +"So that's it!" and he stood for a moment looking darkly at his +offspring. "Well, you girls are old enough to take care of yourselves. +If you can't, it's high time you were learning how!" + +"Oh, we're perfectly able to take care of ourselves," Sue assured him. +"You mustn't worry about us for a moment, dad." + +"I'm not likely to. But, in that case, why do you want me along at all?" + +"Why, don't you see, dad, it's you who give us the odour of +respectability. By ourselves, we should be social outcasts, impossible, +not to be spoken to--except by men. It isn't convenable." + +"Oh, I see," said Rushford. "The first great principle of European +society seems to be, 'Think the worst of every one.'" + +"Not precisely, dad; but no unmarried woman may venture outside the +circumference of the family circle. That's the great European +convention--the basic principle of her social order." + +"A sort of 'tag, you're it,' game, isn't it? The family circle is a kind +of dead line--the ring of fire which keeps out the wild beasts. Step +over, and you're lost!" + +"Of course," said Nell, "it is only to unmarried women that the rule +applies." + +"Oh, certainly," assented her father. "Married women are allowed more +latitude--in fact, from such French novels as I've read, I should infer +that they usually swing clear around the circle! It's a reaction, I +suppose; a sort of compensation for the privations of their youth. I +don't like it. Let's go home!" + +"But your promise, dad!" pleaded Sue, permitting the faintest suspicion +of moisture to appear in her dark eyes. "And you know you really do need +a vacation." + +Her father looked down at her, saw the moisture, and surrendered. + +"You're a humbug," he said; "and this vacation business is another. A +man spends two or three months loafing around because somebody tells him +he's looking badly and ought to take a rest; and before he knows it, +he's accumulated so much rust in his system that he never gets it all +out again. His machinery creaks more or less for the rest of his life. +The wise man postpones his vacation to the next world." + +"Well, let's call it a jaunt," suggested Susie. "A jaunt somehow implies +hurry and bustle, with plenty of exercise." + +"And I don't know which is the bigger fool," pursued her father, not +heeding her; "the fellow who takes a vacation every year on his own +hook, or the one who permits his daughters to drag him away from his +comfortable home and his morning paper and the business which gives him +his interest in life, and maroon him in a desert of a Dutch +watering-place, where there's absolutely nothing for a self-respecting +man to do but smoke himself to death and wait for a paper which never +comes till day after to-morrow!" + +"It sounds terribly involved, but I'll help you reason it out, dad, any +time you like," said Susie, obligingly. "And you'll stay, won't you, +dear?" + +"Oh, I'll stay, since your heart's so set upon it. I'll try to bear up +and find a diversion of some kind and not rust out any more than I can +help. I might dig in the sand or make mud pies or play mumbly-peg. But I +draw the line at plunging into that whirlpool across the street. My bed +here is nearly as comfortable as the one at home, and the grub's +first-rate." + +"Very well, dad," agreed Susie, instantly seizing the concession, but +speaking as though it were she who was making it, "we'll stay here, +then. Only I _do_ wish there were a few more people," she added, with a +sigh. "I hate to sit down in that big, empty dining-room. I imagine I'm +at an Egyptian banquet, and that there are horrid, rattly skeletons +sitting in all those high, covered chairs." + +"What you need is some fresh air," said her father. "You girls get your +hats and go for a walk. You're growing morbid. If you think of skeletons +again, I'll give you a liver pill." + +"Won't you come, dad?" + +"No; you know you don't want me. Besides, I see the panjandrum who +brings the mail coming up the dyke down yonder." + +He stood gazing down the Digue until his womenkind reappeared, bedight, +ready for the walk. + +"You'll do," he said, looking them over critically. "In fact, my dears, +if I wasn't afraid of making you conceited, I'd say I'd never seen two +handsomer girls in my life." + +"Now it's you who are blarneying, dad!" cried Susie, but she dimpled +with pleasure nevertheless, and so did Nell. + +"No I'm not," retorted Rushford; "and I dare say there are plenty of +other men, even in this Dutch limbo, who have an eye for beauty; let +them break their hearts, if they have any, but keep your own hearts +whole, my dears." + +They were laughing in earnest, now, as they looked up in his face, which +had grown suddenly serious. + +"Why, dad, what ails you?" questioned Sue. "I think it is you who need +the pill!" + +Rushford's face cleared; they were heart-whole thus far--there could be +no doubt of that. + +"Perhaps I do," he agreed. "Or perhaps it's only that I'm beginning to +feel the responsibilities of my position." + +"Your position?" + +"As chaperon," he explained. + +"Dear dad!" cried Susie, and squeezed his arm. "Do you suppose that as +long as we have you, either of us will ever think of another man?" + +"I don't know," said her father, dubiously. "I scarcely believe I'm so +fascinating as all that. But I just wanted to remind you, girls, that +there's plenty of nice boys at home--boys whom you can trust, through +and through--boys who are clean, and honest, and worth loving. If you +_must_ lose your hearts--and I suppose it's inevitable, some day--please +do me the favour of choosing two of them. I'll sleep better at night and +breathe easier by day!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +The Role of Good Angel + +Rushford waved them good-bye from the door as they sallied forth into +the bright sunlight, paused a moment to look after them admiringly, and +then turned slowly back into the hotel, smiling softly to himself. He +sauntered through the deserted vestibule, and its emptiness struck him +as it had never done before. + +"Really," he said to himself, "we seem to be the only patrons the house +has got. I'll have to look over my bill." + +He went on to the desk and demanded his letters of the boy in +resplendent uniform who presided there. + +"There are none, monsieur," answered that individual, blandly. + +"What!" cried Rushford, his smile vanished in an instant. "Are you +sure?" + +The boy answered with a shrug and a significant gesture toward the +letter-rack on the wall. It was visibly, incontestably empty. + +Rushford turned away in disgust. + +"Those fellows at the office are assuming altogether too much +responsibility," he muttered savagely, as he wandered on into the +smoking-room. "I told them I didn't want to be bothered with little +things, but I certainly expected to hear from them once in a while. If I +don't look out, they'll reduce me to the status of a rubber stamp! I'll +have to stir them up," and he gloomily extracted from the rack the +newly-arrived, two-days-old London paper, brought by the little rickety +train which struggled through at uncertain and infrequent intervals from +Zunderburg to Weet-sur-Mer, lighted a fresh cigar, and sat down to a +perusal of the news. + +He proceeded in the most leisurely manner, for he knew that he had +plenty of time. Indeed, the paper once finished, the remainder of the +day would stretch before him an empty wilderness--a waste as monotonous +and bare as the beach he had grown so weary of gazing at. So he gave +careful and minute attention to every item. He was in the midst of a +long and wholly uninteresting account of a charity bazaar, which the +Princess of Wales had opened, and where the Duchess of Blank-Blank had +made a tremendous hit and much money for a worthy cause, by selling her +kisses for a guinea each, when his attention was attracted by a discreet +shuffling of feet on the floor beside his chair. He looked up to see +standing there the little fat Alsatian-German-French proprietor of the +hotel. + +"Why, hello, Pelletan," he said. "Want to speak to me?" + +"Eef monsieur please," and Pelletan rubbed his chubby hands together in +visible embarrassment. + +"All right; sit down." + +Monsieur Pelletan coughed deprecatingly and deposited his plump body on +the extreme edge of a chair. It was easy to see that he was much +depressed--his usually rosy cheeks hung flaccid, his mustachios drooped +limply, his little black eyes were suffused and needed frequent +wiping--a service performed by a hand that was none too steady. + +"Eet iss a matter of pusiness, monsieur," he began, falteringly. "You +haf perhaps perceive' t'at our custom hass fallen off." + +Rushford glanced about the deserted smoking-room. + +"No," he said; "I haven't seen any to fall off. I've been wondering how +you managed to pay out." + +"Ah, monsieur," cried Pelletan, wringing his hands, "t'at iss eet--I haf +been paying out unt paying out until t'e las' franc iss gone. I wass at +no time reech, monsieur; at t'is moment I am in ruins!" + +And, indeed, he looked the part. + +"You mean you'll have to shut up shop?" inquired Rushford. + +"Eet preaks my heart to say eet, monsieur; but I fear eet will come to +t'at, unless--" + +"Unless what?" asked Rushford, eyeing him as he hesitated. + +"Unless I shall pe able to interes' monsieur--" + +Rushford grunted and stared out of the window at the dunes, puffing his +cigar meditatively. He thought of the comfortable bed, of the admirable +cuisine--he would hate to give them up. It would mean going to the other +hotel, and the mere idea made him shiver. Anything but that! + +His host watched him in an agony of apprehension. + +"What does it cost a day to run this shebang?" asked the American at +last. + +Monsieur Pelletan, with feverish haste, produced a paper from his +pocket. + +"I haf anticipate' monsieur's question; t'is statement will show heem." + +Rushford took it and glanced at the total. + +"Hmmmm. Four hundred and eighty francs--say a hundred dollars." + +"T'at, monsieur," explained Pelletan, "iss based upon our present +custom. As pusiness increase', so do t'e expense increase." + +"Of course." + +"But not in t'e same ratio as t'e receipts. A full house wins so much as +six hundret francs t'e tay." + +"Yes," assented Rushford, "a full house is a mighty nice thing. But now +you seem to be holding only a bob-tail." + +"A pop-tail?" + +"No matter--go ahead with the story. You say it costs you a hundred +dollars a day to keep your doors open. What's the heaviest item?" + +"T'e greates' item at present iss t'e chef. He iss a fery goot one--I +haf feared to let heem go." + +"That was right. You'd better not let him go if you want to keep us +here. How many rooms have you?" + +Pelletan produced a second slip of paper. + +"For t'at, also, I wass prepared, my tear Monsieur Rushford," he said. +"T'e tariff of charges iss also t'ere." + +Rushford looked it over with some care. Then he stared out across the +sands again, the corners of his mouth twitching. Evidently the proposal +appealed to his sense of humour. + +"See here, Pelletan," he said, abruptly, turning back, "is there a +hoodoo on the house, or what's the matter?" + +"A--I peg monsieur's pardon," stammered Pelletan. + +"How does it happen that the hotel over there is full and this one's +empty?" + +"Eet iss t'is way, monsieur," explained the Frenchman, eagerly. "For +many year, long pefore t'is new part off t'e house wass puilt, we +enjoyed t'e confidence unt patronage of Hiss Highness, t'e Prince of +Zeit-Zeit, who spent at least two month in efery season here. While t'e +Prince wass here, we were crowded--oh, to t'e smalles' room!--efen at +ot'er times, we tid well, for he gafe t'e house a prestige. But last +vinter he die, unt hiss heir, hiss son, despite t'e care of heem which +we haf taken, t'e anxieties he hass cause' us, yet which we haf +cheerfully porne--t'at ingrate hass t'e pad taste to prefer t'e ot'er +house! Our ot'er customers haf followed heem--like sheep! Eet iss as +t'ough we had lost our star!" + +"Your star?" + +"In t'e guide-book off Monsieur Karl," Pelletan explained. + +"Is that such a tragedy?" + +"I haf always t'ought it t'e fery worst t'at could happen," said +Pelletan, "but t'is iss as pad." + +It was only by a supreme effort that Rushford managed to choke back the +chuckle which rose in his throat. + +"Is Zeit-Zeit the little purblind, monkey-faced fellow who is wheeled +around in a big red chair every day?" + +"T'e fery same, monsieur--a great Highness." + +Rushford made a grimace of disgust. + +"What's the matter with him?" he asked. "Does he only need a bath, or is +it more than skin deep?" + +"Eet iss an hereditary trait, monsieur." + +"Hereditary taint, you mean! You're better off without him; why, he'd +infect the whole house, Pelletan." + +Pelletan gazed at him aghast. + +"Monsieur is choking!" he said. + +"I'm in deadly earnest, but I don't expect you to understand, for you've +got an hereditary taint, too, Pelletan, which shows itself principally +in your spine." + +Pelletan turned pale. + +"I assure you, monsieur," he stammered, "I am fery--" + +"No matter," broke in Rushford. "All European inn-keepers have it, and +it has never been known to result fatally, so don't worry. But why did +you think I'd take hold of this thing?" + +"I haf heard so much," explained Pelletan, "of t'e enterprise of t'e +Americans, t'at I t'ought perhaps you might--" + +"Win back Zeit-Zeit? Not on your life! If he comes, I go! But I tell you +what I'll do, Pelletan. I'll make you a proposition." + +"Proceed, monsieur," and the other's face began to beam anticipatively. + +"For one month I'll pay all the expenses of this hostelry, rent +included, and allow you one hundred francs a day for your services. I +take all the receipts. At the end of that time, I withdraw and leave you +to your own devices. What do you say?" + +Monsieur Pelletan reflected. At least, it was postponing the inevitable +for a month, and in a month what may not happen? Besides, at the end of +the month, he would be richer by three thousand francs. + +"I accept, monsieur," he said, with fervour. "I am t'ankful a t'ousand +time!" + +"All right; I take possession at once. We can have a notary draw up a +formal agreement. Now let's run over this schedule of prices," and he +turned to Pelletan's carefully prepared statement. + +"Fery well, monsieur." + +"I see you have two apartments de luxe at one hundred francs a day. +Hereafter they will be two hundred francs." + +Pelletan gasped. + +"From t'at, off course, t'ere will be a tiscount?" he stammered. + +"Not a cent; not the tenth of a cent. Two hundred francs net." + +"But, monsieur, efen at t'e old price, we haf always gif a tiscount! It +iss only Americans who pay t'e full price. Ot'er people expec'--" + +Rushford waved his hand. + +"I don't care what they expect. Besides, there's going to be one hotel +in Europe where Americans get a square deal. If your compatriots don't +want to patronise my house, they can go to that low-down lunatic asylum +across the street. By the way, what's its name?" + +"T'e Grand Hotel Splendide," answered Pelletan, glowing with delight at +his companion's power of invective. + +"H--m," said the latter; "the worse a hotel is, the bigger name it +seems to have. But about the discount. Let me repeat for you, Pelletan, +a business axiom. To give a discount is to admit that your goods are not +worth the price you ask for them, and that you're willing to cheat +anybody who doesn't know enough to beat you down. All the business of +Europe seems to be run in just that way, but ours won't be. Our goods +are worth the price!" + +"But," began Pelletan, humbly, "efen at Ostend--" + +"This is not Ostend. This is Weet-sur-Mer--a place more home-like, more +comfortable, preferable in every way, and with greater natural +advantages than Ostend ever had or ever will have. Only a fool would go +to Ostend when he could come to Weet-sur-Mer and stop at the Grand Hotel +Royal." + +Pelletan rubbed his hands in delight. + +"You really t'ink so, monsieur?" he murmured. + +"No matter what I think. Besides, you can go back to your old schedule, +if you want to, at the end of the month. But I'm fixing this new +schedule to suit myself, and I don't want to be interrupted. These +ordinary apartments will be thirty to forty francs, according to size. +Single rooms will be ten francs. Breakfast will be four francs, dinner +ten francs--in a word, we double our income without increasing our +expenses. That's the secret of all high finance, my friend." + +"But, monsieur," stammered Pelletan, more and more astounded, "eef t'ere +iss no one to pay, what does it matter?" + +"There _will_ be some one to pay--leave that to me. You don't understand +American enterprise, Pelletan. I'm going to astonish you. Now mind one +thing--if Zeit-Zeit comes over here and wants an apartment, you're to +shut him out--I won't have him in the house--not at any price!" + +Pelletan grew pale at the thought. + +"Refuse t'e Prince of Zeit-Zeit!" he stammered. + +"Yes--if you let him in, I'll kick him out. And another thing--the +service has got to be first-class--the best in Europe--nothing gaudy, +you understand, but a quiet elegance that will make us talked about. Do +you think you can accomplish it?" + +"I vill do my pest, monsieur," promised Pelletan. + +"The place, of course, I'll have to take as I find it," went on +Rushford, with a glance around, "though it's littered up with gewgaws +and dinkey furniture which ought to be made into a bonfire. If I had a +little more time, I'd re-decorate the whole house. Those imitation +marble pillars over there are an insult to the intelligence." + +"T'ey haf peen t'ought fery beautiful, monsieur," murmured Pelletan, +humbly. + +"Yes--I've noticed that Europeans have a weakness for imitations. It's a +defect of character, I suppose. But there's one thing you _can_ do--and +right away. Send that boy at the desk up to his room and tell him to rip +all that gold braid off his coat. To look at him, you'd think he was a +major-general." + +Pelletan stared at his partner to see if he was in earnest. + +"Oh, I know it will be a deprivation," said the American, a glint of +humour in his eyes. "You can raise his wages a franc a day to make up +for it." + +"Fery well, monsieur," and Pelletan crossed over to the desk and gave +the boy his commands. The latter dragged away up the stair with a +countenance in which grief and joy struggled for the mastery. "Anyt'ing +else, monsieur?" asked the Frenchman, coming back. + +"No, I don't think of anything just at this moment. But you do your part +and I'll do mine. Now suppose you go out and get the notary, while I +work my brain a bit." + +Pelletan staggered rather than walked to the door, his head in his +hands, fairly overwhelmed. A moment later, Rushford saw him hurrying +down the street. He got out a third cigar and settled back in his chair +with a chuckle of satisfaction. + +"Maybe I'll get some fun out of this thing, after all," he said. "It'll +offer a little diversion, anyway. Now, how shall we begin to advertise?" + +"M. le Proprietaire, is he here?" inquired a voice, and Rushford looked +around to see a man in resplendent uniform standing at the door. + +"That's me, I reckon," he said. + +"This is my first day," explained the man; "I will know monsieur +hereafter. I have a telegram," and he produced it. "Monsieur will make +acknowledgment here," he added, and held out a narrow white slip of +paper. + +Rushford signed his name mechanically, dropped a franc into the itching +palm, and waited till the messenger went out. Then he looked at the +address on the envelope. It was: + +_Proprietor Grand Hotel Royal, Weet-sur-Mer._ + +"Well," he said, "it's mine--I guess there's no question of that--I'm +the proprietor--pro tem," and he tore the envelope open. A low whistle +escaped him as he read the message. Then he slapped his leg and laughed. +"It's a freak of the market," he cried. "A freak of the market! And it's +just my luck to be in on the ground floor!" + +He folded the telegram and placed it carefully in his pocket. Then he +fell again into a meditation punctuated by frequent chuckles. But at +the end of a very few minutes, Monsieur Pelletan was back again, with a +thin little notary in tow, and the necessary papers were soon drawn up. + +"You have only to sign, monsieur," said the notary, after he had +finished reading them aloud, and he handed his formidable pen to +Rushford. + +Monsieur Pelletan rubbed his hands together nervously as the American +hesitated and looked at him. + +"It's not too late to draw out," remarked Rushford. "If you're not +satisfied--" + +"I haf no tesire to traw out, monsieur," protested Pelletan, quickly. "I +am entirely satisfied!" + +"I have one other condition to make," added the American. + +"What iss eet, monsieur?" questioned Pelletan, looking at him +apprehensively. + +"You understand I'm to be a silent partner in this thing." + +"A--?" + +"A silent partner--in other words, nobody's to know I'm backing you +unless I choose to tell them--absolutely no one. Do you agree?" + +"Oh, gladly, monsieur!" cried Pelletan, with a deep breath of relief. +After all, is not glory the next best thing to riches? + +"And your friend?" + +The notary nodded a solemn promise of secrecy. + +"All right," and Rushford signed. Pelletan hastily affixed his +signature, and the thing was done. "Now, my friend," continued the +American, "which is the swellest suite of rooms you've got in the +house?" + +"De luxe A," responded Pelletan. "Monsieur wishes--" + +"I wish you to get it ready at once--" + +"Monsieur will occupy it himself, no toubt?" + +"No, I won't; I'll stay right where I am. But between seven and eight +o'clock to-morrow morning, there will arrive an English ship of war--" + +"A sheep-of-t'e-war!" echoed Pelletan, growing pale. + +"Certainly, a ship of war, and from it there will disembark a man named +Vernon and his suite of four or five people. You will give him apartment +A." + +Pelletan caught his breath. + +"Monsieur Vernon iss, I suppose, a friend?" he stammered. + +"No," said Rushford, "I've never seen him. But we'll have to treat him +well. He's the head of the British foreign office, Pelletan; and one of +the high nobility. Beside him, Zeit-Zeit will look like thirty cents!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Distinguished arrivals at Weet-sur-Mer + +Even at this unaccustomed hour of the morning, the beach was black with +people. It was not to bathe that they had come, for a chill north wind +was blowing; nor was it to promenade, for they were not promenading; +indeed, it was the fashionable hour for neither of these things, and no +one ever dreamed of doing them at any hour other than the fashionable +one. It was rather the fashionable hour to turn painfully over in one's +bed, and ring the bell, and signify that coffee and rolls would be +acceptable. + +This morning there had been scant time for such refreshment, or for that +preliminary stretching which is so grateful to bodies wearied by late +hours and too-rapid living. Instead, nearly all the sojourners at +Weet-sur-Mer had arisen aching from their beds, had hurried forth to the +beach, and stood there now, facing unanimously seawards, staring toward +the dim horizon, only moving convulsively from time to time in the +effort to keep warm. Those who had glasses used them; those who had +none, strained nature's binoculars to the limit of vision. From all of +which it will be seen that the notary had done his work well, and that +neither had Monsieur Pelletan been backward in spreading the great news +of the unparalleled occurrence which was about to happen. + +"He iss to arrive between t'e hours of seven unt eight," he had +announced. "Hiss Highness, pe it understood, Lord Vernon, t'e great +Englishman. He comes in a special vessel--a sheep-of-t'e-war," he added +with a triumphant flourish. "He could pring mit' him t'e whole nafy of +England, if he wish'!" Ah, what an honour for Weet-sur-Mer! And what a +blow for the Grand Hotel Splendide across the way! + +Yet Monsieur Pelletan did not in the least understand how it had come to +pass; he suspected his partner of some sort of clairvoyance, of some +supernatural power of compelling events, and his admiration for him had +deepened to awe. But into this question he did not permit himself to +enter deeply; he was content to know that fame and prosperity were +returning with a rush to the Grand Hotel Royal. Already there had been a +score of applicants for rooms; the corridors were again assuming that +air of liveliness and gaiety which had characterised them in those +golden days when the August Prince of Zeit-Zeit had been his annual +guest. He was no longer ashamed to meet the proprietor of the Grand +Hotel Splendide face to face in the full day; he was a different person +from the despairing individual of the day before; in a word, he was no +longer in ruins! He had been restored, as so many ruins are, by the +hand of an American! + +At this moment he held the centre of the stage, and it was easy to read +in his bearing the consciousness that he deserved the limelight. A strip +of crimson carpet had been stretched across the sand to the very water's +edge; on either side of it a dozen decorous footmen were aligned, and +between them Monsieur Pelletan proudly marched, his head in air, his +back very straight, preceding a big, hooded invalid's chair. + +Immediately a murmur arose. + +"He is ill then!" + +"Why the chair?" + +"He is coming to take the baths." + +The murmur no doubt penetrated to the ears of the little Alsatian, but +he made no sign. He was aware that the envious eyes of the proprietor of +the Grand Hotel Splendide were upon him; he would show him that here was +a guest more majestic, more worthy of honour than even the Prince of +Zeit-Zeit!--a Highness, in short, so extraordinary as to cause that +August personage to resemble, in some incomprehensible way, the sum of +one franc fifty centimes! Otherwise there would have been no carpet, for +the sand was hard and dry. Otherwise, too, perhaps, Monsieur Pelletan +would have been content to permit his major-domo to represent him at the +water's edge, for he was not accustomed to exposing himself thus to the +sharp airs of the morning. His fat red cheeks and plump nose were +turning a dull purple--ah, how good would a glass of cognac taste!--but +he bore this discomfort with the greatest fortitude, for, after all, an +occasion such as this was worth some sacrifice. + +And, be it said, his was not the only purple nose in evidence. There +were many men who stared straight before them, daring to look neither to +the right nor left; and many women who were thankful for the heavy +veils they had had the forethought to put on. Even rouge, however +cunningly applied, cannot hide certain ugly lines in the face in the +clear, cruel light of the morning! + +Strange how the same breeze will give to some cheeks a dull +repulsiveness and to others an entrancing glow! A word to lovers: Would +you test your mistress's blood and spirit, persuade her to a walk some +sharp day in winter; or, if she will not be persuaded, use a little +artifice. Then, after wind and frost have had their will of her for half +an hour, take a look at her. Are her cheeks glowing, are her eyes +bright, is she having a good time? If not, take heed! + +There were four cheeks upon the beach at Weet-sur-Mer that morning +glowing as I would have your true love's glow; drawing men's eyes and +women's, too--the one in admiration, the other in envy. Yes, envy! +though more than one shivering fair spoke a low, slurring word about +"those coarse Americans!" + +Both Pelletan and the notary had been careful to respect Rushford's wish +that his connection with the hotel be kept to themselves; in all their +boastings, rejoicings, explanations, his name had not been whispered; +and not even to his daughters had that gentleman confided the secret of +his plan to get the excitement he had craved so badly. He had feared, +perhaps, that they would not enter thoroughly into the spirit of the +thing--women, even American women, are sometimes strangely deficient in +the sense of humour. But they had both been struck by their host's +impressive obsequiousness--a very orgasm of servility, which Pelletan +had hitherto reserved for personages of the blood royal. + +"What ails the man?" Susie had asked at dinner the night before, her +eyes on Monsieur Pelletan's writhing form. "He seems to have the +stomach-ache." + +"He is probably fishing for a tip," said Nell. "It seems to me that +I've seen those symptoms before in a less violent form." + +"Don't you tip him," commanded their father. "I'll attend to all that," +and he beckoned to Pelletan with his finger and whispered a rapid +sentence in his ear. + +"What did you say to him, dad?" inquired Sue, gazing in some +astonishment after their host's retreating coat-tails. + +"I told him to go 'way back and sit down," answered Rushford, going +calmly on with his meal. + +"Dad, is it true that Lord Vernon is to arrive to-morrow morning?" + +"I suppose so." + +"In a ship of war?" + +"Yes--I've heard that, too." + +"You'll take us down to the beach, won't you, dad?" + +"What! A free-born American citizen go toadying after the English +aristocracy!" + +"But we'll need a cicerone, dad." + +"What for, I'd like to know?" + +"Oh, what are cicerones always for? To get us a good place, to be sure!" + +So here he was, in the forefront of the crowd, with his womenkind beside +him, and no doubt the discerning reader has already guessed that it was +to their cheeks I referred some pages back. There were many grandes +dames upon the beach that morning--some the real thing, a little plain, +a little faded, rather touching to look upon--others, for the most part +articles de Paris, very tall and plump and even handsome, if one likes +the gorgeous type, with gowns created by the great costumers and paid +for heaven knows how! But I always think with a little warmth of pride +and admiration of those two American girls standing there, wind-blown +and radiant. Coarse, madame! Ah, what would you not give for a little +of that coarseness! After all, freshness is a woman's greatest charm, as +you very well know, madame, though you try your best to think otherwise; +and, alas, you are fast losing yours! For, as you have found--as untold +thousands have found before you, and will yet find--one can't squander +one's youth and keep it, too! Aye, more than that. The sins of the night +stare at one from one's glass on the morrow, and will not be massaged +away. Take your baths, madame, in milk, or wine, or perfumed water; +summon your masseuse, your beauty-doctor. Let them rub you and knead you +and pinch you, coat you with cold cream or grease you with oil of +olives. Redden cheeks and lips, whiten hands and shoulders, polish +nails, pencil eyebrows, squeeze in the waist, pad out the hips--swallow, +at the last, that little tablet which you slip from the jewelled case at +your wrist. It is all in vain. You deceive no man nor woman. They look +into your eyes and smile, but behind the smile there is a shudder! + +Nell and Susie Rushford, with the wind playing in their hair and kissing +their cheeks, that morning, were miracles of freshness; two divine +messages, two phantoms of delight, sent from the New World to the Old. + + And one was dark, with tints of violet + In hair and eyes, and one was blond as she + Who rose--a second daybreak--from the sea, + Gold-tressed and azure-eyed. + +Nell, the elder, was tall and fair, like her father, rather sedate, with +not quite the sparkle of Susie, two years her junior, the counterpart of +the little mother whom she had never seen. And both were erect and +bright-eyed as only American girls seem to know completely how to be; +visibly healthy, happy, and pure-minded. I should like to pause and look +at them a moment longer, for I have always been a little in love with +them myself; I should like to add to the verses of our own dear poet +certain lines of Wordsworth, of Burns, of Byron--but you, dear reader, +will recall them readily, especially if you belong, as I hope you do, to +the great and glorious fraternity of true lovers; if your heart burns +and your pulses leap at mention of a certain name, at sight of a dear +face-- + +There came a sudden hum of excitement from the crowd. + +"Look, look!" cried Susie. "There it is!" and she clapped her glasses to +her eyes again. + +Far out against the horizon appeared a smudge of smoke, which grew and +spread until those with glasses could perceive beneath it the low, dark +lines of a man-of-war. It was true then! Some had permitted themselves +to doubt the story spread so industriously by Monsieur Pelletan and his +friend, the notary--the proprietor of the Grand Hotel Splendide had +counselled scepticism. Now they could doubt no longer, and they drew a +deep breath. A ship of war at Weet-sur-Mer! + +Straight toward the beach she steamed, looming larger and ever larger; +then her speed slackened, slackened, until at last she lay rolling +quietly a quarter of a mile off-shore. A shrill piping came over the +water as the crew was mustered amidships and the boarding-stairs +lowered. + +"Well, he _must_ be a swell!" said Sue, "or they wouldn't take all that +trouble. There goes the boat." + +And splash it went into the water, the crew tumbled in, and two men +slowly helped another down the stairs, while the crew stood at +attention. Some baggage was lowered, then the oars dipped together and a +little spurt of foam appeared under the bow. + +"Why, it's like a moving-picture machine!" cried Susie, with a little +gasp of enjoyment. "Or a comic opera!" she added, wrestling with her +glasses to get them focussed on the moving boat. "The hero's sitting in +the stern," she announced. "He's all wrapped up and there's another man +holding him. I can't see anything of him but his eyes, for he's got a +handkerchief or something over the lower part of his face. He must be +awfully ill, poor fellow!" + +"Probably got the grip," observed her father, practically. "Wants to +keep out the damp air. I think he'd be better off at home in bed." + +"Oh, but then," protested Nell-- + +"Then we shouldn't have this show," said her father, and laughed grimly +at the thought that neither would fortune have smiled so promptly on the +Grand Hotel Royal. + +The oars flashed suddenly upright; two men sprang from the bow, with a +fine disregard of a wetting, and pulled the boat far in. Then the +bemuffled figure was lifted tenderly and carried to the waiting chair, +where Monsieur Pelletan was bowing with his head almost touching the +carpet. The invalid was started toward the hotel without delay, three +men accompanying him, under the leadership of Pelletan; the baggage was +heaped on the beach and taken in charge by the hotel porters. A moment +later the boat shoved off. + +A few waited to watch it make its way back to the ship, which +immediately steamed away toward the horizon; others followed the +procession headed by the invalid's chair; still others hurried ahead to +confer their patronage upon the Grand Hotel Royal; but the greater part +hastened back to their rooms to get something hot and bracing. From one +end to the other, the place was a-buzz with wagging tongues. Why should +the foreign secretary of the British Empire have chosen Weet-sur-Mer as +his abiding place? Merely because he was ill and wished to rest? Bah! To +believe that would be to show a mind the most credulous, would be to +evince an ignorance of high diplomacy the most profound. Again, why +should he have made the journey from England in a ship of war? Depend +upon it, there was a mystery here; a mystery not to be solved in a +moment even by such eminent amateurs as those assembled at Weet-sur-Mer. +It would take time--it would take study. But it was worth it! There was +something behind all this-something more than appeared on the surface +--in a word, a Plot! And the best place to study it,--the only place, +indeed,--was the Grand Hotel Royal. + +So, instantly, there was a great packing of luggage, a despatching of +couriers, an engaging of rooms, a settling of bills which drove the +proprietor of the Splendide half mad with chagrin. He protested, he +swore, he offered concessions the most unheard of--all in vain. His day +was over! + +Rushford, his work as cicerone des dames accomplished, returned +leisurely to the hotel, while the girls started for their accustomed +walk. He smiled grimly to himself as he entered the office, the scene +was so different from that of yesterday. For the moment, all was +excitement. Monsieur Pelletan and his assistants were busy attending to +the wants of their distinguished guest; down in the kitchen, the chef +was cursing the stupidity of the unfortunate menials under him and +striving madly to prove himself worthy the occasion--the greatest of his +life! Every moment, a porter toiled up to the door with a load of +luggage; every moment some one arrived demanding a room--and not one +murmured at the tariff! The lift groaned and creaked under the +unaccustomed weights put upon it and moved more slowly than ever. +Pelletan, as he hurried past, mopping his perspiring brow, had time only +for a single glance at his good angel--but what a glance! Such a glance, +no doubt, Columbus caught from his lieutenants at the cry of "Land Ho!" + +Rushford, leaning over the desk, watching the confusion with an +amusement which had banished every trace of ennui, felt his arm touched. +He turned and recognised the be-gilt messenger of the day before. + +"A second telegram for monsieur," said that functionary, with an amiable +grin, and produced the message. + +There was no time for hesitation. Rushford took it, signed the blank, +and fished up the expected tip. + +"Oh, what a tangled web we weave!" he murmured, and looked at the +address on the little white envelope. It read: + + _M. le Proprietaire, + + Grand Hotel Royal, + + Weet-sur-Mer._ + +"The plot thickens!" he murmured. "Well, it's really for me. Let's see," +and he tore it open. He whistled again as he read the message; then he +called the nearest boy. "Tell Monsieur Pelletan to come here at once," +he said. "Tell him I must speak to him on a matter of importance." + +At the end of a moment, the little man puffed down the stair, exhausted, +radiant! + +"Iss eet not grand!" he cried. "What a change from yesterday! T'ough how +you haf accomplishe' eet, monsieur--" + +"No matter," interrupted Rushford. "Which is the next best of your +apartments, Pelletan?" + +"T'e nex' best? Why, apartment B, monsieur. Eet iss t'e counterpart of +apartment A, only on t'e nort' side of t'e house instead of t'e sout'." + +"And it is still empty?" + +"At two hundret francs t'e tay? Oh, yess, monsieur; only a Prince can +afford eet now." + +"Well, you will prepare it at once--" + +"Ah, monsieur himself will take eet! T'at iss just! I shall pe too +happy--" + +"No, no; you've just said that only a Prince can afford it and it's my +business to produce him! Let's see--it's nearly nine--well, at ten +o'clock, there will arrive in a special train--" + +Monsieur Pelletan had turned pale. + +"Een a special train?" he faltered. "What! Some one else?" + +"Yes--at ten o'clock--" + +"Who iss eet will arrive, monsieur?" questioned Pelletan faintly. + +"His Highness, Prince Frederick of Markeld, ambassador from the court of +Schloshold-Markheim," answered Rushford, dwelling upon every word. "We +will give him apartment B." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +An Adventure and a Rescue + +It was not until Rushford opened his paper an hour later that he fully +understood the remarkable situation of which the Grand Hotel Royal had, +by the merest chance, become the centre. + + "It is extremely unfortunate [said + the _Times_] that Lord Vernon should + have been taken ill at just this time, + when the question of the succession of + Schloshold-Markheim is hanging in the + balance. Lord Vernon is the only man + in the cabinet capable of dealing with + the situation, which is as delicate as can + be imagined. On the one side are arrayed + the sympathies of our reigning + house and perhaps even our own + honour; on the other, the plainly expressed + desires of the German Emperor. + + "The late Prince Christian left no direct + heirs, so that, in any event, the succession + must be through a collateral + branch. The claims of the rivals, Prince + George, of Schloshold, and Prince + Ferdinand, of Markheim, are therefore + evenly balanced. On one side of the + scale, however, the German Emperor + has thrown the weight of his influence. + On the other side is the moral influence + of practically all the rest of Europe, but + this will scarcely be of any value to + Prince Ferdinand unless he can enlist + the active support of Great Britain, + which, it may be, Lord Vernon, though + reluctant to withhold, will find impossible + to give. It is not to be denied that, + from a disinterested view-point, Prince + Ferdinand seems by far the more worthy + of the two claimants. + + "Lord Vernon is suffering with a + very severe attack of influenza, which + has been developing for some days, and + which has, at last, become so serious that + his physicians have commanded a complete + rest for a week or ten days. One + may well conceive Lord Vernon's reluctance + to heed this advice, but he has + very wisely decided to do so. The little + seaside resort of Weet-sur-Mer, on the + Dutch coast, has been selected as the + place for his sojourn, and he will be + taken there to-morrow on H. M. S. + _Dauntless_. Sir John Scaddam, his + physician, and two of his secretaries, + Mr. Arthur Collins and Mr. George + Blake, will accompany him, although + work of any kind has been absolutely + forbidden him for at least a week. It is + believed that the bracing atmosphere of + Weet-sur-Mer will effect a cure in that + time. + + "Weet-sur-Mer is comparatively little + known, at least in England. It is really + the old Dutch fishing-village of Weet-zurlindenhofen; + but a number of years + ago it was exploited as a watering-place + and re-christened Weet-sur-Mer by + some enthusiast more anxious to advertise + the fact that one may bathe there + than to observe the rules of etymology. + It is rather out of the way, and the route + by rail is so circuitous and uncertain + that it was judged best to spare Lord + Vernon the fatigue of such a journey by + conveying him directly thither upon the + _Dauntless_. He hopes to find there a + quiet and seclusion which would be impossible + at any of the larger resorts. + + "We understand that Prince George + is with the German Emperor at Berlin, + and that Prince Ferdinand, who is at + Markheim, has commissioned his + cousin, Prince Frederick, of Markeld, to + place his claims before our foreign office. + His reception at this time can + hardly fail to cause acute embarrassment." + +There was a half-column more of comment and veiled suggestion that +perhaps the wisest course for the foreign office to pursue, now that +Lord Vernon's guiding hand was for the moment withdrawn, would be to let +affairs take their course; though it was difficult to see how this could +consistently be done if Prince Frederick succeeded in gaining a formal +audience and placing his case before the government. Already, it seemed, +the jingo papers were taunting the administration with undue truckling +to the wishes of Germany, with a lack of stamina and backbone in +short--with something like treachery toward Prince Ferdinand and treason +toward the royal family, with which the Prince was distantly allied. + +Rushford gave a long whistle of astonishment; then he laid the paper on +his knees and stared thoughtfully out across the sands for some minutes. + +"Of course, Markeld has followed Vernon here," he said, at last. "I +rather admire his pluck. And I'd like to be present at the +interview--it'll be interesting. Why, hello, Pelletan," he added, as the +latter approached him humbly, as a slave approaches the Sultan. "Want to +speak to me?" "Eef monsieur please," answered the little Frenchman, +who was plainly labouring under deep excitement. + +"All right; what is it?" + +"Wass monsieur serious in hees command t'at I exclude t'e Prince of +Zeit-Zeit?" + +"Never more serious in my life. He's barred! We take only human +beings--not monstrosities. Has he applied?" + +"Yess, monsieur; he tesires hees old apartment." + +"Which was that?" + +"Apartment A, monsieur; he hass always had t'e pest in t'e house when he +come here mit' hees fat'er." + +"Well, apartment A's already taken; even if it were empty, he shouldn't +have it. Where's your nerve, Pelletan--here's your chance for revenge!" + +"But to refuse a Prince!" murmured Pelletan. "Eet iss somet'ing unheard +of!" + +"It will make you famous! It's a big ad for the house! 'The Grand Hotel +Royal refuses to receive the Prince of Zeit-Zeit.' Think what a stir +that will make! Besides, you have no choice--I require it!" + +"Fery well, monsieur," agreed Pelletan, with a gesture of despairing +obedience. "T'ere iss one t'ing more--I haf an idea." + +"That's good; let's have it," said Rushford, encouragingly. "There's +nothing like ideas." + +"Monsieur will remember," began Pelletan, in a voice carefully lowered, +"t'at we agreed to touble t'e price of entertainment." + +"Yes--what of it? Anybody been kicking?" + +"No--au contraire, monsieur--t'e house iss full--efery leetle room." + +"You see you don't need Zeit-Zeit; it's quite like the old times, isn't +it?" + +"Yess--only petter, monsieur; far petter. Oh, eet iss wunderschoen!" + +"Well, go ahead; what's the idea?" + +"Since t'e house iss full," said Pelletan, impressively, "and t'ere are +many more asking for rooms--oh, temanding t'em--t'e Prince among t'e +number!--why may not we again touble t'e price?" and he leaned back in +his chair, looking triumphantly at his partner. But his face fell as the +latter shook his head. "No?" he asked. "Eet will not do?" + +"No," said Rushford, slowly; "I'm afraid it won't do. You see it would +be a kind of ex post facto proceeding--" + +"A--I ton't quite comprehen', monsieur." + +"No matter--trust me--see what's happened since yesterday," and he +waved his hand at the busy corridor. + +"Oh, eet iss kolossal!" cried Pelletan. "I shall nefer cease to atmire +monsieur. Perhaps," he suggested timidly, "since he hass peen so +successful, monsieur may pe tempted to remain permanently. Surely he +would pe one great success! In a year--two year--we would eclipse +Ostend--monsieur himself hass said eet!" + +"No," laughed the other, "I don't think I'd care to remain. Though, of +course," he added, "the possibility of great success is always +fascinating." + +"Oh, eet iss more t'an a possibility," cried Pelletan. "Eet is a +certainty." + +"A certainty is not so fascinating as a possibility," the American +pointed out, his eyes twinkling. + +"Unt t'en," continued Pelletan, persuasively, fancying, no doubt, that +he saw some signs of yielding in his partner's face, "eef monsieur +remains, he can haf t'e house done ofer to suit heem; he can t'row away +t'e furniture he does not like; he can paint out t'e marble columns; he +can cause all t'e servants to pe tressed to hees taste. He would make +one grand sensation! T'e house would pe t'e talk of Europe, tint we +would soon pe reech--oh, reech!" and the little Frenchman stretched his +arms wide to indicate the vast extent of the wealth that was awaiting +them. + +But Rushford shook his head. + +"No, Pelletan," he said; "no, I really can't do it. It's utterly +impossible, or your impassioned eloquence would certainly prevail. +There's nothing I'd like better than to show the hotel-keepers of Europe +a thing or two--they are more conceited with less reason for being so +than any other class of men I know. But I've got to go back to America +before long to look after my business there. Besides, I don't really +feel that hotel-keeping is my lifework. I'm afraid it would pall upon me +after a time. But I tell you what I'll do, if you wish, Pelletan. I'll +tear up the agreement and say no more about it. You may have all the +profits." + +"Oh!" cried the Frenchman, dazzled by this munificence, by the golden +vision which danced before his eyes. Then he hesitated. With his +partner's marvellous influence withdrawn, might not the whole wonderful +structure come tumbling about his ears? It would be like pulling out the +foundation! What would prevent his guests from packing up and leaving +to-morrow? "No, monsieur," he said, slowly, at last, "I prefer eet as +eet iss." + +"Very well," and Rushford laughed again; it was not the first time his +partners in business had been afraid to do without him! "Let it be that +way, then. Have you got that agreement with you?" + +"Yess, monsieur; eet iss here," and he produced it from an inner +pocket. + +"Let me have it a minute." + +Pelletan gave it to him with trembling hand. His partner opened it, got +out his fountain-pen, and changed a word in the contract. + +"There," he said, "that's more fair, Pelletan." + +Pelletan paled as he looked at the paper and his eyes grew misty. +Instead of one hundred francs daily, he would receive two hundred. Ah, +these magnificent Americans! + +The interview to which the _Times_ looked forward with so much +apprehension was, it seemed, indefinitely postponed. The Prince of +Markeld had, indeed, immediately upon his arrival, caused his presence +to be formally announced to Lord Vernon, but the latter had responded +that he was, for the present, under the orders of his physician, who +forbade him to see any one or to transact business of any kind. Whereat +the Prince had twisted his mustachios fiercely (with an accompaniment, +no doubt, of sub voce profanity) and had proceeded to amuse himself +until luncheon with an exceedingly ugly bulldog he had brought with him. + +He had luncheon in his apartment, smoked a cigarette or two, despatched +a telegram describing the state of affairs to Prince Ferdinand, and +then, looking from his window and perceiving that all the world was +abroad, prepared for a walk along the beach. At the door, he happened to +look back and caught his dog's eyes fixed wistfully upon him. + +"Ah, Jax, old boy," he said, "it is unfair to leave you shut up here +with only Glueck for company. Like to come along?" + +Jax wriggled his delight. + +"And you'll behave yourself?" + +Jax promised as clearly as a dog could. + +"Very well, then," and the Prince went down the stair, with Jax, +half-delirious with joy, behind him. + +Now the Prince was a very good-looking fellow, erect and clean, as +German noblemen have a way of being--besides, he was a Prince, a +commander of favours from the world and women, not a mere suitor for +them as most poor mortals are--and more than one pair of eyes gazed at +him languishingly from under pencilled brows as he strolled moodily +along the beach, golden yellow in the sunlight; more than one crimson +mouth shaped itself to an entrancing smile; more than one sullied heart +beat high at thought of a brilliant future. + +But on this occasion, none of the sirens won an answering glance, for +the Prince was in no mood for flirtation--and, besides, he was used to +sirens. So he strolled on, deep in thought. This affair of state, which +rested upon his shoulders, promised to go badly; if Lord Vernon +persisted in his refusal to see him, he was checkmated at the start, +before he had opportunity to make a move. Delay meant ruin, and his +cousin had trusted everything to him. He knew very well that the Emperor +would not delay; that he would use every minute to strengthen his +position; that he would compel events, not dance attendance on them. He, +the Prince, must see Lord Vernon at any cost; he must demand an +audience; he must appeal to his patriotism, his sense of honour, the +love of fair play which every Englishman possesses; he must make refusal +impossible-- + +He paused and looked up, conscious of a sudden commotion on the beach +just ahead of him. Then he saw his dog dancing frantically about a young +lady who held in her arms a little white spaniel, which she had +evidently just snatched up from annihilation. + +Markeld started forward with a leap, but at that instant a tall figure +emerged from a hooded chair nearby, and with a quick and well-directed +kick, sent the dog spinning. + +"Oh, thank you!" cried Susie Rushford, looking up into a very handsome +face. + +"It was my great good fortune," said the stranger, bowing, "to be of +service to a compatriot." + +"Oh, you are an American?" + +"No; an Englishman; but at least we speak the same language! I don't +know the word for it" + +"Neither do I--compatriot will do. You were just in time!" + +"And you did it very neatly," added Nell, admiringly, glancing at the +discomfited Jax, who was looking about him dazedly. + +"Thank you," and the stranger, checking the words which were evidently +upon his lips, bowed again, turned quickly back to his chair, buried +himself in its recesses, and retired behind a newspaper. + +"Well!" gasped Sue, meeting her sister's astonished eyes, "I must +say--" + +But what she must have said will remain forever a mystery, for just then +the Prince of Markeld came hurrying up. + +"I hope there is no damage," he said, speaking with just the slightest +accent. "He is my dog," he added, seeing their questioning glance. "I am +very sorry. I was a little preoccupied and was not noticing him. He is +usually a very good dog. I cannot understand why he should have attacked +yours." + +"He isn't mine," laughed Susie, patting the spaniel upon his silky head; +"he just ran to me for refuge." + +"Evidently a most intelligent dog," observed the Prince, gravely. + +"You think so?" asked Susie, her colour deepening just the faintest bit. +"Ah, here is the owner, now," she added, as a little faded old woman +came panting up. + +"Oh, thank you, mademoiselle!" cried the newcomer, snatching the dog +from Susie's arms. "Thank you! He was a bad boy--he run away!" and she +held him close against her heart. + +"It was nothing," protested Susie. "I am very glad I happened to be just +here. Though I don't suppose that either I or the dog was in danger of +being eaten," she added to Markeld, as the little old woman trotted +tremulously away. "Your dog doesn't look especially ferocious." + +"Still, I beg a thousand pardons," repeated the Prince. "I should have +kept my eye on him. Come here, Jax," he called, "and make your apologies +to the ladies." + +Jax crawled up very humbly and Susie stooped and patted his head. + +"Poor Jax," she said. "It wasn't your fault, I know. I'm sure that +little spaniel insulted you!" + +Jax licked her hand gratefully, and the Prince looked on with an +admiration he did not attempt to conceal. + +"Would you like him?" he asked, eagerly. + +Susie started up with crimsoning cheeks. + +"No, thank you," she said, and taking her sister's arm, she walked on, +chin in air. + +The Prince gazed after her, wide-eyed, for a moment, then turned +resolutely and continued on his way. + +"Well," began Nell, at the end of a minute, "he quite took my breath +away!" + +"Which he?" queried Sue. + +"Both of them; but the first especially. That kick bespoke football +training." + +"And he has evidently kept in condition," added Sue. "The owner of the +dog wasn't a bad-looking fellow, either--interesting, too, I haven't a +doubt, and I do like interesting people! But the nerve of him--offering +me his dog! I'm afraid we need a chaperon, after all, my dear." + +"Yes," agreed Nell, "perhaps we do. But it would be an awful bother." + +They walked on to the end of the beach, then mounted to the Digue and +strolled slowly back toward the hotel, enjoying the breeze, the colour, +the sunshine, the strange and varied life of the place. + +Stretching along the landward side of the dyke stood a row of little +houses, green and pink and white, with tile roofs mounting steeply +upward, their red surfaces broken by innumerable dormers. These had once +been the homes of honest and industrious fishermen, but time had changed +all that. They had been remodelled to suit the demands of business, and +every house had now on the lower floor an expensive little shop with +monsieur sitting complacently at the door and madame, fat and voluble, +at the money-drawer, and on the floor above, a still more expensive +suite of rooms to let--rooms panelled in white and gold, resplendent +with rococo mouldings, and crowded with abominable furniture, intended +to be coquettish--gilt chairs, scalloped tables, embroidered +lambrequins, ottomans smothered in plush and fringe, beds draped with +curtains until they were all but air-tight--in effect more French than +France. + +Here and there between the houses, a glimpse might be had of the low +country beyond, with its sluggish canal choked with rushes, a dingy +windmill here and there, and stretching away on either side the flat +meadows crinkling with yellow grain, and the green pastures dotted with +huge black-and-white cattle. A narrow road, straight as a line in +Euclid, and bordered by a row of trees each the counterpart of all the +others, mounted toward the horizon, leading, principally, to a low, +yellow house about a mile away, displaying above its door the +appropriate motto, "Lust en Rust." There, either in the cool, +vine-shaded garden, in the long, low-ceilinged dining-room, or in some +smaller and more ornate apartment, one might breakfast, dine, what not, +in the fashion of the country--which, for the most part, meant the +drinking of a muddy liquid with an unpronounceable name and the eating +of wafelen and poffertjes, and of little cheeses calculated to appal the +strongest stomach. + +The shops and the landscape--the cosmopolitan crowd with its Babel of +many tongues--the great hotels, built of stucco in the nouveau-riche +style so rasping to sensitive nerves--the striped awnings, the low +balconies, the gaudy house-fronts--all these our heroines looked at and +commented on and revelled in with the joy of fresh and unspoiled youth. +It was life they were tasting--strange, interesting, intoxicating +life--and they drank deep of it. + +As they neared the hotel entrance, they saw coming from the other +direction, pushed by two men, an invalid chair. They stood aside to let +it pass, and its occupant, carefully wrapped in a great steamer-rug, +glanced up at them with a quizzical light in his eyes. + +They shrank back together against the wall with a simultaneous gasp of +dismay, for the invalid was their athletic rescuer of an hour before. + +The chair went on to the desk, where it paused, while its occupant wrote +a hasty sentence on a slip of paper, which he tore from his notebook. A +moment later, it was presented to Susie by one of his attendants. She +took it mechanically, and, with a low bow, the messenger hurried back to +the chair. + +"What in the world," she began dazedly; then she unfolded the paper and +read: + +"Lord Vernon will be deeply grateful if he is not mentioned in +connection with today's adventure." + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +Tellier Takes a Hand + +The Prince continued his walk to the limits of the beach, with Jax +trotting humbly at his heels; then he returned slowly to the hotel and +mounted to his apartment. + +"That will do, Glueck," he said, as he gave him his hat and gloves. +"Don't let me be disturbed." + +And Glueck, with his imperturbable mahogany face, silently withdrew to +mount guard without the door. + +The Prince sat down, lighted a cigarette, and stared moodily out of the +window, down upon the shifting crowd which still thronged the beach. His +hand, hanging inert by his side, became suddenly the receptacle for a +moist nose. + +"Ah, Jax; and did she pat you on the head, old boy?" he asked. "And are +you properly proud?" + +Jax wiggled his remnant of a tail. + +"Would you like to belong to her, Jax, and get patted every day? Yet she +wouldn't take you--snapped me off short as that stump of yours when I +offered you to her. Why was that, Jax?" + +Jax couldn't say, not being familiar with the ways of fair Americans, +and the Prince patted him softly on his nobbly crown. + +"Just the same, she was a beauty, Jax; slim, straight, full of fire--a +thoroughbred; and with a sense of humour, my dear, which you will find +in not many women. Did you notice her cheeks, Jax, and her eyes? But of +course not; you were very properly grovelling before her. And I owe you +eternal gratitude, old boy; but for you, I'd have stalked past without +seeing her. That would have been a pity, wouldn't it?" + +There was a knock at the door and Glueck's head appeared. + +"I thought I told you," began the Prince-- + +"Your Highness will pardon me," explained Glueck, quickly, "but there is +a man here who insists that Your Highness will see him." + +"Who is he?" + +"This is his card, Your Highness," and Glueck entered the room. "I have +sent it back once, saying that Your Highness was not to be disturbed. He +returned it, insisting--" + +Markeld took the card, glanced at it, and read: + +_"M. Andre Tellier, Paris. Agent du Service de Surete"_ + +Beneath this was a pencilled line--"Concerning the question of the +succession." + +The Prince stared at it a moment in some astonishment, not unmixed with +irritation. What could this fellow know concerning the succession? It +was most probably simply an impertinence. The Paris police were famous +for impertinences. + +Glueck started for the door; since his master's boyhood, he had watched +over him, attended him--he could read his countenance like an open book. +The Prince glanced up. + +"Where are you going?" he demanded. + +"I go to tell the imbecile that Your Highness will not see him," +responded Glueck, impassively, his hand on the knob. + +The Prince smiled. He had a great fondness for his old retainer. + +"Wait," he said. "We must not permit ourselves to be governed by first +impressions, nor swayed by prejudice. It is just possible that this +fellow has something to tell me which I ought to hear. I can't afford to +disregard any chance. So inform M. Tellier that I will see him," and he +lighted a fresh cigarette resignedly. + +As he watched the smoke turn gray in the sunlight, it suddenly occurred +to him that, in some unaccountable manner, the question of the +succession had receded somewhat into the background; it no longer seemed +to him of such overwhelming consequence; at least, he had not been +thinking of it a moment before, but of something very different-- + +There appeared at the door a figure which drew a stare of surprise from +Markeld, accustomed as he was to eccentric habiliment. It was arrayed in +a long, mouse-gray frock coat and shiny black trousers; a hand gloved in +lavender kid carried a top hat, while the other caressed, from time to +time, the carefully-waxed mustachios and imperial adorning a countenance +which was a singular mixture of craft and vanity. The little eyes were +half-concealed under drooping, baggy lids, the nose was long and sharp, +the lips very thin and severe, though at this moment parted in a smile +meant to be ingratiating. The figure entered and bowed profoundly, +disclosing Glueck's disgusted face in the doorway. + +"Monsieur Tellier?" asked the Prince. + +Tellier bowed again, and the Prince noticed the white line of scalp +leading, with geometrical precision, from the brow to the bald spot on +the crown, and then on down the back of the head. It reminded him, +somehow, of the Lake of Constance, with the Rhine flowing through it. + +"You have something to communicate?" he continued, repressing a smile. + +"Something of the first importance, Your Highness," said the Frenchman; +"otherwise I should not have taken the liberty of disturbing Your +Highness." + +"Very well," and the Prince motioned him to a chair. "Sit down. I shall +be glad to hear you." + +"It is something," said the Frenchman, with a glance at the open door, +"which should be communicated, if Your Highness please, in confidence." + +"Glueck, shut the door," commanded the Prince. "Now, my dear sir, +proceed." + +"Your Highness is, of course, aware," began the detective, sitting down +with a back very straight, and drooping his lids until his eyes were +almost closed, "that France is deeply interested in this question of the +succession, and that its sympathies are wholly with Prince Ferdinand, +the cousin of Your Highness, and whom, I understand, Your Highness +represents." + +Markeld nodded. + +"We should naturally expect France's sympathy," he said. + +"France," proclaimed Tellier, raising his chin proudly, "is always on +the side of justice and decency." + +"More especially," continued the Prince, drily, "when the Emperor of +Germany happens to be on the other side. Come now, confess--if the +Emperor were for us, you would be against us--is it not so?" + +Tellier permitted the faintest shadow of a smile to flicker across his +lips. + +"Your Highness speaks with a bluntness disconcerting," he said, +deprecatingly. + +"I wished merely to clear the air," said the Prince, "and to prick at +the outset the bubble with which you were trying to dazzle me. Let me +assure you that we thoroughly understand France's attitude in this +matter. She is on our side simply because she sees an opportunity of +humiliating, through us, an old enemy." + +"'At least," said Tellier, "Your Highness agrees that we are on your +side--the reasons for this attitude do not concern me. I only know that +we are anxious to do all we can to help Your Highnesses cause. +Consequently, when it was learned that Lord Vernon was coming to this +place, the Department of State, fearing some duplicity, asked that a +competent man be sent here to--to--" + +"Keep an eye out for developments," said the Prince, seeing that the +other hesitated for a word, "and to watch for an opportunity of forcing +England's hand." + +"Precisely, Your Highness; and my superiors did me the honour of +selecting me for this delicate task." + +"A wise choice, I do not doubt," said the Prince, gravely. That Tellier +had any important revelation to make he did not in the least believe; +but there seemed a chance of extracting some amusement from the +situation--and time was hanging heavily on his hands--would hang +heavily until the hour of the promenade to-morrow. + +"I hope to prove it so, Your Highness!" cried the detective, flushing +with pleasure at the compliment. "In fact, I think that I may say I +have already proved it so!" + +"Ah!" said the Prince, and lighted another cigarette. + +"I arrived soon after Your Highness; I took a wagon from Zunderburg, +rather than lose precious time by waiting for the train of this +afternoon. I was very weary, for the journey from Paris is a trying one; +but before seeking repose, indeed without even permitting myself to +think of my own fatigue, I ascertained that Lord Vernon occupied +apartment A de luxe, and Your Highness apartment B de luxe, in this +hotel." + +"Indeed!" said the Prince. + +"I naturally took care at once to secure a room here, since it was of +the first importance that I should be in a position to see everything +that might occur." + +"Naturally," agreed the Prince. + +"Though it was very difficult, since every room was taken. For another +man, it would have been impossible." + +"But for you, I see, nothing is impossible," observed the Prince. + +"Very few things, Your Highness," agreed Tellier, modestly. "In this +case I had but to speak a single word," and he paused with an air of +triumph. + +"Wonderful!" cried the Prince, and clapped his hands softly. "Some day I +must get you to teach me that word. It must be very useful. Well, what +next?" + +"An hour's rest," Tellier continued, "and I was myself again. I soon +made the acquaintance of a chamber-maid--a girl who keeps her eyes +open--and I learned many things--" + +"It was not to tell me them that you came here, I trust," interposed the +Prince. "I care little for backstairs gossip." + +"Oh, not at all! As Your Highness says, they would, most probably, not +interest you. But to one in my profession, no fact is uninteresting; no +occurrence is too trivial to be noticed." + +"Well, get on to your story, then," said the Prince, with some +impatience. + +"Just after luncheon today, Your Highness walked on the beach," said +Tellier, "accompanied by the dog yonder." + +Jax growled softly as he caught the Frenchman's eye, which pleased him +no more than it had Glueck. + +"That is true," agreed the Prince. "What of it?" + +"The dog attacked a small spaniel, which sought refuge with two ladies, +one of whom picked it up." + +"All ancient history, I assure you, Monsieur Tellier. Yet, wait a +moment. Do you happen to know who the ladies were?" + +"They are sisters," said Tellier. "Their name is Rushford; their father +is a tall American, who incessantly smokes a cigar and reads a +newspaper in the office of the hotel. If Your Highness wishes, I can +make further inquiries." + +"Not at all!" cried the Prince, violently. "I won't countenance such +impertinence! Go on with the story." + +Tellier bowed to indicate the most implicit obedience. + +"It happened that I was near by," he said, "at the moment of the +encounter. I had taken my stand near a large beach-chair, which, for +reasons, interested me. I was nonchalant, impassive; alert, without +seeming to be so. Many of the women passing I had met upon the +boulevards under circumstances the most peculiar; concerning many of the +men I knew more than they would wish the world to know. Seeing me +standing there, some of them turned pale, others grew red with emotion. +Some went by endeavouring to appear not to have seen me; others threw +me appealing glances. Never, by the quiver of a lash, did I show that I +recognised them. I stood and waited--like the Sphinx." + +"For what?" inquired the Prince, whose sense of humour had returned to +him. + +"For the denouement, Your Highness. I knew that, sooner or later, it +would come. I knew it could not escape me, Tellier--the evidence of +duplicity which I was seeking." + +"But," objected the Prince, "what duplicity can there be? If Lord Vernon +is ill--" + +"Your Highness will pardon me for interrupting; but much depends upon +that 'if.' If, on the other hand, the illness is only for the moment +assumed--" + +"Oh, nonsense!" cried Markeld. "What reason could he have for assuming +illness? That would be childish!" + +The Frenchman smiled a self-satisfied smile, as he softly caressed his +imperial, and his little eyes glowed with anticipated triumph. + +"Let us deal with the facts first, if Your Highness will permit, and +with reasons afterwards. I was, then, standing by the chair in the +attitude which I have described, when your dog appeared and attacked the +spaniel. As the young lady stooped and picked it up, your dog sprang +against her, frightening her so that she cried aloud." + +"And you stood by without offering to assist her?" demanded the Prince, +with some indignation. + +"There was no need, Your Highness," responded Tellier, easily. "In the +first place, she was, of course, in no real danger. In the second place, +I perceived instantly that fate was playing into my hands. In fact, the +incident could not have been more a propos if it had been arranged by my +guardian angel. For from the chair beside which I was stationed a man +sprang out and kicked the dog away. Your Highness must have remarked his +agility and strength--may even have seen his face." + +"No," said the Prince. "I was not near enough to see it distinctly." + +"I saw it, Your Highness, very distinctly, and I assure you that it was +that of a man in the full enjoyment of health. Even from his agility, +Your Highness could doubtless judge whether the man was seriously ill." + +The Prince hitched about in his chair a little impatiently. He was +beginning to find the Frenchman tedious. + +"Most certainly he was not seriously ill," he agreed; "nor, I should +say, even slightly so. What is that to me? Pray have done with this +mystery!" + +Tellier's face was glowing with all a Frenchman's pride in a coup de +theatre--his moment of triumph had arrived. + +"Of all the eyes which witnessed that episode, seemingly so slight and +so unimportant," he said, proudly, "mine were the only ones which saw +its full significance. Your Highness will, no doubt, be surprised when I +inform you that this gentleman, so agile and so athletic, was no other +than Lord Vernon!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +The Path Grows Crooked + +In the sitting-room of apartment A, in the south wing of the Grand Hotel +Royal, Lord Vernon was tramping nervously up and down while his +companions regarded him with evident anxiety. + +"I tell you fellows," he was saying, "it can't be kept up--I thought so +from the first, but all the rest of you seemed to think it would be so +infernally easy that I was ashamed to say anything. I knew something was +sure to happen to give us away, and something has happened. What was I +to do? Sit there like a mummy and allow that dog to frighten those girls +to death? What the deuce are you laughing at, Collins?" + +"I'm laughing at your tragic tone. No, you couldn't have sat +still--though I don't suppose the young ladies were in any serious +danger. They were pretty, no doubt?" + +"Ah!" said Vernon, with a mental smacking of the lips at the entrancing +picture the words called up. + +"That, of course, made it doubly impossible to sit still. Did they know +you?" + +"Oh, no; never saw me before; hadn't the slightest suspicion that they +were talking to such a famous personage. They said they were Americans." + +"Then I don't see that any harm has been done." + +"Unfortunately, when I was coming back, all bundled up in my chair, we +ran right into them down here at the door, and they recognised me +instantly--I could tell that by their gasp of amazement as they shrank +back against the wall." + +"Still, if you preserved a cold and haughty demeanour, they may have +concluded they were mistaken." + +"Cold and haughty nothing!" broke in the third man. "I was there and +I'll swear he winked." + +"No, I didn't wink," laughed Vernon. "Though perhaps I should if I'd +dared--they're mighty taking girls!" + +"Well, what _did_ you do?" demanded Collins, with just a trace of +impatience. + +Again Vernon laughed. + +"I sent 'em back a note asking 'em not to tell," he said. + +Collins threw up his hands in horror and the third man grinned +sardonically. Vernon looked at them and kept on laughing. + +"You two fellows take it too seriously," he added. "I don't believe +they'll tell." + +"I thought you knew women better than that," said Collins, +reproachfully. + +"I do know them--better than any dried-up diplomat, at least,--and I +believe we can trust these two--for a few days, anyway. How much time do +we need?" + +"A week, at the very least. Fancy asking a woman to keep a secret for a +week! And as for taking it too seriously, you know how much depends on +it." + +"Yes," observed Vernon, sarcastically, "you fellows seem to think the +peace of Europe depends on it." + +"I should say that would not be overstating it in the least," said +Collins, with a solemnity almost religious. + +"Oh, nonsense; you diplomatic fellows make mountains out of molehills; +you see a storm in every cloud; you imagine the lightning's going to +strike you every time it flashes! You're all nerves!" + +"Anyway, you agreed--" + +"Yes, I know I agreed," interrupted Vernon, irritably, "and I was a fool +to do it." + +"Besides," added Blake, "we've got to play very close, since it happens +that Markeld is in this very hotel. We supposed, of course, that he +would go on to London. I must say that I think he showed exceedingly +poor taste in following us here." + +"Oh, I don't know," said Vernon. "I think it was rather enterprising. I +only wish we could treat the poor devil fairly." + +"Well, since he is here," continued Blake, "there's only one thing for +you to do, and that is to stay under cover." + +"But, confound it!" protested Vernon, "I can't stay cooped up here in +these rooms all the time!" + +"That's the only safe way," observed Collins. "Suppose Markeld should +find out how the land lies! The fat would be in the fire for sure; and +we'd be in a mighty awkward position! Suppose the jingoes got hold of +it!" and he turned pale at the thought. + +"Well, I won't stay shut up, that's certain," said Vernon, doggedly. +"As for the jingoes, let them rave!" + +"That's easy to say," retorted Collins, with irony, "when some one else +has to bear the brunt of it." + +Vernon snorted impatiently. + +"You may frighten yourself whenever you please," he said, "but you can't +frighten me. I've heard the cry of 'Wolf! Wolf!' entirely too often." + +"But the wolf came at last," Blake pointed out. + +"Well, it isn't coming this time; and I don't care if it is. I repeat, +categorically and imperatively, _I won't stay shut up!"_ + +"You agreed to obey our instructions, you know." + +"Every one has the right to rebel against a tyrant!" + +"At least," said Collins, yielding the ground grudgingly, "you must +remember always to keep on your sick-togs when you do go out, and to try +to look a little less scandalously healthy than you are. Now, if you'd +kept on your wraps when you jumped out of the chair--" + +"How was I to kick a dog with a rug around my legs? You fellows don't +give me credit for what I did do. I'd just got into a most interesting +conversation with those girls, when up came a fellow whom I knew +instinctively to be Markeld." + +He stopped as he caught the others' astounded gaze. + +"Yes, Markeld!" he repeated, defiantly. "I've an idea that he is the +owner of the dog. I suppose I should have sent James to inquire who the +dog belonged to before I ventured forth!" + +"No matter," said Collins, impatiently. "What did you do?" + +"I was guilty of unpardonable rudeness," answered Vernon. "I broke away +from those girls as though they had the plague, jumped into my chair, +and buried myself behind my newspaper. They must have thought I'd +escaped from somewhere." + +"So Markeld didn't see you, it doesn't matter what they thought," +remarked Collins. + +"Oh, doesn't it?" + +"Surely you're not going to run any further risks for the sake of a girl +more or less!" + +"My dear Collins!" said Vernon, with chill politeness; "I have always +suspected that a course in diplomacy sucked the blood out of a man and +substituted ice-water in its stead. Now I know it. Permit me to add that +you have not seen the girl--either girl--though I don't suppose that +would make the slightest difference." + +"May I inquire what you propose to do?" asked Collins, flushing a +little. + +"I propose to cultivate the acquaintance of the beautiful Americans in +every way I can. After all, what does it matter to me who rules over a +little twopenny duchy called Schloshold-Markheim?" + +"I suppose your promise is of equal indifference to you!" + +"Damn my promise! See here, Collins; don't push me too far; the worm +will turn. Of course, I'll keep my promise; but don't irritate me. I'm +all on edge over this thing now--a little more, and I'll be capable of +doing something--" + +A tap at the door interrupted him, and he disappeared between two +curtains into the inner room, where an invalid chair, buried in wraps, +stood by the window. Near it was a little table covered with medicine +bottles, glasses, spoons--in a word, all the paraphernalia of prolonged +and serious illness. + +Blake opened the door and took the card that was presented to him. + +"The Prince of Markeld," he said, looking at it. "Ah, yes; you will +tell His Highness that there has been no change in the condition of Lord +Vernon, who thanks him for his kind inquiries." + +He closed the door and turned back into the room. + +"Now, what do you think that means?" he asked, of Collins. "That's the +second time today. He's getting importunate." + +Collins stared out of the window gloomily. + +"Perhaps he suspects already," he said. "I've been told he's a clever +fellow--in fact, he's proved it once or twice." + +"Suppose he does suspect--what shall we do?" + +"Convince him to the contrary. Where's Scaddam?" + +"In his room, I suppose." + +"Better send for him." + +"May I come out?" inquired a voice from the inner room. + +"Yes, come ahead," called Collins, and Vernon reappeared. "Now, my +friend," he continued rapidly, "you'd better go in and put on your +war-togs." Vernon groaned. "Put 'em on thick. I believe Markeld suspects +the trick we're playing, and we've got to fool him--we've got to show +him what a sick man you are." + +"How _could_ he suspect?" demanded Vernon, incredulously. "Even if he +saw me, he couldn't recognise me--he doesn't know me." + +"Perhaps those girls have already given you away." + +"Nonsense! You fellows are afraid of your own shadows. He can't +suspect!" + +"Just the same, we've got to be prepared for emergencies. Have you got +plenty of pepper?" + +Vernon groaned again. + +"Plenty! I tell you fellows I'll ruin my health if I keep this up much +longer. I might easily burst a blood-vessel. People often do when they +sneeze." + +"Well, we'll have to take the risk," said Blake, with grim complacency. + +"Much risk you take! In fact, I saw you sprinkling pepper on my +handkerchief this morning, when there wasn't the slightest need of it." + +"Now, see here," protested Collins, sharply, "what's the use of all this +argument? We've got to see this thing through, whether we like it or +not. I've sent for Scaddam, so he'll be on the scene in case of +emergencies--" + +"You mean, if I break a blood-vessel?" inquired Vernon, politely. + +"Oh, break your grandmother! I tell you--" + +There was a second tap on the door and Vernon again made a dive for the +inner room. This time, a note was handed in. Collins closed the door, +tore open the envelope nervously, and ran his eyes quickly over the +contents. + +"Come out here, you beggar," he called, and Vernon reappeared on the +threshold. "Take a look at this," he added, and held out the note. +"Maybe you won't be so cocksure hereafter that diplomats are always +making mountains out of mole-hills." + +Vernon took the paper and read it slowly, his face growing blanker and +more blank as he proceeded. Then he went back to the beginning and read +it aloud: + +"The Prince of Markeld admired +greatly Lord Vernon's recent prompt +and chivalrous action, which he had the +privilege of witnessing. He is sure, +however, that His Lordship's illness +cannot be so serious as represented, and +hopes that His Lordship will not persist +in refusing him an audience. Such a +course would be neither ingenuous nor +fair." + +For a moment, no one spoke, then Blake gave vent to a low whistle. + +"Well," he said, dazedly; "so the cat's out of the bag! What's to be +done?" + +"There's only one thing that can be done," Collins said sharply. "I've +already pointed out what that is," and he sat down at the table and +wrote a rapid message. "How will this do? 'Lord Vernon will be pleased +to see the Prince of Markeld at five o'clock this afternoon. He has no +recollection of having recently performed any prompt or chivalrous +action. The Prince has doubtless been misinformed.' That gives us half +an hour--neither too much time, nor too little." + +"But that's folly!" protested Blake; "how can you carry it through?" + +"Leave that to me. I've got out of tighter places than this one. And," +he added, turning to Vernon, "if you ever looked ill in your life, +prepare to do it now." + +Vernon was looking dreamily over Markeld's note. + +"He uses adjectives well, doesn't he?" he asked. "'Such a course would +be neither ingenuous nor fair.' 'Pon my word, I quite agree with him!" + +"Remember, you're under orders," said Collins, sternly. + +"Under reasonable orders, perhaps," admitted Vernon, quietly, with a +little tightening of the muscles of the face. "I don't admit that either +you or Blake is infallible. What is it you propose to do?" + +"We propose, in the first place, to send Markeld this note." + +Vernon took it and read it at a glance. + +"A note which is, of course, a lie," he observed, dispassionately, as he +handed it back. + +"It is not a lie!" retorted Collins, flushing hotly. "It is, on the +contrary, the absolute truth." + +"There are many ways of lying," remarked Vernon, still more coolly. "It +isn't so much the letter as the spirit which constitutes a lie." + +"This is scarcely the time," put in Blake, "for a lecture upon ethics." + +"And it would, in any event," added Vernon, "be entirely wasted upon the +present audience. Well, what next?" + +"I think you understand your part," answered Collins, curtly. "The only +question is, are you prepared to play it?" + +Vernon hesitated for an instant, his hands trembling slightly. + +"I feel the veriest scoundrel," he said, bitterly. "It sickens me--but +you've got me fast." + +"Yes," agreed Collins, with a malicious grin, "we've got you fast." + +"Though not quite as fast as you think, perhaps," added Vernon, +quietly. "I warn you that I will break the bonds if they become too +galling. I see that I'm going to owe Prince Frederick a hearty apology +before this thing is over." + +"Oh, I shan't interfere with your apology when the time conies," +retorted Collins. + +"I should hope not," said Vernon, still more quietly; then he turned and +entered the inner room. + +"You mustn't push him too hard, Arthur," said Blake, in a low tone, "or +he'll kick over the traces. Remember, he is devilish high-spirited. And +he won't lie." + +"It takes a firm hand to keep him under control; but I'll be careful. +And he won't have to lie. It's confoundedly unfortunate Markeld couldn't +have left his dog at home! Just see how small a thing may affect the +fate of nations!" + +"Don't get philosophical," advised Blake. "There isn't time. Are you +going to send that note?" + +Collins sealed the missive. + +"It's our only chance," he said, decidedly. "Don't you see; we've got to +brazen this thing through. We're in a corner, and there's only one way +out." He went to the door and opened it. "For the Prince of Markeld," he +said, as he handed the note to the man who stood outside. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +An Appeal for Aid + +One can easily guess with what delicious precipitation the Misses +Rushford, having read the note sent to them by Lord Vernon and having +recovered somewhat from the paralysis of amazement into which it had +thrown them, hurried up the stair and sought the privacy of their own +apartment. Here, evidently, was a full-fledged mystery enacting under +their very noses, no trumpery neighbourhood mystery, either, but one of +national--aye, even international--importance! It made them gasp to +think of it; they were even a little frightened. By the touch of a +finger the stage-door had been opened; they had been admitted behind the +scenes--to the inside, as they had longed to be. And the experience was +even more interesting and exciting than they had dared to hope! They +were playing a part, however humble, in the great drama of European +politics! + +"But what can it mean?" Nell demanded, as she read the note for perhaps +the twentieth time. "What can it possibly mean? Why should Lord Vernon +wish to appear ill when he isn't?" + +"I don't suppose he's doing it for fun," observed Susie, sagely. + +"No, of course not," agreed Nell. "There isn't any fun in it that I can +see. But it seems a very remarkable course of action. Some great affair +of state must depend upon it," she added in a tone slightly awe-struck, +for her imagination was beginning to be affected. "He seems awfully +young to hold such an important place," she added. + +"These English statesmen always look younger than they are," said Sue. +"From his pictures, I always imagined that Chamberlain was a +comparatively young man, and here I read somewhere the other day that +he's nearly seventy!" + +"At any rate," concluded Nell, "since it was for our sake Lord Vernon +threw off the mask, so to speak, it is only fair, on our part, to keep +quiet about it. Why do you think he ran away so quickly? It was almost +rude." + +"I thought it quite entirely rude," asserted Sue. "But maybe he saw +somebody coming whom he wished to avoid." + +And then both gasped simultaneously: + +"The owner of the dog!" + +"Of course!" + +"How dense we were!" + +"But who is the owner of the dog? Not an Englishman!" + +"No--a German, I should say." + +"Yes--did you notice his accent? And then he is tall and blond." + +"Distinguished looking; and with an air about him--an autocratic +manner--which makes me think he's a Somebody. He's evidently not used to +being snubbed." + +"It's perfectly maddening!" exclaimed Nell, with brows most becomingly +wrinkled. "If we only knew something of English politics, we might be +able to guess what it is all about." + +"Dad could see through it in a minute," sighed Susie, "but that poor +dear will never have the chance, because, of course, we can't tell even +him. And he likes this sort of thing, too; it would give him just the +excitement he's been sighing for!" + +And yet fate willed that he was to have the chance, for half an hour +later, after a short conference with Monsieur Pelletan, a gentleman whom +we have met before in the apartment of Lord Vernon approached him where +he sat in the smoking-room, drew up a chair, and sat down beside him. + +"This is Mr. Rushford, isn't it?" he asked. + +"Yes; that's my name," and the American looked him over in some +surprise. + +"My name is Collins," went on the other. "I am secretary to Lord +Vernon." + +"Glad to know you, Mr. Collins," and the American held out his hand. "I +hope Lord Vernon's getting along all right." + +"As well as could be expected, thank you; but there has been a little +unforeseen--er--complication--" + +"Nothing serious, I hope?" + +"Well, yes; to be quite frank, Mr. Rushford, I think it decidedly +serious." + +"I'm sorry to hear that," said Rushford, with genuine feeling. "We +Americans have always taken a special pride in Lord Vernon's career--his +mother was an American girl, you know--and his death would be almost a +personal loss to us." + +"His death?" echoed Collins, staring. + +"There's no immediate danger, then? I'm glad of that. Still, if the +complication is as serious as you think--" + +"My dear sir," broke in the Englishman, "you have misunderstood me. Lord +Vernon's health is--er--quite satisfactory, all things considered. The +complication is in--er--a rather delicate affair of state, +which--which--" + +"Anything I can do?" asked Rushford, encouragingly, as the other +stammered and broke down. + +"Yes, there is, Mr. Rushford," answered Collins, quickly, taking his +courage in both hands. "Or, rather, there's something your daughters can +do." + +"My daughters?" Rushford looked at him again, a growing suspicion in his +eyes. "I don't quite understand. You'll have to be more explicit, Mr. +Collins. I don't see how my daughters can have anything to do with your +affairs of state." + +"I am going to be as explicit as I can," Collins assured him, "but it's +such an infernally delicate matter that one hardly knows where to begin. +Of course, what I have to tell you must be told in confidence." + +"All right," said the American, with a little pucker of the brow which +told that he did not wholly like Mr. Collins. 'Fire ahead." + +"First, if you don't mind," said the Englishman, looking about him, "I +think we'd better get out of this crowd." + +"Suppose we go up to my rooms," suggested Rushford, rising. "We'll be +free from interruption there, and can thresh the whole thing out." + +"Thank you," assented Collins. "Of course, I understand," he continued, +in a louder voice, as they started toward the door, "that the question +of stocks is always a very complicated one, and very difficult for a +layman to understand, but a man of your experience--" + +The door of the elevator-car closed behind them, and he stopped. + +"Whose benefit was that for?" asked Rushford. + +"For the benefit of a French police spy, who was trying his best to +overhear our conversation." + +"A police spy? Did you know him?" + +"I know his class; it's impossible to mistake it. They all look +alike--it's a type which even the comic opera has been unable to +burlesque. You probably noticed him--all moustache, imperial, and +lavender gloves." + +"Oh, him? Yes, I've seen him. And I've been rather itching to apply my +boot to his coat-tails. I thought he was a cheap actor--a ten, twenty, +thirty, as we say in America. Do you suppose Pelletan knows him?" + +"Oh, undoubtedly! He's probably boarding him for nothing. These French +police have a way with them." + +Rushford bit his moustache savagely and resolved to have an explanation +with Monsieur Pelletan. + +The car stopped. + +"Here we are," he said, stepping out into the corridor. "You see our +apartment is just over Lord Vernon's. I don't believe even a French +detective can disturb us here," and he locked the door after them as +they entered. "Besides, my daughters will be handy if we decide to call +them in." + +Yet, in spite of the plural pronoun, it was quite evident that he was +the one who proposed to do the deciding. + +"Thank you," said Collins, again. "I hope to show you the necessity of +calling them in. In fact, the principal favour I want to ask of you is +an introduction to them. They can, if they will, save Lord Vernon, and +incidentally the government, a lot of trouble." + +Rushford looked at him with a little stare. + +"In what way?" he asked, motioning him to a chair. + +"It happens," answered Collins, "that, by chance, they hold in their +hands the key to a very important affair of state--nothing less than the +succession to Schloshold-Markheim. They could, if they wished, involve +the government in difficulties of the most serious nature." + +Rushford stared at him yet a moment. Then he settled back in his chair. + +"Have a cigar?" he asked. "No? You won't mind my smoking? I can think +better when I smoke. Now let's have the story; I'm anxious to hear what +those girls have been up to. I'm afraid they need a chaperon, after +all!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Pride has a fall + +Shortly before six o'clock that evening, the door of Lord Vernon's +apartment opened, and the Prince of Markeld appeared on the threshold, +bowed out in the politest manner possible by Blake, Collins, and Sir +John. He crossed the corridor, paused irresolutely at the stairhead, +then went on toward his own rooms, his head bent, his face expressing +the liveliest dissatisfaction: an expression which deepened to disgust +when, on opening his door, he perceived Tellier awaiting him within. + +"He would come in," explained Glueck, after a glance at his master's +countenance. "He lied; he said Your Highness was expecting him. Shall I +throw him out?" + +"No," said the Prince, "not yet," and Glueck retired to a convenient +distance, confident that his hour would yet arrive. + +The detective, apparently, had no uneasiness concerning the result of +the interview, for his face was beaming with self-importance and he +greeted the Prince with a confidence born of certainty. His eyes asked +the question which his lips were too well-governed and discreet to +articulate. + +"Tellier," began the Prince, abruptly, looking at him with a fiery +glance, "you are either a knave or a fool--a fool, doubtless, since you +seem too stupid to be a knave--and you very nearly made me appear +another!" + +The detective's face dropped suddenly from triumph to humility. + +"I do not understand," he faltered. "Does Your Highness mean--" + +"I mean that that story of yours was a ridiculous lie!" responded the +Prince, brutally, being, indeed, greatly overwrought. "How do I know," +he added, suddenly, "that you did not intentionally deceive me? I have +only your word--what is that worth? How do I know that it was not a +trick--a trick on the part of your government to involve me with +England? That would be like you!" and his hands clenched and unclenched +in a most threatening manner. + +"I swear to Your Highness," protested Tellier, his cheeks livid, his +lips quivering convulsively, "that I told only the truth! On my heart, I +swear it--on my soul--on the grave of my mother. Otherwise, pardieu, +would I have been so imprudent as to remain here awaiting the return of +Your Highness?" + +The Prince's face relaxed a little as he looked at him. + +"No," he agreed, grimly, after a moment. "I don't believe you would. +Yes, you are a fool and not a knave. For I have just seen Lord Vernon +with my own eyes--he is truly ill--sneezing as though his head would +burst, gasping for breath, his eyes running water, cursing even the +friends who nurse him! It was some one else who kicked my dog away. You +have been deceived." + +Tellier was walking up and down the room, tugging at his imperial, at +his hair, biting his nails, shaking his clenched hands at the ceiling in +a very ecstasy of bewilderment. + +"Impossible!" he murmured, hoarsely. "Impossible!" + +"How impossible!" cried the Prince, violently. "Do you presume to +contradict me? Do you dare to dispute my word when I tell you that I +myself have seen Lord Vernon; when I describe his condition to you? He +was most courteous, though he could not speak above a whisper--he +treated me more kindly than I deserved, when one considers the wording +of that note I sent to him, for which I was glad to apologise! One could +see he was in no condition to give me audience--to discuss business of +any kind! He could scarcely sit erect!" + +"Oh, there is some knavery!" cried Tellier, his face purple. "I know it! +I scent it!" + +"You are, then, infallible, I suppose!" retorted the Prince. "His +physician assured me that in a week Lord Vernon would be much +better--nearly well; he suggested that for a week I do not press my +business." + +"But you did not agree!" screamed Tellier. "Your Highness did not +agree!" + +"Most certainly I agreed. Not to agree would have been to insult them +yet a second time!" + +"A week!" groaned Tellier, throwing up his hands, with a gesture of +despair. "Then all is lost!" + +"How lost?" demanded Markeld, red with anger. "In what way lost? Have a +care of what you say!" + +Tellier controlled himself by a mighty effort and managed to speak with +some approach to calmness. + +"The German Emperor will not waste a week, Your Highness. That is not +his way, as you very well know. He will be at work every hour--every +minute!" + +"What can he accomplish, if the British foreign office will do nothing? +Will he take the affair into his own hands? He will not dare!" + +"He might dare, Your Highness; he has dared things more perilous than +that. But how do we know the British foreign office will do nothing?" + +"I tell you," repeated the Prince, hotly, "that Lord Vernon is a +gentleman--something you do not seem to understand; that he is ill-- +something you seem to doubt!" + +"In diplomacy, Your Highness, even a gentleman may sometimes lie, or, at +least, disguise the truth. Perhaps even before this, he has hinted to +the Emperor that he will not interfere, if he acts promptly--perhaps +this illness is merely a ruse to avoid a situation the most awkward." + +It was the Prince's turn to stride up and down, to pluck at his +moustache, to go red and white. + +"If I thought so!" he murmured hoarsely. "If I thought so!" + +"There is some underhand work in progress," cried Tellier, growing more +and more excited; "some trap, some piece of trickery--I know not +what--but I am certain--I will find out!" + +"If I thought so!" said the Prince again, and his face was not pleasant +to look upon. + +"For I repeat to Your Highness that I could not have been mistaken. It +is impossible that I should have been mistaken. I saw Lord Vernon leap +from his chair; I was as near it as I am to you at this moment; I saw +him return to it and hide himself behind his paper, when he saw you +approaching; I waited, and saw his lackeys come after him and lift him +to the invalid chair. If I had not been certain before, I was certain +then! I followed him back to the hotel. Yes!" he added, with sudden +excitement, "and there was another circumstance which will confirm me!" + +"Go on!" commanded Markeld, yielding somewhat before this torrent of +proof. + +"At the door he met the young ladies whom he had rescued--the Americans; +they recognised him--I could see their look of astonishment at +perceiving him in the chair of an invalid, buried in rugs. They stared +after him--the chair stopped--he wrote a few words on a piece of paper +and sent it back to them. They read it with eyes even more astonished." + +"Did you, by any chance, read it also?" inquired the Prince, with a +deceptive calmness. + +"No, Your Highness," Tellier replied, simply, quite unconscious of his +danger. "I saw no way of doing that, unfortunately. I thought of +snatching it away, but that would have created a turmoil, which is +always to be avoided if possible. But Your Highness might easily gain +possession of the note--" + +The Prince stopped him with a fierce gesture of repugnance. + +"Do you know what it is that you have the effrontery to propose to me?" +he demanded. + +The Frenchman paused in mid-sentence and swallowed with difficulty, his +face very red. + +"I am certain," he said, after a moment, "that those young ladies know +it was Lord Vernon who rescued them. They would no doubt confirm this, +if Your Highness would inquire--" + +The Prince strode to the door and flung it open. + +"Do not come back till you can speak without insulting me," he said, +sternly. + +"One moment, Your Highness!" cried Tellier. "But a moment! I have +another proof. Oh, you are wrong not to believe me! You are wrong to +yield to your anger!" + +"The proof!" broke in the Prince, sharply, realising, perhaps, the +justice of the reproach. "The proof! What is it? Speak quickly!" + +"It is this, Your Highness," answered the detective, striving +desperately to steady his voice, to speak intelligibly. "But an hour +ago, the secretary of Lord Vernon was in conference with the father of +those young ladies. He approached him in the smoking-room; he introduced +himself; he sat down; he began a conversation. I should have overheard +everything, but that, unfortunately, he was more clever than I thought. +He suspected me. They went together to Monsieur Rushford's apartment--I +followed, I listened at the keyhole; but they went on into an inner +room, and the outer door was locked, so I could not--" + +The Prince, who had listened to all this with blazing eyes, suddenly +raised his arm with a furious gesture. + +"Glueck!" he shouted. + +That faithful servitor appeared on the instant, his face alight with +anticipation. + +"But if there should be a plot!" protested Tellier, hesitating, even +yet, on the threshold. + +"If there is a plot," said the Prince, sternly, "someone shall suffer +for it, depend upon that! But against gentlemen, the proof must be +conclusive. Glueck, show him out," and he shut the door upon the unhappy +spy. + +"It would have been well," observed Glueck, calmly, coming back after a +moment, "to have thrown him out in the first place." + +"I agree with you," said his master. "You may do so whenever you find +him here again, my friend," and for an instant Glueck almost smiled. + +"Will Your Highness dine in your apartment tonight?" he asked. + +The Prince hesitated; then his face relaxed as at some pleasant thought. + +"No, Glueck," he said, "I will dine downstairs. Get my bath ready." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +Pelletan's Skeleton + +As he left the dining-room that evening, Rushford crooked an imperious +finger at Monsieur Pelletan. + +"I want a word with you," he said in his ear. + +"In private, monsieur?" asked the little Frenchman, with some +trepidation. + +"Yes, I think it would better be in private--that is, if you can +accomplish it in this bedlam." + +"Oh, I haf a place, monsieur, where no one will intrude," and Pelletan +led the way through the hotel office to a little door back of the desk. +"T'is iss my--vat you call eet in English?--my sty, my kennel--" + +"Your den." + +"Iss t'ere a difference?" asked Pelletan, fumbling with the lock. + +"A sty is for pigs and a kennel for dogs," Rushford explained. "A den +is for wild beasts. These niceties of the English language are not for +you, Pelletan." + +"Still," persisted Pelletan, "a man iss no more a wild beast t'an he iss +a dog or a pig." + +"Not nearly so much so, very often," agreed Rushford, heartily. "You +have me there, Pelletan. Sty would undoubtedly be the right word in many +cases." + +"Fery well, t'en," said Pelletan, proudly, opening the door, "pehold my +sty!" and he stood aside that his companion might enter. + +It was a little square box of a room jammed with such a litter of +bric-a-brac as is to be picked up only on the boulevards--trifles in +Bohemian glass, a lizard stuffed with straw, carved fragments of jade +and ivory, a Sevres vase bearing the portrait of Du Barry, an Indian +chibook, a pink-cheeked Dresden shepherdess, a sabre of the time of +Napoleon, a leering Hindoo idol, a hideous dragon in Japanese bronze +grimacing furiously at a Barye lion--all of them huddled together +without order or arrangement, as they would have been in an auction room +or an antique shop. In one corner stood a low table of Italian mosaic, +bearing a somewhat battered statuette of Saint Genevieve plying her +distaff, and the walls were fairly covered with photographs-- +photographs, for the most part, of women more anxious to display their +charms of person to an admiring world than to observe the rigour of +convention. + +Rushford dropped into one of the two chairs, got out a cigar, lighted +it, and sat for some moments looking around at this wilderness of +gimcracks. + +"Pelletan, you're a humbug," he said at last. "You came to me yesterday +and said your last franc was gone." + +"Unt so it wass, monsieur." + +"But this collection ought to be worth something." + +"Monsieur means t'at it might pe sold?" + +"Undoubtedly." + +"But monsieur does not know--does not understand. Tis--all t'is--iss my +life; eet iss here t'at I liff--not out t'ere," with a gesture of +disgust toward the door. "I could no more liff wit'out t'is t'an wit'out +my head!" + +Rushford, looking at him curiously, saw that he was in deadly earnest. + +"Really," he said, "you surprise me, Pelletan. I had never suspected in +you such depth of soul." + +"Besides, monsieur," added Pelletan, leaning forward, "t'ese t'ings are +not all what t'ey seem--t'is dragon, par exemple, ees not off bronze, +but off t'e plaster of Paris--yet I lofe eet none t'e less--more, +perhaps, because off t'at fery fact." + +"And these--ah--females," said Rushford, and waved his hand at the +serried photographs, "I suppose even they are necessary to your +existence." + +"I lofe to look at t'em, monsieur," confessed Pelletan. + +"Personal acquaintances, perhaps." + +"Not all of t'em, monsieur; but t'ey haf about t'em t'e flavour off +Paris--off t'at tear Paris off which I tream each night; t'ey recall t'e +tays off my yout'!" + +"Oh, are you a Parisian? I should never have suspected it. Your +accent--" + +"I am off Elsass, monsieur. It wass, perhaps, for t'at reason t'at Paris +so won my heart." + +"If I were as fond of the place as all that," observed Rushford, +laughing, "I'd have stayed there." + +"It proke my heart to leafe," murmured Pelletan. "T'at is why I lofe all +t'is," and he motioned to the walls, and kissed his hand to a +voluptuous siren with red hair. "T'at is Ernes tine. Tonight she will +take her part at t'e Alcazar; at t'e toor a friend will meet her unt +t'ey will go toget'er down t'e Champs-Elysees to t'e grand boulevard, +where t'ey sit in front of Pousset's and trink t'eir wine unt eau +sucree. T'ey will watch t'e crowds, t'ey will greet t'eir friends, t'ey +will exchange t'e tay's news. T'en t'ey will go to tinner--six or eight +of t'em toget'er--een a leetle room at Maxime's, where t'ey can make so +much noise as pleases t'em--only I will not pe t'ere--in all t'at great +city, nowhere will I pe! Unt I am missed, monsieur, no more t'an iss a +grain of sand from t'e peach out yonder!" + +His voice trembled and broke, and he ran his hands through his hair in a +very agony of despair. + +"There, there," said Rushford, soothingly, repressing an inclination to +laugh at the grotesque figure before him. "Don't take it so much to +heart. I dare say they drink your health oftener than you imagine." + +"Do you really t'ink so, monsieur?" asked Pelletan, brightening. + +"And, depend upon it, you'll get back to them some day," continued the +American. "Only stay here a year or two until you've made your fortune, +as you're certain to do now." + +"Yess, monsieur," agreed Pelletan, huskily. "T'anks to you!" + +"In the meantime," added Rushford, smiling, "keep the ladies, if you +like to look at them. Your little foibles are no affair of mine. What I +wanted to speak to you about was a matter of business. There's a +blatant, detestable French spy in the house who has got to get out. He +even had the impudence to ogle my girls at dinner this evening. Shall I +kick him out, or will you attend to the matter?" + +Pelletan had grown paler at every word until he was fairly livid. + +"Iss eet Monsieur Tellier to whom monsieur refers?" he stammered. + +"I don't know his name, but he looks like a freak from the wax-works. +He's got to go--he's nearly as bad as Zeit-Zeit." + +Pelletan mopped his shining forehead and groaned dismally. + +"What is it, man?" demanded the American. "Don't tell me that this +rascal has a hold on you!" + +Pelletan groaned again, more dismally than before. + +"I was told this afternoon," added Rushford, grimly, "that he was +probably staying here at my expense." + +"Eet iss not so!" cried Pelletan, his eyes flashing. "I pay for +heem--efery tay I charge myself mit' twenty franc for hees account." + +"But what on earth for?" demanded Rushford. "What have you done--robbed +a bank or committed murder?" + +Pelletan glanced around to assure himself that the door was tightly +closed, then drew his chair nearer to his patron. + +"I haf a wife," he said, slowly, in a sepulchral tone. + +"Well, what of it? Is that a crime in France? I could almost believe +it!" + +"I could not liff mit' her no longer," continued Pelletan. "She wass a +teufel! I leafe her!" + +"Oh, that's it--so you ran away?" + +"Yess, monsieur, I ran avay--avay from Paris--avay from France--I +t'ought efen of going to Amerique." + +"Was she so bad as all that?" asked Rushford, sympathetically. + +For answer, Pelletan went to the statue of Saint Genevieve, lifted it, +and took from beneath it a photograph. + +"T'is iss she, monsieur," he said, and handed the photograph to +Rushford. + +The latter took one look at it and passed it back. + +"Not guilty!" he said. "You have my profound sympathy, Pelletan. How did +you happen to get caught? You must have been exceedingly young!" + +"I wass, monsieur," admitted Pelletan, with a sigh. "I wass just from +t'e province--my head wass full of treams. Unt she wass petter-looking, +t'en, monsieur; she wass almost slim. She wass a widow--unt besides she +had a leetle patisserie which her man had left her." + +"I see--avarice was your undoing. And you caught a tartar!" + +"A teufel!" repeated Pelletan. "A fiend! Oh, what an end to t'e tream! I +worked--oh, how hard I worked--sweating at t'e ovens, efery hour of t'e +twenty-four--for t'e ovens must not pe allowed to cool. She sat at t'e +money-drawer unt grows fat; I wass soon so weak t'at she tid not +hesitate to--to--" + +The little man's face was bathed in sweat at the memory of that +degradation, which his tongue refused to describe. + +"I endured eet to t'e last moment," he added, thickly. "T'en I fled!" + +"You seem to have alighted on your feet," remarked Rushford. + +"We had made a success of t'e pusiness," Pelletan explained, "unt I +brought mit me my share of t'e profits, which seemed only fair, since I, +py my labour, had earned t'em. Unt t'en I took a lease of t'is place, +unt did well until t'is year. T'at iss my whole history, monsieur. T'at +iss why I dare not return to Paris, efen for a small visit in winter +when pusiness here iss pad. Eef she so much as caught one leetle glimpse +of me, she would murder me!" and he mopped his face again. + +"Still," said the American, "I don't see where Tellier comes in." + +Pelletan carefully replaced the photograph under the statuette and then +reseated himself opposite his companion. + +"Tellier knows her," he explained, simply. + +"Met her professionally, perhaps," suggested Rushford. "Well, what of +it?" + +"Eef I offend heem, he gifes her my attress!" continued Pelletan, +hoarsely, and his forehead glistened again at the thought. "He +t'reatened as much when he arrife here unt I tol' him t'e house wass +full." + +"Hm!" commented Rushford. "I see. All right; I'll stand by you. I dare +say I can stomach Tellier for a day or two." + +Pelletan breathed a deep sigh of relief. + +"Tat iss kind," he stammered; "I--I--" + +"There, there," and the American waved him to silence. "And you needn't +charge yourself with his keep. But I hope you haven't any more skeletons +in the closet, my friend." + +"Skeletons, monsieur?" + +"Such as Madame Pelletan." + +"Oh," said the Frenchman, naively, "Madame Pelletan iss quite t'e +opposite off a skeleton, monsieur!" + + * * * * * + +Rushford paused at the hotel door and looked out along the Digue. It was +thronged with people hurrying toward the Casino, eager for the night's +excitement. But the American turned in the opposite direction, and +sauntered slowly along, breathing in the cool breeze from the ocean. At +last he paused, and, leaning against the balustrade, stood gazing out +across the moonlit water, smiling to himself at thought of Pelletan's +vicissitudes. + +He was roused by the sound of voices on the beach below him. He looked +down mechanically, but for a moment saw no one. Then, deep in the shadow +of the wall, he descried two figures walking slowly side by side. One +was a man and the other a woman. They were talking in a French so rapid +and idiomatic that Rushford could distinguish no word of it, except +that the man addressed his companion as Julie. + +There was something strangely familiar about the figure of the man, and +as Rushford stared down at him, his vision seemed suddenly too clear and +he perceived that it was the French detective. + +"Tellier prosecutes his loves," he murmured, smiling grimly to himself, +and turned back toward the hotel. There he stopped, struck by a sudden +thought. "Julie," he repeated. "Julie--where have I heard that name +recently? Oh, I remember--Julie is our maid at the hotel. I wonder--" + +He went back abruptly to the parapet and looked over, but Tellier and +his companion had disappeared. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +An Introduction and a Promenade + +Warm and fair dawned the morning; and having, at its leisure, duly +arisen, bathed and breakfasted, the unemployed population of +Weet-sur-Mer, male and female, sallied forth to throng the beach and +Digue, to inhale the fresh air, to shake off so far as possible the +effects of the evening's dissipations, and to exchange such toadstool +growths of gossip as had sprung up over night. + +To join this parade there presently came Lord Vernon, reclining +languidly in his invalid chair, and muffled in many rugs; but his eyes +were eagerly alert and he gazed with evident anticipation down the long +promenade of the Digue. He was attended by Blake, Collins, and Sir John, +all of them determined, no doubt, to prevent a second contretemps. But +Sir John presently descried a learned fellow-Aesculapian and stopped for +a chat with him; while Blake soon afterward succumbed to the glance and +smile of a red-cheeked English beauty. Collins, however, stuck grimly to +his post, being above--or below--such human weaknesses. + +"There they are!" cried Vernon, suddenly, with brightening eyes. + +"Who?" asked Collins, following his gaze. "Oh, the Rush ford girls. I +suppose it will be polite to show our gratitude. I think we owe them a +vote of thinks, don't you?" + +"I certainly do," agreed Vernon, straightening himself in his chair with +a vigour which had nothing of the invalid about it. "Will you introduce +me?" + +"If I can snare them without being too intrusive," assented Collins, +who, since the success of his stratagem of the afternoon before, had +been in an unusually complaisant mood. + +But fate willed that they should be snared without any effort on his +part whatever, for just then a porter came by with a truck piled high +with luggage, and it and the invalid chair combined to form an impasse +from which there was no escaping. Not that either of the young ladies +displayed any very evident anxiety to escape. + +"Good-morning," said Collins, in his best manner. "My lord," he +continued, turning to his companion, "these are the Misses Rushford, to +whom we owe so much. I hope I may introduce Lord Vernon to you," he +added. + +Both of them were laughing as they took, in turn, the hand which Vernon +rather eagerly held out. + +"I'm awfully glad to meet you," he said, looking from one to the other +and trying to decide which was the prettier. "I feel that we _do_ owe +you a great deal. When Collins came back yesterday afternoon and told me +what he'd had the impudence to ask you, I was--I was--" + +"Very wrathy, to put it mildly," said Collins. "But I took it meekly; it +was in a good cause." + +"And we didn't think it impudent at all," said Sue. "Since we had caused +all the trouble, it was only fair that we should bear a part of it. +Besides, it wasn't by any means so difficult as Mr. Collins thought it +would be." + +"You don't mean that Markeld actually asked you! I didn't believe he'd +do that, despite Collins's prophecy. He seemed to have too much of high +politeness about him." + +"I was sure he would," put in Collins, triumphantly. "He couldn't afford +to neglect such an obvious way of making certain, and he's much too +clever to have overlooked it." + +"You were quite right, Lord Vernon," said Susie, very quietly, though +there was a dangerous sparkle in her eyes. "The Prince did not ask +us--but a French creature did--a detective--" + +"One of his emissaries," suggested Collins. "I know him--his name is +Tellier." + +"I have no reason to think him an emissary," retorted Susie, curtly, +beginning to dislike the secretary. "I don't in the least believe the +Prince would choose such a one. Dad pointed him out to us in the +dining-room last night--a thing of mustachios and eyes--just the kind +one sees at the vaudeville, but which I hadn't the least idea existed in +real life.--Oh!" she cried, with a little start, "there he is now, +almost near enough to hear!" + +Collins swore softly between his teeth, for there, indeed, Monsieur +Tellier was, leaning with elaborate negligence against the balustrade, +apparently intent upon the crowd below. His countenance was quite +inscrutable--calm as a summer day--which might mean much or nothing, for +he had an immense pride in keeping it always so. Vernon took him in +with a quick glance. + +"I recognise the type," he said. "Can't we go on, Miss Rushford? Collins +might form a rear guard. And James is blind, deaf, and dumb toward +everything that doesn't concern him," he added, as she glanced at the +stalwart footman behind the chair. "I'm very anxious to hear the story. +But, of course, if it's asking too much--" + +"It isn't," answered Susie, promptly, and fell in beside the chair, +while Collins and her sister followed at a distance of a few paces. +"Now, I think, we can talk without fear of being overheard by Monsieur +Tellier. But there is really very little to tell. He sent up his card +just before dinner yesterday evening; we sent it back. Then, being +persistent and not easily snubbed, he sent up a note which asked 'Are +the Misses Rushford acquainted with the gentleman who came to their +assistance this afternoon?' To which the Misses Rushford added a line, +'They are not,' and sent it back to him. It was too absurd. It reminded +me of the agony column in the _Herald_." + +"The agony column?" + +"Yes--'Will the lady dressed in blue, who took a Broadway car +yesterday,'--and so on." + +"Oh," said Vernon, with a smile. "Yes--we have the same thing in +England." + +"And, after all," continued Susie, "our reply was the exact and literal +truth--of a kind which, I should imagine, is well known to diplomats." + +The occupant of the chair had quite made up his mind that Susie was the +prettier. + +"It is their favourite kind," he assured her; "nothing delights them +more than to lie while telling the truth." + +"Them? But aren't you a diplomat?" + +"There are many who doubt it. Perhaps they will doubt it more than ever +before we are out of this tangle. It's awfully good of you and your +sister to take an interest in it." + +"But of course we'd take an interest!" + +"And keep a secret." + +"Ah--well, perhaps that _is_ a little unusual." + +"Especially after my rudeness," he added. + +"Your rudeness?" + +"In running away and hiding behind my paper. What did you think of me?" + +"We didn't know what to think," admitted Susie, candidly; "though, of +course, afterwards we were able to guess." + +"And I am pardoned?" + +"Oh, quite; you had to escape, you know. It's a perfectly delightful +muddle, isn't it? Dad understood it at once." + +"Did he?" The occupant of the chair moved a little uneasily. + +"Yes--we talked it over, you know, after Mr. Collins left. But then dad +is up on politics and we are not. Only it's a little rough on the +Prince of Markeld, don't you think?" + +"Yes, it _is_ rough on him, but--well, it would be rougher to turn him +down--rougher on all concerned!" + +"You'd have to turn him down? But there; I mustn't meddle with affairs +of state!" + +"Sentiment hasn't much show in the foreign office," said Vernon, with +some bitterness; "not even the sentiment of friendship. We're trying to +find the easiest way out." + +Susie nodded, her eyes sparkling. This was a new and delicious +experience, this weighing the fate of nations, as it were. She even +skipped a little, unconscious of Lord Vernon's eyes upon her glowing +face. + +"Of course," she agreed, judicially, "I suppose one must always try to +find the easiest way out. Only dad seemed to think--" + +She hesitated. + +"Go ahead," he encouraged her. "I don't doubt that your father was +entirely right." + +"Well, then, dad seemed to think that Prince Ferdinand is much the +better of the two men." + +"There is no question of that," assented Lord Vernon, gloomily. "But let +me put a case, Miss Rushford. Suppose your best friend were set upon by +thieves and just as you started to help him, another thief came up +behind you and, putting a pistol to your head, commanded you to stand +still. What would you do?" + +"I'd stand still," laughed Sue. + +"Yes; but your friend can't see the thief behind you, and when he sees +you standing there, not offering to help him, he thinks you are a coward +and a traitor. Perhaps he tells you so in the most emphatic language at +his command." + +"It would be a very difficult position," agreed Sue, still laughing at +the picture presented by the words. "On second thought, I don't believe +I'd stand still for long; I'd try to give my thief a knock-out blow and +then go help my friend." + +"But you would have to wait till your thief was off his guard. Well, +that is pretty much the position that England is in, as I understand it. +Prince Ferdinand is our friend, but we've got to wait till the man with +the pistol makes a false move. We're doing the best we can--and in the +meantime, Prince Ferdinand's misguided friends are calling us hard +names." + +"But," inquired Susie, "who is the man with the pistol? He must be a +pretty big fellow to be able to hold you prisoner, and yet I must +confess that I'm like Prince Ferdinand--I can't perceive him, either." + +Lord Vernon hesitated a moment. + +"I'm afraid, Miss Rushford," he said, slowly, at last, "that I can't +tell you, just yet. I'd like to, but if I did, I'd have all these +diplomatic sharps down on me in short order. I thought maybe you could +guess." + +"Oh, don't apologise!" cried Susie. "I hadn't any right to ask. +Though," she added, regretfully, "I'm not at all good at guessing." + +Lord Vernon smiled as he looked at her. + +"I don't think we'll have any more trouble," he said. "Markeld and I +have called a truce for a week, and by that time--" + +He paused again, evidently on the verge of another indiscretion. Chance +saved him the necessity of going on, for at that moment a tall, military +figure loomed ahead, approached, hesitated, stopped, and uncovered. + +"I hope I see you better this morning, Lord Vernon," said a pleasant +voice. + +"Why, yes, thank you, Your Highness," answered Vernon, colouring a +little. "I feel much better. Let me introduce to you Miss Rushford," he +added, catching the other's admiring glance and interpreting it aright. +"Miss Rushford, this is the Prince of Markeld." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +The Prince Gains an Ally + +So it presently came to pass that Susie Rushford found herself walking +on with the Prince of Markeld, while Nell took her place beside the +invalid's chair. Five minutes later, Vernon had revised his judgment and +decided that Nell was far the handsomer--she had the air, somehow, which +one associates with duchesses, but which, alas! is, in reality, so +seldom theirs. She was just a little regal, just a little awe-inspiring, +so that to win a smile impressed one as, in a way, an achievement. +Vernon had won several before they had been long together, and felt his +heart growing strangely, deliciously warm within him. + +As to Sue--if we may pause to analyse her feelings--she, too, had been +for the first moment impressed. The Prince was so visibly a Highness; +every line of him expressed it, not consciously, but inevitably, from +the blood out. So, after a glance or two, she walked along beside him +rather humbly and very silent, not in the least as the proverbial +American girl should have done! Then she stole another glance at him and +saw that he was twisting his moustache in evident perplexity. + +"You may have perceived," he said, at last, with that slight formality +of utterance which Sue thought very taking, "that I was most desirous of +meeting you, Miss Rushford." + +"I believe I _did_ discern a sort of royal command in your eye," +assented Susie, feeling suddenly at ease with him. He was evidently a +mere man, even though he were a prince. + +"Yes," he continued, "I felt that I owed you and your sister a more +complete apology than it was possible for me to make yesterday without +impertinence. You see I am unaccompanied to-day." + +"Poor Jax!" laughed Susie. + +"I suspect," the Prince continued, "that I somehow offended you when I +offered you the dog." + +"Oh, you perceived it, did you?" and she flashed an ironic glance upon +him. + +"Yes--though I could not in the least guess in what the offence +consisted." + +"My dear sir," said Sue, tartly, "American girls are not in the habit of +accepting gifts from utter strangers." + +"Not even from--from--" + +He stopped, at a loss for a word which would express his meaning without +absurdity. + +"No, not even from Royal Highnesses," she added, interpreting his +thought. "Besides, you know, in America we haven't any." + +The Prince walked on in silence for a moment, his brow knit in +meditation. + +"Your last sentence explains it," he said, at last. "You have in +America no class whose prerogative it is to bestow gifts, and, in +consequence, you do not accept them as a matter of course. With us a +gift is a conventional thing, like shaking hands." + +"I wasn't trying to explain it," said Susie, with a little sigh of +despair, "or to defend it--but let it go." Then, with a flash of +mischief,--"Are you frequently called upon?" + +"There are occasions almost every day which demand them of us," answered +the Prince, soberly, missing the glance. + +"Poor man! And the affair of yesterday was one of them? Forgive me if I +am rude; but it is all so new and interesting!" + +"It seemed only right," explained the Prince, "that I should compensate +you in some way for the annoyance I had caused you." + +The words were said so candidly and simply that the ironical smile +faded from Susie's lips and she was silent for a moment. + +"I think the American way the nicer," she said at last, decisively. "An +American would have considered an apology ample reparation. With us a +gift means something--it has a sentimental value. Besides, girls are +never permitted to accept gifts of value. Flowers are the only things +which may be given them." + +"Flowers!" repeated the Prince, eagerly, looking at her. + +"And only by their nearest, dearest friends," added Susie, hastily. + +"Well, it is a very different point of view," said the Prince, the light +fading from his face. "I have even heard that in America there are +workmen who consider a tip an insult." + +"It's unthinkable, isn't it? And yet, I'm proud to say, it's true. I may +add that many Americans feel humiliated when they offer a tip to a +man--it's like branding him with a badge of servility." + +"I must confess," said the Prince, "that such an attitude seems to me +absurd. What other badge than that of servility shall the servant wear?" + +"He need wear no badge, if he does his work honestly and well," retorted +Susie, hotly. "There is nothing disgraceful in service." + +"No," agreed the Prince, with some hesitation, "perhaps not; nor, for +that matter, is there anything disgraceful in a badge. But I have not +said what I wished to say, which was that I hope you believe my offence +was wholly unintentional and that you pardon me." + +"I am not vindictive," answered Sue, smiling at his earnest tone, "and +therefore you are pardoned. But it seems unjust that Jax should suffer +imprisonment." + +"Oh, he will get his outing, but with Glueck, who is less absent-minded. +Yesterday, I had much to occupy me." + +"And to-day?" + +"Not so much. I am resting on my oars." + +"Yes," said Susie, and contented herself with the monosyllable. She was +keenly on the alert; determined not to betray Lord Vernon's confidence, +yet, at the same time, desirous of helping, in some way, her companion. +She distinctly approved of him. Then, too, she had somehow got the +impression that the other side was not playing fairly, and her whole +American spirit revolted against unfairness. + +"I should like to tell you about it," he began, with a sudden burst of +confidence. "But perhaps you know?" + +"I know some of it. I can guess that it means a great deal to you." + +"It does--more than you can guess; I think. Not so much to me, +personally, as to our people. I believe that I am speaking only the +exact truth when I say that it will be much better for the people of +Schloshold-Markheim if our branch of the house is recognised and not the +other. Our branch has been, in a way, for many years, progressive; the +other is and always has been--well--conservative." + +He had the air of searching for a word that would not go beyond the +truth; Susie, glancing at him, decided that he had chosen one which fell +far short of it. + +"We have a certain claim of kinship and friendship upon England," he +added, "and we are very anxious to enlist her aid, even though we lose +this time; for there may soon be another vacancy. The head of the other +branch has no heir and is not well." + +He might have added that the August Prince George, of Schloshold, was +hovering on the verge of dissolution as the result of forty years' +corruption--a corruption of which not all the waters of the Empire +could cleanse him; but there are some things which are better left +unsaid. + +"Who is it that is opposed to you in all this?" asked Sue. + +"The German Emperor," said the Prince, simply. "He is not always in +sympathy with--ah--progress." + +"So he is the man with the pistol!" said Susie, thoughtfully. + +"The--I beg your pardon," and the Prince looked at her in some surprise. + +"It is nothing," said Susie, hastily, colouring under his eyes. "I was +merely thinking aloud--thinking of a story. Pardon me. Will you tell me +some more?" + +"There is not much more to tell. Only, we fear that if we are not given +an opportunity to present our claims this time, we may be forgotten the +next. Prince George might possibly try to name a successor--we have even +understood that he already considers doing so--that this, indeed, is +the price he has agreed to pay the Emperor for his support--though this, +of course, is strictly entre nous. You see I am trusting you." + +"Thank you," answered Susie, simply; but there was that in her voice and +glance which told how she would deserve the confidence. And, on the +instant, a great yearning leaped warm into her heart. If she could help +this people to the ruler they needed most; if she could somehow turn the +scale, so delicately balanced! There would be a task worth doing; an +achievement to be proud of all her life! And she trembled a little at +the thought that to her, Susie Rushford, fate had given such an +opportunity! + +But Markeld, apparently, had had enough of high politics, or perhaps he +found it difficult to keep his mind on them with Susie's dark eyes +looking up at him. He was no novice in womankind; he had known many, +high and low; but there was in his companion something different, +something appealing, something fresh, invigorating, which he had felt +from the first, in a vague way, without quite understanding. Princes may +be outspoken when they please, and he was so at this moment. + +"I was glad of to-day's meeting not only that I might apologise," he +said, with a calmness which rather took his companion's breath away, +"but because you interested me. I have heard much of American women, but +all that I have heretofore been privileged to meet seemed to me to +resent being called Americans. You and your sister, on the other hand, +appear to be rather proud of it." + +"I don't know whether that is intended as a compliment or the reverse," +said Susie, "but it is undoubtedly true." + +"It was that which interested me," he went on. "It indicated such an +unspoiled point of view--a freshness which I fear the Old World is +losing." + +"Thank you," retorted Susie, gasping a little. "You have honoured us, I +see, with a very careful study. I can respond by saying that there is in +your manner a certain freshness which I do not like," and she shot him a +fiery glance. At the moment, he was rather too evidently the Prince. + +"I am sorry you find me displeasing," he said, looking at her gravely. +Perhaps she was, at the moment, just the merest shade too evidently the +American girl. "I hope the impression is one which will change when you +know me better." + +"Am I to have that pleasure?" + +"I intend to ask your father if I may call upon you." + +Susie gasped again. She felt that she was being swept beyond her depth +by a current which she was powerless to resist; that she was beating +with bare hands against a wall of incredible height and thickness--the +wall of Old World convention, of class imperturbability. And she felt a +little frightened, for almost the first time in her life. + +"Do," she said faintly, realising that her companion was waiting for her +to speak. + +"I think that I shall like him," he added. + +"Oh, do you know him?" + +"'I was looking at him last night at dinner," he explained, calmly. "He +seems a very interesting man. I looked at all of you a great deal--more +than was perhaps quite polite. I feared you had perceived it." + +"No," murmured Susie, desperately, telling a white lie. + +"Tellier told me you were Americans--but I should have known it anyway." + +"Tellier!" she repeated, turning upon him fiercely, welcoming the +opportunity to create a diversion. "Then he _was_ your emissary! And to +think that I defended you!" + +"My emissary?" he stammered. "Defended me?" + +"Yes, when--when--some one said you had sent him to us--" + +"Sent him to you!" he cried, flushing darkly. "Do you mean to say that +he has been annoying you?" + +"It was almost that." + +"Ah!" he said. "Ah!" and he grasped his stick in a way that boded ill +for Monsieur Tellier. + +Susie, glancing up at him, thought it very fine. He was such a volcano, +and there was such a fearful pleasure in stirring him up--in skipping +over the thin crust with a lively consciousness of the boiling lava +beneath! + +"Then you didn't send him?" she inquired, sweetly. + +"Send him! Miss Rushford, do you think for a moment that I would be so +rude, so impertinent? Tell me you do not think so!" + +"I _didn't_ think so," said Sue, biting her lip, a little fearfully. "I +even defended you, as I have said. But now--" + +"But now--" + +His eyes seemed to burn her; she dared not look up and meet them. She +even regretted that she had begun to play with fire. + +"But now," he repeated, insistently, imperatively. + +"No, I don't think so now," she said, with a little catch of the breath. +Then she glanced up at him, and instantly looked away. He should not act +so; every one would notice; it was very embarrassing! + +"That is kind of you," he said, in a low voice. + +"Though," she added, reprovingly, glad to find a joint in his armour, "I +am surprised that you should discuss me in any way whatever with that +creature!" + +"You are right!" he agreed, flushing hotly. "You are quite right. But +the temptation was very great, and I wanted to know so badly. I beg you +to believe that I regretted it an instant later. I do not want that you +should think of me as like that!" + +"Perhaps I would better not think of you at all," ventured Sue. Ah, what +a fascination there is in fire! + +"That would be still more unbearable!" he protested; his eyes were very +bright and he was bending down a little that he might the better see the +face under the broad hat. + +"The view from here, I think, is very beautiful," she remarked, +incoherently. + +"No doubt," agreed the Prince, but he didn't take the trouble to look at +it. + +"He's a survival of the dark ages," said Susie to herself, "when they +just snatched up girls and ran off with them!" Then aloud, "Have you +ever been here before?" + +"Never before." + +"Do you like it?" + +"Oh, very much!" His eyes would have told her why; but she could guess +without looking. + +"I suppose you usually go to one of the larger places?" + +"It is one of the traditions of our family that at least a month must be +spent at Ostend." + +"What a shame that the tradition should be broken!" + +"On the contrary, I bless the circumstance that shattered it. Do you +know, Miss Rushford, I have never before realised what a tremendously +lucky fellow I am? I must pour a libation to the god of chance!" + +"It's a goddess, isn't it?" she asked, and regretted the question the +next instant. + +"You are right," he agreed, his eyes blazing. "A goddess! You have +found the word. A goddess! And such a goddess!" + +Fortunately, they had reached the end of the promenade, and as they +paused at the balustrade, Nell and Lord Vernon joined them, saving Susie +from a situation which had slipped entirely beyond her control. + +Evidently Nell, too, had been having her difficulties, for she +telegraphed her sister a desire to change places. So, on the homeward +journey, despite the very apparent unwillingness of the men, Sue walked +beside the invalid chair and Nell accompanied the Prince; and while both +seemed gay enough--even unnaturally gay, perhaps--I dare say they found +that the situation had lost a certain interest; for every danger has its +fascination, every hazard its piquancy. + +"I am not sure," observed Susie, reflectively, as they went up the stair +together, "that I approve of princes. They are too self-assured; they +carry things with too high a hand. They are evidently too much +accustomed to having their own way." + +"It seems to be a characteristic of lords, also," said Nell, with a +little sigh. + +"What they need is a vigorous calling down. Well, that ought not to be +so difficult!" and the dark eyes snapped ominously. + +"Though, perhaps, it's hardly worth the trouble," suggested Nell. + +"Perhaps not," assented her sister; but half an hour later she waylaid +her father to give him her commands. "Dad," she said, "if the Prince of +Markeld asks you for permission to call, you'll tell him he may. It's +just one of these odious Old World customs." + +"So I judged," smiled her father. "He seems a nice fellow, and so when +he asked me ten minutes ago, I told him we'd be glad to see him." + +"Did--did he mention any particular time?" faltered Sue. + +"Why, yes, now I think of it, I believe he said something about this +evening." + +"Oh!" gasped Susie, and then closed her lips tightly together. "Well," +she said to herself, as she turned away, "he hasn't lost any time, to be +sure! I'm afraid he's worse than I thought!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +Events of the Night + +Life at Weet-sur-Mer, as at most other places of its class, swung in a +round prescribed by custom, as fixed and predestined as the courses of +the stars. In the late morning occurred the promenade, taken as a brisk +constitutional by a few, but by the great majority as a languid stroll +designed to create an appetite for luncheon. That meal was followed by a +period of torpor, then every one sought the beach--the high, the low; +the rich, the poor; the dowdy and the well-dressed; the virgin in white +and the cocotte in scarlet; the thin and the obese; the French, the +Dutch, the Italian--yea, and the angular English, for Weet-sur-Mer +attracted a crowd as hybrid as its name! There they amused themselves +each after his own fashion, with dignity or abandon, as the case might +be. They could not be said to mingle in the way that an American crowd +would have done under like circumstances--the elements of society in an +aristocratic country are as incapable of mingling as oil and water. The +oil floated placidly on top, while the water disported itself +contentedly beneath. + +The oil, to preserve the simile, consisted, in the first place, of a +number of self-important individuals stalking solemnly up and down, +seemingly unconscious of the fact that they were not as solitary as +Crusoe; and, in the second place, of certain solid, cohesive groups, +presenting to the world a front as impenetrable and threatening as any +Austrian phalanx, and guarding in their midst two or three young girls +who must, at any hazard, be kept unspotted from the world. Strange to +say, the girls appeared contented, even happy; the position seemed to +them, no doubt, the normal one for them to occupy--and they could, of +course, look forward with certainty to the opening of the prison door +when a marriage should be arranged for them. They order this matter +better in Europe; or, at least, differently, for there, as a discerning +observer has pointed out, marriage means always that a woman is taken +down from the shelf, while with us, alas, too often! that she is placed +upon it, never to be removed! + +To this class, too, belonged certain obese women and emaciated men +sitting, in couples, under the gay sunshades with which the beach was +bright. The women were dressed always in gowns which, however ornate, +were not quite new, not quite fresh, not quite clean; and the black +coats of the men were a little shiny at the elbow, a little faded at the +seams. But madame still took care to preserve such figure as unkind fate +had left her; and monsieur still kept his moustaches waxed to a needle's +point; and they sat there together, quite immovable, for hours at a +time, staring drearily out toward the horizon, meditating, no doubt, +over past glories, or arranging some coup by which their fortunes might +be retrieved. Pride will slip from them gradually, as the years pass; +madame will abandon her figure and monsieur his moustaches, and they +will end their days miserably in some second- or third-rate +pension--even, perhaps, the Maison Vauquer! + +The water was more interesting, being at once more natural and lively. +With it there was no question of maintaining the equilibrium of its +position; there was no need of air or artifice; there was none of that +heartburning with which the latest Pontifical Princess smilingly +swallows the insolence of the descendant (a la main gauche) of the Great +Henri, happy to have been noticed, even though to be noticed meant +inevitably to be snubbed. There was a freedom about the water, an honest +vulgarity, a quality as of Rabelais, refreshingly in contrast with the +hot-house manners and morals of the haute noblesse. Madame need not +hesitate to cross her legs, if she found that attitude comfortable; +monsieur could at once remove coat, waist-coat, collar, cuffs, if he +found the weather warm. + +Families whose size testified to their bourgeois respectability, lolled +in happy promiscuity upon the sands; the children constructed forts or +canals, the women tore some neighbour's reputation to pieces, the men +lay back lazily and smoked and kept an eye out for the bathers. + +There were always many scores of them, belonging principally to that +strange and tragic half-world which hangs suspended, like Mahomet's +coffin, between earth and heaven, or, at least, between mass and class, +and which stretches out its tentacles and sucks nourishment from both. +These with a regularity almost religious, spent an hour of every day, +weather permitting, splashing in the gentle surf or posing on the beach +in costumes more or less revealing, according to the contour of the +wearer. The climax of the afternoon, the coup-de-theatre which all +awaited, was the appearance of Mlle. Paul, late of the Varietes. This +was such a masterpiece in its way that it is worth pausing a moment to +describe. + +Suddenly the door of her bathing-machine, which has been drawn just to +the water's edge, is flung open, and she appears on the threshold, +wrapped in a white sheet with a red border, producing a toga-like effect +not ungraceful. She hesitates an instant, and casts a startled glance +over the crowd of onlookers, then trips modestly down the steps. With a +little frisson, she casts the sheet from her and stands revealed--well, +perhaps not quite as Eve was to Adam, but so nearly so that the +difference is scarcely worth remarking. She glances down at her shapely +legs and then again at the entranced spectators. + +"C'est convenable, j'espere hein?" she murmurs, and her bald-headed +cicisbeo, who has taken possession of her sheet, hastens to assure her +that all is well. + +Whereupon, her doubts thus happily set at rest, she wades out to the +diving-board, mounts it leisurely, stands poised for an instant at the +outermost end, and then dives gracefully into the expectant billows. +This she does at intervals for perhaps an hour, the supreme instant for +the onlookers being that in which her glowing body, shimmering white +through its single clinging garment, is outlined in mid-air against the +sky. But finally Mademoiselle grows weary and returns to her machine, +where the gallant and attentive gentleman previously referred to +patiently awaits her--deus ex machina in more senses than one! The other +bathers gradually disappear and the crowd melts imperceptibly away. The +show is over. + +But though all this was no doubt sufficiently diverting, Weet-sur-Mer +was never gloriously, aggressively awake until the sun went down. The +diversions of the day depended wholly upon the weather--a dash of rain, +a wind from the north, and, pouf! they were not thought of. + +Not so the festivities of the night. Nothing short of an earthquake +could interfere with them. It was for the night that most of the +sojourners at Weet-sur-Mer existed; it was for them, in turn, that the +place itself existed! With these worthies, the first serious business of +the day was dressing for dinner. As darkness came, a stir of life +thrilled through the place from end to end. Rows and clusters of +electric lights, many-sized and many-coloured, flashed out at the +Casino, in the hotels, along the Digue. Women donned their evening +gowns, thankful for handsome shoulders; got out their diamonds, real +and paste, their rouge, cosmetics, what not; prepared to go forth and +conquer, to play the old, old game which, by the calm light of the +morning, seems so flat and savourless! Oh, what would it be without wine +and lights and jewels and soft gowns, without warmth and music and +perfume, without the suggestive, sensual darkness closing it in! + +At the Casino presently spins the wheel of fortune--named in very +mockery!--and it is there that one may gaze unrebuked into the most +alluring eyes, may see the reddest lips and whitest shoulders;--creme de +la creme of all in that smaller room upstairs, arranged for those whose +jaded appetites demand some extra tickling; where no wager may be laid +for less than a hundred francs, and for as much more as you please, +monsieur, madame, provided only that you have it with you! Too bad that +the immortal soul has no longer a money value, or how many would +ornament that crowded table in the course of an evening's play! + +But there; let a single glimpse of this tawdry, perfumed, fevered hell +suffice us, even as it did Archibald Rushford on the first night of his +stay at Weet-sur-Mer, and let us go out, as he did, into the pure night, +and stand uncovered under the bright stars until the cool breeze from +the ocean has washed us clean again, and turning our backs forever upon +the Casino and its habitues, retrace our steps along the Digue to the +Grand Hotel Royal. + +In apartment A de luxe, a man with flushed face and rumpled hair was +stamping nervously up and down. It required a second glance to recognise +in him that usually well-groomed and self-possessed individual known as +Lord Vernon. Two others were watching his movements with scarcely +concealed anxiety--Collins leaning against the window with folded arms, +Blake seated at a table with an open despatch-box before him. + +"Hang it all, fellows," he was saying, "don't you see what a pickle it +puts me in? I was a fool to fall in with the idea--I was actually silly +enough to think it would be fun!" + +"Of course," put in Collins, in his smoothest tone, "nobody could +foresee the presence of this American Diana." + +Vernon shot him a quick glance. + +"Be mighty careful what you say, my friend," he warned him, "or I'll +chuck the whole thing." + +"Oh, you can't do that!" protested Blake. "You've got to carry it +through! You can't back out now!" + +"Can't I?" said Vernon, with a grim little laugh. "Don't be too certain! +Suppose she finds it out? Pretty figure I'll cut, won't I?" + +"But how _can_ she find it out? In four or five days, you can tell her +the whole story--you'll figure as a sort of hero of romance--" + +"Yes--penny-dreadful romance--backstairs romance. The more I think of +it, the less I like it. Diplomacy or no diplomacy, we're playing Markeld +a dirty trick--that's the only expression that describes it. He's a nice +fellow and we ought to treat him fairly." + +Collins shrugged his shoulders as he turned away to the window and +lighted a cigarette. + +"You said something of the same sort yesterday, I believe," he remarked, +negligently. + +"Yes--and I meant it then" as I mean it now. Markeld has the right to +expect decent treatment at our hands." + +"Rather late in the day to take that ground," retorted Collins. + +"Late or not, I do take it," answered Vernon, pausing an instant in his +walk to emphasise the words. + +"I see," said Collins, drily, "it's a sort of moral awakening--a +quickening of conscience--the kind of thing we are all so proud of +displaying. Pity it didn't come before we started for this place." + +Vernon did not reply, only clasped and unclasped his hands nervously. + +Collins wheeled around upon him abruptly, his face very stern. + +"Come," he demanded, "let's have it out, once for all. I'm sick of this +shilly-shally. Why can't you let Markeld take care of himself?" + +"Because you're not playing fairly." + +"What do you mean by fairly?" + +"I mean openly, honestly--as gentlemen should." + +"You forget that this is diplomacy--and that we don't live in the Golden +Age. We fight with such weapons as come to hand. It's the game." + +"Yes--as you understand it. A gang of cutthroats might say the same +thing." + +Collins flushed a little, but managed to keep his temper. + +"I understand it as all diplomats understand it. I take no advantage +that every diplomat would not take." + +"Then God save me from diplomats!" retorted Vernon. + +Collins flushed again, more deeply, and his eyes flashed with sudden +fire. + +"Your words verge upon the insulting," he said, after a moment. "I warn +you not to try my patience too far. Perhaps, after this, you will see +fit to choose other company--company more in accord with your really +absurd ideals. But I would remind you of one thing--your career depends +upon this affair. If it succeeds, you succeed. If it fails through any +fault of yours, you are ruined. I assure you the fault will not be +overlooked nor extenuated. You will pay for it!" + +Vernon looked at him without answering, but his glance was full of +meaning. Then he turned and left the room. + +For a moment his companions stared after him--they had read his glance +aright. + +"We'll have to look sharp," said Collins, at last, "or he'll cause us +trouble--he's ripe for it, confound him! We'd better wire the home +office to hurry things up." + +"Yes," agreed Blake, "there's no reasoning with a man in love." + +"Nor frightening him," added Collins. "I'm afraid I made a mistake +taking that tack. I'll go down and get off a message." + +As he opened the door, he fancied that a figure melted into the shadow +at the end of the hall. But his attention was distracted from it, for an +instant later, he heard a step on the stair, and the Prince of Markeld +mounted from the floor below, passed him with the slightest possible +inclination of the head, and continued upward. Collins, staring after +him, standing still as death, heard him enter the apartment of the +Rushfords. + +He remained a moment where he was, his heart heavy with foreboding, then +he descended slowly to the office, his head bent, deep in thought. So +preoccupied was he that he did not see the sleek face which leered at +him from the shadow into which the dim figure had vanished. + +The spy listened a moment intently; then, with a tread soft as a cat's, +mounted the stair to the floor above. + + * * * * * + +"Of course, dad," Susie had said, in the early evening, "you will have +to stay at home to-night since the Prince is coming to see you." + +"Oh, it's not I he's coming to see," rejoined Rushford, easily. "In +fact, he'll probably be tickled to death to find me out.'' + +"He's not going to find you out," retorted Susie, firmly. "You're going +to stay right here." + +"Nonsense, my dear! Why, when I was courting your mother--" + +"What has that to do with it?" demanded Sue, very crimson. "Do you mean +to say that someone is courting someone around here?" + +"Of course, every man may be mistaken at times." + +"Well, take my word for it, you're badly mistaken this time." + +"Oh!" said her father, with assumed astonishment. "Am I? Then what is +all this about?" + +"And even if they were," continued Susie, a little unsteadily, "they do +it differently from the American way." + +"How do they do it, for heaven's sake?" + +"Why, dad, how should I know?" + +"You seem to have considerable information on the subject." + +"I have enough information to know," retorted Sue, with some heat, +"that in Europe, a young man calls upon the head of the family, and not +upon any of its younger female members." + +"I have always understood that Europe was behind the times," observed +her father, "but I never suspected it was as bad as that. However, I +take your word for it--I always do, you know. I suppose you and Nell +will have to stay in your rooms." + +"Oh, no," said Sue, "we may be present, so long as our chaperon is +there." + +"So I'm to do some chaperoning at last, am I?" queried her father. "The +job has ceased to be a sinecure. I suppose I'll have to do all the +talking, since young girls, of course, may only speak when spoken to and +then must answer with a yes or no. Really, my dear, you're setting +yourself an exceedingly difficult part!" + +"Where did you learn so much about it, dad?" + +"I'm reasoning by deduction--all this follows from what you've already +told me. Well, I'll do my best to entertain this Dutchman. What does he +talk about? Wiener-wurst and sauerkraut?" + +"Oh, no," said Susie, with a reminiscent smile and a heightened colour; +"he talks about things much more interesting than those." + +And, indeed, the first moments past, Rushford found the Prince an +entertaining fellow, with a fund of anecdote and experience decidedly +unusual. But conversations of this sort are rarely worth recording; the +less so in this instance, since the Prince had taken care to seat +himself where he had a good view of the enchanting Susie, and that +vision more than once caused his thoughts to wander. Still, they +discussed America and Europe, art, nature, the universe--none of which +has anything to do with this story--everything, in short, except the +warm, palpitating human heart, with which we are principally +concerned--and it was very late before the Prince finally arose to go. + +Sue whispered her thanks as she kissed her father good-night. + +"Good old daddy!" she said, and patted him on the cheek. "And it wasn't +such a trial, after all, was it?" + +Her father looked down at her quizzically. + +"No, my dear," he answered. "In fact, I rather enjoyed it. I fancy he'd +be a mighty interesting talker if there weren't any distractions around. +Not that I blame him," he added, hastily. "I was that way myself once +upon a time," and he bent and kissed her tenderly again. + +Susie, before her glass, stared at herself long and earnestly, then took +down her hair and proceeded to arrange it in various ways. At last, she +got out a diamond bracelet, placed it tiara-wise upon her head, and +studied the effect. She was thus engaged when an agitated tap at the +door gave her a mighty start, and she had just time to snatch off the +decoration when Nell burst in, her face white with emotion. + +"Why, what is it, Nellie?" cried her sister, springing up. + +"I--I've lost it!" gasped Nell, sinking limply into a chair, and +trembling convulsively. "I'm sure--it's been stolen!" + +"Lost it!" echoed Sue, reviewing in one quick mental flash Nell's most +valuable possessions. "Not the diamond necklace!" + +"Oh, Sue!" wailed Nell. "How can you be so mercenary? Oh, I wish it was +the necklace! But it isn't! It's the note!" + +It was Sue's turn to gasp, to turn pale, to sink into a chair. + +"The note!" she echoed, hoarsely. "Not Lord Vernon's!" + +Nell nodded mutely, her face a study for the Tragic Muse. + +"But I thought you destroyed it," said Sue. "You said you were going +to!" + +"I know--but I didn't," answered Nell, a faint tinge of pink in her +pallid cheeks. "I--I didn't see the need of destroying it. I supposed +nobody knew, and I--I thought I'd keep it as a--a souvenir, you know. I +had it in my desk. I am sure I locked it before I came down this +evening, but just now I found it open and the note gone." + +"Well, and what did you do then?" + +"I looked all through the desk--I thought maybe it had slipped out of +sight somehow--but it hadn't--it wasn't there. Then I called the maid, +Julie, and told her something had been stolen. She swore no one had +entered the room since I left it--that no one could have entered it. Of +course, I couldn't tell her about the note, so I sent her away and came +to you. I--I feel like a traitor. I don't know what to do!" + +Susie went to her and put her arms about her and drew her close. + +"We can't do anything to-night, dear," she said; "that's certain. +To-morrow you must tell Lord Vernon." + +She felt Nell quiver at the words and drew her closer still, with +intimate understanding. + +"I don't believe he will care so much," she went on, comfortingly. +"Perhaps the note isn't so important as we think. I suppose we should +have destroyed it at once." + +"Yes," said Nell, drearily, "I suppose we should. But who could have +foreseen anything like this!" + +"The best thing to do now is to go to bed," added Sue, practically, and +she raised her sister and led her back to her room. "In the morning we +can make a thorough search for the note. Perhaps, after all, you +overlooked it." + +"I couldn't have overlooked it," answered Nell. "I remember perfectly +placing it in this drawer," she continued, going to the desk and opening +it, "here, just under this pile of note-paper." + +"Perhaps it slipped in between the sheets," suggested Sue. + +"I thought of that," said Nell, but nevertheless she began mechanically +to open sheet after sheet. As she opened the third one, a little slip of +paper fluttered to the floor. + +She sprang upon it with a cry of joy, opened it, glanced at it. + +"Thank God!" she said, thickly. "It's all right--it's--" + +And she fell forward into Susie's arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +The Second Promenade + +Again the sun rose clear and bright, and again, having dispelled the +mist and chill of the early morning, it lured forth for the inevitable +promenade such of the sojourners at Weet-sur-Mer as had managed to get +to bed before dawn. Prince Markeld, descending with the earliest, left +nothing this time to chance, but took his station at the stairfoot, and +waited there with a patience really exemplary. From which it will be +seen that Princes in love are much as other men. + +And presently, descending toward him, he descried the Misses Rushford; +Susie radiant as the morning, Nell a trifle paler than her wont, but +more beautiful, if anything, because of it. The Prince hastened forward +to greet them. + +"Which way shall we go?" he asked, with the comfortable certainty of +including himself in their plans. "Good-morning," he added, to the +occupant of an invalid chair which was standing just outside the door. + +"Good-morning," replied Lord Vernon, his eyes on Nell's. "My outing +yesterday was such a pleasant one that I was hoping it might be +repeated." + +"Going or coming?" queried Sue, with a quizzical curve of the lips. + +"Both ways," answered Vernon, promptly; but his eyes were still on Nell. + +Markeld also looked excellently satisfied. + +"Very well," he said, in his autocratic way, "we will proceed as we did +yesterday," and he led Susie away. Strange to relate, she followed quite +meekly. Somehow, when the moment came, it seemed exceedingly difficult +to snub him. + +"Do you know," he was saying, "I fell quite in love with your father +last night. His point of view is so fresh and so full of humour. +Though," he added, "I must confess that sometimes I did not entirely +understand him." + +"Didn't you?" laughed Susie. "Dad _does_ use a good deal of slang. It's +an American failing." + +"So I have heard. I know my aunt will like him, too--the Dowager Duchess +of Markheim, you know." + +"No," said Sue, a little faintly, "I didn't know." She had never before +considered the possibility of the Prince having any women relatives; her +heart fell as she thought what dreadful creatures they would probably +prove to be. + +"My aunt is the head of the family," explained the Prince, calmly, +unconscious of his companion's perturbation. "She rules us with a rod of +iron. But you will like her and I know she will like you. She adores +anything with fire in it." + +"Oh," said Susie, to herself, "and how does he know I've any fire in +me?" But she judged it wisest not to utter the question aloud. + +"She worships spirit," added the Prince. "She is very fond of quoting a +line of your poet, Browning. 'What have I on earth to do,' she will +demand, 'with the slothful, with the mawkish, the unmanly?' Sometimes, I +fear, she aims the adjectives at me." + +Susie felt her heart softening, for she liked that line, too. + +"I don't believe you deserve the adjectives,'' she said. + +"Do you not?" he asked, eagerly, with brightened eyes. + +"And I should like to meet your aunt," she continued, hastily. + +"So you shall, most certainly," he assented, instantly. "As soon as it +can be arranged." + +"Oh, does it have to be arranged?" inquired Susie, in some dismay. + +"Not in that sense--she is very democratic--she likes people for what +they are. But until this question of the succession is concluded you +will readily understand that, through anxiety, she is not in the best of +humours--not quite herself." + +"Is she, then, here?" asked Susie. + +"Here? Oh, no; she is at Markheim--at the post of duty. That is another +reason--until this affair is settled, I cannot ask her to join me here." + +"You will ask her to do that?" + +"Certainly; she can stop here very well on her way to Ostend. She would +be at Ostend now but for this affair. Perhaps that is another reason why +she is ill-humoured. She is so fond of life and gaiety, and in summer +Markheim is rather dull. Besides, there is the tradition to maintain." + +"How do you know that she is in an ill-humour," questioned Sue, "if you +have not seen her?" + +"Oh, she writes to me--I had a letter from her this morning. I can see +she is not well-pleased--quite the opposite, in fact!--at the way things +are going." + +"And how are they going?" + +"They seem to be going against us," said the Prince, with a touch of +bitterness. + +"But how _can_ they be? I thought things were at a stand-still until +Lord Vernon got--got well enough to take them up again." + +"So did I--that is what one would naturally suppose. Yet it seems that +an undercurrent has set in against us. I fear that I made a mistake," he +added, gloomily, "in agreeing with Lord Vernon not to proceed further +for a week, though, under the circumstances, I could scarcely refuse. He +seems well enough," and he glanced around, "to hear what I have to say." + +"He _is_ well enough!" cried Sue, indignantly; and certainly at that +moment, talking eagerly to Nell, that gentleman appeared quite the +reverse of an invalid. "_I_ will speak to him--I am under no promise--I +believe--" + +She stopped, fearing that she might say too much--after all, she could +not betray Lord Vernon; she could only appeal to him, warn him. + +"Yes?" her companion encouraged her, his eyes on her face. + +"I believe that I can help you," she concluded, a little lamely. "I want +to help--the people. Of course, we Americans believe that a people ought +to choose their own rulers--but where that isn't possible, the next best +thing is to give them the best available. I should be proud to help do +that!" + +"But you are taking my word for it," he protested. "You ought to hear +the other side. Perhaps they might convince you--" + +"No, they wouldn't!" cried Susie. "Your word is all I need; you've +explained things so clearly." + +"Thank you," he said, in a vibrant voice, still looking at her. + +"Besides," she added, with a glance upward, "dad agrees with you, and +I've a great deal of faith in dad." + +"I shall be very glad of your help on any terms," he said, refusing to +be cast down. + +"And you will tell me if anything unexpected happens? I may be able to +help you more than you think." + +"Yes," he promised, "I will tell you the moment I have any news." + +"You haven't any real news--about the undercurrent, I mean? You don't +_really_ know--" + +"No; it is just in the air; I do not know where the rumours come from, +but my aunt has heard them also. There is a vague impression that we +are losing." + +"But you shan't lose!" cried Susie. "You shan't lose; not even if I have +to--to--" + +"Not even if you have to--?" prompted the Prince, eagerly, as she +stammered and stopped. + +"To play my trump card," she finished, with a little unsteady laugh. +"Don't ask me what it is, but it's a good one!" + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile, as she walked beside the invalid chair, Nell was making her +confession. + +"Lord Vernon," she began, in a low voice, "for a time last night, I +feared that I had utterly ruined your cause." + +He glanced up at her quickly. + +"In what way?" he asked. + +"You remember the note you wrote m--us the first day?" + +"Perfectly," he answered, noting the stammer, and understanding it, +with a quick leap of the heart. + +"I should, no doubt, have destroyed it at once, but I thought it would +be perfectly safe in my desk." + +"And it was stolen? No matter, Miss Rushford. It isn't worth worrying +about. I'm sick of the whole affair, anyway--I shall rather welcome the +catastrophe. You've lost sleep over it," he continued, looking at her +keenly. "It has made you almost ill! I shall never forgive myself!" + +"Thank you," she said, softly, her lips trembling, her eyes very bright. +"It is beautiful of you to be so generous. But fortunately the note was +not stolen. I found it afterwards among some note-paper, where it had +somehow found its way." + +"And you destroyed it?" + +"No," she said, and took it from her bosom. "I thought I would better +restore it to you, so that you yourself could destroy it. Here it is," +and she held it out to him with fingers not wholly steady. + +He took it, his eyes still on her face. + +"It has caused us enough trouble," he said, and made as though to tear +it into bits. + +But Nell laid her hand upon his arm. + +"Without looking at it?" she protested. + +"You are right," he agreed, and opened it and glanced at the contents. + +His hands were trembling slightly as he folded it again. + +"On second thought," he said, and there was a certain thickness in the +words which Nell was too agitated to notice, "I believe that I shall +keep it. It is the only souvenir I have, you know, of our first +meeting." + +And he smiled up at her--such a smile as Meiamoun must have bent upon +Cleopatra as he drained the poisoned cup. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +A Bearding of the Lion + +Susie Rushford was of that temperament which, so far from avoiding +difficulties, rather rushes to meet them, welcoming "each rebuff that +turns earth's smoothness rough," to quote again from her favourite poet. + +So, when they reached the end of the promenade, it was she who commanded +a change of partners and who took her place resolutely beside the +invalid chair. Perhaps Lord Vernon scented danger, or it may be that he +merely resented the change of companions: at any rate, as they started +back, he contented himself with a dignified silence. But Sue was not to +be so easily put off. + +"The Prince of Markeld has been telling me a few things about the +succession," she began, resolutely. "You will pardon me, Lord Vernon, +when I say I don't think you're treating him quite fairly." + +"I don't think so myself, Miss Rushford," returned the occupant of the +chair, curtly. + +"His branch of the house seems to be really, in every way, the more +deserving." + +"I haven't the least doubt of it." + +"And the one which the people of Schloshold-Markheim prefer." + +"That, too, is very probably the case. We threshed all that out +yesterday, didn't we?" + +"Not so thoroughly as I should like to do," said Susie. "I've been +thinking over the story you told me yesterday, and I believe I've +guessed who the man with the pistol is." + +"I thought very probably you would guess." + +"Did you? Then you won't mind telling me if I've guessed rightly. It's +the German Emperor, isn't it?" + +"It is." + +"Thank you. But I'm awfully obtuse, for I must confess that I haven't +as yet been able to perceive the pistol." + +"Haven't you? I thought you'd guess that, too. I had forgotten that +American women aren't interested in public events." + +"Now you're growing sarcastic!" cried Susie. "You see, I never before +knew how interesting they were," she added, in self-defence. "I'm trying +to turn over a new leaf--" + +"And you want my help?" + +"I always like to understand things. Even as a child I hated riddles. +And I think, too, that nations ought to be like individuals--only more +so--always ready, anxious even, to help their friends." + +"Even to the point of disregarding the pistol?" + +"You'll have to show me the pistol." + +"I'll try to, Miss Rushford," said Vernon, with the air of a man staking +his last louis, "since you seem to doubt that it exists. Let us look at +the matter for a moment from the outside, without question of our +personal likes or dislikes. England, just at this moment, has her hands +full in South Africa, and it isn't in the least unlikely that the German +Emperor would put a finger in that pie, if we gave him an excuse--a +great many of his advisers are trying to get him to interfere without +waiting for the excuse, but he's not quite willing to go that far. So +our business is not to give him any excuse--not even the very +slightest. Suppose we meddle in this affair of Schloshold-Markheim, +which is really his dependency--don't you see, he might easily, and +quite logically, claim that as a precedent for meddling in the affairs +of the Transvaal, which we claim as our dependency. Now I hope that you +perceive the pistol, and see, too, that it isn't in the least a toy +affair, but a very dangerous and effective weapon." + +"I do see," said Susie, quickly. + +"Besides," Vernon added, anxious to vindicate himself still further, +since, after all, Susie was Nell's sister, "Schloshold-Markheim is a +very insignificant corner of this earth; not so big, in fact, as many of +our English shires. Self-preservation is the first law of nations. Why +should England imperil herself? You see, the whole question reduces +itself to that old, heartless, but very sane doctrine of the greatest +good of the greatest number." + +"Why not say all that frankly to the Prince of Markeld?" suggested Sue. + +"Because, my dear young lady, before we can say anything, we have to +give him a chance to say his say. And he would very probably state +certain truths which it would be very embarrassing for us to hear, and +still more embarrassing to answer. All Europe would be listening. We're +between the devil and the deep sea." + +"Well, and what are you going to do about it?" asked Susie, plump out. + +"We're going to wait," said Lord Vernon, gloomily. + +"To wait?" + +"Yes--until the sea subsides a little or the devil gets tired and goes +away and gives us a chance to escape. We dare neither fight the devil +nor brave the ocean. Our hands are tied." + +Susie walked along a moment in silence, trying to distinguish the wrong +and the right of this very intricate question. + +"All that you have been telling me may be true," she said, at last; "I +haven't the least doubt that it is true; but yet it doesn't quite excuse +tricking the Prince of Markeld as you are doing." + +"I know it doesn't," admitted Vernon, instantly. "It doesn't excuse it +in the least. I don't like it any more than you do, Miss Rushford. But +the ways of diplomacy are devious past understanding; and then, again, +when one has entered upon a line of action, it is sometimes very hard +to change it or let go. It's like a hot iron or a charged wire--one +never realises one's mistake until it is too late. After all, a few days +will end it." + +"A few days! Then the Prince was right!" + +"Right?" + +"He told me that an undercurrent of some sort seemed to be setting in +against him. I warn you, Lord Vernon, that I have become his ally." + +"Even to the point of giving me away?" he inquired, half humourously, +looking at her in evident enjoyment. + +"Even to the point of giving you away, if you don't play fairly," she +answered, in deadly earnest. "At your suggestion, he consented to a +truce for a week--" + +"It was Collins who suggested it." + +"No matter; it is all the same; the proposal came from your side. One +can't honourably employ a truce in laying mines for one's enemy." + +Lord Vernon was looking straight ahead. There was now no trace of +amusement in his face. + +"You are quite right, Miss Rushford," he said. "I release you from any +engagement with either me or Collins to keep our secret. Let me tell +you, I've protested more than once, but I'm no longer a free agent in +regard to this thing, and I have to see it through. The very worst +moment of all was when Markeld came up to my rooms and apologised for +suspecting me. I tell you, I felt like a worm, and a particularly nasty +one, at that. It will be my turn to apologise before long; and I won't +feel quite easy in my conscience till I do." + +Susie had listened wide-eyed, and had stolen a glance, once or twice, at +his set face. There could be no doubting his utter sincerity, and it +softened her, as sincerity always softens a woman. + +"Of course," she said, more gently, "I shan't give you away unless I +see that the Prince is being treated unfairly. Let things drift for a +week, since he has consented to a truce--don't do anything against him." +The words were spoken almost pleadingly. + +"Oh, it isn't I who will do anything," retorted Lord Vernon, sharply. +"I'm not quite such a cur as that. Don't you understand, Miss +Rushford--the thing is out of my hands--is quite beyond my control. I'm +not the one responsible for the undercurrent, if there is one. If +anything happens, it won't be through any act of mine--it will be in +spite of me." + +"But I thought--" + +"You thought the foreign secretary was the whole thing? Well, he isn't! +There's a dozen other members of the cabinet, more or less, to mix in, +and, when all's said, the premier has to approve, and after that the +Queen. And all of us are more or less afraid of the press, to say +nothing of the House of Commons, where the opposition is always trying +to put us in an awkward corner. So our motives are usually pretty mixed, +and it's very rarely that we can do just as we'd like to do." + +"Then," said Susie, slowly, "I think that I must tell the Prince." + +"Do so, by all means," retorted her companion, a little impatiently. "I +give you full permission, if you care to take the responsibility. But, I +assure you, it's a heavy one." + +"Oh, not so awfully heavy!" said Susie, sceptically. "You have already +told me what a little place Schloshold-Markheim is." + +"It _is_ little; but so is the pivot that a great piece of machinery +swings on. Collins said yesterday that the peace of Europe may hang upon +this question. I laughed at him then, but it's not at all impossible +that he may be right. Of course, with a little thing like the peace of +Europe, every schoolgirl has the right to meddle! A million of human +beings, more or less--what do they amount to? Let us slaughter them, +maim them, outrage them, burn their houses, destroy their crops! Let us +put great armies in the field, and fight great battles and think only of +the glory! Don't look at the shapeless things beneath the hoofs of the +horses, nor think of the women waiting at home--waiting for the lists of +dead and missing! Let us release the spring that will set all this in +motion--it requires only a touch, the merest touch! And think, we should +be making history! Besides, our honour requires it! We must be jealous +of our honour--it is of so much more importance than the peace of +Europe!" + +And Vernon, having arrived at the hotel entrance, bade them good-bye and +was wheeled to the lift, leaving his companion rather breathless. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +"Be Bold, Be Bold" + +Lord Vernon, no doubt, would have spoken with less acerbity but for the +fact that his nerves were jangling badly. The lift was started promptly, +but it required all his self-control to remain seated in his chair +during the slow progress upward of the great machine of which Monsieur +Pelletan was so proud. Scarcely had the door of his apartment closed +behind him, when he threw aside the invalid wrappings with a perfect +fury, sprang from his chair, and hastened into the inner room. Collins +and Blake were seated at a table there, labouring with a telegram in +cipher. + +"What's the matter now?" demanded Collins, sharply, as he looked up and +saw Vernon's disordered face. + +For answer, Vernon took from his pocket a folded paper and tossed it on +the table. + +Collins picked it up, opened it, and read its contents. + +"Well?" he said, looking up with a sigh of relief. "If this is the note +you wrote those Rushford girls, I must say I think you've done a mighty +wise thing to get it back. It was a dangerous thing to have lying +around. Have you had a quarrel?" and he grinned a little maliciously. + +"Collins," said Vernon, coldly, "you have the poorest conception of good +taste of any man I know, and I know some awful bounders. But I won't +quarrel with you now, for you'll be grinning on the other side of that +ugly mouth of yours anyway in about a minute. Will you kindly examine +this piece of paper?" and he tore a leaf from his notebook. + +"Be Bold, Be Bold" + +Collins, biting his lips until they bled, took it and looked it over +with frowning and puzzled countenance. + +"Well?" he asked, at last. + +"The note I sent the Misses Rushford," said Vernon, quietly, "was +written on a leaf from the notebook, which I tore out just as I did that +one you have in your hand," and he sat down and stared out the window, +across the gray dunes and the gray sea to the gray horizon. + +Collins, with compressed lips, held the two pieces of paper up to the +light and compared their texture. Then he got out a small pocket +magnifying glass and examined through it the writing on the note. + +"It's a tracing," he said, at last, "and a mighty clever piece of work. +The paper, too, is very like." + +"But it's not the same," put in Vernon. + +"Oh, no, it's not the same." + +"Do you mean this is a forgery?" burst out Blake, hoarsely, snatching +up the note and staring at it. + +"Undoubtedly," answered Collins, coolly, but his face was very dark. +"The forger, clever as he was, could scarcely expect to be so fortunate +as to duplicate the paper. And then, of course, he couldn't foresee that +it would be turned over to you. But he did very well. Now let's have the +story." + +"Miss Rushford had the note in her desk," said Vernon, shortly. "She +missed it last night and went to tell her sister of the theft. When she +returned to her room and began a systematic search, she found it slipped +among some note-paper in the drawer where she had placed it. She +returned it to me this morning." + +"Without suspecting that it was a forgery?" + +"Certainly." + +"And you didn't tell her?" + +"No." + +Collins sat for a moment staring down at the note. + +"Which reminds me," he remarked, at last, "that Markeld spent the +evening with the Rushfords." + +"Well, what of it?" demanded Vernon, sharply, wheeling around. "What is +it you mean to insinuate?" + +"My dear sir," answered Collins, suavely, "I insinuate nothing. I was +merely remarking upon the coincidence. If I did not happen to know all +the circumstances, I might have been led to suggest that, as only one +Miss Rushford is devoted to you--" + +Vernon sprang to his feet with such wrath in his face that Collins +stopped abruptly. + +"It was well you stopped," said Vernon, savagely. "Another word, and by +heaven--" + +"Don't be a fool!" Collins broke in. "I'm not afraid of you nor your +threats. This forgery, of course, is the work of that French spy--" + +A servant tapped at the door and handed in a card. + +Collins took it, glanced at it, and looked up with a little smile of +satisfaction. + +"It's Tellier," he said. "I was expecting him; he was certain to come to +us. Leave him to me," and he went out, closing the door behind him. + +Monsieur Tellier was even more effulgent than usual. There was upon his +face a smile of supreme self-satisfaction. He had reason to believe that +he had achieved a good stroke, and he was resolved to make the most of +it. He had dreamed dreams and seen visions--one vision in particular +which included within the same circumference himself and a certain frail +fairy of the Robiniere who had always regarded him with disdain. Now all +that was to be changed! So he greeted Collins with a self-assurance and +aplomb quite removed from his ordinary manner. + +Collins confronted him with the card still between his fingers, and +returned his greeting with the utmost coldness. + +"You wished to see me?" he asked. + +"Pardon," corrected Tellier, "it is Lord Vernon I wish to see." + +"Lord Vernon is ill and sees no one." + +Tellier gave his mustachios a supercilious twirl. + +"You still maintain that farce?" he queried. "I assure you that for me +it has long since lost its novelty." + +Collins took a step toward the door. + +"Shall I show you out?" he asked. + +"No--not yet," and Tellier smiled provokingly. + +"You would really better let me show you out," said Collins, quietly. +"In another moment, I shall probably kick you out." + +Tellier's face turned a deep purple and his white teeth gleamed behind +his moustache. + +"Have a care!" he said, hoarsely. "That expression will cost you dear!" + +Collins smiled contemptuously. + +"Oh," he retorted; "so it's blackmail! I might have known from your +appearance. Well, my dear sir, you have mistaken your men. You have +nothing which we care to buy. You would better go." + +A purple vein stood out across Tellier's forehead, as he came a step +nearer. + +"Do not be too sure, monsieur," he said. "You play a bold game, but it +does not for an instant deceive me. Lord Vernon is no more ill than I. +It is useless to deny it--I have that here which proves it--written with +his own hand--yes, pardie, written in my presence!" and with trembling +fingers he took from his pocketbook a folded slip of paper. + +"Indeed?" said Collins, with mild curiosity. "This is truly wonderful," +and he held out his hand. + +But Tellier drew back a step, unfolded the note and held it open between +his fingers. + +"You may read it," he said, his eyes flashing with triumph. "But come no +nearer." + +Collins leisurely got out his monocle, polished it with his +handkerchief, adjusted it, and scanned the note. + +"Really," he said, "unless you can hold it a little steadier, I fear I +can't read it." + +Tellier steadied his hand by a mighty effort, and watched him, his eyes +shining. But the face of the Englishman did not change--not in a single +line, not by the merest shadow. + +"Very interesting, no doubt," said Collins, dropping his glass, "to +those who care for backstairs intrigue. Is it this note that you wish to +sell?" + +"Oh, not that," corrected Tellier, with a little offended gesture, his +self-assurance back in an instant. "You mistake me--I am not of that +sort at all. On the other hand, it is friendship for you which has +brought me here. I have no wish to injure you, monsieur, and you +yourself, of course, perceive fully what a disaster it would be should +this note be placed in certain hands." + +"To what adventure does the note refer?" queried Collins. + +"It refers to the adventure of Lord Vernon with the two Americans on the +afternoon of his arrival. He has, no doubt, mentioned it to you." + +"Lord Vernon has had no adventure since his arrival here," retorted +Collins, coldly. "But go ahead with your story." + +"As I was saying," continued Tellier, "I am a poor man. I have my future +to consider--I cannot afford to throw away this opportunity which chance +has placed in my hands. I will be reasonable, however--I will not ask +too much--a hundred thousand francs--" + +"Tellier," Collins interrupted, with a gesture of weariness, "I have not +the least idea what you mean. But I do know that you have been hoaxed, +that you are the victim of some deception, that somebody is making a +fool of you. A hundred thousand francs! And for that note! Why, man, you +are mad or very, very drunk! We don't want the note. We have no concern +in it!" + +"No concern in it!" shrieked Tellier. "When it is written by Lord +Vernon!" + +"Lord Vernon did not write it," retorted Collins, coolly. + +"I saw it--with my own eyes I saw it!" + +"Then your eyes deceived you. Evidently you are not acquainted with Lord +Vernon's writing, my friend. Shall I show you a sample? Wait." + +He went to a desk, got out a despatch-box, unlocked it, and ran rapidly +through its contents, while Tellier watched him with bloodshot eyes. + +"This will do," Collins said, at last. "A note to Monsieur Delcasse, +with which you are perhaps familiar, since it has recently been made +public. Look at it." + +Tellier almost snatched it--one glance was enough. There was absolutely +no resemblance between that tall, angular hand and the writing of the +note. He looked at the signature, at the seal--there could be no +doubting them. His lips were quivering, his fat cheeks hanging flaccid, +as he handed the paper back. + +"You are playing with me," he said, thickly. "What I have seen, I have +seen. What I know, I know. You cannot trick me. I will go to the Prince +of Markeld--to Prince Ferdinand himself--" + +"To whomever you please," interrupted Collins, "only go at once," and +he snatched open the door. + +Tellier hesitated an instant, glanced at the other's face, and went. + +And Collins, closing the door behind him, mopped the perspiration from +his forehead. + +"Well done, my friend," he said; "exceedingly well done!" + +And with that, he turned back to the inner room. + + * * * * * + +"Dad," began Susie Rushford, that evening, gently but firmly taking away +the paper over which her father was engaged, "I wish you would devote +that massive brain of yours to this Schloshold-Markheim muddle for a few +moments, and give me the benefit. It's quite beyond me, and I'm nearly +worried to death over it. I want your advice. Now, in the first place, +why should Lord Vernon play off sick? It seems such a little thing to +do." + +"'Tall oaks from little acorns grow,'" quoted her father. "This little +thing may have big consequences." + +"I didn't mean little that way," explained Susie. "I meant little in a +moral way." + +"Well, my dear," said her father, reflectively, "everything is fair in +love, war, and diplomacy. Your diplomat, when he is busy at his trade, +seems to lose sight of fine moral distinctions. Even the greatest of +them have sometimes stooped to acts decidedly small, and yet in private +life they were doubtless honourable men. It's a good deal like a +political campaign in the United States, where men who are usually +honest will lie about the other side, without any twinges of +conscience--there's even a loop-hole in the libel law for them to crawl +through, made, it would seem, especially for their benefit. So, I think, +we may pass up the moral objection." + +"But what does he hope to accomplish, dad?" persisted Susie. "What +_can_ he accomplish by merely sitting still?" + +"A great many things may be accomplished by sitting still," said her +father, puffing his cigar reflectively. "It is one of those simple +things which are sometimes very difficult to do. I've found that out, +more than once, in the course of my checkered career." + +"Now that we are through with precept, let us pass on to example, you +dear old philosophical thing!" laughed Susie. "What should you say Lord +Vernon hoped to accomplish in this instance?" + +"It seems very plain," said Rushford, "though, of course, I may be +mistaken. But I fancy he believes that while he is playing 'possum here, +Emperor William, who is not especially renowned for patience, will +settle the question of the succession without asking any one's +advice--as, I must say, he seems to have a perfect right to do. In that +case, it would, of course, be too late for England to interfere; she +could only express her regrets to Prince Ferdinand, and send her +congratulations to Prince George. So if Markeld doesn't get a chance to +say his little speech within the next two or three days, I don't believe +he'll ever get a chance." + +Susie nodded thoughtfully. + +"The Prince ought to be able to reason that out for himself, oughtn't +he?" + +"I should think so, if he can see farther than his own nose. Were you +thinking of going to his assistance? Take my advice, my dear, and +refrain. You and Nell are altogether too deep in it, as it is." + +Again Susie nodded. + +"Thank you, dear," she said, and taking him by either ear, she kissed +him between the eyes. "Now, I think I'll go to bed. I've a mighty +knotty problem on hand and I've got to work it out right away." + +"Can I help any more?" + +"No," and she shook her head decidedly. "This is one of those odious +problems which a person has to work out alone. It reminds me of our +school examinations, where we were on honour not to ask any help. Only," +she added, with a sigh, "this is far more serious. Good-night." + +"Good-night," said her father, and watched her until the door closed +behind her. Then he turned again to his paper. + +Susie, alone in her own room, sat with her head in her hands, staring +out across the moonlit beach. Away in the distance, she could see the +little breakers washing white upon the sand; to the left stretched the +long, brilliant promenade of the Digue, ending in the glare of light +which marked the Casino. + +"The peace of Europe!" she murmured. + +"The peace of Europe! I wonder if he was merely trying to frighten me?" + +And she shivered a little at the remembrance of Lord Vernon's words, as +she arose to go to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +A Prince and His Ideals + +By what process of telepathy the Dowager Duchess of Markheim, dwelling +in one corner of that gloomy old fortress which had sheltered so many +generations of the family, learned of the danger threatening her nephew +it would be impossible to say. She had been skilled for many years in +telling which way the wind was blowing; nay, more, in foreseeing from +which quarter it would presently blow; so perhaps the two or three +casual references to the American girls which she had gleaned from the +letters which the Prince dutifully wrote her had been enough to awaken +her suspicions. Or, it may be, that some one of the many persons at +Weet-sur-Mer who had observed with interest the Prince's comings and +goings, deemed it a duty to society to send the duchess a discreet word +of warning. + +Any one who knew the duchess knew also that a single word would be +all-sufficient. Her reputation for worldly astuteness surpassed that of +any other old woman in Europe, though it was, perhaps, not altogether +deserved. Forty years before, she had been a healthy and happy girl, +whose experience of the world had been confined to the family estate +near Gemuenden. And the estate was a small one, for the family, though of +blood the bluest, was very poor. + +One tragedy had marked her early girlhood. She was curled up, one +evening, in the window-seat at the stairhead watching the moon rise over +the great trees of the park, when she heard loud voices in the hall +below, and peeping down, saw her father strike another man heavily +across the mouth. A sudden silence fell, and she stole away frightened +to her bed, where she sobbed herself to sleep. In the gray of the +morning, her mother had awakened her, had carried her to a window, and +knelt with her there, staring out toward the park and calling upon God +to have mercy. Through the streaming mist, there came presently toward +them two dim figures, carrying a third--what need to go on? After that, +the house became a cloister. + +It chanced, one day when she was nearly twenty, that the eye of her +cousin of Markheim fell upon her. He had never married; he had been too +busy with his pleasures. But he had arrived at an age when it was +necessary to think of an heir; at an age, too, when the uneasy +consciousness began to grow within him that if he desired an heir, there +was no time to be lost. So he looked at his blooming cousin, noting the +evidences of vigorous health which glowed in eye and lip and cheek. He +knew that the girl would have no dot, but he had reached a place where +he was perfectly aware that if he wanted youth and beauty, he must take +them unadorned. So he made up his mind at once, and in due time the +marriage was arranged. + +In pity, we will not dwell upon it. Those who saw the bride's face as +she entered the carriage with her husband will never forget its +expression of horror, disgust, and abject fear. A year later, the +desired heir arrived, a microcephalous idiot, to whom a merciful +providence allowed but eighteen months of life; and in due time, the +August Prince himself was gathered to his fathers. + +During her period of martyrdom, the duchess had pressed her cross to her +bosom with the religious enthusiasm of a devotee hugging his barbed +instrument of torture. The consciousness that she was suffering for her +family's sake as became a daughter of the Caesars was the only thing +which enabled her to endure her shame and degradation. She donned her +widow's weeds with such depth of thankfulness as few mortals know, and +settled herself to the enjoyment of her position. + +She found it on the whole a good position, unassailable, with many +desirable perquisites. She decided, no doubt, that life owed her such +tremendous arrears of happiness that she could never hope to collect +them except by devoting her whole time to it; and devote her whole time +to it she did, in good earnest. The years, in their passage, erased +certain lines from her face and restored the curves to her +figure--indeed, it came to be much more than a restoration!--but they +could not restore the colour to her hair nor the lightness to her heart. +She looked at mankind from a cynical altitude of worldly wisdom; her wit +grew keen and swift as d'Artagnan's rapier; her bon-mots had a way of +passing into proverbs, or of being stolen by more distinguished +contemporaries. She took her revenge upon society as completely as she +could, yet without bitterness. Indeed, it is probable that, could she +have ordered her life anew, she would not have ordered it differently. + +Such, then, was the Dowager Duchess of Markheim, as she sat gazing +thoughtfully from her window, pondering the situation. She was fully +alive to the fact that American girls are always a menace to the peace +of noble families; besides, she was not at all satisfied with the +progress--or, rather, lack of progress--which the Prince had made in the +delicate negotiation entrusted to his hands. In a word, she decided +that, from every point of view, it were wise for her to be herself upon +the scene--and so much nearer her beloved Ostend! Therefore, being of +that superior order of woman who never has to make up her mind but once, +she forthwith gave orders for the departure. + +It consequently happened, on the morning following the events narrated +in the previous chapter, that there was another distinguished arrival at +the Grand Hotel Royal, to the delight and despair of Monsieur Pelletan. + +"I shall need an apartment of at least five rooms, not higher than the +second floor," announced the duchess. + +"If Madame la Duchesse had only notified us of t'is honour!" protested +Pelletan, with upraised hands. "I swear t'at I haff not'ing-- +not'ing--not one single apartment wort'y off madame--not efen one leetle +room up under t'e gutters." + +"Nonsense!" she interrupted, vigorously. "I have heard all that a +hundred times at least. Which apartment has my nephew?" + +"Madame's nephew?" + +"Certainly, imbecile! Monsieur le Prince de Markeld." + +"Oh," cried Pelletan. "Monsieur le Prince hass apartment B de luxe." + +"And so has twice as much room as he needs, of course. Well, take my +luggage up there, wherever it is. At my age, one is beyond the reach of +scandal, even at a Dutch bathing-resort. Where is Monsieur le Prince?" + +"Monsieur le Prince iss taking t'e promenade," explained Pelletan. + +"Very well; I have my toilette to make. When he returns, send him up to +me at once. Here, boy, apartment B," and followed by her maid, she +started up the stair, leaving Monsieur Pelletan staring, open-mouthed. + +"But t'ere iss a lift, madame!" he cried, regaining his breath. + +"A lift!" retorted the duchess. "At my age! What is the man thinking of! +En avant, boy!" and she went on up the stair. + + * * * * * + +The watches of the night had not brought that final solution of the +problem which Susie Rushford had hoped for, and she did not know whether +to be glad or sorry when she found the Prince at the stairfoot awaiting +her. There could be no doubt that he was wholly, undividedly glad--one +glance at his face told her that--and he greeted her in a way that sent +a little thrill to her heart. After all, she told herself, perhaps she +would better let things drift; one more day could make no difference. +And there was no reason why she should take the affair more seriously +than did the principal person concerned in it. + +Outside the door, as usual, was the invalid chair; and while Lord Vernon +did not forget to say good-morning, it was not upon her his eyes rested. +Nell, at least, was perplexed by no problems, and was unaffectedly gay. +Susie almost envied her; and yet problems were interesting, too. + +And then there was Collins. As she acknowledged his bow, she was struck +anew with the concentrated secretiveness of his appearance. There was a +new look in his eyes this morning, a look as though he were watching +her, and it made her vaguely uneasy. But the feeling passed as they +turned eastward along the promenade, and she soon forgot all about him, +for--quite exceptionally--her companion was talking of himself. + +"I do not want that you should exaggerate the importance of this little +dispute," he was saying. "Seen thus close at hand, it looms rather +large; but it really matters very little to the great world. Even I can +get far enough away from it to see that." + +"And yet," rejoined Susie, "I have heard it said that it might possibly +endanger the peace of Europe." + +The Prince smiled at the words as at an old acquaintance. + +"The peace of Europe," he said, "is a kind of bugaboo which diplomats +use to frighten each other with, and even to frighten themselves with. I +do not believe that the peace of Europe hangs on any such delicate +balance as they pretend. Though, of course," he added, more gravely, +"there are certain circumstances under which this question of the +succession might become very unpleasant to the Powers." + +"Ah!" breathed Susie, who had been listening eagerly. "You admit that, +then?" + +"Admit it? Certainly--why not? But, intrinsically, it amounts to little. +So it is with us Markelds--our lineage is as long as that of any house +in Europe, and we hold our heads very high, but we are really of not +much importance. We keep up a certain state, we live in a castle, if you +will; but we really do nothing worth while, principally, I suppose, +because we are so poor." + +"So poor?" echoed Susie, open-eyed. + +"You are thinking of the apartment de luxe," said the Prince, with a +smile; "of the special train. But, do you not see, those are the very +things which make me poor. I have no use for seven rooms; in the special +train, I can occupy but a single seat. All the rest is waste, which does +me no good--rather the reverse, indeed, since it serves to impress +people with an exaggerated idea of my importance and so pave the way for +fresh extravagances. I did not mean that I am poor absolutely; I do not +suppose that I shall ever want for food and clothing and a place to +sleep. It is only as a Prince that I am poor--that we Markelds are all +poor." + +"But one would think there were many things worth while which a man in +your position could do," said Susie, earnestly, "even if you aren't +rich." + +"Oh," he explained, looking down at her with a laugh in his eyes, "I +would not have you think that I am always wholly idle. I am colonel of +a dragoon regiment, and I inspect it, sometimes, or ride in front of it +at a general review. I hunt. I attend various functions of the court. I +even sometimes act as the representative of my house, as I am doing +now." + +"None of which," said Susie, "except perhaps the last, is in the least +worth while." + +"I agree with you, unreservedly," he assented; "but it is about what +most men in my position do." + +"So I have heard," said Sue, "but I never really believed it. I thought +it an invention of the society reporters." + +"It is true, nevertheless. You see there is no incentive, for most of +us, to do anything else. Of course, we cannot work, nor engage in +trade." + +"I don't admit the 'of course.' But leaving that aside for the moment, +aren't there any exceptions?" + +"Yes--a few at whom the rest of us look rather askance. You see, there +is the tradition to be maintained." + +"The tradition?" + +"Of royalty--of divine right. We must do nothing to spoil the tradition, +or weaken it, or our people may find out that we are not really +necessary, after all, just as the Americans have done." + +Susie glanced at him to see if he was in earnest; but he appeared to be +entirely so. + +"Do the exceptions mind being looked askance at?" she questioned. + +"No, I do not think they mind in the least. Most of them are too busy to +pay any heed to what other people are thinking about them. Besides, the +cause of the exception is usually a woman, who takes up most of the +exception's leisure time." + +"I'm afraid I don't quite understand." + +"Let me explain. You see, when one of us marries a woman of his own +class--'Prinzessen, Comtessen, Serene English Altessen,' as Svengali +called them--he usually gets a partner more--ah--hidebound, I think you +call it--than himself--a greater stickler for precedent and tradition +and position and etiquette and elegant leisure, and all that sort of +thing. Whatever liberal ideas he may have had, he finds he must abandon +or, at least, suppress, if there is to be peace between his wife and +him. It is only those who are so fortunate as to meet and win exactly +the right woman _out_ of their class who get the incentive. You +understand, now?" + +"Yes," said Susie, with a queer catch in her voice. "Yes, I think I do." + +"So," he added, with a little bitter laugh, "you see why we others look +askance at these exceptions. In the first place they have preferred to +step down out of their rank for a wife--that deals a blow at the +tradition, and every blow weakens it; in the second place, they have +left some noble lady husbandless, for your noble ladies seldom so far +forget their rank as to marry out of it, though that may be because the +men never permit them to--again an injury to us as a class; and, +finally, they are mixing with the world, they are meeting other men face +to face, as equals, they are claiming no merit because of birth, no +authority because of rank; they are, perhaps, even working with their +hands. Whereas our business is to keep aloof from the world, to maintain +a barrier of caste between ourselves and other men, for they must not +suspect that we are as imperfect as they--that we have the same +appetites and passions, the same defects and meannesses. Our business is +to rule over them, to require their obedience because God so wills it. +We tremble when we see the apostates cast aside their rank and descend +into the world's arena, for we fear that the people, finding them at +close view only human, may come at last to believe that the right by +which we rule is not, after all, divine. Then they will tear down the +barrier of caste, strip us of the privileges of rank, and proclaim the +absurdity that all men are equal. And I might add, we are jealous of the +exceptions, because they are happy. Marriages of state are seldom love +matches; the kind which furnish the incentives are always so." + +To all of which Susie had listened with bated breath, only glancing up +once or twice to study her companion's face. It was a lifting of the +curtain, a revelation of the heart, which left her deeply moved. + +"You don't seem to care for the tradition," she said, at last. + +"Oh, yes, I do; it would be untrue to pretend otherwise. Only, it has +occurred to me quite recently that merely to inherit a position is not +quite enough. A man should try to deserve it" + +"And you're going to try?" asked Susie, looking at him with something +very like adoration in her eyes. + +"I am going to try--yes," he answered. "But I shall need help--I am +afraid I should not make a success of it by myself." + +And then he fell silent, for they had reached the end of the promenade, +where the others joined them. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +The Duchess to the Rescue + +It may be that Lord Vernon had been so fortunate as to find a topic of +conversation equally absorbing; at any rate, Nell entered the hotel with +her sister rather subdued and tremulous, and they mounted to their rooms +in silence. A week before, they would probably have thrown themselves +into each other's arms and kissed each other and cuddled each other and +cried over each other, without precisely knowing why, or, at least, +without troubling to put the reason into words. But the events of the +past few days had, imperceptibly, wrought a change in their relations. +An impalpable veil had come between them, a subtle dissonance in point +of view. They were pledged, as it were, to rival interests. + +A woman who has no other confidante will, invariably, seek counsel and +sympathy of her own reflected self; and if so it was in this case, for +each of our two heroines went straight to her room, and locked the door, +and sat down before her glass, and, chin in hands, communed long and +earnestly with the image pictured there, gazing deep into its eyes, and +thinking unutterable thoughts, which completely defy transcription. + +At the same moment, to Archibald Rushford, sitting immersed in his +morning newspaper, wholly unsuspicious of all this, the Prince of +Markeld's card was handed. It may be noted in passing that, with the +influx of patrons to the house, the American had found it necessary to +retire to the privacy of his own apartment in order to enjoy the paper +undisturbed. + +"All rights show him up," he said, when he had glanced at the card; and +almost immediately the Prince himself appeared. + +Rushford started up with hand outstretched. + +"Glad to see you, Prince," he said. "I was just figuring on looking you +up and wondering how I'd better go about it--I didn't quite know what +the etiquette of the thing was." + +The Prince laughed. + +"The etiquette is simple." he answered. "You have only to come to my +door and knock." + +"Refreshingly democratic!" and Rushford's eyes danced. "That would +appeal to my countrymen. But my ignorance was natural enough. You see, +we never have the chance, at home, to hobnob with Highnesses. That's the +reason so many of us come abroad. But we're not the real thing--the +genuine, simon-pure American stays at home and looks after his +business." + +"And no doubt gets along very well without Highnesses," laughed Markeld, +gripping the proffered fingers with a warmth which pleased their owner. +The latter found himself admiring, too, the erect figure, the clean +face, the clear eyes; he told himself with pleasure that the Prince +looked as well by daylight as by gaslight--a tribute to his youth and +the way he had employed it. + +"Sit down, won't you?" he asked cordially. + +"Yes, the people of the States manage to worry along some way without +any nobility. In fact, they've rather got a prejudice against that sort +of thing. You see, the only Highnesses they've had to judge by are the +fortune-hunters who come over after our girls. Now I've always believed +that it isn't any fairer to judge European nobility by those specimens +than it is to judge us Americans by the expatriated idiots one finds +here in Europe--it's like judging a bin of apples by the rotten ones." + +"You are doubtless right," agreed the Prince, who had followed these +remarks with an anxiety almost painful. "And I am glad to hear you +speak in that way. I infer that you do not object to international +marriages." + +"Not at all, per se. Other things being equal, I see no reason why a +Highness shouldn't make as good a husband as a plain American. There's +only one reason for marriage, sir--mutual affection. Where that exists, +nothing else matters. Where it doesn't exist--well, marriage becomes +simply a convenient arrangement for perpetuating a family, or restoring +its estates, or accomplishing some less laudable purpose. But +there--shut me off--don't let me preach at you!" + +"No, no," protested the Prince. "All that you say interests me +deeply--more deeply than you suspect. In fact, I hope to marry an +American girl myself." + +"Ah," said Mr. Rushford, swallowing with sudden difficulty. "Oh! You +mean--" + +"I mean that I wish to propose to you for the hand of your daughter," +explained the Prince, quite simply. + +Rushford was not a man easily astonished, but there was no denying his +amazement at this moment. Despite his playful words to Susie, he had +never really suspected the direction in which events were trending; +besides, the lightning-flash, even though expected, is always a shock. + +But the Prince bore his gaze imperturbably. + +"I do not wonder that you are surprised," he said. "You have known me so +short a time. But we Markelds always know our own minds. I have thought +the matter over very carefully and I am sure that I am acting wisely. +Whether you would act wisely in giving her to me is another question, +for though I am a Prince, I am a very small one, though with income +sufficient, I trust, to maintain a wife at least comfortably. I shall be +glad to send my solicitors to talk it over with you, and explain +anything about me which you may care to know--" + +Mr. Rushford's face had gradually relaxed during this harangue, until it +was positively smiling. + +"My dear sir," he interrupted, "if there's anything about you I want to +know, I'll ask _you_. But that is hardly necessary as yet; for you're +taking hold of the matter by the wrong end. We of America don't give our +daughters away, they choose their own husbands--subject, of course, to +their parents' approval. Now, my daughter--by the way, you haven't +specified which one you're after." + +"It is Miss Sue that I want," said the Prince. + +"Ah--Susie. Well, she's perfectly capable of choosing for herself, and +will probably insist upon doing so. Have you spoken to her on the +subject?" + +"Oh, most certainly not!" stammered the Prince. + +"Well, suppose you take it up with her," suggested Mr. Rushford, +encouragingly. "If she wants you, it'll be all right with me. I may even +say that I'll be very glad to see you get her--I like you better than I +ever imagined I should like a nobleman." + +The Prince was on his feet in an instant with outstretched hands. + +"Thank you, my dear sir!" he cried. "A thousand thanks! I have, then, +your permission to speak to Miss Rushford?" + +"My permission--yes. And my best wishes. And, Prince," he added, as the +latter turned away, "don't worry about the matter of income. Susie will +be able to help you out a little." + +Whether the Prince heard or not I do not know, for, as he hurried from +the room, he collided with Monsieur Pelletan, who clutched his coat as +he would have hastened past. + +"Oh, Monsieur le Prince!" gasped the little man. "I haf eferywhere been +searching for you. Madame la Duchesse de Markheim arrived some hours +ago and awaits you wit' t'e greates' impatience." + +"Where is she?" + +"She iss in monsieur's apartment. She insiste' t'at I--" + +"Very well; I will go to her," said the Prince, and bounded down the +stair. A moment later, he was kissing his aunt's extended hand, white +and soft as in the days of her maidenhood, though with an added +plumpness. "My dear aunt!" he cried. "I but this moment heard that you +were here." + +"You see I have made myself comfortable, my dear Fritz," smiled the old +lady, her impatience forgotten the moment her eyes rested upon his +handsome face. "And I have not been lonesome--Monsieur Tellier has been +relating to me a number of very interesting things." + +"Tellier!" The Prince started round as the detective arose, smirked, +and bowed in his humblest manner. "I can't say that I congratulate you +on your choice of a companion, madame!" + +"Don't put on your grand manner with me, Fritz," she protested, still +laughing. "I am very glad that Monsieur Tellier sought me out. But what +is the matter with that creature of yours hovering in the background?" + +The Prince turned and beheld Glueck, evidently expecting orders to +accomplish an assault upon the detective's person. + +"Oh," he explained, "I told Glueck he might throw Tellier out the next +time he tried to get in here. I'm afraid you'll have to wait a few +minutes, my friend," he added, and Glueck retired, visibly disappointed. + +"Let me tell you," said the duchess, emphatically, as the door closed +behind him, "that your prejudice against Monsieur Tellier is wholly +unwarranted and very foolish. He has discovered many things which you +seem to have overlooked." + +"Perhaps," admitted the Prince; "but he has discovered them in a way +that no gentleman could countenance. Which reminds me," he added, +suddenly turning a fiery countenance upon the unhappy Frenchman, "that I +have an account of my own to settle with him. How dared you annoy--" + +But the duchess held up her hand. + +"One moment, Fritz," she interrupted, sternly. "Don't begin throwing +stones until you are quite sure you are not yourself in a glass house. +As I have said, Monsieur Tellier had many things of interest to relate." + +"Well, my dear aunt," retorted the Prince, "now that he has related +them, I trust we may dispense with his company. I will settle my account +with him another time." + +"First," said the duchess, with cold irony, "tell me what progress you +have made with your embassy, Fritz!" + +"Very little, I am sorry to say, madame. But in three days, Lord Vernon +has promised to consider the matter." + +"Three days! And do you imagine all the rest of the world will stand +still at your command, Fritz, and wait for you? Are you another Joshua?" + +The Prince flushed. There was no denying the justice of the taunt. + +"But that aside for the moment," continued the duchess. "Tell me +something of this American girl you have met here, and with whom you +have grown so fond of making the promenade." + +"I hope soon to have the pleasure of presenting her to you, madame," +said the Prince, flushing still more. "I believe you will find her +admirable." + +"Perhaps," said the duchess, sceptically. "Is it really necessary that +I should meet her?" + +"That, of course, will be as madame pleases. I thought you would +naturally wish to meet the woman whom it is my intention to marry." + +The duchess fairly jumped in her chair. + +"To marry!" she cried. "To marry! What nonsense!" + +"You will see," continued the Prince, calmly, "how unwise it was to +begin the conversation in the presence of this--gentleman." + +"No!" cried the duchess. "It was more than ever wise! Do you happen to +know who this woman is?" + +"I refuse to discuss my affairs further," said the Prince, "until we are +alone." + +"But do you know who she is? She has no dot! Perhaps you will say that +is nothing, that you expected none, though it seems to me it is your +duty to repair the fortunes of our house. But it is even worse than +that--she is the daughter of an inn-keeper." + +"I refuse to believe it," answered the Prince, quietly. + +"Monsieur Tellier, relate to him--" + +"If Tellier so much as moves a finger, I will kick him down the stairs," +added the Prince, still more calmly. + +"But he has the papers from the notary!" + +"That is nothing to me." + +The duchess made a gesture of despair. + +"Yet, after all," she cried, "that is a little thing beside this other. +Look at this," and she snatched a folded paper from the table at her +elbow. "She is a traitor to you--she has been playing with you--she has +been assisting these Englishmen to deceive you! You who are such a +stickler for honour in women no less than men! Look at this!" + +"What is this paper?" asked the Prince, making no motion to take it from +her eager hand. + +"It is a note which this impostor wrote to her and to her sister." + +"And obtained how?" he questioned, a little pale, but keeping himself +well in hand. + +"Obtained by Monsieur Tellier," replied the duchess. "It does not matter +how." + +"No," said the Prince, "perhaps not; yet one can easily guess. By +bribing the chambermaid, perhaps; by forcing a lock; by rifling her +desk, examining her private papers. Oh, it is abominable!" and he turned +upon the Frenchman, fury in his eyes. + +"No, no, Monsieur le Prince!" protested Tellier. "It was none of +these--I swear it! She left the note lying quite carelessly--" + +But the Prince was upon him. With one hand at the back of his neck, he +steered him, sputtering, to the door. + +"Glueck!" he cried, and pitched the Frenchman into the arms of the +faithful servant. The duchess, sitting within the room, caught the +sound of a scuffle, of fierce swearing; then a succession of dull bumps +sounded through the apartment. The Prince closed the door and turned +back to her. + +"But, my dear Fritz!" she protested. "It may be true that Tellier is +abominable, yet sometimes one must use such instruments--surely, at +this moment, we are justified in using any instrument. I have paid him, +thank heaven! You must listen to reason. You have been fooled--we have +all been fooled--they have been playing with us--laughing at us behind +our backs for our simplicity--the girl as well as the others." + +"No!" he said, fiercely. "No!" + +"Fritz," she cried, her voice trembling, a mist before her eyes as she +looked at him, "you believe that I love you, do you not--oh, better than +anything else in the world. You believe that I desire your happiness! +But it must be happiness with honour, Fritz, as becomes a Markeld. You +have your name to consider, your house. You know that I would +rather--oh, a hundred times!--wound myself than wound you! You must +listen, then, when I tell you that this girl is not worthy of you; when +I tell you that this note proves it!" + +"Read it!" he commanded, in a hoarse voice. "Read it, then!" + +"'Lord Vernon will be deeply grateful,'" she read, "'if he is not +mentioned in connection with to-day's adventure.' To-day's +adventure--when he kicked Jax away from her. Can you doubt? Can you be +so stupid as to doubt? These Americans--they have no sense of honour!" + +He turned to the window without answering, but his face was drawn and +white. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +Man's perfidy + +To Archibald Rushford, sitting ruminant in his room, staring absently +out at the dunes and the sea, his paper forgotten, there entered +presently Susie--a rather subdued Susie, as he noted from the corner of +his eye--who drew up a chair very close to his and sat down and propped +her chin in her hands and looked up at him. + +It came to him in a flash of revelation that, did she have a mother, it +was to her she would have gone at this moment, and not to him, and his +eyes were a little misty as he looked down at her. That she and her +sister should have grown, motherless, to such sweet, triumphant +womanhood struck him in this instant as a kind of miracle--he had never +thought of it before. He had taken their beauty, their wit, their +sanity, as matters of course; he had never looked at them, clearly, from +the outside; he had never quite thoroughly appreciated them. They had +come this far, guideless, in the journey of life, and had done well and +bravely; but now Susie, at least, had reached a point in the path where +she needed help and counsel. She had come to him for it and he must give +her the best he had. + +"Dad," she began, a little tremulously, "would you mind so _very_ much +if I should m-marry and live in Europe? Of course," she added, hastily, +to break the force of the blow, "you would come over very often and stay +with us, and we would go over very often to see you." + +"So he _has_ spoken to you, has he?" laughed her father. "He told me he +hadn't." + +"Spoken! You know about it? Oh, dad, what do you mean?" + +"I mean that a certain William Frederick Albert, of Markeld--I believe +that's his name--or most of it--was in here a while ago and had the +impudence to ask me to give you to him." + +"Oh!" gasped Susie, with flaming cheeks, and sank back in her chair and +I dare say cried a little; but her father didn't see her, for his own +eyes were full of tears. The moment passed, the tears were wiped +away--"Tell me about it, dad," she said. + +"Tell you about it? I have told you!" + +"About what he said. How did he look?" + +"I dare say he looked about as he always does--a little pale around the +gills, perhaps, as one usually does when one's performing an unpleasant +duty!" + +"Dad!" + +"You don't mean to say you think he enjoyed it?" + +"They--they always have to do it in Europe," faltered Sue. + +"So I understand. But he said he hadn't told you." + +"He hasn't--he hasn't said a word." + +"Oh--_you_ just sort of scented it in the air, I suppose--sort of saw it +coming." + +"Every woman can tell when a man is in l-love with her," explained +Susie, with dignity, but boggling a little at the crucial word. "What +did you tell him, dad?" + +"I told him to take you and welcome." + +"Now, dad, you mustn't tease!" + +"Well, then, I told him he'd better see you first, since you're the +party principally concerned." + +"But you like him?" + +"Immensely!" + +Susie's arms were about his neck, and her cheek was against his cheek, +and a pearly tear plashed down upon his shirt-front. + +"Oh, you dear dad!" she cried. "I knew you'd like him!" + +"He seems a pretty straight sort of fellow," observed her father, "he +looks clean, and he talks like a man." + +"And you won't mind so very much?" + +"Not if it makes you happy, my dear. All girls have to marry sometime, I +suppose. You'll be rather farther away from me than I could wish, but I +dare say the Prince will let me come over and stay in his castle +occasionally, and eat at the second table--" + +"_Let_ you! Why, he'll _beg_ you to. Why couldn't you come over and live +with us, dad?" + +"And die of ennui in a year? Not much. I'll go home and make some more +money for you--you see, I'd never figured on having to finance a +Princess!" + +"Dad," very softly. + +"Well, what?" + +"Do you know, I don't believe he suspects I'm to have any money." + +"Neither do I. That's one thing I like about him." + +"But you really might come and live with us, dad." + +"Oh, no, I mightn't. Besides, there's Nell--What!" he cried, +interpreting the sudden pressure of her arms, "you don't mean that she's +gone and done it, too!" + +"I don't know, dad, but Lord Vernon has been very attentive to her. She +hasn't told me anything; I'm only guessing." + +Her father gave a long, low whistle. + +"Well!" he said. "You've been hustling things up with a vengeance, I +must say! There must be something in the atmosphere. It'll be a little +lonely in that big New York house without you, Susie." + +"I know it will, dear dad. And if you say the word, I won't leave +you--not for a long, long time. It will be a long time anyway, you +know--a year, at least--there will be so much to do." + +"And a year is quite long enough to keep two lovers apart. Youth goes +faster than you think, my dear. No, no; it'll be all right, Susie. You +don't suppose I'm as selfish as all that!" + +"No, dad; that's just what I'm afraid of; you're not selfish enough. +It's I who am selfish." + +"Nonsense! Everybody in this world has a right to happiness, Susie; why, +that's one of the foundation-stones of the Declaration of Independence. +And, I take it, a woman's great chance of happiness is in marrying the +man she loves. That's what every woman has a right to do, and nobody has +the right to raise a finger to prevent her. I'll give you to Markeld +with a clear conscience, my dear, when the time comes, and bless you +both. That is, if you really love him." + +"Oh, dad!" she cried and hid her face; there is one light in the eyes +which none but a lover may see! + +"Quite sure?" he persisted. + +"Quite sure!" she said, softly. + +"You're sure you're not jumping in the dark; it isn't the Prince you're +in love with?" + +"No, dad; it's the man. That seems an awfully bold thing for a girl to +say, doesn't it? But he--he's such a nice fellow!" + +"Yes, I believe he is," agreed her father. + +"He's been telling me about himself, you know; about what he wants to do +in the world," added Susie, looking up at him. + +"Has he?" and her father laughed. "The same old game--effective as ever! +We all do it--why, I remember, Susie--" + +He stopped suddenly, with a little tremor in his voice. + +"Yes, dad," very softly. + +She was leaning forward on his knee, looking up at him. He put his arm +around her and drew her close. + +"You're like your mother, Susie," was all he dared trust himself to say, +his arms tight around her. + +They sat so a moment, lost in memory, until a knock at the door brought +Susie to her feet. A page handed in a little package. + +"For Mademoiselle Rushford," he said. + +"Thank you," said Susie, and closed the door. "For me?" she repeated, as +she turned back into the room. "What do you suppose it is?" + +"The quickest way to find out is to open it, my dear," suggested her +father, drily. + +Susie ripped the paper off in an instant, and disclosed a little book +bound in flexible red leather. + +"'Who's Who,'" she read, looking at the title, and just then a card fell +out. She stooped and picked it up. "Why, it's from that odious French +detective! Listen, dad--'With the compliments of M. Andre Tellier, who +is sure of Mademoiselle Rushford's gratitude.'" + +"Send it back to him," said her father. "Or here, give it to me--I'll go +down and smash his face with it. I ought to have kicked him out of the +house yesterday--I'd have done it but for Pelletan." + +"Wait a minute, dad; here's a page turned down. Maybe there's something +he wanted me to see. Oh, yes; it's about Lord Vernon--he meant the book +for Nell--I'll call her," and she started toward the open door into the +inner room. + +"Wait," said her father, instantly. "What about Vernon? Read it." + +She stopped, struck by the tone of his voice. + +"What do you mean, dad?" she asked, paling a little. "Surely, you don't +mean--" + +"Read it," he repeated, sternly. + +She opened the book with hands suddenly tremulous. + +"'Vernon, fifth earl of (created 1703),'" she read, in a low voice. +"'George Henry Augustus Gardner, K. G., K. T., P. C., F. R. S., F. S. +A.; baronet 1628; Viscount Vernon, Baron Dalberry, 1710; Viscount +Cranford, 1712; Baron Vernon, 1829; trustee of Imperial Institute; born +tenth of May, 1859; son of Lord Henry Augustus Gardner, M. P., son of +fourth Earl and Mary, daughter of Richard Chaloner, Boston, U. S. A.; +married, Catherine--'" + +"Married!" cried her father, and then restrained himself, though his +face turned crimson. "But go on--perhaps she's dead." + +"No, she isn't dead!" said Sue, reading a line or two farther. Then she +closed the book. "I don't understand," she said, dazedly. "I can't +understand. He didn't seem that kind of man at all, dad!" + +"No," said a hoarse voice from the door. "No, he didn't." + +"Nell! Nellie dear!" cried Sue, and in an instant her arms were about +her. + +"It--it doesn't matter," said Nell, steadying herself against the door, +striving to still a sudden convulsive shuddering. "I was a f-fool to +think he--he cared. Of course he--he was only amusing himself!" and then +her self-control suddenly gave way, and her head fell forward upon her +sister's shoulder. But only for a moment; that high queenliness was not +on the surface, merely, but in the heart, as well. "I think I'm getting +tired of Weet-sur-Mer, dad," she said, quite steadily, with a wan little +smile. "I seem to be hungering for New York again; wouldn't you like to +go home?" + +"We'll go, of course, at once, dad," commanded Sue. "That's the only +thing to do. Oh!" she cried, her eyes flashing, "I could murder such a +man--cut him to pieces, inch by inch--and gloat over the deed!" + +Rushford was very pale and his hands were trembling a little as he +started for the door. + +"Yes, I'll order the trunks packed," he said, incoherently. "I'll have +to hurry--I'll try to--" + +Something in his voice caught Susie's ear; she turned her head and +looked at him. + +"Dad!" she called. + +He paused with his hand on the knob. + +"Dad, come here." + +He came back reluctantly. + +"We're to go away quietly, you know, without telling any one; there's to +be no fuss--we couldn't bear that--" + +A tap on the door interrupted her. Rushford opened it. A man stood +without, a German with complexion like mahogany. He bowed silently and +handed in a note. Rushford took it and closed the door. + +"It's from Markeld," he said, looking at the crest; "thought he hadn't +made his case quite emphatic enough, I guess," and he glanced at Susie's +blushing face and smiled. "Of course, we'll have to tell him," he added, +as he tore open the envelope and unfolded the sheet of paper it +contained. "He has a sort of right--" + +He stopped. + +Susie saw his face turn gray again.... A great fear fell upon her +heart--a cold, still fear that gripped her and left her shivering. + +"What is it, dad?" she asked quietly, through clenched teeth. + +"Nothing," answered her father, looking at her vaguely. "It's nothing. +It's--it's merely a matter of business, Susie." + +"Come, dad," she said, still quietly, "don't try to deceive me. Tell +me--no matter what it is, I can bear it. Do you think I haven't any +pluck, dad?" + +"Yes, I know you've got pluck, Susie," he said. "We've simply made a +mistake, my dear, in believing these blackguards honourable men. Let's +think no more about them." + +"Read what he says, dad." + +He hesitated still, but her eyes compelled him, and he read: + +"'The Prince of Markeld begs to withdraw his proposal for the hand of +Miss Rushford.'" + +"And that is all?" + +"That is all, Susie." + +"It couldn't be!" she said, a little hoarsely. "His aunt is +here--Monsieur Pelletan told me--and she has pointed out to him the +folly of it! I was silly to think it could come true! But, oh--" and she +dropped sobbing into a chair. + +Her father stood for a moment watching the heaving shoulders. Then, with +a face hard as iron, he opened the door and closed it softly behind him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +An American Opinion of European Morals + +"I tell you fellows for the last time," Lord Vernon was saying, "that we +can't keep this thing up any longer. Miss Rushford has served notice on +me that she's going to tell, and dashed if I blame her. Besides, there's +the note." + +"The note can't hurt us--I've extracted its sting. As for Miss Rushford, +I might see her again," suggested Collins, who had been pacing nervously +up and down the room. + +"See her? Nonsense! You'll do nothing of the sort! What right have we to +bother her? She'd probably send you about your business, anyway. She's +got a heart--something that diplomats know nothing about and never take +into account." + +"We didn't take it into account in your case, that's true!" retorted +Collins, with covert irony. + +"No, you didn't!" said the other, wheeling short around upon him. "Nor +did I take into account what a damned scoundrelly thing it was I was +persuaded into undertaking. I tell you, some of us will have to get down +and eat dirt before this thing is over!" + +"Pshaw!" and Collins smiled loftily. "Before a petty German princeling?" + +Vernon turned red with anger at the words, but as he opened his mouth to +reply, there came a sharp knock at the door. + +"Come in!" he shouted, before the others could draw breath. "No, I'm not +going to hide!" he added, in answer to Collins's gesture. "That farce is +finished!" + +The door opened and Monsieur Pelletan appeared on the threshold. + +"Monsieur le Prince de Markeld!" he announced, and bowed low, as the +Prince advanced past him into the room. In the shadows of the hall, +Glueck's erect figure was dimly visible. + +For a moment no one spoke, but Vernon's face was flushing under the +ironical gaze bent upon it. + +"So," said the Prince, at last. "It appears that you are not ill. You +have been tricking me all the time!" + +"Yes," answered Vernon, not attempting for an instant to evade the +question. "Tricking you--that is the word. I am glad she has told you." + +"Do you think it was quite the course for a gentleman to pursue?" +continued the Prince, in a voice singularly even. + +"No," said Vernon, quietly. "I do not." + +"Nor do I!" said the Prince. + +Again there was a moment's silence. It was Vernon who broke it. + +"When I went into this thing," he began quite steadily, "I had no +thought that it would result as it has. It seemed to me an innocent +deception, warranted by reasons of state. We could not, of course, +foresee that you would follow us here, instead of going on to London. +For some time I have found the role unbearable; but, until a moment ago, +I fancied I might be able to explain to you the course I have taken." + +"Explain!" repeated the Prince, with bitter emphasis. + +"Now, of course," went on Vernon, evenly, "I see that no explanations +are possible--that no apology, even, which I might make, would excuse +me. I don't in the least believe in duelling--I have always thought that +I would be the last person in the world to be entangled in that way--but +this seems to be one of those situations which have no other solution. I +am quite willing, anxious even, to give you any satisfaction you may +demand. It is your right." + +"I agree with you," said the Prince. "It is my right. My friends will +wait upon you," and he turned toward the door. + +"But this is folly!" protested Collins, his face very red. "We are +living on the verge of the twentieth century, gentlemen; not in the +seventeenth. I won't countenance this madness for an instant." + +"Who asks you to countenance it?" demanded Vernon, sternly. "I repeat, I +am at the Prince's service. I am glad that it is within my power to +offer him this reparation." + +"Very well," said the Prince, bowing, and again turned to the door; but +Vernon stopped him with a gesture. + +"Before you go, before I can meet you, even," he said, quietly, "there +is a further explanation due you--" + +"I have no wish to hear it," the Prince broke in. + +"It is one which you must, nevertheless, listen to," went on Vernon, +coldly. "Confession would, perhaps, be a better word for it. Miss +Rushford did not know the whole truth." + +"So!" said the Prince, with irony. "You acted unfairly, then, even with +your co-conspirators!" + +Vernon flushed hotly, but kept himself in hand. + +"The retort is unworthy of you," he said. "I assure you that Miss +Rushford was not in any sense a co-conspirator." + +"Do you mean that she was ignorant of the deception you were playing?" +demanded the Prince, quickly. + +"No; she was not ignorant of that; but she--" + +The Prince held up his hand with an imperious gesture. + +"No more," he said; "if this is the explanation--confession--what you +will--I repeat that I do not care to hear it." + +"This is not it." + +"It cannot, in any event, alter matters." + +"I have no wish that it should alter matters, Your Highness!" retorted +Vernon, proudly. "When I have offered you the greatest reparation in my +power, it is ungenerous that you should--" + +Again a knock interrupted him. + +"Come in!" he called, recklessly. + +The door opened and Archibald Rushford entered. He closed the door +carefully behind him and advanced to the middle of the room. + +Vernon started forward. + +"Why, how are you, Mr. Rushford?" he began, with outstretched hand. "I'm +very glad to see you." + +"Oh, you are?" inquired the American, keeping his own hands firmly +behind his back. "I suppose _you're_ glad to see me, too?" he added, +turning to the Prince. + +"I know of no reason why I should avoid you," returned the Prince, +proudly. + +"Perhaps not," assented Rushford, drily. "The standards of gentlemanly +conduct seem to be different in the Old World and in the New. I'm glad, +however, that I've caught you two together. I suppose that little farce +of pretended illness was played only for the benefit of outsiders!" + +"I assure you, Mr. Rushford," began Vernon quickly, but the American +stopped him with a gesture. + +"I don't care to hear," he said. "I care nothing for your two-by-four +conspiracies and intrigues. But, I repeat, I'm glad I caught both of you +together. It enables me to tell, in the same breath, what I think of +both of you, and I am very anxious to tell you, fully and completely, +for I suppose you have been surrounded all your lives by toadies who +were afraid to tell you the truth about yourselves, or who were so like +you that they couldn't see the truth--products of the same code of +morals--a code truly European! In a word, then, I think you are both +blackguards--blackguards of the most nasty and contemptible kind--the +kind that preys upon women! I may add that you have deeply shaken my +faith in human nature, for, to look at you, one would mistake you for +gentlemen!" + +The words were uttered quietly, evenly, deliberately; each one given its +full value. There was a certain dignity in Rushford's aspect which made +interruption impossible; but neither man offered to interrupt. The +Prince was biting his lips desperately; Vernon turned red and white and +red again in evident amazement. + +"And having said this," concluded the American, "as emphatically as +possible, I will very gladly leave you to yourselves." + +"Oh, no, you won't!" cried Vernon, fiercely, in a voice hoarse with +emotion. "I, at least, demand an explanation." + +"An explanation?" and Rushford laughed, a little mocking laugh. "Can't +your conscience give you an explanation? Or is it too deadened to do +that?" + +"No!" said Vernon, boldly. "My conscience gives me no explanation, which +would in any degree warrant the words you have used to me, and which I +am sure you will some day regret. It is true that my conduct here has +not been wholly straightforward; but it is Prince Frederick I have +wronged and not you in any degree. Your daughter--to whom, I presume, +you referred--knew all--" + +"All?" repeated Rushford, with irony. + +"Perhaps not all, but I had intended waiting upon you this afternoon and +explaining to you--" + +"Oh! So you thought I was entitled to an explanation! Yes, my lord, it +seems to me that your actions will require a great deal of +explaining--more, certainly, than I have the patience to listen to. So I +pray you will spare me. I don't know anything in God's wide world more +contemptible than a married man who poses as single!" + +"Married!" shrieked his lordship. "Poses! Oh!" + +The door opened and Pelletan's head appeared. + +"I knocked," he explained, obsequiously, "once--twice--and when none +answered, Mees Rushford insiste'--" + +"Miss Rushford!" cried Vernon. + +"Yes, monsieur, Mees Rushford," and Pelletan stepped to one side, +disclosing Sue. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +The Dowager's Bombshell + +She came no farther than the threshold and looked only at her father, +though her eyes were shining with the consciousness of some one else's +presence in the room--some one whom she had not in the least expected to +find there. + +"Come, dad," she said. "Don't waste your time here. They're not worth +it," and she held out her hand to him. + +But Vernon flung himself between them. + +"He shall not go," he cried, "until he has heard me. It is all a +mistake--I see now where this detestable adventure in diplomacy has led +me. My dear sir, if I were what you think me, I should deserve every +word you have uttered to me--and more. But I am not married--I have +never been married--I had hoped--" + +"Wait a minute," interrupted Rushford. "Don't go too fast. Come here, +Susie, and help me to understand." + +Could Sue, as she came forward, have seen the gaze which Prince +Frederick bent upon her, her heart might have relented a little toward +him; but she did not see--she had eyes only for her father. + +"Now go ahead," said he, when he had his arm safely around her, "and be +careful, sir," he added. "We want the truth, the whole truth, and +nothing but the truth." + +"That is what you shall have," said Vernon, and passed his hand across +his forehead. + +"It occurs to me," put in Collins, icily, "that the story is not wholly +yours to tell." + +"It isn't?" cried Vernon, turning upon him fiercely. "I suppose I'm to +permit myself to remain in this damnable position for the sake of a lot +of third-rate diplomats in our foreign office! They can go hang, for +all I care. I chuck the whole thing! Do you hear? Do you understand? The +whole thing!" + +Collins turned away with a shrug of despair. The situation had got +beyond his control. + +"It is an explanation which I owe to the Prince of Markeld as well as to +yourself, Mr. Rushford," went on Vernon, more slowly, speaking calmly by +a great effort, "and which I was just about to make to him when you came +in. I am not Lord Vernon--I am merely his younger brother. I bear a +certain resemblance to him, and a lot of paper-diplomats persuaded me to +impersonate him here in order to leave him free to carry out the +negotiations for the succession to Schloshold-Markheim without being +embarrassed by the representations of either side. I recall how +half-heartedly he approved of the scheme, which had its origin in the +fertile brain of Mr. Collins there. I see the reason now, though I +didn't suspect it then. As to the succession, Monsieur le Prince, for +all I know, the whole thing may by this time be settled. Collins could +probably tell you, if he would--" + +"It is not settled,'' muttered Collins. + +"So you see," went on Vernon without heeding him, "I have done you an +even greater wrong than you imagined." + +"Yes," said the Prince, in a hoarse voice, "you have." + +"But settled or not," said the other, "I wash my hands of it! I've had +enough!" + +Rushford held out his hand with a quick gesture. + +"I beg your pardon," he said, simply. "I see that I was not mistaken in +my first estimate of you, after all--I am very glad." + +"I was coming to you this afternoon," added the Englishman, taking the +outstretched hand, eagerly, "to tell you that I am merely Viscount +Cranford and not Lord Vernon--a very insignificant fellow, not a great +one--and to ask for your daughter, Miss Nell. I ask you now. Though +first let me make it clear to you that the title is of little +importance." + +"The only title we Americans care about," responded Rushford, slowly, +"is that of gentleman. My daughter's husband need have no other--but he +must have that. We don't give our daughters away, sir, as I've already +explained to--" + +Susie pinched his arm viciously in an agony of alarm. Then she pulled +his head down to her, her eyes shining, and whispered a quick sentence +in his ear. + +"Yes, that's it!" he nodded. "Nell is waiting for us--our apartment is +just up the stair. You'd better go tell her the story, young man! Knock +at the door, make her admit you, make her listen! Oh, a lover should +know how--yes, I see you do! And God bless you!" he added, as Cranford +wrung his hand, flung open the door, and disappeared along the hall. + +"And we must go too, dad," said Sue, in a low voice. "At once. Come." + +"Yes," assented her father. "Yes--yet wait a minute, Susie," and he +stopped, his eyes on Markeld. "I'd hate to think I'd done any other man +the same injustice I did that young Englishman. Perhaps the Prince of +Markeld has also an explanation. If so, I shall be very glad to hear +it." + +Susie's hand trembled on her father's arm, and she caught her breath +with a little gasp; but she kept her eyes steadily on the floor--she had +pride enough for that. Oh, she rejoiced that she had pride enough for +that! + +The Prince gazed at her a moment, then, with face ashy gray, he shook +his head. + +"I have none," he said, in a low voice, and Susie shivered at the words. + +"But I have!" cried some one from the door; and, turning, they beheld +there on the threshold a handsome old lady, with hair snowy white, +figure erect, face imperious--the Dowager Duchess of Markheim. Behind +her, in the twilight of the hall, could be dimly seen the mustachios of +Monsieur Tellier, with Glueck's face glaring at him. "I am not so proud," +she went on, advancing into the room. "I am quite willing to give my +reasons for breaking off the match. Is this the girl?" she asked, +abruptly. + +Susie looked at her with fiery eyes; their glances crossed; one almost +expected to see the sparks fly as of two blades meeting. + +"I am not hard-hearted," continued the duchess, after a moment. "But +there are certain affairs of state which must always take precedence of +any mere personal inclination. Did _I_ marry to please myself?" and her +voice shook a little. "By no means--it is no secret. Yet I was faithful +to my husband and to my house. I have never regretted it. Now all that +I have left to love is that boy yonder, and I intend to see that he +makes a match which is worthy of him. Yes, I love him--but he must not +degrade his name--not even for his happiness. It was solicitude for him +that brought me here--I feared--" + +Her voice broke; perhaps she had a vision of that tragedy fifty years +ago, when, at her mother's side, she had stared out through the mists of +the morning-- + +"But no matter," she added, hastily. + +"May I ask, madame," inquired Rushford, "how marriage with my daughter +would degrade your nephew?" + +"It is impossible, in the first place," she answered, readily, "that he +should marry the daughter of an inn-keeper." + +"Of an inn-keeper?" repeated Rushford, in a puzzled tone. + +"You are the proprietor of this inn, are you not?" demanded the +duchess. "Tellier, here has the papers. Come forward, Tellier." + +"Oh, I understand," and Rushford laughed, not pleasantly. "No, I didn't +tell you, Susie," he added, catching his daughter's astonished glance. +"It was merely an escapade of mine. I was bored, and so I arranged with +Pelletan to have a little fun by backing the hotel for a month--Pelletan +had reached the end of his resources. He'd have had to shut up shop, and +I didn't want to move. I assure you, madame, that at home I am not an +inn-keeper. If I was, I shouldn't be in the least ashamed of it, unless +I were a bad one. Suppose we pass on to the next count." + +There was a movement at the door and Nell came running to her father and +threw her arms about him. Cranford followed her and held out his hands. + +"Congratulate me," he said, simply, but with shining face. + +"I do," said Rushford, and kissed his daughter. "It seems we've got +your difficulty happily settled, Nell; but we've another on hand which +seems considerably more complicated. Now, madame, if you will proceed +with the indictment." + +The duchess seemed a little shaken; after all, a man who could play with +great hotels demanded some consideration! + +"The second reason is even more serious," she said, "at least, my nephew +seemed to so consider it. He laughed at the first one; he is still +young; he still believes in the nonsense of the romancers." + +"Does he?" commented Rushford. "That's one point in his favour, +certainly. So he would have married my daughter, would he, even though I +did keep a hotel! That was kind of him! What's the next count, madame?" + +"It is that your daughter, while pretending to be his advocate, was +really in the plot against him--a double traitor to him because posing +as his friend." + +"In the plot?" cried Cranford. "But that's absurd! She was not in the +plot!" + +"Is it the head of the plot who is addressing me?" inquired the duchess, +icily. "No doubt my nephew has already told you--" + +The Prince stopped her. + +"The Viscount Cranford answers to me," he said, briefly. + +The duchess paled as she looked at him. + +"Not that, Fritz!" she cried. "Not that!" + +"Too late, madame," he said. "My honour demands it." + +The duchess shivered, and her face seemed suddenly to shrink and age. +Then she stood proudly upright. What honour demanded she would be the +last to evade. + +"Perhaps monsieur will deny," she said, looking at Cranford, coldly, +"that he wrote this note to her and her sister the very first day of +his sojourn here?" and she held out to him the slip of paper. + +Cranford took it and read it at a glance, while Nell stared at it with +starting eyes. + +"No," he said, "I don't deny that I wrote it; but--" + +"And perhaps mademoiselle herself will deny that she asserted to +Monsieur Tellier that she did not know her rescuer? Here are her words," +and she produced a second note. + +"I deny nothing," said Susie, proudly, and she looked the duchess +unflinchingly in the face. + +Cranford walked straight over to the Prince of Markeld. + +"Wasn't it Miss Rushford who told you?" he asked. + +"No, it was the note," answered the Prince, fiercely. + +"Which Tellier stole from Miss Rushford's desk," added Cranford, +sternly, "leaving this tracing in its stead," and he took from his +pocketbook a slip of paper. "Such methods are doubtless characteristic +of the Paris police, but they seem to me almost as unworthy as those +employed by us." + +"You are right," agreed the Prince, his face livid. "That dog shall pay +for it!" + +"My nephew had nothing whatever to do with it," broke in the duchess, +sharply. "It was I who secured the note, who persuaded him to--" + +But the Prince stopped her with a gesture. + +"Miss Rushford was not in the plot," continued Cranford, earnestly. "I +hope you will believe me. That it should have come so near wrecking my +own life was bad enough; that it should wreck another's--an innocent +person's--that would be frightful! She warned me explicitly that she +would no longer be a party to the deception, that she was going to tell +you--I thought she had told you. I remember well how warmly she spoke of +your cause; how she detested the course I was pursuing--how she made me +ashamed of myself--ashamed to look at her. I suppose some mistaken +notion of honour held her back from telling, since it was in her service +and her sister's that I had disclosed myself--" + +"A message for His Lordship," said Pelletan from the door. + +Cranford took it. + +"You will pardon me," he said. "It is marked urgent," and he tore it +open. His face brightened as he read it. "Monsieur le Prince," he said, +warmly, turning to Markeld, "I congratulate you from the bottom of my +heart!" and he handed him the message. + +Markeld took the paper and glanced at it, then, with beaming eyes, held +out his hand. And the duchess, looking on, grew suddenly young again! + +"What is it?" she demanded. "Don't you see we are all waiting?" + +"'Prince George, of Schloshold, has just died of an apoplexy,'" the +Prince read. "'You will inform the Prince of Markeld that we will +support his house to the limit of our power. Vernon,'" + +"God be praised!" cried the duchess. "God be praised," and she caught at +the door to keep herself from falling. "He was a bad man," she added in +another tone. "Therefore he needs our prayers!" + +"I give Monsieur le Prince the congratulations of France," said an oily +voice, and Monsieur Tellier bowed low. + +"Oh!" cried Nell, and shrank away from him. + +"Is that the scoundrel?" demanded Cranford. And he started across the +room. + +"One moment," interposed the Prince, "don't soil your hands on him. +Glueck!" he called, raising his voice. + +And Glueck appeared on the instant. + +His master indicated Tellier with the motion of a finger. + +It was wonderful to see how Glueck's face brightened--almost into a +smile--as he laid his hand on Tellier's shoulder. + +"Canaille!" hissed the latter, and shook the hand away. "Do not touch +me--do not defile me with those dirty fingers. Oh, I will go! I have my +task accomplished! And you are fools, imbeciles--all--all--from that fat +Dutchman, who thinks his wife still living--" + +But Glueck was again upon him, this time not to be shaken off, and an +instant later he and his victim disappeared together into the shadows of +the hall. + +"Just the same," shrieked Tellier's voice hoarsely from the distance, +"it was I who was right! In every detail! A veritable triumph! A success +of--" + +The voice sank into a gurgle and was still. + +Pelletan, his face livid, clutching blindly at the wall for support, +stumbled forth into the hall, along the corridor, down the stair, until +at last he found Tellier, his face purple, rearranging his cravat before +a mirror in the hotel office. + +"Iss she not lifing?" he asked, huskily. + +"Living!" echoed Tellier, whirling upon him fiercely. "No, pig-head, she +has been dead these three years! But you are no more a pig-head than +those others. Oh, they shall answer, they shall repay, they shall atone! +I will have my revenge--" + +But Pelletan did not stop to listen. He groped his way across the room, +his eyes shining, his lips trembling, repeating over and over a single +word-- + +"Paris! Paris! Paris!" + +Behind the desk he stumbled, through the little door, and dropped to his +knees before Saint Genevieve, the protector of the city which he loved. + +"You haf done eet!" he murmured, looking up at her with limpid eyes. +"You haf seen how I suffered, unt you haf taken pity. Gott sie dank! +Gott sie dank!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +Pardon + +As Tellier's voice died away along the hall, a silence fell upon the +room which he had left--a silence from which the duchess was the first +to rouse herself. + +"Come, Fritz," she said, "we must go. We have work to do," and she held +out her hand to him. + +He took a step toward her, hesitated, stopped. + +"In a moment, madame," said he. "Before I go, I have an apology to make +and a pardon to crave." + +"Of whom?" demanded the duchess. + +For answer, the Prince turned to Susie, so near that he almost touched +her--so near that she could see the trembling of his hands, the +throbbing of his heart. + +"Miss Rushford," he said, in a voice low, carefully repressed, but +vibrant with emotion, "I know that I have played the scoundrel; I know +that I have no right whatever to address you; I know that I have done +everything I could to forfeit your respect. Believe me, the cup is +bitter--the more so, since I myself prepared it!" + +His voice was trembling so that for the moment he could not go on. + +"No, no!" cried the duchess, from the door, "you wrong yourself, Fritz. +It was I prepared it--it is I who am to blame!" + +But he motioned her to silence. + +"It was I prepared it," he repeated, "by my unjust suspicions and +ungentlemanly action. I shall drain it with what manhood I have. And I +hope, mademoiselle, that you will, in time, find it in your heart to +pardon me and to think of me with kindness. I can only repeat to you +what I have already told your father--that I love you truly and +deeply--with my whole heart--as I shall always love you--always--Oh, if +I had not been a fool!" + +The duchess, looking on from the door, felt a sudden wave of tenderness +sweep over her. Perhaps she recalled her own youth--perhaps it was not +quite the truth that she had never regretted--perhaps she was softened +by the emotions of the moment. She came to Susie and took her hand in +hers. + +"Mademoiselle," she said, softly, "I also ask pardon--you will not bear +ill-will against an old woman, who imagined that she was acting wisely. +I feel that I am going to love you. You have spirit--you are worthy to +be even a Markeld. You must forgive that poor boy yonder." + +"I think I shall put him on probation," said Susie, glancing up with +bright eyes into the eager face beside her. + +The Prince sank to his knee, his face suddenly radiant with joy, caught +her hand and covered it with kisses. + +"Six months, a year, ten years!" he cried. "I shall be content!" + +"Ten years! Nonsense!" cried the duchess. "Ten days, mademoiselle. You +do not love him if you make it an instant longer!" + +"No, not ten days, madame," corrected Susie, with a laugh that was half +a sob. "Let us say ten minutes!" + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AFFAIRS OF STATE*** + + +******* This file should be named 10397.txt or 10397.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/3/9/10397 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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