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i
I
THE KINGS MIRROR
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
The Prisoner of Zend4
Rupert of Hentzau
Simon Dale
f
" .ST,.' nnn,' -..tl, „„ ,„ ,;,, ,;,„„._ „^^^^ ,^^^_,^^ ^^^. ^^^^.^^„ ^^ ^ ^^^
The
King's Mirror
By
Anthony Hope
Aiilliof of
llie Prisoner of Zenda," " Rupert of Hent/iii,
"Simon Dale," tic.
!;,(>.
f
TORONTO
GEORGE N. MORANG & COMPANY, Limited
1899
and nineey-nine, bv Gpnura lS \i °'^'^
X
XV
X
3
x;
CONTENTS
CHAP.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
XXI. ON
A PIOUS HYPERBOLE
A BIRD WITHOUT WINGS .
SOME SECRET OPINIONS .
TWO OF MY MAKERS .
SOMETHING ABOUT VICTORIA
A STUDENT OF LOVE AFFAIRS
THINGS NOT TO BE NOTICED
DESTINY IN A PINAFORE
JUST WHAT WOULD HAPPEN
OF A POLITICAL APPOINTMENT .
AN ACT OF ABDICATION
KING AT A PRICE
I PROMISE NOT TO LAUGH
PLEASURE TAKES LEAVE TO PROTEST
THE HAIR-DRESSER WAITS
A CHASE OF TWO PHANTOMS .
DECIDEDLY MEDI/EVAL
WILLIAM ADOLPHUS HITS THE MARK
GREAT PROMOTIONS
AN INTERESTING PARALLEL
E ART OF FALLING SOFT
PAOB
1
• . 1
• . 10
19
29
40
SI
62
•
72
•
. 8a
93
104
. IIS
. 127
. 138
• ISO
. 162
• 173
184
. 196
. 208
• » 219
vni
CONTENTS
criAP.
XXII. ITT Pl'TO, VESTIS FIO
XXIII. A PARADOX OF SENSIBILITY
XXIV. WHAT A Ql-ESTION
XXV. A SMACK OF REPETITION
XXVI. THE SECRET OF THE COUNTESS
XXVII. OF GRAZES ON THE KNEE
XXVm. AS BEDERHOF ARRANGED
PAOK.
•
• 23'
^^
•
• 244
• 256
■ 4
. 268
i
. 381
• 294
i'
• 306
■^
..Jil
THE KING'S MIRROR
CHAPTER I.
A PIOUS HYPERBOLE
Before my coronation there was no event in childhood
that impressed itself on my memory with marked or
singular distinction. My father's death, the result of a
chill contracted during a hunting excursion, meant no
more to me than a week of rooms gloomy and games
forbidden; the decease of King Augustin. my uncle
appeared at the first instant of even less importance.'
I recollect the news coming. The King, having been
always in frail health, had never married ; seeing dearly
but not far, he was a sad man : the fate that struck
down his brother increased his natural melancholy • he
became almost a recluse, withdrew himself from the
capital to a retired residence, and henceforward was
htt e more than a name in which Prince von Hammer-
feldt conducted the business of the country. Now and
then my mother visited him ; once she brought back
to me a letter from him, little of which I understood
then although I have since read often the touching
words of his message. When he died, there was thS
same gloom as when my father left us; but it seemed
to me that I was treated a little differently; the servants
stared at me, my mother would look long at me with
a half-admiring half-amused expression, and Victoria
et me have all her toys. In Baroness von Krakenstein
(or Krak, as we called her) alone there \vas no differ-
THE KING'S MIRROR
ence ; yet the explanation came fr<jm her, for when that
evening I reached out my h"ttlc hand and snatched a hit
of cake from the dish, Krak caiii,dit my wrist, sayin"^
gravely — ' *^
" Kings must not snatch, Augustin."
"Victoria, what do you get when you are a king?"
I asked my sister that night. I was hardly eight, she
nearing ten, and her worldly wisdom seemed great.
"Oh, you have just what you want, and do what you
like, and kill people that you don't like," said she.
"Don't you remember the Arabian Nights?"
"Could I kill Krak?" I asked, choosing a concrete
and tempting illustration of despotic power.
Victoria was puzzled.
"She'd have to do something first, I suppose," she
answered vaguely. " I should have been queen if you
hadn't been born, Augustin." Her tone now became
rather plaintive.
" But nobody has a queen if thev can get a king "
said I serenely. '
It is the coronation day that stands out in memory ;
the months that elapsed between my accession and that
event are merged in a vague dimness. I think little
difference was made in our household while we mourned
the dead King. Krak was still sharp, imperious, and
exacting. She had been my mother's governess, and
came with her from Styria. I suppose she had learnt
the necessity of sternness from her previous experience
with Princess Gertrude, for that lady, my mother, a fair,
small, slim woman, who preserved her girlishness of
appearance till the approach of middle age, was of a
strong and masterful temper. Only Krak and Hammer-
feldt had any power over her ; Krak's seemed the result
of ancient domination, the Prince's was won by a suave
and coaxing deference that changed once a year or
thereabouts to stern and uncompromising opposition.
But with my early upbringing, and with Victoria's,
Hammerfeldt had nothing to do ; my mother presided,
and Krak executed. The spirit of Styria reigned in
the nursery, rather than the softer code of our more
t
when that
chcfl a bit
St, saying
a king?"
eight, she
jreat.
what you
said she.
concrete
lose," she
2n if you
/ became
a king,"
memory ;
and that
ink Httle
mourned
ious, and
less, and
id learnt
cpericnce
er, a fair,
hness of
A'as of a
iammer-
he result
' a suave
year or
)position.
''ictoria's,
presided,
igned in
lur more
I
.a
A PIOUS HYPERBOLE 3
Western country; I doubt whether discipline was
stricter in any house in Forstadt than in the royal
palace.
They roused me \t eight on my coronation day. My
mother herself came to my bedside, and knelt down for
a few minutes by it. Krak stood in the background,
grim and gloomy. I was a little frightened, and asked
what was afoot.
"You're to be crowned to-day, Augustin," said my
mother. " You must be a good boy."
"Am I to be crowned king, mother?"
"Yes, dear, in the cathedral. Will you be a good
king?"
" I '11 be a great king, mother," said I. The Arabian
Nights were still in my head.
She laughed and rose to her feet.
Have him ready by ten o'clock, Baroness," she said.
" I must go and have my coffee and then dress. And
I must see that Victoria is properly dressed too."
"Are you going to be crowned, mother.? " I asked.
"No." she said. "I shall be only Princess Heinrich
still.
I looked at her with curiosity. A king is greater
than a princess ; should I be greater than my mother ?
And my mother was greater than Krak ! Why, then—
but Krak ended my musings by whisking me out of
bed.
It was fine fun to ride in the carriage by my mother's
side with Victoria and old Hammerfeldt opposite.
Hammerfeldt was President of the Council of Recrency
but I, knowing nothing of that, supposed my mother
had asked him into our carriage because he amused us
and gave us chocolates. My mother was very prettily
dressed, and so was Victoria I was very glad that
Krak was in another vehicle. There were crowds o^
people in the street, cheering us more than they ever had
before ; I vvas taking off my hat all the time. Once or
twice I held up my sword for them to see, but everybody
laughed, and I would not do it any more. It was the
first time that I had worn a sword, but 1 did not see
4 THE KING'S MIRROR
why they should laugh. Victoria laughed most of all ;
'ndeed at last my mother scolded her, saying that
swords were proper for men, and that I should be a
man soon.
We reached the cathedral, and with my hand in my
mother's I was led up the nave, till we came to the frmU
of the H,gh Altar. There was a very long service
1 did not care about or heed much of it, until the Arch'
bishop came down on to the lowest step, and my mother
took my hand again and led me to him. and he put the
eeTf Z ""^ ^?"^- ^ 1'^%"^ '^^'' ^"^ ^"'•"^d round to
L I ^^! P^°PJe wf e looking, and was just going to
laugh at Vic ona when I saw Krak frowning at me° so
I turned back and listened to the Archbishoa He was
a nice old man, but I did not understand very much of
what he said. He talked about my uncle, my father
and the country, and what a king ought to do ; at last
he leant down towards me. and told me in a low but
very distinct voice that henceforward God was the only
Power above me, and I had no lord except the King
u ^?\ ^^ "^^^^ ""^'y °'^ "^an with white hair, and
when he had said this he seemed not to be able to^o
on for a minute. Perhaps he was tired, or did not
t".T Zu^^ ^u fy r^^' '^^^" ^^ J^'d his hand on my
head-they had taken the crown off because it was so
heavy for me-and said in a whisper, "Poor child!"
but then he raised his voice, so that it rang all through
the cathedral, and blessed me. Then my mother made
me get up and turn and face the people; she pu. the
crown on my head again ; then she knelt and kissed my
hand. I was very much surprised, and I saw Victoria
trying hard not to laugh-because Krak was just by
prised "^^"^ ^° ^^"^^' ^ "^^^ *°° "'"^^ ^"^■
So far memory carries me ; the rest is blurred, until
1 found myself back in our own home, divested of mv
military costume, but allowed, as a special treat, to have
my sword beside me when we sat down to tea We
had nriany good things for tea. and even Krak was
thawed mto amiability ; she told me that I had behaved
M
A PIOUS HYPERBOLE 5
very well in the cathedral, and that I should see the
ana soon dark. The fireworks began at seven- I ro
member them very well. Above all I recollecrthe fine
ZZ'^'^lof seeing my own name in great lonVrolden
lu^hT'trl^ ' ^"'^ ^^'''. '^'"^ ^hat Krak tofd me
ought o know meant " king/' and was of the Third
declension. "J^ex Rep-i's" saiH T^roi J . , ,
Virtnrip fr. „^ ^ff ^•^' . ^^'" ^^ak, and told poor
Victoria to go on. Victoria was far too excited and
Krak said we must both learn it to-morrow but we
were chppmg our hands, and didn't payTu'ch heed
Then Hammerfeldt came in and held^ me up at the
window for a few minutes, telling me to^iss my hand
to the people. I did as he told me ; Then th7crovvd
began to go away, and Krak said it was bedtime
tia^7. T "^'g^^^ conclude the story of my corona-
tion day; but an episode remains trivial and^uchcrous
enough, yet most firmly embedded in my memorv
tlwnfr K- '*l°^^'°"s 'mport ; it seems to symbolise
the truth which the experience of all mv life has t^iKrhf
after the day, or I was too excited to fe^I tired Mv
T:L''^^ Z l':?,- 7 'ii"^ head was" turnS
I was nnt niNr . • ^°,^^''' ^"^ Soing meekly. But
LZi ? /^ Victoria; she was not a kin^i as I .vZ
mother had not knelt before her • the ArrhuZ u J
not told Victoria that she S no io d excett the ^K ""^
of Kings. Perhaps I was hardly to blameThen I ^ook
K ak'l "'r !f '"^'"^ '^' dominatiorof u^men of
hind' A? °^ ^^' "''''^^' ^^^^^ J^^d ^"elt and k?sTed mv
throng, the doorV^Sd rur'r^lTfnd-^plp^s'^,^
to assist n.e m my undressing, I was wilful^ and
THE KING'S MIRROR
defiant ; I refused most flatly to go to bed. Anna was
perplexed ; unquestionably a new and reverential air
was perceptible in Anna ; the detection of it was fuel
to my fires of rebellion. Anna sent for Krak ; in the
interval before the i^overness's arrival I grew uneasy. I
half wished I had gone to bed quietly, but now 1 was
in for the battle. Had there been any meaning in what
the Archbishop said, or had there not ? Was it true, or
had he misled me? I had believed him, and was
minded to try the issue ; I sat in my chair attempting
to whistle as my groom had taught me. Krak came ;
I whistled on ; there was a whispered consultation
between Anna nnd Krak ; then Krak told me that I
was to go to bed, and bade me begin the process by
taking off my shoes. I looked her full and fair in the
face.
" I won't till I choose," said I. " I 'm king now " ;
and then I quoted to Krak what the Archbishop had
said. She lifted her hands in am.azement and wrath.
" I shall have to fetch your mother," she said.
" I 'm above my mother ; she knelt to me," I retorted
triumphantly.
Krak advanced towards me.
"Augustin, take off your shoes," said she.
I had no love for Krak. Dearest of all gifts of
sovereignty would be the power of defying Krak.
" Do you really want me to take them off?" I asked.
" This instant," commanded Krak.
I do not justify my action ; yet perhaps the Arch-
bishop should have been more careful of what he said.
My answer to Krak was, "Take them, then." And I
snatched off one of them and threw it at Krak. It
missed most narrowly the end of her long nose, and
lodged, harmlessly enough, on Anna's broad bosom. I
sat there exultant, fearful, and defiant.
Krak spoke to Anna in a low whisper ; then they
both went out, leaving me alone in the big room. I
grew afraid, partly because I was alone, partly for what
I had done. I could undress myself, although I was
not, as a rule, allowed to, I tumbled quickly out of my
A PIOUS HYPERBOLE
clothes, and had just sh'pped on my nightshirt, when
the door opened, and my mother entered, followed by
Krak. My mother looked very youn^j and pretty, but
she also looked severe.
" Is this true, Augustin?" she asked, sitting down by
the fire.
"Yes, mother," said I, arrested in my flight towards
bed.
" You refused to obey the Baroness ? "
" Yes. I 'm king now."
" And threw your shoe at her ? "
" The Archbishop said " I began.
" Be quiet," said my mother, and she turned her head
and listened to Krak, who began to whisper in her ear.
A moment later she turned to me.
" You must do as you are told," she said ; " and you
must apologise to the Baroness."
" I 'd have taken them off if she had asked me," I
said, " but she ordered me."
" She has a rio-ht to order you."
" Is she God r " I asked, pointing scornfully at Krak.
Really the Archbishop must bear some of the respon-
sibility.
Krak whispered again ; again my mother turned to
me.
"Will you apologise, Augustin?" she said.
" No," said I stubbornly,
Krak whispered again. I heard my mother say, with
a little laugh, " But to-day, Baroness ! " Then she sighed
and looked round at me.
" Do apologise, Augustin," said she.
" I 11 apologise to you, not to her," I said.
She looked at the Baroness, then at me, then back to
the Baroness ; then she smiled and sighed.
" I suppose so. He must learn it. But not much
to-night, Baroness. Just enough to — to show him."
Krak came towards me ; a moment later I occupied
a position which, to my lively discomfort, I had filled
once or twice before in my short life, but which I had
not supposed that I should fill again after what the
8
THE KING'S MIRROR
I !
Ml
Archbishop had said. I set my teeth to endure ; I was
III of bewilderment, surprise, and anj^er. The Arch-
b.shop had played me terribly false; the Arabian
Njhts were no less delusive. Krak was as unmoved
and business-hke as usual. I was determined not to
cry not to-night. I was not very hard tried ; almost
directly my mother said, "That will do." Thei^e was a
pause; no doubt Krak's face expressed a surprised
and she added, " Get into bed, Augustin. You must
learn to be an obedient boy before you can be a good
The moment I was released I ran and leapt into bed
hiding my face under the clothes. I heard my mother'
come and say, " Won't you kiss me ? " but I was very
angry; I did not understand why they made me a
king, and then beat me because I behaved like all the
kings I had been told or read about. Moreover I had
t»f5"1 to^ry now, and I would have been killed sooner
than let Krak see that. So presently my mother went
away and Krak too. Then Anna came^ and tried to
turn down the clothes, but I would not let her. I hun^r
on to them hard, for I was still crying. I heard Anna
:t ;P-r dearie!"; then she w J atay ; but direc";
after Victorias voice came, saying, "Anna says I may
come m with you. May I, please, Augustin ? » Ilet
her move the bedclothes and get in with me ; and I put
my arms round her neck. Victoria comforted me as
best she could.
A^.'l"'" uf ^ ''^'^^ ^'"^ "^^^^ y°" Srow up," she said.
.u\ u-^K^^'^""^ ""^-^ rapturous thought, born of
ItllL) " ^^ ^^" '^^ Archbishop lay no comfort
w'lwf- ' '^T'''. "^""^ ^^^" ^'" bastinado Krak I"
With this comforting thought I fell asleep.
A strange day, this of my coronation, odd to pass
through to the highest degree illuminating in retro-
spect. I did not live to bastinado Krak ; nor would
I novv had I the power. What they did was perhaps
a little cruel, a httle Styrian, as Victona and I used
A nous HYPERBOLE g
covertly to say of such harsh measures ; but how valu-
able a lesson on the state and fortune of kinj^s ! The
King is one, the man another. The King is crowned,
the man is lashed ; they give us greatness in words : in
fact we are our servants' servants. Little as I liked
the thing at the time, I cannot now regret that 1 was
chastised on my coronation day, I was thus put into
an attitude eminently conducive to the perception of
truth, and to a realisation of the facts of my position.
I forgive thee the blows, Krak — Lo, I forgive thee !
f
; 'I'
CHAPTER ir.
A BIRD WITHUUT WLNGS
tlv'^r^^''''''t T 1° ^''"""'^^ "°* alt<.j,rether puerile;
exlLn seT''H"^'^f T'^'^^"" explanation of hij
ve u ,^.11 Ki ^ '^1!'^'' ^ '"I^I^"'^^"' '^^ something, a
ve y malleable somethni-. ready to be hammered into
he shape that the socket requires. The two jrreatest
forces at worU on the yieldin^^ substance are ^parents
and position, with the gardener's boy benea?h my
Z'^V^T'^-^"'.-^"^?.' '''''' ^^ ■'^' thc^vindow king":
ship and Styrian discipline. L, the latter there was to
me nothing strange; I had grown into it from birth.
«ut now It became suddenly noticeable, as a thino-
demanding justification, by reason of its patent i"
sS'^^/'l!^ my kingship. I have shown how
Mviftly and sharply the contrast was impressed on me;
If I have not made that point, then my story of a
nursery tragedy is unexcused. I was left wondering
vvha manner of king he was who must obey on pain
hIj T'l [ V' ""^[y y°""S: and the sense of outrage
did not last, but the puzzle persisted, and Victoria's
riper philosophy was taxed to allay it. Waiting .;, .-mcd
the only thing, waiting till I rould fling my sho^. ..
whom I would, and sit on my throne to beh^M \he
bastinadoing of Krak. My mother told me that I must
be an obedient boy first. Well and good ; but then
why make me a king now ? In truth I was introduced
ove-.arIy to the fictions of high policy. A king with-
ou p .->,- seems to a child like a bird without wings •
but a ;.. . \.ith..u wings is a favourite device of states-
man.s'.ip.
The i»;i. ?er did not '.iand even here. My kingship
lo
■e
A BIRD WITHOUT WINGS
II
not only lacked the positive advanta^'cs with whirh
youthful ima^M-nation (aided by the Archbishop'^ pi(,„s
hypci hole) had endowed it ; it became in my eyes the
grrat and fertile source of all my discomfort, the parent
of every flistasteful obligation, the ground on which all
chosen pleasures were refused. It was ever " Kings
cannot do this," or " Kings must do that, ' and the " this
was always sweet, the " that " repellent ; in Krak's hands
monarchy became a cross between a treadmill and a
strait-waistcoat. "What's the use of being a king?"
I dared <jnce to cry to her.
" God did not make you a king for your own plea-
sure,'' returned Krak solemnly. I recollect thinking
that her remark must certainly be true, yet wondering
whether God quite realised how tiresome the position
was. '
It may be supposed that I had many advantaf^es to
counterbalance these evils that pressed so hardly on
me. I do not recollect being conscious of them. Even
my occasional parades in public, although they tickled
my vanity, were spoilt for me by the feeling that nobody
would look at me with admiration, envy, or even interest
if he knew the real state of the case. I may observe
that this reflection has not vanished with infancy but
still IS apt to assail me. Of course I was well fed 'well
housed, and well, though firmly, treated. Alas, what
we have not is more to us than all we possess. I was
thankful under protest; prohibitions outweighed privi-
leges. I have not the experience necessary for any
generalisation, but my own childhood was not verv
happy, ^
A day comes into my mind almost as clear and
distinct in memory as my coronation day. I was nine
years old, and went with my mother to pay a visit to a
nobleman of high rank. He had just married and
Drought to his house a young American lady. We were
welcomed, of course, with infinite courtesy and defer-
erice. Princess Heinrich received such tributes well
with a quiet restrained dignity and a lofty graciousness.'
I was smart in my best clotxhe=, a miniature uniform of
12
THE KING'S MIRROR
ni'i
^v
husband waTa ta ^Z7lnT'^^'% '''"" ^y^'' "^'■
and manner as are ln=f r "^/?^°^"' ■'^^'«' '" back
good-hearted as are m.^^^^' ^°^'^'' ^"^ honest and
little heTd t^ himth. °V''"^^^''°- ^"^ ^ P^'d
declared that the wall „=; , , ™^ P''°"<^' 'he
the Counte'sto take careo? ™fV°\""=' ""'' ^='''^<'
"Sire" said fh '^' A ^^ ""^'^y ^yes on me.
would"' '^' ^°""'^^^' "'f y°" sat down I
not let me Th«r. ^u i i . ' ^'' ""t she would
knees by^y feet ' ''""' ^""'^^ °" ""= ''t^'. her
" What beautiful mih'tary boots ! " she said
I looked down listlesslv af ,„„ i!- •
clasped her hands, cryh^Z " '"^ '^"""S '°'^'- She
to terkl^/,^™"''"' ""■'= '^-'"g! Oh, isn-t it lovely
closi°to"m'-:: "lomehow'r ^ "T r''^- ^'^^ ^^ <1--^-
myarmsreund herTjck b ,tTf u'' ^'"■>',""'=h to%ut
ing' my irt:ss''^fafer^.Ta7'aTr'?^'^. '' '^^^"'-
my people." ^* ^ "" '''"^ ^°'' ^he good of
She drew a long breath and whispered in English (I
A BIRD WITHOUT WINGS 13
did not understand then, but the sound of the words
stayed with me), " Poor little mite ! " Then she said—
" But don't you have a lovely time ? "
I felt that I was becoming rather red, and I knew
that the tears were not far from my eyes
" No," said I, " not very."
" Why not ? "
" They— they don't let me do any of the thin^^s I
want to." **
"You shall do anything you want to here" she
whispered. I was very much surprised to see that her
bright eyes had grown a little clouded.
"We've no kings in my country," she said, takini--
my hand in hers. **
"Oh, I wish I'd been born there," said I; then we
looked at one another for a minute, and I put out mv
arms and took hold of her, and drew her face near
mine With a little gulp in her throat she sprang up
caught me in her arms, kissed me a dozen times/ and
threw herself into the big chair with me on her knees
Now I was crying, and yet half laughing; so I believe
was she. We did not say very much more to one
another Soon I stopped crying ; she looked at me,
and we both laughed.
" What babies we are, Your Majesty ! " said she
r.." ■^n%"^\^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^ ^'"^e more, mightn't they ?
It s all Krak, you know. Mother wouldn't be half so
bad without Krak."
" Oh, my dear, and is Krak so horrid ? "
"Horrid," said I, with grave emphasis.
ihe Countess kissed me again.
"You'll grow up soon," she said. Somehow the
assurance comforted me more from her lips than from
Victoria s. " Will you be nice to me when you grow
"I shall always be very very fond of you," said I.
She laughed a funny little laugh, and then sighed.
n God sends me a little son, I hope he '11 be like
'u. she whispered, with her cheek against mine
won't be a '-■--" --• ' ^ , » . .
you
•s>
said 1 with a sigh of envy.
14
THE KING'S MIRROR
" You poor dear ! " cooed she.
Then came my mothers clear high-bred voice fust
outs.de the door, descanting on the beluty of the Count's
parterres and orangery. A swift warning glance flew
from me to my hostess. I scampered off my perch and
t^r^H^::!^^''''' -^^''"^ '- the^-tran^: o'f
"Don't tell mother," I whispered urgently.
" Not a word ! " ^ ^
" Whatever they do to you ? "
" No, whatever they do to me ! "
My mother was in the room, the Count holding the
irhe",^'' '"^ '^°""^ '' '' '^' P---d through. ?
Inttr^ T '*''^°" "^" ^°' ^ "^°"^^"t; then she tiarned
to the Countess and expressed all proper admiration of
the gardens the house, and the whole demesn^.
ended ^^^ Augustin has been a good boy?" she
M.r?''^ ?'"^ ^'^u ^^^," ""^'y S°°^' madame," returned
the Countess. Then she looked in an inquir ng way at
her husband, as though she did not quite know wSe
he were nght or not, and with a bright blush added
mlZZT^"^ ^^M^r '""^^ "^"'" ^^"^^ day, madame?"
My mother smiled quite graciously
« wJ^^nTl"'^ ^^^""^ ""^ °"^ °^ th^ invitation," she said
We will both come, won't we, Augustin ? "
Yes, please, mother," said I, relapsed into shyness
and m great fear lest our doings should be discover^ed
T J ^? u"^^^ .",°'^'" commanded the Princess.
I should have hked to kiss the Countess again but
such an ac would have risked a betrayal. Our adieu
was made m proper form, the CountesLccompany ing
us to the door. There we left her curtseying, while hi
Count handed my mother into the carriage I looked
round, and the Countess blew me a surreptitious S
When we had dnven a little way. my mother said :
Do you like the Countess von Sempach?"
Yes, very much."
" She was kind to you ? "
" Very, mother."
A BIRD WITHOUT WINGS
IS
"Then why have you been crying, Augustin?"
" I haven't been crying," said I. The He was needful
to my compact with the Countess; my honour was
rooted in dishonour.
" Yes, you have," said she, but not quite in the ac-
cusing tones that generally marked the detection of
falsehood. She seemed to look at me more in curiosity
than in anger. Then she bent down towards me.
"What did you talk about?" she asked.
" Nothing very particular, mother. She asked me if
"4 I liked being king."
" And what did you say ? "
" I said I liked it pretty well."
My mother made no answer. I stole a look at her
handsome clean-cut features; she was frowning a
little.
" I didn't tell her much," said I, aiming at propitia-
tion.
"Much of what?" came sharply, but not unkindly.
Yet the question posed me.
"Oh, I don't know!" I murmured forlornly; and I
was surprised when she turned and kissed me, saying—
" We all love you, Augustin ; but you have to be
king, and you must learn how."
" Yes," I assented. The thing was quite inevitable ;
I knew that.
Silence followed for a little while. Then mv mother
said : •'
" When you 're ten you shall have a tutor, and your
own servants, Augustin."
Hastily I counted the months. There were nine;
but what did the proposal mean ? Was I to be a free
man then ?
" And we women will leave you alone," my mother
went on She kissed me again, adding, "You don't
like us, do you } '
"I like you, mother," I said gravely, "at least gene-
rally—not when you let Kr— the Baroness "
" Never mmd the Baroness," she interrupted. Then
- -!t her arm round my neck and asked me in a
she
I6
THE KING'S MIRROR
!>,
very low voice, "You didn't like the Countess better
than me, did you, Augustin ? "
" N— no, mother," said I, but I was an unaccomplished
hypocrite, and my mother turned away. My thoughts
were not on her, but on the prospect her words had
opened to me.
"Do you mean that the Baroness won't be mv
governess any more?"
" Yes. You '11 have a governor, a tutor."
" And shall I ? "
" I '11 tell you all about it soon, dear."
The rest of our drive was in silence. My mind was
tull to overflowing of impressions, hopes, and wonders ;
my mothers gaze was fixed on the windows of the
carnage.
We reached home, and together went up to the school-
room. It was not tea-time yet, and lesson-books were
on the table. Krak sat beside it, grave, grim, and grey.
Victoria was opposite to her. Victoria was crying Past
experience enlightened me ; I knew exactly what had
happened ; Victoria had a delightfully unimpressionable
soul ; no rebuke from Krak brought her to tears ; Krak
had been rapping her knuckles, and her tears were an
Honest tribute to pain, with no nonsense of merely
wounded sensibility about them. My mother went up
and whispered to Krak. Krak had, of course, risen,
and stood now listening with a heavy frown. My mothe.-
drew herself up proudly; she seemed to brace herself
tor an effort; I heard nothing except "I think you
should consult me," but our quick children's eyes ap-
prehended the meaning of the scene. Krak was being
bearded. There was no doubt of it; for presently
Krak bowed her head in a jerky unwilling nod and
walked out of the room. My mother stood still for
a moment with a vivid red colour in her cheeks. Then
she walked across to Victoria, lifted one of her hands
trom the table, and kissed it.
''You 're going to have tea with me to-dav, children "
said she, "and we'll play games afterwards.' AuL;ustin
shall play at not being a king."
;l
-ssBsaan
SOBHI
A BIRD WITHOUT WINGS
17
M
i
vyell the tea we had and the games that
'n we all played at being what we were
I remember
followed, wherei
not, and for an evening cheated fate of its dues. My
mother was merriest, for over Victoria and myself there
hung a veil of unreality, a consciousness that indeed
we played and set aside for an hour only the obstinate
claims of the actual. But we were all merry; and
when we parted— for my mother had a dinner-party—
we both kissed her heartily; me she kissed often. I
thought that she wanted to ask me again whether
I liked the Countess better than her, but was afraid
to risk the question. What I wanted to say was that
I hked none better if she would be always what she
was this evening ; but I found no skill adequate to a
declaration of affection so conditional. It would be
to make a market of my kisses, and I had not yet
come to the age for such bargains.
Then we were left alone, Victoria and I, to sit to-
gether for a while in the dusk ; and, sitting there, we
totted up that day's gains. They were uncertain, yet
seemed great. All that had passed I told \-:ctoria
save what in loyalty to my Countess I might not •
Victoria imparted to me the story of the knuckle-
rapping. For her an added joy lay in the fact that on
this occasion, if ever, she had deserved the affliction ;
she had been gloriously naughty, and gloried in it now;
did not her sinfulness enhance the significance of this
revolution ? So carried away were we by our triumph
that novv again, after a long interval, we allowed our
imagination to paint royalty in glowing colours, and
cur Arabian Nights and fairy tales seemed at last not
altogether cunningly wrought deceptions. When we
ftad gone to bed. again we met, I creeping into her
room and rousing her to ask whether in truth a new
age had come and the yoke of Krak been broken from
ott our backs. Victoria sat up in bed and discussed the
Tess n"" f ^'a ,^°' J"^ '^^ ^^^ sanguine, for herself
evtr so'lnnJ '^' QK^' ^^^y ^° °" worrying the girls for
TtJ^jTS'r ?^^ '"'^"^ '^P y^""- knuckles any more,"
1 suggested, fastenmg on a certain and tangible advan-
i8
THE KING'S MIRROR
tage Victoria agreed that in all likelihood her knuckles
would henceforth be inviolate ; and she did not deny
such gain as lay there. Thus in the end I won her to
cheerfulness, and we parted merril)., declaring to one
another that we were free; and I knew that in some
way the pretty American Countess had lent a hand to
knocking off our chains.
Free! A wonderful word that, whether you use it
ot a child, a man, a state, a world, a universe! That
evening we seemed free. In after-days I received from
old Hammerfeldt (a great statesman, as history will one
day allow) some lectures on the Httle pregnant, powerful,
empty word. He had some right to speak of freedom
he had seen It fought for by Napoleon, praised by
Talleyrand, bought by Castlereagh, interpreted by
Metternich. Should he not then k?ow what it was, its
value Its potency, and its sweetness, why men died for
It, and delicate women who loved them cheered them
on? Once also in later years a beautiful woman cried
to me, with vyhite arms outstretched, that to be free was
life, was all in all, the heart's one satisfaction. Her I
pressed, seeking to know wherein lay the attraction and
allurement that fired her to such extravagance. And
I told her what the Prince had said to me half-way
through his pinch of snuff. ^
" ' Sire,' said he, ' to become free— what is it ? It is to
change your master.' "
The lady let her arms fall to her side, reflected a
moment, smiled, and said—
" The Prince was no fool, sire."
As the result of this day that I have described, I had
become free. I had changed my master.
CourTte^s^ "°^' ^°^^'^^^' P^y ^">' "^^^e visits to the
iH
i her knuckles
did not deny
I won her to
laring to one
that in some
int a hand to
3r you use it
verse ! That
received from
story will one
ant, powerful,
c of freedom ;
, praised by
terpreted by
lat it was, its
men died for
heered them
woman cried
3 be free was
tion. Her I
ttraction and
jance. And
me half-way
it? It is to
, reflected a
ribed, I had
■isits to the
■H
I CHAPTER HI.
•' SOME SECRET OPINIONS
arnvvW Th ^''i^^' ^^"^ t'^H^ed-of tutor had not
was God who.n ^d>:^,^ h";' ^^lu^-^runt" '
rniir.
19
20
THE KING'S MIRROR
I'
,1
I knew from her face that I mi-ht die, but, so far as I
can recall my mood, I was more curious about the effect
of such an event on her and on Victoria than concerning
Its import to myself. I asked her once what would
happen if I died ; would Victoria be queen ? She for-
bade me to ask the question, but I pressed it, and she
answered hastily, "Yes, yes, but you won't die, Au<,nistin;
you shan't die." 1 was not allowed to see very^much
of Victoria, but a day or two afterwards she sat with me
alone for a little while, and I told her she wcnild be
queen if I died.
" No. Mother would kill me," she said with absolute
conviction, in no resentment or fear, but in a simi)le
certitude.
"Why? Because you didn't bring me in when I rot
wet ? " f' fa
"Yes— if you died of it," nodded Victoria.
" I don't believe it," 1 said boldly. " Why shouldn't
she like you to be queen ? "
" She 'd hate it," said Victoria.
" She doesn't hate me being king."
" You 're a boy."
I wondered dimly then, and I have wonflered since
(hardly with more knowledge), what truth or whether
any lay behind my sister's words; she believed that,
apart from any unjust blame for my misfortune, her
mother would not willingly see her queen. Yet why
not? I have a son, and would be glad to lay down my
burden and kiss his hand as he sat on the throne. Are
all fathers such as I ? Nay, and are all mothers such as
mine? 1 know not ; and if there be any position that
opens a man's mind to the Socratic wisdom of knowing
his own ignorance it is that in which my life has been
spent. But it can hardly be that the curious veiled
opposition which from about this time began to exist
between my mother and m)' sister was altogether
singular. It was a feeling not inconsistent with duty,
with punctilious observance, not even with love; but
there was in it a sort of jealousy, of assertion and counter-
a.ssertion. It seemed to me, as I became older, to have
lit, so far as I
xnit the effect
ill! concerning
: what would
2n ? She for-
-'cl it, an(j she
die, Au<,nistin;
ee ver)' much
e sat with nie
she would be
with absolute
: in a simple
in when I got
■ia.
Jhy shouldn't
)ndered since
h or whether
believed that,
isfortune, her
:n. Yet why
lay down my
throne. Are
)thers such as
position that
a of knowing
life has been
urious veiled
2gan to exist
IS altogether
It with duty,
th love ; but
1 and counter-
)lder, to have
SOME SECRET OPIXIONS 21
roots deeper than any accidental occurrence or environ-
ment, and, so far as I came near to the difficult analysis
to spring from the relation of one woman who was
sl()wly but surely being forced to lay dcnvn what she had
prized most in her womanhood and another who slowly
but surely also, became aware that hers was the prize in
her turn, and thrust forward a tentative hand to grasn
1 . If am at all right in this notion, then it is plain
that feelings slight and faint, although not non-evistent
m ordinary homes might be intensified in su<:h a laniily
as ours, and that a new and great impulse would have
been imparted to them by such an artificial accentuation'
of the mevitable as must have resulted had I died and
my sister been called to the first place. Among 'men
tiie cause for such an antagonism is far less ijowerful •
advancing years take less from us and often bring uhat
to older eyes is a good recompense for lost youth and
seems to youth itself more precious than any of its' own
possessions. Our em,)ire, never so brilliant as a woman's
in Its prime, is of stuff more durable and less shaken by
the wind of limes fluttering garment as he passes by
My confessor came to see me sometimes. He was an
eminent divine nominated to his post by Hammerfeldt
•^eward, I believe, for some political usefulness. I do
not think he saw far into a child's heart, or perhaps I
was not like most children. He was always comfortino-
me, telling me not to be afraid, that God was mercifuf.
Christ fu 1 of love, and the Saints praying for me. Now
was not in the least afraid ; I was verj curious about
dcath-I had never seen it-but I was, as I have said
'^Zt7l'T ''''°"f '^^ ^^'"■''^ ^ ■'^'^^"'^ ^^^^'^ behind. I
wanted to know what would be done when I was dead
and where I was to be buried. Would they fire the
ceodo'n ofP'"^",f" 'T^'' ^ ^'^ "°t •■'■- to the con!
ception of myself not knowing anything of what they
did. I thought I should be there somehow, looking on
from heaven ; and I think that I rather ;njoyed the
t'hatKould b'n " r^ ^f -^^"^-^ ^ I hSl^rdo h
o^tV. 'r^'ilhi I! ^^^^.T^^ ^-^tt-^tion in heaven
iu ^ ! . ""jv-v-i. ui iiuii.li aiiei
on that day at least. I hinted sometliin
ig of what was
a
THE Kr\r/S MIRROR
■ f
w
r
I
passinj,r fn my miiul to the confessor. He did not
appear to follow the drift of my thoii<,dits. He told nie
a^^aiii that I had been a f^^ood boy, and that now. if I
prayed and was sorry for my faults, I should be hapi)y
and should please God. This did not touch the point
that eiii^an-ed my attention. I tried wiiether mv mother
c(,uld help me, and I was surprised when the tears
started into her eyes, and she bade mc, almost rnu«.jhly,
to be (juiet. However when Victoria came we tall«-d it
all over. Victoria cried a little, but she was quite clear
as to her own position in the procession, and we hail
rather an animated dispute about it. She said also tliat
someone in heaven would hold me, and we differed
a^ain as to the celestial personaj^^e in whose lap I was to
sit. I am afraid that here our inia<,nnations were as-
sisted b)' the picture of the Holy Family in the chapel
of the Schloss.
^ Not the least tiresome incident of ti.i.-> time was that
Krak felt it her duty to display affection. I do not mean
to assert that Krak was not and had not been all alon^i^
fond of me, but in ordinary .seasons to feel affection was
with Krak no reason at all for displaying it. I do more
justice to Krak now ; then I did not appreciate the
change in her demeanour. On questioning Victoria,
I found that Krak's .softness did not extend beyond the
limits of my sickroom; she had indeed ceased the
knuckle-rapping, but in its place she curtailed Victoria's
liberty and kept her no.se to the grindstone pitilessly.
Why should caresses be confined to the sick, and
kindness be bought only at the price of threatened
death? I was inclined to refuse to kiss Krak, but my
mother made such a point of compliance that I yielded
reluctantly. In days of health Krak had exacted,
morning and evening, a formal and perfunctory peck ;
if I gave her no more now she looked aggrieved, and
my mother distressed. Had Krak been pos.sessed by
a real penitence, I would have opened my arms to her,
but I was fully aware that her mood was not this ; she
merely wanted to know that I bore no malice for just
discipline, and it went to my heart even apparently to
I
R
lie did not
s. I Ic told inc
that now, if I
lould be happy
tonch the point
thcr my mother
>vhen the tears
lUmost roiiuhl}-,
inc we talked it
was (]uite clear
'n. and we IkuI
e said also that
id wc differed
>se lap I was to
itions were as-
y in the chapel
i time was tliat
I do not mean
been all alon^i^
d affection \\as
it. I do more
appreciate the
)ning Victoria,
nd beyond the
ed ceased the
ailed Victoria's
tone pitilessly.
the sick, and
of threatened
Krak, but my
that I yielded
had exacted,
"unctory peck ;
iggrieved, and
possessed by
ly arms to her,
not this ; she
malice for just
apparently to
SOMR SFXRKT OPIXIOXS 23
concede this position. There seemed to me somtthintr
a little unfii.r m her proceedings ; they were attempts
to obtain from me admissions that I should have re-
pudiated scornfully in hours of health. I knew that
concessions now would prejudice my future liberty In
days to come (supposing I recovered) my hostility to
Krak would be met by " Remember how kind she was
to you when you were ill." or "Oh, Augustin, you didn't
say that of the Baroness when she brought you irranes
m your illness." I had plenty of grapes, 'xiiere are
few things which human nature resents more than a
theft of Its grievances. I was polite to Krak. but I
lodged a protest with my mother and confided a
passionate repudiation of any treaty to Victoria's
sympathetic ear. Victoria was all for me ; my mother
was stern for a moment, and then, smiling faintly told
me to try to sli;ep. ^
After several months I took a decided and rapid turn
towards recovery. This, I think, was the moment in
which I realised most keenly the fictitious importance
which my position imparted to me. The fashion of
everybody s face was changed ; mother, doctors, nurses
servants, all wore an air of victory. When I wa.s
carried out on to the terrace at Artenberg, rows of
smihng people clapped their hands. I felt that I had
done something very meritorious in getting better, and
I hoped secretly that they would give me Just as fine a
procession as though I had died. Victoria got hold
of a newspaper and, before she was detected and
silenreu, read me a sentence:
" ^ly ^^}\ favourable news of the King's health a
great vye.ght is lifted from the heart of "the country
Ihere is not a house that will not be glad to-day."
I was pleased at this, although rather surprised. Takin-
thought with myself, I concluded that, although kingsh"S
and de ir'e? 'ff '^ T'^'' '">' P^'^^^ elpectaS
and desires, yet it must be a more important thing even
in these days than I had come to 'suppose. I put a
question to my mother, pointing at one of the^gar!
24
TIIK KING'S MIRROR
\^
1
she » ■ Je:;:^; t'tSv' ™d'-" ^' """'^r'' =""» •» •"■•".••
Hut a momen? ,to "s f '"■""'' »""■•">-•" ^•'"•^e.
quction.s. I .member nirl" ,'"'^, '""/'^k fo„lish
-ally fe,, ai^,u"m;'i;;crm^'[i,;Lis,:" "'"^'= ""• '>-^ -^i-
nearly ali .ll^j^ry ren .,n„:^r'' '° ^^. ^'^
shared i„ the induience of tl,k , ",''• ^"^''"■'•■'
we agreed that thert^^uid' be'^oSiU' t"'.';';™''!
for never rrettiriL^ nnitp u-..Il , •^"'"^"i'.'^^ ^" "^ ^'i><J
meant going back to Kra^^ " i "T ,^'"'"^' ^"'■^^' ^^^»
of view' mo1.t s5ron°ly but I vi ^'T ^'^' ^'^'"^ P"'""^
Krak. There ^^ZYt\\wlf ""^ '° -o back to
-asters. HaU^rft^ici'l^l' cfoT;"a:d^h.^r°^^^"'
conversation with mv mnthpr ZT ^"^'^ ^ '«"&
Prinle™ ""'■^"" '^^-^ '™ --y '•-""me altogether,
m:di\.^tvarHrm':;;eSt'r^cottr.:^-^^^'''r'
« cu II /"cii .^ne turned to me and asL-Pfl
Shall you be glad to have tutors ? " '""■
August;?'? ''"°"'''' Y°" "■=-" "k=d her, did you,
^^•' No," said I, emboldened by this new and confidential
I ^'^ihaVlt^rnot'-fr^''"'" '"-^ ""^vised ; but
want of apprL Ito ' " Yo^ ^^nl' "l^''^^'^ =>' ■"/
you?" " "°"^ ^'^^e women, do
"Only you, and Victoria, and " I hesitated.
«fc
said I, "ulilch
d sons to him,"
afritaced voice.
>t ask foolish
r face for some
:e out how she
Styrlan dis-
J to do very
mc. Victoria
I remember
'g to be said
v^ quite well
felt this point
) go back to
of tutors and
had a long
out from the
<ed and per-
n the Prince
e altogether,
everything,
answer, but
^ith a rather
iked —
my mother
n.
ler, did you,
confidential
^vised ; but
ived at my
^vomen, do
ated.
SOMK SFCRKT OPIXroxs
25
"And Anna?"
" Oh, of course, old Anna."
"\yell, and who else?"
"The Countess von .Semt)ach " s-ilfl T -. i;.#i *• • n
i< M-Mo.i'f . c "'I'-ii-ii, s.iui 1, ,1 lilt e tnr)i( K'
s iiavent you foro'ottrii u-r?" -. 1. i ■ ""*">•
': her smile beaune less bHl^lI; '^ "^'^"'' "'>' '""^'^-•- '""'
" I W ■\r'"'''~^ "'"'' "'^t "'"'"-k'otten her." J murmured
" X|), darlin-" said my mother.
my m,. hers to.nperamcnt, i„te„sincd no ., h't bV h^
"ii„Mi DO mattcis of nii|jort,iiicc. She femil rr,.,«
another wo.nan just what she feared fr ,,n I lam ne rA.
^reat^st'-'S rir'oV'T,'' t'^-'^ ^^^'™'' '° h" ■" < h
|n:;s,rxt.t!:,^,^^^,;;^4^^.,;:;-s^-
mnid, he ,s able to recollect only with an effort th.f
im;<.rran : T.ftzz.i'r "'T '"'^ °'™
small bov »t A, k i *"•"* observations as a
Cv ve"y well , ™ .rV*"" .'=™" "^ '^ '"'^" boy I
not be nted „ t te SehT" v" ^'="'P"='' »°'"''
m..her guarded '.he'!;L'fSou.f:n,:r ■''"=■ ^>'
■•n lh\"\n.l:r reCTed t'^l^s.^a'd'^^'xy'^^^^,' Tl
o7i„C?r'-''?f ',' --ed":;?:j'e'e,y^a'r"brl„,t
Hueresung a^ d,at wherein Victoria had held first
26
THE KING'S MIRROR
ft
place while I looked down, a highly satisfied spectator.
inTfh fi^"; K ""'^^ ^^^^^" y^""'' °'^ "°^^' and perhaps
just the first bloom was wearing off the wonder of the
world, l^or recompense, but not in full requital, I was
more awake to the meaning of things around me, and
1 fear much more awake to the importance of myself
August.n Now I appropriated the cheers at vvhich
before had marvelled, and approved the enthusiasm
that had before amused me. My mother greeted these
signs m me ; smce I was to leave the women she would
now have me a man as soon as might be; besides she
had a woman s natural impatience for my full growth
Ihey love us most as babies, when they are Providence
to us ; least as boys, when we make light of them ■
more again when as men we return to rule and be
ruled bartenng slavery in one matter for dominion in
another, and workmg out the equilibrium of power.
l^ut a ter my procession in the cathedral, when I was
g.vmg thanks for rescue from a death that had never
been terrible and now seemed remote and impossible.
1 saw nny Countess. She was nearly opposite to me ;
her husband was not with her: he was on guard in the
nave with his regiment. I wanted to make some sign
to her, but I had been told that everybody would be
ooking at me. When I was crowned, "everybody"
had meant Krak, and I had feared no other eye I
was more self-conscious now. I was particularly alert
that my mother should observe nothing. But the
Countess and I exchanged a glance; she nodded
cautiously ; almost immediately afterwards I saw her
Z^^fuJi7^'-^ u '^''"^'? ^^^^ ^'"^^^ to talk to her. tell
her that I liked being a king rather better, and give her
the glad tidings that the dominion of Krak had ended •
but I got no chance of doing anything of the sort, being
carried away without coming nearer to her.
Victoria was in very low spirits that evening. It had
suddenly come upon her that she was to be left to
endure Krak al alone. Victoria and I were not some-
how as closely knit together as we had been ; she was
now thirteen, growing a tall girl, and I was but a little
SOME SECRET OPIXIOXS
id spectator,
and perhaps
mder of the
pital, I was
ind me, and
3 of myself,
's at which
enthusiasm
"eeted these
1 she would
besides she
full growth.
Providence
: of them ;
ule and be
lominion in
power,
kvhen I was
had never
impossible,
iite to me ;
uard in the
some sign
'■ would be
iverybody "
ler eye. I
jlarly alert
But the
le nodded
I saw her
to her, tell
id give her
lad ended ;
sort, being
g. It had
be left to
not some-
I ; she was
Hit a little
27
boy. Yet our relations were not. I imaoitie. quite what
they would have been between brother and sister of
such relative ages in an ordinary case. The authority
which elder sisters may be seen so readily to ape and
assume was never claimed by Victoria; my mother
would not have endured such presumption for a
moment. I think Victoria regarded me as a singularly
Ignorant person, who yet, by fortune's freak, was in-
vested with a strange importance and the prospect at
least of great and indefinite power. She therefore took
a good deal of pains to make me understand her point
of view, and to convert me to her opinions. Her
present argument was that she also ought to be re-
lieved from Krak.
• "u^^^K V^^ mother's governess till mother was
eighteen,' I reminded her.
"Awful!" groaned poor Victoria.
''Ill fact mother's never got rid of Krak at all."
Oh, that s different. I shouldn't in the least mind
keeping krak as my daughter's governess," said Victoria.
1 hat would be rather fun."
"It would be very cruel, considering what Krak does "
1 objected.
Dim hintings of the grown-up state were in Victoria ;
she looked a little doubtful. '
"It wouldn't matter when she was quite young" she
concluded. " But I 'm nearly fourteen. ^ Au|ustin!
fifteen ?" ^ *° '^""^ ^'^^ ""'''^^ '^^^" ^ '"^
" No." said I. I had a wholesome dread of straining
the I'rerogative. ^
" Then when I 'm sixteen ? "
resilesfly"'^ '^^ ''^'^^ ^ '^^ S°^ *° ^° ^^^^ '*," said I
Victoria became huffy.
said. If I was -king, I should like to do things for
ve-xaliin ""^ ''''"' ^"^''°'''' ^^^ P°"^^^ '" "^"^^
" Well, perhaps I '11 try some day." said I reluctantly.
ft ^
28 THE KING'S MIRROR
"Oh, you dear boy ! " cried Victoria, and she immedi-
ately gave me three kisses.
I was certainly on my way to learn the secret of
popularity. In my experience Victoria's conception of
the kmgly office is a very common one, and Victoria's
conduct in view of a refusal to forward her views and
of a consent, extremely typical. For Victoria took no
account of my labours, or of the probable trouble I
should undergo, or of the snub I should incur. She
called me a dear boy, gave me three kisses, and went off
to bed m much better spirits. And all the while my
own secret opmion was that Krak was rather good for
Victoria. It has generally been my secret opinion that
people had no business to receive the things which they
have asked me to give to or procure for them. When
the merits are good the King's help is unnecessary.
11 f!
1
i
i
i
1 !
f
1 i
he immecli
e secret of
iiception of
\ Victoria's
views, and
ria took no
trouble I
ncur. She
nd went off
while my
;r good for
Jinion that
which they
m. When
ssary.
CHAPTER IV.
TWO OF MY MAKERS
Physically my parents' child, with my father's tall
stature and my mothers clean-cut features, intellectually
was more son to Hammerfeldt than to anyone else.
I ro.n the day when my brain be-an to develop, his was
the preponderatmg mfluence. I had a governi;, a good
soldier Genera von Vohrenlorf; I had masters ; Aad
fTr tnT . '\l''"'u "^""'^ P'-c^ently (he for a time bade
n r!.n M^^^ ^''^ ^ !^'"'^' supremacy); but above them
^hl'p oM "^ "^e and controlling them, was this remark-
able o d man. A this tune he was seventy years old •
he had been a soldier till thircy, since then a diplomatist'
and poht.can. I do not think in all things as Hammer-
feldt thought ; tune moves, and each man's mind ha^ts
own cast; but I will make no claim to originality at the
cost of deprecating what I learnt from him He was a
solitary man ; once he had taken a wife ; she left h m
after two years ; he used to talk about her as though sh^
had died at the date when she ran away, without bitter-
ne.ss, w.th an indulgent kindness, with a full reccgnit on
o her many ments. Those who did not know thfstory
condn'.^P-P°f.^ '^^' '^"^ ^'^^y ^'^^^ ^t'" '■" i'aris. His
re"arded n. ' ""^''Z ''^' ^'^^'^'>' cl^^'-^cteristic. He
regarded passions and emotions as things altogether
outs.de and mdependent of the rational man. "t dr
power could not be denied in their own sphere and
season -he admitted that they must be felt-raw feeling
thou'hror^r"''; ^^^ '""^' ^^^^ ^'^'^>' should aS
thought or dommate action. In others they were his
opportunity, m himself a lu.xury that had never been
dangerous, or an ailment that\vas troublesome but
29
30
THE KING'S MIRROR
m
r i
tl P
never fatal. He was hard on a blunder ; as a necessary
presupposition to effective neijotiiition or business he
recognised a binding code of honour ; he has frequently
told me he did not understand the theological conception
of sin. He had eaten of our salt and was cur servant ;
thus he would readily have died for us; but he prayed
pardon if we asked him to beh'eve in us. "Conduct,"
he said once, " is the outcome of selfishness limited by
self-conceit." It was his way so to put things as to strip
them of friendly decent covering; had he said self-
interest limited by self-respect, the axiom would have
been more accepted and less quoted. A superficial
person u.sed to exclaim to me, "And yet he is so
kind! " A man without ideals finds kindness the easiest
thing in the world. In truth he was kind, and in a con-
fidential sort of way that seemed to chuckle and wink,
.saying nVe 're rogues together; then I must lend you
a hand." But he could be ruthless also, displaying a
curious aloofness from his fellow-men and an uncon-
sciousness of any suffering he might inflict that left
mere cruelty far behind. If I were making an automa-
ton king, I would model my machine on the lines of
Hammerfeldt. He had no belief in a future life, but
would sometimes trifle whimsically with the theory of
a transmigration of souls ; he traced all beliefs in im-
mortality to the longing of those who were unfortunate
here (and who did not think himself so?) for a recom-
pense (a revenge he called it) hereafter, and declared
transmigration to be at once the most ingenious and the
most picturesque embodiment of this yearning. He
played billiards extremely well, and excused his skill
on the ground that he was compelled to pass the time
while foreign diplomatists and his own colleagues were
making up their minds. I do not think that he ever
hesita*:ed as to what he had best do. He was of an
extremely placid and happy temper. As may be
anticipated from what I have said, he regarded no
man as utterly lost unless he were completely under
the influence of a woman.
Yet it was by Hammerfeldt's will that Geoffrc> Owen
m
necessary
isiness he
frequently
:onception
r servant ;
he prayed
Conduct,"
i mi ted by
as to strip
said self-
ould have
superficial
he is so
he easiest
in a con-
and wink,
lend you
playing a
n uncon-
that left
I automa-
i lines of
: life, but
theory of
fs in im-
ifortunate
a recom-
declarcd
s and the
ing. He
his skill
the time
ues were
: he ever
as of an
may be
irded no
ly under
c) Owen
4
J TWO OF MY MAKERS 31
became my daily companion and familiar friend Voh
; renlorf visited me o.ice or twice a week, and exercised
a perfunctory supermtendence. I had. of course, many
masters who came and went at appointed hours. Owen
hved w.th me both at Forstadt and at Artenberg A
th.s t.me he was twenty-five ; he excelled my own adult
stature and walked with the free grace of a well bred
Kngl.sh gentleman. His dark hair grew thick risinr
fro,, his forehead in a wave ; his face 14 longtd 1 i,f
;ujd a shght moustache veiled a humorous tender mo h'
There was about the man a pervading sympathy Te
desire to be friends was the first characteristic of s
manner ; he was talkative, eager, enthusiastic. If a mm
were good it seemed to Owen but natural ; if he we "
a rogue my tutor would set it down to any hing'-n tl e
world save h.s own fault. Everybody could be mended
. everybody else would try. Thus he brought
^ZIT °n' T'"''^''"" "^'■'''^'">' ^^"••t and soaety 1 e
h ?N [?/'' ""^ ^''"^•"^"■^ '^°P^ ^"d '^""I'-i" aspiration
that had blown over Oxford. Surely this was a strwe
choice of Hammerfeldt's! Was it made in ignorance
of the man, or with some idea that my mind should
be opened to every variety of thought, or in a carcTess
ancJ thTo'^''^" "•'" '"«"S"^e wis beyond shaking
and that Owen s spirit would beat hopelessly against
^he^cage and never reach mine in its'prison of tm-
A boy that would not have worshipped such a n ,1
Ztrf? ""r" ""^' ""'^^ --^-^ heaTt and fire
lltt '"'" ^''i ^° -'"" '^ ^^ ^°"'d --ide ; he rode well
When he came he could not fence; in ^ix months he
was a good hand with the foils ; phy ical fhL^ eemed
as unknown to him as mental inertia. Thf re was ,'0
strain and no cant about him; he smoked hard drank
n ell after exertion, with pleasure always. He delighted
r.race ul ':5^,'""^'^^\^haffing her Styrian ideas ^th
a graceful deference that made her smile Victori;!
adored him openly, and Krak did not understand whv
? wirt^ fitt'of hi^'r '^ 'T""'''' ^^^-' SurVanS
nas me tirst of his slaves. It would be tedious to
I
- r
m
:,t
32
THE KING'S MIRROR
anybody except myself to trace the gradual procuress
of our four years' intimacy and friendslnp, of my four
years' training and enliglitenment Shall I summarise it
and say that Owen taught me that there were folks
outside palaces, and that the greatness of a station, even
as of a man, stood not in the multitude of the things
that it possessed ? The summary is cold and colourless ;
it smacks of duty, of obligations unwillingly remem-
bered, of selfish {)leasures reluctantly forgone. As I
became old enough to do more than listen entranced to
his stories, it seemed to me that to be such a man as
he was and, not knowing that he himself was, admired,
could be no duty, but only a happy dream. There has
been in my family, here and there, a vein of fancy or of
mysticism, turning sometimes to religious fervour, again
sometimes to soldierly enthusiasm and a knight-errantry
in arms, the ruin and despair of cool statesmanship. On
this element Owen's teaching laid hold and bent it to a
more modern shape. I would not be a monk or a
Bayard, but would serve humanity, holding my throne
a naked trust, whence all but I might reap benefit,
whereon I must sit burdened with the sorrows of all ;
and thus to be burdened was my joy. With some boys
no example could have made such ideas acceptable, or
ga' ad anything but scornful wonder for them; in me
they struck answering chords, and as I rambled in the
woods at Artenberg already in my mind I was the
Perfect King.
Where would such a mood have led ? Where would
it have ended ? What at the last would have been my
state and fame }
On my fifteenth birthday Prince von Hammerfeldt,
now in his seventy-fifth )'ear, came from Forstadt to
Artenberg to offer me congratulations. Though a boy
may have such thoughts as I have tried to describe,
for the most part he would be flogged to death sooner
than utter them ; to the Prince above all men an
instinct bade me be silent. But Owen rose readily
to the old man's skilful fly; he did not lecture the
Minister nor preach to him, but answered his questions
i
if
f
iial procuress
of my four
summarise it
i were folks
station, even
»f the things
d colourless ;
igly remem-
Tone. As I
entranced to
;h a man as
^as, admired,
There has
f fancy or of
ervour, again
ight-crrantry
uuiship. On
I bent it to a
monk or a
g my throne
reap benefit,
rrows of all ;
;h some boys
Lcceptable, or
them ; in me
imbled in the
d I was the
^^here would
tave been my
^ammerfeldt,
Forstadt to
rhough a boy
I to describe,
death sooner
all men an
rose readily
t lecture the
his questions
TWO OF MY MAKERS y^
simply and from the heart, without show and without
disguise. Old Hammerfcldt's face grew into a network
of amused and tolerant wrinkles.
■; My dear Mr. Owen," said he, " I heard all this forty
—fifty— years ago. Is it not that Tean Jacques has
crossed the Channel, turning more sickly on the way?"
Owen smiled. Mine was the face that grew red in
resentment, mine the tongue that burned to answer
him.
" I know what you mean, sir," laughed Owen. " Still
doesn't the world go forward ? "
"I see no signs of it," replied Hammcrfeldt with a
pinch of snuff, "unless it be progress to teach ro-ues
who aren t worth a snap to prate of their worth. Well"
It is pretty enough in you to think as you think What
says the King to it?" He turned to me with a
courteous smile, but with an unceremoniously intent
gaze in his eyes.
I had no answer ready ; I was still excited
"I have tried to interest the King in these lines of
thought," said Owen.
"Ah, yes, very proper," assented Hammerfeldt, his
eyes still set on my face. "We must have more talk
about the matter. Princess Heinrich awaits me now "
Owen and I were left together. He was smiling, but
rather sadly ; yet he laughed outright when I, carried
beyond boyish shame by my indignation, broke into
a tirade and threw back at him something of what he
had taught me. Suddenly he interrupted me
^il V ?° ^°'' ^ \''''' ''" ^^^ '■'^'er and have one
stlder ' iT"';/ . ^' !?'^' •^>"'^g his hand on my
today" ^^' "°^ "^^"^ "' ^"y "^°^^
The afternoon dwells in my memory. In mv belief
Owen s quick mind had read something of the Prince's
purpose; for he was more demonstrative of affection
W flTt T;;^- "' '"f "^^^ ^° ^>'^ '"^ ^^'th a pitiful
love that puzzled me ; and he began to talk (this also
, was rare with him) of my special Vsition, hoi I must
be apart from other men, and to speculate in seeming
I if
'4
34
THE KING'S MIRROR
il V
idleness on what a place such as mine would be to him
and make of him. All this came between our spurts
of rowing or amongst our talk of sport or of flowers as
we lay at rest under the bank.
^ " If there were two kings here, as there were in
Sparta ! " I cried longingly,
"There were Ephors too," he reminded me, and we
laughed. Hammerfeldt was our Ephor.
There was a banquet that night. I sat at the head
of the table, with my mother opposite and Hammerfeldt
at her right hand. The Prince gave my health after
dinner, and passed on to a warm and eloquent eulogy
on those who had trained me. In the course of it he
dwelt pointedly on the obligation under which Geoffrey
Owen had laid me, and of the debt all the nation owed
to one who had inspired its king with a liberal culture
and a zeal for humanity. I could have clapped my
hands in delight. I looked at Owen, who sat far down
the table. His gaze was on Hammerfeldt, and his lips
were parted in a smile. I did not understand his
smile, but it persisted all through the Prince's graceful
testimony to his services. It was not like him to
smile with that touch of satire when he was praised.
But I saw him only for an instant before I went to
bed, and others were with us, so that I could ask no
explanation.
The next morning I rose early, and in glee, for I was
to go hunting. Owen did not accompany me ; he was,
I understood, to confer with Hammerfeldt. My jovial
governor Vohrenlorf had charge of me. A merry day
we had, and good sport; it was late when we came
home, and my anxious mother awaited me in the hall
with dry slippers. She had a meal spread for me, and
herself came to share it. Never had I seen her so
tender or so gentle. I had a splendid hunger, and fell
to, babbling of my skill with the gun between hearty
mouthfuls.
" I wish Owen had been there," I said.
My mother nodded, but made no answer.
•• Is the Prince gone ? " I asked.
''1
4
TWO OF MY MAKERS
Id be to him
;n our spurts
of flowers as
lere were in
me, and we
: at the head
Hammerfeldt
health after
quent eulo<^y
urse of it he
lich Geoffrey
nation owed
beral culture
clapped my
sat far down
and his lips
derstand his
ice's graceful
like him to
was praised,
e I went to
:ould ask no
ee, for I was
me ; he was,
. My jovial
\ merry day
en we came
J in the hall
for me, and
seen her so
ger, and fell
ween hearty
35
wn3?' ''^ '•] .'^^'•e^^till. He stayed in case you should
want to see him, Augustin " --"luuia
m> chair back. "But I was glad he talked like thif
about Owen last night. I think I'll go and see ff
Owen s m h.s room." I rose and started towards the
"Augustin, Mr. Owen is not in his room '» said mv
mother m a strangely timid voice ^
I turned with a start, for I was sensitive to everv
change of tone in her voice. ^"^'^'ve to every
" Do you know where he is ? " I asked
He IS gone," said she.
I did not ask where, nor whether he would return
I sat down and looked at her- she c'^rr^^ =rn .u i
hair back from my forehead." ^dtisst^'r^r^'''^' "^
hdn if T^V^"^ ^'"'^ """^^y" '^^ ^aid. ■ "I couldn't
'"^ ^^z:. iz^X"^ -' '^ '- ---•
J\hy, yes, at least old Hammerfeldt would not run
anger uniting to make me sore and deToTate^ Th?
seemed a great gap made in my life ; my delrest cori
panion was gone, the source of all that mcS htVf
fancy and filled my mind dried up But before fl,';]^
Eet^frhand^" T ^~°^ ^n thrdoorTay
ask^ng^ i"the^"ling^vTurdt teTj.%; '^ ^
turned an inquiring elance nn rZ t T" ^^ "'°^^^'"
and choked dovvn I fob that wTf • ^"""^t^ "^^ ^^^^
ence and formam'v " H^R^ TS""} 'ceremonial defer-
r
36
THE KING'S MIRROR
i
1
I made him no answer.
" A kin<,r, sire," he went on, " =;hoii!fl sip at all cups
and dram none, know all theories and embrace none,
learn horn all men and be bound to none. He may be
a pupil, but not a disciple; a hearer, but always a critic;
a friend, never a devotee."
I felt my mother's hand resting on my shoulder ; I
sat still, looking in the Prince's eyes.
" Mr. Owen has done his work well," he went on, " but
his work is done. Do you ask, sire, why he is gone? I
will give you an answer. I, Prince von Hammerfeldt,
would have Augustin and not Geoffrey for my master
and my country's."
" Enough for to-night, Prince. Leave him now," my
mother urged in a whisper.
The Prince bent his head slightly, but remained where
he stood for a moment longer. '^Ihen he bowled very
low to me, and drew back a step, still facing me. My
mother prompted me with what I suppose was the
proper formula.
" You are convinced of the Prince's -isdorn and devo-
tion in everything, aren't you, Augustin?" she said
" Yes," said I. " Will Mr. Owen write to me ? "
" When Your Majesty is older. Your Majesty will, of
co'jrse, use your own pleasure as to your correspondence "
returned Hammerfeldt.
He waited a moment longer, and then drew back
further to the door,
" Speak to the Prince, Augustin," said my mother.
" I am very grateful to the Prince for his care of me,"
said I.
Hammerfeldt came quickly up to me and kissed my
hand. " I would make you a true king, sire," said he
and with that he le'^t us.
So they took my friend from me, and not all the
kindness with which I was loaded in the time following
his loss lightened the grief of it. Presently I came to
understand better the meaning of these things, and to
see that the King might have no friend ; for his friend
must be an enemy to others, perhaps even to the King
■ • *i»-«i*»M«t.^»iiMh«- ■ '
TWO OF MY MAKERS
> at all cups
ibrace none,
I f c may be
:ays a critic;
shoulder ; I
cnt on, " but
is [^one ? I
aminerfcklt,
r my master
m now," my
amcd where
bowed very
ig me. My
)se was the
n and devo-
!ie said.
me?"
esty will, of
spondence,"
drew back
mother.
:are of me,"
I kissed my
■e," said he,
not all the
le following
' I came to
ngs, and to
- his friend
o the King
3;
himself. Sliall I now blame Mammcrfcldt? I do n^^
I lost him. There m.sf^! ^ ^ '"''^""'''' '" ^^'^^'^'^
them cut udtT the sword l"° "''''^ ^^^^'^ ^^ ^'^''^
-should be bo no more [oh "' '""? ^" ^'^'"' ^^^^
grief a,fd bve n aT th7 I rii l""'' 1 °"« ^g^i-'
f
I
1^ 1^
V V:
il
38
THE KING'S MIRROR
Geoffrey Owen I saw but once again. I had written
twice to him, and received respectful, friendly, brief
answers. Ikit the sword had passed thrcnigh his heart
also; he did not respond to my invitation, nor show
a desire to renew our intimacy. J'erhaps he was afraid
to run the risk ; in truth, even while I ur<,^cd iiim. I
was half afraid myself. Had he come again, it would
not have been as it had been between us. V^ery likely
we both in our hearts preferred to rest in memories,
not to spoil our thoughts by disappointment, to be
always to one another just what we had been as we
rowed together that last afternoon at Artcnberg, when
the dim shadow of parting did no more than deepen
our affection and touch it to a profounder tenderness.
And that time when I saw him again? I was driving
through the gates of an English palace, encircled by
a brilliant troop of soldiers, cheered by an interested
good-humoured throng. Far back in their ranks, but
standing out above all heads, I saw his face, paler and
thinner, more gentle even and kindly. He wore a soft
hat crushed over his forehead ; as I passed he lifted
and waved it, smiling his old smile at me. I waved
my hand, leaning forward eagerly ; but I could not stop
the procession. As soon as I was w^ithiii I sent an
equerry to seek him, armed with a description that he
could not mistake. But Geoffrey Owen was nowhere
to be found, he had not awaited my me senger. Having
signalled a friend's greeting across the gulf between us,
he was gone, I could have found him, for I knew that
he dwelt in London, wo. mg; writing, awakening hope
in many, fear in some, thought in all. liut I would not
seek him out, nor compel him to come to me, since
he would not of his own accord. So he went his way,
I mine, and I have seen him no more. Yet ever on
my birthday I drain a cup to him, and none knows
to whom the King drinks a full glass silently. It is
my libation on a friendship's grave. Perhaps it would
support an interpretation more subtle. For when I
stood between Owen and Hamnicifeldt, torn this way
and that, uncertain whom I should follow through life.
'%
lad written
iidly, brief
h his heart
, nor show
was afraid
jcd him. I
11, it would
V^ery hkcly
memories,
lent, to be
)een as we
berg, when
lan dee[)en
idcrness.
ivas drivin[^
icirclcd by
interested
ranks, but
:, paler and
wore a soft
d he hfted
. I waved
lid not stop
I sent an
on that he
as nowhere
2r. Haviiij^
between us,
knew that
ening hope
[ would not
3 me, since
nt his way,
''et ever on
lone knows
ntly. It is
ps it would
or when I
rn this way
hrough life,
TWO OF MY I\TAKI':rs 39
was not I the humble transitory theatre of a fireat
and secuar struK^dc? It seems to me that then the
Ideal and the Actual joined in battle over me- Hector
ancl Achdles, and I the bod>- of I'atroclus ! Alas, poor
body! Greatly the combatants desire it, little they
reck of the rouj^hness it suffers in their struLnde ' The
Spirit and the World-am I over-fanciful if I seem t..
see them incarnated in Geoffrey Owen and old Mammer-
teldt? And victory was with the World. Yet the
conquered also have before now left their mark on
lands which they could not hold.
^^mmm--^
CHAPTER V.
SOMETHING ABOUT VICTORIA
I FEEL that I give involuntarily a darker colour to my
life than the truth warrants. When we sit down and
reflect we are apt to become the prey of a curious
delusion ; pain seems to us the only reality, pleasure a
phantasm or a dream. Yet such reality as pain has,
pleasure shares, and we are in no closer touch with
eternal truth when we have headaches (or heartaches)
than when we are free from these afflictions. I wonder
sometimes whether a false idea of dignity does not
mislead us. Would we all pose as martyrs? It is
nonsense; for most of us life is a tolerable enough
business— if we would not think too much about it.
We need not pride ourselves on our griefs ; it seems as
though joy were the higher state because it is the less
self-conscious and rests in fuller harmony with the
great order that encircles us.
As I grew older I gained a new and abiding source
of pleasure in the contemplation and study of my sister
Victoria. I have anticipated matters a little in telling
of my tutor's departure ; I must hark back and pick up
the thread of Victoria's history from the time when I
was hard on thirteen and she near fifteen— the time
when she had implored me to rid her of Krak. I had
hated Krak with that healthy full-blooded antipathy
vyhose faculty one seems to lose in later years. It is a
tiresome thing to be driven by experience to the
discovery of some good in everybody ; your fine black
fades to neutral grey; often I regret the delightfully
partial views of earlier days. And so many people
succeed in preserving them to a green and untutored
40
SOMETHING ABOUT VICTORIA 4,
them. Perhan«; h,^r ^; -,. ^^'"^ *'^oni suckinj^
for her long after it hai^rJn oft^ed o m^* ^7^''"=^
childhood imposed tnTictoria?ullvT',"'" ^'"'"^ °f
countenanced the measurf Tit ^-^ "^ as nature
greeted n,y hint. STayed^"fv;cto"wI ^a^ 'i 't"^"
For my part, since it was inev able tha K r ,V f "u
have run ma™' vt^o,iT7^'"^,Z^" '" '^'™>' ' should
srberet:,rpt"" •"'= ^-^ '°' » "• ^^^ '"i t^
pens^oneTbuT'S'nr kirwtrni '"L^'-'l ^"'f'>'.
tribute of a tear sumHtd J • y'^'"'" gave her the
membered heJ^'ausesTr exultation '%s'*^'^ ^''\'^-
memory, and she was ou^r^geo^ y w^^'l" ^^ A *"'
era began; the buffer was gonV'-T/'rother S
42
THE KING'S MIRROR
I* !
Victoria were face and face. And in a year as Victoria
said in two or tliree as my mother allowed, Victoria
would be grown up.
I was myself most unwillingly, a cause of annoyance
to Victoria and a pretext for her repression. Import-
ance flowed in on me unasked, unearned. To speak in
homely fashion, she was always "a bad second," and
none save herself attributed to her the normal status or
privileges of an elder sister. Her wrath was not visited
on me, but on those who exalted me so unduly; even
vvhile she resented my position she was not, as I have
shown, above using it for her own ends ; this adapta-
bility was not due to guile; she forgot one mood when
another came, and compromised her pretensions in the
ettort to compass her desires. Princess Heinrich seized
on the inconsistency, and pointed it out to her daughter
with an exasperating lucidity.
^ " You are ready enough to remember that Augustin
is king when you want anything from him," she would
observe. "You forget it only when you are asked to
give way to him."
Victoria would make no reply— the Krak traditions
endured to prevent an answer to rebukes— but when we
were alone she used to remark, "I should think an
iceberg s rather like mother. Only one needn't live
with icebergs."
Quite suddenly, as it seemed, it occurred to Victoria
that she was pretty. She lost no time in advertising
the discovery through the medium of a thousand nevv
tricks and graces ; a determined assault on the aflbctions
ot all the men about us, from the lords-in-waiting down
to the stablemen— an assault that ignored existing
domestic ties or pre-engaged affections— was the next
move in her campaign. When she was extremely angry
with her mother she would say, " How odious it must be
not to be young any more ! " I thought that there was
sometimes a wistful look in my mother's eyes ; was she
thinking of Krak, Krak in far-off Styria ? Perhaps, for
once, when Victoria was hitting covertly at Krak my
mother remarked in a very cold voice-'
I
i
I
V
c
t
o
h
\
si
n
a1
P
d:
SOMETHING AROUT VICTORIA 43
"You remember your punishments, you don't re-
member your offences, Victoria"
n^liZl"^ linger long on these small matters, for I find
mo.e interest and mcitement to analysis in the attitude
relations vv th men; but I must pass over a year of
veiled conflict, and come to that incident whklHs the
sahen point in Victoria's girlish history. I coincided
U en and my pre-occupation with that event diverted
Slfel^" iust r '^' ''''''' '^^^Ses of Victoria's afS'.
(and he idd ""' ^''^^'", "P '" ^^^^ °^^" ^^^^^'^
ention^ but ^ "^^"X Precedents to fortify her con-
lention but .,.y mothers eyes still wantiP<^ a vear
socliTv vr;r '■'" ^''"•''^ '""I ^^°"'^ b- launched S
flank ^of ^he H? ^^\"'^^^^^ P^'-force, but turned the
hould be bv nn'^^ ^y ""^"""- '^^' the home life
P enaxe for^f. T 1 ^^"' ^T" ^^^ '^^ ^o work to
Si ' ^ P^^^"' comedy or tragedy I knew not
£' "fCeT "T T'^^ ^^^^^- O"^ -arest neigh-
Dour at Artenberg dwelt across the river in the oic
turesque old castle of VValdenweiter ; he was a youic
man of twenty-two at this time, handsome ple^asanf
and ready for amusement. His father being dead
Frederick was his own master-that is to sav he S
no master. Victoria fell in love with h U The Baron
It seemed, was not disinclined for a romance u ith ".'
pretty pnncess ; perhaps he thought thatTth ,g eriou^
would come of it, and that it was'a pleasant enoSgh way
of passing a summer; or, perhaps, being but tvvenv
two, he did not think at all, Lless to musS c^fthedTpt
of the blue in Victoria s eyes, and the comely Hnesf
her figure as she rowed on the river. To sW tru^
Victoria gave him small time for reflection ^ '
As 1 ani convinced, before he had well considered the
situation he had fallen into the habit of attendL .
Zt'TLi.i:J''''^T' °' ''' ^tream^ about" a m'i,
dDoye Artenberg. Victoria never went out unarrnm
panied, and never came back unaccompanied ('vv^I
discovered afterwards that the trustc/ old boatrna^
P.
T'ii
r :■
h
44
THE KING'S MIRROR
I ■ ' >ji
could be bougnt off with the price of beer, and used
to disembark and seek an ale-house so soon as the back-
water was reached. The meeting over, Victoria would
return m high spirits, displaying too an unusual affection
towards my mother, either as a blind, or through remorse
or (as I mchne to think) through an amiability born of
triumph ; there was at times even a touch of commisera-
tion in her manner, and more than once she spoke to
me, in a tone of philosophical speculation, on the useless-
ness of endeavouring to repress natural feelings and
the futility of reating as children persons who were
already grown up. This mood lasted some time so
long, I suppose, as the stolen delight of doing the thing
was more prominent than the delight in the thing itself
A month passed and brought a change. Now she was
silent, absent, pensive, very kind to me, more genuinely
submissive and dutiful to her mother. The first force of
my blow had left me, for Owen had been gone now some
months ; I began to observe my sister carefully. To my
amazement she, formerly the most heedless of creatures
knew in an instant that she was watched. She drew off
from me, setting a distance between us ; my answer was
to withdraw my companionship, since only thus could I
convince her that I had no desire to spy. I had not
guessed the truth, and my mother had no inkling of it.
Princess Heinrich's ignorance may seem strange, but I
ha -e often observed that persons of a masterful temper
are rather easy to delude ; they have such difficulty in
conceiving that they can be disobeyed as to become
ready subjects for hoodwinking; I recollect old
Hammerfeldt saying to me, " In public affairs, sire,
always expect disobedience, but be chary of rewardin^r
obedience." My mother adooted the second half of thS -
maxim but disregarded the fiVst. She always expected
obedience ; Victoria knew it and built on her knowled're
a confident hope of impunity in deceit. '^
Now on what harsh word have I stumbled? For
deceit savours of meanness. Let me amend and seek
the chanty, the neutral tolerance, of some such word as
concealment. For things good and things bad may be
SOMETHING ABOUT VICTORIA 45
'^^ttt^n^^^^^^^^ ^h-^,d ^-no. and things
flutterings of hearts °^p'^^' ^^^'•^ts of State and the
I found her cry in^. Ic?'" ^'^"'r^ conceahxient.
the terrace unde^a lud^crn^;f ^T^ ^'°"" "' ^ ^^'•ner of
away, Augustin." ""'>^ "'^^' she answered. "Do go
an;thing"2l^^-"^ ^^ ^^^^'" -'^ I- "Only if you want
"No. It'fZ^'j:^ IZ''-" f^^^'^ -th a sudden flush.
^-"...rieiftr-^-^:^;^
th^s^3T^;t:^^'---^^ anybody any.
I wtnt fv^aT'^;' .'^'■'k "'■^^^ ^'■^^'^r'a-
and had sought out Victor^ /"'^'"^ ""^'y ^°"^^y "^y-^elf.
ever I went and walkeH^.^ Z ^°"^Pa"y ^ sake. How-
nVer. It was cTe^r t^ vlZrlZV'' '^' ^^^^ °- ^^e
apparently I could do no h nJ f u"°' '"^nt me, and
found myUf able to do verv^mu'ch f ' ^ ^^^ "^^^'•
those who did not deservIJo T °'' f^^P^^' ^^^^Pt
them. Perhaps poor Victol H • l"^t'^'"^ ^°"^ ^^r
aware of her demerits then r'^"'"^' ^"^ ' ^^^ not
my old reflection : "don't s".. fl ??f.^^^^ ^° ^^^ '"^^er
l<ing, you know," said I as'lTun/Voebh^' ".^^ '?'"^
across at the tou ers of \L\Zy v ^^^^^^ ^nd looked
better off than lTm"sZl7Tr' • T^^^t fellow's
Victoria had not sent mf awkv Th''' '^''" '^^'
life during which on^^ ,'« oi \ -^^^ '^ ^ period of
was not quite over ?oV^:^veTfn^f>^ T ""^^' ^^^ '^
At last came the crTsh A rf.f^ °^ "^'^ ^'^"'^y-
of habit and impunfty the trefrh "^^ carelessness born
under the tempLbn of a '.M^'^^ boatman
savoir/,->e wh^en charged itt ^tlT ^^' ^''^'t ^''^ ^^
enough, and -lor^ ^-^ , offence— here wa=
more uzan enough. I recollect being
%n
f
M
U I*
I, <(
46
THE KING'S MIRROR
i
m.
summoned to my mother's room late one evening, just
about my bedtime. I went and found her alone with
Victoria. The Princess sat in her great arm-chair ;
Victoria was leaning against the wall when I entered ;
her handkerchief was crushed in one hand, the other
hand clenched by her side.
"Augustin," said the Princess, "Victoria and I go to
Biarritz to-morrow."
Victoria's quick breathing was her only comment.
My mother told me in brief, curt, offensive phrases that
Victoria had been carrying on a flirtation with our
opposite neighbour. I have no doubt that I looked
surprised.
" You may well wonder ! " cried my mother. "If she
could not remember what she was herself, she might
have remembered that the King was h( brother."
" I 've done nothing " Victoria began.
" Hold your tongue," said my mother. "If you were
in Styria, instead of here, you'd be locked up in your
own room for a month on bread and water ; yes, you may
think yourself lucky that I only take you to Biarritz."
" Styria ! " said Victoria with a very bitter smile. "If
I were in Styria I should be beheaded, I daresay, or —
or knouted, or something. Oh, I know what Styria
means ! Krak taught me that."
" I wish the Baroness was here," observed the
Princess.
"\ou'd tell her to beat me, I suppose?" flashed out
my sister.
"If you were three years younger " began my
mother with perfect outward composure. Victoria
interrupted her passionately
"Oh, never mind my age.
and beat me ! " she cried,
Iphigenia.
To this day I am of opinion that she ran a risk in
giving this invitation ; it was well on the cards that the
Princess might have accepted it. Indeed had it been
Styria— but it was not Styria. My mother turned to
me with a cold smile.
I 'm a child still ! Come
assuming the air of an
111
the
SOMETHING ABOUT VICTORIA 47
Pe-cution, and talks t "^Cl^ I'l^-T ^l^J.
Augltt^:fof^°J ,"?.■=''■ '"^ ^°-P'^"-^- •• What can
knoi-^^" °'''"™^ "y ™°*er. "But although I
"Oh, you've forgotten," cried Victoria scornfiilW
For a moment my mother flu^h^H i ^'
all account, that Vi^toTia did not repeat he'r „^"^- °"
invitation now On fi,^ 1 repeat ner previous
at Princess HdnrSh u ""^'^'y^ '"^^" '^^ had looked
^ushe^d^Js-trrS-Tdl-
_^ ; You Ve the king I " she cried. •• Protect me, protect
toItar'2'°t"let 'e'i»?hr"' ■"'-'■- ' -med
read on Victoria's "commendatir'Jh? "'''^''- ' '""'
r^er^ b:crse"the;°^rt L*ed' ^'"'^ "^. -'
^^ ^n^e'Sl ^f '^ r — "n'oXt-o™
-ff f t"fi,r h^^^^^^^^^^^^ Ho„„., the
Why, you don't want to marrv hfm ? " t 1 •
much embarra<;<5Prl nf k • [^ "" '^ ^ exclanned,
would not hear of sucht marriage as ihL." '"^
i-
/*^
:'!'
ill
5 .' i
.r»
48
THE KING'S MIRROR
i i'
I'i
"Do you want to marry him?" I asked Victoria,
chiefly, I confess, in curiosity. I had risen— or fallen—
m some degree to my position, and it seemed strange
to me that my sister should wish to marry this Baron
Fritz. ^
" I— I love him, Augustin," groaned Victoria.
"She knows it's impossible, as well as you do," said
my mother. " She doesn't really want to do it."
Victoria cried quietly, but made no .cply or protest.
I was bewildered ; I did not understand then how we
may passionately desire a thing which we would not do,
and may snatch at the opposition of others as an excuse
alike for refusal and for tears. Looking back, I do not
thmk, had we set Victoria free in the boat and put the
sculls in her hands, that she would have rowed over to
Waldenweiter. But did she, then, deserve no pity?
Perhaps she deserved more ; for not tvv o weak creatures
like the Princess (I crave her pardon) and myself stood
between her and her wishes, but she herself— the being
that she had been fashioned into, her whole life, her
nature, and her heart, as our state had made them. If
our soul be our prison, and ourself the gaoler, in vain
shall we plan escape or offer bribes for freedom ; where-
soever we go we carry the walls with us, and if death,
then death alone can unlock the gates.
The scene grew quieter. Victoria rose, and threw
herself into a chair in a vvcar^- puzzled desolation ; my
rnother sat quite still, with eyes intent on the floor, and
lips close shut. A sense of awkwardness grew strong
on me ; I wanted to get out of the room. They would
not fight any more now ; they would be very distant to
one another ; and, moreover, it seemed clear that Vic-
toria did not propose to marry Baron Fritz. But what
about poor Baron Fritz ? I approached my mother, and
whispered a question. She answered me aloud.
"I have written to Prince von Hammerfeldt. A
letter from him will, I have no doubt, be enough to
ensure us against further impertinence."
Victoria dabbed her eyes, but no protest; came from
her. _ ^
I
SOMETHING ABOUT VICTORIA 49
Pany me." Her ^oice 00k aTn "?) ■"^''''' ^" ^^^«'"-
your wishes may persuade h^ A "■°">'- "Possibly
cannot." "^ Persuade her. A-igustin, if mine
dis^Syl"'^^'' "" head suddenly, and s.fd very
My mother smiled bitterlv" \h ^
enough the imph-cit decIaratTon 'of ""^^^-^tood well
her to me the shiftin/of ane'.a.Ke''''F' ' "^P""' ^''^"^
savv the absurdity of puttfn^a ho,!- 1 '^''''^'''^>' ^^^^ '^^
such a position; but I knot ^hTr"?/^' ''•^'^^^" '"to
stronglj.. ^ ^"°^^ that I felt it much more
I lldoasyoutellme, Augustin"
It -S^y'Sdlhr^^^^^^^^ ^^'-^ -^ -ther.
very pleasant one but I did noV?'?"l/'°"^^ "°t be a
that side of the question I Z f /'^''.^^ *° ^"ter into
"^"'l^t;:?d"lT,^ '' ^"Sof ^theT£ ^^'^ -^-"- to
, 7-y wel 'k^J^u"tfn^^ I.
J^er feet. She was 3/^1'] ^rlr 7.^°",^' ^"^ '^^ ''ose to
stately as she walked Lh? ^l''^' ^"^ ^°°J<ed very
made no movement or sig^'the^^;;^^^- /'^ ^^'■---
her hps. After a moment o'r Ito^af '""^-^ ^^'"''^^^ «"
my sister from the room ShfL '"T',!"^ ^ ^°"°^^ed
the passage, moving ?o^vards he H-'h'' '^'"^ °^ '"^ '"
hstless tread. An imouTsp of . bedroom with a slow
I ran after her. caiSer bv PP'^'^^' '^"^^ "P°" "^e ;
"Cheer up." I safd ^ *^^ ^'"'' ^"^ ^^''^^ed her.
beln^aVooK"'" ^'^'^' ^"^^-^-." «aid she. "IVe only
Jhere seemed nothing else to do, so I kissed her
"Fancy Biarrit^ with mother!" she moaned. Then
i« \i
50
THE KING'S MIRROR
she turned on me suddenly, almost fiercely. "But,
what's the j^ood of asking anything of you? You're
afraid of mother still."
I drew back as though she had struck me. A
moment later her arms were round my neck.
" Oh, never mind, my dear," she sobbed. " Don't you
see I 'm miserable? Of course I mint go with her."
I had never supposed that any other course was
practicable. The introduction of myself into the busi-
ness had been but a move in the game. Nevertheless it
marked the beginning of a new position for me, as rich
in discomfort as, according to my experience, are most
extensions of power.
I ,:
(
C
K.
d
1
\
F
h(
H
wi
be
to
" But
(^ou 're
:. A
I't you
;r."
s was
: busi-
;les.s it
IS rich
: most
CirAPTER VI.
A STUDENT OF r nvn .,
?^^^'^sU^^T^^^^^ l^r^^^ Without
solitude, he insisted on r.,.i • ^'^""' Hearing of mv
speedily ; but for a few davs^ ---k7ments^o retu^^
saving for the presence n7 T' '^^^ ^"'te alone
f Ptiste. I hked Ba^t'te hTvv^''"^'^ ^Sdy-servant
anarchist, by prejudice a free fV^ ^^ conviction an
hisshouidersdispisedof the? .!"''•'''■= °"^ ^h'-"^ of
another relegated^ the next to the "p'k' °^ '^^' '^'^-^^l
He was always respectful bunn^ ''^i^^ °^ delusions
ably intimate manner Hp" Possessed an unconquer-
^Poke to man, although one ml?°K '"'^'' ^^^^ -">
oUiers boots for him." He reS.d ''""T^ °" ^he
affection and pity r hVrf ^ u '^. ""^ ^^'^h iningled
^e pauvre pe,i/J. tL po pr/^"''^ ^^'-" ^Peaking o
own that from the nstant^mv h^I V^'' ''^' ^° much my
Smce he attributed to^e^o acrn''""' °"' '° ^^Pt'-'^te^
officious or persistent in his^fS , '^"^^'^>'' ^^ w^s not
duty; in fact he left ^ne very muchTo' "''^ ""' ^^^ °"
To my mother he was noHf? h ."?^ °'^" ^^vices.
Victoria, declaring That sh. ^"^ "^^^ ' ^^^ adored
French; his great\atred was for'H '"""''^K °^ ^eing
he accused of embodying the d^^?"'?''^?^'' ^^^^'^
Hammerfeldt was awafe of M. r r °^ ^eutonism.
with them, while he Iristed b !^,f«^''"§^^ ^"^ P^^yed
body about me. He did nnf l -"P^'l^e more than any-
to the Frenchman and I dS^^^^^^'^-vy attached I wL
did nut mtend that he should
CI
i
i-
li ; .
52
THE KING'S MIRROR
I
"I
I s
il
iP n
iV
learn. I had received a sharp lesson with rejjard to
parading n'y preferences.
It was through liaptiste that I ' ?ard of Baron Fritz's
side of the case, for Baptiste was friendly with I*'ritz's
servants. The Baron, it appeared, was in despair.
"They watch him when he walks by the river," declarcil
Baptiste with a gesture in which dismay and satisfaction
ucre curiously blended.
"Poor fellow!" said I, leaning back in the stern of
the boat. To be in such a state on Victoria's account
was odd and deplorable.
Baptiste laid down the sculls and leant forward
smiling.
" It is nothing, sire," said he. " It must happen now
and again to all of us. M. le Baron will soon be well.
Meanwhile he is — oh, miserable!"
" Is he all alone there?" I asked.
" Absolutely, sire. Me will .see nobody."
I looked up at Waldenweiter.
" He has not even his mother with him," said
Baptiste ; the remark, as Baptiste delivered it, was
impertinent, and yet so intangibly impertinent as to
afford no handle for reproof. He meant that the Baron
was free from an aggravation ; he said that he lacked a
consolation.
" Shall I go and see him ? " I asked. In truth I was
rather curious about him ; it was a pleasure to me to
break out of my own surroundings,
" What would the Prince say ? " said Baptiste.
"He need not know. Row ashore there."
" You must not go, sire. It would be known, and
they would say " Baptiste's shrug was eloquent. .
" Do they always talk about everything one does?"
" Certainly, sire, it is your privilege," smiled my
servant. " But I think he might come to you. That
could be managed ; not in the Schloss, but in the wood,
quite privately. I can contrive it."
Baptiste did contrive it, and Baron Fritz came. I
was now just too old to scorn love, just too young to
sympatli se fully with it. There is that age in a boy's
t
V
n
A STUDENT Ol' r.OVK AFFAIRS 53
curiously at FVit, he u^^ 'f 1 '.™«"i"n- I i"..k«l
that he was not n'n ,!r i ™"' "'"^ '"^- ■ Perccive.l
only to sp"rt''ri;:- ' " ?-.>'rrf.,"i'f"'"'v;-°'-'
romance, but in him it L.. ir ""^^l»"ig of Owen's
to embrace tie uZcVaf f-'^^'V^' ""t open wide
He thanked me Jo re^eivinV h'.r^' ^"'"'"T"' ""^^ "^''>'-
and artificial fashion 1 Jond V'' ^ rather elaborate
cau.dU Victoria\ nncy iVe Vnt"' °"^^' ^'^''^^ ^^^^ '^^d
robust for him He L'.r n f P'''?'"'-'"^ •'^^■">^^'^' too
very poetica lasts • h> ,?, " .''^'r'^" "^ ^^'^ '" •'^«'^-'
Dianl and i' lymt^^^ ^'"^' "^P"<-'try about
into Latin versesTirl .>! '''''' .^''^" '"'''^^^' ^^ ^urn it
soi'l. Me spoke of h? '^^"tunent fell cold on my
^thou,ir!Jt ;[ici^: ^^i^S^^^^^^^^
m'^ht, his whole life was tho > • '. '^fP'^" '^''''^
not mention Victoria's n J. i '-'nccss's ; but he did
air of mystery as flu M .'• . '''"'^ "^^•*" ^^'th an
•' '■^'/' as tnoujrh snies iirl-<>,l .'^ ii 7
There was nobody savt? IV. k J , " ^''"^ '^"°^'^-
guard this secret meetino-^ T ' ''"'^"^' •'^^'"^'">^ ^o
cigarette, and lit LTvseff- I h^K ''^" ^^^'^'■"" ^
tl.ough still surreptit.ouTly ' '"'' ^"^^"" ^'^^ ^^^^it,
sugg^stV'' '''"' '^'"°"" ^'^-^'d be a row?" I
" Tell me of her ! " he cried >< i .u ■
I did not want to tell h ?^'.k 1 1^ '" ^""^^^ "ricf?"
h- to tell me about! im elf A 1"'°""'.^ "^"^^^
stood this. I am bound to v tlfat IT ^%^5 ""^"'-
once. I sat lookintr ^f k; ' l^l ^'f ^''atified me at
feelings; all a once ho l.,, ^^^ile he described his
on him. ''^ ^"'"'-'^ ^"^ discovered my gaze
" Go on," said I.
to^R: grrnd,?nd"he tSt'ol^ r"^ ^^^^ ^^"
which he had allowed to loou ^ H ^' '^ u ''^^'^''^
me a strange bov • hnf h/. m ^ *^^'-esay he thought
«< Vr- - ^ V ^•' ^ "^ ^°"'^ "ot very w^l! sav so
lou don t understand it?" he asked ^
)•
/
S4
THE KING'S MIRROR
" Partly," I answered,
" We never had any hope," said he, almost luxuriously.
"But you enjoyed it very much?" I suggested; I
was quite grave about it in my mind, as well as in my
face.
" Ah ! " sighed he softly.
" And now it 's all over ! "
'* I see her no more. I think of her. She thinks of
me."
" Perhaps," said I meditatively. I was wondering
.whether they did not think more about themselves.
"Didn't you think you might manage it?"
" Alas, no. Sorrow was always in our joy."
" What are you going to do now ? "
" What is there for me to do ? " he asked despairingly.
" Sometimes I think that I cannot endure to live."
" Baptiste told me that they watched you when you
walked by the river."
He turned to me with a very interested expression of
face.
" Do they really ? " he asked.
" So Baptiste said."
"I promised her that, whatever happened, I would
do nothing rash," said he. " What would her feelings
be?"
"We should all be very much distressed," said I, in
my best Court manner.
" Ah, the world, the world ! " sighed Baron Fritz.
Then with an air of great courage he went on : " Yet
how am I so different from her?"
" I think you are very much alike," said I.
" But she is — a Princess ! "
I felt that he was laying a sort of responsibility
on me. I could not help Victoria being a Princess.'
He laughed bitterly ; I seemed to be put on my
defence.
" I think it just «s absurd as you do," I hastened to
say.
" Absurd ! " he e-hoed. " I didn't say that I thought
it absurd. Would not Your Majesty rather say tragic ?
A STUDENT OF LOVE AFFAIRS 55
pay"L7?ce"'= ""S^' P™^"' P-'ce-sses-our hearts
degree to Z' LZ't^^^^tll Xge'th^r^ tL" 7
my s Jn Sn': s7atund „ Tnd vi'f'roTs "^h^lr °'
perh^. detected the beginni,,,. "^r.^-, L^o'^/ tC
" MeaEe^'^'"v /• """^'^^'""'' '•^^'^- ""easily.
" rf ?r I T'^ ^"'^ '' ^"^^" J ^ m"«t master .> "
it s the only thing to do " "a^ier i..
"And she "
j_^;;Oh, she'll get over it," I assured him, nodding my
age st,ll so impressionable, should have been of ,h^
shallow and somewhat artificial character betaved h^
the romance of my sister and Baron Fritz S!,l ^
su?orife°d"^^"'' '°"S'"S '° ^'^"^^ P"ver over Ten"
fn^'-TnlrtTon^r/pSlfll-^'^'r --^ "h^;
conscious fellow, huggfnTlfil^ wl™l' d'dcKtL" [^
the picturesqueness of his misff.rfnnl "Hf'^'^""^^. >«
left on my ,iind was tha thTre "as a Ji'd"?°"r
nonsense about the matter %..-. ^^ "^^^^ °^
my opinion. ' ^^P^'^^e strengthened
yJl ^^^ ^u""' P^''^^"' ^''^'" ^^ said with a shruo- " hnt
Tt? sZ. ' ^^"^'"^-^^-••ty of the Germans VVhati
deiug^e'?f^,^t t^d" ^T^'Jtr'^r 'f ^
IS not like that in his little affaiis." ^^ henchman
ill
i'
"I
pui]
i.tl
56
THE KING'S MIRROR
h *
I) i..T <>
Hi
" What does a Frenchman do, Baptiste ? " I had the
curiousity to ask.
" Ah," laughed Baptiste, " if I told Your Majesty now,
you would not care to visit Paris ; and I long to go to
Paris with Your Majesty,"
I did not pursue the subject. I was conscious of a
disenchantment, begun by Victoria, continued by the
Baron. The reaction made in favour of my mother. I
acknowledged the wisdom of her firmness and an
excuse for her anger. I realised her causes for annoy-
ance and shame, and saw the hoUowness of the lovers'
pleas. I had thought the Princess very hard; I was
now inclined to think that she had shown as much
self-control as could be expected from her. Rather to
my own surprise I found myself extending this more
favourable judgment of her to other matters, entering
with a new sympathy into her disposition, and even
forgiving some harsh things which I had never pardoned.
The idea suggested itself to my mind that even the
rigours of the Styrian discipline had a rational relation
to the position which the victims of it were destined to
fill. She might be right in supposing that we could not
be allowed the indulgence accorded to the common run
of children. We were destined for a special purpose,
and, if we were not made of a special clay, yet we must
be fashioned into a special shape. It is hard to dis-
entangle the influence of one event from that exerted
by another. Perhaps the loss of Owen, and the conse-
quently increased influence of Hammerfeldt over my
life and thoughts, had as much to do with my new
feelings as Victoria's love afiair ; but in any case I date
from this time a fresh development of myself I was
growing into my kingship, beginning to realise the'
conception of it, and to fill up \hat conception in my
own mind. This moment was of importance to me ; for
it marked the beginning of a period during which this
idea of my position was very dominant and coloured all
I did or thought. I did not change my opinion as to
the discomfort of the post; but its importance, its
sacredness, and its paramount claims grew larger and
A STUDENT OF LOVE AFFAIRS 57
have been in some respects a ^lifLt ' '.tf of^ dn '
he els anv^hr'""' '""="'=^""'1 effort to ujieve tbJt
world ^ '^ ^''■"=P' '"'"'^'="' '" "'<= ':™'=^e of the
HarorTtill'''''"!? P""''^"f ?'■'=•''■'"'■'= drove the love-lorn
vSt' on "tn""?'' ''="' ""= "••"'^'"^'•■^ !>-■■«' '«
tl e Pri Kess a^H V *^, ^■'■"^'" '°"''; ""'' ''" ""■<='-' '""'"h-^
.hene;:3:crr;^^^^^^^^
rsH^'TaTar^^
om,neern,g nature tl,at answers any obfecCto iti
ve;ur:d%:X?est ^'" "^'^ '^ "^ ^^'^ -°^^--?" I
" Mother behaved odiously," she declared " I ron
never forg.ve her the way she treated me " "
1 he grievance then had shifted its rround • not whaf
the Pnncess had done, but the manner in which she had
t^A rf ? "^'^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^"d ^"-ont of her offence It
that m.;r^' acquaintance with the world to recognise
that matters were not improved hu thi^ rh^'Z T
may come to recognise th'at common sc^'e.fas'^Uh
W
1.1
f
58
THE KING'S MIRROR
II
the enemy; vanity at once takes refuge in the con-
viction that his awkwardness, rudeness, or cruelty in
advancing his case was responsible for all the trouble.
" If she had been kind, I should have seen it all
directly," said Victoria. And in this it may very well
be that Victoria was not altogether wrong.
The position was, however, inconsistent with even
moderate comfort. There was a way of ending it,
obvious, I suppose, to everybody save myself, but
seeming rather startling to my youthful mind. In six
mont'r; now Victoria would be eighteen, and eighteen
is a marriageable age. Victoria must be married ; my
mother and Hammerfeldt went husband-hunting. As
soon as I heard of the scheme I was ready with brotherly
sympathy, and even cherished the idea of interposing a
hitherto untritJ royal veto on such premature haste and
cruel forcing of a girl's inclination. Victoria received
my advances with visible surprise. Did I suppose, sha
asked, that she was so happy at home as to shrink from
marriage? Would not such a step be rather an emanc'-
pation than a banishment? (I paraphrase and condense
her observation.) Did I not perceive that she must hai!
the prospect with relief? I was to know that her mother
and herself were at one on this matter ; she was obliged
for my kindness, but thought that I need not concern
myself in the matter. Considerably relieved, not less
puzzled, with a picture of Victoria sobbing and the
baron walking (well watched) by the river's brink, I
withdrew from my sister's presence. It occurred to me
that to take a husband in order to escape from a mother
was a peculiar step ; I have since seen reason to suppose
that it is more common than I imagined.
The history of my private life is (to speak broadly) the
record of the reaction of my public capacity on my
personal position ; the effect of this reaction has been
almost uniformly unfortunate. The case of Victoria f
marriage affords a good instance. It might have been
that here at least I should be suffered to play a fraternal
and grateful part. My fate and Hammerfeldt ruled
otherwise. There were two persons who suggested
111
A STUDENT OF LOVE AFFAIRS sO
themselves as suitable mates for my sister; one was
the re.gnmg king of a country which I need not name,
he other was Pnnce William Adolphus of Alt-Gronen-
stahl a pnnce of considerable wealth and unexception-
abe descent but not in the direct succession to a throne,
nor hkely to occupy a prominent position in Europe,
me Ht'L w "''"^'" ^"•t^/^'-given fortune (or perhaps
me either) for not making her a queen in the first
n .r''^ ' .'k^ '''''^ ''''^''' *" '^P^''' the error. She came
to me and begged me to exert my influence in behalf of
favoi^rnt' '"^ ''!' understood through his adv .ers to
ayour the suggestion. I was most happy to second her
wishes, although entirely sceptical as to the value of
my assistance. I recollect very well the interview that
follovved between Hammerfeldt and myself; throughou
cando^rdi r''^ r '" r"' -^P^^'^'^g ^^'th abs^olute
candour, disclosing to me the whole question, and as-
the' fl!^^' Y°"; Majesty," said he. " the Princess is heir to
union oT'the^ ^"'' '■"'"'^'^ representations that the
union of the two countries in one hand could not be
contemplated by the Powers. Now you, sire, are youno
you are and must be for some > ,rs unmarried Hfe'is
uncertain and (Here he looke'd at me steadfi;) you
physicians are of opinion that certain seeds of weakness
sown by your severe illness, have not yet been eradicated
from your constitution. It is necessary for me to ofiS
these observations to Your Majesty."
The old man's eyes were very kind
" ' V^ ^n '"'^'^t' ^^'''" ^^'"^ *• " Go on."
We all trust that you may live through a long rci^rn
and that your son may reign after you^ It is ?nd3'
the only strong wish that I have left in a world 'which '
been T^kT^ "^^^^ ''J'^'' ^^"^ ^^e other possibility ha
been set before us and we cannot ignore it "
.brom that moment I myself never ignored it.
It was suggested that Princess Victoria should
^oTTAi^T 'tl' f "'^'^^^"•°"- I "--d not rem nd
\ our Riajcsty that the result would be to make your
6o
THE KINGS MIRROR
1 •
I; i]
1.^;;-,
?'*ii
m ^
cousin Prince Ferdinand heir-fjresumptive. I dosire to
speak with all respect of the Prince, but his succession
would be an unmixed calamity." The Prince took a
pmch of snuff.
Ferdinand was very liberal in his theorii-s , -nd equally
so, m a rather different sense, in his mode of life.
I thought for a moment.
" I shouldn't like the succession to go out of .uir
branch," said [.
" 1 was sure r.f it, sire," he said, bowing. " It vouM
break your moDvr's heart and mine."
^ 1 was greatly troullcd. What of my ready incon-
siderate promise u, Viccoria? And apart from I'le
promise I would nic ht eag(-rly have helped her to ii.;r
way. I had folt severely the lack of confidence and
affection that had recently come about between v^ i
I was hiingry for her love, and hoped to buy it of her
gratitude. I believe old Hammerfeldt's keen eyes saw
all that passed in my thoughts. The Styrian teaching
had left its mark on my mind, as had the Styrian
discipline on my soul. "God did not make you king
for your own pleasure," Krak used to say with that
mstmctive knowledge of the Deity which marks those
who train the young. No, nor for my sister's, nor even
that 1 might conciliate my sister's love. Nay, again,
nor even that I might make my sister happy. For
none of these ends did I sit where I sat. But I felt
very forlorn and sad as I looked at the old Prince.
" Victoria will be very angry," said I. " I wanted to
please her so much."
"The Princess has her duties, and will reco"-nise
yours," he answered. ^
" Of course, if I die it '11 be all right. But if I live
she'll say I did it just out of ill-nature."
The old man rose from his chair, laying his snuff-bo:
on the table by him. He came up to me and he),
out both his hands; I put mine into them, and look !
up into his face. It wa^ T.oved by a most rare enn'-.u
1 had never seen him hi ais before.
"Sire," said he in a low tone, "do not think ' t
A STUDENT OF LOVE AFFAIRS 6,
that loves you as he1nv^5 ,7 ' 7^'''' '^ "" °l'' '"•«"
father; and yoZ leZlo IZ f'" ''"'^ •P''' Sr^"'''
down and kissed me'^oXthe heek ff ' k "", '=='"
for''h:'ri'ro;vn"ay^'h:r''c '°''^^' ^^^J""-' ^"' canity,
sister! And ahs n„nrTT'"'u"'*''™^ ' Alas, poo
again ! ' ' P°" '"'°""=''' >'™S'-y to be friends
■U\
211
i
(•p
chaptf:r VII.
'it
THINGS NOT TO BE NOTICED
I HAVE not the heart to set down what passed between
my sister and myself when I broke to her the news
that I must be against her. Impulsive in all her moods,
and uncroverned in her emotions, she displayed much
bitterness and an anger that her disappointment may
excuse. I have little doubt that I, on my part, was
formal, priggish, perhaps absurd ; all these faults she
charged me with. You cannot put great ideas in a
boy's head without puffing him up ; I was doing at cost
to myself what I was convinced was my duty; it is
only too likely that I gave myself some airs during the
performance. Might I not be pardoned if I talked a
little big about my position ? The price I was paying
for it was big enough. It touched me most nearly when
she accused me of jealousy, but I set it down only to
her present rage. I was tempted to soften her by
dwelling on my own precarious health, but I am glad
that an instinct for fair play made me leave that weapon
unused. She grew calm at last, and rose to her feet
with a pale face.
" I have tried to do right," said I.
" I shall not forget what you have done," she retorted
as she walked out of the room.
I have been much alone in my life— alone in spirit,
I mean, for that is the only loneliness that has power to
hurt a man— but never so much as during the year that
elapsed before Victoria's marriage was celebrated. Save
for Hammerfeldt, whose engagements did not allow him
to be much in my company, and to whom it was pos-
sible to open one's heart only rarely, I had nobody with
62
THINGS NOT TO m NOTICED e^
she^y^lclccfVoreSlv^io fu'"' -""^ •"^P^'^^'"' ^'though
secret on Victoria's side ^n the^a^'^^'^u ^^^ >'^^ '"
y.ctona had been for meetinl th^f '' ""^ ^^"^ marriage,
by renouncing her suTcesSi i'"''"^" fepresentatives
hear of that, but was fo^deW?^^ mother would not
she had declared, could really co'^ FT'"'- ^^^^hing,
[eldt overbore her with Knn, i .""^ ^^'^'"- Hammer-
leavmg her defeated buronv^i'ir^^ ^"^ experience,
and disappointed. She vac c^are? ^°"^'"^ed, sullen
against me overtly, but nSer nf^ , " '? ^^^^ '^^^^
or to aid me. She withd ew 11'^ ''""^ '° ^^^^''^''t
favoured Victoria sijentlv ^M, u "" "eutrality that
■espou^^e her cause. Tl^' ?^'^7/,^ '^ ""f^^ed openly to
together again, leaving me ^orotn' ''^"^^^me closer
prospect of independence rec^H I T# '^^^^ "ear
temporary control my mother , "^ ^'"^""^ to a
her share in her daiZjeA dT.. '•"'°''^ gentle from
part I took refuge more and m^P"'"'?""^- ^^' "ly
sport. *> "^""'^ ^"d more m books and my
Amusement is fho
ofi-ers,and even in tWs ZafJ^Hm '°f °'"''°" '^^' hTe
The love-lorn Baron had retuTnedT l^f^ "^^ ^^^'o'ng-
wrote to Hammerfeldt "^f^"'"^*^ to Waldenweiter ; he
-/used it ; the T:rTre:LrtZ'T ' '""^ ^^^'"-
be married ; I can imagh e the ^rTm ^ -7^' ^'^^"^ to
the old man withdrew hie ^k- /"" '"^'^^ with which
home with his wit T^ stS'n"- 7""^ ^^^^ --'
alliance between my nio her .nd '^- ^'"^'^^ ^^^ "^w
very difficult for my mother no^M . ^^ "l'^'' '' ^^^^ ««
detected a taunt even n silence T^^' ""^ ^'^^'^'-'^
no rupture, the Baron was n^!" ^"^^'^.^'^r there was
peeking distraction, madr it mv k"'""''°"^^ ' but I.
hjmas often as he Ventured I f^^-^^u'"^'' ^° Pursue
him once and insisted on • ° ^" ''^^t. I overtook
-nd being introducS .^tfrott? '° ^^^^enweS
She knew nothing ah ■ c the ^f?; ^/°""^ Baroness,
at not being invited to Artenber.' ^tJI' '^'^'^ ^urt
thorns during the whole in tervff,' I^^ ^^'■°" ^^^^ on
because he must be lool^";'"^;,^^;; ^^ - much
« ^ *"^' m my eyes, as
64
THE V
ikROR
Hi
I
^
because he did not desire to seem light of love in his
wife's. Unhappily, however, about this time a pamplilet
was secretly printed and circulated, givin;^ a tolerably
accurate account of the whole affair. The wrath in
"exalted quarters" may be imagin. ' i iuanaged to
procure (through Baptiste) a copy of this publication
and read it with much entertainment. Victoria, in spite
of her anger, borrowed it from me. It is within my
knowledge that the Baroness received a copy from an
unknown friend, and that the Baron, being thus driven
into a lorner, admitted that the Princess had at one
time di; tinguished him by some attentions— and could
he be rude ■• Now, curiously enough, the report that got
about on our bank of the river was that there was no
foundation at all for the assertions of the pamphlet,
except in a foolish and ill-mannerec' persecution to
which the Princess had, during a short period, been
subjected. After this there could be no question of
any invitation passing from Artenberg to VValden-
weiter. The subject dropped; the printer made
some little scandal and a pocket-full of money, and
persons who, like myself, knew the facts and rould
appreciate the behaviour of the lovers gained con-
siderable amusement.
My second source of diversion w. , found in my
future brother-in-law, Willi m Ad iphus ff Alt-
Gronenstahl. He was, in himself, a thoroughly heavy
fellow, although admirably good-natured and, I believe,
a practical and compete* '. - »ldier. He was tall, iark,
and even at this time inclining to stoutncs; he became
afterwards exceedingly corpulent. He did not at first
promise amusement, but a rather maisJous humour
found much in him, owing to the ' ^um'^^ ance that the
poor fellow was acquainted with tl' icj. iations touch-
ing the marriage first suggested i Victoria, and was
fully aware that he himself was in his lady's eyes only
a pis-aller. His dignity might have refused such a
situation ; but in the first instance he had been hardly
more of a free agent than Victoria herself, and later on,
as though he were determined to deprive himself of all
TlnxGS NOT TO mc NOTICED c,
flcrcnce, he proceofJ.vl fr. r n
capricious but very at Lt L^^'sf "/"''^J" ^"^'^ ^^'^'^ '"v^
---eludes arniKscncU at thlm T'^^''^^^^' ^^'^'^ P^'"Pl-
sy«npathies are a vcrv ri^"- 1, ''"''''' "^^t. ^or u- c|e
^v'th his conficleno^ iiid dnl? . •^''"-'."''' l^^"«ured ,ne
JJ^ed to consult me a mol' .1 '■' ^'f'^^. ^° Artenber,'
best propitiate his de ty and u ' "', '° 'f^^ '^^' "^'^^^^^
that other alhance whfch h' ''" ^'J- ^'^^^-^ts frSm
prospective brilJiancc ^ '"^ ^^''P^^^^ ^^'^ in its
to';^t^,;f^'^^\^:f-'t t. manage," he used to say
fcvv years, Au^Justin " '^"°'' '"'^'■^' ^^out them in a
him; ^.e vvr'^^n ;:':^,,l^^^the least fonder of
;n the stir , he Znt^' ru'''''^ ^"^ excited
things to do and talk aS' J}^'^ '^^'^ ^« many
prominence and pubhcitv a^ ' k""^ '° "^"^^ desirable
she had less tinie fo nu Jn" . S^,^ afifair. that
of h,m was passin^over L^'"^'^'',^'^- The shock
With the rest of itTbut^ ' w ''^' ^f"'"^^ '"to focus
least fonder of him.' I ktVill T ^'•'?'"'"^^ '" ^he
years; with them he knew no^l r' •'"'\°"' ^^^ ^^^^
be a mere accident who r 1.1 ""^ '^- ^^ seems to
truth, who impervious "^'^''''' '" ^e pervious to
molztTii^o:; ;rot':;r;'f "v^^ ^-^ ^^'"-am
passed on. Tlicre is but one hiciH ' YT''^ '^^ ^ime
flamnig against the grev of thaT'"^^"^ ^^^^ ^^ands out.
66
THE KING'S MIRROR
Kil
Wi
H
h
could even rise to my Let, Victoria— the door slammed
behind her — had thrown herself on her knees before
me. She was in her ni^dit-dress, bare-footed, her hair
loose and tumbled on her shoulders ; it seemed as
though she h.id sprung up from her bed and run to me.
She caught my arms in her hands, and laid her face on
my knees ; she said nothing, but sobbed violently with
a terrible gasping rapidity.
"My God, what's the matter?" said I.
For a moment there was no answer ; then her voice
came, interrupted and half choked by constant sobs.
" I can't do it, I cnii't do it. For God's sake, don't
make me do it."
" Do what ? " I asked.
Her sobs alone answered me, and their answer was
enough. I sat there helpless and still, the nervous
tight clutching of her hands pinning my arms to my
side.
" You 're the king, you 're the king," she moaned.
Yes, I was the king ; even then I smiled.
" You don't know," she went on, and now she raised
her face streaming with tears. " You don't know —
how can you know what it is ? Help mc, help me,
Augustin."
The thing had come on me with utter suddenness,
the tranquillity of my quiet room had been rudely
rent by the invasion. I was, in an instant, face to
face with a strange dim tragedy, the like of which
I had never known, the stress of which I could never
fully know. But all the tenderness that I had for
her, my love for her beauty, and the yearning for
comradeship that she herself had choked rose in me ;
I bent my head till my lips rested on her hair, crjnng,
"Don't, darling, don't."
She sprang up, throwing her arms about my neck,
and looking round the room as though there were
something that she feared ; then she sat on my knee
and nestled close to me. She had ceased to >ob now,
but it was worse to me to see her face strained in silent
agony and her eyes wept dry of tears.
THINGS NOT TO BK NOTICED C;
?» I l^i-edTc.^" ^:^^;'t f >••"' »-, you,.. ,„,,, ,,
■t was .s«x.et to me 1 , Hii i ,?"? ?"■ '"-■'• "-""Wu. but
to my arms. After a h?. i f "',"= ''■■"' ""' ^om jj
'h^, t"g of troube rcvelledU sf 'f'' '''•■•''™" "»
ft'l with closed eyes then .<h» '^*'. ''"'"''' I'"""'
looked up at me ' " ''"= "P'^"'^'' her eyes and
;;M"? I?" she asked,
^^o, 1 answered "ir^,^„ -n
^ Her arm coiled c iser rou^,d '''" "^^ >'°" «'^^" "ot-
her eyes aga/n, sigh p/and m ^ "'''^' ""^' ^^^^ ^'^^^^
-sently she Jay vcrv Sf ,? ""^^'"^ restlessly. Pre-
-^J-P. Hovv lont^iai siVorl"'l'"r'^" '^'^^^^'S like
came to me? ^ tormented herself befo?e she
no^if';:;:;7\,^3 '"' "^ ^^'-'-'^^^ -'^-n '-t. Now
position. She .slouffnot"al,7"^'' "^ P--^ -X
I would do. I did not knl bu 'thl^^H •" "l'"" ^^^^
should not be. But althon:.h r ^''. "- ""^^ ^""eaded
did not stir ; she wis 15 ^^. ^ '''^^ '" this fever I
Jong as she\vou,dFo2 '".?'"'"'■ ^'' ^'^ '•^^■^^'a
there in my arms ; I grew sdff anH '" ^""'" ^'^'^ ^^X
I did not move. At ifst I k i ^"^.^^'^y weary, but
she slept. ^^'' ^ Relieve that m very truth
quJrte\td\h; tlf^^^^^^^^^ struck midnight, and the
should say to mv n^nthi I ^^'^ rehearsed what I
I had dreUt iZ Tht'/ht' ,"'f, ^^ ^^--erfddt
so closely that we codd nfver .i ^'iV'^' ""^ "^-
now we knew one another and for^r."^"/' ^P""'"' ^hat
superficial in the other existeH Z ""^ °/ "" ^^hat was
away by the flood of fuU svmo.rh, ""Tu ^"' ''''' '''^P^
the world if need be ! '>^"'P'^^hy. She and I against
A shiver ran through her- .h^ , .
Wide and wider, looking round the ^ ^^' ^^'^
- f-r, but in sort of "wrdef HeTgaTe resfel
IJ
6S
THE KING'S MIRROR
an instant on my face, she drew her arm from round
my neck and rose to her feet, pushing away my arm.
There she stood for a moment with a strange, fretful,
ashamed look on her face. She tossed her head[
flmging her hair back behind her shoulders. I had
taken her hand and still held it, now she drew it also
away.
" What must you think of me ? " she said. " Good
gracious, I 'm in my nightgown."
She walked across to the looking-glass and stood
opposite to it.
" What a fright I look ! " she said. " How long have
I been here ? " ^
" I don't know ; more than an hour."
" It was horrid in bed to-night," she said in a half-
embarrassed yet half-absent way. " I got thinking
about— about all sorts of things, and I was frightened."
The change in her mood sealed my lips.
"I hope mother hasn't noticed that my room's
em^3vy. No, of course not; she must be in bed
long ago. Will you take me back to my room.
Augustin?" • ^
" Yes," said I.
She came up to me, looked at me for a moment, then
bent down to me as I sat in my chair and kissed my
forehead.
" You 're a dear boy," she said. " Was I quite mad ? "
"I meant what I said," I declared, as I stood up.
"I mean it still."
"Ah," said she, flinging her hands out, "poor
Augustin, you mean it still! Take me along the
corridor, dear, I 'm afraid to go alone."
Sometimes I blame myself that I submitted to the
second mood as completely as I had responded to
the first ; bul I was staggered by the change, and the
old sense of distance scattered for an hour was envelop-
ing me again.
One protest I tr»ade.
"Are we to do nothing, then.?" I asked in a low
whisper.
low
THINGS NOT TO BE NOTICED 69
"We're to go to our beds like n-ood rhHrlr^n " -j
she with a mournful h'ttlc smile "r..^ , ' ^^'^
mine." ^"^- ^ome, take me to
I' I must see you in the mornincr "
in the morninj?? Well wp'llco^ /-
Now she was Sr^rent 1;^! w , ^T^' ^^'^^•
But first she made rtn'lJr a 1^^^^^^ ""f' -^-
her feet were verv r^M i ? P^ir of my slippers;
i« against my hand as I V^'h ' .""t ""=>- f'='' '''<=
on the slippe" for her %! '"'? , ""^^ '" P"'""S
my arm Td w" went ^o^edS Th' 'T'^ "'^''^'^
rr„Sn"*°-'— -'" 'stVlid
wfpSel '^^r^oo^.^^.Xdea';^,-'' - ," she
I opened my lips to speal; to her again.
her st:n™„'gT,' tt 'mid^n; ST'-"'''^'- *--" ' >'='■'
door I wa,id X m nmlK^ r"-, p^'-^ide tl,e
about and getting huo bed 'then^U ""^ '"■""'"-
returned to my otn room ' ' """ ''""='; '
tol;,:e;Tur,r^"-Lrd™Z;"a,l 'tfc" »"^
EiStar'---iSS5
shfs,;;: "i"tre the''t'te^•?'^"^ °' '"y '— . 'f
them. """^ '" fragments and burnt
we'n'trt ?nto ;hf:aTde°n''"Ai" '"= "°™'-"S when 1
terrace-my mo.L'-r't^ril' 'nd WilLrXioTl''^
^ r^.^^^'As ':"^;;;i:^^"H^ ^f ■-S Tn^Se^^S'^r:;
n>orlgA^ndVised'on''rm'rro,i:arwatk"To^
day I went up to them M,r rJr.Z ^ ^ ' ^^^
in an e.ce„e,S ^<^^';:^\^XZZ"il^^:^Vl,^^
I
/'
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I ^.
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70
THE KING'S MIRROR
and happy Victoria was a little pale but very
vivacious. She darted a quick look at iiie and crSd
out the moment I had kissed ^ny mother :
We re settling the bridesmaids ! You 're lust in
time to help, Augustin." •" '"
VVe "settled" the bridesmaids. J hardly knew
opefa'tL'^ V^-""' ^^ ^^>' ^"-^^ thi;^1mVrta"
operation. Victoria was very kind to her ^ana^
receiving his suggestions witl/ positive graclou^fess ■
he became radiant under this treatment. When oui^
task ^as done, Victoria passed her arm through h
declaring that she wanted a stroll in the woocls • as
they went by me she laid her hand lightly 'and
affect onately on my arm, looking me full in the f^
the while. I understood ; for good or evil my lips we5e
My mother looked after the betrothed couple as thev
Suirr ' ^°°'^' '' "^^-^^^-'^ fine^high-b'rS^
h^nnv"" T ^^"""^'r m''' '^^ ^^ ^^^^' " ^^ ■'^ce Victoria so
f^^^P^'r^r ''''''' ^^'■''"^ ^^ °"^ ^'■'"e that she'd never take
to It. Of course we had other hopes "
fuT u ^f^^^o/ds were a hit at me. I ignored them •
that battle had been fought, the victory vvon and p^d
for by me in handsome fashion ^
"Has she taken to it.?" I asked as carelessly as I
could. But m)^ mother's eyes turned keenly on ie
Have you any reason for thinking she hasn't?"
came in quick question. "d-snti'
" No," I answered.
The sun was shining and Princess Heinrich opened -
her parasol very leisurely. She rose to her feet and
Stood there for a moment. Then in a smooth evTn
'' Mvl 7^ ^-Jl.'-easonable voice, she remarked '
My dear Augustin, from time to time all girls have
fancies We mothers know that it doesn't d^o to pay
any attention to them. They soon go if they '^e^le^
alone We shall meet at dinner. I hope?" ^
doibtfur^^ respectfully, but perhaps I looked a little
THINGS NOT TO BE NOTICED 7,
at Fo'St. '""' '''' "■"' '"""'■'-•<' '" ^^'"'"™ Adolphus
II
In
Hi mI
I! U
'• \
I I
CHAPTER VIII.
DESTINY IN A PINAFORE
TiiF foreign tour I undertook in my eighteenth veir
' ^k'^!; f ^^''^'^^"^'y. or even more tha^i suffic LntTv
clescr,bed by the accomplished and court ype^'f
Vohrenlorfs secretary. I travelled as the Count of
Artenberg under my governors guidance and sTv! in
iome ways more, in some respects less thin Zr.1
young men on their travels are^ Til:el tc'. see Oi;i
Hammerfeldt recommended for my eadine the
I^nghsh letters of Lord Chesterfield to his son ^and ?
-stud.ed them vvith some profit, much amusement and
an occasional burst of impatience ; I believe "iktTn
^a^t:1^r '• '"^'^ ^^- ^t-^hope had hi her o
attached too little importance to, and not attained
trit'?t":r^''V"''^^ ^'^^'^ -^ conce^Unt was
the lifes breath of his statescraft, and "the traces"
help a man to hide everything 1- ideals emotions
ra'irf^ction'Uthrp"' '' 'T' ^^^^ ^-" anlmmLre
sativ,taction to the Prince, on leav ng the world at a rit.^
age to feel that nobody had ever been ure that t J^J
JhltTh '"^ ^r = 'T^'' "^ ^°"''-^^' the fools who tS
that they understood everybody.
As far as my private life is concerned, one incident
only on this expedition is of moment. We paid a vk" '
to my father's cousins, the Bartensteins, who^pos^es ed
a smgularly charming place in Tirol. The Du ke w' s
moderately rich, very able, and very indolent He was
a connoisseur in music and the arts. His wife mv
cousin Elizabeth, was a very good-naturedWoman o^f
seven or eight and thirty, nofed for her dairy ^idLd
of out-of-door pursuits; her devotion to the.fe last had
d
DESTINY IN A PINAFORE 73
w^aSieate: "ZtZTto^T.l -.her reddened and
long halt • and .^vo . k r ^ ^ '''''''^' ^" unusually
simile y'ness^^? mv/n'Vv ^'''''r^ ^ ^^^^^^^^^^ a
When a secret l.^f T w Y"'^^"'^'"^-^ demeanour
effort was ?o draw evP.h'/'*''''^"'^''^'^ ^^"-^^ ^PP^-'ent
its existence ^'^^, ^f >^body's attention to the fact of
and le t h'm to seetho ^'T"'^ ^ u'^'^'^^^ "" questions,
knewTlLf I i! T,y^^ '" '^'■'^ over-boiling mv'sterv I
quTJr'g t' tfo e I'l^ad'f ^""'.^^°" eLugl.;"r.vas
it became 'obWous that tZ" "^"^ 1?^ "^>' ''^'^'^^'--^
suppose that itTs^ot a to^iherT/''' ''^^'\'.''>^- '
a youth of eighteet^ fee nf h m Jlf """^^ *'''"^ ^«''
think himself one^Ut become f?! "" "'^"' ''^''"^^ ^«
power and attrirtfon Ir 1 "">" conscious of the
shown a chUd of h'iv. T""'"' ^^ "^^^^s. to be
that in six years' Hmi h ''"''n T^"" ^° understand
his wife Tlfe position I ""'r' ^' ''^^y ^° become
I suppose is cuHo . ' 1 '^ "?^ ^'^ uncommon as
of dcScHption. '"°"S^ '° J"^^'^>^ ^ ^^^^' words
quickly markinrr hi;, T u .'''''''^- ^^^a rolled
" brough up " a^ Z %ofnf\^^ tnumphant cries. She
crumpted state hi u ,^ '^ ''°P^ '" a" excessively
S' £ir' at:x^ et^V'%1""- T^^^^^
into Lglets belZd Sh i ^?''^^^''' ^^^^ tormented
with soSf :ppS:"ensior''' ^"°'^' ^^ "^'>^ ^-^^ f--
^^ bplendid ! she ans verr d
<iidyoup''atdr:^„;S';! ''"^"^"•" ™^ '-k'"g on,
.^rl^l^'""'-' '*- "^-- P'ain that she did n<.
:|
I
li
Til
n
K^
w\
f
74
THE KING'S MIRROR
ing my (ace. ^°""" ^'''""^^^^^''^ honest eyes were search-
" Give me a kiss, won't you, Elsa ? " I asked
Lisa turned her chubby check up to me 'in a per-
fection of md.ffcrence. In fact both Elsa and I were
performmg family duties. Thus we kissed for the fir-t
time. '"'•
said Cousin Elizabeth. " You 're to come downLuVs
to-day, and you're not fit to be seen. Don't roll auv
more when you 've chan^^cd your frock " ^
Elsa smiled, shook her head, and ran off. I gathered
he impression that even in the clean frock- sh"e woul
exercS'^Tl-'^''' '^T'"^ '° >^ ^''^P^-^ ^° ^^^^^
exercise. The air of Bartenstein was not the air of
Artenberg. A milder climate reigned. There Wa
no Styrian di.scipline for Elsa. I "believe that in all
hL tha't'l''^ "' her parents' instance only one
an7l w:Lto.r""^^^ ''-'''''• ^°"^'" ^^^'-^^^h
"She's a baby still," said Cousin Elizabeth presently,
but I assure you that she has begun to develip."
1 here s no hurry, is there ? "
" No. You know, I think you 're too old for your
age, /iugustin. I suppose it was inevitable "
fifteen T'^' T^^^^^' !" "'^">' ^^'^>^'^ ^han I had at
fifteen, the gates of the world were opening and
•'And she has the sweetest disposition. So lovinjr ' "
said Cousin Elizabeth. ^ ' .
The ^nt^A ^"? ^"ything appropriate to answer.
Ihe next day found me fully, although delicately
one'^Th. n^' "'"''""• J' ^^^^^^^ ^° -- - ^tranlfe
one The Duke was guarded in his hints, and profuse
of declarations that it was too soon to think of a y-
thing. Good Cousin Elizabeth strove to conceal hlr
eagerness and repress the haste born of it by similar
but more cumsy speeches. I spoke openlj on 1 q
subject to Vohrenlorf, r / ' "i^
I"
DESTINY IN A PINAFORE 75
yclr^!' hT^erndccrn? ••'^^"" ^ •^"' >'-' have six
"And she vvnUrow up '' '" ^ood-naturcd consolation.
anl^d^^L/^L^;;,^ ^^'"^ ^'->'^' «^ course," I
. orl:i;i^^'^;^^,^^^ot^n.o an appearance
current of my thmiJh Is \nd .l" ^ '"K^"''''^ ^'^ ^'^^
aj;e will readHy co Uemph^^^^ m.'""'- "^ ,'^°>' °^ '"^
ten years his .^.lio • f ''e^., .^f'^'^f ^^'If^? ^ ^voman
younger than him^r^ir 1 ^5 ^° ^ ^^'^^^ •'^'-^ years
did not purT f Tnte I^'fcfh "'^^ ^'' '
strenirtliof familvnr^n' ^''''" '''^^" tutored in the
had b^en brXt i rj^^^^^ the force of destiny
had no doubt at a I Hv'i- - '''''""''' occasions. I
part of a del be a?e phn ""^1^' '" ^^^'"tenstein uas
my meeting with Elsf had .if ^'T^ '"'^^ <^ontrived
character ; he kn^vv that II '1 "''"^ knowledge of my
became ai it ve e domi Hec/h"'^ ^''T' '" '^>^ "^'"^^
expel. I discovered n^f ''""^'' ^"^ ^^'^''"e hard to
Prmce von Hamf^ertldir suggestion' '° "^ ^^"^ ^^
seef treir'^f?.^ur:^bSL'rrn? T T'^^'' '^'^
childhood, but thev have nn^K ''''' ^"^ unmitigated
before th^m. I was a once "^ ""T"^ °^ ''^'''' ^^'as
my humour was touched ^^1^'"^ ^"^ distressed;
shortened. Fven in ?.. ' . r^'/^ ' ^^^""« seemed
other little girl now nl "°^ P'"" '^ ^^'^"Id be some
down baifks' \nl"4Pa -on^vr''' ^^^"^^ ^"^ -"'"I
leap over the yea s rnH h 1 T. T* "^'^-^^'c ^"0"gh to
I .stuck in the'pres^nt and w "^ ''if- ''^''^, transformed,
^sive of a child s^een ?hm,K?h ^^''^"."^'^ally apprehen-
but unchanged ^la^^^J,^''^'''^^'''^ ^^^'^' larger.
fate ? And>or it I mu;t wdtfill T""'' . ^^'^' '^'' "^Y
who had smiled on me nJ J ^^ Perfected beauties
with them g ew o W - a^v^ . ^^ '° °'^^"'" "^^"' -"d
I felt myself ludicrousi;^;educed' to%T'' ^"'^^^ "'^•
1""^- boy, who had outgrown hTsclotl- ^''''' ' ^
no nearer to ^^ man. cJotlie.s, and yet was
'
,;"
li
7(>
THE KING'S MIRROR
My trouble was, perhaps unreasonably, aggravated
by the fact that Elsa did not take to me. Tdid my
best to be pleasant; I made her several gifts. She
accepted my offerings, but was not bought by them ;
myself she considered dull. I had not the flow of
animal spirits that appeals .so strongly to children. I
played with her. but her young keenness detected the
cloven hoof of duty. She told me I need not play
unless I hked. Cousin Elizabeth apologised for me;
Elsa was gentle, but did not change her opinion. The
passage of years, 1 reflected, would increase in me all
that the child found least to her taste. I was, as I have
said, unable to picture her with tastes changed. Rut a
failure of imagination may occasionally issue in pani-
doxical Tightness, for the imagination relies on the
common run of events which the peculiar case may
chance to contradict. As a fact, I do not think that
Elsa ever did change greatly. I began to be sorry
for her as well as for myself. Considered as an
outlook in life, as the governing factor in a human
beings existence, I did not seem to myself brilliant
or even satisfactory. I had at this time remarkable
forecasts of feelings that were in later years to be my
almost daily companions.
"And what shall your husband be like, Elsa?" asked
the Duke, as his little daughter sat on his knee and he
played with her ringlets.
I was sitting by, and the Duke's eyes twinkled dis-
creetly. The child looked across to me and studied my
appearance for some few^ moments. Then she gave ils
a simple but completely lucid description of a gentle-
man differing from myself in all outward characteristics
and in all such inward traits as Elsa's experience and
vocabulary enabled her to touch upon. I learnt later
that she took hints from a tall grenadier who sometimes
stood sentry at the castle. At the moment it seemed
as though her ideal were well enough delineated by the
P'^t"J"e of my opposite. The Duke laughed, and I
laughed also ; Elsa was very grave and business-like in
dehning her requirements. Her inclinations have never
I
I
DESTINY IN A PINAFORE ;;
wife h'' wife 3';;;'' °^ "'"'••'»''>• C"^'-* L-'-^e said hi.,
ui my tuncl, or some such mancL'uvrp «nf t ^
portrait "'''"■ '° '■•'•'^^""■laWe with Elsa's ^00)^
"wLni'ralllo""^,™''"'"" T"' '=°"-''" Kl''>^='b"l>.
vvnen It s all so— all no more tlian an idea!"
sootWng'iV" """"''' '*"-■'" '■"''"■■' '"' "•'""' "'" =»'■<' '
" You 're not angry ? "
.surd?ty ""'' ' ^'^ ""'y ''"'''^"^'' >"•* ^ sense of ab-
sh?r w',^rhern:;^el^LTrd'et' ir°""-
"I'm t.iin and sallow, and hook-nosed and I r=„'f
i^fs^'said l't"'"?K' '" "J""^ way.and I^caVrflV
mind "vl IS he «scription of her ideal in my
, „....,,^ m^ocif, was neither embai ijsed nor
ki r
78
THE KING'S MIRROR
m^
h
i
Sd ,1'S,™^!,;'"" '"'""'^•'' S-V.y -,f her fuce
''I don't know,' she said meditatively.
stato fT' f ;^'/""^.[^ ^'^'-^^ ^''"^ beset one of my
station, I do not plead guilty to any excessive de-rcc of
vainglory. I u;as flattered that the child hesi atecl
^^ 1 hen you like me rather ? " J asked.
Yes— rather." She paused, and then added • " If I
Au^usfi„r ' ^'■°""' "^ '"-"• ^'-o-ldnt'tcoili^
" Yes." I assured her.
"I should think that's rather nice, isn't it?"
bur^^f "conTd'enr'"'" '"" '^^'""^^ '^''^'' -'^' ' '" ^
"S;ni"l t^^inl t^hS'li^f'^t-'^HS^T^'"^ ^"""''^^
confident; even at that age as I W Xc^^e^d'^h:
knew very well what she liked. For my pTrt I .-J^^em
.n Js thn/7'"^'^ n^' ''■^•^*' ""'■^>' ^^^^"^-^ andVater avvake :
ings that I would -lot cut short her guileless visions-
moreover, to generalise from one's self^is he mo t fatal
foolishness, even while it is the most inevitable
me r m?,st 'i.n?''""'"?^"''' °^ "^>' ^■'•^'t Elsa treated
me 1 must not say with more affection, but certainly
with more attention. She was interested in me Ih.d
become to her a source of possibilities, dm to vision
but gorgeous to imagination. I knevv so well he
images that floated before a childish mind, able to c^a'
at them, only half able to grasp them I had been
through this stage. It is odd to reflect that I was in 5n
unlike but almost equally great delusion myself ha
tT^fbut" fE? '"^"^-.derate enjoyment from my pos -
tion, but I had conceived an exagrerated idea of ,fc
power and influence on the worldTnd 'mant'd Of
this mistake I vvas then unconscious ; I smiled to thin^c
that Elsa could play at being a queen, the doll he
bolster, the dog, or whatever else niight chance to come
handy acting the regal ro/e in my plSce. I do ^ot novv
altogether quarrel with my substitutes.
The hour of departure came. I have a vivid recol-
in a
DESTINY IN A PINAFORE 7,^
lection of Cousin KlixabetlVs overwhelm, -nrr f-,.f • u
was so anxious that I should not exn r'S ,1 ' "^^
I'lk' or moortinrp ,>r fi, ^^^^'J^crate the mean-
mSde.that'Xo' rcccede^i,r?,f'''°" "'*'' ^'^'^ ^"^^
the exclusion of even-thi,^^ o'"^ "?, """^ with it, ,„
tried in vain to 4>» S f !*'■ . •, ^'"^ '^"'^'' ''""'"g
few moments, .uk, gave me lli.s word 'f?ld™ ;' "= '°' "
saidle .."t^h""'''^ "'^™'n""'' "™»="-^'= f" Sx year, "
I promised wi,rf< '"' '""'-^'-""k'^. you know." '
HeSed^'fmyphra e't;; d"! '" /'"""i^'e doubles.
I think he shared tl,e«irt f ""' '''fP""= "^ J"»"''-->-"-
such things s'Sd be .,rml"fT^,^;dl ' !'>'■ ''''
nectbn with El^a A ,^^ talked about in con-
daughte oncTafter ^er ,n H ''^^i' '^"' ^^'^'''""^ ^'^^"t his
and chosen Spriest. ''"■ ''"•' "'''''^''''^ '' husband
. My visit to my cousins was the last stno-o ^f
'thro™];- to"^ Kort!;d,^ ■^"-e/ohrenloIln^fT^.tia
station by a larTe ;nd ,1 th/"-?'",'' ■■" ""= '^""'■'y
n^other wL at A^tenbe g.t "rf 1'': ^oTT ^
eveninj?, but HammPrfr.lHf l ? j *° J"^'" '^c'' that
SentleSen attacl'd to the cJuT I wt'T' ^""l"^. "''=
to introspection and seI^Lp°rsemeu not"," K '' «"'"
that my experiences had eiven me T ift, ''I ""^^
hood ; mv shvness «••,= L„Vi ^ , ' . '"™rds man-
a kind o'{ mSn rereZ'n'or'!^Lr'''''^fv'^>'
greeting Hammerfe: 1 'eceS ,he Some „^ f
company w.th a composed courtesy of which ?hlp ^
approva was i orv minifp«t rl • , ™ Prince s
as these are >vor h^of ecord .nA""°T' '^""''°'" ""*
they surround a3, as it t^e "ame"""" °"'^ "','"="
really material c;,' u ' • • , ' ' '^"^^ -^^nie incident
A\
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IMAGE EVALUATION
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THK KING'S MIRROR
responding to appropriate observations. Sudden! v I
found the Count von Sempach before me. His name
brought back my mind in an instant from its wander-
mgs. The Countess was recalled very vividly ^o my
recollection ; I asked after her ; Sempach, much grati-
fi^l. pointed to a row of ladies who (the occasion bein^r
official) stood somewhat in the background. There she
was, now in the iiiaturity of her remarkable beauty
seeming to me the embodiment of perfect accomplish-
ment. I saluted her with marked graciousness • fifty
heads turned instantly from me towards her. ' She
blushed very slightly and curtseyed very low. Sempach
murmured gratification ; Hammerfeldt smiled. I was
vaguely conscious of a subdued sensation rurnincr all
through the company, but my mind was occupied with
the contrast between this finished woman and the little
girl I had left behind. From feeling old, too old, sad
and knowing for poor little Elsa, I was suddenly trans-
ported into an oppressive consciousness of youth and
rawness. Involuntarily I drew myself up to my full
height and assumed the best air of dignity that was at
my command. So posed, I crossed the station to my
carriage between Hammerfeldt and Vohrenlorf
"Your time has nut been wasted," old Hammerfeldt
whispered to me. " You are ready now to take up what
1 am more than ready to lay down."
I started slightly; I had for the moment forgotten
tliat the Council of Regency was now discharged of its
office, and that I was to assume the full burden of my
responsibilities. I had looked forward to this time with-
eagerness and ambition. But a man's emotions at a
given moment are very seldom what he has expected
them to be. Some foreign thought intrudes and pre-
dominates ; something accidental supplants what has
seemed so appropriate and certain. While I travelled
down to Artenberg that evening, with Vohrenlorf oppo-
site to me (Vohrenlorf who himself was about to lay
down his functions), the assumption of full r.ower was
not what occupied my mind. I was engrossed with
thoughts of Elsa, with fancies about my Countess with
DESTINY IN A PINAFOKF gi
Bartenstein«/ He d d!.n, r;""" T'"^". '''' ''""'^ ^^'^'i the
the head, bu ,\ t now ' ""n " '' '''" "'"'' "'"^'''^^tly on
of all I felt tla hs i . '^ ^■^^.'''' ^'''''' luminary
CHAPTER IX.
JUST WHAT WOULD HAPPEN
Soon after my return my mother and I went into
residence at Forstadt. My time was divided between
masterin<,r my public duties under Hammerfeldt's
tuition and pla>-in<,r a prominent part in the gaieties of
the capital. Just now I was on cordial, if not exactly
intimate, terms with the Princess. She appeared to
have resigned herself to Hammerfeldt's preponderating
influence in political affairs, and to accept in compensa-
tion the office of mentor and >,uide in all social matters.
I was happy in the establishment of a modus vivcndi
which left me tolerably free from the harassing trifles
of ceremcjnial and etiquette. To Hammerfeldt's in-
structions I listened with avidity and showed a defer-
ence which did not forbid secre' .icism. He worked
me hard ; the truth is (and i' ..s not then nidden
either from him or from me) that his strength was
failing; age had not bent, but it threatened to break
him ; the time was short in which he could hope to be
b)' my side, binding his principles and rivetting his
methods on me. He was too shrewd not to detect in
me a curiosity of intellect that only the strongest and
deepest prepossessions could restrain ; these it was his
untiring effort to create in my mind and to buttress
till they were impregnable. To some extent he attained
his object, but his success was limited and his teach-
ing affected by what I can only call a modernness of
temperament in me, which no force of tradition wholly
destroyed or stifled. That many things must be treated
as beyond question was the fruit of iiis maxims ; it is a
82
i
JUST WHAT WOULD HAl'PExV 83
positjr.n u'hich I have never been able to ad.mt ; with
Jne the acid of doubt bit into every axiom. I took
p c-asure in the society and ar-unients of the Liberal
pohtiuans and journalists who be-an to frecjuent tiie
Unirt as soon as a rumour of my inclinations stjread
he'T?. ' 'J"V' ''^r';'bject of a contention be ween
I c Ri.ht and the> Left, between Conservative and
.cc .r'itl r'>"^"';;^ ^ '"''•''>■ V ""''^^"'^ i'^'^'y '^'^ nickname
acc< rded to ,t by the enemy, between the Reaction and
tile Jvevolution.
Doubtless all this will find an accomplished, and
poss.bly an impartial, historian. Its significance for
these personal memoirs is due chiefiy to the accidental
ho ^^'f>f^''''^^' '^y '"^ther was the social centre of
1 c orthodox party and m that capacit>- .^.ue solid aid
to Hammcrfeldt, the unorthodox gathered round the
Countess von Sempach. Her husband was considered
no more than a good soldier, a man of high rank and i
devoted husband ; by her own talents and charm thi's
remarkable woman, although a foreigner, had achieved
or huself a position of great influence. She renewed
the glories of the political srr/ou in Forstadt ; but she
never talked politics. Eminent men discussed deetj
secrets a.th one another in her rooms. She was content
to please their taste without straining their int.>llects or
seeking to rival them in argument. By the abdication
of a doubtful claim she reigned absolute in her own
dominion. It was from studying her that I first learnt
both how far reaching is the inspiration of a woman's
personality, and how it gathers and conserves streiv-th
by remaining within its own boundaries and refushi-
alien conquests The men of the Princess's party, froin
Hammerfeldt downwards, were sometimes impatient of
her suggestions and attempted control ; the Countess's
friends were never aware that the>- received suggestic.ns
and imagined themselves to exercise control I think
that the old Prince was almost alone in penetrating the
secret of the real power his charming enemy exer'cised
and the extent of it. They were very cordial to one
^Ij
84
THE KING'S MIRROR
V t
i'i '
w
'J
" Mcirl.-unc," he said to her once, "you might convince
me of an\thint,r if 1 were not too old."
"Why Prince," she cried, "you are not goinrr to
pretend that your mind has grown old ? "
"No, Countess, my feelings," he replied with a smile.
Her answer was a blush.
This was told to me by Wetter, a young and very
brilhant journalist who had once given me lessons in
l)hil..sophy, and with whom I maintained a friendship in
spite of his ultra-radical politics. He reminded me now
anc then of Geoffrey Owen, but his enthusiasm was of
a drier sort ; not humanity, but the abstract idea of
progress inspired him ; not the abolition of individual
suflenng, but the perfecting of his logical conceptions in
the sphere of politics was his stimulating hope. And
there was in him a strong alloy of personal ambition and
a stronger of personal passion. Rather to my surprise
Hammerfeldt showed no uneasiness at my friendship
with him ; I joked once on the subject and he answered •
V\ etter appeals only to your intellect, sire. There I
am not afraid now."
His answer, denying one apprehension, hinted another
It will cause no surprise that I had renewed an old
acquaintance with the Countess, and had been present at
a dinner in her house. More than this, I fell into the
habit of attending her reception on Wednesdays ; on
tins night all parties were welcome, and the gatherin-r
was b\- way of being strictly non-political. Strictly noiv
political also were the calls that I made in the dusk of
the evening, when she would recall our earlier meetino-.s
our glances exchanged, our thoughts of one another, and
lead me to talk of my boyhood. These things did not
appeal only to the intellect of a youth of eighteen or
nineteen when they proceeded from the lips of a beauti-
uil and brilliant woman of twenty-ei'^ht.
I approach a very common occuTrence ; but in my
case Its progress and result were specially modified and
conditioned. There was the political aspect, loomin<r
large to the alarmed Right ; there was the struggle fo?
more mtimate influence over me, in which my mother
JUST WHAT WOULD HAPPEN 85
licr and all the uorld tl -,f r T V "; ''''" ''' ^•■'""
r"L:^'-:rrs JtSf r? -- -
i">- strLam and floatetl donn the current Ym I „.-.
never altogetlier forgetful nor blind to hat id ,1
in the very street r-.ll,J I "friccs. aje, perhaps even
•ship nor The Kin,? k '^'' ."'^^ ^'^"' ^^'"-'^ f'-'^'^d-
No?e entL'n^ Mid r7'' ^u' "T ^^■'^-^ infatuation,
of myself "" altoc^^cther the external view
tu-ilHit'-'"'rh "'"'"^ ''.^^ '^" '^'•^ ""^ ^>v-eni>^? in the
varied meanino-s Sh<> l-nri f,j i . '-/>-■' s" luii ot
"f5^' one naci to cl me ffi fm i.i/-! i k„ i
not irone • shp Imnf K-.^i i r -" ' ^"" ' nad
nn».f fi ' II ^'^^'" -'^"f^' ^^^"^^ '-ne Lflance of ro
.'h:;r';e s' "th^^s e" "4"""'"-! 'i'' "^ "- '^'-
talk no m,>re to ne tl"^-" 1. "".V^"" .""" ^I"-" »""l'l
no business to ,"v' I „. ' '"' f ""'^'"""' »"'<^'-- I h^d
seized me. Id ^ ot k w ItT'^ f''"^ '^" V"P"I^'=
uoL Know what i hoped nor why that
•
86
THE KING'S MIRROR
li
If
ill
4,"
IS
f
If
moment broke the s.Icnce which I hari imposed on mv-
self Hut I tul.l her about the hule. fair, chubby child
at the Castle of Bartenstein. I watched her closely,
but her ev-es never strayed from her shoe-tip. Well
she had never said a word that showed anx- concern'
in such a matter; even I had done little more than
look and hint and come.
''It's as if they meant me to marry Tote,'' I ended.
1 ote was the pet name b>' which we called her own
eijj[ht years-(jld dau^ditcr.
The Countess broke her wilful silence, but did not
chaii_t,^e the direction of her e>'es.
"If Tote were of the proper station," she said
ironically, "shed be just ri-ht for you by the time
you re both grown-up."
" And you 'd be mother-in-law ? "
_ " I should be too old to plague you. I should just sit
m my corner in the sun."
" The sun is alwa}-s in your corner."
"Don't be .so complimentary," she said with a sudden
twi ching of her hps, " I shall have to stand up and
curtsey, and I don't want tcx Besides you oughtn't to
know how to say things like that, ought you, C-esar?"
Ca^.sar was my-shall I .say pet-name ?-u.sed when
vvc were alone or with Count Max only, in a playful
satire. ^ •'^
A silence followed for some time. At last she glanced
towards me. **
'' Not gone yet ? " said she, raising her brows. " What
will the Princess .say.?"
"I go when I please," said I, resenting the question
as I was meant to resent it.
" Yes. Certainly not when I please."
Our eyes met now ; suddenly she blushed, and then
interposed the screen between herself and me A
glorious thrill of youthful triumph ran through me •
she had paid her first tribute to my manhood in that
bh.sh ; the offering was small, but, for its significance,
Irankincense and myrrh to me.
"I thought you came to talk about Wetter's Bill," she
IKJt
JUST WHAT WOULD HAPPEN 87
suj^^estcd presently in a voice lower than her usual
'' The deuce take Wi>tter's Hill," said I
I am very interested in it."
"Just now?"
Demnci tile screen.
" Hammerfeldt hates it," said I
courier- '''" '"'' ''"'"' ''• ^••"'" ^^ '-^-'-^''"^t us, of
" Why of course ? "
;; You always do as the Prince tells you, don't you ?"
^^ Unless somebody more powerful f.rbids me "
\\ ho IS more powerful— except Cesar himself?"
1 made no answer, but I rose and crossin- the ru-
stood by her I remember the look and the feel of ^
room very well ; she lay back in a low chair upholstered
>n blue ; the firelight, forbidden her face, played on the
hand that held the screen, flushin.,. its white^to red. I
h<!^f\lZ r n'" ^^'"""'"^^ '" '^'' fantastically varying,
hght that the flames gave as the>' leapt and fell. I was
in a tumult of excitement and timidity
shook.'"''' ^°''''"'^"' ^^^" ^'^"''' ' " ^ ^'^^^' ^"^ ""y ^°»<^^
" Don't call yourself Caesar "
"Why not?"
camebwT^' "" "'°'^''''^'''y hesitation before the answer
" Because you mustn't laugh at yourself I may laugh
at you, but you mustn't yourself" ^
derlr/h^.f "^"^f ""l "r ''°'"^'' '^'^ '""^' ^'^^ ^^'•^"ge ^diffi-
dence that mfected even a speech so full of her gay
bravery. A moment later she added a reason for her
command.
"You 're so absurd that you mustn't laugh at yourself.
soon rH^^'' ^°" 'u7 ''"'^y '""-^''' or-come again
soon— other people will laugh at you."
To this day I do not know whether she meant to crive
a genuine warning, or to strike a chord that should sound
I
H\
V
•Hi
88
TIIK KING'S MIRROR
II
ThVv^h!- ;^""7'"^^' "f them lai.^rh, ,,|,,t ,-, .-^ ^,, ^^p
IhL ( .IK- a-.^h <mly Inhinrl my back-," I said
•SlH- la(i-hc(l before- my facf the s.-n.,.,, f i . i
'■u.Khccl, saying softK-. " C-.sar.'c'^a; - '' ^"' '"^ "'^'
'nvarclv.nrt"''f'"i'r^''''''>' ''^ '">' I'^'^'-'-baticn. The
lineal ch.um slic ha( for nu" was f<. rl- ». ->ii i i .
- n,«nlc. «-,l „.ut he- m,„nc.„ts „f fai„,„c's Vc ' 'J
itt ills:: .r iri.:f ''!;,;r' *"v~''^^^
affa,C'a^l!;i',:i!r,X-''^^ -^■«'' '-«'->« ^'"1. but now
tinuccl "' ^°" '^■''■''■'' ™'=-»'=veral times," I con-
dey,ce was a triumph I began to lau^h "^ '"''"
.hnU ' r '"T"--'' ^^^ a"'^'' ""= when°" I added "I
shall confess that it was ten years ago." ' '
she'STadf h^ irflnir'" Z '"""^T"'^ «'»'- ^
trap, arnused at hting re;;''c:S in'lt '■"n'ot'fX
th 'e"plarioT'f"r^'T"'' "°' ^°''°"y con\i;;l A ^
inte,rr'::r;w;ich^ it'Cr^^^^red^tpl' :,^t
<ics,n,us of bcnig convinced too tlioroughl^ A lon,I
oassaT I l„ '-''■""'"" ''"""«'' ^'^'-•"lod to hare
passed , I had made a start-to go further might be
The
JUST WHAT WOULD MAl'l'KN 89
;; And about Wcttcrsljill, Qi,sar? "
v;oii know I can do iicthing/'
f«-our it fifty V,,,.. ':.;;;;,7,:, , j;;;;,.--^, ""»■„ .„
^'■liicr and an mif.'fl r; 1 ';""!^"^"- Ucr face was
«!>!■ flu.hc<;a«:j::i;,;;.::^^l';;.;;y" - "era,,,! s„,i,e„.
N". no, never mind; .-.t least, not M-ni.rht"
™ ■.i.^fu> o.'.: "u.;izr"^ ""i^'-'. """' — n.,t „
■• 1 kn„r„,, ! V "Sn':'" T"""T '■" '-
«ll'l"«- that Khc„ I I.,' i\ "-■ '-•"'•■'■'"••"I- -I
-f... s„,„etin^/,;rLm;:;:,, t':<,:j\^;';' -"''■•■''>■■ '
-UaU;.'^:; t.' t;,''-;;;,:,'!': ''''»;8ht tltat had c.,n,e .„ in-
t..rned (ui ?t™oh "?■"'"' '™ "f ''' '■"J"^'ice. I
■■"M'Mlsive Ldncss I ' .T"'',' '"T «■>',"' '"■■'■ ^■^"■l'''-
I'l- s. She et me hod' 'r">' ''""''" ■•""' -rasped
drew them a™™' ^ 1^ , ''e'r.,;: ""J'^'^l'l ■""' "'"'
" Von Vo f^ ^ y^ rather a forcer au"h
- ^ Kun awa/; neUtitf^J'^r m/Cra,;!)'-
" Voiir wrinkles!"
-a^ to m " ; n;?' ^'" °'' '~™ • ^y "-^ '™- y™ >e
sen1:rfh;r''be!:rt,ttcar„r'' ^'°«' <■"'"« "e. A new
already be ore 1^^/:™:°;" "Jo ' >'" '^'-'••""y^ "-aKedy,
possible. Hceanse i?«:;,",^t vetTere'"""-' '■","' """
aKSerated its .learness bicans^e i, ^ "ear she ex-
turned aua,- from it l.Tj j u "'■" ""-'vHable I
seein,, her ti,e ? VVho a e hersdf ^u T"!""'^"'
my youth ? htrself, as she looked on
l'X°"'" ^°"" ^ "W and udv?" I asl-.-d l,., i ■
Voi; sr.^1.1 . ;*. 11 '^ ■' ' asked, lai 'Nnnf^
VV hat s the moral ? " said I
She laughed uneasily. twi;ting the screen i„ her
90
THK KING'S MFRROR
'is thf.. T"' *"'\'""'^^^!"^ :'^^' '••"■^^•'' 'i^''- ^yt-s tc, mine, and
as iiiev (li()i)|)c(| a^r.-iin she wIiisiuTotl :
" A short hfo and a merry oik- ?"
My hand flcu- ..ut t., her aK^-u•n ; she took it, and. after
a lan^dimK^ k^ana- curtsc-yed leu- over it, as thon^h in
iny turn ''■'' ' "'" '""'""^ ''^*''^' ■■'•^^' '•'^^'^^'^^•^' '"
■nul lh:!"\^''' "I^l-^vell by to-morrow," .she murmured,
.ind ^danced ostentatiously at the clock.
" May I come to-morrow ? "
" I never invite you."
"Shall you be here?"
^" It 's not one of my receiving da\-s."
"I like a ^'ood chance better than a poor certaintv
At least there will be nobody else here " ^^"'^'»t> •
" Max, perhaps."
" I don't think .so."
C.tsar? No, I don't want to know. I believe it was
impertment. Are you r^oinj,r ? " u ua.s
'' Ves," .said I, "when I have kissed \-our hand"
She said nothinjr, but held it out to'me. She' smiled
but there .seemed to me to be pain in her eyes '
pres.sed her hand to my lips and went out without
hafrcry' half's.^h.'" ^'"^ ^^'^ ^ ^"'''^"^ ''"'^^ -""^'
I left the house quicky and silently; no servant was
summoned to escort me. I walked a rc^v yards along
the street to where Wetter lived. My carria-e was
^!^ % T", ^''' '"^^ "' ^^^"^^^•"'■'^ = '^ ^^'^ "ot y^t
arrived. To be known to visit Wetter was to accept
the blame of a smaller indiscretion as the price of
hiding a greater. The deput>- was at home, writing
m hi.s study ; he received mc with an admirable uif-
consciousness of where I had come from. I was still
in a state of excitement, and was glad to sit .smokin*>-
quietly while his animated Huent talk ran on. He w 1"
" wth ;;'"! "??'""' ^T''-^'"^"^' -^-^ provis!;ns o
rue With the air of desiring that I should understand
JUST WHAT WOULD IIArncv g,
its^pirit and aim, a,ul „f LdnK "illi,,^, tlu-n to I,-„.
not a member of any party." ALijcs.) i.
He l.u,^.hcci ,n h,s turn, ..pc-nly and merrii;.
more than ITammcrfclclfs " ^ '"^' '">' "^"^^'^ ''"^>-
carrier' U'',r''""' ""I '^"■^"^•"^-^' the arriva. ..f my
I, .f ^^ "-'^^^^ ^.-scortetl me t.. it ^
Ml promise not to mention the Hill jf von '11
oLnui_> picasuie. \et he knew that the sitintinn ,.f
d"w„ Hammerfciclfs |„„vcr a,„l obtai, a n^^ii^jV 1 i'
was not far to .seek. The Counte ^ i l. r ',,"1
the'tht IheVel ','' ;!'• thrift''" A,,'' ti '''!"'-' '"
against it al, , „as fo.e.an.ed Z^U^r^jT K^Zl
V h ,K ■? r'""?- ■ "'" *<=^'-' ™s m..re, and here
c.ts^h^„;;:,r'(^Lt^^;:jrhrpaTr'^i
::sxt' .-r h^i^f ^"^>' ■»"''^'-- b„?:s z^™' hi;
the longing for that' inti™ate^ovc of \v,S.1„f i,;^",;!^,'
92
THE KING'S MIRROR
pvcn me so l.ttlc. Was I to her also only something
to be used ,n the game of politics, a tool that she, S
defter too , must shape and point before it could be
oi use? I tried to say this to myself and to make a
barrier of the knowled-e. Hut was it all the truth ?
Remembennn; her eyes and tones, her words and
liesitations, I could not accept it for the whole truth.
1 here was more, what more I knew not. Even if there
liad been no more I was fallin- so deep into the gulf of
passion tha. it crossed my mind to take while I gave
and. If I were to be used, to exact my hire. In a
tumult of these thoughts, embracing now what in the
next moment I rejected, revolting in a sudden fear
trom the plan which just before seemed so attractive
1 passed the evening and the night. For I had taken
up that mixed heritage of good and evil, of pain and
power, that goes by the name of manhood ; and when a
new heir enters on his inheritance there is a time before
he can order it.
CHAPTER X.
OF A POLITICAL APPOINTMENT
a1>d1,lt:;:b':.'?h"^l"™; 'Tr^^' ""= "-'Victoria
I could ni.ke . obic t'o ' ,H, '° ^^ "' ^'™'« "»''•
that I slioulcl be .S f„ ' r "'^«?'* Henirich observed
enjoy the compS.^itl" :f^\^;f ^^^ohu" f ""'"
Wetters and such riff Tff"^/^'''" '"^^ countesses and
The weakness of the PHn. ' '^ ^''^''"'■'^ "^ ''"^"^^"^^^
strife between her anri r^ ''^^2' 'f ""'"'"^^ ^Pen
Liberal notions whThTbeSv'^d"^" '° "^ ^"'"^ ' «"y
crsit^Xts^t'^ofT^^^^^^^^^^
retarded W,at he CO. fdnot^t'' "t^' l'^'=l"^<:k«i and
93
94
THE KING'S MIRROR
" A most charming woman indeed," said he. " In fact
too charming a woman,"
I understood him, and began to defend myself
" I 'm not in love with the Countess," I said ; " but I
give her my confidence, Prince."
He shook his head, smiled, and took a pinch of snuff
glancing at me humorously. '
" Reverse it," he suggested. " Be in love with her, but
don t give her your confidence. You '11 find it safer and
also more pleasant that way."
My confidence might affect high matters, my love he
regarded as a passing fever. He did not belong to an
age of strict morality in private life, and his bent of
mind was utterly opposed to considering an intrigue
with a wcmian of the Countess's attractions as a serious
crime in a young man of my position. " Hate her," was
my mother's impossible exhortation. " Love her but
don't trust her," vv 's the Prince's subtle counsel.' He
passed at once from the subject, content with the seed
that he had sown. There was much in him and in his
teaching which one would defend to-day at some cost of
reputation ; but I never left him without a heightened
and enhanced sense of my position and my obligations.
If you will, he lowered the man to exalt the kin""-; this
was of a piece with all his wily compromises. ** '
Victoria arrived, and her husband. William Adolphus's
attitude was less apologetic than it had been before
marriage ; he had made Victoria mother to a fine baby
and claimed the just credit. He was jovial, familiar,'
and, if I may so express myself, brotherly to the last
degree. Happily, howe\'er, he interpreted his more
assured position as enabling him to choose his own
friends and his own pursuits ; these were not mine,
and in con.sequence I was little troubled with his com-
pany. A.S an ally to my mother he was a passive
failure; his wife was worse than inactive. Victoria's
conduct displayed the height of unwisdom. She de-
nounced the Countess to my face, and besought my
mother to omit the Sempachs from her list of acquaint-
ances. Fortunately the Princess had been dissuaded
but I
OF A POLITICAL APPOINTMENT 95
to mc Not the h."' r P'''"^'>^ ''^ "" disadvantage
u op a Hint of my com n<j I folt th^i- i u^ i i
my duty as regards the l^il f !J ^'^ '^''"^'
turne^I «,^"?U,'l.:-;;-" ">e door was shut she
send'b''fL'rL:^V,;,rf,te^^"- '^-ides^ always
gomg out ff you hadn't prevented m " ' ^ '''• ' ™'
bo wit "'"' "'"' ""' '■■''' ^ '"""''"'" '^''> I.
reiuctlu"':;;!.:''' ""= '°' ■'" "'^"'■"- "^-^ ''-'<« -'o a
wcckV'^hS.' ''■■"' '" ■^"^ ^-^ '^"'= »™-"S f"r a
96
THE KING'S MIRROR
'
Sit down; so will I. Nd,
M.ix has been f^nviny nie
" No ; nor come either? "
" Yes, of course, that 's it.
in your old place, over there,
a beautiful bracelet."
"That 's very kind of Max."
She Kl.-mced at me with challennrin^,^ witchery
/Xml 1 ye promi.sed to wear it every day-never to
be without .t Doesn't it look well ? " She held up her
sTin "^ T '''' '"^''K ;'"'' J"'^^'^''-' -^I^'-^'-'^'^'^' "" the white
skin as tlie sleeve of her gown fell back
I pa.d to Max's bracelet and the arm which wore it
the ineed of looks, not of words.
•' I 've been afraid to come," I said
Ms there anythin<r to be afraid of here? "she asked
uith a smile and a wave of iier hands
" Hecause of ^Vetter's Bill."
" Oh. the Bill ! You were ver>' cowardly, Ca-sar "
I could do nothing."
"You never can, it seems to me." She fixed on mc
eyes hat she had made quite grave and invested with
a cntjcali)' discrnnmating regard. " But I 'm very
pleased to see you. Oh, and I forgot-of course I 'm
vo^T" """'""^ '°°- ^'"^ ''^''"''y' ^^••-^'"ing what
On an impulse of chagrin at the style of her re-
ception or of curiosity, or of bitterness, I spoke the
thought of my mind. ^ vt luu
" yt)u never forget it for a moment," I said « I for-
get It, not you."
She covered a start of surprise by a hasty and pretty
l.ttle yawn, bu her eyes were inquisitive, almost
apprehensive. After a moment she picked up her olcl
weapon, the fire-screen, and hid her face from the eyes
downwards. But the eyes were set on me, and nou i?
seemed, m reproach.
min-!m?red. ^^''"'' ^^'^^' ^ ''"'''^''' ^°" '^^'^^ ^^ ^"'" '^^
bel'ide^s!^"' '"''"^ ^°" ^° ^""'^^^ '^- ^"' ^ ''^ something
"Yes, a poor boy with a cruel mother-and a rude
OF A POLITICAL AFPOINTIMKNT 97
It-' said to me?" ^"'^'^ ^ t^'l y^u what
Y
cs/
Majesty."' f."'"'"? v.iin of my innucnce ovct His
fcicifs ,n„c,c.,y ,„• he;:,':;".;' . ,i™T,fi'"-'- "-""-
Comphmentin'r ,ne? v<.« ""K '>i it.
not havin^x done vou Lv iV '''^'1^'^ ''^^ was-on
couldnt!" ^ """^ '''^''"^- Why? Because I
;; Vou wouldn't vyish to, Countess?"
sJ;!:^;tood^tS\r^::,^^^^'^^«'Ca.ar."
greater because tfeinedtsln^^^^^^^ 'f *'^ '''""" ^'^^^
"No, I don't mean h f-' r °^'^' ^^"" '"'-^^^t.
I'-^ter. "But I should!-^' st? T"""""^ ''^ "^^'^^^^^
catching up a little chiir ..? , ''''' "^''''' ^" "^e and,
elbow. "Ah hovv I 1 V m'^''''." "" '*' ^^'^'^e to my
bad a little power i''Th •'''" '^ ^""^^ ^^^ ^hink j[
-she added. "You need nX '" "t T ''"^'^'"^^ '""^^^P^^
just to please me Cx^sar''^ Pretend-pretend a little
My wK' ;^^r 'irai^ c f^i^r t ^-"^- ^ "
delicate, rough not Jentle urJr^ 'I^'"'' ^'''^ ^^^ been
I was no match for her n l^'"^- '■^^^^'' ^^^n implorin^x.
mistress, but I cHd n^Vde pLv^'Thr'^''^' ^' ^^^
as though she distrustedTven he^kllT^u "'''^'°"^'
ready parries. I was but Vho Vn ." ^^'"'''^^ ^nd
nature betrays the sec ets of ^ ^- ' ^"^ 'sometimes
broke out in a new at Sck L ?'"''r ^^ ^"^^^"'^ '^^
attack. ^"^^''' °^ a "ew bne of the general
she' lllT'' ^he p'rhS -^^^T/r';"'^ -dependence ? "
th.„k..oreofyou. They^Xt H^^-lS^, ^l^
98
THE KING'S MIRROR
thcln^'"" "°'''~"' ^'"^ """^ IVincess Hcinrich between
" I thought they said that you "
"I! Do they? Perhaps! They know so little. If
th^ knew anything they couldn't say that"
To be told they gossiped of her influence seemed to
.hZru'"""'!!' ^°; ^^^'^i'^'' '■'^Sret was that the talk
should be all untrue and she in fact impotent. She
stirred me to declare that power was hers and I her
servant. It seemed to me that to accept her leading-
rotv.rH 'lu'"' P^^^""'^i inspiration and a boundless
rexvard. Was Hammerfeldt my schoolmaster? I was
not blind to the share that vanity had in her mood nor
to ambitions part in it, but I saw also and exulted in
her tenderness. All these impulses in her I was now
[n'^ft K"f • ' ^ ^J'° ^^^ ""y ^^"ity-a boy's vanity
m a tiibute wrung from a woman. And, beyond this
passion was strong in me. ^ '
She went on in real or affected petulance :
Can they point to anything I have done? Are anv
appointments made to please me? Are my friends
trJ^T"^ ' ^^'^^' T ^" ""^ '" '^' ^«Jd' ^"d like?;
to stay there aren't they. Caesar? Oh, you're very
nV'fi... p^: '^ '"^''''^- ^ ^'''^ y°": "°b«^ly "eed know
mnL^fii /°" ^•''^ !l°^^'"S because that would
make talk and gossip. The Prince has taught you
welL Yes, you 're very prudent." She paused, "and
stood looking at me with a contemptuous smile on her
hps ; then she broke into a pitying little laugh. " Poor
boy 'said she. "It's a shame" to scold you. You
cant help it." ^
It is easy enough now to say that all this was
cunningly thought of and cunningly phrased. Yet It
was not al cunning ; or rather it was the primitive
unmeditated cunning that nature gives to usi the in-
stinctive weapon to which the woman flew in her need
horv^rfH:;^: rt'<,!r,-.:?o:f • ""^-^-^ '-''■-'■'
brief 'a"d' te." "" ' " "'' '• '" "^ ^»^''^"°" • "-
i:
If
roor
You
/as
OF A POLITICAL APPQLNTMENt ,,
, "Ask? Must I ask? WVll r n I .1
show somelKMv, how ^-ou w 1 1 h ! ' ^'^'^^ >'''" '^^"1''''
f -c not outcast.;, riff-n ff • V pV '' ^'7j '''''' "^- ^''^^^ uv
lepers ! Do it how v ,' lih ''' ^^•'^'"'''^'^ ^'^"'^ ^'■'^-
from among us-I S ' a 1 'r"" *'^">''^"^'>' >'"^' '■'<e
Show that someone of us hi ^'"^ '^'"''^'^ I^^"--^''"-
shouldn't you? The kL r >;7': ^°"fi^'-ncc.' Why
and vveVe honest, some of ;;s"'^ ""' ''^'^^^'^ l^'-^'i^'^^'^e";
said ''' '" ^ ^°^^ '" t'^'-^ world, some of you," I
4 ~riS.S^L.^'^ ""'^ ^'^^■^' ^-' ^--d her
Then do it C-psqr" ^i, • i
"The l4rEmba tr w" fu/'^''^" -^eriousness-
Her face became^udr on r "^""^ '^^^'^y X^" ? "
clasped towards me ' ''"'' ^''^^ l^^ld them
"J(r^S^^^^''^>^°--'n"^He cried.
sh:rb:se[ir'Ks^^;!^;jji--
you afraid it'll make Hamme Sldf ' ^''""^^'^y^' Are
the Princess and your sis oHh V''/''"^^''>'- ^'a.icy
them!" She droDnod h • "''''' ^ '''''^" 'ovc to see
for me. C.4ar/' ^^ ^"' ^°''^ ^^ ^'^"^ added. " Do i?
" Who should have it ? "
Choosf imetdy g;;^d'°;!^j=" '™S - he's „„e of us.
all." ^ toocl, ,,ncl then you can defy them
fervent a vvelcome/wrfnhm 11 H •'""^^'1'/''^ '''''^' '^
would be at the cos^ Tr u ^'""- ^^ ^ ^''^J 't, 't
perhaps of his services he J.^'IT'r^''^'^''' ^^>"fi^'ence
an open rebuff And' I kSin't'' ,!° ""^"''^ -^^
^"o 1 Knew m my heart that the
100
THE KING'S MIRROR
specious justifications were unsound ; I should not act
because of them, the)- were the merest pretext. I should
give what she asked to her. Should I not be -ivin- her
my honour also, that public honour which I had learnt
to hold so hij,di?
"I can't promise to-day; you must let me think." I
pleaded. '
I was prepared for another outburst of petulance, for
accusations of timidity, of indifference, again of willing-
ness to take and unwillingness to give. But she sat
still, looking at me intently, and presently laid her hand
in mine.
" Yes, think," she said with a sigh
I bent down and kissed the hand' that lay in mine
Then she raised it, and held her arm up before me.
Max s bracelet ! ' she said, sighing again and smiling.
Then she rose to her feet, and walking to the hearth
stood ooking down into the fire. I did not join her
«n^L ZT 'r '''''• ^"'' ^ '«"S ^^^i'c "Cither of us'
spoke. At last I rose slowly. She heard the move-
ment and turned her head.
"I will come again to- morrow," I said
Th^n^ T"""^ ^f^l ^°''. ^ ,"^^'^ent, regarding me intently.
Then she walked quickly across to me, holding out her
hands. As I took them she laughed nervously. I did
not speak, but I looked into her eyes, and then, as I
pressed her hands, I kissed her cheek. The nervous
laugh came again, but she said nothing. I left her
standing there and went out.
I walked home alone through the lighted streets. It
has always been, and is still, my custom to walk about
freely and unattended. This evening the friendly greet-
ings of those who chanced to recognise me in the -lare
fh . I'TJ''' '""^'^ pleasant to me. I remember thinking
that all these good folk would be grieved if they knew
what was going on in the young King's mind, how he
was torn hither and thither, his only joy a cr me and
the guarding of his honour become a^ sacrifice tl a
linH f !?°r if '^^. ^°' ^'^ '^''''Sth. There was one
kmd-faced fellow in particular, whom I noticed drink-
11 ii
learnt
^"ig
OF A POLITICAL APPOINTMENT ,or
"Iff a g^lass at a cafd. He tonk- nff u- u .
■'^ cheery "God bless Your M.; ! ' ^^^ ^" '^^ ^^'t'^
liked to sit dou'n by him a, dell ^ ,/ ,'^^^'^"'^' '^••^^•-
had been young, and he lo oh T '"' ''^'''''' ^'- ' ''-^
I had nobody whom cou I u T'^ '''''^ ^'"'■^•■'^"y-
renumber ever seeim^ his in * "u ''• ^ ^'<'"^
him still asonewhTmf.; ^ 1 "J'^^''^'"' ^"* ^ ^hink „f
circssheappe^^^'S:^^:^,^-^-^ .y his
feldt'tt 'S^'^-: t :lf n^-^^^i^l^ Hannner-
from comin- He W h '^ -n^ '^■^'^"■'^^"^' himself
to his bed. ''The busht f'"" n ''''"' '""^' ^^''-^^ ^""^ned
on to remark hat r^t m" sZ M^'^i ''' •^^^'^'' ^^'^ --'t
Ije question of thj P^l^l^^^;^^ H^I,S"th'^'"^
four names as possible selections -il H, ^^''-'^' "''
were well-known and decidS adh-tn, '"'fu!"'''"^'""^^^'
was readinjr his letter uh ^^heients of his own. I
came in. f hey hac iL i '^ T v^'^'!" ""^'^ ^'^t'^'"'''^
but on -akin/in^uirS^wc^ l^:StT'r^'^^
serious. I sentat nnr„ t„ : .'"'omod that it uas ii(,t
his note to tte Pri™e.s ''""■' "" ''™- '""' ''""'''^'^
the Prince and are thoro-M ^"'" '""'""^ ""<'"
views." thoroughly acquainted with his
A^"^,."V"' ■"'■".'=?" I asked, smih-ng.
'ootd°at trstjr^' °" "^ '"°*"'^ f-<^ ^ ■^'-
convinced, she wouW S..,, i'" i"^Sment l,aving been
hostilities. Here as n „f ."'"I"''' '° ^"""^ her info
left to my dear Vfctoria wl^ "''■"k"'"'':'--.'^™'-'^'^ "'•'»
usual readiness ' ''° 'embraced it with her
■ro;;^:;[i;"'' '^-^"^ '*^ »y of themP- she asked
n^ySt^^l^'L,^:^:^^—"^ looked into
"i
102
THE KING'S MIRROR
"Or is it the Countess? Haven't tlic>' made enoiirrh
love to the Countess, or too much, or what ? "
"My dear Victoria," I said, "you must make allow-
ances. 1 he Countess is the prettiest woman in
Torstadt.
My sister curtseyed with an ironical smile.
"I mean, of course," I added, "since William
Adolphus carried you off to Gronenstahl."
My mother interrupted this little quarrel.
" I 'm sure you '11 be guided by the Prince's judtrment "
she observed.
Victoria was not to be quenched.
" And not by the beauty of the prettiest woman in
Forstarlt. And she added, " The creature 's as plebeian
as she can be.
As a rule I was ready enough to spar with my sister;
to-night I had not the spirit. To-night, moreover, she
whom as a rule I could treat with good-humoured
nidilference, had power to wound. The least weighty
of people speaking the truth cannot be wholly 'dis-
regarded. I prejDared to go to my room, remarking :
,/. „ ^"^"■•'^^' ^ -^'^'^'^ discuss the matter with the
1 rmce.
Again Victoria rushed to the fray.
"You mean that it's not our business?" she asked
with a toss of her head.
I was goaded beyond endurance, and it was not
their busmess. Princess Heinrich might find some
excuse m her familiarity with public affkirs, Victoria at
least could urge no such plea.
"I am always glad of my mother's advice, Victoria "
said I, and with a bow I left them. As I went out 'l
heard Victoria cry, " It 's all that hateful woman ' "
Naturally the thing appeared to me then in a
different light from that in which I can see it now I
cannot now think that my mother and sister were
wrong to be anxious, disturbed, alarmed, even angry
with the lady who occasioned them such discomfort
A young man under the infuence of an older woman is
no doubt a legitimate occasion for the fears and efforts
OF A POLITICAL AITOINTMKXT ,o,,
of his female relatives F lv,,-„ i ,
not in protest aSnst the r H T-'"'^'":' '''^'''' ^'^^">' ^'^^^^
•'^'■"knilarly unfort^u t. m ''"'''''• '^^'^ ^" '^'^'^^v the
^^ '^--^t they felt C^^^ .'" f]^^^^ they .nacie
ujiatwasprobably K^- •hle^./lf"^^^ ""^ ^c, bla.ne
they over-reached^hem ilve anc S. ^"' '^l ''T ^'''''■
!"y nifatuation, as they hoped but rH, ""^ '^ ''''''^•^^ *^"
-natcd my IK.ssbn toa'^ciuX.cole^'"^^ ^ ^'^^'^ '^^^
^^" J^-T Cheeks, and on er . Ti T^' '">' •^'"^■^ ^"-^"-^'^
'-Iplcss lau^h/the h. S. h t' LS:^,^?';^ "-vou^'
not concjuer, expressed -i X.,^ I, '1 ^''''>' '^'^^^ could
while she bnive it nrt "i ^'V^^ ^"''"^ '''-•'• ^'ven
ti^is folly and this '^h'nTlnrts'"" "^ ^"."'"^^ «^
^vlth their bitterness Hnt "'"^ '^'^''""^^^ '^'l ""^
l-tter man's bio d th L v Zl 'r'^""' '"^^^ -'^'
beaten down by the iol ■ ft LTI ' r^'."^' '''''''^ "^w
•soared up into my hjrrVon /iT' 'M^ ^•'?^ ^'^^'" '"^"d
l^i'Rlicd at and tried to rule ^\ ^7 ' ,?u ,^">' ^'^^^
at me. She lau.^hed thus no m o ^ "vt^rL^'^^f'.^^^^
she had not called me T-pJ-^r T i \ r ^ ^^^"""^"^ '^er
ance save in that lau 'h ^^ffh '" ''"'^ ^"""^' "" ^'tter-
was surrender. ^ ' "^ ^^'''' ""^^^'^Se of that laugh
I
CHAPTER XI.
AN ACT OF ABDICATION
The night brought me h'ttle rest and no wisdom As
though Its own strength were not enough, my passion
sought and found an ally in a defiant obstinacy which
now made me desirous of doing what the Countess
asked for its own sake as well as for hers. Heiu'r tliffi-
dent I sought a mask in violence. I wanted to^ssert
myself, to show the women that I was not to be driven
and Hammerfeldt that I was not to be led. Neither
their brusque insistence nor his suave and dexterous
suggestions sh(juld control me or prevent me from exer-
cising my own will. A distorted view of my position
caused me to find its essence in the power of doin-r as
I hked, and its dignity in disregarding wholesome advice
because I objected to the manner in which it was
tendered. This mood, ready and natural enough in
youth, was an instrument of which my passion made
effective use ; I pictured the consternation of my ad-
visers with hardly less pleasure than the delight o'f her
whom I sought to serve. My sense of responsibility
was dulled and deadened ; I ha:l rather do wrong than
do nothing, cause harm than be the cause of n< thino-
that men should blame me ratlv.'r fluiu . A canvu., my
actions or fail to attribute to me any initiative, i felt
somehow that the blame would lie with my counsellors •
they had undertaken to guide and control me. If they
failed they, more than I, must answer for the failure.
Sophistry of this kind passes well enough with one who
vants excuses, and may even array itself in a cloak of
plausibility ; it was strong in my mind by virtue of the
stronn . '-3entment from which it sprang, and the strong
104
om. As
' passion
:y, which
Countess
uv^ (iiffi-
to assert
e driven,
Neither
exteroiis
)m cxer-
position
dohv^ as
e advice
it was
ough in
'n made
my ad-
t oT her
nsibiUty
ng tlian
rif thing,
/uos my
I felt
isellors ;
If they
failure.
)ne who
:loak of
i of the
: strong
I
AN ACT OF ABDICAIION 105
atly to which its forces were joined. Passion and self
sw th ^"""^fV^^^i'^ l^n>UKht to acknowledge n.
s ay, those who had hitherto ruled .ny hfe w. u ,| ?•
o quest to V;:^^'H■"'"^^^^ ""^^' emancipation a.,?^
both ih. ;fJ : ^ ''-" ^'T^ ''^ ^^'^'"^''^ ' ^V'^'^ to gain
a n. K ^ "'^ empire, when I should become indee
a '; yk. both m my own palace and in her heart a k ng
our previous conversation, but he mann^^^^^
u;as even unusually stiff and distant. think t a he
me mattei she became curt and disagreeab e I i.-fr
her, more than ever determined on my^ co s I 1,1
glad to escape an interview with Victoria and .va now
free to keep my appointment with Wette . I aad pro
.mtTers"tl"df^ "*'' > ^^^>■'"^^^ '''^' ' ^ad oni or Uvo
mattus to d scuss. Kven in my obstinacy and excite
ment I remamed shrewd enough to see die ad' VnH ^,^
I'ThS ""'■^'^;' "'^'^ -ll-sounding're^onf 't e
my c ise in h n T'^^'^'^Y^ eloquence would dre s
my case m better colours than I could contrive for
myself It UKittered little to me how weH he knew tin
arguments were needed, not to convince mAelbt;o
m^'tt was ^I'o "^ ^' ^'°"- '"'''' °^^^^--^^ a?.d cHti/LiS
me. It uas also my mtention to obtain from him th^
name of two or three of his friends who alar from
tt p^^t m'tr:" 'T";'^, ^^"'^'-^^'^^ ^« ^^'^^ thi Xi .Tf
tnc post m the event of their nomination
It was no shock, but rather a piquant titiUation of
■'I
- #1
J
- •'•- •■ f- — "o^&'<em
1 06
') ■ : '.
THE KING'S MIRROR
ask for it V;,! • f , "'" "" ""■|"''''«= "'■•>' hs: should
Ih-m™! he IVnc'Cv ''"• """''^ '"-■ "?'" '^^ '"deed ;
allowed him fl f''''" "'' disqualification. I
Thcmistocles, ventured to asl hi,, f'- ^'^'""''"^•' ""^
name. ^"lurca to ask him to give me another
pcS^on!?:,"^:^::;^^^-^' t ^°"^ ^^^^^ ^^'■^'^
von Semnach " s4 h< v. ? ""^ •'^"°'' ^''"^"^^ ^ax
but as r H. u. ^'^'^^''th <i" admirable air of honesty
deen t/ ^^^^' ^ "°^'^'"^ ^^'^^•'^'" ^'^ amusement n 1 fs
suspicion rf the lod fai^r^f h "PP"'"''^ '° '«^-'-' "°
with an air of su,?rhe ''"SSestton, and said,
WliVre"t !3'''; ■' ^^'^>'' ''°" '^ he suitable i" "
AN ACT OF ABDICATION 107
th.^h^''^ "''^ ^r?^^"-' ^° ''^''Sue that with me. He knew
' I? WM^ ''r '""^^ '" "^^'^^ ^ should h-sten
inrl f u m K T-""^^^' ^°"''^' ^^' t'^^'^t conclusion, my friends
you/dTclbn '*^^^^P""^^^' '' ^^^ ^^•^' " ^"^ - --t accept
. There was much to like in Wetter Men are nnf
n::x\^r tr"^ ^'^^- ^^^ -"bitiJ^^iiX.^
uicrey because they are given to intri^rue selfish
merejy because they ask places for themselves ' There
bnM Trr' ""^ T''"^ ^'^'^ "°t in itself a good th n-
but very different from rottenness. Wetter uWale.n
and convinced partisan, and an ardent behev^r in h m?
afeth^holm"' '^!f '•'" ^"■"' ''^"^' '^ h'^ hand couTd
take the helm, would win ; this was his attitude and \t
excused some want of scruple both in promoth
CM '" '"k"""S^ '° ''' h'-^ «^^" effecti^supV t
But he was a big man, of a well-developed Sre
ofZt' J'X^^''''.' ""^ ^"-^^ ^"-"'^ --"t. full of force'
nave made at all a good ambassador ; and he woulr
MlTZ%:t '° ,'' "",'^'"^ '^^ "«^ -" into debt ^'
Max von Sempach, on the other hand, would fill the
knew thf'"''.^'^,' '['^''''^^' "°^ brillian r; Wettr
Con ,'f ' ^""^ ^^^ ^^'* ^^^^^ to the mendon of the
ko i rr',^ ^^^^"t appearance without depr v n^
t of Its harmlessness. He named a suitable but n
Soon 7'":^-" Pf^^°" '^ "^^ m.possible
Soon after the meal I left him, telling him that I
c fl r me T'l?- 'T' ^"' '''' -^-^' -" -i^^-
to call tor me at his house at five o'clock Tumimr
than on ^.tTl^Z. '^'JZ :VZ^'^°1
1 sought her love, no more oppressctl uitl, the sense
to encourage. There was the dawninir of triumnh in
m> neart, an assurance of victory, and the fiercedehght
'<,f
Ml
ti
l\
;f I
I
io8
THE KING'S MIRROR
^-
in a determination come to at great cost and to be held
may be at greater still. In 111 these feelings mS
always, there were for me the fresh nP>..rffe:' ^Y^^y,
youth and the venturous joy c^^ew ^^^^^^^^^ "^"^^^ °^
her'^^ldlein.r iTr' ''if^'T,'^^^ -rSe ; Th'was not
ncr old sell nor I to her what I had been. There wis -i
stramed. almost frightened look in her eves a hnv
vo.ced "Augustin" replacing her bantW "Cx-a ''
not a n,aide,/of n,eet age for'S,e and fe'her: iffor^n
Embassy." '''"" "'* '^''""■" '^'"^ '■ " He wants the
; fancy that she knew his desire; her hand cre^^H
mine, but she did not speai<. pressed
I'm ' he recommended Max," I went on.
Max ! I-or a moment her face was full of terror
wJt.:?"^ '° "?'."'™ '^'"^ broke into a mTe
Welters adv.ce was plain to her also.
•■ He l-mm-'; Y' ""i"? ""= """" " '■"^ '"■m-'^elf." said I.
Mai. ^z^^::z t:°"'' ''"' ' s"«-'=°y- "-
" Do I ? " she murmured.
I rose and stood before her.
" It is yours to give, not mine" sairl T " "n^
it to Wetter?" ' ^ ^' ^° y°" S'^c
As she looked up at me her eyes filled with teirs
wh. le her lips curved in a timid smile '
« I^s''n^/'^^I*''°"^'? r" '" -^^* '"t° •' " she said,
von W ?. "" housa.Klth part of what I would do for
you. Wetter shall have it then— or Max ? "
not be^Mlx:^ '" '''' ''"'"^ ' ''"'' '^"' '°^^^ '^^ ^^'^^^ '^ -^^ould
"Then Wetter," and I fell on one knee bv her
whispering. " The King gives it to his Queen." '
3 be held,
s, mighty
: rush of
e.
i was not
;re was a
; a low-
' Ca.-sar."
d her to
:d sh'ght,
timidity
sh( was
If for an
- a man,
o prove
mts the
pressed
f terror
L smile.
said I.
y than
3U give
I tears,
d.
do for
should
y her,
AN ACT OF ABDICATION 109
They'll be unkind to you "
'' i\^H.^^r".? ^'"n' '"" '^ >'"" ''" J<'"^J to me."
^^^^I,am not ashamed. What is it to me what they
" You don't care ? "
^^■For nothing in tl,e world but you and to be with
t.u-lw h?*i™'z.;'?hfe:rd= :7thc '"r'v,""' •^'--
face on the cushion in ?, ,° ''°'* •■"''' '''"' '"■■'•
. .did n^o," iz^^u r^i g^"oVi;:f 4- '7 '^
••Why do you cry, darh-ng?" I whispered.
you' l''- be "rlli'"'.*;,";' ''^,S°°'V^"'' "°"=' ^"'>~-"^
C^fn.'""^----
ro% rT^='--
cata'^r:'^ u';raU°d;STere;L'^^™^"'=- ^^^ ^^^
'But ft 's so absurd." she protested. •■ Augustin lots
etrSjrIsI 1':T-- '' ^™ ^ ^"' -= -y ™-"
« r^u^^ ^° ^'°" ^''^" 't absurd ? "
denly-..''berus'e ^1^"'"^,^''" "??'' "'" "= «"d-
feri Yt tK. uJ!;ffi.'.'*™f ,' >e tried so hard. I can't
1, 5,„^ ,^a3fc ttusura. i do love you,"
' i
f
>'l|
II
-..r
1/
no
THE KING'S MIRROR
i
m
Here was her prepossession all the while-that the
h.ng would seem absurd, not that there was sunt
I can see now why her mind fix-ed on this poi t s ic
was, n. truth speaking not to me who was there by' ht
me as was, but to the man who should be ; she ,^ea ed
not only with herself, but with my future self nw'
he mature man to think of her witl. tenderne a'Xf
with a laugh, mterceding with what should one div h.
my memory of her. Ah. my dear, that p-Ver of yours
IS answered I do not laugh as I write.^ kt yo", I
could never have laughed ; and if I set out to force a
augh even at myself I fall to thinking of what 'u
vvere, and again I do not laugh. Then What s it th.l
he world outside must have laughed wi ha very slTf
conscous wisdom? Its laughter was nothin' ' to us
then, and to-day is to me as nothing. Is it not% Iwavs
ready to weep at a farce and laugh at a trageSy ? "^^
.1. 1 y ./?" ve nobody else," she went on softly "I
shouldn t have dared if you 'd had anybody e\se\onl
X7 ^.°", !'^"^'-^'^ber.?_you had nobody, and yoS
ked me to kiss you. I believe I began to love vou
l^Zk o"'^'" ' '^'^""^^ ^'^'"'^ •^^^ -^^h some :;.^an
uould love you some day. l^ut I didn't think I should
" How much you love me ? "
"No, no. You'll see my wrinkles. See if I do thf.
you can't look at my face." And putdng her a ns
round my neck she hid her face ^
I was strangely tongue-tied, or, perhaps, not strangely
for there comes a time when the eyes sa^ all that tlie^e
to m^ey^s.'"^' *° ^^^- "^^ P'-dingsLre inlnstr
"Oh, I know you think so now!" she murmured
But you won't go on thinking so-and I shall '^ She
raised her head and looked at me; now a mile of
nZ^s^Z^r '"T '''''■ "•^^^' ^"^ y-^ d' ?>"nk so
dXht ' Vn 'f H- 'r '" ''"'"" '^''^ ^°^^'^'''' but full of
aelight. You do think so now," and again she hid her
face from me. But I knew that the triurnVhad enteied
2— that the
IS SMI in it.
point ; she
lerc b}' her,
'he pleaded
2lf, prayiht^
2SS and not
)ne day be
2r of yours
At you I
to force a
what >'ou
: is it that
very self-
I'ng to us
lot always
ly?
oftly. " I
se. Long
and you
love you
le woman
I I should
d, or— or
I do this
her arms
trangely;
hat there
n answer
urmured.
11." She
smile of
think so
It full of
i hid her
1 entered
AN ACT OF ABDICATION „!
when we were together there wasHSl.i . together;
agreement in all that we rave ^u\hF.' , ^"
that we abandoned Doubts' ind I ''" f"'P'"''' ^"
though they had never been Th '^""^^les were as
Embassy I WeS"-""" ^°" ^'■'- ""■"^■' And the
resMs'^'ru^e"'""^ '' "''"'''= >'°" '"<='" ''h'^ "i«l. 'if the
"It is VVetter's. Do vou know «/V„o tu .
body may know how I am you?s ^ ^' ^'"■" ""'■>-
.. I K .Tu "''"^'' =™" *c perilous fame I oflerert
I hould be proud of it." sh'e said, with head erS
^o, no nobody shall breathe a l..ff ^1^^^-
name." I exclaimed^■^ a sudSf ur^ o ' fcehu' -^'t'T
Will swear that you had nothins; to do with if ,hS
hate h,m. that you never men Honed i' "' ""' ^^^
.. K ^r "?-^i y?" '*'= " '*'''= "hispered. '
If I did that, I should say to all Forstadt ,!,.►
there s no woman in the world like you" ' "'="
even'^raid'Trt m:U'"'° '" •"'"'»^'' ' ^'» '-.en't
We had been sitting together. Again I Ml „„ „,„
l<n.=, nrcpared to oHer her formal hSmage in a L«t
't
I
I,l/
If :
1 -
3 1
f i
'■I ¥
112
THE KINGS MIRROR
extravagance
On a sudden she raised her hand ; her
face grew alarmed.
" Hark ! " she said. " Hark ! "
" To your voice, yours only ! "
" No. There is a noise. Somebody is coming. Who
can it be ? "
" I don't care who it is."
" Why, dearest ! But you must care. Get up, get
up, get up!"
I rose slowly to my feet. I was indeed in a mood
when I did not care. The steps were close outside.
Before they could come nearer, I kissed her again.
" Who can it be ? I am denied to everybody," she
said, bewildered.
There was a knock at the door.
" It is not Max," she said, with a swift glance at me.
I stood where I was. " Come in," she cried.
The door opened, and to my amazement Wetter
stood there. He was panting, as though he had run
fast, and his air displayed agitation. The Countess ran
to him instantly. His coming seemed to revive the
fears which her love had laid to rest.
" What is it ? " she cried. " What 's the matter ? "
Wetter took absolutely no notice of her. Walking
on as though she were not there, he came st-i-aight up
to me. He spoke in tones of intense emotion, and with
the bluntness that excitement brings.
" You must come with me at once," he said in an
imperious way. " They 've sent for you to my house ;
we can get in together by the back door."
" But what 's the matter, man ? " I cried, divided
between puzzle and anger.
'You're wanted ; you must go to Hammerfeldt's."
" To Hammerfeldt's ? "
"Yes. He's dying. Come along."
" Dying ! My God ! "
"The message is urgent. There's no time to lose.
If you want to see him alive, come. I said you were
lying down in my study. If you don't come quickly, it
will be known where you are."
H
a1
arimrr*'' i?Tp 1 ngfcuifcw
and ; her
ig. Who
t up, get
I a mood
? outside,
gain.
ody," she
ce at me.
t Wetter
had run
ntess ran
ivive the
ter?"
Walking
"aight up
and with
lid in an
ly house ;
, divided
sldt's."
; to lose,
you were
luickly, it
AN ACT OF ABDICATION
n3
"I don't care for that."
" He "s sent for you himself"
1 he Countess had moved to my side
^^^^Vou must go." she said now, faying her hand on my
a iague" alarm 'T'Js' H^ "^^ ^>•^^ ^^'^^^ ^"" ^f
half-vvay throZi a vh i I et ^ ■""''", •'^"''^'""^>' ''^"^ed
to believe that he real if^ "^^ ' '''^'"^" ""''^'^'^ •^''''
the only subs?ance "■"' ^""^ '^''' J^'^^^''^^^^^"^ "ot
ably^°"'youT.n't \TlT'','^'''l' "^^^^^"^'>' --^ ■"•'•t-
stamm'ered .^r'n,Ve^dfw^;^'''"^?f^^ ^^ °"^^'" ^
Is he really dying ? " ^' '"^'- ^ ^'^^^ "^^ ^^''^h you.
"So they say."
"Hammerfeldt dvinffi Vf>c t 'ii ^^
I turned to the Countess wi."''' '"'^ y^"""
way to the door He loo 'd h^ "' ''''' ? "^^ ^'''^-
morrow, soin^ time ioln^or'ol™'"' '»"" ^"" • '°-
believcd T'" ""'"^ ""=• '="' ''^'•'"y ^'^ 'hough sl,e
did not occur to me \-k !^ I °''g'"/'=°"'='=='l""="'
times. ' '^""'^'' her hand two or three
"Shall you find hi.-n a\u,^:," i
specujation^more than S qt'ion. "^ ""™"^^^' '"
I don t know. Good-bie."
"fn; "■!;' ^'"i=;,t '' ""• Comfalong"'^ "" ' «" "'^
I m ready ; 1 ']| foUow j-ou "
/IS 1 reached the door I turned c:i,„ , .
. she had .at down ^^:^,^ ^^TJ^Sl^^
I I
i
.i;
I;
at
r^1i£M^m^i,JSt irUf-iS u-.^; ^
■.'/
m
114
THE KING'S MIRROR
gazing fixedly at the llames. I have had that picture ot
her often in my mind.
Wetter led me downstairs and out into the street at a
rapid pace. 1 followed him, trying to gather myself
together and think coherently. Too sudden a change
paral>'ses ; the mind must have time for readjustment.
Hammerfeldt was and had always been so large a figure
and a presence so important in my life; I could only
whisper to myself, " He's dying ; it's his breathing ; he
can't get his breath."
We went in by the back door as we had arranged, and
gained the study.
" Quick ! " whispered Wetter. " Remember you werj
in here. Don't make any excuses about delay. Or put
it on me ; say I hesitated to rouse you."
I listened little to all that he said, and paid small heed
to the precautions that his wariness suggested.
" I hope he won't be dead when you get there,'|^ he
added as we started for the hall. " Here 's your hat."
I caught at the word " dead."
"If he's dead " I repeated aimlessly. "If he's
dead, Wetter "
Then for an instant he turned to me, his face full of
expression, his eyes keen and eager. He shrugged his
shoulders.
" He 's an old man," said he. " We must alj die. And
if he's dead "
" Well, Wetter, well ? "
" Well, then you 're king at last."
With this he opened the door of my carriage and
stood holding it. I looked him full in the face before I
stepped in. He did not flinch ; he nodded his head and
smiled.
" You 're king at last," he seemed to say again.
■!■'
''ii
icturc ot
reet at a
r myself
I chans^e
ustment.
: a figure
Lild only
ling ; he
god, and
/ou werj
Or put
lall heed
here," he
r hat."
"If he's
:e full of
gged his
lie. And
iage and
; before I
head and
in.
CHAPTER XII.
KING AT A PRICE
bed • fh.. nn.- . ' '^^ "'-^ ^^^^ 'i"fJ 'lo other
ucii , inc nurses were oorfr-iit^ ft, . i i.
portraits, the Prince's fr-.t. ''T^'"'' '''''^
i,™,M h? ^ alteration of features and title the picture
u ould have served to commemorate the denti, I. .,1 , r
a manual on the management of men. I listen vPth an
expression of deep attention and respectful 'nZfn
touch which no doubt is dramat c H e o/hi.^f; ^ ^
ga.mg intently at me, on whom the'] u^^^TdT n"?
at the dymg man whose course is run Lool- in"?; 7
work as a whole, I am ,u.t in the le"t ^^i^S tl at ?
-sr-?iLSTi;i:--d^^H-
Now for reality. An old man strug.rlino- hn,-d fnr
K
i
¥
!l6
THE KING'S MIRROR
ii
ill
111 ^l"
of an. impotent desire to speak ; these came first. Then
the doctors j^athered round, looked, whispered, went
away. 1 rose and walked twice across the room ;
coming back I stood and looked at him. Still he
knew mt. Suddenly his hand mtned towards me. I
bent my head till m) ear was within three inches of his
lips ; I could hear nothing. 1 saw a doctor standing by,
watch in hand ; he was timing the breath that grew
slower and slower. "Will he speak i^" 1 asked in a
whispei ; a shake of the head answered me. 1 looked
again into his e)-es ; now he seemed to sf)eak to me. My
fact grew hot and red ; but 1 did not speak to him. Vet
I stroked his haiicK and there was a gleam of under-
standing in his eyes. A moment later his eyes closed ;
the gasps became slowei and slower. 1 raised my head
and looked across at the doctor. His watch had a gold
front protecting the gla.ss ; he shut the front on the face
with a click.
Very likely there wcr,- no proper materials for a
picture here ; the sentiment, the historical interest, the
situation would all have been defective. Men die in so
very much the same way, and in so very much the
same way men watch them dying. Death is the triumph
of the physical. I must not complain that the painter
imported some sentiment.
In twenty minutes I was back again in my carriage,
being driven home rapidly. My dinner was ready and
Baptiste in attendance. " Ah, he is dead ? " said
Baptiste, as he fashioned my napkin into a more perfect
shape.
" Yes, Baptiste, he 's dead," said I. " Bring me
some slippers."
"Your Majesty will not dress?"
"A smoking jacket," said I.
While I ate my dinner Baptiste chattered about the
Prince. There was a kindly humanity in the man that
gave a whimsical tenderness to what he said.
" Ah, now, M. le Prince knew the world well. And
where is he gone ? Well, at least he will not be
disappointed ! To die at eighty ! It is only to go to
j
t. Then
ed, went
c room ;
Still he
s me. I
cs of his
ulin^r by,
lat grew
ced in a
1 looked
me. My
im. Vet
•f undcr-
5 closed ;
my head
id a gold
the face
l.s for a
,Test, the
:lie in so
mch the
triumph
3 painter
carriage,
^ady and
?" said
e perfect
ring me
bout the
nan that
11. And
not be
to go to
K/.VG AT A TRICE „-
and the company." '^ ^" '''"'- yourself
j^^fl^thePnncessexpressedauish toscemeP'-
M^^iS^^mJ'tll^^J" ^;^;:: 1^^^^^^^^ I-id, I^tHls
^-cn,s/ She u-a " reatlv att- I "'.T '"; '"'"^'^ ''V'^' 't
'I'^^lily." lie adc vl n ■ n \" '''^'''''^ ^'^^' l^rincc very
Iieart of my m,il er !, - vV '. '7 ■■'^'"" '■'^■-"^'^' '"" tliL«
Victoria u-as c y ;^ l' ,^f n'"' '^^,^^^-^^>- ^« Victoria,
but her lips setin^'c^^ t/ci^;;;;; : ^>- -- dry,
me to liis., them. " cio^cn-jsi. Ii„tl, mvitcd
dabbing h J eU™ ''" ""'"'"' '"'"■" ^'^'^"' Victoria,
mother ''''= '"'' ^""^ ''^^'' >-"^ ""'y K'mde," said ,„y
de.'th:'"^l=to„v;"i;,'„[,"'|;' '° •■^" "^out Han,merfeldfs
my mother listeni^^^'i',':'',,-;::;;^'""!"''-'"--'^ com.ncnts,
••'i^re''!";.'"''"''''''--,'''''" ' "'^l«l renecthely.
Victoria ' " ^'^ "'"=" >■'■" S°' th--- news i.^. asked
' I°ut'' '■".l"-''' ■''''^•" ' ^"^"■'••■■ecl quietly ■
..ng^;i:^^r;tU^d'-Lt-— —
" Ti e 'i™,,?" ■ 't r"''"= ";^' ' " -y -°"'-- -K-ed.
listen to a ythin., th T7'''--S '' r'" ""' '" '^ »'«>= to
anything of ^orta.te ' ""='" ''''' '''"'^' "°' -™' to
Vict^rlS'vi^o'a'dibtXipeP" '' "-"'-^^^'■' -
nre^sin"""l'»:, ''"''t =" "'"*' ^""> => d-pa.>m.. ex
tresston. I a„, unwdhng to do either her or my'sistS
Ml
I
'1
I,
ii8
Till-: KING'S MIRROR
r !
an injustice, but I woikIlmccI then how much tlunii^ht
they were ^iviiiLj to the old friend we had lost. It
seemed to ine that the)' thou^flit little of the man ue
knew, the man himself; not grief, but fear was dominant
in them. Welter's sa>'in[4, " You're kinj; at last," came
into my mind. Perhaps their mood was intelligible
enough and did not want e.xcuse. They had seen in
llammerfeldt my schoolmaster; his hand was gone, and
could no longer guide or restrain me. To one a son, to
the (jther a younger brother, by both I was counted
ini .ipable of standing alone or choosing my own path,
llammerfeldt was gone; Wetter remained; the Countess
von Sempach remained. There was the new position.
The Prince's death then might well be to them so great
a calamity as to lose its rank amcjng sorrows, regrets
for the past be ousted by terror for the future, and the
loss of an ally obliterate grief for a friend.
" But you know his wishes and his view.s," said my
mother. " I hope that they will have an increased
sacred ness for you now."
"He may be looking down on you from heaven,"
added Victoria, folding her handkerchief so as to get a
dry part uppermost.
I could not resist this provocation : I smiled.
"If it is so, Victoria," I remarked, "nobody will be
more surprised than the Prince himself.'
Victoria was very much offended. She conceived
herself to have added an effective touch : I ridiculed
her.
"You might at least pretend to have a little decent
feeling," she cried.
" Come, come, my dear, don't let 's squabble over
him before he 's cold," said I, rising. " Have you any-
thing else to say to me, mother? '
At this instant my brother-in-law entered. He smelt
very strongly of tobacco, but wore an e.xpression of
premeditated misery. He came up to me, holding out
his hand.
" Good evening," said I.
" Poor Hammerfeldt ! " he murmured. " Poor Ham-
'<IXG AT A PRICK
119
Sr"" ^^"■" ■' ''•-■■ ""» 1,,,. ,„„ ,„„,„
can raise ,o his ,n.,n,„,., Au'us,;""'"^' '"""""■^■"' >""
- very fond „f ,„e, ,„„ •, „,,.,, if.l^^^.'l't),-;"™
;;K.nv d,,,,', be f.,„h-sh, AuKustin," she implored
*v II. u s beiii<r too <N p " I ., I I ' .
say°l;drd,';r-' ^•"" '<- ve.; .eint, pe„p,e
knmv'too'r"^ "" "■'■"'""'■'•■'dt i" i>caven-does he
realisation of h.sl'.nii;," .? .t^ied'J^ffillSiri'J-"^ ""^
moment ?;L";;:td'" ^t; r° - ."ri ^'^''■' ^'™-' ">=
I
/ I
120
THE KING'S MIRROR
Countess and Wetter were in mental image no less
plain. I rose and pulled up the blinds ; the night
had begun to pass from black to grey ; for a moment
I pictured the Prince, not looking down from heaven,
but wandering somewhere in such a dim cold twilight.
The message that his eyes had given me became very
clear to me. It had turned my cheek red ; it sent an
excitement through me now. It would not go easily
into words, but, as I .sought to frame it, that other
speech came back to me— the speech of the Prince's
enemy. Wetter had said, " You 're king at last."
What el.se had Hammerfeldt meant to say? Nothing
else. That was his message also. From both it came,
the same reminder, the same exhortation. The living
man and the dead joined their voices in this brief appeal.
It did not need my mother's despair or Victoria's
petulance to lend it point. I was amazed to find how
it came home to me. Now I perceived how, up to this
time, my life had been centred in Hammerfeldt. I was
obeying him or disobeying, accepting his views or
questioning them, docile or rebellious ; when I rebelled,
I rebelled for the pleasure of it, for the excitement it
gave, the spice of daring, the air of independence, for
curiosity, to .see how he would take it, what saying
he would utter, what resource of persuasion or argu-
ment he would invoke. It was strange to think that
now if I obeyed I should not gratify, if I disobeyed
I could make him uneasy no more. If I went right,
there was none to reap credit ; if I went wrong, none
who should have controlled me better ; none to say,
" You are wise, sire " ; none to smile as he said, " We
must all learn wisdom, sire." It was very strange to
be without old Hammerfeldt.
"You're a king at last." By Wetter's verdict and by
the Prince's own, his death made me in very truth king.
So they said; what did the)' think? Wetter's thought
was, " Here is a king, a king to be shaped and used."
I read Wetter's thought well enough. But the old
man's ? His was a plea, a hope, a prayer. " Be king."
A sudden flash of feeling came upon me — Too late!
no less
e night
moment
heaven,
twilight,
me very
sent an
o easily
It other
Prince's
It last."
Nothing
it came,
le living
f appeal,
''ictoria's
ind how
3 to this
. I was
'iews or
rebelled,
sment it
2nce, for
t saying
or argu-
ink that
isobeyed
nt right,
ng, none
; to say,
id, "We
range to
t and by
Jth king.
thought
id used."
the old
^e king."
"oo late !
KING AT A I'RICE
For I had gone to his bedside fresh fiv..u >.v,n,
abdication. It mattered nothing at whose bidd
with what eager obed
121
ence I had taken off the crow
■om signing my
ing or
n.
ossession and
my trust. I
night,
My soyereignt)' was my p ..,..,... „_ „ ,.
had laid It down. In those dim hours of the ni-nt
when men die (so they sa>), passion is cold, the blood
chill, and we fall prey to the cruelties of truth, then
1 knew to what I had put m)^ hand, why Wetter
exulted, why Hammerfeldt's eyes spoke one unspoken
prayer. It was not that Wetter went Ambassador, but
that he went not of my will, by my act, or out of my
mind; he went b)' another's will, that other on whose
head I had put m}- crown.
not altogether of that mind. For then my trust seemed
very great almost holy, armed with majesty ; I had not
learnt the little real power that lay in it. To-day if I
threw away my cTown, I should not exaggerate the value
of my sacrifice. 1 hen it seemed that I gave a great thino-
and great was my betrayal. Therefore I could not rest
for the thought of what I had put my hand to, chafed
at Wetter s words that sounded now like a taunt and
seemed again to sec old Hammerfeldt dying an'd to
flush red 111 shame before the utterance of ^his e\-es
Ihe Prince had served his masters, his country, and "the
cause that he held right. Wetter, if he served himself
served hi.s prmciples also. What and whom did I serve
'". il^^r"^ ^^''''\ } '''''' ''^''''^ ^'' ^l'^-' I ^"^'l^l answer
only that I served her whose image rose now before me
But when I turned to her for comfort she accused, and
did not delight.
I am aware that my feelings will probablv- appear
exaggerated to those not brought up in the habit of
thought nor subjected to the influences which had ruled
my mind. I give them for what they are worth At
this moment the effect of the contrast between my
position and my desires was a struggle of peculiar
seventy— one of the battles of my life.
Irony was not to be wanting, comedy claimed her
accustomed share. The interview which I have already
^'ri
J'
'h
rn
u
■
1)
i;
122
THE KING'S MIRROR
li
ii
set down might seem enough to have satisfied my
sister. It was not; after I had breakfasted Victoria
sent VViUiam Adolphus to me. I am inclined now
and then to think that there is, after all, something
mystic in the status of husbandhood, some super-
natural endowment that in the wife's eyes attaches to
her own man, however little she values him, at however
low a rate she sets his natural qualities. How other-
wise could Victoria (whose defect was more in temper
than in perception) send William Adolphus to talk
to me ?
He came ; the role of the man of the world was his
choice. " I'm a bit older than you, you know," he
began ; then he laughed, and said that women were all
very well in their places. I must not suppose that he
was a Puritan. Heavens, I supposed nothing about
him ! I knew he was a fool, and rested in that sufificient
knowledge. The Countess, he said, was a damned
pretty woman. "We shan't quarrel about that, any-
how," he added, with the sort of laugh that I had so
often seen poor old Hammerfeldt wince at. Bu- come
now, did I mean to ? Well, I knew what he meant
didn't I?
" My dear William Adolphus," said I, "I am so
infinitely obliged to you. Vou have made rae see the
matter in quite a new light. It's surprising what a
talk with a man of the world does for one. I am very
young, of course."
"Oh, you'll learn. You're no fool," said William
Adolphus
" I suppose Victoria doesn't know you 've come ? "
He turned rather red, and, like a fool, lied where he
need not, out of pride, not policy.
" No ; I came off my own bat," he answered.
" You have done me a great service."
" My dear fellow ! " beamed he with the broadest of
smiles. "Now Hammerfeldt 's gone, I thought a friendly
word or two would not come amiss."
Hammerfeldt was dead ; now came William Adolphus.
// tiy a pas dhonnuc ticccssaire.
KING AT A PRICK 123
^^ ''O^,''^"''-''? y"" ^an do nothin- abrupt," he continued.
iiut 1 should think you might gradually '
" I understand you absolutely," said I, rising to my
"What I mean is "
" My dear fellow, not another word is needed.''
"You don't mind if I mention to Victoria that I
nave ? "
'.'< Li"' ,'' '." t'^^ evening papers, if you like," said I.
Ha, ha! he laughed. "That wouldn't be a bad joke,
would It? ■'
^^ What a man ! With his little bit of stock wisdom.
You can do nothing abruptly"! Nothing abruptly'
1 must not check m)-self abruptly on the edge of the
precipice, but go quietly down half-way to the gulf, and
tiien come up again ! If I were ever to do anythin<^ it
must be done abruptly— now, to-day ; while the strength
\vas on me, while there was still a force, fresh and
vigorous to match the other great force that drew me
on. And across this consciousness cams a queer littl'^
remorse for not having rescued Victoria from this hus-
band whom she sent to teach me. When Baptiste
brought me lunch I was laughing.
That afternoon the thought of Geoffrey Owen was
much with me. Perhaps I summoned it first in a sort
ot appeal against Hammerfeldt. But I knew in my
heart that the two could not be antagonists hero.
Geoffrey would wish me to show favour, or at least
impartiality, towards Liberal opinions ; for the sake of
such a manifestation he might overlook certain objec-
tions and acquiesce in my giving the Embassy to
Wetter. But with what face would he hear an honest
statement of the case— that Wetter was to have the
li^mbassy because Lie King desired to please Countess
yon Sempach? I smiled drearily as I imagined his
incredulous indignation. No; everybody was against
me saints and sages, Geoffrey and Hammerfeldt, women
and men; even the fools gave no countenance to
my folly. William Adolpluis thought that I might
gradually ! ^
\\i\
I!
el
f
124
THE KING'S MJRROR
>i
I
'I* I •
At five o'clock I sent for Wetter. He came with
remarkable promptness. He was visibly excited, and
could hardly force himself to spend a moment on the
lormal and proper expressions of regret for the Prince's
death He seemed to be watching me closely and
eagerly. I made him sit down, and gave him a cigar.
I had meant to approach the matter with a diplomatic
deviousness. I had over-rated my skill and self-control.
Wetter made me feel young and awkward. I was like
a schoolboy forced to confess the neglect of his task
and speakmg in fear of the cane. Ignoring the reserve
that had marked our former conversation, I blurted out •
" I can't send you to Paris."
The man's face went white, but he controlled himself
" Your Majesty knows that I did not ask for it " he
said with considerable dignity. '
" I know ; but you wanted it."
He looked straight at me ; he was very pale.
"Truly, yes," he said. "I wanted it; since Your
P,Tajesty is plain, I '11 be plain too."
" Why did you want it ? Why are you pale. Wetter ?"
He put his cigar in his mouth and smoked fiercely
but did not answer.
"You must have wanted it," I said, "or you wouldn't
have tried to get it in that way."
'- My God, I did want it."
"Why?"
"If I can't have it, what matter?' He rose to his
feet and bowed. " Good-bye, sire," said he. Then he
gave a curious laugh. '^ Moriturus te saliUo," he added
laughing still.
" What 's the matter, man ? " I cried, springing up and
catching him by the arm.
" I haven't a shilling in the world ; my creditors are
in full chase; I'm posted for a card debt at the club.
If I had this I could borrow. Good God, you promised
it to her ! "
" Yes, I promised it to her."
" Have you seen her again?"
" No. I must."
I i I
ame with
;ited, and
nt on the
e Prince's
)sely and
1 a cigar,
iplomatic
f-control.
was hke
his task,
e reserve
rted out :
I himself.
)r it," he
ce Your
Vetter?"
fiercely,
wouldn't
e to his
rhcn he
; added,
<; up and
tors are
he club,
romised
KING AT A PRICE
125
" To whom will you give it ? "
" I don't know. Not to von "
"Why not?" ^ '
" You 're not fit for it"
He took out his handkerchief and wiped his forehead
" Zr "''''' ^>f ^°^ '' yesterday." L said. '
1 won t argue it.
"As you please, sire," said he with a shrus? and he
seemed to pull himself together. He rose a^;d "tood
before me with a smile on his lips.
I sat down, took a piece of paper, wrote a draft
lTn7\tl7Tl ""''^^^'' --' P-^'-cl it across to'
" Vou mean-you mean ? " he stammered.
My ransom," said I.
" Mine ! " he cried.
"No, it i^s mine, the price of my freedom."
''I^ 's . 1n^ r""" "^ ^T' '■" ^ ^^"^ ^l^^t trembled.
thoJsand'm^rk:.''"""^' '^^ ''''■ " ""^^'y ^ ""-^^^
" My name is good for that."
SDeaH-/r''Tl ""'.'".?" face, opening his lips but not
speakmg. Then he thrust out his hand to me. I took
It ;^ I was as much moved as he.
" Don't tempt me again," I -'d
r.l"^ f'W"^ "^y, ^"""^ '^^""^ ^"^ fiercely ; wh-n he
relea.sed it I waved it towards the door. I could trust
myself no more. He turned to go; but I called t o h i m
"Don't say anything to her. I must see her "
He faced me with an agitated look.
•'What for.?" he asked
I made hi^m no answer, but lay back in my chair He
upTn his7at "' "^^ '"'^ "'^^ ^^^^'^^'^'^ ^ 1^°'"^
•' I '11 pay you back," he said.
" I don't want the money."
"And I don't mean the money. In fact, I 'm h.d -t
paymg money back. Why have you done it .? " "
i},
^•■v'
126
THE KING'S MIRROR
M.
i ' !i
" I have done it for myself, not for you. You owe
me nothing. My honour \va.s pawned, and I have
redeemed it. I was bound ; I am free."
His eyes were fixed intently on me with a sort of
wonder, but I motioned him again to the door. He
obeyed me witliout another word ; after a bow he
turned and went out. I rose, and having walked to the
window looked down into the street. I saw him cross-
ing the roadway with a slow step and bent head. He
was going towards his club, not to his house. I st(K)d
watching him till he turned round a corner and dis-
appeared. Then I drew a long breath and returned to
my chair. 1 had hardl)' seated mx'scif when Baptiste
came in with a note. It was from the Countess.
"Aren't you coming to-day?" That was all.
" There is no answer," I said, and l^aptiste left me.
For I must carry the answer my.self ; and the answer
must be, " Yes, to-day ; but not to-morrow."
There was doubtless some extravagance in my con-
ception of the situation, and I have not sought to
conceal or modify it. It seemed to me that I could
play my part only at the cost of what was dearest
to me in the world. Money had .served with Wetter ;
it would not serve here. My heart must pay, my heart
and hers. I remember that I sat in my chair murmur-
ing again and again, " To-day, but not to-morrow."
f
Hi
Li
Vou owe
1 I have
a sort of
oor. He
bow he
sd to the
m cross-
;ad. He
I StCK)d
and dis-
urned to
Baptiste
Jountess.
"t me.
e answer
my con-
3ught to
I could
dearest
Wetter ;
my heart
murmur-
iw."
CHAPTER XHI.
I PROMISE NOT TO LAUGH
I TAKE it that generally when middle age looks back
fsnir^H "''""'''' Y'^'^^ P^^^'°" becomes less Terce
mo'r'rnor^il h" "''^^^'' ^'^^ --^ -^- -^■^'
At forty the fedings ^ot^ :: :^r^U:;''tX
ceptio,f^rser \^,^ ^-^'.^-"■^' the dreams/thral'
ovetut" at the m '^^^'""'^^ °^ P-.-ess^of my^ fi.
r3ni 1 u "''""^'' °^ 't-' c"d. ^•'^I<'ng myself in-
to re-di?cover%h° °^ ^°\"''' ''""'^'"S almost^'n vain
thon Jh r ^c T""^ that moved me then. Yet
was fhi v"r^ ^""^ '^ "^^^•"' ^ '^-"o^v dimly whaf it'
was that high strange, noble, ludicrous ideal of mv
office which so laid hold on me as to scatter msio^'^
forces and wrest me from the arms of her TloJed I
cannot now so think of my kingship, so magnify its
. m' S' '??"'^'" that it matters so greatly" t^ t e
world ho.v I H„d it „, ,,,,, ^^^^^^^ ^^^ -tly to tl e
myself I come to the conclusion (though it may seem
ho' Id nornl^'"'""^, ''''I "^ ^ '''^'^ ---^ cou^not or
snould not, do now what I did then. I suppose that it
pa:^::i^rr''-''' ^l^'^- ^ weakenincf ^^mS Ln
parallel with a lowering of ideal, that makes us. as we
127
II
'I
^^Wff^^ww^^^
m.
h
128
THE KING'S MIRROR
y.
M
V ii i
grow older, think ourselves so much wiser and know
ourselves to be so little bettor.
I had charged Wetter to say nothing to the Countess,
but he disobeyed me. He had been to her and told
her all that passed between us. I knew this the
moment I entered her room. Her agitated nervous air
showed me that she had been informed of the with-
drawal of my gift, was aware that the Embassy was no
longer hers to give to Wetter or another, and was
wondering helplessly what the meaning of the change
might be. To her, as to Wetter, the death of Hammer-
feldt must have seemed the removal of an impediment ;
only through the curious processes of my own mind did
it raise an obstacle insurmountable. She had liked the
Prince, but feared him ; she imagined my feelings to
have been the same, and perhaps in his lifetime they
were. Then should not I, who had been brought to
defy him living, more readily disregard him dead ?
But against her knowledge of me and her quick wit
no preconception could hold out long. She was by me
in a moment, asking :
" What has happened ? What 's wrong, Augustin ? "
I '^ad pictured myself describing to her what I felt,
making her understand, sympathise, and, even while she
grieved, approve. The notion was so strong in me that
I did not doubt of finding words for it— words eloquent
of its force and dignity. But before her simple im-
pulsive question I was dumb. A wave of shyness
swept over me ; not even to her could I divulge my
thoughts, not even from her risk the smile of ridicule
or the blankness of non - apprehension. I became
wretchedly certain that I should be only absurd and
priggish, that she would not believe me, would see only
excuse and hypocrisy in what I said. It was so difficult
also not to seem to accuse her, to charge her with
grasping at what I had freely offered, with having, as
the phrase runs, designs on me, with wishing to take
power where she had been impelled to bestow love.
She pressed me with more questions, but still I found
no answer.
m 'i
wS88Si/^
' ''''OMISF. XOT TO lAUGU ,,,
can't A,",'t' 'Vic'Ck.miT '■"''"-'"'', '" ■^'•inimcrin!;. "I
" I A.ii't k,„„v 'm^; r^ asked ,,uickiy.
somebody f,„. „„.,,, II-' ' "'"' «""L'body; I must fin<i
" Fi;Kit,;;r i ™^:;^:s?;'!;'i"'^ "''po»i'e to „e.
"For yourself) \U, , 2 .'" '■'-•p'--ated slowly
;; I must c,:„,s.)l";;:/„r';"'S';"''^ "■^'' '^""-"■"'■'
'^i™;T';;.^r,:::.:r'5;:t'''rr,'^='p^"
a Hreary appealing. » ;. c, ! ' '"''''^'■',- "* ^c'' "ith
"otnents. t'h'e,, sl,e s?id';udde,^,;:" ^"•='" ^^ " f"'
l^ou haven t offered to kiss me'"'
did nTkk, .ne,""' "" °" "'« ''P»; -^1- stood still and
yol^ wssjd";e'"i:!;;:,. ;:fu"'^ ""' '" 1^- ■— I
" " itV„S';rv™ r^'' '■'''-'■" ' 'S^'y 'p ""' """ ■■""'""■
it s not that. Its "
he;^drl:'^',:!;^:i:i,.^Sheu,rned away and seated
the .ground. Then he Ave .1 '?' ''T "^^''^'^ ^''^'^ "'^
would come " si e "ai "^h \ .t'''-"'^ ^'-^^- " ^ '<neu- it
1 ran to Ik. a,.d threw! '',r'~'^ ''^^'^'^'' ■^"^'^-^"''
1 lifted my arm and n M^ ^'f. °" '">^ ^"^^^^ by her.
face dovvn\o mine. ^ '°""^ ^^"•' "^^^1^ '-^"^ drew her
that^°' "°' ""'" ^ ^^'^^'^Pered passionately. "It's not
re^I^Jr',:;;^!^,^"^^- --y ^-f • --l presently
sheclutchecrm^^h^ndt loSy^"'^^^^^ "^ ^^P^' -^^
^^YoudoWeme.P'-shemurmJ.;^^^
drJt;;c'';j:;t;:;:;>^^,,:i^t'o.youdothisP'' s..
Then a sudden hnVrh . ^ "^ '" "" bewildered way
of you" '"^ ' '" ^'"''^°"' l»"-ty, " ' was not thinking
t
4
!
ill
!f/J'
130
THE KING'S MIRROR
\l
i
ifjji
" DDii't ! " she cr^cfl, for she did not bch'evr me. " What
do I care? I cared once; I don't care now."
" It wasn't because of you," I repeated obstinately.
" Then tell me, tell me ! Because I believe you still
love rne."
I made shift to tell her, but my stumbling words be-
littled the great conception : I could not find the phrases
that alone might coiwey the truth to her ; but I held on,
trying to say something of what I meant.
" I never tried to interfere," she broke in once.
" I made you interfere, I myself," was my lame answer ;
and the rest I said was as lame.
" I don't understand," she murmured forlornly and
petulantly. "Oh, I suppose I see what you mean in
a way; but I don't believe it. I don't see why you
should feel like that about it. Do men feel like that?
Women don't."
'" I can't help it," I pleaded, pressing her hand. She
drew it away gently.
" And what will it n ;an ? ' she asked. " Am I never
to see you ? "
"Often, often, I hope, but "
" I 'm not to talk to you about — ibout important
things, things we both care about?"
I felt the absurdity of such a position. The abstract
made concrete is so often made absurd.
" Then you won't come often ; you won't care about
coming." Something in her thoughts made her flush
suddenly. She met my eyes and took courage. "You
asked a good deal of me," she said.
I made no answer ; she understood my silence. She
rose, leaving me on my knees. I threw myself on the
sofa and she went to the hearthrug. She knew that
what I had asked of her I asked no more. There was
a long silence between us. At last she spoke in a very
low voice.
" It 's only a little sooner than it must have been,"
she said. " And I — I suppose I must be glad that
it's come home to me now instead of — later. I dare-
say you'll be glad of that too, Augustin."
' PROMISE NOT TO LAUGH ,3,
moment. "VVccan'JTr -r ^'''^''' '^^'t the next
" I don't know -' ^^ °" "' '^""^'^'"g had happened '
^'^It^a;Vo.^rs^^^
only a little sooner/ ^ ' >^"" "^"'^^ be. It's
She turned her harl^ f« «, •
■•nto the fire. I was try ncr S '"'' '^'^l' '"^''^-'""g down
realise how it wou?d bJ b?twecn"urh ^^^^"-^-"> to
'n the real, we must now dwein-n fL '' ^T'^ '^'^^^
another. I was wc,ndcr L how f *'^^, ""''^^1 with one
not show that I loved her \ow I l ' m'? ""^^^ ^^' ^"d
be true to my idol thp^.n 1-''°"^^ ^°^^ ^er and yet
^^uddenly she ^oke w thour^?/ °" ^^^^,l8^°verned ^e.
;; Whom shalf y^u' sSt Ss P^" °^ ^'^^^"^ ^^ ^^d"
I don t know. I haven't settled."
" Onl Ma"x "S^l wh.^'"^ ^Ise-besides himselfP"
« H;,Hn'f L ' ^^'^'^ ^ dreary au^h
.»in"h1™ firf^,^ifi- -"d M-' That is, if ^ou
a bittent'-tut :'m™' r!'''^""^ l'- petulance by
without tu?nin^ 'o^nd "" '"'" ^'>= ^^'^ again, still
"Send Max."
..^^e-,„ the way ,^u sa^^' t d ^l' C S '/o':
"Vou would gfO with him?" 1^1-
" Of course." exclaimed.
" For five years ? "
thirty-four. There will Vn^?Tr, ^''''- ' ^'wll be
are to treat one anothe wh™ I ''""u^ f ''°"' '"'«' ^e
looked they filled with tears' "^ '" ^^^ ^yes. As I
tl
I
I
^
132
Till-: KING'S MIRROR
" My dear, my dear," she said, raisitifj her arms and
scttiiifT her hands on my shoulders, " I have never
forgotten that I was a fool. Yes, once, for a few
moments yesterda\'. I shall remember at Paris what
a fool I was, and I shan't forget it when I come
back. Only I wish it didn't break one's heart to be
a fool."
" I won't let you ^o ; I won't send him. I can't."
" Will it be better to have it happen here {Gradually
before my eyes ever)- day? I should kill myself I
couldn't bear it. I should see you finding out, changing,
forgetting, laughing. Oh, what a miserable woman I
am ! " She turned away suddenly and flung herself
into an arm-chair.
" Why did you do it ? " she cried. " Why did you ? "
" I loved you."
" Yes, yes, yes. That 's the absurdity, the horrible
absurdity. And I loved you, and I love you. Isn't
it funny ? " She laughed h)'sterically. " How funny we
shall think it soon ! When I come back from Paris !
No, before then! We shall laugh about -it!" She
broke into sobs, hiding her face in her hands.
" I shall never laugh about it," I said.
" Shan't you ? " she asked, looking up and gazing
intently at me. Then she rose and came towards me.
" No, I don't think you will. Don't, dear. But I don t
think )ou will. You won't laugh about it, will you?
You won't laugh, Cesar ? "
I bent lo' • and kissed her hand. I
broken dowi. had I tried to speak. As
head from her hand, she kissed my brow,
wiped her eyes, saying :
"You'll send Max to Paris? You promised me tliis
Embassy. You shall be good and great and indepen-
dent, and all you say you mean to be and must be,
afterwards. But you promised me this Embassy.
W^ell, I ask your promise of you. I ask it for Max."
"You would go Rw: V from me?"
"Yes. I want to grow old away from you. I ask
the Embassy for Max."
should ha\c
I raised my
Then she
J
I I'ROMFSK \0T TO LAUGH
to!ne:Sin'"^' ""^^'"^' ""^'-'^'-'- She came near
voic^'-Vdl:;" 'S; '1:^ 1^ ^^'^' ?" ^ '-^' --toady
and not to C^^^^^ ^| >'"^' '^ J/'^^ to let mc J,
j;;^. .iven .0. a^;;v;. - ra--- - ,[ -^
"It breaks my heart"
^^ i oil— you mean it ? "
"With all my heart and soul."
Ihen so be it."
X^lt^'" a,ain, and there ::^^i:ncJ'oJ;^'^^l
"|^"\'"°»«^'^ll^ve^ro.P'' .she asked,
answered" ''"^^ "^^'^^ ^ ^ "-nth, I suppose," I
r<>^^ <|uicklv and turned h, I ' i^"'' ' "^^"'P- ^he
she asked. ^ ^^" ^^"" ^t,out it now?"
"Ves— ir it must be so."
"G''od\ve^"TV' F'"" ^'■^•^"' ''-• J^^-^"^! to me saying
^ Jd-bye. The door opened anrl \Tnv o ^'"S-
came i,. Bero,-e he could' "ee"/ ™L'. ^j; .^"^-P-h
-day?' "''^' ''° ^°" """^ bring.s thf Ki„g here
Max professed him..oir .f . >,.„_
to
"We've been
Max professed himself at a loss.
He s come about you," she said
talkmg about you " ''•
V
;l
1.1
134
THE KING'S MIRROR
m
"What?" cried Max. "Are you going to send
Wetter to Paris, sire?"
"No," said I. "Not Wetter. He doesn't want it
now, and anyhow he's not fit for it."
" He doesn't want it ? Oh, but he does ! "
" Max, you mustn't contradict the King. But one of
our people is to have it. Guess who it is ! "
He shrugged his shoulders.
" I don't know who it is if it's not Wetter."
" It 's you," she said. " Isn't it, sire ? "
" If he likes it," said I. " Do you like it ? "
"Like it!" he exclaimed. "Oh, but I can't believe
it ! Something of the sort has bten the dream of my
life."
" It is yours if you will have it," said I.
"And the dream of your life will come true," she
said. " Fancy that ! I didn't know it ever happened."
And she glanced at me.
"Yes, the dream of his life shall come true," said I.
" You 're very fit for it, and 1 'm very glad to give it to
one of your side."
" The King belongs to no party," said, she. She
paused and added, "And to no person. He stands
apart and alone."
I hardly heeded Max's profuse thanks and honest
open exultation.
" It's too good to be true," said he.
This has always seemed to me a strange little scene
between us three. The accepted conventions of emotion
required that it should raise in me and in her a feeling
of remorse ; for Max was so honest, so simple, so ex-
clusively given over to gratitude. So far as I recollect,
however, I had no such feeling, and I do not think that
the Countess differed from me in this respect. I was
envious of him, not because he took her with him (for
he did not take her love), but simply because he had
got something he liked, was very pleased, and in a
good temper with the world and himself The dream
of his life, as he declared impetuously, was fulfilled. The
dream of ours was shattered flow were we to reproach
r PROMISE NOT TO LAUGH
135
It would have been the
ourselves on his account?
yuixotry of conscience
comfortable ^""' '° """"= ^im a little less
He]L^,;yH?::'Lttz;'i',''^^ ■■'■ -' --'
ail my good™iZt.ywI,t;\-^;;;,.:l»" »'^°- off before
Max, " ' ''"°" '^°" '° "'™k Your Majesty," said
^^"iS^^o^^U:;-^^ -no it fo.
I looked up „.^th a liJtte Zt '"^'"'^ "'" -'^y »•■■
„ 'suppose they will, ' said I.
"Ti;"',^?"i'" '"' hanrfsomeiy abused."
cons^tousl^as^f ;o,t.7-'' ' ^^'''^^-^^ »'™-' """
smiling. ^ '""'"•'' ^"°'*'' '° the Countess,
and '«"r nolldcd-^ri^ir^'^^'i^f " .ff'^' ^- ^
p':?^- i:r^- i»^ 'nii-JitTaE r
I mseT' 'i;'^ " y '?'''" -id *<= "' a low voice
Max":w'°n7it sSmedr^^r^' ""= '"'"^ '" "^'t
the situat^had acted H»J ' r ',".'" J^^ '"-""J' '^at
looked down from Sennas vt',^' '"■'"'"'• '^ ^^
suggested), would be amused tt The inf P«^'"'-f>='q"'=ly
on my action ■ it wni.lrl . ;f 1 ■ u '"terpretation put
great sacrifice that I h^H '"','^""™,'- "<=" to see the
teaching twiSed'tto a"ep Son^'ofhis'''""" °' }''
they would sav l-^Cltt-J^.-irmo^.^-^ThS Z* '"^-
ige to hear uhen the f}<
I
ure uf the Countess
was
ma
136
THE KING'S MIRROR
4+
<■'!
Still fresh before my eyes, and the sound of her sobs
rang yet in my cars. I shrugged my shoulders.
1 here are harder things to bear than a little abuse
and a little gossip. I can't help it if they don't under-
stand the grounds of my action."
♦•It's .so soon after the Prince's death," said Max.
1 he thing could not be dela)-ed ; it had to be done
at once," said I.
I moved towards her to take my leave. She was
standing close by her husbands side ; her face was still
m shadow.
"We shall have so much to do before we go," she
said, "that we can hope to see very little more of' Your
Majesty.
" Yes," broke in Ma.x, " we must go down and arrange
everything on the estate ; we 're going to be away for so
long. -^
"Oh, but I shall hope to see you again. You must
come and say good-bye to me. Now I must leave
you.
" Good-bye, and again thank you," she said
She came with me to the door, and down the stairs.
Max walked in front, and went on to open the door and
see that my carriage was in readiness. For an instant
1 clasped her hand.
"I shan't see you again," she whispered. "Good-
bye.
I left her standing on the lowest step, her head
proud y erect and a smile on her lips. It was as she
said, 1 did not see her again; for they went to the
country the next day, and when Max came to take a
formal leave of me she excused herself on the score of
mdisposition.
To complete the picture I ought to describe the
wrath of those who had formed Hammerfeldt's e^aour-
age, the gleeful satisfaction of the opposing party the
articles in the journals, the speculations, guesses,' and
assertions as to my reasons, temper, intention, and
expressions. I should paint also my mother's mingled
annoyance and relief, vexation that I favoured the
I PROMISE NOT TO LAUGH j^;
effectual divingla; d f hin " 'f ^^^^'''^'^^'i'^ent and in-
throw ],-crht on so ^5- ' ''">'t!i'"ff that mi^rht
Adolphu.;^ Ua se selfTo,nnr°"-' a matter ; VViniam
l^is advice, acco mptk^rh'.^ "''"'^^ '" •"^>' ^°"°^^''"^^ of
my havii^jj' tl,o : hUt nor. ^ ' Patromsincr rebuke'^or
All thescVoc feoD e nf h''^ '"^ \'" '^ '^ abruptly."
and filled Hich ci3s o?H '-^^^^^^ ^heir little pafts
of the meani <. of ti e nh F^' ""^ ''^^'•' °^^ ^ '^'^'as
the importance of to ' ^^ ''"'^ ^^'"""' '''''' ^'-^timate of
their Placef hfrnf concen;;''''"" '^"'^^'>' ''^" '^"-^ ■'^to
superfluous; alU-e^eS'T /'' n' ^'^'r ""^ ^^"^ ^^-^
sciousness to 1 d hte„ th " ' "^^^ '''^'■'^■^^^' '" ""^^o"-
and to frame tic tr .V K '-""''K' ^"^ P"'"' ^'^^^ ^«'^^^ly.
incongruous seuln^'l^ J^IM j; '^^Jf r^^^'^' '^^^'^
mana^rer takes no ,l.u-nsolnve'iH:f ^'^": ' ^" -^^''^S-^-
nor to lead us tlm,n''N '''^,'^;^'^ thmgs m harmony.
emotions to tl'dlTof^'^S ?"f ^^-^^'-^^-^P-"^
from our si-ht all • t h- T''"^"' "^^'' ^" Danish
of the piece it the, V ' T'^ k '^''^^^''^ ^^''^'^ ^'^^ Pathos
juxtapositions, by sur-^s^''^' ^^ 'T'''''' ^>' ■^^'"^"'^'^^
audiel.ce folio vh^sS^M'^'S'' ''^^^^' "^^^">' «^ the
pleasure, reckin- notT, ' "f^^^^■^'".^^ chssatis.'action or
his play. ^ "°^'^"'^^ ^^''^^'^'^^•- ^^'^ applaud or dam.i
to Paris. Did yo, look :i f ""^^ ^ountess was ^one
-erfeldtP ^^ct'orla \Tou<^^t";o uXl'^ ''^^-
not the boy's work ^^K.n ii ^^ '-"• ^'^'^'i. ^^'as
done? ^ ^'^ absurdly, extravagantly, bravely
CHAPTER XIV.
PLEASURE TAKES LEAVE TO PROl EST
tiS i!
W. I'
'During the months that followed the departure of the
Sempachs I engaged myself busily in public affairs, in
the endeavour to gain better acquaintance with the
difficult trade which was mine. I do not throw off
impressions lightly, and I was disinclined for gaiety, or
for more society than the obligations of my position
demanded. My mother approv'ed of my zeal ; a con-
vinced partisan, she enjoyed that happy confidence in
her own views which makes people certain that every-
body can study their opinions only to embrace them.
Attention is the sole preliminary to conversion. I will
not speak further of this matter here than to say that I
was doomed to disappoint Princess Heinrich in this
respect. I am glad of it. The world moves, and
although it is very difficult for persons so artificially
situated as I have been to move with it, yet we can and
must move after it, lumbering along in its wake more or
less slowly and awkwardly. We 'hold on this tenure;
if we do not perform it— well, we end in countr)'-houses
in England.
It was, I suppose, owing to these occupation.s that I
failed to notice the relations between Victoria and her
husband until they had reached a rather acute crisis.
Either from a desire to reinforce the number of my
guardian angels, or mcrel\- because they found them-
selves very comfortable, the pair had taken up a practi-
cally permanent residence with me. I was very glad to
have them, and assigned them a handsome set of apart-
ments quite at the other end of the house. Here they
'38
PLEASURF, PROTESTS ,39
Victoria at Iea?t 3 5l- E?""°." °^ '""''^ ''-'arfers.
Wle ioungfe ?ife n CO, i'n"''""T P"''^'"'^' '«' ■->"
liis stoutness incJeip?! ^°"'"=1"f."':= "■■ S'cvv indolent;
■nerely bectu e T bdieve fta" ,°t" h",^ P"'™"', ''^'"i'
^'StKKt"^3^^^P^-
to satisfy this instinct in hcfes a dTs^ il "" ''"?'=
she'pd^atr ;';rorr,;t;ts'"'nd'^;i?e'=^ l^^^r ^
Adolphus would ,,ot ha e bee i^ th ''"•^' T' '^J"'"""
disturbed by it He had =n I 1 smallest degree
by a co„,pirte want ohma^ nltl^^'-rh '"'? f'""
ever, she began to treit I m -IL Un\app,\y^ how-
contempt, aLwed Wm to™,e c ' .:"tra;"hf '"^ "'''-"
did not satisfv her «r^;..;f l-'^'^<;'^<- tiiat his company
and showed tefrretr?"'' ."jental requirernent^
choose hisown ass cht ^'^?'V"'""^8: that he should
friends bored him and ;,vf^?"'-T^^ '^'^'■' ^'^' "''f'^'s
afforded him He devo ' l ^T'''''''^ P'efcrences
dogs, and his ho^^sfrt^'X^r^^:^ ^C r^
s=! ^irs^ .s^^ ^^r /'l^^ ^"
was no quit; o JeH O. r J '^''" '"^'■^^'^^^ ^'■■''^^'=%.
Adolphus came tbl\r^ ? ,''• '^'^ ^^^'^'^ «^ ^^''"'■'"^
and ilimself^;^lSd;rha^^r^ '^^^^^" ^'^ ^^'^
stamped "thtSl^es^^'oTcl'T^' "^^ P''^^'^ ^- '^-e
Coralie Man^on ' s'ewas b^^^^^.^" "^ """^^'->' ^'-"
one v\as by no means ,so great a
140
THE KING'S MIRROR
It
'It
force in my life as was the Countess von Sempach, but
she remains a singularly vivid image before my eyes
liorn heaven knew where, and of parents whom I doubt
whether she herself could name, seeming to hail from
t_ie borderland of Italy and France, a daughter of the
Riviera, she had strayed and tumbled through a youth
of which she would speak in moments of expansion
I, however, need say nothing of it When I saw her
first she was playing a small part in a light opera at
l^ordstadt. A few weeks later she had assumed leading
ro/es, and was the idol of the young men. She was
then about twenty-three, tall, dark, of full figure
doomed to a brevity of beauty, but at the moment
magnificence itself Every intellectual gift she ap-
peared to lack, except a strangely persistent resoluti-)n
of purpose and ar admirably lucid conceotion of her
own interest. She .vas not in the least brilliant or even
amusing in general conversation. She worshipped her
own beauty ; she owed to it all she was, and paid the
debt with a defiant assertion of its supremacy. None
could contradict her. She was very lazy as regards
physical exertion, extremely fond of eating and drink-
mg a careful manager of her money. All this sounds
and was, very unattractive On the other side of the
account may be put a certain simplicity, an indolent
kindness a desire to make folks comfortable, and (what
I liked m(j.st) a mental honesty which caused her to
assess both herself and other people with a nearness to
her and their real value that was at times absolutely
startling. It seemed as though a person, otherwise
neither clever nor of signally high character, had been
gifted with a clairvoyance which allowed her to read
hearts, and a relentless fine sincerity that forced her to
declare what she read to all who cared to listen to her
Whatever she did or did not in that queer life of hers'
she never flattered man or woman, and fashioned no
false image of herself
William Adolphus made her the rage, so strangely
things fall out. He went five nights running to see
her. Next week came a new piece, with Coral ie in the
pach, but
my eyes.
1 I doubt
lail from
^r of the
a youth
cpansion.
saw her
opera at
i leadiniT
She was
1 figure,
moment
she ap-
isoluti.jn
n of her
: or even
)ped her
paid the
. None
regards
d drink-
sounds,
2 of the
indolent
id (what
her to
rness to
solutely
iherwise
ad been
to read
1 her to
to her.
of hers,
ned no
rangely
to see
-* in the
TLEASURE PROTESTS 14,
box''A;\vaJ"a'Sc""'"^ '''' '^''' ^- '-- *- his
mounted mto the seventh heaven H J A<Jo phus
pro"Jose™'th:t"'rsho'uM 1 ' ""^ "^^^i «°°'' '"^'"'- He
»/aftenv„ds be his Tu.7Z\t''" '°,*^ ""'"'"'■
Coralie at supper ^ ' ^^ """ '° entertain
« But where?" I asised with a smile.
PH Jte^^ooS ,-• L^c^tse'd:"""'""" '"'"' ' "^^ «
« A"^ ^^^^ *^°"^ '^'"°^^ you ? "
" Of course they know me "
you 'n"r'me.'' ''"■' ""^ "°"" '^ """"S '° ''-""^^ "either
"Oh I see what you mean. That 's all ri"ht "
whn^ I T™' "'"' ^^"'«"' Adolphus. Several men
mind^ T hL ""■ ^^^ '.^"''■^^ °^her thoughts in my
mind. I had not yet spoken to Cnralie • mv hmfh^r
in-law monopohsed her --r^ne, m> brother-
l\
142
THE KING'S MIRROR
If J
"I ought to speak to hur, I suppose?" I said to
Varvilliers at last.
" A thousand pardons for engrossing Your Majesty ! "
he cried. " Yes, I think you should."
William Adolphus" voice flowed on in the account of
a match between one of his horses and one of somebody
elses. I turned t follow Varvilliers' advice; rather to
my surprise, 1 found Coralie's eves fixed on me with an
appearance of faint amusement. She began to address
me without waiting for me to say anything.
_ " Why do you listen to what Varvilliers says about me
mstead of finding out about me yourself?" she asked.
"How do you know he talked of you, mademoiselle ? "
She shrugged her shoulders and returned to her
salad. VVilliam . .dolphus asked her a question ; she
nodded without looking up from the salad. I began to
eat my salad. **
"It's a good salad," I observed, after a few mouthfuls.
Very, said Coral ie ; she turned her great eyes on
me "And, vion Bieu, what a rare thing!" she added
vvith a sigh.
Probably she would expect a touch of gallantry.
" The perfection of everything is rare," said I, looking
pointedly in her face. She put up her hand, lightly
fingered the curls on her forehead, smiled at me; and
turned ac, in to her salad. I laughed. She looked up
again quickly. ^
"You laugh at me?" she asked, not resentfully, but
with an air of frank inquiry.
" No, at the human race, mademoiselle. It is we. not
you, who excite laughter."
She regarded me with apparent curiosity, and
gradually began to smile. "Why?" she asked, just
showing her level white teeth.
" You haven't learnt yet ? "
William Adolphus began to speak to her. You would
have sworn she had a deaf ear that side. She had
finished her salad and sat turned towards me If a
very white shoulder could at all console my brother-in-
law, he had an admirable view of one. Apparently he
said to
ITJ-ASUKK I>ROTr:STS ,43
" Shall wc smoke ? I have eaten enough."
^^ With all my heart," I ansuered.
in fact he has eaten too much," observed Coralie
by no nicans ,n an "aside." "He ind I- ve both e't
too much. He is fat already. I shall be"
you are talkative to-ni-lit, mademoiselle" snirl
Varv.lhers. who was offering, ifer a ci,-aret"e. "' "^
to."iht^!S:^ted"' " ^"""^^^^ ^""^^^"^ --^h ^^"<'ng
delpair ''""^ "°' '"'' "'^^'''- " •^^ ^'■'■^^ i" affected
eat nw broS' !''''f "^ ''^'' '' ^^°"'^ ''> "^^^^^^^ me to
bo vJto /h' ,^^^ ^^"^^ then spoil his sport,
was s1,°,i ' ^'-^^^ ^"^. ^'•"-^d over to where witte
was staiicling. Near him was a <rroup of vounp- men
augh.ng and talking with Madame Briande-^he seemed
o her mt '^'^,'- ^ '''''' '""^^ embarrassed; the
LtsJvaii.vKn.r dc votre counime, sire."
lea^rpurouT*""' ''' ™^™'"»"= ^"^ ™' -' in 'he
"Don't disturb yourself.' she said to Varvilliers
C fZI he"?'^ '°°'^ ''' "°=^"'' -'"»- *at pe;;^e-
Va'rWrfos!ri:;K.exi;d "" ^"°'' -''-""--e." -id
opinion?'"^ "'^' '"'' "'■y '^''™'''""' ' give my
■■ V^'^I,'^"!'""'' ""'' '^''^ '° 'he Frenchman :
Vicomte." "°' '*''' ''°'' y"" d>aracter, I think.
144
TIIK KING'S MIRROR
I
M
" Heavens, no!" cried he. "Come, I see MonseiVneur
all alone ! "
" You are right," s.iici Coralie. "Go and talk to him.
Ihe King and I will talk."
They went off, Wetter laughing, '/arvilliers still a
little ruffled b\ his encounter. Coralie passed her arm
through mine and led me to a sofa. I iiad recovered my
composure, was interested, and amused.
"IJriande," she .aid sudilcnly, "is always deploring
my stupidity. ' How will you get on.' she says, ' without
wit? Men are ruled by wit though they are won by
faces.' So she says. Well, I don't know. Wit is not
in my line." She looked at me half questioningly half
defiantly.
_" I perceive no deficiency in the qualitv, mademoiselle,"
said I.
" Then you have not known witt\- women," she re-
torted tranquilly. " But 1 am not altogether dull. 1 am
not like Monseigneur there."
" My brother-in-law ? "
" So I am told."
As she said this she looked again at me and began to
laugh. I laughed also. But I could not very well
discuss William Adolphus with her.
"Whatman do you desire to rule with this wit?" I
asked.
"One can't tell when it might be useful," said she,
with a barely perceptible smile.
" Surely Leauty is more powerful ? "
"With Monseigneur?"
" Oh, never mind Monseigneur."
" But not with men of another kind."
" Some men are not to be ruled bv any means"
" You think so ? " '
" Take Wetter now ? "
" I would give him a week's resistance."
" Varvilliers ? "
" A day."
I did not put the third question, but I looked at her
with a smile. She saw my meaning, of course, but she
PI-EASURIC rROTIvSTS ,45
since s!,e nouici „t i t J ., '"-"? ?'""'«'' "' I"--''. "'"I.
•"Ifc" with marked in.lTffc.n'llcc " *•' """"""^ "^^
said'l"'" "'■''■^ »■''"' '" ''^'>^- "••"I-- y™>- acquaintance,"
I am''a':;t?rni^t:;;:r"'- "^°" ■•'- "^-^"'b *at
ofdefyin" su^fe 1,^!,^ T 'V''" P'^'^ "„„ld be capable
power to secure for her '" "'^
vo|'^:]s;^;!re:S!^,-S'- ^'- ■»''<= h,-. ,,„,
Was my brother-in-law unwillhg?"
" He° v'arproS^f|:;';:^*:f,'""^■" '-«-<- Varvmiers.
to'halec'^me?.?"'^"^'-'' '°' ™^- ' ="PP°^= ' ""ghtn't
bhe certainly interesterl me "
mans quick uit overtook my thoughts.
146
THE KING'S MIRROR
" If you wish to rescue the Trince from clanger, sire,"
he said, lauj^hin^s "you can't do better than come
often."
" It seems to me that I 'm in danger of quarrelling
either with my sister or with my brother-in-law."
" If I were you, 1 should feel myself in a danger more
delightful."
"But why not yourself equally, Vicomte? Aren't
you in love with her ? "
"Not I," he answered, with a I uigh and a shake of
his head.
"But why not?" I asked, laughing also.
" Can you ask ? There is but one possible reason
for a man's not being in love with Coralie Mansoni."
" Tell me it, Vicomte."
" Because he has been, sire."
" A good safeguard, but of no use to me."
" Why, no, not at present," answered VarvilHers.
The carriage drew up at his lodgings. I was not
inclined for sleep, and readily acceded to his request
that I should pay him a visit. Having dismissed the
carriage (I was but a little way from my own house),
I mounted the stairs and found myself in a very snug
room. He put me in an armchair and gave me a cigar.
We talked long and intimately as the hours of the
night rolled on. He spoke, half in reminiscence, half
in merry rhapsody, of the joys of living, the delight
of throwing the reins on the neck of youth. As I
looked at his trim figure, his handsome face, merry
eyes, and dashing air, all that he said seemed very
reasonable and very right ; there was a good defence
for it at the bar of nature's tribunal. It was honest
too, free from cant, affectation, and pretence; it was
a recognition of facts, and enlisted truth on its side.
It needed no arguing, and he gave it none ; the spirit
that inspired also vindicated it. I could not help re-
calling the agonies and struggles which my passion
for the Countess von Sempach had occasioned me. At
first I thought that I would tell him about this affair,
>ut I found myself ashamed. And I was ashamed
I'LKASL'RK l'k()Ti:.STS ,47
eves woiilri fi..;.,i 1 • ^i«-huji. imt the merry
reality I d. ' n- u.sire m\ l "'' °f '">' '^'^"^'"'^^ ^ '"
fr, ♦!, ' ^'^•^"^^ 'I'm to klUMV the trutll I rlnn.r
2z;sir;l" ivr-
before harl T k«« u / . ^^'-i^e sucn tliat never
uciorc nad 1 been brounrht nto confTri- u ifK • -i
emperanjent or a similar pm"., ^ Wh '. hey w ^e'
I frif f„ I '"' " »li"lesomeness ; the objections
«?;;.r3,? -s •••■"5 .■•■'.". «f"„„L"'
SL^ £.9 J.,g p;.i|2«E3
- -ont.a.tcd with tnc laughing philosophy of his own
i
148
THE KING'S MIRROR
I?
country. At the end he apologised for tall<in<,f so
much, and pointed out to me a photograph of Coralie
that stood on the mantelpiece more than half hidden
by letters and papers, saying, " I suppose she set me
off ; somehow she seems to me a sort of embodiment of
the thing."
It was three o'clock when I left him ; even then I
went reluctantly, traversing again in my mind the field
that his tongue had easily and lightly covered, and
reverting to the girl who, as he said, was a sort of
embodiment of the thing. The phrase was definite
enough for its purpose, and struck home with an un-
deniable truth. He and she wer.e the sort of people to
live in that sort of world, and to stand as its representa-
tives. A feeling came over me that it was a fair fine
world, where life need not be a struggle, where a man
need not live alone, where he would not be striving
always after what he could never achieve, waging
always a war in which he should never conquer,
staking all his joys against most uncertain shadowy
prizes, which to win would bring no satisfaction. I
cried out suddenly, as I walked by myself through the
night, " There 's no pleasure in my life." That protest
summed up my wrongs. There was no pleasure in my
life. There was everything else, but not that, not pure,
unmixed, simple pleasure. Had I no right to some?
I was very tired of trying to fill my place, of sub-
ordinating myself to my position, of being always
Augustin the King. I was weary of my own ideal. I
felt that I ought to be allowed to escape from it
sometimes, to be, as it were, incognito in soul as well
as in body, so that what I thought and did should not
be reckoned as the work of the King's mind or the
act of the King's hand. I envied intensely the lot and
the temper of my friend Varvilliers. When I reached
the palace and entered it, it seemed to me as though
I were returning to a prison. Its walls shut me off
from that free existence whose sweetness I had tasted,
and forbade me to roam in the fields whither youth
beckoned and curiosity lured me. That joy could ncv^'-
PLEASURE PROTESTS
149
\l^dZ H^^ ^"''^'" ''^' "^^'- ^^"'tl^ n^e ; the woman
othryoung men °"" ' "^^ '"^ ^^^^^ ^°"'^^ ^^ ^e as
That all this, the conversation with Varvilliers its
effect on me my restless disc, ntent and ang y pTote
against my fate, should follow on meetfng Cora e
whrremj;^^:^,:^:"" "" ^^^^^ -'--^^ ^^^^y^
■i
CHAPTER XV.
■^; I
THE HAIR-URESSER WAITS
When my years and my mood are considered, it may
appear that I had enough to do in keeping my own
life m the channel of wisdom and discretion. So it
seemed to myself, and I was rather amused at being
called upon to exert a good influence, or even a whole-
some authority over William Adolphus ; it was so short
a time since he had been summoned to perform a like
office towards me. Yet after breakfast the next day
Victoria came to me, dressed in a subdued style and
speaking in low tones; she has always possessed a
dramatic instinct. She had been, it seemed, unable
to remain unconscious of the gossip afoot ; of her own
feelings she preferred to say nothing (she repeated this
observation several times) ; what she thought about was
the credit of the family ; and of the family, she took
leave to remind me, I was (I think she said, by God's
will) the head. I could not resist remarking how times
had changed ; less than a year ago she had sent
William Adolphus, sober, staid, panoplied in the armour
of contented marriage, to wrestle with my erant desires.
Victoria flushed and became just a little less meek.
" What 's the good of going back to that ? " she asked.
" '^ one; it is merely amusing," said I.
The flush deepened,
" Will you allow me to be insulted ? " she cried.
" Let us be cool. You 've yourself to thank for this,
Victoria. Why aren't you pleasanter to him ? "
" Oh, he 's— I 'm all I ought to be to him."
" I don't know what you are to him, you're very little
with him."
ISO
THE HAIR-DRESSER WAITS 151
I suppose that these altercations assume much tho
lull; :TZ 1;'\ 'r'r- ^'-^ are^TcSar^^
For mvse^f I mn .^^^^ ""^ '!'""' ""'^^ "^^ ^e recalled
able temoTof '.'''" ^^\ ''^^' ''^' '" ^'^^ unreason-
no IT^ '''°"'''" '^'^'" ^^Pects fidelity but does
cons- tatfr""'"^"- ' ''''"-'''^' ^^- P-^ ^or her
n^I^S^hlLr she S""^' ''"' ^^'^^"^^ ^^'^^ -^ ^^ I
" I don't know. Whose fault is it that I 'm g-oincr fo
" I Ve never seen her."
"Ah, you wouldn't think her pretty if you had "
Victoria looked at me for a few seconds ^ then she
suddenly dre.v up a low chair and .sat down at my feet
• Wen w. '''' ^''' ^P '"^"-^^^^ "^'"^ ^"^d took m^iand'-
Wellvve never really disliked one another, Victoria
" Mother's so horrid about it," she said
sanctified ^L""^'^^'"^^ ^" ^" °^^ time-honoured alliance,
kn^w'Lrr;; '-' "^ '^"^^' j"~^^ ^^ >'-' ^- j^- you
I became conscious that what I had said would he in
parly because my complexion had lost its freshness^"
Victoria paused, and then ended. "That's a Tie, y"u
I see.ned to be youn- again; we were again laying
our heads together, with intent to struggle against Z
w M u '"['^ "°' ^ ^'-^'^^^ ^"'^ William^Adolp n s bu
h iH ck to'hTT' '^ "' ^°^^P "^y -terTbrrng
mm back to his bearings ; and the more pleasant in
152
TflF. KING'S MIRROR
view of Princess Heinrich's belief that the thing could
not be done. ^^
"As far as being pleasant to him goes," Victoria
resumed, " I don 't believe that the creature 's pleasant
to h.m either. At least he came home in a horribly bad
temper last night."
" And what did you say to him ? "
"Oh, I — I told him what I thought."
"How we all waste opportunities ! " I reflected. " You
ought to have soothed him down. He was annoyed last
night. ^
Of course she asked how I knew it, and in the fresh-
born candour of revived alliance I told her the story of
our evening. I have observed before on the curious fact
that women who think nothing of their husbands are
nevertheless annoyed when other people agree in their
""r*'!!!^ ■''• . J,v^°'"' ,''''•' ^'^'y indignr.nt with Coralie for
slighting William Adolphus and showing a ready dis-
position to transfer her attentions to me
" It 's only because you 're king," si^e said. But she
did not allow her vexation to obscure her perception.
Her frown gave place to a smile as she looked up say-
mg : It would be rather fun if you flirted with hSr "
I raised my eyebrows. Whence came cnis new com-
plaisance towards my flirtations ?
"Just enough, I mean, to disgust W^illiam Adolphus"
she added '< Then, as soon as he 'd given up, you could
stop you know. Everything would be right then "
" Except mother, you mean."
" ^\y^ y^^,' ^F-P^ mother. And she 'd be splendidly
wrong, laughed Victoria. ^
Nobody who studies himself honestly or observes his
neighbours with attention will deny val-e * . an excuse
because it may be merely plausible. - all to wear
even a transparent garment is not qu.^:e ui same thing
as to go naked. I do not maintain that . ictoria's sua-
gestiop contributed decisively to the prosecution of iny
acquaintance with Coralie Mansoni, but it filled a gap in
the array of reasons and impulses which were leading
me on, and gave to the matter an air of sport and
s
t
n
n
a
ti
THE HAIR-DRESSER WAITS 153
adventure most potent in attraction for such a mood as
mme. I was m rebellion against the limits of my
position and the repression of my manner of life To
uVif ^A,??"^ \'K^ th'^ suited my humour exactly.
When Victoria left me, I sent word of my intention
o be present at Coralie's theatre that evenin- and
invited William Ad.Iphus to join me in my box I
received the answer that he would come
on the stage bhe was sinking a song ; she had a very
fine voice ; her delivery and air. empty of real feelin-^
were full nevertheless of a sensuoL\ttraction. My
brother-in-law laid his elbows on the front of the box
and stared down at her; I sat a little back, and, after
watching the scene for a few moments, began to look at
the house. Immediately opposite me I saw \^arvilliers
with a party of ladies and men ; he bowed and smiled
as 1 caught his eye. In another box I saw Wetter
hfrnrif^'V^^ ""^^'^' ^' intently as William Adolphus
himself. There must certainly be something in a oirl
who exercised power over two men so different. And
Wetter wi .^ a person of importance and prominence
accepted as .i_ political leader, and consequently a fine
target for gossip ; his feelings must be strongly enQa<red
before he exposed himself to comment. I fdl'to
studying his face ; he was pale ; when I took my glass
I could see the nervous frown on his brow and the
Adolp.-is was chuckling with bovine satisfaction at an
fo ^on'^n" <^°r^l'e^V""^^. his last night's pique seemed
forgotten. I leant forward and looked again at Coralie
rif "J'l 1'^^ ^""^ '^"- ^^'"^ "c-^t ''^^'^'^ straight at me"
(blie did the same thing once m<,.re in later days > I
saw people s heads turn towards my box. and drew b.ck
behind the shelter of the hangings.
At the end of the act my brother-in-law turned to
me blew his nose, and ejaculated, "Superb"" I
a°ain /ri^^'^f ," Sp'endid ! " said he. I nodded
again. He launched on a catalogue of Coralie's attrac-
tions, but seemed to check himself rather suddenly.
hi
'm^iti-
~«*w»is!«JS;2
THE KING'S MIRROR
"I don't suppose she's your sor(;, thotiM," he re«
marked,
" Why not ? " I asked with a smile.
" Oh, I don't know. V -u hke clever women \vho can
talk and so on, SheVi bore you to death in an hour
Augustm."
„ ''^.^'o"^d sh^;?" ■aid I ini^occntU^ I was amused at
VViiJiara Adolphus' simple cuniM";io. ■• ] cirir\sav I
J^hould bore her too." - /
"Perhaps you would," he chuckled. "Only she
wouAn t tel! you so, of course."
" hut Wetter doesn't seem to bore her," I observed
«.fC>od God, doesn't he?" cried my brother-in-law."
1 nere were limits to the amusement to be got out of
Inm. I yawned and looked aero s the house again.
VVetters place was empty. I drew vV'illiam Adolphus'
attention to the fact.
"I wonder if the fellow's gone bohind.?" he said
uneasily,
" We '11 go after the next act."
"You'll go?"
"Of course I shall send and ask permission."
William Adolphus looked puzzled and gloomy.
" I didn't know you cared for that sort of thina • T
mean the theatre and all that." ^ '
"We haven't a Coralie iMansoni here every day" I
reminded him. " I don't care for the ordinary run, but
she s something remarkable, isn't she ? "
He muttered a few words and turned away A
moment later Varvilliers knocked at the door of my
box and entered. Here was a good messenger fo me
1 sent him to ask whether Coralie would receive me
after tne next act. He went off on his errand laughing.
1 need not record the various stages and the gradual
progress of my acquaintance with -ralie Mansoni.
It would be for the most part a iu. .„tive of foolish
action:, and a repetition of .'via ;onversations. I
Have r.'.„..'n how I came to ente; on h, led by a spirit of
rebellion and the love of a joke, ..Mry of the repression
that was partly inevitable, parth- .>:v'f-imposed, glad to
THE HAIR-DRESSKR WAITS 15-
On one ITZJtTjrptl "° s'^e"""?' ''"^''-
doubtedlv the insfrnmf.,^f ^r ^ j- "^3^^^" - ^ was un-
back to ^^^^Z^^[:T^;gz:^-;^-^^
and his rank vL nc^^^Pclsed aT^'' T' ^o himself ;
was followed by a vioS outbu^sf \ ^^' °^ '"'^''"^
was too strong He conlH n^f ' ^,"* ""^^ P^^'^'on
his wife's brother on TI "^"f '^^ seriously with
Victoria, and had no ? l,^''^"".^- , "^ '"eturned to
which he" c;i^^t deirved Trlr^ ?^^'n''°"
vanished as he vani.hpri /v .u ^ interest ni him
round Mile Mansonf a/T ^^^ '°'i^*>' '^^' ^^ntred
of feSf Mf'f ""■' '""" f^"<=" '■"'° ^ ^"ere conflict
Fo an llouf ^or tTo"lT"' ^ "°' "'^'= Varvillic ,s
society and'ch^^red °by t^"e 'l Zu^if'T' "■'"'
n"otVLt:?/l'r ie-r ™'' ™% - ">■"
myself. Thrsame mnH '^''' •''^''^>^' examining
feeling (I do not Lmv h^' \''''''^''' ^' tradition ol"
whose^a ar I had sacrmr^7 '? '° '^^'^'"'^^ 't) on
strong in me I drnorla7thaf r^^^^^^^ "'^ '^^'^^
could exercise a DolkicaM-nfln ^°'^^'^ ^^""'^^ ^^
loth that she shoS assess Tr Tf ?"' ^"' ^ ^^^^
clung obstinatelv to Thf "^'^^ ""^ ^">^ ^^^-t- I
standing ajofe as beinl ind^"''5'''^" ""L ^^'^^ ^'
power If nobody in an? LpTcT Thi'"' ""'^" ^^^
scruples. It ™s^v„l '^''P' "-''^^ ""^ "^'""■•y
conscience, t'.J^S uXSrSS- oSct.'^'t ■
■^"•■BKaBBEs.aeif.^A^-*
156
THE KING'S MIRROR
resistance. Here is another case of that reaction of
my position on myself u hich has been such a feature
of my hfe. Varvilliers' unreasoned philosophy did not
cover this point. Here I had to fight out the question
tor myself. It was again a struggle between the man
and the king, between a natural impulse and the
strength of an intellectual conception. I perceived
with mingled amusement and bitterness how entirely
Varvilliers failed to appreciate the condition of my
mind or to conceal his surprise at my alternate hot and
cold fits, urgency followed by a drawing-back, eagerness
to be moving at moments when nothing could be done
succeeded by refusals to stir when the road was clear'
1 believe that he came to have a very poor opinion of
me as a man of the world ; but his kindness towards me
never varied.
But there was one to whom my mind was an open
book, who read easily and plainly every thought of it
because it was written in the same characters as was his
own. The politician who risked his future, the debtor
who every day incurred new expenses, the devotee of
principles who sacrificed them for his passion the
deviser of schemes who ruined them at the demand
of his desires, here was the man who could understand
the heart of his King. Wetter was my sympathiser,
and Wetter was my rival. The relations between us
in those days were strange. We did not quarrel, we
lelt a friendliness for one another. Each knew the
price the other paid or must pay as well as he knew his
own price. But we were rivals. Varvilliers was wrong
when he said that Coralie cared nothing about Wetter
She cared, although it was in a peculiar fashion that
she cared. Truly he could give her little, but he was to
her a sign and a testimony of her power, even as I
myself in another way. Mine was the high rank the
great position. In conquering me lay the open 'and
notorious triumph, but she was not insensible to the
more private joy and secret exultation that came to
her from dominating a ruling mind, and filling with her
own image a head capacious enough to hold imperial
THE HAIR-DRESSKR WAITS 157
?nd''r.''"h -^"P^ ^^^ ^"^^'"'^'^ "f kingdoms. Wetter
and 1, each in our way, broke through the crust of
seem.tigly consistent frlohty that uaV o her and
down to a deep-seated tendency towards romanc; and
even aUhou;h ^ 1' "°' u'"'"sly have let him go,
rc:rSi™^n7,!e' z; ir "J^xr^.f £'
£r;;;f pat: -r™i £t~^^^^
she would have bowing before her the highest nd the
strongest heads in Forstadt. That she soluialysed and
reasoned out her wishes it would be absurd to supi^
but we-he and I-performed the task for her ^Ea h
knew that the other was at work on it eacT chafe
tha she would consent to be but half his each de4ed
Ik- u^5^u"^' "^^ *° ^^ 0"e of two that were ruled A II
Jl^^^,*^^?" f.'^^y foreshadowed to me when I satin
the theatre, lookmg now at Coralie as she sang her sonl
't'.dd^.?"f ' ^""^^'"''^^ ^'^''^ ^-^^ tight-s^et 1 ps ^I
u.u.t add that my position was rendered Seculiar v rijffl
but .SlHn T Y^ir "°.^ °"^>^ orvldTe'SrenS;
h1 s ^hIsS ;^ n^s it^gii?^.4^ t^ :^^ ^^^"^•
every day more, incapable of repaying it ' '"' '"'"'"'
We were at luncheon at her villa one day, we three
and with us of course, Madame Briande an exceed
ingy well-informed and tactful little woman Corall"
meal'^Ve'T fT^'^'t ^'^ "^"^^^ attenti;e to h ?
.SdenlJ'she'poke'' ^'^""^' °" "^->^ -^i-^^'
tre^teTainrnl-' °"^^ ^^ ''^^^^'^^ ^"^^ '"--
158
THE KIXG'S MFRROR
"What's that, Corahe?" asked Madame Hriande.
Corahe waved her right hand towards me and her
left towards Wettor
"Why, that ,. .^iioulci have for audience and as
spectators of our httle feast your subjects, sire, and,
monsieur, your followers."
Clearly Coralic had been maturing this rather startling
speech for some time ; she launched it with an eviden't
enjoyment of its malice. A moment of astonished
silence followed; Madame's tact was strained beyond
Its uttermost resources ; she smiled nervously and
said nothing; Wetter turned red. I looked full
m Coralie's eyes, drained my glass of cognac, and
laughed.
" But why sboulf. that be amusing?" I rsked. " And,
at least, shall we not add to our imaginar) audience the
crowd of your admirers ? "
" As you will," said she with a shrug. « Whomever
we add they would see nothing but two gentlemen
gettmg under the table, oh, so quickly ! "
Madame Briande became visibly distressed.
" Is it not so :•' " drawled Coralie in lazy enjoyment of
her excursion.
"Why," -lid 1, " should most certainly invoke the
shei^ r of ^our tabiccloth, mademoiselle. A kin <• must
avoid being misunderstood."
"I thought so," said she with a long look at me.
"And you, monsieuf ■•" she added, turning to Wetter.
"I should not get under the table," said he. He
strove to render his f; At light, but his \oice quivered
with suppressed mission.
" You would:. ^ " s'- asked. " Y' u 'd sit here before
them all ? "
" Yes," said h..
Madame Briande rose. Her evidein intention was to
break up the party. Coralie took no notice; we men
sat on, opposite one another, with her between us on
the third side of the small square table.
" Must not a politician avoid— being misunderstood ? "
she asked Wetter.
TJII-: MAIU-DRICSSI'R WAITS ,59
u.^s ule'l^.ly"'' '' '"'"'^^'^'"^ ^'^^ ^'^^t '^^ values ,nore."
She turned to me, smiling still.
;; V\ ould not that be so with a king also?"
^ C.^ertainly, if there could be such a thing"
^^ init you think there could not ? "
''I can't call such a thing to mind, mademoiselle."
to m1nd^' U "'" ' 'f '' '", '"'".^ •' ^''' y^" ^^'^'t call '-t
to mmd. I sc >ns to me that there is a difference, then
between politicians and kings." ' '
Madame Hriande was moving about the room in
evident discomfort. Wetter was^itting with hi^T u d
clenched on the table and his eyes downcast.
Lorahe looked long and intently at him. Then she
^^'You-you would get under the table?" she asked
"You catch my meaning perfectly."
"Then aren't you ashan^ed to sit at it?'
Yes, said I, and laughed.
1 ilhim." TU '"''^'^''^^^''^S her fist at me, and herself
' SXi?^.'etract^tl^^^^^^ °^^^ ''''"'''' "^^" -'' ^^'^'-^P-^'
Wetter looked up and saw her whispering to me and
laughing as she whispered. He frou-ned. and I Ta^ his
hand tremble on the table. Tho. J, f !aa4ed and
xd?!:^ 'r "^' ^'^'^i^"^' ' "^^ -0-1? in some
had confidence LTyVL''' ^'^^"^^ ^ "^^^^^ ' ^"^ '
strlISd%oS.'" ''"P'-' " ^ '"-^'^ ^"^ ^-•^^"">' -
himself" Z^ ^'"•'l ^l ^"^ ^"f ^'°" ^^'^ ^^'"-^'^ '-^^^'^^■nt of
n r=f ' he sa,d,"but so fur as I am concerned your
que tion did me a wrong. Openly I come here, open y
n coming- ,^" ^'--Jl^>- I come, and what 'l d^esire
l>eforr;f-the^iV'-" "' '"" '''" ^' '^^'^^^ ^^
li
I'j
i6o
THK KING'S MIRROR
II
" So now uc kr nv just where we are."
"The King has defiiicd his position with great ac-
curacy,' said W^ettcr with an o|)en sneer.
" Yes ? What is it ? " she asked.
"His own words are enough; mine coukl add no
clearness —and "
" Might give (jffence?" she asked.
" It is possible," said he.
" Then we come to this : which is better, a king
under the table or a politician at it?" She burst out
laughing.
Madame Briande had fled to a remote corner. Wetter
was in the throes of excitement. A strange coolness
and recklessness now possessed me. I was insensible
of everything at this moment except the impulse of
rivalry and the desire for victory. Nothing in the scene
had power to repel me, my eyes were blind to every-
thing of ugly aspect in it.
"To define the question, mademoiselle, should be but
a preliminary to answering it," said I, with a bow.
" I would answer it this minute, sire, but "
" You hesitate, perhaps ? "
" Oh, no ; but my hair-dresser is waiting for me."
" Let no such trifle detain you then," 1 cried. " For
I, even I the coward, had sooner "
" Be misunderstood ? "
"Why, precisely. I had sooner be misunderstood
than that your hair should not be perfectly dressed at
the theatre."
Wetter rose to his feet. He said "Good-bye" to
Coral ie, not a word more. To mc he bowed very low
and very formally. I returned his salutation with a cool
nod. As he turned to the door Coralie cried :
" I shall see you at supper, luon cJier?"
He turned his head and looked at her.
" I don't know," he said.
"Very well. I like uncertainty. We will hope."
He went out. I stood fai ig her for a moment.
" Well ? " said she, looking in my eyes, and seeming
to challenge an expression of opinion.
"For
THE Fr.MR-DRKssKK WAITS
i6i
|] Vou arc pleased with yourself?"
" You have clone some mischief."
How much ?"
;; I don't know. But you love uncertainty."
canlu'" "'• '^''' ''"'' ^^•^■'" '- ^'^'"^ ^'^--^t I love
' Don't you?"
woHd'exctpl'y!,,;."'"'^ "•'='>■""■"« ■•"•" "■">""-fy in the '
curtsey she turned alarmed and troubled ey^fup to
"Oh „wn Die!" she mirrmured.
ill! to-night," smiled Coralie.
I
CHAPTER XVI.
A CHASE OF TWO PHANTOMS
I WAS reading the other day the memoirs of an eminent
Enghsh man of letters, now dead. He had paid a Ion-
visit to Forstadt, and had much to say (sometimes I
thnik, m a vem of veiled irony) about Victoria, her
literary tastes and her literary circle. Finding amuse-
ment enough to induce me to turn over a few more
pages, 1 came on the following passage :—
" With the King himself I convened once only but
1 saw him often and heard much about him. He was
then twenty-four-a tall and very thin young man, with
dark brown hair and a small moustache of a lighter
tint His nose vyas aquiline, his eyes rather deep set
his face long and inclining to the hatchet-shape He
had beautiful hands, of which he was said to be proud
He stooped a ittle when walking, but displayed con-
siderable dignity of carriage. He was accused of
haugh mess, except towards a feu' intimates. Unques-
tionably his late adviser, Hammerfeldt, had imbued
him with some notions as to his position which it is
hardly unjust to call mediaeval. A wit, or would-be
wit, said of him that he postulated God in order to
legitimise the powers of Augustin, his deputy. Certain
persons very closely acquainted with him (I withhold
names) gave a curious account of his character.
. M^ ^V'? '"'%' '^'"'''^.'^ ^''"^ ^^'^''' ■'decretive, cautious,
cold, and free from enthusiasms and follies alike But
at times he appeared to be taken with moods of strong
feeling. Then he would speak freeiy to the first person
v/ho might be by, was eager for merriment and dissi-
pation, not fastidious as to how he came by what he
162
eminent
d a lon<^
itimes, I
3ria, her
■ amuse-
:w more
>nly, but
He was
an, with
h'ghter
eep set,
^e. He
t proud,
ed con-
ised of
Jnques-
imbued
zh it is
ould-be
rder to
Certain
ithhold
;u-acter.
lutious,
i. But
strong
person
1 dissi-
hat he
•
A CHASE OF TWO PHANTOMS 163
wanted, seeming forgetful of the sterner rule by which
h.s daily life was go^•crned. A reaction would generally
ilTlV'h '^' >^'"§ "°"'^' "'^I^'^^'- ^° take a revenge on
h m.elf by acid and savagely humorous comments on
his own acts and on tlie companions of his hours of
rdaxation So far as I studied him for myself, I wa
led to conclude that he possessed a very impressionaWe
and passionate temperament, but contrivedjn general
to keep 1 m repression. There were one or two
scandals related about him; but when we consider his
hi^'vi^rl^Mr tT"!''"'T' ^^ '^"'t ^'''^ '-'^^'^^ either to
his virtues or to his discretion that such stories were
not more numerous. I liked him and thought well of
him but I do not think that he enjoyed a disposition
hkely to result in a happy life for himself He '^s sLiS
to have great attractions for women ; but I am not
aware that he admitted persons of either sexTo his
confidence or friendship. He was, I imagine, jealo^^.s
of even appearing to be under any influence."
1 his impression of me was written just about the
l^\ ?^ acquaintance with Coralie Mansoni and of
the events which led to a sudden break in it The
judgment of me seems very fair and marked by con!
siderable acumen. I have quoted it because i[ n"y
t,W VT^ "^^^'^^ to explain my conduct at the
time. It also appears to have an interest of its own as
an independent appreciation formed by a fair-minded
had Sed"' "'r""''- ' "^■^'^ ''''''''' --- hand
had painted an adequate portrait of Wetter, for his
character better deserved study than my own ; but with
the curious prejudice against politicians that so often
Sn nf T "^ IM"^"?'' ""^ ^"^" «^ letters (those
hermits of brain -cells) the writer dismisses Wetter
briefly and almost contemptuously, as an able but un-
scrupulous politician, addicted to extravagances and
William Adolphus than to Wetter! So difficidt it is
brt'li. InrH-^^T' "l"'^'-: '^ ,'■?'""'■" ^^'together unaffected
exh bitod ' "^ '-''''^" '^"•^ "^t be better
\i
11
m^
i s i
164
THE KING'S MIRROR
I kept my appointment and went again to Coral ie's
in the evening. I took with me Vohrenlorf, my aide-
de-camp (brother to the General, my former governor) •
there had been a dinner at the palace, and we were
both m uniform. I had hardly expected Wetter to
come that evening, but he was already there when I
arrived. He seemed in an excited state ; I found after-
wards that he was fresh from the delivery of a singularly
brilliant and violent speech in the Chamber. I saluted
him with intentional and marked politeness. He made
no more response than purest formality demanded I
was aggrieved at this, for I desired to be friendly with
him in spite of our rather absurd rivalry. Turning
away from him, I sat down by Coralie and asked her
if supper were ready.
"We're waiting for Varvilliers," she answered. '
" But where is IVIadame Briande ? "
J' ?!^^ ^^'^"^ upstairs. I wanted a word with Wetter,
bhe 11 be down directly."
"A word with Wetter?"
"Why not, sire?" she asked with aggressive in-
nocence.
"There can be no reason why not, mademoiselle,"
1 replied, smiling.
We were interrupted by Varvilliers' arrival. He also
had dined at the palace, and was in full dress.
"How gay my little house is to-night," drawled
Corahe, as she rang the bell and ordered, in exactly the
same manner, the descent of Madame Briande and the
ascent of supper. Both orders were promptly obeyed
and we were left alone. Servants were never allowed'
to remain in waiting on these occasions.
Varvilliers was in nne vein that night, and Wetter
seconded him. The one glittered with sharp-cut -ems
of speech, the other struck chords of deep and toucliinc^
music. I played a more modest part, Madame and
Vohrenlorf were audience, Coralie seemed the jud-'e
whose hand was to award the prize. Yet she was
indolent, and appeared to listen to no more than half
of what was said, V/e finished eating and began to
A CilASE OF TWO J'lIANTOMS 165
smoke ; the wine still ^vent round. Suddenly a pause
fel on us A mot from Varvilliers had set///, to our
subject, and another delayed presenting itself. To niv
surprise Wetter turned to me. ^
"In the Chamber to-night, sire," he said, "there was
a question about your marriage."
I perceived at once the malice which inspired his
remarl< but I answered him gaily, and in a tone that
was in harmony with the scene.
"I wish to heaven," said I, -'there were a question
about It anywhere else. Alas, it is a certainty."
V\ hy, so IS death, sire," cried Varvilliers, " but we do
not discuss It at supper."
cnK-^f/»^^",''^Yf-''''"'^'"' ^"^^''^^ *^'th my choice of a
subject ? asked W etter. He spoke calmly now, but it
was not hard to discern his great excitement.
1 quarrel, sir, with nobody except quarrellers," an-
swered the frenchman impatiently
'^ Well, then " began Wetter.
;' I thuik you forget my presence," I .said coldly, -'and
this lady,s also.; J waved my hand towards Coralie.
V u/^'^.''^' '" ^''' '-"^^3''> -'^'"•'•"g and holding an
unhghted cigarette betweeii her fnv^evs.
;' I forget, sire, neither your presence nor your due"
said VVetter. With that he took^a pocket-book from his
pocket and Hung it on the table before me. "There is
my debt," he said.
I sat back in my chair and did not move
"You choose a strange time for busines.s," I ob.served
Vohrenlorf, .see what is in this pocket-book "
^ Vohrenlorf examined it, then he came and wh-'spered
m my ear, "Notes for 90,000 marks." It was the amount
\\ etter owed me with accrued interest. I was amazed.
Me could not have raised the money except at a most
extravagant rate. I made no remark, but I knew that
u u u'h^'^ 'i"" ^y ^^'^ i-q^ayment. and I knew well
why he had made it. He would not have me for creditor
as well as for king and rival,
Varvilliers burst out laughing.
" Upon my m>ii\;' .said he, " these gentlemen of the
iir
i66
THE KING'S MIRROR
if
II ;
Chamber can think of nothing but money. Don't you
wonder at them, mademoiselle?"
" Money is good to think of," said Coralie reflectively.
" An admirable candour, isn't it, sire ? " he said, turning
to me and pointing to Coralie.
I was disturbed and out of humour. Again I was in
conflict. I thought of whar, she was, and wondered that
such men, and men so placed, as Wetter and I should
quarrel about her ; I looked in her face and elt a
momentary conviction that all the world might fall to
fighting on her account ; at least things more absurd
have surely happened. I?ut I answered smoothly and
composedly, (That trick at least I had learnt.)
" Sincerity is our hostess's greatest charm," said I.
Wetter laughed loudly and sneeringly. Coralie turned
a gaze of indifferent curiosity on him. He puzzled her,
tircsomely sometimes. I knew that he meant an insult.
My blood runs hot at such moments. I was about to
speak when Varvilliers forestalled me. He leant across
the table and said in a very low voice to Wetter :
"Sir, His Majesty is the only gentleman in Forstadt
who cannot resent an insult."
I recollect well little Madame Briande's pale face, as
she half ro.se from her seat with clasped hands. Coralie
still smiled. Vohrenlorf was red and fierce, with his hand
on the hilt of his sword. Varvilliers was calm, cool,
polished in demeanour.
For a moment or two Wetter sat silent, his eyes
intently fixed on the Vicomte's face. Then he said
in a tone as low as Varvilliers' had been :
" I think His Majesty remembers his disabilities too
late — or has them remembered for him."
Vohrenlorf rose to his feet, carried away by anger and
excitement.
" Sir " he cried loudly.
"Vohrenlorf, be quiet. Sit down," said I. " M.
Wetter is right."
No-ne spoke. Even Coralie seemed affected to
gravity ; or wats it that we had touched the spring
of her dramatic instinct ? After a few minutes I turned
"M.
A CM ASK OF TWO PHANTOMS 167
to Madame Briande and introduced some indifferent
topic. I spoke alone and found no answer. Coralie
was now regarding me with obvious curiosity.
" The air of this room is hot," said I. " Shouldn't
we be better in the other? If the ladies will lead the
way, we'll follow immediately."
" I 'm very well here," said Coralie.
"Oblige me," said I, rising and myself opening the
door that led to the inner room.
After a moment's hesitation Coralie passed out, and
Madame followed her. I closed the door behind them
and, turning, faced the three men, Wetter stood alone
by the mantelpiece; the others were still near the table.
" In everything but the moment of his remark M.
Wetter was right," said I. "I didn't remember in time
that I am not placed as other men ; I will not remember
it now. Varvilliers, you mustn't be concerned in this.
Vohrenlorf, I put myself in your hands."
" Good G(xl, you w on't fight ? " cried Varvilliers.
"Vohrenlorf will do for me what he would for any
gentleman who put himself in his hands," said I.
The position was too hard for young Vohrenlorf.
He sank into a chair and covered his face with his
hands. " No, no, I can't," he muttered. Wetter stood
still as a rock, looking not at any of us, but down
towards th« floor. Varvilliers drank a glass of wine
and then wiped his moustache carefully with a napkin.
" Your Majesty," said he, "will not do me the injustice
to suppose that I am not in everything and most readily
at your command. But I would hep- the honour of
representing Your Majesty in this ;
" impossible ! " said I briefly.
' Cor;.sider, sire. To fight you i
'' As regards that, would not M -
reflect too late?" I asked stiffly.
Vohrenlorf looked up with a hopek-ss dazed ex-
pression. Varvilliers was at a loss. Wettur'.s figure
and face were still unmoved. A sudden idea came into
my head.
" There is no need for M, Wetter t^ be r-a^:Jfc■d," said I.
oM Wetter."
Iter m hi- turn
m
1 68
THE KING'S MIRROR
•^Whatever the result may be it shall seem an acci-
Wetter looked up with a quick jerk of his head. I
glanced at the clock.
at six ilrthi"?"''/' '1!^ ^v ^'^^'''' ^ ^^'^- " Let us meet
at SIX in the Garden Pavilion at the Palace. Varvilliers
since you desire to assist us, I have no doubt M Wetter
will accept your .services. It will be well to have no
TTJrrV^''''' necessary. The Pavilion, gentlemen.
] need hardly remind you, is fitted up for revolve;
practice. Well, there are targets at each end. It wfl
be unfortunate, but not strange, if one of us steps
carelessly into the line of fire" ^
obj^ct?on""'^''''^°°'^ ""^ ''^^^- ^"^ Varvilliers had an
n\|l.at if both of you ?•; he asked, lifting his brows.
Wetter looked me full in the face and bowed low.
I am at H.s Majesty's orders," said he. He spoke
now quite calmly. =puK(,
Varvilliers and Vohrenlorf seemed to rerard him
with a sort of wonder. At the risk of ridicule I muS
confess to something of the same feeling. A bullet is
no respecter of persons, and has no sympathy with
Ideas which (as the Englishman observes) it is hardly
unjust to call medueval. Yes, even I myself was a little
surprised that Wetter should meet me in a duel But
while I was surprised, I was glad.
• " V^"^ S^^atly indebted to M. Wetter," I said, return-
rbiiitts.''""' "'" '^'' '' '"'^ ""^ ''''''' °" ^^y^"-
For the briefest moment he smiled at me ; I think
my speech touched his humour. Then he grew grave
again, and thanked Varvilliers formalh- for the offer of
his services. '
"There remains but one thing," said I. "We must
assure the ladies that any difference of opinion there
was between us is entirely past. Let us join them."
Vohrenlorf opened the door of the inner room and I
entered, the rest following. Madame Briande sat in a
h I
an
A CHASE OI- TWO PHANTOMS ir.c;
straight-backed chair at the table ; she had a book before
her, but her restless anxious air made me doubt whether
she had read much of it. I looked round for Coralie.
Ihere on the sofa she hy, her head resting luxuriously
on the cushions and her bosom rising and fallinf^ in
gentle regular breathing. The affair had not been inter-
esting enough to keep Coralie awake. But now Vohren-
lorf shut the door rather noisily; she opened her eyes
stretched her arms and yawned. '
" Ah ! You 've done quarrelling ? " she asked
" Absolutely. We 're all friends again, and h.ave come
to say farewell."
_ " Well I'm very sleepy," said she, with much resigna-
tion. ^ "Go and sleep well, my friends."
I' We're forgiven for our bad manners?"
" Oh, but you were very amusing. You 're all troin""
home now ? " & t>
" So we propose, mademoiselle."
Her ej-es chanced to fall on Wetter. She pointed her
finger at him and began to laugh.
" What makes you as pale as a ghost, my friend ? " she
asked.
''It's late; I'm tired," he answered lamely and
awkwardly.
She turned a shrewd glance on me. I smiled com-
posedly.
" Ah, well, it's no affair of mine," she said.
In turn we took farewell of her and of Madame. But
as I was going out, she called me. '
" In a minute, Vohrenlorf," I cried, waving my hand
towards the door. The rest passed out. Madame had
wandered restlessly to the fireplace at the other end of
the room. I returned to Coralie's sofa.
" You 're going too ? " she asked.
"Certainly," said I. "I must rest. I have to rise
early, and it's close on two o'clock."
" You don't look sleepy."
"I depart from duty, not from inclination."
" You '11 come to see me to-morrow ? "
" If I possii)!y can. Con'd yon doubt it?"
I
THE KING'S MIRROR
'' And why might you possibly not be able ? "
" I am a man of many occupations."
" Yes. Quarrelling^ with Wetter is one "
"Indeed that's all over."
" I 'm not sure I believe you."
^j^You reduce me to despair. How can I convince
Madame Briande walked suddenly to the door and
went out, I heard her invite Vohrenlorf to take a ^dass
of cognac, and his ready acceptance. Coralie was sitting
on ^the sola now, looking at me curiously.
" I have liked you very much," she said slowly. " You
are a good fellow, a good friend. I don't know how it
IS— I feel uncomfortable to-night. Will you draw back
a curtam and open a window .? It 's hut."
I obeyed her; the cool night air rushed in on us fresh
and delicious. She drew her legs up sideways on the
sota, clasping her ankles with her hand.
"Don't you know," she cried impatiently, "how some-
times one IS uncomfortable and doesn't know why? It
seems as though something was going to happen, one's
money to be lost, or one's friends to die or go away •
that somehow they had misfortunes preparing for one"'
"I know the feeling well enough, but I 'm sure you
needn't have it to-night." ^
" Oh, I don't know. It doesn't come without a reason
\ou ve no superstitions, I suppose? I have many; as
a child I learnt them all. They're never wron^r Yes
something is to happen." ''' '
I shrugged my shoulders and laughed.
"You'll come to-morrow?" .she asked, with increased
and most unusual urgency.
" If possible," I answered again.
" But why won't you promise ? Why do you always
say if possible ? You 're tiresome with your 'if
possible. "' She shrugged her shoulders petulantly
I might be ill." "^
"Yes, and you might be dead, but " She had
OL-gun petulantly and impatiently, as though she were
■■ -r)- at my excuse and meant to exhibit its absurditv
/
<
A CHASE OF TWO PHANTOMS 171
But now she stopped suddenly. In the pause the wind
moaned.
" I hate that sound," she cried resentfully. " It comes
from the souls of the dead as they fly through the air.
Ihey fly round and round the houses, cryin^r to those
who must join them soon." ** '
"Ah, well, these people were, doubtless, often wron^
uhen they were alive. Why must they be always
right when they're dead?" ^'vvays
"No, death is near to-night. I wish you would stay
with me— here, talking and forgetting it's night I
would make you coffee and sing to you. We would
shut the window and light all the lights, and pretend it
was day. ^
"I can't stay," I said. " I must get back. I have
business early."
It is difficult to be in contact with such a mood as
hers was that night and not catch something of its
infection. Reason protests, but imagination falls a
ready prey. I had no fear, but a sombre apprehension
of evil settled on me. I seemed to know that our
season of thoughtless reckless merriment was done, and
I mourned for it. There came over me a sorrow for
lier, but I made no attempt to express what she cer-
tainly would not have understood. To feel for others
what they do not feel for themselves is a distortion of
sympathy which often afflicts me. Her discomfort was
purely childish, a sudden fear of the dark night the
dark vvorlri, the ways of fortune <o dark and unknowable.
Wo self-questioning and no sting of conscience had any
part in it She had been happy, and she wanted to go
on being happy ; but now she was afraid she was goin?
to be unhappy, and she shrank from unhappiness as
from a toothache. I took her hand and kissed and
caressed itt.
" ^7° ^0 bed, my dear," said I. " You '11 be laughing at
this m the morning. And poor Vohrenlorf is waiting
ail this while for me. ^
"Go, then. You may kis me though."
I bent down and kissed .;cr.
I
172
THE KING'S MIRROR
coJZ^' ^" '''y '''''" ^^^ -'^- "Yet you look
Go'cxl-nilrft"" '''^^'"' '"''^' ' """'^ '''^'^ '^^"'^ "^^'^'^Jy-
II You '11 make it up with poor Wetter? "
''Indeed our difference is over, or all but over"
for n H.h; •l^''^'' "^^ '"'''^"''' ^° ^l"^'"'"^'^ seriously. As
lor a httle, it 's amusmg enoyrh "
VVith that she let me go. The last I saw of her was
as she ran hastily across the room, slammed down the
wmdow, and drew the curtiiin across it She was afraid
ot heanng more of those voices of the ni"ht that fright-
ened her. thought with a smile that candles would
burn about her bed till she woke to rejoice in the un's
daiLess ' ''^"' ^ ""^''^^^ "^^ "^' ^"''^ ^ ^'^"^^
Vohrenlorfand I walked home togethei. We entered
ir/ the gardens, the sentry saluting us and openinL^ the
t;.ite I here was the Pavilion rising behind my apart-
snents a long, h,gh, glass-roofed building. The sight of
It recalled my thought from Coralie to the work of the
mormng I nodded my head towards the building and
said to Vohrenlorf : ^^
" There 's our rendezvous."
He did not answer, but turned to me with his lips
quivermg. ^
" What 's the matter, man ? " I asked
"For God's sake, sire, don't do it. Send him a
message. You mustn't do it."
"My good Vohrenlorf, you are mad," said I.
^ Yet not Vohrenlorf was mad, but I, mad with the
vision of my two phantoms— freedom and pleasure
(
t you look-
Tie briskly.
■er."
ausly. As
Df her was
down the
was afraid
hat fright-
iles would
I the .un's
^ a blank
CHAPTEI
'ir.
^e entered
ening the
my apart-
le sight of
'rk of the
Iding and
1 his lips
d him a
with the
sure.
DECIDEDLY MEDDEVAL
I WAS in the Garden Pavilion only the other mornin"-
with one of my sons, teaching him how to use hi"
weapons Suddenly he pointed at a bullet-mark not in
any of the targets but in the wainscoting above and a
little to the right of them.
" There 's a bad shot, father ! " he cried.
" But you don't know what he aimed at," I obiected
At a target, of course ! "
" But perhaps his target was differently placed. That
shot IS many years old."
" An>h()w he missed what he shot at, or he wouldn't
have struck the wainscoting," the boy persisted.
Why yes, he missed, but he may have missed only
by a hair s breadth." ^
" Do you know who fired the shot?"
"Yes. It's a strange story; perhaps you shall hear
It some day.
This little scene recalled with vividness my memories
of the mornmg when Wetter and I met in the Pavilion
1 had hit on a good plan. I was known to practise
often, and VVetter was given to the same pursuit.
Indeed we had she: against one another in club
matches before now, and come off very equal. It was
not likely that suspicion would be aroused ; the very
early hour was our vulnerable point, but this could not
be helped Had we come later, we should have been
pestered by attend, ,ts and markers. In other respects
the ordinary arrangements lor matches suited our pur-
pose well. There was a target at cither end of the
173
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IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
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Photographic
Sdences
Corporation
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23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580
(716) 872-4503
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174
THE KING'S MIRROR
1 avihon ; each man chose an end to fire from. When
he had discharged his bullet he retreated to a little
shelter, of which there were two at each end. one for
the shooter, one for the marker. His opponent then
did the like. To account for what was meant to occur
this morning we had only to make it believed that one
ot us. Wetter or I, as chance willed, had incautiously
stcp|)ed out of his shelter at the wrong time. To render
this plausible we agreed to pretend a misunderstandin-r •
the rnan hit was to have thought that his opponent
would fire only one shot, the man who escaped would
e.xprcss deepest regret, but maintain that the arrange-
ment had been for two successive shots. I had very
little doubt that these arrangements for bafflincr in-
convenient inquiry would prove thoroughly adequate
1^ or the rest, I made up a packet for Varvilliers con-
tainmg a present for Coralie. To make any other
preparations would not have been fair to Wetter • for
my death if it happened, must seem absolutely acci-
dental. After all I did not feel such confidence in my
value to the country, or in my wisdom, as to desire
to leave my last will and testament. Victoria would
do very well, no doubt. It was odd to think of her
sleeping peacefully in the opposite wing, without an
Idea that anything touching her fortunes was bein^
done in the Garden Pavilion.
The external scene is clearer to me than the picture
of my own mind ; yet there also I can trace the main
outlines. The heat of passion was past ; I was no
longer in the stir of rivalry. I knew that it was
through and because of Coralie that I had come into
this position, and that Wetter had done what he had
But the thought of her, and the desire to conquer him
m her favour or punish him for seeking it, were no
more my foremost impulses. I can claim no feeling
so natural, so instinctive, so pardonable because so
natural I was angry with him. I had waived my
rank and set aside my state; that still I was eager and
glad to do; but I waived them and forgot them, because
only thus could I avenge them. By his challenge, his
rom. When
d to a little
end, one for
ponent then
ant to occur
^ed that one
incautiously
. To render
Jerstandin<r ;
IS opponent
:aped would
the arrange-
I had very
baffling in-
y adequate,
villiers con-
any other
Wetter; for
)lutely acci-
ience in my
IS to desire
toria would
link of her
without an
was being
the picture
:e the main
I was no
hat it was
come into
lat he had.
anquer him
it, were no
no feeling
because so
vaived my
i eager and
-m, because
allenge, his
DECIDEDLY MEDLKVAL 175
insult, his defiance, he had violated what I held sacred
he.T nowlhe'r V^'i' "^'r^'"^^ ^^^' ' heldlicrS I
. ^^ieaiceval! I did not hear t then. Wetter Inrl
Kini ; '^'' •^'"F.' '^' ^^'"^^ -^-''d cease to be 'he
Kmg to punish him. I had this cool anger in mv
heart when 1 went with Vohrenlorf to the Pavil on
was"due\o'" "'°""'"^- ''"* '^^'f ^'- bitterniro Tt
S r i u ""^ °'''" '"'"°st knowledge that my acts
had led h.m on; that, if he had committed the saa-
lege my hand had flung open the doors of the shrh i'
He had defaced the image ; it was I who had taiX
nim no more to rever^nrp i> n^^ 1 "^''"^lu
lear, or at least, an excitement so great as to seem lil ,>
was esoeci r' "° '^"^^ ''''''- ™^ was ^ttc . .
thl nf? ^ ''°"':':'^^*"'"'^ "•■ '^^--e indifferent to death
killed^o/ev'n'hir 'r "^' °^.^"^ ^° ""' ^'^^^ ' ^^^^^^^
Kuiea or even hit. Coralie had a strong presentiment
of evil for someone ; I had none for my'^d If si
pro'ehSr so." """^' ^° '"^ ''''' ^^^"^'^ ^^^e^mt
The other pair came punctually. Thev had en
untered .some slight obsfp.rl. L ' .:L„ n^^"-
spntrw J.o^ k ^^ , ""^^acie in entering. The
Tf thLuard hTdT"^'"'''^ ''''y^'' ^"^ ^hl office?
01 tne guard had been summoned. Varvilliers nleiderl
an express appointment with me, and the office
surprised but conquered, had let th;m pass AH thh
Varvilhers told us in his usual airy m^anner We te
Mtt,ng_^apart the while. The clock^truck T qualt^r
a chair T^f" ^ "'"1^' V'^^'^te," said I, and I sat down in
a chair leaving him to make the arrangements wi h
Vohrenlorf. or, rather, to announce them to Vohrenlo f
q^uitTS-Xsure^""^' '' ''^ '-'--' -^ ^^^
Varvilhers had just measured the distance and settled
17^ THK KIXG'S MIRROR
the places wliere we were to stand, u hen there was a
step outside and a knock at the door. The seconds
looked round. Wetter spran^- to his feet.
"Open it, Vohrenlorf. We're doing n(,:hin.r secret"
I said, with a smile.
VarviJliers nodded approving!)-.
_'^' But our visitor mustn't sta>' long," he observed.
It s one of my privileges to send people away," .said
1 reassuringly.
Thecioor opened, and in walked William Adolphus'
He was in riding boots and carried a whip. It was his
custom to rise early for a gallop in the park; he must
Have lieard our voices as he passed by.
,.xin°!^,'^'^r'^''^''V ^^ ^'''^'' ''^ boisterous merriment.
What s afoot ?
"Why, a wager between Wetter and myself" I an-
swered. « A match."
" What for ? "
" Upon my word, we haven't fixed the stakes • it 's
pure rivalry." Then I began to laugh. " How odd you
should come, I said. Indeed it seemed strange, f f
the whole affair were traced back to the egg, VV'. ^
Adolphus's flirtation was the origin of it. His appear-
ance had the appropriateness of an ironically witty
comment on some hot-headed folly.
"^ I 've half a mind to stay and see you shoot."
'' By no means ; you 'd make me nervous."
" I '11 bet a hundred marks on Wetter."
;' I take you there," said I. " But I hear your horse
being walked up and down outside."
" Yes, he 's there."
^r V ^ ^-^'''">' morning. Don't keep him waiting.
Vohrenlorf, see the Prince mounted."
Varvilliers laughed ; even W^^tter smiled.
" All right, you needn't be in such a hurry I 'm
going," said William Adolphus.
"But I 'm glad you came," said I, laugiiing again, and,
as the door closed behind him, I added, "Most lucky!
His evuJence will be ii. valuable. Fortune is with us.
Varvilhcr.s."
Here was a
le seconds
ng secret,"
irved.
I way," said
Adolphus !
It was his
; he must
neniment.
^If," I an-
ikes ; it s
V odd you
ige, ^ f
is appear-
lily witty
3ur horse
waiting.
ry. I 'm
jain, and,
5t lucky!
with us.
DECIDEDLY MEDIAEVAL r;,
. Wetter seemed absoUitely composed J m-,rv.U . i .
his comoosure. No dnnht- i;. ,vi ' ^^^'- ^ inai\clled at
"Why not revolvers?"
about you ?' ■ ''"^ y-'" ""y """-■'- "cipoii
a like nu^tlon" "Su.",", "'f "" ""^'^ "'^^ ■'■•""••■ -P'- to
Kmg ,f he were resolved in no case to outlive the TCfnl
I said nothinsr; uhr,< ^..,.i.i > __;'^ ^"uive tnc Kmg.
[ ynTrl r,^ti ■ •--''--' "' iiu cise CO out ive the
1 -said nothing; what could [ sav or do nruo n .
just that he should kill me. VarvHl e,-s ,^ould no ^''°''
lr^a7^--rjr'^;-: H'?-
another. It occurred to n^eXtTu, C , S"" °"?
act thus , It would make matters uorse for him if fnM
^^z^u^:;^. '"■" ""' --" '° - ■' ^4 lot
Varvdhers produced another pair of pistol. si,„ih, ,„
tho.e«I„ch Welter and 1 u„„ held. 'lie lo;;™! botl?
^4
11
■•'J
] I
■
1/8
TIIIC KINGS MIRROR
at
fired them into the targets, ami placed one on a sh(
either end of the room.
"Those are the first shots. You understand ? The
gentleman who is hit made the mistake of not
expecting a second shot. Now, sire— if vou are
ready ? " '
We took up our positions, each six feet in front
of the targets; a bullet which hit me would, but
for the interruption, have struck on, or directly
above or below, the outermost target on the right-
hand side.
Vohrenlorf and Varvilliers stood on either side of
the room; the latter was to give the signal. Indeed
Vohrenlorf could not have been trusted with such a
duty.
" I shall say fire, one— two— three," said Varvilliers.
"You will both fire before the last word is ended. Are
you ready?"
We sicrnified our assent. Wetter was pale, but appar-
ently quite collected. I was very much alive to every
impression. For example, I noticed a man's tread
outside and the tune that he was whistling. I lifted
my pistol and took aim. At that moment 1 meant to
kill Wetter if I could, and 1 thought that I could. It
did not even occur to me that 1 was in any serious
danger myself
"Are you ready? Now!" said Varvilliers, in his
smooth distinct tones.
I looked straight into Wetter's eyes, and I did
not doubt that I could send mv bullet as straight
as my glance. I felt that I saw before me a dead
man.
I am unable to give even to myself any satisfactory
explanation^ of my next act. It was done under an
impulse so instantaneous, so single, so simply powerful
as to defy analysis. I have the consciousness of one
thought or feeling only ; but even to m>-self it seems
absurd and inadequate to account for what I did. Yet
I can i^ive no other reason. I had no relenting towards
Wetter as a man, as companion, or as former friend.
DECIDEDLY MEDI/EVAL 179
Li;rrliH"nl/^"'°''''^"' '^^'"' ?y °^^" P^'-t •■" the aft-air.
and did not now accuse myself of bein- responsible for
he quarrel. Suddenly-and I record%he^fee'ing o
him \Vhv7' tT''. ^r^ >'F^" ■"-" that I must not kill
hm. Uhy? That Kuolishman would lau-h. I am
.nc nied to laugh myself. Well. I was onl>- twenty-fouT.
and moreover, m a state of high tension, fresh from
great emotional excitement and a sleepless night.
chem , because he might do great things for them^
because he was one of those given to m^. for whTm'
1 was ansuerable. I can get no nearer to it-it was
some hing of t'nat kind. Some conception of it may b:
gamed if I say that I have never signed a death-
fee[r Wh'f ' -^t-iggle against a somewhat similar
frlln^-^u^^''''''^'^ \?'' '^ '■^^^•'t'^^' '" '-^'^ '"Ability to
try to k II him. As Varvilliers' voice pronounced in
clear quiet tones "Fire!" I shifted my aim gei t y
and imperceptibly. If it were true now, the" ball
Snd.^^'' ^""^ """'^ '""'^ '^'^^^ '" ^^'^ wainscoting
" One— two— three ! "
I fired on the last uord ; I saw the smoke of Wetter's
pistol ; he stood motionless. In an instant I felt myself
hit I was amazed. I was hit, shot through the body.
I staggered, and should have fallen ; Vohrenlorf ran to
me and I sank back in his arms. My head was clear,
and I saw the order of events that followed. Varvilliers
IvZ, "I J'^'^f ,^°^'^''''' "'''• Suddenly he stopped.
Wetter had rushed across the room towards where the
Mm"^'? T J-'^r^'l^r-^ ^P'^^S upon him and caught
h m resolutely by the shoulders. I myself cried, " Stop
propped up against the wall. Before more could happen
w.T/"''! A ?"'^ 'TP''"^ ^t the door, and the handle
doctorT''''T/"'"'°"''^'>'- Somebody cried. "Go for a
\ V r .J^'""'^ '^'""-^ Varvilliers' voice, "You ro
rinnr ?» u^ ''"'' ^''" ^° -^^ ^^^^ ^he devil 's at the'
aoor? He sprang across and opened it. Vohrenlorf
was asking mc in trembling whispers where 1 was hit.
i8o
THE KING'S IMIRROR
1 1
W i
I paid no licccl to him. The door opened, and to my
amazement VViUiam Adolphus ran in, closely followed
by Coralie Mansoni. I was past speakin^r, soon I
became past consciousness. The last I remember is
that Coralie was kneeling by me, Vohrenlorf still
supporting me, the rest standing round. Yet, though I
did not know it, I spoke. Varvilliers told me after-
wards that I muttered, "An accident— my fault." I
heard what they said, though I was unconscious of
speakmg myself.
" It wasn't ! " Coralie cried.
"On my honour, a pure accident," said Varvilliers.
Then the whole scene faded away from me.
There can be no doubt that it was Welter's intention
to take his own life in case he hit me. I had discovered
this resolution ; Varvilliers was not behind me. Had
revolvers been employed no power could have hindered
Wetter from carrying out his purpose. But Varvilliers
had prevented this, and by despatching my antagonist
to seek medical aid had put him on his paro/e. Ho
returned with one of my surgecjiis in a very short
space of time ; perhaps the desperate fit had passed
then, perhaps he had come to feel that he must
face the consequences of his act. I know that Var-
villiers spoke to him again and very urgently, obtainin;'-
at last a pledge from him that he would at least awai't
the verdict on my case. But when he had fired at me
he had considered himself as a man in any event
doomed to death. We are strangely at fault in our
forecasts of fate. He was uninjured; I, who had
been confident of escaping unhurt, lay on the edge
between life and death. My presentiment was signally
falsified.
But we must be just even to superstitions. I had
my presentiment, and it was wrong. Coralie Mansoni
also had hers, and most unfortunately, for from hers
came the sole danger that threatened the success of
our scheme and impaired the perfection of our pre-
tences. Had William Adolphus been a man of strono-
will no harm would have ' ■
been done; but he
was as
I
Di:CIDl-:i)LV Ml'DLHVAL i8i
Hde L"n^-' ^T"^"- ,^^"^" '^" '^^* "•^' ^^ ^^^"^ °" his
her litH. \^'"''' c^ '^^^ ^^'■' ^'■•'^•'"^^^ herself in
Kr httle pony-cha.se She had been quite unable to
sleep, she said and had been tempted by the fine
viZu'r.' r^^ wT" '!^' ^''"^' ^V'ilhan. Adolphus,
V thout a thought of uid.scretion, described how he had
hXmeH\'"h^'/^"^""- /" ^" '"^^^"^ her mind
n named by her fancies and readily suspicious, was
\ V h nil ^^^V ^^^' '"''""^ '« '-^'^ instinctive certainty,
su- n? n "\"^^'' ^^' .^"^^^^^ ^^ her agitation ; she
suept away his opposition; he must take her to the
iav.lion or she would go alone; nothing else would
serve. But he should have held her wht-re she vva
in'"u'!;.^"''^,'''^'f'' '^^" ^""'"S ^'^'' the one fatal
Img ua to allow her to appear in the affair at all.
He could not withstand her ; he did not know the
fwth!\ .f ''" "'■''°'"' Y ^^ '^"'^^^' that to bring her
rl n ^,P'''""'? °M'^" P''^'^'^'^''^ ''^' ^ sore indis-
c ction. She overbore him ; they burst together into
the room, as I have described. And, being^ there .she
Td hJ'h Syi'''^' ^ee" by two doctors, by liapiiste
and by the shooting-master, who came to carry me t.,
my apartments. Then at last Varvilliers prevailed on
back rra^eTf 1"''"'^'° ^' 'T">^^^'^^' °"t through the
back gate of the gardens, and himself took her to her
Sh^'^f"] '\^'°'''^htion of great distress and collapse,
accident ' ''^' "°^ """^ ^^ ^^'^ P'"^^^"'^ °f ^"
<^rounT WW P'°P^^-^ ^ ^r' "^>'^^^^ °" d°"btful
bv h^.;c / V^' '^'^ ^^ the moment I know only
by hearsay, for I was incapable of attending to any-
thing for three months. There was an enormous
hints" anc/ '""T ".\' '' ''''' ' '''''' ^^^^ I "hink: many
hints and smiles ; there were hundreds of people who
knew the truth, but were careful not to submit their
do:r;"v° '^?- '''' oJPuWaty. E^ what ™uld be
done ? Varvilhers and Vohrenlorf, men of unblemished
honour, vvere firm in their assertions and unshaken in
then- evidence ; Wetter's obvious consternation afthe
event was invoked as confirmatory evidence." As soon
I
I82
TIIK KING'S MIRROR
as I was able to give my acccjunt, my \'oice and
authority were cast decisively into the same scale.
Men mif;ht suspect and women might gossip. Nothing
could be dcjiie ; and as soon as the first stir was over,
Wetter left for a tour abroad without any opposition,
and carrying with him a good deal of s)-mpathy. The
King's own carelessness was of course responsible, but
it was very terrible for W'ettec, so they said.
But a point remains ; how did we account for Coralie
and the presence of Coralie? In fact we never did
account very satisfactorily for Coralie. We sacrificed —
or rather Varvillicrs and Vohrenlorf sacrificed — William
Adolphus without hesitation, saying truly enough that
he had brought her. Victoria was extremely angry
and my brother-in-law much aggrieved. But I must
admit that the story met with very hesitating accept-
ance. Some denied it altogether, the more clear-sighted
perceived that, even were its truth allowed, it pre-
supposed more than it told. There was something in
the background ; that was what everybody thought.
What ? That was what nobody knew. However I am
afraid that there were quite enough suspicion and
enough talk to justify my English friend in his remark
about the one or two scandals which attached them-
selves to my name. I beg leave to hope that his
charitable expression of surprise that there were not
more may be considered equally well justified.
While I lay ill, Princess Ileinrich was the dominant
influence in the administration of affairs. When I
recovered, I found that Coralie Mansoni was no longer
playing in Forstadt, and had left the town some weeks
before. I put no questions to my mother. I also
found that Varvilliers had resigned his official position
in the French service, and remained in Forstadt as a
private person. Here again, at Varvilliers' own request,
I put no questions to my mother. Finally I was in-
formed that the Bartensteins had offered themselves for
a visit. Again I put no questions to my mother. I
determined, however, not to be laid on the shelf again
for three months, if I could help it.
^FX'[DI^^L^' ^f^:I)I.^:v,\L
i83
Such is the history of my secret (iiicl with Wetter
and of my acquaintance with Corah'e Mansoni up to the
date of that occurrence. Such also is the ^tory of that
apparently very bad shot which my littli son found
in the wainscoting of tlie Garden Pavilion. But it was
not such a very bad sh(jt ; not everjhody would have
gone so near and yet made sure of not hitting.
1i
CHAPTER XVIII.
WILLIAM ADOLPHUS HITS THK MARK
At Aitcnbcrg, whither we went when I was con-
valescent, the family atmosphere recalled old days.
We were all in disgrace— Victoria because she had not
managed her husband better, William Adolphus for
behaviour conf^-sscdly scandalous, I bv reason of those
rumours at which I have hinted. ' My sister and
brother-in-law were told of their faults and warned,
the one at^ainst professors, the other ajjjainst actresses.
My delinquencies were treated with absolute silence.
Princess Heinrich reminded me how I had degraded
my office by a studious, though cold, deference towards
it on her own part. The king was the king, be he
never so unruly. His mother could only disapprove
and grieve in silence. But in the hands of Princess
Heinrich silence was a trenchant weapon. William
Adolphus also was very sulky with me. I found some
excuse for him. Towards his wife he wore a hang-dog
air ; from Princess Heinrich he fairly ran away when*^
ever he could. In these relati(jns towards one another
we settled down to pass a couple of summer months at
Artenberg. Now was early July. In August would
come the visit of the Bartensteins.
Ikside this great fact all else troubled me little. I
fell victim to an engrossing .selfishness. The quarrels
and woes of my kindred went unnoticed, except when
they ser\'ed for a moment's amusement. To the
fortunes of those with uhom I had lately been so
much concerned, of Wetter and of Coralie, I was
almost indifferent. Varvilliers wrote to me, and I
answered in friendly fashion, but I did not at that
184
WILLIAM AlJOLl'HUS illlS TIIL MARK 1S5
)een so
I \\'as
and I
at that
time desire his presence. So far as my thoii-^hts (hvcit
on the past, they overlcapt what was immcdiatel)-
behind, and took ine back to my first rebt'lion.
my first struf,'^le ai;ainst the fate of my hfe, my first
refusal to run into the mould. I remembered my
Governor's comforting assurance that I had still six
years ; I remembered the dedication of my early love
to the Countess. Then I had cherished dehisions,
thinking that the fate might be avoided. Herein lay
the sincerity and honesty of that first attachment, and
an enduring quality which made good for it its footing
in memory. In it I was not passing the time or merely
yielding to a desire for enjo^'ment. I was struggling
with necessity. The high issue had seemed to lend
some dignity even to a boy's raw love - making, a
dignity that shone dimly through thick folds of
encircling absurdit)-. I had not been particularly
absurd in regard to Coralie Mansoni, but neither had
there been in that affair any redeeming worthiness or
dignity of conception or of struggle. Now all sceined
over, struggle and waywardness, the dignified and
undignified, the absurdly pathetic and the recklessly
impulsive. The six years were nearly gone. Princess
Heinrich's steady pressure contracted tlieir extent by
some months. The coming of the Hartenstoins was
imminent. The era of KWd began.
Old Prince Haminerfcklt had left a successor behind
him in the person of his nephew, Haron von Bedcrhof,
and this gentleman was now my Chancellor and my
chief official adviser. He was a portly man of about
fifty, with red cheeks and black hair. He was high in
favour with my mother, the husband of a buxom wife,
and the father of nine children. As is not unusual in
cases of hereditary succession, he was adequate to his
office, although he would certainly not have been
selected for it unless he had been his uncle's nephew ;
but, being the depositary of Hammerfeldt's traditions
(although not of his brains), he contrived to pass muster.
He came at this time to Artenberg, and urged on me
the necessity of a speedy marriage.
186
THE KING'S MIRROR
fi ■
ii'il be impregnable. ' ^'^'
'• Mv'i!"' "n '^ "'/°'."; P=°P'«' ''re, do not delay "
mo "ofv'" ^:ZC ^i 'i,:-".^ f- f- yo"ng l»<ly to-
let her bring a TeUer rn'e'tific^tL '" ""' '^ ^""''' ™
Her^p^]r.t^l;;,^:■l^-,„;T'-- -n be no doubt.
True true!" I exclaimed, in a tone of relief
.•."poTo;^;lL„';edf ^u?^ -^^-"■^' --^^ °'^-'-nr»
ml'rnagrwnrt'^n-o-:; it^py "' '^<^^-'°'. " *at the
"You are?"
" Undoubtedly, sire."
"Then vve won't lose a "noment," I cried
complications?" ^ ^^^ "°
" I beg your pardon, Baron."
" I am ashamed to suggest it, but people do talk T
mean-no other attachment ? " ^^ ^^^- ^
rtha'tp^h a-tLr,'::- <?re4tetw'ort»;
• Not of the least ! " he cried hastily.
1 never suspected you of such a paradox reallv" I
assured him w th a smile "And ,T tht i ^ u^' , !
^.^^S,::^^ ' ""■- '"- wol'^bl'-o[t„tlt^
;; My uncle, the Prince " he began.
I inferrToted "f^"" "' ™'ll */ "<= ^°' "y^ar Baron"
ail "n,7atfence." ^°"''' ''"" '^"'' ^"'"^^^^ ^l.sa. I am
verted," lie
Id use."
:t, it might
se, and yet
ielay."
ig lady to-
a child, so
no doubt,
of relief,
having an
'that the
50 rather
he could
>ughly as
- are no
' talk. I
dignity,
e of any
kingdom
■eally," I
^ should
qua! in-
Baron,"
I am
WILLIAM ADOLPHUS HITS TMK MARK 187
Even the stupidest of men may puzzle a careful
observer on one point — as to the extent of his stupidity.
I did not always know whether Bederhof was so super-
latively dull as to believe a thing, or merely so per-
missibly dull as to consider that he ought to pretend to
believe it. Perhaps he had come himself not to know
the difference between the two attitudes ; certain
ecclesiastics would furnish an illustration of what I
mean. Princess Hcinrich's was quite another com-
plexion of mind. She assumed a be)' '' with as much
conscious art as a bonnet or a mant,- ; just as you
knew that the natural woman beneath was different
from the garment which covered her, so you were
aware that my mother's real opinion was absolutely
diverse from the view she professed. In both cases
propriety forbade any reference to the natural naked
substratum. The Princess, with an art that scorned
concealment, congratulated me upon my approaching
happiness, declared that the marriage was one of in-
clination, and, having paid it this seemly tribute, at once
fell to discussing how the public would receive it. I
believe, however, that she detected in me a certain
depression of spirits, for she rallied me (again with a
superb ignoring of what we were both aware of) on
being moped at the moment when I should have been
exultant.
" I am looking at it from Elsa's point of view," I
explained.
" Elsa's ? Really I don't see that Elsa has anything
to complain of. The position 's beyond what she had
any right to expect."
All was well with Elsa ; that seemed evident enough ;
it was a better position than Elsa had any right to
expect. Poor dear child, I seemed to see her rolling
down the bank again, expecting and desiring no other
position than to be on her back, with her little legs
twinkling about in the air.
"I think," said I meditatively, "that it would be a
good thing if, in providing wives, they reverted to the
original plan and took out a rib. One wouldn't feel
^^1
f I
in-
i88
THE KING'S MIRROR
sightag' '''"'^ '° '*^ W""^™ Adolphus," said I.
waSi^a^ay: "" ""' '^'*"^'^ --'— and
It may be wondered why I did nnf- r^K^i r
h s IoY'°ri't r' '" ''"; ^'"""^ ""P^ of betrerr„°g
before Elsa" If Z/^ ' 7''° """^ ""^''^ t° ■=« preferred
a start of surprise when she said to me one day
^^^^ She , very pretty; I daresay you 'll fall in love with
She was pretty, if her last portrait spoke truth ■ sh„
SuL^Td f^ltl '"' ^"V"' fis-t with sma,
studied this attractive shape'^attentively ye Victor^ •
suggestion seemed preposterous, iiicon^ruous-T r ,
SLg"" '"P™P"- ^ -«"-"' 'ate^T set 'me
" I'erhaps I shall," I said with a chuclile.
R
to complain at
own."
ked across the
>ld girl playing
Iphus," said I,
irelessness and
rebel. I must
familiarity ; I
;s place in the
■npossibility of
ither chose to
at I knew not
le of bettering
:o be preferred
that I might
eneral opinion
n treason. It
:, it would be
IS. I did not
■uch an idea.
gent; I must
led to review
le duty as for
•tions. I was
Victoria with
2 day :
1 in love with
we truth ; she
, with small
merry in the
also. I had
-et Victoria's
jous— I had
it set me
WILLIAM ADOLPHUS HITS THE MARK 189
" I don't see anything amusing in the idea," observed
Victoria. " I think you 're being given a much better
chance than I ever had."
The old grudge was working in her mind ; oy covert
allusion she was recalling the part I had taken in the
arrangement of her future. Yet she had contrived to
be jealous of her husband ; that old puzzle recurs.
" I suppose," I mused, " that I 'm having a very good
chance." I looked inquiringly at my sister.
" If you use it properly. You can be very pleasant
to women when you like. She's sure to come ready
to fall in love with you. She 's such a child."
"You mean that she'll have no standard of com-
parison ? "
" She can't have had any experience at all."
" Not even a baron over at Waldenweiter ? "
" What a fool I was ! " reflected Victoria. " Mother
was horrid, though," she added a moment later. She
never allowed the perception of her own folly to plead
on behalf of Princess Heinrich. " I expect you '11 go
mad about her," she resumed. " You see, any woman
can manage you, Augustin. Think of "
" Thanks, dear, I remember them all," I interposed.
"The question is, how will mother treat her," pro-
nounced Victoria.
It was not the question at all ; that Victoria thought
it was merely illustrated the Princess's persistent
dominance over her daughter's imagination. I allow,
however, that it was an interesting, although subordi-
nate, speculation.
The Bartensteins' present visit was to be as private as
possible. The arrangement was that Elsa and I should
be left to roam about the woods together, to become
well known to one another, and after about three weeks
to fall in love. The Duke was not to be of the party on
this occasion (wise Duke I), and, when I had made my
proposal, mother and daughter would return home to
receive the father's blessing and to wait while the busi-
ness was settled. When all was fini^'cd, I should receive
my bride in state at Forstadt, anc' the wedding would
■''''!\
IQO
THK KING'S MIRROR
event within a fortnirrht or .n • hT^-I , ^'^'''
consider this .n-flin^'.t'ertL-m; ^JiH"'' "^ -
„ J5° r '•".^'i, '■ ™y dear liaron." said I.
„ T I ^'^^'^'"^'^ •' 1 murmured softly.
J beg your pardon, sire ? "
'I It IS very like me."
"Aii admirable picture"
to^!f;Su:^r:^:'^-^^?^li"^^bo"titP Thanks
regard ind allovvJd r^.ymfndtoatvl^n'i''^ ^''W'^^'
looking to Elsa. I did no finH "^ ^''^ '"'^^'^^ ^^'''^'^
had heard from Cov-FiZm P'^.'^"'''^'' appositeness. He
Xr'^iriS?'?-P'^--s.^sj
grand opera It I ' ^''" ^^^"^ ^'^^'^'"" ^o sing in
Coralie^as led the way " ""'""• ^"' ""-&-'
"Come," said I to .nyself aloud, "if Coralie, although
I
IS Bederhof
X the fiiuii
)t, however,
Ljcsty which
n."
ce, and thi"
mcra.
? Thanks
' pure self-
world was
ent in the
question.
Varvilliers
cresting in
;ness. He
ounced to
"npresario.
ers wrote,
'kers ; his
: reason I
t. Coralie
3 sing- in
le writes.
■ar her in
', and she
She is
St I have
3ken the
to return
condition
of Your
courage !
illhough
WILLIAM ADOLPHUS HITS THE MARK 191
she detests him, >-et for ' er career's sake marries him, it
little becomes me to make wry faces. Haven't I also, in
my small way, a career?"
But Coralie hoped that her duty would not be very
onerous. I had nothing to do with that. The difference
tliere was in temperament, not circumstances.
I have kept the Duchess and Elsa an intolerably long
while on their journey to Artenberg. In fact they came
quickly and directly; we were advised of their start,
and two days of uncomfortable excitement brought us
to the hour of their arrival. For once in her life
Princess Heinrich betrayed signs of disturbance ; to my
wonder 1 detected an undisguised look of appeal in her
eyes as she watched me at my luncheon which I took
with her on the fateful day I understood that she was
imploring me to treat the occasion properly, and that
Its importance had driven her from her wonted reserve.
I endeavoured to reassure her by a light and cheerful
demeanour, but my effort was not successful enough to
prevent her from saying a few words to me after the
rneal. I assured her that Elsa should receive from me
the most delicate respect.
" I 'm not afraid of your being too precipitate," she
said. " It 's not that."
" No, I shall not be too precipitate," I agreed.
"But remember that— that she's quite a girl, and"—
My mother broke off, looked at me for a moment, and
then looked away—" she '11 like you if you make her
think you like her," she went on in a moment.
I seemed suddenly to see the true ^voman and to
hear the true opinion. The crisis then was great ; my
mother had dropped the veil and thrown aside her
finished art.
" I hope to like her very much," said I.
Princess Heinrich was a resolute woman ; the path
on which she set her foot she trod to the end.
"I know what you've persuaded yourself you feel
about it," she said bluntly and rather scornfully. "Well
don't let her see that" '
" She would refuse me ? "
1
192
THE KING'S MIRROR
r J
l<i :
.'
" No. She 'd marry you and hate you for it. Above
all, don't laugh at her."
I sat silently looking at Princess Heinrich.
" You 're so strange," she said. " I don't know what 's
made you so. Have you no feelings ? "
^' Do you think that? " I asked, smiling.
" Yes, I do," she answered defiantly. " You were the
same even as a boy. It was no use api^ealing to your
affections."
I had outgrown my taste for wrangles. Rut I cer-
tainly did not recollect that either Krak or my mother
had been in the habit of appealing to my affections;
Krak's appeals, at least, had been addressed elsewhere!
Yet my mother spoke in absolute sincerity.
" It 's only just at first that it matters," she went on in
a calmer tone. "Afterwards she won't mind. You'll
learn not to expect too much from one another."
" I assure you that lesson is already laid to my heart,"
said I, rising.
My mother ended the interview and resumed her
mask. She called Victoria to her and sent her to make
a personal inspection of the quarters prepared for our
guests. I sat waiting on the terrace, while William
Adolphus wandered about in a state of conscious and
wretched superfluousness. I believe that Victoria had
lorbidden him to smoke.
They came ; there ensued some moments of embrac-
ing. Good Cousin Elizabeth was squarer and stouter
than six years ago. Her cheeks had not lost their
ruddy hue. She was a favourite of mine, and I v,-as glad
to find that her manner had not lost its heartiness as
she kissed me affectionately on both cheeks. At the
same time there was a difference. Cousin Elizabeth
was a little flurried and a little apologetic. When she
turned to Elsa I saw her eye run in' a rapid anxious
glance over her daughter's raiment. Then she led her
forward.
" She 's changed since you saw her last, isn't she ? " she
asked in a mixture of pride and uneasiness. " But you 've
.seen photographs, of course, ' she added immediately.
WILLIAM ADOLl'HUS HITS THl' MARK
I bent low and kissed my
'93
. ^ -, cousin's hand. She was
ven isibly embarrassed, and her cheeks turned red.
bhe glanced at her mother as though asking what she
ought to do. In the end she shook\ands and glanced
agam, apparently in a sudden conviction that she had
done the wrong thing. There can be very little doubt
that we ought to have kissed one another on the cheek
Susin ElLTbeth'.' '"' ' ^""^' ^''^^ ^° ^^'^ ->' ^^ ^°
"She's so young," whispered Cousin I-lizabeth huL^-
gmg my arm. ^
"She's a very pretty girl/' said I, responsivelv pressing
Cousm Elizabeth's fingers. '^
Cousin Elizabeth smiled, and I felt her pat my arm
ever so gently. I could not help smiling, in spite of
my mothers warnmg. I heard Victoria chaptering
merrily to Elsa. A gift of inconsequent chatter is b?
no means without its place in the world, although \ve
ma, prefer that others should supply the comm.xlity.
I heard Lisas bright sweet laugh in answer. She was
rnuch more comfortable with Victoria. A minute later
the arrival of Victoria's little girl made her absolutely'
nappy. -^
i had been instructed to treat the Duchess with the
most distinguished courtesy and the highest tributes of
respect My mother and I put her between us and
escorted her to her rooms. Elsa. it was considered,
would be more at her ease without such pomp. Mv
mother was magnificent. On such occasions she shone.
Nevertheless she rather alarmed honest Cousin Eliza-
beth A perfect manner alarms nany people ; it seems
so otten to exhibit an unholy remoteness from the
natural. Cousin Elizabeth was, I believe, rather afraid
ot_ being left alone with my mother. For her sake I
rejoiced to meet her servants hurrying up to her assist-
ance. I returned to the garden.
Elsa had not gone in; she sat on a seat with Victoria's
baby in her arms. Victoria was standing by, telling her
how she ought and ought not to hold the little cre.ature.
William Adolphus also had edged near and stood hands
m,
194
TlIK KING'S MIRROR
in pockets, with a broad smile on his excellent counte-
nance. I paused and watched. lie drew quite near to
Victoria ; she turned her head, spoke to him, smiled and
laughed merrily. Elsa tossed and tickled the baby ;
both Victoria and William Adolphus looked pleased
and proud. It is easy to be too hard on life ; one
should make a habit of reflecting occasionally out of
what very unpromising materials happiness can be
manufactured. These four beings were at this moment,
each and all of them, incontestably happy. Ah, well, I
must go and disturb them !
I walked up to the group. On the sight of me
Victoria suppressed her kindliness towards her hus-
band ; she did not wish me to make the mistake of
supposing that she was content. William Adolphus
looked supremely ashamed and uncomfortable. The
child, being suddenly snatched by her motb..;r, puckered
lips and brows and threatened tears. Elsa sprang up
with heightened colour and stood in an attitude of
uneasiness. Why, yes, I had disturbed their happiness
very effectually.
" I didn't mean to interrupt you," I pleaded.
"Nonsense ; we weren't doing anything," said Victoria.
" I '11 show you your rooms, Elsa, shall I ? "
Elsa, I believe, would have elected to be shown some-
thing much more alarming than a bedroom in order to
escape from my presence. She accepted Victoria's offer
with obvious thankfulness. The two went off with the
baby. William Adolphus, still rather embarrassed, took
out a cigar. We sat down side by side and both began
to smoke. There was a silence for several moments.
" She 's a pretty girl," observed my brother-in-law at
last.
" Very," I agreed.
" Seems a bit shy, though," he suggested, with a side-
long glance at me.
" She seemed to be getting on very well with you
and the baby."
"Oh, yes, she was all right then," said William
Adolphus.
:nt counte-
itc near to
smiled and
the baby ;
id pleased
life ; one
illy out of
ss can be
is moment,
Ah, well, I
jht of me
; her hus-
mistake of
Adolphus
able. The
•, puckered
sprang up
ittitude of
happiness
VVII.LIAM ADOLPHUS HITS THE MARK 195
"5.,^."PPO'^e;' said I, "that I frighten her rather."
VVilham Adolphus took a Ion- pull at his cigar,
looked at the ash carefully, and then gazed for some
moments across the river towards Waldenweiter It
was a beautiful evening, and my eyes followed in the
x.""^ Sl'f.^^'^"-, Thus we sat for quite a long time.
Ihen William Adolphus gave a laugh.
" She 's got to get used to you," he said.
"Precisely," said I.
For that was pretty Elsa's task in life.
1.
id Victoria.
own some-
in order to
uoria's offer
fif with the
assed, took
both began
oments.
:r-in-law at
vith a side-
l with you
d William
\n
CHAPTER XIX
GREAT PROMOTION
1
I SHOULD be doing injustice to my manners and (a
more serious offence) distorting truth, if I represented
myself as a shy gaby, afraid or ashamed to make love
because people k-new the business on which I was
engaged. Holding a position like mine has at least
the virtue of curing a man of such folly ; I had been
accustomed to be looked at from the day I put on
breeches, and, thanks to unfamiliarity with privacy,
had come not to expect and hardly to miss it. The
trouble was unhappily of a deeper and more obstinate
sort, rooted in my own mind and not due to the covert
stares or open good-natured interest of those who sur-
rounded me. There is a quality which is the sign and
soul of high and genuine pleasure, whether of mind or
body, of sight, feeling, or imagination ; I mean spon-
taneity. This characteristic, with its included incidents
of unexpectedness, of suddenness, often of unwisdom
and too entire absorption in the moment, comes, I take
it, from a natural agreement of what you are with what
you do, not planned or made, but revealed all at once
and full-grown ; when the heart finds it, it knows that it
is satisfied. The action fits the agent — the exercise
matches the faculty. Thenceforward what you are
about does itself without your aid, but pours into
your hand the treasure that rewards success, the very
blossom of life. There may be bitterness, reproaches,
stings of conscience, or remorse. These things are due
to other claims and obligations, artificial, perhaps, in
origin, although now of binding force. Beneath and
beyond them is the self-inspired harmony of your nature
196
lers and (a
represented
• make love
hich I was
las at least
I had been
V I put on
th privacy,
ss it. The
re obstinate
D the covert
sc who sur-
le sign and
of mind or
mean spon-
id incidents
" unwisdom
imes, I take
e with what
all at once
lows that it
he exercise
at you arc
pours into
vs, the very
reproaches,
ngs are due
perhaps, in
eneath and
your nature
I
GREAT i'ROMOTIOX i^;
with your act, .s,Mnctimes proud enough to claim for itself
a justification from the mere fact of existence, oftener
^^ :^;r ?h^^'^f ;;;;^i^^ '^-'y' -'^'^^-^-^ -^^'^.
By some such explanation as this, possibly not alto-
getherw.de of the mark, I sought tJ accoum for ml
disposition in the days that followed I-Llsa's arrival I
was conscious of an extreme reluctance to set about"my
to me. 1 he trail of business and arrangement u as „ver
t, it was defaced by an intolerable pn.priety, ungraced
by a scrap of uncertainty; its stages had bc^n m^irkL>c
numbered, and catalogued beforehand. Jk-dcrhof kne^v"
wZrl r'n '^ *S '''''\'1 "" ^'''''''^^''^ '^'^ settlement to
V hblo t! H^' '['' ""f^?"''' ^^ congratulation to a
syllable. To this knowledge we were all privy. God
save us. how we played the hypocrite ' i . ^^u
I am fully aware th.it there are men to whom these
feelings would not have occurred. There are probab y
women in regard to uhom nobody would have expert
eiiced them in a very keen form. Insensibility il i„.
fectious. We have few scruples in regard to the
unscrupulous We feel that the exact shade of colo r
s imma erial when we present a new coat to a blind
man. Had Hammerfeldt left as his legacy the un on
with some rude healthy creature, to follow his desire
might have been an easy thing-one which, on a broad
) I mT^ ^'^^;.Tm"^^' have been relatively insignificant,
should have disliked my duty and done it, as I did a
tlK,usand things I disliked. But I should no have been
afHicted with the sense that where I endured ten laches
another endured a thousand ; that, being a fellou-sufferer
I seemed the executioner ; that, myself yearning to be
free I was busied in forging chains.' It u'as in this HgM
that Elsa made me regard myself, so that every word to
her from my lips seemed a threat, every^ approach an
of the life-long bondage that I prepared for her. This
was my unhappy mood, while Victoria laughed iested
and spurred ,re on; while William Adoljhus opined
Ih
\i
THE KING'S MIRROR
that Elsa must get used to me ; while Cousin KhV.ahcth
smiled open mothi'rly encouragement ; wliilc Princess
Ileinrich moved throuj.,di tht.- appropriate l'i;^nires as
though she graced a statel>' minuet. I h.i 1 come to
look for little love in the world ; I was afflicted with tin;
new terror that I must be hated.
Yet she did not hate me ; or, at least, our natures were
not such as to hate one another or to be repugnant
naturally. Nay, I believe that ue were born to hi -ood
and appreciative friends. Sonietimes in those early
days we found a sympathy of thought that made us for
the moment intimate and easy, forgetful of our obliga-
tion, and frankly pleased with the society which we
alTorded one another. Soon I came to enjoy these
intervals, to look and to plan for them, in them I
seemed to get glimpses of what my young cousin ought
to be always ; but they were b' icf and fleeting. An
intrusion ended them ; or, more often, they were doomed
to pei-isli at my hands or at hers. A troubled shyness
would suddenly eclipse her mirth ; or I would be seized
with a .sense that my cheating of fate was useless, and
served only to make the fate more bitter. She seemed
to dread any growth of friendship, and to pull herself
up abruptly when she felt in danger of being carried
away into a genuine comradeship. I was swiftly re-
spc;nsive to such an attitude ; again we drew apart.
Here is an extract from a letter which 1 wrote to Var-
villiers : —
"Mv DEAR Varvilliers, — The state of things Tk- "?
absurd enough. My cousin and I can't like, because we are
ordered to love ; can't be fnends, because we must be mates ;
can't talk, because we must flirt ; can't be comfortable alone
togeti <., because everybody prepares our tete-d-ti'te for us.
She is .ipprehension of an amourousness which I despair
of difcpl?^ \ , . arr- ^shamed of a backwardness which is her
only ct ?!if'c. Ani the audience grows impatient; had the
gods t^ivr aeui humour 'hey would laugh consumedly.
Surely evc^n tl. y must smile soon, and so soon as they smile
I must take the leap ; for, my dear friend, we may be privately
unhappy, but we must not be publicly ludicrous. To-day, as
<mns^
1 F.H/ahctli
Ic Princess
ri<;iires as
I rotnc to
id with the
itiires were
rcpuj^iiant
to l)( ;^o(hI
hose early
lade us for
our obUfja-
whieh \\c
ujoy these
In them 1
usiii ou|^ht
L'ting. An
:re doomed
ed shyness
d be seized
iseless, and
he seemed
)ull herself
ng earried
swiftly re-
rew apart.
)te to Var-
igs p.t'": ;«;
ause we are
it be mates ;
rtable alone
-AV(? for us.
h I despair
ivhich is her
It; had the
:onsumedIy.
s they smile
be privately
To-day, as
GRICAT PROMOTION' iq^
we walked a yard apart along the terrace, I seemed to see a
smile on a gardener's face. If it were of benevolence
matters may not advance just yet; if I conclude that amus":
ment ,r.-p.red u even before you receive this I may have
perionned my duty and she her sacrihro. Pray laugh ^at and
fo n.e from your safe distance ; in that there can be no harm
; h!' n "n^''i 'T'^T'' ''"' ^•^I'-e not risk sharing my laugh
^v.th Lisa. She has humour, hut to ask her to turn its rays
on this situation would be too venturous a stroke. An absolute
absorption in the tragic aspect is probably the only specific
which will enable her to endure. Unhappily the support of
pure tragedy, with its dignity of unbroken glo'.m, is not mine
I forget sometimes to be unhappy in reflecting that I ani
damnably ridiculous. What, I wonder, were the feelings of
Coralie at the first attentions of her big-bellied impresario?
J)id stern devotion nerve her? Was her face pale and her
ips set in tragic mode? Or did she smile and yawn and
drawl and shrug ,n her old delightful fashion ? I \v^)uld give
much to be furnished with details of this parallel. Meanwhile
Bcderhof tears his hair, for I threaten to be behind time, and
the good Duchess tells me thrice daily that Elsa is timid
I rincess Heinrich has made no sign yet; when she frowns
I must kiss. So stands the matter. I must go hence to pray
her to walk in the woods with me. She will flush and flutter,
but, poor child, she will come. What I ask she will not and
rnust not refuse. But, deuce take it, I ask so little I There 's
the rub! I hear your upbraiding voice, 'Pooh, man, catch
her up and kiss her I' Ah, my dear Varvilliers, you suffer
under a confusion She is a duty; and who is impelled by
duty to hese sudden cuttings of a knot? And she does a
Cnty, and would therefore not kiss me in return. And I also
uoing duty, am duty. Thus we are both of us strangled iri
the black coils of that belauded serpent."
I did not tell Varvilliers everything. Had I allowed
niyself complete unreserve I must have added that
she charmed me, and that the very charm I found
in her made my work harder. There was a dainty
dehcacy about her, the freshness of a flower whose
velvet bloom no finger-touch has rubbed This I
was to destroy.
But at last from fear, not of the t^arden.cr's smiles,
Ji
->•
\^i
200
THE KING'S MIRROR
but of my own ridicule, I made my start, and, as I fore-
shadowed to Varvilliers, it was as we walked in the
woods that I began.
"What of that grenadier?" I asked her— she was
sitting on a scat, while I leant against a tree-trunk —
" The grenadier you were in love with when I was at
Bartenstein. You remember? You described him to
me.
She blushed and laughed a little.
" He married a maid of my mother's, and became one
of the hall-porters. He 's grown so fat."
" The dream is ended then ? "
"Yes, if it ever began," she answered. " How amused
at me you must have been ! "
Suddenly she perceived my gaze on her, and her
eyes fell.
" He was Romance, Elsa," said I. "He has married
and grown fat. His business now is to shut doors ; he
has shut the door on himself"
"Yes," she answered, half puzzled, half embarrassed.
" He had an unsuccessful rival," said I. " Do you
recollect him ? A lanky boy whom nobody cared much
about. Elsa, the grenadier is out of the question."
Now she was agitated ; but she sat still and silent. I
moved and stood before her. My whole desire was to
mitigate her fear and shrinking. She looked up at me
gravely and steadily. It went to my heart that the
grenadier was out of the question. Her lips quivered,
but she maintained a tolerable composure.
"You should not say that about -about the lanky
boy, Augustin," said she. "We all liked him. I liked
him."
" Well, he deserved it a little better then than now.
Yet perhaps, since the grenadier "
" I don't understand what you mean about the
grenadier."
"Yes, don't you?" I asked with a smile. "No
dreams, Elsa, that you told to nobcdy?"
She flushed for a moment, then she smiled. Her
smiling heartened me, and I went on in lighter vein.
GREAT PROMOTION
201
^^ One can never be sure of being miserable," I said.
iNo, she murmured softly, raising her eyes a
moment to mine. The glance was brief, but hinted
a coquetry whose natural play would have deliuhted—
well, the grenadier.
She seemed very pretty, sitting there in the half-
shade, with the sun catching her fair hair. I stood
lookmg down on her; presently her eyes rose to
mine.
"Not of being absolutely miserable," said I.
" You wouldn't make anybody miserable. You 're
kmd. Aren't you kind ? "
She grew grave as she put her question. I made her
no answer m words ; I bent down, took her hand, and
kissed It. I held it, and she did not draw it away. I
looked in her eyes; there I saw the alarm and the
shrinking that I had expected. But to my wonder I
seemed to see something else. There was e.xcitement
a sparkle witnessed to it ; I should scarcely be wrong if
1 called it triumph. I was suddenly struck with th-
Idea that I had read my feelings into her too com-
pletely. It might be an exaggeration to say that she
wished to marry me, but was there not something in
her that found satisfaction in the thought of marrvin-r
me? I remembered with a new clearness how the fittle
girl who rolled down the hill had thought that she
would like to be a queen. At that moment this new
Idea of her brought me pure relief I suppose there
were obvious moralisings to be done; it was also
possible to take the matter to heart, as a tribute to
my position at the cost of mj-self I felt no soreness,
and 1 did no moralising. I was honestly and fully glad
that for any reason under heaven she wished to marry
me. ^
Moreover this touch of a not repulsive worldliness in
her sapped some of my scruples. What I was doing no
longer seemed sacrilege. She had one foot on earth
already tlien, this pretty FJsa, lightly poised perhaps,
and quite ethereal, yet in the end resfitur on this
common earth of ours. She would get u.scd to me
I
yi
11
>f<v.
f.
202
THE KING'S MIRROR
as William Adolphus put it, all the sooner. I took
courage. The spirit of the scene gained some hold on
me. I grew less repressed in manner, more ardent in
looks. I lost my old desire not to magnify what I felt.
The coquetry in her waged now an equal battle with her
timidity.
"You 're s'ire you like me? " she asked.
"Is it incredible.? Have they never told you how
pretty you are?"
She laughed nervously, but with evident pleasure.
Her eyes were bright with excitement. I held out my
hands, and she put hers into them. I drew her to me
and kissed her lightly on the cheek. She shrank
suddenly away from me.
" Don't be frightened," I said, smiling.
"I am frightened," she answered, with a look that
seemed almost like defiance.
" Shall we say nothing about it for a little while ? "
This proposal did not seem to attract her, or to touch
the root of the trouble, if trouble there were.
" I must tell mother," she said.
" Then we '11 tell everybody." I saw her looking at
me with earnest anxiety. " My dear," said I, " I '11 do
what I can to make you happy."
We began to walk back through the wood side by
side. Less on my guard than I ought to have been, I
allowed myself to fall into a reverie. My thoughts fled
back to previous love-makings, and, having travelled
through the.se, fixed themselves on Varvilliers. It was
but two days since I sent him a letter almost asserting
that the task was impossible to achieve. He would
laugh when he heard of its so speedy accomplishment.
I began in my own mind to tell him about it, for I had
come to like telling him my states of feeling, and no
doubt often bored him with them ; but he .seemed to
understand them, and in his constant minimising of their
importance I found a comfort. I had indeed almost
followed the advice he would have given me— almost
taken her up and kissed her, and there ended the
matter. A low laugh escaped from me.
GREAT PROMOTION
203
knew how terrified 1 \e bopn 1 » c,.°''' '"^ >'?" ""'3'
seized with an i^puliVo confidence"' MT^^^'c^^ib';:
com.ng here to see whether I should do, you know "
Vou knew you 'd do ' " '^'"--w.
said°;ju7ere!!:!::?r ;:;;-; -■^,,,- • -feMn.. She
to J.y^lil^l^'Xl^^' "'" ■^^""'^ '° ^= ""«
She laughed, but not as though she saw anv nninf ;^
my observation (I daresay there u-a none) a" d vvalLeS
on a few yards smiling still. Then she s^id : ''^'^
^^ leather will be pleased."
" ^^^ope everybod}- will be pleased. When vou rm tr.
'' wtV'",w;°^'i"^" ^^-'^ -" --d over yo'u '' '° '°
What will they do?" ^
fir;°rL.;:1=lf rre*'^ft°- AnT''' "'■^"^' ''°"-'^"'
where ! " ^ ^°"'' Picture every-
She drew in her breath in a long sigh. I looked if
her and she blushed Jookeci at
'' You ;il like that ? " I asked with a laugh
She did not speak, but nodded her head twice Her
Mrni'>;'^'? '" ''■'■""^P^^- She seemed hippy now
My pestilent perversity gave me a shock of^ain Z
When we came near the house she asked me to let
oX'^^Ind^ed f" '",T'"'"- ' ^^^ no objeai
head and waved her hand to me meJri y IwaUed a
ittle while at the end of the terrace, ancf then effected
w" M V^ '""" ^y '■^^"^ unperceiv^ed. The women
wouia be a bustle. I had now a quiet half-hour. By a
1: 1
204
THE KING'S MIRROR
movement that seemed inevitable I sat down at my
writing-table and took up a pen. For several minutes
I sat twirling the quill between my fingers. Then I
began to write : —
"My dear Varvilliers, — The impossible has happened,
and was all through full of its own impossibility. I have
done it. That now seems a little thing. The marvel remains.
' An absolute absorption in the tragic aspect ' — you remember,
I daresay, my phrase ; that was to have been her mood— seen
through my coloured glasses. My glasses ! Am I not too
blind for any glasses ? She has just left me and run to her
mother. She went as though she would dance. She is merry
and triumphant. I am employed in marvelling. She wants
to be a queen ; processions and ovations fill her eyes. She is
happy. I would be happy for her sake, but I am oppressed
by an anticipation. You will guess it. It is unavoidable that
some day she will remember myself. We may postpone, but
we cannot prevent, this catastrophe. What I am in myself,
and what I mean to her, are things which she will some day
awake to. I have to wait for the time. Yet that she is happy
now is something, and I do not think that she will awake
thoroughly before the marriage. Thero is therefore, as you
will perceive, no danger of anything interfering with the
auspicious event. My dear friend, let us ring the church bells
and sing a Te Deuin ; and the Chancellor shall write a speech
concerning the constant and peculiar favour of God towards
my family, and the polite [)iety with which we have always
requited His attentions. For just now all is well. She sleeps.
" Your faithful friend,
" AUGUSTIN."
I had just finished this letter when Baptiste rushed in,
exclaiming that the Duchess had come, and that he
could by no means prevent her entry. The tnvth of
what he said was evident ; Cousin Elizabeth herself was
hard on his heels. She almost ran in, and made at me
with wide-opened arms. Her honest face beamed with
delight as she folded me in an enthusiastic embrace.
Looking over her shoulder, I observed Baptiste standing
in a respectful attitude, but struggling with a smile.
"You can go, Baptiste," said I, and he withdrew,
smiling still.
GREAT PROMOTION
205
r-:
I
I
^^ "My dearest Augustin," panted Cousin Elizabeth
you have made us all very very happy. It has been
the dream of my life."
I forget altogether what my answer was, but her
words struck sharp and clear on my mind. That phrase
pursued me. It had been the dream of Max von
bempach's life to be Ambassador. There had been
a dream m his wife's life. It was the dream of Coralie's
life to be a great singer ; hence came the impresario
with his large locket and the rest. And now, quaintly
enough, I was fulfilling somebody else's dream of life-
Cousin Elizabeth's ! Perhai)s I was fulfilling my own •
but my dream of life was a queer vision. '
"So happy! So happy!" murmured Cousin Eliza-
beth, seeking for her pocket-handkerchief. At the
moment came another flurried entry of Baptiste He
was followed by my mother. Cousin Elizabeth dis-
engaged herself from me. Princess Heinrich came
to me with great dignity. I kissed her hand: she
kissed my forehead.
"Augustin," she said, "you have made us all very
happy." ^
The same note was struck in my mother's stately
acknowledgment and in Cousin Elizabeth's ^ushin<T
joy. I chimed in, declaring that the happincss^I gavS
was as nothing to what I received. My mother
appeared to consider this speech proper and adequate.
Cousin Elizabeth was almost overcome hy it The
letter which lay on the table, addressed to Varvilliers
was fortunately not endowed with speech. It would
have jarred our harmony.
Later in the day Victoria came to see me. I was
sitting in the window, looking down on the river and
across to the woods of Waldenweiter. She sat down
near me and smiled at me. Victoria carried with her
an atmosphere of reality; she neither harboured the
sincere delusions of Cousin Elizabeth nor (save in
public) sacrificed with my mother on the shrine of
propriety. She sat there and smiled at me.
" My dear Victoria," said I, " I know all that as well
I.
li*
! I
1
\
206
Tin-: KING'S MIRROR
as you do. Didn't we go through it all before, when
you married William Adolphus ? "
" I 've just left Elsa," my sister announced. " The
child's really half off her head; she can't grasp it
yet."
"She is excited, I suppose."
" It seems that Cousin Elizabeth never let her count
upon it."
" I saw that she was pleased. It surprised me
rather."
" Don't be a goose, Augustin," said Victoria very
crossly. " Of course she 's pleased."
" Hut I don't think she cares for me in the very least,"
said I gravel)-.
For a moment Victoria stared. Then she observed
with a perfunctory politeness :
" Oh, you mustn't say that. I 'm sure she does." She
paused and added : " (Df course it 's great promotion for
her."
Great promotion ! I liked Victoria's phrase very
much. Of course it was great promotion for Elsa. No
wonder she was pleased and danced in her walk ; no
wonder her eyes sparkled. Nay, it was small wonder
that she felt a kindliness for the hand whence came this
great promotion.
" Yes, I suppose it is — what did you say > Oh, yes —
great promotion," said I to Victoria.
" Immense ! She was really a nobody before."
A hint of jealousy lurked in Victoria's tones. Per-
haps she did not like the prospect of being no longer at
the head of Forstadt society.
" There 's nobody in Europe who would have refused
you, I suppose," she pursued. "Yes, she's lucky with
a vengeance.
I began to laugh. Victoria frowned a little, as though
my laughter annoyed her. However I had my laugh
out ; the picture of my position, sketched by Victoria,
deserved that. Then I lit a cigarette and stood looking
out of the window.
" Poor child ! " said I. " IIow long will it last ? "
GREAT PROMOTION
207
Victoria made no answer. She sat where she was
for a few moments; then she got up, flung an arm
round my neck, and gave me a brief business-Uke kiss.
" I never knew anybody quite so good as you at
being miserable," she said.
But I was not miserable. I was, on the whole, very
considerably relieved. It would have been much worse
liad Elsa really manifested an absolute ab.sorption in
the tragic aspect. It was much better that her thoughts
should be filled by her great promotion.
I heard sudden !>- the sound of feet on the terrace.
A moment later loud cheers rang out. I looked down
from the window. There was a throng of the house-
hold, stable, and garden servants gathered in front of
the wmdow of my mother's room. On the steps before
the window stood Elsa's slim graceful figure. The
throng cheered; Elsa bowed, waved, and kissed her
hand to them. They cried out good wishes and called
blessmgs on her. Again she kissed her hand to them
with prett)' dignity. A pace behind her on either side
stood Pnncess Heinrich and Cousin Elizabeth. Elsa
held the central place, and her little head was erect and
proud.
Poor dear child I The great promotion had begun.
4 \
If
i
< t
li
CHAPTER XX.
AN INTERESTING PARALLEL
I HAD a whimsical desire that somebody, no matter
who, should speak the truth about the affair. That
I myself should was out of the question, nor would
candour be admissible from any of my family ; even
Victoria could do no more than kiss me. Elsa did not
know the truth ; her realisation of it lay in the future —
the future to me ever so present. Varvilliers would not
tell it; his sincerity owned always the limit of politeness.
I could not look to have my whim indulged ; perhaps
had there seemed a chance of fulfilment I should have
turned coward. Yet I do not know ; the love of truth
has been a constant and strong passion in my mind.
Hence come my laborious trackings of it through
mazes of moods and feelings ; painful trilling, I daresay.
But my whim was accomplished ; why and under what
motive's spur it is hard to guess.
I sent a message to the Chamber announcing my
betrothal ; a debate on the answer to be returned
followed. Here was a proper and solemn formality,
rich in coloured phrases and time-honoured pretence.
No lie was allowed place that could not prove its
pedigree for five hundred years. Then when Bederhof
and the rest had prated, there rose (O si audisseni)
a man with a pale lined face, in which passion had
almost destroyed mirth, or at least compelled it to put
on the servile dress of bitterness, but with eyes bright
still and a voice that rang through the Chamber.
Wetter was back, back from wounding me, back from
his madness of Coralie, back from his obscure wander-
ings and his reported bank-breakings. Somewhere and
208
through
bright
AN INTERESTING PARALLEL ,09
record ; but who vo ilc h. k""?? ' '°"'' ^^^'-^'^y of
whether he diSod^,,7rr''?,'™*'."°' "■'■!"-■ °"'. °^
and as , reacrhl'slp^'^h cTS'^le"!''" r„''', '""»!'•
truth and a man who tells it » " ^ ' ' ^'^''^ '^
stid^; t;rhad"cia'sej':o'^iJr'"H^^'^" ^^^^-'-^'^
betrothal, sketchhKMraooeP.r- , "*: ,^1^'^^ ^^ ^Y
orator, that perfect W u^f T"""^' ''!^'^ ^'^^ ^'"^ o<" an
with exquisite sk'l the 1 ''°k "'"" ^''"'^""^ ^ P''^'"ting
girls tremuoustrumnh Th?" ^°.' ^"^"Itation Lnd the
to heart, the world wft out eT"'',"'°"f ^''^ "^ ^^^'^
brightness, the Sorvan^^^^^^^ "^"^ nn-isible; the
in their etermty hTs ^^'^P ""^"^^t.oning confidence
falterings; his Ls ^ e.r^°^ rose victorious out of
made. Then while s^uT '"'^^ ^^^ ^'■^'°" that he
new things ?n theTr own h'^ T".^"'"",^ ^' "^^" ^^^°^^»
smile and his to es felTIo . ?' ^'' ^'P' ^"''^'ed in a
said he, " ari the lovs whlh "'"^"''^'^ ^■°'"'"^- " Such,"
King. Because hey are his^'h^ ""'''^ '^''''' ^^'^^ it's
they are his they arT hers R ^ T. °"''' ' '^^^^"'^^
their lives' end oJrs wS'ip ^^"''^^"^ ^^'^ ^re they till
conceive of the^. ° °''' ^^""'^^ ^^^ ^^orthy to
They were silent when he sat dou'n u u ^
etiquette; nobody had ever saWth^\ He had outraged
on such an occasion Bede^^^^^^^ ^^^°'^
an exhaustive memor-indnm n ^'?-^'^ '" ^^'" ^^^-ough
He consulted ^le clerks N^rT'l'".'^" Chancellery,
thing in the leas? like k' Th^^ ^^^ ^''^' ^^'^ ^ny-
all most excellen mos lovll ^ ''T^ 5"'''"^- ^' ^^^s
people in the mos'tTavouraWe wav B^t 'l ^"P"T ^^^
why did the man smile whflj hi 7i, ? '^' ''^"^^ ^^ke it,
voice change fromTr^ ' r ^ ' ^""^ "^'^^ ^'^ ^'■''
° ™ "^ '^"^ ^^ a trumpet to the rasp of a
4
210
THE KING'S MIRROR
■(■ I/'
[f
file ? The Chamber at large was rather upset by Wetter's
oration.
Ah, Wetter, but you had an audience fit though small!
I read it — I read it all. I, in my study at Artenberg ;
I, alone. My mind leapt with yours ; my lips bent to
the curve of yours. Surely you spoke to please me,
Wetter } To show that one man knew ? To display
plainest truth by the medium of a giant's lies? I could
interpret. The language was known to me ; the irony
was after rny own heart.
"It's dashed queer stuff," said William Adolphus,
scratching his head. " All right in a story book, you
know ; but in the Chamber ! Do you think he 's off
his head .? "
" I don't think so, William Adolphus," said I.
" Victoria says it 's hardly - hardly decent, you know."
" I shouldn't call it exactly indecent."
" No, not exactly indecent," he admitted. " But what
the devil did he want to say it there for ? "
" Ah, that I can't answer."
My brother-in-law looked discontented. Yet as a
rule he resigned himself readily enough to not under-
standing things.
" Victoria says that Princess Heinrich requested the
Duchess to manage that Elsa "
" My dear William Adolphus, the transaction sounds
complicated."
" Complicated ? What do you mean ? Princess
Heinrich requested the Duchess not to let Elsa read it."
" Ah, my mother has always good reasons."
" But Elsa had read it already."
" How unfortunate wisdom always is ! Did Elsa like
it?"
" She told Victoria that it seemed great nonsense."
"Yes, she would think so."
" Well, it is, you know," said William Adolphus.
" Of course it is, my dear fellow," said I.
Yet I w^anted to know more about it, and observing
that Varvilliers was stated to have been present in the
Diplomatic Gallery, I sent for him to come to Artenberg
' Wetter's
if^h small!
r ten berg ;
s bent to
lease me,
o display
I could
the irony
\clolpluis,
)ook, you
: he's off
)u know."
But what
Yet as a
ot under-
ested the
>n sounds
Princess
a read it."
Elsa like
sense."
hus.
observing
mt in the
\rtenberg
AN INTERESTIXG PARALLEL 3,,
had tT'X"™e:?.r rj' rrr p^-^^'- «-" ■
measures had been f^l-on f^ r ^ , >^ ' '^ly mother's
El»a think? ^Ttut"ut1t^:-J^''V'' '""'y
i'oor pretty I^lsa ' ^'' ^'^^^^ nonsense.
l^^"^'^:^ ^'S,-'^^!^^^ !-^' b-'<— surely
the setose of contest IVen'. u"^' ^^ '"^"^"•■>' ''^"^
with some vagurelpecta ion . T TT'^ ''^^^^' »^"t
trary to all ifkclihoid f 2ht vnin' if^ ^'^^' ^""-
measurc what had coi^c to m. k ? '""^'^ '" "^'^e
indeed not whence I wL d T . 'T"'^' sprmging now
being still itself ihr.,,!' " '"''^"^^ '^ could, yet
full Hchnes.fof nat^fblgr-/" ^'^ ^''^" -'^- ^he
n^i^ht attain somf p^le °n^e and "a f'"' "'"' ^'^^ ''
own. For these I vvonlH t , fragrance of its
malicious wit that Jv^eh '°'"P°""^ ''"^^t thank the
it all great nonset<^^ n, /T. """' ^"^ -^'^^ thought
told Victoria My "^o £ w'ns"'"-' °"'>' .^^^''^^ ^^^^^ ^'ad
Had requested that'shTs^oT-ldT^t^S it"' ""' '"°^'-
in moSd. Sh^dS t'tf^f'r "r""^"'" ^-^ ^^"btful
sciousness of it 1 o ed i^^^^^^ the speech, but a con-
the distrustful m^of her ev'er"'^^"'^-?;'^ ^"^ '"
how I looked UDon .> nrf. l ^ t' ^^"^ "^'^ "«t know
it; was she to laugh or ?o IT ^'""'^ ^^""^ ^^'^ ^ake
pretend with hal^lt^e amptltp'VhV'^^'^ ^^
attached to her o-reatness . v ^'^ ''''''^ ^"ties
swallow this? Rut she kn<^v.Tn'^^^"'°"- ^^^^"^ to
things which othes found r ^'""^^ ^° J°'^^ ^^ '^^'^e
with me at this^tt J^^l.^T^^ ^ ^'^^^ ^^e laugh
said|:!;p;r;^;'-^j--"^
^^^^D,d theyP I didn't know what the proper things
thin?\l'a: r'?' 't' "'"^ ^^"°^^ Wetter. It's a sad
great' carL;."' '"^^' ^^ ™"'^ ^ ^^"'"^ he'd have a
She threw a timid questioning glance at me,
M
«
;.
212
THE KING'S MIRROR
" Victoria says that he talked nonsense," she remarked.
" Victoria dechires that it was you who said it."
" Well, I don't know which of us said it first, " she
laughed. " I'rincess Heinrich said so too ; she said
he must have been reading romances and gone mad,
like Don Quixote."
" Y( lu 've read some ? "
" Oh, yes, some. Of course, it 's different in a story."
So had observed William Adol[)hus. I marked
Victoria as the common origin.
"You see," said I tolerantly, "he's a man of very
emotional nature. He's carried away by his feelings,
and he thinks other people are like himself" And I
laughed a little.
Elsa also laughed, but still doubtfully. She seemed
ill at ease. I found her venturing a swift stealthy
glance at me ; there was something like fear in her
eyes. I was curiously reminded of Victoria's expres-
sion when she came to Krak with only a half of her
exercise written, and mistrusted the validity of her
excuse. (Indeed it was always a bad one.) What, then,
had Wetter done for her? Had he not set up a hope-
less standard of grim duty, frowning and severe .? My
good sister had meant to be consolatory with her " great
nonsense," remembering, perhaps, the Baron over there
at Waldenweiter. Elsa was looking straight before her
now, her brows puckered. I glanced down at the hand
in her lap and saw that it trembled a little. Sudden.ly
she turned and found me looking ; she blushed vividly
and painfully.
" My dearest little cousin," said I, taking her hand,
"don't trouble your very pretty head about such matters.
Men are not all Wetters ; the fellow 's a poet if only
he knew it. Come, Elsa, you and I understand one
another." , ^ , ,
"You're very kind to me," she said. "And— and
I 'm very fond of you, Augustin."
" It's very charming of you, for there's little enough
several people have been." She
reason.
♦< \t;.-
Vict
una oaVo
y:
ii
J marked,
t."
irst," she
she said
)ne mad,
a story.
marked
of very
feelings,
And I
g seemed
stealthy
ir in her
i expres-
ilf of her
Y of her
hat, then,
3 a hope-
ire ? My
ler " great
•ver there
)efore her
the hand
Suddenly
2ci vividly
her hand,
n matters.
et if only
stand one
^.nd — and
le enough
m." She
AN INTICUKSTING I'ARALLEL 2,3
ha^arded Ms remark with an nbvi„„s effort. I laughed
other idea nto^'her m ncl ? ^n^ v""^ •'^"J^ ^"^
speech. Pnncess Heinrich may hav^ prefer ed thl^
such notions sliould not be suJested at^I .L m
circumstances of the n^r^ -^"bgestea at all under the
in what PrinceL H^inHch dSl"^ "" ^'"^>'-^ ' --"'"^
1' V '!t* ^'n ^?" thinking of, Elsa ? "
INothmg, she answered with a little start " Ic; h^
a young man ?" "" ^^ '^^
" You mean Wetter ? "
" Yes."
w„!i? '■^'°"Sb\ had been on Wetter and Welter's
words. Since she had smiled I concluded t W 1
guess was not far off. Elsa turned to me fvlth a bh^S
s&a
mtm
H J\
3^il '.
t f
1
It'
i
214
THE KING'S MIRROR
" I should think he might have made love rather
well," she said.
" I shouldn't wonder in the least," said I. " But he
might be a little tempestuous."
" Yes," Elsa acquiesced. "And that wouldn't be nice,
would it?"
" Not at all nice," said I, and laughed. Elsa joined
in my laugh, but doubtfully and reluctantly, as though
she had but a dim glimmer of the reason for it.
Then she turned to me with a sudden radiant
smile.
" Fancy ! " said she. " Mother says I must have forty
frocks."
" My dear," said I, " have four hundred."
"But isn't it a lot?"
" I suppose it is," I remarked. " But have anything
you ought to have. You like the frocks, Elsa?"
She gave that little emphatic double nod of hers.
We talked no more of the frocks then, but during the
few days which followed Elsa's perusal of VVetter's
speech there was infinite talk of frocks and all the
rest of the furnishings and appurtenances of Elsa's new
rank. The impulse which moved women so different as
my mother, the Duchess, and Victoria, to a common
course of conduct was doubtless based on a universal
woman's instinct. All the three seemed to set them-
selves to dazzle the girl with the glories and pomp that
awaited her ; at the same time William Adolphus be-
came pressing in his claims on my company. Now
Victoria never really supposed that I desired to spend
my leisure with William Adolphus ; she set him in
motion when she had reason to believe that I had
better not spend it with some other person. So it had
been in the days of the Countess and in Coralie's epoch ;
so it was now. The idea was obvious ; just at present
it was better for Elsa to think of her glories than to be
too much with me ; she was to be led to the place of
sacrifice with a bandage over her eyes, a bandage that
obscured the contrasted visions of Wetter's imagination
and of my actual self. I saw their plan and appreciated
ve rather
"But he
t be nice,
sa joined
,s though
n for it.
radiant
ave forty
anything
?"
hers,
uring the
Wetter's
1 all the
Isa's new
fiferent as
common
universal
let them-
omp that
phus be-
y. Now
to spend
: him in
It I had
30 it had
's epoch ;
t present
lan to be
place of
lage that
igi nation
preciated
AN INTERESTING PARALLEL 2,5
seemed to me then th^t ImVl. i ? "Resistance. It
would p'i:ss,aim:"fa,,"though E : cz^ %r"?
ment which wnnM hJco ^ ■ r ^°"^^ ^'^tle ai -
cou4d tol S reti* FLTder i r/^t ^"-
nothing that could excite her' Sh" f""°" '".^^^^
quiet lay contentmen'r.ilCed plfatdTo brwir'n, *
responsible duties. She would have nearly as much to
do as I had, she said, and was not her wor" real v
almost as important as mine? "^
«l,rn'""''Tf •"?'""'''' ""y^ *at the social influence I
countrv-^he "'V '"'P"'^'"' '° *e welfare of 'hi
in hrprettbr'eteT' """ '"" ^^"^ ''"^"'""^ '-^
"All the fashionable folk in Forstadt will think it
2l6
THE KING'S MIRROR
i' )
much more important," said I, laughing. "Especially
the young men, Elsa."
" As if I should care about that ! " she cried scornfully.
Now and then, at intervals, while I talked to her, the
idea of doing what my mother had meant by exciting
her came into my head, the idea of satisfying her un-
conscious longings and of fulfilling for her the dream
which had taken shape under the wand of that magician
Wetter. I believed then that I could have succeeded in
the task ; there may be vanity in that opinion, -but
neither lapse of time nor later experience has brought
me to renounce it. Why, then, did I yield to the
women's prescription, and renounce the idea of gaining
and chaining her love and her fancy for myself? Noth-
ing in her gives the answer to that question ; it must be
sought in my mind and my temper. I believed and I
believe that if I could have stirred myself I could have
stirred her. The claim is not great ; Wetter had done
half the work for me, and nature was doing the better
part of the rest. I should have started with such an
advantage that the battle must have been mine. This
is not merely perceived in retrospect; it was tolerably
clear to me even at the time. But the impulse in me
was wanting. I could have won, but I did not truly
desire to win. I could have given what she asked, but
my own heart was a niggard. It was from me more
than from her that the restraint came ; it was with me
to move, and I could not stir. She was lovable, but I
did not love her ; she had love to give, but I could not
ask for it. To marry her was my duty, to seem to
desire the marriage my ro/c. There obligation stopped ;
inclination refused to carry on the work. I had driven
a bargain with fate; I would pay the debt to the last
farthing, but I could not open my purse again for a
gratuity or a bounty. I acquiesced with fair content-
ment in it, and in the relations which it produced be-
tween Elsa and myself. There was a tacit agreement
among all of us that a calm and cousinly affection was
the best thing, and fully adequate to the needs of the
situation. The advice of the women chimed in with
specially
:ornfully.
I her, the
exciting
her un-
e dream
macjician
:eeded in
lion, 'but
brought
1 to the
' gaining
' Noth-
must be
2d and I
Lild have
lad done
le better
such an
e. This
;olerably
5e in me
lot truly
;ked, but
ne more
with me
le, but I
ould not
seem to
stopped ;
d driven
the last
tin for a
content-
jced be-
;reement
tion was
Is of the
in with
AN INTERESTING PARALLEL 217
my own mood. Making love to her would have seemed
to them a dangerous indiscretion, to me a rather SZus
takmg advantage of one who was not a free a'^ent and
a rather humiliating bit of pretence besides. ^^We had
consTderabTv n "^'"^l ^^^^^ --"ers had better be left
consiaerably below boihng-point
While things stood thus I received a letter from Var
AneTb r'" 1^ ^^ ''T''''^ --P^-^ ^4" 'riolTo
/irtenberg. His acceptance signified, he went on :—
''Of course all the town is full of you and your ^a»c^e hpr
portrait is everywhere, your name and hers ire^^r^A
sne'k of vvi i""'^ ?'^^ °^ >'°" ^"d ^he Princess they
fSni T^^' '^''°- ^^ '^ '■^c^l'ed that you and he were
So you are ha,led as a model and most romanto lover and
(SveT^rS'^ ?* ^°r P™^^^- Early tad'Sd
S ^ f P^ ^^'^ indiscreet) are forgotten, and vou arP
beatwlnd\h?r f /'^ "°'^^ '"^'^^"'' ^^ ^-P^' «" the
Bd eve n I ^^ ?^ marriages of inclination in high places
Believe me, your popularity is doubled. And the stran Jfellmv
himself, having money in his pocket and that vo £ of Ws ^^^^
magnificent order, is to be seen everywhere, smiling my en-
Sd to tv"th.Th '"-l^^S-fi-nt reticence wL7he
mttern RntT v ^^,/P°ke at your request and to your
ventured III I J''"'' ^"^f '^ ' °^^" '^"^^^ ^ should not have
ventured to be a dissenter from the received opinion • if vou
^1""'' V^ TT""' ^ ^^'" g^'^dly renounce my her'esy Jnd
embrace the orthodox faith. Meanwhile I am wonderinTwh.t
imp holds sway in Wetter's brain; and I am aughinl! tt?e
at this new example of the eternal antagonism bSn h^
IS the truth and what is thought to be thi trnfh Tf rn J
he?.£ln Jill -,^1 t^^^'S^:^:^^
told VVeticr this wheu I last ran against him at the club. He
iiMB
2l8
THE KING'S MIRROR
raised his brows, twisted his lips, scratched his chin, looked
full in my face and said with a smile, 'My dear V comte,
Madame Mansoni is passionately attached to her husband.
They are ideal lovers.' Your M ijesty shall interpret, if it be
your pleasure. I leave the matter alone."
This fellow Wetter was very impertinent with his
speeches and his parallels. But, good heavens, he had
eyes to see ! Madame Man.soni and her impresario were
ideal lovers ! Surely the world was grown young again !
Elsa also made her debut in a {<t\\' weeks ; I was her
impresario. And she was passionately attached to her
impresario ! I lay back in my chair, laughing and wish-
ing with all my heart that I could have a talk with
Wetter.
! :|
in, looked
V comte,
husband.
;t, if it be
with his
5, he had
ario were
ig again !
was her
id to her
.nd wish-
:alk with
CHAPTER XXI.
ON THE ART OF FALLING SOFT
u'l^LrbraXdfullh "'"' r''°" p^^^^--^ ^-^-^^
facts vvni serve outur^T^ ' .' n ^^'""^^"ly observed
communications of mind To '^ind' ""^.''"l' ^'^^"^^^
ing to yours a thous nd mi^ aw^^ %lt 'P'''"
perhaps th-e is a new f-.X ■ Y' ^^^^^Ps ; or
'mmmm
or fear every door opened when he to ted Ti/"'??''
wS''"'C *^ "''\ V'^'-'^"'^ Baron over a? W„de"„!
K n| • Nowrere"else' tas T" ''^ ^"^' observfthe
the king." "Srcat: Twa "demfei ?! " ^ '° T''
lookmg at my horses I learn f nf y/.^^^^^^ ^^ ^ was
!I9
220
THE KING'S MIRROR
1 *:
About two o'clock I went out alone and got into my
canoe. It was a beautiful day ; no excuse was needed
for a lounge on the water. I paddled up and down
leisurely, wondering how soon the decoy would bring my
bird. A quarter of an hour proved enough. I saw him
saunter down to the water's edge. He perceived me,
lifted his soft hat, and bowed. I shot across the space
between, and brought the canoe up to the edge of the
level lawn that bordered on the river.
" Why, what brings you here ? " I cried.
His lips curved in a smile, as he replaced his hat in
obedience to a sign from me.
" A passion for the Baroness, sire," said he.
"Ah, that's only a virtuous pretence," I laughed
"You've a less creditable motive?"
"Why, possibly; but who tells his less creditable
motives?"
I looked at him curiously and attentively. He had
grown older, the hair by his ears was grey, and life
had ploughed furrows on his face.
" Well," said I, "a man might do even that who talks
romance to the Chamber."
He g?ve a short laugh as he lit his cigarette.
" Your Majesty has done me the honour of reading
what I said ? " ^
^ " I am told that I suggested it. So runs the gossip
m town, doesn't it ? " => r-
" And your opinion on it ? "
" I think I won't expose myself to your fire again,"
said I. "It was careless last time; it would be down-
right folly now."
"Then we are to say no more about it?" he asked
gravely.
" Not a word. Tell me, how came you to know that
Coralie loves her impresario? You told Varvilliers so."
His lips twitched for a moment, but he answered,
smiling:
" Because she has married him."
" I heard something of ambition in the case, of her
career demanding the sacrifice."
ON THE ART OF FALLING SOFT 221
of'h^r Sod^f;i.^=P^"^ °" ■■'■ " i^ -■" ■" envy
_^^ Jndeed I can think of nobody more in love tlian I
"Think of me, Wetter"
^^ naughed outright in sheer enjoyment of his sword-
asked""^ ""''^ "^^ ^""'^^^ '""^^'^ ^^""^ y°" been?" I
placi^Sded'-l;^''""^^ ^'''' '•" ^"^^ ^^'^P^^y -^ the
;' And you 've come out the other side ? "
Is there another side?"
'' Then you 're still there ? "
"Upon my word I don't know. It's so like nth^r
"My resurrection made it obvious "
hettd" Wndly™ '°* °' "= ''™ °"^ '^^ '"='. -"
'• I knew you meant the speech for me," I said
« vnr ^"^'Y '° >^°"g«t"late you officia ly."
me ■^°Forrd?'i1o^m™irf °' "'—P'^'about
the'^nrsS";'"" " ^ "'"^"= ^=S»' -^'- -d perhaps
•] Won't you speak plainly to me?"
Yes, if it's your pleasure."
" Weirtt'n' fJ^r ^"^ P'^^^"''^ "^ the world."
youn^el!'' ' " ^"""'"'^^ "°" ^^"^P^^'^ S^^ws no
" No ? "
M kitwT'''' ^^"'°"' ^'' "'^'■'■'"^ ^"'" '"^P'-esario."
'■^',
222
THE KING'S MIRROR
M
I ij* i\i-'
>i,
in
hi I
" And my hair is grey, and your eyes are open."
We both laughed and fell again to smoking
silence. At last I spoke.
" Her hair is golden and her eyes are shut," said I.
" Why did you try to open them ? "
" Wasn't it to look on a fine sight ? "
" But you knew that the sight wasn't there."
" She looked ? "
"For an instant. Then they turned her head the
other way."
" It was pure devilry in me. You should have seen
the Chamber ! Good God ! Bederhof, now ! "
His eyes twinkled merrily, and my laugh answered
their mirth.
" One can always laugh," said I with a shrug.
" It v/as invented for the world before the Fall, and
they forgot to take it away afterwards," he said. " But
you ? You take things seriously ? "
" What I have to do, yes."
" But what you have to feel ? "
" In truth I am not even there a consistent laugher."
" Nor I, or we shouldn't talk so much about it. Look
at Varvilliers. Does he laugh on a theory ? "
'' He 's coming to Artenberg to-day. There at least
he '11 laugh without any effort. Are you staying here
long ? "
" No, sire. One scene of despair, and I depart."
" I should like to see you oftener."
"Why not? You are finally, and I for the time,
respectable. Why not, while my money lasts.?"
" I have money of yours."
" You have more than money of mine."
He looked me in the face and held out his hand. I
grasped it firmly.
" Are you making a fool of this Baroness ? " I asked.
" Don't be afraid. She 's making one of me. She is
very happy and content. I am born to make women
happy."
I laughed again. He was whimsically resigned to
his temperament, but the mischief had not touched his
ON THE ART OF FALLING SOFT 223
" AnH I ^ ''u ' """' ■■"'"■■" to '"J- misery."
to Al.™berg "^ '"PP'"^"'" ^'-"^ '• '■ «»' >'°" ■" come
sm'ile' '' ^'■''""'' ""'"'■'■*''' ''°"^^'" h<= objected ,vith a
wunout moving, till I turned my back to him Havino-
here sHlf' 1°^^°"',^ "^^V^' ' '°°'-d ™™"' He -af
fnberit I' ^J^.^ ,f ^ ht ^'iiU "
A^/r-J^T^VrrsTS'^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1 mounted tlirough the woods slowly, althoutrh I hnd
to'htTefe t T 'll^" ' -P^todfand waTalready
too late to greet Varviiliers on h s arrival As I rami
K-dp-e-rnL^^rihX^^^^^
There was not a hint of care nl^r a touch of bitten ess
Here was no laughing on a theory, as Wetter called t'
but a simple enjoyment, a vvhole-hkrted acreDtance of
Werfthey n^ 'at'l""; ^^'^ ^^^^ "^^ nS^^Tutht
came on me ' In ^^^''',f^'^' ^^'^^om? A reaction
came on me. In a sudden moment a new resolvp
entered my head; again Varviiliers roused t^J impure
that he had power to rouse in me. I would rSaKd
'
M
^Jff^
% (
M
(
■\\
324
THE KING'S MIRROR
of this mode of living and test this colour of mind. I
had been thinking about life when I might have been
exulting in it. I ran forward to the group, and, as
they parted to let me through, I came quickly to
Varvilliers with outstretched hands. He seemed to
me a good genius. Even my mother looked smiling
and happy. The faces of the rest were alight with
gaiety. Victoria was in the full tide of a happy laugh,
and did not interrupt it on account of my arrival.
Elsa's lips were parted in a smile that was eager and
wondering. Her eyes sparkled ; she clasped her hands
and nodded to me in a delicious surprised merriment.
I caught Varvilliers by the arm and made him sit by
me. A cry arose that he should repeat the last s ory
for the King's benefit. He complied at once, and
launched on some charming absurdity. Renewed ap-
plause greeted the story's point. A rivalry arose who
should cap it with a better. The contact of brains
struck sparks. Every man was wittier than his wont;
every woman more radiant. What the plaj^ue had I
and Wetter been grumbling and snarling at down the/e
on the river ?
The impulse lasted the evening out. After dinner we
fell to dancing in the long room that faced the gardens.
My mother and the Duchess retired early, but the rest
of us set the hours at defiance and revelled far on into
the night. It was as though a new spirit had come to
Artenberg ; the very servants wore broad grins as they
bustled about, seeming to declare that here at last was
something like what a youthful kin^^'s court should be.
William Adolphus was boisterous, Victoria forgot that
she was learned and a patroness of the arts, Elsa threw
herself into the fun with the zest and abandonment of
a child. I vied with Varvilliers himself, seeking to wrest
from him the title of master of the revels. He could
not stand against me. A madman may be stronger
than the finest athlete. No native temper could vie
with my foreign mood.
Suddenly I knew that I could do to-night what I had
vainly tried to do; that to-night, for to-night r.t least,
ON THE ART OF FALLING SOFT 225
I felt something? of what I desired to feel. The blood
ran free in my veins ; if I did not love her, yet I loved
love, and for love's sake would love Klsa. If to-ni<Tht
the barrier between us could be broken down, it need
never rise again ; the vision, so impossible a few hours
before, seemed now a faint renection of what must soon
be reality. I looked round for her, but I could not see
her. I started to walk across the room, threadint,^ my
way through the merry company, who danced no lon'rcr
but stood about in groups, bandying chaff and compH-'
ments. Engrossed with one another they hardly re-
membered to give me passage. Presently I came on
Wilham Adolphus, making himself very agreeable to
one of his wifeV ladies.
II Have you seen Elsa?" I asked him.
" VVhat, you 've remembered your duty at last, have
you ?^ he cried, with a burst of laughter.
"No ; I believe I 've forgotten it at last," I answered.
" Where is she ? "
;' I saw her with Varvilliers on the steps outside the
window.
I turned in the direction which he indicated and
stepped out through the open window. Day was
dawning ; I could make out the grey shape of VValden-
weiter. Was the scene of despair played there yet?
I gave but a passing thought to old Wetter, his mad
doings and wry reflections. I was hot on another
matter, and, raising my voice, I called, "Varvilliers!
Where are you, Varvilliers?"
" I am not Varvilliers, but here I am," came in answer
from across the terrace.
" Wetter I " I whispered, running down the steps and
over to where he stood. " What brings you here ? "
"I couldn't sleep. I saw your lights and I rowed
across. I Ve been here for an hour."
" You should have come in."
" No. I have been very well here, in the fringe of the
trees.
" You have had your scene ? "
"No; he would not sleep after dinner. Early to-
i
226
THE KING'S MIRROR
Knough of that.
I have
I
morrow ! And then I go.
seen your Princess."
" You have ? Wetter, I am in love with her. Tell
me where she went. She has suddenly become all that
I want. I have suddenly become all that I ought to be.
Tell me where she is, Wetter ! "
" It is not your Princess ; it is the dance, the wine,
the night."
" By God, I don't care what it is."
"Well then, she's with Varvilliers, at the end of the
terrace, I imagine ; for they passed by here as I lay in
my hole watching."
" But he would have heard my cry."
" It depends upon what other sounds were in his ears.
They seemed very happy together."
I saw that he rallied me. 1 smiled, answering :
" I 'm not in the mood for another duel."
He shrugged his shoulders, and then caught me by
the hand.
" Come, let 's slink along," he said. " We may get
a sight of them."
" I can't do that."
"No? Perhaps you can't. Walk up to them, send him
away, and make your love to her. I 11 wait for you here.
You '11 like to see me before the night 's out."
I looked at him for a moment.
" Shall 1 like to see you > " I asked.
" Yes," he answered. " The olive after the sweets.'
He laughed, mt bitterly, I thous^ht, but ruefully.
" So be it,' I said. " Stay he-^ '
I started off, but he had laid a cold hand on my heart.
I was to want him ; then I should be no lover, for
a lover wants but one. Yet I nerved myself and cried
again loudly, " Varvilliers ! " This time I was answered.
I saw him and Elsa coming towards me; his voice
sounded merry and careless as he shouted, " Here I am,
sire"; a moment later they stood before me. No, there
was no ground for Wetters hint, and could be none.
Both were merely happy and gay, both utterly unem-
barrassed.
I have
sr. Tell
: all that
ht to be.
he wine,
d of the
I lay in
his ears.
: me by
nay get
end him
ou here.
sweets.
\y heart.
>ver, for
id cried
iswered.
is voice
re I am,
o, there
»e none.
/ unem-
ON THE ART OF FALLING SOFT 227
"Somebody wants you inside, Varvilliers," said I,
with a nod.
He laughed, bowed gracefully to Elsa, and ran ofif.
He took his dismissal without a sign of grudge I
turned to her.
" Oh, dear," she said with a little yawn, " I 'm tired.
It must be very late."
I caught her by both hands.
" Late ! " I cried. " Not too late, Elsa ! " I bent
down and kissed both her hands. " Why did you run
away?" I asked.
" I didn't know you wanted me," she said in a sort of
wonder.
I looked full in her eyes, and I knew that there was
m mine the look that declares love and asks for it.
If her eyes answered, the vision might be reality. I
pressed her hands hard. She gave a little cry, the
sparkle vanished from her eyes, and their lids drooped.
Yet a little colour came in her cheeks and the grey
dawn showed it me. I hailed it with eagerness and
with misgiving. I thought of Wetter waiting there
amDii^ the trees, waiting, till the moment when I wanted
him.
" Do you love me, Elsa ? " I asked.
The colour deepened on her cheeks. I waited to
see whether her eyes would rise again to mine; they
remained immovable.
"You know I'm very fond of you," she murmured.
"But do you love me?"
" Yes, of course I love you. Please let my hands so
Augustin." ^ '
If Wetter were listening, he must have smiled at the
peal of laughter that rang out from me over the terrace.
I could not help it. Elsa started violently as I loosed
her hands; now she looked up at me with frightened
eyes that swam in tears. Her lips moved ; she tried to
speak to me. I was full of brutal things and had a
horrible longing to say them to her. There was a
specious justice in them veneering their cruelty ; I am
glad to say that I gave utterance to none of them. We
(I
111
228
THE KING'S MIRROR
ii
v^\'
were both in the afifair, and he is a poor sort of villain
who comforts himself by abusing his accomplice
" You 're tired ? " I asked gently.
"Very. But it has been delightful. M. de Var-
villiers has been so kind."
" He 's a delightful fellow, Varvilliers. Come, let me
take you m, and we '11 send these madcaps to bed."
She put her hand on my arm in a friendly trustful
fashion, and I found her eyes fixed on mine with a
puzzled regretful look. We walked most of the way
along the terrace before she spoke.
" You 're not angry with me, Augustin ? "
" Good heavens, no, my dear," said I.
" I 'm very fond of you," she said again as we reached
the window.
At last they were ready for bed— all save myself I
watched them as they trooped away, Elsa on Victoria's
arm. Varvilliers came up to me, smiling in the intervals
that he snatched from a series of yawns.
"A splendid evening!" he said. "You surpassed
yourself, sire."
" I believe I did," said I. " Go to bed, my friend "
" And you ? "
" Presently. I 'm not sleepy yet."
" Marvellous ! " said he, with a last laugh and a last
yawn.
For a few moments I stood alone in the room.
There were no servants about; they had given up
\yaiting for us, and the lights were to burn at Artenberg
till the hour of rising. I lit a cigarette and went out on
the terrace again. I had no doubt that Wetter would
Keep his tryst. I was right ; he was there.
" Well, how did you speed ? " he asked with a smile.
" Marvellously well," said I,
He took hold of the lapels of my coat and looked at
me curiously.
" Your love scene was short," he said.
" Perhaps. It was long enough."
"To do what?"
" To define the situation."
ON THE ART OF FALLING SOFT
229
" Did it need definition ? "
" I thought so half an hour ago."
itp',^^' '^^"' ^^^ evening has been a strange one, hasn't
oJ'Jf^'l7n}^ ^°'''" ^° ^^^ '■'^^^ through the woods,"
saia 1. 1 II put you across to Waldenweiter."
He acquiesced, and I put my arm through his. Pre-
sently he said in a low voice :
" The dance, the wine, the night."
" Yes, yes, I know," I cried. " My God, I knew even
when I spoke to her. She saw that a brute asked her,
not a man. '
" Perhaps, perhaps not ; they don't see everything
bhe shrank from you?" ^
" The tears were very ready."
"Ah, those tears! Heavens, why have we no such
appeals ? What matter, though ? You don't love her "
Do you want me to call myself a brute again?
Wetter, any other girl would have been free to tell
me that I was a brute."
"Why, no. No man is free even to tell you that
you re a fool, sire. The divinity hedges you "
I laughed shortly and bitterly. What he said was
true enough.
"There is, however, nothing to prevent you from
seeing these things for yourself, just as though vou
were one of the rest of us," he pursued. "Ah, here's
the river. You '11 row me across ? "
" Yes. Get into the boat there."
We got in, and I pulled out into mid-stream. It was
almost daylight now, but there was still a greyness in
the atmosphere that exactly matched the tint of Wetter's
ace Noticing this suddenly I pointed it out to him
laughing violently.
"You are Lucifer, Son of the Morning." I cried.
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, Son of
the Morning ! "
" I wouldn't care for that if I had the trick of falling
soft, said he. "Learn it. O King, le^rn it! On what
padded bed falls William Adolphus ! "
i
•I '.■
H
\u
230
THE KING'S MIRROR
My laugh broke again through the morning loud and
harsh. Then I laid myself to the oars, and we shot
across to the bank of Waldenweiier. He shook my
hand and sprang out lightly.
" I must change my clothes and have my scene, and
then to Forstadt," said he. " Good-day to you, sire.
Yet remember the lesson of the moralist. Learn to
fall soft, learn to fall soft." With a smile he turned
away, and again I watched him mount the slope of
Waldenweiter.
In such manner, on that night at Artenberg, did I,
having no wings to soar to heaven and no key where-
with to open the door of it, make to myself, out of
dance, wine, night, and what not, a ladder, mount there-
by, and twist the door-handle. But the door was locked,
the ladder broke, and I fell headlong. Nor do I doubt
that many men are my masters in that art of falling
soft.
CHAPTER XXII.
UT PUTO, VESTIS FIO
The next morning all Artenberg had the air of being
rather ashamed of itself Styrian traditions had b--n
set at naught. P incess Heinrich considered that the
limits of be . ; "ng mirth had been overstepped; the
lines of h{ ; iii ;'Uth had their most downward set.
Nothing was said because the King had led t^e dance ;
but disgrace was in the atmosphere. We had all fallen
from heaven — one may mean many things by heaven —
and landed with more or less severity, according to the
resources of padding with which nature furnished us.
To Varvillier's case, indeed, the metaphor is inadequate ;
he had a parachute, sailed to earth gaily with never a
bruise, and was ready to mount again had any of us
offered to bear him company. His invitation, given
with a heartiness that mocked his bidden companions,
found no acceptance. We were all for our own planet
in the morning. It was abundantly clear that revels
must be the exception at Artenberg. Victoria was
earnestly of this opinion. In the first place the physical
condition of William Adolphus was deplorable; he
leered rueful roguishness out of bilious eyes, and Vic-
toria could not endure the sight of him ; secondly, she
was sure that I had said something— what she did not
know, but something— to Elsa ; for Elsa had been
found crying over her coffee in bed in the morning.
"And every word you say to her now is of such
supreme importance," Victoria observed, standing over
my writing-table.
I took my cigarette out of my mouth and answered
231
7 '
232
THE KING'S MIRROR
f
m
.' I
perversely '^nc gh, but with an eye to truth all the
same.
_ " Nothing that I say to her now is of the very least
importance, Victoria,"
" What do you mean ? " she cried.
" Much what you do," I rejoined, and fell to smoking
again.
Victoria began to walk about the room. I endured
patiently. My eyes were fixed on Waldenweiter. I
wondered idly whether the scene of despair had been
enacted yet.
"It's not the smallest good making ourselves un-
happy about it," Victoria announced, just as she was
on the turn at the other end of the room.
" Not the smallest," I agreed.
"It's much too late."
"A great deal too late."
Victoria darted down and kissed my cheek.
"After all, she ought to think herself very lucky,"
she decided. "I'm sure everybody else considers
her so."
"Under such circumstances," said I, "it's sheer
perversity in her to have her own feelings on the
matter."
" But you said something that upset her last night,"
remarked my sister, with a return to the point which
1 h ^ped she had lost sight of This time I lowered my
gua d in surrender.
" Certainly. I tried to make love to her," said I.
"There, you see!" she cried reproachfully. Her
censure of the irrelevant intrusion of such a subject
was eloquent and severe
" It was all Wetter's fault," I remarked, sighing.
"Good gracious, what's it got to do with Wetter? I
hate the man." As she spoke her eyes fell on a box
which stood on my writing-table. " What 's that ? " she
asked.
" Diamonds," I answered. " The necklace for Elsa."
"You bought the big one you spoke of? Oh,
Augustin, how fortunate ! "
UT PUTO, VESTIS FIO 233
I looked up at Victoria and smiled.
" My dear Victoria," said I, "it is the finger of Provi-
dence. I '11 present them to her after luncheon."
" Yes, do ; and mind you don't upset her again."
Alas, I had no desire to " upset " her again. The fit
had passed ; my only relations towards it were those of
an astonished spectator or a baffled analyst. It was
part of the same mood that had converted Artenberg
into a hall of revelry— of most unwonted revelry. But
to-day, with Princess Heinrich frowning, heaven at a
discount, and ever}'body rather ashamed of themselves,
was it likely that I should desire to upset her again ?
The absence of any such wish, combined with the pro-
vidential diamonds, would, it might reasonably be hoped
restore tranquillity to Elsa. Victoria was quite of this
optimistic opinion.
Our interview was interrupted by the arrival of Beder-
hof, who came to take my final commands with regard
to the marriage arrangements. The whole programme
was drawn out neatly on a sort of chart (minus the
rocks and shoals, of course). The Duchess and her
daughter were to stay at Artenberg for another week ;
it would then be the end of August. On the ist of
September they would reach home, remain there till the
1st of October, when they and the Duke would set out
for Forstadt. They were to make their formal entry on
the 4th, and on the 12th (a week being allowed for
repose, festivities, and preparations) the marriage would
be solemnized. In the evening of'that day Elsa and I
were to come back to Artenberg to pass the first days
of our married life.
" I hope Your Majesty approves ? " said Bederhof
" Perfectly," said I. " Let us go and find the Princess.
Hers must be the decisive word " ; and with my pro-
gramme in one hand and my diamonds in the other I
repaired to the Duchess's room, Bederhof following in
high contentment.
I imagine that there must have been a depression in
my looks, involuntary but reassuring. It is certain that
Elsa received me with more composure than I had
=ifjr
234
THE KING'S MIRROR
■■/
fir
'm.
\: ;!''
ventured to hope, ohe studied Bederhofs chart with
grave attention; she and her mother put many questions
as to the ceremonial ; there was no doubt that Elsa was
very much interested h the matter. Presently my
mother came in ; the privy council round Bederhof
grew more engrossed. The Chancellor was delighted ;
one could almost see the flags and hear the cannon as
his descriptive periods rolled out. Princess Heinrich sat
listening with a rather bitter smile, but she did not cut
him short. I leant over the back of her chair. Once or
twice Elsa glanced at me, timidly but by no means
uncheerfully. Behind the cover of the chair-back I
unfastened my box and got out my necklace. Then
I waited for Elsa's next look. It seemed entirely in
keeping with the occasion that I, as well as Bederhof,
should have my present for her, my . .nament, my
toy.
" Their Majesties' carriage will be drawn by four grey
horses," said Bederhof. The good Duchess laughed, laid
her hand on Elsa's and whispered, " Their Majesties ! ".
Elsa blushed, laughed, and again glanced at me. My
moment had come. I held up my toy.
" Their Majesties will be dressed in their very best
clothes," said I, "with their hair nicely brushed, and
perhaps one of them will be so charming as to wear
a necklace," and I tossed the thing lightly over the
chair-back into Elsa's lap.
She caught it with a little cry, looked at it for a
moment, whispered in her mother's ear, jumped up, and,
blushing still, ran round and kissed me.
" Oh, thank you," she cried.
I kissed her hand and her cheek. My mother smiled,
patiently it seemed to me ; the Duchess was tremulously
radiant ; Bederhof obviously benign. It was a pretty
group, with the pretty child and her pretty toy for the
centre of it. Suddenly I looked at my mother; she
nodded ever so slightly; I was applauded and com-
manded to persevere.
Bederhof pursued his description. He went through
it all ; he rose to eloquence in describing our departure
UT PUTO. VESTIS FIO 235
from Forstar' This scene ended, he seemed conscious
ot a bathos. It was in a dull, rather apologetic tone that
he concluded by remarking :
/'Their Majesties will arrive at Artenberg at seven
o clock, and will partake of dinner."
There appeared to be no desire to dwell on this some-
w- at mglorious conclusion to so eventful a day A
touch of haste betrayed itself in my mother's manner
as she asked for the list of the guests ; Elsa had dropped
her necklace m her lap, and sat looking before her with
an absent expression. The names of distinguished
visicors however, offered a welcome diversion We
were a in very good spirits again in a few minutes.
Presently the names bored Elsa ; she jumped up, ran to
a mirror, and tried on her necklace. The names bored
me also, but I stood wliere I was. Soon a glance from
her summoned m„ and I joined her. The diamonds
were round her neck, squeezed in above the high collar
ot her morning gown.
II They '11 look lovely in the evening," she said.
^^ You 11 have lots more given you," I assured her.
Do you think so? " she asked, in gleefulness dashed
with incredulity.
"Scores," said I solemnly.
"I am very grateful to you for— for everythinn-" she
said, almost in a whisper, with a sort of penitenc^e that
I understood well enough, and an obvious desire to
Show every proper feeling towards me.
"I delight to please you above all things now" I
answered ; but even to myself the words sounded cold
and formal. Yet they were true. It was, above all
things, my wish to persuade her that she was happy
To this end I used eagerly the aid of the four (or was
It SIX .?) grey horses, the necklace, and "Their Majesties "
In the next few days I was much with Elsa, but not
much alone with her. There was, of course, no want of
ready company, but most of those who offered them-
selves merely intensified the constraint which their
presence was expected to remove. Even Victoria
overdid her part rather, betraying an exaggerated fear
IJ!
■Ik
'ii
f
'V
If
t\
236
THE KING'S MIRROR
ir
of leaving us to ourselves. VarvilHers' admirable tact,
his supreme apparent unconsciousness, and his never-
lailing flow of gaiety made him our ideal companion.
I missed in him that sympathy with my sombre moods
which bound me to Wetter, spirit to spirit ; but for
lighter hours, for hours that must be made light, he was
incomparable. With him Elsa bloomed into merriment
and, being as it were midway between us, he seemed
to me to bridge the gulf of mind and temperament' that
separated her from me. Hour by hour she grew
Happier, less timid, more her true self I took great
comfort from this excellent state of things. No doubt
1 must be careful not to upset her (as Victoria said),
but she was certainly getting used to ne (as William
Adolphus said). Moreover I was getting used l<. her,
to the obligations she expressed and to the renuncia-
tions she involved. But I had no more wish to try to
upset her. -^
It must be a familiar fact to many that we are very
prone to mistake or confuse the sources of our pleasure
and the causes of such contentment as we achieve We
attribute to our surroundings in general what is due
to one especial part of them ; for the sake of one feature
the landscapes whole aspect seems pleasant; we rob
I eter with intent to pay Paul, a d then in the end give
the money to somebody else. It is not difficult to see
how Elsa and I came to think that we got on better
with one another because we both got on so well with
Varvilhers, that we were more comfortable together
because he made us both comfortable, that we came
nearer to understanding each other because he under-
stood us so admirably. We did not perceive even that
he was the occasion of our improved relations, far less
did we realise that he was their cause and their essence
that It was to him I looked, to him she looked, and that
while he was between there could be no rude direct
contact of her eyes with mine, nor of mine with hers.
Onlookers see most of the game, they say, but here the
onlookers were as blind as the players ; there was an
air of congratulation at Artenberg ; the King and his
UT PUTO, VESTIS FIO 237
bride were drawing closer togetiier. The blindness was
complete; Varvilliers himself shared it. Of his absolute
good faith and utter unconsciousness [. who doubt most
thmgs cannot doubt. Had he been Wetter, I should
have been alert for the wry smile and the lift of the
brows ; but he was his simple self, a perfect gentleman
unspoilt by thought. Such are entirely delightful ; that
they work infinite havoc with established relations be-
t\vpen other people seems a small price to pay for the
privilege which their existence confers upon the world.
My dear friend Varvilliers, for whom my heart is always
warm, played the mischief with the relations between
tlsa and myself which we all (very whimsically) sup-
posed him to be improving. /^ F
, It was a coniparatively small, although an interest-
ingly unusual thing that I came to enjoy Elsa's society
coupled with Varvilliers', and not to care much about it
taken alone; it was a more serious, though far more
ordinary, turn of affairs that Elsa should come to be
happy enough with me provided that Varvilliers were
there to— shall I say to take the edge off me?-but
cared not a jot to meet me in his absence. The latter
circumstance is simply and conventionally explained
(and, after all, these conventional expressions are no
more arbitrary than the alphabet, which is admitted to
be a useful means of communicating our ideas) by sayin?
that Elsa was falling in love with Varvilliers ; my own
state of mind wouid deserve analysis, but for a hauntin^r
notion that no states of mind are worth such trouble
Let us leave it ; there it was. It was impossible to say
which of us would miss Varvilliers more. He had
become necessary to both of us. The conclusion drawn
by the way of this world is, of course, at once obvious •
It follovved pat from the premise. We must both of us
be deprived of him as soon as possible. I am not con-
cerned to argue that the world is wrong ; and the very
best way to advance a paradox is to look as though you
were utterly a platitude. In this art the wittiest writer
cuts a poor figure beside the laws of society
The end of the week approached. Elsa was to go
A
238
THE KING'S MIRROR
Varvilliers was to go. So the arranf^^ement stood. Elsa
was to return, about Varvilliers' return nothing had been
said. The bandage was still over the eyes of all of us ;
we had not perceived the need of settling anything
about him. He was still as insignificant to us as he was
to Princess Heinrich herself
This being the state of the case, there i-nters to me
one morning my good Cousin Elizabeth, tearfully radiant
and abundantly maternal. The reason was soon
declared. Elsa had been found crying again and
wondering vaguely what she was crying about. It was
suggested to her that her grief was due to approaching
departure. Elsa embraced the idea at once. It was
pointed out that a month's absence from me was in-
volved ; Elsa sighed deeply and dabbed her eyes.
Cousin Elizabeth dabbed hers as she told the story ;
then she caught me in her arms, kissed me, and said
that her happiness was complete. What was I to do?
I was profoundly surprised, but any display of that
emotion would have been inappropriate and ungracious.
I could appear only compa.ssionate and gratified.
" Things do happen right sometimes, you see," pursued
Cousin Elizabeth, triumphing in this refutation of some
little sneer of mine which she had contested the day
before. " I knew you had come to care for her, and
now she cares for you. 1 never was indifferent to that
side of it. I always hoped ; and now it really is so.
Kiss me, Augustin dear."
I kissed Cousin Elizabeth. I was miles away in
thought, lost in perplexed musings.
" I comforted her, and told her that the time would
soon pass, and that then she would have you all to her-
self, with no tiresome people to interrupt. But the poor
darling still cried a little. But one can't really grieve,
can one? A little sorrow means so much happiness
later on, doesn't it? And though I couldn't comfort
her, you '11 be able to, I daresay. What 's a month ? "
" Nothing," said I. I was conscious of realising that
it was at all events very little.
" I shall expect to see her quite smiling after she 's
UT PUTO, VESTIS FIO 239
had a little talk with you," was Cousin Elizabeth's part-
ing speech. It won from me a very reassuring nod and
left me m mazes of bewilderment. There was nothing
in particular which I believed, but I disbelieved onS
thmg very definitely. It was that Elsa wept because
she must be absent from me for a month, a month
delightfully busied with the making of four hundred
frocks.
Impelled partly by duty but more by curiosity I
went m search of her. Having failed to find her 'in
the house or on the terrace, I descended intc^ the
hangmg woods, and made for an arbour which she and
I and Varviiiiers had fallen into the habit of frequent-
ing. A broad grass path ran up to the front of it, but
commg as I did, I approached it by a side track. Elsa
sat on the seat, and Varviiiiers stood before her. He
was talking; she leant forward listening, with her
hands clasped in her lap and her eyes fixed on his
face. Neither perceived me. I walked briskly towards
them without loitering or spying, but I did not call out
Varviiiiers' talk was light, if it might be judged by his
occasional laughs. When I was ten yards off I called
"Hallo, here you are!" He turned with a little start'
but an easy smile. Elsa flushed red. I had not yet
apprehended the truth, although now the irlea was
dimly in my mind. I sat down by Elsa, and wc talked
Of what I have forgotten. I think, in part, of William
Adolphus, I laughing at my brother-in-law, Varviiiiers
feigning to defend him with good-humoured irony. It
did not matter of what we talked. For me there was
significance in nothing save in Elsa's eyes. They were
all for Varviiiiers, for him sparkled, for him clouded, for
him wondered, laughed, applauded, lived. Presently I
dropped out of the conversation and sat silent, facing
this new thing, It was not bitter to me ; my mood of
desire had gone too utterly. There was no pang of
defeated rivalry. But I knew why Elsa had cried, who
had power to bring, and who also power to dry her
tears. ^ '
Suddenly I saw, or seemed to see, a strange and
P
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240
THE KING'S MIRROR
^1.
h
m
H'
i i )
unusr, il restraint in Varvilliers' manner. He missed
the thread of a story, stumbled, grew dull, and lost his
animation. He seemed to talk ..ovv for duty, v . for
pleasure, as a man who covers an awkward moment
rather than em[)loys to the full a happy opportunity.
Then his glance rested for an instant on my face. I do
not know what or how much my face told him, but I
did not look at him unkindly.
" I must go, if I may," he said, addressing me. " I
promised to ride with Vohrenlorf, and the time is
past."
He bowed to Elsa and to me.
" We shall see you this afternoon ?" she asked.
He bowed again in acquiescence, but with an air of
discomfort. Elsa looked at him, and from him to me.
She flushed again, opened her lips, but did not speak.
Then she bent her head down, and the blush spread
from neck to forehead.
•' Go, my dear friend, go," said I.
He looked at me as though he would have spoken,
almost as though he would have protested or excused
himself, inadmissible as such a thing plainly was. I
smiled at him, but waved my hand to dismiss him. He
turned and walked quickly away along the broad grass
path. I watched him till he was out of sight. All the
while I was conscious of an utter motionlessness in
Elsa's figure beside me.
We must have sat there a long while in that
unbroken eloquent silence, hardly moving, never look-
ing at one another. For her I was full of grief. A
wayward thing it was indeed of fate to fashion out of
Varvilliers' pleasant friendship this new weapon of
attack. She had been on the way to contentment — at
least to resignation — but was now thrust back. And
she was ashamed. Poor child ! Why, in heaven's
name, should she be ashamed ? Should she not
better have been ashamed of a fancy so ill directed as
to light on me when Varvilliers was by? For myself I
seemed to see rising before me the need for a new
deception, a hoodwinking of all the world, a secret that
UT PUTO. VESTIS FIO 241
none must know or suspect, that she and I must have
between us for our own. The thing mi-ht pass She
was young. Very likely, but it would not pJ^s in time
There were the frocks. Ah, but the wardrobe that half
hid n|ie would not suffice to obscure Varvilliers Or
would .t ? I smiled for an instant. Instead of hiding
behmd the wardrobe, I saw n>self ^-coming part o^f
t, blencmg w,th ,t. Should 1 take rrvk as thL four
notho^'n"'"^"^^^"'^' "^^^ '■■• ■'>' ^'' ^ thyself Jp to
Clotho, allowmg her to spin th> ,.!:rea.: into whatever
?o"^'.h '\^ ""'"f ^^'"" '"^^ ' f»"^k, O Emperor?
Goes the philosophy as far as that ?
her^la'specf haX^ '° '^^ "^' '^'^ '"^ ^^^ ^^^''y ^
Tu ^T^'nT 1'^''^':''' ^'"^'^ I. "^ve must be going back.
InV/^L^',°^''T^^ ^"•" "•'^ ^^^'•■^ too importan
people to be allowed to hide ourselves"
hand to help her to rise. She looked up at me in an
oddly pathetic way. I was afraid that she was going
to speak of the matter, and there was nothing to be
gained by speaking of it. " Give me your hand/' I said
with a smile and she obeyed. The pleading in her
eyes persisted As she stood up, I kissed her lightly
on the forehead. Then we walked away together
1 hat afternoon I was summoned to Princess
Heinricli s room to drink tea with her and the Duchess
Cous.n E izabeth was still exuberant; it seemed to me
that a cold watchfulness governed my mothers mood.
Relations between my mother and myself have not
always been cordial ; but I have never failed to perceive
and respect in her a fine inner sincerity, an aptitude for
Elizabeth talked the Princess sat smiling with hir
usual faint smile; it never showed the least inclination
to become a laugh. She acquiesced politely in the
cThTh 7 description of Elsa's feelings and affections.
She had perception enough to know that the picture
could not be true. Presently I took the libe^-tv o"
informing her by a glance that I was not a panner
R
II
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242
THE KING'S MIRROR
• ' *
in the delusion. She showed no surprise ; but the
fruit of my act was that she detained me by a gesture,
after Cousin Elizabeth had taken her leave. For a few
moments she sat silent, then she remarked :
" The Duchess is a very kind woman, very anxious to
make everybody happy."
" Yes," said I carelessly,
" But it must be in her own way. She is romantic.
She thinks everybody else must be the same. You and
I know, Augustin, that things of that kind occupy a
very small part of a man's life. My sex deludes itself.
And when a man occupies the position you do, it's
absurd to suppose that he pays much attention to
them."
" No doubt Cousin Elizabeth exaggerates," said I,
standing in a respectful attitude before my mother.
"Well, I daresay you remember the time when
Victoria was a girl? You recollect her folly? But
you and I were firm — you behaved very well then,
Augustin— and the result is that she is most suitably
and most happily married,"
I bowed. I did not think that any agreement of
mine could be worthy of the magnificent boldness of
Princess Heinrich's statement.
" Girls are silly ; they pass through a silly time," she
pursued, smiling.
A sudden remembrance shot across me.
" It doesn't do to take any notice of such things,"
said I gravely.
Happily, perhaps, Prince'^s Heinrich was not awake
to the fact that she herself was being quoted to herself
" I 'm glad to hear you say so," she said. " You have
your work to do. Don't waste your time in thinking of
girls' megrims — c: of their mothers' nonsense."
I left her presence with a strong sense that Providence
had erred in not making her a saint, a king, or anything
else that demands a resolute repression of human
infirmities. Some people are content to triumph over
their own weaknesses ,, my mother had an eye also
for the frailtv of others.
but the
a gesture,
For a few
nxious to
romantic.
You and
occupy a
des itself.
1 do, it's
;ntion to
UT PUTO, VESTIS FIO 243
She made no reference at all to Varvilliers. There
was ahvays somethmg to be learnt from Princess Hein!
rich. From early youth I was enured to a certain
degree of painfulness in the lesson
" Wilhngly give thyself up to Clotho." My mother
was more than willing. She was proud ; and.^fTmay
be allowed to vary the metaphor, she emba ked on
the ship of destiny with a family ticket.
■ t
'• said I,
;her.
ne when
ly? But
'ell then,
suitably
ement of
Idness of
ime," she
things,"
Dt awake
' herself,
ii^'ou have
inking of
'ovidence
anything
f human
nph over
eye also
! I
= 'M
CHAPTER XXIII.
A PARADOX OF SENSIBILITY
To many the picture presented by my life might seem
that of a man who detects the trap and yet walks into
it, sinks under burdens that he might cast aside, groans
at chains that he could break, and will not leave the
prison although the door-key is in his pocket. Such an
impression my record may well give, unless it be under-
stood that what came upon me was not an impossibility
of movement, but a paralysis of the will to move. In
this there is nothing peculiar to one placed as I was.
Most men could escape from what irks, confines, or
burdens them at the cost of effacing their past lives,
breaking the continuity of existence, cutting the cord
that binds together, in a sequence of circumstances and
incidents, youth, and maturity, and age. But who can
do the thing ? One man in a thousand, and he generally
a scoundrel.
Our guests returned to Bartenstein, the Duchess still
radiant and maternal, Elsa infinitely kind, infinitely
apologetic, a little tearful, never for an instant waver-
ing in her acceptance of the future. Varvilliers took
leave of me with grep*^ friendliness ; there was in his air
just now a hint of amusement most decorously sup-
pressed ; he was charmingly unconscious of any possible
seriousness in the position. My mother went to visit
Styrian relatives. Victoria and William Adolphus had
taken a villa by the seaside. I was quite alone at
Artenberg, save for my faithful Vohrenlorf. And
Vohrenlorf was bored to death. That will not appear
strange ; to me it seemed enviable. A prisoner under
244
T. M. f ASSIDY
A PARADOX OF SENSIBILITY 245
sentence probably discerns much that is attractive even
in the restricted life of his gaoler.
In a day or two there came upon me a persistent rest-
lessness, and with it constant thoughts of Wetter I
wondered where he was and what he did ; I longed to
share the tempestuousness of his life and thoughts He
brought with him other remembrances, of the passions
and the events that we two had, in friendship or hostility
witnessed together. They had seemed, all of them, far
behind in the past, belonging to the days when, as old
Vohrenlorf had told me, I had still six years. Now I
had only a month ; but the images were with me im-
portunate and pleading. ' was asking whether I could
not even now save something out of life.
Three days later found me established in a hotel in
the Place Vendome at Paris, Vohrenlorf my only com-
panion. I was in strictest incognitc, Baron de Neber-
hausen was my name. But in Paris in August my
incognito was almost a superfluity for me, although a
convenience to others. It was very hot ; I did not care.
1 he town was absolutely empty. Not for me ' Here is
my secret. Wetter was in Paris. I had seen it stated
in. the newspaper. What brought the man of moods to
Pans in August? I could answer the question in one
way only ; the woman of his mood. I did not care
about her ; I wanted to see him and hear again from hi^
own hps what he thought of the universe, of my part
and his in it, and of the ways of the Power tJiat ruled
It. In a month I should be on my honeyMoon with
Cousin^ Elsa. I fought desperately against the finality
implied in that. '
On the second evening I gave Vohrenlorf the slip, and
went out on the Boulevards alone. In great cities
nobody is known; I enjoyed the luxury of being
Ignored. I might pass for a student, a chemist, at a
pinch, perhaps, for a poet of a reflective type. My
natural manner would seem no more than a touch of
youth's pardonable arrogance. I sat down and had some
coffee It was half-past ten and the pavements were
tUil. i bought a paper and read a paragraph about Elsa
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THE KING'S MIRROR
rt
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lii
and myself. Elsa and myself both seemed rather a long
way off. It was delicious to make believe that this here
and this now were reality ; the kingship, Elsa, the
wedding and the re^t, some story or poem that I, the
student, had been making laboriously before working
hours ended and I was free to seek the Boulevards. I
was pleased when a pretty girl, passing by, stared hard
at me and seemed to like my looks ; this tribute was my
own ; he was not staring at the king.
Satisfaction, not surprise, filled me when, in about
twenty minutes, I saw Wetter coming towards the ca/^.
I had taken a table far back from the street, and he did
not see me. The glaring gaslight gave him a deeper
paleness and cut the lines of his face to a sharper edge.
He was talking with great animation, his hands moving
constantly in eager gesture. I was within an ace of
springing forward to greet him — so my heart went out
to him — but the sight of his companion restrained me,
and 1 sat chuckling and wondering in my corner.
There they were, large as life, true to Varviliiers' de-
scription ; the big stomach and the locket that a hyper-
bole, so inevitable as to outstrip mere truth in fidelity,
had called bigger. Besides there were the whiskers,
the heavy jowl, the infinite fatness of the man, a fat-
n :ss not of mere flesh only, but of manner, of air,
of thought, of soul. There was no room for doubt or
question. This was Coralie's impresario, Coralie's
career, her duty, her destiny ; in a word everything to
Coralie that poor little Cousin Klsi was to me. Nay,
your pardon ; that J was to Cousin Elsa. I put my
cigar back in my mouth and smoked gravely; it seemed
improper to laugh.
The two men sat down at an outer table. Wetter
was silent now, and Struboff (I remembered suddenly
that I had seen Coralie described as Madame Mansoni-
Struboff) was talking. I could almost see the worob
treacling from his thick lips. What in heaven 's name
made him Wetter's companion? What in heaven's
name made me such a fool as to ask the que.stion?
Men like Struboff can have but one merit ; and, to be
A PARADOX OF SENSIBILITY 247
fair but one serious crime. It is the same; they are
the husbands of their wives.
I could contain myself no longer. I rose and walked
forward. I laid my hand on VVetter's shoulder, saying :
" My dear friend, have you forgotten me— Baron de
I\eberhau.sen?"
He looked up with a start, but when he saw me his
eyes softened. He clasped my hand.
" Neberhausen ? " he said.
" Yes ; v^e met in Forstadt."
" To be sure," he laugned. " May I present my friend
to you? M. le Baron Je Neberhausen, M. Struboff.
You will know Strubofif's name. He gives us the best
operas in the woHd, and the best singing."
" M. Struboff s fame has reached me," said I, sitting-
down. ^
_ Evidently Strubofif did not know me ; he received the
mtroduction without any show of deference. I was
delighted. I should have seen little of the true man
had he been aware from the first who I was. Things
being as they were, I could flatter him and he had no
motive for flattering me. A nere baron had no effect
on him. He resumed the inte. .pted conversation ; he
was telling Wetter how he could make money out of
music, and then more music out of the money, then
more money out of the music, and so on, in an endless
chain of music and money, money and music, money,
music, money. Wetter sat looking at him with a smile
of malicious mockery.
" Happy man ! " he cried suddenly. " You love only
two things in the world, and you 've married both !"
Struboff pulled his whisker meditatively.
"Yes, I have done well," he said, and drained his
glass. " But hasn't Coralie done well too ? Where
would she have been but for me?"
"Indeed, my dear Struboff, there's no telling, but I
suppose in the arms of somebody else."
"Your own, for example?" growled the husband.
"Observe the usual reticences," said Wetter with a
laugh. "My dear Baron, Struboff mocks my misery
i'j
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248
THE KINGS MIRROR
by a pretended jealousy. Ycu can reassure him. D'd
Madame Mansoni ever favou- me?"
smiling, she never favoured you befort' me"
ap[^,^ 'taught the ambiguity of n^.y word and laughed
agan.. S ruboff turned towards me with a stare
Vou also knew my wife?" he a-ked
;' ! had the honour," ,> :dd I. " In Forstadt."
in Forstadt ! Do yen know the King ? "
as'u^n'.riT" ''\l '°"'1 ''''^''" ^ ^"^^wered. "About
as weJi as J kno v IVcitt-r here '
ob^': ^;"do,!":fru/r.r; '° "^ -"^^ °f "= ■" ='"
, " The king admired my wife's talents," said he. " We
mtend to visit Forstadt next year "
'« Th/v- ^ " '^u i' T"^ ^^"^'■'^ P^^^ b'-ol^e 0"t again.
Ihe Km- will find my wife's talent much increased
by training," pursued Struboff. "ncreased
"Damn your wife's talent," said Wetter quite sud-
suIJeW-^'f^'^QfT i^'r^^i'"' ^ '"terposed quickly and
suavely ; for Struboff had grown very red and gave
signs of temper. Wetter did not allow him to answer
He^sprang to his feet and dragged Struboff up by the
" Take his other arm," he cried to me. " Bring him
along. Come, come, we '11 all go and see how Madame
"It's nearly eleven" remonstrated Struboff sourly.
I want to go to bed.' ^
f. l^?^' ^ Txr{°" ^° ^° ^^'^ • ^°"' ^^ith your crimes, go
to bed ? Why, you couldn't sleep ! You would cowl
all night! Go to bed ! Oh, my dear Struboff, thin
be ter of it. No, no, we '1' none of us go to bed. ^ed
a hell for men like ui-, For you above all! :'hmk
again. Struboff, think a^;::;n!"
Struboff shrugged his' fat shoulders in helpless Ivid
nn\. DJrl
ans vered,
1 laughed
:arc.
" About
11 enough
us in an
e. " We
ut again,
n creased
lite sud-
I of your
:kly and
nd gave
answer.
3 by the
ing him
Vladame
sourly.
mes, go
d covve-
r, thin
Red
2SS oh:!
A PARADOX OF SENSIBILITY 249
temper. I was laughing so much (at what at what?^
:; I can^t wa,.' "Si T'J^tt^,:! '"''"' '° P™''
Cab? No, no. We can't sit- Tfjii r
dear Struhnff- ' ''^^^ ^^^^ ^ sit ^ till. Conscience, my
along, Baron, bring him along" ^
I s'ugget'd ''' '^^"'^^ ^°-"'^ ^-- -r company."
^" hear this suggestion of our ' SLd the Baron' ?
What a pity y^^ Ve no breath to repudiate it!'
in front of I'ffe o'' ''if '"^ ^''^"^ ^^^ ^^^^^'d. Crossing
P. V T1. Pf "^ "^"'^' '^'^ '"ade for the Rue de la
i;aix. The pace became smarter still Vni- ^^1
Strubofif breathless with being dragged alonf bZ^i ulf
Wetl'^'" U^'? ^^^^^'"^ '^•"^- Hnsis ted'on '1' lb
Wet er yielded, planted Struboff and me side bv siHp
and took the little seat facing us himse^ Here he a?'
o'SdTnd fetct'r ^^ P°°^ i-Presario mopp'ed h^
av fh^l t ""i T "^^^P S^^P^ °f breath. Where
lay the inspiration of this horseplay of Wetter's?
. Quicker, quicker ! " he cried to the driver " I .m
impatient; my friends are impatient QuTck qlick^
Only God is patient" v"'^'s quick!
Th^X^iw'rn^foT.''^' '^^"'"«"- "«^'^ q-te mad.
bla^dne" "^''"^^ '"""^'' ^" ''' ^' ^-^^ ^'g-ty and
" In offering to present us to Madame at an hnnr
possibly somewhat late." he said, "our dear M S ruboff
shows his wonted amiability. VVe shoufd be fai ,n<.^T
gratitude if we did not thaifk him most sfnceret"^
Wetter looked at him with an air of grieved surprise
lousToi"^?'"^'' ""• "^ ^"'■"^^ t° ^^ vvith a riS u.'
lous look of protest, as though asking for my suoDort
I laughed ; the mad nonsense^vas so vveicome^to me
tfi.
250
THE KING'S MIRROR
fn,!^ w ^f P^K ^i^J ^ ^^'^^ *'°"'^^ '" the R"e Washing-
ton. Wetter bundled us out with immense haste There
were hghts m the second floor windows
"Madame expects us!" he cried with a rapturous
i5aron, Baron, pray take Struboff's arm. The steps
to heaven are so steep!" ^
him!'if^°f f ^""^"^u '""f'Sned to his fate ; ' he allowed
himself to be pushed upstairs without expostulation.
He opened the door for us and ushered us into the
t^o wSer preceded us I had time for one whisper
ing' hirarm.'''" ""^"^ ^^°"' ^'"'' ^'^ >^°" ^ " ^ ^^'^' P"^^^.
"Still? Good heavens, no! Again !" he answered.
stood before me m a oose gown of a dark red colour.
m/Xr him° 'P'"' "^'"^ '^^^^^ ^°^^-^^' P""-^
frllnrl ^M ^^^ XT ^'^'["g^'^hed honour to present my
friend M. de Neberhausen," he said. "You may re-
member meetmg him at Forstadt."
Coralie looked for a moment at each of us in turn
She smiled and nodded her head.
" Perfectly," she said, " but it is a surprise to see him
here, a very pleasant surprise." She gave me her hand
which I kissed with a fine flourish of gallantry
^frlr!S- ^^"^i^'^^" ^^^'"'^ the King very well," said
Struboff, nodding at her with a solemn significance.
There s money in that ! " he seemed to say
" PrfvTni' ^•" "^^r ^'^^^ ^"differently, and added to me.
Fray come in I was not expecting visitors, you must
make excuses for me." ^
She did not seem changed in the least degree. There
was the same indolence, the same languid slow enunci-
ation. It struck me in a moment that she ignored her
husband s presence. He had gone to a sideWrd and
was fingering a decanter. Wetter flung himself on a sofa.
of her eyelids^ ^°" """^^"^ '" ^ ''^''P^' '^''^' ^ ^'^'
VVashing-
ite. 7'here
rapturous
• Strubofif.
riie steps
e allowed
3stulation.
5 into the
le whisper
lid, pinch-
iswcred.
d Coralie
id colour,
d, pulling
isent my
may re-
! in turn.
see him
ler hand,
211," said
lificance.
;d to me,
'ou must
:. There
enunci-
ored her
ard and
m a sofa,
ith a lift
A PARADOX OF SENSIBILITY 251
itil^ouTlso^P'' '''^ '^^^^ '^"^^•'" ' — d- "And
Strubofif came forward, tumbler in hand
j;ray, is your King fond of music ? " he asked
I ans:;red, btfng^. '^^"^ ''' '^^ ^' ^^'^^ ^^rubor
serl^d%Ve?te^vl^^^^^ '^' -^'P' °^ M"^" Mansoni," ob-
served VVetter with a malicious smile. Struboff <hvec\
cho^.:^' ?"'f'' '"'^-^^ '^'^^'^y- A" inkling of kter's
chosen part came into my mind He hZ] ^Cl,^].
make Strubofif uncomfortaWe ; he dSnof choose ha?
the fat man should enjoy hiL victory in pt^ce Mv
S 1 that ihT^V T'' ""'' -solve,\ut ^elS. sug^^
ide H. , ^^^^^^h.cal merits were more on Struboffs
rl'tion'^t; ; rd?El : urZfth^'h ""/"^^^ °' "^>' ^-
entit^d ^civiiit^^^^^^:^ i^^ s^^:^ ^rz^
icld ^orrectn!'"^' ' " '''''' '' ' ''^'^'^ '^ Wet':
"Tes""Tai?rrT- ''"'». T.u^"'"'^' '^•'^^I'-^'^e?" I asked,
now ? •' ' ^'"■^^''- W'^>' ^^'^ ^^^""Jd we be here
" Why else should I be here now ? " asked Wetter
It IS even an excuse for Struboffs prese.Ke" ^
Qf uZ no excuse for being in my own house" said
St uboff, and he gulped down his liquor ' ^
^^'.:^S:!^^^.^^^^^' ,H- by the arm.
" v^ ' S => r '"' -^^'^cu nun oy me arm.
.nfll I'f becoming fatter and fatter and fatter.
„„„., ... , fc« '"'-'-•"' ciuu idLicr ana tatter Pr*^-
dr S'o^f"" :" n'd \Tt- r"° ^™"^ '^=>''" ™='^"='
u.u ui you, and I II beat you in the orchestra while
Madame s.ngs divinely on the boards. Come and see if
droppit his bur "■ '^^''H % '^'^ "''^"" ^"ddenl?
mTnT^to'':uX:h: .^t'ou bTs? ^, '"-vr-'--^'
mention of thousands of '£'„°: 'suSy the^^ttr:
bel'e" ow"^^'' " ^''="" """'•^ have\een\rned tt
?
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252
THE KINGS MIRROR
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Coralie moved towards the other end of the room,
which was lony, although narrow. I followed her. As
she sat down she remarked :
" He has lent Struboff twenty the asaud Irancs ; but
for that I must have sung before I was ready."
The situation seemed a little clearer.
" But he is curious," she pursued, fixing a patiently
speculative eye on Wetter. "You would say that he
was fond of me ?"
" It is a possible reason for his presence."
" He Joesn't show it," she said with a shrug.
_ J under tood that little point in Wetter's code ; be-
sides his humour seemed just now too bitter for love-
making, if Coralie felt any resentment it did not go
very deep. She turned her eyes from U'etter to my face.
" You 're going to be married very soon ? " she said.
"In a month," said I. "I'm having mv last fling.
You perceived our high spirits ? "
"I've seen her picture. She's pretty. And I've
seen the Countess von Sempach."
" You know about her ? "
" Have you forgotten that you u.- ed to speak of her ?
Ah, yes, you 've forgotten all that you used to Say. The
Countess is still handsome."
" What of that ? So :. re yon."
"True, it doesn't matter much," Coralie admitted.
" Does your Princess love you ? "
"Don't you love your K i:;, ind?"
A faint slow smile bent her lips as .siie glanced at
StrubofT— himself and his locket.
" Nobody acts without a motive," said
in marrying."
The bitterness that found exp-- ,io
sneer elicited no sympathetic resp. e f.
was obliged tu conclude that she considered her marriage
a success— at least that it was doing what she had ex-
pected from it. At this moment she yawned in her
old, pretty, lazy way. Certainly there were no signs of
romantic misery or tragic disillusionment about her.
Again I asked myself whether my sympathy were
" Not even
in this little
T Coralie. I
the room,
her. As
lies ; but
patiently
^ that he
:odc ; be-
for love-
d not go
' my face,
le said,
ast fling.
ind I 've
: of her ?
a.y. The
dmitted.
inced at
s^ot even
lis little
ralie. I
narriage
had ex-
1 in her
signs of
out her.
ly were
A PARADOX OF SENSIRfLITY
253
not more justly due to Struboff— Strubofif, who sat
now smokmg a big cigar and wobbling his head
solemnly in answer to the emphatic taps of VVetter's
forefinger on his waistcoat. The question was whether
human tenderness lay anywhere under these wrappings
li so, M. Struboff might be a proper object of com-
passion ; his might be the misery, his (O monstrous
thought!) the disfllusionmcnt. T^it the prejudice of
V 1-i^ ?'''^^^ ^'"■'^ °" Coralie's side. I always find
It difficult to be just to a person of markedly unpleasant
appccirance. I was piqued to much curiosity by these
vvandenng ideas. I determined to probe Struboff
through the layers.
Soon after I took my leave. Coral ie pressed me to
return the next day, and before I could speak Wetter
accepted the invitation for me. There was no very
Stron;. repugnance on Struboff's face; I should not
have needed it had it appeared. Wetter prepared to
come V h me. I watched his farewell to Coral ie •
his sn..le seemed to mock both her and himself. She
was weary a' dreary, but probably only because she
wanted her be It -vas a mistake, as a rule, to attribute
to her other than the simplest desires. The moment we
were outside, Wetter turned on me with a savagely
mirthful expression of my own thoughts. "^
" A wretched thing to leave her with him ? Not the
least in the world ! " he cried. " She '11 sleep ten hours
eat one, sing three, sleep three, eat two, sleep— have I
run through the twenty-four ? "
"VVell then, why are we to disturb ourselves?" I
asked.
_ " Why are we to disturb ourselves ? Good God isn't
It enough that she should be like that ? "
I laughed, as I blew out my cigarette smoke
" This is an old story," said I. " She 's not in Jove with
you, I suppose ? That 's it, isn't -t ? "
'It's not the absence of the fact," said he, with a
smi J, "It's the want of the potentiality that's so
deplorable."
' Why torment Struboff, though ? **
if
254
THE KING'S MIRROR
,»l *
I ■
t
U
■ 1
■(t
i
"Strubofif?" he repeated, knitting his brows "Ah
now Struboff is worth tormenting. You won't believe
me, but he can feel."
" I wa.s right then ; I thought he could "
" You saw , I ? "
" My prospects, perhaps, quicken my wits."
My arm was through his, and he pressed it between
his elbow and his side.
"You see," said he, "perversity runs through it all.
She should feel, he should not. It seems she doesn't
but he does. Heavens, would you accept such a con-
clusion without the fullest experiment? For me I am
determined to test it."
" Still you 're in love with her."
'• Agreed, agreed, agreed. A man must have a spur
to knowledge.
VVe parted at the Place de la Concorde, and I strolled
on alone to my hotel. Vohrenlorf was waiting for me
a little anxious, infinitely sleepy. I dismissed him at
once, and sat down to read my letters. I had the feeling
that I would think about all these matters to-morrow
but I was also pervaded by a satisfaction. My mind
vvas being fed. The air here nourished, the air of
Artenberg starved. I complimented Paris on a virtue
not her own ; the house in the Rue Washington was the
source of my satisfaction.
There was a letter from Varvilliers ; he wrote from
Hungary, where he was on a visit. Here is something
of what he said : —
"There is a charming lady here, and we fall in love, all
according to mode and fashion. (The buttons are on the
foils, pray understand.) It is the simplest thing in the world •
the whole process might, as I believe, be digested into twelve
elementary motions or thereabouts. The information is given
and received by code -, it is like playing whist. ' How much
have you ? ' her eyes ask. ' A passion.' I answer by the code.
I have z. penchant,' comes from her side of the tabl « I am
leading up to it.' say I. ' I am returning the lead Good •
But then comes hers (or mine) «I have no more.' Alas!
Well then, I lead, or she leads, another suitl It's a good
ivvs. " Ah,
n't believe
t between
Jgh it all.
le doesn't,
ch a con-
me, I am
ve a spur
I strolled
g for me,
d him at
he feeling
)-morrow,
My mind
le air of
a virtue
n was the
ote from
^mething
A PARADOX OF SENSIBILITY 255
Anrl 'w, f^',^ "^"""^ y"""" '''^«^^'- Vou 're ri.'ht there
hufsc e o.rif";' V'^' '''^'' '^'«''^'^^ ^ ^^'^ Ph.n^ed into
n sf rtt.on ; if I did not, you would think that Bcderhuf hid
ged my handwriting. Unless I am stopped on the frontier
I .shall be in Porstadt in three weeks." 'rontier
I dropped the letter with a laugh, w.^ndering whether
^^^:Z '" ( ''r y"! '''' F"^^ ^' "^^ clid^and fo"
suffer The talent is almost universal. There was it
seemed, reason to suppose that Struboff .suffered I
acquiesced but w th a .sense of discontent, l^^in should
not be vulgarised. Varvilliers' immunity gave h m a
new distinction in my eyes. ^
4J
1 love, all
re on the
he world ;
ito twelve
m is given
low much
the code.
'lam
Good!
2.' Alas!
's a good
til
m
H
/'
■ ^ !
U'
CHAPTER XXIV.
n
WHAT A QUESTION!
Struboff's inevitable discovery of my real name was
a disaster. It delayed my operations for three days,
since it filled his whole being with a sense of abase-
rnent and a hope of gain, thereby suspending for the
time those emotions in him which had excited my
curiosity. Clearly he had unstinted visions of lucrative
patronage— dreams, probably, of a piece of coloured
ribbon for his button-hole, and a right to try to induce
people to call him "Chevalier." He made Coralie a
present, handsome enough. I respected the con-
scientiousness of this act; my friendship was an
unlooked-for profit, a bonus on the marriage, and he
gave his wife her commission. But he seemed cased
in steel against any confidence. He trembled as he
poured me out a glass of wine. He had pictured me
only as a desirable appendage to a gala performance.
It is, of course, difficult to realise that the points at
which people are important to us are not those at which
they are important to themselves. However I made
progress at last. The poor man's was a sad case ; the
sadder because only with constant effort could the
onlooker keep its sadness disengaged from its absurdity,
and remember that unattractiveness does not exclude
misery. The wife in a marriage of interest is the spoilt
child of romancers ; scarcely any is rude enough to say,
"Well, who put you there.?" The husband in such
a partnership gains less attention; at the most he is
allowed a subordinate share of the common stock of
woe. The clean case for observation — he miserable,
she miles away from any such poignancy of emotion —
256
51!
I!
name was
iree days,
of abase-
g for the
cited my
lucrative
coloured
to induce
Coral ie a
the con-
was an
, and he
ed cased
^d as he
tured me
"ormance,
points at
at which
I made
:ase ; the
auld the
bsurdity,
exclude
:he spoilt
h to say,
in such
)st he is
stock of
liserable,
notion —
WHAT A QUESTION! 257
was presented by Coralie's consistency. It was not in
.=T ? ^r:A ^^''^^" ^""^ P"'^ grimaces when she was
asked to fulfil ,t. True, she interpreted it in her own
way. I promised to marry you. Well, I have. How
are you wronged, ;;.^;. c/terP But did I promise to
speak to you-to like you ? Mon Dieii, who promised
or would ever promise, to love you?" The mingled
impatience and amusement of such questions expressed
themselves in her neglect of him and in her yawns.
Under his locket, and his paunch, and his layers he
burnt with pain. Wetter was laying the blisters open
to the air, that their sting might be sharper. At last
sorely beset, he divined a sympathy in me. He thought
It disinterested, not perceiving that he had for me the
tascination of a travesty of myself, and that in his
marriage I enj(^yed a burlesque presentment of what
TZ W ". "^ .^' ^^^ P°'"' °^ ^'^^^ ^^^^ "^y secret,
until Wetter s quick wit penetrated it. He worked
days before he found out why I was drawn to the
impresario. His discovery was hailed with a sudden
laugh and a glance; but he put nothing into words
^oth to him and to me the thing wa'-. richer for re-
ticei'co. In the old phrase, the drapery enhanced the
charms which it did not hide.
A day came when I asked the husband to luncheon
with me I sent Vohrenlorf away ; we sat down to-
gether, Struboff swelling with pride, seeing himself
telhng the story in the wings, meditating the appear-
ance and multiplication of paragraphs. I said not a
word to discourage the visions; we talked of how Coralie
should make fame and he money ; he grew enthusiastic,
guttural, and severe on the Steinberg. I ordered more
Steinberg and fislied for more enthusiasm. 1 put my
purse at his disposal ; he dipped his fingers deep, with
an anxious furtive eagerness. The loan was made, or at
least pledged, before it flashed across my brain that the
nioney was destined for Wetter ; he wanted to pay off-
Wetter. We wer(; nearing the desired ground
" My dear M. Struboff"," said I, " you must not allow
yourself to be embarrassed. Great properties are slow
:i
II
2S8
THE KING'S MIRROR
' ;(
* • ! 1
to develop ; but I have patience with my investments.
Clear yourself of all claims. Money troubles fritter
away a man's brains, and you want yours."
He muttered something about temporary scarcity.
" It would be intolerable that Madame should be
bothered with such matters," I said.
He gulped down his Steinberg and gave a snort. The
sound was eloquent, although not sweet, i filled his
glass and handed him a cigar. He drank the wine, but
laid the cigar on the table and rested his head on his
hand.
" And women like to have money about," I pursued,
looking at the veins on his forehead.
" I 've squandered money on her," he said. " Good
money."
" Yes, yes. One's love seeks every mode of expres-
sion. I 'm sure she 's grateful."
He raised his eyes and looked at me. I was smoking
composedly.
"Were you once in love with my wife?" he asked
bluntly. His deference wore away under the corrosion
of Steinberp- and distress.
" Let us choose our words, my dear M. Strubofif. Once
I professed attachment to Mile. Mansoni."
" She loved you ? "
" It is discourteous not to accept any impression that
a lady wishes to convey to you," I answered, smiling.
" Ah, you know her I " he cried, bringing his fist down
on the table.
" Not the least in the world," I assured him. " Her
beauty, her charm, her genius — yes, we all know those.
But her soul ! That 's her husband's prerogative."
There was silence for a moment, during which he still
looked at me, his thick eyelids half hiding the pathetic
gaze of his little eyes.
" My life 's a hell ! " he said, and laid his head between
his hands on the table. I saw a shudder in his fat
shoulders.
"My dear M. Struboff!" I murmured as I rose and
walked round to him„, I did not like touching" him, but
WHAT A QUESTION!
:ft
vestments,
les fritter
arcity.
hould be
lort. The
filled his
wine, but
id on his
pursued,
1. "Good
>f expres-
! smoking
he asked
corrosion
)ff. Once
;sion that
miling.
fist down
n. " Her
ow those.
:h he still
; pathetic
1 between
n his fat
rose and
him, but
seat. ^"' "^"' ' as 1 walked back to my
1^^ mc lor H h,u she could get out of me," said
out o? her"'^. '^ '"'' ' ^■*''' y°- 'ook to get something
rm^a'amn^dtol 'fsaT/thaf '^ 'f TT'"' "''"'
hard to see. You see it o, ^ V !f '""""-'^ ™<= ^ " '•*"''
« A 1 / ^'' ''^ ' everybodv' sees if "
"My God, it's maddening to be treat»j lii
Am I repulsive, am I loathsome?" '^ ''^^ * '^^«'"-
" And"!^^"'''"°';:' ?y ''"'"' M- Struboff! "
day.^"' ' '"' ""* l^^'- " is for all day and every
^^"Come, come, be reasonable WeVe not lovesick
cul'LU^tothrsncf"""^' '" ^'""S " to her she
groanef ^.- AVd she doesn't d""^ ^'"" ^^^^^ ^-'" ^^
like sometimes to say to her On 'T f "^ ^^' ^ ^'^^^^^
touch them. " i^- ' ^"" ' d'rty "'ings when I
i got up and walked to the hearfhn,„ i . j ,
With my back to hiin H» ki u- S' ' ^^°°'* ">ere
took the bot te I heard H, •' ^" T" '™'">'. '!"="
and the -und%f'hl^^, ^is'^^,,;!;;;];;-'^''-' '" «''= «'-»■
>""g sUence. He struck a L;d '^d'l hi Jc^Tr rThe^
■■fM
,1.
26o
THE KING'S MIRROR
si,!
[^ '
l;u
he folded up the notes I had given him, and the clasp of
his pocket-book clicked.
" I have to go with her to rehearsal," he said.
I turned round and walked towards him. His uneasy
deference returned ; he jumped up with a bow and an
air of awkward embarrassment.
" Your Majesty is very good. Your Majesty pardons
me? I have abused your Majesty's kindness. You
understand, I have nobody to speak to."
" I understand very well, M. Struboff. I am very
sorry. Be kind to her, and she will change towards
you."
He shook his head ponderously.
" She won't change," he said, and stood shuffling his
feet as he waited to be dismissed. I gave him my hand.
(O Coralie, you and your bread ! I understood.)
"She'll get accustomed to }'cu," I murmured, with a
reminiscence of William Adolphus.
" I think she hates me more every day."
He bowed over my hand and backed out with clumsy
ceremony.
I flung myself on the sofa. Was not the burlesque
well conceived and deftly fashioned ? True, I did not
seem to myself much like Struboff. There was no com-
fort in that ; Struboff did not seem to himself much
like what he was. " Am I repulsive, am I loathsome?"
he cried indignantly, and my diplomacy could answer
only, "What a question, my dear M. Struboff!" If I
cried out, asking whether I were so unattractive that
my bride must shrink from me, a thousand shocked
voices would answer in like manner, " Oh, sire, what a
question ! "
Later in the day I called on Coralie and found her
alone. Speaking as though from my own observation,
I taxed her roundly with her coldness to Struboff, and
with allowing him to perceive her distaste for him. I
instanced the matter of the Ijread, declaring that I had
lioticed it when I breakfasted wi>th them. Coralie began
to laugh.
■' Do I do that .'' Well, perhaps I do. You ve iielt
Lhe clasp of
id.
His uneasy
»ovv and an
;ty pardons
ness. You
I am very
ge towards
luffling his
n my hand,
od.)
ired, with a.
nth clumsy
t burlesque
, I did not
as no com-
:iself much
athsome? "
uld answer
Dff!" If I
active that
id shocked
ire, what a
found her
•bservation,
;ruboff, and
hr him. I
that I had
ralie began
i^'ou Ve felt
WHAT A QUESTION!
261
" He observes it."
the bargain." ^ "• '*'" '''^"s" "^^n't in
" And you liiss nobody now ? "
felt love foThL'ThVdTsrr (Z^ 'tT"
« I '■ u. , .'• Coralie," said I, smiling.
_ 1 might liiss you, perhaps."
'. lvr„ rf f mething to give too. have I ?"
out of you Tn^th! "°."=" ' ='^°"''l '"^^- "0">--ng
kiss yU™- yo''u"did*;sk"' " "°"''"^- '^°- ' -"Wn?
hu;gs«:r;^fp^wXo'.';^^^
" Yes ; at least, I should be if it were not for c;fr„K^«-
He annoys me very much. You know T'l \Z ^^'"''°^-
p.cture in the room, or a dog one hater Vl H ''" ."^^^
or_do much, but he 's there flways It fre's m?' " ' ''^
;; Madame, my sympathy is extreme"
Oh, your sympathy ! You 're laughing at me I
' Wh'?' ^°" T '^-^'"^^ ^" f^^ marned^yourse f r'-
^^ What you imply .,s not very reassuring."
with Vshrug. '""'"" °' "'^^^ ^"^ -P-^V- she said
askJ^^r::^^^'"'"''^"'^"^''"^'^^^^^-^^"^
Oi:SS^::;U:in;S^^' ^-'- not nke that.
" I declare I 'm much comforted "
■ incieed you needn't fear that. In some things all
I
f
1 1
262
THE KING'S MIRROR
i i,
'uib
i'
'if
women are alike. You needn't fear anything of that
sort. No woman could feel that about you."
" I grow happier every moment. I shouldn't have
liked IClsa to cut herself another slice."
Coral ie laughed, sniffed the roses I had brought, and
laughed again as she said :
" In fact I do, I remember it now. I didn't mean
to be rude It came natural to do it, as if the piece
had fallen on the floor, you know."
Evidently Strubofif had analysed his wife's feelings
very correctly. I doubted both the use and the
possibility of enlightening her as to his. "Kisses were
not in the bargain," she would say. After all, the
desire for affection was something of an incongruity in
Struboff, an alien weed trespassing on the ground
meant for music and for money. I could hardly blame
her for refusing to foster the intruder. I felt that I
should be highly unjust if, later on, I laid any blame
on Elsa for not satisfying a desire for affection, should
I chance to feel such a thing. And as to the bread
Coralie had quite reassured me. I looked at her. She
was smiling in quiet amusement. Evidently her fancy
was tickled by the matter of the bread.
" You notice a thing like that," she said. " But he
doesn't. Imagine his noticing it I"
" I can imagine it very well."
" Oh no, impossible. He has no sensibility. You
laugh I Well, yes, perhaps, it's lucky."
During the next two or three days I was engaged
almost unintermittently with business which followed
me from home, and had no opportunity of seeing more
of my friends. I regretted this the less, because I
seemed now to be possessed of the state of affairs. I
resigned myself to the necessity of a speedy return to
Forstadt. Already Bederhof was in despair at my
absence, and excuses failed me. I could not tell him
that to return to Forstadt was to begin the preparations
for execution, a point at which hesitation must be for-
given in the condemned. But before I went I had a
talk with Wetter.
ing of that
»
uldn't have
rought, and
lidn't mean
f the piece
e's feelings
2 and the
[Cisses were
ter ail, the
:ongruity in
:he ground
irdly blame
felt that I
any blame
:ion, should
> the bread
t her. She
\f her fancy
. "But he
ility. You
as engaged
:h followed
leeing more
because I
f affairs. I
y return to
3air at my
ot tell him
)reparations
fiust be for-
;nt I had a
WHAT A QUESTION!
261
wo:'.°b:ck7ot' rl':? ^' ^'^^ ' ■■ "= "-'• ■■ B-^ to our
"You Vc going too?" I asked quietly.
saW^g'^L^ saf/rcfi^^ '="''""' ' "-<= '" -' about
affli?s'' h^^s^neered •^'^' "' '"= ^■■^'-^"•°" °f P""-
hope^^'orher'^'t'T''"''^,'™'""^ '^»' "°' '■"'fi"'^d my
poi;|stAi,4t*°etijr.." '^'^^ "° '"■-- f-
the fact thatMad\™e7afdis= iSr^ "'«'>'■ ^"' ^^
.. i,?*!, "'i* * conventional plirase ? "
tionaTpi,*:"' ''' '''-"^"' ^^'- ' "" "^- - conven.
tranqunluy."' °"^"""''' "^^ ^""^°'' °" ••>" '""eased
Wete- rt"ln?L-™' "'''"^•' '"'d ' had a bit of fire
^S.S^£d?"Lr^'''fS^let^,-
" I have still time," he said suddenly
"^?"v ^^" *^° something still."
1^' You can turn me out, you think ? "
1 don t want to turn you out "
" Use me, perhaps ? "
" Tame you, perhaps."
I looked down at him and I laughed.
sHolta.toCda?ee^;Stt
• "> '.Ov : he a^Kcd Dnefly and brusquely.
" I 'm a young
"I thought I
i\
L
1H
ii'
H|;!
[I
264
THE KING'S MIRROR
W
" You '11 play again, you '11 do some mad prank, some
other woman will— let us stick to our phrase— Avill not
dismiss you. When an irresistible force encounters an
immovable object You know the old puzzlii ? "
" Interpret your parable, O King ! "
" When a great brain is joined to an impossible
temper— result ? "
" The result is nothing," said he, taking a fresh grip
of his knees.
" Even so, even so," I nodded.
" But I have done things," he persisted.
" Yes, and then undone them. My friend, you 're
a tragedy." And I lit a cigarette.
He sat where he was for a moment longer ; then he
sprang up with a loud laugh.
" A tragedy ! A tragedy ! If I make one, by heaven
the world's rich in them ! Take Struboff for another.
But Your Majesty is wrong I 'm a farce."
" Yes, you 're a bit of a farce," said I.
He laid his hand on my arm and looked full and
long in my face.
"So you've made your study of us?" he asked.
"Oh, I know why you came to Paris ! Coralie, Struboff,
myself — you have us all now ? "
" Pretty well," said I. " To understand people is both
useful and interesting ; and to a man in my position it
has the further attraction of being difficult."
"And you think Bederhof is too strong for me?"
" He is stupid and respectable. My dear Wetter,
what chance have you ? "
" There 's a river in this town. Shall I jump in ? "
" Heavens, no ! You 'd set it all a-hissing and a-
boiling."
" To-night, sire, I thought of killing Struboff."
"Ah, yes, the pleasures of imagination ! I often
indulge in them."
" Then a bullet for myself"
"Of course! And another impresario for Coralie!
You must look ahead in such matters."
** it would have made a ffreat sensation/'
it
^i'
»**».<,•»*««»«
■
WHAT A QUESTION!
•ank, some
: — will not
ounters an
izzle?"
impossible
fresh grip
d, you 're
; then he
by heaven
r another.
full and
he asked.
, Strubofif,
)le is both
Dosition it
me?"
r Wetter,
ipin?"
g and a-
ff."
I often
Coralie !
265
J ♦' Everywhere, except in the bosom of Coralie "
c. V^"' .'^'^^^•'"^'•'^s robbed the world of that other
sensation long ago_If I had killed you ' "
my Princess.-''''"^ '''''" ^""^'^^^'"-''^""t'^cr impresario for
wedcUng?"" ""'"' '' ^^°'''''^'^ ^°"'" ^'^ "^^ ^° the
•; Unless you have incurred Princess Heinrich's anger."
I tell you I m going to settle down."
"Never," said I.
is 'Inl^^t^' ^''' "^"'^^^ ' ^°"^^h^ ^- Strubofif
"Make me a present of it," I suggested.
He ooked hard in my eyes, laughed a little, drew out
a small revolver and handed it to me.
I' Strubofif was never in great danger," he said.
I was never much afraid for Struboff," said I.
Jhanks for the revolver. You're not quibbling with
" I don't understand."
the Mo'rgue ?" ' "'^'' '" ^^'' *°''" ^ ^° institution called
not P^ ^ ^'^'^ °^ '"'^ ^'''"^'- ^° >^°" ^"°^ ^hy
"Because it's the King's pleasure." said I, smiling
and holding out my hand to him.
"Because I'm a friend to a friend," he said, as he
took my hand. Then without another word he turned
and wa ked out quickly. I heard him speak to Vohren-
the sTairs^ °"^^' '°°"'' ^""^ '^"^^ '"'"^^^ ^' ^'"^ '^"^ ^'''^"
f.U.' had reminded me that I was a pupil of Hammer-
T 1 J u reminder came home to me as a reproach.
I had been forgetful of the Prince's lesions ; I had
allovyed myself to fall into a habit of thought which led
me to assume that my happiness or unhappiness was a
relevant consideration in judging of the merits of the
universe. The assumption is so common as to make
lltlf '^^' ^° /f ^r°"^ .b^'"^^ P'-oved it ,s not even
pi«aoi^.e. X saw the aosmuity of it at ont . m the light
<
■imi
i
n\
266
THE KING'S MIRROR
tl
i
I I
' \ '
slZff wn cl.scovenes Was God shamed because
.. Ifi -h K m'f-'^blc, because Coralie was serenely
smiledT'n^^ tempestuous be>ond rescued
1 smiled at all these questions, and proceeded to the
inference that the exquisite satisfaction of my own
cravings was probably not an inherent part of the
and'i'f fhT"'- ^^'''' f '' '^''' -^^^ su^ch a thing;
and If there were not, the whole matter was so purely
be if."; '\,f; r\'Z ^^'"•^ °^ -^y -"- considJratioJ^
being in the least degree more or less relevant than
another. ; Willingly give thyself up to Clotho"" lowing
her to spin thy thread into whatever things she pleases''
That was an extremely good maxim ; but it would be
of no service to cast the pearl before Coralie's impre-
vXnlorf'^ "'' " "^^'''^" '^°"Sh. I summoned
"We have stay-i.d here too long, Vohrenlorf," said I
My presence is '-ecessary in Forstadt. I liust not
appear wanting .;. ^uerest in these preparations."
Vn,yM° !^?'^\ H ^^' "^^^y ^'^ ^e'-y ^"^ious for
Your Majesty s retui;i,
" And I am very anxious to return. We '11 so hv the
evening train to-morrow. Send word to Jiederhof "
He seemed rather surprised and not very pleased but
promised to see that my orders were executed. I sa
down in the chair in which Wetter had sat, and began
again to console myself with my Stoic maxim. But
there was a point at which I stuck. I recalled Coralie
and her bread, and regarded Struboff not in the aspect
of his ovvn misery (which I had decided to be irrelevant)
thatThi^'vf ' f Coralie's feelings. It seemed to me
that the philosopher should have spared more consider-
ation to this side of the matter. Had he reached such
heights as to be indifferent not only to his own suffer-
n^"^ K^° '^^'"^ ^ ^^"se of suffering to others?
Perhaps Marcus Aurelius had attained to this; Coralie
Mansoni, by the way, seemed most blessedly to have
been born into it. To me it was a stone of stumblin-
Fride came to me with insidious aid and admired whife
1 talked of Clotho; but where was my ally when I
2d because
:s serenely
nd rescue ?
led to the
my own
rt of the
1 a thing ;
so purely
isideration
vant than
), ?.l lowing
e pleases."
would be
e's impre-
ummoned
■f," said I.
must not
IS."
xious for
go by the
hof."
;ased, but
d. I sat
id began
im. But
i Coralie
le aspect
relevant),
id to me
consider-
led such
n sufifer-
others ?
; Coralie
to have
ambling,
ed while
when I
WHAT A QUESTION!
267
(\
pictured Esa also making her surrender to the Fates?
My ally then became my enemy. With a violent
wrench I brought myself to the thought that neither
was hlsas happnicss a relevant consideration. If would
not do, I could not maintain the position. l<:isa
was \-()Lmg, fresh, aspiring to happiness as a , . rears
Its head to the air. And our wedding was but a fort-
night off.
"Am I repulsive, am I loathsome?"
" What a question, my dear M Struboff ! "
I had that snatch of talk in my head when I fell
asleep.
The next day but one found me back at Forstadt.
1 hey had begun to decorate the streets.
I
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14^
CHAPTER XXV.
A SMACK OF REPETITION
The contrast of outer and inner, of the world's myself
and my own myself, of others as they seem to mTand
to themselves (of the reality they may be through
inattention or dulness, as ignorant'^as 1), which is |e
most permanent and the dominant impression that ife
has stamped on my mind, was never more powerfullv
brought home to me than in the days which^receded
my marrmge to my cousin Elsa. As I have sa d' they
had begun to decorate the streets ; let me summar se aU
the rest by repeating that they decorated the streets
and went on decorating them/ The decorative atmo:
sphere enveloped all external objects, and wrapped even
the members of my own family in its spangLd cloud
Victoria blossomed in diamonds, William Ado'nhus
sprouted in plumes; my mother embodied the stately
Cousin Elizabeth a gorgeous heartiness ; the dS'
eyes wore a bored look, but the remainder of his per on
. was fittingly resplendent. Bederhof was Bumble in
Olympus. Beyond these came a sea of smiles bows silks
and uniforms Really I believe that Thflho e th ^, ;
was done as handsomely as possible, and the proceed"-
ings are duly recorded in a book of red leather cTasoed
in gold and embellished with many pictures wJch^he
brance of the auspicious event. It lies now under a
glass case, and I understand, excites much invest
among ladies who come to see my house »"^erest
Elsa was a puzzle no longer ; I should have welcomed
more complexity of feeling. The month whkh had
passed since we parted had brought to her many
268
's myself
) me and
through
ch is the
that life
nverfully
preceded
aid, they
narise all
: streets,
'e atmo-
Ded even
d cloud,
dolphus
stately,
Duke's
5 person
Tible in
vs, silks,
le thing-
)roceed-
clasped
lich the
remem-
inder a
interest
Icomed
:h had
many
A SMACK OF REPETITION 269
reflections no doubt, and as £ presumable result of
them a fixed attitude of mind Wiiliam Arf^i 1,
tTaf h'rV^'" (and very Hkelt d^' arte Vic £)
L ma^er s^f?^ "f "^ -e bufthis mJde of^utt fg
She ^ad no" J^fi' ^pT '"^ brother-in-law's bluntnesst
une had not defied Clotho, but neither had she alto-
gether g^ven herself up to Clotho. She had com
promised with the Formidable Lady and although hJ
no means enraptured, seemed to be^conscious thft she
might have come off worse. What was d^sL eful in
can e°bv a'di ^'f T""^'"' ^^ reduce t" J "
cance by a disciplined arrangement of her thoughts
i ^"^^^l""^- Much can be done if one w 11 be firm
with would-be vagrants of the mind. The pleasant
rnay be given prominence, the disagreeable releS
to obscurity, the attractive installed in the livi^- amrt
rnents the repellent locked in a distant eel lar^vheiKe
fnd in r"^"^' 1'°""^ ''r ^'^ ^"d'ble occasional yofy
transformed f"'"- ^hat might have been is sternly
pern anTt r ^ '''"u''^"' "'^'°" '"^« ^ '"evolting
the actual anH rr"'T '^^^^ '' •"^^^^'^^ ^o applaud
the actua and vihfy what is impossible. This attitude
of mind IS thought so commendable as to have won for
^ elf in popiUar speech the name of philosophy-so even
with words Clotho works her will. Elsa then in this
bSsr "s's 'ILl ''I r"' T-' P^-^-°Ph-al about he
nerseir, would maintain equilibrium
"She's growing fonder and fonder of you every dav"
Cousin Elizabeth whispered in my ear. ^ ^'
ok 1 ^.°?^'" "^^"^ ^' ^^'t'^ a reminiscence, "that I am not
abso utely repulsive to her ? " And n order n^t to
puz.Je Cousin Elizabeth with any glimmer of trl'?
' <^'J!^J'^^'^'^ u M ?"^'" " ^^^""^ ^^^ seemed to say
an dea . ' 7'wf^'''''^' ''''^ °^ ">^ imagination), " wha^
I ntL ^^ f ^'""^f'^"' '^>' ^^^'' M. Struboff!")
1 played too much, perhaps, with my parallel but I
an'm^v 'I' -^'r- r' '""^' "^''^^^^ ^° beVnl ike Struboff
(in my ea.e Loralic scouted the idea of a fresh slice
270
THE KING'S MIRROR
i
y
I) I
of bread). I knew Elsa to be of very different
temperament from Coralie's. These variances did not
invalidate the family likeness. A son may be very like
his father though the nose of one turns up and the
other's nose turns down. We were, aftei making all
allowances for superficial differences — we were both
careers, Struboff and I. I need none to point out to
me my blunder, none to say that I was really fortunate
and cried for the moon. It is admitted. I was offered
a charming friendship; it was not enough. I could
give a tender friendship; I knew that it was not
enough.
And there was that other thing which went to my
heart, that possibility which must ever be denied
realisation, that beginning doomed to be thwarted.
As we were talking once of all who were to come on
the great day, I saw suddenly a little flush on Elsa's
cheek. She did not look away or stammer, or make
any other obvious concession to her embarrassment, but
the blush could not be denied access to her face and
came eloquent with its hint.
" And M. de Varvilliers— he will be there, I suppose?"
she asked.
" I hope so. I have given directions that he shall "
invited. You like him, Elsa?"
" Yes," she said, not looking at me now but straight
in front of her, as though he stood there in his easy
heart-stealing grace. And for an instant longer the
flush flew his flag on her cheek.
But Struboff had been so mad as to fall in love with
Coralie, and to desire her love out of no compassion
for her but sheerly for itself Was I not spared this
pang ? I do not know whether my state were worse or
better. For with him, even in direst misery, there
would be love's own mad hope^ that denial of im-
possibility, that dream of marvellous change which
shoots across the darkest gloom of passion. Or at
least he could imagine her loving as he loved, and
thereby cheat the wretched thing that was. I could
not. In dreary truth I was towards her as she towards
different
s did not
very like
and the
aking all
ere both
It out to
fortunate
IS offered
I could
was not
It to my
: denied
thwarted,
come on
)n Elsa's
or make
nent, but
face and
appose?"
shall '
straight
his
nger
easy
the
ove with
n passion
ired this
worse or
•y, there
of im-
2 which
Or at
'ed, and
I could
towards
A SMACK OF REPETITION 271
me, and before us both there stretched a lifetime If
an added sting were needed, I found it in a perfectly
clear consciousness that a great many people would
have been absolutely content, and, as onlookers of our
case, would have wc^idered what all the trouble was
about. There are those who from a fortunate want of
perception are called sensible, just as Elsa by her
reso ute evasion of truth would be accorded the title
of philosophical.
Victoria was the prophet of the actual, picking out with
optimistic eye its singular abundance of blessedness
- do not think that she reminded me that Elsa mi<rht
have had but one eye, one leg, or a crooked back, but
her felicitations ran on this strain. Their obvious
artificiality gave them the effect of sympathy, and
V;ictona vyould always sanction this interpretation by a
kiss on departure. But she had her theory ; it was
tnat Elsa only needed to be wooed. The "only"
amused me, but even with that point waived I questioned
her position It left out imagination, and it left out
Varvilhers, who had become :magination's pet. Never-
theless Victoria spoke out of experience; she did not
^llu\v-u^^^T/^^''^^^"''^^^' ^'^'^ very comfortable"
with William Adolpnus. Gr-^nted the argument's sin-
cerity. Its force could not be denied with honesty
" Ve re not romantic, and never have been of
course," she conceded.
o eivf^ "^^^^ Victoria, of course not," said I, laughing
" We have had our quarrels."
" The quarrels wouldn't trouble me in the least."
" We don't expect too much of one another "
''I seem to be listening to the address on the
wedding-day.
"You're an exasperating creat^ire"; and with that
came the kiss.
Victoria's affection was always grateful to me, but in
the absence of Wetter and Varvilliers, neither of whom
had made any sign as >et, I was bereft of all intellectual
sympathy. I had looked to find some in the Duke
i
I
:J'
,l\'
I I'
f>'
272
THE KING'S MIRROR
and some, as I believe, there was ; but its flow was
checked and turned by what I must call a repressed
resentment His wife's blind heartiness was impossible
to him and he read with a clear eye the mind of a
loved daughter. With him also I ranked as a necessity:
so far as the necessity was distasteful to Elsa, it was
unpalatable to him. Beneath his friendliness, and side
by side with an unhesitating acceptance of the position,
there lay this grudge, not acknowledged, bound to
mcur instant absurdity as the price of any open
assertion of itself, but set in his mind and affecting his
disposition towards me. He was not so foolish as to
blame me; but I was to him the occasion of certain
fears and shrinkin.1,., possibly of some qualms as to his
own part in the matter, and thus I became a less
desired companion. There was something between us
a subject always present, never to be mentioned. As a
result there came constraint. My pride took alarm,
and my polite distance answered in suitable terms to
his reticent courtesy. I believe, however, that we found
one common point in a ludicrous horror of Cousin
Elizabeths behaviour. Had she assumed the air she
wore she must have ranked as a diplomatist ; having
succeeded in the great task of convincing herself she
stands above those who can boast only of deceiving
others. To Cousin Elizabeth the alliance was a love-
match ; had she possessed the other qualities, her self-
persuasion would have been enough to enable her to
found a religious sect and believe that she was sent
from heaven for its prophet.
Amid this group of faces, all turned towards the
same object but with expressions subtly various I
spent my days, studying them all, and finding (here has
been natures consolation to me) relief from my own
thoughts in an investigation of the mind of others. The
portentous pretence on which we were engaged needed
perhaps a god to laugh at it, but the smaller points were
within the sphere of human ridicule; with them there was
no danger of amusement suffering a sudden death and a
swift resurrection in the changed shape of ipdi^rnation
1 flow was
L repressed
impossible
mind of a
necessity;
Isa, it was
5, and side
e position,
bound to
my open
feeling his
>lish as to
of certain
> as to his
ne a less
;tween us,
ed. As a
3k alarm,
terms to
we found
>f Cousin
e air she
; having
srself she
deceiving
s a love-
her self-
le her to
was sent
'ards the
arious, I
Inhere has
my own
ers. The
:1 needed
ints were
:here was
ith and a
mation.
A SMACK OK REPETITION 273
occls,^: ™rSTt"' "'•'''"«^'?'• ""' "-' ^ "-V
v^r>, ,1 .• !^ ral^il'S Its rise in a th nir which seemwl
liederhof had heard le"■eIuI^r^. tni,,. . i •
dubious and solemn a he Z. t 'i 'tl e V""?" '"''
spoke,, assurances .hTthen^'sraforrh' ."i"; """
.mporta,Ko, that she took no , otfce of bt'i l'; ' Tl™
him the s^m^ siCre ^J^^l t^^t:^' ^^iL/'i::!,
he added proudly, ins wife did not look a day 'older!
s ,
i
274
THE KING'S MIRROR
and her appearance had, if anytliing, improved. She
had_ been happy at Paris, he said, " but, to be sure,
shed be happ)' anywhere with the children and her
home. The modesty of the hist words did not conceal
his_ joyous confidence. I felt very kindly towards him.
Really you re an encoura<,^ement to me at this
moment. I said. "You mu.st take me to see the
Lountess.
" She will be most honoured, sire."
" I 'd much rather she 'd be a littie pleased "
He laughed in evident gratification, assuring me that
she would be very pleased. He answered for her
emotions m the true style of the blessed partner; that
IS an mcident of matrimony which I am content to have
escaped. I doubted very much whether she were so
eager for the renewal of my acquaintance as he de-
clared. I recollected the doubts and fears that had
beset her vision of that event long ago. But my part
was plain— to go, and to go speedily.
"To the Countess'?" exclaimed Victoria, to whom
1 mentioned casually my plans for the afternoon.
You re in a great hurry, Augustin."
.• "^i'^ "^ sign of hurry to go to a place at the right
time," said I, with a smile.
" I don't call it quite proper."
" I go because it is proper."
" If you flirt with her again "
" My dear Victoria, what things you suggest ! "
Victoria returned to her point.
" I see no reason why you should rush off there all in
a minute," she persisted.
Nevertheless I went, paying the tribute of a laugh to
the picture of Victoria flying with the news to Princess
Heinrich. But the Princess's eye could tell a real
danger from an imaginary one; she would not mind
my seeing the Countess now.
I went quite privately, without notice, and was not
expected. Thus it happened that I was ushered into
the drawing-room when the Countess was not there
to receive me. There I found Tot(f, undeniablv lono-_
oved. She
to be sure,
in and her
not conceal
vards him.
ne at this
to see the
d."
ig me that
d for her
"tner; that
^nt to have
le were so
as he de-
that had
it my part
to whom
afternoon.
: the right
t!"
here all in
a laugh to
Princess
2II a real
not mind
1 was not
lered into
not there
ibly long-
A SMACK OF REPETITION 275
legged and regrettably shy. The world had begun to
set Its mark on her, and she had discovered that s^ie did
not know how to behave to me. I was sorry not to be
phfnTv to'r^r-T r"'' ^"V^' ^"^ l^''^^^^'^'"^ ^he fact too
She W nn?K " ^ '""' ^"'' "^^ ''' ^'-^^^^^ her mother,
^nc Had not been gone a moment before the Countess
came m hurnedly with apologies on her lips,
forfhcli J'"''^"'''-' P"^y dear Max! Shall we pray
Ihe h H '"'^"'■'f;,"'' 1^"" ^^^ ""^^ ^'^^ ^'-^^ «lder than
time mT. '"^.r?-^''"'' '''^" " ^"^ ''""^ '^'^' ^-^^^s
frefn^ V A % °"' ^"^'^^'"S ^"^ "^^^'^'"S- She showed
fretful dread of a pause ; when she spoke she did not
look me m the face. I could not avoid the idea that
leave C ""^H "V",'' ^^^"'^ ^'^''y ^^ - take my
nhuma,f . A ^ ^^^^'"^ '"^'' ^' '^ ^^^"^^d to me,
inhuman, a falseness to our true .selves, born of some
ZZllT "' "' " "'"P^^ overstrained, or of air no?
"Have you seen Elsa.?" I asked oresentlv anH
perhaps rather abruptly. presently, and
"Yes," she said," I was presented to her. She was
very sweet and kind to me "
by h^er'chain"' *° ""' '°°'" ^ '"'^' "'^"^ ^"^ ^'^"^'"^
She he.sitated a moment, then looked up at me • I
saw emotion in her eyes. dt me , i
'• You '11 be happy with her ? " she asked.
" A", " u" ^ '■^'■y unhappy, I daresay I shan't be."
« n : T ^i"^ !^"^' '^'^h ^ ^°''t of despai.ing sigh.
ticularlyLtpy''""""' ' ''"'' "^'^ ^"^''°'^ P^^"
"vJ?f ^^"" cl^^ ''"^'^ /" low-voiced impetuosity.
aL u ^^^ stopped. Fear was in her eyes now
and she scanned my face with a close jealous intensity'
I knew what her fear was, her own expression of it
echoed back across the years. She feared that she had
given me occasion to laugh at her. I bent down took
her hand, and kissed it lightly
f
\ V
■f»»
m
^ff
276
THE KING'S MIRROR
•'Perhaps had all the world been different," said I
with a smile.
" I 'm terribly changed?"
wiih^you ?^'"' ^^'''^^^' ''"'' """' '""'''• "°^" ^^' '^ been
Her nervousness seemed to be passing off; slie
answered me in a sincere simplicity that would neither
exaggerate nor hide.
"AH that is good, short of the best," she said. " And
with you ?
•'Shall I say all that is bad, short of the worst?"
^ VVe shouldn t mean very different things"
" No, not ver>-. I Ve done many foolish things."
^^^Have you? They all say that you fill yotir place
" I have paid high to do it "
•' I Still think it high," I said, "but not too high."
"Nothing is too high?"
" Yes, I know it."
'' And this girl will know it."
" She wouldn't have it otherwise."
"I know I know, I know. She would not. It's
strange to have you here now."
" Max would come. I didn't wish it. Yet—" She
smiled for a moment and added, " Yet in a way I did
wish It I was drawn here. It seemed to concern me.
Don t laugh. It seemed to be part of my story too ; I
fel that I must be there to hear it. Are you laughing?"
I ve never laughed." f b
•' You 're good and kind and generous. No. I think
you haven t. I 'm glad of it, because "
'• Yes ? Why ? "
"Because even now I can't," she whispered. "No
don t think I mean-I mean a thing which would obli-e
f
int," said I
has it been
\ off; she
uld neither
id. " And
jrst?"
ings."
^'our place
' she said,
ence ; she
igh."
{o\x know
not. It 's
— " She
vay I did
icern me.
ry too ; I
ughing?"
', I think-
d. " No,
Id obhge
A SMACK OF RKI'ETITION 277
unconscious lips " K ' ,,„ ^}L "■™? '^''Pl'«' f™m
to me; ,, goP^i, tL'.i ;;„. :^ " ^^^n^ ri,'?;'' ,.1
the thn.g-thc thing of my life I W nl W
yours. I Ve nothingSo mak'e i co™i sc'cond ' A h ' n'
forgettnig again how old I am How von aL., i
me orget it! I mustn't talk like thi"-^ '"""^" "'"''"
go b^cltl'aS'p"' ' "'■'•^""- ""^ '■'^'^ "- '«-■"• Vou
" Yes, soon. I 'm glad."
"But it's not hard to you now?"
give mrra'nsw.:''^'''' '^ /^^""^^ "^'^^ ''''<^ ^^^'^-^^^ to
give me an answer accurately true
- I love tS |^.?,i J;- s- s;;t"';,:':-?„:^'.i
_^^ Vou mean-what do you mean? The th'ought of
I 'I^'^!' "'^ ""= '''ought that somehow I have iust misspH
f sed my J^'d fSr a^m^^ent^'^ TSfgr^o.^^^^^^
she said. "Don't you think so?" ^ ^ ''^^^'
.hp ' Z^^ unhappy with me, and I let her go Yes
she s pretty ; she won't be like yon, though." " '
1 11 appeal to you again in nv. in ten vears " ^^\A
she, sm.hng, pleased with my covert praise^ ^ Oh ht
P easant to see you again," she went on a moment la er
I m a bad penitent. I wish I could be with JSu alwavs
No I am not dreaming now. I mean, just fn For tadt
and seemg you. uri>i:aai
" Ah"T.^"^ ^^"^ ^°" ''^'^ ^'"^ ^° g'^ back to Paris."
Mavn'f' Th fT% "^""'^IS^orance of us than you have
^fff?a7d'tn^rd'ot^..to^"-^^ -°*"'"
the' ^:^^^rl^ Sea/™Tt°gt"^a::re^
was gone pleasure in her remainl^f my wts'^de ™
as I sat there I w.shed it alive again. I longed to be
I
11
278
THE KING'S MIRROR
* <
,- . 1 1
;l . f
back in the storm of it. even thou-h I must battle the
storm agai'n
IP'
After all, she saicl, with a {rlance at me, " I have my
share in you. You can't think „f your life without
thuikMij^r of me. I "m .somethinjr to you. I 'm one
amon^r the many foolish thin-s. You don't hate the
foolish things?"
"On my soul, I believe not one of them ; and if
you re one, I love one of them."
" I l'"ke you to say that."
A long silence fell on us. The thing had not come in
either of the fashions in which I had pictured it- neither
m weariness nor in excitement. It came full with
emotions, but emotions that were subdued shadows of
themselves, of a mournful sweetness, bewailing their
ost strength, yet shrinking from remembrance of it
Would we have gone back if we could? Now I
could not answer the question. Yet we could weep
because to go back was impossible. But it was with
a slight laugh that at last I rose to my feet to sav
good-bye. ' ^
"It's like you always to laugh at the end," she said a
little in reproach, but more, I think, in the pleasure of
recognising what was part of her idea of me. " You used
often to do it, even when you were— even before You
remember the first time of ail-when we smiled at one
another behind your mother's back? That oldest
memory comforts me. Do you know why? I was
never so many centuries older than you again I 'm not
so many even now. You look old. I think, and seem
'•. .\Tn^ "^''''"' ^"^'ether, it's your fault, not my
merit. Well, you must go. Ah, how you fill time I
How you could have filled a woman's life!"
"Could have! Your mood is right."
^^j^- Surely she '11 be happy with you ? If you could love
" Not even then. I 'm not to her measure."
" Are you unhappy ? "
"It's better th?n the worst, a great deal better,
(jood-bye.
battle the
I have my
(c without
I 'm one
t hate the
n ; and if
3t come in
t— neither
full with
badows of
ling their
mce of it.
Now I
uld weep
was with
et to say
ihe said, a
leasure of
You used
•re. You
id at one
It oldest
? I was
I 'm not
md seem
, not my
lill time!
3uld love
I better.
A SMACK OF RKI'KTITION 279
I pressed her hand and kissed it. With a sudden
seemm,. formahty she curtseyed and kisseS mine "
1 don t for-et what you are." she said " because I
" There 's a name wanting."
" Ah, to C.-esar I said good-bye five years ago " Thp
tears were .n her eyes as I turned awa/ and fff^her
I iiad a fancy to walk back alone, as I had m ked
S'el^^'tir;'"'"^ '''' ^'^'>'^^''^- ' cut'hrbond
mv carri- :V ?"''; ^^''^r'"'' ''^''- ^ ^^^^'"f^^ dismissed
Z\\Z Fi .^r'u '" ^^'"^ '^""' ^^ ^he autumn evening
as dusk lad just fallen, and took my way thn.u-h he
decorated streets. Only three days more 1 y fewcen
grace "Ttr"-' ''^"^ '^^' occasion ^hey were'mea t
grace. Ihere was a hum of gaiety throu'rh -ill tho
town; they had begun their holida^n d i v ' an 1 le
its' ;^^„^'^'^-^"^ ^--l- They in FLtack "r^uld'have
kcd to marry me every >'ear. Why not ? I was to
Wh 1 . t"''''"\ ^ reviewed the troops eve-v ear
Why should I not be married every year? It would h.
^1^ hn^ o?lSc^^r'T,°^ -Am^i:ns,^L;dllf i^
inc lines ot logic. I could nnaguie Princess Heinrich
according amplest approval to the scheme.
stre<if . y ^' f ^ ^T-'i'^ '" "^^^''t'-^tion through a quiet
street, a hand was laid on my shoulder I knew onlv
one man who w^ould stop me in that way Was'^ he ^
ofmi'schTefp'^H"' '" """'^'^f ^•^^''^'"' ^°' --'^'' - -i" "
or mischief? He came in fitting with the visit I hnr
paid. I turned and found his odd wry smile on ml he
knit brows and twinkling eyes. He lifted his ha 'and
tossed back the iron grey hair.
;; I am come to the wedding, sire," said he, bowin-r
^^ It would be incomplete without you, Wetter " "'''
And for another thing-for a treat, for a spectacle
They ve written an epithalamium, haven't they ? '
Ves, some fool according to his folly "
•' It IS to be sung at the opera the night before ? At
the gala performance ? " *=• *^r /^
li
n
I-'IL
280
ifi
'» ,
!i
THE KING'S MIRROR
himl7.''" '' "'" "P '" "'^ -"-angcnents as Bederhof
;; I have cause. Whence come you sire?"
me to be offended ^' ' '°°'' '" '^''^ =>'« ''"''ade
a suLh:' '^f'"^ -'hjmi^ical too," he observed. " There 's
nere4c.f?"''""^°" ^''°"' ""■^- '^ ^te hard^p7o?
de;Tr:rtfce;?;&^Th:r iisi--- -
h.3 s.„e at .e. .- Who s.ngs tt Sage^-sl^^^^Se
You would like it sung in tune?"'
<Jn, unquestionably"
held^'witra','; :^j'SiZz:^".!^ ^v^^ -^^-'r "is
but she sings in tune " ^''^ ' "°^ emotional,
"Doesslie, VVetter? Who is she?"
anothef I? !h°"7 cau'Sht'"!,-' "T'".'' *^" ''-'<- -'»
laughed my?elf; ^ ^"" ''>' ""^ a™ ! "ow I
W^ ef J 1 • ' ^^^'^^''e IS to smg your sonp-"
■au^hlnf « . "s" '^eat Z ^"°"l«' "« •'°*—
:Vs=rather : "'cuS cf ?e '?n 'rint'.- "aid'l ■^^''''
■au^h'Turrefalld^''^ f'^^^ "■" "-'-d. -Id v * a last
the .scene in mirth f!i?f!ear " '''""' ''"'' "'=' f™""
Iovtag™„dre;:c""^'"'^' ^"^ '■°""^ ■•" '^™ quick-witted
IS Bederhof
Sempach."
yes forbade
" There 's
lard-up for
■re were no
re."
' tidings — •
d enjoyed
5ong?" he
manager.
dding his
motional,
•roke into
; now I
:ter?"
will sing
she and
ong."
)th \\'ere
he said.
i I.
:h a last
2t, like a
ies from
<-witted
CHAPTER XXVr.
THE SECRET OF THE COUNTESS
Princess Heinrich held a recept of all sorts and
condmons of those in Forstadt who vvlrf rece vaWe
So comprehensive was the party that to be Tn dueled
inThJtcT Tufr'' ''''''''''' °"^ meLratp
in rne tace. But the scene was gorgeous and the
1 nncess presided over it with fitthig^d^nity Flsa
and I stood by her for a while, all in oSr b^ckrim
l.v.ng monuments of bliss and 'exaltedness It wTs'
Then r P[.°'^T'' '"'"''"'^^^ ^^''th the photograp ler
courtesv 1^1^^ ^k"? ""^. ^"'^ "^^'^'^ ^"^ honorific
courtesy to Bederhofs wife and Bederhofs dau<.hters
neviSht t' ^^^^'--q^'.^^ ^° be married, somehou^ quite
inevitable if one considered Bederhof himself Rising
from my plunge, I looked round for Elsa She had
window. There she sat. looking, poor soul rather
weary, speaking now and then to thos?^ who in pas ,.
by paused to make their respects and complimS ?
her. She wore my diamonds; all eyes were for her
W?th S? mrhe fff''''. 'r'-^'^' ^--^ ^^- -"ten ?'
witn a 1 my heart I hoped that she was
h. uf J^""^ ^''"^ buzzed about me, and I buzzed
back to them. I had learnt to buzz I believe u^-fh
SS o?' ""'''''' '^'^^fy -^^^ - almr 'em ^r^
for the re" °L ^ 'k""' "''"^ = '' ^^'""^^ be intolerable
T Li ^^," ^F b^ engrossed in such performances
Looking over the head of the President of^the Cou t of
Appeal (he was much shorter than his sp^cche^" s^?,
Lisa suddenly lean forward and sign wit ^he"?an to I
282
THE KING'S MIRROR
lady who passed by. The lady stopped, she sat down
by Elsa, they entered into conversation. For a while I
went on buzzing and being buzzed to, but presently
curiosity conquered me.
" In the pleasure of your conversation I mustn't forget
what is my first duty just now, gentlemen," I said with
a smile.
They dissolved from in front of me with discreet
smiles. I sauntered towards the recess where Elsa
sat. Glancing at Princess Heinrich, I saw her watch-
ing all that went forward, but she was hemmed
in by eminent persons. And why should she inter-
pose if Elsa desired to talk to the Countess von
Sempach ?
I leant over the arm of my betrothed's chair. They
were talking of common affairs. From where I was I
could not see Elsa's face, so I moved and stood leaning
on a third chair between them. The C^ untess was gay
and brilliant, kind also, with a tenderness that seemed
to throw out feelers for friendship. To me she spoke
only when I addressed her directly ; her attention was
all for Elsa. In Elsa's eyes, not skilled to conceal her
heart, there was, overpowering all other expression, a
curiosity, a study of something that interested and
puzzled her, a desire to understand the woman who
talked to her. For Elsa had heard something—not
all, but something. She was not hostile or disturbed ;
she was gracious and eager to please; but she was
inquiring and searching. At her heart's Bidding her
wits were on the move. I knew the maze that they
explored. She was asking for the Countess's secret.
But which secret ? For to her it might well seem that
there were two. Rumour said that I had loved the
Countess. It would be in the way of the natural
woman for Elsa to desire to find out why, the trick
of the charm that a predecessor (let the word pass)
had wielded. But rumour said also that the Countess
had loved me. Was this the deeper harder secret that
Elsa sought to probe, this the puzzle to which she
asked an ansv/er ? Perhaps, could she find an answer
sat down
r a while I
presently
itn't forget
said with
h discreet
here Elsa
ler watch-
hemmed
she inter-
ntess von
-ir. They
e I was I
)d leaning
s was gay
it seemed
she spoke
ntion was
•nceal her
ression, a
;sted and
man who
ling — not
listurbed ;
she was
Iding her
that they
s's secret,
jeem that
oved the
2 natural
the trick
ord pass)
Countess
scret that
hich she
n answer
THE SECRET OF THE COUNTESS 283
S^ddl^:e°°^H'::"^',.^/ '■^d^'' -"d ^'"ost sunk to
That ,,?%, . '^"' y°" '^ontdve to love him>"
sTandi^^ga^^^ ^"""°"- ^^'^^'^ ''»-* ">y ™der-
courtP<;v fj^f unbent to him, disarmed bv a
He joined ustnH V , '"''" ?"'s''t "nd composed.
h: /a°':;:h'ed"\n^i toit "oTii s'";ro,-r:M;:f =""^-
erernte?''"F:r"'\T''"^ "^ °" "i' ' '^''' ° "-
ceremonies, ^or a while we talked all t-o all- fv,
n ^^lrsa'Vn",-*t: ^a"'"'^'^ ^ ""'e stoV^Vawuife^.
^o!i u- • "^° ^ conversation apart She harl
made him sit hv hf»r r k *. j "1-"^"- •jne naa
h'.rh f^ ^ • ^ °*^"t <^own over my chair
back to coriverse more easily with my CountTss All
gene^r '''''' ^"°"^'' ""^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ weret c^ntiifue
-ade no answer to what I sai^a^d tnt'bac'k^n he?
'W
,'f^
'.sj
;,> '^
284
THE KING'S MIRROR
II .f i
chair with a thoughtful smile. I sighed, raised my head,
and looked across the room. I heard the other two in
animated talk and their gay laughter ; for the moment
my mind was not on them. Suddenly Wetter passed
in front of me ; he had once been President of the
Chamber, and Princess Heinrich knew her duty He
was with William Adolphus, who seemed in extremely
good spirits. Wetter paused opposite to me and bowed.
1 returned his salutation, but did not invite him to join
us ; I hoped to speak to him later. Thus it was for a
bare instant that he halted. But what matters time?
Its only true measure lies in what a man does in it.
Wetter s momentary halt was long enough for one of
those glances of his to play over the group we made
l^rom face to face it ran, a change of expression marking
every stage. It rested at last on me. I turned my head
sharply towards Elsa ; her cheek was flushed, her eyes
glistened, her body was bent forward in an eagerness of
attention, as though she would not lose a word Var-
vilhers was given over to the spirit of his talk, but he
watched the sparks that he struck from her eyes I
glanced again at Wetter; William Adolphus had seized
his arm and urged him forward. For a second still he
stood; he tossed his hair back, laughed, and turned
away. Why should he stay? He had said all that
the Situation suggested to him, and said it with his
own merciless lucidity.
I echoed his laugh. Mine was an interruption to
their talk. Elsa started and looked up; Varvilliers'
face turned to me. He looked at me for a moment
then a strange and most unusual air of embarrassment
spread over him. The Countess did not speak, and her
eyes were downcast. Varvilliers was himself again
directly ; he began to speak of indifferent matters. He
was not so awkward as to let this incident be the
occasion of his leave-taking. A minute or two passed.
1 looked at him and held out my hand. At the same
instant the Countess asked a signal from Elsa, and it
was giv-en. We all stood togetlier for a moment, then
they left us, she accepting his arm to cross the room
3 my head,
her two in
le moment
ter passed
2nt of the
duty. He
extremely
nd bowed,
im to join
was for a
ters time?
ioes in it.
for one of
we made,
n marking
1 my head
, her eyes
gerness of
ird. Var-
Ik, but he
eyes. I
lad seized
id still he
id turned
1 all that
with his
jption to
arvilHers'
moment,
"rassment
, and her
i\( again
:ers. He
t be the
o passed,
the same
a, and it
ent, then
he room.
THE SECRET OF THE COUNTESS 285
A7-0 MI- T ^ mind. It was between Fha '1.^/^
eyeT ta JJ'n'ihT ™'" Y'' !"='=" *<= questioning o t
thmg to remember TiTw r. "^ ' , , ^' ^ clifficult
« ij, ,*.Tfe..i", ss s ; '3.3' r,?
I fci; to° authi"g °'^ '^"' °f '=^='>"'°^>''^ f-ei" A,?d
. What made you th nlc of such a thincx?" ci.1 i ,
m a hesitating tone. sucn a thmg? she asked
" I don't know," said I. Then I turned and askeH
Have you never thought of it ? " ' ' ^^'
1/
286
THE KING'S MIRROR
•I '•,
" Never," she said. " Indeed never. How could I ? "
It was impossible to doubt the sincerity of her dis-
claimer. She seemed really shocked and amazed at the
notion.
"And now! To do it now! When everything is
ready I She gave a pretty little gasp. " And go back
with mother to Bartenstein ! " she went on, shaking her
head in horror. " How could you imagine it ? Fancy
Bartenstein again ! " '
Evidently I was preferable to Bartenstein again, to
the narrow humdrum life there. No poles, no flags
no illuminations, no cheers, no dignity! Diamonds
even scarce and rare! 1 tried to take heart. It was
something to be better than Bartenstein again.
" And what would they think of me ? Oh, it 's too
absurd. But of course you were joking ? "
" Oh, not more than usual, Elsa. You might have
found me even more tiresome than Bartenstein."
" Nonsense ! It would always be better here than at
Bartenstein.
Clearly there was no question in her mind on this
point. Forstadt and I— let me share, since I may not
engross, the credit— were much better than going back
to Bartenstein.
She was looking at me with an uneasy, almost
suspicious air.
"What made you ask that question?" she said
abruptly.
I looked round the room. Among the many groups
in talk there were faces turned towards us, regarding
us with a discreet good-humoured amusement. The
King forgot his duties and talked with his lady-love.
Every moment buttressed the reputation of our love-
match. Let it be so ; it was best. Yet the .^ham was
curiously unpleasant to me.
"Why did you ask me that question, Augustin ?
You had a reason ? "
" No, none ; except that in forty-eight hours it will
be too late to ask it."
She leant towards me in agitated pleading.
could I ? "
3f her dis-
ized at the
rything is
d go back
laking her
? Fancy
again, to
no flags,
Diamonds
. It was
I, it's too
ight have
I."
e than at
1 on this
may not
)ing back
", almost
she said
y groups
egarding
It. The
ady-love.
3ur love-
ham was
ugustin ?
s it will
THE SECRET OF THE COUNTESS 287
tenclernes. for „l and forUm/ln^'pHd^e' ' '"'' '
,ea^^ro-lfe ^Z. .^&^=
she might have peace ' ' ^"^^
gaze teJl downward. Ah that vnn h^^i k^ l
honest revelation of her he^rt Pil u' .. ?.'^^^''>'
''You '11 go on then ? » I asked, with a laugh
one laughed for n neuron tu «"&".
"But I 'm not very like the grenadier," I said
eas1nts""'"r'haTl had ^"'T^ -'''P-ng into un-
Presently she turned to me/and U^tf'ng t ga'efs
iJ
:
f^'^
ni
288
THE KING'S MIRROR
Her eyes seemed
round held out her hands to mine,
dim.
"I 'II try— I '11 try to make you happy." she said.
And she said well. Letting all think what they
vyould, I rose to my feet and bowed low over the hand
that I kissed. Then I gave her my arm, and walked
with her through the lane that they made for us. Surely
we pretended well, for somehow, from somewh-re a
cheer arose, and they cheered us as we walked through,
h^lsas face was in an instant bright again. She pressed
my arm in a spasm of pleasure. VVe proceeded in
triumph to where Princess Heinrich sat ; away behind
i\7..'" ^^.l foremost row of a group of men stood
Wetter— Wetter leading the cheers, waving his hand-
kerchief, grinning in charmingly diabolical fashion.
Ihe suitability of Princess Heinrich's reception of
:t was among her
us 1 must leave to be imagined;
triumphs.
1 fell at once into the clutches of Cousin Elizabeth
my regard for whom was tempered b>' a preference for
more restraint in the display of emotion.
" My dearest boy," she said, pulling me into a seat by
her, " I saw you. It makes me so happy."
A thing, without being exactly good in itself, may of
course have incidental advantages.
" It was sure to happen ; you were made for one
another. Dear Elsa is young and shy, and— and she
didnt quite understand." Cousin Elizabeth looked
almost sly. "But now the weight is quite off my
mind. Because Elsa doesn't change."
"Doesn't she?" I asked.
"No, she's constancy itself. Once she takes up a
point of view, you know, or an impression of a person
nothing alters it. Dear me, we used to think her
obstinate. Only everybody gave way to her That
was her father's fault. He never would have her
thwarted.^ But she's turned out very well, hasn't she?
So I can't blame him. I know your mother thou<^ht
us rather lax." ^
"Ah, my mother was not lax."
S3iEat-)frssMBs»j
THE SECRET OF THE COUNTESS 289
herself in a moment "-"'■ "'"= "^""^ " f""-
to 'yoS'n'ow-'she'!,? be^uTer wr^Tne-'^'^'^'^' ,^'"-' ''^
chann-e Sh^ ,-„cf i^ ^ "^^^'' '^"evv her to
restsj Vu''r;'feXi>::rf-''= ^-„,. and .he. i.
" "a°S[^r;?;?trrxdaS^' ''■?."^''" '^'■■^»^^* ' "
surprise at mreDithet Rnf h ' .,!'"' " "lomentary
rescue "(-ih I PP'™'- ""' her tlieory came to tlie
quite enough if ^^u do' fto'Els^ 'T/s 'Si T l''^
factory, isn t if?" tk„ j ^'^d. Yes, it is — satis-
and s^'uee" d Ly hand^" She tl "" ^^"^t^' ^^^^^''^
repeated once a^ain in iin .^1 i "'''^^' "^^"S^'" ^^e
ment. "And yon S n". ^ "i^^u comfortable content-
do you?-' ^ ^"^ "''"^ ^^°^^'"g vvhat you feel,
Cousin Elizabeth was chaffing me
"Mv Lh^ ^^'^'^ ' ^^'•got how public we were" said T
My feelings ran away with me " ' '^ ^'
Uh, why should you be ashampH > ^u
laugh, but I'm sure they envied you" ^^'^ "^'^'^^
dil' "F^^yTv^Z''^':' 'f '' '^'y ''""^'y ^^-^ they
without kn^winga^ ^ood H ' "'r' "°V'° envy people
affairs. ^ ^ ^^^"^ ^^^^ ^^^^^t them and their
in m^yTea^L^t^d mlre";^^^^^ ^'"^f'^^^' " ' ^^^ ^^-ays
not right, you know AuS"^Th^ '^'^^^ '-
but they 're not right/' ^ ""^^ ^^ necessary,
;; Very necessary, but quite wrong," I agreed
howt"e'r f was"\ sS^ L^^^^ ^^ '^^Z ^it'" afraid-
talking to 7our mod^^e? IT'^'f ^° ^°°'^ ^^ her
looking at Lr aS; ' Y^J vtre'n't"?; ^ '''''
my chatter." vveren t listenmg to
But I l>ad listened to Cousin Eli- ,tl>'s chat' r.
i?
:•'»•' P
'i
I
f''(
r
t
'f.
290
THE KING'S MIRROR
She had told me somethin<r of interest. Elsa would
never change; she took a view and a relation towards
a person and maintained them ; what she was to me
now she would be always.
"My dear cousin, I've listened with keen interest
to^every word that you've said." I protested truth-
•'Tliat's your politeness. I know what lovers are"
said Cousm Elizabeth. '
I looked across to the Duke's passive tired face The
thought crossed my mind that Cousin Elizabeth must
have depended on observation rather than on experience
for the impressions to which she referred However she
attorded me an opportunity for escape, which I embraced
with alacrity.
u ^^ ^.Pf sed my mother, she beckoned to me. Elsa
had left her, and she was alone for the moment It
seemed that she had a word to say to me, and on a
subject concerning which I thought it likely enough that
she would have something to say, the engagement of
Corahe to sing at the gala performance.
" Was there not some unpleasant talk about this Mme
Mansoni ? she asked.
" Well, there was talk," said I, smiling and allowing
my eyes to rest on the figure of William Adolphus
visible in the distance. " It would have been better not
to have her perhaps. It can be altered, I suppose."
" Bederhof sanctioned it without referring to you or
to me. It has become public now."
"Oh, I didn't know that."
" Yes ; it 's in the evening papers."
" Any— any remarks ? "
"No, except that the Vorwiirts calls it an extra-
ordinarily suitable selection."
" The Vorwdrts ? Yes," said I thoughtfully. Wetter
wrote for the Vorwdrts. "Perhaps then to cancel it
would make more talk than to let it stand. The whole
story is very old."
Princess Heinrich permitted a smile to appear on her
face as with a wave of her fan she relegated Coralie to a
Lisa would
)n towards
*vas to me
:n interest
ted truth-
Dvcrs are,"
face. The
beth must
jxperience
iwever she
embraced
Tie. Elsa
ment. It
and on a
ough that
^ement of
this Mme.
allowing
\dolphus,
)etter not
ose."
;o you or
n extra-
Wetter
cancel it
he whole
ir on her
ralie to a
THE SECRET OF THE COUNTESS 291
proper insignificance. She was smiling still as she
"There's another old acquaintance coming to assist
at the weddmg. Augustin. I telegraphed to ask he? and
term '" '"'^''^'^ ^'''^''''^ '^^ '"^^^^^'"^ ^^ ^'^^ warmest
" Indeed. Who is that, pray ? "
" 1 he Baroness," said my mother.
Not S?"' ^"■' '^'" ^ '""^ ''''^ ^ ''-^"Sh. "Krak?
^^j^ Yes, Krak, as you naughty children used to call
;; Good heavens does the world still hold Krak ? "
ver; fon'd o'you" '"' ^"^"^^^" '^ ^'^ -^ ^^-/^
"I will treat Krak." said I, "with all affection."
Surely I would, for Krak's coming put the crown of
completeness on the occasion. B^t I vvas amLed
Krak was utterly stuff of the past. ^ '
lonl^r •TII'J f'^. r' "PP""'" '° ^^^^'■'•^ ^y P'-esence
farewells ' "P """^ °^" P°^'^'°" and"^ receive
sauntered off to a buffet for a sandwiched a Xss of
champagne. There I saw Wetter and Varvilliers stand
ing together and refreshing their jaded bodie I joined
fn fh ' ^ri'^'' ^° '^y-' K^^'^ had not significance
for them, and Wetter was full of wild brilllnt LTk
Varvilhers' manner, on the other hand, although disDlav
ing now no awkwardness or restraint, shovvS unu ua
gentleness and gravity with an added friendliness verv
welcome to me. I stood between my friends si^^S
nearJ) empty. I felt a reluctance to part and an
mvmcible repugnance to my bed P
'"^-"^- to my quarters," I said, "ai
1!
('
cigars.
we'll have
ii
M
292
.1 ) i
m
YHE KING'S MIRROR
Welter's face twisted
, Varvillf-prs bowed ready assent,
into a smile.
;; I must plead excuse to the command," he said
you ou^;rno['tn T""'' ^^^"^•' ' ^ ^^^^"^ y^^' '"-". «nd
yoij^ ought not to be expected anywhere this time of
" Not at home, sire ? "
;; Home least of all," said Varvilliers, smiling,
hut 1 have guests at home." cried Wetter " I Ve
left them too long. But Her Rovil H.n-v,.. r . .
invitp thf^rry k^ 1 •!. Koyal Highness die n t
song '• ' "^^' " ''^' necessary to practise the
" What ? Are they with you ? "
St^u'b'offs'.' N:."no r " '° ' '°^^'' '''' ' ""y ^-"^^ ^l-
^^ SJpping my wine. I looked doubtfully from one to the
"The King," observed Wetter 10 Varvilliers "would
be mterested in hearing a rehearsal of the song;-
look as'ifT'd sat7 h' '°r^ to-night, and ^I daren't
look as It 1 d sat up beyond my hour "
Wetter laid his finger on my arm
" One more night ! " he said. Varvilliers laughed " I
have the same old servant. He 's very discreeU "
But you 11 put It m the Voftmrts'''
"l n do'i-r- V" ^^^ "^.f ^ting-place is my own house."
Ill do It, I cried. " Come, let 's have a carriage "
' Mine waits," said Varvilliers. "at your dis|o-l
ni see about it." and off he ran. Wetter turned to
^JAn interesting quartette there in the recess." said
;; And an insolent fellow looking on at it," said I
before air:'" world'-''' °" ^"" ^"P"'^'^^ love-making
^''Do; Jr.. v.xeJ'T nothing more politic."
It shaj ie . v'Si) sinceritv."
" M^^'^ r ' '''•y}'^^^'^ i'' ^' ? Not one fbr me ? "
truth ■ A-^H ' ^V\'" ^'^'^ ^"^y ^^^" 0"e tells the
truth. A lie must be solemn, sire."
■-■'"' "■- ''■■ir ■^•"-nMw
THE SECRET OF THE COUNTESS 293
"True. Write it to your mood."
n in.ag.nat.on, but could not find in I .s sVormv L
cried ^ vvedd.ng-song and one night more ! " he
We rolled off, we three, in VarviUiers' carriage.
li
/!
-.f
CHAPTER XXVII.
OF GRAZES ON THE KNEE
Jn^T^'f'^^'v'^ "^""^^ ^^^^ they practised the marriage
en?f;.H F "^"'"^ ""^^^^ '^'■°"&h ^he house as we
Th^n u> ..f moment we paused in the hall to listen.
Then Wetter dashed up the stairs, crying, "Good God !
Wooden, wooden, wooden!" We followed him at a
Z C «• u""^ •^^^. "^^^^ °P^^^ ^"d '■"■'^hed in. Coralie
broke off her smgmg and came to greet me with a little
cry of pleased surprise. Struboff sat at the piano, look-
Tt^hT o'/h ^'''''^^''%^- , Supper was spread^on a tab^
at the other end of the room. When Struboff tried
to nse. Wetter thrust him back into his seat. " No no
the Kmg doesn t want to talk to you," he said " He
wants to hear Madame sing, to hear you play. Coralie
come and smg again, and for God's sake sing it as if it
meant somethmg, dear Coralie."
smib '^ ^"''^ nonsense," said Coralie with a pouting
"Nonsense ? Then it needs all your efforts. As if-
as It, 1 say— It meant something."
Varvilliers laughing, flung himself on a sofa, I stood
at the end of the piano Wetter was gesticulating and
muttering on the hearthrug. Struboff put his fingers
on the keys again and began to play ; after a sigh of
weariness Coralie uplifted her voice. It came fresh and
tull; the weariness was of the spirit only. The piece
was good, nay, very good; there were feeling and
passion in the music. I looked at Struboff His
fingers nioved tenderly, tears stood in his little eyes
''M^ r°^ P? P^'^^^^ \'°^^' '" P^'^^^ heartlessness.
My God ! muttered Wetter from the hearthrug..
294
OF GRAZES ON THE KNEE
295
le marriage
louse as we
all to listen.
Good God !
1 him at a
n. Coralie
vith a litde
)iano, look-
on a table
uboff tried
" No, no,
iaid. " He
r. Coralie,
I it as if it
a pouting
3. As if^
^a, I stood
lating and
lis fingers
a sigh of
fresh and
rhe piece
sling and
off. His
ittle eyes.
:lessness.
learthnicr.
He caught her by the
and bounded across to her.
arm.
" Feel, feel, feel ! " he cried angrily
''Don't be so stupid," said Coralie.
She can't feel it," said Struboff, taking his handker-
chief and wiping brow and eyes. nanciKer
his's^ofa ' ^ ^^'^""^^^ woman," remarked Varvilliers from
hJ-Tr^'^ ^^f" she could," said Wetter, taking both
he. hands and surveying her from top to toe. "You 'd
think she could understand. Look at her eyes her
loT'at heT 7T'' ^'J"' ^^^ ^°"^^ und^ensianS
Look at her hands, her waist, her neck. It's a little
strange, isn't it? See, she smiles at me. She has an
least. It s just that she happens not to be able to
During all this outburst Struboff played softly and
tenderly; a large tear formed now in each of his eves
and presently trickled over the swelling hillocks under
nea h his cheek bones. Coralie was smelling placic^y at
Wetter thinking him mad enough, but in^o way^put
out by his criticism. ^ ^
f " ^ T^ Jf ' 'V '^^"^ ^^"e*" »" a whimsically puzzled
tone 'Why should I feel it? I'm not youn? or
beautiful, and my voice is the worse for wear because
} cTn'ftlTt.'' """"" ^'^ ^'"^^ -^^ "^"^^- Ne-rtheTess
cl^y''x^^\ ^^^^ ^ ^'^ ^°°^ °f yourself," observed
Coiahe, breaking into a laugh and snatching her hands
away from him. ^ ^iduub
"Yes, yes, yes, I should hope so," he cried. "She catches
of\SV Th''"'' '°Pf • ^^' '""^ -°"'^ make a foo
of herself There s no hope." He sank into a chair
with every appearance of dejection.
fhl' J ki""'K<'aV;1'"PP^'"^'"'^'" '^^ ^^'^•^' moving towards
play," said I. "Perhaps he'd rather
'11!
I
I
than
sup.
lay
296
r/ '
>i r
mid
THE KING'S MIRROR
i1
solemnly He wafnlTvln ^ " "'°'"^"' ''"^ "°dded
turn to fhe "usr4'tir^si,i:;:j"o°rj,^'™^ ^ p'^'-"™
leap^g^ur-OntaL'.T ^^-n." cned Wetter,
bade'hef H? f "f""/""''^') ""ith hi,„ and did as he
Stuboff and gazed int^ hf f '"'\ ''>' •>«'■ behind
his lips Uvfehfrand'ts 'eyes Tare Irolf h"' •''"■ '
ardour of passion. ^ ^" °" •>" '" an
" aT\o„ V.^ ''^?' " "1 "'"S." he commanded.
.azy^';arih:''tt;tt"'rrst'"an''d^fi,fd^=?H"'
room with healthy tuneful sound. ' '"" ^""^ ">"
of it'°tLn ™u"ettp"?eT' ' "" ^"""^ "" "'°-
name, come ^nd eTrdeJr'coSie "" "^ '" '^""'^
L-oralie appealed to me
"l"can fill The G^Hh h ""^ti' '"^ "^"'" ^h« ^^ked.
1 can nil tne Grand Opera House quite easilv "
"You sing It to perfection," said I '.Th;»^; n„n,-
wrorjg, nothing at all. Wetter here is mI5 ■' ' "°"""^
from^hfsrfa. """""'" """'■" ^*«^ ^arviUiers, rising
1',^"!" '? damned mad," said Wetter.
n-ghi°a,, ry- ^n^rr :igrfit J-^p
;:rPiafon'^.' ^'™^°'^P'^?- S^you-'wantT:
Struboff nodded arain and nlavpH r.r, tr-
rmt'o'rm"e:r £^t"' ''"^— --'-
seemed the t»7l n » ^ ,? P""""*"' enriching, as it
aT^aid 'no htd to" hem" w:'" '^^^ '"/- ^'•-.
veheLntdiscussfon'-vffhTar^llSrrvKelhimwX
i'^iai*?',^^!
h a shrug,
nd nodded
a plaintive
ed Wetter,
I '11 stand
ok at you.
did as he
er, behind
see him ;
her in an
r pleasant
filled the
no more
In God's
he asked,
s nothing
irs, rising
espairing
'ay.
" You 're
lad. To
want to
is notes,
ompani-
ig, as it
y/e gras,
in some
im with
to
M.
OF GRAZES ON THE KNEE 297
good-humoured pertinacity. I had dropped out of the
i AA> ^^^' )!'^f"'"g dreamily to Struboffs music
mI?" L^P'^^'^ ^^'^ *^°'^" ^^"^ '^"'fe and turned to me
Wouldn t It be nice if I were going to be married to
you ? she asked.
c." ^^^"''"F'" '^'"^ ^- "^"^ ^hat of our dear
^trubott? And what of my cousin Elsa?"
" We wouldn't trouble about them." She was looking
?f7|^^ ^ ^^'^"^^ gaze. "No," she said, "you
wouldn t hke It. Shall we try another arrangement?"
leant towards me and laid her pretty hand on my
arm Wetter and I-I am not very well placed, but
let It pass-Wetter and I, Varvilliers and the Princess
you and the Countess." -rrmcess,
I made no sign of appreciating this rather penetrating
suggestion. ^ ^
" You 're more capricious than fortune, more arbitrary
than fate, madame," said I. " Moreover, you have again
forgotten to provide for M. Struboff."
She shrugged her shoulders and smiled.
" No " she said meditatively. " I don't like that after
all It might do for M. de Varvilliers, but the Countess
IS too old, and Wetter there would cut my throat We
can t sacrifice everything to give Varvilliers a Princess "
6he appeared to reflect for a icw seconds. " I don't
know how to arrange it."
" Positively I should be at a loss myself if I were
called upon to govern the world at short notice"
1 think I must let it alone. I don't see how to
make it better."
"Thank you. For my own part I have the good
luck to be in love with my cousin."
Coralie lifted her eyes to mine. "Oh, no," she
drawled quietly. Then she added with a laugh "Do
you remember when you fought Wetter ? "
v." ^^^'^eis, yes, fools that we were! Not a word of
It ! Nobody knows."
" Well, at that time you were in love with me."
" Madame, I will have the honour of mentionin^^ a
much more remarkable thing to you."
298
THE KING'S MIRROR
ill
If you please, sire," she said, takin- a bunch of
grapes and beginning to eat the^. " "''' °^
^^ You were all but in love with me."
was ah le?\ '^""""'Y^^^- ^^^ 're too humble. J
was, ah, yes, I was. I was very afraid for you 3fo„
ana, don t you wish that, instead of being Kin^ here
you were the Sultan?" ^ ^ ^^^'
quLtiof '"^ ^' ''''•' ^^'"P' ^"^ -somewhat unceremonious
"In fact, Coralie," said I, "there are only two realiv
romtomLl-' "^^ '^ '' '■" ^^'^ ''' '• ^" ^'- '^ -i--bl^
" Tell them to me."
thefattt''" " ' "°"'- ^"^-P-don "^e-give me
"Well^ I once knew a monk very well, and "
began Corahe m a tone of meditative reminiscence
But rather to my vexation Wetter spoilt die story by
I ex^a'i'eT '^"""'"^ ^^^^ ^"^ re-arranging Destiny,"
J ^T^' T^ \" ^^ ''■'^^- " Y°" 'd not get rid of the
chfdren." °"'^ '^^°^^ ''^' ^°"^^^>^- ^eM^ alone! my
Th^^h^l K ^^°"^' ^""^ ^^^^" ^° ^^^^"er honest nonsense
This had been going on for a few minutes when I beJ
came aware suddenly that Struboff had ceased playing
my weddmg song. I looked round • he sat on hS
p.ano-stool his broad back like a tree-trunk bent to a
bow, and h.s head settled on his shoulders till a red
bulge over h.s collar was all that survived of hs neck
I rose softly, signing to the others not to interrupt their
conversation, and stole up to him. He dFd not^move
h.s hands were clasped on his stomach. I peered Znd
m L'chc^r AtV'rT%T" ''' '■" ' m"e Teavy
melancholy. At first I felt very sorry for hinV but as I
went on look.ng at him something of CoralTe's feehni
leir^Z'::^' ";1 ' ^-V"^-y- That he Ts S
less very miserable ceased to plead for him, nay, it
a bunch of
humble. I
t* you. Moft
I King here,
ceremonious
y two really
is miserable
le — give me
, and "
'miniscence.
lie story by
Jr heads so
g Destiny,"
t rid of the
alone, my
t nonsense,
vhen I be-
ed playing
iat on the
bent to a
till a red
f his neck
rrupt their
not move
;red round
que heavy
1, but as I
e's feeling
'as doubt-
n, nay, i^
OF GRAZES ON THE KNEE 299
aggravated hi« offence. What the deuce right had this
fellow to make misery repulsive.? And it was over my
weddmg song that he had tortured himself inio thi^
ludicrous condition! Yet again it was a oleasai t
paradox of nature's to dower this caicase wkh 'he
ensibihty which might have given a crowning charm
to the beauty of Coralie. In him it could atfract n^
au'sed^ht"/' <=°"Id bnng no happiness. Probab y ^
caused him to play the piano better; if this justifies
nature she is welcome to the plea. For my pa I feU
that ,t was monstrously bad taste in him to ?ome and
hi^ mark " '"^ "'^' '" ^°"^"^^- ^"^ ^'^ -^-^hS
"Good God, my dear Struboff," I cried in extreme
annoyance, " think how little it matters, how liUle any of
us care even, if you like, how little y^u ought to c^are
yourself! You ve tumbled down oi. the gfavel; very
well ! Stop crying, and don't, for heaven'! sake keep
showing me the graze on your knee. We all, I suppose
ha e grazes on our knees. Get your mother t^.^put'
you into stockings, and nobody will see it. I Ve bLn
m stockings for years." I burst into a laugh
He did not understand what I would-be af that
perhaps, was hardly wonderful. ' '
;' The music has affected me," he mumbled.
1 hen come and let some champagne affect vou " I
stret nin^g T'^''''' " ^^^^' ^'^ >'- '^ ^^^^ ' P^'ea-
He looked at me with ponderous sorrowful reproach
nose P ^^'"""^ ^"^^"'"S ' " ^^ groaned, as he blew his
fna \?'i7 k''?)- ^'"''97' " ^ damnably pleasant even-
ht f ^^'^^""^J ;^"^I caught him by the arm, dragged
me H?reV'°?'' V ^ T"'' !^™ °^ ^° ^he t;blel^th
,r XT. ^ ^^^ ^™ d°^^" between Varvilliers and
myse f ; Wetter and Coralie, deep in low-voiced con-
versation, paid no heed to him. He began to eat a° d
drink eagerly and with appetite.
"You perceive, Struboff," said I persuasively "that
while we have stomachs-and none, my friend, can deny
300
THE KING'S MIRROR
'! " !i
graze on the knee by chfnS ? b^f ™"'r' '1''^'= ^^ ^
" R " °f '''r-" whrha/7o'd,w!'"- ' P™y y°"-
Jt would be verv haH f^ '""^r.
Struboff in full.moXd'medtetfor "° '"™^^'" ^^'^
e^erT^omZS?:ll i^f ,t' ^-^ "etter-tempered
which we afflict oursdves? "i^^" fi"=-=P''n ""series with
Reflect beC'you^is:::;!;^,^..'^^"^ ""•--"«'
flectd "'"'" ^ ^'^^' °f champag„e;a„d. I suppose, re-
,',' IS *": fiad his piano also " i,e bemn
drankTis wine'STpoIoge^'^rorvnSf'it^' -'' ^^
looking at him with a merc.less im? f I ^^f °"
manner became express.Ve nf . u*"'^';" •' >>'= 'vhole
I saw Varviliiers Tmot :rin°g VTr^n^° t '''^''t'li
much to good manners T „ rJ ,' ""^ sacrificed
Suddenly, fo my Turpr si: wLter « Jt'r^"'? 1'""^-
wrist. f ^, yv ecter caught Coralie by the
hisey^oThef ' """'" ""' -''^d- »«"ling and fixing
" Yo^ir^'hnfh'li^y husband," said she.
goingjr;:'itita^:utis'?^ " °^'»- ^- y°"
tell youTnoth* ttint •■ &°?? '^"^i >=— ■ I'"
her wrist tightV "Look^, t I '2-Tf ■'d' ="'" holding
well at him » ^ '' "' Struboff," he said. " Look
St^ubo™" li]T!oS;"" "^ P'' ^^"« °f '~k-g at M.
"Very well. When you die-because you'll grow
'•fK*»#s
ty of delight.
have you a
r, I pray you,
iinner," said
^er- tempered
niseries with
o be thirsty,
' man, well-
miserable ?
suppose, re-
gh.
1 her eyes
e directly;
-d, and he
^le went on
his whole
elsewhere.
sacrificed
-d gently,
ilie by the
tnd fixing
mething ?
Are you
ws. I 'Jl
1 holding
"Look
ig at M.
'11 grow
OF GRAZES ON THE KNEE 30,
which shS had troubled LseJffn v'- °"l P"'"' °"
the universe """^'^ ''^'^'=" '<> criticise the order of
or ^^lILd^MoS - atjeSedT^V:-
And ^1r^'?K , , °^ my good friend M. Struboff
<,ui.e caii^v, ^Mhal':d~:lt^^i,Torhl^^;^' ^^>'
villiert'^ """ ' """" »'""- 'here, sire," pit in Var-
amu!ed,'"saS'''f ""Ste'ff ^ "'fj";^"' because she's
■This and'hatS hfve Ire^hif an'd"that°T h' ^"'"^'
done. Perhan« T ^.vi T , '^^^ ^ have not
Ihey all appeared to be h'stening with attentive ear,
hear^h^^Ie:."^^' ^'™^^'«'" ^^^ «'-«"• "Lerut
pret'eIded'''"i\"'"''K'"' '° '"^" ^^ause I have not
^ f {1 ca'n.t\Ttot," „M p-tn'del'r"'' ^.e'
"Wi h theT"' "'",1' '^ kings? "';skedVarvilliers
said l! ""' '^'"S" "'^° "^^-^ "°' »'=^° been pretended,"
•■TVow de Z>mi," said she, "I believe th=,t i 1, 11
-'^*. v— *. ^^^ .
I i1%
302
THE KING'S MIRROR
final glass and patted his st^mch I thfn. th'"'' ^
were a] happier than when we sat down "' '^^' '''
" I back o'f °'''"'°"' ^''^''^^'" ^ " ^ ^^"^ed them.
" Wp ^1 M '^u '^' .^"^^^'•ed Varvilliers.
VVe to Munich,' said Coralic with a shrug.
" also f^^ "°''f ''^'^'^'' ^^"S^e^ ^Vettlr.
1 also the deuce knows where. Come then tn n,,.
Th^. "if73^,-PPer!" I poured outTglass if W
'' Buf w^ h",M "'^ ""^"P'^' ^"^ -- drink '"'•
But we shall have no more," said Wetter
spokeTjrrn"''H'^?'' !f" °\"^ ^"- ^hen Wetter
Sa^stu^e. ' '""'' '° ^'^"^ ^"^ -d'-ted me
"He's a good fellow, our Augustin."
^^ Yes, a good fellow," said Varvilliers
mo.^.h;7a^;tg'S',.!^:r^ Struboff, who was
" A good fellow," said Coralie. Then she steoDed .m
n ^oYcLeks '^"t - 7,f-^ders -dti^sTd'm^
said she ^^^'^ ^^"°'^' ^^'^ ^^"1^ Augustin,"
accompaniment or conclusion of an evening's entertain
ii^ntly won. Yet even now as I write lookino- hark
over the years, I cannot, when I accuse m.iifr
mawkishness, be altogether convinced by "^f elf
denunciation. For what it was worth, the thinl came
home to me; for a moment it over-kapt the barH^-s
Sve^rrand'tV'^ ^^^^"^^^ that 'mad: a' hJ^
netween me and them ; for a moment they had for-
(.«-satij«iSSS^;.;-A,
*&^^'#
re there the
iciation, but
eeable — and
lock in the
he drank a
ink th:,t we
2d them.
g-
:er.
hen, to our
iss of wine,
k.
len Wetter
Jicated me
] who was
Jtepped up
kissed me
Augustin,"
phrases of
/, the out-
ip feeling,
1 ordinary
entertain-
had been
<ing back
myself of
the self-
ling came
e barriers
- a hedge
had for-
OF GRAZES ON THE KNEE 303
gotten that I was not merely their good comrade I
3 ?hen' ^tT T^'^ [-g'^^ o^tcn wLt I am but noJ
and hen it is pkasant to be no more than what I
myself am. And the two there. Wetter and Varvill^rs
ZtZ '^\^T't' '° ^'■'^^"^■^ ^h^' I ^^^^ known One
whe o T r^ ^? r'^'T'y' '^^ ^^'^'-^•- the deuce knew
where. I should be alone.
Alone I made my way back from Wetter's house
alone and on foot. I had a fancy to walk thu thro 'h
the -ounte'? T""'' ' '^r .*" P^"^^ ^" '"-^t^nt be o^-e
the v^ountess door, recollecting many thin-s • alone to
tell myself that the stocking^must be kept' over the
graze, and that the asking of sympathy was he
betraya of my soul's confidence to me ; alonT to be
weak, alone to be strong ; alone to detern^ine "o do my
work with my own life, alo'e to hope that I m^s^
not render too wretched the life of another. I had
good from that walk of mine. For you see when a
man is alone, above all, I think, when he is abne in the
rj'l. .H ^^^'' °"" "^^y'' ^S^' ^°"^ ^"d the new morn-
hfnk h' "°' ^u J°T^' ^' ^^" P^"^^ -"d stand and
hink. He can be still; then his worst and his best
steal out, like mice from their holes (the cat of con
SeVi". ^;^^^P^' ,^"^, P^^y their gambols and ant'cs
before his eyes; he knows them and himself and
reaches forth to know the world and his work 'in f
his life and the end of it, the difference, if any. chat he
has made by spending so much pains on living
^ It was tour o'clock when a sleepy night-porter let me
in. My servants had orders nevefto wait ^beyond two
and in rny rooms all was dark and quiet. But when I
ht a candle from the little lamp by the door. I saw some
body lying on the sofa in my dressing-roo^, a woZvs
figure stretched in the luxury of quiet sleep. Victo ia
ind To" '.Y"h ""r ''''■ ' "^ 'g'^^ to sle her the :
and to catch her drowsy smile as her eyes ooened
under the glare of my candle. "^ P
''What in the world are you doing here, i/.y dear?"
said I, setting down the candle and putting my hands
m my pockets. "^ -^ "'^"'^^
304
THE KING'S MIRROR
.nf}^^uu- "P- ^^h'-'^'<'"& her skirts round with one hand
and rubbing her eyes xvith the other
" I came to tell you about Krak ; Krak 's come R.,t
you^ weren't here. So I lay down. ;nd I su^^o^I went
'' I suppose you did. And how 's Krak ? "
Just the same as ever • "
the it? r^'' ^ ^''"^ '''''^' ^^'' *" '^'^ ^ «^^«"'d rebel at
Victoria laughed.
"Sh?'s iusf;hr"'" '^%^''" \^^''ow:'she remarked,
^ne s just the same. I 'm rather glad, you know th;,t
"Resides one doesn't want to exaggerate the nower
of advancmg years. You didn't come for a^wth nl
except to tell me about Krak?" anythmg
Victonajot Mp, '.ame to me, and kissed me.
No, nothmg else." ^he said. She stopped a noment
wllli^Arpht? ^'-''y' "Vou're^trbriikl'
her ^urposf "^ ^'s^'"'u! '" " '^l^^ ^'' ^^ought and
night?'' ^till— have you been with Elsa to-
'• Yes ; after Cousin Elizabeth and mother left her
You-you'Il be kmd to her? I told her that she was
very sUly. and that I wished I was going to maT?;
"Oh, you did ? But she wishes to marry me ? "
She means to, of course."
" Exactly. My dear, you 've waited a long while to
tell me somethmg I knew very well."
;' I thought perhaps you 'd be glad to see me " she
S^t:J;^sP''- " Where Lve you beeir? tl
"Indeed, no. ToWetter's"
"Ah! The singer?"
"The singer of my marriage-song, Victoria."
y^tona looked at me in a rather despairing fashion
'Her smgmg of it," I added, "will be^he most
■^nSK^^S!'?^
th one hand
come. But
jpose I went
uld rebel at
2 remarked.
know, that
i have been
the power
r anything
a moment,
a bit like
ought and
I Elsa to-
r left her.
It she was
to marry
le?"
: while to
me," she
en ? Not
OF GRAZES ON THE KNEE 305
unfctened 't^ "huUerf anf L"/ „ '7^"' '» *« -"do--
single star shone vet in 'fh- '"'"*,'' "P ">= "inds. A
at ft for a few m.Ctes lhL%7 '''^' ' "°°<' '°»l«ng
round, Victorir'waTon^SS ofa S'^l ""' '"^^
in a quiet matter-nf A.^f ,. ""^ ' ^"^ was cry ne
a rather l,K'^''a7''y4"f' Passionately, but witf
moment, but sTLmng N^!!"'t/\ ">= f°' •
leant against the wall Th .^m! j ''"? ' 'P«ak. I
five minutes, I shodd suD^^r^v'' ^^ "S^'^^^^. For
on. Then i Aung ata;Te SJattte Vi°f "j'"^^ "="'
cry-ng, wiped her eyes, and goiC"' ^'«°"» "°PI«d
^he.' "Go^d-rifht"^:!^" '°'" ■•" '"^ 6"""." said
M m'if.f'' r ^"'' ' '^''^ h^r good-night
fashion.
;he most
y
CHAPTER XXVIII.
AS DEDERHOF ARRANGED
Of the next day I have three visions.
I see myself with Krak and Princess Heinrich Pride
illuminated their faces with a cold radiance, and their
utterances were conceived in the spirit of a Nunc
Dimtttis. They congratulated the world on its Ruler
the kingdom on its King, themselves on my account
me on theirs. To Krak I was her achievement, to my
mother the vindication of the support she had given to
Krak and the refutation of my own grumblings and
rebellion. How could I not be reminded of my coro-
nation day ? How not smile when the Princess after
observing regretfully that the Baroness would not be
able to educate my children, bade me inculcate her
principles in the mind of their tutor or governess She
was afraid, she said, that dear Elsa might be a little
lacking in firmness, a little prone to that indulgence
which IS no true kindness in the end.
" The very reverse of it, Madame," added Krak
"It's quite time enough for them to begin to do as
they like when they grow up," said Princess Heinrich
"By then though," said Krak, "they will have learnt,
J hope, to do what they ought."
"I hope so with all my heart. Baroness," said I
"Victoria is absurdly weak with her child," Princess
Heinrich complained.
Krak smiled significantly. She had never expected
much of Victoria; the repression of exuberant wicked-
ness had been the bounds of her hope.
inrich. Pride
ce, and their
of a Nunc
3n its Ruler,
my account,
:ment, to my
had given to
mblings and
of my coro-
rincess, after
ould not be
aculeate her
2rness. She
t be a little
: indulgence
Krak.
fin to do as
3 Heinrich.
have learnt,
said I.
d," Princess
er expected
ant wicked-
AS BEDKRlfOF ARRANGKD 307
Krak left us. There must have been some noticeable
expression on my face as I watched her go. fur ny
mother said with a ^iniie : ^
*' I know you think she was severe. I used to think
"^i:^^^^- ^^^'^- '-well you -vetuS
"Madame,- said I, "my present excellence and my
impendu,}^ happmess reconcile me to everythhi- " ^
obsci-vc'd T ff ^""V >'!'''7 childhood," my mother
Observed I bowed. "And now you are <roinLr to
S"''a'''' \ ^"'^', ^^°°-^^ ^'^ y^-^^^- all
others. Agam I bowed. "And public affairs in»
qu.et and satisfactory." A third time^ bowed " Kis
me, Augustin." said my mother.
waVntlh""'!!^'^ ''u "^y ^'■^'^'>' successful life and reign
manner Th T ^ ""u"-''^ Heinrich's most conclusive
manner. I had no thought of disputing it ; I was
almost surprised that the facts themsc ves did not suH-^
an nnmechate transformation to match the v e w he
expressed. What matter that things were no? so'
They were to be deemed so and aUled so, so held
heart" rfr^^'-, ,M>' -^^^^^'^ ^""^^^^ touched my
heart, and I kissed her with much affection. It is no
o realftv ' ^t'^^'^T '? ""^ <^«"--^tently superb"
to reality I who fought desperate doubtful battles
nX ^' "r'''' '''''''''''' '''''' ^^^ the enemy of
front ^''"^ ^""'^'^ ^° ^'''''''''' Heinrich's .iciorious
wifJi^Ki ^ '^^ u^''^'^ ''i^^ ^''^^' ^1°"^ ^^'^ a little while
with Lisa exultant in her pomp, observed of all Ic
envy of all. the centre of the spectacle, frocke 1 and
jewelled beyond heart's desire, narcotised by fus ad
w t7diK"^;'"''i ''r'^""- ^ ^^"^ ^-■"^' 1^^^ alone
al he^.v ^\^'' I-'; ^''^'' r''"" ^^■'^"^''^" ^y '^^•- almost
all the day. She did not desire to be alone with me
Ihat was to come to-morrow at Artenberg. Now was
her moment, and she strove to think it eternal U waJ
not in her to face and conquer the great enemy after
Princess Hemrichs heroic fashion ; slfe could o^Vm
and nv. hir in<r ft-m-r. l-.^..,.,jr 1 , -^ '
fly, hiding from herself h
ow soon she
must be
308
THE KING'S MIRROR
.1 '
M'J
gap for the entrance of what she feared T""^ "°
her eyes the apprehension that fi led her Once ThaS
necessL nf^l • ' "./^^sionate loathing for the
now f shoJd nof h""^?""^ °l ^"- ' ""^ 'hastened
"WW, 1 snouid not be in so bad a casp 3q c:f..„K^<r
there would be no question of a fresh slice f bread'
?es r ni'th '° ■ "'''T "^^^'f "S'""^' "er, dedaring hat
desiring the prize, she must pay the orirp a„^ j„ j
ra°ti0°"A^ ''"^^"f ^ b&JafnXrih^trte h:d'
thf^te wa?'nrLrg;ett% r^ric:''\"d''h: ™^"
P™>;^,""^ "ot to turn^er fea'rsT certainly" fS
would know soon enough. •■'""Ly. :3ne
Last comes the vision of the theatrf^ nf fK« „^i
formance, where Elsa and I c.f -i ' u -.^^^^ P^**"
rifd P"^'"'-^^ there; I had but to loj this way Stof
ahve reai;^'"Th"''^ '"V'f ^^''^^ ^^ wej f^r me
^» u„co?,tL"bL^ ^^i^^; r„l-' ^thS:
snSd t' fSe°sl 1^ if "-^-^ ''' P'-"S
stranger passif g.'eaS of in";^hr vfcrorraThrn"d'
ringed and gloved, and bracelefed, held he? fan r
remembered the little girl's bare, red, ripped knuckles
towards he, and'^lw^a^tu^nd he^rsT Jir'^ A^^"
W ? 1" Vl" '° '"='•■ '"^''■■"g to be loved again as a
aSn ii°',he /■■/"'' """"« ''°"' h" relictS love*
S ^ I "'? '"S°"'' ^"'' unsparing pride of mv
manhood sacrificed her heart and my delfght Below
her, standing near the orchestra, was WettSr through
my glass I could see the smile that neverleft his face^''
as
AS BEDERHOF A.RRANGED
t'ous flaency,
:, leaving no
I- I saw in
Once it had
. an intense
ling for the
s chastened
IS Struboff;
:e of bread,
daring that,
nd deserved
herself had
■ how small
id her eyes
ainty. She
le gala per-
iide, ringed
', making a
^ remember
It, and my
all my life
ay or that,
ere for me
there my
at them
; pleasures
ance and
ia's hand,
er fan ; I
knuckles,
e, was the
ned often
-• Again
gain as a
ant love;
ie of my
t. Below
; through
lis face as
309
he scanned the bedizened row in which I sat. There
with him, looking on, jesting, scoffing at the parade,
there was Nature's place for me, not here playing chief
part in the comedy. What talks and what nights had
we had together, how together had we fallen from
heaven and ruefully prayed for that trick of falling
soft! See, he smiles more broadly! What is it?
Struboff has stolen in and dropped heavily into a
seat. Wetter waved a hand to him and laughed.
Laugh, laugh, Wetter! It is your only gospel and
therefore must be pardoned its inevitable defects.
Laugh even at poor Struboff whose stomach is so
gross, whose feelings so fine, who may not give his
wife a piece of bread, and would ask no greater joy
than to kiss her feet And laugh at Varvilliers too,
who, although he sits where he has a good view of
us, never turns his eyes towards the lady by my side,
but is most courteously unobservant of her alone
among all the throng. Did she look at him? Yes,
for he will not look towards her. Why, we are all
here, all except Hammerfeldt who looks down from
heaven, and Coralie who is coming presently to sing
us the wedding-song. Even Victoria's Baron is here,
and Victoria's sobs of terror are in my ears again.
Bederhof and his fellows are behind me. The real
and the unreal, the dummies and the men, they are
all here, each in his place in the tableau. When
Coralie comes we shall be complete.
The opera ended and the curtain fell. There was a
buzz of talk.
" Our anthem comes now, Elsa," said I.
"Yes," she whispered, crushing the bizarre satin rag
of a programme that they had given her. " I have
never heard Madame Mansoni," she added.
I glanced at her ; there was a blush on her cheek ;
she had heard of Madame Mansoni, although she had
not heard her sing.
I put up my glass again and looked at Wetter.
He nodded slightly but unmistakably, then flung his
head back and laughed again. Now we waited
3ro
THE KING'S MIRROR
only for Coralie. With hr,-
complete. "'^'^ ^^' coming we should be
The music beean R,,
knew not^kich^,eryS^yZZ^^^^^^^ I
Eisa and I sat still. The curtain r ^"^ ^^^^' Only
revealed in her rare beautv pn?^ °'^ ^"^ Coralie was
moment later the great fullfll'T^''^^^^^^ ^^l'"- A
theatre; she had hid no doubt thf^'^^'"^^ ^^^'^ '^-
theare. I saw Struboff leaninVhf i"^" ^°"^^ ^^ ^he
shoulders eloquent of desoa "^ l '" ^^ ^^^''•' his
strammg eyes and curlin?C' V '^-n- ^^^'^' ^''th
mischievous remembrancf of^!; Varvilher^. smiling in
side Elsa was breatS^ Jm?^ ^'^ '".^arsal. By my
her; her eyes were spfrfe -^""^ •^^^- ' ^ turned ^o
ment It w'as a grand^ mom^^^^ sTTll ^"^ ^--•^-
her cheek reddened, her eve??W K^^^^ my glance;
the swiftest covert' g!ancrfle7fn''' ^7 ^'P ^"^^'"^d
v^ihe. was. I turnfd a^ay^^i^nt ^J-fckr^^
TheTe^lToVh:? :S,^^-^r out her words,
as though she would "oTigfade^"''^ "^^^^^^
the service of this sham a. fh u ^T P^^^'on to
enough for such a Sage and^th '^' •"^^'"^^ ^^^^^
to sanction it. Elsa's eyes w'e 1 ^ 'P'"' ^^^^-ned
Countess leant forward, gSinfath/^Vu^^' ^"^ ^he
came, and Coralie. withThw hn 7^^ ^^'^ ^^rse
It direct to me, to'me acrossTll Z ^u^ ^ ^"^'^^' ^^ng
that now all heads we?e Turned r ^^^u^'^> '° Plainly
facing round and loXg al" at r i' '^' P^'^P^^
my SKie. Every eye was^on us ^" ""^ "' ^^^^ ^y
A short'^gfsp'o'Jlob ^amTToi^^'pi'^'^^V'^"^^^ -"t.
swelled and swelled, handkercWef. ^^" J^^ ^^^^^s
I rose to my feet, gave Els^ mf K^!,""^ '" *^^ ^ir.
her to rise. Then Together we fn 1^"'^' ^"^ ^^^P^d
and bowed to all. SHence f^l? r^ f- f ^"P ^^^^^^rd
through the tem;S^?^^chts!°"fC^t^^^^^^^^^^
should be
impulse, I
set. Only
^oralie was
5 calm. A
• filled the
'Id fill the
chair, his
-tter with
smiling in
By my
turned to
d excite-
y glance ;
quivered ;
ere Var-
sickness
!r words,
nockery,
ision to
ds were
scorned
and the
St verse
le, sang
plainly
people
'Isa by
St out.
cheers
he air.
helped
irward
e rose
chorus
I, and
3n no
.y BEDERHOF ARRANGED
311
such enthusiasm in Forstadt within the memory of
man. The heart of the people went forth to us ; it
was a triumph, a triumph, a triumph !
The next day we were married ; and in the evening
my wife and I set out together for Artenberg. This
was what Bederhof had arranged,
^' W. (MSIDY
THE END
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