THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 OF CALIF. LIBRARY, LOS ANGELES
 
 THE 
 GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 BY 
 
 E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 
 1922
 
 Copyright, 
 BY LITTLE, BHOWN, AND COMPANY. 
 
 All rights reserved 
 Published March, 
 
 PRINTED IN THE UKITED STATES OP AMERICA
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 " A club for diplomats and gentlemen," Prince 
 Karschoff remarked, looking lazily through a little 
 cloud of tobacco smoke around the spacious but al 
 most deserted card room. " The classification seems 
 comprehensive enough, yet it seems impossible to get 
 even a decent rubber of bridge." 
 
 Sir Daniel Harker, a many years retired pleni 
 potentiary to one of the smaller Powers, shrugged 
 his shoulders. 
 
 " Personally, I have come to the conclusion," he 
 declared, " that the raison d'etre for the club seems 
 to be passing. There is no diplomacy, nowadays, 
 and every man who pays his taxes is a gentleman. 
 Kingley, you are the youngest. Ransack the club 
 and find a fourth." 
 
 The Honourable Nigel Kingley smiled lazily from 
 the depths of his easy-chair. He was a young Eng 
 lishman of normal type, long-limbed, clean-shaven, 
 with good features, a humorous mouth and keen grey 
 eyes. 
 
 " In actual years," he admitted, " I may have the
 
 4 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 advantage of you two, but so far as regards the 
 qualities of youth, Karschoff is the youngest man 
 here. Besides, no one could refuse him anything." 
 
 " It is a subterfuge," the Prince objected, " but if 
 I must go, I will go presently. We will wait five 
 minutes, in case Providence should be kind to us." 
 
 The three men relapsed into silence. They were 
 seated in a comfortable recess of the card room of 
 the St. Philip's Club. The atmosphere of the apart 
 ment seemed redolent with suggestions of faded splen 
 dour. There was a faint perfume of Russian calf 
 from the many rows of musty volumes which still 
 filled the stately bookcases. The oil paintings which 
 hung upon the walls belonged to a remote period. 
 In a distant corner, four other men were playing 
 bridge, speechless and almost motionless, the white 
 faces of two of them like cameos under the electric 
 light and against the dark walls. There was no 
 sound except the soft patter of the cards and the 
 subdued movements of a servant preparing another 
 bridge table by the side of the three men. Then 
 the door of the room was quietly opened and closed. 
 A man of youthful middle-age, carefully dressed, 
 with a large, clean-shaven face, blue eyes, and fair 
 hair sprinkled with grey, came towards them. Pic 
 was well set up, almost anxiously ingratiating in 
 manner. 
 
 " You see now what Providence has sent," Sir 
 Daniel Harker observed under his breath.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 5 
 
 " It is enough to make an atheist of one, this ! " the 
 Prince muttered. 
 
 " Any bridge? " the newcomer enquired, seating 
 himself at the table and shuffling one of the packs 
 of cards. 
 
 The three men rose to their feet with varying de 
 grees of unwillingness. 
 
 " Immelan is too good for us," Sir Daniel 
 grumbled. " He always wins." 
 
 " I am lucky," the newcomer admitted, " but I 
 may be your partner; in which case, you too will 
 win." 
 
 " If you are my partner," the Prince declared, 
 " I shall play for five pounds a hundred. I desire 
 to gamble. London is beginning to weary me." 
 
 " Mr. Kingley is a better player, though not so 
 lucky," Immelan acknowledged, with a little bow. 
 
 " Never believe it, with all due respect to our 
 young friend here," Sir Daniel replied, as he cut a 
 card. " Kingley plays like a man with brain but 
 without subtlety. In a duel between you two, I 
 would back Immelan every time." 
 
 Kingley took his place at the table with a little 
 gesture of resignation. He looked across the table 
 to where Immelan sat displaying the card which 
 he had just cut. The eyes of the two men met. A 
 few seconds of somewhat significant silence followed. 
 Then Immelan gathered up the cards.
 
 6 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " I have the utmost respect for Mr. Kingley as an 
 adversary," he said. 
 
 The latter bowed a little ironically. 
 
 " May you always preserve that sentiment ! To 
 day, chance seems to have made us partners. Your 
 deal, Mr. Immelan." 
 
 " What stakes ? " the Prince enquired, settling 
 himself down in his chair. 
 
 " They are for you to name," Immelan declared. 
 
 The Prince laughed shortly. 
 
 " I believe you are as great a gambler at heart 
 as I am," he observed. 
 
 " With Mr. Kingley for my partner, and the 
 game one of skill," was the courteous reply, " I do 
 not need to limit my stakes." 
 
 A servant crossed the room, bringing a note upon 
 a tray. He presented it to Kingley, who opened 
 and read it through without change of countenance. 
 When he had finished it, however, he laid his cards 
 face downwards upon the table. 
 
 " Gentlemen," he said, " I owe you my most pro 
 found apologies. I am called away at once on a 
 matter of urgent business." 
 
 " But this is most annoying," the Prince declared 
 irritably. 
 
 " Here comes my saviour," Kingley remarked, as 
 another man entered the card room. " Henderson 
 will take my place. Glad I haven't to break you up, 
 after all. Henderson, will you play a rubber? "
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 7 
 
 The newcomer assented. Nigel Kingley made his 
 adieux and crossed the room. Immelan watched him 
 curiously. 
 
 " What is our friend Kingley's profession ? " he 
 enquired. 
 
 " He has no profession," Sir Daniel replied. " He 
 has never come into touch with the sordid needs 
 of these money-grubbing days. He is the nephew 
 and heir of the Earl of Dorminster." 
 
 Immelan looked away from the retreating figure. 
 
 " Lord Dorminster," he murmured. " The same 
 Lord Dorminster who was in the Government many 
 years ago ? " 
 
 " He was Foreign Secretary when I was Governor 
 of Jamaica," Sir Daniel answered. " A very bril 
 liant man he was in those days." 
 
 Immelan nodded thoughtfully. 
 
 " I remember," he said. 
 
 Nigel Kingley, on leaving the St. Philip's Club, 
 was driven at once, in the automobile which he found 
 awaiting him, to a large corner house in Belgrave 
 Square, which he entered with the air of an habitue. 
 The waiting major-domo took him at once in charge 
 and piloted him across the hall. 
 
 " His lordship is very much occupied, Mr. Nigel," 
 he announced. " He is not seeing any other callers. 
 He left word, however, that you were to be shown 
 in the moment you arrived." 
 
 " His lordship is quite well, I hope? "
 
 8 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " Well in health, sir, but worried, and I don't 
 wonder at it," the man replied, speaking with the 
 respectful freedom of an old servant. " I never 
 thought I'd live to see such times as these." 
 
 A man in the early sixties, still good-looking, not 
 withstanding a somewhat worn expression, looked 
 up from his seat at the library table on Kingley's 
 entrance. He nodded, but waited until the door 
 was closed behind the retreating servant before he 
 spoke. 
 
 " Good of you to come, Nigel," he said. " Bring 
 your chair up here." 
 
 " Bad news? " the newcomer enquired. 
 
 "Damnable!" 
 
 There was a brief silence, during which Nigel, 
 knowing his uncle's humours, leaned back in his 
 chair and waited. Upon the table was a little pile 
 of closely written manuscript, and by their side 
 several black-bound code books, upon which the 
 " F.O. Private " still remained, though almost oblit 
 erated with time. Lord Dorminster's occupation 
 was apparent. He was decoding a message of un 
 usual length. Presently he turned away from the 
 table, however, and faced his nephew. His hands 
 travelled to his waistcoat pocket. He drew out a 
 cigarette from a thin gold case, lit it and began 
 to smoke. Then he crossed his legs and leaned a 
 little farther back in his chair. 
 
 " Nigel," he said, " we are living in strange times."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 9 
 
 " No one denies that, sir," was the grave assent. 
 
 Lord Dorminster glanced at the calendar which 
 stood upon the desk. 
 
 " To-day," he continued, " is the twenty-third 
 day of March, nineteen hundred and thirty-four. 
 Fifteen years ago that terrible Peace Treaty was 
 signed. Since then you know what the history of 
 our country has been. I am not blowing my own 
 trumpet when I say that nearly every man with true 
 political insight has been cast adrift. At the pres 
 ent moment the country is in the hands of a body 
 of highly respectable and well-meaning men who, 
 as a parish council, might conduct the affairs of 
 Dorminster Town with unqualified success. As 
 statesmen they do not exist. It seems to me, Nigel, 
 that you and I are going to see in reality that 
 spectre which terrified the world twenty years ago. 
 We are going to see the breaking up of a mighty 
 empire." 
 
 " Tell me what has happened or is going to hap 
 pen," Nigel begged. 
 
 " Well, for one thing," his uncle replied, " the 
 Emperor of the East is preparing for a visit to 
 Europe. He will be here probably next month. You 
 know whom I mean, of course? " 
 
 " Prince Shan ! " Nigel exclaimed. 
 
 " Prince Shan of China," Lord Dorminster as 
 sented. " His coming links up many things which 
 had been puzzling me. I tell you, Nigel, what hap-
 
 io THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 pens during Prince Shan's visit will probably decide 
 the destinies of this country, and yet I wouldn't 
 mind betting you a thousand to one that there isn't 
 a single official of the Government who has the 
 slightest idea as to why he is coming, or that he is 
 coming at all." 
 
 " Do you know ? " Nigel asked. 
 
 " I can only surmise. Let us leave Prince Shan 
 for the moment, Nigel. Now listen. You go about 
 a great deal. What do people say about me 
 honestly, I mean? Speak with your face to the 
 light." 
 
 " They call you a faddist and a scaremonger," 
 Nigel confessed, " yet there are one or two, especially 
 at the St. Philip's Club, diplomatists and ambassa 
 dors whose place in the world has passed away, who 
 think and believe differently. You know, sir, that 
 I am amongst them." 
 
 Lord Dorminster nodded kindly. 
 
 " Well," he said, " I fancy I am about to prove 
 myself. Seven years ago, it was," he went on 
 reminiscently, " when the new National Party came 
 into supreme power. You know one of their first 
 battle cries ' Down with all secret treaties ! 
 Down with all secret diplomacy ! Let nothing exist 
 but an honest commercial understanding between the 
 different countries of the world ! * How Germany and 
 Russia howled with joy! In place of an English 
 statesman with his country's broad interests at
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN n 
 
 heart, we have in Berlin and Petrograd half a dozen 
 representatives of the great industries, whose object, 
 in their own words, is, I believe, to develop friendly 
 commercialism and a feeling of brotherhood between 
 the nations. Not only our ambassadors but our 
 secret service were swept clean out of existence. I 
 remember going to Broadley, the day he was ap 
 pointed Foreign Minister, and I asked him a simple 
 question. I asked him whether he did not consider 
 it his duty to keep his finger upon the pulses of the 
 other great nations, however friendly they might 
 seem, to keep himself assured that all these expres 
 sions of good will were honourable, and that in the 
 heart of the German nation that great craving for 
 revenge which is the natural heritage of the present 
 generation had really become dissipated. Broadley 
 smiled at me. * Lord Dorminster,' he said, ' the chief 
 cause of wars in the past has been suspicion. We 
 look upon espionage as a disgraceful practice. It 
 is the people of Germany with whom we are in 
 touch now, not a military oligarchy, and the people 
 of Germany no more desire war than we do. Besides, 
 there is the League of Nations.' Those were 
 Broadley's views then, and they are his views to-day. 
 You know what I did? " 
 
 Nigel assented cautiously. 
 
 " I suppose it is an open secret amongst a few 
 of us," he observed. " You have been running an 
 unofficial secret service of your own."
 
 12 THE GREAT PRINCE, SHAN 
 
 " Precisely ! I have had a few agents at work 
 for over a year, and when I have finished decoding 
 this last dispatch, I shall have evidence which will 
 prove beyond a doubt that we are on the threshold 
 of terrible events. The worst of it is well, we 
 have been found out." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " Nigel asked quickly. 
 
 His uncle's sensitive lips quivered. 
 
 " You knew Sidwell? " 
 
 " Quite well." 
 
 " Sidwell was found stabbed to the heart in a cafe 
 in Petrograd, three weeks ago," Lord Dorminster 
 announced. " An official report of the enquiry into 
 his death informs his relatives that his death was due 
 to a quarrel with some Russian sailors over one 
 of the women of the quarter where he was found." 
 
 " Horrible ! " Nigel muttered. 
 
 " Sidwell was one of those unnatural people, as 
 you know," Lord Dorminster went on, " who never 
 touched wine or spirits and who hated women. To 
 continue. Atcheson was a friend of yours, wasn't 
 he?" 
 
 " Of course! He was at Eton with me. It was I 
 who first brought him here to dine. Don't tell me 
 that anything has happened to Jim Atcheson ! " 
 
 " This dispatch is from him," Lord Dorminster 
 replied, indicating the pile of manuscript upon the 
 table, " a dispatch which came into my hands in 
 a most marvellous fashion. He died last week in a
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 13 
 
 nursing home in well, let us say a foreign capital. 
 The professor in charge of the hospital sends a long 
 report as to the unhappy disease from which he 
 suffered. As a matter of fact, he was poisoned." 
 
 Nigel Kingley had been a soldier in his youth and 
 he was a brave man. Nevertheless, the horror of 
 these things struck a cold chill to his heart. He 
 seemed suddenly to be looking into the faces of 
 spectres, to hear the birth of the winds of destruc 
 tion. 
 
 " That is all I have to say to you for the moment," 
 his uncle concluded gravely. " In an hour I shall 
 have finished decoding this dispatch, and I propose 
 then to take you into my entire confidence. In the 
 meantime, I want you to go and talk for a few 
 minutes to the cleverest woman in England, the 
 woman who, in the face of a whole army of police 
 men and detectives, crossed the North Sea yesterday 
 afternoon with this in her pocket.** 
 
 " You don't mean Maggie ? " Nigel exclaimed 
 eagerly. 
 
 His uncle nodded. 
 
 " You will find her in the boudoir," he said. " I 
 told her that you were coming. In an hour's time, 
 return here." 
 
 Lord Dorminster rose to his feet as his nephew 
 turned to depart. He laid his hand upon the lat- 
 ter's shoulder, and Nigel always remembered the 
 grave kindliness of his tone and expression.
 
 i 4 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " Nigel," he sighed, " I am afraid I shall be put 
 ting upon your shoulders a terrible burden, but there 
 is no one else to whom I can turn." 
 
 " There is no one else to whom you ought to turn, 
 sir," the young man replied simply. " I shall be 
 back in an hour."
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Lady Maggie Trent, a stepdaughter of the Earl 
 of Dorminster, was one of those young women who 
 had baffled description for some years before she 
 had commenced to take life seriously. She was 
 neither fair nor dark, petite nor tall. No one could 
 ever have called her nondescript, or have extolled 
 any particular grace of form or feature. Her com 
 plexion had defied the ravages of sun and wind and 
 that moderate indulgence in cigarettes and cocktails 
 which the youth of her day affected. Her nose was 
 inclined to be retrousse, her mouth tender but impu 
 dent, her grey eyes mostly veiled in expression but 
 capable of wonderful changes. She was curled up 
 in a chair when Nigel entered, immersed in a fashion 
 paper. She held out her left hand, which he raised 
 to his lips. 
 
 " Well, Nigel, dear," she exclaimed, " what do you 
 think of my new profession ? " 
 
 " I hate it," he answered frankly. 
 
 She sighed and laid down the fashion paper re 
 signedly. 
 
 " You always did obj ect to a woman doing any 
 thing in the least useful. Do you realise that if
 
 16 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 anything in the world can save this stupid old coun 
 try, I have done it? " 
 
 " I realise that you've been running hideous risks," 
 he replied. 
 
 She looked at him petulantly. 
 
 " What of it ? " she demanded. " We all run risks 
 when we do anything worth while." 
 
 " Not quite the sort that you have been facing." 
 
 She smiled thoughtfully. 
 
 " Do you know exactly where I have been ? " she 
 asked. 
 
 " No idea," he confessed. " What my uncle has 
 just told me was a complete revelation, so far as I 
 was concerned. I believed, with the rest of the world, 
 what the newspapers announced that you were 
 visiting Japan and China, and afterwards the South 
 Sea Islands, with the Wendercombes." 
 
 She smiled. 
 
 " Dad wanted to tell you," she said, " but it was 
 I who made him promise not to. I was afraid you 
 would be disagreeable about it. We arranged it all 
 with the Wendercombes, but as a matter of fact I 
 did not even start with them. For the last eight 
 months, I have been living part of the time in Berlin 
 and part of the time in a country house near the 
 Black Forest." 
 
 " Alone? " 
 
 " Not a bit of it ! I have been governess to the 
 two daughters of Herr Essendorf ."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 17 
 
 " Essendorf, the President of the German Re 
 public? " 
 
 Lady Maggie nodded. 
 
 " He isn't a bit like his pictures. He is a huge 
 fat man and he eats a great deal too much. Oh, the 
 horror of those meals ! " she added, with a little 
 shudder. " Think of me, dear Nigel, who never 
 eat more than an omelette and some fruit for 
 luncheon, compelled to sit down every day to a 
 mittagessen! I wonder I have any digestion left at 
 all." 
 
 " Do you mean that you were there under your 
 own name? " he asked incredulously. 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 " I secured some perfectly good testimonials be 
 fore I left," she said. " They referred to a Miss 
 Brown, the daughter of Prebendary Brown. I was 
 Miss Brown." 
 
 " Great Heavens ! " Nigel muttered under his 
 breath. " You heard about Atcheson ? " 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 " Poor fellow, they got him all right. You talk 
 about thrills, Nigel," she went on. " Do you know 
 that the last night before I left for my vacation, I 
 actually heard that fat old Essendorf chuckling 
 with his wife about how his clever police had laid 
 an English spy by the heels, and telling her, also, 
 of the papers which they had discovered and handed 
 over. All the time the real dispatch, written by
 
 i8 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 Atcheson when he was dying, was sewn into my cor 
 sets. How's that for an exciting situation? " 
 
 " It's a man's job, anyhow," Nigel declared. 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders and abandoned the 
 personal side of the subject. 
 
 " Have you been in Germany lately, Nigel? " she 
 enquired. 
 
 " Not for many years," he answered. 
 
 She stretched herself out upon the couch and lit 
 a cigarette. 
 
 " The Germany of before the war of course I can't 
 remember," she said pensively. " I imagine, how 
 ever, that there was a sort of instinctive jealous 
 dislike towards England and everything English, 
 simply because England had had a long start in 
 colonisation, commerce and all the rest of it. But 
 the feeling in Germany now, although it is mar 
 vellously hidden, is something perfectly amazing. 
 It absolutely vibrates wherever you go. The silence 
 makes it all the more menacing. Soon after I got 
 to Berlin, I bought a copy of the Treaty of Peace 
 and read it. Nigel, was it necessary to have been 
 so bitterly cruel to a beaten enemy? " 
 
 " Logically it would seem not," Nigel admitted. 
 " Actually, we cannot put ourselves back into the 
 spirit of those days. You must remember that it 
 was an unprovoked war, a war engineered by Ger 
 many for the sheer purposes of aggression. That is
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 19 
 
 why a punitive spirit entered into our subsequent 
 negotiations." 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 " I expect history will tell us some day," she con 
 tinued, " that we needed a great statesman of the 
 Beaconsfield type at the Peace table. However, 
 that is all ended. They sowed the seed at Versailles, 
 and I think we are going to reap the harvest." 
 
 " After all," Nigel observed thoughtfully, " it is 
 very difficult to see what practical interference there 
 could be with the peace of the world. I can very 
 well believe that the spirit is there, but when it 
 comes to hard facts well, what can they do ? 
 England can never be invaded. The war of 1914 
 proved that. Besides, Germany now has a repre 
 sentative on the League of Nations. She is bound 
 to toe the line with the rest." 
 
 " It is not in Germany alone that we are disliked," 
 Maggie reminded him. " We seem somehow or other 
 to have found our way into the bad books of every 
 country in Europe. Clumsy statesmanship is it, or 
 what? " 
 
 "I should attribute it," Nigel replied, "to the 
 passing of our old school of ambassadors. After 
 all, ambassadors are born, not made, and they should 
 be they very often were men of rare tact and 
 perceptions. We have no one now to inform us of 
 the prejudices and humours of the nations. We 
 often offend quite unwittingly, and we miss many
 
 20 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 opportunities of a rapprocJwment . It is trade, 
 trade, trade and nothing else, the whole of the time, 
 and the men whom we sent to the different Courts 
 to further our commercial interests are not the type 
 to keep us informed of the more subtle and intricate 
 matters which sometimes need adjustment between 
 two countries." 
 
 " That may be the explanation of all the bad feel 
 ing," Maggie admitted, " and you may be right when 
 you say that any practical move against us is almost 
 impossible. Dad doesn't think so, you know. He is 
 terribly exercised about the coming of Prince Shan." 
 
 " I must get him to talk to me," Nigel said. " As 
 a matter of fact, I don't think that we need fear 
 Asiatic intervention over here. Prince Shan is too 
 great a diplomatist to risk his country's new pros 
 perity." 
 
 " Prince Shan," Maggie declared, " is the one 
 man in the world I am longing to meet. He was 
 at Oxford with you, wasn't he, Nigel ? " 
 
 " For one year only. He went from there to 
 Harvard." 
 
 " Tell me what he was like," she begged. 
 
 " I have only a hazy recollection of him," Nigel 
 confessed. " He was a most brilliant scholar and a 
 fine horseman. I can't remember whether he did 
 anything at games." 
 
 " Good-looking? " 
 
 " Extraordinarily so. He was very reserved,
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 21 
 
 though, and even in those days he was far more 
 exclusive than our own royal princes. We all 
 thought him clever, but no one dreamed that he 
 would become Asia's great man. I'll tell you all that 
 I can remember about him another time, Maggie. 
 I'm rather curious about that report of Atcheson's. 
 Have you any idea what it is about ? " 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 " None at all. It is in the old Foreign Office 
 cipher and it looks like gibberish. I only know that 
 the first few lines he transcribed gave dad the jumps." 
 
 " I wonder if he has finished it by now." 
 
 " He'll send for you when he has. How do you 
 think I am looking, Nigel? " 
 
 " Wonderful," he answered, rising to his feet and 
 standing with his elbow upon the mantelpiece, gaz 
 ing down at her. " But then you are wonderful, 
 aren't you, Maggie? You know I always thought 
 so." 
 
 She picked up a mirror from the little bag by 
 her side and scrutinized her features. 
 
 " It can't be my face," she decided, turning 
 towards him with a smile. " I must have charm." 
 
 " Your face is adorable," he declared. 
 
 " Are you going to flirt with me? " she asked, 
 with a faint smile at the corners of her lips. " You 
 always do it so well and so convincingly. And I 
 hate foreigners. They are terribly in earnest but
 
 22 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 there is no finesse about them. You may kiss me 
 just once, please, Nigel, the way I like." 
 
 He held her for a moment in his arms, tenderly, 
 but with a reserve to which she was accustomed from 
 him. Presently she thrust him away. Her own 
 colour had risen a little. 
 
 "Delightful," she murmured. "Think of the 
 wasted months ! No one has kissed me, Nigel, since 
 we said good-bye." 
 
 " Have you made up your mind to marry me 
 yet ? " he asked. 
 
 " My dear," she answered, patting his hand, " do 
 restrain your ardour. Do you really want to marry 
 me?" 
 
 "Of course I do!" 
 
 " You don't love me." 
 
 " I am awfully fond of you," he assured her, " and 
 I don't love any one else." 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 " It isn't enough, Nigel," she declared, " and, 
 strange to say, it's exactly how I feel about you." 
 
 " I don't see why it shouldn't be enough," he 
 argued. " Perhaps we have too much common sense 
 for these violent feelings." 
 
 " It may be that," she admitted doubtfully. 
 " On the other hand, don't let's run any risk. I 
 should hate to find an affinity, and all that sort of 
 thing, after marriage divorce in these days is such 
 shocking bad form. Besides, honestly, Nigel, I don't
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 23 
 
 feel frivolous enough to think about marriage just 
 now. I have the feeling that even while the clock 
 is ticking we are moving on to terrible things. I 
 can't tell you quite what it is. I carried my life 
 in my hands during those last few days abroad. I 
 dare say this is the reaction.*' 
 
 He smiled reassuringly. 
 
 " After all, you are safe at home now, dear," he 
 reminded her, " and I really am very fond of you, 
 Maggie." 
 
 " And I'm quite absurdly fond of you, Nigel," she 
 acknowledged. " It makes me feel quite uncomfort 
 able when I reflect that I shall probably have to 
 order you to make love to some one else before the 
 week is out." 
 
 " I shall do nothing of the sort," he declared 
 firmly. " I am not good at that sort of thing. And 
 who is she, anyhow? " 
 
 They were interrupted by a sudden knock at the 
 door not the discreet tap of a well-bred domestic, 
 but a flurried, almost an imperative summons. Be 
 fore either of them could reply, the door was opened 
 and Brookes, the elderly butler, presented himself 
 upon the threshold. Even before he spoke, it was 
 clear that he brought alarming news. 
 
 " Will you step down to the library at once, sir? " 
 he begged, addressing Nigel. 
 
 " What is the matter, Brookes ? " Maggie de 
 manded anxiously.
 
 24 
 
 " I fear that his lordship is not well," the man 
 replied. 
 
 They all hurried out together. Brookes was evi 
 dently terribly perturbed and went on talking- half 
 to himself without heeding their questions. 
 
 " I thought at first that his lordship must have 
 fainted," he said. " I heard a queer noise, and when 
 I went in, he had fallen forward across the table. 
 Parkins has rung for Doctor Wilcox." 
 
 " What sort of a noise ? " Nigel asked. 
 
 " It sounded like a shot," the man faltered. 
 
 They entered the library, Nigel leading the way. 
 Lord Dorminster was lying very much as Brookes 
 had described him, but there was something alto 
 gether unnatural in the collapse of his head and 
 shoulders and his motionless body. Nigel spoke to 
 him, touched him gently, raised him at last into a 
 sitting position. Something on which his right hand 
 seemed to have been resting clattered on to the 
 carpet. Nigel turned around and waved Maggie 
 back. 
 
 " Don't come," he begged. 
 
 "Is it a stroke?" she faltered. 
 
 " I am afraid that he is dead," Nigel answered 
 simply. 
 
 They went out into the hall and waited there in 
 shocked silence until the doctor arrived. The lat- 
 ter's examination lasted only a few seconds. Then 
 he pointed to the telephone.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 25 
 
 " This is very terrible," he said. " I am afraid 
 you had better ring up Scotland Yard, Mr. Kingley. 
 Lord Dorminster appears either to have shot him 
 self, as seems most probable,'* he added, glancing 
 at the revolver upon the carpet, " or to have been 
 murdered." 
 
 " It is incredible ! " Nigel exclaimed. " He was 
 the sanest possible man, and the happiest, and he 
 hadn't an enemy in the world." 
 
 The physician pointed downwards to the revolver. 
 Then he unfastened once more the dead man's waist 
 coat, opened his shirt and indicated a small blue 
 mark just over his heart. 
 
 " That is how he died," he said. " It must have 
 been instantaneous." 
 
 Time seemed to beat out its course in leaden 
 seconds whilst they waited for the superintendent 
 from Scotland Yard. Nigel at first stood still for 
 some moments. From outside came the cheerful but 
 muffled roar of the London streets, the hooting of 
 motor horns, the rumbling of wheels, the measured 
 footfall of the passing multitude. A boy went by, 
 whistling ; another passed, calling hoarsely the news 
 fiom the afternoon papers. A muffin man rang his 
 bell, a small boy clattered his stick against the area 
 railing. The whole world marched on, unmoved 
 and unnoticing. In this sombre apartment alone 
 tragedy reigned in sinister silence. On the sofa, 
 Lord Dorminster, who only half an hour ago had
 
 26 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 seemed to be in the prime of life and health, lay dead. 
 Nigel moved towards the writing-table and stood 
 looking at it in wonder. The code book still re 
 mained, but there was not the slightest sign of any 
 manuscript or paper of any sort. He even searched 
 the drawers of the desk without result. Every trace 
 of Atcheson's dispatch and Lord Dorminster's 
 transcription of it had disappeared!
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 On a certain day some weeks after the adjourned 
 inquest and funeral of Lord Dorminster, Nigel ob 
 tained a long-sought-for interview with the Right 
 Honourable Mervin Brown, who had started life as 
 a factory inspector and was now Prime Minister of 
 England. The great man received his visitor with 
 an air of good-natured tolerance. 
 
 " Heard of you from Scotland Yard, haven't I, 
 Lord Dorminster? " he said, as he waved him to a 
 seat. " I gather that you disagreed very strongly 
 with the open verdict which was returned at the 
 inquest upon your uncle? " 
 
 " The verdict was absolutely at variance with the 
 facts," Nigel declared. " My uncle was murdered, 
 and a secret report of certain doings on the con 
 tinent, which he was decoding at the time, was 
 stolen." 
 
 " The medical evidence scarcely bears out your 
 statement," Mr. Mervin Brown pointed out dryly, 
 " nor have the police been able to discover how any 
 one could have obtained access to the room, or left 
 it, without leaving some trace of their visit behind. 
 Further, there are no indications of a robbery hav 
 ing been attempted."
 
 23 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " I happen to know more than any one else about 
 this matter," Nigel urged, " more, even, than I 
 thought it advisable to mention at the inquest and 
 I beg you to listen to me, Mr. Mervin Brown. I 
 know that you considered my uncle to be in some 
 respects a crank, because he was far-seeing enough 
 to understand that under the seeming tranquillity 
 abroad there is a universal and deep-seated hatred 
 of this country." 
 
 " I look upon that statement as misleading and 
 untrue," the Minister declared. " Your late uncle 
 belonged to that mischievous section of foreign poli 
 ticians who believed in secret treaties and secret 
 service, and who fostered a state of nervous unrest 
 between countries otherwise disposed to be friendly. 
 We have turned over a new leaf, Lord Dorminster. 
 Our efforts are all directed towards developing an 
 international spirit of friendliness and trust." 
 . " Utopian but very short-sighted," Nigel com 
 mented. " If my uncle had lived to finish decoding 
 the report upon which he was engaged, I could have 
 offered you proof not only of the existence of the 
 spirit I speak of, but of certain practical schemes 
 inimical to this country." 
 
 " The papers you speak of have disappeared," 
 Mr. Mervin Brown observed, with a smile. 
 
 " They were taken away by the person who mur 
 dered my uncle," Nigel insisted. 
 
 The Right Honourable gentleman nodded.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 29 
 
 " Well, you know my views about the affair," he 
 said. " I may add that they are confirmed by the 
 police. I am in no way prejudiced, however, and am 
 willing to listen to anything you may have to say 
 which will not take you more than a quarter of an 
 hour," he added, glancing at the clock upon his 
 table. 
 
 " Here goes, then," Nigel began. " My uncle was 
 a statesman of the old school who had no faith in 
 the Utopian programme of the present Government 
 of this country. When you abandoned any pretence 
 of a continental secret service, he at his own ex 
 pense instituted a small one of his own. He sent 
 two men out to Germany and one to Russia. The 
 one sent to Russia was the man Sidwell, whose mur 
 der in a Petrograd cafe you may have read of. Of 
 the two sent to Germany, one has disappeared, and 
 the other died in hospital, without a doubt poisoned, 
 a few days after he had sent the report to England 
 which was stolen from my uncle's desk. That report 
 was brought over by Lady Maggie Trent, Lord 
 Dorminster's stepdaughter, who was really the brains 
 of the enterprise and under another name was act 
 ing as governess to the children of Herr Essendorf, 
 President of the German Republic. Half an hour 
 before his death, my uncle was decoding this dis 
 patch in his library. I saw him doing it, and I saw 
 the dispatch itself. He told me that so far as he had 
 gone already, it was full of information of the
 
 30 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 gravest import; that a definite scheme was already 
 being formulated against this country by an abso 
 lutely unique and dangerous combination of enemies." 
 
 " Those enemies being? " 
 
 Nigel shook his head. 
 
 " That I can only surmise," he replied. " My 
 uncle had only commenced to decode the dispatch 
 when I last saw him." 
 
 " Then I gather, Lord Dorminster," the Minister 
 said, " that you connect your uncle's death directly 
 with the supposed theft of this document? " 
 
 " Absolutely ! " 
 
 " And the conclusion you arrive at, then? " 
 
 " Is an absolutely logical one," Nigel declared 
 firmly. " I assert that other countries are not fall 
 ing into line with our lamentable abnegation of all 
 secret service defence, and that, in plain words, my 
 uncle was murdered by an agent of one of these 
 countries, in order that the dispatch which had come 
 into his hands should not be decoded and passed on 
 to your Government." 
 
 The Right Honourable gentleman smiled slightly. 
 He was a man of some natural politeness, but he 
 found it hard to altogether conceal his incredulity. 
 
 " Well, Lord Dorminster," he promised, " I will 
 consider all that you have said. Is there anything 
 more I can do for you?" 
 
 " Yes ! " Nigel replied boldly. " Induce the Cabi 
 net to reestablish our Intelligence Department and
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 31 
 
 secret service, even on a lesser scale, and don't rest 
 until you have discovered exactly what it is they 
 are plotting against us somewhere on the continent." 
 
 " To carry out your suggestions, Lord Dormin- 
 ster," the Minister pointed out, " would be to be 
 guilty of an infringement of the spirit of the League 
 of Nations, the existence of which body is, we be 
 lieve, a practical assurance of our safety." 
 
 Nigel rose to his feet. 
 
 " As man to man, sir," he said, " I see you don't 
 believe a word of what I have been telling you." 
 
 " As man to man," the other admitted pleasantly, 
 as he touched tHe bell, " I think you have been de 
 ceived." 
 
 Nigel, even as a prophet of woe, was a very human 
 person and withal a philosopher. He strolled along 
 Piccadilly and turned into Bond Street, thoroughly ^ 
 enjoying one of the first spring days of the season. 
 Flower sellers were busy at every corner; the sky 
 was blue, with tiny flecks of white clouds, there 
 was even some dust stirred by the little puffs of 
 west wind. He exchanged greetings with a few 
 acquaintances, lingered here and there before the 
 shop windows, and presently developed a fit of con 
 templation engendered by the thoughts which were 
 all the time at the back of his mind. Bond Street 
 was crowded with vehicles of all sorts, from wonder 
 fully upholstered automobiles to the resuscitated
 
 32 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 victoria. The shop windows were laden with the 
 treasures of the world, buyers were plentiful, prom- 
 enaders multitudinous. Every one seemed to be 
 cheerful but a little engrossed in the concrete act of 
 living. Nigel almost ran into Prince Karschoff, at 
 the corner of Graf ton Street. 
 
 " Dreaming, my friend? " the latter asked quietly, 
 as he laid his hand upon Nigel's shoulder. 
 
 " Guilty," Nigel confessed. " You are an ob 
 servant man, Prince. Tell me whether anything 
 strikes you about the Bond Street of to-day, com 
 pared with the Bond Street of, say, ten years ago? " 
 
 The Russian glanced around him curiously. He 
 himself was a somewhat unusual figure in his dis 
 tinctively cut morning coat, his carefully tied 
 cravat, his silk hat, black and white check trousers 
 and faultless white spats. 
 
 " A certain decline of elegance,'* he murmured. 
 " And is it my fancy or has this country become a 
 trifle Americanised as regards the headgear of its 
 men? " 
 
 Nigel smiled. 
 
 " I believe our thoughts are moving in the same 
 groove," he said. " To me there seems to be a differ 
 ent class of people here, as though the denizens of 
 West Kensington, suddenly enriched, had come to 
 spend their money in new quarters. Not only that, 
 but there is a difference in the wares set out in the 
 shops, an absence of taste, if you can understand
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 33 
 
 what I mean, as though, the shopkeepers themselves 
 understood that they were catering for a new class 
 of people." 
 
 " It is the triumph of your bourgeoisie," the Rus 
 sian declared. " Your aristocrat is no longer able 
 to survive. Noblesse oblige has no significance to 
 the shopman. He wants the fat cheques, and he 
 caters for the people who can write them. Let us 
 pursue our reflections a little farther and in a 
 different direction, my friend," he added, glancing 
 at his watch. " Lunch with me at the Ritz, and 
 we will see whether the cookery, too, has been 
 adapted to the new tastes." 
 
 Nigel hesitated for a moment, a somewhat curious 
 hesitation which he many times afterwards remem 
 bered. 
 
 " I am not very keen on restaurants for a week 
 or two," he said doubtfully. " Besides, I had half 
 promised to be at the club." 
 
 " Not to-day," Karschoff insisted. " To-day let 
 us listen to the call of the world. Woman is at her 
 loveliest in the spring. The Ritz Restaurant will 
 look like a bouquet of flowers. Perhaps * One for 
 you and one for me.' At any rate, one is sure of 
 an omelette one can eat." 
 
 The two men turned together towards Piccadilly.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Luncheon at the Ritz was an almost unexpectedly 
 pleasant meal. The two men sat at a table near 
 the door and exchanged greetings with many ac 
 quaintances. Karschoff, who was in an unusually 
 loquacious frame of mind, pointed out many of the 
 habitues of the place to his companion. 
 
 " I am become a club and restaurant lounger in 
 my old age," he declared, a little bitterly. " Almost 
 a boulevardier. Still, what else is there for a man 
 without a country to do ? " 
 
 " You know everybody," Nigel replied, without 
 reference to his companion's lament. " Tell me who 
 the woman is who has just entered? " 
 
 Karschoff glanced in the direction indicated, and 
 for a moment his somewhat saturnine expression 
 changed. A smile played upon his lips, his eyes 
 seemed to rest upon the figure of the girl half turned 
 away from them with interest, almost with pleasure. 
 She was of an unusual type, tall and dark, dressed 
 in black with the simplicity of a nun, with only a 
 little gleam of white at her throat. Her hair so 
 much of it as showed under her flower-garlanded 
 hat was as black as jet, and yet, where she stood
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 35 
 
 in the full glare of the sunlight, the burnish of it 
 was almost wine-coloured. Her cheeks were pale, her 
 expression thoughtful. Her eyes, rather heavily 
 lidded, were a deep shade of violet. Her mouth was 
 unexpectedly soft and red. 
 
 " Ah, my friend, no wonder you ask ! " Karschoff 
 declared with enthusiasm. " That is a woman whom 
 you must know." 
 
 " Tell me her name," Nigel persisted with grow 
 ing impatience. 
 
 " Her name," Karschoff replied, " is Naida 
 Karetsky. She is the daughter of the man who will 
 probably be the next President of the Russian Re 
 public. You see, I can speak those words without a 
 tremor. Her father at present represents the ship 
 ping interests of Russia and England. He is one of 
 the authorised consuls." 
 
 "Is he of. the party?" 
 
 Karschoff scrutinised the approaching figures 
 through his eyeglass and nodded. 
 
 " Her father is the dark, broad-shouldered man 
 with the square beard," he indicated. " Immelan, as 
 you can see, is the third. They are coming this 
 way. We will speak of them afterwards." 
 
 Naida, with her father and Oscar Immelan, left 
 some acquaintances with whom they had been talk 
 ing and, preceded by a maitre d'hotd, moved in the 
 direction of the two men. The girl recognised the 
 Prince with a charming little bow and was on the
 
 36 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 point of passing on when she appeared to notice his 
 companion. For a moment she hesitated. The 
 Prince, anticipating her desire to speak, rose at once 
 to his feet. 
 
 " Mademoiselle," he said, bending over her hand, 
 " welcome back to England ! You bring with you 
 the first sunshine we have seen for many days." 
 
 " Are you being meteorological or complimen 
 tary? " she asked, smiling. " Will you present your 
 companion? I have heard of Mr. Kingley." 
 
 " With the utmost pleasure," the Prince replied. 
 " Mr. Kingley, through the unfortunate death of a 
 relative, is now the Earl of Dorminster Mademoi 
 selle Karetsky." 
 
 Nigel, as he made his bow, was conscious of an ex 
 pression of something more than ordinary curiosity 
 in the face of the girl who had herself aroused his 
 interest. 
 
 " You are' the son, then," she enquired, " of Lord 
 Dorminster who died about a month ago ? " 
 
 " His nephew," Nigel explained. " My uncle was 
 unfortunately childless." 
 
 " I met your uncle once in Paris," she said. " It 
 will give me great pleasure to make your better 
 acquaintance. Will you and my dear friend here." 
 she added, turning to the Prince, " take coffee with 
 us afterwards? I shall then introduce you to my 
 father. Oscar Immelan you both know, of course." 
 
 They murmured their delighted assent, and she
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 37 
 
 passed on. Nigel watched her until she took her 
 place at the table. 
 
 " Surely that girl is well-born ? " he observed. ** I 
 have never seen a more delightful carriage." 
 
 " You are right," Karschoff told him. " Karetsky 
 is a well-to-do man of commerce, but her mother was 
 a Baroness Kolchekoff, a distant relative of my own. 
 The Kolchekoffs lived on their estates, and as a 
 matter of fact we never met. Naida has gone over 
 to the people, though, body and soul." 
 
 " She is extraordinarily beautiful," Nigel re 
 marked. 
 
 His companion was swinging his eyeglass back 
 and forth by its cord. 
 
 " Many men have thought so," he replied. " For 
 myself, there is antagonism in my blood against her. 
 I wonder whether I have done well or ill in making 
 you two acquainted." 
 
 Nigel felt a sudden desire to break through a cer 
 tain seriousness which had come over his own 
 thoughts and which was reflected in the other's tone. 
 He shrugged his shoulders slightly and filled his 
 glass with wine. 
 
 " Every man in the world is the better," he pro 
 pounded, " for adding to the circle of his acquaint 
 ances a beautiful woman." 
 
 " Sententious and a trifle inaccurate," the Prince 
 objected, with a sudden flash of his white teeth. 
 " The beauty which is not for him has been many a
 
 38 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 man's undoing. But seriously, my quarrel with 
 Naida is one of prejudice only. She is the confidante 
 and the inspiration of Matinsky, and though one 
 realises, of course, that so long as there is a Russian 
 Republic there must be a Russian President, I sup 
 pose I should scarcely be human if I did not hate 
 him." 
 
 " Surely," Nigel queried, " she must be very much 
 his junior? " 
 
 " Matinsky is forty-four," Karschoff said. 
 " Naida is twenty-six or twenty-seven. The dis 
 parity of years, you see, is not so great. Matinsky, 
 however, is married to an invalid wife, and concern 
 ing Naida I have never heard one word of scandal. 
 But this much is certain. Matinsky has the blandest 
 confidence in her judgment and discretion. She has 
 already been his unofficial ambassador in several 
 capitals of Europe. I am convinced that she is 
 here with a purpose. But enough of my country- 
 people. We came here to be gay. Let us drink 
 another bottle of wine." 
 
 The joy of living seemed for a moment to reas 
 sert itself in KarschofPs face. His momentary fierce 
 ness, reminiscent of his Tartar ancestry, had passed, 
 but it had left a shadow behind. 
 
 " At least one should be grateful," he conceded a 
 moment later, " for the distinction such a woman as 
 Naida Karetsky brings into a room like this. Our 
 Bond Street lament finds its proof here. Except for
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 39 
 
 their clothes so ill-worn, too, most of them the 
 women here remind one of Blackpool, and their men 
 of Huddersfield. I am inclined to wish that I had 
 taken you to Soho." 
 
 Nigel shook his head. His eyes had strayed to 
 a distant corner of the room, where Naida and her 
 two companions were seated. 
 
 " We cannot escape anywhere," he declared, 
 " from this overmastering wave of mediocrity. A 
 couple of generations and a little intermarriage may 
 put things right. A Chancellor of the Exchequer 
 with genius, fifteen years ago, might even have pre 
 vented it." 
 
 " You can claim, at any rate, a bloodless and un- 
 apparent revolution," the Prince observed. " You 
 chivied your aristocracy of birth out of existence 
 with yellow papers, your aristocracy of mind with 
 a devastating income tax. This is the class whom 
 you left to gorge, the war profiteers. I hope that 
 whoever writes the history of these times will see 
 that it is properly illustrated." 
 
 In the lounge, they had barely se,ated themselves 
 before Naida, with her father and Immelan, ap 
 peared. The little party at once joined up, and 
 Naida seated herself next to Nigel. She talked very 
 slowly, but her accent amounted to little more than 
 a prolongation of certain syllables, which had the 
 effect of a rather musical drawl. Her father, after 
 the few words of introduction had been spoken,
 
 40 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 strolled away to speak to some acquaintances, and 
 Immelan and the Prince discussed with measured 
 politeness one of the commonplace subjects of the 
 moment. Naida and her companion became almost 
 isolated. 
 
 " I met your uncle once," Naida said, " at a din 
 ner party in Paris. I remember that he attracted 
 me. He represented a class of Englishman of whom 
 I had met very few, the thinking aristocrat with 
 a sense for foreign affairs. It was some years ago, 
 that. He remained outside politics, did he not, until 
 his death?" 
 
 " Outside all practical politics," Nigel assented. 
 " He had his interests, though." 
 
 She looked at him thoughtfully. 
 
 " Have you inherited them ? " she asked. 
 
 He declined the challenge of her eyes. After all, 
 she belonged to the Russia whose growing strength 
 was the greatest menace to European peace, and 
 whose attitude towards England was entirely uncer 
 tain. 
 
 " My uncle and I were scarcely intimate," he 
 said. " I was never really in his confidence." 
 
 " Not so much so as Lady Maggie Trent? She 
 would be your cousin? " 
 
 " It is not a relationship of blood," Nigel replied. 
 " Lady Maggie was the daughter of my uncle's 
 second wife." 
 
 " She is very charming," Naida murmured.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 41 
 
 " I find her delightful," Nigel agreed. 
 
 " She is not only charming, but she has intelli 
 gence," Naida continued. " I think that Lord Dor- 
 minster was very fond of her, that he trusted her 
 with many of his secrets." 
 
 " Had he secrets? " Nigel asked. 
 
 She remained for a moment very thoughtful, 
 smoking a thin cigarette through a long holder and 
 watching the little rings of smoke. 
 
 " You are right," she said at last. " I find your 
 attitude the only correct one. Did you know that 
 Maggie was a friend of mine, Lord Dorminster? " 
 
 " I can very well believe it," he answered, "but I 
 have never heard her speak of you." 
 
 " Ah ! But she has been away for some months. 
 You have not seen much of her, perhaps, since her 
 return? " 
 
 " Very little," he acquiesced. " She only arrived 
 in London just before my uncle's death, and since 
 then I have had to spend some time at Dorminster." 
 
 " As a matter of curiosity," Naida enquired, 
 " when do you expect to see her again? " 
 
 " This afternoon, I hope," he replied, " directly 
 I leave here, in fact." 
 
 " Then you will give her a little message for me, 
 please? " 
 
 " With great pleasure ! " 
 
 " Tell her from me mind she understands this,
 
 42 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 if you please that she is not to leave England 
 again until we have met." 
 
 " Is this a warning? " he asked. 
 
 She looked at him searchingly. 
 
 " I wonder," she reflected, " how much of you is 
 Lord Dorminster's nephew." 
 
 "And I, in my turn," he rejoined, with sudden 
 boldness, " wonder how much of you is Matinsky's 
 envoy." 
 
 She began to laugh softly. 
 
 " We shall perhaps be friends, Lord Dorminster," 
 she said. " I should like to see more of you." 
 
 " You will permit me to call upon you," he begged 
 eagerly. 
 
 " Will you come? We are at the Milan Court for 
 a little time. My father is trying to get a house. 
 My sister is coming over to look after him. I 
 am unfortunately only a bird of passage." 
 
 " Then I shall not run the risk of missing you," 
 he declared. " I shall call very soon." 
 
 Immelan intervened, grim, suspicious, a little 
 disturbed. For some reason or other, the meeting 
 between these two young people seemed to have made 
 him uneasy. 
 
 " Your father has desired me to present his ex 
 cuses to Lord Dorminster," he announced, " and to 
 escort you back to the Milan. He has been tele 
 phoned for from the Consulate."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 43 
 
 Naida rose to her feet with some apparent reluc 
 tance. 
 
 " You will not delay your call too long, Lord 
 Dorminster ? " she enjoined, as she gave him her 
 hand. " I shall expect you the first afternoon you 
 are free;" 
 
 " I shall not delay giving myself the pleasure," 
 he assured her. 
 
 She nodded and made her adieux to the Prince. 
 The two men stood together and watched her depart 
 with her companion. 
 
 " Really, one gains much through being an on 
 looker," the Prince reflected. " There go the spirit 
 of Russia and the spirit of Germany. You dabble 
 in these things, my friend Dorminster. Can you 
 guess what they are met for for whom they wait ? " 
 
 " I might guess," Nigel replied, " but I would 
 rather be told." 
 
 " They wait for the master spirit,'* Karschoff 
 declared, taking his arm. " They wait for the 
 great Prince Shan."
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Nigel and Maggie had tea together in the little 
 room which the latter had used as a boudoir. They 
 were discussing the question of her future residence 
 there. 
 
 " I am afraid," he declared, " that you will have 
 to marry me." 
 
 " It would have its advantages," she admitted 
 thoughtfully. " I am really so fond of you, Nigel. 
 I should be married at St. Mary Abbot's, Kensing 
 ton, and have the Annersley children for brides 
 maids. Don't you think I should look sweet in old 
 gold and orange blossoms? " 
 
 " Don't tantalise me," he begged. 
 
 " We really must decide upon something," she 
 insisted. " I hate giving up my rooms here, I should 
 hate having my worthy aunt as resident duenna, 
 and I suppose it would be gloriously improper for 
 us two to go on living here if I didn't. Are you 
 quite sure that you love me, Nigel ? " 
 
 " I am not quite so sure as I was this morning,'* 
 he confessed, holding out his cup for some more tea. 
 " I met a perfectly adorable girl to-day at luncheon 
 at the Ritz. Such eyes, Maggie, and the slimmest, 
 most wonderful figure you ever saw! "
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 45 
 
 "Who was the cat?" Maggie enquired with as 
 perity. 
 
 " She is Russian. Her name is Naida Karctsky. 
 Karschoff introduced me." 
 
 Maggie was suddenly serious. There was just a 
 trace of the one expression he had never before seen 
 in her face fear lurking in her eyes, even as 
 serting itself in /her tone. 
 
 " Naida Karetsky ? " she repeated. " Tell me 
 exactly how you met her? " 
 
 " She was lunching with her father and Oscar 
 Immelan. She stopped to speak to KarschofF and 
 asked him to present me. Afterwards, she invited 
 us to take coffee in the lounge." 
 
 " She went out of her way to make your acquaint 
 ance, then? " 
 
 " Yes, I suppose she did." 
 
 " You know who she is ? " 
 
 " The daughter of one of the Russian Consuls over 
 here, I understood." 
 
 " She is more than that," Maggie declared ner 
 vously. " She is the inspiration of the President 
 himself. She is the most vital force in Russian 
 politics. She is the woman whom I wanted you to 
 know, to whom I told you that I wished you to pay 
 attentions. And now that you know her, I am 
 afraid." 
 
 " Where did you meet her? " he asked curiously. 
 
 " We were at school together in Paris. She was
 
 46 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 two years older than I, but she stayed there until she 
 was twenty. Afterwards we met in Florence." 
 
 Nigel was greatly interested. 
 
 " Somehow or other, nothing that you can tell 
 me about her surprises me," he admitted. " She has 
 the air of counting for great things in the world. 
 She is very beautiful, too.'* 
 
 " She is beautiful enough," Maggie replied, " to 
 have turned the head of the great Paul Matinsky 
 himself. They say that he would give his soul to 
 be free to marry her. As it is, she is the uncrowned 
 Tsarina of Russia." 
 
 Nigel frowned slightly. 
 
 " Isn't that going rather a long way ? " lie ob 
 jected. 
 
 " Not when one remembers what manner of a man 
 Matinsky is," Maggie replied. " He may have his 
 faults, but he is an absolute idealist so far as regards 
 his private life. There has never been a word of 
 scandal concerning him and Naida, nor will there 
 ever be. But in his eyes, Naida has that most 
 wonderful gift of all, she has vision. He once told 
 a man with whom I spoke in Berlin that Naida was 
 the one person in the world to whom a mistake was 
 impossible. Nigel, did she give you any idea at all 
 what she was over here for? " 
 
 " Not as yet," he replied, " but she has asked me 
 to go and see her."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 47 
 
 " Did she seem interested in you personally, or 
 was it because your name is Dorminster ? " 
 
 Nigel sighed. 
 
 " I hoped it was a personal interest, but I cannot 
 tell. She asked me whether I had inherited my 
 uncle's hobby." 
 
 " What did you tell her? " she asked eagerly. 
 
 " Very little. She seemed sympathetic, but after 
 all she is in the enemy camp. She and Immelan 
 seemed on particularly good terms." 
 
 " Yet I don't believe that she is committed as yet," 
 Maggie declared. " She always used to speak so 
 affectionately of England. Nigel, do you think that 
 I have vision? " 
 
 " I am sure that you have," he answered. 
 
 " Very well, then, I will tell you what I see," she 
 continued. " I see Naida Karetsky for Russia, 
 Oscar Immelan for Germany, Austria and Sweden, 
 and Prince Shan for Asia here meeting in Lon 
 don within the next week or ten days, to take 
 counsel together to decide whether the things which 
 are being plotted against us to-day shall be or shall 
 not be. Of Immelan we have no hope. He conceals 
 it cleverly enough, but he hates England with all 
 the fervour of a zealot. Naida is unconvinced. She 
 is to be won. And Prince Shan " 
 
 " Well, what about him? " Nigel demanded, a little 
 carried away by Maggie's earnestness. 
 
 She shook her head.
 
 48 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " I don't know,'* she confessed. " If the stories 
 one hears about him are true, no man nor any 
 woman could ever influence him. At least, though, 
 one could watch and hope." 
 
 " Prince Shan is supposed to be coming to Paris, 
 not to London," Nigel remarked. 
 
 " If he goes to Paris," Maggie said, " Naida and 
 Immelan will go. So shall we. If he comes here, it 
 will be easier. Tell me, Nigel, did you see the Prime 
 Minister? " 
 
 " I saw him," Nigel replied, " but without the 
 slightest result. He is clearly of the opinion that 
 the open verdict was a merciful one. In other words, 
 he believes that it was a case of suicide." 
 
 " How wicked ! " Maggie exclaimed. 
 
 " I suppose it is trying the ordinary Britisher a 
 little high," Nigel remarked, " to ask him to believe 
 that he was murdered in cold blood, here in the 
 heart of London, by the secret service agent of a 
 foreign Power. The strangest part of it all is that 
 it is true. To think that those few pages of manu 
 script would have told us exactly what we have to 
 fear! Why, I actually had them in my hand." 
 
 " And I in my corsets ! " Maggie groaned. 
 
 They were both silent for a moment. Then Nigel 
 moved towards the door and opened it. 
 
 " Come downstairs into the library, will you, 
 Maggie ? " he begged. " Let us go in for a little re 
 construction."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 49 
 
 They found Brookes in the hall and took him with 
 them. The blinds in the room had never been raised, 
 and there was still that nameless atmosphere which 
 lingers for long in an apartment which has become 
 associated with tragedy. Instinctively they all 
 moved quietly and spoke in hushed voices. Nigel sat 
 in the chair where his uncle had been found dead 
 and made a mental effort to reconstruct the events 
 which must have immediately preceded the tragedy. 
 
 " I know that this was all thrashed out at the 
 inquest, Brookes," he said, " but I want you to tell 
 me once more. You see how far it is from this 
 table to the door. My uncle must have had abundant 
 warning of any one approaching. Was there no 
 other way by which any one could have entered the 
 room? " 
 
 " There was, your lordship," the man replied, 
 " and I have regretted several times since that I did 
 not mention it at the inquest. The cleaners were 
 here on the morning of that day, and the window 
 at the farther end of the room was unfastened I 
 even believe that it was open." 
 
 Nigel rose and examined the window in question. 
 It was almost flush with the ground, and although 
 there were iron railings separating it from the street, 
 a little gate opening from the area entrance made 
 ingress not only possible but easy. Nigel returned 
 to his chair.
 
 50 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " I can't understand this not having been men 
 tioned at the inquest, Brookes,'* he said. 
 
 " I was waiting for the question to be asked, your 
 lordship. It was perfectly clear to every one there, 
 if your lordship will excuse my saying so, that both 
 the coroner and the police seemed to have made up 
 their minds that it was a case of suicide."- 
 
 Nigel nodded. 
 
 " I had the same idea with reference to the cor 
 oner, at any rate, Brookes," he said. " So long as 
 the verdict was returned in the form it was, I am 
 not sure that it was not better so." 
 
 He dismissed the man with a little nod and sat 
 turning over the code books which still stood upon 
 the table. 
 
 " You and I, at any rate, Maggie, know the truth," 
 he said, " and so long as we can get no help from 
 the jproper quarters, I think that we should do better 
 to let the matter remain as it is. We don't want to 
 direct people's attention to us. We want to lull 
 suspicion so far as we can, to be free to watch the 
 three." 
 
 The telephone bell rang, and as Nigel moved his 
 arm to take off the receiver, he knocked over one of 
 the black, morocco-bound code books. A sheet of 
 paper with a few words upon it came fluttering to 
 the ground. Maggie picked it up, glanced at it 
 carelessly at first and then with interest.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 51 
 
 " Nigel," sne exclaimed, " you see whose hand 
 writing this is ? Could it be part of the decoded dis 
 patch? " 
 
 The telephone enquiry had been unimportant. 
 Nigel pushed the instrument away. They both 
 looked eagerly at the page of manuscript paper. It 
 was numbered " 8 " at the top, and the few words 
 written upon it in Lord Dorminster's writing were 
 obviously the continuation of a paragraph: 
 
 The name of the middle one, then, of the three 
 secret cities, into which at all costs some one must 
 find his way, is Kroten, and the telephone number 
 which is all the clue I have been able to get, up to 
 the present, to the London end of the affair, is 
 May fair 146. 
 
 " This is just where he got to in the decoding! " 
 Nigel declared. " I wonder whether it's any use 
 looking for the rest." 
 
 They searched through every page of the heavy 
 code books in vain. Then they returned to their 
 study of the single page. Nigel dragged down an 
 atlas and studied it. 
 
 " Kroten," he muttered. " Here it is, a small 
 place about six hundred miles from Petrograd, ap 
 parently the centre of a barren, swampy district, 
 population thirty thousand, birth rate declining, 
 industries nil. Cheerful sort of spot it seems ! " 
 
 " I have more luck than you ! " Maggie cried, her
 
 52 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 finger tracing out a line in the open telephone book. 
 "Look!" 
 
 Nigel glanced over her shoulder and read the 
 entry to which she was pointing : 
 
 "Immelan Oscar, IS Clarges Street, W. Mayfair 146"
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Nigel played golf at Ranelagh, on the following 
 Sunday morning, with Jere Chalmers, a young 
 American in the Diplomatic Service, who had just 
 arrived in London and brought a letter of introduc 
 tion to him. They had a pleasant game and strolled 
 off from the eighteenth green to the dressing rooms 
 on the best of terms with each other. 
 
 " Say, Dorminster," his young companion en 
 joined, " let's get through this fixing-up business 
 quickly. I've had a kind of feeling for a cocktail, 
 these last four holes, which I can't exactly put into 
 words. Besides, I want to have a word or two with 
 you before the others come down." 
 
 " I shan't be a minute," Nigel promised. " I'm 
 going to change into flannels after lunch that is, 
 if you don't mind playing a set or two at tennis. 
 My cousin-in-law Maggie Trent, whom you'll meet 
 at luncheon, is rather keen, and she doesn't care 
 about golf." 
 
 " I'm game for anything," the other agreed, lift 
 ing his head spluttering from the basin. " Gee, that's 
 good ! Get a move on, there's a good fellow. I have 
 a fancy for just five minutes with you out on the 
 lawn, with the ice chinking in our glasses."
 
 54 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 Nigel finished smoothing his hair, and the two 
 men strolled through the hall, gave an order to 
 a red-coated attendant, and found a secluded table 
 under a marvellous tree in the gardens on the other 
 side. Chalmers had become a little thoughtful. 
 
 " Dorminster," he declared, " yours is a wonderful 
 country." 
 
 " Just how is it appealing to you at the moment? " 
 Nigel enquired. 
 
 " I'll try and tell you," was the meditative reply. 
 " It's your extraordinary insouciance. It seems to 
 me, as a budding diplomat, that you are running the 
 most ghastly risks on earth." 
 
 " In what direction ? " 
 
 The young American shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " Well, you've got a thoroughly democratic Gov 
 ernment not such a bad Government, I should say, 
 as things go. They've bled your bourgeoisie a bit, 
 and serve *em right, but with an empire to keep up 
 you're losing 1 all touch upon international politics. 
 Your ambassadors have been exchanged for trade 
 consuls, the whole of your secret service staff has 
 been disbanded, you place your entire faith on this 
 sacred League of Nations. Say, Dorminster, you're 
 taking risks ! " 
 
 " You mustn't forget," Dorminster replied, " that 
 it was your country who started the League of 
 Nations." 
 
 " President Wilson did," Chalmers grunted.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 55 
 
 61 You can't say that the country ever backed him 
 up. That's the worst of us on the other side we 
 so seldom really get a common voice." 
 
 " The League of Nations was a thundering good 
 idea," Nigel declared, " but it belongs to Utopia 
 and not to this vulgar planet." 
 
 " Just so," Chalmers rejoined, " and yet you are 
 about the only nation who ever took it into her 
 bosom and suckled it. To be perfectly frank with 
 you, now, what other nation in the world is there, 
 except yours, which is obeying the conventions 
 strictly? I tell you frankly, we keep our eye on 
 Japan, and we build a good many commercial ships 
 which would astonish you if you examined them 
 thoroughly. Our National Guard, too, know a bit 
 more about soldiering than their grandfathers. 
 You people, on the other hand, seem to have become 
 infatuated pacifists. I can't tell tales out of school, 
 but I don't like the way things are going on east 
 wards. Asia means something different now that 
 that amazing fellow, Prince Shan, has made a great 
 nation of China." 
 
 " I am entirely in accord with you," Nigel agreed, 
 " but what is one to do about it ? Our present Gov 
 ernment has a big majority, trade at home and 
 abroad is prosperous, the income tax is down to a 
 shilling in the pound and looks like being wiped out 
 altogether. Everybody is fat and happy."
 
 56 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 I* 
 
 " Just as they were in 1914," Chalmers remarked 
 significantly. 
 
 " More so," Dorminster asserted. " In those days 
 we had our alarmists. Nowadays, they too seem 
 to have gone to sleep. My uncle " 
 
 " Your uncle was an uncommonly shrewd man," 
 Chalmers interrupted. " I was going to talk about 
 him." 
 
 " After lunch," Nigel suggested, rising to his feet. 
 " Here come my cousin and some of her tennis friends. 
 Karschoff is lunching with us, too. You know him, 
 don't you? Come along and I'll introduce you to 
 the others." 
 
 It was a very cheerful party who, after a few 
 minutes under the trees, strolled into luncheon and 
 took their places at the round table reserved for 
 them at the end of the room. Maggie at once took 
 possession of Chalmers. 
 
 "I have been so anxious to meet you, Mr. 
 Chalmers," she said. " They tell me that you rep 
 resent the modern methods in American diplomacy, 
 and that therefore you have been made first secretary 
 over the heads of half a dozen of your seniors. How 
 they must dislike you, and how clever you must 
 bef" 
 
 " I don't know that I'm so much disliked," the 
 young man answered, with a twinkle in his eyes, 
 "but I flatter myself that I have brought a new 
 note into diplomacy. I was always taught that there
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 57 
 
 were thirty-seven different ways of telling a lie, 
 which is to state a diplomatic fact. I have swept 
 them all away. I tell the truth." 
 
 " How daring," Maggie murmured, " and how 
 wonderfully original! What should you say, now, 
 if I asked you if my nose wanted powdering? " 
 
 " I should start by saying that the question was 
 outside the sphere of my activities,'* he decided. " I 
 should then proceed to add, as a private person, 
 that a little dab on the left side would do it no harm." 
 
 " I begin to believe," she confessed, " that all I 
 have heard of you is true." 
 
 " Tell me exactly what you have heard," he 
 begged. "Leave out everything that isn't nice. I 
 thrive on praise and good reports." 
 
 " To begin with, then, that you are an extraor 
 dinarily shrewd young man," she replied, " that you 
 speak seven languages perfectly and know your way 
 about every capital of Europe, and that you have 
 ideas of your own as to what is going to happen 
 during the next six or seven years." 
 
 " You've been moving in well-informed circles," 
 he admitted. " Now shall I proceed to turn the 
 tables upon you? " 
 
 " You can't possibly know anything about me," 
 she declared confidently. 
 
 " I could tell you what I've discovered from per 
 sonal observation," he replied.
 
 58 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " That sounds like compliments or candour," she 
 murmured. " I'm terrified of both." 
 
 " Well, I guess I'm not out to frighten you," he 
 assured her. " I'll keep the secrets of my heart hid 
 den until after luncheon, at any rate and just 
 ask you how you enjoyed your stay in Berlin? " 
 
 Maggie's manner changed. She lowered her voice. 
 
 " In Berlin? " she repeated. 
 
 " In the household of the erstwhile leather 
 manufacturer, the present President, Herr Essen- 
 dorf. I hope you liked those fat children. They 
 always seemed to me loathsome little brats." 
 
 " What do you know about my stay in Berlin? " 
 she demanded. 
 
 " Everything there is to be known," he answered. 
 " To tell you the truth, our people there were a trifle 
 anxious about you. I was the little angel watch 
 ing from above." 
 
 " You are, without a doubt," Maggie pronounced, 
 " a most interesting young man. We will talk to 
 gether presently." 
 
 " A hint which sends me back to my mutton," the 
 young man observed. " Dorminster," he added, turn 
 ing to his host, " I heard the other day, on very 
 good authority, that you were) thinking of writing 
 a novel. If you are, study the lady who has just 
 entered. There is a type for you, an intelligence 
 which might baffle even your attempts at analysis." 
 
 Naida, escorted by her father and Immelan, took
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 59 
 
 her place at an adjacent table. She bowed to Nigel 
 and Karschoff before sitting down, and her eyes 
 travelled over the rest of the party with interest. 
 Then she recognised Maggie and waved her hand. 
 
 " Immelan is a very constant admirer," Prince 
 Karschoff remarked, a little uneasily. 
 
 " Is that her father? n Maggie asked. 
 
 The Prince nodded. 
 
 " He is one of the ambassadors of commerce from 
 my country," he said. " In place of diplomacy, he 
 superintends the exchange of shipping cargoes and 
 talks freights. I suppose Immelan and he are all 
 the time comparing notes, but I scarcely see where 
 my dear friend Naida comes in." 
 
 " There is still the oldest interest in the world 
 for her to fall back upon," Chalmers murmured. 
 " One hears that Immelan is devoted." 
 
 " Scandalmonger!" the Prince declared severely. 
 " Young man from the New World," he proceeded, 
 " get on with your lunch and drink your iced water. 
 Let the vision of Chose two remind you that it was 
 your people who foisted the League of Nations upon 
 us, and be humble, even sorrowful, when you view 
 one of the sad results." 
 
 " I can't be responsible, directly or indirectly, for 
 a political flirtation," Chalmers grumbled. " Be 
 sides, why should there be any politics about it at 
 all? Mademoiselle Karetsky is quite attractive
 
 60 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 enough to turn the head even of a seasoned old 
 boulevardier like you, Prince." 
 
 " That young man,*' Karschoff said deliberately, 
 " will find himself before long face to face with a 
 blighted career. He has no respect for age, and he 
 is shockingly lacking in finesse. All the same, on 
 one point I am agreed. I don't think there is a man 
 breathing who could resist Naida if she wished to 
 call him to her." 
 
 The little party broke up presently and wan 
 dered out into the gardens. They sat for a while 
 upon the lawn, drinking their coffee and exchanging 
 greetings with acquaintances. In the distance, the 
 orchestra was playing soft music, with a fine regard 
 for the atmosphere of the pleasant, almost languor 
 ous spring afternoon. Everywhere were signs of 
 contentment, even gaiety, and here the alien streak 
 of unfamiliar newcomers was far less pronounced. 
 When the time came for tennis, Chalmers led the 
 way with Maggie. As soon as they were out of hear 
 ing of the others, she turned towards him a little 
 abruptly. 
 
 " Tell me exactly what you know about my stay 
 in Berlin," she demanded. 
 
 " Everything," he answered gravely. 
 
 "You mean?" 
 
 " I mean that the New World to-day has pro 
 gressed where the Old World seems to have been 
 stricken with a terrible blindness. Our secret-service
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 61 
 
 system has never been better, and frankly I hear 
 many things which I don't like. I am going to talk 
 to Lord Dorminster this afternoon very seriously, but 
 in the meantime I wanted to speak to you. I heard a 
 rumour that you thought of going back to Berlin." 
 
 " I don't know how you heard it, but the rumour 
 is not altogether untrue," she admitted. "I have 
 not yet made up my mind." 
 
 " Don't go," he begged. 
 
 " You think they really do know all about me? " 
 
 " I know that they do. I don't mind telling you 
 that you had the shave of your life on the Dutch 
 frontier last time, and I don't mind telling you, also, 
 that we had two of our men shadowing you. One 
 of them acted on his own initiative, or you would 
 never have crossed the frontier." 
 
 " I rather wondered why they let me out," she 
 observed. " Perhaps you can explain why Frau 
 Essendorf keeps on writing to me under my pseudo 
 nym of * Miss Brown ' and to my reputed address in 
 Lincolnshire, begging me to return." 
 
 " I could tell you that, too," he replied. " They 
 want you back in Berlin." 
 
 " They really do know, then, that I brought over 
 the dispatch from Atcheson? " she asked. 
 
 " They know it," he assured her. " They know, 
 too, that it was chiefly a wasted labour. Their Lon 
 don agents saw to that."
 
 62 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " Perhaps," she suggested, " you know who their 
 London agents are? " 
 
 " Sooner or later in our conversation/' he re 
 marked, " we were bound to arrive at a point 
 
 " Come along and let us make up a set then," she 
 intervened.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Naida, deserted by her father, who had found a 
 taxicab to take him back to the purlieus of Picca 
 dilly and auction bridge, sauntered along at the back 
 of the tennis nets until she arrived at the court 
 where Nigel and his party were playing. 
 
 " I should like to watch this game for a few min 
 utes," she told her companion. " The men are such 
 opposite types and yet both so good-looking. And 
 Lady Maggie fascinates me." 
 
 Immelan fetched two chairs, and they settled down 
 to watch the set. Nigel, with his clean, well-knit 
 figure, looked his best in spotless white flannels. 
 Chalmers, a more powerful and muscular type, also 
 presented a fine appearance. The play was fast 
 and sometimes brilliant. Nigel had Maggie for a 
 partner, and Chalmers one of her friends, and the 
 set was as nearly equal as possible. Naida leaned 
 forward in her chair, following every stroke with 
 interest. 
 
 " I find this most fascinating," she murmured. 
 " I hope that Lord Dorminster and his cousin will 
 win. Your sympathies, of course, are on the other 
 side."
 
 64 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " You are right," Immelan assented. " My sym 
 pathies are on the other side." 
 
 There was a lull in the game for a moment or two. 
 The sun was troublesome, and the players were 
 changing courts. Naida turned towards her com 
 panion thoughtfully. 
 
 " My friend," she said, glancing around as though 
 to be sure that they were not overheard, " there are 
 times when you move me to wonder. In the small 
 things as well as the large, you are so unchanging. 
 I think that you would see an Englishman die, 
 whether he were your friend or your enemy, very 
 much as you kick a poisonous snake out of your 
 path." 
 
 " It is quite true," was the calm reply. 
 
 " But America was once your enemy," she con- 
 .tinued, watching Chalmers* powerful service. 
 
 " With America we made peace," he explained. 
 " With England, never. If you would really appre 
 ciate and understand the reason for that undying 
 hatred which I and millions of my fellow country 
 men feel, it will cost you exactly one shilling. Go 
 to any stationer's and buy a copy of the Treaty of 
 Versailles. Read it word by word and line by line. 
 It is the most brutal document that was ever 
 printed. It will help you to understand." 
 
 She nodded slowly. 
 
 " Paul always declared," she said, " that in those 
 days England had no statesmen no one who could
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 65 
 
 feel what lay beyond the day-by-day horizon. When 
 I tliink of that Treaty, my friend, I sympathise with 
 you. It is not a great thing to forge chains of 
 hate for a beaten enemy." 
 
 " If you realise this, are you not then our 
 friend? " Immelan asked. 
 
 She appeared for a few moments to be engrossed 
 in the tennis. Her companion, however, waited for 
 her answer. 
 
 " In a way," she acknowledged, " I find something 
 magnificent in your wonderfully conceived plans for 
 vengeance, and in the spirit which has evolved and 
 kept them alive through all these years. Then, on 
 the other hand, I look at home, and I ask myself 
 whether you do not make what they would call over 
 here a cat's-paw of my country." 
 
 " Ours is the most natural and most beneficial of 
 all possible alliances," Immelan insisted. " Germany 
 and Russia, hand in hand, can dominate the world." 
 
 " I am not sure that it is an equal bargain, though, 
 which you seek to drive with us," she said. " Ger 
 many aims, of course, at world power, but you are 
 still fettered by the terms of that Treaty. You can 
 not build a great fleet of warships or aeroplanes ; you 
 cannot train great armies ; you cannot lay up for 
 yourselves all the store that is necessary for a suc 
 cessful war. So you bring your brains to Russia, 
 and you ask us to do these things ; but Russia does 
 not aim at world power. Russia seeks only for
 
 66 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 a great era of self-development. She, too, has a 
 mighty neighbour at her gates. I am not sure that 
 your barg-ain is & fair one." 
 
 " It is the first time that I have heard you talk 
 like this," Immelan declared, with a little tremor in 
 his tone. 
 
 " I have been in England twice during the last 
 few months," Naida said. " You know very well at 
 whose wish I came. I have been studying the con 
 ditions here, studying the people so far as I can. I 
 find them such a kindly race. I find their present 
 Government so unsuspicious, so genuinely altruistic. 
 After all, that Treaty belongs to an England that 
 has passed. The England of to-day would never 
 go to war at all. They believe here that they have 
 solved the problem of perpetual peace." 
 
 Immelan smiled a little bitterly. 
 
 " Dear lady," he said, " if I lose your help, if you 
 go back to Petrograd and talk to Paul Matinsky as 
 you are talking to me, do you know that you will 
 break the heart of a nation? " 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 " Paul does not look upon me as infallible," she 
 protested. " Besides, there are other considerations. 
 And now, please, we will talk of the tennis. I do 
 not know whether it is my fancy, but that man 
 Ikhere to your left, in grey, seems to me to be taking 
 an interest in our conversation. He cannot pos-
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 67 
 
 sibly overhear, and he has not glanced once in our 
 direction, yet I have an instinct for these things." 
 
 Immelan glanced in the direction of the stranger, 
 a quiet-looking, spare man dressed in a grey 
 tweed suit, clean-shaven and of early middle-age. 
 There was nothing about his appearance to distin 
 guish him from a score or more of other loiterers. 
 
 " You are quite right," her companion admitted. 
 " One should not talk of these things even where the 
 birds may listen, but it is so difficult. As for that 
 man, he could not possibly hear, but there might 
 be others. One passes behind on the grass so noise 
 lessly." 
 
 They relapsed into silence. Naida, leaning a little 
 forward, became once more engrossed in the play. 
 Her eyes were fixed upon Nigel. It was his move 
 ments which she followed, his strokes which she 
 usually applauded. Immelan sat by her side and 
 watched. 
 
 " They are well matched," he remarked presently. 
 
 " Mr. Chalmers has a wonderful service," she de 
 clared, " but Lord Dorminster has more skill. Oh, 
 bravo ! " 
 
 The set at that moment was finished by a back 
 handed return from Nigel, which skimmed over the 
 net at a great pace, completely out of reach of the 
 opposing couple. The players strolled across to 
 the seats under the trees. Naida smiled at Nigel, 
 and he came over to her side. Once again he was
 
 68 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 conscious of that peculiar sense of pleasure and well- 
 being which he felt in her company. 
 
 " You play tennis very well, Lord Dorminster," 
 she said. 
 
 " I found inspiration," he answered. 
 
 " In your partner? " 
 
 " Maggie is always charming to play with. I was 
 thinking of the onlookers." 
 
 " Mr. Immelan is very interested in tennis," she 
 remarked, with a smile which challenged him. 
 
 "And you?" 
 
 " Even more so." 
 
 " Tell me about games in Russia," he begged, seat 
 ing himself on the grass by her side. 
 
 " We have none," she replied. " I learnt my 
 tennis at Cannes, where, curiously enough, I saw 
 you play three years ago." 
 
 " You were there then? " he asked with interest. 
 
 " For a few days only. We were motoring from 
 Spain to Monte Carlo. Cannes was very crowded, 
 but you see I remembered." 
 
 Her voice seemed to have some lingering charm 
 in it, some curiously potent suggestion of personal 
 interest which stirred his pulses. He looked up and 
 met her eyes. For a moment the world of tennis 
 fields, of pleasant chatter and of holiday-makings, 
 passed away. He rose abruptly to his feet. This 
 time he avoided looking at her. 
 
 " You must come over and speak to Maggie," he
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 69 
 
 begged. " Perhaps Mr. Immelan will spare you for 
 a few moments." 
 
 Immelan bowed, sphinxlike but coldly furious. 
 The two strolled away together. 
 
 When the next set was over, Naida, who had re 
 joined her companion, had disappeared. On one of 
 their vacated chairs was seated the quiet-looking 
 stranger in grey. Chalmers passed his arm through 
 Nigel's and led him in that direction. 
 
 " I want you two to know each other," he said. 
 " Jesson, this is Lord Dorminster Mr. Gilbert 
 Jesson Lord Dorminster." 
 
 The two men shook hands, Nigel a little vaguely. 
 He was at first unable to place this newcomer. 
 
 " Mr. Jesson," Chalmers explained, dropping his 
 voice a little, " was a highly privileged and very 
 much valued member of our Intelligence Department, 
 until he resigned a few months ago. I think that if 
 you could spare an hour or two any time this eve 
 ning, Dorminster, it would interest you very much 
 to know exactly the reason for Mr. Jesson's resig 
 nation." 
 
 " I should be very pleased indeed," Nigel replied. 
 " Won't you both come and dine in Belgrave Square 
 to-night? I was going to ask you, anyhow, Chal 
 mers. Naida Karetsky has promised to come, and 
 my cousin will be hostess." 
 
 " It will give me very great pleasure,** Jesson 
 acquiesced. " You will understand," he added, " that
 
 70 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 the information which Mr. Chalmers has just given 
 you concerning myself is entirely confidential." 
 
 Nigel nodded. 
 
 " We three will have a little talk to ourselves 
 afterwards," he suggested. " At eight o'clock 
 Number 17, Belgrave Square." 
 
 Jesson strolled away after a little desultory con 
 versation. Chalmers looked after him thoughtfully. 
 
 " Harmless-looking chap, isn't he? " he observed. 
 " Yet I'll let you in on this, Dorminster: there isn't 
 another living person who knows so much of what 
 is going on behind the scenes in Europe as that man." 
 
 "Why has he chucked his job, then? " Nigel en 
 quired. 
 
 " He will tell you that to-night," was Chalmers' 
 quiet reply.
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 " I don't think I shall marry you, after all," 
 Maggie announced that evening, as she stood looking 
 at herself in one of the gilded mirrors with which 
 the drawing-room at Belgrave Square was adorned. 
 
 " Why not? " Nigel asked, with polite anxiety. 
 
 " You are exhibiting symptoms of infidelity," she 
 declared. " Your flirtation with Naida this after 
 noon was most pronounced, and you went out of your 
 way to ask her to dine to-night." 
 
 " I like that ! " Nigel complained. " Supposing it 
 were true, I should simply be obeying orders. It 
 was you who incited me to devote myself to her." 
 
 " The sacrifices we women make for the good of 
 our countr} T ," Maggie sighed. " However, you 
 needn't have taken me quite so literally. Do you ad 
 mire her very much, Nigel ? " 
 
 He smiled. His manner, however, was not alto 
 gether free from self-consciousness. 
 
 " Of course I do," he admitted. " She's a per 
 fectly wonderful person, isn't she? Let's get out of 
 this Yictorian environment," he added, looking 
 around the huge apartment with its formal arrange 
 ment of furniture and its atmosphere of prim but
 
 72 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 faded elegance. " We'll go into the smaller room 
 and tell Brookes to bring us some cocktails and 
 cigarettes. Chalmers won't expect to be received 
 formally, and Mademoiselle Karetsky will appreci 
 ate the cosmopolitan note of our welcome." 
 
 "We do look a little too domestic, don't we?" 
 Maggie replied, as she passed through the portiere 
 which Nigel was holding up. " I'm not at all sure 
 that I ought to come and play hostess like this, with 
 out an aunt or anything. I must think of my repu 
 tation. I may decide to marry Mr. Chalmers, and 
 Americans are very particular about that sort of 
 thing." 
 
 " From what I have seen of him, I should think 
 that Chalmers would make you an excellent hus 
 band," Nigel declared, as he rang the bell. " You 
 need a firm hand, and I should think he would be 
 quite capable of using it." 
 
 " You take the matter far too calmly," she ob 
 jected. " I can assure you that I am getting 
 peevish. I hate all Russian women with creamy 
 complexions and violet-coloured eyes." 
 
 " They are wonderful eyes," Nigel declared, after 
 he had given Brookes an order. 
 
 Maggie looked at him curiously. 
 
 " Naida is for your betters, sir," she reminded 
 him. " You must not forget that she is to rule over 
 Russia some day."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 73 
 
 " Just at present," Nigel observed, " Paul Matin- 
 sky has a perfectly good wife of his own." 
 
 " An invalid." 
 
 " Invalids always live long." 
 
 " Presidents and emperors can always get di 
 vorces," Maggie insisted, " especially in this irre 
 ligious age." 
 
 " Matinsky isn't that sort," Nigel said cheerfully. 
 " Even an old gossip like Karschoff calls him a 
 purist, and you yourself have spoken of his prin 
 ciples." 
 
 Maggie shrugged her shoulders. 
 
 " All right," she remarked. " If you are deter 
 mined to rush into danger, I suppose you must. 
 There is just one more point to be considered, 
 though. I suppose you know that if you succeed 
 any farther with Naida, you will introduce a per 
 sonal note into our coming struggle." 
 
 " What do you mean? " Nigel demanded. 
 
 " Why, Immelan, of course," she replied. " He's 
 head over ears in love with Naida. Any one can 
 see that." 
 
 Nigel laughed scornfully. 
 
 " My dear child," he protested, " can you imagine 
 a woman like Naida thinking seriously of a fellow 
 like Immelan? a scheming, Teutonic adventurer, 
 without even the breeding of his class ! " 
 
 Maggie laughed softly for several moments. 
 
 " My dear Nigel," she exclaimed, " what a luxury
 
 74 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 to get at the man of you ! I haven't seen your eyes 
 flash like that for ages. The cocktails, thank good 
 ness ! Shake one for me till it froths all the way 
 up the glass, please, and then give me a cigarette.'* 
 
 Nigel obeyed orders, helped himself, and glar.ced 
 at the clock as Brookes left the room. 
 
 " How nice of you to come half an hour early, 
 Maggie ! " he remarked. 
 
 She made a little grimace. 
 
 " The first time you have noticed it," she said 
 dolefully. " Do you realise, Nigel, that it is nearly 
 a week since you proposed to me ? Apart from your 
 penchant for Naida, don't you really want to marry 
 me any more? " 
 
 He came across the room and stood looking down 
 at her thoughtfully. She was wearing a somewhat 
 daringly fashioned black lace gown, which showed 
 a good deal of her white shoulders and neck. Her 
 brown hair was simply but artistically arranged. 
 She was piquante, alluring, with a provocative smile 
 at the corners of her lips and a challenging gleam 
 in her eyes. The daintiness and femininity of her 
 were enthralling. 
 
 " You would make an adorable wife," he reflected. 
 
 " For some one else? " 
 
 " An unspeakable proposition," he assured her. 
 
 " You're very nice-looking, Nigel," she murmured. 
 
 ** You're terribly attractive, Maggie ! "
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 75 
 
 " Then why is it," she sighed, " that we neither of 
 us want to marry the other? " 
 
 " If a serious proposition would really be of in 
 terest to you," he began, 
 
 She made a little grimace. 
 
 " You heard them coming," she interrupted. 
 
 The three expected guests arrived almost together, 
 bringing with them, at any rate so far as Chalmers 
 and Naida were concerned, an atmosphere of light- 
 heartedness which was later on to make the little 
 dinner party a complete success. Naida, too, was 
 in black, a gown simpler than Maggie's but full of 
 distinction. She wore no jewellery except a won 
 derful string of pearls. Her black hair was brushed 
 straight back from her forehead but drooped a little 
 over her ears. She seemed to bring with her a larger 
 share of girlishness than any of them had previously 
 observed in her, as though she had made up her mind 
 for this one evening to cast herself adrift from the 
 graver cares of life and to indulge in the frivolities 
 which after all were the heritage of her youth. She 
 sat at Nigel's right hand and plied him with questions 
 as to the lighter side of his life, his favourite 
 sport, books, and general occupation. She gave evi 
 dences of humour which delighted everybody, and 
 Nigel, though he would at times have welcomed, and 
 did his best to initiate, an incursion into more 
 serious subjects, found himself compelled to admire 
 the tact with which she continually foiled him.
 
 76 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " It is a mistake," she declared once, " to believe 
 that a woman is ever serious unless she is forced to 
 be. All our natural proclivities are towards gaiety. 
 We are really butterflies by instinct, and we are at 
 our best when we are natural. Don't you agree with 
 me, Maggie ? " 
 
 " From the bottom of my heart," Maggie assented. 
 " Nothing but conscience ever induces me to pull a 
 long face and turn my thoughts to serious things. 
 And I haven't a great deal of conscience." 
 
 " So you see," Naida continued, smiling up at her 
 host, " when you try to get a woman to talk politics 
 or sociology with you, you are brushing a little of 
 the down off her wings. We really want to be told 
 other things." 
 
 " I should imagine," he replied, " that my sex fre 
 quently indulged you." 
 
 " Not so much as I should desire," she assured 
 him. " I have somehow or other acquired an unde 
 served reputation for brains. In Russia especially, 
 when I meet a stranger, they don't even look at my 
 frock or the way my hair is done. They plunge in 
 stead into a subject of which I know nothing 
 philosophy or history, or international politics." 
 
 " Do you know nothing of international politics? " 
 Nigel asked. 
 
 " A home thrust," she declared, laughing. " I 
 suppose that is a subject upon which I have some 
 glimmerings of knowledge. Really not very much,
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 77 
 
 though, but then I have a theory about that. I 
 think sometimes that the clearest judgments are 
 formed by some one who comes a little fresh to a 
 subject, some one who hasn't been dabbling in it half 
 their lifetime and acquired prejudices. Do you 
 always provide strawberries for your guests, Lord 
 Dorminster? If so, I should like to come and live 
 here." 
 
 " If you will promise to come and live here," he 
 replied, " I will provide strawberries if I have to 
 start a nursery garden in Jersey." 
 
 " Maggie," Naida announced across the table, 
 " Lord Dorminster has proposed to me. The matter 
 of strawberries has brought us together. I don't 
 think I shall accept him. There are no means of 
 making him keep his bargain." 
 
 " He'd make an awfully good husband," Maggie 
 declared. " If no one else wants me, I shall probably 
 marry him myself some day." 
 
 Naida shook her head. 
 
 " Lord Dorminster is more my type," she de 
 clared. " Besides, you have had your chance if you 
 really wanted him. I have a great friend in Russia 
 who prophesies that I shall never marry. That does 
 not please me. I think not to be married is the 
 worst fate that can happen to any woman." 
 
 " The remedy," Nigel told her, " is in your own 
 hands." 
 
 Jesson, quieter than the others, was still an inter-
 
 78 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 esting personality, often intervening with a shrewd 
 remark and listening to the sallies of the others with 
 a humorous gleam in his spectacle-shielded eyes. 
 When at last the girls left them for a time, Nigel 
 led the way at once into the library, where coffee 
 and liqueurs were served. 
 
 " I expect the others will find their way here in a 
 few minutes," he said, as the door closed behind 
 Brookes and his satellite. " You had something to 
 say to me, Chalmers, about Mr. Jesson here." 
 
 " All that I have to say is in the nature of a testi 
 monial," the young American replied. " Jesson was 
 easily one of our best men in Europe. He resigned 
 a few months ago simply because he wants a job 
 with you fellows." 
 
 " I don't quite understand," Nigel began. 
 
 " Let me explain," Jesson begged. " I spent the 
 last three years poking about Europe, and so far 
 as the United States is concerned, there's nothing 
 doing. My reports aren't worth much more than 
 the paper they are written on, and while I'm drawing 
 my money from Washington, it's not my business 
 to collect information that affects other countries. 
 That's why I've sent in my resignation. There are 
 great events brewing eastwards, Lord Dorminster, 
 and I want to take a hand in the game." 
 
 " Do you want to work for us ? " Nigel asked. 
 
 " You're right," was the quiet reply. " I guess 
 that's how I've figured it out. You see, I'm one of
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 79 
 
 those Americans who still consider themselves half 
 English. Next to the United States, Great Britain 
 is the country for me. I know what I'm talking 
 about, Lord Dorminster, and I've come to the con 
 clusion that there's a lot of trouble in store for you 
 people." 
 
 " I'm pretty well convinced of that myself," Nigel 
 agreed, " but you know how things are with us. We 
 have a democratic Government who have placed their 
 whole faith in the League of Nations, and who are 
 absolutely and entirely .anti-militarist. On paper, 
 the governments of Russia, Germany, and most of 
 the other countries of Europe, are of the same ilk. 
 Some of us my uncle was one who have studied 
 history and who know something of the science of 
 international politics, realise perfectly well that no 
 Empire can be considered secure under such condi 
 tions. This country swarms with foreign secret- 
 service men. What they are planning against us, 
 Heaven knows ! " 
 
 " Heaven and Naida Karetsky," Chalmers inter 
 vened softly. 
 
 " You believe that she is our enemy? " Nigel asked, 
 with a look of trouble in his eyes. 
 
 " She is Immelan's friend," Chalmers reminded 
 him. 
 
 " There was a man named Atcheson," Jesson be 
 gan quietly 
 
 Nigel nodded.
 
 8o THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " He was one of the men my uncle sent out. The 
 first one was stabbed in Petrograd. Jim Atcheson 
 was poisoned and died in Berlin." 
 
 " There was rather a scare in a certain quarter 
 about Atcheson," Jesson observed. " He was sup 
 posed to have got a report through to the late Lord 
 Dorminster." 
 
 " He got it through all right," Nigel replied. 
 " My uncle was busy decoding it, seated in this 
 room, at that table, when he died." 
 
 " His death was very sudden," Jesson ventured. 
 
 " I have not the faintest doubt but that he was 
 murdered," Nigel declared. " The document upon 
 which he was working disappeared entirely except for 
 one sheet." 
 
 " You have that one sheet ? " Jesson asked eagerly. 
 
 Nigel produced it from his pocketbook, smoothed 
 it out, and laid it upon the table. 
 
 " There are two things worth noticing here," he 
 pointed out. " The first is that the actual name of 
 a town in Russia is given, and a telephone number 
 in London. Kroten I have looked up on the map. 
 It seems to be an unimportant place in a very 
 desolate region. The telephone number is Oscar 
 Imm elan's." 
 
 " That is interesting, though not surprising," 
 Jesson declared. " Immelan, as you of course know, 
 is one of your enemies, one of those who are working 
 in this country for purposes of his own. But as
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 81 
 
 regards Kroten, may I ask where you obtained your 
 information about the place? " 
 
 Nigel dragged down the atlas and showed them 
 the paragraph. Jesson read it with a faint smile 
 upon his lips. 
 
 " I fancy," he remarked, " that this is a little out 
 of date. I should like, if you have no objection, to 
 start for Kroten this week." 
 
 " Good heavens ! Why ? " Nigel exclaimed. 
 
 " I can scarcely answer that question," Jesson 
 said. " I am like a man with a puzzle board and a 
 heap of loose pieces. Kroten is one of those pieces, 
 but I haven't commenced the fitting-in process yet. 
 Here," he said, " is as much as I can tell you 
 about it. There are three cities, situated in differ 
 ent countries in the world, which are each in 
 their way connected with the danger which is brew 
 ing for this country. I have heard them described 
 as the three secret cities. One is in Germany. I 
 have been there at the risk of my life, and I came 
 away simply puzzled. Kroten is the next, and of 
 the third I have still to discover the whereabouts. 
 Are you willing, Lord Dorminster, to let me act 
 for you abroad? I require no salary or remunera 
 tion of any sort. I am a wealthy man, and investiga 
 tions of this kind are my one hobby. I shall not 
 move without your permission, although I recognise, 
 of course, that your own position is entirely an 
 unofficial one. If you will trust me, however, I
 
 82 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 promise that all my energies shall be devoted to the 
 interests of this country." 
 
 Nigel held out his hand. 
 
 " It is a pact," he decided. " Before you leave, 
 I will give you the whole of my uncle's brief corre 
 spondence with Sidwell. You may be able to gather 
 from it what he was after. Sidwell, you remember, 
 was stabbed in a cafe in the slums of Petrograd." 
 
 " I remember quite well," Jesson admitted quietly. 
 " I knew Sidwell. He was a clever person in his 
 way, but he relied too much upon disguises. I fancy 
 that I hear the voices of the ladies coming. I shall 
 just have time to tell you rather a curious coinci 
 dence." 
 
 The two men waited eagerly. Jesson touched with 
 his forefinger the sheet of paper which he had been 
 studying. 
 
 " Sidwell," he concluded, " could not have been so 
 far off the mark. The man with whom he was 
 spending the evening in that cafe was a mechanic 
 from Kroten."
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Naida, early one afternoon, a few days after the 
 dinner at Belgrave Square, raised herself on one 
 elbow from the sofa on which she was resting, glanced 
 at the roses and the card which the maid had pre 
 sented for her inspection, and waved them impa 
 tiently away. 
 
 " The gentleman waits," the woman reminded her. 
 
 Naida glanced out of the window across a dull 
 and apparently uninviting prospect of roofs and 
 chimneys, to where in the background a faint line of 
 silver and a wheeling flock of sea gulls became dimly 
 visible through the branches of the distant trees. 
 The window itself was flung wide open, but the slowly 
 moving air had little of freshness in it. Sparrows 
 twittered around the window-sill, and a little patch 
 of green shone out from the Embankment Gardens. 
 The radiance of spring here found few opportunities. 
 
 " The gentleman waits," the serving woman re 
 peated stolidly, speaking in her native Russian. 
 
 " You can show him up," her mistress replied a 
 little wearily. 
 
 Immelan entered, a few moments later, spruce and 
 neat in a well-fitting grey suit, and carrying a grey
 
 84 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 Homburg hat. He was redolent of soaps and per 
 fumes. His step was buoyant, almost jaunty, yet 
 in his blue eyes, as he bent over the hand of the 
 woman upon whom he had come to call, lurked some 
 thing of the disquietude which, notwithstanding his 
 most strenuous efforts, was beginning to assert it 
 self. 
 
 " You make me very happy, my dear Naida," he 
 began, " that you receive me thus so informally. 
 Your good father is smoking in the lounge. He bade 
 me come up." 
 
 She beckoned him to a seat. 
 
 " A thousand thanks for your flowers, my friend," 
 she said. " Now tell me why you are possessed to see 
 me at this untimely hour. I always rest for a time 
 after luncheon, and I am only here because the 
 sunshine filled my room and made me restless." 
 
 " There is a little matter of news," he announced 
 slowly. " I thought it might interest you. I hoped 
 it would." 
 
 She turned her head and looked at him. 
 
 " News ? " she repeated. " News from you means 
 only one thing. Is it good or bad? " 
 
 " It is good," he replied, " because it saves me a 
 long and tedious journey, because it saves me also 
 from a separation which I should have found de 
 testable." 
 
 "Your journey to China, then, is abandoned?" 
 
 " It is rendered unnecessary. Prince Shan has
 
 85 
 
 decided after all. to adhere to his original plan and 
 come to Europe." 
 
 " You are sure? " 
 
 " I have an official intimation," he replied, " I 
 may probably have to go to Paris, but no farther. 
 It is even possible that I might leave to-night." 
 
 She was genuinely interested. 
 
 " There is no one in the whole world," she declared, 
 " whom I have wanted to meet so much as Prince 
 Shan." 
 
 " You will not be disappointed," he promised her. 
 " There is no one like him. When he enters the 
 room, you know that you are in the presence of a 
 great man. The three of us together! Naida, we 
 will remake the map of the world." 
 
 She frowned a little uneasily. 
 
 " Do not take too much for granted, Oscar," she 
 enjoined. " Remember that I am here to watch and 
 to report. It is not for me to make decisions." 
 
 " Then for whom else ? " he demanded. " Paul 
 Matinsky himself wrote me that you had his entire 
 confidence that you possessed full powers for ac 
 tion. You will not be faint-hearted, Naida? " 
 
 " I shall never be false to my convictions,'* she 
 replied. 
 
 There was a brief silence. He was not altogether 
 satisfied, but he judged the moment unpropitious for 
 any further reference to the coming of Prince Shan. 
 
 " My plans, as you see, are changed," he said at
 
 86 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 last, " and for that reason a promise which I made 
 to myself will not now be kept." 
 
 She rose to her feet a little uneasily, shook out 
 her fluffy morning gown, and retreated towards the 
 door leading to the apartments beyond. He watched 
 her without movement. She picked up a pile of let 
 ters from a table in the middle of the room, glanced 
 at them, and threw them down. 
 
 " It is as well," she warned him, " to keep all 
 promises." 
 
 " As for this one," he replied, " I have no respon 
 sibility save to myself. I absolve myself. I give 
 myself permission to speak. Your father is even 
 wishful that I should do so. I crave from you, 
 Naida, the happiness which only you can bring 
 into my life. I ask you to become my wife." 
 
 She looked at him without visible change of ex 
 pression. Her lips, however, were a little parted. 
 The air of aloofness with which she moved through 
 the world seemed suddenly more marked. He would 
 have been a brave man, or one entirely without per 
 ceptions, who would have advanced towards her at 
 that moment. 
 
 " That is quite impossible," she pronounced. 
 
 " I do not admit it," he contended. " No, I will 
 never admit that. The fates brought us together. 
 It will take something stronger than fate to drive 
 us apart. I had not meant to speak yet. I had 
 meant to wait until the great pact was sealed and
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 87 
 
 the glory to come assured, but during these last 
 few days I have suffered. A strange fancy has come 
 to me. I seem to feel something between us, so I 
 speak before it can grow. I speak because without 
 you life for me would be a thing not worth having. 
 You are my life and my soul. You will not send 
 me away? " 
 
 Naida was troubled but unhesitating. It was per 
 haps at that moment that a hidden characteristic 
 of her features showed itself. Her mouth, some 
 times almost too voluptuous in its softness, had 
 straightened into a firm line of scarlet. The deeper 
 violet of her eyes had gone. So a woman might 
 have looked who watched suffering unmoved, the 
 woman of the bull or prize fight. 
 
 " I am glad that you have spoken, Oscar," she 
 said. " I know a thing now which has been a source 
 of doubt and anxiety to me. What you ask is im 
 possible. I do not love you. I shall never love you. 
 A few days ago, I asked myself the very question 
 you have just asked me, and I could not answer it. 
 Now I know." 
 
 Pain and anger struggled in his face. He was 
 suffering, without a doubt, but for a moment it 
 seemed as though the anger would predominate. His 
 great shoulders heaved, his hands were clenched until 
 the signet ring on his left finger cut into the flesh, 
 his eyes were like glittering points of fire.
 
 88 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 "It is the old dream concerning Paul?" he de 
 manded. 
 
 " It has nothing to do with Paul," she assured 
 him. " Concerning him I will admit that I have had 
 my weak moments. I think that those have passed. 
 It was such a wonderful dream," she went on reflec 
 tively, " the dream of ruling the mightiest nation in 
 the world, a nation that even now, after many years 
 of travail, is only just finding its way through to 
 the light. It seemed such a small thing that stood 
 in the way. Since then I have met Paul's wife. She 
 does not understand, but at least she loves." 
 
 " She is a poor fool, no helpmate for any man," 
 Immelan declared. " Yet it is not his cause I plead, 
 but mine. I, too, can minister to your ambitions. 
 Be my wife, and I swear to you that before five years 
 have passed I will be President of the German Re 
 public. Germany is no strange country to you," he 
 went on passionately. " It is you who have helped 
 in the great rapprochement. At times when Paul 
 has been difficult, you have smoothed the way. I 
 would not speak against your country, I would not 
 speak against anything which lies close to your 
 heart, but let me tell you that when the day of 
 purification comes, the day when God gives us leave 
 to pour out the vials of vengeance, there will be no 
 prouder, no more glorious people than ours. Our 
 triumph will be yours, Naida. You yourself will 
 help to cement the great alliance of these years."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 89 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 " I am a woman," she said simply. " Incidentally, 
 I am a politician and something of an altruist, but 
 when it comes to marriage, I am a woman. I do 
 not love you, Oscar, and I will not marry you." 
 
 There Avas a darker shade upon his face now. 
 Unconsciously he had drawn a little nearer to her. 
 
 " Listen," he begged ; " it is perhaps possible that 
 I have not been mistaken that a certain change 
 has crept up in you even within the last few days? 
 Tell me, is there any one else who has found his way 
 into your heart? No, I will not say heart ! It could 
 not be your heart in so short a time. Into your 
 fancy? Is there any one else, Naida, of whom you 
 are thinking? " 
 
 " That is my concern, Oscar, and mine only," she 
 answered haughtily. 
 
 A weaker woman he would have bullied. His veins 
 were filled with anger. His tongue ached to spend 
 itself. Naida's bearing cowed him. She remained 
 a dominating figure. The unnatural restraint im 
 posed upon himself, however, made his voice sound 
 hard and unfamiliar. There were little patches of 
 white around his mouth; his teeth showed, when he 
 spoke, more than usual. 
 
 " If there were any one else," he declared, " and 
 that some one else should chance to be an English 
 man, I would find a new hell for him." 
 
 " There is no one else," she answered calmly, " but
 
 go THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 if there ever should be, Oscar Immelan, and if you 
 ever interfered with him, either in this country or 
 any other, my arm would follow you around the 
 world. Remember that." 
 
 She turned away for a moment, eager to gain a 
 brief respite from his darkening face. When she 
 looked around, he was gone. She heard his footsteps 
 passing down the corridor, the bell ringing for the 
 lift, the .dank of the gates as he stepped in. Once 
 more shfe gazed out over the uninspiring prospect. 
 There was a, little more sunshine upon the river; 
 more of the dusty chimney-pots seemed bathed in 
 its silvery radiUnce. As she stood there, she felt her 
 self growing calmer. The tension passed from her 
 nerves. Her eyes grew soft again. Then an impulse 
 came to her. She stretched out her hand for the 
 telephone book, turned over the pages restlessly, 
 looked through the " D's " until she found the name 
 for which she was searching. For a long time she 
 hesitated. When at last she took up the receiver 
 and asked for a number, she was conscious of a slight 
 thrill, a sense of excitement which in moments of 
 more complete self-control would at least have served 
 as a warning to her.
 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 The curtain fell upon the first act of " Louise." 
 The lights were turned up, the tenseness relaxed, men 
 made dives for their hats, and the unmusical mur 
 mured the usual platitudes. Naida leaned forward 
 from the corner of her box to the man who was her 
 sole companion. 
 
 " Father," she said, " I am expecting a caller 
 with whom I wish to speak Lord Dorminster. If 
 he comes, will you leave us alone? And if any one 
 else should be here, please take them away." 
 
 " More mysteries," her father muttered, not un 
 kindly. " Who is this man Dorminster? " 
 
 Naida leaned back in her chair and fanned herself 
 slowly. 
 
 " No one I know very much about," she acknowl 
 edged. " I have selected him in my mind, however, 
 as being a typical Englishman of his class. I wish 
 to talk to him, to appreciate his point of view. You 
 know what Paul said when he gave you the appoint 
 ment and sent us over here : ' Find out for me what 
 sort of men these Englishmen are.' " 
 
 " Matinsky should know," her father observed. 
 " He was here twelve years ago. He came over with
 
 92 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 the first commission which established regular rela 
 tions with the British Government." 
 
 " No doubt," she said equably, " he was able to 
 gauge the official outlook, but this country, during 
 the last ten years, has gone through great vicissi 
 tudes. Besides, it is not only the official outlook 
 in which Paul is interested. He doesn't understand, 
 and frankly I don't, the position of what they call 
 over here ' the man in the street.' You see, he must 
 be either a fool, or he must be grossly deceived." 
 
 " So far as my dealings with him go, I should never 
 
 "'f i . 
 
 call the Englishman a fool," Karetsky confessed. 
 
 " There are degrees and conditions of fools," his 
 daughter declared calmly. " A man with a perfectly 
 acute brain may have simply idiotic impulses towards 
 credulity, and a credulous man is always a fool. 
 Anyhow, I know what Paul wants." 
 
 There was a knock at the door. Karetsky opened 
 it and stood aside to let Nigel pass in. Naida held 
 out her hand to the latter with a smile. 
 
 " I am so glad that you have come," she said, rais 
 ing her eyes for a minute to his. " Father, you 
 remember Lord Dorminster? " 
 
 The 1 two men exchanged a few commonplace re 
 marks. Then Karetsky reached for his hat. 
 
 " Your arrival, Lord Dorminster," he observed, 
 " leaves me free to make a few calls myself. We shall, 
 I trust, meet again."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHA 
 
 Nigel murmured a few courteous words and 
 watched the retreating figure with some curiosity: 
 
 " Your father is very typical," he declared. " He 
 reminds me of your country itself. He is massive, 
 has suggestions of undeveloped strength." 
 
 " Add that he is a little ponderous," Naida said 
 lightly, " slow to make up his mind, but as obstinate 
 as the Urals themselves, and you have described 
 him. Now tell me what you think of a young woman 
 who rings you up without the slightest encourage 
 ment and invites you to come to the Opera purposely 
 to visit her box." 
 
 " I deny the absence of encouragement, and I am 
 very grateful for the opportunity of coming," Nigel 
 answered. " And if I were to tell you all that I 
 think of you," he added, after a moment's pause, 
 "it would take me a great deal longer than this 
 quarter of an hour's interval." 
 
 These were their first few moments absolutely 
 alone. Neither of them was unduly emotional, 
 neither wholly free from experience, yet they looked 
 and spoke and felt as though the coming of new 
 things was at hand. The atmosphere of music, still 
 present, was a wonderful background to the intensi 
 fied sensations of which both were conscious. Naida 
 had the utmost difficulty in steadying her voice. 
 
 " I wanted to talk to you seriously because you 
 can help me very much if you will," she began. " In 
 a sense, I am over here upon a mission. Some of us
 
 94 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 in Russia feel that your nation is imperfectly under 
 stood there. We are bearing grudges against you 
 which may not be wholly justified. You see, to speak 
 very plainly, we are under the constant influence of 
 a people which cherishes no feelings of friendship 
 towards you." 
 
 For a moment the personal element had disap 
 peared. Nigel remembered who his companion was 
 and all that she stood for. He drew his chair a 
 little nearer to hers. 
 
 " If you are looking for a typical Englishman," 
 he said, " I fear that I shall be a disappointment to 
 you. The typical Englishman of to-day is hiding his 
 head in the sand. I am not disposed to do anything 
 of the sort. I recognise a great coming danger, 
 and I am afraid of your country." 
 
 " The attitude of the official Englishman I know," 
 she declared, a little eagerly. " What I want to find 
 out is whether there are many like yourself, who 
 are awake." 
 
 " I am afraid that I am in the minority," he con 
 fessed. " I am trying to carry on the work which 
 my uncle commenced. I am trying to secure firm 
 and definite evidence of a certain plot which I be 
 lieve to be brewing in your country and in Ger 
 many." 
 
 " Tell me exactly what you know," she begged. 
 
 Nigel looked at her for several moments in silence. 
 She was wearing a Russian headdress, a low tiara of
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 95 
 
 bound coils of pearls. A rope of pearls hung from 
 her neck. Her white net. gown was trimmed with 
 ermine. At her first appearance in 'the front of the 
 box she had created almost a sensation among those 
 to whom she was visible. In these darker shadows 
 the sensuous disturbance of which he had been con 
 scious since his entrance swept over him once more 
 with overmastering power. 
 
 " You are very beautiful," he said, a little 
 abruptly. 
 
 " I am glad you think so," she murmured, with a 
 very sweet answering light in her eyes, " but I am 
 hoping that you have other things to tell me." 
 
 " You are the friend of Immelan," he reminded 
 her. 
 
 " To some extent, yes," she assented, " but I admit 
 of no prejudices. The greatest friend I have in the 
 world is Paul Matinsky, and it is at his wish that I 
 am here. He is anxious above all things not to make 
 a mistake." 
 
 " Your country is very much under the dominance 
 of Germany," he ventured. 
 
 " Very much, I admit, but not utterly so. You 
 must remember that after the cataclysm of 1917, 
 Russia has been born again in travail and agony. 
 No hand was outstretched to help her, save that of 
 Germany alone, for her own sake ultimately, perhaps, 
 but nevertheless with invaluable results to Russia. 
 We had vast resources which Germany exploited,
 
 
 g6 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 magnificent human material which Germany has 
 educated and disciplined. The two nations have 
 grown together for their common interest. At the 
 same time, Paul Matinsky and very many others 
 have always felt that there is one of Germany's great 
 ambitions in which Russia ought not necessarily to 
 become involved. I think I hope that you under 
 stand me." 
 
 " In plain words," Nigel said, " you refer to this 
 projected plan of isolating England." 
 
 " In plain words, I do," she admitted. " Russia's 
 intentions concerning that are trembling in the bal 
 ance. Germany is pressing her hard. Nothing will 
 be finally decided until I return to Petrograd. You 
 see, I speak to you quite openly, for I myself have 
 had some experience of your present statesmen. I 
 believe if you were to repeat this conversation to 
 any one of them, if, even, you could open their eyes 
 to what is happening, they would only shrug their 
 shoulders and say that they relied for their protec 
 tion on the League of Nations." 
 
 " You are unhappily right," Nigel groaned, " yet 
 one perseveres, and after all there is an element of 
 mystery about the whole affair. The French, as you 
 know, have not imitated our blind credulity. Their 
 frontier would seem to be impregnable, and the diffi 
 culties of invading England, even from the air, are 
 very much as they were during the last war. It 
 was these considerations which made my uncle per-
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 97 
 
 severe in his attempt at secret-service work on the 
 Continent. Everything depends upon our knowing 
 exactly what is in store for us." 
 
 " And have you discovered that? " she enquired. 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 " Everything that we have learnt so far has been 
 of negative value," he replied. " The German citizen 
 army is large, but not threateningly so. So far as 
 we have been able to discover, they do not seem to 
 have any secret store of guns or ammunition. Their 
 docks hold no secrets. Yet we know that there is 
 something brewing. Both the men upon whom my 
 uncle relied have been murdered." 
 
 " But one of them succeeded in getting a dispatch 
 through, did he not? " she asked quietly. 
 
 " Yes, he succeeded," Nigel acknowledged. " My 
 uncle was murdered, however, in the act of decoding 
 it, and the dispatch itself was stolen." 
 
 " You are very frank," she said. " I suppose I 
 ought to feel flattered that you treat me with so little 
 reserve." 
 
 " If you are a friend to Germany," he replied, 
 " you probably know all that I can tell you. If you 
 are inclined towards friendship with us, then it is 
 as well that you should know everything." 
 
 " That is reasonable," she admitted. " Now listen. 
 This conversation can only last a few minutes longer. 
 It is true that Oscar Immelan is my father's old 
 friend and also mine, but my judgment in all mat-
 
 g8 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 ters which relate to the welfare of my country is 
 not influenced by that fact." 
 
 " There was a report once," Nigel said, taking his 
 courage into both hands, " that you were engaged to 
 be married to him." 
 
 She looked him in the eyes. Against the whiteness 
 of his skin, the colour of her own seemed more won 
 derful than ever. 
 
 " That is not true," she replied. " It will never 
 be true." 
 
 " I am glad," he declared fervently. 
 
 There was a brief pause. Both seemed conscious 
 of a renewal of that air of disturbance which had 
 reigned between them during their first few mo 
 ments alone. It was Naida who made an effort to 
 restore their conversation to its former tone. 
 
 " If Germany has any scheme against this coun 
 try," she said, " believe me, it will not be so obvious 
 as you seem to think. It will be a scheme which can 
 only be carried out with the assistance of other coun 
 tries, and that assistance is not yet wholly promised. 
 I cannot betray to you my knowledge of certain 
 things," she went on, after a moment's hesitation, 
 " but I can at least give you this warning. It is 
 not for his health alone that Prince Shan is flying 
 from China to Paris. If there is a single member 
 of your Government who has the least apprehension 
 of world politics, now is the time for action." 
 
 " There is no one," Nigel answered gloomily.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE S::AN 99 
 
 The box was suddenly invaded. Karetsky reap 
 peared with several other men. In the rear of the 
 little procession came Immelan. His face darkened 
 as he recognised Nigel. Naida looked across at him 
 with a slight frown upon her forehead. 
 
 " You have changed your mind ? " she remarked. 
 " I thought you were for Paris to-night ? " 
 
 " A fortunate chance intervened," Immelan re 
 plied. 
 
 "Fortunate?" 
 
 Immelan watched Nigel's retreating figure with a 
 menacing frown. 
 
 " I find it so," he replied. " Our wonderful prima 
 donna is in great voice to-night and I like to be 
 prepared for all possible combinations."
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 Maggie came suddenly into the library at Belgrave 
 Square, where Jesson, Chalmers and Nigel were talk 
 ing together. She carried in her hand a note, which 
 she handed to the latter. 
 
 " Naida is a dear, after all," she declared. 
 " There is one person at least who does not wish to 
 have me pass away in a German nursing home or 
 fall a victim to Frau Essendorf's cooking." 
 
 Nigel read the note aloud. It consisted of only 
 a sentence or two and was dated from the Milan 
 Court that morning: 
 
 Maggie dear, this is just a line of advice from 
 your friend. You must not go back to Germany. 
 
 Naida. 
 
 " I fear," Maggie sighed, " that my little expedi 
 tion is scotched, even if I had been able to persuade 
 you others to let me go. Every one seems to have 
 made up their mind that I shall not go to Germany. 
 It will be such a disappointment to those flaxen- 
 haired atrocities, Gertrud and Bertha. Their so- 
 much-loved Miss Brown can never return to them 
 again."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 101 
 
 " In any case, the game was scarcely worth the 
 candle," Nigel observed. " We have already all the 
 evidence we require that some scheme inimical to this 
 country is being proposed and fostered by Immelan. 
 Our next move must be to find out the nature of 
 this scheme whether it be naval, military, or 
 political. I don't think Essendorf would be at all 
 likely to give away any more interesting informa 
 tion in the domestic circle." 
 
 " What are we all going to do, then? " Maggie 
 asked. 
 
 " We are met here to discuss it," Nigel replied. 
 " Jesson is off to Russia this afternoon. I asked 
 him to come round and have a few last words with 
 us, in case there was anything to suggest for us 
 stay-at-homes." 
 
 " We shall have to rely very largely upon luck," 
 Jesson declared. " There are three places, in any 
 of which we might discover what we want to know. 
 One is Kroten, another is Paris, provided that Prince 
 Shan really goes there, and the third London." 
 
 " London? " Maggie repeated. 
 
 " There are two people in London," Jesson de 
 clared, " who know everything we are seeking to dis 
 cover. One is Immelan and the other Naida 
 Karetsky." 
 
 " It seems to me," Maggie said, " that if that is 
 so, the place for us is where those two people are. 
 What is the importance of Kroten, Mr. Jesson? "
 
 102 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " Kroten," Jesson replied, " is the second of what 
 I have seen referred to in a private diplomatic re 
 port, written in an enemy country, as the three mys 
 tery cities of the world. The first one is in Germany, 
 and I have already explored it. I have information, 
 but information which without its sequel is value 
 less. Kroten is the second. Ten years ago it was 
 a town of eighteen thousand inhabitants. To-day 
 there are at least two hundred thousand people there, 
 and it is growing all the time." 
 
 " Say, how can a town of that size," Chalmers 
 enquired, " be termed a mystery city in any sense 
 of the word? Travelling's free in Russia. I guess 
 any one that wanted could take a ticket to Kroten." 
 
 *' A good many do," Jesson assented calmly, " and 
 some never come back. America and Russia are on 
 friendly terms, yet two men in my branch of the 
 service good fellows they were, too started out 
 from Washington for Kroten six months ago. 
 Neither of them has been heard of since ; neither ever 
 will be." 
 
 " How's it done? " Chalmers asked curiously. 
 
 " In the first place," Jesson explained, " the city 
 itself stands at the arm of the river, in a sort of 
 cul-de-sac, with absolutely untraversable mountains 
 on three sides of it. All the roads have to come 
 around the plain and enter from eastwards. There 
 is only one line of railway, so that all the approaches 
 into the city are easily guarded."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 103 
 
 " That's all right geographically, of course," 
 Nigel admitted, " but what earthly excuse can any 
 one make for keeping tourists or travellers out of the 
 place if they want to go there? " 
 
 " That is perhaps the most ingenious thing of 
 all," Jesson replied. " You know that Russia is 
 now practically a tranquil country, but there are 
 certain bands of the extreme Bolshevistic faction 
 who never gave in to authority and who practically 
 exist in the little-known places by means of ma 
 rauding expeditions. The mountains about Kroten 
 are supposed to have been infested by these 
 nomadic companies. Whether the outrages set down 
 to them are really committed or not, I don't sup 
 pose any one knows, but my point of view is that 
 the presence of these people is absolutely encouraged 
 by the Government, to give them an excuse for the 
 most extraordinary precautions in issuing passports 
 or allowing any one from the outside world to pass 
 into the city. If you get in, I understand you are 
 waited upon by the police within half an hour and 
 have to tell them the story of your past life and 
 your future intentions. After that you are allowed 
 to go about on parole. If you get too inquisitive, 
 you are discovered to be in touch with the robber 
 bands, and well that's an end of you." 
 
 " A nice, salubrious spot," Nigel murmured. 
 
 " It sounds most interesting," Maggie declared.
 
 104 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " I think a woman would be less likely to cause sus 
 picion,'* she added hopefully. 
 
 " Utterly out of the question," Jesson pronounced. 
 " Kroten is the one place that must be left in my 
 hands. I know more about the getting there than 
 any of you, and I know the tricks of changing my 
 identity." 
 
 " I should rather like to go with you," Nigel con 
 fessed. 
 
 " Impossible ! " was the brief reply. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 Jesson smiled. 
 
 " To be perfectly frank," he said, " because you 
 are developing an interest in the one person in the 
 world who might give success over into our hands. 
 It is necessary for you to remain where you can 
 encourage that interest." 
 
 Nigel was a little staggered. 
 
 " My friendship with Mademoiselle Karetsky," he 
 protested, " is scarcely likely to influence her politi 
 cal views." 
 
 " I am a somewhat close observer," Jesson con 
 tinued. " You will not ask me to believe that your 
 conversation with mademoiselle in her box at the 
 Opera last night related all the time to well, shall 
 we say music ? " 
 
 " Nigel, you never told me you were at the Opera," 
 Maggie intervened. " What made you go? "
 
 J 
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 105 
 
 " I think that it was a message from Mademoiselle 
 Karetsky," Jesson suggested quietly. 
 
 Nigel smiled. 
 
 " Upon my word, I think you're going to be a 
 success, Jesson," he declared. " Perhaps you can tell 
 me what we did talk about? " 
 
 " I believe I almost could," was the calm reply. 
 " In any case, I think I see the situation as it exists. 
 Mademoiselle Karetsky is a wonderful woman. She 
 has a great, open mind. To a certain extent, of 
 course, she has seen things from the point of view of 
 Paul Matinsky, Immelan, and that little coterie of 
 Russo-Germans who see a future for both countries 
 only in an alliance of the old-fashioned order. 
 Matinsky, however, has always had his doubts. 
 That is why he sent over here the one person whom 
 he trusted. Presently she will make a report, and 
 the whole issue will remain with her. Immelan knows 
 this and pays her ceaseless court. My impression, 
 however, is that his influence is waning. I believe 
 that to-day he is terrified at the bare reflection of 
 how much Naida Karetsky knows." 
 
 " You believe that she does know exactly what is 
 intended? " Nigel asked. 
 
 " I am perfectly certain of it," Jesson replied. 
 " If she could be induced to tell us everything, my 
 journey to Kroten might just as well be abandoned. 
 Yet somehow I do not think she will go so far as 
 that. The most that we can hope for is that she will
 
 v 
 
 io6 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 advise Matinsky to reject Immelan's proposals, and 
 that she will perhaps bring some influence to bear 
 in the same direction upon Prince Shan." 
 
 " I am inclined to agree with Jesson," Nigel pro 
 nounced, " inasmuch as I believe that Mademoiselle 
 Karetsky is disposed to change or modify her views 
 concerning us. You see, after all, this threatened 
 blow against England is purely a private affair of 
 Germany's. There is really no reason why Russia 
 or any other country should be dragged into it. She 
 is the monkey pulling the chestnuts out of the fire for 
 her most dangerous rival." 
 
 " Matinsky might be brought to think that way," 
 Chalmers observed, " but they say half the members 
 of his Cabinet are under German influence." 
 
 " If Matinsky believed that," Nigel declared, " he 
 is quite strong enough to clear them all out and 
 make a fresh start." 
 
 " In the meantime," Maggie interposed, " I should 
 like to know in what way you propose to use poor 
 little me? I am not to go to Germany, the man 
 whom I at one time seriously thought of marrying 
 is told off to engage the attentions of another woman, 
 Mr. Jesson here is going to Kroten, and he doesn't 
 show the slightest inclination to take me with him. 
 Am I to sit here and do nothing? " 
 
 " There remains for you the third enterprise," 
 Jesson replied, " one in which, so far as I can see,"
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 107 
 
 he continued, with a smile, " you have not the faintest 
 chance of success." 
 
 " Tell me what it is, at least? " she begged. 
 
 " The conversion of Prince Shan." 
 
 Maggie made a little grimace. 
 
 "Aren't you trying me a little high? " she mur 
 mured. 
 
 " Very high indeed," Jesson acknowledged. 
 " Prince Shan, for all his wonderful statesmanship 
 and his grip upon world affairs, is reputed to be 
 almost an anchorite in his daily life. No woman has 
 ever yet been able to boast of having exercised the 
 slightest influence over him. At the same time, he 
 is an extraordinarily human person, and success 
 with him would mean the end of your enemies." 
 
 " It sounds a bit of a forlorn hope," Maggie re 
 marked cheerfully, " but I'll do my little best." 
 
 " Prince Shan has abandoned his idea of landing 
 at Paris," Jesson continued. " He is coming direct 
 to London. I have to thank Chalmers for that infor 
 mation. Immelan will meet him directly he arrives, 
 and their first conversations will make history. 
 Afterwards, if things go well, Mademoiselle Karet- 
 sky will join the conference." 
 
 " I fear," Maggie sighed, " that there will be 
 difficulties in the way of my establishing confidential 
 relations with Prince Shan." 
 
 " There will be difficulties," Jesson assented, " but 
 the thing is not so impossible as it would be in Paris.
 
 io8 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 Prince Shan has a very fine house in Curzon Street, 
 which is kept in continual readiness for him. He 
 will probably entertain to some extent. You will 
 without doubt have opportunities of meeting him 
 socially." 
 
 Maggie glanced at herself in the glass. 
 
 " A Chinaman ! " she murmured. 
 
 " I guess that doesn't mean what it did," Chalmers 
 pointed out. " Prince Shan is an aristocrat and a 
 born ruler. He has every scrap of culture that we 
 know anything about and something from his thou 
 sand-year-old family that we don't quite know how 
 to put into words. Don't you worry about Prince 
 Shan, Lady Maggie. Ask Dorminster here what 
 they called him at Oxford." 
 
 " The first gentleman of Asia," Nigel replied. " I 
 think he deserves the title."
 
 CHAPTER XH 
 
 On the morning following the conclave in Belgrave 
 Square, the Right Honourable Mervin Brown re 
 ceived two extremely distinguished visitors in Down 
 ing Street. It was doubtful whether the Prime 
 Minister was altogether at his best. There was a 
 certain amount of irritability rankling beneath his 
 customary air of bonhommie. He motioned his callers 
 to take chairs, however, and listened attentively to 
 the few words of introduction which his secretary 
 thought necessary. 
 
 " This is General Dumesnil, sir, of the French 
 Staff, and Monsieur Pouilly of the French Cabinet. 
 They have called according to appointment, on Gov 
 ernment business." 
 
 " Very glad to see you, gentlemen," was the Prime 
 Minister's brisk welcome. " Sorry I can't talk 
 French to you. Politics, these last ten years, haven't 
 left us much time for the outside graces." 
 
 Monsieur Pouilly at once took the floor. He was 
 a thin, dark man with a beautifully trimmed black 
 beard, flashing black eyes, and thoughtful, delicate 
 features. He was attired in the frock coat and dark 
 trousers of diplomatic usage, and he appeared to
 
 no THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 somewhat resent the brown tweed suit and soft collar 
 of the man who was receiving him. 
 
 " Mr. Mervin Brown," he began, " you will kindly 
 look upon our visit as official. We are envoys from 
 Monsieur le President and the French Government. 
 General Dumesnil has accompanied me, in case our 
 conversation should turn upon military matters here 
 or at the War Office." 
 
 The General saluted. The Prime Minister bowed 
 a little awkwardly. 
 
 " So far as I am concerned," the latter declared, 
 " I will be perfectly frank with you from the start. 
 I know nothing whatever about military affairs. My 
 job is to govern this country, to make the most of 
 its resources, and to bring prosperity to its citizens 
 from the English Channel to the North Sea. We 
 don't need soldiers and never shall, that I can see. 
 I am firmly convinced that the days of wars are 
 over. The government of every country in the world 
 is getting into the hands of the democracy, and the 
 democracy don't want war and never did. If any of 
 the more quarrelsome folk on the continent get scrap 
 ping, well, my conception of my duty is to keep out 
 of it." 
 
 Monsieur Pouilly restrained himself. To judge 
 from his appearance, however, it was not altogether 
 an easy matter. 
 
 " You belong, sir," he said, " to a type of states 
 man whose rise to power in this country some of us
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN in 
 
 have watched with a certain amount of concern, for 
 although it is not my mission here to-day to talk 
 politics, I am yet bound to remind you that you do 
 not stand alone. The very League of Nations upon 
 which you rely imposes certain obligations upon 
 you. some actual, some understood. It is to dis 
 cuss the situation arising from your neglect to make 
 the provisions called for in that agreement that I am 
 here to-day." 
 
 Mr. Mervin Brown glanced at some figures which 
 his secretary had laid before him. 
 
 " You complain, I presume, of the reduction of 
 our standing army ? " he observed. 
 
 " We complain of that," Monsieur Pouilly replied, 
 " and we complain also of the gradually decreasing 
 interest shown by your Government in matters of 
 asronautics, artillery, and naval construction. We 
 learnt our lesson in 1914. If trouble should come 
 again, our country would once more be the sufferer. 
 You would no doubt do everything that was expected 
 of you, in time. Before you were ready, however, 
 France would be ruined. You entered into certain 
 obligations under the League of Nations. My Gov 
 ernment begs to call your attention to the fact that 
 you are not fulfilling them." 
 
 " It is my intention within the course of the next 
 few months," Mervin Brown declared, " to lay before 
 the League of Nations a scheme for total disarma 
 ment."
 
 ii2 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 Monsieur Pouilly was staggered. A little excla 
 mation escaped the General. 
 
 " What about those nations," the latter enquired, 
 "who were left outside the League? What of 
 Russia, for instance? " 
 
 " Russia is a great and peaceful, republic," Mervin 
 Brown replied. " All her efforts are devoted towards 
 industrial development. No nation would have less 
 to gain by a return to militarism." 
 
 " Pardon, monsieur, but how do you know any 
 thing about Russia? " Monsieur Pouilly asked. 
 " You have not a single secret service agent there, 
 and your ambassadors are ambassadors of com 
 merce." 
 
 " I know what every one else knows," Mervin 
 Brown declared. " Our commercial travellers are 
 our secret service agents. They travel where they 
 please in Russia." 
 
 " And Germany ? " the General queried. 
 
 " I defy you to say that there is the slightest indi 
 cation of any militarism in Germany," the Prime 
 Minister insisted. " I was there myself only a few 
 months ago. The country is quiet and moving on 
 now to a new prosperity. I am absolutely and 
 entirely convinced that the world has nothing to 
 fear from either Russia or Germany." 
 
 " Have you any theory, sir," General Dumesnil 
 enquired, " as to why Russia refused to join the 
 League of Nations ? "
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 113 
 
 " None whatever," was the genial acknowledg 
 ment. " Russia was left out at the start through 
 jealous statesmanship, and afterwards she preferred 
 her independence. I have every sympathy with her 
 attitude." 
 
 " One more question," the soldier begged. " Are 
 you aware, sir, that since Japan left the League of 
 Nations on the excuse of her isolation, she has been 
 building aeroplanes and battleships on a new theory, 
 instigated, if you please, by China? " 
 
 " And look at her last balance sheet as a result 
 of it," was the prompt retort. " If a nation chooses 
 to make herself a bankrupt by building war toys, no 
 one in the world can help her. Legislation of that 
 sort is foolish and simply an incitement to revolu 
 tion. Look at the difference in our country. Our 
 income tax is practically abolished, our industrial 
 troubles are over. Our credit never stood so high, 
 the wealth of the country was never so great. We 
 are satisfied. A peaceful nation makes for peace. 
 The rattling of the sabre incites military disturb 
 ance. Do not ask us, gentlemen, to train armies or 
 build ships." 
 
 " We ask you only to keep your covenant,'* Mon 
 sieur Pouilly pronounced stiffly. 
 
 " Who does keep it ? " the Prime Minister de 
 manded. " The world is governed now by common 
 sense and humanity. I look upon a war of aggression 
 on the part of any country as a sheer impossibility."
 
 u 4 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " What about a war of revenge? " the General 
 enquired quietly. 
 
 " You can search Germany from end to end," Mer- 
 vin Brown declared, " and find no trace of any spirit 
 of the sort. I am sorry if I am a disappointment to 
 you, gentlemen, but the present Government views 
 your attitude without sympathy. General Richard 
 son is expecting a visit from you this morning at the 
 War Office, and he will give you any information you 
 desire. An appointment has also been made for you 
 this afternoon at the Admiralty. You are doing 
 me the honour of dining with me here to-morrow 
 night to meet certain members of my Cabinet, and 
 we will, if you choose, discuss the matter further 
 then. I have thought it best to place my views 
 clearly before you, however, at the outset of your 
 visit here." 
 
 The Frenchmen rose a few minutes later and took 
 their leave, ceremoniously but with obvious discon 
 tent. The Prime Minister leaned back in his chair 
 and awaited his secretary's return with a well- 
 satisfied smile. In a few minutes the latter presented 
 himself. 
 
 " Well, Franklin," the great man said, " I've let 
 them hear the truth for once. Plain speaking, eh? " 
 
 The young man bowed. 
 
 " They certainly know your views, sir." 
 
 The Minister glanced at his subordinate sharply.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 115 
 
 " What's the matter with you this morning, 
 Franklin? " he demanded. 
 
 " There is nothing the matter with me, thank you, 
 sir," was the quiet reply. 
 
 " You're not going to tell me that you disapprove 
 of my attitude? " 
 
 " By no means, sir," the young man assured his 
 Chief hastily, " not altogether, that is to say. 
 At the same time, one wonders how far those two 
 men represent the feeling of France.'* 
 
 His Chief shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " The military spirit is hard to kill," he said. " It 
 is in the blood of most Frenchmen. They are not 
 big enough to understand that the world is moving 
 on to greater things. What did they say to you 
 before they left?" 
 
 " Nothing much, sir. The General just asked me 
 whether I thought you would soon be content to leave 
 London unpoliced." 
 
 " What rubbish ! Any one else for me to see this 
 morning? " 
 
 " You promised to give Lord Dorminster ten 
 minutes," the young man reminded him. " He is in 
 the anteroom now." 
 
 The Prime Minister frowned. 
 
 ** Dorminster," he repeated. " He is a nephew of 
 the man who was always worrying the Government 
 to reestablish the secret service. I remember he came 
 to see me the other day, declared that his uncle had
 
 n6 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 been murdered, and a secret dispatch from Germany 
 stolen. I wonder he didn't wind up with a report 
 that the Chinese were on their way to seize Ireland ! " 
 
 " It is the same man, sir." 
 
 " Well, I suppose I'd better see him and get it 
 over," his Chief declared irritably. " If only one 
 could make these people realize how far behind the 
 times they are ! " 
 
 Nigel was shown in, a few minutes later. Mr. 
 Mervin Brown was gracious but terse. 
 
 " I haven't had the opportunity of congratulating 
 you upon becoming one of our hereditary legislators, 
 Lord Dorminster, since you took your seat in the 
 House of Lords," he said. " Pray let me do so 
 now. I hope that we may count upon your support." 
 
 " My support, sir," Nigel replied, " will be given 
 to any Party which will take the urgent necessary 
 steps to protect this country against a great 
 danger." 
 
 " God bless my soul ! " the Prime Minister ex 
 claimed. " Another of you ! " 
 
 " I can only guess who my predecessors were," 
 Nigel continued, smiling, " but I will frankly confess 
 that the object of my visit is to beg you to reestab 
 lish our secret service in Germany, Russia and 
 China." 
 
 " Nothing," the other declared, " would induce me 
 to do anything of the sort." 
 
 *' Are you aware," Nigel enquired, " that there is
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 117 
 
 a considerable foreign secret service at work in this 
 country at the present moment ? " 
 
 " I am not aware of it, and I don't believe it," was 
 the blunt retort. 
 
 " I have absolute proof," Nigel insisted. " Not 
 only that, but two ex-secret service men whom my 
 uncle sent out to Gennany and Russia on his own 
 account were murdered there as soon as they began 
 to get on the track of certain things which had been 
 kept secret. A report from one of these men got 
 through and was stolen from my uncle's library in 
 Belgrave Square on the day he was murdered. You 
 will remember that I placed all these facts before 
 you on the occasion of a previous visit.'* 
 
 Mervin Brown nodded. 
 
 " Anything else? " he asked patiently. 
 
 " You know that a special envoy from China is 
 on his way here at the present moment to meet 
 Imrnelan? " 
 
 " Oscar Immelan, the German Commissioner? ** 
 
 " The same," Nigel assented. 
 
 " A most delightful fellow," the Prime Minister 
 declared warmly, " and a great friend to this coun 
 try." 
 
 *' I must take the liberty of disagreeing with you," 
 Nigel rejoined, " because I know very well that he 
 is our bitter enemy. Prince Shan, who is on his way 
 from China to meet him, is the envoy of the one 
 country outside Europe whom we might fear. We
 
 n8 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 sit still and do nothing. We have no means of know 
 ing what may be plotted against us here in London. 
 At least a polite request might be sent to Prince 
 Shan to ask him to pay you a visit and disclose the 
 nature of his conference with Immelan." 
 
 " If he cares to come, we shall be glad to see him," 
 Mervin Brown replied, " but I for one shall not go 
 out of my way to talk politics." 
 
 " Do you know what politics are, sir? " Nigel 
 asked, in a sudden fury. 
 
 The Prime Minister's eyes flashed for a moment. 
 He controlled himself, however, and rang the bell. 
 
 " I have an idea that I do," he answered. " A few 
 millions of my fellow countrymen believe the same 
 thing, or I should not be here. I think that you 
 know what my principles are, Lord Dorminster. I 
 am here to govern this country for the benefit of the 
 people. We don't want to govern any one else's 
 country, we don't want to meddle in any one else's 
 affairs. Least of all do we want to revert to the 
 times when your uncle was a young man, and every 
 country in Europe was sitting with drawn sword, 
 trusting nobody, fearing everybody, living in a state 
 of nerves, with the roll of the drum always in their 
 ears. The best preventative of war, in my opinion, 
 is not to believe in it. Good morning, Lord Dor- 
 minster." 
 
 It was a dismissal against which there was no 
 appeal. Nigel followed the secretary from the room.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 119 
 
 " You found the Chief a little bit ratty this morn 
 ing, I expect, Lord Dorminster," the latter re 
 marked. " We've had the French Mission here." 
 
 " Mr. Mervin Brown has at least the virtue of 
 knowing his own mind,*' Nigel replied dryly.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 The automobile turned in through the great en 
 trance gates of the South London Aeronautic 
 Terminus and commenced a slow ascent along the 
 broad asphalted road to what, a few years ago, had 
 been esteemed a new wonder of the world. Maggie 
 rose to her feet with a little exclamation of wonder. 
 
 " Do you know I have never been here at night 
 before?" she exclaimed. " Isn't it wonderful!" 
 
 " Marvellous ! " Nigel replied. " It's the largest 
 aeronautic station in the world bigger, they say, 
 than all our railway termini put together. Look at 
 the flares, Maggie! No wonder the sky from the 
 housetop at Belgrave Square seems always to be on 
 fire at night !" 
 
 They were approaching now the first of the huge 
 sheds which were arranged in circular fashion around 
 an immense stretch of perfectly level asphalted 
 ground. Every shed was as big as an ordinary rail 
 way station, its arched opening framed with electric 
 illuminations. Inside could be seen the crowds of 
 people waiting on the platforms; in many of them, 
 the engine of a great airship was already throbbing, 
 waiting to start. In the background was a huge
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 121 
 
 wireless installation, and around, at regular inter 
 vals, enormous pillars, on the top of which flares 
 of different-coloured fire were burning. The auto 
 mobile came to a standstill before a large electrically 
 illuminated time chart. Nigel alighted for a moment 
 and spoke to one of the inspectors. 
 
 " Which station for the Black Dragon^ private 
 ship from China ? " he enquired. 
 
 The man glanced at the chart. 
 
 " Number seven, on the other side," he replied. 
 " You can drive around." 
 
 " How is she for time? " 
 
 " She crossed the North Sea punctually," he re 
 plied. " We should see her violet lights in ten 
 minutes. Mind the traffic as you pass number three. 
 The North ship from Norway is just in." 
 
 Nigel addressed a word of caution to the chauffeur, 
 and they drove on. From the first shed they passed 
 a stream of vehicles was pouring out, porters 
 with luggage, jostling throngs of newly arrived pas 
 sengers on their way to the Electric Underground. 
 They drove into number seven shed, left the car, 
 and walked to the end of the long platform. The 
 great arc of glass-covered roof above them was bril 
 liantly illuminated, throwing a queer downward light 
 upon the long line of waiting porters, the refresh 
 ment rooms, the kiosks and newspaper stalls. In the 
 far end, a huge airship, bound for the East, was 
 already filling up. Maggie and her companion stood
 
 122 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 for a few minutes gazing into the huge void of space. 
 
 " Tell me about Naida," the former begged, a 
 little abruptly. 
 
 " Naida is a wonderful woman," Nigel declared 
 enthusiastically. " We lunched at Giro's. She wore 
 a black and white muslin gown which arrived this 
 morning from Paris. Afterwards we went down 
 to Ranelagh and sat under the trees." 
 
 " Throwing yourself thoroughly into your little 
 job, aren't you!" Maggie sniffed. 
 
 " You'll have a chance to catch me up before 
 long," he replied. " Naida has promised that she will 
 arrange a meeting with the Prince." 
 
 " I wonder what Oscar Immelan will have to say 
 about it," Maggie reflected. 
 
 " To tell you the truth," Nigel said hopefully, 
 " I believe that Immelan is losing ground. His whole 
 scheme is too selfish. Of course, Naida won't dis 
 cuss these things with me in plain words, but she 
 gives me a hint now and then. Amongst her gifts, 
 she has a marvellous sense of justice and a hatred 
 of any form of bribery. That is where I feel con 
 vinced that she and Immelan will never come to 
 gether. Immelan could never see more than the selfish 
 side, even of a world upheaval. Naida searches 
 everywhere for motive. She has the altruistic in 
 stinct. I wonder no longer at Matinsky. She is a 
 born ruler herself." 
 
 " I'm glad you are getting along with her,"
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 123 
 
 Maggie remarked. "Look !" she broke off , catching 
 at his arm. " The violet lights ! " 
 
 High up in the sky outside, two violet specks of 
 light suddenly rose and fell like airballs. A crowd 
 of mechanics appeared through subterranean doors 
 and stood about in the vast arena. Very soon the 
 airship came into sight, her cars brilliantly illum 
 inated. She circled slowly round and came noise 
 lessly to the ground, and with the mechanics running 
 by her side, and her engines now scarcely audible, 
 came slowly into the shed and to a standstill by the 
 side of the platform. Maggie and her companion 
 stood well in the background. 
 
 " There he is," the latter whispered. 
 
 Immelan, suddenly appeared as though from the 
 bowels of the earth, was shaking hands warmly with 
 a tall, slender man who was one of the first to 
 descend from the airship. They talked rapidly to 
 gether for a few minutes. Then they disappeared, 
 walking down towards the luggage-clearing station. 
 Maggie watched the retreating figures earnestly. 
 
 " He doesn't look in The least Chinese," she de 
 clared. 
 
 " I told you he didn't," Nigel replied. " He was 
 considered the best-looking man of his year up at 
 Oxford." 
 
 Maggie was unusually silent on their way back. 
 
 " It was perhaps scarcely worth our while, this 
 little expedition of ours," Maggie said thoughtfully.
 
 124 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " You're not sorry that we came? " he asked. 
 
 She shook her head. " I think not," she replied. 
 
 " Why only * think' ? " 
 
 She roused herself with an effort. 
 
 " I don't know, Nigel," she confessed. " I can't 
 imagine what is wrong with me. I feel shivery 
 nervous as though something were going to 
 happen." 
 
 He looked at her curiously. This was a Maggie 
 whom he scarcely recognised. 
 
 " Presentiments ? " he asked. 
 
 " Absurd, isn't it ! " she replied, Aith a weak smile. 
 " I'll get over it directly. I don't think I am going 
 to like Prince Shan, Nigel." 
 
 " Well, you haven't been long making up your 
 mind," he observed. " I shouldn't have thought you 
 had been able even to see his face." 
 
 " I had a queer, lightning-like glimpse of it," she 
 reflected. " To me it seemed as though it were carved 
 out of granite, and as though all that was human 
 about him were the mouth and the eyes. I wish he 
 hadn't been looking." 
 
 " Are you flattering yourself that he will recog 
 nise you? " Nigel asked. 
 
 " I know that he will," she answered simply. 
 
 In a corner of the white-and-gold restaurant at 
 the Ritz on the following evening, Prince Shan and 
 Immelan dined tete-a-tete, Immelan in the best of
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 125 
 
 spirits, talking of the pleasant trifles of the world, 
 drinking champagne and pointing out notabilities; 
 Prince Shan, his features and expression unchang 
 ing, and his face as white as the perfectly fitting shirt 
 he wore. His clothes were fashionable and distinc 
 tive, his black pearls unobtrusive but wonderful, his 
 smoothly brushed dark hair, his immaculate finger 
 nails, his skilfully tied tie all indicative of his close 
 touch with western civilization. There was nothing, 
 in fact, except his sphinx-like expression, the slightly 
 unusual shape of his brilliant eyes, and his queer air 
 of personal detachment, to denote the Oriental. He 
 drank water, he ate sparingly, he preserved an al 
 most unbroken silence, yet he had the air of one 
 giving courteous attention to everything which his 
 companion said and finding interest in it. Only once 
 he asked a question. 
 
 " You are well acquainted here, my host," 1 he 
 said. " You know the trio at the table just behind 
 the entrance the attractive young lady with her 
 chaperon, and a gentleman who I rather fancy must 
 be an old college acquaintance whose name I have 
 forgotten. Tell me some more about them in their 
 private capacity, and not as saviours of their coun 
 try." 
 
 Immelan frowned slightly as he glanced across 
 the room. 
 
 " There is not much to tell," he answered, with 
 out enthusiasm. " The young lady is, as you know,
 
 126 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 Lady Maggie Trent. The older lady, with the white 
 hair, is, I believe, her aunt. The name of their 
 escort is Lord Dorminster. You would probably 
 know him by the name of Kingley he has only 
 just succeeded to the title." 
 
 Prince Shan was looking straight across the room, 
 his eyes travelling over the heads of the many bril 
 liant little groups of diners to rest apparently upon 
 an empty space in the white-and-gold walls. He 
 had been a great traveller, but always his first eve 
 ning, when he came once more into touch with a 
 civilisation more meretricious but more poignant 
 than his own, resulted in this disturbing cloud of 
 sensations. His companion's voice sounded emptily 
 in his ears. 
 
 " They say that the young lady is engaged to 
 Lord Dorminster. That is only gossip, however." 
 
 For the second time Prince Shan looked directly 
 at the little group. His eyes rested upon Maggie, 
 simply dressed but wonderfully soignee, very allur 
 ing, laughing up into the face of her escort. Their 
 eyes did not actually meet, but each was conscious 
 of the other's regard. Once more he felt the dis 
 turbance of the West. 
 
 " If we should chance to come together naturally," 
 he said, " it would gratify me to make the acquaint 
 ance of Lady Maggie Trent."
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 The introduction which Prince Shan had re 
 quested came about very naturally. The lounge of 
 the hotel was more than usually crowded that eve 
 ning, and the table towards which an attentive 
 maitre d'hotel conducted Imraelan and his companion 
 was next to the one reserved by Nigel. The trans 
 ference of a chair opened up conversation. Immelan 
 was bland and ingenuous as usual, introducing every 
 one, glad, apparently, to make one common party. 
 Prince Shan remained by Maggie's side after the 
 introduction had been effected. A chair which Imme 
 lan schemed to offer him elsewhere he calmly refused. 
 
 " This is my first evening in London, Lady 
 Maggie," he said. " I am fortunate." 
 
 "Why?" she asked. 
 
 He looked at her meditatively. Then he accepted 
 her unspoken invitation and seated himself on the 
 lounge by her side. 
 
 " We who come from the self-contained countries 
 of the world," he explained, " and China is one of 
 them, come always with the desire and longing for 
 new experiences, new sensations. My own appetite 
 for these is insatiable."
 
 128 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " And am I a new sensation ? " Maggie asked, 
 glancing up at him innocently enough, but with a 
 faint gleam of mockery in her eyes. 
 
 " You are," he answered placidly. " You reveal 
 or rather you suggest the things of which in 
 my country we know nothing." 
 
 " But I thought you were all so hyper-civilised 
 over there," Maggie observed. " Please tell me at 
 once what it is that I possess which your womenkind 
 do not." 
 
 " If I answered all that your question implies," 
 he said, " I should make use of speech too direct for 
 the conventions of the world in which you live. I 
 would simply remind you that whereas we men in 
 China may claim, I think, to have reached the same 
 standard of culture and civilisation as Europeans, 
 we have left our womenkind far behind in that re 
 spect. The Chinese woman, even the noble lady, does 
 not care for serious affairs. The God of the Moun 
 tains, as they call him, made her a flower to pluck, 
 a beautiful plaything for her chosen mate. She re 
 mains primitive. That is why, in time, man wearies 
 of her, why the person of imagination looks some 
 times westward, finds a new joy and a strange new 
 fascination in a wholly different type of femininity." 
 
 " But you have many European women now living 
 in China," Maggie reminded him, " American 
 women, too, and they are so much admired every 
 where."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 129 
 
 " The Chinese, especially we of the nobility,*' 
 Prince Shan replied, " are born with racial preju 
 dices. An individual may forgive an affront, a na 
 tion never. The days of retaliation by force of arms 
 may indeed have passed, but the gentleman of China, 
 even of these days, is not likely to take to his heart 
 the woman of America." 
 
 " Dear me," Maggie murmured, " isn't it rather 
 out of date to persevere in these ancient feuds ? " 
 
 " Feeling of all sorts is out of date," he admitted 
 patiently, " yet there are some things which endure. 
 I should be honoured by your friendship, Lady 
 Maggie." 
 
 u This is very sudden," she laughed. " I am very 
 flattered but what does it mean? " 
 
 " Permission to call upon you and your aunt," 
 he added, glancing around the little circle. 
 
 " We shall be delighted," Maggie replied, " but 
 you won't like my aunt. She is a little deaf, and she 
 has no sense of humour. She has come to live with 
 us because Lord Dorminster and I are not really re 
 lated, although we call ourselves cousins, and I 
 should hate to leave Belgrave Square. You shall 
 take me out to tea to-morrow afternoon instead, if 
 you like." 
 
 A smouldering fire burned for a moment in his eyes. 
 
 " That will make me very happy," he said. " I 
 shall attend you at four o'clock." 
 
 Thenceforward, conversation became general.
 
 130 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 Prince Shan, with the air of one who has achieved his 
 immediate object, left his place by Maggie's side and 
 talked with grave courtesy to her aunt. Presently 
 the little party broke up, bound, it seemed, for the 
 same theatre. Nigel had become a little serious. 
 
 " Well, you've made a good start, Maggie,'* he 
 remarked, leaning forward in his place in the limou 
 sine. 
 
 " Have I ? " Maggie answered thoughtfully. " I 
 wonder! " 
 
 " I wish we could get at him in some different 
 fashion," her companion observed uneasily. 
 
 " My dear man, I'm hardened to these enter 
 prises," Maggie assured him. " I even let the Presi 
 dent of the German Republic hold my hand once when 
 his wife wasn't looking. Nothing came of it," she 
 added, with a little sigh. ** These Germans are ter 
 ribly sentimental when it doesn't cost them anything. 
 They've no idea of a fair exchange." 
 
 " By a * fair exchange ' you mean," her aunt sug 
 gested, a little censoriously, " that you expected him 
 to barter his country's secrets for a touch of your 
 fingers ? " 
 
 " Or my lips, perhaps," Maggie added, with a lit 
 tle grimace. " Please don't look so serious, Aunt. 
 I'm not really in love with Prince Shan, you know, 
 and to-night I rather feel like marrying Nigel, if I ' 
 can get him back again. I like his waistcoat buttons, 
 and the way he has tied his tie."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 131 
 
 Too late, my dear," Nigel warned her. " I give 
 you formal notice. I have transferred my affec 
 tions." 
 
 " That decides me," Maggie declared firmly. " I 
 shall collect you back again. I hate to lose an ad 
 mirer." 
 
 " The nonsense you young people talk ! " Mrs. 
 Boiling-ton Smith observed, as they reached the thea 
 tre. 
 
 Chalmers joined them soon after they had reached 
 their box. He sank into the empty place by Mag 
 gie's side which Nigel had just vacated and leaned 
 forward confidentially. 
 
 " So you've started the campaign," he whispered. 
 
 " How do you know? " she enquired. 
 
 " I was at the Ritz to-night," he told her, " at the 
 far end of the room with my Chief and two other 
 men. We were behind you in the lounge afterwards." 
 
 " I was so engrossed," Maggie murmured. 
 
 Chalmers paused for a moment to watch the per 
 formance. When he spoke again, his voice, was, for 
 him, unusually serious. 
 
 " Young lady," he said, " I told you on our first 
 meeting my idea of diplomacy. Truth ! No beating 
 about the bush just the plain, unvarnished truth! 
 I have conceived an affection for you." 
 
 " Goodness gracious ! " Maggie exclaimed softly. 
 " Are you going to propose ? " 
 
 " Nothing," he assured her, " is farther from my
 
 132 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 thoughts. Lest I should be misunderstood, let me 
 substitute the term * affectionate interest ' for ' affec 
 tion.' I have felt uneasy ever since I saw Prince 
 Shan watching you across the restaurant to-night." 
 
 " Did he really watch me? " Maggie asked com 
 placently. 
 
 " He not only watched you," Chalmers assured 
 her, " but he thought about you and very little 
 else." 
 
 " Congratulate me, then," she replied. " I am on 
 the way to success." 
 
 Chalmers frowned. 
 
 " I'm not quite so sure," he said. " You'll think 
 I'm an illogical sort of person, but I've changed my 
 mind about your role in this little affair." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Because I am afraid of Prince Shan," he an 
 swered deliberately. 
 
 She looked at him from behind her fan. Her eyes 
 sparkled with interest. If there were any other feel 
 ing underneath, she showed no trace of it. 
 
 " What a queer word for you to use ! " 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 " I know it. I would back you, Lady Maggie, to 
 hold your own against any male creature breathing, 
 of your own order and your own race, but Prince 
 Shan plays the game differently. He possesses every 
 gift which women and men both admire, but he hasn't
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 133 
 
 our standards. Life for him means power. A wish 
 for him entails its fulfilment." 
 
 " You are afraid," Maggie suggested, still with 
 the laughter in her eyes, " that he will trifle with my 
 affections ? " 
 
 " Something like that," he admitted bluntly. 
 "Prince Shan will be here for a week perhaps a 
 fortnight. When he goes, he goes a very long dis 
 tance away." 
 
 " I may decide to marry him," Maggie said. 
 " One gets rather tired here of the regular St. 
 George's, Hanover Square, business, and all that 
 comes afterwards." 
 
 " Dear Lady Maggie," Chalmers replied, " that 
 is the trouble. Prince Shan would never marry you." 
 
 " Why not? " she asked simply. 
 
 " First of all," Chalmers went on, after a mo 
 ment's hesitation, " because Prince Shan, broad- 
 minded though he seems to be and is on all the great 
 questions of the world, still preserves something of 
 what we should call the superstition of his country 
 and order. I believe, in his own mind, he looks upon 
 himself as being one of the few elect of the earth. 
 He travels, he is gracious everywhere, but though 
 his manner is the perfection of form, in his heart he 
 is still aloof. He rides through the clouds from 
 Asia, and he leaves always something of himself over 
 there on the other side. Let me tell you this, Lady 
 Maggie. I have never forgotten it. He was at Har-
 
 134 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 vard in my year, and so far as he unbent to any one, 
 he sometimes unbent to me. I asked him once whether 
 he were ever going to marry. He shook his head 
 and sighed. ' I can never marry,' he replied. ' Why 
 not ? ' I asked him. * Because there are no women of 
 the Shan line alive,' he answered. Later, he took 
 pity on my bewilderment. He let me understand. 
 For two thousand years, no Shan has married, save 
 one of his own line. To ally himself with a princess 
 of the royal house of England would be a mesalliance 
 which would disturb his ancestors in their graves. 
 Of course, this sounds to us very ridiculous, but to 
 him it isn't. It is part of the religion of his life." 
 
 " You are not very encouraging, are you? " Mag 
 gie remarked. " Perhaps he has changed since those 
 days." 
 
 Her companion shook his head. 
 
 " I should say not," he replied, " the Prince is 
 not of the order of those who change." 
 
 " Is it matrimony alone," she asked, " which he 
 denies himself ? " 
 
 Chalmers glanced towards Mrs. Bollington Smith, 
 whose eyes were closed. Then he nodded towards the 
 stage. 
 
 " You see the woman who has just come upon the 
 stage?" 
 
 Maggie glanced downwards. A very wonderful 
 little figure in white satin, lithe and sinuous as a cat, 
 Chinese in the subtlety of her looks, European in
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 135 
 
 her almost sinister over-civilisation, stood smiling 
 blandly at the applauding audience. 
 
 " La Belle Nita," Maggie murmured. " I thought 
 she was in Paris. Well, what of her? " 
 
 " She is reputed to be a protegee of Prince Shan. 
 You see how she looks up at his box." 
 
 Maggie was conscious of a queer and almost in 
 comprehensible stab at the heart. She answered 
 without hesitation or change of expression, however. 
 
 " The Prince must be kind to a fellow country 
 woman," she declared indulgently. " You are talk 
 ing terrible scandal." 
 
 La Belle Nita danced wonderfully, sang like a lin 
 net, danced again and disappeared, notwithstanding 
 the almost wild calls for an encore. With the end 
 of her turn came a selection from the orchestra and 
 a general emptying of the boxes. Presently Chalmers 
 went in search of Nigel. A few moments later there 
 was a knock at the door. Maggie gripped the sides 
 of her chair tightly. She was moved almost to fury 
 by the turmoil in which she found herself. Her in 
 vitation to enter was almost inaudible. 
 
 " I am deserted," Prince Shan explained, as he 
 made his bow and took the chair to which Maggie 
 pointed. " My friend Immelan has left me to visit 
 acquaintances, and I chance to be unattended this 
 evening. I trust that I do not intrude." 
 
 " You are very welcome here," Maggie replied. 
 " Will you listen to the orchestra, or talk to me? "
 
 136 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " I will talk, if I may," he answered. " Lord Dor- 
 minster is not with you? " 
 
 " Nigel went to look up a friend whom he wants 
 to bring to supper. He is one of those people who 
 seem to discover friends and acquaintances in every 
 quarter of the globe." 
 
 " And to that fortunate chance," her visitor con 
 tinued, dropping his voice a little, " I owe the hap 
 piness of finding you alone." 
 
 Maggie glanced towards her aunt, who was lean 
 ing back in her seat. 
 
 " Aunt seems to be asleep, but she isn't," she de 
 clared. " She is really a very efficient chaperon. 
 Talk to me about China, please, and tell me about 
 your Dragon airship. Is it true that you have 
 silver baths, and that Gauteron painted the walls of 
 your dining salon? " 
 
 " One is in the air five days on the way over," he 
 answered indifferently. " It is necessary that one's 
 surroundings should be agreeable. Perhaps some day 
 I may have the honour of showing it to you. In the 
 darkness, and when she is docked, there is little to 
 be seen." 
 
 She looked at him curiously. 
 
 " You knew that I was there, then ? " 
 
 " Yours was the first face I saw when I descended 
 from the car," he told her. " You stood apart, 
 watching, and I wondered why. I knew, too, that
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 137 
 
 you would be at the Ritz to-night. That is why I 
 came there. As a rule, I do not dine in public." 
 
 " How could you possibly know that I was going 
 to be there? " Maggie asked curiously. 
 
 " I sent a gentleman of my suite to look through 
 the names of those who had booked tables," he an 
 swered. " It was very simple." 
 
 " It was only a chance that the table was reserved 
 in my name," she reminded him. 
 
 " It was chance which brought us together," he 
 rejoined. " It is chance under another name to 
 which I trust in life." 
 
 For the first time in her life, in her relations with 
 the other sex, Maggie felt a queer sensation which 
 was almost fear. She felt herself losing poise, her 
 will governed, her whole self dominated. Uncon 
 sciously she drew herself a little away. Her eyes 
 travelled around the crowded house and suddenly 
 rested on the box which her visitor had just vacated. 
 Seated behind the curtains, but leaning slightly for 
 ward, her eyes fixed intently upon Prince Shan, was 
 La Belle Nita, a green opera cloak thrown around 
 her dancing costume, a curious, striking little figure 
 in the semi-obscurity. 
 
 " You have some one waiting for you in your 
 box," Maggie told him. 
 
 He glanced across the auditorium and rose to his 
 feet. She gave him credit for the adroitness of mind
 
 138 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 which rejected the obvious explanation of her pres 
 ence there. 
 
 " I must go," he said simply, " but I have many 
 things which I desire to say to you. You will not 
 forget to-morrow afternoon ? " 
 
 " I shall not forget," she answered, in a low tone.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 There was a half reluctant admiration in Prince 
 Shan's eyes as he sat back in the dim recesses of his 
 box and scrutinised his visitor. La Belle Nita had 
 learnt all that Paris and London could teach her. 
 
 " You are very beautiful, Nita," he said. 
 
 " Many men tell me so," she answered. 
 
 " Life has gone well with you since we met last ? " 
 he asked reflectively. 
 
 " The months have passed," she replied. 
 
 " You have been faithful? " 
 
 " Fidelity is of the soul." 
 
 He paused, as though pondering over her answer. 
 A famous French comedian was holding the stage, 
 and the house rocked with laughter. 
 
 " You have the same apartment? " 
 
 She pressed the clasp of a black velvet bag which 
 rested on the edge of the box, opened it, and passed 
 him a key. 
 
 " It is the same." 
 
 He held the key in his fingers for a moment, but he 
 had the air of a man to whom the action had no 
 significance. 
 
 " You have enough money? " he asked.
 
 140 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " I have saved a million francs," she told him. " I 
 am waiting for my lord to speak of things that mat 
 ter. The woman in the box over there who is 
 she?" 
 
 " An English spy," he answered calmly. 
 
 She lowered her eyes for a moment, as though to 
 conceal the sudden soft flash. 
 
 " An English spy," she repeated. " My rival in 
 espionage." 
 
 " You have no rival, Nita," he replied, " and she 
 is in the opposite camp." 
 
 Her two red lips were distorted into a pout. 
 
 " Is it over, my task? " she asked. " I am weary 
 of Paris. I love it over here better. I am weary 
 of French officers, of these solemn officials who come 
 to my room like guilty schoolboys, and who speak of 
 themselves and their importance with bated breath, 
 as though their whisper would rock the world. My 
 master has enough information? " 
 
 " More than enough," he assured her. " You have 
 done your work wonderfully." 
 
 " Shall I now deal with her ? " she continued, with 
 a slight, eager movement of her head towards the 
 opposite box. 
 
 He smiled. 
 
 " She is harmless, she and her entourage," he re 
 plied. " Some stroke of good fortune brought them 
 word of the meeting between myself and Immelan, and 
 beyond that they guessed at its significance. They
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 141 
 
 were at the shed to watch my arrival. Now, with 
 their mouths open, they sit and wait for the infor 
 mation which they hope will drop in. They are very 
 ingenuous, these Anglo-Saxons, but they are not dip 
 lomats." 
 
 She turned her head and looked across the audi 
 torium. Maggie was talking to a man whom Nigel 
 had just brought in, and who was bending over her 
 in obvious admiration. Nita, with her wealth of 
 cosmetics, her over-red lips, stared curiously at this 
 possible rival, with her clear skin, her beautiful neck 
 and shoulders, her hair dressed close to her head, her 
 air of quiet, almost singular distinction. 
 
 " The young lady," she confessed, " wears her 
 clothes well for an English woman. She is bien 
 soignee, but she looks a little difficult." 
 
 His eyes followed the direction of hers, and her 
 object was achieved. She read correctly the light 
 that gleamed in them. 
 
 " I may come to-night ? " she asked quietly. 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 " Not again," he replied. 
 
 A violinist now held the stage, a Pole newly come 
 to London. La Belle Nita closed her eyes. For a 
 few minutes her sorrow seemed to throb to the minor 
 music to which she was listening. 
 
 " For all my work, then," she said presently, " for 
 the suffering and the risk, there is to be nothing? "
 
 142 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " Is it nothing for you to be invited to live in 
 whatsoever manner you choose? " he remonstrated. 
 
 " It is little," she replied steadily. " There are a 
 dozen who would do this for me, who pray every day 
 that they may do so. What are all these things be 
 side the love of my master? " 
 
 He looked at her a little sadly, yet without any 
 sign of real feeling. To him she represented nothing 
 more than a doll with brains, from whose intelligence 
 he had profited, but of whose beauty he was weary. 
 
 " You know what our poet says, Nita," he remind 
 ed her. " * Love is like the rustling of the wind in 
 the almond trees before dawn.' We cannot command 
 it. It comes to us or leaves us without reason." 
 
 She looked across the auditorium once more and 
 spoke with her head turned away from her com 
 panion. 
 
 " There is no one in the East," she said, " because 
 those who write me weekly send news of my lord's 
 doings. There is no one in the East, because there 
 they give the body who know nothing of the soul. 
 And so my Prince is safe amongst them. But here 
 these western women have other gifts. Is that she, 
 master of my life and soul? " 
 
 *' I met her this evening for the first time," he 
 replied. 
 
 She laughed drearily. 
 
 " Eyes may meet in the street without speech, a 
 glance may burn its way into the soul. Once I
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 143 
 
 thought that I might love again, because a stranger 
 smiled at me in the Bois, and he had grey eyes, and 
 that look about his mouth which a woman craves for. 
 He passed on, and I forgot. You see, my lord was 
 still there. So this is the woman." 
 
 " Who knows ? " he answered. 
 
 Immelan came into the box a little abruptly. 
 There was a cloud upon his face which he did his best 
 to conceal. Almost simultaneously, a messenger 
 from behind the scenes arrived for Nita. She rose 
 to her feet and wrapped her green cloak closely 
 around her lissom figure. 
 
 " In a quarter of an hour," she said, " I have to 
 appear again. It is to be good-night, then? " 
 
 She raised her eyes to his, and for a moment the 
 appeal which knows no nationality shone out of their 
 velvety depths. She stood before him simply, like a 
 slave who pleads. Not a muscle of Prince Shan'a 
 face moved. 
 
 " It is to be good-night, Nita," he answered calmly. 
 
 Her head drooped, and she passed out. She had 
 the air of a flower whose petals have been bruised. 
 Immelan looked after her curiously, almost compas 
 sionately. 
 
 " It is finished, then, with the little one, Prince? " 
 he enquired. 
 
 " It is finished," was the calm reply. 
 
 Immelan stroked his short moustache thoughtfully.
 
 144 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " Is it wise? " he ventured. " She has been faith 
 ful and assiduous. She knows many things." 
 
 Prince Shan's eyes were filled with mild wonder. 
 
 " She has had some years of my occasional com 
 panionship," he said. " It is surely as much as she 
 could hope for or expect. We are not like you 
 Westerners, Immelan," he went on. " Our women are 
 the creatures of our will. We call them, or we send 
 them away. They know that, and they are pre 
 pared." 
 
 " It seems a little brutal," Immelan muttered. 
 
 " You prefer your method? " his companion asked. 
 " Yet you practise deceit. Your fancy wanders, and 
 you lie about it. You lose your dignity, my friend. 
 No woman is worth a man's lie." 
 
 Immelan was leaning back in his chair, gazing 
 steadfastly across the crowded theatre. 
 
 " Your principles," he said, " are suited to your 
 own womenkind. La Belle Nita has become western 
 ised. Are you sure that she accepts the situation 
 as she would if she dwelt with you in Pekin ? " 
 
 " I am her master," Prince Shan declared calmly. 
 " I have made no promises that I have not fulfilled." 
 
 " The promise between a man and a woman is an 
 unspoken one," Immelan persisted. " You have not 
 been in Europe for five months. All that time she 
 has awaited you." 
 
 " Something else has happened," Prince Shan said 
 deliberately.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 145 
 
 " Since your arrival in London ? " 
 
 " Since my arrival in London, since I stepped out 
 of my ship last night." 
 
 Immelan was frankly incredulous. 
 
 " You mean Lady Maggie Trent ? " 
 
 " Certainly ! I have always felt that some day or 
 other my thoughts would turn towards one of these 
 strange, western women. That time has come. Lady 
 Maggie possesses those charms which come from 
 the brain, yet which appeal more deeply than any 
 other to the subtle desires of the poet, the man of 
 letters and the philosopher. She is very wonderful, 
 Immelan. I thank you for your introduction." 
 
 Immelan ceased to caress his moustache. He 
 leaned back in his chair and gazed at his companion. 
 For many years he and the Prince had been associ 
 ates, yet at that moment he felt that he had not even 
 begun to understand him. 
 
 " But you forget, Prince," he said, " that Lady 
 Maggie and her friends are in the opposite camp. 
 When our agreement is concluded and known to the 
 world, she will look upon you as an enemy." 
 
 " As yet," Prince Shan answered calmly, " our 
 agreement is not concluded." 
 
 Immelan's face darkened. Nothing but his awe 
 of the man with whom he sat prevented an expression 
 of anger. 
 
 " But, Prince," he expostulated, " apart from po 
 litical considerations, you cannot really imagine that
 
 146 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 anything would be possible between you and Lady 
 Maggie? " 
 
 " Why not? " was the cool reply. 
 
 " Lady Maggie is of the English nobility," Imme- 
 lan pointed out. " Neither she nor her friends would 
 be in the least likely to consider anything in the 
 nature of a morganatic alliance." 
 
 *' It would not be necessary," Prince Shan de 
 clared. " It is in my mind to offer her marriage." 
 
 Immelan dropped the cigarette case which he had 
 just drawn from his pocket. He gazed at his com 
 panion in blank and unaffected astonishment. 
 
 "Marriage?" he muttered. "You are not seri 
 ous ! " 
 
 " I am entirely serious," the Prince insisted. " I 
 can understand your amazement, Immelan. When 
 the idea first came into my mind, I tore at it as I 
 would at a weed. But we who have studied in the 
 West have learnt certain great truths which our own 
 philosophers have sometimes missed. All that is best 
 of life and of death our own prophets have taught 
 us. From them we have learnt fortitude and chas 
 tity: devotion to our country and singleness of pur 
 pose. Over here, though, one has also learnt some 
 thing. Nobility is of the soul. A Prince of the 
 Shans must seek not for the body but for the spirit 
 of the woman who shall be his mate. If their spirits 
 meet on equal terms, then she may even share the 
 throne of his life."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 147 
 
 Immelan was speechless. There was something 
 final and convincing in his companion's measured 
 words. His own protest, when at last he spoke, 
 sounded paltry. 
 
 " But supposing it is true that she is already en 
 gaged to Lord Dorminster? " 
 
 Prince Shan smiled very quietly. 
 
 " That," he said, " can easily be disposed of." 
 
 " But do you seriously believe that you would be 
 able to induce her to return with you to Pekin ? " 
 Immelan persisted. 
 
 At that moment it chanced that Maggie turned 
 her head and looked across at the two men. Prince 
 Shan leaned a little forward to meet her gaze. His 
 face was expressionless. The lines of his mouth 
 were calm and restful, yet in his eyes there glowed 
 for a single moment the fire of a man who looks upon 
 the thing he covets. 
 
 " I seriously believe it," he answered under his 
 breath.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 Maggie leaned back in her chair with a little sigh 
 of content. The scarlet-coated waiter had just re 
 moved their tea tray, a pleasant breeze was rustling 
 through the leaves of the trees under which she and 
 Prince Shan were seated. From the distance came 
 the low strains of a military band. Everywhere on 
 the lawns and along the paths men and women were 
 promenading. 
 
 " Confess that this is better than Rumpelmayer's 
 or the Ritz," she murmured lazily. 
 
 " It is better," he admitted. " It is a very won 
 derful place." 
 
 " You have nothing like it in China ? " she asked 
 him. 
 
 " It would not be possible," he answered. " Democ 
 racy there is confined to politics. In other respects, 
 our class prejudices are far more rigid than yours. 
 But then I see a great change in this country since 
 I was here as a student." 
 
 " You have lost your affection for it, perhaps? " 
 she ventured, looking at him through half-closed eyes. 
 
 " On the contrary," he assured her, " my gratitude 
 towards her was never so great as at this moment.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 149 
 
 Your country has given me nothing I prize so much, 
 Lady Maggie, as my knowledge of you." 
 
 She looked away from his very earnest eyes, and 
 the light retort died away upon her lips. The men 
 and women whom she watched so steadfastly seemed 
 like puppets, the flowers artificial, the music unreal. 
 Already she was beginning to resent the influence 
 which he was establishing over her. The art of 
 badinage in which she was so proficient stood her in 
 no stead. Words, even the power of light speech, had 
 deserted her. 
 
 " Tell me about the changes that you see," she 
 asked. 
 
 " Perhaps," he replied, after a moment's hesita 
 tion, " it is because I am an occasional visitor that 
 differences seem so marked to me, but look at the 
 tables there. That is the Duke of Illinton, is it not? 
 At the next table, the man in the strange clothes 
 and uncomfortable hat it seems to me that I have 
 seen him somewhere under different circumstances." 
 
 Maggie nodded. 
 
 " Life is a terrible hotchpotch nowadays," she 
 admitted. " After the war, our gentry and aristoc 
 racy who were not wealthy were taxed out of exist 
 ence. The profiteers, and the men who had made 
 fortunes during the war, took their place. It has 
 made the country prosperous but less picturesque." 
 
 " You put things very clearly," he said. " To-day 
 in England is certainly the day of the shopkeeper's
 
 150 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 triumph. Wealth is a great thing, but it is great 
 only for what it leads to. I think your philosopher 
 of the streets, your new school of politicians, have 
 alike forgotten that." 
 
 " You have lost sympathy with England, have you 
 not, Prince Shan ? " Maggie asked him. 
 
 He turned towards her, a faint but kindly smile 
 upon his lips, a light in his eyes which she did not 
 altogether understand. 
 
 " Lady Maggie," he said quietly, " they tell me 
 that you are interested in the political side of my 
 visit to this country." 
 
 "Who tells you that?" she demanded. "What 
 have I to do with politics? " 
 
 " You have been gifted with great intelligence," 
 he continued, " and you are the confidante of your 
 connection, Lord Dorminster. Lord Dorminster is 
 one of those few Englishmen who realise the ill direc 
 tion of the destinies of this country. You would 
 like to help him in his present very strenuous efforts 
 
 to ascertain the truth as to certain movements di- 
 
 
 
 rected against the British Empire. That is so, is it 
 not?" 
 
 " In plain words, you are accusing me of being a 
 
 " Ah, no ! " he protested gently. " No one can 
 be a spy in one's own country. You are within your 
 rights as a patriot in seeking to discover whatever 
 may be useful knowledge to the English Government.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 151 
 
 That, I fear, is one reason for your kindness to me, 
 Lady Maggie. I trust that it is not the only rea 
 son." 
 
 She knew better than to make the mistake of de 
 nial. After all, it was an absurdly unequal contest. 
 
 " It is not the only reason," she assured him, a 
 little tremulously. 
 
 " I am glad. One word more upon this subject, 
 and we speak of other things. Please, Lady Maggie, 
 do not stoop to be hopelessly obvious in these efforts 
 of yours. If I drop a pocketbook, believe me there 
 will be nothing in it to interest you. If I speak with 
 Immelan or any other, save in the secrecy of my 
 chamber, there will be nothing which it will be worth 
 your while to overhear. If Lord Dorminster should 
 decide to adopt buccaneering expedients and kidnap 
 me, the attempt would probably fail; and if it suc 
 ceeded, it would in the end profit you nothing. As 
 you say over here, for your sake, Lady Maggie, I 
 will lay the cards upon the table. I am discussing 
 with Oscar Immelan, and indirectly with an emissary 
 from Russia, a certain scheme which, if carried out, 
 would certainly be harmful to this country. I shall 
 decide for or against that scheme entirely as it seems 
 to me that it will be for the good or evil of my own 
 country. Nothing will change my purpose in that. 
 In your heart you know that nothing should change 
 it. But I bring to the deliberations upon which we 
 are engaged a new sentiment towards your country,
 
 152 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 since I have known you. Other things being equal, 
 I shall decline the scheme for your sake, Lady 
 Maggie." 
 
 There was a curious quivering at the corners of 
 her mouth and a lump in her throat. She was abso 
 lutely incapable of speech. His grave and reason 
 able words seemed to fill her with a sense of import 
 ance. Her little efforts and schemes seemed puny, 
 almost laughable. 
 
 " So you see," he continued, after a moment's 
 pause, " that you have done your work. You have 
 done it very effectually. You have created a strong 
 sentiment in my mind in favour of this country, a 
 sentiment which I did not previously possess. There 
 is no other way in which you could have influenced 
 the decision soon to be arrived at. In return for 
 what I have told you, Lady Maggie, I ask for no 
 promise, but I beg you to forget the role you played 
 in Germany ; not to attempt you will not be of 
 fended? to influence events so far as I am con 
 cerned by any attempt at spying upon my actions, 
 or by treating me any other way than with your 
 whole confidence. I do not ask for any promise. 
 I have said something to you which has been cm my 
 mind. Now I shall ask you a favour," he declared, 
 rising to his feet. " You will walk with me through 
 the flower gardens yonder. If there is one thing I 
 miss in this country so much that the want of it 
 makes me sometimes a little homesick," he went on,
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 153 
 
 as they moved away together, " it is the perfume 
 of the flowers in the morning and at night from the 
 gardens of my summer palace. Next time you hon 
 our me with an hour or so of your time, I shall ask 
 you to let me bring some pictures of my favourite 
 home in China." 
 
 Maggie walked dutifully by his side, answering 
 his frequent questions about flowers and shrubs, lis 
 tening while he told her about his white peacocks and 
 the tame birds which were his own pets. Suddenly 
 she broke into a fit of laughter. She looked up 
 into his grave face, her eyes imploring him for sym 
 pathy. 
 
 " I feel so like a precocious child," she exclaimed, 
 " who has been put in her place ! No one has ever 
 turned me inside out so skilfully, has made me feel 
 buch an ignorant little donkey. Do you know, I half 
 like you for it, Prince Shan, and half detest you." 
 
 He seemed suddenly to become younger, to meet 
 her upon her own ground. 
 
 " Please do not be angry," he begged. " Please 
 do not think that I look upon you at all as a little 
 child. You have brought something 1 into my life for 
 which I have searched and hoped, and I am deeply 
 grateful to you. Shall I go on ? " 
 
 She caught at his wrist. 
 
 " Please not," she begged breathlessly. " Be con 
 tent with this moment." 
 
 They had paused by the side of an arbour. She
 
 154 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 suddenly felt the pressure of his fingers upon her 
 hand. 
 
 " I shall be content," he said, in a low tone, the 
 passion of which seemed to throw her senses into 
 complete turmoil, " only when I have what my heart 
 desires. But I will wait." 
 
 They walked almost into the midst of a little 
 crowd of acquaintances. Maggie was herself again 
 immediately. She chattered away with Chalmers, 
 and led him off to see a wonderful yellow rose. He 
 watched her curiously. When they found themselves 
 isolated at the end of the garden path, he ignored 
 for a moment their mission. 
 
 " Any luck, Lady Maggie? " he asked. 
 
 She looked up at him, and to his amazement her 
 eyes were swimming. 
 
 " I think that Prince Shan will be on our side," 
 she replied.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 Monsieur Felix Senn, the distinguished Frenchman 
 who had just acquitted himself of the special mis 
 sion which had brought him to London, was a little 
 loath to depart from the historical chamber in Down 
 ing Street. Diplomatically, the interview was over. 
 The Prime Minister, however, on this occasion, was 
 courteous, even affable. There seemed no reason for 
 his visitor to hurry away. 
 
 " You will accept, I trust, sir," the latter begged, 
 " this assurance of my extreme regret at the present 
 unfortunate condition of affairs. I am one of those 
 who threw his hat into the air on the boulevards in 
 August, 1914, when the news came that your great 
 country had decided to fulfil her unwritten promises 
 and in the cause of honour had declared war against 
 Germany. I have never forgotten that moment, sir, 
 even in those months and years of misunderstandings 
 which followed the signing of the Treaty of Peace. 
 I was one of those who pointed always to the sacri 
 fices which Great Britain had made on our behalf, 
 to her glorious deeds on land and sea. I have always 
 been a friend of your country, Mr. Mervin Brown. 
 That is why I think I was chosen to bring this dis 
 patch."
 
 156 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " You are very welcome," the Prime Minister as 
 sured him. " As for' the purpose of your mission, I 
 assure you that I view it less seriously than you do. 
 Glance with me at the position for a moment. Not 
 withstanding the era of peace which has sprung up 
 all over the world, owing to the happy influence of 
 the League of Nations, France alone has decided to 
 follow still the path of militarism. Your last year's 
 arm} 7 estimates were staggering. The number of 
 men whom you keep out of your factories in order 
 that they may learn a useless drill and wear an un 
 necessary uniform is, to the economist, simply scan 
 dalous. Look at the result. Compare our imports 
 and exports with yours. See the leaps and strides 
 with which we have improved our financial position 
 during the last ten years. We have not only recov 
 ered from the after effects of the war, but we have 
 reached a state of prosperity which we never previ 
 ously attained. You, on the other hand, are still 
 groaning with enormous taxes. You carry a burden 
 which is self-imposed and unnecessary. You, of all 
 the nations, refuse to recognise the fact that the gov 
 ernment of the great countries of the world has 
 passed into the hands of the democracy, and that 
 democracies will not tolerate war." 
 
 " There I join issue with you, sir," the Frenchman 
 replied. " These are the obvious and expressed views 
 of other European countries, yet month by month 
 came rumours of the training of gre^t masses of
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 157 
 
 troops, far in excess of the numbers permitted by 
 the League of Nations. There is all the time a haze 
 of secrecy over what is going on in certain parts of 
 Germany. And as for Russia, ostensibly the freest 
 country in the world, Tsarism in its worst days 
 never imposed such despotic restrictions concerning 
 the coming and going 1 of foreigners, in one particu 
 lar district, at any rate." 
 
 " The Russian Government have certainly given 
 us cause for complaint in that direction," Mr. Mer- 
 vin Brown admitted. " Strong representations are 
 being made to them at the present moment. On the 
 the other hand, the reason for their attitude is easily 
 enough understood. In the days when Russia lay 
 exhausted, foreigners took too much advantage of 
 her, attained far too close a grip upon her great 
 natural resources. Russia has determined that what 
 she has left she will keep to herself. The attitude is 
 reasonable, although I am free to admit that she is 
 carrying her legislation against foreigners too far." 
 
 " What about the number of men she has under 
 arms every year? " Monsieur Senn enquired. 
 
 " Russia has always a possible danger to fear 
 from China, the new Colossus of Asia," the Prime 
 Minister pointed out. " Even Russia herself has 
 not made such strides within the last fifteen years as 
 China. The secession of the Asiatic countries from 
 the League of Nations demanded certain precautions 
 which Russia is justified in taking."
 
 158 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 The Frenchman had risen to his feet, but he still 
 lingered. A tall man, of commanding presence, with 
 olive complexion, deep brown eyes, and black hair 
 lightly streaked with grey, Monsieur Felix Senn had 
 been a great figure in the war of 1914 - 1918 and had 
 retained since a commanding position in French poli 
 tics. It had often been said that nothing but his 
 great friendship for England had prevented his gain 
 ing the highest honours. His present mission, there 
 fore, which was practically to end the alliance be 
 tween the two countries, was a peculiarly painful one 
 to him. 
 
 " I must tell you before we part, Mr. Mervin 
 Brown," he said gravely, " that neither I nor many 
 3 of my fellow countrymen share your optimism. You 
 seem to have inherited the timeworn theory that the 
 War of 1914 was entirely provoked by the junker 
 class of Germans. That is not true. It was a 
 people's war, and the people have never forgotten 
 what they were pleased to consider the harsh terms 
 of the Treaty of Peace. Then as regards Russia, 
 have you ever considered that Russia financially and 
 politically is more than half German? When Ger 
 many lost the war, she had one great consolation 
 she acquired Russia. You have compared the eco 
 nomic condition of France to-day with that of your 
 country, sir. I admit your commercial supremacy, 
 but let me tell you this. I would not, for the great-
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 159 
 
 est boon the gods could offer me, see France in the 
 same helpless state as England is in to-day." 
 
 The Prime Minister rose also to his feet. He wore 
 an air of offended dignity. 
 
 " Monsieur Senn," he declared, " the spirit of 
 militarism is in the blood of your country. You 
 cannot rid yourself of it in one generation or two. 
 But, believe me, no people's government at any time 
 in the future, whether it be English, Russian, Ger 
 man, or American, will ever dare to suggest or even 
 to dream of a war of aggression or revenge. If we 
 are comparatively unprotected, it is because we need 
 no protection. We hear the footfall of your march 
 ing millions, and we thank God that that sound is 
 represented in our country by the roar of machinery 
 and the blaze of furnaces." 
 
 The Frenchman bowed and accepted the hand 
 which the Prime Minister offered him. 
 
 " I present to you once more, sir," he said, " the 
 compliments and infinite regrets of Monsieur le 
 President." 
 
 A chapter of English history ended with the quiet 
 passing of Monsieur Senn into the sunlit street. The 
 latter entered his waiting automobile and drove at 
 once to the French Embassy. The Ambassador lis 
 tened in silence to his report. 
 
 " What about the Press ? " was his only question. 
 
 " Monsieur le President insists upon the truth, 
 being known," the emissary announced. " France
 
 160 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 has pledged her word against secret treaties. Be 
 sides, the honour of France must never afterwards be 
 called in question." 
 
 The Ambassador sighed. He was new to his pres 
 ent post, but he had grown grey in the service of 
 his country. 
 
 " It is the end of a one-sided arrangement," he 
 declared. " It is incredible that these people do not 
 realise that it is against their own country against 
 themselves that this slowly fermenting hatred is 
 being brewed. The racial enmity between Germany 
 and France is nothing compared with the hate of 
 antagonistic kinship between Germany and England. 
 However, France is the gainer by to-day's event. We 
 have only our own frontiers to watch." 
 
 Monsieur Felix Senn wandered on to the St. Phil 
 ip's Club, where he found his old friend Prince Kar- 
 schoff talking in a corner of the smoking room with 
 Nigel. They were both of them prepared for the 
 news which he presently communicated to them. 
 Karschoff was bitter, Nigel silent. 
 
 " Well said Carlyle that * History is philosophy 
 teaching by examples '," the former expounded. 
 " How the historian of the future will revel in this 
 epoch ! What treatises he will write, what parallels 
 he will draw! See him point to the days when the 
 aristocracy ruled England, and England fought 
 and flourished; then to the epoch when the bour 
 geoisie took their place, and with a mighty effort,
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 161 
 
 met a great emergency and flourished. And finally, 
 in sympathy with the great European upheaval, in 
 sympathy with the great natural law of change, 
 Labour ousts both, single-eyed Labour, and down 
 goes England, crumbling into the dust ! Let us 
 lunch, my friends. The cuisine is still good here." 
 
 Nigel excused himself. 
 
 " I am engaged," he said. " We may meet after 
 wards." 
 
 " Something tells me, my dear Nigel," Karschoff 
 declared, " that you are bent on frivolity." 
 
 " If to lunch with a woman is frivolous, I plead 
 guilty," Nigel replied. 
 
 Karschoff's face was suddenly grave. He seemed 
 on the point of saying something but checked him 
 self and turned away with a little shrug of the 
 shoulders. 
 
 " Each one to his taste," he murmured. " For 
 my aperitif, a dash of absinthe in my cocktail; for 
 Dorminster here, the lure of a woman's smile. Per 
 haps he gains. Who knows?"
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 Nigel waited for his luncheon companion in the 
 crowded vestibule of London's most famous club 
 restaurant. He was to a certain extent out of the 
 picture among the crowd of this new generation of 
 pleasure seekers, on the faces of whom opulence and 
 acquisitiveness had already laid its branding hand. 
 The Mecca alike of musical comedy and the Stock 
 Exchange, the place, however, still preserved a curi 
 ous attraction for the foreign element in London, 
 so that when at last Naida appeared, she was ex 
 changing courtesies with an Italian Duchess on one 
 side and a celebrated Russian dancer on the other. 
 Nigel led her at once to the table which he had se 
 lected in the balcony. 
 
 " I have obeyed your wishes to the letter," he 
 said, " and I think that you are right. Up here we 
 are entirely alone, and, as you see, they have had the 
 sense to place the tables a long way apart. Am I 
 to blame, I wonder, for asking you to do so uncon 
 ventional a thing as to lunch here again alone with 
 me? " 
 
 She drew off her gloves and smiled across the table 
 at him. Her plain, tailor-made gown, with its high
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 163 
 
 collar, was the last word in elegance. The simplicity 
 of her French hat was to prove the despair of a well- 
 known modiste seated downstairs, who made a sketch 
 of it on the menu and tried in vain to copy it. Even 
 to Nigel's exacting taste she was flawless. 
 
 " Is it unconventional? " she asked carelessly. " I 
 do not study those things. I lunch or dine with a 
 party, generally, because it happens so. I lunch 
 alone with you because it pleases me." 
 
 " And for this material side of our entertain 
 ment? " he enquired, smiling, as he handed her the 
 menu card. 
 
 " A grapefruit, a quail with white grapes, and 
 some asparagus," she replied promptly. " You see, 
 in one respect I am an easy companion. I know 
 exactly what I want. A mixed vermouth, if you 
 like, yes. And now, tell me your news? " 
 
 " There is news," he announced, " which the whole 
 world will know of before many hours are past. 
 France has broken her pact with England." 
 
 " It is my opinion," she said deliberately, " that 
 France has been very patient with you." 
 
 " And mine," he acknowledged. " We have now 
 to see what will become of a fat and prosperous coun 
 try with a semi-obsolete fleet and a comic opera 
 army." 
 
 " Must we talk of serious things? " she asked soft 
 ly. " I am weary of the clanking wheels of life." 
 
 He sighed.
 
 164 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 ** And yet for you," he said, " they are not grind 
 ing out the fate of your country." 
 
 " Nevertheless, I too hear them all the time," she 
 rejoined. " And I hate them. They make one lose 
 one's sense of proportion. After all, it is our own 
 individual and internal life which counts. I can un 
 derstand Nero fiddling while Rome burned, if he 
 really had no power to call up fire engines." 
 
 "Are you an individualist? " he asked. 
 
 " Not fundamentally," she replied, " but I am 
 caught up in the throes of a great reaction. I have 
 been studying events, which it is quite true may 
 change the destinies of the world, so intently that I 
 have almost forgotten that, after all, the greatest 
 thing in the world, my world, is the happiness or ill- 
 content of Naida Karetsky. It is really of more 
 importance to me to-day that my quail should be 
 cooked as I like it than that England has let go 
 her last rope." 
 
 " You are not an Englishwoman," he reminded her. 
 
 " That is of minor importance. We are all so 
 much immersed in great affairs just now that we 
 forget it is the small ones that count. I want my 
 luncheon to be perfect, I want you to seem as nice 
 to me as I have fancied you, and I want you to chase 
 completely away the idea that you are cultivating 
 my acquaintance for interested motives." 
 
 " That I can assure you from the bottom of my 
 heart is not the case," he replied. " Whatever other
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 165 
 
 interests I may feel in you," he added, after a mo 
 ment's hesitation, " my first and foremost is a per 
 sonal one." 
 
 She looked at him with gratitude in her eyes for 
 his understanding. 
 
 " A woman in my position," she complained, " is 
 out of place. A man ought to come over and study 
 your deservings or your undeservings and pore over 
 the problem of the future of Europe. I am a woman, 
 and I am not big enough. I am too physical. I 
 have forgotten how to enjoy myself, and I love plea 
 sure. Now am I a revelation to you? " 
 
 " You have always been that," he told her. " You 
 are so truthful yourself," he went on boldly, " that 
 I shall run the risk of saying the most banal thing 
 in the world, just because it happens to be the truth. 
 I have felt for you since our first meeting what I 
 have felt for no other woman in the world." 
 
 " I like that, and I am glad you said it," she 
 declared lightly enough, although her lips quivered 
 for a moment. " And they have put exactly the 
 right quantity of Maraschino in my grapefruit. I 
 feel that I am on the way to happiness. I am going 
 to enjoy my luncheon. Tell me about Maggie." 
 
 " I saw her yesterday," he answered. " We have 
 arranged for her to come and live at Belgrave 
 Square, after all." 
 
 " My terrible altruism once more," she sighed. " I 
 had meant not to speak another serious word, and
 
 166 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 yet I must. Maggie is very clever, amazingly clever, 
 I sometimes think, but if she had the brains of all 
 of her sex rolled into one, she would still be facing 
 now an impossible situation." 
 
 " Just what do you mean? " he asked cautiously. 
 
 " Maggie seems determined to measure her wits 
 with those of Prince Shan,'* she said. " Believe me, 
 that is hopeless." 
 
 She looked up at him and laughed softly. 
 
 " Oh, my dear friend," she went on, " that wooden 
 expression is wonderful. You do not quite know 
 where I stand, except may I flatter myself? as 
 regards your personal feelings for me. Am I for 
 Immelan and his schemes, or for your own foolish 
 country? You do not know, so you make for your 
 self a face of wood." 
 
 " Where do you stand ? " he asked bluntly. 
 
 " Sufficiently devoted to your interests to beg you 
 thi&," she replied. " Do not let your little cousin 
 think that she can deal with a man like Prince Shan. 
 There can be only one end to that." 
 
 Nigel moved a little uneasily in his place. 
 
 " Prince Shan is only an ordinary human being, 
 after all," he protested. 
 
 " That is just where you are mistaken," she de 
 clared. " Prince Shan is one of the most extraor 
 dinary human beings who ever lived. He is one of 
 the most farseeing men in the world, and he is abso 
 lutely the most powerful."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 167 
 
 " But China," Nigel began 
 
 " His power extends far beyond China," she in 
 terrupted, " and there is no brain in the world to 
 match his to-day." 
 
 " If he were a god wielding thunderbolts," Nigel 
 observed, " he could scarcely do much harm to Mag 
 gie here in London." 
 
 " There was an artist once," she said reflectively, 
 " who drew a caricature of Prince Shan and sent it 
 to the principal comic paper in America. It was 
 such a success that a little time later on he followed 
 it up with another, which included a line of Prince 
 Shan's ancestors. Within a month's time the artist 
 was found murdered. Prince Shan was in China at 
 the time." 
 
 " Are you suggesting that the artist was murdered 
 through Prince Shan's contrivance? " 
 
 "Am I a fool?" she answered. "Do you not 
 know that to speak disrespectfully of the ancestors 
 of a Chinaman is unforgivable? To all appearances 
 Prince Shan never moved from his wonderful palace 
 in Pekin, many thousands of miles away. Yet he 
 lifted his little finger and the man died." 
 
 " Isn't this a little melodramatic? " Nigel mur 
 mured. 
 
 " Melodrama is often nearer the truth than peo- 
 pls think," she said. " Shall I give you another 
 instance? I know of several." 
 
 " One more, then."
 
 i68 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " Prince Shan was in Paris two years ago, incog 
 nito," she continued. " There was at the time a 
 small but very fashionable restaurant in the Bois, 
 close to the Pre Catelan. He presented himself one 
 night there for dinner, accompanied, I believe, by 
 La Belle Nita, the Chinese dancer who is in London 
 to-day. As you know, there is little in Prince Shan's 
 appearance to denote the Oriental, but for some rea 
 son or other the proprietor refused him a table. 
 Prince Shan made no scene. He left and went else 
 where. Three nights later, the cafe was burnt to 
 the ground, and the proprietor was ruined. " 
 
 " Anything else? " Nigel asked. 
 
 " Only one thing more," she replied. " I have 
 known him slightly for years. In Asia he ranks to 
 all men as little less than a god. His palaces are 
 filled with priceless treasures. He has the finest 
 collection of jewels in the world. His wealth is sim 
 ply inexhaustible. His appearance you appreciate. 
 Yet I have never seen him look at a woman as he 
 looked at your cousin the first time he met her. I 
 was at the Ritz with my father, and I watched. I 
 know you think that I am being foolish. I am not. 
 I am a person with a very great deal of common 
 sense, and I tell you that Prince Shan has never 
 desired a thing in life to which he has not helped 
 himself. Maggie is a clever child, but she cannot 
 toss knives with a conjuror." 
 
 Nigel was impressed and a little worried.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 169 
 
 " It seems absurd to think that anything could 
 happen to Maggie here in London," he said, 
 " after " 
 
 He paused abruptly. Naida smiled at him. 
 
 " After her escape from Germany, I suppose you 
 were going to say? You see, I know all about it. 
 There was no Prince Shan in Berlin.'* 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders slightly. 
 
 " Well," he admitted, " I don't quite bring my 
 self to believe in your terrible ogre, so I shall not 
 worry. Tell me what news you have from Russia? " 
 
 "Political?" 
 
 " Any news." 
 
 She smiled. 
 
 " I notice," she said, " that English people are 
 changing their attitude towards my country. A few 
 years ago she seemed negligible to them. Now they 
 are beginning to have shall I call them fears ? 
 Even my kind host, I think, would like to know what 
 is in Paul Matinsky's heart as he hears the friends 
 of Oscar Immelan plead their cause." 
 
 " I admit it," he told her frankly. " I will go 
 farther. I would give a great deal to know what 
 is in your own mind to-day concerning us and our 
 destiny. But these things are not for the moment. 
 It was not to discuss or even to think of them that 
 I asked you here to-day." 
 
 " Why did you invite me, then ? " she asked, smiling. 
 
 " Because I wanted the pleasure of having you
 
 170 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 opposite me," he replied, " because I wanted to 
 know you better." 
 
 " And are you progressing? " 
 
 " Indifferently well," he acknowledged. " I seem 
 to gain a little and slide back again. You are not 
 an easy person to know well." 
 
 " Nothing that is worth having is easy," she an 
 swered, " and I can assure you, when my friendship 
 is once gained, it is a rare and steadfast thing." 
 
 " And your affection? " he ventured. 
 
 Her eyes rested upon his for a moment and then 
 suddenly drooped. A little tinge of colour stole into 
 her cheeks. For a moment she seemed to have lost 
 her admirable poise. 
 
 " That is not easily disturbed," she told him 
 quietly. " I think that I must have an unfortunate 
 temperament, there are so few people for whom I 
 really care." 
 
 He took his courage into both hands. 
 
 " I have heard it rumoured," he said, " that Matin- 
 sky is the only man who has ever touched your 
 heart." 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 " That is not the truth. Paul Matinsky cares 
 for me in his strange way, and he has a curiously 
 exaggerated appreciation of my brain. There have 
 been times," she went on, after a' moment's hesita 
 tion, " when I myself have been disturbed by fancies 
 concerning him, but those times have passed."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 171 
 
 " I am glad," he said quietly. 
 
 His fingers, straying across the tablecloth, met 
 hers. She did not withdraw them. He clasped her 
 hand, and it remained for a moment passive in his. 
 Then she withdrew it and leaned back in her chair. 
 
 c; Is that meant to introduce a more intimate note 
 into our conversation? " she asked, with a slight 
 wrinkling of the forehead and the beginnings of a 
 smile upon her lips. 
 
 " If I dared, I would answer ' yes '," he assured 
 her. 
 
 " They tell me," she continued pensively, " that 
 Englishmen more than any other men in the world 
 have the flair for saying convincingly the things 
 which they do not mean." 
 
 " In my case, that would not be true," he answered. 
 " My trouble is that I dare not say one half of what 
 I feel." **" 
 
 She looked across the table at him, and Nigel 
 suddenly felt a great weight of depression lifted 
 from his heart. He forgot all about his country's 
 peril. Life and its possibilities seemed somehow all 
 different. He was carried away by a rare wave of 
 emotion. 
 
 " Naida ! " he whispered. 
 
 "Yes?" 
 
 Her eyes were soft and expectant. Something of 
 the gravity had gone from her face. She was like a 
 girl, suddenly young with new thoughts.
 
 172 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " You know what I am going to say to you? " 
 
 " Do not say it yet, please," she begged. " Some 
 how it seems to me that the time has not come, though 
 the thought of what may be in your heart is won 
 derful. I want to dream about it first," she went 
 on. " I want to think." 
 
 He laughed, a strange sound almost to his own 
 ears, for Nigel, since his uncle's death, had tasted 
 the very depths of depression. 
 
 " I obey," he agreed. " It is well to dally with the 
 great things. Meanwhile, they grow." 
 
 She smiled across at him. 
 
 " I hope that they may,*' she answered. " And 
 you will ask me to lunch again? " 
 
 " Lunch or dine or walk or motor whatever you 
 will," he promised. 
 
 She reflected for a moment and then laughed. 
 She was drawing on her gloves now, and Nigel was 
 paying the bill. 
 
 " There are some people who will not like this," 
 she said. 
 
 " And one," he declared, " for whom it is going 
 to make life a Paradise." 
 
 They passed out into the street and strolled lei 
 surely westwards. As they crossed Trafalgar 
 Square, a stream of newsboys from the Strand were 
 spreading in all directions. Nigel and his companion 
 seemed suddenly surrounded by placards, all with 
 the same headlines. They paused to read:
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 173 
 
 TRIUMPH OF THE CHANCELLOR 
 
 HUGE REDUCTION OF THE NATIONAL DEBT 
 
 TOTAL ABOLITION OF THE INCOME TAX 
 
 They walked on. Naida said nothing, although 
 she shook her head a little sorrowfully. Nigel 
 glanced across the Square and down towards West 
 minster. 
 
 " They will shout themselves hoarse there this 
 afternoon," he groaned. 
 
 For the first time she betrayed her knowledge of 
 coming events. 
 
 " It is amazing," she whispered, " for the writing 
 on the wall is already there."
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 Seated in one of the first tier boxes at the Albert 
 Hall, in the gorgeous but obsolete uniform of a staff 
 officer in the Russian Imperial Forces, Prince Kar- 
 schoff, with Nigel on one side and Maggie on the 
 other, gazed with keen interest at the brilliant scene 
 below and around. The greatest city the world has 
 ever known seemed in those days to have entered 
 upon an orgy of extravagance unprecedented in his 
 tory. Every box and every yard of dancing space 
 on the floor beneath was crowded with men and women 
 in wonderful fancy costumes, the women bedecked 
 with jewels which eager merchants had brought to 
 gether from every market of the world ; even the men, 
 in their silks and velvets and ruffles, carrying out 
 the dominant note of wealth. It was a ball given for 
 charity and under royal patronage. 
 
 " All our friends seem to be here to-night," the 
 Prince remarked, glancing around. " I saw Naida 
 with her father and the eternal Oscar Immelan. 
 Chalmers is here with an exceedingly gay party, and 
 yonder sits his Imperial Highness, looking very much 
 the barbaric prince. By the by," he added, glanc 
 ing towards Maggie, " I thought that he was not 
 coming? "
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 175, 
 
 Maggie, who seemed a little tired, nodded quietly. 
 It was a week or ten days later, and an early sea 
 son was now in full swing. 
 
 " He told me that he was not coming," she said. 
 " I suppose the temptation to wear that gorgeous 
 raiment was too much for him." 
 
 " Apropos of that, there is one curious thing to 
 be noted here with regard to clothes," the Prince 
 continued. " Amongst the men, you find Venetian 
 Doges, Chancellors, gallants of every age, but scarce 
 ly a single uniform. In a way, this seems typical of 
 the passing of the militarism of your country. You 
 are beginning to remind me of Venice in the Middle 
 Ages. There is a new type of brain dominant here, 
 fat instead of muscle, a citizen aristocracy instead 
 of the lean, clear-eyed, athletic type." 
 
 Maggie moved in her place a little irritably. 
 
 *' I am tired of warnings," she declared. " I wish 
 some one could do something." 
 
 " It is impossible," the Prince pronounced sol 
 emnly. " Napoleon earned for himself a greater 
 claim to immortality when he christened the English 
 a nation of shopkeepers than when he won the Bat 
 tle of Austerlitz. If the Englishman of to-day saw 
 his material prosperity slipping away from him, then 
 indeed he would be nervous and restless, ready to 
 lean towards every wind that blew, to listen to every 
 disquieting rumour. To-day his bank balance is 
 prodigious, and all's well with the world. How
 
 176 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 wonderfully Prince Shan lives up to his part to 
 night!" 
 
 They looked across towards the opposite box, 
 whose single occupant, in the bright green robes of 
 a mandarin, sat looking down upon the gay throng 
 with an absolutely immovable expression. There 
 was something almost regal about his air of detach 
 ment, his solitude amidst such a gay scene. 
 
 " There is one of the strangest and most consist 
 ent figures in history," Karschoff, who was in a 
 talkative frame of mind, went on reflectively. " I 
 honestly believe that Prince Shan considers himself 
 to be of celestial descent, to carry in his person the 
 honour of countless generations of Manchus. He 
 has no intimates. Even Immelan usually has to seek 
 an audience. What his pleasures may be, who knows ? 
 because everything that happens with him hap 
 pens behind closed walls. To-night, the door of his 
 box is guarded as though he were more than royalty. 
 No one is allowed to enter unless he has special per 
 mission." 
 
 " There is some one entering now," Maggie point 
 ed out, " for the first time. Watch ! " 
 
 La Belle Nita stood for a moment in the front of 
 the box. She was dressed in the gala costume of a 
 Chinese lady, in a cherry-coloured robe with wide 
 sleeves, her hair, with its many jewelled ornaments, 
 like a black pool of night, her face ghastly white 
 with a superabundance of powder. Prince Shan
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 177 
 
 turned his head slightly towards her, and though no 
 muscle of his face moved, it was obvious that her 
 coming was unwelcome. She began to talk. He lis 
 tened with the face of a sphinx. Presently she drew 
 back into the shadows of the box. She had thrown 
 herself into a chair, and her face was hidden. 
 
 "La Belle Nita has made a mistake," Maggie 
 observed. " His Serene Highness evidently had no 
 wish to be disturbed." 
 
 Karschoff's eyes rested upon the figure in green 
 silk, and they were filled with an unwilling admira 
 tion. 
 
 " That man is magnificent," he declared. " Watch 
 his face now that he is speaking. Not a muscle 
 moves, not a flash in his eyes, yet one has the fancy 
 that he is saying terrible things." 
 
 It was obvious, a moment later, that La Belle Nita 
 had left the box. Maggie sprang up. Her colour 
 was a little heightened. There was a rare nervous 
 ness in her tone. 
 
 " Let us walk around and find some of the others," 
 she suggested, turning to Nigel. " I want to dance." 
 
 They all three passed out and mingled with the 
 dancers. Maggie put on her mask and deliberately 
 glided into the crowd as though with the intention of 
 losing herself. It was not until she was underneath 
 Prince Shan's box and out of sight of its occupant 
 that she paused. Her thoughts were in a turmoil. 
 His presence there, after his deliberate assurance to
 
 178 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 her that he had no intention of coming, his calm 
 and unnoticing regard of her and every one else, 
 seemed to confirm in every way the wave of pessi 
 mism which she as well as Nigel was experiencing. 
 She had passed Immelan in the entrance, and there 
 was something ominously disturbing in his cool, tri 
 umphant smile. She pictured to herself the agree 
 ment signed, some nameless terror already launched. 
 She remembered that Nigel had complained of 
 Naida's inaccessibility during the last few days. She 
 herself had been surprised at Prince Shan's appar 
 ent withdrawal, temporary though it might be, from 
 the peculiar but impressive position which he had 
 taken up with regard to her. 
 
 She stood back against the wall, in a dark corner, 
 striving to collect her thoughts, thankful for the 
 brief respite from conversation. A man in the cos 
 tume of a monk, who had followed her across the 
 room, touched her on the shoulder. He spoke in a 
 quiet, unfamiliar voice with a foreign accent. 
 
 " You are Lady Maggie Trent ? " 
 
 " Yes ! " 
 
 " Will you please go to box number fourteen, on 
 the second tier? There is some one there who waits 
 for you." 
 
 " Who is it? " she asked. 
 
 The monk had glided away. Maggie, after a few 
 minutes* reflection, slipped out into the corridor, 
 mounted one flight of stairs, and passed along the
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 179 
 
 semicircular balcony. The door of box number four 
 teen was ajar. She pushed it gently open and 
 glanced in. Seated so as to be out of sight of the 
 whole house was La Belle Nita. For a moment the 
 two looked at each other. Then the Chinese girl 
 sprang to her feet, made a quaint little bow, and, 
 gliding around, closed the door behind her visitor. 
 
 " Sit down, please," she invited. " I will tell you 
 things you may like to hear." 
 
 A sudden thought flashed into Maggie's mind. 
 She began to see light. She obeyed at once. The 
 two women sat well back and out of sight of the 
 house. La Belle Nita held the handle of the door in 
 her hand while she spoke, as though to prevent any 
 one entering. 
 
 " I have an enemy who was once a friend," she 
 said, " and I wish to do him evil. He is not only my 
 enemy, but he is yours. He is the enemy of all you 
 English people, because it is a great disaster which 
 he plans to bring upon you." 
 
 " You speak of Prince Shan? " Maggie exclaimed. 
 
 Even at the mention of his name, the girl shook. 
 She looked around as though fearing the shadows. 
 She rattled the door to make sure that it was closed. 
 
 " For him whom you call Prince Shan I have 
 worked many years, first of all in Paris, now here. I 
 was content with small reward. That reward he 
 now takes from me. It is my wish to betray him." 1 
 
 " Why do you send for me ? " Maggie asked.
 
 i8o THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 a Because you have been, an English spy,** was the 
 quiet reply. " It may surprise you that I know 
 that, but I do know. I have been a spy for Prince 
 Shan in Paris. You were a spy for England in Ber 
 lin. You were a spy for your country's sake; I 
 was a spy for love. Now I betray for hate." 
 
 " Please go on." 
 
 "" Prince Shan came this time to Europe with two 
 schemes in his mind,*' the girl continued. " One con 
 cerned France. That one he has discarded. 
 Through me he learned of the military strength of 
 France, her secret resources, of her tireless watch 
 upon the Rhine. So he listens to Immelan, and Im- 
 melan and he together, oh, English lady, they have 
 made a wonderful plan ! " 
 
 " Are you going to tell me what it is ? " Maggie 
 asked, her eyes bright with excitement. 
 
 tt I cannot tell you because I do not know," was 
 the unwilling admission, " but I will make it so that 
 you can discover for yourself. A few hours ago, the 
 plan was submitted to Prince Shan. It lies in the 
 third drawer of an ebony cabinet, in the room on the 
 left-hand side of the hall after you have entered his 
 house in Curzon Street." 
 
 " But no one can enter it ! " Maggie exclaimed. 
 ** The place is like a fort. No stranger may pass 
 the threshold even. The Prince has told me himself 
 that he receives no visitors." 
 
 La BeHe Nita smiled- From a pocket somewhere
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN : = : 
 
 within the folds of her flowing gown, 
 two small keys. 
 
 "Listen," she said. ** The boose in Canon Street 
 has been called the House of Silence. There are 
 many sextants there, bat they cone only from be 
 neath and when they ave soannoned. There is what 
 no other person has erer possessed the key of the 
 front door. There is also the key of the ***- 
 Prince Shan has ordered IBS autos9obde for two 
 o'clock. It is now barely Midnight." 
 
 The keys lay in the pahn of Maggie's hand. Her 
 heart had began to beat quickly, 
 she was comciooi of a thrill of exc 
 
 back in her corner of the railway carriage, 
 for the frontier, knowing that the wires were busy 
 with her name, and that men who knew no mercy 
 were on her track. 
 
 tt If the servants should hear me? "she faltered. 
 
 " You say only I await the Prince'," La Belle 
 Nit a murmured. That key iicifu. leaves his own 
 person save for one in great favour. They wnl be 
 lieve that he gave it to you. You wffl be 
 
 A queer sensation suddenly afflaitnl Maggie. 
 
 She looked at the girl opposite to her, the girl whose 
 body was draped in perfumed silks, host, face was 
 'Hiiflc willi rice powder, whose eyes were and* She
 
 182 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 felt no pity. What feeling she had, she did not 
 caie to analyse. 
 
 " Is this your key ? " she asked. 
 
 " It was mine once, but its use has been forbidden 
 to me," the girl replied. " Prince Shan is a changed 
 man. Something has come into his life of which I 
 know nothing, but as it has come, so must I go. I 
 give you your chance, lady, but already I weaken. 
 Go quickly, if you go at all. Please leave me, for I 
 am very unhappy." 
 
 Maggie stole quietly out and made her way 
 through the jostling throng back to her own box, 
 which for the moment was empty. She slipped on her 
 cloak, and from the hidden spaces where she stood 
 she looked across the auditorium. The silent figure 
 in green silk robes was still seated in his place, his 
 eyes following the movements of the dancers, his 
 head a little thrown back, a slight weariness in his 
 face. He was still alone. He still had the air of 
 being alone because it was his desire. Once he looked 
 up towards the box in which she was, and Maggie, 
 although she knew she was invisible, shrank back 
 against the wall. She set her teeth hard and looked 
 back through the slightly misty space. An unfamil 
 iar feeling for a moment almost choked her. She 
 waited until she had vanquished it, then adjusted 
 her mask and left the box.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 193 
 
 Presently the door was stealthily opened. A face 
 as pale as deatn, with black eyes like pieces of coal, 
 was framed for a moment in the shadowed slit. A 
 little waft of familiar perfume stole in. La Belle 
 Nita, her flaming lips widely parted, as soon as she 
 recognised the sole occupant of the box, crept 
 through the opening and closed the door again. 
 
 "You are here?" she exclaimed incredulously. 
 "Your courage failed you? You did not go?" 
 
 " I have been and returned," Maggie answered. 
 " Now tell me what I have done that you should 
 have plotted this thing against me ? " 
 
 The girl sat on the edge of a chair and for a 
 moment hummed the refrain of a sad chant, as she 
 rocked slowly backwards and forwards. 
 
 " ' What have you done ? ' the rose asked the but 
 terfly. * What have you done? * the mimosa blos 
 som asked the little blue bird, whose wings fluttered 
 amongst her leaves. * You have taken love from me, 
 love which is the blossom of life.* " 
 
 " It sounds very picturesque," Maggie said cold 
 ly, " but I do not follow your allegory. What I 
 want to know is why you lied to me, why you sent 
 me to that house to meet Prince Shan? " 
 
 " How did I lie to you? " Nita demanded. " The 
 papers you sought were there. Were they not yours 
 for the asking, or was the price too great? " 
 
 " The papers were there, certainly," Maggie ac 
 quiesced, " but you knew very well '*
 
 194 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 She stopped short. Slowly the Oriental idea of it 
 all was beginning to frame itself in her mind. She 
 dimly understood the bewilderment in the other's 
 face. 
 
 " The papers were there, and he, the most wonder 
 ful of all men, was there," Nita murmured, " yet 
 you leave him while the night is yet young, you re 
 turn here without them ! " 
 
 Maggie rose from her chair, moved to the side 
 table and poured herself out a glass of wine, which 
 she drank hastily. Anything to escape from the 
 scornful wonder of those questioning eyes ! 
 
 " I did not go there," she said, " to make bar 
 gains with Prince Shan. I believed as you wished 
 me to believe, that he was here in that box. I be 
 lieved that I should have found the house empty, 
 should have found what I wanted and have escaped 
 with it. Why did you do this thing? Why did you 
 send me on that errand when you knew that Prince 
 Shan was there? " 
 
 " It was my desire that he should know that you 
 are no different from other women," was the calm 
 reply. " I was a spy for him. You are a spy 
 against him." 
 
 " It was a deliberate plot, then ! " Maggie ex 
 claimed, trying to feel the anger which she imparted 
 to her tone. 
 
 La Belle Nita suddenly laughed, softly and like a 
 bird.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 195 
 
 " You very, very foolish Englishwoman," she said. 
 " A hand leaned down from Heaven, and you liked 
 better to stay where you were, but I am glad." 
 
 "And why?" 
 
 " Because I have been his slave," the girl con 
 tinued. " At odd, strange moments he has shown me 
 a little love, he has let me creep into a small corner 
 of his heart. Now I am cast out, and there is no 
 more life for me because there is no more love, and 
 there is no more love because, having felt his, no 
 other can come after. Here have I sat with all 
 the tortures of Hell burning in my blood because I 
 knew that you and he were there alone, because I was 
 never sure that, after all, I was not doing my lord's 
 will. And now I know that I suffered in vain. You 
 did not understand." 
 
 Maggie looked across at her visitor reflectively. 
 She was beginning to regain her poise. 
 
 " Listen," she said, " did you seriously expect me 
 to accept Prince Shan as a lover? " 
 
 The girl's eyes were round with wonder. 
 
 " It would be your great good fortune," she mur 
 mured, " if he should offer you so wonderful a thing." 
 
 Maggie laughed, persisted in her laugh, al 
 though it sounded a little hard and the mirth a little 
 forced. 
 
 " I cannot reason with you," she declared, " be 
 cause you would not understand. If you love him 
 so much, why not go back to him? You will find
 
 1 96 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 him quite alone. I dare say you know the secrets 
 of his lockless doors and hordes of unseen servants." 
 
 La Belle Nita rose to her feet. About her lips 
 there flickered the faintest smile. 
 
 " Young English lady," she said, " I shall not go, 
 because I am shut for ever out of his heart. But 
 listen; would you have me go? " 
 
 For a moment Maggie's poise was gone again. A 
 strange uncertainty was once more upon her. She 
 was terrified at her own feelings. The smile on the 
 other's lips deepened and then passed away. 
 
 " Ah," she murmured, as with a little bow she 
 turned towards the door, " you are not all snow and 
 ice, then ! There is something of the woman in you. 
 He must have known that. I am better content." 
 
 Alone in the box, Maggie was confronted once 
 more with spectres. She felt all the fear and the 
 sweetness of this new awakening. The old dangers 
 and problems, the danger of life and death, the 
 problem of her well-ordered days, fell away from 
 her as trifles. There was wilder music in the world 
 than any to which she had yet listened, music 
 which seemed to be awakening vibrant melodies in her 
 terrified heart. The curtain which hung about the 
 forbidden world had been suddenly lifted. Little 
 shivers of fear convulsed her. Her standards were 
 confused, her whole sense of values disturbed. Her 
 primal virginity, left to itself because it had never 
 needed a guard, Had suddenly become a questioning
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 197 
 
 thing. She sat there face to face with this new 
 phase in her life. She was not even conscious of the 
 abrupt pause in the music, the agitated murmur of 
 voices, the sudden cessation of that rhythmical sweep 
 of footsteps on the floor below. 
 
 The door of the box was once more opened. Naida, 
 attired as a lady of the Russian Court, entered, fol 
 lowed by Nigel. Both were obviously disturbed. 
 Nigel, who was in ordinary evening dress, carrying 
 his discarded mask in his hand, was paler than usual 
 and exceedingly grave. Naida's dark eyes, too, 
 seemed filled with a sense of awesome things. Al 
 most at the same moment, Maggie realised for the 
 first time that the music had ceased, that there was 
 a hush outside, curiously perceptible, almost audible. 
 
 " What has happened ? " she asked breathlessly. 
 
 Nigel had poured out a glass of wine and was 
 holding it to Naida's lips. 
 
 4i Something very terrible," he said quietly. 
 " Prince Shan was murdered in his box there a few 
 minutes ago." 
 
 Maggie half rose to her feet. The walls seemed 
 spinning round. Then she looked across the great 
 empty space. The still figure in the apple-green coat 
 had disappeared. 
 
 " Prince Shan was murdered in that box," she re 
 peated, " a few minutes ago ? " 
 
 " Yes ! " Nigel assented gravely. " He seems to 
 have feared something of the sort, for he had two
 
 i 9 8 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 servants on guard outside and announced that he was 
 not receiving visitors to-night. No one knows any 
 particulars, but a number of people in the audi 
 torium saw him fall sideways from his chair. When 
 he was picked up, there was a small dagger through 
 his heart." 
 
 "Through Prince Shan's heart?" Maggie per 
 sisted wildly. 
 
 " Yes ! " 
 
 Suddenly she began to laugh. It was a strange, 
 hysterical ebullition of feeling, frankly horrifying. 
 Naida gazed at her with distended eyes. 
 
 " Prince Shan has never been here ! " Maggie ex 
 plained brokenly. " He has never left his house in 
 Curzon Street ! He is there now ! " 
 
 Nigel shook his head. 
 
 " What is the matter with you, Maggie? " he de 
 manded. " Every one has seen Prince Shan here. 
 You spoke of him yourself. He was in the box ex 
 actly opposite." 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 " That was one of his suite," she cried. " I know ! 
 I tell you I know ! " she went on, her voice rising a 
 little. " Prince Shan is safe in his house in Curzon 
 Street." 
 
 " How can you possibly know this, Maggie? " 
 Naida intervened eagerly. 
 
 " Because I left him there half an hour ago," was 
 the tremulous reply.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 There is in the Anglo-Saxon temperament an 
 almost feverish desire to break away from any con 
 dition of strain, a sort of shamefaced impulse to 
 discard emotionalism. The strange hush which had 
 lent a queer sensation of unreality to all that was 
 passing in the great building was without any warn 
 ing brought to an end. Whispers swelled into 
 speech, and speech into almost a roar of voices. 
 Then the music struck up, although at first there 
 were few who cared to dance. There were many 
 who, like Maggie and her companions, silently left 
 their places and hurried homewards. 
 
 In the limousine scarcely a word was spoken. 
 Maggie leaned back in her seat, her face dazed and 
 expressionless. Opposite to her, Nigel sat with set, 
 grim face, looking with fixed stare out of the window 
 at the deserted streets. Of the three, Naida seemed 
 more on the point of giving way to emotion. They 
 had. passed Hyde Park Corner, however, before a 
 word was spoken. Then it was she who broke the 
 silence. 
 
 " Where do we go to first ? " she demanded. 
 
 " To the Milan Court," Nigel replied.
 
 200 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " You are taking me home first, then? " 
 
 Yes ! " 
 
 She was silent for a moment. Then she leaned 
 forward and touched the window. 
 
 " Pull that down, please," she directed. " I am 
 stifling." 
 
 He obeyed, and the rush of cold, wet air had a 
 curiously quietening effect upon the nerves of all of 
 them. Raindrops hung from the leaves of the lime 
 trees and still glittered upon the windowpane. On 
 the way towards the river, the masses of cloud were 
 tinged with purple, and faintly burning stars shone 
 out of unexpectedly clear patches of sky. The 
 night of storm was over, but the wind, dying away 
 before the dawn, seemed to bring with it all the sweet 
 ness of the cleansed places, to be redolent even of 
 the budding trees and shrubs, the lilac bushes, 
 drooping with their weight of moisture, and the pink 
 and white chestnut blossoms, dashed to pieces by 
 the rain but yielding up their lives with sweetness. 
 The streets, in that single hour between the hurrying 
 homewards of the belated reveller and the stolid 
 tramp of the early worker, were curiously empty and 
 seemed to gain in their loneliness a new dignity. 
 Trafalgar Square, with the National Gallery in the 
 background, became almost classical; Whitehall the 
 passageway for heroes. 
 
 "What does it all mean?" Naida asked, almost 
 pathetically.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 201 
 
 It was Maggie who answered. Her tone was life 
 less, but her manner almost composed. 
 
 " It means that the attempt to assassinate Prince 
 Shan has failed," she said. " Prince Shan told me 
 himself that he had no intention of going to the ball. 
 He kept his word. The man who was murdered was 
 one of his suite." 
 
 " But how do you know this ? " Naida persisted. 
 
 " You heard what I told you in the box," was the 
 quiet reply. " I shall explain as much as I can 
 explain to Nigel when we get home. He can tell 
 you everything later on to-day at lunch-time, if you 
 like." 
 
 " It has been one of the strangest nights I ever 
 remember," Naida declared, after a brief pause. 
 " Oscar Immelan, who was dining with us, arrived 
 half an hour late. I have never seen him in svfch a 
 condition before. He had the air of a broken man." 
 
 " Have you any idea of what had happened? " 
 Nigel asked. 
 
 " Only this," Naida replied. " We saw Prince 
 Shan last night. He spent several hours with us. 
 I may be wrong, but I came to the conclusion then 
 that he had at any rate modified his views about 
 the whole situation since his arrival in England." 
 
 Again there was a brief silence. The minds of all 
 three of them were busy with the same thought. 
 Prince Shan's word had been spoken and Immelan's 
 hopes dashed to the ground, and within a few
 
 202 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 hours, this murder! They nursed the thought, but 
 no one put it into words. 
 
 A sleepy-eyed porter opened the door of the car 
 outside the Milan Court. Naida gathered herself 
 together with a little shiver. 
 
 " I think that after to-night," she said quietly, 
 " there need be no secrets between any of us.'* 
 
 Nigel held her hand in his. Their eyes met, and 
 both of them were conscious, in that moment, of 
 closer personal relations, of the passing of a certain 
 sense of strain. She even smiled as she turned 
 away. 
 
 " To-morrow," she concluded, " there must be a 
 great exchange of confidences. I am lunching at 
 Belgrave Square, if Maggie has not forgotten, and 
 I shall tell you then what I have written to Paul 
 Matinsky. I showed it to Prince Shan yesterday. 
 Good night ! " 
 
 She patted Maggie's hand affectionately and 
 flitted away. The revolving doors closed behind her, 
 and the car swung out once more into the Strand, 
 glided down the Mall, past Buckingham Palace, and 
 stopped at last before the great, lifeless house in 
 Belgrave Square. Nigel opened the front door with 
 a latchkey and turned on the light. 
 
 " You won't mind sparing me a few minutes ? *' 
 he begged. 
 
 " I suppose not," she answered, shivering. 
 
 He led the way to the study. She threw off her
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 203 
 
 cloak and sank into the depths of one of the big 
 easy-chairs. She looked very frail and rather 
 pathetic as she leaned her head against the chair 
 back. Now that the excitement was over, the strain 
 of the emotion she had experienced showed in the 
 violet shadows under her eyes and in the droop of 
 her shoulders. 
 
 " I am tired," she said plaintively. 
 
 Nigel came over and sat on the arm of her chair. 
 
 " Tell me what happened to-night, Maggie." 
 
 " The little Chinese girl sent for me to go to her 
 box," she explained. " She told me where in Prince 
 Shan's house were hidden the papers which revealed 
 the understanding between Immelan and himself. 
 She gave me a key of the house and a key of the 
 cabinet. We could both see the man whom I believed 
 to be Prince Shan seated in his box. She assured 
 me that he would be there for the next two hours. I 
 went to the house in Curzon Street." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 His monosyllable was sharp and incisive. His face 
 was grey and anxious. She herself remained lifeless. 
 All that there was of emotion between them seemed 
 to have become vested in his searching eyes. 
 
 " I found what I believe to have been the papers. 
 They were in the cabinet, just where she had told 
 me. Then I turned around and found Prince Shan 
 watching me. He had been there all the time." 
 
 " Go on, please."
 
 204 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " At first he said little, but I knew that he was 
 very angry. I have never felt so ashamed in my 
 life." 
 
 " You must tell me the rest, please.'* 
 
 She stirred uneasily in her chair. 
 
 " It is very difficult," she confessed frankly. 
 
 " Remember," he persisted, " that in a way, 
 Mnggie, I am your guardian. I am responsible, too, 
 for anything which may happen to you whilst you 
 are engaged in work for the good of our cause. You 
 seem to have walked into a trap. Did he threaten 
 you, or what? " 
 
 " There was nothing definite," she answered, 
 " and yet he made me understand." 
 
 " Made you understand what ? " 
 
 " His wishes," she replied, looking up coolly. 
 " He offered me the papers." 
 
 " That damned Chinaman ! " 
 
 There was a cold light in her eyes which Nigel 
 had met with before and dreaded. 
 
 " You forget yourself, Nigel," she said. " Prince 
 Shan is a great nobleman." 
 
 " The rest ? Tell me the rest," he demanded. 
 
 " I am here," she reminded him. 
 
 " And the papers ? " 
 
 " I came away without them." 
 
 He turned, and, walking to the window, threw 
 it open. The dawn had become almost silvery, and 
 the leaves of the overhanging trees were rustling
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 205 
 
 in the faintest of breezes. Presently he came back. 
 
 '* What exactly are your feelings for this man, 
 Maggie? " he asked. 
 
 For the first time he was struck with a certain 
 pathos in her immobile face. She looked up at him, 
 and there was a gleam almost of fear in her eyes. 
 
 " I don't know, Nigel," she confessed. 
 
 He moved restlessly about the room, seemed to 
 notice for the first time the whisky and soda set out 
 upon the sideboard and the open box of cigarettes. 
 He helped himself and came back. 
 
 " Did you read the papers ? " he asked. 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 " I had no chance." 
 
 " You don't know for certain what they were 
 about?" 
 
 " I think I do," she replied. " I believe they con 
 tained the text of the agreement between Immelan 
 and Prince Shan. I believe they would have shown 
 us exactly what we have to fear." 
 
 He stood there for a moment thoughtfully. 
 
 " To-night," he said, " I find it difficult to concen 
 trate upon these things. Naida was extraordinarily 
 hopeful. She has seen Prince Shan, and between them 
 I believe that they have decided to let Oscar Imme- 
 lan's scheme alone. Karschoff, too, has heard 
 rumours. He is of the same opinion. Somehow or 
 other, though, I seem to have lost my sense of per-
 
 206 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 spective. A greater fear has come into my heart, 
 Maggie." 
 
 She rose to her feet and laid her hands upon his 
 .shoulders. 
 
 " Nigel," she whispered, " I cannot answer you. I 
 cannot say what you would like me to say, although, 
 on the other hand, there is no surety of what you 
 seem to fear. I am going to bed. I am very tired." 
 
 A feeble shaft of sunlight stole into the room, 
 flickered and passed away, then suddenly reap 
 peared. Nigel turned and opened the door, and she 
 passed out, curiously silent and absorbed. He looked 
 after her, perplexed and worried. Suddenly a 
 .strangely commonplace, yet in the silence of the 
 house and the great hall an almost dramatic sound 
 startled him. The front doorbell rang sharply. 
 After a moment's hesitation, he hurried to it himself. 
 Itarschoff stood upon the steps, still in his evening 
 clothes, his face a little drawn and haggard in the 
 bright light. 
 
 " I could not resist coming in, Nigel," he said. 
 " I saw the light in the study from outside. Is there 
 any definite news? " 
 
 Nigel drew him inside. 
 
 " There are indications," he replied cautiously, 
 " that the present danger is passing." 
 
 KarschofF nodded. 
 
 " I gathered so from Naida," he admitted. 
 "" Prince Shan, though, is the pivot upon which the
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 207 
 
 whole thing turns. You have heard nothing final 
 from him? " 
 
 " Nothing! Tell me, was any one arrested at the 
 Albert Hall?" 
 
 " No one. The murdered man, as I suppose you 
 have heard, was Sen Lu, one of the Prince's secre 
 taries." \ 
 
 " The whole thing seems strange," Nigel remarked. 
 " Do you suppose Prince Shan knew that an attempt 
 upon his life was likely to-night? " 
 
 Karschoff shook his head doubtfully. 
 
 '* It is difficult to say. These Orientals contrive 
 to surround themselves with such an atmosphere of 
 mystery. But from what I know of Prince Shan," 
 he went on, "I do not think that he is one to shirk 
 danger even from the assassin's dagger." 
 
 A milk cart drew up with a clatter outside. There 
 was the sound of the area gate being opened. Kar 
 schoff put on his hat. He looked Nigel in the face. 
 
 " Maggie," he began 
 
 Nigel nodded understandingly as he threw open 
 the front door. 
 
 " I'll tell you about it to-morrow," he promised, 
 " or rather later on to-day. She's a little over 
 wrought. Otherwise there's nothing." 
 
 Karschoff turned away with a sigh of relief. 
 
 " I am glad," he said. " Prince Shan is the soul 
 of honour according to his own standard, but these 
 Orientals one never knows. I am glad, Nigel."
 
 CHAPTER XXIH 
 
 In his spacious reception room, with its blue walls, 
 the high vases of flowers, the faint odour of incense, 
 its indefinable ascetic charm, Prince Shan sat in his 
 high-backed chair whilst Li Wen, his trusted secre 
 tary, talked. Li Wen was very eloquent. His tone 
 was never raised, he never forgot that he was speak 
 ing to a being of a superior world. He had a great 
 deal to say, however, and he was eager to say it. 
 Prince Shan, as he listened, smoked a long cigarette 
 in a yellow tube. He wore a ring in which was set 
 an uncut green stone on the fourth finger of his left 
 hand. Although the hour was barely nine o'clock, 
 he was shaved and dressed as though for a visit of 
 ceremony. He listened to Li Wen gravely and 
 critically. 
 
 " I am sorry about the little one," he said, look 
 ing through the cloud of tobacco smoke up towards 
 the ceiling. " Nita has been very useful. She has 
 been as faithful, too, as is possible for a woman." 
 
 Li Wen bowed and waited. He knew better than 
 to interrupt. 
 
 " It was through the information which Nita 
 brought me," his master went on, " that I have been
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 209 
 
 able to check the truth of Immelan's statement as 
 to the French dispositions and the rapprochement 
 with Italy. Nita has served me very well indeed. 
 What she has done in this matter, she has done in 
 a moment of caprice." 
 
 " My lord," Li Wen ventured, " a woman is of no 
 account in the plans of the greatest. She is like a 
 leaf blown hither or thither on the winds of love 
 or jealousy. She may be used, but she must be 
 discarded." 
 
 " It is a strange world, this western world," Prince 
 Shan mused. " In our own country, Li Wen, we plot 
 or we fight, we build the great places, climb to the 
 lofty heights, and when we rest we pluck flowers, 
 and women are our flowers. But here, while one 
 builds, the women are there; while one climbs, the 
 women are in the way. They jostle the thoughts, 
 they disturb the emotions, not only of the poet and 
 the pleasure seeker, but of the man who hews his 
 way upwards to the goal he seeks. And it is very 
 deliberate, Li Wen. An Englishman eats and drinks 
 in public and places opposite him a flower he has 
 plucked or hopes to pluck. He drugs himself delib 
 erately. Half the time when he should be soaring 
 in his thoughts, he descends of deliberate intent. 
 Instead of his flower, he makes his woman the part 
 ner of his grossness." 
 
 " The master speaks," Li Wen murmured. " But 
 what of the woman? She awaits your pleasure."
 
 aio THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " I shall hear what she has to say," Prince Shan 
 decided. 
 
 Walking backwards as nimbly as a cat, his head 
 drooped, his hands in front of him, Li Wen left 
 his master's presence. A moment later he reap 
 peared, ushering in La Belle Nita. Prince Shan 
 waved him away. The girl came slowly forward, 
 pale and trembling, smouldering fires in her narrow 
 eyes. Not a muscle of Prince Shan's face moved. 
 He watched her approach in silence. She sank on 
 to the floor by the side of his chair. 
 
 " What is my master's will? " she asked. 
 
 Prince Shan looked downwards at her, and she be 
 gan to tremble again. There was nothing threaten 
 ing in his eyes, nothing menacing in his expression. 
 Nevertheless, she felt the chill of death. 
 
 " You have done me many good and faithful ser 
 vices, Nita," he said. " What evil spirit has put it 
 into your brain that it would be a good thing to 
 deceive me? " 
 
 Her scarlet lips opened and closed again. 
 
 " How have I deceived?" she faltered. "I gave 
 the keys to the woman with the blue eyes, and I sent 
 her to my lord. It was a hard thing to do that, but 
 I did it. Was there any risk of evil? My lord was 
 here to deal with her." 
 
 " Why did you do this thing, Nita ? " he asked. 
 
 " My lord knows," she answered simply. " I did 
 it to bring evil upon this English woman whom he
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN air 
 
 has preferred. I did it that he might understand. 
 It was my lord himself who told me that she was a 
 spy. Now it is proved.'* 
 
 Prince Shan's fingers stole into the pocket of his 
 coat. He held out a crumpled sheet of paper, on. 
 which was written a single sentence. The girl began 
 to shiver. 
 
 " You have been very anxious indeed, Nita," he 
 said, " to bring evil upon this woman. This is the 
 message you sent to Immelan. Do you recognise 
 your words ? Listen, these are your words : 
 
 " ' The greatest of all will desert you, if the 
 Englishwoman whom he loves is not speedily removed- 
 Even to-night he may give papers into her hand, and 
 your secret will be known.' ' 
 
 The girl sat transfixed. She seemed to have lost 
 all power of speech. 
 
 " That is a copy of the message which you sent 
 to Immelan," he told her sternly. 
 
 " It is the terrible Li Wen," she faltered. " He 
 has the second sight. The devil walks with him." 
 
 " The devil is sometimes a useful confederate," 
 her companion continued equably. " You warned 
 Immelan that it was in my mind to refuse his terms 
 and to open my heart to the Englishwoman, and you 
 seduced Sen Lu to carry your message. Yet your 
 judgment was at fault. The hand of Immelan was 
 stretched out against me, and me alone. But for my 
 knowledge of these things, I might have sat in the
 
 212 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 place of Sen Lu, who rightly died in my stead. What 
 have you to say ? " 
 
 She rose to her feet. He made no movement, but 
 his eyes watched her, and the muscles of his body 
 stiffened. He watched the white hand which stole 
 irresolutely towards the loose folds of her coat. 
 
 " You ask me why I have done this," she cried, 
 " but you already know. It is because you have 
 taken this woman with the blue eyes into your heart." 
 
 " If that were true," he answered, " of what con 
 cern is it to others? I am Prince Shan." 
 
 " You sent me here to breathe this cursed 
 western atmosphere," she moaned, " to drink in their 
 thoughts and see with their eyes. I see and know 
 the folly of it all, but who can escape? Jealousy 
 with us is a disease. Over there one creeps away 
 like a hurt animal because there is nothing else. 
 Here it is different. The Frenchwoman, the English 
 woman, who loses her lover she does not fold her 
 hands. She strikes, she is a wronged creature. I 
 too have felt that." 
 
 Her master sat for long in silence. 
 
 " You are right," he pronounced. " I shall try 
 to be just. You are a person of small understanding. 
 You have never made any effort to live with your 
 head in the clouds. Let that be so. The fault was 
 mine." 
 
 "I do not wish to live," she cried. 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 213 
 
 " Live or die what does it matter ? " he an 
 swered indifferently. " With life there is pain, and 
 with death there is none, but if you choose life, re 
 member this. The woman with the blue eyes, as 
 you call her, has become the star of my life. If 
 harm should come to her, not only you, but every 
 one of your family and race, in whatsoever part 
 of the world they may be, will leave this life in 
 agony." 
 
 The girl stood and wondered. 
 
 " My lord thinks so much of a plaything? " she 
 murmured. 
 
 Prince Shan frowned. His finely shaped, silky 
 eyebrows almost met. She covered her eyes and 
 drooped her head. 
 
 " We of the East," he said, " although we are 
 the mightier race, progress slowly, because the 
 love of new things is not with us. Something of 
 western ways I have learned, and the love of woman. 
 It is not for a plaything I desire her whom we will 
 not name. She shall sit by my side and rule. I 
 shall wed her with my brain as with my body. Our 
 minds will move together. We shall feel the same 
 shivering pleasure when we rule the world with great 
 thoughts as when our bodies touch. I shall teach 
 her to know her soul, even as my own has been 
 revealed to me." 
 
 " No woman is worthy of this, my lord," the girl 
 faltered.
 
 214 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 He waved his hand and she stole away. At the 
 door he stopped her. 
 
 " Do you go to life or death, Nita? " he asked. 
 
 She looked at him with a great sorrow. 
 
 " I am a worthless thing," she replied. " I go 
 where my lord's words have sent me." 
 
 Li Wen reappeared presently for an appointed 
 audience. He brought messages. 
 
 " Highness," he announced, " there is a code dis 
 patch here from Ki-Chou. An American gained 
 entrance to the City last week. Yesterday he left 
 by aeroplane for India. He was overtaken and cap 
 tured. It is feared, however, that he has agents over 
 the frontier, for no papers were found upon him." 
 
 " It was a great achievement," Prince Shan said 
 thoughtfully. " No other foreigner has ever passed 
 into our secret city. Is there word as to how he 
 got there? " 
 
 " He came as a Russian artificer from that city 
 in Russia of which we do not speak," Li Wen replied. 
 " He brought letters, and his knowledge was great." 
 
 " His name? " the Prince asked. 
 
 " Gilbert Jesson, Highness. His passport and 
 papers refer to Washington, but his message, if he 
 sent one, is believed to have come to London." 
 
 " The man must die," the Prince said calmly. 
 " That, without doubt, he expects. Yet the news is 
 not serious. My heart has spoken for peace, Li 
 Wen."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 215 
 
 Li Wen bowed low. His master watched him 
 curiously. 
 
 " If I had asked it, Li Wen, where would your 
 counsel have led ? " 
 
 " Towards peace, Highness. I do not trust Imme- 
 lan. It is not in such a manner that China's Empire 
 shall spread. There are ancestors of mine ' who 
 would turn in their graves to find China in league 
 with a western Power." 
 
 " You are a wise man, Li Wen," his master de 
 clared. " We hold the mastery of the world. What 
 shall we do with it? " 
 
 " The mightiest sword is that which enforces 
 peace," was the calm reply. " Highness, the lady 
 whom you were expecting waits in the anteroom." 
 
 Prince Shan nodded. He welcomed Naida, who 
 was ushered in a moment or two later, with rather 
 more than his usual grave and pleasant courtesy, 
 leading her himself to a chair. 
 
 " I wondered," she confessed, " if I were ever to be 
 allowed to see inside your wonderful house." 
 
 " It is my misfortune to be compelled to pay so 
 brief a visit to this country," he replied. " As a 
 rule, it gives me great pleasure to open my rooms 
 three evenings and entertain those who care to come 
 and see me." 
 
 " I have heard of your entertainments," she said, 
 smiling. " Prima donnas sing. You rob the capitals 
 of Europe to find your music. Then the great Mon-
 
 2i6 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 sieur Auguste is lured from Paris to prepare your 
 supper, and not a lady leaves without some priceless 
 jewel." 
 
 " I entertain so seldom," he reminded her. " I 
 fear that the fame of my feasts has been exag 
 gerated." 
 
 " When do you leave, Prince? " she asked him. 
 
 " Within a few days," he replied. 
 
 " I come for your last word," she announced. 
 " All that I have written to Paul Matinsky you 
 know." 
 
 " The last word is not yet to be spoken,'* he said. 
 " This, however, you may tell Matinsky. The scheme 
 of Oscar Immelan has been laid before me. I have 
 rejected it." 
 
 " In what other way, then, would you use your 
 power? " she asked. 
 
 He made no answer. She watched him with a great 
 and growing curiosity. 
 
 " Prince," she said, " they tell me that you are 
 a great student of history." 
 
 " I have read what is known of the history of most 
 of the countries of the world," he admitted. 
 
 " There have been men," she persisted, " who have 
 dealt in empires for the price of a woman's smile." 
 
 " Such men have loved," he said, " as I love." 
 
 " Yet for you life has always been a great and 
 lofty thing," she reminded him. " You could not 
 stand where you do if you had not realised the beauty
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 217 
 
 and wonder of sacrifice. Fate has given the peace 
 of the world into your keeping. You will not juggle 
 with the trust?" 
 
 He rose to his feet. A servant stood almost im 
 mediately at the open door. 
 
 " Fate and an American engineer," he remarked 
 with a smile. " I thank you, dear lady, for your 
 visil . You will hear my news before I leave." 
 
 She looked into his eyes for a moment. 
 
 " It is a great decision," she said, " which rests 
 with you ! "
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 An hour or so later, Prince Shan left his house 
 in Curzon Street and, followed at a discreet distance 
 by two members of his household, strolled into the 
 Park. It had pleased him that morning to conform 
 rigorously to the mode of dress adopted by the 
 fashionable citizens of the country which he was 
 visiting. Few people, without the closest observa 
 tion, would have taken him for anything but a well- 
 turned-out, exceedingly handsome and distinguished- 
 looking Englishman. He carried himself with a faint 
 air of aloofness, as though he moved amongst scenes 
 in which he had no actual concern, as though he 
 were living, in thought at any rate, in some other 
 world. The morning was brilliantly sunny, and both 
 the promenade and the Row were crowded. Slightly 
 hidden behind a tree, he stood and watched. A gay 
 crowd of promenaders passed along the broad path, 
 and the air was filled with the echo of laughter, the 
 jargon of the day, intimate references to a common 
 world, invitations lightly given and lightly accepted. 
 It was Sunday morning, in a season when colour was 
 the craze of the moment, and the women who swept 
 by seemed to his rather mystical fancy like the
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 219 
 
 flowers in some of the great open spaces he knew so 
 well, stirred into movement by a soft wind. They 
 were very beautiful, these western women ; handsome, 
 too, the men with whom they talked and flirted. 
 Always they had that air, however, of absolute com 
 placency, as though they felt nothing of the quest 
 which lay like a thread of torture amongst the 
 nerves of Prince Shan's being. There was no more 
 distinguished figure among the men there than he 
 himself, and yet the sense of alienation grew in his 
 heart as he watched. There were many familiar 
 faces, many to whom he could have spoken, no one 
 who would not have greeted him with interest, even 
 with gratification. And yet he had never been so 
 deeply conscious of the gulf which lay between the 
 oriental fatalism of his life and ways and the placid 
 self-assurance of these westerners, so well-content 
 with the earth upon which their feet fell. He had 
 judged with perfect accuracy the place which he held 
 in their thoughts and estimation. He was something 
 of a curiosity, his title half a joke, the splendour of 
 his long race a thing unrealisable by these scions of 
 a more recent aristocracy. Yet supposing that this 
 new wonder had not come into his life, that Immelan 
 had been a shade more eloquent, had pleaded his 
 cause upon a higher level, that Naida Karetsky also 
 had formed a different impression of the world which 
 he was studying so earnestly, what a transforma 
 tion he could have brought upon this light-hearted
 
 220 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 and joyous scene! The scales had so nearly bal 
 anced; at the bottom of his heart he was conscious 
 of a certain faint contempt for the almost bovine 
 self-satisfaction of a nation without eyes. Litera 
 ture and painting, art in all its far-flung branches, 
 even science, were suffering in these days from a gen 
 eral and paralysing inertia. Life which demanded 
 no sacrifice of anybody was destructive of everything 
 in the nature of aspiration. Sport seemed to be the 
 only incentive to sobriety, the desire to live long 
 in this fat land the only brake upon an era of self- 
 indulgence. He looked eastwards to where his own 
 millions were toiling, with his day-by-day maxims in 
 their ears, and it seemed to his elastic fancy that he 
 was inhaling a long breath of cooler and more 
 vigorous life. 
 
 The current of his reflections was broken. He 
 had moved a little towards the rails, and he was 
 instantly aware of the girl cantering towards him, 
 a slight, frail figure, she seemed, upon a great bay 
 horse. She wore a simple brown habit and bowler 
 hat, and she sat her horse with that complete lack of 
 self-consciousness which is the heritage of a born 
 horsewoman. She was looking up at the sky as she 
 cantered towards him, with no thought of the crowds 
 passing along the promenade. Yet, as she drew 
 nearer, she suddenly glanced down, and their eyes 
 met. As though obeying his unspoken wish, she 
 reined in her horse and came close to the rails behind
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 221 
 
 which he stood for a moment bareheaded. There 
 was the faintest smile upon her lips. She was amaz 
 ingly composed. She had asked herself repeatedly, 
 almost in terror, how they should meet when the 
 time came. Now that it had happened, it seemed 
 the most natural thing in the world. She was 
 scarcely conscious even of embarrassment. 
 
 " You are demonstrating to the world," she re 
 marked, " that the reports of your death this morn 
 ing were exaggerated? " 
 
 " I had forgotten the incident," he assured her 
 calmly. 
 
 His callousness was so unaffected that she shivered 
 a little. 
 
 " Yet this Sen Lu, this man for whom you were 
 mistaken, was an intimate member of your house 
 hold, was he not? " 
 
 " Sen Lu was a very good friend," Prince Shan 
 answered. " He did his duty for many years. If 
 he knows now that his life was taken for mine, he 
 is happy to have made such atonement." 
 
 She manoeuvred her horse a little to be nearer to 
 him. 
 
 " Why was Sen Lu murdered? " she asked. 
 
 " There are those," he replied, " of whom I myself 
 shall ask that question before the day is over." 
 
 " You have an idea, then? " she persisted. 
 
 " If," he said, " you desire my whole confidence, it 
 is yours."
 
 1222 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 She sat looking between her horse's ears. 
 
 " To tell you the truth," she confessed, " I do 
 not know what I desire. Your philosophy, I suppose, 
 does not tolerate moods. I shall escape from them 
 some time, I expect, but just now I seem to have 
 found my way into a maze. The faces of these peo 
 ple don't even seem real to me, and as for you, I am 
 perfectly certain that you have never been in China 
 in your life." 
 
 " Tell me the stimulant that is needed to raise you 
 from your apathy," he asked. "Will you find it in 
 the rapid motion of your horse a very noble 
 animal in the joy of this morning's sunshine and 
 breeze, or in the toyland where these puppets move 
 and walk? " he added, glancing down the promenade. 
 * ( Dear Lady Maggie, I beg permission to pay you a 
 visit of ceremony. Will you receive me this after 
 noon ? " 
 
 She knew then what it was that she had been hop 
 ing for. She looked down at him and smiled. 
 
 " At four o'clock," she invited. 
 
 She nodded, touched her horse lightly with the 
 whip, and cantered off. Prince Shan found himself 
 suddenly accosted by a dozen acquaintances, all 
 plying him with questions. He listened to them with 
 an amused smile. 
 
 " The whole affair is a very simple one," he said. 
 " A member of my household was assassinated last 
 night. It was probably a plot against my own life.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 223 
 
 Those things are more common with us, perhaps, 
 than over here." 
 
 " Jolly country, China, I should think," one of 
 the younger members of the group remarked. " You 
 can buy a man's conscience there for ninepence." 
 
 Prince Shan looked across at the speaker gravely. 
 
 " The market value here," he observed, " seems a 
 little higher, but the supply greater." 
 
 " ToucJie! " Karschoff laughed. " There is 
 another point of view, too. The further east you 
 go, the less value life has. Westwards, it becomes 
 an absolute craze to preserve and coddle it, to drag 
 it out to its furthermost span. The American mil 
 lionaire, for example, has a resident physician 
 attached to his household and is likely to spend the 
 aftermath of his life in a semi-drugged and comatose 
 condition. And in the East, who cares? If not to 
 day to-morrow ! Inevitability, which is the night 
 mare of the West, is the philosophy of the East. By 
 the by, Prince," he added, " have you any theory as 
 to last night's attempt? " 
 
 " That is just the question," Prince Shan replied, 
 " which two very intelligent gentlemen from Scotland 
 Yard asked me this morning. Theory? Why should 
 I have a theory? " 
 
 " The attempt was without a doubt directed 
 against you," Karschoff observed. " Do you imagine 
 that it was personal or political? " 
 
 " How can I tell? " the Prince rejoined carelessly,
 
 224 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " Why should any one desire my death? These 
 things are riddles. Ah! Here comes my friend 
 Immelan ! " he went on. " Immelan, help us in this 
 discussion. You are not one of those who place the 
 gift of life above all other things in the world ! " 
 
 " My own or another's ? " Immelan asked, with 
 blunt cynicism. 
 
 " I trust," was the bland reply, " that you are, as 
 I have always esteemed you, an altruist." 
 
 "And why?" 
 
 Prince Shan shrugged his shoulders. He was a 
 very agreeable figure in the centre of the little group 
 of men, the hands which held his malacca cane 
 behind his back, the smile which parted his lips 
 benign yet cryptic. 
 
 " Because," he explained, " it is a great thing to 
 have more regard for the lives of others than for 
 one's own, and there are times," he added, " when it 
 is certainly one's own life which is in the more pre 
 carious state." 
 
 There was a little dispersal of the crowd, a chorus 
 of congratulations and farewells. Immelan and 
 Prince Shan were left alone. The former seemed 
 to have turned paler. The sun was warm, and yet 
 he shivered. 
 
 " Just what do you mean by that, Prince? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " You shall walk with me to my house, and I will 
 tell you," was the quiet reply.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 " I suppose," Immelan suggested, as the two men 
 reached the house in Curzon Street, " it would be 
 useless to ask you to break your custom and lunch 
 with me at the Ritz or at the club? " 
 
 His companion smiled deprecatingly. 
 
 " I have adopted so many of your western cus 
 toms," he said apologetically. " To this lunching or 
 dining in public, however, I shall never accustom 
 myself." 
 
 Immelan laughed good-naturedly. The conversa 
 tion of the two men on their way from the Park had 
 been without significance, and some part of his earlier 
 nervousness seemed to be leaving him. 
 
 " We all have our foibles," he admitted. " One 
 of mine is to have a pretty woman opposite me wfaen 
 I lunch or dine, music somewhere in the distance, a 
 little sentiment, a little promise, perhaps.'* 
 
 " It is not artistic," Prince Shan pronounced 
 calmly. " It is not when the wine mounts to the 
 head, and the sense of feeding fills the body, that 
 men speak best of the things that iie near their 
 hearts. Still, we will let that pass. Each of us is 
 made differently. There is another thing, Immelan, 
 which I have to say to you."
 
 226 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 They passed into the reception room, with its 
 shining floor, its marvellous rugs, its silken hang 
 ings, and its great vases of flowers. Prince Shan 
 led his companion into a recess, where the light 
 failed to penetrate so completely as into the rest 
 of the apartment. A wide settee, piled with cushions, 
 protruded from the wall in semicircular shape. In 
 front of it was a round ebony table, upon which stood 
 a great yellow bowl filled with lilies. Prince Shan 
 gave an order to one of the servants who had fol 
 lowed them into the room and threw himself at full 
 length among the cushions, his head resting upon 
 his hand, his face turned towards his guest. 
 
 " They will bring you the aperitif of which you 
 are so fond," he said, " also cigarettes. Mine, I 
 know, are too strong for you." 
 
 " They taste too much of opium," Immelan re 
 marked. 
 
 Prince Shan's eyes grew dreamy as he gazed 
 through a little cloud of odorous smoke. 
 
 " There is opium in them," he admitted. " Be 
 lieve me, they are very wonderful, but I agree with 
 you that they are not for the ordinary person." 
 
 The soft-footed butler presented a silver tray, 
 upon which reposed a glassful of amber liquid. 
 Immelan took it, sipped it appreciatively, and lit a 
 cigarette. 
 
 " Your man, Prince," he acknowledged, " mixes his 
 vermouths wonderfully."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 227 
 
 " I am glad that what he does meets with your 
 approval," was the courteous reply. " He came to 
 me from one of your royal palaces. I simply told 
 him that I wished my guests to have of the best." 
 
 " Yet you never touch this sort of drink your 
 self," Immelan observed curiously. 
 
 The Prince shook his head. 
 
 " Sometimes I take wine," he said. " That is gen 
 erally at night. A few evenings ago, for instance," 
 he went on, with a reminiscent smile, " I drank 
 Chateau Yquem, smoked Egyptian cigarettes, ate 
 some muscatel grapes, and read ' Pippa Passes.* 
 That was one of my banquets." 
 
 " As a matter of fact," Immelan remarked 
 thoughtfully, " you are far more western in thought 
 than in habit. The temperance of the East is in 
 your blood." 
 
 " I find that my manner of life keeps the brain 
 clear," Prince Shan said slowly. " I can see the 
 truth sometimes when it is not very apparent. I 
 saw the truth last night, Immelan, when I sent Sen 
 Lu to die." 
 
 Immelan's expression was indescribable. He sat 
 with his mouth wide open. The hand which held his 
 glass shook. He stared across the bowl of lilies to 
 where his host was looking up through the smoke 
 towards the ceiling. 
 
 " Sen Lu was a traitor," the latter went on, " a 
 ver}' foolish man who with one act of treachery wiped
 
 228 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 out the memory of a lifetime of devotion. In the 
 end he told the truth, and now he has paid his debt." 
 
 "What do you mean? n Immelan demanded, in a 
 voice which he attempted in vain to control. " How 
 was Sen Lu a traitor? " 
 
 " Sen Lu,'* the Prince explained, " was in the pay 
 of those who sought to know more of my business 
 than I chose to tell who sought, indeed, to antici 
 pate my own judgment. When they gathered from 
 him, and, alas ! from my sweet but frail little friend 
 Nita, that the chances were against my signing a 
 certain covenant, they came to what, even now, seems 
 to me a strange decision. They decided that I must 
 die. There I fail wholly to follow the workings of 
 your mind, Immelan. How was my death likely to 
 serve your purpose ? " 
 
 Immelan was absolutely speechless. Three times 
 he opened his lips, only to close them again. Some 
 instinct seemed to tell him that his companion had 
 more to say. He sat there as though mesmerised. 
 Meanwhile, the Prince lit another cigarette. 
 
 " A blunder, believe me, Immelan," he continued 
 thoughtfully. " Death will not lower over my path 
 till my task is accomplished. I am young many 
 years younger than you, Immelan and the greatest 
 physicians marvel at my strength. Against the 
 assassin's knife or bullet I am secure. You have been 
 brought up and lived, my terrified friend, in a coun 
 try where religion remains a shell and a husk, with-
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 229 
 
 out comfort to any man. It is not so with me. I 
 live in the spirit as in the body, and my days will 
 last until the sun leans down and lights me to the 
 world where those dwell who have fulfilled their 
 destiny." 
 
 Immelan drained the contents of the glass which 
 his unsteady hand was holding. Then he rose to 
 his feet. The veins on his forehead were standing 
 out, his blue eyes were filled with rage. 
 
 " Blast Sen Lu ! " he muttered. " The man was a 
 double traitor ! " 
 
 " He has atoned," his companion said calmly. 
 " He made his peace and he went to his death. It 
 seems very fitting that he should have received the 
 dagger which was meant for my heart. Now what 
 about you, Oscar Immelan? " 
 
 Immelan laughed harshly. 
 
 <; If Sen Lu told you that I was in this plot 
 against your life, he lied ! " 
 
 The Prince inclined his head urbanely. 
 
 " Such a man as Sen Lu goes seldom to his death 
 with a lie upon his lips," he said. " Yet I confess 
 that I am puzzled. Why should you plan this thing, 
 Immelan ? You cannot know what is in my mind con 
 cerning your covenant. I have not yet refused to 
 sign it." 
 
 " You have not refused to sign it," Immelan re 
 plied, " but you will refuse." 
 
 " Indeed? " the Prince murmured.
 
 230 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " You are even now trifling with the secrets con 
 fided to you," Immelan went on. " You know very 
 well that the woman who came to you last night is 
 a spy whose whole time is spent in seeking to worm 
 our secret from you." 
 
 " Your agents keep themselves well informed," was 
 the calm comment. 
 
 " Yours still have the advantage of us," Immelan 
 answered bitterly. " Now listen to me. I have heard 
 it said of you I have heard that you claim your 
 self that you have never told a falsehood. We 
 have been allies. Answer me this question. Have 
 you parted with any of our secrets? " 
 
 " Not one," the Prince assured him. " A certain 
 lady visited this house last night, not, as you seem 
 to think, at my invitation, but on her own initiative. 
 She was not successful in her quest." 
 
 " She would not pay the price, eh? " Immelan 
 sneered. " By the gods of your ancestors, Prince 
 Shan, are there not women enough in the world for 
 you without bartering your honour, and the great 
 future of your country, for a blue-eyed jade of an 
 Englishwoman ? " 
 
 The Prince sat slowly up. His appearance was 
 ominous. His face had become set as marble; there 
 was a look in his eyes like the flashing of a light upon 
 black metal. He contemplated his visitor across the 
 lilies.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 231 
 
 " A man so near to death, Immelan," he enjoined, 
 " might choose his words more carefully." 
 
 Immelan laughed scornfully. 
 
 " I am not to be bullied," he declared. " Your 
 doors with their patent locks have no fears for me. 
 When you walk abroad, you are followed by mem 
 bers of your household. When you come to my 
 rooms, they attend you. I am not a prince, but I, 
 too, have a care for my skin. Three of my secret 
 service men never let me out of their sight. They 
 are within call at this moment." 
 
 His host smiled. 
 
 " This is very interesting," he said, " but you 
 should know me better, Immelan, than to imagine 
 that mine are the clumsy methods of the dagger or 
 the bullet. The man whom I will to die drinks 
 with me." 
 
 He pointed a long forefinger at the empty glass. 
 Immelan gazed at it, and the sweat stood out upon 
 his forehead. 
 
 " My God ! " he muttered. " There was a queer 
 taste ! I thought that it was aniseed ! " 
 
 " There was nothing in that glass," the Prince de 
 clared, " which the greatest chemist who ever 
 breathed could detect as poison, yet you will die, my 
 friend Immelan, without any doubt. Shall I tell you 
 how? Would you know in what manner the pains 
 will come? No? But, my friend, you disappoint 
 me! You showed so much courage an hour ago.
 
 232 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 Listen. Feel for a swelling just behind Ah! " 
 
 Immelan was already across the room. The Prince 
 touched a bell, the doors were opened. Ghastly pale, 
 his head swimming, the tortured man dashed out into 
 the street. The Prince leaned back amongst his 
 cushions, untied a straw-fastened packet of his long 
 cigarettes, lit one, and closed his eyes.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 Nigel was just arriving at Dorminster House 
 when Maggie returned from her ride. He assisted 
 her to dismount and entered the house with her. 
 
 " There is something here I should like to show 
 you, Maggie," he said, as he drew a dispatch from 
 his pocket. " It was sent round to me half an hour 
 ago by Chalmers, from the American Embassy." 
 
 " It's about Gilbert Jesson ! " Maggie exclaimed, 
 holding out her hand for it. 
 
 Nigel nodded. 
 
 " There's a note inside, and an enclosure," he said. 
 " You had better read both." 
 
 Maggie opened out the former: 
 
 MY DEAR DORMINSTER, 
 
 I am afraid there is rather bad news about 
 Jesson. One of our regular line of airships, run 
 ning from San Francisco to Vladivostok, has 
 picked up a wireless which must have come from 
 somewhere in the South of China. They kept it 
 for a few days, worse luck, thinking it was only 
 nonsense, as it was in code. Washington got hold 
 of it, however, and cabled it to us last night. I 
 enclose a copy, decoded. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 JERE CHALMERS.
 
 234 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 The copy was brief enough. Maggie felt her 
 heart sink as she glanced through the few lines : 
 
 Report dispatched London. Fear escape im 
 possible. Good-by. JESSON. 
 
 " Horrible ! " Maggie exclaimed, with a shiver. 
 " I thought he was in Russia." 
 
 " So did we all," Nigel replied. " He must have 
 come to the conclusion that the key to the riddle 
 he was trying to solve was in China, and gone on 
 there. Look here, Maggie," he continued, after a 
 moment's hesitation, " do you think anything could 
 be done for Jesson with Prince Shan? " 
 
 Maggie was silent. They were standing in a 
 shaded corner of the hall, but a fleck of sunshine 
 shone in her hair. She was still a little out of breath 
 with the exercise, her cheeks full of healthy colour, 
 her eyes bright. She tapped her skirt with her rid 
 ing whip. Nigel watched her a little uneasily. 
 
 " Prince Shan is calling here this afternoon," 
 Maggie announced. " I hope you don't mind." 
 
 "What are you going to say to him?" Nigel 
 asked bluntly. 
 
 There was a short, tense silence. Even at the 
 thought of the crisis which she knew to be so close 
 at hand, Maggie felt herself unnerved and in dubious 
 straits. 
 
 " I do not know," she said at last. " For one 
 thing, I do not know what he wants."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 235 
 
 " What he wants seems perfectly plain to me," 
 Nigel replied gravely. " He wants you." 
 
 Maggie made a desperate effort to regain the 
 lightheartedness of a few weeks ago. 
 
 " If you believe that," she said, " your composure 
 is most unflattering." 
 
 There was a ring at the front doorbell, and a 
 familiar voice was heard outside. Maggie turned 
 away to the staircase with a little sigh of relief. 
 
 " Naida ! " she exclaimed. " I remember now I 
 asked her for a quarter past one instead of half-past. 
 You must entertain her, Nigel. I'll change into 
 something quickly. And of course I'll speak to 
 Prince Shan. We mustn't lose a minute about that. 
 I'll telephone from my room in a few minutes, 
 Naida. Nigel will look after you." 
 
 Naida" came down the hall, cool and exquisitely 
 gowned in a creation of shimmering white. Nigel 
 led her into the rarely used drawing-room and found 
 a chair for her between the open window and the 
 conservatory. At first they exchanged but few 
 words. The sense of her near presence affected Nigel 
 as nothing of the sort had ever done before. She for 
 her part seemed quite content with a silence which 
 had in it many of the essentials of eloquence. 
 
 " If the history of these days is ever written by 
 an irascible German historian," Naida remarked at 
 length, " he will probably declare that the destinies 
 of the world have been affected during this last
 
 236 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 month by an outburst of primitivism. Do you know 
 that I have written quite nice things to Paul about 
 you English people? Honest things, of course, but 
 still things which you helped me to discover. And 
 Prince Shan, too. I think that when he rode here 
 through the clouds, he believed in his heart that he 
 was coming as a harbinger of woe." 
 
 " You really think, then, that the crisis is past ? " 
 Nigel asked. 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 " I am almost sure of it. Prince Shan returns to 
 China within the course of the next few days." 
 
 " We have lived so long," Nigel observed, " in 
 dread of the unknown. I wonder whether we shall 
 ever understand the exact nature of the danger with 
 which we were faced." 
 
 " It depends upon Prince Shan," she replied. 
 " The terms were Immelan's, but the method was 
 his." 
 
 " Do you believe," he asked a little abruptly, 
 " that the attempt on Prince Shan's life last night 
 was made by Immelan ? " 
 
 There was a touch, perhaps, of her Muscovite an 
 cestry in the cool indifference with which she con 
 sidered the matter. 
 
 " I should think it most likely," she decided. 
 " Prince Shan never changes his mind, and I believe 
 that he has decided against Immelan's scheme.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 237 
 
 Immelan's only chance would be in Prince Shan's 
 successor." 
 
 " Why is China so necessary? " Nigel asked. 
 
 She turned and smiled at her companion. 
 
 " Alas ! " she sighed, " we have reached an impasse. 
 The great English diplomat asks too many questions 
 of the simple Russian girl." 
 
 " It is unfortunate," he replied, in the same vein, 
 " because I feel like asking more." 
 
 " As, for example? " 
 
 " Whether you would be content to live for the 
 rest of your life in any other country except Russia." 
 
 " A woman is content to live anywhere, under 
 certain circumstances," she murmured. 
 
 Karschoff, discreetly announced, entered the room 
 with flamboyant ease. 
 
 " It is well to be young ! " he exclaimed, as he 
 bent over Naida's fingers. " You look, my far-away 
 but much beloved cousin, as though you had slept 
 peacefully through the night and spent the morning 
 in this soft, sunlit air, with perhaps, if one might 
 suggest such a thing, an hour at a Bond Street 
 beauty parlour. Here am I with crow's-feet under 
 my eyes and ghosts walking by my side. Yet none 
 the less," he added, as the door opened and Maggie 
 appeared, " looking forward to my luncheon and to 
 hear all the news." 
 
 " There is no news," Naida declared, as the butler 
 announced the service of the meal. " We have
 
 238 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 reached the far end of the ways. The next dis 
 closures, if ever they are made, will come from others. 
 At luncheon we are going to talk of the English 
 country, the seaside, the meadows, and the quiet 
 places. The time arrives when I weary, weary, of 
 the brazen ticking of the clock of fate." 
 
 " I shall tell you," Nigel declared, " of a small 
 country house I have in Devonshire. There are 
 rough grounds stretching down to the sea and 
 crawling up to the moors behind. My grandfather 
 built it when he was Chancellor of England, or rather 
 he added to an old farmhouse. He called it the House 
 of Peace.'* 
 
 " My father built a house very much in the same 
 spirit," Naida told them. " He called it after an 
 old Turkish inscription, engraven on the front of a 
 villa in Stamboul ' The House of Thought and 
 Flowers/ " 
 
 Maggie smiled across the table approvingly. 
 
 " I like the conversation," she said. " Naida and 
 I are, after all, women and sentimentalists. We 
 claim a respite, an armistice call it what you will. 
 Prince Karschoff, won't you tell me of the most 
 beautiful house you ever dwelt in? " 
 
 " Always the house I am hoping to end my days 
 in," he answered. " But let me tell you about a 
 villa I had in Cannes, fifteen years ago. People used 
 to speak of it as one of the world's treasures." 
 
 When the two men were seated alone over their
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 239 
 
 coffee, Nigel passed Chalmers' note and the enclosure 
 across to his companion. 
 
 " You remember I told you about Chalmers* friend, 
 Jesson, the secret service man who came over to us? " 
 he said. " Chalmers has just sent me round this." 
 
 Karschoff nodded and studied the message through 
 his great horn-rimmed eyeglass. 
 
 " I thought that he was going to Russia for you," 
 he said. 
 
 " So he did. He must have gone on from there." 
 
 " And the message comes from Southern China," 
 Prince Karschoff reflected. 
 
 Nigel was deep in thought. China, Russia, Ger 
 many! Prince Shan in England, negotiating with 
 Immelan ! And behind, sinister, menacing, mysteri 
 ous Japan ! 
 
 " Supposing," he propounded at last, " there 
 really does exist a secret treaty between China and 
 Japan? " 
 
 " If there is," Prince Karschoff observed, " one 
 can easily understand what Immelan has been at. 
 Prince Shan can command the whole of Asia. I 
 know they are afraid of something of the sort in 
 the States. An American who was in the club yester 
 day told us they had spent over a hundred millions 
 on their west coast fortifications in the last two 
 years." 
 
 " One can understand, too, in that case," Nigel 
 continued, " why Japan left the League of Nations.
 
 240 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 That stunt of hers about being outside the sphere 
 of possible misunderstandings never sounded honest." 
 
 " It was unfortunate," Prince Karschoff said, 
 4t that America was dominated for those few months 
 by an honest but impractical idealist. He had the 
 germ of an idea, but he thrust it on the world before 
 even his own country was ready for it. In time the 
 nations would certainly have elaborated something 
 more workable." 
 
 " You cannot keep a full-blooded man from clench 
 ing his fist if he's insulted," Nigel pointed out, " and 
 nations march along the same lines as individuals. 
 Its existence has never for a single moment weakened 
 Germany's hatred of England, and the stronger she 
 grows, the more she flaunts its conditions. France 
 guards her frontiers, night and day, with an army 
 ten times larger than she is allowed. Russia has 
 become the country of mysteries, with something up 
 her sleeve, beyond a doubt, and there are cities in 
 modern China into which no European dare pene 
 trate. Japan quite frankly maintains an immense 
 army, the United States is silently following suit 
 and God help us all if a war does come ! " 
 
 " You are right," Karschoff assented gloomily. 
 " The last glamour of romance has gone from fight 
 ing. There were remnants of it in the last war, 
 especially in Palestine and Egypt and when we first 
 overran Austria. To-day, science would settle the 
 whole affair. The war would be won in the labora-
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 241 
 
 tory, the engine room and the workshop. I doubt 
 whether any battleship could keep afloat for a week, 
 and as to the fighting in the air, if a hundred airships 
 were in action, I do not suppose that one of them 
 would escape. Then they say that France has a gun 
 which could carry a shell from Amiens to London, 
 and more mysterious than all, China has something 
 up her sleeve which no one has even a glimmering of." 
 
 " Except Jesson," Nigel muttered. 
 
 " And Jesson's gleam of knowledge, or suspicion," 
 Prince Karschoff remarked, " seems to have brought 
 him to the end of his days. Can anything be done 
 with Prince Shan about him, do you think? " 
 
 " Only indirectly, I am afraid/' Nigel replied. 
 " Maggie is seeing him this afternoon. As a matter 
 of fact, I believe she telephoned to him before 
 luncheon, but I haven't heard anything yet. When 
 a man goes out on that sort of a job, he burns his 
 boats. And Jesson isn't the first who has turned 
 eastwards, during the last few months. I heard 
 only yesterday that France has lost three of her 
 best men in China one who went as a missionary 
 and two as merchants. They've just disappeared 
 without a word of explanation." 
 
 The telephone extension bell rang. Nigel walked 
 over to the sideboard and took down the receiver. 
 
 " Is that Lord Dorminster? " a man's voice asked. 
 
 " Speaking," Nigel replied. 
 
 " I am David Franklin, private secretary to Mr.
 
 242 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 Mervin Brown," the voice continued. " Mr. Mervin 
 Brown would be exceedingly obliged if you would 
 come round to Downing Street to see him at once." 
 
 " I will be there in ten minutes," Nigel promised. 
 
 He laid down the receiver and turned to Karschoff. 
 
 " The Prime Minister," he explained. 
 
 " What does he want you for? " 
 
 " I think," Nigel replied, " that the trouble cloud 
 is about to burst."
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 Mr. Mervin Brown on this occasion did not beat 
 about the bush. His old air of confident, almost 
 smug self-satisfaction, had vanished. He received 
 Nigel with a new deference in his manner, without 
 any further sign of that good-natured tolerance ac 
 corded by a busy man to a kindly crank. 
 
 " Lord Dorminster," he began, " I have sent for 
 you to renew a conversation we had some little time 
 since. I will be quite frank with you. Certain 
 circumstances have come to my notice which lead me 
 to believe that there may be more truth in some of 
 the arguments you brought forward than I was will 
 ing at the time to believe." 
 
 " I must confess that I am relieved to hear you 
 say so," Nigel replied. " All the information which 
 I have points to a crisis very near at hand." 
 
 The Prime Minister leaned a little across the table. 
 
 " The immediate reason for my sending for you," 
 he explained, " is this. My friend the American 
 Ambassador has just sent me a copy of a wireless 
 dispatch which he has received from China from one 
 of their former agents. The report seems to have 
 been sent to him for safety, but the sender of it, of
 
 244 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 whose probity, by the by, the American Ambassador 
 pledges himself, appears to have been sent to China 
 by you." 
 
 " Jesson ! " Nigel exclaimed. " I have heard of 
 this already, sir, from a friend in the American 
 Embassy." 
 
 " The dispatch," Mr. Mervin Brown went on, " is 
 in some respects a little vague, but it is, on the other 
 hand, I frankly admit, disturbing. It gives specific 
 details as to definite military preparations on the 
 part of China and Russia, associated, presumably, 
 with a third Power whose name you will forgive my 
 not mentioning. These preparations appear to have 
 been brought almost to completion in the strictest 
 secrecy, but the headquarters of the whole thing, very 
 much to my surprise, I must confess, seems to be in 
 southern China." 
 
 " In that case," Nigel pointed out, " if you will 
 permit me to make a suggestion, sir, you have a very 
 simple course open to you." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " Send for Prince Shan." 
 
 " Prince Shan," the Prime Minister replied, with 
 knitted brows, " is not over in this country officially. 
 He has begged to be excused from accepting or re 
 turning any diplomatic courtesies." 
 
 " Nevertheless," Nigel persisted, " I should send 
 for Prince Shan. If it had not been," he went on 
 slowly, " for the complete abolition of our secret
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 245 
 
 service system, you would probably have been 
 informed before now that Prince Shan has been hav 
 ing continual conferences in this country with one 
 of the most dangerous men who ever set foot on these 
 shores Oscar Immelan." 
 
 " Immelan has no official position in this country," 
 the Prime Minister objected. 
 
 " A fact which makes him none the less danger 
 ous," Nigel insisted. " He is one of those free lances 
 of diplomacy who have sprung up during the last 
 ten or fifteen years, the product of that spurious 
 wave of altruism which is responsible for the League 
 of Nations. Immelan was one of the first to see how 
 his country might benefit by the new regime. It is 
 he who has been pulling the strings in Russia and 
 China, and, I fear, another country." 
 
 " What I want to arrive at," Mr. Mervin Brown 
 said, a little impatiently, " is something definite." 
 
 " Let me put it my own way," Nigel begged. " A 
 very large section of our present-day politicians 
 you, if I may say so, amongst them, Mr. Mervin 
 Brown have believed this country safe against any 
 military dangers, because of the connections exist 
 ing between your unions of working men and similar 
 bodies in Germany. This is a great fallacy for two 
 reasons : first because Germany has always intended 
 to have some one else pull the chestnuts out of the 
 fire for her, and second because we cannot inter 
 nationalise labour. English and German workmen
 
 246 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 may come together on matters affecting their craft 
 and the conditions of their labour, but at heart one 
 remains a German and one an Englishman, with sep 
 arate interests and a separate outlook." 
 
 " Well, at the end of it all," Mr. Mervin Brown 
 said, " the bogey is war. What sort of a war? An 
 invasion of England is just as impossible to-day as it 
 was twenty years ago." 
 
 Nigel nodded. 
 
 " I cannot answer your question," he admitted. 
 " I was looking to Jesson's report to give us an idea 
 as to that." 
 
 " You shall see it to-morrow," Mr. Mervin Brown 
 promised. " It is round at the War Office at the 
 present moment." 
 
 " Without seeing it," Nigel went on, " I expect I 
 can tell you one startling feature of its contents. 
 It suggested, did it not, that the principal movers 
 against us would be Russian and China and a 
 country which you prefer just now not to mention?" 
 
 " But that country is our ally ! " Mr. Mervin 
 Brown exclaimed. 
 
 Nigel smiled a little sadly. 
 
 " She has been," he admitted. " Still, if you had 
 been au fait with diplomatic history thirty years ago, 
 Mr. Mervin Brown, you would know that she was on 
 the point of ending her alliance with us and establish 
 ing one with Germany. It was only owing to the 
 genius of one English statesman that at the last
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 247 
 
 moment she almost reluctantly renewed her alliance 
 with us. She is in the same state of doubt concerning 
 our destiny to-day. She has seen our last two Gov 
 ernments forget that we are an Imperial Power and 
 endeavour to apply the principles of sheer com 
 mercialism to the conduct of a great nation. She 
 may have opened her eyes a thousand years later 
 than we did, but she is awake enough now to know 
 that this will not do. There is little enough of 
 generosity amongst the nations ; none amongst the 
 Orientals. I have a conviction myself that there is 
 a secret alliance between China and this other Power, 
 a secret and quite possibly an aggressive alliance." 
 
 Mr. Mervin Brown sat for a few moments deep in 
 thought. Somehow or other his face had gained in 
 dignity since the beginning of the conversation. The 
 nervous fear in his eyes had been replaced by a look 
 of deep and solemn anxiety. 
 
 " If you are right, Lord Dorminster," he pro 
 nounced presently, " the world has rolled backwards 
 these last ten years, and we who have failed to mark 
 its retrogression may have a terrible responsibility 
 thrust upon us.'* 
 
 " Politically, I am afraid I agree with you," Nigel 
 replied. " Only the idealist, and the prejudiced 
 idealist, can ignore the primal elements in human 
 nature and believe that a few lofty sentiments can 
 keep the nations behind their frontiers. War is a 
 terrible thing, but human life itself is a terrible thing.
 
 248 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 Its principles are the same, and force will never be 
 restrained except by force. If the League of Nations 
 had been established upon a firmer and less selfish 
 basis, it certainly might have kept the peace for 
 another thirty or forty years. As it is, I believe that 
 we are on the verge of a serious crisis." 
 
 " War for us is an impossibility,'* Mr. Mervin 
 Brown declared frankly, " simply because we cannot 
 fight. Our army consists of policemen; science has 
 defeated the battleship ; and practically the same 
 conditions exist in the air." 
 
 *' You sent for me, I presume, to ask for my ad 
 vice," Nigel said. " At any rate, let me offer it. I 
 have reason to believe that the negotiations between 
 Prince Shan and Oscar Immelan have not been en 
 tirely successful. Send for Prince Shan and question 
 him in a friendly fashion." 
 
 " Will you be my ambassador? " the Prime Min 
 ister asked. 
 
 Nigel hesitated for a moment. 
 
 " If you wish it," he promised. " Prince Shan is 
 in some respects a strangely inaccessible person, but 
 just at present he seems well disposed towards my 
 household." 
 
 " Arrange, if you can," Mr. Mervin Brown begged, 
 " to bring him here to-morrow morning. I will try 
 to have available a copy of the dispatch from Jesson. 
 It refers to matters which I trust Prince Shan will 
 be able to explain."
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 The great house in Curzon Street awoke, the fol 
 lowing morning, to a state of intense activity. Taxi- 
 cabs and motor-cars were lined along the street; a 
 stream of callers came and went. That part of the 
 establishment of which little was seen by the casual 
 caller, the rooms where half a dozen secretaries con 
 ducted an immense correspondence, presided over by 
 Li Wen, was working overtime at full pressure. In 
 his reception room, Prince Shan saw a selected few 
 of the callers, mostly journalists and politicians, to 
 whom Li Wen gave the entree. One visitor even this 
 most astute of secretaries found it hard to place. 
 He took the card in to his master, who glanced at 
 it thoughtfully. 
 
 " The Earl of Dorminster," he repeated. " I will 
 see him." 
 
 Nigel found himself received with courtesy, yet 
 with a certain aloofness. Prince Shan rose from his 
 favourite chair of plain black oak heaped with green 
 silk cushions and held out his hand a little tenta 
 tively. 
 
 " You are very kind to visit me, Lord Dorminster," 
 he said. " I trust that you come to wish me for 
 tune."
 
 262 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " That," Nigel replied, " depends upon how you 
 choose to seek it." 
 
 " I am answered," was the prompt acknowledg 
 ment. " One thing in your country I have at least 
 learnt to appreciate, and that is your love of can 
 dour. What is your errand with me to-day? Have 
 you come to speak to me as an ambassador from 
 your cousin, or in any way on her behalf ? " 
 
 tl My business has nothing to do with Lady Mag 
 gie," Nigel assured him gravely. 
 
 Prince Shan held out his hand. 
 
 " Stop," he begged. " Do not explain your busi 
 ness. If it is a personal request, it is granted. If, 
 on the other hand, you seek my advice on matters of 
 grave importance, it is yours. Before other words 
 are spoken, however, I myself desire to address you 
 on the subject of Lady Maggie Trent." 
 
 " As you please," Nigel answered. 
 
 " It is not the custom of my country, or of my 
 life," Prince Shan continued, " to covet or steal the 
 things which belong to another. If fate has made me 
 a thief, I am very sorry. I have proposed to Lady 
 Maggie that she accompany me back to China. It 
 is my great desire that she should become my wife." 
 
 Nigel felt himself curiously tongue-tied. There 
 was something in the other's measured speech, so 
 fateful, so assured, that it seemed almost as though 
 he were speaking of pre-ordained things. Much that
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 263 
 
 had seemed to him impossible and unnatural in such 
 an idea disappeared from that moment. 
 
 " You tell me this," Nigel began 
 
 " I announce it to you as the head of the family," 
 Prince Shan interrupted. 
 
 " You tell it to me also," Nigel persisted, " be 
 cause you have heard the rumours which were at one 
 time very prevalent that Lady Maggie and I were 
 or were about to become engaged to be married." 
 
 " I have heard such a rumour only very indirect 
 ly," Prince Shan confessed, " and I cannot admit 
 that it has made any difference in my attitude. I 
 think, in my land and yours, we have at least one com 
 mon convention. The woman who touches our heart 
 is ours if we may win her. Love is unalterably self 
 ish. One must fight for one's own hand. And for 
 those who may suffer by our victory, we may have 
 pity but no consideration." 
 
 "Am I to understand," Nigel asked bluntly, 
 " that Lady Maggie has consented to be your wife? " 
 
 " Lady Maggie has given me no reply. I left her 
 alone with her thoughts. Every hour it is my hope 
 to hear from her. She knows that I leave for China 
 early to-morrow." 
 
 " So at the present moment you are in suspense." 
 
 " I am in suspense," Prince Shan admitted, " and 
 perhaps," he went on, with one of his rare smiles, 
 " it occurred to me that it would be in one sense a 
 relief to speak to a fellow man of the hopes and fears
 
 264 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 that are in my heart. You are the one person to 
 whom I could speak, Lord Dorminster. You have 
 not wished my suit well, but at least you have been 
 clear-sighted. I think it has never occurred to you 
 that a prince of China might venture to compete with 
 a peer of England." 
 
 " On the contrary," Nigel assented, " I have the 
 greatest admiration for the few living descendants 
 of the world's oldest aristocracy. You have a right 
 to enter the lists, a right to win if you can." 
 
 " And what do you think of my prospects, if I 
 may ask such a delicate question? " Prince Shan 
 enquired. 
 
 " I cannot estimate them," Nigel replied. " I 
 only know that Maggie is deeply interested." 
 
 " I think," his companion continued softly, " that 
 she will become my Princess. You have never visited 
 China, Lord Dorminster," he went on, " so you have 
 little idea, perhaps, as to the manner of our lives. 
 Some day I will hope to be your host, so until then, 
 as I may not speak of my own possessions, may I go 
 just so far as this? Your cousin will be very happy 
 in China. This is a great country, but the very air 
 you breathe is cloyed with your national utilitarian 
 ism. Mine is a country of beautiful thoughts, of 
 beautiful places, of quiet-living and sedate people. 
 I can give your cousin every luxury of which the 
 world has ever dreamed, wrapped and enshrined in
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 265 
 
 beauty. No person with a soul could be unhappy in 
 the places where she will dwell." 
 
 " You are at least confident," Nigel remarked. 
 
 " It is because I am convinced," was the calm re 
 joinder. " I shall take your cousin's happiness into 
 my keeping without one shadow of misgiving. The 
 last word, however, is with her. It remains to be 
 seen whether her courage is great enough to induce 
 her to face such a complete change in the manner of 
 her life." 
 
 " It will not be her lack of courage which will keep 
 her in England," Nigel declared. 
 
 Prince Shan bowed, with a graceful little gesture 
 of the hands. The subject was finished. 
 
 " I shall now, Lord Dorminster," he said, " take 
 advantage of your kindly presence here to speak to 
 you on a very personal matter, only this time it is 
 you who are the central figure, and I who am the 
 dummy." 
 
 " I do not follow you," Nigel confessed, with a 
 slight frown. 
 
 " I speak in tones of apology," Prince Shan went 
 on, " but you must remember that I am one of re 
 flective disposition. Nature has endowed me with 
 some of the gifts of my great ancestors, philosophers 
 famed the world over. It seems very clear to me that, 
 if I had not come, from sheer force of affectionate 
 propinquity you would have married Lady Maggie.'* 
 
 Nigel's frown deepened.
 
 266 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " Prince Shan ! " he began. 
 
 Again the outstretched hand seemed as though the 
 fingers were pressed against his mouth. He broke off 
 abruptly in his protest. 
 
 " You would have lived a contented life, because 
 that is your province," his companion continued. 
 " You would have felt yourself happy because you 
 would have been a faithful husband. But the time 
 would have come when you would both have realised 
 that you had missed the great things." 
 
 " This is idle prophecy," Nigel observed, a little 
 impatiently. " I came to see you upon another mat 
 ter." 
 
 " Humour me," the Prince begged. " I am going 
 to speak to you even more intimately. I shall ven 
 ture to do so because, after all, she is better known 
 to me than to you. I am going to tell you that of 
 all the women in the world, Naida Karetsky is the 
 most likely to make you happy." 
 
 Nigel drew himself up a little stiffly. 
 
 " One does not discuss these things," he muttered. 
 
 " May I call that a touch of insularity?" Prince 
 Shan pleaded, " because there is nothing else in the 
 world so wonderful to discuss, in all respect and rev 
 erence, as the women who have made us feel. One 
 last word, Lord Dorminster. The days of matri 
 monial alliances between the reigning families of 
 Europe have come to an end under the influence of 
 a different form of government, but there is a certain
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 267 
 
 type of alliance, the utility of which remains unim 
 paired. I venture to say that you could not do your 
 country a greater service, apart from any personal 
 feelings you might have, than by marrying Made 
 moiselle Karetsky. There, you see, now I have fin 
 ished. This is for your reflection, Lord Dorminster 
 just the measured statement of one who wears at 
 least the cloak of philosophy by inheritance. Time 
 passes. Your own reason for coming to see me has 
 not yet been expounded.'* 
 
 " I have come to ask you to visit the Prime Min 
 ister before you leave England," Nigel announced. 
 
 Prince Shan changed his position slightly. His 
 forehead was a little wrinkled. He was silent for a 
 moment. 
 
 " If I pay more than a farewell visit of ceremony," 
 he said, " that is to say, if I speak with Mr. Mervin 
 Brown on things that count, I must anticipate a cer 
 tain decision at which I have not yet wholly arrived." 
 
 Nigel had a sudden inspiration. 
 
 " You are seeking to bribe Maggie ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 " That is not true," was the dignified reply. 
 
 " Then please explain," Nigel persisted. 
 
 Prince Shan rose to his feet. He walked to the 
 heavy silk curtains which led into his own bedcham 
 ber, pushed them apart, and looked for a moment 
 at the familiar objects in the room. Then he came 
 back, glancing on his way at the ebony cabinet. 
 
 " One does not repeat one's mistakes," he said
 
 268 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 slowly, " and although you and I, Lord Dorminster, 
 breathe the common air of the greater world, my 
 instinct tells me that of certain things which have 
 passed between your cousin and myself it is better 
 that no mention ever be made. I wish to tell you 
 this, however. There is in existence a document, my 
 signature to which would, without a doubt, have a 
 serious influence upon the destinies of this country. 
 That document, unsigned, would be one of my mar 
 riage gifts to Lady Maggie and as you know I 
 have not yet had her answer. However, if you wish 
 it, I will go to the Prime Minister." 
 
 Li Wen came silently in. He spoke to his master 
 for a few minutes in Chinese. A faint smile parted 
 the latter's lips. 
 
 " You can tell the person at the telephone that I 
 will call within the next few minutes," he directed. 
 " You will not object," he added, turning courteous 
 ly to Nigel, " if I stop for a moment, on the way 
 to Downing Street, at a small private hospital? An 
 acquaintance of mine lies sick there and desires urg 
 ently to see me." 
 
 " I am entirely at your service," Nigel assured him. 
 
 Prince Shan, with many apologies, left Nigel alone 
 in the car outside a tall, grey house in John Street, 
 and, preceded by the white-capped nurse who had 
 opened the door, climbed the stairs to the first floor 
 of the celebrated nursing home, where, after a mo 
 ment's delay, he was shown into a large and airy
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 269 
 
 apartment. Immelan was in bed, looking very ill 
 indeed. He was pale, and his china-blue eyes, curi 
 ously protruding, were filled with an expression of 
 haunting fear. A puzzled doctor was standing by 
 the bedside. A nurse, who was smoothing the bed 
 clothes, glanced around at Prince Shan's entrance. 
 The invalid started convulsively, and, clutching the 
 pillows with his right hand, turned towards his visi 
 tor. 
 
 " So you've come ! " he exclaimed. " Stay where 
 you are ! Don't go ! Doctor nurse leave us 
 alone for a moment." 
 
 The nurse went at once. The doctor hesitated. 
 
 " My patient is a good deal exhausted," he said. 
 " There are no dangerous symptoms at present, 
 but " 
 
 " I will promise not to distress him," Prince Shan 
 interrupted. " I am myself somewhat pressed for 
 time, and it is probable that your patient will in 
 sist upon speaking to me in private." 
 
 The doctor followed the nurse from the room. 
 Prince Shan stood looking down upon the figure of 
 his quondam associate. There was a leaven of mild 
 wonder in his clear eyes, a faintly contemptuous 
 smile about the corners of his lips. 
 
 " So you are afraid of death, my friend," he ob 
 served, " afraid of the death you planned so skil 
 fully for me." 
 
 " It is a lie ! " Immelan declared excitedly. " Sen
 
 270 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 Lu was never killed by my orders. Listen! You 
 have nothing against me. My death can do you no 
 good. It is you who have been at fault. You 
 Prince Shan the great diplomatist of the world 
 are gambling away your future and the future of a 
 mighty empire for a woman's sake. You have treat 
 ed me badly enough. Spare my life. Call in the 
 doctor here and tell him what to do. He can find 
 nothing in my system. He is helpless." 
 
 The smile upon the Prince's lips became vaguer, his 
 expression more bland and indeterminate. 
 
 " My dear Immelan," he murmured, " you are 
 without doubt delirious. Compose yourself, I beg.'* 
 
 A light that was almost tragic shone in the man's 
 face. He sat up with a sudden access of strength. 
 
 " For the love of God, don't torture me ! " he 
 groaned. " The pains grow worse, hour by hour. 
 If I die, the whole world shall know by whose hand." 
 
 The expression on Prince Shan's face remained 
 unchanged. In his eyes, however, there was a little 
 glint of something which seemed almost like fore 
 knowledge. 
 
 " When you die," he pronounced calmly, " it will 
 be by your own hand not mine." 
 
 For some reason or other, Immelan accepted these 
 measured words of prophecy as a total reprieve. 
 The relief in his face was almost piteous. He seized 
 his visitor's hand and would have fawned upon it.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 271 
 
 Prince Shan withdrew himself a little farther from 
 the bed. 
 
 " Immelan," he said, " during my stay in England 
 I have studied you and your methods, I have listened 
 to all you have had to say and to propose, I have 
 weighed the advantages and the disadvantages of 
 the scheme you have outlined to me, and I only ar 
 rived at my decision after the most serious and un 
 biassed reflection. Your scheme itself was bold and 
 almost splendid, but, as you yourself well know at 
 the back of your mind, it would lay the seeds of a 
 world tumult. I have studied history, Immelan, per 
 haps a little more deeply than you, and I do not 
 believe in conquests. For the restoration to China 
 of such lands as belong geographically and rightly to 
 the Chinese Empire, I have my own plans. You, it 
 seems to me, would make a cat's-paw of all Asia to 
 gratify your hatred of England.'* 
 
 " A cat's-paw ! " Immelan gasped. " Australia, 
 New Zealand and India for Japan, new lands for her 
 teeming population ; Thibet for you, all Manchuria, 
 and the control of the Siberian Railway ! " 
 
 " These are dazzling propositions," Prince Shan 
 admitted, " and yet what about the other side of 
 the Pacific?" 
 
 " America would be powerless," Immelan insisted. 
 
 " So you said before, in 1917," was the dry re 
 minder. " I did not come here, however, to talk 
 world politics with you. Those things for the mo-
 
 272 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 ment are finished. I came in answer to your sum 
 mons." 
 
 Immelan raised himself a little in the bed. 
 
 " You meant what you said ? " he demanded, with 
 hoarse anxiety. " There was no poison ? Swear 
 that? " 
 
 Prince Shan moved towards the door. His back 
 ward glance was coldly contemptuous. 
 
 " WKat I said, I meant," he replied. " Extract 
 such comfort from it as you may." 
 
 He left the room, closing the door softly behind 
 him. Immelan stared after him, hollow-eyed and 
 anxious. Already the cold fears were seizing upon 
 him once more. 
 
 Prince Shan rejoined Nigel, and the two men drove 
 off to Downing Street. The former was silent for 
 the first few minutes. Then he turned slightly 
 towards his companion. 
 
 " The man Immelan is a coward," he declared. 
 " It is he whom I have just visited." 
 
 Nigel shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " So many men are brave enough in a fight," he 
 remarked, " who lose their nerve on a sick bed." 
 
 " Braver}^ in battle," Prince Shan pronounced, " is 
 the lowest form of courage. The blood is stirred by 
 the excitement of slaughter as by alcohol. With 
 Immelan I shall have no more dealings." 
 
 "Speaking politically as well as personally?" 
 Nigel enquired.
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 273 
 
 The other smiled. 
 
 " I think I might go so far as to agree," he ac 
 quiesced, " but in a sense, there are conditions. You 
 shall hear what they are. I will speak before you 
 to the Prime Minister. See, up above is the sign 
 of my departure." 
 
 Out of a little bank of white, fleecy clouds which 
 hung down, here and there, from the blue sky, came 
 the Black Dragon, her engines purring softly, 
 her movements slow and graceful. Both men watched 
 her for a moment in silence. 
 
 " At six o'clock to-morrow morning I start," 
 Prince Shan announced. " My pilot tells me that 
 the weather conditions are wonderful, all the way 
 from here to Pekin. We shall be there on Wednes- 
 day." 
 
 " You travel alone ? " Nigel enquired. 
 
 " I have passengers," was the quiet reply. " I 
 am taking the English chaplain to your Church in 
 Pekin." 
 
 The eyes of the two men met. 
 
 " It is an ingenious idea," Nigel admitted dryly. 
 
 " I wish to be prepared," his companion answered. 
 " It may be that he is my only companion. In that 
 case, I go back to a life lonelier than I have ever 
 dreamed of. It is on the knees of the gods. So far 
 there has come no word, but although I am not by 
 nature an optimist, my superstitions are on my side. 
 All the way over on my last voyage, when I lay in
 
 274 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 my berth awake and we sailed over and through the 
 clouds, my star, my own particular star, seemed 
 leaning always down towards me, and for that reason 
 I have faith." 
 
 Nigel glanced at his companion curiously but with 
 out speech. The car pulled up in Downing Street. 
 The two men descended and found everything made 
 easy for them. In two minutes they were in the 
 presence of the Prime Minister.
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 Mr. Mervin Brown was at his best in the interview 
 to which he had, as a matter of fact, been looking 
 forward with much trepidation. He received Prince 
 Shan courteouslj and reproached him for not having 
 paid him an earlier visit. To the latter's request 
 that Nigel might be permitted to be present at the 
 discussion, he promptly acquiesced. 
 
 " Lord Dorminster and I have already had some 
 conversation," he said, " bearing upon the matter 
 about which I desire to talk to you." 
 
 " I have found his lordship," Prince Shan de 
 clared, " one of the few Englishmen who has any 
 real apprehension of the trend of events outside his 
 own country." 
 
 The Prime Minister plunged at once into the mid 
 dle of things. 
 
 " Our national faults are without doubt known to 
 you, Prince Shan," he said. " They include, amongst 
 other things, an over-confidence in the promises of 
 others ; too great belief, I fear, in the probity of our 
 friends. We paid a staggering price in 1914 for 
 those qualities. Lord Dorminster would have me 
 believe that there is a still more terrible price for 
 us to pay in the future, unless we change our whole
 
 276 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 outlook, abandon our belief in the League of Nations, 
 and once more acknowledge the supremacy of force." 
 
 " Lord Dorminster is right," Prince Shan pro 
 nounced. " I have come here to tell you so, Mr. 
 Mervin Brown." 
 
 " You come here as a friend of England ? " the 
 latter asked. 
 
 " I come here as one who hesitates to become her 
 enemy," was the measured reply. " I will be per 
 fectly frank with you, sir. I came to this country 
 to discuss a project which, with the acquiescence of 
 China and Japan, would have resulted in the humilia 
 tion of your country and the gratification of Ger 
 many's eagerly desired revenge." 
 
 " You believe in the existence of that sentiment, 
 then? " the Prime Minister enquired. 
 
 " Any one short of a very insular Englishman," 
 the Prince replied, " would have realised it long ago. 
 There is a great society in Germany, scarcely even a 
 secret society, pledged to wipe out the humiliations 
 of the last great war. Lord Dorminster tells me 
 that you are to-day without a secret service. For 
 that reason you have remained in ignorance of the 
 mines beneath your feet. Germany has laid her plans 
 well and carefully. Her first and greatest weapon 
 has been your sense of security. She has seen you 
 contemplate with an ill-advised smile of spurious sat 
 isfaction, invincible France, regaining her wealth 
 more slowly than you for the simple reason that half
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 277 
 
 the man power of the country is absorbed by her 
 military preparations. France is impregnable. A 
 direct invasion of your country is in all probability 
 impossible. Those two facts have seemed to you all- 
 sufficient. That is where you have been, if I may 
 say so, sir, very short-sighted." 
 
 " Germany has no power to transport troops in 
 other directions," Mr. Mervin Brown observed. 
 
 Prince Shan smiled. 
 
 " You have another enemy besides Germany," he 
 pointed out, " a great democracy who has never for 
 given your lack of sympathy at her birth, your at 
 tempts to repress by force a great upheaval, borne 
 in agony and shame, yet containing the germs of 
 worthy things which your statesmen in those days 
 failed to discern. Russia has never forgiven. Rus 
 sia stands hand in hand with Germany." 
 
 " But surely," the Prime Minister protested, " you 
 speak in the language of the past? The League of 
 Nations still exists. Any directly predatory expedi 
 tion would bring the rest of the world to arms." 
 
 Prince Shan shook his head. 
 
 " One of the first necessities of a tribunal," he 
 expounded, " is that that tribunal should have the 
 power to punish. You yourself are one of the 
 judges. You might find your culprit guilty. With 
 what weapon will you chastise him ? The culprit has 
 grown mightier than the judge." 
 
 " America "
 
 278 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " America," Prince Shan interrupted, " can, when 
 she chooses, strike a weightier blow than any other 
 nation on earth, but she will never again proceed 
 outside her own sphere of influence." 
 
 " But she must protect her trade," the Prime 
 Minister insisted. 
 
 " She has no need to do so by force of arms. Take 
 my own country, for instance. We need American 
 machinery, American goods, locomotives and mining 
 plants. America has no need to force these things 
 upon us. We are as anxious to buy as she is to sell." 
 
 " I am to figure to myself, then," Mr. Mervin 
 Brown reflected, " a combination of Germany and 
 Russia engaged in some scheme inimical to Great 
 Britain?" 
 
 " There was such a scheme definitely arranged and 
 planned," Prince Shan assured him gravely. " If I 
 had seen well to sign a certain paper, you would 
 have lost, before the end of this month, India, your 
 great treasure house, Australia and New Zealand, 
 and eventually Egypt. You would have been as 
 powerless to prevent it as either of us three would 
 be if called upon unarmed to face the champion 
 heavyweight boxer." 
 
 " It is hard for me to credit the fact that offi 
 cially Germany has any knowledge of this scheme," 
 the Prime Minister confessed. 
 
 " Official Germany would probably deny it,"
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 279 
 
 Prince Shan answered dryly. " Official Russia might 
 do the same. Official China would follow suit, but 
 the real China, in my person, assures you of the 
 truth of what I have told you. You have never 
 heard, I suppose, of the three secret cities ? " 
 
 " I have heard stories about them which sounded 
 like fairy tales," Mr. Mervin Brown admitted grudg 
 ingly. 
 
 " Nevertheless, they exist," Prince Shan continued, 
 " and they exist for the purpose of supplying means 
 of offence for the expedition of which I have spoken. 
 There is one in Germany, one in Russia, and one in 
 China. The three between them have produced 
 enough armoured airships of a new design to con 
 quer any country in the world." 
 
 " Armoured airships ? " Mr. Mervin Brown re 
 peated. 
 
 " Airships from which one fights on land as well 
 as in the air," Prince Shan explained. " On land 
 they become moving fortresses. No shell has ever 
 been made which can destroy them. I should be re 
 vealing no secret to you, because I believe I am right 
 in saying, sir, that a model of these amazing en 
 gines of destruction was first submitted to your Gov 
 ernment." 
 
 " I remember something of the sort," the Prime 
 Minister assented. " The inventor himself was an 
 American, I believe,"
 
 280 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " Precisely ! I believe he told you in plain words 
 that whoever possessed his model might, if they 
 chose, dominate the world." 
 
 " But who wants to dominate the world by force? " 
 Mr. Mervin Brown demanded passionately. " We 
 have passed into a new era, an era of peace and the 
 higher fellowship. It is waste of time, labour and 
 money to create these horrible instruments of de 
 struction. The League of Nations has decreed that 
 they shall not be built." 
 
 " Nevertheless," Prince Shan declared, with por 
 tentous gravity, " a thousand of these engines of 
 destruction are now ready in a certain city of China. 
 Each one of the three secret cities has done its quota 
 of work in the shape of providing parts. China 
 alone has put them together. I bought the secret, 
 and I alone possess it. It rests with me whether the 
 world remains at peace or moves on to war." 
 
 " You cannot hesitate, then? " Mr. Mervin Brown 
 exclaimed anxiously. " You yourself are an apostle 
 of civilisation." 
 
 Prince Shan smiled. 
 
 " It is because we are strong," he said, " that we 
 love peace. It is because you are weak that you 
 fear war. I am not here to teach you statesmanship. 
 It is not for me to point out to you the means by 
 which you can make your country safe and keep her 
 people free. Call a meeting of what remains of the
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 281 
 
 League of Nations and compare your strength with 
 that of the nations who have crept outside and lie 
 waiting. Then take the advice of experts and set 
 your house in order. You sacrifice everything to-day 
 to the god of commerce. Take a few men like Dor- 
 minster here into your councils. You are not a 
 nation of fools. Speak the truth at the next meet 
 ing of the League of Nations and see that it is prop 
 erly reported. Help yourselves, and I will help you." 
 
 " Will you come into my Cabinet, Lord Dormin- 
 ster? " the Prime Minister invited, turning to Nigel. 
 
 " If you will recreate the post of Minister for 
 War, I will do so with pleasure," was the prompt 
 reply. 
 
 Prince Shan held out his hand. 
 
 " There is great responsibility upon your shoul 
 ders, Mr. Mervin Brown," he said. " You will never 
 know how near you have been to disaster. Try and 
 wake up your nation gradually, if you can. Call 
 together your writers, your thinking men, your his 
 torians. Encourage the flagging spirit of patriot 
 ism in your public schools and universities. Is this 
 presumption on my part that I give so much advice? 
 If so, forgive me. Truth that sits in the heart will 
 sometimes demand to be heard." 
 
 At the Prime Minister's request, Nigel remained 
 behind. They both looked at the door through which 
 Prince Shan had passed. Mr. Mervin Brown meta-
 
 282 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 phorically pinched himself. He was still feeling a 
 little dazed. 
 
 " Is that man real flesh and blood ? " he demanded. 
 
 " He is as real and as near the truth," Nigel re 
 plied solemnly, " as the things of which he has told 
 us."
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 That night, Nigel gave a dinner party on Maggie's 
 account at the fashionable London hotel of the mo 
 ment. Invitations had been sent out by telephone, 
 by hurried notes, in one or two cases were delivered 
 by word of mouth. On the whole, the acceptances, 
 considering the season was in full swing, were a little 
 remarkable. Every one was anxious to come, be 
 cause, as one of her girl friends put it, no one ever 
 knew what Maggie was going to be up to next. One 
 of the few refusals came from Prince Shan, and even 
 he made use of compromise : 
 
 My dear Lord Dorminster, will you forgive me 
 if in this instance I do not break a custom to which 
 I have perhaps a little too rigidly adhered. The 
 Prime Minister telephoned, a few minutes after we 
 left him, asking me to meet two of his colleagues 
 from the Foreign Office to-night, and I doubt 
 whether our conference will have concluded at the 
 hour you name. 
 
 However, if you will permit me, I will give 
 myself the pleasure of joining you later in the 
 evening, to make my adieux to those of my friends 
 whom I am quite sure I shall find amongst your 
 company. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 SHAN.
 
 284 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 Maggie passed the note back with a little smile. 
 She made no comment whatever. Nigel watched her 
 thoughtfully. 
 
 " I have carried out your orders," he observed. 
 " Everything has been attended to, even to the colour 
 of your table decorations. Now tell me what it all 
 means? " 
 
 She looked him in the face quite frankly. 
 
 " How can I ? " she answered. " I do not know 
 myself." 
 
 " Is this by way of being a farewell party? " he 
 persisted. 
 
 " I do not know that," she assured him. " The 
 only thing is that if I do decide to go well, I 
 shall have had a last glimpse of most of my friends." 
 
 "As your nearest male relative, in fact your 
 guardian," Nigel went on, with a touch of his old 
 manner, " I feel myself deeply interested in your 
 present situation. If a little advice from one who is 
 considerably your senior would be acceptable " 
 
 " It wouldn't," Maggie interrupted quietly. 
 " There are just two things in life no girl accepts 
 advice upon the way she does her hair and the 
 man she means to marry. You see, both are decided 
 by instinct. I shall know before dawn to-morrow 
 what I mean to do, but until then nothing that any 
 body could say would make any difference. Besides, 
 your mind ought to be full of your own matrimonial
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 285 
 
 affairs. I hear that Naida is talking of going back 
 to Russia next week." 
 
 " My own affairs are less complex," Nigel replied. 
 " I am going to ask Naida to marry me to-night 
 if I have the opportunity." 
 
 Maggie made a little grimace. 
 
 " There goes my second string ! " she exclaimed. 
 " Nigel, you are horribly callous. I have never been 
 in the least sure that I haven't wanted to marry you 
 myself." 
 
 Nigel lit a cigarette and pushed the box across to 
 his companion. 
 
 " I've frequently felt the same way," he confessed. 
 " The trouble of it is that when the really right per 
 son comes along, one hasn't any doubt about it 
 whatever. I should have made you a stodgy hus 
 band, Maggie." 
 
 She sniffed. 
 
 " I think that considering the way you've flirted 
 with me," she declared, " you ought at least to have 
 given me the opportunity of refusing you." 
 
 " If Naida refuses me," he began 
 
 " And I decide that Asia is too far away," she 
 interrupted 
 
 " We may come together, after all," he said, with 
 a resigned little sigh. 
 
 " Glib tongue and empty heart," she quoted. 
 " Nigel, I would never trust you. I believe you're 
 in love with Naida."
 
 286 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " And I'm not quite so sure about you," he ob 
 served, watching the colour rise quickly in her cheeks. 
 " Off with you to dress, young woman. It's past 
 seven, and we must be there early. I still have the 
 wine to order." 
 
 The dinner party was in its way a complete suc 
 cess. Prince Karschoff was there, benign and dis 
 tinguished; Chalmers and one or two other young 
 men from the American Embassy. There was a 
 sprinkling of Maggie's girl friends, a leaven of the 
 older world in Nigel's few intimates, and Naida, 
 very pale but more beautiful than ever in a white 
 velvet gown, her hair brushed straight back, and 
 with no jewellery save one long rope of pearls. Nigel 
 who in his capacity as host had found little time for 
 personal conversation during the service of dinner, 
 deliberately led her a little apart when they passed 
 out into the lounge for coffee and to watch the 
 dancing. 
 
 " My duties are over for a time," he said. " Do 
 you realise that I have not had a word with you alone 
 since our luncheon at Giro's ? " 
 
 " We have all been a little engrossed, have we 
 not? " she murmured. " I hope that you are satis 
 fied with the way things have turned out." 
 
 " Nothing shall induce me to talk politics or em 
 pire-saving to-night," he declared, with a smile. " I 
 have other things to say." 
 
 " Tell me why you asked us all to dine so sud-
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 287 
 
 denly," she enquired. " I do not know whether it 
 is my fancy, but there seems to be an air of cele 
 bration about. Is there any announcement to be 
 made? " 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 " None. The party was just a whim of Maggie's." 
 
 They both looked across towards the ballroom, 
 where she was dancing with Chalmers. 
 
 " Maggie is very beautiful to-night," Naida said. 
 " I could scarcely listen to my neighbour's conver 
 sation at dinner time for looking at her. Yet she 
 has the air all the time of living in a dream, as though 
 something had happened which had lifted her right 
 away from us all. I began to wonder," she added, 
 " whether, after all, Oscar Immelan had not told me 
 the truth, and whether we should not be drinking her 
 health and yours before the evening was over." 
 
 " You could scarcely believe that," he whispered, 
 " if you have any memory at all." 
 
 There was a faint touch of pink in her cheeks, a 
 tinge of colour as delicate as the passing of a gleam 
 of sunshine over a sea-glistening shell. 
 
 " But Englishmen are so unfaithful," she sighed. 
 
 " Then I at least am an exception," Nigel an 
 swered swiftly. " The words which you checked upon 
 my lips the last time we were alone together still 
 live in my heart. I think, Naida, the time has come 
 to say them."
 
 288 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 Their immediate neighbours had deserted them. 
 He leaned a little towards her. 
 
 " You know so well that I love you, Naida," he 
 said. " Will you be my wife? " 
 
 She looked up at him, half laughing, yet with 
 tears in her eyes. With an impulsive little gesture, 
 she caught his hand in hers for a moment. 
 
 " How horribly sure you must have felt of me," 
 she complained, " to have spoken here, with all these 
 people around ! Supposing I had told you that my 
 life's work lay amongst my own people, or that I had 
 made up my mind to marry Oscar Immelan, to con 
 sole him for his great disappointment." 
 
 " I shouldn't have believed you," he answered, 
 smiling. 
 
 " Conceit ! " she exclaimed. 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 " In a sense, of course, I am conceited," he replied. 
 " I am the happiest and proudest man here. I real 
 ly think that after all we ought to turn it into a 
 celebration." 
 
 The band was playing a waltz. Naida's head 
 moved to the music, and presently Nigel rose to his 
 feet with a smile, and they passed into the ballroom. 
 Karschoff and Mrs. Bollington Smith watched them 
 with interest. 
 
 " Naida is looking very wonderful to-night," the 
 latter remarked. " And Nigel, too ; I wonder if 
 there is anything between them."
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 289 
 
 " The days of foreign alliances are past," Kar- 
 schoff replied, " but a few intermarriages might be 
 very good for this country." 
 
 "Are you serious? " she asked. 
 
 " Absolutely ! I would not suggest anything of 
 the sort with Germany, but with this new Russia, 
 the Russia of which Naida Karetsky is a daughter, 
 why not ? Although they will not have me back there, 
 Russia is some day going to lay down the law to 
 Europe." 
 
 " I wonder whether Maggie has any ideas of the 
 sort in her mind," Mrs. Bollington Smith observed. 
 " She seems curiously abstracted to-night." 
 
 Chalmers came grumblingly up to Mrs. Bollington 
 Smith, with whom he was an established favourite. 
 
 " Lady Maggie is treating me disgracefully," he 
 complained. " She will scarcely dance at all. She 
 goes around talking to every one as though it were 
 a sort of farewell party." 
 
 " Perhaps it may be," Karschoff remarked quietly. 
 
 " She isn't going away, is she? " Chalmers de 
 manded. 
 
 " Who knows ? " the Prince replied. " Lady Mag 
 gie is one of those strange people to whom one may 
 look with every confidence for the unexpected." 
 
 She herself came across to them, a few moments 
 later. 
 
 " Something tells me," she declared, " that you are 
 talking about me."
 
 ago THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 " You are always a very much discussed young 
 lady,** Karschoff rejoined, with a little bow. 
 
 She made a grimace and sank into a chair by her 
 aunt. She talked on lightly enough, but all the time 
 with that slight suggestion of superficiality which 
 is a sign of strain. She glanced often towards the 
 entrance of the lounge, yet no one seemed less dis 
 turbed when at a few minutes before eleven Prince 
 Shan came quietly in. He made his way at once to 
 Mrs. Bollington Smith and bent over her fingers. 
 
 " It is so kind of you and Lord Dorminster," he 
 said, " to give me this opportunity of saying good- 
 by to a few friends." 
 
 "You are leaving us so soon, Prince? " 
 
 " To-morrow, soon after dawn," he replied, his 
 eyes wandering around the little circle. " I wish to 
 be in Pekin, if possible, by Wednesday, so my Dragon 
 must spread his wings indeed." 
 
 He said a few words to almost everybody. Last 
 of all he came to Maggie, and no one heard what 
 he said to her. There was no change in his face as 
 he bent low over her fingers, no sign of anything 
 which might have passed between them, as a few min 
 utes later he turned to one side with Nigel. Maggie 
 held out her hand to Chalmers. The strain seemed 
 to have passed. Her lips were parted in a wonder 
 ful smile, her feet moved to the music. 
 
 " Come and dance," she invited. 
 
 They moved a few steps away together, when
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 291 
 
 Maggie came to an abrupt standstill. The two 
 stood for a moment as though transfixed, their eyes 
 upon the arched entrance which led from the rest 
 aurant into the lounge. A man was standing there, 
 looking around, a strange, menacing figure, a man 
 dressed in the garb of fashion but with the face of a 
 savage, with eyes which burned in his head like twin 
 dots of fire, with drawn, hollow cheeks and mouth a 
 little open like a mad dog's. As his eyes fell upon 
 the group and he recognised them, a look of hor 
 rible satisfaction came into his face. He began to 
 approach quite deliberately. He seemed to take in 
 by slow degrees every one who stood there, Mag 
 gie herself and Chalmers, Naida, Nigel and Prince 
 Shan. He moved forward. All the time his right 
 hand was behind him, concealed underneath the tails 
 of his dress coat. 
 
 " Be careful ! " Maggie cried out. " It is Oscar 
 Immelan ! He is mad ! " 
 
 Some of the party and many of the bystanders 
 had shrunk away from the menacing figure. Naida 
 stepped out from among the little group of those 
 who were left. 
 
 " Oscar," she said firmly, " what is the matter with 
 you? You are not well enough to be here." 
 
 He came to a standstill. At close quarters his 
 appearance was even more terrible. Although by 
 some means he had gotten into his evening clothes, 
 he was only partly shaven, and there were gashes
 
 292 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 in his face where the hand which had held his razor 
 had slipped. The pupils of his eyes were distended, 
 and the eyes themselves seemed to have shrunk back 
 into their sockets. His whole frame seemed to have 
 suddenly lost vigour, even substance. He had the air 
 of a man in clothes too large for him. Even his 
 voice was shriller, shriller and horrible with the 
 slow and bestial satisfaction of his words. 
 
 " So here you are, the whole nest of you together, 
 eh ? " he exclaimed. " Good ! Very good indeed ! 
 Prince Shan, the poisoner! Dorminster, enjoying 
 your brief triumph, eh? And you. Naida Karetsky, 
 traitress to your country deceiver " 
 
 " That will do, Immelan," Nigel interrupted sharp 
 ly. " We are all here. What do you want with us ? " 
 
 " That comes," Immelan replied. " Soon you shall 
 all know why I have come! Let me speak to my 
 friend Shan for a moment. I carry your poison in 
 my veins, but there is a chance just a chance," 
 he added slowly, with a horrible smile upon his lips, 
 " that you may go first, after all." 
 
 Nigel made a stealthy but rapid movement for 
 ward, drawing Naida gently out of the way. Im 
 melan was too quick, however. He swung around, 
 showing the revolver which he had been concealing 
 behind him, and moved to one side until his back was 
 against one of the pillars. By this time, most of 
 the other occupants of the ballroom had either rushed 
 screaming away altogether, or were hiding, peering
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 293- 
 
 out in fascinated horror from the different recesses. 
 The chief maitre d'hotel bravely held his ground and 
 came to within a few paces of Immelan. 
 
 " We can't have any brawling here," he said. 
 " Put that revolver away." 
 
 Immelan took no notice of the intervener, except 
 that for a single moment the muzzle yawned in the 
 latter's face. The maitre d'hotel was a brave man, 
 but he had a wife and family, and after all, it was 
 not his affair. There were other men there to look 
 after the ladies. He hurried off to call for the 
 police. Almost as he went, Prince Shan stepped into 
 the foreground. His voice was calm and expression 
 less. His eyes, in which there shone no shadow of 
 fear, were steadily fixed upon Immelan. He spoke 
 without flurry. 
 
 " So you carry your own weapons to-night, Im 
 melan," he said. " That at least is more like a man. 
 You seem to have a grievance against every one. 
 Start with me. What is it? " 
 
 There were some of them who wondered why, at 
 this juncture when he so clearly dominated his as 
 sailant, Prince Shan, whose courage was superb and 
 whose sang froid absolutely unshaken did not throw 
 himself upon this intruder and take his chance of 
 bringing the matter to an end at the moment when 
 the man's nerve was undoubtedly shaken. Then they 
 looked towards the entrance, and they understood. 
 Creeping towards the little gathering came Li Wen
 
 2 94 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 anH another of the Prince's suite, a younger and 
 even more active man. The two came on tiptoe, 
 crouching and moving warily, with the gleam of the 
 tiger in their anxious eyes. Maggie caught a warn 
 ing glance from Nigel and looked away. 
 
 " You are my murderer ! " Immelan cried hoarsely. 
 " It is through you I suffer these pains ! I am dying 
 of your accursed poison ! " 
 
 " If that were true," Prince Shan replied, with 
 the air of one willing to discuss the subject impar 
 tially, " might I remind you of Sen Lu, who died in 
 my box at the Albert Hall? For whom was that 
 dagger thrust meant, Immelan? Not for the man 
 whom you had bought to betray me, the only one 
 of my suite who has ever been tempted with gold. 
 That dagger thrust was meant for me, and the as 
 sassin was one of your creatures. So even if your 
 words were true, Immelan, and the poison which you 
 imagine to be in your body were planted there by me, 
 are we less than quits? " 
 
 Immelan's lie was unconvincing. 
 
 " I know nothing of Sen Lu's death," he declared. 
 " I employ no assassins. When there is killing to be 
 done, I can do it myself. I am here to-night for that 
 purpose. You have deserted me at the last moment, 
 Prince Shan played me and my country false for 
 the sake of the English woman whom you think to 
 carry back with you to China. And you," he added, 
 turning with a sudden furious glance at Naida, " you
 
 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 295 
 
 have deceived the man who trusted you, the man who 
 sent you here for one purpose, and one purpose only. 
 You have done your best to ruin my scheme. Not 
 only that, but you have given the love which was 
 mine mine, I say to another an Englishman ! 
 I hate you all ! That is why I, a dying man, have 
 crawled here to reap my little harvest of vengeance. 
 You, Naida you shall be first " 
 
 Naida was suddenly swung on one side, and the 
 shot which rang out passed through Nigel's coat 
 sleeve, grazing his wrist, the only shot that was 
 fired. Prince Shan, watching for his moment, as his 
 two attendants threw themselves upon the madman 
 from behind, himself sprang forward, knocked Imme- 
 lan's right hand up with a terrible blow, and sent 
 the revolver crashing to the ground. It was a mat 
 ter of a few seconds. Immelan, when he felt himself 
 seized, scarcely struggled. The courage of his mad 
 ness seemed to pass, the venom died out of his face, 
 he shook like a man in an ague. Prince Shan kicked 
 the revolver on one side and looked scornfully down 
 upon him, now a nerveless wreck. 
 
 " Immelan," he said, " it is a pity that you did not 
 wait until to-morrow morning. You would then have 
 known the truth. You are no more poisoned than I 
 am. If you had been in China well, who knows? 
 In England there is so much prejudice against the 
 taking of a worthless life that as a guest I subscribed
 
 2 9 6 THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN 
 
 to it and mixed a little orris-root tooth powder with 
 your vermouth." 
 
 The man's eyes suddenly opened. He was feverish 
 ly, frantically anxious. 
 
 " Tell me that again," he shrieked. " You mean 
 it? Swear that you mean it." 
 
 Prince Shan's gesture as he turned away was one 
 of supreme contempt. 
 
 " A Shan," he said, " never needs to repeat." 
 
 There was the bustle of arriving police, the story 
 of a revolver which had gone off by accident, a very 
 puzzling contretemps expounded for their benefit. 
 The situation, and the participants in it, seemed to 
 dissolve with such facility that it was hard for any 
 one to understand what had actually happened. 
 Prince Shan, with Maggie on his arm, was talking 
 to the leader of the orchestra, who had suddenly re 
 appeared. The former turned to his companion. 
 
 " It is not my custom to dance," he said, " but the 
 waltz that they were beginning to play seemed to me 
 to have a little of the lure of our own music. Will 
 you do me the honour? " 
 
 They moved away to the music. Chalmers stood 
 and watched them, with one hand in his pocket and 
 the other on Nigel's shoulder. He turned to Naida, 
 who was on the other side. 
 
 " Nothing like a touch of melodrama for the emo 
 tions," he grumbled. " Look at Lady Maggie ! Her
 
 NOVELS by E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM 
 
 "He is past master of the art of telling a story. 
 He has humor, a keen sense of the dramatic, and a 
 knack of turning out a happy ending just when the 
 complications of the plot threaten worse disasters." 
 New York Times. 
 
 "Mr. Oppenheim has few equals among modern 
 novelists. He is prolific, he is untiring in the inven 
 tion of mysterious plots, he is a clever weaver of the 
 plausible with the sensational, and he has the neces 
 sary gift of facile narrative." Boston Transcript. 
 
 A Prince of Sinners 
 
 Mysterious Mr. Sabin 
 
 A Maker of History 
 
 The Malefactor 
 
 A Millionaire of Yesterday 
 
 The Man and His Kingdom 
 
 The Yellow Crayon 
 
 A Sleeping Memory 
 
 A Lost Leader 
 
 The Great Secret 
 
 The Avenger 
 
 The Long Arm of Mannister 
 
 The Governors 
 
 Jeanne of the Marshes 
 
 The Lost Ambassador 
 
 A Daughter of the Marionis 
 
 Berenice 
 
 Havoc 
 
 The Lighted Way 
 
 The Survivor 
 
 A People's Man 
 
 The Vanished Messenger 
 
 Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo 
 
 The Way of These Women 
 
 Mr. Marx's Secret 
 
 The Kingdom of the Blind 
 
 The Hillman 
 
 The Pawns Count 
 
 The Zeppelin's Passenger 
 
 The Curious Quest 
 
 The Wicked Marquis 
 
 The Box with Broken Seals 
 
 The Great Impersonation 
 
 The Devil's Paw 
 
 Jacob's Ladder 
 
 The Profiteers 
 
 Nobody's Man 
 
 The Great Prince Shan 
 
 LITTLE, BROWN & CO., Publishers, BOSTON
 
 University of California 
 
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 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 
 
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