CHAPTER V. BEHIND THE PUPPET BOOTH
While the absent-minded hunter strode down toward the lower town, andMaurice sipped his cognac, the king lay in his bed in the palace andaimlessly fingered the counterpane. There was now no beauty in his face.It was furrowed and pale, and an endless fever burned in the sunkeneyes--eyes like coals, which suddenly flare before they turn to ash.
The archbishop nor the chancellor could see anything in the dim cornersof the royal bed chamber, but he could. It was the mocking finger ofdeath, and it was leveled at him. Spring had come, and summer and autumnand winter, and spring again, but he had not wandered through the greenfields, except in dreams, and the byways he loved knew him no more. Ah,to sit still like a spectator and to see the world pass by! To be a partof it, and yet not of it! To see the glory of strength and vigor justbeyond one's grasp, the staffs to lean on crumble to the touch, and thestars of hope fade away one by one from the firmament of one's dreams!Here was weariness for which there was no remedy.
Day by day time pressed him on toward the inevitable. No human handcould stay him. He could think, but he could not act. He could move, buthe could not stand nor walk. And that philosophy which had in other dayssustained him was shattered and threadbare. He was dead, yet he lived.Fate has so many delicate ironies.
He had tried to make his people love him, only to acquire their hate.He had reduced taxation, only to be scorned. He had made the citybeautiful, only to be cursed. A paralytic, the theme of ribald verse,the butt of wineroom wits, the object of contumely to his people, hisbeneficiaries!
The ingratitude of kings bites not half so deep as the ingratitude ofthe people. Tears filled his eyes, and he fumbled his lips. There wereonly two bright spots in his futile life. The first was his daughter,who read to him, who was the first in the morning to greet him andlast at night to leave him. The second was the evening hour when thearchbishop and the chancellor came in to discuss the affairs of state.
"And Prince Frederick has not yet been heard from?" was his firstinquiry.
"No, Sire," answered the chancellor. "The matter is altogethermysterious. The police can find no trace of him. He left Carnavia forBleiberg; he stopped at Ehrenstein, directed his suite to proceed;there, all ends. The ambassador from Carnavia approached me to-day. Hescouts the idea of a peasant girl, and hinted at other things."
"Yes," said the king, "there is something behind all this. Frederick isnot a youth of peccadilloes. Something has happened to him. But God sendhim safe and sound to us, so much depends on him. And Alexia?"
"Says nothing," the archbishop answered, "a way with her when troubled."
"And my old friend, Lord Fitzgerald?"
The prelate shook his head sadly. "We have just been made acquaintedwith his death. God rest his kindly soul."
The king sank deeper into his pillows.
"But we shall hear from his son within a few days," continued theprelate, taking the king's hand in his own. "My son, cease to worry.Alexia's future is in good hands. I have confidence that the public debtwill be liquidated on the twentieth."
"Or renewed," said the chancellor. "Your Majesty must not forget thatPrince Frederick sacrifices his own private fortune to adjust ourindebtedness. That is the wedding gift which he offers to her Highness.One way or the other, we have nothing to fear."
"O!" cried the king, "I had forgotten that magnanimity. Hisdisappearance is no longer a mystery. He is dead."
His auditors could not repress the start which this declaration causedthem to make.
"Sire," said the chancellor, quietly, "princes are not assassinatedthese days. Our worry is perhaps all needless. The prince is young, andsometimes youth flings off the bridle and runs away. But he loves herHighness, and the Carnavians are not fickle."
The prelate and the statesman had different ideas in regard to thepeasant girl. To the prelate a woman was an unknown quantity, and hefrowned. The statesman, who had once been young, knew a deal aboutwoman, and he smiled.
"Sometimes, my friends," said the king, "I can see beyond the humanglance. I hear the crumbling of walls. But for that lonely child I coulddie in peace. The crown I wear is of lead; God hasten the day that liftsit from my brow." When the king spoke again, he said: "And that insolentVon Rumpf is gone at last? I am easier. He should have been sent abouthis business ten years ago. What does Madame the duchess say?"
"So little," answered the chancellor, "that I begin to distrust hersilence. But she is a wise woman, though her years are but five andtwenty, and she will not make any foolish declaration of war which wouldonly redound to her chagrin."
"What is the fascination in these crowns of straw?" said the king to theprelate. "Ah, my father, you strive for the crown to come; and yet yourearnest but misguided efforts placed this earthly one on my head. Youwere ambitious for me."
"Nay," and the prelate bent his head. "It was self that spoke, worldlyaggrandizement. I wished--God forgive me!--to administer not to theprince but to the king. I am punished. The crown has broken your life.It was the passing glory of the world; and I fell."
"And were not my eyes as dazzled by the crown as yours were by therobes? Why did we leave the green hills of Osia? What destiny writes,fate must unfold. And oh, the dreams I had of being great! I amfifty-eight and you are seventy. And look; I am a broken twig, and youtower above me like an ancient oak, and as strong." To the chancellor hesaid: "And what is the budget?"
"Sire, it is fairly quiet in the lower town. The native troops have beenpaid, and all signs of discontent abated. The duchess can do nothing butreplace von Rumpf. The Marshal is a straw in the wind; von Wallensteinand Mollendorf, I hold a sword above their necks. Nearly half theDiet is with us. There has been some strange meddling in the customs.Englishmen have brought me complaints, through the British legation,regarding such inspections as were never before heard of in a countryat peace. I consulted the chief inspector and he affirmed the matter.He was under orders of the minister of police. It appears to me thata certain Englishman is to be kept out of the country for reasons wellknown to us. I have suspended police power over the customs. Ah, Sire,if you would but agree with Monseigneur to dismiss the cabinet."
"It is too late," said the king.
"There is only one flaw," continued the chancellor. "This flaw isColonel Beauvais, chief in command of the cuirassiers, who in authoritystands between the Marshal and General Kronau. I fear him. Why?Instinct. He is too well informed of my projects for one thing; helaughs when I suggest in military affairs. Who is he? A Frenchman, ifone may trust to a name; an Austrian, if one may trust from whence hecame, recommended by the premier himself. He entered the cuirassiers asa Captain. You yourself, Sire, made him what he is--the real militaryadviser of the kingdom. But what of his past? No one knows, unless it bevon Wallenstein, his intimate. I, for one, while I may be wrong, trustonly those whose past I know, and even then only at intervals."
"Colonel Beauvais?" murmured the king. "I am sure that you are unjustlysuspicious. How many times have I leaned on his stout arm! He taughtAlexia a thousand tricks of horse, so that to-day she rides as no otherwoman in the kingdom rides. Would that I stood half so straight andlooked at the world half so fearlessly. He is the first soldier in thekingdom."
"All men are honest in your Majesty's eyes," said the archbishop.
"All save the man within me," replied the king.
At this juncture the king's old valet came in with the evening meal; andsoon after the prelate and the chancellor withdrew from the chamber.
"How long will he live?" asked the latter.
"A year; perhaps only till to-morrow. Ah, had he but listened to meseveral years ago, all this would not have come to pass. He wouldsee nothing; he persisted in dreams. With the death of Josef he wasconvinced that his enemies had ceased to be. Had he listened, I shouldhave dismissed the cabinet, and found enough young blood to answermy purposes; I should have surrounded him with a mercenary army twothousand strong; by now he should have stood strongly entrenched.
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"They have robbed him, but you and I were permitted to do nothing. Whereis the prosperity of which we formerly boasted? I, too, hear crumblingwalls. Yet, the son of this Englishman, whose strange freak is stillunaccountable, will come at the appointed time; I know the race. He willrenew the loan for another ten years. What a fancy! Lord Fitzgerald wasan eccentric man. Given a purpose, he pursued it to the end, neitherlove nor friendship, nor fear swerved him. Do you know that he madea vow that Duke Josef should never sit on this throne, nor hisdescendants? What were five millions to him, if in giving them herealized the end? The king would never explain the true cause of thisEnglishman's folly, but I know that it was based on revenge, the causeof which also is a mystery. If only the prince were here!"
"He will come; youth will be youth."
"Perhaps."
"You have never been young."
"Not in that particular sense to which you refer," dryly.
* * * * * *
In the chamber of finance Colonel Beauvais leaned over the desk andperused the writing on a slip of paper which the minister had given him.Enough daylight remained to permit the letters to stand out legibly.When he had done the Colonel tossed back the missive, and the ministertore it into shreds and dropped them into the waste basket.
"So much for your pains," said Beauvais. "The spy, who has eaten up tenthousand crowns, is not worth his salt. He has watched this man Hamiltonfor two days, been his guide in the hills, and yet learns nothing. Andthe rigor of the customs is a farce."
"This day," replied the minister, "the police lost its jurisdiction overthe customs. Complaints have been entered at the British legation, whichforwarded them to the chancellor."
"O ho!" The Colonel pulled his mustache.
"I warned you against this. The chancellor is a man to be respected,whatever his beliefs. I warned you and Mollendorf of the police what theresult would be. The chancellor has a hard hand when it falls. He wasalways bold; now he is more so since he practically stands alone. Ingames of chance one always should play close. You are in a hurry."
"I have waited six years."
"And I have waited fourteen."
"Well, then, I shall pass into the active. I shall watch this Englishmanmyself. He is likely to prove the agent. Count, the time for waitingis gone. If the debt is liquidated or renewed--and there is PrinceFrederick to keep in mind--we shall have played and lost. Disgrace foryou; for me--well, perhaps there is a power behind me too strong.The chancellor? Pouf! I have no fear of him. But you who laugh at thearchbishop--"
"He is too old."
"So you say. But he has dreams unknown to us. He has ceased to act;why? He is waiting for the curtain to rise. Nothing escapes him; he isletting us go to what end we will, only, if we do not act at once,to draw us to a sudden halt. Now to this meddling Englishman: we haveoffered him a million--five millions for four. He laughs. He is amillionaire. With characteristic bombast he declares that money has nocharms. For six months, since his father's death, we have hounded him,in vain. It is something I can not understand. What is Leopold to theseEnglishmen that they risk a princely fortune to secure him his throne?Friendship? Bah, there is none."
"Not in France nor in Austria. But this man was an Englishman; theyleave legacies of friendship."
The Colonel walked to the window and looked down into the gardens. Heremained there for a time. Von Wallenstein eyed him curiously. Presentlythe soldier returned to his seat.
"We are crossing a chasm; a man stands in our way; as we can not goaround him, we, being the stronger, push him aside. Eh?"
"You would not kill--" began the minister.
"Let us use the French meaning of the word `suppress.' And why not?Ambition, wherever it goes, leaves a trail of blood. What is a humanlife in this game we play? A leaf, a grain of sand."
"But, since the prince promises to liquidate the debt, what matters itif the Englishman comes? It is all one and the same."
"Within twenty, nay, within fifteen days, what may not happen?"
"You are ambitious," said von Wallenstein, slyly.
"And who is not?"
"Is a Marshal's baton so much, then, above your present position? Youare practically the head of the army."
"A valiant army!" laughing; "five thousand men. Why, Madame the duchesshas six thousand and three batteries."
"Her army of six thousand is an expedient; you can raise volunteers tothe amount of ten thousand."
"To be sure I could; but supposing I did not want to?"
The minister dropped his gaze and began fingering the paper cutter. TheColonel's real purpose was still an enigma to him. "Come, you have theconfidence of the king, the friendship of her Royal Highness. What doyou gain in serving us? The baton?"
"You embarrass me. Questions? I should not like to lie to you. Batonswere fine things when Louises and Napoleons conferred them. I havethrown my dice into the common cup; let that be sufficient."
"A man who comes from a noble house such as you come from--"
"Ah, count, that was never to be referred to. Be content with my brainand sword. And then, there is the old saying, Give a man an ell, andlook to your rod. We are all either jackals or lions, puppets or menbehind the booth. I am a lion." He rose, drew his saber half-way fromthe scabbard, and sent it slithering back. "In a fortnight we put itto the touch to win or lose it all, as the poet says. Every man forhimself, and let the strongest win, say I."
"You are playing two games," coldly.
"And you? Is it for pure love of Madame the duchess that you risk yourhead? Come, as you say; admit that you wish to see my hand withoutshowing yours. A baton is not much for me, as you have hinted, but it isall that was promised me. And you, if we win, will still be minister offinances? What is that maggot I see behind your eyes? Is it not spelled`chancellor'? But, remember, Madame has friends to take care of inthe event of our success. We can not have all the spoils. To join thekingdom and the duchy will create new offices, to be sure, but we canhave only part of them. As to games, I shall, out of the kindness in myheart, tell you that I am not playing two, but three. Guess them if youcan. Next to the chancellorship is the embassy to Vienna, and an embassyto Paris is to be created. Madame is a superior woman. Who knows?" witha smile that caused the other to pale.
"You are mad to dream of that."
"As you say, I come of a noble house," carelessly.
"You are mad."
"No, count," the soldier replied. "I have what Balzac calls a thirst fora full life in a short space."
"I would give a deal to read what is going on in that head of yours."
"Doubtless. But what is to become of our friends the Marshal andMollendorf? What will be left for them? Perhaps there will be a chamberof war, a chamber of the navy. As a naval minister the Marshal wouldbe nicely placed. There would be no expense of building ships or payingsailors, which would speak well for the economy of the new government.The Marshal is old; we shall send him to Servia. At least the officewill pay both his vanity and purse to an extent equal to that of hispresent office. By the way, nothing has yet been heard from PrinceFrederick. Ah, these young men, these plump peasant girls!"
Both laughed.
"Till this evening, then;" and the Colonel went from the room.
The minister of finance applied a match to the tapers. He held theburning match aloft and contemplated the door through which the soldierhad gone. The sting of the incipient flame aroused him.
"What," he mused aloud, as he arranged the papers on his desk, "is histhird game?"
"It appears to me," said a voice from the wall behind, "that the samequestion arises in both our minds."
The minister wheeled his chair, his mouth and brows puckered in dismay.From a secret panel in the wall there stepped forth a tall, thin,sour-visaged old man of military presence. He calmly sat down in thechair which Beauvais had vacated.
"I had forgotten all about you, Marshal!" exclaimed the count, smilinguneasily.
"A statement which I am most r
eady to believe," replied old MarshalKampf, with a glance which caused the minister yet more uneasiness."What impressed me among other things was, `But what is to become of ourfriends the Marshal and Mollendorf?' I am Marshal; I am about to riskall for nothing. Why should I not remain Marshal for the remainder ofmy days? It is a pleasant thing to go to Vienna once the year and towitness the maneuvers, with an honorary position on the emperor's staff.To be Marshal here is to hold a sinecure, yet it has its compensations.The uniforms, gray and gold, are handsome; it is an ostrich plume that Iwear in my chapeau de bras; the medals are of gold. My friend, it is thevanity of old age which forgives not." And the Marshal, the bitteresttongue in all Bleiberg, reached over and picked up the cigar which layby the inkwells. He lit it at one of the tapers, and sank again into thechair. "Count, how many games are you playing?"
"My dear Marshal, it was not I who spoke of games. I am playing no game,save for the legitimate sovereign of this kingdom. I ask for no reward."
"Disinterested man! The inference is, however, that, since you have notasked for anything, you have been promised something. Confess it, andhave done."
"Marshal!"
"Well?"
"Is it possible that you suspect me?" The cold eyes grew colder, and thethin lips almost disappeared.
"When three men watch each other as do Beauvais, Mollendorf and you, itis because each suspects the other of treachery. You haven't watchedme because I am old, but because I am old I have been watchingyou. Mollendorf aspires to greatness, you have your gaze on thechancellorship, and curse me if the Colonel isn't looking after my oldshoes! Am I to give up my uniform, my medals and my plume--for nothing?And who the devil is this man Beauvais, since that is not his name? Ishe a fine bird whose feathers have been plucked?"
The minister did not respond to the question; he began instead to fidgetin his chair.
"When I gave my word to his Highness the duke, it was withoutconditions. I asked no favors; I considered it my duty. Let us come toan understanding. Material comfort is necessary to a man of my age.Fine phrases and a medal or two more do not count. I am, then, to go toServia. You were very kind to hide me in your cabinet."
"It was to show you that I had no secrets from you," quickly.
"Let us pass on. Mollendorf is to go to Paris, where he will be anonentity, while in his present office he is a power in the land--Deviltake me, but it seems to me that we are all a pack of asses! Our gainswill not be commensurate with our losses. The navy? Well, we'll let thatpass; the Colonel, I see, loves a joke."
"You forget our patriotism for the true house."
"Why not give it its true name--self-interest?"
"Marshal, in heaven's name, what has stirred your bile?" The ministerwas losing his patience, a bad thing for him to do in the presence ofthe old warrior.
"It is something I've been swallowing this past year." The Marshaltipped the ash of his cigar into the waste basket.
"Marshal, will you take the word not of the minister, but of the vonWallenstein, that whatever my reward shall be for my humble services,yours shall not be less?"
"Thanks, but I have asked for no reward. If I accepted gain for what Ido, I should not be too old to blush."
"I do not understand."
"Self-interest blinds us. I have nothing but pity for this king whoseonly crime is an archbishop; and I can not accept gain at his expense; Ishould blush for shame. Had I my way, he should die in peace. He hasnot long to live. The archbishop--well, we can not make kings, they areborn. But there is one thing more: Over all your schemes is the shadowof Austria."
"Austria?"
"Yes. The Colonel speaks of a power behind him. Bismarck lookshungrily toward Schleswig-Holstein. Austria casts amorous eyes at us.A protectorate? We did not need it. It was forced on us. When Austriaassumed to dictate to us as to who should be king, she also robbed us ofour true independence. Twenty years ago there was no duchy; it was allone kingdom. Who created this duchy when Albrecht came on the throne?Austria. Why? If we live we shall read." He rose, shook his lean legs."I have been for the most part neutral. I shall remain neutral. There isan undercurrent on which you have failed to reckon. Austria, mistressof the confederation. There are two men whom you must watch. One is thearchbishop."
"The archbishop?" The minister was surprised that the Marshal shouldconcur with the Colonel. "And the other?"
"Your friend the Colonel," starting for the door.
The minister smiled. "Will you not dine with me?" he asked.
"Thanks. But I have the Servian minister on my hands to-night. A propos,tell the Colonel that I decline Belgrade. I prefer to die at home." Andhe vanished.
Von Wallenstein reviewed the statements of both his visitors.
"I shall watch Monseigneur the archbishop." Then he added, with ahalf-smile: "God save us if the Marshal's sword were half so sharp ashis tongue! It was careless of me to forget that I had shut him up inthe cabinet."
Meanwhile Beauvais walked slowly toward his quarters, with his sabercaught up under his arm. Once he turned and gazed at the palace, whosewindows began to flash with light.
"Yes, they are puppets and jackals, and I am the lion. For all thereshall serve my ends. I shall win, and when I do--" He laughed silently."Well, I am a comely man, and Madame the duchess shall be my wife."
The Puppet Crown Page 5
