CHAPTER XVI
THE MYSTERY OF PRINCE ZASTROW
Events now began to move with an almost bewildering rapidity, at least,so far as they affected the immediate temporal concerns of Nitocris andher father. For days and weeks a furious storm raged round the famouslecture, and the atmosphere of the scientific world was thick withfigures and formulae, diagrams and disquisitions; but since none of thelearned disputators proved himself capable of detecting the slightestflaw in the lecturer's mathematics, it had very little interest for him,and therefore has none for us. In fact, so little did he seem concernedwith the tempest he had raised, that a few days later, to theastonishment and chagrin of his baffled critics, he and Nitocris badeadieu to their more intimate friends and disappeared on a wandering tripof undetermined destination for change of air and scene and amuch-needed holiday for the over-worked Professor. At least, that is thereason which Nitocris gave to Lord Leighton and the Van Huysmans, andthe few others to whom she thought it necessary to give any explanationat all.
The day before they left, Merrill lunched at "The Wilderness," took afitting leave of his lady-love and his prospective father-in-law, anddeparted to join his ship, slightly mystified, perhaps, by recenthappenings, but still believing himself with sufficient reason to be thehappiest and most fortunate Lieutenant-Commander in the British Navy.
The true reasons for the sudden departure of the now more than everfamous Professor and his beautiful daughter from the scene of his latestand most marvellous triumph may be set forth as follows:
On the evening of the third day after the lecture Franklin Marmion wasgoing back by train to Wimbledon after a long day at the British Museumamong the relics of Egyptian antiquity--which, as may well beunderstood, he studied now with an interest of which no other man livingcould have been capable; and as soon as he was seated in a comfortablecorner, and had his pipe going, he opened his _Pall Mall Gazette_, and,as was his wont on such occasions, began with the leading article andread straight along through the Special Article and the Occ. Notes,until he came to the news of the day, skipping only the financial newsand quotations, which, under his present changed conditions ofexistence, he dare not trust himself to read lest he might be tempted bythe unrighteousness of Mammon, a form of idolatry which he had alwaysheartily despised.
The first item on the news page was headed in bold type:
~"MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF A RULING GERMAN PRINCE.
"SUSPICION OF FOUL PLAY.
"IMPORTANT STATE PAPERS VANISH WITH HIM.--SPECIAL.~
"In spite of the most rigorous censorship of the Press Bureau, it has now become a matter of practical certainty that Prince Emil Rudolf von Zastrow, the youthful and very capable ruler of Boravia, who, during the last two or three years, has become one of the most brilliant figures in European society, has disappeared under circumstances so strangely mysterious as to suggest some analogy with the tragedy of which the unhappy Prince Alexander of Bulgaria was the central figure.
"The facts, so far as they have been ascertained, are briefly as follows:--Up to about a fortnight ago, the Prince was living in semi-retirement with his consort, the Princess Hermia, in his picturesque Castle of Trelitz, which, as every one knows, looks down over the waters of the Baltic from a solitary eminence of rock which rises out of the vast forests that cover the rolling plains for leagues on the landward sides. It will be remembered that every year since his accession, the Prince has been wont to retire to this famous hunting-ground of his to enjoy at once the pleasures of the chase and the society of his beautiful young consort in peace and solitude after the whirl of the European winter season. As far as is known, the only guests at the Castle were the Count Ulik von Kessner, High Chamberlain of Boravia, who is believed to have been present on business of State, and Captain Alexis Vollmar, of the 55th Caucasus Regiment, at present attached to the Imperial Headquarter Staff at St Petersburg. Captain Vollmar, in addition to being a brilliant young officer, is also a scion of two of the wealthiest and most aristocratic families in Russia.
"It is now fully established that on the evening of the 6th of this month--that is to say, nearly three weeks ago--the Prince and his two guests returned after a long day in the forest, and that the Prince retired to rest very shortly before supper. From that day to this he has never been seen, either at home or in society. What makes the disappearance more strangely striking is the fact that the Prince, who is Colonel of the 28th Pommeranian Regiment, did not put in an appearance at the recent review in the Kaiserhof when the German Emperor held his usual inspection. Although it was obvious that His Majesty was both puzzled and annoyed by his absence, no official explanation of it has been given, and all information on the subject is rigidly withheld. Our own comes from a personal friend, and, as far as it goes, may be absolutely relied upon."
For some reason or other, which, after his recent experiences, hethought it would be as well not to try and fathom for the present, thesefew paragraphs made a strangely persistent impression on him. When hegot home he gave his evening papers as usual to his daughter, and atdinner the Zastrow mystery was the chief, in fact almost the only, topicof conversation.
"Yes, it certainly is very extraordinary," said Nitocris. "The papersmake mysteries enough out of the disappearance, of the most everyday,insignificant persons, who were probably only running away from theirdebts or their domestic troubles, but for a real Prince to utterlyvanish like this--that certainly looks like a little more than anordinary mystery. And I suppose," she went on, after a little intervalof silence, "if there really has been foul play--I mean, granted thatPrince Charming, as all the Society papers got to call him, has beenspirited away for some hidden reason of State or politics and is neverintended to see the light of day again, who knows how many secrets maybe connected with this affair which might be like matches in a powdermagazine? And--Oh yes--why, Dad, it was this same Prince Zastrow who hasbeen mentioned by most of the best European papers as the only possibleElective Tsar of Russia if the Romanoffs are driven out by theRevolution, and the people go back to the old Constitution. In fact,some of them went so far as to say that nothing but his selection couldprevent a scramble for the fragments of Russia which could only end ingeneral conflagration."
"Yes, of course I do," replied her father. "But what an atrocious shame,if it is so! One of the most popular of the minor princes of Europespirited away, and perhaps either murdered or thrown into some prison orfortress, where he will drag out his days and nights in solitude untilhe goes mad: a young, bright, promising life ruined, just because hehappens to stand in the way of some unscrupulous ambition, or vilepolitical intrigue!
"It would be a crime of the very first magnitude, that is to say, of themost villainous description, and all the more horrible because it wouldbe committed by people in the highest of places. Really, Niti, it isenough to make one think that there ought to be some higher power in theworld capable of making these political crimes impossible. The innerhistory of European politics--I mean, the history that doesn't get intobooks or newspapers--would, I am certain, prove that quite half the warsof the world, at least during the period of what we are pleased to callcivilisation, would have been avoided if some means could have beenfound of putting an end to the miserable personal ambitions andjealousies which have never anything to do with the welfare of nations,but quite the reverse. I shouldn't wonder if poor Prince Zastrow hasbeen the victim of something of the sort. It is quite possible thatexpiring Tsardom had a finger in the pie. At any rate, there was aRussian officer in the Castle the day he disappeared. I should very muchlike to see the sort of explanation _he_ could give of the affair, if hechose."
"But is there not such a power in the world now, Dad?" asked Nitocris,looking across the table at him with a peculiar smile.
He looked back in silence for a moment or two. Then
he replied slowly:
"I see what you mean, Niti. Of course, I suppose we shall be able toread each other's thoughts now, or even converse without speaking, orwhen we are out of earshot of each other. The same idea came to me whileI was reading the account of this affair in the train; but should I, or,rather we, be doing right in interfering actively in the transactions,political and otherwise, of the world--by which I mean, of course, thestate of three dimensions? It would be a terrific responsibility.Remember what tremendous powers we are capable of wielding by simply--itis so very simple now--simply transferring our personalities to thehigher plane. What if we were to do wrong? We might involve the wholeworld in some unspeakable catastrophe."
"And which do _you_ consider to be the greatest catastrophe, or, perhapsI ought rather to say the greatest evil, that has ever afflicted theworld, Dad?" she asked, with just a suspicion of a smile in her eyes,though her lips were perfectly serious.
"Oh, war, of course!" he replied, with his usual emphasis when he got onto that topic. "What was I saying only just now about personal intriguesand ambitions that make war? What have I always thought about war? It isthe most appalling curse----"
"Then, Dad," she interrupted in her sweetest tones, "do you think that,supposing we possess these wonderful powers, they could be better usedthan in preventing any war which may possibly arise out of thisdisappearance of Prince Zastrow, and so convincing those who are wickedenough to plunge the human race into blood and misery that henceforthall wars of aggression and ambition will be impossible?"
"Yes, you are right as usual, Niti," he exclaimed, getting up. "Now yougo and think about it all, and give me your advice in the morning. Iwant to get away now and work out an intelligible solution of thosethree problems--if I can make it so--for the benefit of Van Huysman andthe rest of my respected critics. When I've done that, we'll be off tothe Continent or somewhere----"
"And see what we can make of the Zastrow Mystery, perhaps!" saidNitocris. "Good-night, Dad. I want to do some thinking, too."
He went to his study and set to work upon a development of thedemonstrations with which he had astounded not only London, but thewhole civilised world.
But it was no good to-night. The ideas would not come. Over and overagain he picked up the threads of his arguments, only to drop themagain. At last, in something like wondering despair, he muttered:
"Confound the thing! I almost had it last night, and now I seem as faraway from it as ever. What on earth can be the matter with me?"
He put his elbows on the table, took his head between his hands, andstared down at the pages covered with angles and circles, chords andcurves, and wildernesses of symbols, which were scattered about hisdesk. As he stared at them they seemed somehow to come together, and thelines and curves arranged themselves in symmetrical shapes, until theydeveloped from diagrams into pictures; and as they did so he foundhimself forgetting all about the problems, and thinking only of thestrange vision which seemed to be unfolding itself among the scatteredpapers before him. The straight lines became the walls and turrets ofone of those two-or three-hundred-year-old German country houses, halfcastle, half mansion, which every explorer of the bye-paths of theFatherland has seen and admired so often. The curves became long,sweeping stretches of sandy bays, fringed with other curves of breakingrollers; and as the picture grew more distinct, one great circleembraced a whole perfect picture of land and seascape--land dusky andforest-covered in the southward half; and the misty sea, island-dotted,wind-whipped, and foam-flecked, to the northward.
The castle stood on the top of a somewhat steeply sloping hill aboutfive hundred feet above the sandy shore, on which the breakers werecurling a couple of miles away. The hill was covered with thick-growingfirs from the plain to the castle wall, but two broad avenues ran instraight lines, one to seaward, and the other down into the depths ofthe vast forest, until it opened on to the post road, which afforded theonly practicable carriage route to the station of Trelitz on the mainBerlin-Koenigsberg Railway.
The longer he looked, the more surprisingly distinct the picture became,and, curiously enough, the less his wonder grew. He saw three men onhorseback riding at a canter up the avenue from the forest. Theircostumes showed plainly enough that they had just come back from thechase. As they rode on they seemed to come quite close to him, until hecould see their features with perfect distinctness. By the changingexpression of their faces he could tell they were laughing and chatting;but, singularly enough, he could not hear a word that they were saying,which, considering the minuteness with which he saw everything, struckhim as being distinctly curious.
He watched them ride up to the old Gothic gateway in the wall which ranround the castle, suiting itself to the irregularities of the hill. Theycrossed the courtyard and dismounted. The grooms led their horses away,and, as the big double doors opened, they went in, one of them, standingaside for the younger of his companions but entering before the other.In the great hall whose walls were adorned with horns and heads andtusks, and whose floor was almost completely carpeted with skins, theygave their weapons to a couple of footmen; and as they did so he saw theslim and yet stately figure of a woman coming down the winding stairwhich led into the hall from a broad gallery running round it. As shereached the bottom of the stairway she threw her head back a little, andheld out both her hands towards the man who had come in second. As thelight of a great swinging lamp above the stairway fell upon her upturnedface, he recognised the Countess Hermia von Zastrow, the reigningEuropean beauty whose portrait in the illustrated papers, and in thegreat photographer's windows, was almost as familiar as that of QueenAlexandra.
The Count--for the handsome young hunter who now took her hands couldnow be no other than the Prince of Boravia-Trelitz--raised her righthand in courtly fashion to his lips. The other two bowed low before her,and then she led the way up the stairs.
He saw all this as distinctly as though he had been actually present,and yet none of the party seemed to take the slightest notice of him.But he was getting quite accustomed to miracle-working now, and so heaccepted the extraordinary conditions of his visions, or whatever itwas, with more interest than astonishment. He followed them up thestairs and along the right hand side of the gallery. The Count opened adoor of heavy black oak and stood aside for his Countess to enter. Againthe younger of his companions went first, and again he followed; then,as the elder man entered and closed the door, the scene was blotted outas though a sudden darkness had fallen upon his eyes.
"Dear me!" he said, getting up and rubbing his temples with both hands."If I hadn't had so many extraordinary experiences since my promotion tothe plane of N4, I should probably be a little scared as well. But itis really astonishing how soon the trained intellect gets accustomed toanything--even the eccentricities of the fourth dimensional world.Well, well! I hope that's not the end of the adventure, I was gettingquite interested. I suppose this must be in some obscure way the reasonwhy those paragraphs in the _Pall Mall_ interested me so strangely."
He walked towards the window, pulled the blind aside and looked out. Butinstead of his own tree-shaded lawn and the wide expanse of moonlitcommon beyond which he expected to see, he found himself looking, as itwere, through a window from the outside into a great, oak-panelledsleeping chamber, lighted by a huge silver lamp hanging from the middleof the painted and corniced ceiling. Against the middle of the left handside wall, as he was looking into the room, stood one of the huge,heavily-draped, four-post bedsteads in which the great ones of the earthwere wont to take their rest a couple of hundred years ago. The curtainswere drawn back on both sides. In the middle of the bed lay CountZastrow, deathly white, with fast-closed eyes and lips, breathingheavily as the rise and fall of the embroidered sheet and silkencoverlet which lay across his chest showed. On the right hand side stoodthe Countess and the two men whom he had seen before; on the other sidestood a tall, strikingly handsome woman, whose dark imperious featuresseemed strangely at variance with the severely fashioned grey dress andth
e plainly arranged hair which proclaimed her either a nurse or anupper servant.
He saw the elder of the two men lean over the bed and raise one of thesleeper's eyelids with his thumb. The nurse took up a lighted taper bythe table beside her and passed it in front of the opened eye. The manclosed the eyelid, and turned and said something to the Countess and theother man. The Countess nodded and smiled, not quite as a man likes tosee a woman smile, and, with a swift glance at the motionless figure onthe bed, turned away and left the room. The nurse said something to thetwo men, and as the door closed behind her the scene changed again.
This time he was not looking into a window, but out of one. He wasgazing over a vast expanse of forest pierced by a broad, straight roadwhich led for several miles, as it seemed to him, between two dark wallsof thickly-growing pines until it ended abruptly with the forest andopened out on a tiny sand-fringed inlet whose narrow mouth was guardedby two little outcrops of rock half a mile to seaward.
A carriage drawn by four black horses rolled rapidly along the road,swung out on to the beach, and stopped. Almost at the same moment agrey-painted, six-oared boat grounded on the sandy beach. A couple ofmen landed from her, and as the carriage door opened, they saluted. TheCount's two guests got out and the others entered the carriage, then oneof them got out again followed by the other, and between them theycarried a limp, motionless human form completely covered by a great rugof dark fur. It was taken to the boat. All embarked, and the pinnaceshot away out through the little headlands. A mile out to seaward laythe long black shape of a torpedo destroyer. The pinnace ran alongsideand they all went on board, two of the sailors carrying the body asbefore.
Professor Marmion found himself accompanying them. The body was takeninto a little cabin and laid in a berth. The rug was turned down fromthe face, and he recognised Prince Zastrow. A few minutes later he foundhimself in the main cabin of the destroyer. The two men who had come inthe carriage were sitting at a little table with a man in mufti. Thisman raised his head and said something. He did not hear the words--but,to his amazement, he recognised the handsome face as that of PrinceOscarovitch, whom he had never seen before he came as his guest to thegarden-party at "The Wilderness."
On the bulkhead of the cabin at the Prince's head there hung a littleblock-calendar, and the exposed leaf showed the date, Monday, 6th June.As he read it an impulse caused him to look round at the calendarstanding upon his own mantel-shelf. It showed the date, Friday, 24thJune. He turned back to the window and saw nothing but his own lawn andthe moonlit Common beyond.
The Mummy and Miss Nitocris: A Phantasy of the Fourth Dimension Page 17
