CHAPTER XXVII
THE BRIDAL OF OSCAROVITCH
The Special Service Squadron steamed out of Spithead as the clock ofPortsmouth Town Hall chimed twelve that night. Thirty-six hours later amarriage ceremony took place in the chapel of the Castle of Oscarburg.It was performed according to the rites of the Orthodox Church, and thewitnesses were Prince Zastrow and his medical attendant, Doctor Hugo.The retainers of the Castle, headed by the major-domo and thehousekeeper, formed the congregation. Jenny was up in her mistress' roompacking as though for an immediate departure. She was very frightened atthe happenings of the past three or four days, but she contented herselfwith the thought that her mistress was going to be a princess, and that,therefore, her own lot in life would be brightened with reflected glory.
When the ceremony was over, the wedding feast was held in the greatdining-hall of the Castle after the ancient Finnish style. When theloving-cup had been drunk, Nitocris took leave of her lord and went toher room. The bridal chamber was blazing with light, and the greatsilken-hung bed was a couch fit for a queen. She turned the draperiesdown, laid herself dressed on the thick, downy bed, and then got up andwent back to her own.
"I shall sleep here to-night, Jenny, and I shall not undress. Youmustn't do, either. Lock the door, and put the sofa across it. You willfind that something is going to happen to-night. Is everything ready forus to go away?"
"Yes, Your Highness," replied Jenny, wondering what was going to happennext.
"You must not call me Highness, Jenny," said her mistress, with a laugh."I did not marry the Prince to-day. It was some one else he knew a longtime ago. I have put her to bed in that splendid bridal chamber of his.She is waiting for him now."
"But I don't understand, Miss--I----"
"There is no need for you to understand, Jenny. Just be a good girl, anddo as you're told. When we get back to England I will explain matters asfar as I can."
Miss Jenny wisely decided to keep her thoughts to herself, and went onwith her packing. Nitocris changed her bridal dress for her yachtingcostume, and lay down on the couch to await the progress of events.
Oscarovitch left the company in the dining-hall to their revel in aboutan hour's time, and went up to his fate in the bridal chamber. Heknocked and opened the door softly: locked it, and went toward the bed.He leaned over it for a moment, and then a hoarse shriek of mingled rageand terror rang through the room. He flung the clothes off the bed.Where was the lovely bride he had wedded only a few hours before? Whatwas this horrible thing lying where _she_ should have been? NotNitocris--and yet, it _was_ Nitocris. Like a flash of lightning rendingthe darkness of the midnight heavens, the gap of oblivion between hislives was rent, and the light flamed into his soul. Phadrig had lied tohim. The daughter of Rameses had not died that night in the banquetingchamber of the Palace of Pepi. She had lived and reigned virgin queen ofthe Sacred Land. Her body had been submitted to the hands of theparaschites and buried in the City of the Dead over against Memphis, onthe eastward side of the river. And here was her mummy lying in hisbridal bed, mocking him with its hideous, stony rigidity.
For a few terrible moments he stood staring at it, his clenched fistsraised above his head. Then with another scream he cast himself upon it.
When they broke the door open, they found the man who in a few dayswould have been Emperor of the Russias and the East lying across the bedmowing and gibbering like a mad monkey, and scraping up handfuls ofbrown dust from the stained sheets.
* * * * *
Twenty-four hours later the Admiral in command of the British SpecialSquadron off Kronstadt saw the private signal flashed from thenorth-east. He was a very angry Admiral, for he had lost a brand-newcruiser and one of the smartest captains in the Service. But the signalspelt "_Nitocris_. All well. Coming alongside."
"All well, and be damned to you, Captain Merrill!" muttered the Admiralunder his breath, when the signal was read to him. "This is a nice wayto begin a new command. I've half a mind to put him under arrest: buthe's a good man. I'd better hear what he has to say for himself first. Iwonder what the deuce he's been doing with that cruiser since he tookher away without leave? Well, here she is, I suppose."
But it was not H.M.S. _Nitocris_ that came out of the night glitteringwith electric lights and flying through the water at a speed that thefastest destroyer in the squadron could not have equalled. A whistletooted softly, a white shape swung up out of the darkness and sloweddown alongside the flagship. A boat dropped into the water, and threeminutes later Captain Mark Merrill ran up the gangway ladder, salutedthe quarter-deck, and handed his sword to the Admiral.
"I have done wrong, sir, but I hope that I have also, in another sense,done right. I have brought both princes with me."
"Both princes--Good Lord, sir, what do you mean?"
"May I come below with you, sir, and explain? It has been ratherdelicate work, but we've got it through all right, I think."
"Then keep your sword for the present, and come and tell me what youhave to say."
Captain Merrill followed the Admiral to his room, and told the story ofthe taking of the Oscarburg--a very easy matter with a hundredbluejackets at his back--the capture of Oscarovitch, who was now in astraight waistcoat on board his own yacht, the rescue of Prince Zastrowand Nitocris, and----
"The other Nitocris is following, sir," he concluded. "I thought I hadbetter take the yacht. She can make a good thirty-five knots, and that'suseful when you're in a hurry. And now, sir, I am at your disposal."
"Rubbish!" said the Admiral, holding out his hand. "Captain Merrill, Idon't quite know how you've done it, but you've saved Europe, andperhaps the world, from war. If you hadn't brought those two princes ofyours to-night, we should have been fighting Germany for the possessionof Kronstadt before mid-day to-morrow. Those were the orders. Now, ofcourse, they can do nothing, as you have brought Prince Zastrow backfrom the dead. He's their choice, and you had better get him and theother away to London as soon as I have seen them, and you can take myreport with you on that thirty-five knotter after breakfast to-morrowmorning. Now, it's getting late. I'll say good-night."
The Mummy and Miss Nitocris: A Phantasy of the Fourth Dimension Page 28
