XXIII THE CANOPY OF SWORDS
When the train had crossed the Lorg and the towers of Dornlitz shone faroff to the front, the following morning, the Princess sent for theArchduke.
"Armand," said she, "I have been thinking--much of the night, indeed--andI am persuaded that this day will see the end of our quest; don't smile;wait, wait until the day has passed. Lotzen knows where the Book is--hehasn't it--he never has had it--he would not have needed a counterfeit ifhe had; besides, do you fancy he would have left it behind when he wentto Lotzenia--or that he would have come back here if he had it with him?If he knows now where the Book is, he has known all along--then whyhasn't he got it? Because it's been impracticable, no adequateopportunity. Where is the opportunity now that he hasn't had before?--theSummer Palace--with the Household gone, he can spend a day in it withoutexplanation or interruption--and the King's suite is vacant. There Adolphhid the Laws--and Lotzen knows where--and they are what he has gone for;that is why he left his Castle night before last, within an hour afterme; he realized the false book would send us back to Dornlitz and that hemust go instantly if he would be there first. Oh, it's all plain now--tome at least."
The Archduke went over and stood beside her, stroking her fair hairsoftly with his finger tips.
"Sweetheart," said he, "there is much force in what you say, and you willalso remember that Elise d'Essolde saw Lotzen come from the library theday you charged him with killing Adolph and stealing the Book. Yet theanswer to it all is, that the entire Palace has been searched andvainly--and the King's suite torn almost into bits. Hence, under thefacts, your theory seems unavailing."
She looked up at him with a half disappointed smile, but with aninsistent shake of the head.
"You go too far with your facts, dear," she said; "I, too, thought thatevery inch of the King's suite had been searched, but I've changed mymind; it hasn't been--if it had, we would have found the Laws."--She gavea cry and sprang up. "The box, Armand! the box! the Book's in it."
He looked at her in amazement.
"The box was empty," he said.
"Yes--was! was! but is not now! When did you look in it last?"
"At the Council."
"Exactly--so did I--and Adolph brought it to us, lid down and 'locked,'she said. Oh, I see it all now:--it wasn't locked, and he put the Bookback in it, and told Lotzen, and Lotzen killed him--and then, when hecame for the Book, he found the combination changed--you did it, youknow--and as long as Moore was in the suite he could not break the vault;so he lures us all away: if he can kill you, he will be King and can getthe Book at his leisure; if he fail, as he has done, then it's the Lawsbefore we return." She flung her arms around his neck. "Don't tell me I'mmistaken, Armand! don't tell me I'm mistaken!"
He held her off, and looked at her in wondering admiration.
"Oh woman!" he said, "oh faith, and intuition, and loyalty beyond thestars! No, Dehra, I will not say you are mistaken; I do not know; we willtest it. We will go straight to the Palace--you and I, without a word asto our purpose--and we will open the vault, and the box--and if the Lawsare in it, yours be the glory."
"And yours the Crown!" she cried, and kissed his hand.
Then the train ran into the station and stopped, and the Archduke steppedout and gave his hand to the Princess. The platform was empty save forCount Epping.
"Your Royal Highness will pardon the informality of your reception," thePrime Minister said, when the greetings were over; "I assumed you did notwant Lotzen to know of your coming; I even waited until nine o'clock tocall the Council;--and I did not notify him, and so warn him that we hadpenetrated his disguise."
"Where is he now?" the Princess asked.
"At Ferida Palace--he went there last night and has not left it since."
"I think I want him at the Council," she said; "Colonel Moore, will youand Colonel Bernheim please go and summon him; then follow us at once;and do you, my dear Count, come to me as soon as the Ministers haveassembled."
The brougham flashed away, and the Archduke drew down the blinds.
Dehra gave a satisfied little sigh and sank back in the corner.
"We seem to have beaten him," she said; "we shall have the first lookinto the box."
Armand put his arm around her, and drew the fair head to his shoulder.
"I have already beaten him," he said--"we fought first, for you, littlegirl. A fig for the box, and the Book and the Crown!"
At the gate of the Park the Princess signaled to halt, and raised theblind.
"Who of the Royal Council have arrived?" she asked the officer on duty.
"His Royal Highness the Duke of Lotzen, General Du----" he got nofurther.
"To my private entrance! quick, quick!" she called, and the carriage shotaway....
"What does it mean?" she demanded; "Epping said Lotzen had not left theFerida."
"It means that you have solved the riddle. Lotzen has not come to theCouncil, he does not even know of it; he has come for the Book."
They drew up at the door, the Archduke opened it with Dehra's key, andthey dashed up stairs. She snatched a master-key from a drawer of herwriting table, and they crossed the corridor and entered the King's suitethrough the small reception room, between which and the library lay acabinet and a bedroom.
As they entered the latter, treading cautiously, they heard the Duke ofLotzen's voice in the library, the door of which stood ajar.
"It's a pity to break it," he was saying, "but----" and there was a snapand crack.
Under the Archduke's hand the door opened noiselessly, and through thenarrow rift, between the hangings, they could see within.
The Duke, no longer disguised but wearing the undress uniform of hisrank, was standing at the large desk; beside him an officer in a longcape and a Cuirassier helmet; and before him the big, black box of theLaws. He had just forced the lock; now he laid back the lid, and took outthe Book.
"We win, Duchess!" he said, "we win! thanks to your marvellous fingersand quick brain," and lifting the helmet from Madeline Spencer's highpiled hair, he kissed her ardently.
"Not so, cousin!" said the Princess, flinging aside the curtain, "youlose--it is we who win."
For a moment the Duke stood staring, too amazed to speak, and Mrs.Spencer, with a sharp cry, fled to his side; then, as he saw the end ofhis dream, the passing of his hopes, the fierce and fiery spirit, thatwas always burning deep in his soul, burst through the gyves of studiedequanimity his stern will had imposed.
"Not yet!" he cried, "not yet!" and turning quickly he tossed the Bookinto the big chimney behind him where a wood fire burned.
"Come on!" he taunted, flashing out his sword, "come on, cousinArmand!--there's your crown, come get it!"
"Look to the Book, Dehra!" the Archduke called, and sprang at Lotzen,with a joyful smile. "At last!" he said, and the fight began.
"Push the Book farther into the fire, Madeline!" the Duke ordered, thewords timed to the beat of the steel.
Dropping her cape Mrs. Spencer, with the easy hand of a practiced fencer,whipped out the sword she was wearing, in her disguise as an officer, andwas speeding to obey, when Dehra caught up one of Colonel Moore's swordsfrom the corner and rushed upon her.
"Guard yourself, Duchess!" Lotzen cried; and she swung around just intime to throw herself between the Princess and the fireplace. Instantlytheir blades rang together.
The Archduke heard, and out of the side of his eye he saw, and his browwrinkled in anxiety. Spencer was no novice; she, too, he knew, hadlearned the gentle art of the foils in her youth, and under Frenchmaitres, and she was not to be despised even by one so skilful as theRegent. He had little doubt that he could kill the Duke, but what profitin it if Dehra died. He hesitated to speak, it might disconcert her, andyet he must warn her.
"Watch her play in tierce," he said, in the most casual tone; and almostshouted for joy, when he heard Dehra's little laugh, and her voice calmand easy.
> "Thank you, Armand!"
But it very nearly cost him his own life, for in trying to catch aglimpse of her he had loosed his eye-grip, and Lotzen's point shot outviciously, and only a lucky swing aside sent it scraping along the skininstead of through the neck.
"Rather close, cousin!" he remarked.
"The next will be closer," said the Duke softly. "Meanwhile, the Bookburns."
But the Archduke did not fall into the trap, and loose the eye-grip asecond time.
"Let it burn!" he answered, "I'd rather kill you than save it--but I willdo both."
"If you can, cousin! if you can--" and the swords rang on.
And the Duke was right--the Book was burning, slowly, but burning nonethe less. His throw had been a trifle short, and instead of being in theheart of the fire it was on the outer edge, where the coals were not soglowing. There the leather and metal cover had protected it for a shortwhile, but now the tiny flames were crawling along the edges, shooting upquick pencils of light that flared ever higher and more frequent.
And Dehra caught the gleam when it flashed the brightest, and in a furyof desire she drove at Madeline Spencer. Hitherto she had aimed only todisarm her, now it was the Book at any price.
But the American woman's defense was still impenetrable; defence was herforte--trick, feint, attack, she knew every one, and always her swordblocked them or turned them aside. But there she had stopped; never oncehad she herself assumed the offensive. She would take no chance ofkilling the Regent; and she had soon discovered the Regent was not aimingto kill her. But now she felt the change, and she knew that it was amatter of only a little while until she would have to yield or be sped.She could hear Lotzen and the Archduke, at the other end of the room,still fighting as fiercely as at the beginning;--the taunting laugh; thequip given, and returned; the crash of a chair as one of them kicked itaway; but all she saw was the flitting steel before her, and thePrincess' glowing eyes.
Of a sudden there came a burst of voices, the door toward the CouncilChamber was dashed open, and Count Epping rushed in, and all theMinisters behind him.
Madeline Spencer drew back and lowered her sword; the Princess sprang tothe fire-place and rescued the Book, smothering the flames with thehearth rug; but Lotzen ground out an oath and flung himself with freshfierceness at the Archduke.
At first even the imperturbable Prime Minister had been too astonished toact; now he came slowly forward, his old, lean face aglow with the joy ofthe combat and the music of the steel. Then he stopped and stood,watching, head slightly forward, lips half parted, eyes shining, fingersplaying lovingly over his own hilt. Ah! it was a good fight to look upon;a noble fight, indeed; such masterly sword play he had never seen, norwas ever like to see again; the swift attacks, the fierce rallies, themarvellous agility, the steady eye, the steel wrist. And then, the nerveof him who was losing, and must know it; for Lotzen was losing--surelylosing. Twice the Archduke had driven him around the table; now he forcedhim slowly back ... back ... back ... to the wall ... against it ...tight against it.
"Yield, cousin!" he said; "it's your last chance."
But the Duke only smiled mockingly and fought on.
With an appealing cry Madeline Spencer darted toward them.
"Spare him, Armand!" she pleaded, "spare him!"
The Archduke stepped out of distance, but with point still advanced.
"Take him!" he said, "take him, and joy with him!"
Ferdinand of Lotzen slowly raised his sword in salute.
"My thanks, cousin!" he said, "I can accept from her what I could notfrom you. You have bested me--the game is over. I shall not be needed atthe reading of the decree.--Your Royal Highness--Messieurs of theCouncil--I bid you fare-well." He held out his hand to Madeline Spencer."Come, my Duchess, we will to your Paris and the Rue Royale.--Monsieur leComte, the door!"--and with all the stately grace and courteous deferenceof a minuet he led her down the room, and bowed her out, and himselfafter.
There was a moment of silence; then the Archduke spoke.
"My lords, the Book of Laws is found, or so much of it as the fire hasspared. How we chanced to come upon it here will best be told anothertime; enough now that but for the daring and quick wit of Her RoyalHighness, it would have been forever lost." He glanced at the clock. "Thehour for the Council has already passed. Your Excellency, the Laws arebefore you, will you do us the favor to read the decree?"
The Count stepped forward and lifted the Book from the rug; of the heavycover little remained but the brass hinges; the first few pages werescorched and half consumed, and all the edges charred and split and eateninto by the flames; but otherwise it seemed to be without hurt.
Yet Dehra's hand went to her heart, and her breath came sharply, asslowly and carefully Epping turned the leaves, holding them together thewhile, lest they break apart. Was the decree there! Might Lotzen havedestroyed it--torn it from the Book, before they came upon him!
Then the Count stopped, and bending down read for a moment. When helooked up there was a strange expression on his face; he did not speak atonce; and when he did his voice was repressed and almost trembling.
"It is here," he said; "executed the day before King Frederick died. Iread it:
"'Section one hundred thirty-first.--It is hereby decreed that His Royal Highness the Archduke Armand shall be eligible to the Crown of Valeria, and he is herewith restored to his proper place in the Line of Succession, as the right heir male of Hugo, second son of Henry the Third.'"
For an instant Armand's brain whirled--then he awoke to Dehra's hands inhis, and her voice in his ear, and the shouts and waving blades of theMinisters.
"The ritual, Epping! the ritual!" the Princess cried, and caught up thesword she had tossed aside to rescue the Book--then gasped in wonderingfear, as the old Count raised his hand and shook his head.
"Wait!" he said; "there is another decree that comes before the ritual.Attend!--
"'Section one hundred thirty-second.--Whereas, for the first time in a thousand years the Dalberg has no son: It is hereby decreed that the succession as Head of the House of Dalberg, and, ipso facto, to the Crown of Valeria, together with all their hereditary titles, powers, possessions and privileges, shall be vested in our only child and daughter, Dehra, Princess Royal of Valeria. And all and every decree conflicting therewith is hereby specifically revoked and annulled.'"
And now the swords were up again, and the Archduke's with them, and thewild huzza roared through the Palace and far into the Park; and Bernheimand Moore, coming down the corridor, dashed into the library and stopped,amazed; then joined in, knowing that it must mean victory.
But Dehra, herself, pale-faced, tear-eyed and trembling, turned and flungher arms around Armand's neck.
"It's wrong, dear! it's wrong!" she cried; "you are the King!--you arethe Dalberg!"
"No, sweetheart, it is right!" he said, releasing her arms, and bowingover her hand until his lips touched it. "Praise God! it is right."
Then he stepped back and flashed his sword above her head; and all theothers sprang to meet it, and locked there, a canopy of steel.
"Valeria hails the Head of the House of Dalberg as the Queen!" he cried.
And from every throat came back the answer:
"We hail the Dalberg Queen!"
And now the trembling had passed; she looked up at the swords proudly,and stretching out her hand she touched them one by one; but touchingArmand's last--and her eyes sought his, and over her face broke theadorable smile, and she drew down his blade, and kissed it.
"Hail, also, to the King!" she said; "your King and mine, my lords!--theKing that is to be."
The End
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
THE COLONEL OF THE RED HUZZARS
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With three full-page illustrations in color By Clarence F. Underwood
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Transcriber's Notes
--Silently corrected a few typos and misplaced or missing quotes.
--Moved illustrations near the illustrated paragraph.
--Moved all advertisements to the end, and simplified their layout.
--This book is public domain in the U.S.; no DOD is available for the author.
The Princess Dehra Page 23
