CHAPTER VIII.
A QUESTION OF THE GUARD.
The really great strategist is not the man who loves an intricate plot.His method is simple, he eliminates.
On a certain cold morning, when the sun shone pinkly through a sea-hazeover the glittering roofs of Revonde, a review of the Guard, and of afew regiments that happened to be stationed within a short distance ofthe capital, was to be held, in honour of the Duke's birthday, on thespacious parade ground of the Guard, which occupied the whole of a smallplateau lying high between the beetling hills behind the barracks.
Baron von Elmur paid an early visit to the Chancellor on his way to thereview, and found M. Selpdorf, though brisk and urbane as ever, a littledifficult.
'We do not progress, Monsieur,' Elmur was saying.
'What would you, my dear Baron? we have so many obstacles in our path,'answered the other, shrugging his shoulders good-humoredly.
Elmur leaned his elbow on the table.
'I know that delay can conduce to no good end,' he said. 'You haveagreed that a certain course is desirable no less for your country thanmine.'
'Have I agreed to that proposition? Not altogether! Remember, I cannotbe expected to see with German eyes.'
'Even to the most patriotic Maasaun it must be evident that sooner orlater the State must fall to us; it is merely a question of time.'
'The time has already been long,' said the Chancellor softly.
'For an excellent reason: because we have not always been as now, a hugebulk. The bulk of the new Empire must by force of gravitation attractall the smaller bodies round to itself. It is by a miracle only thatMaasau has stood alone so long.'
'And by another miracle she might go on standing alone a little longer.'
'This is not the age of miracles, my friend!'
'I remember also something which your Excellency forgets,' saidSelpdorf, with a touch of sadness in his voice, 'that there have beenSelpdorfs helping in this miracle of the independence of Maasau forgenerations.'
Elmur altered his attitude with an open impatience.
'You are a far-sighted patriot, Monsieur. It is needless to repeat thatif Maasau joins the confederation of the Empire by her own act she willdo so on very different terms to any which could possibly be conceded toa state that had forced upon us the unpleasant necessity of coercion.Remember Frankfurt! She paid for her obstinacy. Whereas we are preparedto deal generously towards those who cast in their lot with ours.Besides,' he added significantly, 'I am urging you to consult not onlythe interests of Maasau, but your own also.'
'They are the same, and it is difficult to know where our true interestlies,' said Selpdorf, thoughtfully. 'Do you go to the Castle of Sagannext week?'
The abrupt change of subject seemed to have its effect upon Elmur. Heturned away from the table, crossed his legs, and lit a cigarette in aleisurely manner before he answered.
'Yes; and you, Monsieur?'
'I have no inclination for these gaieties; but my daughter goes.' VonElmur shot a glance at his companion.
'To repeat my own words--we do not progress, my dear Selpdorf.'
'So? Women finesse in these affairs. Valerie follows the custom of hersex, and perhaps she has become a little spoilt by overmuch admiration.Were she aware of your wishes, it would solve many of the presentdoubts.'
'It takes two to make that especial kind of bargain,' said Elmur, with acurious smile, 'one to ask, the other to grant. I am prepared to askwhen I am assured that my request will be favourably received. Anambassador is esteemed in just the same degree as the country herepresents. If his country triumph he triumphs also.'
'In this case I might point out that your personal success,' theChancellor said airily, 'would be the best, shall I say the onlypossible, preliminary to the success of the mission with which hisImperial Majesty has charged you.'
Elmur drew in his lips slightly. Valerie, as the Baroness von Elmur, wasto be her father's guarantee for the future! Although Elmur's desireslay in the same direction, Selpdorf's insistence was most unpalatable tothe German minister.
'I am ready to lay myself at Mademoiselle's feet,' he said aloud, 'butthere is always the picturesque young captain of the Guard.'
'Unziar? I can positively reassure your Excellency on that point.'
'Unziar? No! The Englishman--Rallywood.'
'Rallywood?' said the Chancellor in very real surprise, 'what of him?'
'Nothing beyond the fact that he has an aptitude for challenging fate.Such men dazzle the eyes, and are consequently apt to be dangerous. Whyhas he been placed in the Guard?'
'I placed him there to serve our mutual convenience,' replied Selpdorf.'He is an Englishman, with his full share of English intolerance andcourage. On the other hand, the Guard resent the intrusion offoreigners, neither are they--mild-mannered.'
Elmur considered.
'The chances were in favour of trouble certainly. Had there been troubleRallywood might have disposed of some of our chief difficulties for us,'he remarked, with a cynical smile.
'He might also have been disposed of himself,' said Selpdorf, 'and he isthe one human being for whom the good Counsellor has the slightestregard. In politics it is necessary to consider the personal equation.To touch Counsellor in his weakest point would have been to alienateEngland at the convenient moment.'
'All that might have been true'--Elmur shrugged his shoulders;'unluckily we must face things as they actually are.'
'Even now Rallywood has his uses. The Guard is composed of the flower ofour nobility--they are not to be tempted. At least that is my opinion,although I believe Count Sagan holds differently. But this Rallywood isa soldier of fortune, a mercenary. You perceive?'
Elmur stroked his chin dubiously.
'I am very much afraid he belongs to the wrong breed. However, I wouldwish to point out that it will be essential to carry through this matterquickly. If the Duke could be persuaded to accept the scheme ofreversion, the whole arrangement would be completed before the world wasthe wiser.'
'It is the simplest plan, and therefore the best. But what will Englandsay? Counsellor is here, that in itself speaks.'
'Neither England nor the good Counsellor can touch an accomplished fact.As they say in their own idiom, "Possession is nine parts of the law."It remains with us to make the fact.'
Selpdorf arose.
'Your Excellency will excuse me. It is time to start for the palace.To-day his Highness the Duke holds a review of the Guard. I will ifpossible sound him on the subject which interests us both. Should thatfail, we must consider the alternative scheme.'
Half-an-hour later the two men met again as they dismounted in thecourtyard of the palace. They approached each other courteously.
'There stands the real obstacle to our success,' said Elmur in a lowtone.
Selpdorf followed the German Minister's glance. Standing there, in thefire-light of the guard-room, was the tall figure of Anthony Unziar,waiting with haughty stiffness for the appearance of the Duke.
'His Highness's gentlemen, the Maasaun Guard,' went on Elmur with abitter sneer, 'the impersonation of an arrogant militarism!'
'Seven--to be counted with,' corrected Selpdorf gently. 'The other, theeighth----'
'Has the initial fault of nationality. However, he goes to Sagan.'
The mist cleared as the sun rose higher until, by noon, the sky was ofa pale radiant blue laced with a delicate broidery of whitewind-scattered clouds. Looking westward the dark river wound away to thesea, ringed here and there by the highly decorated bridges oflight-toned granite peculiar to Maasau. Revonde, in the sunshine, shonein the colours of a moss-grown stone, gray and green, the twin ridges onwhich it stood fretted and embossed to their summits with the palacesand pinnacles, the spires and towers, and gardens of the spreading city.The Grand Duke, as they rounded the mounting road to the parade ground,looked back upon Revonde with a lingering glance. Selpdorf who wasseated opposite to him, had been replying to his grumbling questions asto the co
ndition of the royal exchequer with a depressing account of thehopelessness of the situation.
'Revonde is a jewel after all!' said the Duke suddenly; 'a jewel canalways be mortgaged, Selpdorf.'
Selpdorf admitted that this was true, and also hinted that the jewel hadbeen used in one way or another pretty freely to raise the revenues fora good many years, without giving much in the way of a _quid pro quo_,beyond the vague hopes and airy promises which pledged the Maasaungovernment to little or nothing. But now, he explained, the Powers weregrowing weary of so unprofitable a speculation, and were inclined toexpect some definite return for their assistance.
The Duke listened moodily, lying back on his cushions, a thin-legged,paunchy figure, whose features had lost their shapely mould under thetouch of dissipation. The nose hung long and fleshy between the pouchedskin of his cheekbones, the eyes showed a tell-tale slackness in theunder eyelid, where it merged into the loose wrinkles below. The lowerpart of the face was covered by a long but sparse moustache, throughwhich at times could be discerned that terrible protrusion of the upperlip that seems the herald of senility. Yet Gustave, Grand Duke ofMaasau, was only that day celebrating the completion of hisfifty-seventh year.
Where the carriage attained the level of the plateau, the main roadcurved away inland to the right, while upon the left hand, under thewall of encircling brown cliffs, a small brigade of all arms wasassembled to do honour to their ruler. Through a cut in the hills faraway, but seemingly nearer on that windy morning, could be seen a blueopen bay, blown into the 'innumerable laughter of the sea.' The air, thewhole scene, was inspiriting, but the Duke looked heavily on as thetroops deployed and turned, their arms glittering in the sunlight.
First in order came a couple of squadrons of the Frontier Cavalry, withtheir black sheepskins hanging behind them; then infantry, followed bytwo batteries of artillery divided by some more cavalry, and, after adistinct interval, the Guard.
The little army was perfect in equipment and finish, and their uniformswere brilliant and picturesque; but the Duke stared out of theamphitheatre of the parade ground with dissatisfaction and _ennui_.Money, he wanted money, and the less the Chancellor could encourage himto hope for it the more he desired to have it by hook or by crook.
The Grand Marshal of Maasau having been dismissed from the side of theroyal carriage with a few curt words, the Duke spoke again, in a lowtone to Selpdorf.
'Then you wish me to understand that there is no more to be got out ofanybody. I know better than that. England, Germany, and Russia, arewaiting to outbid each other.'
'That is true, sire; but they will not deal on the old terms.'
The Guard, with scattered pennons flying, were drawn up at the lower endof the parade ground. The chief effect of the day was about to takeplace--the charge of the Guard.
'I am now of an age,' remarked the Duke peevishly, 'when my birthdayshave ceased to be a cause for congratulation. This review is ananachronism. In my father's time I rode at the head of the Guard, andled a charge on the day I was eighteen. Pish! I have grown wiser, andknow how to enjoy life after a more rational fashion. To return to ourother subject--What do they want?'
Selpdorf smiled, and passed his fingers upwards over the erect cornersof his moustache.
'For example, there is a power that might pay a heavy annual sum ifyour Highness would consent to disband your Guard!' he said, with atentative smile.
The slack fallen lines of the Duke's visage grew suddenly tense. Hiseyes brightened as the tossing mass in green and gold swept down towardsthem in a thunder of hoofs, and the long-drawn shout of 'Maasau,' withwhich the Guard have charged home on so many a battlefield.
As the splendid ranks of horsemen crashed past under a flashing play ofsaluting swords, the Duke pulled himself erect in his carriage andraised his gloved hand in acknowledgment with a strong fling ofenthusiasm that recalled to men present other and better days.
Selpdorf's brow lost its round smoothness for a short moment, butcleared again before the Duke dropped back with a groan into his seat.
'Disband the Guard? What traitor suggested that? May the Guard shoot mefirst! I'd rather rot of starvation than consent to it! For with theGuard is bound up the freedom of Maasau!'
Presently he turned upon the Chancellor with a glooming and suspiciousgaze.
'Has Sagan been tampering with you?' he asked, with a sneer, 'if hetempted you now it would only be to betray you later! He hankers afterMaasau, but remember my cousin in England. He has claims which cannot beover-ridden.'
Selpdorf remained respectfully silent for a short time, revolving theextremely important admission with regard to the second claimant to theheritage of the Duchy, which the Duke in his excitement had made.
The first and simpler plan of persuading the Duke to enter into anunderstanding with Germany, to the effect that she should enjoy thereversion of Maasau in exchange for the payment of a secured annuity,was plainly hopeless. It now remained to put in motion the secondscheme, which contained elements of infinitely greater danger.
Human nature is a complex thing, yet each man's attitude of mind towardshimself, is often only an extension of his attitude of mind towards hisneighbour.
What the Chancellor said to himself to whitewash his conduct in his owneyes, who can tell? The Duke, old vice-sodden reprobate as he was, hadthat one remnant of manhood left, a determination to face the last andmost absolute contingency of life rather than sell his country.
Perhaps Selpdorf used that most guilty of all excuses--If I do not putmy hand to this thing someone else will. Maasau must fall sooner orlater to some larger power. May not I profit by it as well as another?Did he set his house of excuse upon the sand of a certain bitterwriting? 'I will persuade them,' said Satan--'I will make them twoidols, which they shall call Honour and Fidelity, and a law which shallbe called passive obedience. And they shall worship these idols!' IfHonour, Fidelity, and Obedience be idols, where then, are the truegods?
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