Victor Victorious

by Cecil Starr Johns

  *CHAPTER VI*

  "'You are the King of Rudarlia,'" I repeated.

  I looked at him blankly, he kept his eyes fixed on mine; at my mother,her face was buried in her hands, and I saw her shake with sobs; lastlyI turned to Mr. Neville, and to him I held out my hand.

  "Tell me that it is not true, tell me-- Oh, my God!--can't you? won'tyou say he is joking?" My voice, which was hoarse, cracked with thestrain of keeping from screaming.

  "It is true, Victor."

  "Then nothing on God's earth shall make me take the throne--nothing--Iswear that I----" I leaned against the table for support."Mother--mother, is this what you have kept from me, this awful thing?Can't one of you speak?--am I to be hurled into a throne?--My God--Iwon't, I won't."

  I collapsed into a chair, and buried my head in my arms; that thisshould have come to me, that my life should be suddenly cropped of itsfreedom, that I should be bound hand and foot-- Oh, my God, hadn'tthere been some other way to try me?

  I looked up, and found that I was crying; damn the tears! I brushedthem away, and caught Mr. Smith's eye; he was looking at me sadly asthough ashamed of my behaviour.

  I felt suddenly as though ice had been placed on my spine, and shivered.Was this the best I could do? My dead stepfather, what would he havethought? What did Mr. Neville think?

  I remembered Colonel von Quarovitch, and his ragged troops. Those otherbrave men turned into brigands by oppression. The gathering ofgentlefolk in Mr. Smith's house. Mr. Smith himself, who had planned andplotted so many years for me. And lastly my mother; what could she bethinking of her son? I felt Mr. Neville's hand on my shoulder, and gavea weak little laugh.

  "I'm a pretty spectacle for a King," I said quietly, "a most noble andworthy specimen. Mother dear, look up--it's all over, you shall neverhear another kick from me. And you, Mr. Smith, you acclaimed me asKing. Very well, I will be King; such a King as you may wish--withGod's help--and--and--all of you might forgive me for being such arotter."

  Mr. Smith seized my hand again and kissed it. Tears were running downhis cheeks; and they were not unmanly. My outbreak had unnerved him,for he had no doubt seen the edifice of his building fall in ruinsbefore him; but it had been the sudden relief at hearing my acceptancewhich had caused the tears.

  "May God bless your Majesty!" he said.

  My dear old tutor's arm was round my shoulders, and I heard him murmur:

  "My boy, my boy, I am proud of you."

  I bent over my mother.

  "Mother dear, don't cry, or I shall think you cannot forgive me. I willbe King, and will try to rule as my father did."

  She looked up then and smiled.

  "I'm crying now because I am so happy."

  None of us spoke for a few minutes; perhaps we needed the time to pullourselves together. I did for one, then I said:

  "Now that I have settled that I am going to be King, it might beadvisable for Mr. Smith to give us any information on the subject whichhe thinks fit; but first I should like to know why he wished us toremain in Rudarlia?"

  He considered a little before saying:

  "Because the time is at hand: Ivan is on his deathbed. You must bethere to take his place when he dies; I have everything arranged; theytrusted me to produce the King."

  "And will no one think that I am an impostor?"

  "I fancy not; several of us have known of your identity, they haveworked with me. There are thousands of people who will know yourmother, and there is Bauen; I do not think there are many who will denyhis testimony, once his part of the affair is known; also, you have onyour arm a mark, which will be recognised by the doctor who attended atyour birth."

  "When will it be necessary for us to depart?"

  "To-morrow. It was your wounding Goltz which put the finishing touch tohim; they say his rage was terrible. They told him the whole affair hadbeen arranged by me. He was very ill before, but that finished him."

  "But to-morrow, is it absolutely essential that we should go so soon?"

  "Quite, you must meet the leaders of the party as soon as possible; youmay be assured that Ivan's sycophants will not allow Prince Alexis toremain in ignorance of his cousin's state. In all probability he willbe in Karena before us."

  "If he is, we must turn him out as quickly as he came."

  "We will," said Mr. Smith with emphasis.

  And there we left it for the time. I took Mr. Neville away for an hour,up to my room, where we sat by the window in the chairs which I had leftso willingly, to hear those things which I now wished unheard. Welooked out on the river, and the sight of the sparkling water broughtback to me the last afternoon I had spent in Garace, and the girl; Isighed, and turned to my companion.

  "My dear old friend," I said, "you will understand me when I tell youthat the news this afternoon has completely thrown me off my balance;that all my plans have come down with a smash; that the idea of kinglypower has no charm for me; that I would sooner be a subaltern in theRudarlian army, with a frayed cap, than wear all the kingly regalia. Mylife in England has taught me the joys of freedom too well; I tell youcandidly, that I fear the future. I dread it, the more so now, as inall probability I shall have to make a marriage that will be to thebenefit of the state, and I had other dreams."

  He looked at me quickly.

  "Is there anyone?" he asked.

  I felt myself growing red.

  "It may be only calf-love, but I don't think so, yet I have only seenher once. I don't even know her name, but the moment I saw her I knewthat I loved her."

  "Tell me about it," he said.

  I had half feared that he would laugh at me, but he only looked rathersad and decidedly sympathetic. So emboldened, I blurted out in a shamedway the story of my meeting with the girl.

  He listened in silence until I had finished, then he held out his handto me.

  "My boy," he said, "a very similar thing happened to me when I was aboutyour age. I thought that I had lost all interest in life when shemarried some one else; unluckily, I had nothing in my life to fill thegap; I let myself become a mere machine in my work. I was morose,refusing to look for help to the quarter from which real assistance cancome; I mean from God. And then one day, when I was thinking of all mymisery, the thought flashed over me that perhaps it was a trial, perhapsI was being tested; and that idea won the day. I believed then, as I donow, that, no matter what trials come to us, there is thought andpurpose behind them.

  "Our finite minds cannot hope to understand the workings of an infiniteone, so my advice to you is this: do with all your might those thingsthat you think it your duty to do, and leave the results to God. Mancannot be infallible. You will make mistakes; profit by them; try toforget your own sorrows in healing those of your country.

  "In time you will be able to look at everything with a fresh sense ofperspective.

  "Love, if it should come to you with your marriage, will, I daresay, beof inestimable value to you. What you feel now may be more the feelingsof sexual attraction than the fuller love of comradeship and mentalsympathy; love does enter Royal marriages, in spite of the cynics."

  "I will try to think as you suggest," I said. "But there are otherthings of which I wish to talk to you. To begin with, will you comewith me to Rudarlia, will you continue to be my friend and adviser asyou have been up to now? I know that once I am on the throne I shallalways have to have Rudarlians about me; but my own private friends theycannot object to. As my private secretary, you will always be near meto help and advise. Will you come?"

  "It may cause jealousy."

  "I can't help it if it does. After Ivan and his many mistresses, theywill have to allow me one man friend; and I believe they will be pleasedto."

  "Then I will come."

  "Now one thing more, will you stay here and look after my mother untilshe can come to Rudarlia?"

  "Of course I will, if she wishes it."

  We sat up until three in the morning discussing wa
ys and means; but madeno attempt to listen to more than a bare outline of what Mr. Smith hadarranged. It would all have to come out gradually, in time I should nodoubt learn how he had worked so successfully; he stuck to the principalthings and nothing could side-track him. I slept for two hours, andthen went to see Bauen.

  It was a great day for him; he was to come to Karena with us. He hadbeen looking forward for twenty years to seeing me upon my throne.

  I believe that his soul was wrapped up in one idea, that of doing hisduty to my family. I doubt if any man, noble or commoner, had everserved a Royal family with such self-sacrifice and devotion.

  He had given his wife and only child, to save my mother and myself; andhad exiled himself for twenty years from friends and country, tocontinue in our service. God bless him.

  We, that is Mr. Smith and I, spent the day with my solicitor, attendingto some of the business entailed by my inheritance. Then, in theevening, we embarked on the journey which would bring either a crown ordeath to me.

  I say "death" advisedly; for, should anything have gone wrong with Mr.Smith's plans, it was hardly likely that Alexis and his followers wouldallow me to live.

  I am glad to be able to feel that the thought of danger rather pleasedme than otherwise.

  We had cabled to Carruthers to meet us at Ruln, a frontier post, muchfarther south than Melanov.

  We did not waste a moment of the time our journey consumed. Mr. Smithwas instructing me in the education of a King.

  At Ruln we had two hours to wait, according to the time-table; but, bylavish bribery, Mr. Smith secured a special to take us as far as thejunction, at Katalona.

  Leaving Bauen in charge of the luggage--which was light--we went insearch of Carruthers.

  We found him seated upon a bench, the picture of glumness.

  "Hullo, Splosh!" he cried, his face lighting up at sight of us. "What aforsaken place this is. I've been here five hours, and only spoken toone man, who thinks he came from 'the thigh of Jupiter,' to judge by hisside. Look, there he is."

  A dissipated looking young man, of about my own age, had slouched out onto the platform, followed by a couple of older men, both of whom weremuffled up in overcoats, in spite of the fact that it was a warmevening.

  I heard Mr. Smith draw in a hissing breath, and turned to where he hadbeen standing.

  "Hist! don't look my way, I am just in the doorway to your left; walktowards me, and stop opposite. I don't wish to be seen--that is PrinceAlexis."

  "Who?" asked Carruthers.

  "An enemy, old man, you shall know everything in a little while."

  I looked with interest at my rival, though I took good care not to allowhim to see it.

  If ever a man of his age had vice written clearly upon his face, he had;and I thought to myself that it would go even worse with Rudarlia underhis rule than under Ivan's, should he ever come to the throne. There wascruelty, craftiness, and gross sensuality in his countenance.

  Luckily, after walking up and down the platform two or three times, inclose conversation with his companions, he disappeared once more intothe miserable room. As he did so, an official approached and, with manybows, informed us that our special was waiting, a few yards down thetrack, with our baggage on board.

  Mr. Smith kept his face turned away, as we passed the window of the roomwhere Alexis was sitting. In ten minutes, we were a mile or more awayfrom Ruln.

  The pace at which we were travelling caused the single coach to rock andrattle horribly; so much so, that it was necessary for Carruthers to sitvery close to me to hear what I said, as I had to speak in a low tone.

  He was amazed and delighted that, as he expressed it, his old Splosh wasgoing to be a King.

  Then the silly fellow insisted upon kissing my hand and generallyplaying the fool; I think he did it to keep my spirits up.

  Mr. Smith looked on with a grim smile. I fancy he thought that sternrealities would come soon enough.

  There was a basket of provisions in the carriage; and, when we hadfinished our meal, he advised me to try to sleep. I took his advice,and slept like a log until he awoke me with the news that we were justgetting into Katalona.

  Two soldiers were lounging upon the platform as we alighted. I noticedthat they saluted as we passed them, and then followed us at a littledistance.

  In less than an hour the car in which we had driven from the junctionpulled up at Mr. Smith's house.

  The driver followed us in.

  Without speaking, Mr. Smith led the way into a room fitted up as alibrary; it was still dark, so he switched on the electric light. Atthe same moment, three other men entered the room. Bauen had come inwith us.

  He assisted me to remove my covert-coat; then, bowing deeply, stoodback.

  Mr. Smith advanced a step towards me.

  "Your Majesty," he said, "would you remove your coat, and show yourright arm to these gentlemen?"

  Without a word I did so.

  Just above my elbow, I have three small red marks. They are triangularin shape; birthmarks, I think they are called.

  The three men came nearer, and I held out my arm for their inspection.

  The first to examine it was a white-haired old man, who trembledviolently as he bent over. He seized my hand and kissed it.

  "God bless your Majesty."

  The other two did the same.

  "Count Belen and Count von Maark will be here to-day, if furthertestimony is needed; we have here, as well, Bauen, the groom," said Mr.Smith.

  "No further identification is necessary," declared the old man, andbowing the three withdrew.

  Mr. Smith had prepared me for this, so I was not surprised, but I didnot know who these three men were, and asked him.

  "The white-haired one was the doctor who attended your Majesty's mother,at the time of your birth; the other two are Prince von Venoff and Baronvon Casile."

  He bowed as he spoke. I glanced round, as I was surprised at hisceremonious behaviour: the driver of the car was still in the room.

  "Surely, Count," I said, "there is some one here whom I should know?"And I smiled towards the man.

  "May I present, to your Majesty, Colonel Woolgast, who commands thebody-guard?"

  The Colonel bent to kiss my hand, but I prevented him; seized hisinstead, and shook it.

  "Until I am King," I said, "I will shake your hand and call you'Colonel'; when I am King, you shall kiss my hand, but I will call you'General.'"

  He became red with pleasure; and, by the twinkle in Mr. Smith's eye, Iknew that I had done right to make a friend of this man.

  Colonel Woolgast having left the room, I turned to Mr. Smith.

  "Have you done anything about Prince Alexis?" I asked.

  "I am sending a man to watch him. Woolgast will see to it that he doesnot enter the Royal apartments. In a little time you will have toreceive a great number of people; I will be by your side to tell youwhat I can of them, to give you a better idea of what to say. All aredevoted to Rudarlia. I am glad you said what you did to Woolgast, he isnot titled, you know, and some rather snub him on that account; but heis a good man, loyal to a degree to his country."

  "Are there any members of the government?"

  "Not one; they cannot be trusted, all being Ivan's parasites."

  "How will that affect our plans, surely the Minister of War will havesomething to say?"

  "He is the worst hated man among them, the soldiers execrate him."

  "H'm! I shall look to you for a New Cabinet."

  "Your Majesty will need one, as all the present members will be in ourpower by to-night, I trust. General von Vorkovitch will give orders tothe troops for that."

  "How is it that he has not been retired by Ivan?"

  "Even Ivan did not dare to touch the man who won the battle of Vortz.He has been the idol of the country for years, but had no chance ofdoing anything to retrieve matters."

  "Jealousy?" I asked.

  "Chiefly, there was no one to be the head, that wa
s why we had to waituntil you came to an age fit for it."

  We had no time for more conversation, as the sound of motors approachingwarned us that people were arriving to pay me homage.

  I stood at one end of the room--which was very large--and waited. Mr.Smith was at my right, a little behind me; Carruthers and Bauen behindhim again. My ordeal began.

  The first few to arrive were soldiers, officers commanding regiments nowin Karena.

  These I thanked for their loyalty, and asked a few questions about theircommands.

  They looked at me with well-bred curiosity. At my request, Carrutherswas made known to them by Mr. Smith, and he stood chatting with themwhile I devoted myself to the ever-flowing tide of fresh arrivals.

  They were not all men, some dozen ladies being among them. One ofthese, a grand old lady with snow-white hair, had been a friend of mymother's. So Mr. Smith whispered as she came towards me.

  I kissed her hand and asked her to extend her friendship to me for mymother's sake.

  "Your Majesty should have more self-confidence," she replied.

  And when I laughingly hinted that she should teach me, she laughed inreply and told me that, had she been forty years younger, she would havebeen charmed.

  I assured her, with an air of astonishment, that I thought babies wereuseful to teach patience only.

  This pleased her mightily, for she remarked that her sex would be nobetter off by my replacing Ivan, for whilst he ruled women with writing,I should do it with speaking.

  This delicately veiled gibe at Ivan, for his predilection for payingvast sums of money to his mistresses by cheque, pleased those who heardit tremendously.

  "Prince Kleber, he prides himself on his fencing," this from Mr. Smith.

  I looked at the haughty, cold face before me.

  "Ah, Prince," I said after the customary salutations, "some day I hopethat you will give me a lesson or two with the foils."

  The haughty look vanished in a second.

  "Your Majesty is too kind; I am flattered."

  "The kindness will be yours, Prince, if you will give me the lessons."

  "But what could I teach your Majesty, who gave Goltz such a finethrust?"

  "A trick, Prince; but what I wish from you is the sounder play, and theknowledge of some of those thrusts of which, no doubt, you have thesecret."

  I found out afterwards that Mr. Smith's words had been of inestimablevalue, for this was his weak point: no one could flatter him too muchabout his sword-play. In other things he was unapproachable; but fromthat day to this Prince Kleber and I have been very great friends.

  The room was filling up now, and I saw Mr. Smith's face wreathed insmiles, from which I surmised that I was playing my part well.

  There was a little commotion in the crowd, and General von Vorkovitchwas announced.

  He was much older than I had anticipated, bowed, and rather shaky.

  He would have bent in homage, had I not anticipated it by advancing astep or two and taking his hand.

  "Your Majesty," he said slowly, "I have waited for this day, prayingthat I might be spared to see my King upon the throne of Rudarlia."

  "General, before I knew that I was to be a King, even when a little boyat school, I thought of and longed to see the victor of Vortz, so Godhas been good to us both." I turned to Bauen. "A chair for General vonVorkovitch." Then turning to the old man, I continued, "Sit, General,we shall want all your strength, perhaps, to win us more battles."

  The last to arrive was the editor of the most influential paper inRudarlia, a man of much importance. His articles on the abuse of powerhad more than once caused the suppression of his paper, and exile orimprisonment to himself.

  I was talking to him, when Mr. Smith made me a sign; I knew what itmeant, and nodded.

  He immediately commanded silence. Instantly a hush fell on the groupsof excited men and women, and they formed a circle round me.

  My speech was an impromptu one, the first of many, for I have foundthat, when one speaks without preparation, one often gets home to thehearts of one's hearers.

  "To all of you here this morning, I have a few words to say. God mademe, by birth, your King; you, by the loyalty and devotion you haveshown, have brought me near the throne. I thank you in my murderedfather's name and my own. If it is willed that I shall fill the placeyou would have me fill, I promise you that Rudarlia shall have a monarchwho thinks of his country first in all things, and that unjust taxation,favouritism, and wanton waste of public moneys shall be unknown while Ihave the honour to be your King. Once again I thank you."

  They were very simple words, but their effect was extraordinary; carriedaway no doubt by their excitement and joy, they cheered, and cheeredagain. I heard Carruthers' voice as he hurrahed like one possessed; andI felt that indeed I was a King come into my own.

  It was ten in the morning before the last of the visitors drove off, andwe were left alone.

  I felt very tired, and I cannot truthfully say happy. Events had movedso quickly that I had had no time for my private griefs; perhaps it waslucky.

  Soon after we breakfasted; and then I had to receive church dignitaries,but their business did not occupy much time. I had been born into theCatholic Church, and had a great love for it, so there was nothing toupset the churchmen, once I had given my word to uphold and cherishtheir faith. Their power, which was considerable, had been against Ivanfrom the first, for he had abused and scoffed at all religion, beinghimself a gross materialist.

  The Archbishop blessed me, and assured me of the support of his clergy.

  When they had gone, Mr. Smith ran over again the various factions whohad been gained to our side; and it appeared that the only enemies wewere likely to have were the newly created nobles and useless officials,together with a small number of idealists who held theories, alwaysimpracticable.

  "I know," said Mr. Smith, "that nearly the whole nation will rejoice tohave your father's son upon the throne. You have made friends of everyone who came to-day, one and all went away rejoicing. I have done all Ican now to make the way smooth; but it rests in God's hands, Victor. Hiswill be done."

  "Amen," I said.

  We lapsed into silence for a few minutes, and then he continued:

  "The Press will have a scoop to-morrow. I thought it best to leave tothem the writing of the first news; it will be necessary, however, foryou to make a declaration, simple and short, as your speech thismorning. I could never have believed those people could have so farforgotten the Royal presence, their feelings must have been very great."

  "All the better, it shows how they love Rudarlia."

  "Some day it will be their King as well," said Mr. Smith.

  And inwardly I hoped that it might be so.

  "How are we to know when to go?" I asked.

  "They will let me know from the Palace; the news of Ivan's death willnot be told until we choose. Every one, save the doctors, nurses, andWoolgast, will have been kept from the sick-room all to-day. One of thedoctors is our man; the other will be when he finds that he ispractically a prisoner."

  "But the Queen? I have never until now thought of her."

  "The Queen, poor lady, has confined herself more and more these last fewyears to her own suite. She rarely goes out, never entertains; I thinkIvan broke her heart soon after they were married."

  "But what will become of her?"

  "That will rest with your Majesty."

  "Is she loved by anyone?"

  "All those who know her intimately say that she is grieved to the heartat the misery caused by Ivan and his gang; all the little money that shehas had has gone in charity."

  "Ah!" I said.

  "I have had made," said my companion, to turn the subject, I thought, "anumber of uniforms, as near as possible to your measure. To-day I thinkit would be as well if you put on that of the Guard, not here, but atthe Palace. I think they will fit you, as I had one of your suits tomeasure from."

  There was something
pathetic to me in all these little preparations ofMr. Smith's. I felt like a boy leaving for school, when his father isadding some little thing that might give him pleasure.

  The thought of all the years spent by this elderly man working andplanning, so that I might some day be seated on the throne, gave me alump in the throat, and I bent and kissed him.

  "Victor, my dear boy, God knows I wish you had been son of mine; I couldnot have loved you more."

  "In future," I said quietly, "you shall be as my father; you guide andteach me kingcraft. I only wish I could do something to show mygratitude."

  "Ah, my boy, be yourself, trust to your conscience with regard toRudarlia, and I shall be happy in my pride--but who is this?"

  It was Baron Sluben who knocked and entered. He came up to me and bowedlow.

  "The usurper is dead; long live the King!"

  I know that from that minute I felt one, I do not know why.

  Mr. Smith took a pair of revolvers from a desk, handed one to me and putthe other in his pocket.

  "Come," he said, "it is time."

  The three of us went out to the car. I felt cool, and made somecheerful remark to Carruthers.

  "Good old Splosh, what is it to be, 150 not out?"

  "Or a duck," I said.

  Sluben, who understood a little English, looked at Mr. Smith with apuzzled expression on his face.

  "It is all right, Baron," he said, answering the look, "his Majesty istalking of an English game."

  "But the duck, Count, is it alive or for dinner?"

  This was too much for us; and we laughed heartily while explaining.

  I think our high spirits must have been contagious, for we werecontinually laughing all the way to the Palace, where we entered by aback door.

  Colonel Woolgast was waiting. After assuring us that all was well, he,at my request, led the way to a room on the same floor as the Royalapartments.

  Here, as Mr. Smith had stated, I found the uniforms laid out, and Bauenwaiting.

  In twenty minutes I was dressed, and looked at myself in a tall chevalglass.

  I looked very nice indeed, the white and gold uniform set off my figureto the utmost, while the plumed helmet added to my height and generalimpressiveness. Even Carruthers admitted that I looked like a King, anda fine one, too, which was great praise from him, who was not given topaying me compliments.

  I wore across my chest the broad ribbon of the "Star of Rudarlia" withits splendid insignia in diamonds and gold, which Mr. Smith fastened tomy tunic.

  At length, all was ready, and Woolgast slipped from the room.

  Ten minutes later, came the sullen boom of a cannon; and the people whoheard it knew that King Ivan was dead.