*CHAPTER XVI*
The next morning was so fine and sunny that I was out of bed before fiveo'clock. I dressed quickly and walked over to the village of Stranz.
Early as my visit was, the inhabitants were astir, the wounded boybetter. His bandages were tied in so professional a manner that I askedthe mother where she had learnt.
"It was not I, Excellency, but the surgeon. He came last evening and isto come again. The lady whose horse fell down had him sent for, may thegood God bless her!"
This was good news to me, for it proved that the Princess had not beenso unconcerned as I had imagined her to be, and I love to see women fondof children. Her apparent coolness had been rather a disappointment.Now, however, when I thought it over, I saw how much wiser she had beento send for some one whose duty it was to attend to such cases ratherthan attempt anything herself. Also, there had been so many women aboutto offer their sympathy and advice that hers would have been littleappreciated.
Thinking over this, and other things, I walked back to the chateau.
It was eight o'clock when I came down for the second time that morning.I went out on to the terrace, and found the Princess and her host deepin conversation.
"Your Majesty is an early riser," he said, after we had shaken hands.
"Generally, and this morning was so lovely that I could not waste it,and so went for a walk in the cool hours."
"Has your Majesty been out before, then?"
"Yes, I walked over to Stranz, where I found the wounded boy progressingwell with every hope of a speedy recovery, thanks to Her RoyalHighness's kindly thought."
The Princess blushed, then she gave a little laugh.
"I could do nothing myself, you know."
"Except think of the very best thing to be done," I said.
"You are kind, but then I think you must be always so."
"It is not always possible, Princess."
"But you are generally, and so I am going to ask a favour for my host:it is that your Majesty will stay for a few days here if you can sparethe time."
"This is my holiday, Prince, and I am for once my own master, so I willaccept your invitation with great pleasure, but only on condition thatyou do not alter your accustomed routine of life. Let me remain Mr.Stevens as hitherto, for I think it would be unwise to publish the factthat I am staying here. Of course I must let my Ministers know. Mr.Neville will see to that, and also secure some more suitable apparel, ifyou will lend him the means to reach Askoff."
"Your Majesty does me much honour," said the old gentleman, who wasevidently greatly pleased with the alacrity with which I had acceptedhis invitation. I have often wondered since whether he had seen howmuch I enjoyed the company of the Princess, and whether she had hintedthat we might stay if invited.
For two days we lived the ordinary life of the chateau, and I was ashappy as I have ever been. It was all so new to me, for, although therehad been my own home-life in England, this was far more intimate thanmine had ever been; or perhaps it was simply that now I thought aboutit, and before I had not. Whatever it was, it made me wish to have ahome-life of my own.
I am afraid that I victimised the Princess, for I demanded a great dealof her time. I was greedy for her company, I revelled in the presenceof so fair a companion; but all the time, happy though I was, therelurked the question: am I to leave her behind and retain but a memory?I debated this point with myself over and over again: how could I besure after so short an acquaintance that I really cared for her in theway which to my mind was absolutely necessary? I, myself, was ascertain in my heart that I had met my match as I could be of anything,but my brain bade me beware of jumping to a conclusion before deepmeditation. I knew that she attracted me physically, that there was aquality in her personality which answered to a similar quality in mine,but I did not know whether I was intoxicated with love or really inlove. Was I, with youthful inexperience, mistaking the abstract desirefor the reality?
I would try to argue with myself as to my own feelings, and faileddismally more often than not, but I know that I invariably ended mymental researches with the rather naive question: and what are herfeelings in the matter? That would send me down into the depths ofdespair, and make me wish that I had gone to Sonale, but the next momentI regretted such thoughts, and looked upon them with a feeling ofdisgust, almost of disloyalty, for how could I surmise the worst beforeputting the question to the person most concerned?
The third day of our visit dawned, and I do not think it will ever slipfrom my memory. To begin with, the weather was brilliant, gorgeous warmsunshine even early in the morning, but possessing, thanks to thealtitude, just sufficient snap in the air to make one feel that it wasgood to be alive. I can recall the pleasant, friendly, good-temperedfeeling at breakfast that morning, how every one there was as ifaffected by the sunshine outside, and sparkled naturally, I think mostespecially this was the case with Sonia, who had evidently had newswhich delighted her. The Prince gently chaffed her about a letter, andthen explained to me that his daughter's fiance was to be with them fora little while.
I naturally turned to say something appropriate, and noticed that herface wore rather a perturbed expression.
"What is troubling you, Mademoiselle Sonia?"
She blushed faintly, and it was the Princess who answered for her.
"The young officer in question is one of your Majesty's subjects;perhaps, in respect of your incognito, it were as well that he should bestopped."
"One of my officers, is he? That explains the kindness shown to me.Love me, love my king! eh?" I looked at the Princess and noticed atwinkle in her eye. "Perhaps," I continued, "if it will not disturbyour plans too much--er--this young officer had better not--hadbetter----" I waited again as though in perplexity.
The Princess smiled, there was a pitiful look on Sonia's face.
"I was only going to suggest that he should see you before he sees me,it will make him less nervous."
Had I been other than a king I firmly believe that Sonia would havecalled me "Pig," or something equally endearing, especially as herfather and the Princess laughed heartily.
I never knew where Mr. Neville vanished to that morning, but soon afterbreakfast he disappeared, and we did not see him again until lunch. Ifancy he wished me to have the opportunity to spend the morning oncemore alone with the Princess, he knew that I always insisted upon thePrince attending to his affairs as though I was not there as a guest,and he also knew that Sonia would not be likely to be in the way.
It seemed perfectly natural to me when I found myself alone with thePrincess, seated beneath a great tree in the garden with nothing to dobut enjoy myself; and yet up to these last few days I had had littletime in my life for idleness. As a matter of fact, I don't as a rulelike to be lazy, but this morning I felt that I should have slain anyonewho proposed doing anything. I wanted to be quite slack, with nothingto do but delight in my companion, a frame of mind which I foundridiculously easy to fall into. So there we sat, I am afraid withoutthought, on my part, of any desire to move that my companion might havehad. I was for the time absolutely selfish, and, what is more, I feltas though I exulted in it. I sat and watched the Princess's face; itwas well worth it, it was so fascinating with its constant change ofexpression. Our conversation was for the most part trivial, light andyet interesting, for to know people well, the lighter side of theirnatures must be studied as well as the more serious, and I was desirousto know all I could about the Princess. Presently I said:
"Tell me about Sonia's fiance, Princess, do you like him?"
"Very much indeed, he seems to be a splendid fellow and absolutelydevoted to Sonia."
"Which is quite understandable."
"What do you wish to know about him?"
"Well, I should like to know his name, and what regiment he belongs to,and anything else which you think might interest me."
"His name is Boris von Landsberg, and he is a lieutenant in a dragoonre
giment now quartered in Garace; he is very good-looking."
"So is Sonia, they will make a handsome couple. Is it to be soon?"
"I am afraid not very soon."
"That's a pity; may I ask why?"
"Simply lack of fortune, I believe."
"That's a pity."
"Yes, but you see, although Landsberg is of a very old and distinguishedfamily, it has never been a wealthy one; and Sonia's father has told mequite frankly that his means will not permit of his doing more than helpat present."
"I can understand that, as he seems to have a great number of peopledependent upon his bounty."
"So they will have to wait, I am afraid."
"It's a pity," I said again.
"I think so, but there are so many cases which seem pitiable to me.However, I have a very finite mind, and so perhaps look at them in thewrong way."
"I fancy we are all inclined to limit our vision, and not seek todiscover the lessons to be learnt by adversity."
"That is quite true, but I am afraid it is not the philosophy likely toappeal to lovers, and the two we are speaking of are very fond of eachother."
"Something might be done in their case, I hope; at least I will see ifit is possible."
"Oh, will you help them?"
"Would you be pleased, Princess?"
"Indeed, yes; for, next to my sisters, I love Sonia."
"Then I must do what I can."
"You _are_ good. I don't wonder that you are beloved."
"Blatant flattery, Princess, which makes me blush, a thing which Iassure you is extremely bad for me."
"Do you often suffer in that way?"
"Not very; Mr. Neville sees to that."
"What a nice man he is."
"One of the finest characters I have ever met; one of the staunchestfriends a man ever had."
"He is devoted to you."
"He must be to have put up with my whims for so many years."
"Have you many?"
"Quite a number."
"Then, be really interesting and tell me some."
"You must be prepared for terrible shocks, now listen: I am romantic, afatal mishap in a king, one liable to lead him into all sorts oftrouble."
"In what way?"
"Well, you know how a king is bound by rules and regulations, somedating from the stone age. I want to break them all, I want toestablish precedents for royalty, such as the right to sneeze without achamberlain to assist. And then, think of how much might be done tolighten the lives of those royalties who are not in the highestpositions; the really worthy members who devote their lives to openingthings, I don't mean boxes of sardines or anything like that, buthospitals, exhibitions, etc."
"There is, I am afraid, a certain flippancy in the air this morning; Ishall catch it soon, if you continue."
"That would be terrible, Princess. Just imagine, if you can, thefeelings of the staid members among my people, how shocked they would beto think that their monarch was ever natural. You see what cause thereis for my whims."
"They would write long letters to the papers entitled 'Should Kings beFlippant?' or 'Should Kings Smile?'" chimed in my companion.
"And the editor would invite his readers to discuss the matter in hiscolumns, thus supplying himself with copy free of charge; one can see inthat the work of an immutable providence, decreeing that nothing in theway of effort shall be wasted."
"And what else would you do to lighten the lot of royalty, besidesallowing them to sneeze unaided?"
"There are three heads to my next thought, which I will place in thefollowing order--Life, Death, and Love." I am afraid that I paused alittle longer than was absolutely necessary after the last word, then Icontinued, "To be a really good royal person, it is required that Lifeshould be lived according to the rules and regulations appertaining tothat station in life. Now, supposing that three great nobles have theright to pull off your stocking when you retire; that is quite excellentin its way, but there are drawbacks, for instance: for three men to pullat one stocking necessitates the possession of big feet by the king,then----"
"Oh, stop, stop, please! These terrible pictures which you conjure upare most upsetting."
"Very well, let us discuss the next head--Death. Again, there, we seethe power of the Press; a royal person must always say somethingsuitable as 'Last Words.' That is the only way in which Grand Operaresembles real life, for, in operatic death scenes, the dying personalways sings the most difficult note just as the breath leaves thebody."
"You are becoming morbid."
"Then I had better close the discourse, for if I become morbid overdeath, I--but there, I will not bore you."
"Oh, please, do, I am really interested in your views on life."
"You are not a society reporter by any chance, in disguise, are you?"
"No, but it must be rather a fascinating life, they see so much morebeauty in the world than ever exists."
"How unkind to the ladies."
"Very, but I am waiting for your last--what shall I call it?"
"Well, I described it as 'Head,' but perhaps we might call it 'Heart.'"
"And what have you to say about that?"
"Only that it always seems such a pity that royalty must love to order."
"It would be better, I think, if you said marry to order, for surelylove is one of those things which we cannot really control."
"Mr. Neville might know, Princess, he is a walking encyclopaedia, but Icannot say, having had no experience."
"How sad, poor King! Has there been no one to touch your heart?"
"Well, once I thought I was really in love, but I was not."
"Dear me, you said that very emphatically."
"Did I? It must be because I am so certain about it."
"Do tell me about it, or would it awaken fond memories best forgotten?"
"I fear that I should become morbid--but there, I might as well tellyou, in spite of the fact that I no longer love her; yet therecollection of our last parting makes me always sad. Perhaps you havenoticed the streak of melancholy in my nature."
"Of course I have, especially to-day."
"We were torn asunder, a woman came between us----"
"Poor King!" said the Princess, shaking her head sadly. "And what didyou do?"
"I rebelled, I fought, I lost my temper, refused to take my food, sobbedin my agony, cried imploringly to those who parted us. Alas, it was ofno avail, I was torn by force from her loving arms and deposited in mycot; for I was only three, and my love was the nurse, who had in someway offended my mother."
"I really did not know you could be so facetious, and I think it a shameto work my feelings up to such a pitch, make me ready to weep tears ofpity, and then let me down with such a jar; you really might be a modernnovelist."
"Well, well, well! what a lot of nonsense we are talking; you willobserve that my innate modesty prevents me from taking all the credit."
We interlarded our frivolity with spasms of sensible conversation, and Ilearnt many things which I had wanted to know, some of which surprisedme; one of them was that the Princess had been about to become engagedto that hound Alexis. I thanked God that he was dead, for the merecontemplation of such a thing was insulting to her. She told me thatshe had not been asked about the matter, that she had been brought upwith the idea of marrying him, and that really she had never given thematter serious consideration, as from earliest girlhood she had beentold that all marriages were for the good of the State, that is, allroyal marriages. I asked her whether she had any idea whom her fathernow wished her to marry, and she told me that she did not know, butsupposed it would be some grand duke or German princeling. I vowed inmy heart that such an appalling fate should not be hers if I could helpit, for I knew something of the terrible and stupid etiquette of suchCourts: soul-grinding rules and regulations which stamp outindividuality and forbid happiness.
I have never been able to discover the use of out-of-date etiquette, andI have always strive
n to abolish it in my own Court, whenever the reasonfor its existence was lost in the mist of ages.
To return, however, to my companion and myself. We were enjoying themorning immensely; I make it a plural statement for the simple reasonthat the Princess told me she was. We were like two children on aholiday, and when I suggested that titles were formal, and that we eachknew the other's Christian name, and that cousinship, however remote,allowed the use of them, she agreed, and from then we were "Irma" and"Victor" to each other.
"Irma is a pretty name," I said.
"Victor is a pretty name," mimicking me.
At which we both laughed, for my disgust at having anything pretty aboutme was apparent.
Presently our host and Sonia joined us, and the conversation grew moreserious, and widened considerably. The Prince was interested in aseries of experiments he was making with regard to agriculture, and Ifound his theories more than worthy of being listened to. Mr. Nevillejoined us, and as usual added his sound views to our discussion; hisremarks were always apt, reaching to the core of the question, and hisvast store of knowledge almost invariably threw light on some knottypoint.
The sound of a galloping horse drew our attention, and I saw that Soniashowed signs of agitation, so surmised correctly that Boris vonLandsberg had arrived. Presently the Prince brought him up andpresented him to me, and I found that the report I had received did notbelie him, for he was a strikingly handsome man, about my own age. Hewas a trifle confused when presented, and his face seemed vaguelyfamiliar, but it was only later in the day that I recalled where I hadmet him.
For an hour or two after lunch, we amused ourselves with some rare oldbooks and manuscripts which the Prince had collected. I need hardly saythat we had excused Landsberg from such arduous duty.
I took the opportunity, when Mr. Neville had left the room for somereason, to speak to the Prince about Landsberg.
"Prince," I said, "Her Royal Highness has told me something of the factsregarding your daughter's engagement to Landsberg, and I should like, ifI knew that it was your wish, to do what I could to make the unionpossible."
"It has always been my dearest wish that they should marry, yourMajesty, but unfortunately I am so placed, that it is impossible for meto give financial assistance, that is, of course, enough. When mattersare settled down, I hope, however, to be able to do so. Landsberg ishimself practically dependent upon his pay, with, perhaps, a couple ofhundred pounds private income; now, although I am not a snob, I do notwish my only daughter to live in a state of genteel poverty. It may besimply false pride upon my part, but we are an old family, and----"
"Say no more, Prince, I understand perfectly and have only deep respectfor such pride; now will you let me confide in you? What I wish to sayis this: I myself am bound for state reasons to marry soon; and, withthat thought in my head, I would like above all things to have yourdaughter in my wife's entourage."
"Your Majesty honours me too greatly; my daughter could not be at anyCourt more noble than yours will be, and I thank your Majesty mostsincerely."
"Then you will allow me to make it possible for them to marry?"
"I shall take pride in the fact that my daughter is your Majesty'ssubject."
"Thank you, Prince, then I must see what I can do."
When we joined the others in the garden, I took Landsberg aside to aquiet corner, where we could talk without interruption, and said:
"I congratulate you, your betrothed is a most charming girl."
"I have the honour to share your Majesty's opinion," he answered.
"It seems to me, though, that as you are only at present a lieutenantyour marriage must be postponed for some time."
"Unfortunately that is the case, your Majesty."
"You know I don't approve of officers marrying until they have reachedthe rank of captain, the majority of them have no time to do anythingbut learn."
"Yes, your Majesty."
"Now from what I have learned of you, I gather that you love yourprofession. Am I right?"
"With all my heart."
"H'm! what would Mademoiselle say to that?"
"She is already jealous of my profession, your Majesty."
"Well, well! Now listen to me, Landsberg. You know I am againstfavouritism in my army, but in my Guards I appoint my own officers; thatbeing so, I intend to offer you a captaincy in that regiment as soon asyou have passed the examination for that rank."
He gave a cry of joy, but before he could say anything I continued:
"One minute more before you thank me. A captaincy in the Guards carrieswith it a certain increase in pay; there are also posts which aregenerally filled from the Guards, I mean those of military secretaries,they also have the good side of extra pay to them. I shall appoint youto one which is now vacant, and I think with a little economy you canthen marry; I think, too, that you will still have time to do your dutyto your wife."
A sob broke from him, and for a moment I feared he would break down, buthe recovered himself.
"How can I thank your Majesty? You save my life first, and then add tothat by giving me so much."
"Save your life?" I was frankly puzzled.
"I was the officer whom your Majesty carried out of fire near the bridgeof Atar."
"I thought your face was familiar, Landsberg, and I am pleased that myefforts were so successful. No, no, don't try to say any more, say allthat to Mademoiselle."
He stayed where he was, for I promised to send Sonia to him; so when Iregained the others I said to her:
"There is some one at the end of the shrubbery who has somethingterribly important to say to you, mademoiselle; I think he has found afour-leaved clover or something."
I sat down next to my host.
"Prince, I have lost no time in doing what I promised, as I do not knowwhen I shall be recalled; I have therefore done my best to upset yourhousehold arrangements by making Landsberg a captain in my Guards, andone of my military secretaries. This will be confirmed as soon as he haspassed his examination, and then, of course, the matter rests with you.Let us walk a little, shall we?"
He was very affected by what he considered the honour and kindness I hadshown him, and I thought that out of sight of the others he mightrecover himself more quickly. I do not think that he had ever had muchconsideration from his own countrymen, although he had done a great dealfor them. He was a splendid nobleman, both by rank and nature.
Having played the part of good fairy to the best of my ability, I onceagain turned my thoughts to my own affairs, which, strange to say,centred upon the Princess, and I was thinking of her when I rejoined thegroup in the garden.
I found an extraordinary amount of agitation where I had left thePrincess and Mr. Neville talking quietly. Sonia, radiant and tearful,Boris von Landsberg beside himself with joy, Mr. Neville smilingbroadly, with his eternal quizzical expression, and the Princess--Idon't know how to describe the expression upon her face, it wasindefinable, there was joy in it at the others' happiness, yet there wasa tinge of sadness there too. She glanced at me as I came up, but Icould not read the mystery of that look, I had no skill in reading awoman's thoughts in her eyes.
"I know exactly what you want to say, mademoiselle, but there is no timebefore tea, and after that we have to dress for dinner, so let us forgetabout it. No, I mean it--well, there, if you must. Now the other handis jealous, so you must kiss that, too."
We were a merry party at tea that afternoon, for the joy of the engagedcouple was contagious, and none of us were really sober-minded until itwas time to dress; then I received a shock, for Mr. Neville came into myroom with me.
"Have you enjoyed your day, Victor?" he asked, smiling.
"Immensely, thanks."
"Good! and when did you propose leaving?"
"The day after to-morrow; why?"
"Because there was this from Zeula. I did not give it to you before,not wishing to spoil your day, but he seems to think you are reallyneeded."
I read the
letter he handed to me; it was of importance.
"We must leave to-morrow early," I said.
"How shall we travel?"
"We will ride to Ruln, it will be the quickest way."
"Horses?"
"The Prince will lend us some."
"We can do it in a day if we start early and catch the night train. Iam sorry, my boy, that your holiday has been spoilt."
"Spoilt? Not a bit, I have enjoyed it tremendously."
"We have not been to Sonale."
"Damn Sonale!"
At which he smiled and left me.
I began my preparations. As a rule, I dress very quickly, but to-nightnothing went right; my studs slipped on to the floor in the maddeningway which studs have, and could only be discovered after a long andtemper-trying search, but the worst offender amongst my garments was mytie; with that I wrestled for a quarter of an hour at least, then Ilooked at myself in the glass and said out loud, "She may not care forme," which explains my want of success--my mind was concentrated onsomething else.
Did she care for me? could she care for me? would she care for me? wasit possible to make her care for me as I did for her? I knew by thenthat I was in love. I also knew that I wanted to ask Irma to marry me,and there I stuck and realised that I was afraid.
I tried to tie a neat bow, and failed; again, with the same result; thenI tore the offending strip of material off and threw it away from me. Iremember feeling grieved that it did not travel far through the air,and, as soon as I realised I felt that about it, my sense of humour cameto my rescue, and I roared with laughter at my own stupidity. Pickingup the tie, I tried again with immediate success, so the strip of fabricdid grace my royal neck after all.
I asked the Prince whether he could let us have horses early nextmorning, as I had been recalled, and after having promised them heexpressed his sorrow at our departure:
"Loyal Bornian as I am, your Majesty, I have grieved sometimes latelythat I was not born a Rudarlian."
"I wish well that it had been so, Prince; but, now that your daughterwill be living in Karena, you must look upon it as your second home."
Dinner was not as satisfactory a meal as tea had been; for the life ofme I could not frivol as I had done, and Sonia and Landsberg, I fancy,were too happy; the other three did nobly, however. When the Princeasked me how far we expected to get the next day, I said as far as Ruln,and looked instinctively at the Princess. I don't know what I hoped,perhaps that she would give some sign of her feelings, but she onlylooked up swiftly and said:
"Are you leaving us then?"
"Yes," I answered cheerfully, although my heart had sunk to my boots."You see I am not allowed too long a holiday, for fear that I should getlost."
"I am sorry, I was going to propose a ride to Shesaks Towers to-morrow."
"I'm afraid that must be a pleasure deferred, Princess."
"For how long, until you are too old to climb properly?"
She smiled her question, and my heart went right through the floor; butI managed to answer her smile and say lightly:
"I hope before then, in fact I am thinking of asking Landsberg to takemy place and let me have his."
"God forbid, your Majesty," said that young man, looking at Sonia.
"Oh, I don't mean now, Landsberg."
A remark which caused laughter and enabled me to recover; it alsochanged the subject.
I own to being small-minded and ridiculous, but I felt piqued at theapparent indifference with which Irma greeted the news of our departure,and so, to add to my folly, instead of going into the garden afterdinner, I proposed a game of billiards to the Prince, and he, thinkingno doubt that I meant it, fell in with the suggestion, so that insteadof spending my last evening in the company of Irma, a good deal of itwas spent knocking silly ivory or bonzoline balls about with a sillypiece of wood.
Mr. Neville came in after we had played for some time, and remarked thatit was a most lovely night, that it was as fine a moon as we had hadthat year, or something like that. Every remark was a hint that we hadplayed long enough, but I refused to see, or pay any attention, until atlast he said:
"We shall have to say good-bye to-night, as we are starting so early."
Only then did I realise what an ill-tempered cub I was; and, when thegame ended, proposed we should join the others.
However, the Prince excused himself, as it was later than usual, so Iwent out by myself. I saw no one on the terrace where we generally sat,so concluded that they had gone down the garden, and was about to followand try to find them, when a voice said:
"Well, Victor, who won?"
I turned quickly, and there was the Princess seated in a big arm-chair,in the shadow of a trailing mass of jasmine and roses which hung overthe terrace.
She was alone, so I drew up another chair beside hers.
"You see I have come to bore you again, Irma," I said lightly.
"I wonder?" she answered, and then continued, "Did you have some goodgames?"
"Very." I added "Liar" under my breath.
"Isn't it a perfectly gorgeous night? Even I feel less prosaic undersuch a moon."
"You are not prosaic, are you?"
"Good gracious me, yes, I have no chance of being anything else, and amnot sure that I could be if I tried ever so hard."
"Nonsense."
"I assure you it isn't. I wish it were, for then I could dream allkinds of lovely things, instead of thinking about my meals and clothes."
I felt suddenly chilled, without any reason that I knew of, save thefact that I could not seem to get into touch with this mood of hers. Itwas a few minutes before I essayed another remark.
"I wonder when we shall meet again."
"Oh, we are sure to meet somewhere some day, people always do, it issuch a small world really. I wish you could come to Sonale, I'm sureyou would find a great deal to interest you, and I know you would likemy sisters."
"I'm sure I should."
I did not put much fervour into my voice; and Irma evidently noticed it,for she turned the subject.
"What time do you leave to-morrow, Victor?"
"We are starting about four, it will be light by then, and I hate ridinga horse hard."
Another pause, and then:
"You are very brave, aren't you, Victor?"
"Good Lord, no! Why?"
"Landsberg told us how you saved his life."
"The deuce he did! well, I must warn him not to tell anyone else, and Ihope you will keep it dark."
"Of course if you wish it, but why so modest?"
"I'm not particularly so, but what I did was nothing much really, and itwas in the heat of action."
"According to Boris, it was something very brave."
"Dangerous perhaps; but, as I did not realise the danger at the time,there is so much the less credit."
"Well, I think it was very brave."
"That is kind of you, Irma."
"I want to thank you for what you are doing for Sonia and Boris vonLandsberg; she has confided to me that she will have to live in Karena."
"I hope she will be happy there, when I am married the Court will begayer."
"Oh, I do congratulate you, I had heard nothing of your engagement."
She held out her hand, and laughed merrily.
"Oh, it isn't settled yet," said I lamely, and subsided into silence.
I felt terribly unhappy and cold, all my joy of the day had vanished andI sat among the ruins of the edifice of love which I had built up; itwas as if something had blotted out the moon and plunged me intodarkness. Her delight at the thought of my being engaged had done it;now I knew that she did not care, and I was miserable.
The laughter of Sonia and Landsberg, as they walked up the path towardsthe house, drew our attention and put a stop to any chance there mighthave been for me to get back to a normal condition. As it was, we soonparted for the night, nay more, for we should not see them on themorrow.
As I shook hands with the Prince
ss, I reddened underneath my skin withthe effort that I had to make to prevent myself taking her in my armsbefore them all, and proclaiming aloud that I loved her better than allthe world. Poor little King, with all your power, with all your pride,you were a pitiable coward before the bright eyes of the girl you loved;and deserved to be miserable.
What a terrible night I spent; hours of restless tossing in acomfortable bed, hours of self-reproach, and despair, until at last Ifell asleep.
Mr. Neville and I, after a hasty breakfast and an almost affectionategood-bye to our host, who had turned out to bid us farewell, rode awayfrom the chateau. As we passed the wing in which the Princess had herapartments, I looked up at the windows, and hugged myself with joy tosee a hand wave us a last greeting, and hear a sweet voice call out:
"_Bon voyage!_"
Victor Victorious Page 16
