Prince Humphry smiled.
“Dissolve the heavens and its stars into a cup of wine, and drink them all down at one gulp!” he said; “And then, perhaps, you may dissolve my marriage with this lady! If you consider it illegal, put the question to the Courts of Law; — to the Pope, who most strenuously supports the sanctity of the marriage-tie; — ask all who know anything of the sacrament, whether, when two people love each other, and are bound by holy matrimony to be as one, and are mutually resolved to so remain, any earthly power can part them! ‘Those whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.’ Is that mere lip mockery, or is it a holy bond?”
The King gave an impatient gesture.
“There is no use in argument,” he said, “when argument has to be carried on with such children as yourselves. What cannot be done by persuasion, must be done by force. I wished to act kindly and reasonably by both of you — and I had hoped better things from this interview, — but as matters have turned out, it may as well be concluded.”
“Wait!” said Gloria, disengaging herself gently from her husband’s embrace; “I have something to say which ought to meet your wishes, even though it may not be all you desire. I will not promise to give up my husband; — I will not promise never to see him, and never to write to him — but I will swear to you one thing that should completely put your fears and doubts of me at rest!”
Both the King and Queen looked at her wonderingly; — a brighter, more delicate beauty seemed to invest her, — she stood very proudly upright, her small head lifted, — her rich hair glistening in the soft sunshine that streamed in subdued tints through the high stained-glass windows of the room, — her figure, slight and tall, was like that of the goddess dreamt of by Endymion.
“You are so unhappy already,” she continued, turning to the Queen; “You have lost so much, and you need so much, that I should be sorry to add to your burden of grief! If I thought I could make you glad, — if I thought I could make you see the world through my eyes, with all the patient, loving human hearts about you, waiting for the sympathy you never give; I would come to you often, and try to find the warm pulse of you somewhere under all that splendour which you clothe yourself in, and which is as valueless to me as the dust on the common road! And if I could show you” and here she fixed her steadfast glance upon the King,— “where you might win friends instead of losing them, — if I could persuade you to look and see where the fires of Revolution are beginning to smoulder and kindle under your very Throne, — if I could bear messages from you of compassion and tenderness to all the disaffected and disloyal, I would ask you on my knees to let me be your daughter in affection, as I am by marriage; and I would unveil to you the secrets of your own kingdom, which is slowly but steadily rising against you! But you judge me wrongly — you estimate me falsely, — and where I might have given aid, your own misconception of me makes me useless! You consider me low-born and a mere peasant! How can you be sure of that? — for truly I do not know who I am, or where I came from. For aught I can tell, the storm was my father, and the sea my mother, — but my parents may as easily have been Royal! You judge me half-educated, — and wholly unworthy to be your son’s wife. Will the ladies of your Court compete with me in learning? I am ready! What I hear of their attainments has not as yet commanded my respect or admiration, — and you yourself as King, do nothing to show that you care for either art or learning! I wonder, indeed, that you should even pause to consider whether your son’s wife is educated or not!”
Absolutely silent, the King kept his eyes upon her. He was experiencing a novel sensation which was altogether delightful to him, and more instructive than any essay or sermon. He, the ostensible ruler of the country, was face to face with a woman who had no fear of him, — no awe for his position, — no respect for his rank, but who simply spoke to him as though he had been any ordinary person. He saw a scarcely perceptible smile on his son’s handsome features, — he saw that Von Glauben’s eyes twinkled, despite his carefully preserved seriousness of demeanour, and he realized the almost absurd powerlessness of his authority in such an embarrassing position. The assumption of a mute contempt, such as was vaguely expressed by the Queen, appeared to him to be the best policy; — he therefore adopted that attitude, without however producing the least visible effect. Gloria’s face, softly flushed with suppressed emotion, looked earnest and impassioned, but neither abashed nor afraid.
“I have read many histories of kings,” she continued slowly; “Of their treacheries and cruelties; of their neglect of their people! Seldom have they been truly great! The few who are reported as wise, lived and reigned so many ages ago, that we cannot tell whether their virtues were indeed as admirable as described, — or whether their vices were not condoned by a too-partial historian. A Throne has no attraction for me! The only sorrow I have ever known in my life, is the discovery that the man I love best in the world is a king’s son! Would to God he were poor and unrenowned as I thought him to be, when I married him! — for so we should always have been happy. But now I have to think for him as well as for myself; — his position is as hard as mine, — and we accept our fate as a trial of our love. Love cannot be forced, — it must root itself, and grow where it will. It has made us two as one; — one in thought, — one in hope, — one in faith! No earthly power can part us. You would marry him to another woman, and force him to commit a great sin ‘for the good of the country’? I tell you, if you do that, — if any king or prince does that, — God’s curse will surely fall upon the Throne, and all that do inherit it!”
She did not raise her voice, — she spoke in low thrilling accents, without excitement, but with measured force and calm. Then she beckoned the Crown Prince to her side. He instantly obeyed her gesture. Taking him by the hand, she advanced a little, and with him confronted both the King and Queen.
“Hear me, your Majesties both!” she said in clear, firm accents; “And when you have heard, be satisfied as to ‘the good of the country,’ and let me depart to my own home in peace, away from all your crushing and miserable conventions. I take your son by the hand, and even as I swore my faith to him at the marriage altar, so I swear to you that he is free to follow his own inclination; — his law is mine, — his will my pleasure, — and in everything I shall obey him, save in this one decree, which I make for myself in your Majesties’ sovereign presence — that never, so help me God, will I claim or share my husband’s rank as Crown Prince, or set foot within this palace, which is his home, again, till a greater voice than that of any king, — the voice of the Nation itself, calls upon me to do so!”
This proud declaration was entirely unexpected; and both the King and Queen regarded the beautiful speaker in undisguised amazement. She, gently dropping the Prince’s hand, met their eyes with a wistful pathos in her own.
“Will that satisfy you?” she asked, a slight tremor shaking her voice as she put the question.
The King at once advanced, and now spoke frankly, and without any ceremony.
“Assuredly! You are a brave girl! True to your love, and true to the country at one and the same time! But while I accept your vow, let me warn you not to indulge in any lurking hope or feeling that the Nation will ever recognize your marriage. Your own willingly-taken oath at this moment practically makes it null and void, so far as the State is concerned; — but perhaps it strengthens it as a bond of — youthful passion!”
An open admiration flashed in his bold fine eyes as he spoke, — and Gloria grew pale. With an involuntary movement she turned towards the Queen.
“You — Madam — you — Ah! No, — not you! — you are cruel! — you have not a woman’s heart! My love — my husband!”
The Prince was at once beside her, and she clung to him trembling.
“Take me away!” she whispered; “Take me away altogether — this place stifles me!”
He caught her in his strong young arms, and was about to lead her to the door, when she suddenly appeared to remember something, and releasin
g herself from his clasp, put him away from her with a faint smile.
“No, dearest! You must stay here; — stay here and make your father and mother understand all that I have said. Tell them I mean to keep my vow. You know how thoroughly I mean it! The Professor will take me home!”
Then the Queen moved, and came towards her with her usual slow noiseless grace.
“Let me thank you!” she said, with an air of gracious condescension; “You are a very good girl, and I am sure you will keep your word! You are so beautiful that you are bound to do well; and I hope your future life will be a happy one!”
“I hope so, Madam!” replied Gloria slowly; “I think it will! If it is not happier than yours, I shall indeed be unfortunate!”
The Queen drew back, offended; but the King, who had been whispering aside to Von Glauben, now approached and said kindly.
“You must not go away, my child, without some token of our regard. Wear this for Our sake!”
He offered her a chain of gold bearing a simple yet exquisitely designed pendant of choice pearls. Her face crimsoned, and she pushed it disdainfully aside.
“Keep it, Sir, for those whose love and faith can be purchased with jewelled toys! Mine cannot! You mean kindly no doubt, — but a gift from you is an offence, not an honour! Fare-you-well!”
Another moment and she was gone. Von Glauben, at a sign from the King, hastily followed her. Prince Humphry, who had remained almost entirely mute during the scene, now stood with folded arms opposite his Royal parents, still silent and rigid. The King watched him for a minute or two — then laid a hand gently on his arm.
“We do not blame you over-much, Humphry!” he said; “She is a beautiful creature, and more intelligent than I had imagined. Moreover she has great calmness, as well as courage.”
Still the Prince said nothing.
“You are satisfied, Madam, I presume?” went on the King addressing his Consort;— “The girl could hardly make a more earnest vow of abnegation than she has done. And when Humphry has travelled for a year and seen other lands, other manners, and other faces, we may look upon this boyish incident in his career as finally closed. I think both you and I can rest assured that there will be no further cause for anxiety?”
He put the question carelessly. The Queen bent her head in acquiescence, but her eyes were fixed upon her son, who still said nothing.
“We have not received any promise from Humphry himself,” she said; “Apparently he is not disposed to take a similar oath of loyalty!”
“Truly, Madam, you judge me rightly for once!” said the Prince, quietly; “I am certainly not disposed to do anything but to be master of my own thoughts and actions.”
“Remain so, Humphry, by all means!” said the King indulgently. “The present circumstances being so far favourable, we exact nothing more from you. Love will be love, and passion must have its way with boys of your age. I impose no further restriction upon you. The girl’s own word is to me sufficient bond for the preservation of your high position. All young men have their little secret love-affairs; we shall not blame you for yours now, seeing, as we do, the satisfactory end of it in sight! But I fear we are detaining you!” This with elaborate politeness. “If you wish to follow your fair inamorata, the way is clear! You may retire!”
Without any haste, but with formal military stiffness the Prince saluted, — and turning slowly on his heel, left the presence-chamber. Alone, the King and his beautiful Queen-Consort looked questioningly at one another.
“What think you, Madam, of the heroine of this strange love-story?” he asked with a touch of bitterness in his voice. “Does it not strike you that even in this arid world of much deception, there may be after all such a thing as innocence? — such a treasure as true and trusting love? Were not the eyes of this girl Gloria, when lifted to your face, something like the eyes of a child who has just said its prayers to God, — who fears nothing and loves all? Yet I doubt whether you were moved!”
“Were you?” she asked indifferently, yet with a strange fluttering at her heart, which she could not herself comprehend.
“I was!” he answered. “I confess it! I was profoundly touched to see a girl of such beauty and innocence confront us here, with no other shield against our formal and ridiculous conventionalities, save the pure strength of her own love for Humphry, and her complete trust in him. It is easy to see that her life hangs on his will; it is not so much her with whom we have to deal, as with him. What he says, she will evidently obey. If he tells her he has ceased to love her, she will die quite uncomplainingly; but so long as he does love her, she will live, and expand in beauty and intelligence on that love alone; and you may be assured, Madam, that in that case, he will never wed another woman! Nor could I possibly blame him, for he is bound to find all — or most women inferior to her!”
She regarded him wonderingly.
“Your admiration of her is keen, Sir!” she said, amazed to find herself somewhat irritated. “Perhaps if she were not morganatically your daughter-in-law, you might be your son’s rival?”
He turned upon her indignantly.
“Madam, the days were, when you, as my wife, had it in your power to admit no rivals to the kingdom of your own beauty! Since then, I confess, you have had many! But they have been worthless rivals all, — crazed with their own vanity and greed, and empty of truth and honour. A month or two before I came to the Throne, I was beginning to think that women were viler than vermin, — I had grown utterly weary of their beauty, — weary — ay, sick to death of their alluring eyes, sensual lips, and too freely-offered caresses; the uncomely, hard-worked woman, earning bread for her half-starved children, seemed the only kind of feminine creature for which I could have any respect — but now — I am learning that there are good women who are fair to see, — women who have hearts to love and suffer, and who are true — ay — true as the sun in heaven to the one man they worship!”
“A man who is generally quite unworthy of them!” said the Queen with a chill laugh; “Your eloquence, Sir, is very touching, and no doubt leads further than I care to penetrate! The girl Gloria is certainly beautiful, and no doubt very innocent and true at present, — but when Humphry tires of her, as he surely will, for all men quickly tire of those that love them best, — she will no doubt sink into the ordinary ways of obtaining consolation. I know little concerning these amazingly good women you speak of; and nothing concerning good men! But I quite agree with you that many women are to be admired for their hard work. You see when once they do begin to work, men generally keep them at it!” She gathered up her rich train on one arm, and prepared to leave the apartment. “If you think,” she continued, “as you now say, that Humphry will never change his present sentiments, and never marry any other woman, the girl’s oath is a mere farce and of no avail!”
“On the contrary, it is of much avail,” said the King, “for she has sworn before us both never to claim any right to share in Humphry’s position, till the nation itself asks her to do so. Now as the nation will never know of the marriage at all, the ‘call’ will not be forthcoming.”
The Queen paused in the act of turning away.
“If you were to die,” she said; “Humphry would be King. And as King, he is quite capable of making Gloria Queen!”
He looked at her very strangely.
“Madam, in the event of my death, all things are possible!” he said; “A dying Sovereignty may give birth to a Republic!”
The Queen smiled.
“Well, it is the most popular form of government nowadays,” she responded, carelessly moving slowly towards the door; “And perhaps the most satisfactory. I think if I were not a Queen, I should be a republican!”
“And I, if I were not a King,” he responded, “should be a Socialist! Such are the strange contradictions of human nature! Permit me!” He opened the door of the room for her to pass out, — and as she did so, she looked up full in his face.
“Are you still interested in your new form
of amusement?” she said; “And do you still expose yourself to danger and death?”
He bowed assent.
“Still am I a fool in a new course of folly, Madam!” he answered with a smile, and a half sigh. “So many of my brother monarchs are wadded round like peaches in wool, with precautions for their safety, lest they bruise at a touch, that I assure you I take the chances of danger and death as exhilarating sport, compared to their guarded condition. But it is very good of you to assume such a gracious solicitude for my safety!”
“Assume?” she said. Her voice had a slight tremor in it, — her eyes looked soft and suffused with something like tears. Then, with her usual stately grace, she saluted him, and passed out.
Struck at the unwonted expression in her face, he stood for a moment amazed. Then he gave vent to a low bitter laugh.
“How strange it would be if she should love me now!” he murmured. “But — after all these years — too late! Too late!”
That night before the King retired to rest, Professor von Glauben reported himself and his duty to his Majesty in the privacy of his own apartments. He had, he stated, accompanied Gloria back to her home in The Islands; and, he added somewhat hesitatingly, the Crown Prince had returned with her, and had there remained. He, the Professor, had left them together, being commanded by the Prince so to do.
The King received this information with perfect equanimity.
“The boy must have his way for the present,” he said. “His passion will soon exhaust itself. All passion exhausts itself sooner or — later!”
“That depends very much on the depth or shallowness of its source, Sir,” replied the Professor.
“True! But a boy! — a mere infant in experience! What can he know of the depths in the heart and soul! Now a man of my age — —”
Delphi Collected Works of Marie Corelli Page 558
