CHAPTER XXI
NEWS OF MINNA
I did not reply to Baron Heckscher for a few seconds. It was obvious, ofcourse, that matters had taken a new turn, and I sat thinking how to usethe situation to Minna's best advantage.
"Now that you are reasonable, we will go back a little way," I saiddeliberately. "What do you mean by asking me my motive?"
"Presumably you have some strong motive and some object to gain. Thoughfor the purposes of this interview, as you say, I am willing to call youthe Prince von Gramberg, or anything else you like, I have proofs thatyou are nothing of the kind. Apparently you are an adventurer. Certainlyyou have been Heinrich Fischer, an actor at Frankfort, and that within ayear or two. You were there for several years, and have been identifiedbeyond question. What you were before then I neither know nor care. Youhave played the part of the Prince von Gramberg, and played it withplenty of dash, spirit, skill, and shrewdness. But men don't do thesethings for no object. You have run an hourly risk of detection as animpostor, and have certainly rendered yourself liable to heavyimprisonment; indeed, proceedings are already in course for yourprosecution. Why, then, have you acted in this way?"
"Those are my private affairs," I answered after a pause; "and untilyou can disprove my assertion I remain the Prince von Gramberg, if youplease."
"As you will, your Highness." He gave the title with excellent irony. "Imay tell you that when the information reached us it was at the requestof the countess's only surviving relative that she was removed from yourcustody."
"You mean the Baroness Gratz. I had already suspected her treachery; butyou will save much trouble by keeping to the plain truth. Your objectwas not to get the countess out of my custody, but into your own, sothat while this plot to place her on the throne had apparently beenengineered in her interest it was the Ostenburg heir who should benefit.It was your work to put forward that scoundrel von Nauheim as herhusband, so that when she had been ruined by him she would be impossibleas a claimant for the throne. We may as well be frank."
He made a movement of anger at this, and then asked sharply:
"If what you say of him be true, how did you know it?"
"We may pass that by," I replied, with a wave of the hand; "sufficientthat I did know him. To save her from such a fate has been my motive."
"You have aimed high, young man; but the Countess Minna von Gramberg'shand is not for an ex--for the present Prince von Gramberg." He made thechange of phrase with dry significance. "She herself quite understandsthat."
It was my turn to start at this.
"You mean that what you have said has been told to her?"
"Your tone is enough to show me my information is correct. You will bewise to abandon that idea once for all. Neither her title nor her wealthis for a nameless adventurer."
His words stung me deeply, as no doubt he intended they should.
"If you knew----" I began, but then checked myself in the act ofblurting out what I myself might afterward repent, and said instead: "Ifyou knew my real plans, you would see the futility of pursuing this anyfurther."
"That is why I asked what your plans are. What are your terms? Most menhave a price. Name yours, and I'll see whether we can pay it."
He spoke with cold deliberation.
"My terms are the safety and immediate liberation of the countess."
"They are impossible, at the present juncture. Impossible."
"Very good; then we resume matters precisely where they were when Ientered this room," I replied, and rose as if to leave.
"You have been playing for a big stake, and I have shown you it is outof your reach. This girl is nothing to you--unless she has succeeded inwinning your valuable heart. But you are no fool to waste your strengthin chasing the unattainable. Give her up. Name your own terms in moneyand position. Enlist on my side, and whatever you ask you shall have."
"I am not for sale," I answered indignantly.
"Then you will be a fool, that's all. You have said enough to me here,coupled with the fact that you are what I know you to be, to warrant mein clapping you into a jail straightaway, and I will do it, believe me,if you force me."
"If you like to sign the death warrant of the Duke Marx in that way,you can. I have not come here to you without knowing you, and preparingfor eventualities. Your part in all this is known to others besides me,and I leave you to judge where you, or those joined with you, wouldbenefit if there were no Ostenburg heir to take the throne. Berlin wouldhave to bring back the madman, or put the Countess Minna on the throne,or some stranger; and, in either event, your power and influence wouldbe gone. But you know all this well enough. Clap me into jail as yousay, or have my head cut off if you like it better, but how would ithelp you? No, baron, you will have to try something else. The cards Ihold are too strong for you."
I flung the words at him with a reckless air, and he knew the truth ofthem. After a moment he replied:
"You mean you will keep to your mad plan of marrying the CountessMinna?"
"I have said nothing of the sort. My object is merely to free her from aposition of danger from those against whom alone she is powerless tofight. It has been part of your infernal scheme to ruin her, to take herlife, or to shut her up somewhere for the rest of it, because sheinterferes in some way with your plans."
"And you wished to put her on the throne in spite of us?"
"She has no more wish to become Queen of Bavaria than to become one ofyour kitchen wenches. You have known this throughout. She has alwaysbeen against it, and it was only for the purposes of your own doubletreachery that you would not recognize it openly. Give her the chanceand she would renounce all claim to the throne at this very instant. Butyou would give her no opportunity. You used her to mask your own hiddenscheme, and you have always harbored a design against her safety. Andnow your own precious scheme has failed, as it deserved to. She has beenyour victim throughout, just as that infamous von Nauheim has been yourabominable instrument. Where is that scoundrel now?" I cried.
He paid no heed to the question, but was rapt in thought for someseconds, and, seeing yet another development opening, I resumed my seat.
"Can I believe you?" he asked at length slowly.
"You can please yourself."
"It might be possible," he said thoughtfully, and as if half communingwith himself. "You say your terms are that the countess be at oncereleased? What use will she make of her liberty? Or rather, what usewill you make of it for her? If she is released, when will the Duke Marxreturn to Munich? And where would the Countess Minna be?"
I saw his drift in a moment.
"You mean, will I undertake that she is away long enough for this schemeof yours to go through even now?"
"You can put it that way."
"I must see her for myself before I answer."
"Even that might be practicable," he replied cautiously. "I will see."
"Where is she?"
"If this is done, and she is willing, do you pledge yourself to get heraway out of the country for the present?"
Something in his accent and tone roused my suspicions, and I watched himvery closely as he added:
"And further, that the Duke Marx shall return to Munich as soon as sheis at liberty."
"The Countess Minna's fortune must be secured to her," I said, speakingmore to gain time to think than with any real care for the money.
"You are cautious for a young man in love," he sneered; "but you needhave no fear on that score. You will not lose that."
I saw his object then pretty fully. He perceived that a marriage with anactor and adventurer such as he deemed me would help his plans for theOstenburgs at least as much as a marriage with von Nauheim. Everythingcould go forward with his scheme. Minna would be out of the way even ashe had planned, and she could still be used as a stalking-horse to coverhis great object, and thus the Duke Marx would be called to the throneapparently without having plotted for it.
There was one obstacle that I saw--von Nauheim.
> "What of von Nauheim?" I asked. "Where is he?"
The answer was a wave of the hand, as though such a consideration werebeneath serious notice.
"Is he with the Countess Minna now?" I asked, my face growing dark.
"He met with some sort of accident last night, it seems," he said, witha shrewd glance at me. "But for that he might have been with her, by thedesire of Baroness Gratz. But as it is----" he added, with another handwave.
"I don't regard him so lightly," said I, in reply to the gesture.
"You have already had to face much more serious obstacles."
"I could not choose the terms then; I can now. But I will take thechance of what I may do. I can almost pledge myself for the countess,unless you have undermined my influence with her. That is your lookout.But if you set her free at once, and she consents, I will pledge myselfto let your scheme go on as you desire, and will see that the Duke Marxis back in Munich as soon as the Countess Minna is safe out of theclutches of your agents and across the French frontier. There is no timeto lose," I added, rising, for the thought of seeing Minna had filled mewith eagerness.
"What guarantee have I that you will do this?"
"None. What can you have--except that the sooner I have shaken myselffree from this infernal intrigue the better I shall be pleased."
The sincerity with which I said this appeared to satisfy him; for aftera moment he rose to end the interview.
"And where shall I find the Countess Minna?" I asked.
"She had better not return to Munich. She can join you at Gramberg."
"Thank you, I prefer to fetch her myself," I interposed quickly.
"There is a difficulty----" he began thoughtfully.
"Then the sooner it is smoothed away the better," I interrupted.
"I will send you word where to find her. But, first, there are certainmatters which must be set straight."
"I don't trust your agents, baron; you had better understand that. Whatis to be done must be done to-day."
"I am as anxious as you can be for haste. There is more to apprehendfrom delay than you appear to think. At any moment we may have someinterruption from Berlin. But I can say no more now. If you return tothe Gramberg house and hold yourself in readiness to start, I willcommunicate with you at the earliest possible moment. I can do no more.At this instant I myself do not know the exact whereabouts of thecountess. She was taken last night to Herr Schemmell's house, close totown here, and early this morning was to have been removed--almostdirectly after your visit, indeed, of which I was, of course,informed--and was to be taken to his country-seat near Landsberg. Butuntil I know that she has arrived there it would be folly for me to sendyou out. Those who have charge of her are to use their discretion asevents may require."
"I will wait till I hear from you," I said, and as a last word asked,"You say she has been told that I am not her kinsman, the Prince vonGramberg?"
"Certainly. And probably the tale has been garnished with abundantdetails. The Baroness Gratz is no friend of yours."
"And von Nauheim?"
"If he is well enough he may have gone after them. I cannot say."
"If there is any wrong done to her, I shall set it to your account," Icried passionately, for this news of von Nauheim filled me with rage.
With this I left him, the fear that von Nauheim might even yet be ableto deal some treacherous blow haunting me.
On my way from the baron's I called at von Nauheim's house, and there Ilearned something that added to my disquiet. He had returned home in thesmall hours of the morning, and after a brief stay in the house had leftagain, declaring he might be absent for some time. This was to me likeoil poured on to a roaring fire.
"Had your master been hurt?" I inquired of the servant.
"Yes, your Highness. I believe he had had a narrow escape in somecarriage accident; but he had almost entirely recovered; and happily noserious injury was caused. He was bruised, of course, but seemed muchhimself again this morning."
This was ill news enough, and I gnashed my teeth in impotent anger, whenI reached the house and had to sit kicking my heels in idleness while Iwaited for news from the baron; and that at the very hour when, for allI knew, von Nauheim might be forcing his abominable attentions on Minna.
Late in the morning, toward noon, something happened that increased myuneasiness. A letter was brought me from Minna. It had been hurriedlywritten, and was scarcely coherent.
"COUSIN HANS,--I am in sore trouble and fear. There is no doubt I am in the hands of the Ostenburg agents--they tricked me at the ball, and I am being taken away from Munich. My aunt Gratz is with me, and it seems that Marie was false and told everything--though I scarcely distrust her. That is one story. Another is so dreadful I dare not think of it. They dare to tell me you are not my cousin, but a spy paid by the King's party to cheat us all and wreck the whole scheme. I don't believe it. I would trust you against the world. I do trust you. But I do so long to see you face to face again and hear from your own lips that all this is false. I believe I am being taken to Landsberg to the country-house of a Herr Schemmell. Aunt Gratz says so, and thinks you could come after us. She will get this letter to you. Try and follow me at once, and save me from I know not what. All this is killing me. Your distracted cousin,
MINNA."
What on earth could this jumble mean? The Baroness Gratz the medium ofnews of this sort. First assuring Minna that I was a rascally spy, andthen suggesting that I could follow and rescue them. Of course it wastreachery somewhere. Was it to put me off the scent altogether? Werethey being taken to some other place? It baffled me, and I could not seea solution.
The fact that von Nauheim had recovered, and, as I knew, had followedthem, led me to connect him with the business in some way, but how?
The thought was so maddening that I was raging and fuming at the delayin hearing from the Baron Heckscher when, to my further surprise, Pragawas announced.
He had come, he told me, to consult about the disposal of our hostage,the duke.
I turned for a moment with relief from the bewildering puzzle of Minna'sletter to ask him his news of the duke.