CHAPTER II
A GATE OF LIFE
I was droning in the small Rhine town Hamnel, close to Kehl, and struckup a casual acquaintance with a man of about my own age, named vonFromberg, to whom I had been at first attracted somewhat by the factthat in some respects he resembled myself. It happened, too, that onenight I was able to render him a little service.
I was walking late near the river when he came rushing up to me to begme to help him against the attack of a couple of men who were runningafter him with some angry threats. He was trembling and very muchexcited, although there did not seem to me to be much cause for fear;for the men sheered off as soon as they saw he was no longer alone.
My companion was greatly agitated, however, and talked, as I thoughtvery absurdly, about my having saved his life. For the next two or threedays he would scarcely leave my side; and during that time he pouredinto my ears much of what was filling his soul. It was only a littlesoul, and the contents mere tags and patches of dishevelled passion andemotions, though to him all real and disturbing enough.
He was a student and a dreamer, and of course in love. He had in someway got mixed up in some brawling with the men who I had seen pursuinghim, and the whole trouble had set his little pulses throbbing andpalpitating with the fear of terrible but quite vague consequences.
He told me also his love troubles. The girl he wished to marry wasFrench, and while his people hated the French, her father would onlyallow him to marry the daughter if he would become a Frenchman. Andmingled up with all this was a strange story of family complications.The pith of this was that his uncle, the head of the family, the Princevon Gramberg, a well enough known man, had written to urge him to go atonce to the castle, declaring that his instant presence was imperative.Von Fromberg was thus the prey of three sets of emotions--desire tomarry the French girl; terror of the men he had in some way provoked;and deadly fear that his uncle would prevent his turning French, and sostop his marriage. The last disquieted him the most.
"He has never seen me," he cried quite passionately, "never even given athought to me, till I suppose he thinks that, as his son is now dead, Ican be of some use to him. And he is such a fire-eating old devil hewould think nothing of kidnapping me and shutting me up till I did whathe wanted, and gave up my marriage. He loathes everything French."
It was difficult to associate von Fromberg with any very fire-eatingkith and kin, but I sympathized vaguely, and soon found out his reasonsfor giving me his confidence. He wanted me to help him, and the requesttook a singular shape. He was to be married, and was crossing thefrontier to Charmes for the purpose; and as he was very fearful ofinterruption and pursuit, he wished me to remain in Hamnel for a coupleof days in his name.
It sounded ridiculous, and of course I demurred, pointing to a dozendifficulties that might follow. He pressed me very strongly, however,until I had to tell him pretty curtly that I would do nothing of thesort. He was silent a minute and then said:
"Of course it must be as you please, but if I tell people that your nameis really von Fromberg and mine Fisher it will not hurt any one."
"I shall very speedily undeceive them," I answered promptly, and thoughtlittle more about the matter. But on that day I had to change myresidence, and the next morning I found to my annoyance that he hadindeed told the people at both houses that my name was in reality vonFromberg and his Fisher.
It was too small a matter to make a fuss about; and as I reflected thatthe only result would be to let him get married with fewer fears, I keptmy anger till we should meet again.
But I little foresaw the consequences.
I was away for several hours in the latter part of the day, walking andsketching, and on my return to the house at night I thought there wassomething strange in the manner of a servant who met me and said twogentlemen were waiting for me in my room.
"For me?" I said, with some astonishment; for I could not think of anytwo men in the whole empire likely to come for me.
"Yes, sir, for you. They asked for you first as Herr von Fromberg, thenas Mr. Fisher."
"Some more tomfoolery," I thought, as I went up the stairs, and then itflashed across me that they might be connected with the visit vonFromberg had been fearing.
A glance at the two men who rose at my entrance showed me they were atleast gentlemen--officers, I thought, in mufti. They were both dark,and one--the elder--carried a beard, the other a heavy mustache only.
"Good evening, gentlemen," I said quietly. "To what do I owe the favorof this visit?"
I was disposed to be on my guard for von Fromberg's sake. The man withthe beard answered.
"This is the first time we have met, Herr von Fromberg. My name is vonKrugen, and my friend's Steinitz."
I was not quite sure whether to repudiate von Fromberg's name at once,or to wait until I knew more of the errand. I decided that it could dono harm to wait.
"And your object in coming?" I asked.
I saw a glance pass between the two, and the younger stepped past mecasually, and took up a position close to the door. This interested meat once. It was quite obviously a move to prevent my running away. Theyseemed to understand von Fromberg's character.
"I think you will be able to guess," he replied, waiting until hiscompanion had carried out the manoeuvre. "We wish to have a littleprivate conversation with you, and to induce you to go with us--you willknow where."
"And to make sure that it shall be private, I suppose you got yourfriend to stand over there by the door," I said, motioning toward him.
"A merely superfluous caution, I am sure," was the answer, given with asmile; "but a locked door always keeps intruders out."
"And prisoners in," I retorted.
"True," he assented, with another smile. "So you may as well lock it,Steinitz," and this was done promptly.
I laughed. I had, of course, nothing to fear.
"I shouldn't run away," I said. "You interest me too much, though whaton earth you are doing here I can't for the life of me guess."
"We come from your uncle, the Prince von Gramberg, and I am speciallycharged to tell you that matters of the deepest moment, involving issuesof life and death, make it absolutely imperative that you should go withus to the castle at once."
He spoke in so earnest a tone that his words produced an immediateeffect upon me. I had no right to play fast and loose with the affairsof a powerful family--and the Prince's reputation was well enough knownto me. Obviously I must at once explain the mistake as to my identity. Iwas sorry I had not done so at once.
"You are speaking in error, and I must tell you before you say anotherword. I am not the nephew of the Prince von Gramberg."
"I am aware you have denied yourself. You are Herr von Fromberg? Iaddressed you so a minute since."
"No. My name is not von Fromberg, but Fisher. I am English."
"Oh, yes, I know that. They told me that you preferred to be calledthat. But I am not here to pay heed to small preferences of the kind.These are no trifling concerns."
"They are no concerns of mine at all," I answered shortly. "And now thatI have explained this, have the goodness to leave my rooms."
I turned to the door as I spoke, but the man standing there made nomovement at all.
"Where, then, is Herr von Fromberg?" asked the older man, withincredulity manifest in his tone.
"I cannot tell you. I believe I know, but I am not at liberty to say."
"I did not think you would be," he returned dryly. "But are you preparedto go to the castle with us? You can explain afterward that we havetaken you there wrongfully," he added, with ironical courtesy.
"Certainly I am not."
I spoke warmly, for his manner irritated me.
"Then will you have the goodness to inform me how it is that you arehere in the character of Herr von Fromberg, with the people of the houselooking upon you as that gentleman, and yourself answering to the name?"
My story was too tame and lame for me to think of telling it. I tookshelter
behind indignation.
"I shall certainly give no explanation which is demanded of me by thosewho have forced themselves into my room and hold me a prisoner in it inthis way," I answered hotly.
"Then you will scarcely be surprised that, as I have been informed youare Herr von Fromberg, and you have answered to the name to me, I cannotaccept your repudiation. I do not know why you are so anxious to denyyour identity and to keep away from the great position that has openedto you since the death of the Prince's son."
This was thrown out to test me.
"I should refuse no position offered to me, I can assure you, if it wereoffered rightfully. But I am not the Prince's nephew."
"You are sufficiently like him to satisfy me, and I'm a good dealmistaken if you have not a good deal of his Highness's spirit. But nowit is useless to talk any more here. You will go with us, of course? heasked abruptly.
"Of course I will do nothing of the sort."
"Very well, then, I suppose we must go alone. Steinitz!" he calledsharply, jerking his head as if bidding the other to unlock the door;and he himself made as if to leave the room.
My back was to the second man, and before I even suspected treachery hesprang upon me from behind, pinioned my arms, and bound them, while theelder man held a revolver pointed right between my eyes.
"I am sorry you have driven me to do this," he said; "for I am perhapsmaking you a deadly enemy when I would rather serve you with my life ifnecessary. But my master's orders are imperative. We are playing forhigh stakes there, and have to throw boldly at times. Your presence isnecessary at the castle, and my instructions are to take you there, freeor by force. Will you go without compelling me to use force?"
I looked calmly at his revolver. There was no fear he would fire.
"We can scarcely cross the empire in a procession of this kind," I said,meeting his stern look with a smile and a shrug of the shoulders.
"We shall not try," he answered promptly. "We shall go as doctors--youas a mad patient, who has escaped from an asylum. I have come preparedwith the necessary papers; and I need not remind you that your ownactions here have helped this plan."
"I tell you again I am not the man you seek," I cried angrily; for I sawthe power of his threat.
"I take my chance of that. You can explain to the Prince."
"This is monstrously ridiculous," I exclaimed hotly. "There are athousand proofs here in this room that I am not the man you want. Putyour hand in my pocket here and you will see by my letters that I amnot."
After a moment's pause he did so; and then, too late, I remembered vonFromberg had given me one of his uncle's letters to read which I had notreturned. The man chanced to take it out first and held it up.
"Your own proof," he said laconically, and thrust them all back again.
"You are making fools of every one concerned," I cried, very angrily.
"Will you give your word of honor to go with us?" was his answer,stolidly spoken. "It is time to start."
It was useless to fight further, so with another shrug of the shouldersI gave up.
"I warn you the whole thing's a farce, though I can't make you believeit. I'll go with you; but you must put up with the consequences."
In another moment I was free, and he was profuse with his apologies.
As he opened the door to leave some one came running up the stairslooking hot and agitated. To my relief it was von Fromberg.
"How is it you're back so soon?" I cried. "Never mind how it is; youcome in the nick of time anyhow. This is Herr von Fromberg, gentlemen.These gentlemen are from your uncle, and wish you to go with them."
"You said you would go freely with us, sir," whispered the elder man atmy side. "You gave your word of honor."
"But this is the man you want," I cried, pointing to von Fromberg, whowas staring like one panic-stricken from me to the others.
The elder man turned to him.
"Are you the Herr von Fromberg?"
"Certainly not," he stammered, with a quick look of appeal to me. "Thisis----" He quailed before the look I gave him and stopped.
"You are not going to deny yourself, man?" I cried.
"Deny myself, von Fromberg," he answered, with a forced, uneasy laugh."Why should I? My name is Fisher. Do you want me?" he said to the two.
"Certainly not. Our business is with this gentleman. This is Herr vonFromberg, is it not?"
"Yes, certainly," was the reply, with another forced laugh.
"Now, will you keep your word?" said the man in a meaning tone to me."Or will you compel me ..." He did not finish the sentence.
"Oh, just as you like. Only I warn you it's all an infernal blunder,"and with that I went with them.
At the bottom of the stairs I turned and looked up at the man for whom Iwas mistaken. He nodded and made signs to me as if thanking me, andurging me to keep up the deception.
I said not a word more, but went with the two men in dogged silence.When we reached the station, I flung myself into a corner of the railwaycarriage, my companions mounting guard over me, one at my side, theother in the opposite corner.
We travelled through the night, changing trains more thanonce--sometimes travelling at express speed, sometimes crawling, and nowand again making long stops at junctions. I scarcely spoke, except toprotest that it was all a fool's journey; and when the elder manattempted to talk to me, I stopped him peremptorily, saying that as astranger I had not the least wish to learn anything of the family'saffairs. I would not hear a word until we reached the castle.
There, however, a surprise awaited me that pierced the shell of myapathy in an instant, and filled me with a sudden longing to go on withthe strange part for which my companions had thus cast me.
The greatest deference was shown to me on my arrival, and I was usheredinto a large and lofty room, while the elder man went to inform thePrince of my arrival, the younger man remaining with me.
The castle was certainly magnificent; and I could not refrain from anintense wish that I were indeed the heir to such a glorious place andposition. My thoughts slipped back to the old life that I had thrownaway, contrasting it with the mockery of my stale, humdrum existence,and I asked myself what I would not give for such a career as I felt Icould build out of the materials Fortune had now shovelled into my lapwith this taunting munificence.
Then I saw from the window a young golden-haired girl, standing amongthe flower-beds. She was dressed all in black, the exquisitely beautifuland regular features set and saddened with an expression of profoundgrief and melancholy. She was holding some freshly plucked roses in herhand, and after she had plucked one or two others a serving-maidapproached and said something to her; and she turned and looked towardthe window at which I stood. Probably mere curiosity was the motive, butto me it seemed as if the look were instinct with anxiety, doubt, andappeal.
Suddenly I saw her start and glance round; and if ever a face told offear and repulsion hers did, for all the struggle that her pride made torepress the evidence of her emotion, and to force up a smile to cover anaching heart.
Then I saw the cause of the change.
A man came into view, and my heart gave a great leap of anger that hadlong slumbered. I had known him in the old life for the falsestscoundrel that ever cheated a friend or ruined a woman. The mere sightof him set me on fire. He had dealt me a foul and treacherous wrong, andwhen I had sought him to call him to account he had fled, and I couldnever trace him.
I watched him now as he spoke to the girl, and my old hate awoke till Icould have found it in me to rush out there and then to cast hisfoulness in his face and choke his life out of him. And my brow gatheredin an angry scowl as I watched the girl's struggle between pride andloathing when she answered him, and shrank back from the sensual brutestare of his eyes.
As soon as I could keep my voice steady I called my companion to thewindow.
"Who are those?" I asked.
"The Countess Minna, the Prince's only daughter, now his only child. Itis she who, und
er heaven, will be the Queen of----"
He checked himself when he caught my look of intense surprise.
"And the man. Who is he?"
"The Count von Nauheim, her future husband."
"God help her, then," said I, with involuntary fervor.
My companion started and looked at me.
"Do you know----"
"I know nothing," I replied very curtly. "These are no concerns of mine.But I can read a face." He looked at me searchingly, but I had taken mywatch out and was playing with the guard. "This Prince seems a devil ofa long time sending for me. If he keeps me much longer I shall lose mytrain back."
I spoke indifferently, and threw myself into a chair to think.
I sat a long time buried in these old rustled reflections, until thechain of thought was snapped abruptly, and I sprang to my feet as agreat cry ran through the castle, and the sound of a woman's sobbing.
"What's that?" I asked of the man with me, who had changed color and wasmanifestly disturbed.
"I don't understand it," he said, after a long pause, during which hewent and stood by the door, as if doubting whether I might try to leave.
The sounds of confusion in the castle increased. Servants were hurryingin all directions; but no one came to us.
Later on the toll of a heavy bell sounded with vibrating echoes throughthe hot, heavy, sleepy air. A minute after it was repeated; and beforethe sound had died away the elder of the two men came back into theroom. He was deadly pale, and so agitated that his voice trembled. Heapproached me and bowed with signs of deep respect.
"I bring you the worst of news. The Prince is dead; and your Highness ismaster in his stead."
"Dead!" I cried, in the profoundest astonishment.
"He was stricken this morning, and lay dying when we entered the castle.And he was dead before your Highness could be summoned."
A protest leapt to my lips. But I did not give it utterance. The thoughtof the girl I had seen, the Countess Minna, left helpless in the powerof that consummate villain von Nauheim, silenced me. I would wait untilat least I had time to think out a course of action.