CHAPTER XXVIII
THE COLONEL'S SECRET
Instantly I thought of Gareth and raised my hand, hoping to still theColonel's angry, strident tone lest it should reach her.
"He is a villain," he repeated. "I care not now who hears me say it.He lured her from me, planned to make me do murder, and now would haveme join in dishonouring my child. You must hear this, Miss vonDreschler, for you know much--and shall know the rest."
"For Gareth's sake, Colonel, she is in that room and may hear," Iprotested.
"Let her come and let her decide this," said Gustav.
"No. This is for me. I will tell all. I have kept my secret longenough--for your sake, as you know--and will keep it no longer. Youcame here," he said, turning to me, "to clear your father's memory ofthe charge brought against him. I can prove it false, and will. Hewas charged with having murdered the young Count Stephen. It was alie. This scoundrel here knows it was a lie. Ask him if he dare denythat."
There was no need to ask the question; Count Gustav's face gave theanswer, clear and unmistakable.
"You will ruin everything, Colonel Katona," he said. "Not me only, butthe Duke, your master, and the great cause--everything."
"To hell with any cause which would sacrifice my child's honour. Iwill tell the Duke to his face," was the hot reply, very fiercelyspoken.
"I am here ready to listen, Colonel Katona."
We all started and turned to find the Duke himself had come out.
"What is this lie which threatens ruin to everything, sir?" he askedvery sternly, after a pause.
Colonel Katona drew himself up.
"It is right that I should tell it to you. It was for you and yourfamily that the lie was planned; that you might have the Throne whenthe time came; and it was continued that this man--your son--mightsucceed you. Your son, who has rewarded me for my fidelity to yourhouse by stealing my child. It was for you and yours that I consentedto dishonour my friend--this lady's father; and have kept the secretinviolate through years of remorse and sorrow."
"Enough of yourself," said the Duke, with a contemptuous wave of thehand. "Speak plainly."
"The scheme has failed, and through this villain's dastardly conduct.The man whom Colonel von Dreschler was accused of having murdered, andwhose death would have cleared the way for you and yours to theThrone--Count Stephen--is living, a close prisoner in my house."
"Thank God for that!" I cried, fervently, understanding all now.
Then a gasp of pain, or rage, or fear, or of all three, escaped theDuke's pallid lips. He staggered so that his Excellency put out hishand to help him.
"Is this true?" fell in a whisper from the Duke, his eyes on his son'sface, now as white and tense as his own.
There was no answer, and in the silence, I heard the door behind meopened softly, and Gareth came out.
"Ah!" The soft ejaculation, born partly of gladness at the sight ofGustav and her father, and partly of fear at the wrought looks of both,drew all eyes upon her. The silence seemed to deepen suddenly; asthough a common instinct of mercy inspired all to attempt to keep whatwas passing from her knowledge.
A look of bewilderment came over her face as she gazed from one to theother; tender but questioning for the Duke; half fearful anxiety forher father; and infinite love and yearning for her husband. Sheglanced at him last; but her first word was for him, and it was towardhim she moved, murmuring his name and stretching out her hands.
Her father drew his breath quickly, with a sound between a gasp and asigh; and I thought he was going to step between them, but the Dukeglanced at him and raised his hand.
"She is his," he said, his tone no more than a whisper, but distinct toall of us.
The Colonel drew back a pace and put his hand to his forehead.
Gareth passed him. She had no eyes for any but her husband in thatmoment.
I waited with fear-wrought anxiety to see how he would greet her, forhis face had given no sign which we could read.
But she had no fear for him as she had no thought of us. Her faith inhim was as staunch and patent as the love which lighted her face andsparkled in her clear shining eyes. Our presence gave her noembarrassment; I believe that we were all forgotten in the absorbingdelight of that one supreme moment.
He played the man for once. As she placed her hands in his with just asimple--"I am so glad," he took them, and bending down kissed her onthe lips before us all.
But this was more than her father could bear. With an angry "Gareth,"he turned to part them.
Scared by his stern look and tone, she shrank back with a littlepiteous cry: "Father, he is my husband;" as if indeed she would defendhim.
I saw the cloud on his face deepen and the words of a harsh reply werealready on his lips, when the Duke, who had been watching intently,intervened.
"Colonel Katona, the rest is for us men to settle," he said, waving hishand to the room behind him.
His Excellency glanced at me and motioned toward Gareth, and I crossedto her.
"For a few minutes, Gareth," said the Duke.
She hesitated, and then, as her father was moving away in obedience tothe Duke's command, she stepped past me and seized his hand. "Father,you forgive us?"
Just a little yearning plea, pathetic enough to have touched thehardest heart, I thought it. But he had no ears for it. His passionwas too hot and fierce against the man whom she included in the appeal.
He turned and looked upon her quite unmoved--his face hard like a rock,and his voice rough and harsh as he answered: "No. You have to choosebetween us; and if you choose him, you are no longer my child;" andshaking her hand off, he went into the room.
Gareth gave one soft, piteous cry, like a stricken fawn, as I put myarm round her.
I hated him for the merciless cruelty of the rebuff; and I believe allshared that feeling, as we saw how it had cut deep into her tenderheart. I know that Karl and his Excellency did, by the glances of pitythey cast upon her as they passed me to follow the Duke.
Count Gustav hesitated, seemingly at a loss what to do. I thought hewould have taken her from my arms to his; and much as I detested him, Ithink I would have forgiven him everything had he done so. But, aftera second's hesitation, he shrugged his shoulders, passed on and closedthe door behind him.
I led her away upstairs to her room, and by the time we reached it shewas clinging to me feebly and helplessly. She sank down on her bedwith a deep-drawn sigh, and lay there deathly pale and tremblingviolently.
I hoped that the tears would come to relieve her; but they did not.The shock had been too sudden. The suspense of the separation had wornher down; then the joy of the meeting with Gustav had wrought upon hernerves so that her father's stern and almost brutal repulse had been ablow struck just at the moment when she was at the weakest. The sorrowwas too deep for tears, the suffering too acute and numbing.
I threw a rug over her and bent and kissed her, as I whispered: "Ithink it will all come right, Gareth, dear."
She took no notice; and feeling I could do no more then but just lether grief have its way, I sat down by the bedside, wondering whether Ibelieved my own words; whether, in such a tangle, all could possiblycome right; or whether in striving to right things in my own way, I hadonly succeeded in creating just an impossible bungle.
My thoughts were soon down in the room below. What was occurringthere? Far bigger things were in the doing, or undoing, than thebreaking of poor Gareth's heart. Fate had bound up that issue withothers of much greater import.
If Count Stephen was alive, the whole of the Duke's plans and CountGustav's scheming were shattered. Would Colonel Katona insist uponmaking his story public--or would some means be devised to prevail uponhim to keep that secret still inviolate? On that question would hingethe future of the Patriots' cause; and so possibly the future of thewhole Empire.
In such a balance what weight was the mere happiness of two girls likeGareth and myself likely to have? None; absolut
ely none. Nor could Ibring myself to think it should have, considering the criticalconsequences there might be to thousands, aye even millions in the DualEmpire.
The Colonel was a hard man, however, how hard he had shown himselfwithin the last few minutes; and I believed he would hold on to hispurpose like a steel clamp. If he did, what would result? Either theleadership of the Patriot cause would pass from the Duke to CountStephen, or the Duke's enemies would seize the occasion to promote aschism which would ruin the cause irreparably.
In that case the main obstacle to Count Gustav's open acknowledgment ofGareth as his wife would be removed; but her husband and father mustremain open and bitter enemies; and her choice must be made betweenthem. Poor Gareth!
And so I sat in long, weary suspense, tossed hither and thither by mydistracted thoughts, while I waited, my nerves high-strung, to learnthe result of the conference below stairs.
I was roused by a long, shuddering sigh from Gareth.
"I am here, dear," I said, bending over her.
"I am so cold, Christabel," she cried, shivering. I felt her hands;they were as cold as stones; but when I laid my fingers on her brow, itwas hot with the burning heat of a fever. In much concern I called upMrs. Perry, and together we applied such remedies as we could devise.
She was quite passive in our hands. Thanked us with sweet smiles,doing just what we told her like a submissive child.
"What has caused this, Miss Christabel?" asked Mrs. Perry. "She isreally ill, and should see a doctor."
"She has had a shock," I replied; and the good soul shook her headdismally.
"She is just the sweetest girl that ever happened, but not weatherproof against much shock," she said.
Then I heard sounds below; and my pulse quickened. The conference wasended,--how? "Stay here and watch while I am away," I said, and wentdownstairs.
His Excellency and Count Gustav were in the hall speaking togethereagerly.
"Where is Gareth?" asked the Count.
"Upstairs, in her room."
"I will take her away with me. A wife must go with her husband," heanswered; his tone curt and bitter.
"She is ill. A case for a doctor, I fear."
"She was well enough just now. Is this another trick? Tell her I amwaiting for her. She has cost me enough. I may as well have as muchof her as I can."
"You will have her life if you take her away now. But that may be yourobject." I could not help the taunt, his manner so enraged me.
"Thank you," he said, with a curl of the lip.
"It is no case for harsh words," put in his Excellency.
"And more certainly none for harsh deeds. Gareth cannot go until adoctor has seen her," I declared firmly.
"But for your meddling none of this would have happened," declaredGustav. "Let me see her."
"In your present mood, no. The shock of her father's cruel rebuff hasquite unnerved her," I said to his Excellency. "Tell me what doctor tosend for, please."
He wrote down the name of a Dr. Armheit and his address, and I sent offJames Perry at once. "What has been decided?" I asked next. "Where isthe Duke? He should be told of Gareth."
"I will speak to you presently," said the General, very kindly.
Count Gustav laughed maliciously. "You have made a mess of things foryourself as well as for the rest of us, thank heaven. It serves youright. Karl has----"
"Stop, if you please, Count Gustav, this is for me to explain," brokein the General very angrily. "Be good enough to leave it to me."
"Why? What do I owe to you or to this meddler here that I should holdmy tongue at your bidding? She has set herself against us, and musttake the consequences. The Duke has about as much affection for you,as I have; and neither of us relishes the honour you would do us bybecoming a member of our family."
"Silence, sir," exclaimed the General, hotly.
"Not at your bidding, or that of any other man."
"Nothing that this--this gentleman can say can affect me, General," Isaid, smoothly.
The words seemed to add fuel to Count Gustav's anger. "My wife shallnot stay in your house and in your care," he said with great heat.
"The moment the doctor says she may leave the house, she can go--butnot before."
"Oh, it's only another lie," he cried, passionately; and raising hisvoice he called loudly: "Gareth, Gareth. I am waiting for you. I,Gustav; Gareth, I say, Gareth."
"You may kill her," I murmured, wringing my hands.
As if gloating over my trouble, he sneered: "You act well; but we'llsee;" and he called again loudly: "Gareth, Gareth, come to me."
I caught the sound of her footsteps above. The door of her room openedand she answered: "I am coming, Gustav;" and a moment later she camedown the stairs and threw herself into his arms.
"She told me you were too ill to come to me, but I knew it was false.You feel well enough to come away with me?"
"Yes, of course, if you wish it. I must go with him, Christabel; he ismy husband," she cried, wistfully. "He called me."
The General saw her condition as plainly as I.
"She is more fit to be in bed than to leave here," he said.
"Do you suppose I cannot take care of my own wife, sir?" cried Gustav,fiercely. "Get your hat, Gareth."
She left his arms and began to climb the stairs.
"Mrs. Perry will bring it, Gareth," I said, hastily.
But there was no need for it. She clung to the balustrade feebly andturned back to look at Gustav.
"I'm afraid--I'm--I'm----" No more; for the next instant he had tocatch her in his arms to save her from falling. She smiled to him asif trying to rally her strength. "My head," she murmured; and then thehand which was pressed to it dropped, and she fainted.
"You had better carry her up to bed," said his Excellency, practically.
"She has only fainted and will be better in a minute," answered theCount. "She shall not stay here;" and he carried her into one of therooms and laid her on a couch, standing between me and her to preventmy approach. Every action appeared to be inspired by hatred of meinstead of care for her.
Happily the doctor soon came, and his first words after he had examinedher were that she must be carried at once to bed.
"I wish to remove her from the house," said Count Gustav.
"It is impossible," was the brusque, imperative reply.
"It is necessary."
"It is for me to say what is necessary in such a case," declared thedoctor; and being a strong as well as a masterful man, he picked Garethup in his arms and told me to show the way to her bedroom.
And in this way she was given back into my care.