CHAPTER II.
The Wager of the Marquis de Merosailles.
In the year 1734, as spring began, there arrived at Strelsau a Frenchnobleman of high rank and great possessions, endowed also with manyaccomplishments. He came to visit Prince Rudolf, whose acquaintance hehad made while the Prince was at Paris in the course of his travels.King Henry received M. de Merosailles--for such was his name--mostgraciously, and sent a guard of honour to conduct him to the Castle ofZenda, where the Prince was then staying in company with his sisterOsra. There the Marquis, on his arrival, was greeted with much joy byPrince Rudolf, who found his sojourn in the country somewhat irksome andwas glad of the society of a friend with whom he could talk, and sport,and play at cards. All these things he did with M. de Merosailles, and agreat friendship arose between the young men, so that they spoke veryfreely to one another at all times, and most of all when they had drunktheir wine and sat together in the evening in Prince Rudolf's chamberthat looked across the moat towards the gardens; for the new _chateau_that now stands on the site of these gardens was not then built. And onenight M. de Merosailles made bold to ask the Prince how it fell out thathis sister the Princess, a lady of such great beauty, seemed sad, andshewed no pleasure in the society of any gentleman, but treated allalike with coldness and disdain. Prince Rudolf, laughing, answered thatgirls were strange creatures, and that he had ceased to trouble his headabout them (of his heart he said nothing) and he finished by exclaiming:"On my honour, I doubt if she so much as knows you are here, for she hasnot looked at you once since your arrival!" And he smiled maliciously,for he knew that the Marquis was not accustomed to be neglected byladies, and would take it ill that even a Princess should be unconsciousof his presence. In this he calculated rightly, for M. de Merosailleswas greatly vexed, and, twisting his glass in his fingers, he said:
"If she were not a Princess, and your sister, sir, I would engage tomake her look at me."
"I am not hurt by her looking at you," rejoined the Prince: for thatevening he was very merry. "A look is no great thing."
The Marquis, being no less merry, and knowing that Rudolf had not theregard for his dignity that a Prince should have, threw out carelessly:
"A kiss is more, sir."
"It is a great deal more," laughed the Prince, tugging his moustache.
"Are you ready for a wager, sir?" asked M. de Merosailles, leaningacross the table towards him.
"I'll lay you a thousand crowns to a hundred that you do not gain akiss, using what means you will, save force."
"I'll take that wager, sir," cried the Marquis. "But it shall be three,not one."
"Have a care," said the Prince. "Don't go too near the flame, my lord!There are some wings in Strelsau singed at that candle."
"Indeed the light is very bright," assented the Marquis courteously."That risk I must run, though, if I am to win my wager. It is to bethree then, and by what means I will, save force?"
"Even so," said Rudolf, and he laughed again. For he thought the wagerharmless, since by no device could M. de Merosailles win so much as onekiss from the Princess Osra, and the wager stood at three. But he didnot think how he wronged his sister by using her name lightly, being inall such matters a man of careless mind.
But the Marquis, having made his wager, set himself steadily to win it.Therefore he brought forth the choicest clothes from his wardrobe, andornaments, and perfumes; and he laid fine presents at the Princess'sfeet; and he waylaid her wherever she went, and was profuse of glances,sighs, and hints; and he wrote sonnets, as fine gentlemen used in thosedays, and lyrics and pastorals, wherein she figured under charmingnames. These he bribed the Princess's waiting-women to leave in theirmistress's chamber. Moreover he looked now sorrowful, now passionate,and he ate nothing at dinner, but drank his wine in wild gulps, asthough he sought to banish sadness. So that, in a word, there was nodevice in Cupid's armoury that the Marquis de Merosailles did notpractise in the endeavour to win a look from the Princess Osra. But nolook came, and he got nothing from her but cold civility. Yet she hadlooked at him when he looked not--for Princesses are much like othermaidens--and thought him a very pretty gentleman, and was highly amusedby his extravagance. Yet she did not believe it to witness any truedevotion to her, but thought it mere gallantry.
Then, one day, M. de Merosailles, having tried all else that he couldthink of, took to his bed. He sent for a physician, and paid him a highfee to find the seeds of a rapid and fatal disease in him: and he madehis body-servant whiten his face and darken his room; and he groanedvery pitifully, saying that he was sick, and that he was glad of it; fordeath would be better far than the continued disdain of the PrincessOsra. And all this, being told by the Marquis's servants to thePrincess's waiting-women, reached Osra's ears, and caused her muchperturbation. For she now perceived that the passion of the Marquis wasreal and deep, and she became very sorry for him: the longer the face ofthe rascally physician grew the more sad the Princess became: she walkedup and down, bewailing the terrible effects of her beauty, wishing thatshe were not so fair, and mourning very tenderly for the sad plight ofthe unhappy Marquis.
Through all Prince Rudolf looked on, but was bound by his wager not toundeceive her; moreover he found much entertainment in the matter, andswore that it was worth three times a thousand crowns.
At last the Marquis sent by the mouth of his physician a very humble andpitiful message to the Princess, in which he spoke of himself as near todeath, hinted at the cruel cause of his condition, and prayed her ofcompassion to visit him in his chamber, and speak a word of comfort, orat least let him look on her face: for the brightness of her eyes, hesaid, might cure even what it had caused.
THE PHYSICIAN RECEIVES PRINCESS OSRA.--_Page 56._]
Deceived by this appeal, Princess Osra agreed to go; moved by somestrange impulse, she put on her choicest array, dressed her hair mostsplendidly, and came into the chamber looking like a goddess. There laythe Marquis, white as a ghost and languid on his pillows; and they wereleft, as they thought, alone. Then Osra sat down and began to talk verygently and kindly to him, glancing only at the madness which brought himto his sad state, and imploring him to summon his resolution, andconquer his sickness for his friends' sake at home in France, and forthe sake of her brother, who loved him.
"There is nobody who loves me," said the Marquis petulantly; and whenOsra cried out at this, he went on, "For the love of those whom I do notlove is nothing to me, and the only soul alive I love----." There hestopped, but his eyes, fixed on Osra's face, ended the sentence for him.And she blushed, and looked away. Then thinking the moment was come, heburst suddenly into a flood of protestations and self-reproach, cursinghimself for a fool and a presumptuous madman, pitifully craving herpardon, and declaring that he did not deserve her kindness, and yet thathe could not live without it, and that anyhow he would be dead soon, andthus cease to trouble her. But she, being thus passionately assailed,showed such sweet tenderness and compunction and pity, that M. deMerosailles came very near to forgetting that he was playing a comedy,and threw himself into his part with eagerness, redoubling hisvehemence, and feeling now full half of what he said. For the Princesswas to his eyes far more beautiful in her softer mood. Yet he rememberedhis wager, and, at last, when she was nearly in tears and ready, as itseemed, to do anything to give him comfort, he cried desperately:
"Ah, leave, leave me! Leave me to die alone! Yet, for pity's sake,before you go, and before I die, give me your forgiveness, and let yourlips touch my forehead in token of it. Then I shall die in peace."
At that the Princess blushed still more, and her eyes were wet, andshone, for she was deeply touched at his misery and at the sad prospectof the death for love of so gallant a gentleman. Thus she could scarcelyspeak for emotion; and the Marquis seeing her emotion was himself deeplyaffected; and she rose from her chair, and bent over him, and whisperedcomfort to him. Then she leant down, and very lightly touched hisforehead with her lips; he felt h
er eyelashes, which were wet withtears, brush the skin of his forehead; and then she sobbed and coveredher face with her hands. Indeed his state seemed to her most pitiful.
Thus M. de Merosailles had won one of his three kisses; yet, strange totell, there was no triumph in him, but now he perceived the baseness ofhis device; and the sweet kindness of the Princess, working togetherwith the great beauty of her softened manner, so affected him that hethought no more of his wager and could not endure to carry on hisdeception; nothing would serve his turn but to confess to the Princesswhat he had done, humbling himself in the dust before her, andentreating her to pardon him and let him find forgiveness.
Impelled by these feelings, after he had lain still a few momentslistening to the Princess weeping, he leapt suddenly out of bed, showinghimself fully dressed under the bed-gown which he now eagerly tore off;and he rubbed all the white he could from his cheeks, and then he fellon his knees before the Princess, crying to her that he had played themeanest trick on her, and that he was a scoundrel, and no gentleman, andthat unless she forgave him he should in very truth die; nay, that hewould not consent to live unless he could win from her pardon for hisdeceit. And in all this he was now absolutely in earnest, wondering onlyhow he had not been as passionately enamoured of her from the first ashe had feigned himself to be. For a man in love can never conceivehimself out of it, nor he that is out of it in it; for if he can, he ishalf way to the one or the other, however little he may know it.
At first the Princess sat as though she were turned to stone: but whenhe finished his confession, and she understood the trick that had beenplayed on her, and how not only her kiss, but also her tears, had beenwon from her by fraud, and when she thought, as she did, that theMarquis was playing another trick on her, and that there was no moretruth or honesty in his present protestations than in those which wentbefore, she fell into great shame and into a great rage; her eyesflashed like the eyes of her father himself, as she rose to her feet andlooked down on M. de Merosailles as he knelt imploring her. Now her faceturned pale from red, and she set her lips, and she drew her gown closeround her, lest his touch should defile it (so the unhappy gentlemanunderstood her gesture) and she picked her steps daintily round him, forfear she should happen to come in contact with so foul a thing. Thus shewalked to the door, and, having reached it, she turned and said to him:
"Your death may blot out the insult--nothing less." And with her headheld high, and her whole air full of scorn, she swept out of the room,leaving the Marquis on his knees. He started up to follow her, but darednot; he flung himself on the bed in a paroxysm of shame and vexation,and now of love also, and he cried out loud:
"Then my death shall blot it out, since nothing else will serve!"
He was in a desperate mood. For a long time he lay there, and then,having risen, dressed himself in a sombre suit of black, and buckled hissword by his side, and, having put on his riding boots and summoned hisservant, bade him saddle his horse. "For," said he to himself, "I willride into the forest, and there kill myself; and perhaps when I am deadthe Princess will forgive, and will believe in my love, and grieve alittle for me."
Now as he went from his chamber to cross the moat by the drawbridge, heencountered Prince Rudolf returning from hawking. They met full in thecentre of the bridge, and the Prince, seeing M. de Merosailles dressedall in black from the feather in his hat to his boots, called outmockingly:
"Who is to be buried to-day, my lord, and whither do you ride to thefuneral? It cannot be yourself, for I see that you are marvellouslyrecovered of your sickness."
"But it is myself," answered the Marquis, coming near, and speaking lowthat the servants and the falconers might not overhear. "I ride, sir, tomy own funeral."
"The jest is still afoot, then?" asked the Prince. "Yet I do not see mysister at the window to watch you go, and I warrant you have made no waywith your wager yet."
"A thousand curses on my wager!" cried the Marquis. "Yes, I have madeway with the accursed thing, and that is why I now go to my death."
"What, has she kissed you?" cried the Prince, with a merry astonishedlaugh.
"Yes, sir, she has kissed me once, and therefore I go to die."
"I have heard of many a better reason, then," answered the Prince.
By now the Prince had dismounted, and he stood by M. de Merosailles inthe middle of the bridge, and heard from him how the trick hadprospered. At this he was much tickled, and, alas, he was even morediverted when the penitence of the Marquis was revealed to him, and wasmost of all moved to merriment when it appeared that the Marquis, havinggone too near the candle, had been caught by its flame, and was soterribly singed and scorched that he could not bear to live. And whilethey talked on the bridge the Princess looked out on them from a loftynarrow window, but neither of them saw her. But when the Prince had donelaughing, he put his arm through his friend's and bade him not be afool, but come in and toast the Princess's kiss in a draught of wine."For," he said, "though you will never get the other two, yet it is abrave exploit to have got one."
But the Marquis shook his head, and his air was so resolute, and so fullof sorrow, that not only was Rudolf alarmed for his reason, but PrincessOsra also, at the window, wondered what ailed him and why he wore such along face; and now she noticed that he was dressed all in black, andthat his horse waited for him across the bridge.
"Not," said she, "that I care what becomes of the impudent rogue!" Yetshe did not leave the window, but watched very intently to see what M.de Merosailles would do.
For a long while he talked with Rudolf on the bridge, Rudolf seemingmore serious than he was wont to be; and at last the Marquis bent tokiss the Prince's hand, and the Prince raised him and kissed him oneither cheek; then the Marquis went and mounted his horse, and rode off,slowly and unattended, into the glades of the forest of Zenda; but thePrince, with a shrug of the shoulders and a frown on his brow, enteredunder the portcullis, and disappeared from his sister's view.
Upon this the Princess, assuming an air of great carelessness, walkeddown from the room where she was, and found her brother, sitting stillin his boots and drinking wine; and she said:
"M. de Merosailles has taken his leave then?"
"Even so, madame," rejoined Rudolf.
Then she broke into a fierce attack on the Marquis, and on her brotheralso; for a man, said she, is known by his friends, and what a manRudolf must be to have a friend like the Marquis de Merosailles!
"Most brothers," she said in fiery temper, "would make him answer forwhat he has done with his life. But you laugh, nay, I daresay you had ahand in it."
As to this last charge the Prince had the discretion to say nothing; hechose rather to answer the first part of what she said, and shrugginghis shoulders again rejoined:
"The fool saves me the trouble, for he has gone off to kill himself."
"To kill himself?" she said, half incredulous, but also half believing,because of the Marquis's gloomy looks and black clothes.
"To kill himself," repeated Rudolf. "For in the first place you areangry, so he cannot live; in the second he has behaved like a rogue, sohe cannot live; and in the third place you are so lovely, sister, thathe cannot live; and in the first, second, and third places he is a fool,so he cannot live." And the Prince finished his flagon of wine withevery sign of ill-humour in his manner.
"He is well dead," she cried.
"Oh, as you please," said he. "He is not the first brave man who hasdied on your account." And he rose and strode out of the room verysurlily; for he had a great friendship for M. de Merosailles, and had nopatience with men who let love make dead bones of them.
The Princess Osra, being left alone, sat for a little time in deepthought. There rose before her mind the picture of M. de Merosaillesriding mournfully through the gloom of the forest to his death. Andalthough his conduct had been all and more than all that she had calledit, yet it seemed hard that he should die for it. Moreover, if he now intruth felt what he had before feigned, the present tru
th was anatonement for the past treachery; and she said to herself that she couldnot sleep quietly that night if the Marquis killed himself in theforest. Presently she wandered slowly up to her chamber, and looked inthe mirror, and murmured low, "Poor fellow!" and then with sudden speedshe attired herself for riding, and commanded her horse to be saddled,and darted down the stairs and across the bridge, and mounted, and,forbidding any one to accompany her, rode away into the forest,following the marks of the hoofs of M. de Merosailles's horse. It wasthen late afternoon, and the slanting rays of the sun, striking throughthe tree-trunks, reddened her face as she rode along, spurring herhorse, and following hard on the track of the forlorn gentleman. Butwhat she intended to do if she came up with him she did not think.
When she had ridden an hour or more, she saw his horse tethered to atrunk; and there was a ring of trees and bushes near, encircling an opengrassy spot. Herself dismounting, and fastening her horse by theMarquis's horse, she stole up, and saw M. de Merosailles sitting on theground, his drawn sword lying beside him; and his back was towards her.She held her breath and waited a few moments. Then he took up the swordand felt the point and also the edge of it, and sighed deeply; and thePrincess thought that this sorrowful mood became him better than any shehad seen him in before. Then he rose to his feet, and took his sword bythe blade beneath the hilt, and turned the point of it towards hisheart. But Osra, fearing that the deed would be done immediately, calledout eagerly, "My lord, my lord!" and M. de Merosailles turned round witha great start. When he saw her, he stood in astonishment, his hand stillholding the blade of the sword. And, standing just on the other side ofthe trees, she said:
"SHE SAW M. DE MEROSAILLES SITTING ON THEGROUND."--_Page 66._]
"Is your offence against me to be cured by adding an offence againstHeaven and the Church?"
And she looked on him with great severity, yet her cheek was flushed,and after a while she did not meet his glance.
"How came you here, madame?" he asked in wonder.
"I heard," she said, "that you meditated this great sin, and I rodeafter you to forbid it."
"Can you forbid what you cause?" he asked.
"I am not the cause of it," she said, "but your own trickery."
"It is true. I am not worthy to live," cried the Marquis, smiting thehilt of his sword on the ground. "I pray you, madame, leave me alone todie. For I cannot tear myself from the world so long as I see yourface." And as he spoke he knelt on one knee, as though he were doinghomage to her.
The Princess caught at the bough of the tree under which she stood, andpulled the bough down, so that its leaves half hid her face, and theMarquis saw little more than her eyes from among the foliage. Thus beingbetter able to speak to him, she said softly:
"And dare you die, unforgiven?"
"I had prayed for forgiveness before you found me, madame," said he.
"Of heaven, my lord?"
"Of heaven, madame. For of heaven I dare to ask it."
The bough swayed up and down; now Osra's gleaming hair, and now hercheek, and always her eyes were seen through the leaves. And presentlythe Marquis heard a voice asking:
"Does heaven forgive unasked?"
"Indeed, no," he said, wondering.
"And," she said, "are we poor mortals kinder than heaven?"
The Marquis rose, and took a step or two towards where the bough swayedup and down, and then knelt again.
"A great sinner," said he, "cannot believe himself forgiven."
"Then he wrongs the power of which he seeks forgiveness; for forgivenessis divine."
"Then I will ask it, and, if I obtain it, I shall die happy."
Again the bough swayed: and Osra said:
"Nay, if you will die, you may die unforgiven."
M. de Merosailles hearing these words sprang to his feet, and cametowards the bough, until he was so close that he touched the greenleaves; through them the eyes of Osra gleamed: the sun's rays struck onher eyes, and they danced in the sun; and her cheeks were reddened bythe same or some other cause. And the evening was very still, and therewere no sounds in the forest.
"I cannot believe that you forgive. The crime is so great," said he.
"It was great: yet I forgive."
"I cannot believe it," said he again, and he looked at the point of hissword, and then he looked through the leaves at the Princess.
"I cannot do more than say that if you will live, I will forgive. And wewill forget."
"By heaven, no," he whispered. "If I must forget to be forgiven, then Iwill remember and be unforgiven."
The faintest laugh reached him from among the foliage.
"Then I will forget, and you shall be forgiven," said she.
The Marquis put up his hand, and held a leaf aside, and he said again:
"I cannot believe myself forgiven. Is there no token of forgiveness?"
"Pray, my lord, do not put the leaves aside."
"I still must die, unless I have sure warrant of forgiveness."
"Ah, you try to make me think that!"
"By heaven, it is true!" And again he pointed his sword at his heart,and he swore on his honour that unless she gave him a token he wouldstill kill himself.
"Oh," said the Princess with great petulance, "I wish I had not come!"
"Then I should have been dead by now--dead, unforgiven."
"But you will still die!"
"Yes, I must still die, unless----"
"Sheathe your sword, my lord. The sun strikes it, and it dazzles myeyes."
"That cannot be: for your eyes are brighter than sun and swordtogether."
"Then I must shade them with the leaves."
"Yes, shade them with the leaves," he whispered. "Madame, is there notoken of forgiveness?"
In the silence that followed his eyes spoke, at last she said:
"Why did you swear on your honour?"
"Because it is an oath that I cannot break."
"Indeed I wish that I had not come," sighed Princess Osra.
Again came silence. The bough was pressed down for an instant; then itswayed swiftly up again; and its leaves brushed the cheek of M. deMerosailles. And he laughed loudly and joyfully.
"Something touched my cheek," said he.
"It must have been a leaf," said Princess Osra.
"Ah, a leaf!"
"I think so," said Princess Osra.
"Then it was a leaf of the Tree of Life," said M. de Merosailles.
"I wish some one would set me on my horse," said Osra.
"That you may ride back to the castle--alone?"
"Yes, unless you would relieve my brother's anxiety."
"It would be courteous to do that much," said the Marquis.
So they mounted, and rode back through the forest.
In an hour the Princess had come, and in the space of something over twohours they returned; yet during all this time they spoke hardly a word:and although the sun was now set, yet the glow remained on the face andin the eyes of Princess Osra; while M. de Merosailles, being forgiven,rode with a smile on his lips.
But when they came to the castle, Prince Rudolf ran out to meet them,and he cried almost before he reached them:
"Hasten, hasten! There is not a moment to lose, if the Marquis valueslife or liberty!" And when he came to them he told them that awaiting-woman had been false to M. de Merosailles and, after taking hismoney, had hid herself in his chamber, and seen the first kiss that thePrincess gave him, and, having made some pretext to gain a holiday, hadgone to the King, who was hunting near, and betrayed the whole matter tohim.
"And one of my gentlemen," he continued, "has ridden here to tell me. Inan hour the Guards will be here, and if the King catches you, my lord,you will hang as sure as I live."
The Princess turned very pale, but M. de Merosailles said haughtily, "Iask your pardon, sir, but the King dares not hang me. For I am agentleman and a subject of the King of France."
"Man, man!" cried Rudolf. "The Lion will hang you first, and think of
all that afterwards! Come now, it is dusk. You shall dress yourself asmy groom, and I will ride to the frontier, and you shall ride behind me,and thus you may get safe away. I cannot have you hanged over such atrifle."
"I would have given my life willingly for what you call a trifle, sir,"said the Marquis with a bow to Osra.
"Then have the trifle and life too," said Rudolf derisively. "Come inwith me, and I will give you your livery!"
When the Prince and M. de Merosailles came out again on the drawbridgethe evening had fallen, and it was dark; their horses stood at the endof the bridge, and by the horses stood the Princess.
"Quick!" said she. "For a peasant who came in, bringing a load of wood,saw a troop of men coming over the crown of the hill, and he says theyare the King's Guard."
"Mount, man!" cried the Prince to M. de Merosailles, who was now dressedas a groom. "Perhaps we can get clear, or perhaps they will not dare tostop me."
But the Marquis hesitated a little, for he did not like to run away; butthe Princess ran a little forward and, shading her eyes with her hand,cried, "See there! I see the gleam of steel in the dark. They havereached the top of the hill, and are riding down."
Then Prince Rudolf sprang on his horse, calling again to M. deMerosailles, "Quick, quick! Your life hangs on it!"
Then at last the Marquis, though he was most reluctant to depart, wasabout to spring on his horse, when the Princess turned and glided backswiftly to them. And--let it be remembered that evening had fallen thickand black--she came to her brother and put out her hand, and grasped hishand, and said:
"My lord, I forgive your wrong, and I thank you for your courtesy, and Iwish you farewell."
Prince Rudolf, astonished, gazed at her without speaking. But she,moving very quickly in spite of the darkness, ran to where M. deMerosailles was about to spring on his horse, and she flung one armlightly about his neck, and she said:
"Farewell, dear brother, God preserve you. See that no harm comes to mygood friend, M. de Merosailles." And she kissed him lightly on thecheek. Then she suddenly gave a loud cry of dismay, exclaiming, "Alas,what have I done? Ah, what have I done?" and she hid her face in her twohands.
Prince Rudolf burst into a loud short laugh, yet he said nothing to hissister, but again urged the Marquis to mount his horse. And the Marquis,who was in a sad tumult of triumph and of woe, leapt up; and they rodeout, and turning their faces towards the forest, set spurs to theirhorses and vanished at a breakneck speed into the glades. And no soonerwere they gone than the troopers of the King's Guard clattered at acanter up to the end of the bridge, where the Princess Osra stood. Butwhen their captain saw the Princess, he drew rein.
"What is your errand, sir?" she asked most coldly and haughtily.
"Madame, we are ordered to bring the Marquis de Merosailles alive ordead into the King's presence, and we have information that he is in thecastle, unless, indeed, he were one of the horsemen who rode away justnow."
"The horsemen you saw were my brother the Prince and his groom," saidOsra. "But if you think that M. de Merosailles is in the castle, praysearch the castle from keep to cellar; and if you find him, carry him tomy father, according to your orders."
Then the troopers dismounted in great haste, and ransacked the castlefrom keep to cellar; and they found the clothes of the Marquis, and thewhite powder with which he had whitened his face, but the Marquis theydid not find. So the captain came again to the Princess, who still stoodat the end of the bridge, and said:
"Madame, he is not in the castle."
"Is he not?" said she, and turned away, and, walking to the middle ofthe bridge, looked down into the water of the moat.
"Was it in truth the Prince's groom who rode with him, madame?" askedthe captain, following her.
"In truth, sir, it was so dark," answered the Princess, "that I couldnot myself clearly distinguish the man's face."
"One was the Prince, for I saw you embrace him, madame."
"You do well to conclude that that was my brother," said Osra, smiling alittle.
"And to the other, madame, you gave your hand."
"And now I give it to you," said she with haughty insolence. "And if tomy father's servant, why not to my brother's?" And she held out her handthat he might kiss it, and turned away from him, and looked down intothe water again.
"But we found M. de Merosailles's clothes in the castle!" persisted thecaptain.
"He may well have left something of his in the castle," said thePrincess.
"I will ride after them!" cried the captain.
"I doubt if you will catch them," smiled the Princess; for by now thepair had been gone half an hour, and the frontier was but ten miles fromthe castle, and they could not be overtaken. Yet the captain rode offwith his men, and pursued till he met Prince Rudolf returning alone,having seen M. de Merosailles safe on his way. And Rudolf had paid thesum of a thousand crowns to the Marquis, so that the fugitive was wellprovided for his journey, and, travelling with many relays of horses,made good his escape from the clutches of King Henry.
But the Princess Osra stayed a long time looking down at the water inthe moat. Sometimes she sighed, and then, again, she frowned, and,although nobody was there, and it was very dark into the bargain, morethan once she blushed. And at last she turned to go into the castle.But, as she went, she murmured softly to herself:
"Why I kissed him the first time I know; it was in pity. And why Ikissed him the second time I know; it was in forgiveness. But why Ikissed him the third time, or what that kiss meant," said Osra, "heavenknows."
And she went in with a smile on her lips.