XVI A TOO CONVINCING ARGUMENT
Colonel Moore went slowly up the steps and into the room, through thehalf open door of which he saw the Archduke standing, with chin on breastand back to the fireplace. He looked up, as the Adjutant paused at thethreshold, and nodded for him to come in.
"Ordinarily it would be proper now for us to have a good, stiff drink,may be several of them," he remarked, "but the only kind that fits thissituation, so far as I'm concerned, is straight whisky, and I don'tbelieve this cursed place can supply it."
"Quite right; it can't," said Moore; "I tried the other day--won'tanything else do?"
"No--nothing else; and it's just as well I can't get the whisky; I mayneed a clear head to night."
"You are not going, sir!"
Armand nodded. "Going? of course I'm going--why not? and I only hope I'llget a chance at my sweet cousin. We promised only to look--to raise nodisturbance--and on Spencer's account it is right enough that we shoulddo nothing to betray her; but if Lotzen get in the way, Colonel, we arenot obligated to avoid him."
"Why should Your Highness walk deliberately into the tiger's lair--whenanother can go quite as well, and without danger?" Moore protested.
The Archduke took a cigarette and tossed the case across to the Adjutant.
"Because I'm really hunting the tiger," he laughed; "and I likeexcitement in good company--though I fear it will be a very tame affair."
The other shook his head dubiously. "It's not right, sir, for you toexpose yourself so unnecessarily--let me go in command."
"Nonsense, Ralph, you're getting in Bernheim's class; quit it. What Iwish you would tell me is whether Spencer dropped her veil intentionallyor by accident."
"It seemed so accidental it must have been intentional," said Moore.
"If I were sure of it, that would cancel a trifle more of my obligation."
"Her Highness will know--" the Colonel began, and stopped abashed at hisblunder.
"And so will Mademoiselle d'Essolde," said Armand. "I may have to dependon you for information."
"Then Your Highness will likely have to get it, yourself," Moore laughed."We're not speaking either, it seems; she let me put her up, because theRegent sent me to her, but--I'm chilly yet. Did you ever notice, sir, howdisconcerting it is to think you're talking to a woman, and then findit's a mistake and that really you're talking only to yourself?"
The Archduke smiled. "Yes," said he, "I've noticed it; and we may have arather frigid atmosphere for a few moments this evening until I canexplain--we are to dine with Her Highness and Mademoiselle."
"If you don't mind, sir, I'll violate propriety and let you arrive first;your explanation will do for both--and besides, I fancy such things arebest done a deux."
"You fancy!--you innocent-Irishman-afraid-of-a-woman!" He drew on hisgloves. "Come along--put on a brave front and I'll take you home. Fiveminutes talk will set matters right."
"If you're not talking to yourself," Moore observed.
The landlord was awaiting them in distress and trepidation almostpitiful. Such ill luck had not befallen the Inn in all its years of busylife. The Regent and the Governor! It was the end of his favor--the endof the Twisted Pines. To-morrow--may be to-day--would come the police,and the nails would go into the doors, and boards across the windows, andthe big gates, that had always swung open at daybreak, would swing nomore, and in disgrace and shame he and his would be turned out, with thecurt admonition to seek a harbor in another land.
He almost dropped as the Archduke's hand fell on his shoulder.
"Scartman," said he kindly, yet incisively, "doubtless your mind is muchtoo occupied to remember everything that happens here--but let me suggestthat it would be well even to make a special effort to forget what hasoccurred this afternoon. I have known such forgetfulness to merit specialreward."
The landlord looked up in bewildered joy.
"But Her Highness, sir--she will not----"
"Tush, man," Armand interrupted, "I'll answer for the Regent."
The old man began to cry, and through his tears he groped for theArchduke's hand and kissed the gauntlet fervently.
"God bless Your Highness!" he said--and was still repeating it when thelatter passed the gate.
The Archduke rode slowly along the line of Lancers, scrutinizing everyman as he went; then motioned the officers to him.
"Messieurs," he said, "my compliments on your troop.--Captain Hertz, youmay return to barracks."
Hertz saluted, faced his men and raised his sword. And Armand, gallopingdown the road, turned in saddle and with his cap answered the wild cheerthey sent after him.
"Purkitz," said the Captain, before giving the order to break intocolumn, "now is your opportunity to prove you can actually know somethingand not tell it."
"And yours also, O wiser than serpents," the Lieutenant laughed, "toprove you actually do know something that you tell."
But the Archduke had not deemed it necessary to caution either of them;here, even the dullest witted soldier in the Army would have the sense tohold his tongue.
Where the road for the Summer Palace took off at the old forge, theColonel left him, and Armand went on to the Capital. He rode these lastfew miles at a slow jog, and thoughtfully. It was well enough to treatthe matter lightly to Moore, but, none the less, it troubled him. Dehra'sconduct had been so extraordinary for her--who had refused to credit, foran instant, Madeline Spencer's claim to be his wife, though actuallysupported by a marriage certificate--that he was puzzled and all sorts ofdoubts and fears harassed him. It suggested some untoward influence; whathe could not imagine, nor how, nor whence it had come; but, even then,everything would be very easy to explain, if she would give him theopportunity, and not, in the natural perversity of a woman, refuse to seehim, and so make herself miserable, altogether needlessly. He had yet tolearn that sometimes it is well to let a woman inadvertently disciplineherself; it is more effective than if the man does it; and usually saveshim a vast amount of recrimination. Then, too, he did not want Dehra toknow of this intended night visit to the Ferida, where the naturalprospect was duplicity and murder, and only Madeline Spencer's worthlessword to guarantee its safety. As it was now, if he explained at all, itwould have to be down to the minutest detail, and he could foresee whatthe Regent would have to say about any such adventure on his part. Yet ifthe Ferida party went he must lead it--and the Ferida party was going.
So when he reached the Epsau, he was almost hoping to find a message fromthe Princess that he was not expected for dinner. But it was not there,nor had it come when he started for the Palace, though he waited untilthe very last moment.
He found Moore pacing the corridor, on watch for him, but with nothing toclear up the situation.
"And I've spent most of the time since I got back," he ended, "inprancing up and down here, trying to get a glimpse of Mademoiselle, orsome one, who might give me an inkling of the temperature inside--all onyour account, sir, of course; I'm getting used to this freezing andthawing process."
"Very good, Colonel, then we will go right in, and you can be thawingwhile I am explaining--come along, man, come along," and taking him bythe arm they went on down the corridor, and entered the Princess' smallreception room next her boudoir.
"Announce us," said the Archduke to the footman, "but say to Her Highnessthat I would like a few minutes private speech with her--and toMademoiselle d'Essolde say that Colonel Moore has a message from me andawaits her here.... I leave that message to your Irish wit," he remarked,when the servant had gone.
But the man was very slow in returning, and presently Moore laughed.
"It's getting chilly," he observed--"notice it?"
The boudoir room swung open and Mlle. d'Essolde came in.
"Can't say I do," said the Archduke aside, as he acknowledged her curtsy;"looks very charming to me."
She gave the Archduke a smile, Moore a look of indifferent greeting, andthen Armand anothe
r smile.
"My mistress receives Your Highness," she said, holding back the door;and quite ignoring Moore's effort, as he sprang forward to relieve her.
Under the chandelier, where sixty candles fluttered their mellow lightabout her, the Regent of Valeria was standing; but her eyes were on thered rose she was slowly pulling apart, nor did she lift them when Armandentered. Having come in a little way, slowly and with purposefuldeliberation, he stopped, and leaning on his sword tarried for her tospeak; and willing that she should not, for a while, that so, he mighthave this picture long enough to see it ever after--this white-robed,fair-headed daughter of the Dalbergs, waiting to pass judgment on herbetrothed.
The last petal fell; she plucked another rose--a white one--from hercorsage, and looked up.
"You may speak, sir," she said, in voice an impersonal monotone.
The Archduke bowed.
"I have nothing to say," he replied.
She raised her eye-brows in polite surprise.
"I thought you had requested ten minutes private speech with me."
"I did," said Armand, "but I withdraw the request; explanations are vain,when one has been already judged, and judged unheard."
"One who is taken red-handed can have no explanation that explains," saidshe.
Then, of a sudden, out flashed the adorable smile, and she laughed, andflung him the white rose.
"There, dear," she said, "there, is your pardon--now, come," and she heldout both hands; "come and forgive me for this afternoon."
And when he had forgiven her, she put him in a chair and perched herselfon the arm beside him.
"Tell me, Armand," she said, "are we never to be free of that awfulwoman?--where did she come from?--how did she happen to be at the Inn?"
"And how did I happen to be with her there, you want to know," helaughed.
She nodded. "That more than all--yet I didn't ask it."
He took out the anonymous letter, which he had remembered to get fromCourtney; and when she had read it, he tore it into bits.
"Will you have the explanation that explains now or during dinner?" heasked.
She sprang up.
"I forgot I was hungry! Come we will get Elise and Moore--that girl is arare coquette; she makes my poor Adjutant's life very miserable."
"It looks like it!" said Armand opening the door just as Moore caughtMlle. d'Essolde and kissed her, despite her struggles.
"I warned you, my lady," he was saying, "you would tempt me too far someday ... will you forgive me now, or shall I do it all over again?"
The Princess laughed. Moore's arms dropped and he sprang back, whileMlle. d'Essolde, flaming with embarrassment and anger, buried her face inher hands.
"Forgive him until after dinner, Elise," said Dehra; "you can retractthen, and resume the situation, if you wish."
"O wise and beneficent ruler!" said Moore, bowing to the ground, "I agreeto the compromise."
Mlle. d'Essolde looked at him in contemptuous scorn--though, in truth,she was more inclined to laugh; she never could be angry with herIrishman, for long.
"You savage," she said, "you brutal savage; don't ever speak to meagain."
He stepped forward and offered his arm, with all the suavity he knew sowell.
"Never again after dinner, mademoiselle," he said sadly; "meanwhile, thepleasure is mine."
And to his surprise she took his arm; and when the others' backs wereturned, she looked up and smiled, the impudently provoking smile he hadsuffered under so long, and had at last punished.
"My compliments, Monsieur Ralph, on your adroit proficiency,"--and thetone and manner were as provoking as the smile--"it is quite unnecessaryto refer to what it proves."
"As much so, as to refer to what enables one to recognize proficiency,"he agreed.
"And if all the men I know are like you, sir--"
He bent down.
"Now that is an inference I'm curious to hear."
"Do you want them to be like you?" she asked, eyes half closed andglances sidelong--"because, if you do, it would be rather easy to obligeyou--and may be not unpleasant--and I can begin with His Highness ofLotzen--truly it's a pity, now, I ruined my frock so needlessly thismorning, in the japonica walk;" and giving him no time for reply, shedropped his arm and glided quickly into the chair the bewigged andpowdered footman was holding for her.
No mention of the Twisted Pines was made until the coffee was beingserved; then the Princess motioned for the liqueur also to be put on thetable, and dismissed the servants.
Drawing out her case, and lighting a Nestor, she smiled at the Archduke,and at his nod passed the cigarette across;--and when Colonel Moorelooked inquiringly at Mlle. d'Essolde, she shrugged her pretty shouldersand gave him hers.
"You know what it implies, Elise," Dehra remarked.--"No?--then askColonel Moore to tell you sometime--now, we're to hear the explanationthat explains--the Tale of the Veiled Lady of the Inn," and she looked atArmand....
When he had finished, the Princess offered no comment, but frowned andplayed with her cigarette; and the Archduke, ever glad for any excuse tolook at her, and very ready to be silent the better to look, watched herin undisguised devotion.
"What's the plot behind it?" she demanded, suddenly; "I can't make itout--it's absurd to fancy that woman honest, though I'm perfectly sureLotzen has the Book. But why--why should he want to show it to us? Notout of love nor friendship, surely; nor bravado, either; our dear cousinisn't given to any such weakness. So it must be simply a rather clumsyattempt to lure you to the Ferida for slaughter--and that, again, seemsunlikely; for Ferdinand isn't clumsy, nor would he want you murdered inhis Palace; and as to the provision that you need not go--or that you maytake a dozen with you if you wish--and if you don't go, that shepreferred Colonel Moore, or some one with brains and a sword--all that, Isay, is too amazingly inconsistent with anything except entire honestyfor my poor brain to solve."
"Don't try, my dear," the Archduke laughed. "We will give you thesolution to-morrow."
She laid aside her cigarette, and, folding her arms on the table,surveyed him in displeased surprise.
"Surely, Armand, you don't mean that you are going?" she asked.
He nodded, smilingly.
"Why not?" he asked--"the Colonel and I, with a few good blades, and theVeiled Lady's promise to protect us."
"But it's absurd, perfectly absurd, for you to take such risk. At thebest, you are obligated only to look, to make no attempt to-night torecover the Book; and at the worst you can only fight your way out of thetrap. In the one case, Colonel Moore can do the looking as well asyou--in the other, their plot to kill you will have failed and yoursubstitutes will be given some excuse by Spencer and let go in peace--oh,it's worse than absurd for you to go, Armand,"--she saw from hisexpression that her argument was futile--"and you know it, too; andyou're going only because you like the excitement, and to show Lotzen,like a big boy, you're not to be dared."
The Archduke laughed at her indulgently.
"May be I am, little girl," he said; "but I've made up my mind to fightthis business out myself, and that sends me to the Ferida to-night. I'lltake every precaution----"
"Except the proper one of staying away," she interrupted. "You'restruggling for a Crown, man, and mad rashness has no place in the game.Play it like Lotzen, in the modern way, not like the Middle Ages--he usesits methods, true enough, but lets others execute his plans and face theperils."--She put out her hand to him.--"Come, dear, be reasonable," shebegged; "be kind; even the wildest idea of leadership does not obligateyou to go."
He took her hand and held it, with the firm, soft pressure of abidingaffection, looking the while into her fair face, flushed now with theimpetuous earnestness of her fear for him.
"I think it does, Dehra," he said gravely. "It is our duty to the countryto find the Laws and settle the Succession at the quickest possiblemoment----"
"Yes, it is, but----"
"And there are but three in the Kingdom who have e
ver seen the Book, youand Lotzen and myself; and there must be no question as to its absoluteidentification, before you as Regent resort to force to recover it--forcethat may necessitate the taking of the Ferida by assault. Therefore,dear, I must go, for I must see the Book. Assume, just for illustration,that Colonel Moore brings a description that seems to correspond to theLaws; you, as Regent, formally accuse the Duke of Lotzen of having theBook and demand its instant surrender; and upon his indignant denial thathe has it, and his offered readiness to have his Palace searched, youorder me, as Governor of Dornlitz, to have my rival's residence invadedand subjected to the ignominy of a mandat de perquisition; or, again, hemay deny the Book without demanding a search, and submit to it only underprotest; or he may refuse to permit the search and oppose it by force.And whichever the case may be, the Book will not be found--he will takevery careful precaution, as to that, you may be sure. And what will myposition be then, with the House of Nobles?--when our only explanation,for such fruitless insult, is that some one saw a book, which hedescribed to us, and which we thought was the Laws. Indeed, though ithadn't occurred to me before, it may be just such a condition that he isplaying for----"
"But, my dear Armand," the Princess interrupted, "would it be anyadvantage even if we could say that you saw it?"
"An incalculable advantage, Dehra; I know the Book--there could not beany chance for mistake; and it would then be my word against Lotzen's, aneven break, as it were; whereas, otherwise, it will be his word againstour guess. Yet, indeed, in this aspect, it's very doubtful if we ought toresort to open measures against him, even if I saw the Book. It would bea question for careful consideration and counsel with all ourfriends--and it is but right that I should be able to assure them that I,myself, saw it, and recognized it beyond a doubt. It's worth all thedanger it may involve; though I don't anticipate any--the more I think,the more I believe we have solved the riddle. Lotzen wants some one tosee the Book--he much prefers it shouldn't be I; he fancies I will gladlysend a substitute; and he takes me for a hot-headed fool, who then willpromptly play out for him the rest of his game, landing him on the Throneand myself beyond the border."
The Princess had listened with growing conviction that he was right; nowshe turned to Moore.
"And what is your best judgment?" she asked.
"That His Highness has the argument," was the prompt reply; "and Iconfess I was hitherto of your mind, and urged him, all I might, to letme go in his stead. Now, I am convinced not only that we should verifyMrs. Spencer's story, but that the Archduke must do it."
"And because he has seen the Book, and can identify it beyond doubt?"
"Exactly that, Your Highness; such identification is vital."
Dehra nodded and sipped her cordial meditatively; while Armand watchedher in sudden disquiet; he had seen that look on her face a few timesonly, and it always presaged some amazing decision that wasimmutable--and not always to his approval. When she raised her eyes, itwas with the conquering smile that he had never yet stood out against forlong.
"Armand," said she, "you and Colonel Moore have persuaded me; it is rightfor you to go, and I'll go with you----"
"What! You!" the Archduke cried--"are you crazy, child?"
"Not in the least, dear; only very sensible to your cogent logic--who canidentify the Book so well as I, who have known it all my life; you haveseen it but once, you know."
"But the danger!"
"There isn't any danger, you said--and if there were, the Regent ofValeria will be the best sort of protector for you."
"But you will have to--go into Madeline Spencer's apartments--may beremain there half the night," he protested.
"And much more seemly for me than for you, my dear, and muchless--tempting."
He joined in her laugh, but shook his head and turned to Moore.
"Colonel, will you oblige me by telephoning Mrs. Spencer we shall not bethere to-night; word it any way you wish."
"Colonel Moore," said the Princess sharply, "you will do nothing of thesort. The Regent of Valeria requires the attendance of the Governor ofDornlitz and yourself to the Ferida Palace this night--and in theinterval, you both will hold yourselves here in readiness."
Armand would have protested again, but she cut him short with aperemptory gesture.
"It is settled," she said; then added, almost vehemently: "surely, youcan't think I want to see that awful woman!--but it's the only sure wayto block Lotzen's game. The Nobles will take my word as to the Book--andso will the Army, and the people, too. No, I must go."