CHAPTER XVII
A BOW AT A VENTURE
With a strong feeling of congratulation that he had gleaned the wholestory of her wild adventure from Jessie Harcourt, Varney walked coollyup the staircase. He had little difficulty in locating the room wherethe dissolute ruler of Asturia lay. It was the only locked door in thatcorridor, and he had the key in his pocket, which key, it will beremembered, Jessie handed over to him.
The lights were still burning there; the king still lay in the huddleduniform of General Maxgregor on the bed. At the end of the corridor atelephone gleamed. Varney crossed over and called up his ownconfidential servant, to whom he gave a long message. This being done,he returned to the bedroom and carefully locked the door behind him. Hecrossed over to the bed and shook the royal occupant much as a policemanshakes a drunken tramp asleep in a gutter.
"Get up," he said. "Get up; you are wanted at once. And drink this--doyou hear?"
The blear-eyed wretch sat up in bed. He was shaking from head to foot.His hands shook as he held them out for the contents of the bottle thatVarney was holding--the rest of the drug that had been administered toSir Reginald Lancing.
"I hope it won't hurt me," the king whispered. "My doctor here, Dr.Varney----"
"I am Dr. Varney," said the latter coldly, "only you are still too drunkto know who I am. I am not likely to give you anything harmful--atleast, not for the present. Where are your clothes? You never came herein that uniform."
"I was in evening dress," the king said helplessly. "Somebody must havechanged with me. Look and see, there's a good fellow. Must have been abig fellow who played this trick on me."
Varney gave a grunt of disappointment. He recollected now that Maxgregorhad gone off in the guise of the king. Therefore, if the king had thatproposed treaty of abdication in his pocket, the same was in thepossession of Maxgregor at this moment.
"You are in the house of Lord Merehaven," Varney said. "You should havecome here to-night with the queen. In the interests of your country, andin the interests of Europe, you should have been here. Instead of thatyou go off somewhere and get wretchedly drunk in some gambling-house. Itwas by great good luck that you were found and conveyed secretly here bythe garden entrance. Kings have done some disgraceful things in theirtime, but nothing quite so bad as your conduct to-night. Where is thedocument that Prince Mazaroff gave you to sign?"
It was a bow drawn at a venture, but the shaft went home.
"I don't know," the king groaned. "I put it in my pocket. It was not thething to sign all at once. Shouldn't have pluck enough whilst I wassober. Then I had too much champagne. What was that you gave me to drinkjust now? Seems to make a new man of me. Haven't felt so fit and wellfor years. Feel as if I could do anything now."
"You'll want all your manhood presently," Varney said coolly. "Yourfather was a man of courage, as I found out for myself in his lastpainful illness. You had pluck enough as a boy; you'd have it again nowif you dropped your champagne. Wash yourself well, and make yourselflook as respectable as possible. We are going downstairs."
"What, like this!" the king cried in dismay. "In a uniform that is fartoo big----"
"Nothing of the kind. There is a change coming for you from your hotel.My confidential servant is seeing to it, and he will be here presently.With clean clothes and linen and an order or two you will be a passableking yet. Go and wash yourself at once. You are in my hands to-night."
There was a cold, stinging contempt in Varney's tones by no means loston the listener. Perhaps some sense of shame was stirring within him,for no reproof rose to his trembling, bibulous lips. Varney passed outpresently, locking the door behind him as coolly as if he had been agaoler. At the foot of the stairs a neat-looking footman was waitingwith a parcel for Varney. As he took it Hope crossed the hall. There wasa look of alertness, a desire for battle in his face.
"What is going on?" Varney asked. "Something seems to have happened?"
"Count Gleikstein is here," Ronald whispered. "The Russian _charged'affaires_, in the absence at St. Petersburg of the Ambassador. You canimagine what he has come for. There was a great battle of wits going onin the salon. The Queen of Asturia is talking to Gleikstein, and I havesecured the presence of Prince Mazaroff. Lechmere looks anxious for thefray, and I should say from the expression on his face that he has aknife up his sleeve. If we could play some strong card----"
"We are going to," Varney snapped, as he hugged his bundle under hisarm. "Only keep the ball rolling for another quarter of an hour, and Ishall be ready for you. Listen!"
Very rapidly Varney whispered a few instructions into the ear of Hope.The latter grinned delightedly, then his face grew grave again. Thething was serious enough, and yet there was a fine element of comedy init. It was diplomacy gone mad. On the hall stand was a stack of visitingcards. On one of them, chosen at haphazard, Hope wrote a message. Hetrusted that the queen would understand; in fact, he felt sure that shewould.
The little group in the salon, under the famous Romney and the equallyfamous Velasquez, was a striking one--the Queen of Asturia, tall andstately, and smiling as if perfectly at her ease; by her side CountGleikstein, the Russian _charge d'affaires_, slim waisted, dark of faceand stern of eye, yet with a waxed moustache and an air that gave asuggestion of effeminacy to him. Lechmere was lounging by in a listlesskind of way, and yet from time to time there was an eager tightening ofhis mouth that proved him ready for the fray. Prince Mazaroff completedthe group.
Ronald Hope came up with a respectful bow, and tendered the card to thequeen. She glanced at it leisurely; her face betrayed nothing as sheread the message and handed the card back to Ronald again. One gratefullook flashed from her eyes.
"I regret that I cannot," she said. "I have so many calls of that kindon my time. If the lady is a friend of yours, Captain Hope, I maystretch a point in her favour. She may call on my secretary at eleveno'clock to-morrow morning."
Ronald bowed deeply as if charged with a message, and hastened into thehall. The card he tore into small fragments and cast into a waste paperbasket under one of the hall tables. Then he went back to the strikinggroup under the picture again.
"I am afraid that it concerns all of us," the count was saying in adangerously insinuating voice. "Of course, one can hardly be responsiblefor what the papers say, but in the present dangerous state of publicopinion in Asturia--the queen will pardon me?"
"I pardon anybody who does their duty to their country at any cost," thequeen said. "If we could produce those papers that your royal master isso suspicious about----"
"Then I am to understand that some papers of importance have really beenstolen?" the count said swiftly.
"On the contrary, you are not to understand anything of the kind," LordMerehaven smiled. "My dear count, I could lead you a fine wild-goosechase if I chose to allow your imagination free run. As a matter offact, the papers you allude to were in my own hands at seven o'clockthis evening. It is hardly possible that they could have been stolen andtheir contents made known to an American paper within an hour from thattime. So easy am I in my mind that I have not even sent down to myoffice to see if the papers are still extant. And when you see the Kingof Asturia----"
"But I understand that he has gone to Paris?" Count Gleikstein said,with a swift, meaning glance at the queen. "Of course, if his majestywere here, and could give us an assurance that he has in no way givenhis authority and let you know what I mean. I am afraid that thoseagreeable Bohemian excursions that his majesty is so fond of are notregarded in Asturia in the same liberal light that they might be. Still,your assurance, my dear Lord Merehaven, will not----"
"Will not weigh like that of his majesty," Merehaven said. "If he wereonly here----"
"He has been detained," the queen said, ignoring a meaning smile thatpassed between the count and Prince Mazaroff. "If I could only have amessage----"
A quick, smothered cry broke from Mazaroff as he looked to the door.Gleikstein followed his glance, and his face fell wofully. Th
e queensmiled and advanced one step towards the door. Her dark eyes were filledwith a great and lasting joy.
"I think your kindness is going to be rewarded, count," she said. "Yes,I was not mistaken."
A tall footman in the doorway announced--"His Majesty the King ofAsturia!"