The Princess Dehra Part 18

The Princess was the first to speak. "Tell me, Your Excellency," she said, "do you admit my premises, now?"

"Are you, yourself, quite as sure of them, as you were?" he asked.

"Sure!-sure! I'm absolutely sure-I saw the truth in his eyes-didn't you, Armand?"

"No," said the latter, "I didn't-I never saw truth anywhere in Lotzen."

"If he were innocent, why should he plead guilty?" she demanded.

"And if guilty, why should he admit it?" the Archduke asked.

"Because in this case the truth is more misleading than a lie-he had no notion we would believe him."

"He is a very extraordinary man," observed Courtney; "his mental processes are beyond belief. Your question was the most amazing I ever heard, and should have been instantly decisive of his guilt or innocence; instead, it has only clouded the matter deeper for you and cleared it completely for him. Your cards are exposed-his are still stacked."

"They are not stacked to me," said Dehra; "he is guilty."

"Then, in that aspect, he has deliberately asked you what you're going to do about it."

"I'm going to get the Book-for Adolph I don't care-I'm glad he killed the little beast."

"And how," said Armand, "are we to get the Book? No ordinary means will suffice. Imprisonment would only make a martyr of him and strengthen him enormously with the n.o.bles and the people; and banishment is absurd; he may be the King."

"If he has the Book, he would welcome banishment," said Courtney; "it would relieve him of your espionage. But, Your Highness, let me ask, why should he have it now? Armand admitted to the Council he is ineligible without King Frederick's decree, so why would Lotzen preserve that decree? The Book is not essential to his t.i.tle."

The Princess shook her head incredulously. "Ferdinand of Lotzen is a knave but I won't believe that of him.... A Dalberg destroy the Dalberg Laws! Inconceivable!-oh, inconceivable!"

"So, between the Crown of Valeria and the Book of Laws, you think he would chose the latter; and hand the Crown to Armand?"

"He would conceal the Laws-he wouldn't destroy them," she insisted.

The Archduke reached over and took her hand.

"Little woman," he said, "your mistake is in rating Lotzen a Dalberg-he isn't; he's a vicious mongrel; if he had the Book, you can rest a.s.sured he destroyed it."

But she shook her head.

"Your facts proved him innocent;" she smiled, "and so they don't appeal to me to-day. I'm as sure he won't destroy the Laws as I am that he killed Adolph; what troubles me is how to recover them."

"We have a year--"

"I don't intend to wait a year for your crowning, Sire," she broke in.

"Nor half a year, either."

He smiled indulgently, and pressing lightly the small fingers that still lay in his.

"The little Kingmaker," he laughed.

"No, no!" she said, "not I; Mr. Courtney is your Warwick and Valeria's benefactor-he saved us from Lotzen."

"Then, your work is not finished, old man," the Archduke remarked; "there's a lot of saving to be done, I fear."

Courtney nodded rather gravely; he was quite of the same mind.

"Warwick will hold to the work," he answered, "and aid you all he may; but, for the immediate present, I would advise that we sit tight and give the enemy a chance to blunder. And in the meantime, Armand, I suggest you change the combinations on all the vaults here, and at the Castle."

"It was done ten days ago."

"The Book isn't in any vault," the Princess remarked; "they all have been thoroughly searched."

"But something else may be in them, which will be needed-one can never know," the Amba.s.sador answered. "Leastwise, it won't hamper us, and may hamper Lotzen-or some one."

"It's only a wise precaution," the Archduke added-"the vault in the King's library, both here and at the Castle, is filled with records and other valuables, and upon both I changed the combinations myself-I didn't trust it to a workman, who could be found and bribed."

And it was this change of combination that the Duke of Lotzen had discovered that afternoon.

At the Archduke's firm insistence, Colonel Moore, his junior Aide, had been detached from his staff and a.s.signed as Adjutant to the Regent; and a portion of the King's suite, including his library, allotted to him for quarters. This, also, was at the Archduke's personal order-he, himself, might not be there always to guard Dehra, so he gave her the gallant Irishman, with the best sword in the Kingdom and a heart as true as his sword. Lotzen's bravos and his blandishment would be alike powerless against him.

And the Duke, when he saw the order, smiled in quiet satisfaction; and Bigler chuckled and read it to Rosen at the Club-"Thank Heaven we shan't have the other d.a.m.ned foreigner to contend with when we go after the American," he had said.

But when the Duke learned who occupied the library, he cursed Moore and the luck that had put him there-with the Book in the vault, and to be got, and none but him to get it. For no one, not even his closest a.s.sociates, might know he had found it-he could not trust even their loyalty against the fetish of the Laws. So it was for him alone to obtain it; and now the task-delicate enough at best-had become almost impossible for one man. Under every precedent, the King's suite should have remained unoccupied, awaiting his successor; but, instead, this Irishman; this fellow with the quickest sword and surest eye in the Army; this devoted follower of the American, and, after him, the one man in Valeria whom he hated the fiercest and feared even more; he was-though thank G.o.d he did not know it!-guarding the Book for his master.

It was, in truth, the first faint frown of his G.o.ddess, but Lotzen was too good a gambler to flout her at the loss of a single turn. It meant either a little more careful play or a little more recklessness. And, on the whole, the recklessness was rather more appealing than the care. If he could not easily recover the Book, he could, at least, adventure leaving it where it was-and let the Regent's Adjutant guard it for him, too. And he smiled his cold smile-and longed to make a second Adolph of the Irishman, knowing well that he, skillful fencer though he was, could never reach Moore's heart save from the rear.

And that day, he had thought to take a reconnoissance, and he had come to the Summer Palace, trusting for an opportunity to gain admission to the library, to open the vault. There was a possibility that the King's effects had been removed from it, and the box might also have been taken; and, if so, it might be lying in some room, quite unguarded. Yet he deluded himself little on that score; the chance was too slight even to consider seriously; there was really no occasion for emptying the vault; on the contrary, Moore's presence was the very best reason for leaving it untouched. Nevertheless, it was well enough to make sure.

And here again luck bent to him. As he turned the corner of the corridor at the end farthest from the King's suite, Colonel Moore came out and hurried down the stairway opposite, without a glance aside.

Lotzen smiled, and went on to the library door-and smiled still more broadly when he saw it was open wide. Really, the thing was getting too easy! He stopped and tapped lightly on the jamb with his sword hilt-then stepped in and glanced quickly around. The shades were half drawn, but there was enough light for him to see that the room was empty. Going swiftly to the vault, he whirled the k.n.o.b through the combination that Adolph had given him, dropped it at the final number and seized the handle.... The bolts refused to move. With a frown, he spun the k.n.o.b again; and again they stood firm. A third time he tried, carefully and slowly, not overrunning the marks by the shade of a hair-and still the bolts stayed fixed.

With a muttered curse he stepped back, and from the paper in his pocket verified the formula he had used-though he knew he had made no mistake.... Could the valet have lied-have given him a wrong combination-have actually played him for a fool to his very face!...

Impossible-quite impossible-he could recognize fear when he saw it; and no servant ever lied adroitly under such terror as had gripped Adolph at that moment. He stared at the vault and at the paper ... and, then, of a sudden, he understood-the combination had been changed.... Why-by whom, did not matter now. Enough, that behind that iron door the Book was surely lying, and he powerless to obtain it.... Well, so be it-he must chance the risk; the reckless game had been forced upon him by his enemies, and he would play it out. They did not imagine the Book was in the box-they would seek it elsewhere-and the American would lead in the seeking-on-on-on to Lotzenia, and the castle on the mountain, high above the foaming Dreer-and then!... A fell smile crossed his face, and his eyes narrowed malevolently-there would be no need for the Book, when they came back to Dornlitz.

As he stepped into the corridor, the door opposite, in the Princess'

suite, opened and Mademoiselle d'Essolde came out.

"Your Highness!" she said, dropping him a bit of a curtsy.

"My lady!" he answered, bowing over her hand; then motioned behind him.

"Who occupies his Majesty's apartments?" he asked.

"The Adjutant to Her Royal Highness," she answered, knowing well he knew.

"True," said he; "I quite forgot. Colonel Moore has pleasant quarters,"

and he smiled.

His inference was too evident to miss. She was of the Regent's Household and Moore was her most persistent suitor. She made no pretense to conceal her displeasure, though she echoed his laugh.