"Well, your Imperial Highness, a great deal of chatter has been
circulated regarding Count Leitolf. They now say that, having grown
tired of him, you have contrived to have him transferred to Rome."
"Well?"
"They also say that you visited Leitolf while you were in Vienna. And I
regret," he added, "that your enemies are now spreading evil reports of
you among the people. Certain journalists are being bribed to print
articles which contain hints against your Highness's honour."
"This is outrageous!" she cried. "Having ruined me in the eyes of my
husband and the King, they now seek to turn the people against me! It
is infamous!"
"Exactly. That really seems their intention. They know that your
Highness is the most popular person in the whole Kingdom, and they
intend that your popularity shall wane."
"And I am helpless, Steinbach, utterly helpless," she cried in
desperation. "I have no friend except yourself."
The man sighed, for he was full of sympathy for the beautiful but
unjustly-treated woman, whose brave heart he knew was broken. He was
aware of the love-story of long ago between the Count and herself, but
he knew her too well to believe any of those scandalous tales concerning
her. He knew well how, from the very first days of her married life,
she had been compelled to endure sneers, insult, and libellous report.
The King and Queen themselves had been so harsh and unbending that she
had always held aloof from them. Her every action, either in private or
in public, they criticised adversely. She even wore her tiaras, her
jewels, and her decorations in a manner with which they found fault; and
whatever dress she assumed at the various functions, the sharp-tongued
old Queen, merely in order to annoy her, would declare that she looked
absolutely hideous. And all this to a bride of twenty-one, and one of
the most beautiful girls in Europe!
All, from the King himself down to the veriest palace lackey, had
apparently united to crush her, to break her spirit, and drive her to
despair.
"I hope, as I declared when we last met, Princess, that I shall ever
remain your friend," said the humble employe of the Foreign Ministry.
"I only wish that I could serve you to some good purpose--I mean, to do
something that might increase your happiness. Forgive me, your
Highness, for saying so."
"The only way to give me happiness, Steinbach, is to give me freedom,"
she said sadly, as though speaking to herself. "Freedom--ah, how I long
for it! How I long to escape from this accursed palace, and live as the
people live! I tell you," she added in a low, half-whisper, her pale,
disfigured face assuming a deadly earnest look--"I tell you that
sometimes I feel--well, I feel that I can't endure it much longer, and
that I'm slowly being driven insane."
He started at her words, and looked her straight in the face. Should he
tell her the truth of an amazing discovery he had made only on the
previous day; or was it really kinder to her to hold his tongue?
His very heart bled for her. To her influence he owed all--everything.
No; he could not tell her of that new and dastardly plot against her--at
least not yet. Surely it was not yet matured! When he returned from
Vienna would be quite time enough to warn her against her increased
peril. Now that Leitolf had left her, life might perhaps be a trifle
more happy; therefore why should he, of all men, arouse her suspicions
and cause her increased anxiety?
Steinbach was a cautious man; his chief fault perhaps was his
over-cautiousness. In this affair he might well have spoken frankly;
yet his desire always was to avoid hurting the feelings of the woman
with whom he so deeply sympathised--the Imperial Princess, to whom he
acted as humble, devoted, and secret friend.
"You must not allow such fears to take possession of you," he urged.
"Do not heed what is said regarding you. Remember only that your own
conscience is clear, even though your life is, alas, a martyrdom! Let
them see that you are heedless and defiant, and ere long they will grow
tired of their efforts, and you will assume a power at Court far greater
than hitherto."
"Ah no--never!" she sighed. "They are all against me--all. If they do
not crush me by force, they will do so by subterfuge," declared the
unhappy woman. "But," she added quickly with an effort, "do not let us
speak of it further. I can only thank you for telling me the truth. Go
to-night to Vienna, and if there is a reply, bring it to me immediately.
And stay--what can I do to give you recompense? You have no
decoration! I will write at once a recommendation for you for the cross
of St. Michael, and whenever you wear it you will, I hope, remember the
grateful woman who conferred it upon you."
"I thank your Highness most truly," he said. "I have coveted the high
honour for many years, and I can in turn only reassure you that any
mission you may entrust to me will always be carried out in secret and
faithfully."
"Then adieu, Steinbach," she said, dismissing him. "_Bon voyage_, and a
quick return from Vienna--my own dear Vienna, where once I was so very
happy."
The man in black bent low and again kissed the back of the soft white
hand, then, backing out of the door, bowed again and withdrew.
When Henriette came that evening to change her dress the woman said in
French,--
"I ask your Imperial Highness's pardon, but the Prince, who returned
half an hour ago, commanded me to say that he would dine with you this
evening, and that there would be three men guests."
"Guests!" she cried. "But the Prince must be mad! How can I receive
guests in this state, Henriette?"
"I explained that your Imperial Highness was not in a fit state to dine
in public," said the maid quietly; "but the Prince replied that he
commanded it."
What fresh insult had her husband in store for her? Did he wish to
exhibit her poor bruised face publicly before her friends? It was
monstrous!
Yet he had commanded; therefore she allowed Henriette to brush her fair
hair and dress her in a black net dinner-gown, one that she often wore
when dining in the privacy of her own apartments. Henriette cleverly
contrived, by the aid of powder and a few touches of make-up, to half
conceal her mistress's disfiguration; therefore at eight o'clock the
Princess Claire entered the fine white-and-gold reception-room, lit by
its hundreds of small electric lamps, and there found her husband in
uniform, speaking earnestly with three elderly and rather
distinguished-looking men in plain evening dress.
Turning, he smiled at her as though nothing had occurred between them,
and then introduced his friends by name; but of their names she took no
notice. They were strangers, and to her quite uninteresting.
Yet she bowed, smiled, and put on that air of graciousness that, on
account of her Court training, she could now assume at will.
The men were from somewhere in North Germany, she detected by their
speech, and at the dinner-table the conversation was mostly upon the
advance of science; therefore she concluded, from their spectacled
appearance and the technical terms they used, that they were scientists
from Berlin to whom her husband wished to be kind, and had invited them
quite without formality.
Their conversation did not interest her in the least; therefore she
remained almost silent throughout the meal, except now and then to
address a remark to one or other of her guests. She noticed that once
or twice they exchanged strange glances. What could it mean?
At last she rose, and after they had bowed her out they reseated
themselves, and all four began conversing in a lower tone in English,
lest any servant should enter unexpectedly.
Then ten minutes later, at a signal from the Prince, they rose and
passed into the _fumoir_, a pretty room panelled with cedar-wood, and
with great palms and plashing fountains, where coffee was served and
cigars were lit.
There the conversation in an undertone in English was again resumed, the
Prince being apparently very interested in something which his guests
were explaining. Though the door was closed and they believed
themselves in perfect privacy, there was a listener standing in the
adjoining room, where the cedar panelling only acted as a partition.
It was the Princess Claire. Her curiosity had been aroused as to who
the strangers really were.
She could hear them speaking in English at first with difficulty, but
presently her husband spoke. The words he uttered were clear. In an
instant they revealed to her an awful, unexpected truth.
She held her breath, her left hand upon her bare chest above her
corsage, her mouth open, her white face drawn and haggard.
Scarce believing her own ears, she again listened. Could it really be
true?
Her husband again spoke. Ah yes! of the words he uttered there could be
not the slightest doubt. She was doomed.
With uneven steps she staggered from her hiding-place along the corridor
to her own room, and on opening the door she fell forward senseless upon
the carpet.