THE PROFESSOR ADVISES
“I have discovered the secret of successful living, Professor,” said
the King, a couple of hours later as, walking in one of the many thickly
wooded alleys of the palace grounds, he greeted Von Glauben, who had
been told to meet him there, and who had been waiting the Royal approach
with some little trepidation,--“It is this,--to draw a straight line of
conduct, and walk in it, regardless of other people’s crooked curves!”
The Professor looked at him, and saw nothing but kindliness expressed
in his eyes and smile,--therefore, taking courage he replied without
embarrassment,--
“Truly, Sir, if a man is brave enough to do this, he may conquer
everything but death, and even face this last enemy without much alarm.”
“I agree with you!” replied the monarch; “And Humphry’s line has
certainly been straight enough, taken from the point of his own
perspective! Do you not think so?”
Von Glauben hesitated a moment--then spoke out boldly.
“Sir, as you now know all, I will frankly assure you that I think
his Royal Highness has behaved honourably, and as a true man! Society
pardons a prince for seducing innocence--but whether it will pardon him
for marrying it, is quite another question! And that is why I repeat,
he has behaved well. Though when he first told me he was married, I
suffered a not-to-be-explained misery and horror; ‘For,’ said he--‘I
have married an angel!’ Which naturally I thought (deducting a certain
quantity of the enthusiasm of youth for the statement) meant that he had
married a bouncing housemaid with large hands and feet. ‘That is well,’
I told him--‘For divorce is now made easy in this country, and you can
easily return the celestial creature to her native element!’ At which
I resigned myself to hear some oaths, for violent expletives are
always refreshing to the masculine brain-matter. But his Royal Highness
maintained the good breeding which always distinguishes him, and merely
proceeded with his strange confession of romance,--which, as you, Sir,
are now happily aware of it, I need not recapitulate. Your knowledge of
the matter has lifted an enormous burden from my mind; Ach! Enormous!”
He gave a deep breath, and drew himself up to his full height--squared
his shoulders, and then, as it were stood firm, as though waiting
attack.
The King laughed good-naturedly, and took him by the arm.
“Tell me all you know, Von Glauben!” he said; “I am acquainted with the
gist and upshot of the matter,--namely, Humphry’s marriage; but I am
wholly ignorant of the details.”
“There is little to tell, Sir,” said Von Glauben;--“Of the Prince’s
constant journeyings to The Islands we were all aware long ago; but
the cause of those little voyages was not so apparent. To avoid the
suspicion with which a Royal visitor would be viewed, the Prince, it
appears, assumed to be merely one of the junior officers on his own
yacht,--and under this disguise became known and much liked by the
Islanders generally. He fell in love at first sight with the beautiful
girl your Majesty saw yesterday--Gloria; ‘Glory-of-the-Sea’--as I
sometimes call her, and they were married by the old parish priest in
the little church among the rocks--the very church where, as her adopted
father, Ronsard, tells me, he heard the choristers singing a ‘Gloria in
Excelsis’ on the day he found her cast up on the shore.”
“Well!” said the King, seeing that he paused; “And is the marriage
legal, think you?”
“Perfectly so, Sir!” replied Von Glauben; “Registered by law, as well
as sanctified by church. The Prince tells me he married her in his
own name,--but no one,--not even the poor little priest who married
them,--knew the surname of your Majesty’s distinguished house, and I
believe,--nay I am sure--” here he heaved an unconscious sigh, “it will
bring a tragedy to the girl when she knows the true rank and title of
her husband!”
“How came _you_ to make her acquaintance? Tell me everything!--you know
I will not misjudge you!”
“Indeed, Sir, I hope you will not!” returned the Professor
earnestly;--“For there was never a man more hopelessly involved than
myself in the net prepared for me by this romantic lover, who has
the honour to be your son. In the first place, directly I heard this
confession of marriage, I was for telling you at once; but as he had
bound me by my word of honour before he began the story, to keep his
confidence sacred, I was unable to disburden myself of it. He said he
wanted to secure me as a friend for his wife. ‘That,’ said I firmly, ‘I
will never be! For there will be difficulty when all is known; and if
it comes to a struggle between a pretty fishwife and the good of a
king--ach!--mein Gott!--I am not for the fishwife!’”
The King smiled; and Von Glauben went on.
“Well, he assured me she was not a fishwife. I said ‘What is she then?’
‘I tell you,’ he replied, ‘she is an angel! You will come and see her;
you will pass as an old friend of her sailor husband; and when you have
seen her you will understand!’ I was angry, and said I would not go with
him; but afterwards I thought perhaps it would be best if I did, as I
might be able to advise him to some wise course. So I accompanied him
one afternoon in the past autumn to The Islands (he was married last
summer) and saw the girl,--the ‘Glory-of-the-Sea.’ And I must confess
to your Majesty, my heart went down before her beauty and innocence in
absolute worship! And if you were to kill me for it, I cannot help it--I
am now as devoted to her service as I am to yours!”
“Good!” said the King gently;--“Then you must help me to console her in
Humphry’s absence!”
Professor Von Glauben’s eyes opened widely, with a vague look of alarm.
“In his absence, Sir?”
“Yes! I am sending him abroad. He is quite willing to go, he tells me.
His departure will make all things perfectly easy for us. The girl must
remain in her present ignorance as to the position of the man she has
really married. The sailor she supposes him to be will accompany the
Prince on his yacht,--and it must be arranged that he never returns! She
is young, and will easily be consoled!”
Von Glauben was silent.
“_You_ will not betray the Prince’s identity with her lover,” went
on the King, “and no one else knows it. In fact, you will be the very
person best qualified to tell her of his departure, and--in due time, of
his fictitious death!”
They were walking slowly under the heavy shadow of crossed ilex
boughs,--and Von Glauben came to a dead halt.
“Sir,” he said, in rather unsteady accents; “With every respect for your
Majesty, I must altogether decline the task of breaking a pure heart,
and ruining a young life! Moreover, if your Majesty, after all your
recent experiences,”--and he laid great emphasis on these last words,
“thinks there is any ultimate good to be obtained by keeping up a lie,
and practising a fraud, the lessons we have learned in these latter days
are wholly unavailing! You began this conversation with me by speaking
of a straight line of conduct, which should avoid other people’s crooked
curves. Is this your Majesty’s idea of a straight line?”
He spoke with unguarded vehemence, but the King was not offended. On the
contrary, he looked whimsically interested and amused.
“My dear Von Glauben, you are not usually so inconsistent! Humphry
himself has kept up a lie, and practised a fraud on the girl----”
“Only for a time!” interrupted the Professor hastily.
“Oh, we all do it ‘only for a time.’ Everything--life itself--is ‘only
for a time!’ You know as well as I do that this absurd marriage can
never be acknowledged. I explained as much to Humphry; I told him he
could guard himself by the morganatic law, provided he would consent
to a Royal alliance immediately--but the young fool swore it would be
bigamy, and took himself off in a huff.”
“He was right! It would be bigamy;--it _is_ bigamy!”, said the
Professor; “Call it by what name you like in Court parlance, the act of
having two wives is forbidden in this country. The wisest men have come
to the conclusion that one wife is enough!”
“Humphry’s ideas being so absolutely childish,” went on the King, “it is
necessary for him to expand them somewhat. That is why I shall send
him abroad. You have a strong flavour of romance in your Teutonic
composition, Von Glauben,--and I can quite sympathise with your
admiration for the ‘Glory-of-the-Sea’ as you call her. From a man’s
point of view, I admire her myself. But I know nothing of her moral or
mental qualities; though from her flat refusal to give me her husband’s
name yesterday, I judge her as wilful,--but most pretty women are that.
And as for my line of conduct, it will, I assure you, be perfectly
‘straight,’--in the direction of my duty as a King,--apart altogether
from sentimental considerations! And in this, as in other things,--”
he paused and emphasised his words--“I rely on your honour and faithful
service!”
The Professor made no reply. He was, thinking deeply. With a kind of
grim scorn, he pointed out to himself that his imagination was held
captive by the mental image of a woman, whose eyes had expressed trust
in him; and almost as tenderly as the lover in Tennyson’s ‘Maud’ he
could have said that he ‘would die, To save from some slight shame one
simple girl.’ Presently he braced himself up, and confronted his Royal
master.
“Sir,” he said very quietly, yet with perfect frankness; “Your Majesty
must have the goodness to pardon me if I say you must not rely upon
me at all in this matter! I will promise nothing, except to be true to
myself and my own sense of justice. I have given up my own country for
conscience’ sake--I can easily give up another which is not my own, for
the same reason. In the matter of this marriage or ‘mésalliance’ as the
worldly would call it,--I have nothing whatever to do. While the Prince
asked me to keep his secret, I kept it. Now that he has confided it to
your Majesty, I am relieved and satisfied; and shall not in any way, by
word or suggestion, interfere with your Majesty’s intentions. But, at
the same time, I shall not assist them! For as regards the trusting
girl who has been persuaded that she has won a great love and complete
happiness for all her life,--I have sworn to be her friend;--and I must
respectfully decline to be a party to any further deception in her case.
Knowing what I know of her character, which is a pure and grand one, I
think it would be far better to tell her the whole truth, and let her
be the arbiter of her own destiny. She will decide well and truly, I am
sure!”
He ceased; the King was silent. Von Glauben studied his face
attentively.
“You are a thinker, Sir,--a student and a philosopher. You are not
one of those kings who treat their kingship as a license for the free
exercise of intolerant humours and vicious practices. Were you no
monarch at all, you would still be a sane and thoughtful man. Take my
humble advice, Sir--for once put the unspoilt nature of a pure woman to
the test, and find out what a grand creature God intended woman to
be, in her pristine simplicity and virtue! Send for Gloria to this
Court;--tell her the truth!--and await the result with confidence!”
There was a pause. The King walked slowly up and down; at last he spoke.
“You may be right! I do not say you are wrong. I will consider your
suggestion. Certainly it would be the straightest course. But first a
complete explanation is due to the Queen. She must know all,--and if
her interest can be awakened by such a triviality as her son’s
love-affair--” and he smiled somewhat bitterly,--“perhaps she may agree
to your plan as the best way out of the difficulty. In any case”--here
he extended his hand which the Professor deferentially bowed over--“I
respect your honesty and plain speaking, Professor! I have reason to
approve highly of sincerity,--wherever and however I find it,--at the
present crisis of affairs. For the moment, I will only ask you to be on
your guard with Humphry;--and say as little as possible to him on the
subject of his marriage or intended departure from this country.
Keep everything as quiet as may be;--till--till we find a clear and
satisfactory course to follow, which shall inflict as little pain as
possible on all concerned. And now, a word with you on other matters.”
They walked on side by side, through the garden walks and ways,
conversing earnestly,--and by and by penetrating into the deeper
recesses of the outlying woodlands, were soon hidden among the crossing
and recrossing of the trees. Had they kept to the open ground, from
whence the wide expanse of the sea could be viewed from end to end,
their discussions might perhaps have been interrupted, and themselves
somewhat startled,--for they would have seen Prince Humphry’s yacht,
with every inch of canvas stretched to the utmost, flying rapidly before
the wind like a wild white bird, winging its swift, straight way to the
west where the sun shot down Apollo-like shafts of gold on the gleaming
purple coast-line of The Islands.